[2016-06-16-Stardom] Yoko Bito vs Kairi Hojo

[donsem43]

This is Bito's return match after a 4 year absence. It was surprising to see just how competitive Bito was right from the start. She gets the early advantage on Hojo, staying threatening till the end. She did seem to run low on gas towards the end but the match layout covers for it by keeping the match moderately paced with high-impact strikes. Overall, a surprising strong return match and it will be interesting to see how Bito continues to develop during her return. ***1/2

[Makai Club #1]

Yoko Bito makes her return after four years off. Unfortunately she'd only last another year before retiring once more but Bito, for me, was one of my favourite wrestlers of the period. She isn't blessed with charisma like Kairi Hojo is but she has a great kick heavy style and is one of the more rootable wrestlers in Joshi. And she looked good here. The rust got to her eventually but Kairi took over by that point and it wasn't a huge problem either. Bito had some awesome kicks that landed flush on its target, whether Bito was throwing flat kicks to the chest or hard head kicks, they looked great. Kairi eventually figured out a way to counter them, finding Bito’s rhythm before throwing back fists, which in turn led to some exciting counter sequences. The closing elbow drops were brutal with Kairi landing on her ribs onto Bito and not elbow first. That's pure bone on bone and she did it twice. ***1/2