Daisuke Sekimoto vs. HARASHIMA (DDT, 7/25/2010)

DDT - Ryogoku Peter Pan 2010 ~ Summer Vacation (7/25/2010)

KO-D Openweight Championship: Daisuke Sekimoto (c) vs. HARASHIMA

Great match. It was an intense and competitive championship bout, where HARASHIMA shows off a wide range of facial expressions. The finishing run probably went overkill with headbutt trading and HARASHIMA kicking out of a CROSS-ARM GERMAN SUPLEX, but I was totally into it.

****

Masa Takanashi vs. Yuji Hino (DDT, 5/4/2012)

DDT - Max Bump 2012 (5/4/2012)

KO-D Openweight Championship: Masa Takanashi (c) vs. Yuji Hino

Masa cheats his way to a victory by pretending that he was attacked by Hino with the belt, but the GM restarts the match. Now Hino is ultra pissed, his groans and facial expressions putting him over as this no-nonsense monster. Masa finds sneaky little ways to mount offense and targets the leg, and Hino punishes him with sheer brute strength. Great clash of power and technique.

**** 

KUDO vs. Masa Takanashi (DDT, 11/6/2011)

DDT - Osaka Bay Blues Special 2011 (11/6/2011)

KO-D Openweight Championship: KUDO (c) vs. Masa Takanashi

Masa's aiming for the leg in this match, a game plan that got him far in his first Openweight challenge against Daisuke Sekimoto. This match ruled, loved the slap exchange and KUDO's Palo special between the ropes (into a rolling German suplex) was awesome.

***1/4

W*ING - Dead or Alive (5/7/1992)

3. W*ING World Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament - Qualifying Match: Masaru Toi vs. Masayoshi Motegi

An engaging match, with explosive offense and selling. There's a powerbomb where their heads collide and they start pouring out blood, match doesn't go on for much longer after that.

**1/2

4. Mitsuteru Tokuda vs. Mongolian Mauler

**

5. W*ING Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship: Yukihiro Kanemura (c) vs. Super Invader

Third match in a row to start off with an outside brawl. This was action-packed, and it's only 9 minutes long. There's a sloppy avalanche belly-to-belly from Super Invader where Kanemura lands on his arm; both threw caution to the wind in some of the bumps they took.

***

6. Indian Strap Match: The Grappler vs. Wahoo McDaniel

Loving the gritty tone of this show. This was a violent brawl with tons of a bloodshed. Wahoo drags the lifeless body of The Grappler to each corner as blood leaks on his white boots -- a chilling visual.

***1/2

7. Undertaker Deathmatch: Jason the Terrible vs. Mr. Pogo

More brawling and bloodshed. The ending was madness. Pogo and Super Invader try to set Jason on fire while he's in the casket, and that causes a giant brawl to end the show. Jason is taken away in the casket (his mask mysteriously returning after having been removed) with a title card promising his return.

***3/4

Cho-un Shiryu & Masahiro Takanashi vs. Riho & Mitsuru Konno (Gatoh Move, 10/22/2017)

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour・317 (10/22/2017)

Cho-un Shiryu & Masahiro Takanashi vs. Riho & Mitsuru Konno

"Nice" intergender violence. I like the moment where Masahiro blindsides Konno during her posedown with Shiryu. Riho & Konno's reprisals were strong, the assisted crossbody was an awesome spot. Shiryu finishes Konno with a unique hold that looked like a Gory special into a standing cloverleaf.

***1/4

AKINO, Mariko Yoshida & Ai Fujita vs. Lioness Asuka, Takako Inoue & Mima Shimoda (ARSION, 3/2/2003)

ARSION (3/2/2003)

Gauntlet: AKINO, Mariko Yoshida & Ai Fujita vs. Lioness Asuka, Takako Inoue & Mima Shimoda

This was a great gauntlet match, all of the match-ups were exciting. It dragged a bit during the final between AKINO and Asuka, but even then they created great moments. Inoue was the MVP, there's a sequence where she's desperately swinging her stun gun at an evading Mariko that was really cool.

***1/2

Stardom - Year-End Climax 2017 (12/24/2017)

2. Queen's Quest (AZM & Momo Watanabe) vs. Rachael Ellering & Scarlett

An alright match, inoffensive. I enjoyed Momo & AZM's teamwork.

**

3. Loser Can't Shout: Hiromi Mimura & Konami vs. Oedo Tai (Kris Wolf & Sumire Natsu)

Highstakes in this match, Hiromi's "shouto" gimmick is on the line. Like the one before it, it was alright, but nothing special. I think Oedo Tai should have scored some near-falls for added drama, they didn't really play up the stipulation.

**

4. High Speed Championship: Mari Apache (c) vs. Starlight Kid

I enjoyed the hell out of this -- it was awesome. Mari did an amazing job leading, making Kiddo look good while dealing out punishing offense. Kid's rallies were great and the crowd was into her perfomance from start to finish.

***1/2

5. Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura & Kagetsu) (c) vs. Team Jungle (Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora)

Team Jungle put forth a strong effort with powerhouse offense and double teams, but Oedo Tai managed to put their in-fighting aside to get the win. This had drama and a lot of action, great work by everyone involved.

***3/4

6. Wonder of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai (c) vs. HZK

This is the third match between these two this year, and I thought it was the best of the three. This was an intense back and forth with amazing bumps and counters. Io has been doing a great job of keeping herself fresh lately, she has been finding new approaches to her matches and I thought she was interesting here. HZK's growth was full display.

***1/2

7. Meiko Satomura & Toni Storm vs. Takumi Iroha & Yoko Bito

Bito's last dance... :( This was an enjoyable main event, about what I expected from it, nothing blow-away, but a nice little match. The real main event is the retirement ceremony. I like how Iroha has been treated as a big time player and hope that continues in 2018.

**3/4