Risa Sera vs. Akane Fujita, Stan Kobayashi (Abdullah Kobayashi), Daisuke Masaoka, Isami Kodaka, Takashi Sasaki, Takayuki Ueki, Yuko Miyamoto, Jun Kasai & Abdullah Kobayashi (Risa Sera Produce 4, 11/14/2017)

Risa Sera Produce 4 - Last Death Match (11/14/2017)

60 Minute Iron Woman Gauntlet Death Match: Risa Sera vs. Akane Fujita, Stan Kobayashi (Abdullah Kobayashi), Daisuke Masaoka, Isami Kodaka, Takashi Sasaki, Takayuki Ueki, Yuko Miyamoto, Jun Kasai & Abdullah Kobayashi

Sera takes her death match gauntlet to its biggest stage in Korakuen Hall. I thought the work was generally good, it breezes through those 60-minutes. I wasn't into the Akane segment, but it picks up when Kasai is in there, and Abby keeps that momentum going. I didn't feel this added anything fresh or new to the Risa Sera death match series, but it was still a lot of fun.

***

Akane Fujita vs. Maya Yukihi (Ice Ribbon, 6/29/2017)

Ice Ribbon - #813 (6/29/2017)

Akane Fujita vs. Maya Yukihi

Great strikefest -- it's a 10 minute draw and they spent most of that time trading strikes. Maya-obachan was chopping away at Akane with kicks, and Akane came back with heavy offense of her own. Lots of hard smacks. Good.

***

Ice Ribbon - #832 ~ ICE in WONDERLAND 2017 (8/27/2017)

2. Asahi vs. Manami Toyota

This was Asahi's debut and she's against Manami Toyota! Asahi's peers were surrounding the ring, cheering her on, the crowd was super into it.

***1/2

5. Best Friends (Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto) vs. Avid Rival (Misaki Ohata & Ryo Mizunami)

****3/4

6. Elimination: Maruko Nagasaki, Matsuya Uno, Satsuki Totoro & Tequila Saya vs. Team DATE (Hana DATE, Karen DATE, Nao DATE & Nori DATE)

There was a lot of action here and it didn't spiral out of control like the match in Yokohama. Hana DATE was injured so everyone swarmed her. The Maruko-Nori ending was had believable near-falls and proper escalation. Great match. 

****1/4

7. ICE×∞ Championship: Risa Sera (c) vs. Maya Yukihi

This caught me by surprise -- I didn't know Maya-obachan had it in her. Her leg work was great and she had all of these clever counters to Sera's offense. Sera's comebacks were kind of selling-free, but her offense looked strong and much better than it has looked in past defenses.

****1/2

Ice Ribbon - #821 ~ Ryogoku KFC Ribbon 2017 (8/13/2017)

1. Ibuki Hoshi vs. Matsuya Uno

**1/2

2. Maruko Nagasaki vs. Miyako Matsumoto

DUD

3. Satsuki Totoro & Tequila Saya vs. TeamDATE (Nao DATE & Nori DATE)

***

4. Kyuuri vs. Maika Ozaki

**1/4

5. Akane Fujita vs. Maya Yukihi

***1/2

6. Lovely Butchers (Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi), Karen DATE & Manami Toyota vs. Hana DATE, Hiragi Kurumi, Risa Sera & Tsukasa Fujimoto

***

Ice Ribbon - #817 ~ Yokohama Ribbon 2017 (7/17/2017)

1. Hiiragi Kurumi & Kyuuri vs. Matsuya Uno & Miyako Matsumoto

Amazing opener, where Matsumoto's awfulness was at a minimum. Kurumi is easily one of my favorites to watch on the Ice Ribbon roster, and Uno is too cute!

***1/2

2. Ibuki Hoshi vs. Karen DATE

Pretty good struggle between these youngins. I liked the urgency towards the finish, and the post-match heat.

***

3. Akane Fujita vs. Maika Ozaki

It's not often you see a heavyweight clash in Ice Ribbon. These two are chunkier than most of the roster, and they're capable of dishing out and taking impactful moves. Fujita displays as viciousness when she grabs Maika's hand away from the ropes while applying her new submission finisher, and the struggle looks brutal. Great match. 

****

4. Maya Yukihi & Takako Inoue vs. Risa Sera & Tsukushi

The sequences with Tsukushi were amazing, especially her strike exchange with Inoue. Sera had great moments as well, and clever counters. Yukihi probably has some of the best-looking strikes in all of Ice Ribbon. Everyone looked awesome.

***3/4

6. International Ribbon Tag Team Title #1 Contendership: Best Friends (Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto) vs. Lovely Butchers (Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi)

I feel like there has been too much Lovely Butchers at the top of Ice Ribbon cards lately; they're easily my least favorite joshi at the moment. But this fucking ruled. They brought an aggressive approach to this match, answering Arisa & Tsukasa's nastiness with some of their own. There's a backdrop here from Miyagi to Arisa that looked devastating, and Fujimoto executes one of the best Tsukadora's I've ever seen. The pacing is fast, and the heat keeps building.

****1/2

SEAdLINNNG - This Is Us! (7/14/2017)

1. Akane Fujita vs. Ryo Mizunami

Ryo's a hard-hitter, Akane is a wrestler who knows how to take hard hits. Good match-up and they deliver a solid performance. I love that Akane's been taking bookings outside of Ice Ribbon lately.

***1/2

3. Rumble Style 8-Man Tag Team Match: Arisa Nakajima, Nanae Takahashi, Sareee & Yoshiko vs. Manami Toyota, Rina Yamashita, Takumi Iroha & Tomoko Watanabe

***3/4

4. Mima Shimoda vs. Yoshiko

***1/4

5. Best Friends (Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto) vs. Nanae Takahashi & Sareee

A sequel to the wild sprint these teams had in Yokohama, but on a bigger stage in Korakuen. It was good, but nothing I haven't seen from them already. It was nice to see Sareee getting her first big SEAdLINNNG win.

***3/4

Ice Ribbon - #805 ~ Ryogoku KFC Hall #2 (5/28/2017)

1. Maruko Nagasaki & Matsuya Uno vs. TeamDATE (Hana DATE & Nori DATE)

**1/4

2. 235 vs. Cherry

**1/2

3. Karen DATE vs. Miyako Matsumoto

*

4. Maya Yukihi & Nao DATE vs. Satsuki Totoro & Tequila Saya

**

5. Best Friends (Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto) vs. GEKOKUJyou (Kyuuri & Maika Ozaki)

Oh man, GEKOKU were getting the shit beaten out of them in this one. Arisa was a stampede, elbowing and kneeing and suplexing everything in her path. Tsukasa and Kyuuri have this submission exchange that I liked. Maika took some good bumps. Great match.

****

6. International Ribbon Tag Team Championship: This is Ice Ribbon (Hiiragi Kurumi & Tsukushi) (c) vs. Lovely Butchers (Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi)

***3/4

7. ICE×∞ Championship - Hardcore Match: Risa Sera (c) vs. Akane Fujita

no

Ice Ribbon - Yokohama Ribbon 2017 GW II (5/5/2017)

1. Elimination: Maruko Nagasaki, Matsuya Uno, Satsuki Totoro & Tequila Saya vs. Team DATE (Hana DATE, Karen DATE, Nao DATE & Nori DATE)

**1/4

2. Eiger vs. Hamuko Hoshi

**3/4

3. 235, Maya Yukihi & Risa Sera vs. Akane Fujita, Mochi Miyagi & Rina Yamashita

***

4. Miyako Matsumoto vs. Yoshiko

This turned out to be surprisingly competitive with Miyako getting clever counters and near-falls. Yoshiko kept this thing tight, and shows off her Y-shaped balance.

***

5. Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto

This was a good and well-paced timeout draw, full of neat set-ups and counters.

***1/2

6. International Ribbon Tag Team Championship: This is Ice Ribbon (Hiiragi Kurumi & Tsukushi) (c) vs. GEKOKUJyou (Kyuuri & Maika Ozaki)

Maika Ozaki looked awesome here, running through her opponents as the bulldozer of GEKOKU, but Kurumi has power herself and was quick to remind her opponents of that! Kyuuri gave a great performance as well. Obviously Tsukushi threw her wicked strikes. This was great.

***3/4

Ice Ribbon - #798 ~ Ribbon Fiesta 2017 (4/24/2017)

1. Akane Fujita & Nori DATE vs. Nao DATE & Satsuki Totoro

Great opener. Team DATE are such a breath of fresh air and a welcomed addition to the roster.

***

4. Best Friends (Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto) vs. Lovely Butchers (Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi)

Nakajima was beating hell out of Hamuko Hoshi. Kicking her in the head, stomping her nose, slapping her across the face, KNEE STRIKES. I loved it. A fun and fast-paced tag.

***1/2

5. Kyuuri vs. Mayumi Ozaki

Kyuuri unfortunately doesn't bring the fire in her comeback sequences, but she does hit a crazy Cutie Special. Not exactly a semi-main event quality performance.

**1/2

6. International Ribbon Tag Team Championship: This is Ice Ribbon (Hiiragi Kurumi & Tsukushi) (c) vs. Azure Revolution (Maya Yukihi & Risa Sera)

Maya and Tsukushi had a fun dynamic going here, I liked what they were doing together. Sera and Kurumi were here too!

***3/4

Ice Ribbon - Yokohama Ribbon 2017 GW I (5/4/2017)

1. Hamuko Hoshi & Team DATE (Karen DATE & Nao DATE) vs. Team DATE (Hana DATE & Nori DATE) & Tsukasa Fujimoto

This was loads of fun, TeamDATE looked right at home.

****

2. Maya Yukihi & Rin Kadokura vs. Matsuya Uno & Miyako Matsumoto

***1/2

3. 235 vs. Risa Sera

***

4. Hardcore Match: Akane Fujita & Minoru Fujita vs. Mochi Miyagi & Takashi Sasaki

***1/2

5. Maruko Nagasaki & Satsuki Totoro vs. Rina Yamashita & Tequila Saya

***

6. GEKOKUJyou (Kyuuri & Maika Ozaki) vs. Mio Momono & Tsukushi

The Kyuuri/Tsukushi heat building  was great with awesome exchanges.

***3/4

Ice Ribbon - MARCH 2017 (3/26/2017)

2. Command Bolshoi & Leon vs. Kyuuri & Maika Ozaki

Fun, energetic tag match. Bolshoi & Leon rule. Dug the Bolshoi-Kyuuri sequence where they traded submission counters. Kyuuri hits a gnarly Cutie Special.

***

4. Akane Fujita & Jaguar Yokota vs. 385 Myankie's (Jun Kasai & Miyako Matsumoto)

Fujita's return match from injury, so naturally she takes a table bump and a superplex from a ladder. This was decent, albeit slow-paced.

**

5. Arisa Nakajima vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto

This was a brutal match. There's hair puling, strike exchanges, headbutts, kicks to the face, knees to the face, and plenty of surliness and disrespect. They work well towards the time limit, keeping the action fresh and dynamic, and the pacing hot. A level of ultra-violence that is rare in the Ice Ribbon ring.

****

6. International Ribbon Tag Team Championship: Avid Rival (Misaki Ohata & Ryo Mizunami) (c) vs. This is Ice Ribbon (Hiiragi Kurumi & Tsukushi)

Avid Rival are such a destructive, hard-hitting duo. Some of the bumps that Tsukushi took here were frightening. Kurumi's been looking especially good lately; loved that segment she had with Mizunami.

***3/4

7. ICE×∞ Championship: Risa Sera (c) vs. Rina Yamashita

Risa's weak offense and contrived set ups hurt this, but there's still some nice bumps and sequences to enjoy. An average match.

**1/2