Yoshiko vs. Miona Ishii (SEI☆ZA, 7/28/2017)

SEI☆ZA - Third Battle: ~ Stars of the Night of Summer ~ (7/28/2017)

Yoshiko vs. Miona Ishii 

This was OK. Yoshiko's reprisals could have been more punishing. You put Yoshiko in this type of match-up for her to destroy her opponent, not take it easy on them. The crowd sounded like they were anticipating a mauling, but it never came. Ishii looked good; I liked the fire she showed with the slap to the face.

**1/2

"Big Boss" MA-G-MA & Black Buffalo vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Shigehiro Irie (DDT, 7/16/2017)

DDT - Dramatic Dreams! Vol. 4 ~ Never Come ~ (7/16/2017)

"Big Boss" MA-G-MA & Black Buffalo vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Shigehiro Irie

The beatings from Big Boss & Black Buffalo were truly wretched. They were like tokusatsu villains come to life, and Takeshita & Irie bumped and fought hard, giving a tremendous babyface performance. This is the best selling I've ever seen from Takeshita. Whadda match.

****3/4

Akito vs. Daisuke Sasaki (DDT, 4/19/2015)

DDT - Saitama Slam! Vol. 1 (4/19/2015)

DDT Extreme Championship - 60 Minute Iron Man Match: Akito (c) vs. Daisuke Sasaki

This was good, I wouldn't rank it amongst the best 60-min matches I've seen, but good. It kept me watching. I was impressed with how they paid close attention to certain details, and there were these clever little moments. They were wearing each other down with dueling limb work, and then they would have these short bursts of 'action' before slowing things down again with matwork. The finishing stretch had a great sense of escalation.

***3/4

Stardom - 5★STAR GP2017 x Champions (9/23/2017)

5. Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura & Kagetsu) (c) vs. Queen's Quest (Io Shirai & Viper)

This was really fun with Oedo Tai heeling it up and a great peril segment from Io.

***1/2

6. Wonder of Stardom Championship: Mayu Iwatani (c) vs. Yoko Bito

Mayu's a great bully, always enjoy her workover segments. She was stomping Bito's head and hitting these nasty kicks. I thought this was an improvement over the Stardom x Stardom match. They kept things tight and focused.

***1/2

HZK & Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani & Momo Watanabe (Stardom, 11/20/2016)

Stardom - Goddesses of Stars: Winter Darkness Road (11/20/2016)

HZK & Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani & Momo Watanabe

This had massive heat. Segments between Mayu and Io were obviously good, but I liked how the match wasn't just about them. This was also HZK's return from hiatus, and she was better than ever, and worked very well with Momo. 

****

BASARA - Vajra 48 ~Isami Kodaka 15th Anniversary~ (10/1/2017)

5. Ryota Nakatsu vs. Yuko Miyamoto

Seems the CyberAgent money has allowed DDT to use copyrighted songs. This was a decent match... both of these guys are still learning. Yuko is a great death match wrestler, but he's just not as engaging working normal singles matches.

**1/4

6. IRON PRIEST (FUMA & Yusuke Kubo) & HUB vs. Ryuichi Sekine, Yuji Hino & Yasu Urano

**3/4

7. Union MAX Championship: Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi (c) vs. Isami Kodaka

This was lackluster for a main event celebrating Kodaka's 15th anniversary. Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi exposed himself as a mediocre worker with this reign. He has no depth as a wrestler, and unfortunately Kodaka couldn't drag much out of him.

**3/4

Isami Kodaka vs. HARASHIMA (DDT, 3/21/2016)

DDT - Judgement 2016 ~ DDT 19th Anniversary Show (3/21/2016)

KO-D Openweight Championship: Isami Kodaka (c) vs. HARASHIMA

I remember being disappointed in this match when I first saw it, and it does have its flaws (HARASHIMA's spotty leg selling, Kodaka's awkwardness), but it's also a lot of fun. They were trading stiff strikes, there were clever counterattacks -- it felt like a match where two guys just went out there and experimented. The ending sequence with the sweep into the Somato was fucking wicked.

***1/4