donsem43
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Everything posted by donsem43
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She's a freelancer so groups a hesitant to push her. Her current OZ Academy reign is the first major title run that she has had in her career. I agree that she has everything that you need to be a headliner. If she had come along in the mid 80's or mid 90's she would probably be a bigger star than she is now. It's really a shame since I think that she's a top 10 joshi worker right now.
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This felt like one of those random mid-90's AJW Korakuen Hall main events with the abnormal teams. Wow, these four just went straight at each other by just being nasty stiff the whole way. Meiko especially was laying into Mayu in such a way that you think that she owed her money. I was very impressed with Chihiro here as this felt like she was really out there to try and show up her veteran opponents which is something that you usually don't see from her. She would really try to thrash Io whenever they would try to go to the mat. The others are pretty much what you expect in a big match. The best joshi match so far this year. ****1/2 -
If you have Stardom World, make sure to check out the main events from the last two shows (3/5 & 3/9.) Both of those matches are really great with the latter, Io Shirai's tenth anniversary match with her teaming with Meiko Satomura vs. Mayu Iwatani and Chihiro Hashimoto, being the first legit joshi MOTYC of 2017. Toni Storm vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto from the 3/9 show is pretty good too.
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This is for BY Ho's Goddesses of Stardom tag titles as they are challenged by rising star Kyona and veteran freelancer Matsumoto. Like both of her other two title matches from earlier this year, the match is built around making Jungle Kyona look like a major player in the promotion. Again, while there are times where her work isn't smooth and her inexperience shows, she still manages to look like she can hold her own. Hiroyo looked great here too. It shows you how she's a super underrated tag worker she is when she already has two great tag title matches this year with completely different women in both matches. The finish is well done as the match is held in Kyona's hometown so the crowd really gets behind her during the nearfalls and the eventual win. ****1/4
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcT7KCLKXAU This is Nakamori's first defense of the JWP title that she won at the end of last year. They did a terrific job laying this match out with a veteran like Leon posing enough of a threat to the new champ but not being a clear favourite. It made you actually buy into how close and competitive the match was. The finish is long but that due in a way to the both of them selling the big moves that each of them were hitting on each other. The only thing that keeps this from being a great match is the work isn't as smooth as it should have been. Still, this is a strong, well earned, first defense for Nakamori. ***3/4
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Well....
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I understand why they would want to get their side out, I just don't get the timing. Why not wait until after the show on the 20th to let them try to draw as well as they can with the biggest match up that they currently have. This news getting out now is more likely to cause them to lose Stardom World subscriptions quicker to. Anyway, Sendai Girls is getting interesting. Syuri beat Meiko Satomura in a rematch of their super underrated match from last year. This is also the third big singles job that Meiko has done in the last six months. Also, they also announced Aja Kong/Chihiro Hashimoto rematch for their April Korakeun show. Ice Ribbon is running a pretty loaded show on the 26th with this lineup on top: * Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Arisa Nakajima * International Ribbon Tag Team Championship : Avid Rival (Misaki Ohata, Ryo Mizunami)© vs. Over Sun (Yumi Ohka, Yuki Miyazaki) vs. Tsukushi, Hiragi Kurumi * ICEx∞ Championship : Risa Sera © vs. Rina Yamashita All three of those matches have the potential of being very good if not great.
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Konami also left Reina because she had an "illness" only to pop up in Stardom a few months later. Mayu also missed 3 shows in about 4 weeks earlier this year due to "sickness." Add that to the likeliness of her mentor/friend Io leaving and the inconsistency of her push recently it becomes a hot stove conspiracy theory. I was shocked when Meltzer reported that Hojo either did a 180 or flat out lied to Stardom about going to the WWE. Pretty much every wrestler who has talked about working in Stardom has been very high on Hojo in the locker room and commented on how she's everybody friend. Very surprise that this point isn't being talked about. Never mind that all of this news dropped the same day as Io's tenth anniversary show, and just days after Stardom announced a Io/Hojo title match at the next Korakeun Hall show. I've never ran a wrestling promotion but if I was Rossy Ogawa, I would be pissed that this news broke when it did.
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So Hojo is WWE bound with Io likely going to because she's making a trip to Orlando soon. Plus Mayu is apparently retiring, probably so she can pop up in SEAdLINNNG a few months later. Pretty weird how everything seems to be going down.
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This is for Mizunami's Regina di WAVE title as she takes on her tag partner Ohata. There is some nice matwork to open things up as Ohata tries to neutralize Mizunami's power by going after limbs in order to try to slow her down. This works for awhile but eventually Mizunami is able to stay upright long enough in order to get some offense in. This match then gets super stiff as the two of them really lay into one another. One of the best things about this match is how they both sell the physicality of the match. It never turns into a 'fighting spirit' no-sell contest that matches like this can deteriorate into. The finish is pretty good to as Ohata finds a lot of nifty ways to avoid/counter Mizunami's finishers. A great, hard fought title match. ****1/4
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The main event for the 3/16 SEAdLINNNG show will be Nanae Takahashi & Arisa Nakajima vs. OZ champ Hiroyo Matsumoto & WAVE champ Ryo Mizunami. Also, Kagetsu is now the next challenger for both Io Shirai's World of Stardom title and Matsumoto's OZ title.
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This is for Io's World of Stardom title (Red Belt) and if she's successful in defending it she will break her own record of title defenses. Io does a fantastic job of putting over Baszler as serious threat. She bumps and sells incredibly well for Baszler's power offense and submissions. I felt Baszler held up her end of the match fairly well. She has always carries herself well but her in-ring is inconsistent. In this match, her offense looked good and flowed nicely plus her selling was solid. The finish was a bit weird though. Baszler seemingly puts Io out with a sleeper but the ref makes her break the hold which didn't make any sense since that's exactly how Baszler won a trios match at the last show. Other than that, this was great match with probably the best performance from Io in awhile. ****1/4
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This is for Hojo's Wonder of Stardom title (White Belt) and is Kyona's second title shot in less than a month. It's clear from the early going that the intent of this match is to make Kyona more of a potential threat to the top girls in Stardom and it definitely succeeds in that regard. From the very start Kyona shows little fear of going toe-to-toe with Hojo, even managing to hold her own in strike exchanges. Hojo herself does a great job of putting over Kyona's performance. She goes from confident veteran showing no fear of what Kyona has to offer to realizing that she is going to have to hit all of her big moves if she is going to retain. Just an excellent, well built match that builds on the star potential of Jungle Kyona. ****
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Finished watching the 2/23 Stardom show. I felt that all four of the title matches delivered, especially the top two. Hojo/Kyona did a great job of making Jungle look like a legit threat. Io/Baszler was looking like a MOTYC till the weird finish. Still great performances from the both of them as the match was a much better than I was expecting. Also watched the 2/11 WAVE show. Pretty much a two match show. The OVER SUN vs. Azure Revolution tag titles match was good but nothing special. Azure almost always have good matches but they really should have had a great match or two by now considering their talent level and how long they have been together as a team. The Mizunami/Ohata main event was fantastic. It got off to a slow start but it picks up quite a bit along the way. I enjoyed the finish a lot as Ohata kept finding creative ways to counter Mizunami's Hot Limit finisher.
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This is for Iwatani's High Speed title as she is being challenged by two members of Oedo Tai. The story dynamic that these three create in the match was terrific. Usually, Oedo Tai matches are weighed down with goofy, overwrought interference but here the kept it basic and it worked much better. It was great to see Kris Wolf have a straight match as she is a really good worker when she does. The finish was well done as it looked like Wolf capitalized on an open opportunity rather than benefit from a banana peel type slip. ***3/4
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This is for Storm's SWA title and is also Purrazzo's first single's match in Stardom. This match was a really nice mesh of Storm's UK style with Purrazzo's US style. Purrazzo looked great here. While she doesn't do anything flashy, she makes everything she does count for something. I wish they could have had another five minutes or so because they probably would have had something great if they had more time to build to a proper finish. As it is though, this is a terrific short match. ***1/2
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Started a spreadsheet for 2017 matches. The date page will have everything I watch that's over ***1/2 while the ranking page will just for higher rated matches.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rSFeCDmjhc This has been built up as the first big main event match in SEAdLINNNG, although it unfortunately didn't draw that well. For the most part this match is what you would expect between these two, a very in your face, hard hitting battle. My biggest knock against the match would be Arisa's legwork on Nanae. It starts out great with a terrific sell job from Nanae, but Arisa never goes back to it until a short counter towards the end of the match which makes it seem pointless. Other than that, this is a war of attrition. A contest in who can out last the fight of the other. While it doesn't quite reach the all time classic level that it had the potential to be, it is still quite the match and the first must see joshi match of the year. ****1/4
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Match Link - Match starts at 1:08:00 This is for Shida's & Syuri's OZ Academy tag titles. I was excited when this was first announced because Hiroyo and Kagetsu were a team in one of my favourite (and highly underrated) tags from last year, 4/2/16 vs. Thunder Rock. Then again, this is OZ Academy where potentially great matchups turn mediocre. Matsumoto looked great here. She is definitely all in for this chance to have a run on top of a promotion. This was also the best match from the Shida/Syuri team. They focused more on straight tag work rather than weapon shots and brawling. It's really nice to see a match that looks like what OZ Academy should be. ****
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Nanae vs. Arisa
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This is for Best Friends' International Ribbon tag titles as they are challenged by the teenage duo of Tsukushi (18) and Kurumi (16.) This is quite the old-school joshi sprint which is freaky since neither of the challengers were alive during that period. It's easy to write off the Tsukushi and Kurumi do to their age but when you factor in that the both of them have more than 5+ years of experience each they are more than competent opponents. That point comes through strong in the match as both girls manage to create their own opportunities throughout the match in a realistic way. As a result, their big win here comes off as a hard earned victory rather than a fluky upset. ****1/4
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This match has a real all-star type feel to it with Io being Stardom champ, Hiroyo being OZ Academy champ, and Ohata being the top contender for the WAVE title. This is also the first time in quite awhile that Io and Ohata have worked together. The two of them start this match and you can tell that they are both pretty excited to be working together again. Hiroyo looked really good here to as it can be easy to forget how good she can be until you see her in situations like this. AKINO was good too, showing a lot of energy rather than one of her phoned in performances. A super fun match between four women who you usually don't see in the ring together. ***1/2
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This match starts off with some slick matwork but then the intensity picks up when Konami hits a cheap highkick on Io when they are in the ropes. Obviously, this pisses Io off. Once she recovers she's firing right back while getting in her own cheapshots along the way. Io's over aggression does get the better of her which allows for Konami to get a leglock to slow Io down. The leg attacks force Io to get crafty and that ends up paying off as she catches Konami with a rollup for the win. Pretty good short match. ***1/2
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This is a #1 contenders match for the DUALSHOCK WAVE tag team title that were held at this time by Avid Rival (Misaki Ohata & Ryo Mizunami.) Iida and Yoneyama start off doing some effective work over Miyazaki's arm which she did a great job a selling throughout by working her offense around it. Ohka ringwork was great. She was in beast mode the whole match, working stiff and busting out some very nasty variations of the Bloody EX. The most impressive thing about this match is that while they worked a quick pace, they all kept their limitations in mind and rarely overextended themselves. A surprisingly great match which is easy to skip over since the only one in the match consider a top worker is Iida. Don't skip over this if you have WAVE Network. ****
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This is for the Wonder of Stardom title and also Newell's only single's match during this tour. Like Ray/Kyona, I thought this would also be a styles clash as what I had seen of Newell before this she was more about a fast pace and highspots. She seemed like a better matchup for Io or Iwatani than Hojo. I was glad I was wrong, because this turned out to be much different than what I was expecting and it was damn good too. They get to the main story of the match right away as Newell blocks an early Sliding D attempt from Hojo by kicking at her elbow. Newell then focuses on the arm in a nice Finlayesque fashion by wrenching and stomping on it. Hojo manages to counter the arm work by going after one of Newell's knees. The match then turns into a contest of who gut her way through working with a bad limb in order to hit her big moves to get the win. It was great for Hojo to put over Newell strong in the post-match although she almost spills that Newell is WWE bound. ***3/4