[2004-09-23-Jd'] Mariko Yoshida & AKINO vs Command Bolshoi & Megumi Yabushita

[Jetlag]

There was no way the Yoshida vs. Bolshoi matchup would live up to my expectations. I was a little underwhelmed by Yoshida here. She had some fun exchanges vs. tiny Bolshoi on the mat here and punched Yabushita in the face at one point, but that was about it. Also, here was an annoying clip in the middle of he match. The Yoshida team was carried by Akino, who looked pretty good. Yabushita is a judo girl with legit ability, so all her flying armbars and fighting on he ground looks really good, as she actually looks like she is constantly pulling her opponent into a submission to beat them, rather than doing a pretty spot. She looks more Brock Lesnar than Minoru Tanaka and if Ronda Rousey ever gets into wrestling I imagine this is how she would work ideally. Akino was good but I hated her no selling Bolshoi's top rope Uranage, altough I've learned to give these girls one stupid spot off. Same with Bolshoi's shitty 619. The fancy rollup and flying submissions all looked good, Bolshoi is crazy fast, like twice prime Misterio speed, there were a few moments where they countered eachothers counters, which gave the match a hard fought feeling. The Akino vs. Yabushita finish run was really good with Akino catching her in surprise Fujiwara armbars and Yabushita avoiding Akino's kicks and throws. Also, these girls like to go for the Liger running palm strike, but while the move connects and makes a sound, I think it doesn't look visually impressive because they are physically so tiny. Match ended when it should. Very fun bout.

[ohtani's jacket]

There was one brief exchange that gave a glimpse of the incredible potential of a Yoshida vs. Bolshoi match, but this was more of a standard Joshi tag match than a mat clinic. Akino vs Yabushita was pretty cool.