Prominence - Kuen Ranbu (5/29/2022)

3. Hardcore Match: DASH Chisako vs. Akane Fujita

Akane is a passive M-type wrestler. She is not a strong personality, but she is a glutton for punishment, and an aggressive competitor like DASH Chisako was the perfect opponent to highlight her strength. Chisako is scary under normal circumstances, but even scarier with weapons at her disposal. The bumps and weapon attacks were brutal on both sides, with Akane taking the harsher punishment. ***1/2

4. Corner Free Weapon Valkyrie Death Match: Risa Sera vs. Suzu Suzuki

Suzu's performance was excellent. Showing a dynamic and emotional fight and bringing the human touch that wrestlers like Jun Kasai and Masashi Takeda impart to deathmatch wrestling. Sera wasn't quite able to match Suzu's energy but did well enough delivering a beat down. The skin-tearing blood festival that one would expect from a death match was delivered, but there were also some top-notch traditional wrestling exchanges beneath the rubble. It was a fairly long match, lasting 30 minutes, but every time it seemed to drag on, Suzu would reignite the excitement with a burst of offense. ***1/2

Prominence - Prominence Hataage ~ The Beginning of The Red Flame (4/24/2022)

4. Fluorescent Lighttubes Death Match: Risa Sera vs. Takashi Sasaki

This was an interesting match (I wasn't bored watching it). However, the story was not convincing. When an intergender match goes on this long, it feels like the male wrestler is just playing with their food. It's almost condescending in a way. Takashi was hardly going 100% and didn't seem to be in any real danger. Sera was no Atsushi Onita in terms of rallying power; her comebacks didn't have much of an impact. ***1/4

5. Fans Bring the Weapons Tag Team Death Match: Suzu Suzuki & Jun Kasai vs. Akane Fujita & Violento Jack

There aren't many women's deathmatch wrestlers in Japan so most of their matches have them facing off against male wrestlers. Suzu and Fujita were fortunately mostly given the spotlight with Kasai and Jack playing supporting roles. This was all-action, a skillful mix of orthodox and death match wrestling. Suzu is charismatic and always expresses her emotions well; she was fantastic here. Without Suzu's presence, I don't think Prominence would have much value. Akane, who deserves credit for the nasty punishment she took throughout, had a particularly scary head bump towards the end and her absence from the closing ceremony makes me worry about her condition. ***1/2