aguakun
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Everything posted by aguakun
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OZ Academy Openweight Championship: Hiroyo Matsumoto © vs. Hikaru Shida This was an amazing payoff to almost 2 years worth of building. Shida targets the neck of Hiroyo in a plethora of ways, knee strikes, mount elbows, shinai strikes, an apron-hung neckbreaker -- her control segment was mesmerizing; rare that she fights so aggressively. Hiroyo's comebacks were strong, and the counters were dramatic. The finishing run was brutal, a proper finish to an epic. Incredible match! ****1/2
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ULTRA U-7 Tournament - Final: Takumi Iroha vs. Yoshiko I wasn't really into this one. It starts to pick up when Iroha does a tremendous sell of Yoshiko's sleeper hold, she was foaming at the mouth, struggling to catch her breath.. but the work before it was dull. Definitely one of the weaker Yoshiko matches this year. ***
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Best Friends (Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto) vs. Avid Rival (Misaki Ohata & Ryo Mizunami) This was a 20-minute rollercoaster of double team moves and surly elbow strikes. Arisa/Ohata seems to be the end goal of this best of three series, and I dug the heat building segments between them. ****1/4 -
TLC Rules Match: Nanae Takahashi vs. The Great Sasuke This match was mostly about The Great Sasuke trying to cripple himself. He sets up traps that do not work out in his favor, time and time again. Nanae wasn't holding back, Sasuke was willing to take hideous punishment, and I thought the action generally flowed well into the high spots. This was a lot of fun. ****
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5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: Io Shirai vs. Jungle Kyona Io's injured neck is the MVP of this tournament! I'm liking the matches being built around it so far. Kyona brought her wild energy as the aggressor. Io was bumping hard, and there were nifty spots, like the tombstone counters and Io's springboard dropkick sequence. ***3/4
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5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Hana Kimura vs. Hiromi Mimura I really enjoyed Hana's control segment in this. She attacks Hiromi with the Oedo Tai sign, she makes Fuka (reluctantly) pull Hiromi's other leg around the post, and then she uses an old guy from the crowd as leverage. There's also a spot where she strangles Hiromi with her sash that looked vicious. The heel work was amazing, and she was very aggressive throughout, really laying in those strikes. Hiromi's the perfect target for bullying. ***
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Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship: Yuu © vs. Nodoka-oneesan vs. Marika Kobashi Kobashi's my least favorite joshi ever -- not a fan! But this was the best match of her career; working in a 3way hid her weaknesses well, and I was totally into the chop battle she has with Yuu. Also, YUU! Her new attire is incredible!! ***1/2
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TOKYO Princess of Princess Championship: Yuka Sakazaki © vs. Reika Saiki This is one of those matches that has a gradual build up to a fucking wild finishing run, and it makes everything that happened leading up to it worth it. Reika rolls out of the way of Yuka's Magic Splash and connects with a shining wizard to the back, followed by another before a jackhammer -- such an awesome comeback sequence, delivered with finality from Muscle Waifu! ****
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Dream Dragon Bombers (Rika Tatsumi, Maho Kurone & Shiro Koshinaka) vs. NEO Biishiki-gun (Saki-sama, Martha & Yukio Saint Laurent) This was a lot of fun. Koshinaka was the most over performer in the building. I'm liking Yukio in this doctor gimmick, he is measured and calculates his movements; silky smooth! Rika getting her big win over Saki-sama was a nice moment. ***3/4
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Miyu Yamashita vs. Meiko Satomura These two had a heated post-match when they met at DDT's big show in Saitama, so I liked how they skipped the 'feeling out process' and went right at it. Satomura was mowing down Miyu with kicks, but Miyu manages to cut Satomura off and rallies with head stomps. I really liked her aggression in that sequence, and when she locks in a cobra clutch. Satomura gave Miyu more than I expected, so kudos to that. ****
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5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: Io Shirai vs. Toni Storm Toni is the unbeatable superwoman, and Io is in a vulnerable state due to her neck injury. They play up the danger of the Strong Zero piledriver that caused the injury and it led to intense moments. Io does this counter to the piledriver that was innovative and stunning. I'd go a little higher on this, but Toni's headbutts are atrocious. She has to learn how to disguise her thigh-slapping better. ***1/4
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5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Hana Kimura vs. Mayu Iwatani Mayu has been wearing a more revealing attire lately, so this became something of a 'sexy battle', and Hana nailed it with her character work. The boob-targeting is classic Stardom. There's also an octopus hold that looked especially painful thanks to Mayu's lankiness. These two have amazing chemistry. ***
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5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: Io Shirai vs. Mandy Leon Mandy Leon has a great look, I understand her appeal, but she is not a good wrestler. Fortunately, this match was worked smart, with a layout that was easy for her to follow. There were still some bad spots when Mandy was on offense, but for the most part I thought she worked well within her limitations. Io did a swell job leading, and was putting in a tremendous effort to make her loss look credible. ***
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5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: HZK vs. Tam Nakano Tam got loads more streamers than HZK. What was meant by this? This was a fine match, it had an extra bit of heat with HZK being the bully, and the slap exchange was enjoyable. Tamu has potential and she is already over with the crowd, I'm excited to see how she'll perform in this tournament. **1/2
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KO-D Openweight Championship: Konosuke Takeshita © vs. Tetsuya Endo Neither of these guys are interesting characters, but they were working very hard to captivate the Sumo Hall crowd, trading stiff offense and taking hard bumps. It's like watching two Hirooki Goto's go at it. The match was based around mutual neck work, and I thought they did a swell job of selling the damage. The middle finger spot would have worked better for Endo, given his role in the match (working underneath). But that is only a minor complaint. Good match! ****
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It seems the story of the match was Mandy targeting Io's injured/recovering neck. She wasn't 100%. I think the idea of putting Mayu with wrestlers she has already beaten is that one of them will probably challenge for and win the White Belt.
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World of Stardom Championship: Mayu Iwatani © vs. Kagetsu Mayu and Kagetsu had a great High Speed match last year, but this was horrendous. It wasn't connecting with me, and by the end of it I stopped caring. The action was dull, the pacing felt very off, and of course they have to shoehorn a stairwell spot in every single Stardom Korakuen main event. This was no good! bad
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Artist of Stardom Championship: Team Jungle (Hiroyo Matsumoto, Jungle Kyona & Kaori Yoneyama) © vs. Queen's Quest (HZK, Io Shirai & Viper) A solid match for Io's return. I thought she looked great, and she did some new flippy stuff. Viper ends up crushing Kyona's face and causing a nosebleed, and I thought it added to the match visually. It's also nice to see HZK pick up the big win. ***
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Itoh Maki & Reika Saiki vs. Miyu Yamashita & Yuka Sakazaki This was one hell of a prelude to Reika/Yuka. Such an incredible, well-worked match by all four competitors. Miyu & Yuka were a surprisingly cohesive duo, Muscle Waifu stepped it up, and Itoh's charisma was off the charts in her fighting spirit sequence. ****1/4
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Sekigun (Alex Lee, Mayumi Ozaki & Yumi Ohka) vs. MK4 (AKINO & Sonoko Kato) & Rina Yamashita This was highly enjoyable, and easily one of my favorite OZ matches of the year so far. It's Ozaki's homecoming in Saitama and the match had an energetic vibe. Yamashita was on fire; I dug her lariat exchange with POLICE. Ohka looked really great, knocking everyone down with her deadly boots. Everyone had their moment and delivered a great main event! ****
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International Ribbon Tag Team Title #1 Contendership: Best Friends (Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto) vs. Lovely Butchers (Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi) I feel like there has been too much Lovely Butchers at the top of Ice Ribbon cards lately; they're easily my least favorite joshi at the moment. But this fucking ruled. They brought an aggressive approach to this match, answering Arisa & Tsukasa's nastiness with some of their own. There's a backdrop here from Miyagi to Arisa that looked bone-crushing, and Fujimoto executes one of the best Tsukadora's I've ever seen. The pacing is fast, and the heat just keeps building. ****1/2
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Akane Fujita vs. Maika Ozaki It's not often you see a heavyweight clash in Ice Ribbon. These two are chunkier than most of the roster, and they're capable of dishing out and taking impactful moves. Fujita displays as viciousness when she grabs Maika's hand away from the ropes while applying her new submission finisher, and the struggle looks brutal. Great match. ****
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Queen's Quest (AZM & HZK) vs. NEW-TRA (Takumi Iroha & Rin Kadokura) Takumi spams superkicks like a western indie wrestler; she rarely makes tape so I was anticipating her every move, seeing what interesting techniques she would use, and I dig this NEW-TRA team. Kadokura is getting out of her rookie phase, and showed off some new moves in her new attire. I thought Queen's Quest did great as well; AZM gave a strong effort. Very solid tag match. ***1/4
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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. ****
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NEO Biishiki-gun (Saki-Sama & Martha) vs. Aasa Maika & Riho I was excited when this was announced, but with it taking place at a Beer Garden show I was worried there would be too much comedy, or even drinking, and luckily none of that was here. Just a straight up wrestling match. Aasa takes a good beating and Paradise Lock (!!); she is just a wonderful FIP. Riho was the workhorse, and brought this match to the next level with her high-flying offense and set-ups. Biishiki-gun were compelling characters as always. Great match. ****