World Wonder Stardom 5 Star Grand Prix August 12th 2024 Day and Night Shows

Hello and welcome back to more Five Star Grand Prix action and today we have an afternoon and night show, but since I’m just reviewing block matches it’s just 12 matches over both of them so I’m going to be combining the reviews instead of bowing before the feet of the Content God. We have 500+ in Utsunomiya here.

Starlight Kid [0] vs. Anna Jay [2] – Blue Stars A Match

Background: I’ve talked about who Starlight Kid is before, but the shorthand is she’s a very popular masked junior who is the most ‘traditional junior’ of the roster, she does moonsaults and big slams and has a super deep arsenal and as a heel she developed her submission skill. Anna Jay is of course here from AEW as well, I don’t really have much to say about her but she’s significantly bigger than Kid.

The Match: I will say that Starlight Kid now dressing in all the bright glittery blues again and having pink hair comes across as weird with her super heel-ish theme. Lockup and some wristwork follow as they’re being super basic to start. Kid goes for a pumphandle but Anna just hip checks her a few times before SLK gets a low dropkick that Anna just…bumps weirdly for. Starlight works the knee a bit but misses the standing moonsault so Anna gets a running blockbuster and then slams Kid into the turnbuckles. SLK with the flying headscissors and a springboard reverse crossbody. They do some more rope-running and Anna ends up on the apron and goes for a neckbreaker in the ropes but it’s blocked and Kid responds with a kneebreaker and then a dragonscrew in the ropes before teasing the Black Tiger Leg Destroyer but Anna makes the ropes. Anna gets a forearm, Kid kicks the knee, Anna gets more forearms, Kid kicks the knee, we get some more rope-running and Anna gets more forearms, and then a spinning heel kick into the corner and a backstabber after putting Kid in the ropes. Anna goes for her short-arm spin kick but Kid reverses and gets some cross-legged Fisherman’s Suplexes. Starlight goes up and goes for the 180 splash but Anna gets her knees up, she at least has the decency to limp a bit afterwards and then attempts the Queenslayer. Or not as she loads up a Gory Bomb instead, Kid sunset flips out, they do a few reversals there, and then the masked wrestler kicks the leg, and then gets leg lariat on a kneeling Jay. Kid gets her own Gory Special…and then drops down into a kneebreaker variant. More rope-running (seemingly the only way Anna can initiate offense) and Kid gets a tilt-a-whirl into the Black Tiger Leg Destroyer but Anna ‘reverses’ into a Koji Clutch. Short-arm spin kick by the American sets up a delayed gourdbuster and then the Gory Bomb gets 2.8. Queenslayer is attempted again but Kid reverses into the BTLD until Jay makes the ropes, now we get Starlight with a top-rope moonsault onto the injured leg and the Leg Destroyer is applied and Anna eventually taps.

*½

Well it was better than the last Anna Jay match. It had the bones of something there, Jay is bigger so Kid has to use her smarts to take her down, but Anna is such a limited seller, and so awful at execution of moves you forget an even bigger deal, she has no presence or identity in the ring. Kid tried her best to do something but it was still an ugly, ugly match.

Saki Kashima vs. Suzu Suzuki – Blue Block B Match

Background: Saki is a cowardly cheater who we love, Suzu is a crazy lady who we also love. This is a pretty massive styles clash here as Saki doesn’t really want to get in anybody’s face and Suzu loves to do that. Also the full Yano-ification of Saki seems to be underway as she’s keeping the poster from her prior match.

The Match: Saki immediately bails and shows off her poster before running to the back and Suzu chases her and drags her back to the ring only for Saki to run away again and get caught outside the ring. Suzu with some run and gun stuff and then some kicks to Saki, including her running the crowd to setup a drive-by on the apron. More beatings are handed out until Saki finally gets her running hands-free flying headscissors and then a bridging double-arm suplex for 2. Suzu gets a rolling legscissors roll-up though and then a kick to Kashima. But then Saki gets her own kick to set up a double-down, but when they reset Kashima runs immediately into a half-nelson slam, Suzu goes for her German suplex finish but Saki slip out and gets kicked in the head instead. Tequila Shot by Suzu is set-up, but Kashima reverses to the Revival…and Suzu rolls through that and that’s 3 on Saki.

**½

Look, I love Saki Kashima and I’m not afraid to admit it, and honestly, matches like this are how most of her tournament bouts SHOULD go, Saki gets beaten like a drum and loses. The sign nonsense is highly entertaining to me as well and I hope it continues, plus also maybe people have scouted the Revival now and are immune to Saki’s nonsense cheating. Fun if disposable match.

Koguma [0] vs. Xena [0] – Blue Block A Match

Background: Koguma is a tag-specialist who does bear taunts and is a bit of a silly goose, Xena is a jacked up Australian powerhouse. I uh…have no idea what to expect here. Xena is in black and Koguma is in primarily blue with white and orange bottoms.

The Match: Koguma does her bear dance and asks Xena to join in, and the Aussie obliges her for a while but they bump into each other and that seems to irk Xena who chops the titty off of Koguma, who sells big and then rolls out of the ring and runs away. Xena’s stablemate Waka catches Koguma though and Xena drags her to the ringpost and lets out another chop but Koguma ducks and Xena’s hand hits the steel in a nasty sounding spot. Now it’s Koguma’s turn to chop away but she uh, sells her hand being hurt on Xena’s chest and resorts to just slapping Xena a ton instead. Back inside and we get a camel clutch from Koguma who loads up the bear taunt on Xena and then we get some rope-assisted armwork on the damaged hand of Xena. Xena finally breaks free and keeps trying to chop Koguma who insists “NO CHOPPING” before she finally gets got. This is all very silly. Though I do wish Xena would sell her hand a bit. Xena does like 1200 rotations on a spinning sidewalk slam and we get her playing dizzy afterwards to remind us all this is very goofy. Koguma gets a reverse crossbody out of the corner. Bulldog by Koguma to follow and then a sleeper attempt but Xena slams her over and gets a shoulder, more reversals of stuff until Koguma gets a DDT. Missile dropkick follows and Xena gets a ropebreak, they both dodge some more stuff until Xena gets a northern lariat and then an elevated German suplex but that only gets 2.6. Koguma gets her own suplex and then a weird Northern Light’s thing for 2.5. Koguma goes up for a splash but eats knees but almost gets a reversal on the pin for 3. Koguma tries to build up speed again but runs into a tilt-a-whirl Argentine Rack by Xena who then drops that into a double-knee backbreaker for the win.

**¼

I…don’t know really what the think of this. Mostly stupid comedy to start but then they just transitioned into straight power vs. speed. And I’m reminded that I much prefer Koguma as a comedy goof than an actual wrestler. I dunno, Fine match and I laughed at some of the spots.

Saya Kamitan [2] vs. Thekla [0] – Blue Block B Match

Background: Another stablemate vs. stablemate match and this one is even two high-flyers. Saya is the former Queen’s Quest Phoenix turned Dark Phoenix in HATE, Thekla is the Austrian (and if i might add, the greatest Austrian wrestling in the game) who joined HATE as the Idol Killer, she’s a punk-rock classically trained ballerina death metal vocalist expressionist painter who sometimes also wrestles between modeling gigs. She has long dyed blonde hair and a cool furry robe that still belies her Toxic Spider nickname. Her gear is silver and black with some red accents. Saya is in the dark leather gear with black leather tassels. Despite both being high-flyers who have competed for the High Speed Title, Saya ia good head taller than her.

The Match: Hot start as Thekla dropkicks Saya through the ropes and then waves the flag around dismissively before hitting Saya with it and choking her with a shard. Thekla then uh, politely informs the seated members of the audience they should vacate the premises before tossing Saya into the now empty seats. Back inside and Saya hammers away with forearms on Thekla. We get some rope-running with both of them doing a ton of reversals on each others offense and we get a staredown and I’ll give slight credit to Saya’s evil smile here before they go head to head and shove each other a bit. Thekla taunts Saya who instead of uncorking a forearm, kicks her low and then chokes Thekla against the ropes, Thekla responds by biting Saya’s fingers and slapping the sense out of her, suplexes her, and then just stomps away. This match is awkward. We get another slugfest as Thekla begs Saya to show her something before knocking her on her keister with a gloriously stiff forearm. My word. Saya gets a dropkick and then some flying knees for a 2 count as Thekla gets a hand on the ropes. Saya then attempts to smother Thekla (???) but the ref breaks it up and Saya teases a kick at the ref. We get some more rope-running and Thekla pulls off the Matrix bridge to duck a clothesline and gets a quick cover and Saya does the power bridge out of that and this match has zero flow. Saya shows off more athleticism with a cartwheel dodge and a spinning heel kick but runs into another Thekla forearm and then a spear from the tiny Austrian. Thekla loads up the Toxic Death Drop (twisting double-underhook DDT) but settles for a few thrust kicks to a kneeling Saya instead before hitting a buzzsaw kick for no cover. Thekla tunes up the band but runs into a dropkick and then Saya gets some rolling fisherman’s suplexes and goes up, but Thekla cuts her off and they duke it out on the top rope while Thekla continues to taunt her. Thekla gets knocked into the tree of woe and Saya crows about it, but Thekla does a dramatic sit-up while hanging upside down to silence her opponent with a trio of potatoes in the form of forearms before getting a release superplex. Saya bails to the outside and Thekla follows with a plancha, but Saya ducks, Thekla wipes out some ringside gals and then Saya responds with a springboard plancha but when Saya tries to drag Thekla back in she eats a chairshot from the European and then Thekla loads up some chairs to suplex the Dark Phoenix onto but Saya slips out, so Thekla just spears her into the chairs instead, more chairshots from the blonde follow but Saya goes crazy, gets a Star Crusher onto the chairs, brings Thekla back in, and hits another Star Crusher for 3.

*¾

Just a mess of a match. I think the story is that Thekla is trying to bring out the dark side of Saya, but the problem is that Thekla is loads more charismatic and Saya comes across as a little kid playing bad girl. So the hulk up at the end was her going into a dark rage, but it still felt just like her babyface comebacks. That’s the problem Saya just can’t sell being a heel at all. Some decent stuff from Thekla at least but the middle was plodding as heck. Decent story that was badly implemented.

Post-match Thekla is happy and seems excited that Saya is unleashing her dark side and they shake each other’s hands, like the EVIL JERKS THEY ARE!

Syuri [2] vs. Saori Anou [0] – Blue Block A Match

Background: Not a whole lot of history here but they’re both pretty big deals and this is their first singles match ever. Syuri is in her silver robe and Saori is in her boa and lace combo. Both of them are of similar size and build as well.

The Match: Lockup and Saori wins and almost gives the clean break before firing off a kick, Syuri gets a shoulder and both go for big kicks but Syuri lands a DDT to gain control and the ex-UFC fighter gets some big kicks, a quick submission attempt that Saori breaks the ropes on, and then more kicks as Syuri is grinding her out. Saori gets a float-over in the corner but just runs into more of Syuri’s offense, dropkick, corner knee, snap suplex. Saori finally catches Syuri with a dragonscrew and then gets a figure-four. Syuri eventually makes the ropes but Saori has gained control with more work on the knee. Syuri eventually gets a STO into an armbar but Anou makes the ropes as Syuri tries to shake her knee out, Anou blocks a Syuri kick and we get a slugfest but Syuri eventually has enough looseness in the knee (making sure to very dramatically articulate it between strikes) to uncork some big kicks until Saori decides to use pro wrestling stuff, enzuigiri! German suplex! But Syuri isn’t done and gets a bicycle knee and now even the ref makes sure to check on Syuri’s leg. See, it’s little stuff like that which helps put over the offense and make it matter throughout a match. Syuri climbs the ropes gingerly and Saori cuts her off and suplexes her off the top, Saori then climbs up and Syuri cuts her off and loads up a super kimura off the top? Well that’s wild. Saori makes the ropes though but that lets Syuri get her draping DDT. Fireman’s carry from Syuri is countered into a German from Saori and then another German follows but Syuri gets the high kick to buy space and follows with a running knee and cranks in another crazy armbar/choke combo but Saori eventually makes the ropes. Syuri with a fireman’s carry gutbuster and then a buzzsaw kick, Syuri loads up the Syu-Sekai to finish but Anou slips out and gets the bridging backslide for 3.

**¾

This is one of the better Saori Anou performances I’ve seen, and I’m always a sucker for the wrestler vs. fighter dynamic, but even here I can’t go more than very fine as the finish is one we’ve seen too often in this tournament so far already. Syuri was her usual talented self at least.

Risa Sera [2] vs. Hanan [1] – Blue Block B Match

Background: No real beef here but Risa is an outsider who is a rough and tumble brawler and Hanan is basically joshi Surfer Sting. Hanan is in bright yellow and Risa is dressed like one of the Ice Climber Twins.

The Match: Hanan explodes out the gates with a dropkick and some forearms into the corner and Risa responds with a knee into the corner, but another Hanan dropkick…is immediately no-sold by Risa who tosses Hanan outside and we get some whips into chairs and Risa choking the rookie with a cheer towel. Back in and Risa stomps on Hanan before cranking in a crab…and then a rocking horse, and then more stomps. Hanan finally gets a reverse crossbody out of the corner and then the running seated senton into a rope-hung Risa…and Sera tries to cut off the flurry but Hanan has just too much babyface fire and gets another dropkick that knocks the Prominence lass outside and Hanan goes up for a plancha…only for Sera to cut her off and attempt a death valley driver on the apron, but Hanan slips out, Risa goes for her rope-assisted double knee drop, but that misses too and Hanan fires back with a famouser off the apron, a plancha, and then back inside gets a loose slingblade and another famouser. Hanan goes for a slam but Risa blocks it and gets her spinning Air Raid Crash and then lands the slingshot double-knee drop…for a 2 count. Slugfest follows with Hanan on skates. But Hanan rallies and puts down Risa with a flurry of right hands and then an uppercut. Hanan tries to speed it up but Risa gets the kitchen sink knee, a Samoan Driver, and then a Falcon Arrow, but Hanan kicks out at 1.1! Backdrop driver by Hanan! And a second! Hanan goes for another slam but Risa’s knees break it up and Sera rolls outside and drinks some water as she powders, Hanan calls her out though and…we go back to the match. Odd spot, wonder if Risa was actually hurt or upset about something. Anyway, Risa goes back inside and Sera gets wood-chippered by Hanan. A hip-toss that Sera does NOT want to bump for and Hanan just deadweights her on, a leg lariat, and then the bridging fallaway slam all for a 2-count and the vibes are now…weird as Risa isn’t really bumping for anything here. Hanan goes for another backdrop driver but Risa elbows out and goes back to the crab and turns that into a spinebuster in the corner and then some running knees set up a diving double-knee drop that Hanan dodges and we work a few pin attempts before Sera gets another Samoan Driver and goes for the Air Raid Crash into the corner but Hanan rolls-through and gets La Magistral for 3!

***

This was easily on pace for 3.5+ for me before that weird interlude at the end where Risa powdered and then seemed out of it the rest of the match. But the first 2/3rds are excellent and Risa gets her feet back under her for the final stretch. Odd magic, but very good as Hanan’s babyface fire is incredible and Risa had the big shots to make Hanan’s comebacks feel earned and meaningful, that said, there’s a very awkward 2-minute stretch of this match that I am intensely curious about but realize I will never know.

Well that’s for the afternoon portion of the show, here we are with the evening section next!

Natsupoi [2] vs. Yuna Mizumori [0] – Red Block A Match

Background: Stable vs. stable match as the ring fairy Natsupoi, an uppercard, secondary-title holding champion faces goofball hippy powerhouse beach bum Yuna Mizumori. Cosmic Angels is a weird stable but I dunno if anything is weirder than this. Poi is a high-flying tricky lady and Yuna is a brawler with size and power.

The Match: Handshake of respect starts us out until we do some standing grappling and then an international. Yuna blocks an armdrag. Natsupoi cartwheels around. Poi finally isolates on the arm with a few wrenches and strikes. Poi eventually cranks in an inverted South-Asian deathlock/armbar combo until Yuna finally makes the ropes. More armwork follows with Poi using the ropes. Natsupoi is just talking mad garbage here and kicks Yuna down repeatedly, stifling all of Mizumori’s offense. Dropkick follows and Natsu is just full of jerk-ish vibes here. Diving crossbody by Poi sets up an armbar attempt and we have…a stalemate. More armbars from Poi and Yunamon eventually opens it up with a dropkick but runs into a series of kicks from Poi who very arrogantly climbs the ropes but gets cut off. Poi has not patience for this though and just kicks the soul out of Yuna’s body…but Yunamon has no patience for selling and she clobbers Natsupoi in the corner. Big clothesline gets 2 for Yuna and then they trade ground and pound. Yuna wins and follows with a sliding lariat and an awkward fireman’s carry knee strike, but a reverse diving lariat out of the corner looks MUCH better. Yunamon goes for an electric chair something but Poi slips out and they trade rollups for nearfalls. Poi goes back to the armbar, gets a full-extension with some small-joint manipulation and Yuna taps.

**½

I don’t know how I feel about heelish Natsupoi but she was consistent and regular with the armwork and was an arrogant jerk. I don’t know if Yuna quite has the juice to be a real player but she did her role fine here. Just a very, perfectly fine match.

AZM [3] vs. Tomoka Inaba [3] – Red Block B Match

Background: No real heat here and both are babyfaces but AZM is a junior who likes to target the arm and is a bit of a cheeky jerk at times and Inaba is a very serious straightforward martial artist lady. It bears mentioning that AZM’s gear is even more hideous than normal, she has neon sparkling green, purple and turquoise accents, and now a white and black body for her top and bottoms. It’s super busy and I find it quite bad.

The Match: Some wristlock/hammerlock stuff to start with standing switches and reversals as they’re keeping it simple so far. AZM decides to throw a boot though and Inaba responds in kind and we speed it up with some junior stuff until Inaba counters an armbdrag with an armbar. AZM gets a ropebreak but Inaba lays in the boots and works the arm in the ropes and with repeated armbars as Tomoka keeps up with AZM’s reversals. AZM finally catches a boot and fires back with forearms and after a brief slugfest trips up Inaba on the outside, gets the running punt on the apron and sends Tomoka back in. And now AZM gets her own kicks and then a diving stomp on Inaba’s arm and gets her own armbar. Guess it’s arm vs. arm. AZM gets a missile dropkick next and after a two count and we’re back to a slugfest. Inaba at least has the sense to sell her arm after striking with it. AZM takes the back and gets her figure-four German, but Inaba gets her pop-up knee strike. They trade high kicks and we get a double-down. Back up and Inaba goes for the Michinoku Driver but AZM reverses into a schoolgirl rollup and then an armbar but Tomoka makes the ropes. AZM sets up another stomp but Inaba avoids it and gets a juji-gatame. AZM now breaks and we get some Muay Thai knees from Tomoka for a 2 count before landing a hard forearm and then another Michinoku attempt before AZM reverses to a brainbuster. Destroyer attempt is blocked by Inaba who gets a spin kick. AZM goes for the Azumi Sushi but it gets countered into a victory roll by Inaba, we get more rollups and kicks from both before AZM climbs up again, Inaba cuts her but AZM gets a hanging armbar and they spill outside again. Slugfest as they tease another double count-out. Inab gets a big kick and rolls AZM back in…who uses that to hit a rana off the apron and they fight to…another double count-out. Seriously?

**

Ugh, okay, like…I’m okay with draws and such, but we’ve done so many so far and this match just felt like a ton of other matches we’ve seen. The work was fine and there were bits where Inaba elevated it, but this just felt like filler in a way these matches should not feel like filler. Just a perfectly acceptable, totally disposable burger. Disappointing.

Hazuki [2] vs. Konami [2] – Red Block A Match

Background: Hazuki is a technical high-flying sort and Konami is a technical brawling sort. Konami is also a dirty cheater while Hazuki is very much a babyface despite being a bit rough around the edges. Hazuki is in a crisp all blue getup and Konami is in her evil leather outfit.

The Match: Hazuki with the hot-start as she just charges Konami out the gate and they throw hands with Hazuki winning and getting some ground and pound that even Herb Dean would call for a stoppage (boy am I topical). Konami trips up some rope-running and drags Hazuki outside to toss her threw chairs and beat her with a chair. Hazuki reverses a whip though and it’s Konami’s turn to fly into chairs and then eat a brainbuster. Hazuki rolls Konami in afterwards and gets the facewashes and the running low boot. Hazuki gets caught doing the disrespect kicks though and Konami fires back with a flurry of strikes and grabs an armbar. Fun spot as Konami grabs Hazuki’s leg with a spare hand as she tries to reach the ropes. Hazuki eventually slips free and Konami now gets all cocky and arrogant as she kicks Hazuki apart, repeatedly targeting the injured arm. We get a kick-off until Konami ducks a big boot and grabs a German suplex, but Hazuki comes back with a codebreaker and fires up the crowd. Hazuki gets a brainbuster and rolls it into a crossface. Konami makes her way to the ropes and Hazuki goes up for a senton, but there’s no water in the pool and HATE shows up to interfere as Konami goes for a luggage shot but it doesn’t work and Hazuki dropkicks it back at her and then hits a hanging codebreaker and now the diving senton lands! Pretty fun sequence but it only gets 2.8. Hazuki goes for the sheer-drop brainbuster, but Konami slips out and shoves her into the ref and we get a bump. Konami with the spraypaint and she goes at Hazuki’s eyes, but the scrappy babyface slips through and gets la magistral for like…a 5 count but there is no ref! Hazuki finally rouses the ref but Konami gets a high kick, a punt and a ripcord knee for a 3 count.

***

Man, I love cheating. It’s so fun and it made yet another “we have two ladies who throw kicks, do some suplexes and also have a submission” match into something way bigger and more emotionally powerful. Hazuki got screwed and Konami was a glorious jerk about it. Wrestling, good stuff.

Momo Watanabe [0] vs. Mei Seira [2] – Red Block B Match

Background: So Momo is winless so far and Mei is also winless…but Mei at least has two draws. Mei is the tiniest of the juniors and Momo is the heaviest of the “I kick you, suplex you, and maybe choke you out” people but as she’s in HATE we’ll also get some cheating.

The Match: We get the dynamic early as Momo slaps down a Mei dropkick and blocks a whip by just grabbing the rope, but Mei is quick and tricky as she stomps on Momo’s foot to set up a crossbody…and Momo just snatches her out of the air and drops her like a sack of flour. Mei finally gets free enough to dropkick Momo out of the ring, but a running apron punt is snatched and countered by Momo who just slams the juniors head on the apron a few times and then grinds Mei’s face into the ringside mat. Back in and we get some slow kicks from the Black Peach as she jaws with the ref and then works the leg a bit. Mei tries to mount a comeback with the reverse springboard but Momo is too quick and tosses Seira off the ropes and then kicks the leg a bit more while continuing to talk trash. We get a kicking of the leg out of the leg deal before Mei finally speeds it up and flies around the ring, ducking Momo’s strikes, but she goes off the middle-rope again and either slips up intentionally or not and she crashes and burns, and Momo, like the pro she is, immediately stops stomping on her. I love her so much. Now after a whip Mei finally gets the springboard reverse dropkick and she does more go-go-go stuff, clothesline against the ropes, somersault neckbreaker, and Mei is even limping too, beautiful. Momo stuffs a suplex though, and after bullrushing Mei into the corner, suplexes the smaller wrestler into a tree of woe and gets a kick to the face, a corner dropkick, and then the somato for 2. Now Momo goes up but she takes her sweet time and Mei limps over to break it up, and after a few attempts, Mei finally lands a dropkick, knocking Momo outside, and then Mei follows with a plancha. Nice sequence there. Mei is limping around and she tosses Momo back in and gets another headshot dropkick, and then a second as Momo makes sure to pirouette for each one, sending her hair flying in a circle before taking a Jannetty bump on the last one. Just beautiful stuff here. Mei gets a superkick to follow and Momo is wobble-kneed, Momo misses a kick to fight back and Mei gets a gorgeous spinning back kick to the head…but then she springboards into a headkick and we have a double-down. Momo is up first and gets the B-Driver for 2.6, and then tries for a crossface chickenwing but can’t get it quite locked in. Momo goes for the Tequila Sunrise but Mei slips out and gets a nasty-looking German (Momo lands right on the side of her shoulder). Mei is slow to get up though and that lets Momo recover enough to block the crucifix…whatever before getting a Reverse B-Driver and a high-kick on Mei. Momo misses the punt though and Mei uses the momentum to almost get her with a la magistral, but Momo gets a Tiger Suplex and then a Tequila Sunrise attempt but Mei rolls through and a sunset flip steals it for Seira!

***½

Man Momo is so good. Really fun match as Momo took advantage of her power and size advantage and did classic bully heel spots. That said, can Momo win a match already?

Ruaka [0] vs. Manami [2] – Red Block A Match

Background: Manami is a high-flying goofy lady from Sendai, Ruaka is a very much non high-flying big bully heel from HATE (wow we’ve got a lot of HATE matches in a row here). This could be very silly or quite seriously depending.

The Match: We get an honest to goodness test of strength spot into a dueling bridge as both yell at each other. Ruaka stuffs an armdrag and blasts Manami with a shoulderblock and they go outside and gets Manami being whipped into chairs. Back in and Manami rolls outside again and now it’s Ruaka’s turn to fly into the chairs, though her bump resulted in her just kinda running face first at a seat. I mean it looked painful, just didn’t quite have a pop. Back in and we get some brawling and Ruaka wins and chokes Manami on the ropes and even gets a rope-assisted camel clutch. More shoulders keep Ruaka in control. Manami tries to comeback but Ruaka just does the disrespect kicks and dialogues with the audience. Manami finally gets going with some dropkicks and then a fun spot where she gets a tarantula choke inside the ring, and then kicks Ruaka off the apron and follows with her own dropkick off the apron. Manami works the count as Ruaka is out of it ringside. Ruaka slides in at the last minute and Manami goes up with a missile dropkick and then a hanging backstabber out of the corner. Manami can’t get the Northern Lights Suplex though as Ruaka is just too hefty and we get a slugfest that Manami wins until Ruaka counters a whip and boots Manami down and gets the running crossbody into the ropes. Vader bomb! But when RUaka goes up again Manami cuts her off and slams her off…but Ruaka fires up and gets a lariat and then a crossface/headlock thing as she’s just squeezing on Manami. After an excessive amount of time we finally get a ropebreak and Manami is fresh as a daisy now. Northern Lights Suplex by Manami sets up a diving splash but Ruaka kicks out. Manami climbs again but Ruaka shakes the ropes, almost making Manami fal, and that lets Ruaka get a brainbuster off the top turnbuckle and then the delayed fisherman’s suplex, all for 2 though. Manami with a dropkick to set up a double-down. Back up and Manami runs into a few more Ruaka shoulders set up the chokebomb…but Manami gets a sunset flip and then a flying knee…and we get a time limit draw as they’re both pulling each other’s hair.

**½

Well, that was a match. I really enjoyed the opening little segment, felt very AJPW, but as the match went on the flaws started popping out. Manami is just…not the sort of personality to play underdog sympathetic babyface given how tall and robust she is. I do like Ruaka’s heeling but after a while the draw just became too obvious. Still, totally fine match that I expected to be pretty good and it uh…didn’t get there.

Tam Nakano [0] vs. Saya Iida [0] – Red Block B Match

Background: Battle of the pointless! As in they have no points, not that they were without points. Anyway Tam is the former champion trying to regain her former glory and Saya is a midcarder who has a Gorilla theme as she’s jacked up and very short. Tam’s in purple and pink and Saya’s in green and yellow.

The Match: They work a headlock spot for a while before an international and Saya stuffs an armdrag and after a bit of jostling Iida takes down Tam with a shoulder…but Nakano gets an evasion and then a dropkick to set up the knee in the ropes. Tam gets a few kicks and a running elbow in the corners and then some more kicks, a slam, and then cranks in a single-leg crab. Saya makes the ropes and Tam goes to the top but Iida cuts her off and they slug it out up there, Tam wins, gets a crossbody but Saya rolls through and turns it into a backbreaker. We get an extended sequence where Tam slaps Saya and Saya chops Tam which Saya eventually wins, backing Tam into the ropes. Tam with a big forearm to comeback, but Saya gets a jumping chop and another jumping chop to set up an elbow drop. They do a float-over sequence in the corner and Saya goes for a Diamond Dust but Tam kicks her off the top turnbuckle instead and gets a hanging choke and Saya reverses that into a slam onto the turnbuckle and then a diving shoulder off the apron. And we get a bit of Nanae Takahashi gimmick infringement as Saya has started to scream PASSION after doing stuff. Back inside and we a nice diving shoulderblock from Saya, a spinebuster, and then a sliding lariat. Tam gets a boot out of the corner, but that doesn’t go anywhere as Saya just lariats her down again and sets up Tam for a rope-hung headlock elbow drop and now Saya gets the Diamond Dust. This has been a mauling so far. And Saya loads up the fisherman’s buster but Tam slips out gets a German and then a superkick…but Saya gets a chopblock and we have a double down. Back up and we get another Saya lariat, but Tam gets a bridging German and then a diving knee drop bulldog. Tiger suplex by Tam looks to finish but Saya blocks and sets up her signature cradle, but Tam blocks that and Saya just takes out the knee with another chopblock. Tam gets a spin kick though and a bunch of her Violet Shoot running knees, but when Tam goes to cover Saya rolls over into an inside cradle for 2.7, and then Saya goes for her Iidabashi wacky rolling cradle thing and that steals the 3!

**

I enjoy Saya and I thought her offense looked pretty good this match, I do not enjoy Tam an I thought her offense looked pretty bad, and just like with most Tam matches it just descends into two people doing moves and then somebody wins. I guess it’s fine and nothing was messed up but it didn’t exactly fill my soul with PASSION! despite how many times Saya yelled it. At least Tam lost!

Whew! And that’s the double-header, hopefully I’ll be able to run through these shorter shows more frequently. Next time I’ll start to put up the actual rankings cause y’know, that probably matters.