OZ Academy - No End Taboo (12/3/2017)

2. Maya Yukihi vs. Rina Yamashita

**1/4

3. Aoi Kizuki, Kaori Yoneyama, Koharu Hinata & Yumiko Hotta vs. MK4 (AKINO, Kaho Kobayashi, Kakeru Sekiguchi & Sonoko Kato)

***

4. Aja Kong vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto

**

5. Sekigun (Alex Lee, Mayumi Ozaki & Yumi Ohka) vs. Hikaru Shida, Moeka Haruhi & Saori Anou

***

6. OZ Academy Openweight Championship: Yoshiko (c) vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki

***1/2

Ice Ribbon - #845 ~ Oktober Ice Ribbon Fest (10/29/2017)

1. Giulia & Takako Inoue vs. Nao DATE & Satsuki Totoro

**1/4

3. Kyuuri & Matsuya Uno vs. Natsumi Maki & Tae Honma

***

4. Arisa Nakajima & Manami Toyota vs. Hana DATE & Tsukasa Fujimoto

****

5. Regina Di WAVE Championship: Misaki Ohata (c) vs. Maruko Nagasaki

**

6. ICE×∞ Championship #1 Contendership Four Way: Akane Fujita vs. Hiiragi Kurumi vs. Maika Ozaki vs. Nori DATE

What a wild ride, I did not expect this from a joshi 4WAY. It was non-stop bomb throwing. Maika and Nori close the match after the other two are eliminated, and I thought they delivered big. I was so proud of Maika when she got the win, big moment for her career.

****

7. International Ribbon Tag Team Championship (vacant) Tournament - Finals: Azure Revolution (Maya Yukihi & Risa Sera) vs. Lovely Butchers (Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi)

Great main event. They kept things moving and the action was hard-hitting and enjoyable. Maya-obachan no-selling a Styles Clash was ridiculous, but I didn't feel it hurt the match. Excellent work. Everyone worked hard.

****

WAVE - Weekday WAVE Vol. 108 (6/22/2017)

1. ASUKA vs. Mika Iida

Damn, this was good. IIda was either legimately hurting or doing a great job selling -- in any case, she did a fantastic job putting over ASUKA. They were roughhousing and stiffing the hell out of each other.

***3/4

2. Aoi Kizuki, Hiroe Nagahama & Moeka Haruhi vs. Cherry, Kaori Yoneyama & Misaki Ohata

**3/4

3. Isami Kodaka vs. Keisuke Goto

Goto's turning into a solid wrestler, and he seems easy to work off of. He actually had Kodaka's number towards the end, but the veteran caught him lacking.

***

5. Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Rina Yamashita

Solid heavyweight showdown. I didn't think it reached that 'next level', but they were trading some hard smacks.

***

6. 2 out of 3 Falls: Kyuuri & Mio Momono vs. Over Sun (Yuki Miyazaki & Yumi Ohka)

Enjoyed this a lot, Over Sun are such a fun team.

***1/4

7. Hikaru Shida vs. Ryo Mizunami

What an awesome match, it breezes through those 20 minutes. Shida was working over Mizunami in brutal fashion -- seriously, the outside brawl was one of the best I've seen this year. Those chair-punts to the face of Mizunami were wicked. I really like how Shida has been utilizing those knee strikes lately, they look and sound amazing. Mizunami was struggling to survive, picking her spots when she could and making it count. Fantastic match.

****1/2

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 - #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 - #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

WAVE - White Breath (2/11/2017)

1. Fairy Nipponbashi & Rina Yamashita vs. Kagetsu & Sawako

***

3. Elimination: ASUKA & Yuu Yamagata vs. Hikaru Shida & Mika Iida vs. Hiroe Nagahama & Moeka Haruhi

**3/4

4. Natsu Sumire vs. SAKI

**

5. WAVE Tag Team Championship: Over Sun (Yuki Miyazaki & Yumi Ohka) (c) vs. Azure Revolution (Maya Yukihi & Risa Sera)

**3/4

6. Regina di WAVE Championship: Ryo Mizunami (c) vs. Misaki Ohata

****1/2

Ice Ribbon - #796 Sendai Ribbon 2017 (4/15/2017)

2. Tequila Saya, Kyuuri & Akane Fujita vs. Matsuya Uno, Maruko Nagasaki & Hiiragi Kurumi

***1/2

4. Maya Yukihi vs. Misaki Ohata

***1/4

5. DASH Chisako & Manami Toyota vs. Tsukushi & Tsukasa Fujimoto

***3/4

6. ICE×∞ Championship: Risa Sera (c) vs. Mochi Miyagi

These two brought the heat. I like Sera's edge. She chokes Miyagi with her own whip and wrestles more aggressively. Miyagi herself had something of a transformation, more aggressive approach than usual as well. This was worked so differently than the Risa Sera we've seen recently.

***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

SEAdLINNNG - Integral-d (1/26/2017)

4. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Sareee vs. Aja Kong & Yoshiko

Sareee came into this thing looking for a fight with her sights set on Yoshiko, and they do some great feuding that builds up to an explosive climax. A dormant anger from Yoshiko provoked and unleashed! I loved the chaos of the finale; a commotion mowing through the crowd as talents come rushing in to break up the brawl. Easily one of the best non-finishes I've ever seen.

****3/4

5. Arisa Nakajima vs. Nanae Takahashi

This was a big match, one that gradually builds over close to 30 minutes. Arisa was working hard, her execution was pristine and she showed a lot of heart. This was billed as her rebirth and it felt like it. I look forward to what she'll do as a member of SEAdLINNNG.

****

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

Ice Ribbon - New Ice Ribbon #779 ~ New Year Yokohama Ribbon 2017 (1/9/2017)

1. Maika Ozaki & Tequila Saya vs. Maruko Nagasaki & Matsuya Uno

Maruko started incorporating an evasive roll into her moveset and it has reshaped her as a performer, she's finding creative ways to implement it.

***

3. Manami Toyota vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Tsukushi

Cute match, you could tell that they were enjoying themselves and each other out there. Fujimoto takes a scary fall during an Ocean Cyclone-device dropkick. God bless this tiny woman.

**3/4

4. Hiiragi Kurumi vs. Kyuuri

This match was all Kurumi, she murders Kyuuri with a barrage of power moves. I don't think I've ever seen her hit the Go Flasher before so that was a first.

***1/4

Ice Ribbon - YOKOHAMA RIBBON ~AUTUMN~ (9/19/2016)

4. Hardcore Ribbon: Abdullah Kobayashi vs. Risa Sera

This was a fun match. You could tell that Sera was having fun even as Abdullah ripped the skin off of her forehead with a fork. A good time.

***1/4

5. Triangle Ribbon Championship: Ai Shimizu (c) vs. Maruko Nagasaki vs. Miyako Matsumoto

Fun as these Triangle Ribbon matches usually are. Shimizu fits well in Ice Ribbon ring, and Maruko is rapidly improving.

**1/2

6. International Ribbon Tag Team Championship: Best Friends (Tsukasa Fujimoto & Arisa Nakajima) (c) vs. This is Ice Ribbon (Tsukushi & Hiiragi Kurumi)

Best Friends have been on a killer run since their formation. That said, this match wasn't my favorite match from them and certainly did not live up to my expectations, but it did have its moments. The finishing stretch between Fujimoto and Tsukushi was hot and rad.

***