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

Nagisa Nozaki vs. Rina Yamashita (WAVE, 11/15/2017)

WAVE - Weekday WAVE Vol. 111.5 (11/15/2017)

Regina di WAVE Championship #1 Contendership Tournament - Semi-Finals: Nagisa Nozaki vs. Rina Yamashita

This is the most impressive Nozaki has looked since returning. She was going at it with Rina. Her movements and emotes are always striking to me, and she is very calculating with that sleeper hold. Yamashita held the match together, and they crafted a great story around Nozaki's dangerous sleeper.

***1/2

SEAdLINNNG - d-Higher (10/18/2017)

4. Arisa Nakajima vs. La Rosa Negra

It's nice to see Arisa working singles again. I didn't feel Negra had any chance of winning, but she played her part as the sub-boss to whatever they have planned for Arisa in December. The way she sold Arisa's offense was great; she was getting demolished by those suplexes.

***

5. Ryo Mizunami, Saki Akai & Sareee vs. Kaho Kobayashi, Rina Yamashita & Yoshiko

This was Sareee's farewell from the D. Although she will still be working with them as an outsider. This had good energy, an upbeat pacing. Yoshiko's building heat with Saki Akai, but the highlight was her lariat battle with Mizunami. I loved their WAVE match last year, I hope they meet in singles again someday. Kaho was also a standout. Great main event.

***1/4

WAVE - NEW CHAPTER (9/17/2017)

1. DUAL SHOCK WAVE 2017 - Round #1 - TLC Match: Pyonzu, 's (SAKI & Kyusei Sakura Hirota) vs. Natsu & Natsuri (Natsu Sumire & Maki Natsumi)

N/A

2. DUAL SHOCK WAVE 2017, Quarter Final - Y-Shirt Lumberjack Match: Natsu Sumire and Maki Natsumi vs. KUSO ONNA NIGHT (Yuki Miyazaki & Nagisa Nozaki)

**1/4

3. DUAL SHOCK WAVE 2017, Semi Final - 2-Count Rules Match: So on Flowers (Moeka Haruhi & Aoi Kizuki) vs. Gokigen BBA (Kaori Yoneyama & Cherry)

*

4. DUAL SHOCK WAVE 2017, Semi Final - Slow Motion Rules Match: BOSS to Mammy (Yumi Ohka & Mio Momono) vs. Avid Rival (Misaki Ohata & Ryo Mizunami)

Good tag match; slo-mo sequence was brilliant. Momo-tan continues to look impressive.

***

5. DUAL SHOCK WAVE 2017, Final - Submission Match: BOSS to Mammy (Yumi Ohka & Mio Momono) vs. NEW-TRA (Takumi Iroha & Rin Kadokura)

This was an enjoyable match, nothing memorable. I have no idea what they've done to DUAL SHOCK WAVE this year, last year's was incredible.

**1/4

6. Cabellera (Mitsuo Momota) Contra Cabellera (GAMI): Fairy Nipponbashi & Chikara (w/ Mitsuo Momota) & vs. Kendo Kashin & Hikaru Shida (w/ GAMI)

DUD

7. WAVE Tag Team Championship: Big Rice Field (Hiroe Nagahama & Kaho Kobayashi) (c) vs. NEW-TRA (Takumi Iroha & Rin Kadokura)

NEW-TRA were fun to watch, Iroha's kicks and the double teams. The champions barely had any presence here, the challengers outshined them completely.

**1/4

8. Regina di WAVE Championship: Rina Yamashita (c) vs. ASUKA

Good match, it felt like it lost steam a bit, but then they picked things back up via stiffness. ASUKA hits a gnarly German suplex.

***

WAVE - Saint October (10/9/2017)

2. Moeka Haruhi vs. Yoshiko

Decent match, heatless, but Haruhi showed strong emotion.

**1/2

7. Nagisa Nozaki vs. Ryo Mizunami

Mizunami was overconfident and doing her thing, and Nagisa puts her to bed with a sleeper in under 2 minutes. I feel like this would have been so much better in front of a hot crowd, but I still got something out of it.

***

8. Regina di WAVE Championship: Rina Yamashita (c) vs. Misaki Ohata

This didn't feel much different than their previous matches, save for a couple of sequences. The Black Dahlia reversal from the Splash Mountain was amazing. Crowd was dead as usual which brought things down. 

***

WAVE - Be Exciting! (7/2/2017)

6. WAVE Tag Team Championship: Over Sun (Yuki Miyazaki & Yumi Ohka) (c) vs. Gokigen BBA (Cherry & Kaori Yoneyama)

For some reason BBA really want to be put in Miyazaki's Embarrassment Hold, and there was a creative moment where Yoneyama tries to force herself into it. Miyaki also does an inverted version of the move on Cherry, which looked cool as fuck. Probably making this match sound better than it actually was... it was very, very boring other than Miyazaki.

*

7. Regina di WAVE Championship: Ryo Mizunami (c) vs. Rina Yamashita

This was mostly action with almost no emotional depth, and there is nothing wrong with that when the action is fresh... but this was nothing I haven't seen from these two before. Still a solid enough slugfest, though, they were trading bombs, and Yamashita's cracks herself open with a headbutt.

***

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

WAVE - Catch THE WAVE 2017 ~ Namijo Kesshosen (6/4/2017)

2. Catch THE WAVE 2017 - Semi Finals: Rina Yamashita vs. Rin Kadokura

Another Kadokura match that reaches the 15-minute mark... FFS! This one was good, though. They played up the tension of Kadokura being seemingly unbeatable since she hasn't been pinned.

***1/4

3. Catch THE WAVE 2017 - Semi Finals: Misaki Ohata vs. Sareee

***1/2

7. Catch The WAVE 2017 - Finals: Misaki Ohata vs. Rina Yamashita

***3/4

WAVE - Weekday WAVE Vol. 107 (5/10/2017)

1. Catch THE WAVE 2017: Hiroe Nagahama vs. SAKI

DUD

2. Catch THE WAVE 2017 Other Than Block: Mochi Miyagi vs. Rin Kadokura

***1/4

3. Catch THE WAVE 2017: Rina Yamashita vs. Sareee

***1/2

4. Catch THE WAVE 2017 ZABUN Block: Misaki Ohata vs. Moeka Haruhi

***3/4

Rina Yamashita vs. Yoshiko (WAVE, 8/12/2017)

WAVE - 10th Anniversary『CARNIVAL WAVE～NEVER ENDING STORY～』(8/12/2017)

Regina di WAVE Championship: Rina Yamashita (c) vs. Yoshiko

It feels surreal to watch a joshi event that takes place in the same venue Okada and Tiger Mask W fought in. This borrowed a lot from the SEAdLINNNG match, but since this is Rina's turf she was the focus of this story. The action was intense and hard-hitting, and the closing lariat battle was epic.

****1/4

SEAdLINNNG - Fortissimo (5/24/2017)

1. High Speed: Maruko Nagasaki & Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Mio Momono & Tsukushi

I love these matches. Very fun hai supido.

***1/2

2. Hiiragi Kurumi & Sareee vs. Rin Kadokura & Takumi Iroha

This wasn't connecting with me until the third half and felt like it went on forever. Always great to see Iroha make tape, though.

**1/4

3. Aja Kong & AKINO vs. Nanae Takahashi & Yuki Miyazaki

Nanae is lowkey one of my favorite joshi. I can always expect her to put on a compelling performance, and she takes one hell of a bump. This was a great match from hard-hitting obasan.

***3/4

4. Arisa Nakajima vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto

This was a back-and-forth where all of the moves and counters were well-placed, and it builds into a crushing finish. Arisa's desperation came across well in her facial expressions, and her suplexes were terrific.

****

5. Rina Yamashita vs. Yoshiko

These two are like alternate universe versions of each other, so they make for great rivals. The finish is a lariat war where they're just trading heavy smacks, knocking the bajeezus out of one another. The selling and execution made it one of the more compelling lariat exchanges I've seen in a while; the blood from Rina's mouth splashes across her face in a sweet visual.

****1/2

Ice Ribbon - ~ Yokohama Ribbon 2017 (6/25/2017)

1. Cherry, Miyako Matsumoto & Nao DATE vs. Kyuuri, Matsuya Uno & Tequila Saya

**

2. Hiiragi Kurumi & Karen DATE vs. Ibuki Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi

***

3. Rina Yamashita vs. Satsuki Totoro

***

4. Akane Fujita & Nori DATE vs. Azure Revolution (Maya Yukihi & Risa Sera)

**3/4

5. Hana DATE vs. Maruko Nagasaki

These two bring the intensity in their body language and facial expressions. They're going at it with haphazard offense that I thought fit the narrative of this heated rivalry. I enjoyed a lot of what Hana was doing here, and dug the ending where she kept pressing the advantage when she had Maruko down.

***1/2

6. Triangle Ribbon Championship: Manami Toyota (c) vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Tsukushi

***

Hikaru Shida vs. Rina Yamashita (WAVE, 5/3/2016)

WAVE - Catch THE WAVE 2016 ~ Scramble (5/3/2016)

Catch THE WAVE African Violet Block: Hikaru Shida vs. Rina Yamashita

Shida was feuding with DAIJO around this time, and this match plays into that with her heeling it up, shoving Sawako Shimono at ringside. Yamashita's back is wrecked with backbreakers, and a stretch muffler that is applied in a way that adds pressure on the worked over abdomen. Genius stuff. Yamashita's Rainmaker comeback sequence was topnotch.

***3/4

Kaori Yoneyama vs. Rina Yamashita (WAVE, 4/10/2016)

WAVE - P-Tech Presents "CATCH THE WAVE 2016 ~ Opening Battle ~" (4/10/2016)

Catch THE WAVE African Violet Block: Kaori Yoneyama vs. Rina Yamashita

Yoneyama is at her best when she's working fast pace, IMO. I liked the strike exchanges she has here, and how she finds any opportunity to hit her  little running knee strike. The ending felt abrupt, but I guess the idea is that Yamashita overexerted herself with the headbutt, allowing Yoneyama to take advantage with the Yone-Zou. Good match.

***1/4

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 - 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

Misaki Ohata vs. Rina Yamashita (WAVE, 5/3/2017)

WAVE - CATCH THE WAVE 2017 ~ Scramble (5/3/2017) 

Catch THE WAVE 2017 ZABUN Block: Misaki Ohata vs. Rina Yamashita

Yamashita looked really great here, I like how she's been adding more knee strikes into her moveset. The payoff to this narrative of Rina trying to hit the Splash Mountain in tribute to Dynamite Kansai and failing every time will be amazing.

***1/2

WAVE - Osaka Rhapsody Vol. 33/Shizuoka WAVE ~Fuji~ (4/29/2017~4/30/2017)

WAVE - Osaka Rhapsody Vol. 33 (4/29/2017)

3. Catch THE WAVE 2017: Misaki Ohata vs. SAKI

SAKI dominates until Ohata makes her intense comeback. The impact of that fisherman buster from Ohata looked nasty.

***1/2

4. Catch THE WAVE 2017 ZABUN Block: Hiroe Nagahama vs. Rina Yamashita

***

WAVE - Shizuoka WAVE ~Fuji~ (4/30/2017) 

Catch the WAVE 2017: Moeka Haruhi vs. SAKI

***

SEAdLINNNG - GOLDEN GO!GO! (5/14/2017)

1. Kaori Yoneyama vs. Rin Kadokura

***

2. Highspeed: Maruko Nagasaki vs. Mio Momono

****

3. Hamuko Hoshi & Yoshiko vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Rina Yamashita

***3/4

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

This was fast, furious hard-hitting tag team action, and what the glorious sparkling D is all about!

****1/2

WAVE - CATCH THE WAVE 2017『Bracken1』 (4/26/2017)

2. Catch THE WAVE 2017 Other Than Block: Mochi Miyagi vs. Sareee

***1/4

4. Catch THE WAVE 2017: Misaki Ohata vs. Rin Kadokura

***3/4