donsem43
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Everything posted by donsem43
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Some good stuff coming up in the next few weeks. 11/3 has JWP is running Korakuen Hall with the Kyoko Kimura vs. Arisa Nakajima rematch, (hopefully Nanae Takahashi challenging Arisa after the match.) Plus, Ice Ribbon is running the same day with Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Tsukushi for the ICE Infinity Title, while Avid Rival vs. Azure Revolution for the tag titles on the same show. Then OZ Academy is running a title match with Sonoko Kato vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto on 11/13.
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This is a really fun match for the OZ tag titles. Unlike most matches in OZ Academy, they kept the action in the ring. Shida and Syuri do an effective job in the early going of cutting the ring off on Yoneyama and working her over. Yoneyama especially looked good here, bumping and putting over her opponents offense while making fiery comebacks. Kuragaki was the same while playing the powerhouse of the team. Shida and Syuri have been a bit underwhelming as a regular team so far but they were good here with hopefully some more good matches during this title run. ***3/4 -
This is the last go around for these two as Kansai is retiring in December. I might be overrating this because of nostalgia but I don't care as this was fun to watch. They go at a slow pace but they make up for it by making every move matter. Kansai does a nice job of mixing up her strikes and matwork keeping Aja on her heels most of the match. Although, in a nice call back to their 90's feud, Aja's Uraken ends up being the great equalizer allowing her to get the win. ***1/2
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The women's tournament is a wild card in this. Who the WWE bring in for that, plus how they handle the aftermath will tell whether they have really changed in what they look for from women in-ring. It's a great chance to show off that women can do different stuff from what is shown on typical WWE TV. I had read that intergender was a big no-no with WWE, but then at the last tryout there was Heidi and Kimber Lee, who both made their name with intergender. Su Yung was there to and the only thing of note that she did in her first run in developmental was date Jerry Lawler. For Stardom recs, I'd start at the 'World of Stardom Championship History' page. That has Hojo's, Satomura's, and Io's title wins from last year. After that click on the Stardom tag under the title of this thread. That will have a bunch of matches that I've reviewed in the Match Discussion Archive but note that Stardom hasn't reupped many shows from February to May that were on the YouTube page. Also, I guess 2ch is adding Hikaru Shida, Makoto, and Hiroyo Matsumoto to the list of joshi workers talking to WWE. The first two are buddies of Asuka's so that's not a surprise. Hiroyo had a tryout in 2014 but blew out her knee not long after.
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Io is a much better fit for the WWE than people think. Her English is getting better and she's great at carrying herself as a star. At this point, Stardom is basically the women's Evolve. The number of Indie women who work both Stardom and NXT tapings close together is fairly notable.
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I caught the last two matches. Didn't care for the tag match. To OZ Academy like with all of the weapon shots and listless brawling. I want to rewatch the main before I have a firm opinion on it, but on first watch it was fine for what it was. Hashimoto was good but still looked like a rookie. Satomura also relied on using no-selling as a transition a couple of times. Plus, the finish seemed a little too matter of fact, not really putting over how significant a win this was. It was like Hashimoto's win came a little too easy considering who she beat.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOLTkNu5LJ8 This is a match that had be building for a few years since Satomura first showed up in Stardom back in 2012. The opening is great as Satomura is in full beast mode at the start. This makes Yoshiko have to muscle her way back into the match. The middle portion is a nice war with the two exchanging hard shots. Finish is nice as Meiko switches off from DVDs to a sleeper depending on what opening Yoshiko gives her. A really well worked match. ****
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This is a really good house show match between these two. There is some entertaining back and forth throughout the match as opposed to the domination that you get in Asuka's TV matches. The transitions where well done, and Ember gets a nice run of offense before going down. ***1/2
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Preview of Charlotte/Sasha HIAC:
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Hojo vs. Sasha Banks is a personal dream match but I'm not sure someone who has had two documented concussions in the last year would be able to pass a WWE medical. Fyi, i figured out how to embed videos here so if you've had trouble finding any of the matches that I've reviewed then recheck the match discussion archive because they might be there.
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If the WWE is scouting talent in China for the tournament then they are more worried about international appeal than match quality. Besides, the talent level on the US/UK indy scene is a lot better then it was 10 or even 5 years ago. I don't see the need to freeze out those women just to slightly increase the chances of having a good match. Also, it's WWE, so you know looks are going to play a part in it. I would expect them to bring in a good, young, attractive, wrestler like Mika Iida or Maya Yukihi rather than say Ryo Mizunami, who's a great worker but doesn't fit the look they want in their women.
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It's going to be interesting to see which joshi wrestlers the WWE brings in for their women's tournament. I don't expect them to bring in more than a few but it's interesting to think about when you start seeing some big names dropping titles. If you consider Asuka's connections plus Sarah Stock's past association with Stardom, (she had her last match their before going to the WWE to be a coach,) it's pretty open as to who they might bring in.
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Should the WWE shut down the Performance Center? Is it honestly more trouble than it's worth? Should the WWE adopt a licensing system similar to auto racing where you can only compete in series at a certain level with a certain license? Does tag wrestling become a pro-am deal like what sports car racing has? This was a freak accident. If the same thing happened with a "veteran" worker it would have been seen as such and everyone would have moved on.
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SEAdLINNNG's 10/16 show looks pretty interesting. The main event is Yoshiko vs. Arisa Nakajima which should be pretty good maybe even awesome. Also, Nanae Takahashi vs. Veda Scott in a TLC match that should be really interesting if nothing else.
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This is one of the matches that SEAdLINNNG has been teasing for awhile with the inexperienced Yamashita challenging the veteran Takahashi. This match was really physical like a lot of men's big heavyweight matches in Japan but the big difference is that they put over everything with selling. Yamashita showed great fire and kept fighting through to the end. Nanae continued her fantastic run this year with another terrific performance. A bit of a sleeper match that people should really checkout. ****1/4
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Match Link I was pretty hyped up for this match when it was first announced since these two are favourites of mine. This is 20 minutes of war, (well a little less since it's slightly clipped.) Just a terrific mix of hard hitting and big spots. It does go a little flat at the end since it's a draw but that doesn't detract from what went on before it. Both of these women keep adding to their phenomenal years. ****1/4
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This is a tag match where there are a few issues going on. First, Yamashita has been challenging Nanae for most of the year, while Yoshiko has been having issues with various veterans, Ayako being one of them. Add in the fact that Nanae and Ayako have been frenemies since their AJW days. The match itself is really great. It's surprising that with so many joshi groups and so many interpromotional angles being done over the years that matches like this can still get great crowd heat. Nanae and Yoshiko have become a great team. They work together so well that they are able to carry the action with a makeshift team like Ayako and Yamashita. Ayako continues her run of quality performances here. Yamashita reminds me a bit of a young Meiko Satomura. She's not a flashy but has great fire and ring presence for someone who hasn't worked for less than three years. Another quality joshi tag from this year. ****1/4
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Neck injury. Looks like they're resting her so she can avoid surgery.
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Match Link Best Friends keep their great run going by having another high quality main event. The added bonus here is that Best Friends are teasing a break up angle and they do a terrific job of working that into their matches. While she's far from Akira Hokuto, Nakajima is the best women in the world at storytelling in the ring. Nakamori is quite good here, similar to Takako Inoue in tags from '93-'95. I generally hate watching Kyoko Kimura but she kept her annoying tendencies to a minimum and worked more as a straight up hard hitter. Just a great, under the radar, MOTYC. ****1/2
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[2016-04-03-WWE-Wrestlemania XXXII] Charlotte vs Sasha Banks vs Becky Lynch
donsem43 replied to GOTNW's topic in April 2016
I think Loss has asked a couple of times what happened to 90's joshi style, well here it is in seemingly the least likely place that you would ever find it. This is a really entertaining match but it's mostly about pace and action above all else. They don't try to work in story or worthwhile selling. They do manage to maintain the pace incredibly well, even managing to cover up any sort flub fairly well. The match was as structure did a good job of covering up the weakness that inherently come with a three-way. Not an classic like these three's NXT stuff but still an entertain showcase of what they can do. ***3/4 -
Watched a few more Best Friends tags last night. The 8/14 match where they lose the tag titles to Hanako Nakamori & )Kyoko Kimura was fantastic. Great selling from Nakajima and they kept Kyoko Kimura typical bullshit to a minimum. Also, on the same day, they managed to salvage a good match with Jun Kasai & Miyako Matsumoto after it looked like Matsumoto got her bell rung early on in the match. The match where they dropped the Ice Ribbon tag titles on 9/19 to Hiragi Kurumi & Tsukushi was really good too. They did a great job a carrying the two younger workers through a big title match. As for the SEAdLINNNG show, I thought that Nakajima/Mizunami was great but that Takahashi/Yamashita was even better. Was disappointed in Aja/Yoshiko on first watch but will try and watch it again. I do wonder if Yoshiko has "topped out" in her development. She was really good so early but hasn't really gotten much better since then. I question if she can really carry the weight of being a main event regular in singles matches.
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Pretty cool interview done by the BBC on Kris Wolf. Includes short clips with Io Shirai and Shanna. Also, if your in the L.A. area on 10/7, Kairi Hojo and Yoko Bito are working on a show for Sabotage Wrestling.
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Another 5*GP match. Here, Storm is in first place while Nikita is midpack after dominating the younger girls but coming up short against the top women. This was a nice, solid match. Nikita isn't a spectacular worker, she does a reverse rana that looks pedestrian, but she executes everything well while mixing in some good heel work. Storm is her usual shelf here. Nothing that will blow you away but still very entertaining. ***1/2
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This is another match between the top two women in Stardom, the third in 17 months. To be honest, I feel that this is the best match that these two have had so far, although I haven't been that high on their other matches. The main story of the match is Hojo working over Io's back like her other opponents had in earlier matches. Io decides to fire back with some big time offense, including the infamous piledriver/powerbomb to the floor. Hojo's strategy ends up working in the end as she hits all of her big moves while targeting Io's back, finishing her off with a cross-legged crab hold for the win. ****