[2023-05-23-Hana Kimura Memorial Produce-Pinx!] Aja Kong & Sareee vs Mika Iwata & Mio Momono

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From the opening lockup, the energy between Sareee and Momono is unparalleled. The match quickly turns into a brawl, with Momono having the audacity to charge after Kong and getting thrown face-first into the barricade for her efforts. Back in the ring, Momono frantically tries to pin Sareee as if her life depends on it.

There’s nothing quite like wrestlers getting chippy with each other, and this match has it in spades. Sareee & Kong are fueled by hatred. Momono is the consummate plucky underdog, whereas the usually cool, calm, and collected Iwata is up against two bitter adversaries and has to adjust her usual strategy. Kong draws Momono’s ire by going to her corner and kicking the life out of Iwata. Momono sneaks in a cheeky dropkick, only angering her opponents further.

Momono gets the hot tag and tries to get fancy with her high-speed techniques, with Kong countering with a mere slap. Sareee comes in and attempts a dive to the outside, but Iwata sidesteps it, allowing Momono to land one of her own. Back inside, Sareee hits a dropkick with Momono hung up on the ropes, and Mio’s body folds. Often in matches, German Suplex exchanges can feel like the wrestlers in question checking things off a big match checklist. With Sareee and Momono, however, they felt defiant. Momono knew she faced two unstoppable forces, but she couldn’t let Iwata, and perhaps more importantly, the crowd, down.

The Iwata and Sareee sequences that followed weren’t nearly as strong, but they still had plenty of the trademark pettiness that both bring to the table. Momono desperately clung to Kong’s body to keep her from breaking up a pin and predictably got bounced off. She finally landed a German Suplex on Kong, and it felt momentous, but it was sadly all for naught as Iwata would eat an Uraken in short order.

Reviewers often discuss how legends “aren’t what they used to be.” In some ways, that’s true. However, Kong remains a force to be reckoned with and one of wrestling’s great mountains to overcome despite her limited mobility of late. This match succeeds on the strengths of quite possibly the best wrestler in the world in Momono. She’s lovable, fiery, and everything a babyface should be. It just so happens that she had three strong dance partners.