Tsukushi vs. Emi Sakura (Ice Ribbon, 4/10/2011)

Ice Ribbon - 19'O Clock Girls Pro Wrestling #67 (4/10/2011)

IW19 Championship: Tsukushi (c) vs. Emi Sakura

Emi Sakura's genius shines bright once again! This was incredible, it has some of the best building I've ever seen, and the sense of urgency and escalation during the second half is out of this world. There's so many great moments, I don't even know where to begin. Tsukushi leading a stampede of children over Sakura, the slap exchange, Emi's violent body slams, Tsukushi trying to hit the Harukaze from a chair; brilliant stuff all over. This is a masterpiece.

*****

Emi Sakura &「Kotori」vs. Masako Takanashi & Riho (DDT, 8/7/2015)

DDT - Beer Garden Fight 2015 - Shuten-doji Day (8/7/2015) 

Emi Sakura &「Kotori」vs. Masako Takanashi & Riho

This was spectacular, it doesn't last long, but it's action-packed to a hot crowd. Riho and "Kotori" were doing magical things, Masa was in his gyaru gimmick, but he wrestled it straight. "Kotori" was so seamless with her high-flying, what an amazing performance from her. Great match from start to finish.

****1/4

Emi Sakura vs. Kotori (Gatoh Move, 12/30/2012)

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour・15 (12/30/2012)

Exhibition: Emi Sakura vs. Kotori

Digging deep into "Kotori"'s catalog with this match, this is one of her pre-debut exhibition matches. A dark match. Worth noting that this was before she got the quotations around her name. An alright match, they kept things simple and focused and the crowd was having a lot of fun.

**

Emi Sakura &「Kotori」vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto & Yuuka (Gatoh Move, 6/22/2016)

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour・170 (6/22/2016)

Emi Sakura &「Kotori」vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto & Yuuka

This was one of my favorite matches of 2016, and on rewatch I still love it. The energy that these four brought to Korakuen Hall was tremendous. The exchanges between Yuuka and "Kotori" were heated and intense (Yuuka's bullet time dodge always gets a pop out of me), but the magical Emi-Tsukasa segments take the match to new heights.

****1/4

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour・264 ~ Christmas Eve (12/24/2016)

1. Kaori Yoneyama & Hikaru Sato vs. Hikaru Shida & Madoka

Very fun match, ultimate battle of Hikarus; Sato was perving it up and Shida tried to avoid hip attacking him. Also, Shida did a very unique submission hold that involved hip attacks. Even with the comedy stuff, the work was great.

***1/2

3. Gatoh Move vs. REINA - 3 out of 5 Falls Match: Emi Sakura, Aasa Maika & Mitsuru Konno vs. Makoto, Hirori & Mari Sakamoto

This was a great inter-promotional skirmish. They kept the action exciting and moving, everyone looked good and had their moment to shine (except for Hirori maybe, but she was a cute face-in-peril).

***3/4

5. Asia Dream Tag Team Championship: Happy Makers 2 (Aoi Kizuki & Sayaka Obihiro) (c) vs. Riho &「Kotori」

Spectacular match. The action moved fast and momentum shifts happened in an instant. Obihiro was doing a hell of a sell job, and Riho's counterwork was excellent -- loved everything about their closing segment together.「Kotori」's execution was rough, but she's got an energy that makes up for it. Aoi-chan's in-ring genius shined as always. Brilliant stuff all around.

****1/2

Heart Move Kei Reform (Emi Sakura & Kaori Yoneyama) vs.「Kotori」& Makoto (Gatoh Move, 7/5/2015)

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour・174 (7/5/2015)

Heart Move Kei Reform (Emi Sakura & Kaori Yoneyama) vs.「Kotori」& Makoto

"Kotori" was a nasty aggressor here; Emi tried toying around with her and got a hard slap to the face (!). She was easily the MVP of the match, and brought the heat. Nice flow, and the action got better and better as it went on. Good stuff.

****

Aasa Maika vs. Emi Sakura (Gatoh Move, 4/9/2017)

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour・283 (4/9/2017)

Aasa Maika vs. Emi Sakura

Always thrilled to watch an Aasa singles. This was another good one. The way Emi was punishing Aasa, oh man, just excellent work. Great match.

***1/4

Emi Sakura, Kaori Yoneyama &「Kotori」vs. Riho & Buribato♡ (SAKI & MIZUKI) (Gatoh Move, 5/3/2016)

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour・226 (5/3/2016)

Emi Sakura, Kaori Yoneyama &「Kotori」vs. Riho & Buribato♡ (SAKI & MIZUKI)

*****

HARUKAZE & Nanaka Kawamura vs. Emi Sakura & Riho (GANBARE☆PRO-WRESTLING, 9/21/2017)

GANBARE☆PRO-WRESTLING - BAD COMMUNICATION 2017 (9/21/2017)

HARUKAZE & Nanaka Kawamura vs. Emi Sakura & Riho

This was Nanaka Kawamura of Kamen Joshi's pro wrestling debut. She is in phenomenal shape and had dedicated fans in attendance who were chanting loudly and reacting to everything she did. It created a special atmosphere. Her segment with Riho was cute, and I liked Emi exploiting the strong fan support by heeling it up. I see a lot of potential in Nanaka if she is serious about puroresu. 

***1/2

Aasa Maika & Mitsuru Konno vs. Emi Sakura & Masahiro Takanashi (Gatoh Move, 5/15/2017)

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour・291 (5/15/2017)

Aasa Maika & Mitsuru Konno vs. Emi Sakura & Masahiro Takanashi

This was grueling rookie punishment from the veterans, with Konno being the FIP for much of her time in the match. Masa is always an amazing prick in these types of matches, and him being able to effortlessly toss these girls around helps. Aasa's charisma was on full display here, she brought the match to the next level.

***1/2

Emi Sakura vs. Madoka (Gatoh Move, 9/6/2014)

Gatoh Move - 2nd Anniversary Holiday Army (9/6/2014)

Emi Sakura vs. Madoka

Shiittt, these two were fucking each other up. There's some very hard smacks here, and the physicality only builds as the match reaches its conclusion. Madoka unleashes these hellish lariats to put Sakura away, and it's such an awesome 'escalation' of violence in the finishing run. Brilliant match.

****1/2

Aasa Maika, Emi Sakura & Sayaka Obihiro vs. Jaguar Yokota,「Kotori」& Riho (HEAT-UP, 10/31/2016)

HEAT-UP - The Light Of Hope That Illuminates Kawasaki ~ Make A Miracle Happen 2016 (10/31/2016)

Aasa Maika, Emi Sakura & Sayaka Obihiro vs. Jaguar Yokota,「Kotori」& Riho

「Kotori」drops Aaasa straight on her head with a tai otoshi. I always enjoy seeing Riho's Palo Special. This is a standard joshi tag, with the usual joshi tag tropes of stereo submission holds, etc, etc. Obihiro should have gotten more. Not much else to say other than that Jaguar,「Kotori」& Riho are a very cute team.

**

Emi Sakura & Masahiro Takanashi vs. Aasa Maika & Kuishinbo Kamen (Gatoh Move, 12/29/2016)

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour · 265 (12/29/2016)

Emi Sakura & Masahiro Takanashi vs. Aasa Maika & Kuishinbo Kamen

Aasa's bumping and selling is super compelling, and Sakura heeling it up is always great. I felt like Kamen's role in this match could have been bigger.

**1/2

Gatoh Move - High School Graduation (3/28/2017)

1. Aoi Kizuki vs. Mitsuru Konno

This was a decent showing for Konno. She's new, so errors are to be expected. Aoi Kizuki is obviously a joshi puroresu artisan so there is a lot to be learned from grappling with her.

**1/4

2. Emi Sakura W vs. Yako Fujigasaki

***

3. Hikaru Shida vs. SAKI

This was a match built up on who has the better brainbuster between these two via social media, so they're going back and forth with them.

***1/4

4. Cho-un Shiryu & Antonio Honda vs. Rocky Kawamura & Sayaka Obihiro

***1/2

5. Aasa Maika vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto

***

6. Asia Dream Tag Team Championship:「Kotori」& Riho (c) vs. Masahiro Takanashi & Emi Sakura

This is Chinese variety art in the form of a wrestling match, such a mesmerizing display of balance and timing, coupled with great storytelling.

****3/4

Ice Ribbon - 19'O Clock Girls Pro Wrestling #74 ~ 1st Anniversary Show (6/1/2011)

1. International Ribbon Tag Team Championship: Emi Sakura & Ray (c) vs. Lovely Butchers (Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi)

Man, this was such an awesome match and then Mochi botched her top rope Styles Clash and things got horribly messy from there. YIKES.

***1/2

2. Exhibition: Hikaru Shida & Saki Akai vs. Makoto & Tsukasa Fujimoto

Saki Akai's one and only match in Ice Ribbon. She's portraying her character from Muscle Girl. I thought they worked a fun match, nice chemistry and heel work.

***3/4

3. IW19 Championship: Hikari Minami (c) vs. Chii Tomiya

I love this match, it's creative and high speed. Chii hitting a tornado DDT from the guardrail onto the timekeeper's bell and sounding the ring bell into Hikari's ear was super fun. I also liked the spot where Hikari is applying a surfboard and launches Chii into the air like a Chinese acrobat routine.

****

Emi Sakura vs. Riho (Gatoh Move, 1/23/2016)

Gatoh Move - JAPAN EXPO THAILAND 2016 (1/23/2016)

Emi Sakura vs. Riho

Fun match in an interesting setting in front of a hype crowd. Emi is really fun when she plays the heel and there's also some weird/fun stuff involving guest referee Hayato Fujita.

***

Hanako Nakamori & Emi Sakura vs. Morii & Hiroyo Matsumoto (Gatoh Move, 9/19/2012)

Gatoh Move - Gatoh-meet.14 (9/19/2012)

Hanako Nakamori & Emi Sakura vs. Morii & Hiroyo Matsumoto

This was a good match, it had a fun energy to it, especially with Hiroyo goofing around. Hanako headbanging during the HMK performance was cute.

***

Emi Sakura vs. SAKI (Gatoh Move, 1/9/2016)

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour・208 (1/9/2016)

Emi Sakura vs. SAKI

Paced and laid out well leading to its draw, but there isn't anything particularly exciting here other than Emi screaming like a banshee as she sells.

**1/2

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour・210 (1/31/2016)

2. DJ Nira vs. MIZUKI

There's clever limbwork and submissions with comedy bits spliced in. Nira employing the use of an electric fan to work over MIZUKI's hand was great.

***3/4

3. Antonio Honda, Riho & Sayaka Obihiro vs. Emi Sakura, 「Kotori」& Masa Takanashi

Another really fun GM trios. Not much to say about this one except that it was thoroughly enjoyable.

****

Emi Sakura & Sayaka Obihiro vs. Makoto & Riho (Gatoh Move, 2/7/2016)

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour・211 (2/7/2016)

Emi Sakura & Sayaka Obihiro vs. Makoto & Riho

Riho having to lead a tentative Makoto during double team maneuvers was cute. Obihiro is one of the most enthusiastic performers in modern joshi. Super fun and unpredictable, I'm always looking forward to what interesting things she'll do next. Her energy takes these tag matches to the next level.

***3/4