Post by Joe on Sept 21, 2024 16:03:47 GMT -5
SUPER JOSHI PRO-WRESTLING - "SUPER BOOM!"
September 21 - Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Overview:
The joshi boom of the mid-90s has come and gone. Gone even longer are the gold years of AJW, when crowds of school girls screeched and cheered for the likes of the Crush Gals and Jumping Bomb Angels. Those were good times, to be sure, but injuries, egos, and bad financial decisions have left women's wrestling in Japan in a poor state of affairs.
A new collective has come together to try to right the ship and save the business, and it is calling itself Super Joshi Pro-Wrestling. Looking over the roster, it is clear what they are trying to do here: make new stars and retrain the audience. Which, judging by this card, they certainly have managed to compile many of the top young prospects left in the wake of AJW's demise, while also almost inexplicably having Devil Masami hanging around. I guess she sends some credibility to the product, but we will have to see how this hold over from the 80s does in this landscape.
They booked the Korakuen for this, which seats around 2,000, but judging by what I can make out of the crowd, I don't think they were breaking any attendance records here. Even with a star like Megumi Kudo and a solid hand with a decent sized name like Takako Inoue in the main event, they weren't going to sell out without putting this in an EXPLODING BARBED WIRE CAGE, and thank God they didn't. This is hopefully going to be a nice new chapter for Kudo, as I hope she can get away from the garbage gimmicks and rise to the standards of some of the others who were in the class of 1986 under Jaguar Yokota.
We have a six match show here, which features some younger talent and talent really hitting their prime, and also, as I mentioned, Devil Masami, but also a few geijin names. We've got three girls fresh off the boat from Southern California participating in these tournaments to crown the IWWA World Champions. Each of these girls have a pretty good reputation overseas, but we will see how that translates here. The IWWA is the supposed governing body for these titles, though it seems like a cheap rip off of the WWWA titles used by AJW. We saw Chigusa pull similar shenanigans in GAEA with the AAAW belts, so it goes to show there is no shame in joshi.
Let's see if "SUPER BOOM!" Lives up to its name, or if it is just another sad groan from a dying scene.
Etsuko Mita & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Kyoko Kimura & Tomoka Nakagawa
{ Mita and Yamada started off their careers teaming together as Dream Orca, but had some of their best matches during the joshi boom opposite each other in much more notable teams. Now it seems they are back together after all of these years and trying to win some gold, apparently. Kayoko Kimura and Tomoka Nakagawa have been teaming together for a while with some sort of Jamaican gimmick, and they are a couple of baddies. Mita might need to dust off her old steel chair gimmick from the LCO days to keep these two in line. Mita and Yamada are wearing black and gold, while Kimura and Nakagawa are sporting their green, black, and yellow gimmick attire. Kayoko is rocking a giant afro and carries a chain around, so you know she is over. }
Yamada is a kick demon and she does kick demon things early to punish Nakagawa, who sells like death. Kimura grabs Yamada when she makes the mistake of getting too close to their corner, and Nakagawa lays into her with kicks of her own. Tomoka and Kimura tag in and out, getting heat on Yamada. Kyoko chokes her with the chain against the ropes as Nakagawa steps are her head and poses for the cameras in the audience. How considerate. Mita looks pissed watching her opponents doing to her partner what her and Mima Shimoda used to do back in the old days. Grab a chair, Mita, get this thing going! Yamada finally gets the hot tag to Mita, and she isn't messing around. She goes super bitch, and just slaps the hell out of both of her opponents, which Nakagawa goes flying comedically far off the apron. Kyoko tries to act tough, but Mita makes her eat a kick to the mouth and a German Suplex for a two count. Tag back to Yamada and a spike piledriver for a two count. Nakagawa has a STEEL CHAIR, and that's a mistake. Mita catches it and kicks her, and then smashes her with it! Yes! Tag back to Mita from Yamada, and Mita off the top with a steel chair blow to Kimura! Yamada goes and flies through the ropes, but almost misses Nakagawa, who has to move at the last second to catch her as she was apparently not in position. Mita invented the Death Valley Bomb, and she gave Kimura a lesson in its delivery as she gets the three count for her team! Dream Orca, or whatever they call themselves now, get their first win since 1990!
Winners: Etsuko Mita & Toshiyo Yamada
Mita and Yamada make a much better team now as veterans. Kyoko and Tomoka have their place, even though they are a bit sloppy right now; they are fun, but never really seemed like they could go over.
Chikayo Nagashima vs. Devil Masami
{ Chikayo Nagashima is still fairly young, and appeals well to the crowd with her youthful, fiery energy. She looks downright small though next to the veteran Masami, who comes out looking like a flamboyant Undertaker with a big dark purple duster with straps on it. Chikayo is looking like a canarie in all yellow, while Devil is sporting all black with pantyhose, almost like a big, scary dominatrix who's ready to do her worst. }
Chikayo starts off fast with some sloppy back fists, landing a spinning one to the chest of Masami that nearly makes the older star bust out laughing. Chikayo attempts a whip and Masami is all like, HELL NO, and then she flattens her young yellow for with a Lariat. Devil is in full "Rookie Killer" mode, and is just playing with her food for a few minutes of this, allowing Chikayo a little hope as she tries to take down with Devil with dropkicks, but nah. That's not happening. Big straight kicks and lariats from the legend. NASTY Powerbomb! Devil isn't done, though, as she is having too much fun. Chikayo doesn't look like she is still present in this timeline, barely able to be hoisted as Devil hits another unnecessary Powerbomb that folds her like a lawn chair. Double knees on the chest for even more humiliating effect, and Masami is moving on in this tournament looking like a juggernaut.
Winner: Devil Masami
Pretty brutal. Not a great match, and should've been shorter. Chikayo is helped by her seconds on the outside to the back as Masami celebrates and works the crowd. No selling and no fucks given by Devil as she baptized Chikayo in fire tonight.
Mercedes Martinez vs. Yoshiko Tamura
{ Martinez has a pretty good look and decent size, but she is out of her depth here against Tamura-chan. Tamura looks like a complete boss bitch, wearing sunglasses and a dark blue and black robe, and just screams "STAR" with everything she does. Martinez is wearing red and black, while Tamura is rocking an elaborate black leather and dark blue get up with chrome accessories. }
Martinez wants to over power Tamura early, but Yoshiko takes her down and stretches her mercilessly for a while. Tamura is having fun, yelling at Martinez in English to GIVE UP! Martinez doesn't listen. Martinez manages to hit a Back Suplex reversal, followed by a Spear for a two count, and gets caught in an Armbar on the mat before she can even get back to her feet from the cover. Rope break gets a polite applause, as Tamura mocks Martinez and asks the crowd if she should punish her more. Ace Crusher from Tamura for a two count. Sloppy forearms to the chest from Martinez leads to a whip and then a Powerslam for a short two. Martinez poses for the crowd, trying to show fire, and then looks for a DDT, but Tamura reverses it and hits a Northern Lights Suplex for a two. Roll and then Tamura with a Double Wrist Clutch Suplex for a near fall. Martinez tries to fight back with those slow, unimpactful forearms and goes for another Spear, but Tamura catches with a knee to the jaw. Cut throat taunt from Tamura, and she plows her with a Full Nelson Slam to end this thing. Tamura moves on.
Winner: Yoshiko Tamura
There was never any doubt Tamura was going over. Martinez is still pretty green, but has some charisma. She needs to tighten up if she ever wants to compete at a higher level, as her offense looked about half speed and dull tonight.
Toshie Uematsu & Ran Yu-Yu vs. Melissa Anderson & Sara Del Rey
{ Uematsu and Ran Yu-Yu are an exciting couple of pros who are just getting into their prime. Melissa Anderson (formerly Cheerleader Melissa) and Sara Del Rey both have good size and don't seem out of place here. Uematsu and Yu-Yu are both in blue, while Melissa is wearing purple and white and Del Rey is wearing white and orange. }
It was the geijin here that were working as heels against their smaller native foes, and they did pretty well getting the crowd against them. Double teams on Yu-Yu and the old Midnight Express blind tags got them heat. Uematsu would get in and test their conditioning, as she is an absolute work rate machine, and that's when the cracks started to show and things got a bit sloppy for the Americans. The promoters must have saw something in these two they liked, though, as after a wild sequence that saw all women involved in the ring doing double teams and saves, Del Rey managed to use a roll-up on Yu-Yu to get the win! Anderson and Del Rey advance.
Winners: Melissa Anderson & Sara Del Rey
The Americans have some work to do, but they showed they were pretty competent. They started to get sloppy and things looked a bit rough once the pace picked up, especially near the end as it got chaotic. Uematsu and Yu-Yu did their best to sell for the bigger girls and make them look strong, but ultimately Uematsu made them look bad by picking up the pace too much and losing them during certain sequences. We will see how they do against Mita and Yamada in the next round, as they won't have the size advantage against Mita, for sure.
Mariko Yoshida vs. Meiko Satomura
{ Meiko Satomura is a younger star who was trained by Chigusa Nagayo and idolized her. She was a star GAEA pupil who is coming into her own, but it'll be interesting to see how she deals with an absolute star in Mariko Yoshida, who has earned her nickname "The Spider" for how she wraps up her opponents and smothers them with both technique and pace. Yoshida was a star in AJW who had to change her style due to injuries and really came into her own after the downfall of the promotion and the scene in general. Satomura is sporting her signature red attire, while Yoshida is wearing the coolest outfit ever with a giant spider on the front and web designs down the legs with red detailing. }
Satomura tries to use her striking prowess early, but "The Spider" catches her and we have a war for position in the bottom. Yoshida is looking for the finish at every turn, attempting a Rear Naked Choke and Cross Armbar, but Satomura manages to stay alive and lock her into a Calf Slicer to gain an advantage. Satomura shows her strength with a BIG Deadlift Powerbomb folded for a two. Series of STIFF kicks followed by a German Suplex gets Satomura a two. Satomura is working the crowd as Yoshida is stunned, as they are starting to believe she might be able to do this. Satomura sends Yoshida into the ropes and runs in, but Yoshida with the fast reversal into a HANGING TRIANGLE! Ref breaks it up, and Satomura is coughing, hanging through the ropes. Yoshida runs on the apron and tries to decapitate her with a Punt to the side of the head! Back in the ring, Yoshida goes for the move she invented, the Air Raid Crash, but Satomura escapes. Meiko tries for the Death Valley Bomb, but Yoshida elbows out and delivers a Pumphandle Regal Plex for a two! Mariko does a throat slash and calls for the end, trying for the Air Raid Crash again, but Satomura escapes and tries for a Dragon Suplex, but Yoshida slips out. Fumbling around, and Satomura ends up on top with a pin attempt for a two. Back and forth kicks, followed by a BRUTAL Aja Kong inspired Spinning Back Fist from Yoshida. Satomura kicks out of a pin attempt and Yoshida wraps her up in her deadly Spider Twist, but Satomura gets the ropes! Yoshida lifts her but SMALL PACKAGE! 2.9999! AXE KICK FROM SATOMURA! Yoshida is stunned. Death Valley Bomb! ONLY A TWO! Satomura is heartbroken! She pleads with the refund, as she is running out of gas and big moves. Satomura lifts her for another Death Valley Bomb, but Yoshida slips off and hits a Sleeper Suplex! Satomura is on all fours, questioning where she is at in a daze, and Yoshida lifts her. Boom goes the dynamite, AIR RAID CRASH! It is over. Yoshida wins.
Winner: Mariko Yoshida
Satomura played the scrappy underdog well, and she had the people believing she might win it for a moment. Yoshida looked like a beast here, and is just so fast and crisp. Satomura showed heart, but still needs to work on getting a bit crisper if she ever wants to be on the level of "The Spider", but this showed promise.
Megumi Kudo vs. Takako Inoue
{ "The Hardcore Queen" Megumi Kudo is a legend for her garbage wrestling resume, but she has great in ring skills to match it. She looks to put that side of her forward here, I'd imagine. Takako Inoue is the devil with a pretty face, and she makes for an interesting match for Kudo. Takako loves to punish her opponents and demoralize then, but can she break the seemingly unbreakable Kudo? Kudo is in her classic white and pink long tights get up, while Takako is sporting steel blue and silver with light chrome broken hearts decorating the top. }
Stare down with Takako looking like a real bitch here, slapping the stoic Kudo right in the face. That lights a fire in the pink clad warrior, who unloads with a flurry of crisp and stiff forearms to back her up. Take notice, Mercedes, that's how you do it. We get some fast paced back and forth before Takako powders. Pescaso from Kudo to Inoue on the outside gives them both a breather on the floor after that sprint in the ring. Whip into the crowd by Kudo, and Takako wipes out some chairs. Inexplicable walking around the ringside area with Kudo holding Takako by the head and Takako getting lead around like a Golden Retriever to get beat up various places. Takako flings a chair that catches Kudo in the face and she hits a Suplex on the floor. Ouchy. Takako chokeslams Kudo on the floor and steps on her chest, taunting the crowd and then stomps Kudo to add insult before heading back to the ring to pose some more.
Kudo fights her way back to her feet and rolls back in to take more punishment. Holds on the mat. Half crab, STF, into a surf board. Kudo is struggling and screaming out, but still manages to get a foot on the ropes. Takako stretches her face, clawing both sides against the ropes and screams out like a maniac! The red steps in to break it up. Takako shoves the ref off and threatens him like a crazy bitch with murder in her eyes as Kudo rolls to the outside in pain.
Takako follows her out and stalks Kudo as she crawls on the floor. Takako rushes and stomps her and then flings her into the railing before standing on top of her body, posing. Into the post for Kudo, and she acting all dead and stuff, and is selling the fact that maybe Takako could break her. Back in the ring, Takako off the middle rope with an Elbow drop, and it's a two count. Inoue tries for another Chokeslams, but down into a Fujiwara Armbar! Inoue gets close to the ropes and Kudo just gives up the hold, yanking her up and kicking the dog crap out of her before flinging her off the ropes. Dropkicks galore! Springboard twisting Crossbody for a two!
Kudo grabs her and delivers a Release Dragon Suplex, and gets another two! Punches in bunches on the ground. Up top goes Kudo, but Takako runs and hits the ropes and wobbles her. Takako scales the ropes and goozles her, pulling her down with a Super Chokeslam and they are both down! Takako covers, but took too long and it's a two count. Takako lifts her for another Chokeslams, but Kudo twists and rolls her up for a two. Takako swings wildly, Kudo with the obvious duck and hook and she tries for another Dragon Suplex, but Takako escapes and hits a Saito Suplex! Takako lifts Kudo for a Powerbomb, but Kudo reverses with a High Speed Sunset Flip for a two count! Both women stumble up and Takako goes for the throat again, but Kudo reverses and back slides her, and rolls her through. She does a BRUTAL straight stomp to the back of her head that bounces Inoue's face off the mat and then lifts her up... KUDO DRIVER (VERTEBREAKER)! Kudo sells for a moment, but manages to hook the near leg and this one is in the bag. Kudo advances.
Winner: Megumi Kudo
This was an above average display from these women. There was some nonsense in the middle with the stupid walking around the outside to just knock over chairs for no real reason, but they found their stride later and told a pretty good story. Kudo is a great baby face, and Takako showed she can hang at the highest level and be a damn fun heel.
Final Thoughts:
We have Masami, Tamura, Yoshida, and Kudo moving on in the tournament. A monster heel, a cocky "cool" heel, a bad ass face, and a white meat face. Makes sense. It is pretty obvious who is going over on the tag team side, as there is no way Mita and Yamada are going to let the green ass newbie geijins go over. We will see if Anderson and Del Rey can keep their shit together against the former Dream Orca, as Mita and Yamada are liable to make it a long night for them if they can't rise to the occasion. That might actually be more fun to watch...
A good couple of matches at the end saved this card. I feel like bigger BOOM is yet to come from this group down the road.
September 21 - Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Overview:
The joshi boom of the mid-90s has come and gone. Gone even longer are the gold years of AJW, when crowds of school girls screeched and cheered for the likes of the Crush Gals and Jumping Bomb Angels. Those were good times, to be sure, but injuries, egos, and bad financial decisions have left women's wrestling in Japan in a poor state of affairs.
A new collective has come together to try to right the ship and save the business, and it is calling itself Super Joshi Pro-Wrestling. Looking over the roster, it is clear what they are trying to do here: make new stars and retrain the audience. Which, judging by this card, they certainly have managed to compile many of the top young prospects left in the wake of AJW's demise, while also almost inexplicably having Devil Masami hanging around. I guess she sends some credibility to the product, but we will have to see how this hold over from the 80s does in this landscape.
They booked the Korakuen for this, which seats around 2,000, but judging by what I can make out of the crowd, I don't think they were breaking any attendance records here. Even with a star like Megumi Kudo and a solid hand with a decent sized name like Takako Inoue in the main event, they weren't going to sell out without putting this in an EXPLODING BARBED WIRE CAGE, and thank God they didn't. This is hopefully going to be a nice new chapter for Kudo, as I hope she can get away from the garbage gimmicks and rise to the standards of some of the others who were in the class of 1986 under Jaguar Yokota.
We have a six match show here, which features some younger talent and talent really hitting their prime, and also, as I mentioned, Devil Masami, but also a few geijin names. We've got three girls fresh off the boat from Southern California participating in these tournaments to crown the IWWA World Champions. Each of these girls have a pretty good reputation overseas, but we will see how that translates here. The IWWA is the supposed governing body for these titles, though it seems like a cheap rip off of the WWWA titles used by AJW. We saw Chigusa pull similar shenanigans in GAEA with the AAAW belts, so it goes to show there is no shame in joshi.
Let's see if "SUPER BOOM!" Lives up to its name, or if it is just another sad groan from a dying scene.
Etsuko Mita & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Kyoko Kimura & Tomoka Nakagawa
{ Mita and Yamada started off their careers teaming together as Dream Orca, but had some of their best matches during the joshi boom opposite each other in much more notable teams. Now it seems they are back together after all of these years and trying to win some gold, apparently. Kayoko Kimura and Tomoka Nakagawa have been teaming together for a while with some sort of Jamaican gimmick, and they are a couple of baddies. Mita might need to dust off her old steel chair gimmick from the LCO days to keep these two in line. Mita and Yamada are wearing black and gold, while Kimura and Nakagawa are sporting their green, black, and yellow gimmick attire. Kayoko is rocking a giant afro and carries a chain around, so you know she is over. }
Yamada is a kick demon and she does kick demon things early to punish Nakagawa, who sells like death. Kimura grabs Yamada when she makes the mistake of getting too close to their corner, and Nakagawa lays into her with kicks of her own. Tomoka and Kimura tag in and out, getting heat on Yamada. Kyoko chokes her with the chain against the ropes as Nakagawa steps are her head and poses for the cameras in the audience. How considerate. Mita looks pissed watching her opponents doing to her partner what her and Mima Shimoda used to do back in the old days. Grab a chair, Mita, get this thing going! Yamada finally gets the hot tag to Mita, and she isn't messing around. She goes super bitch, and just slaps the hell out of both of her opponents, which Nakagawa goes flying comedically far off the apron. Kyoko tries to act tough, but Mita makes her eat a kick to the mouth and a German Suplex for a two count. Tag back to Yamada and a spike piledriver for a two count. Nakagawa has a STEEL CHAIR, and that's a mistake. Mita catches it and kicks her, and then smashes her with it! Yes! Tag back to Mita from Yamada, and Mita off the top with a steel chair blow to Kimura! Yamada goes and flies through the ropes, but almost misses Nakagawa, who has to move at the last second to catch her as she was apparently not in position. Mita invented the Death Valley Bomb, and she gave Kimura a lesson in its delivery as she gets the three count for her team! Dream Orca, or whatever they call themselves now, get their first win since 1990!
Winners: Etsuko Mita & Toshiyo Yamada
Mita and Yamada make a much better team now as veterans. Kyoko and Tomoka have their place, even though they are a bit sloppy right now; they are fun, but never really seemed like they could go over.
Chikayo Nagashima vs. Devil Masami
{ Chikayo Nagashima is still fairly young, and appeals well to the crowd with her youthful, fiery energy. She looks downright small though next to the veteran Masami, who comes out looking like a flamboyant Undertaker with a big dark purple duster with straps on it. Chikayo is looking like a canarie in all yellow, while Devil is sporting all black with pantyhose, almost like a big, scary dominatrix who's ready to do her worst. }
Chikayo starts off fast with some sloppy back fists, landing a spinning one to the chest of Masami that nearly makes the older star bust out laughing. Chikayo attempts a whip and Masami is all like, HELL NO, and then she flattens her young yellow for with a Lariat. Devil is in full "Rookie Killer" mode, and is just playing with her food for a few minutes of this, allowing Chikayo a little hope as she tries to take down with Devil with dropkicks, but nah. That's not happening. Big straight kicks and lariats from the legend. NASTY Powerbomb! Devil isn't done, though, as she is having too much fun. Chikayo doesn't look like she is still present in this timeline, barely able to be hoisted as Devil hits another unnecessary Powerbomb that folds her like a lawn chair. Double knees on the chest for even more humiliating effect, and Masami is moving on in this tournament looking like a juggernaut.
Winner: Devil Masami
Pretty brutal. Not a great match, and should've been shorter. Chikayo is helped by her seconds on the outside to the back as Masami celebrates and works the crowd. No selling and no fucks given by Devil as she baptized Chikayo in fire tonight.
Mercedes Martinez vs. Yoshiko Tamura
{ Martinez has a pretty good look and decent size, but she is out of her depth here against Tamura-chan. Tamura looks like a complete boss bitch, wearing sunglasses and a dark blue and black robe, and just screams "STAR" with everything she does. Martinez is wearing red and black, while Tamura is rocking an elaborate black leather and dark blue get up with chrome accessories. }
Martinez wants to over power Tamura early, but Yoshiko takes her down and stretches her mercilessly for a while. Tamura is having fun, yelling at Martinez in English to GIVE UP! Martinez doesn't listen. Martinez manages to hit a Back Suplex reversal, followed by a Spear for a two count, and gets caught in an Armbar on the mat before she can even get back to her feet from the cover. Rope break gets a polite applause, as Tamura mocks Martinez and asks the crowd if she should punish her more. Ace Crusher from Tamura for a two count. Sloppy forearms to the chest from Martinez leads to a whip and then a Powerslam for a short two. Martinez poses for the crowd, trying to show fire, and then looks for a DDT, but Tamura reverses it and hits a Northern Lights Suplex for a two. Roll and then Tamura with a Double Wrist Clutch Suplex for a near fall. Martinez tries to fight back with those slow, unimpactful forearms and goes for another Spear, but Tamura catches with a knee to the jaw. Cut throat taunt from Tamura, and she plows her with a Full Nelson Slam to end this thing. Tamura moves on.
Winner: Yoshiko Tamura
There was never any doubt Tamura was going over. Martinez is still pretty green, but has some charisma. She needs to tighten up if she ever wants to compete at a higher level, as her offense looked about half speed and dull tonight.
Toshie Uematsu & Ran Yu-Yu vs. Melissa Anderson & Sara Del Rey
{ Uematsu and Ran Yu-Yu are an exciting couple of pros who are just getting into their prime. Melissa Anderson (formerly Cheerleader Melissa) and Sara Del Rey both have good size and don't seem out of place here. Uematsu and Yu-Yu are both in blue, while Melissa is wearing purple and white and Del Rey is wearing white and orange. }
It was the geijin here that were working as heels against their smaller native foes, and they did pretty well getting the crowd against them. Double teams on Yu-Yu and the old Midnight Express blind tags got them heat. Uematsu would get in and test their conditioning, as she is an absolute work rate machine, and that's when the cracks started to show and things got a bit sloppy for the Americans. The promoters must have saw something in these two they liked, though, as after a wild sequence that saw all women involved in the ring doing double teams and saves, Del Rey managed to use a roll-up on Yu-Yu to get the win! Anderson and Del Rey advance.
Winners: Melissa Anderson & Sara Del Rey
The Americans have some work to do, but they showed they were pretty competent. They started to get sloppy and things looked a bit rough once the pace picked up, especially near the end as it got chaotic. Uematsu and Yu-Yu did their best to sell for the bigger girls and make them look strong, but ultimately Uematsu made them look bad by picking up the pace too much and losing them during certain sequences. We will see how they do against Mita and Yamada in the next round, as they won't have the size advantage against Mita, for sure.
Mariko Yoshida vs. Meiko Satomura
{ Meiko Satomura is a younger star who was trained by Chigusa Nagayo and idolized her. She was a star GAEA pupil who is coming into her own, but it'll be interesting to see how she deals with an absolute star in Mariko Yoshida, who has earned her nickname "The Spider" for how she wraps up her opponents and smothers them with both technique and pace. Yoshida was a star in AJW who had to change her style due to injuries and really came into her own after the downfall of the promotion and the scene in general. Satomura is sporting her signature red attire, while Yoshida is wearing the coolest outfit ever with a giant spider on the front and web designs down the legs with red detailing. }
Satomura tries to use her striking prowess early, but "The Spider" catches her and we have a war for position in the bottom. Yoshida is looking for the finish at every turn, attempting a Rear Naked Choke and Cross Armbar, but Satomura manages to stay alive and lock her into a Calf Slicer to gain an advantage. Satomura shows her strength with a BIG Deadlift Powerbomb folded for a two. Series of STIFF kicks followed by a German Suplex gets Satomura a two. Satomura is working the crowd as Yoshida is stunned, as they are starting to believe she might be able to do this. Satomura sends Yoshida into the ropes and runs in, but Yoshida with the fast reversal into a HANGING TRIANGLE! Ref breaks it up, and Satomura is coughing, hanging through the ropes. Yoshida runs on the apron and tries to decapitate her with a Punt to the side of the head! Back in the ring, Yoshida goes for the move she invented, the Air Raid Crash, but Satomura escapes. Meiko tries for the Death Valley Bomb, but Yoshida elbows out and delivers a Pumphandle Regal Plex for a two! Mariko does a throat slash and calls for the end, trying for the Air Raid Crash again, but Satomura escapes and tries for a Dragon Suplex, but Yoshida slips out. Fumbling around, and Satomura ends up on top with a pin attempt for a two. Back and forth kicks, followed by a BRUTAL Aja Kong inspired Spinning Back Fist from Yoshida. Satomura kicks out of a pin attempt and Yoshida wraps her up in her deadly Spider Twist, but Satomura gets the ropes! Yoshida lifts her but SMALL PACKAGE! 2.9999! AXE KICK FROM SATOMURA! Yoshida is stunned. Death Valley Bomb! ONLY A TWO! Satomura is heartbroken! She pleads with the refund, as she is running out of gas and big moves. Satomura lifts her for another Death Valley Bomb, but Yoshida slips off and hits a Sleeper Suplex! Satomura is on all fours, questioning where she is at in a daze, and Yoshida lifts her. Boom goes the dynamite, AIR RAID CRASH! It is over. Yoshida wins.
Winner: Mariko Yoshida
Satomura played the scrappy underdog well, and she had the people believing she might win it for a moment. Yoshida looked like a beast here, and is just so fast and crisp. Satomura showed heart, but still needs to work on getting a bit crisper if she ever wants to be on the level of "The Spider", but this showed promise.
Megumi Kudo vs. Takako Inoue
{ "The Hardcore Queen" Megumi Kudo is a legend for her garbage wrestling resume, but she has great in ring skills to match it. She looks to put that side of her forward here, I'd imagine. Takako Inoue is the devil with a pretty face, and she makes for an interesting match for Kudo. Takako loves to punish her opponents and demoralize then, but can she break the seemingly unbreakable Kudo? Kudo is in her classic white and pink long tights get up, while Takako is sporting steel blue and silver with light chrome broken hearts decorating the top. }
Stare down with Takako looking like a real bitch here, slapping the stoic Kudo right in the face. That lights a fire in the pink clad warrior, who unloads with a flurry of crisp and stiff forearms to back her up. Take notice, Mercedes, that's how you do it. We get some fast paced back and forth before Takako powders. Pescaso from Kudo to Inoue on the outside gives them both a breather on the floor after that sprint in the ring. Whip into the crowd by Kudo, and Takako wipes out some chairs. Inexplicable walking around the ringside area with Kudo holding Takako by the head and Takako getting lead around like a Golden Retriever to get beat up various places. Takako flings a chair that catches Kudo in the face and she hits a Suplex on the floor. Ouchy. Takako chokeslams Kudo on the floor and steps on her chest, taunting the crowd and then stomps Kudo to add insult before heading back to the ring to pose some more.
Kudo fights her way back to her feet and rolls back in to take more punishment. Holds on the mat. Half crab, STF, into a surf board. Kudo is struggling and screaming out, but still manages to get a foot on the ropes. Takako stretches her face, clawing both sides against the ropes and screams out like a maniac! The red steps in to break it up. Takako shoves the ref off and threatens him like a crazy bitch with murder in her eyes as Kudo rolls to the outside in pain.
Takako follows her out and stalks Kudo as she crawls on the floor. Takako rushes and stomps her and then flings her into the railing before standing on top of her body, posing. Into the post for Kudo, and she acting all dead and stuff, and is selling the fact that maybe Takako could break her. Back in the ring, Takako off the middle rope with an Elbow drop, and it's a two count. Inoue tries for another Chokeslams, but down into a Fujiwara Armbar! Inoue gets close to the ropes and Kudo just gives up the hold, yanking her up and kicking the dog crap out of her before flinging her off the ropes. Dropkicks galore! Springboard twisting Crossbody for a two!
Kudo grabs her and delivers a Release Dragon Suplex, and gets another two! Punches in bunches on the ground. Up top goes Kudo, but Takako runs and hits the ropes and wobbles her. Takako scales the ropes and goozles her, pulling her down with a Super Chokeslam and they are both down! Takako covers, but took too long and it's a two count. Takako lifts her for another Chokeslams, but Kudo twists and rolls her up for a two. Takako swings wildly, Kudo with the obvious duck and hook and she tries for another Dragon Suplex, but Takako escapes and hits a Saito Suplex! Takako lifts Kudo for a Powerbomb, but Kudo reverses with a High Speed Sunset Flip for a two count! Both women stumble up and Takako goes for the throat again, but Kudo reverses and back slides her, and rolls her through. She does a BRUTAL straight stomp to the back of her head that bounces Inoue's face off the mat and then lifts her up... KUDO DRIVER (VERTEBREAKER)! Kudo sells for a moment, but manages to hook the near leg and this one is in the bag. Kudo advances.
Winner: Megumi Kudo
This was an above average display from these women. There was some nonsense in the middle with the stupid walking around the outside to just knock over chairs for no real reason, but they found their stride later and told a pretty good story. Kudo is a great baby face, and Takako showed she can hang at the highest level and be a damn fun heel.
Final Thoughts:
We have Masami, Tamura, Yoshida, and Kudo moving on in the tournament. A monster heel, a cocky "cool" heel, a bad ass face, and a white meat face. Makes sense. It is pretty obvious who is going over on the tag team side, as there is no way Mita and Yamada are going to let the green ass newbie geijins go over. We will see if Anderson and Del Rey can keep their shit together against the former Dream Orca, as Mita and Yamada are liable to make it a long night for them if they can't rise to the occasion. That might actually be more fun to watch...
A good couple of matches at the end saved this card. I feel like bigger BOOM is yet to come from this group down the road.