[2001-03-04-Jd'] Drake Morimatsu vs Megumi Yabushita

[Jetlag]

DRAKE MF MORIMATSU!!! I'm starting to think JD is indeed the next lost great joshi fed. This was a super fun title match between two workers with great movesets, who mesh really well. Morimatsu is this butch powerhouse who is not afraid to have a go at Yabushita on the mat. The powerhouse vs. grappler style contrast worked really well. Great opening exchange in this match, and they fought like mad on the mat, stubbornly going for arm attacks. Keep in mind I didn't say the submission work here was pretty. I really liked how Morimatsu, when she couldn't get the advantage, resorted to punching Yabushita in the face and then roughing her up good by again attacking her face and finally cracking her with chairs and lariats. Both of them sold the ongoing wear and tear nicely and mixed it up well with some innovative moves and counters. Finishing run had good bomb throwing and drama, altough some people may be annoyed by Yabushita making a few easy comebacks. Still, she's a slick technico (technica?) and I still love her flash submissions. Still thought this was Morimatsu's match, altough that's not a knock on Yabushita.

[soup23]

I didn’t like this as much and thought Morimatsu was too heavy on the sloppy vs violent spectrum with her overall strikes and positioning. She misses a good punch by a country mile on the outside that Yabushita sells anyway. Finish was too much bombs without the drama. This started promising with the arm grappling but fizzled pretty heavily afterwards.