WAVE - Weekday WAVE Vol. 105 (1/18/2017)

1. Hiroe Nagahama vs. ASUKA

***1/2

2. Avid Rival (Misaki Ohata & Ryo Mizunami) vs. Sumire Natsu & Yako Fujigasaki

***3/4

3. WAVE Tag Team Championship #1 Contendership: Over Sun (Yuki Miyazaki & Yumi Ohka) vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Mika Iida

There's a lot of crazy stuff happening here. Loved Iida's matwork and those European uppercuts, and I liked the NEO nostalgia with the closer against Miyazaki.

****1/2

4. Five on One Gauntlet: Kyoko Kimura vs. Kagetsu, Moeka Haruhi, Rina Yamashita, Rin Kadokura & Yukio Sakaguchi

A 40+ minute Kyoko match probably doesn't sound attractive to many people, but I thought this was a great gauntlet where each opponent brought something fresh.

****1/4

DAIJO - September (9/12/2014)

1. Yuu Yamagata, Hikaru Shida & Mika Iida vs. Kana, Tomoka Nakagawa & Kaho Kobayashi

Excellent opener. Kana was the highlight of the match, always get enjoyment out of her feuding with Shida over who has the best hip attacks. Furthermore, Iida got a taste of her glorious stinkface. 

**3/4

2. Kuishinbo Kamen vs. Kyoko Kimura

There's mat work at the start that looks like a genuine struggle, with strikes thrown during holds. The clown fights dirty with closed-fists. Kyoko is more than happy to return the favor. It's not often you see a face Kyoko, but Kushinbo was such an asshole in the way he worked her over that it just worked.

****

3. Fairy Nipponbashi, Kyusei Ninja Ranmaru & Hibiscus Mii vs. Benten-Musume, Misaki Guriko & Nyanbar 

***1/4

4. Ayako Hamada vs. Rina Yamashita

The first half was Hamada smothering the rookie with her superior mat game, and the second half was Hamada overwhelming the rookie with her superior everything else. Rina's offense basic as she is still in her rookie phase, but I thought she made a good fighting spirit rally.

***1/2

5. Yumi Ohka vs. Sawako Shimono

Ohka throws a killer big boot and they are here in abundance, and Shimono's huge hips makes for a painful raiden drop. I thought this flowed well and the selling was good.

***1/2

Oedo Tai (Kagetsu, Kyoko Kimura & Viper) vs. Queen's Quest (HZK, Io Shirai & Momo Watanabe) (Stardom, 1/8/2017)

Stardom - New Years Stars 2017 (1/8/2017)

Artist of Stardom Championship (decision): Oedo Tai (Kagetsu, Kyoko Kimura & Viper) vs. Queen's Quest (HZK, Io Shirai & Momo Watanabe)

I like Viper as Oedo Tai's ultima weapon, she was an absolute tank. Momo's pop-up somato is a thing of beauty, and Kagetsu running wild with the gas canister was great. Kyoko puts over Io during her retirement run. Fun match.

***

WAVE - HAPPY NEW YEAR WAVE ‘17 (1/8/2017)

1. Battle Royal: Aoi Kizuki vs. Cherry vs. Fairy Nihonbashi vs. Hiroe Nagahama vs. Manami Toyota vs. Moeka Haruhi vs. Rina Yamashita vs. SAKI vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto

Aoi Kizuki cosplayed as a chicken in this match. It was nice to see SAKI of the former Buribato make her return. Yamashita goes over Fujimoto in a dramatic finish. All is well.

**1/2

3. Yukihi Maya & Sumire Natsu vs. Syuri & Tsukushi

Definition of a fan-service match. Water guns, FEET, Maya-obachan, Sumire Natsu, Yuki Miyazaki's embarrassment hold.

*

4. Best 2/3 Falls: Hikaru Shida, Mika Iida, Yuki Miyazaki & Yumi Ohka vs. Las Aventureras (ASUKA, Kaori Yoneyama, Sawako Shimono & Yuu Yamagata)

his was an enjoyable match chock-full of comedy and neat double team spots.

***

5. WAVE Tag Team Championship: Avid Rival (Misaki Ohata & Ryo Mizunami) (c) vs. "Oedo Tai" (Kyoko Kimura & Kagetsu)

At 24 minutes, this is long, and there is definitely a sluggishness to it, but I liked a lot of what they did here and they build to a satisfying finish between Ohata and Kyoko. Avid Rival has some of the most devastating double team moves you will see in joshi puroresu. That counter Ohata did of Kyoko's Gory Bomb into the Blue Dhalia was wonderful. Lots of heat and big boots being throw.

***3/4

Stardom - Year-End Climax 2012 (12/24/2012)

5. Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Kawasaki Katsushika Saikyou Densetsu (Natsuki☆Taiyo & Yoshiko) (c) vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Yuhi

Yoshiko bears the Rising Sun flag on her gear. What a radical. There was significant heat here since Yoshiko and Natsuki like to dish it out as hard as they like to take it. This was good all around.

***3/4

6. World of Stardom Championship: Nanae Takahashi (c) vs. Yuzuki Aikawa

Classic Nanae big match-style sprint, nonstop hard-hits and hard bumps. Yuzupon was all raw emotion and fighting spirit, selling the dramatic kickouts like they took everything out of her, wearing a shell-shocked expression. Especially loved the moment where she tries to turn Nanae's head into mush with axe kicks.

****3/4

Arisa Nakajima vs. Kyoko Kimura (JWP, 10/9/2016)

JWP - Fly High In The 25th Anniversary (10/9/2016)

JWP Openweight Championship: Arisa Nakajima (c) vs. Kyoko Kimura 

This was alright match, never quite reached the level of what I would hope from Arisa and Kyoko. They're definitely capable of better, but we didn't see that from either of them in the two clashes they had during Kimura's retirement run, unfortunately. The limbwork wasn't sold all that well by Nakajima, but at least it played into the finish. Good strikes here too.

**3/4