Joshi Spotlight: ARSION ZION 2000 Tournament

https://archive.org/details/arsion-zion-2000

It’s another Archive.org show!

HYPER VISUAL FIGHTING ARSION- ZION 2000:
* It’s time for more ARSION! But this is only a 1-hour tape! Well that’s interesting. And possibly not a good sign if they can only afford THAT now. This is also from Sept. 17th, which I think is the third women’s wrestling promotion running a show on that date. What is THAT about? Naturally, it’s ANOTHER TOURNAMENT, as ARSION just runs these constantly.

The Wrestlers:
Red Lynx: Candy Okutsu under a mask.
Mari Apache: A good luchadora. Kinda randomly wins some, but loses to big stars.
Aja Kong: ARSION’s top star and champion. Gets a bye.
GAMI: Heel stable leader. Gets a bye.
Ayako Hamada: Former tag team champion, much was thought of her.
Mariko Yoshida: The former Ace of ARSION, a submission specialist who’s been tumbling down the card of late.
Rie Tamada: AJW midcarder turned ARSION midcarder. Stablemate with GAMI.
PIKO: JWP’s Command Bolshoi as a HEEL wrestler. Stablemate with GAMI.
Mima Shimoda: One half of Las Cachorras Orientales as a lethal, dominant tag team, but not very credible in singles.
Michiko Omukai: One of the big “push at all costs” wrestlers of the past year or so, winning all this stuff and getting a lot of focus with her “improving”.

* So it’s a pretty weak spread, for the most part. Aja here means it’s either gonna be a big “can the up & comer do well?” run against her, or a fluke-fest in an attempt at putting over a new star. The Omukai push has been huge so far for the past year, meaning it’s the “perfect time” to give her a fluke win over Aja (a stupid idea, but that makes sense considering how they usually do things).

RED LYNX vs. MARI APACHE: They trade really fast rollups for a minute, then we’re clipped to Mari backdropping & Ligerbombing Lynx. She goes up, but takes a run-up superplex & Moonsault Trio for two. Mari shocks her with a big lariat, but Lynx does the big “FIGHT UP!” spot and run-up ranas her off the top. But Mari quickly catches her with a spinning torture rack and that’s the submission at (3:06 of 5:21 shown). Hahah poor Candy may as well just retire now if she’s jobbing to Mari in the opening round of stuff.

Rating: *3/4 (lots of flippy stuff, at least well-executed, but a lot of hesitancy on the top run when Candy does her run-up moves, like they take forever to ensure they’re stable first)

MARIKO YOSHIDA vs. PIKO: They actually try Yoshida’s style first, trying for front facelocks and then PIKO charges in with a leaping triangle choke that has Yoshida doing the scramble to the ropes. Yoshida puts that over as strangling, but catches PIKO running in via an overhead uranage. They exchange strikes and botch a powerbomb attempt, then PIKO hits an abdominal stretch until Yoshida fights out and spins around so she can use the Air Raid Crash for the win at (3:08 of 7:41 shown). Looked like they had some good submissions stuff but clipping it to 3 minutes and including some messed up stuff isn’t a good sign.

RIE TAMADA vs. MICHIKO OMUKAI:
* Rie is a subordinate heel to GAMI and generally has faltered since being an inaugural Tag Champ, while Omukai is “The One Being Pushed”.

Rie attacks before the bell and DDTs her on the floor, but Omukai immediately recovers with SHOTEIMANIA and knocks her off the top. Omukai sells getting her knee dropkicked for 2 seconds and immediately fires back with an elbow. Rie defiantly sells some ax kicks, wowing the crowd but eventually falters as they get faker and more obviously worked, and that’s sold as a near-KO. But Rie dropkicks the knee as Omukai flails off the top (not a bad spot!), but Omukai’s selling is iffy as NOW those dropkicks are effective and a figure-four gets a near-fall. Omukai gets the Uranage, then another for two, having issues capitalizing because of the knee. Rie counters with a stunner, then a Running Diamond Cutter sets up the missile dropkick (good offense!), then fires one off to the back of the head for two. Omukai counters the Dragon Suplex with the “drop down & kick” then rollup for two as we’re at a double-down, then they counter each other’s back suplexes and Omukai SMOKES her with a Rolling Sobat for two. Omukai’s “WTF are you kidding?” look to the ref is great, but Rie pops her with an elbow and Dragon Suplexes her- Omukai does the “KICK OUT AT ONE!” spot and is rubber-legged, but blocks a rolling elbow and “uppercuts” her for a near-fall. But Rie rolls her up out of Splash Mountain, ducks a sweeping kick, then counters an Ax Kick with a Fisherman’s Buster, PLANTS her with it, and finishes with a Dragon Suplex at (6:19 of 8:37 shown)! RIE BEATS OMUKAI!! Okay, that’s a shocker given their respective pushes, and fits the “ARSION Fluke” in intent but not execution, as this was a legit 100% real-ass victory.

Man, where did THIS one come from? These are two of the iffiest ARSION wrestlers in terms of ring-work, with Rie long since having settled into “okay is good enough” as a **1/2 wonder and Omukai is usually loose and sloppy. You saw a BIT of that from Omukai here (those kicks and that uppercut, ugh), but that Sobat looked AMAZING with her long frame and Rie taking it right on the chin, and Rie’s last 4 minutes was non-stop effort of precision offense- the stunner/cutter/missile/enzuimissile run and then her catching the kick with a lethal brainbuster- that was good shit. Show me THAT Rie Tamada more often! It honestly came off like she realized this was her biggest “push” ever and she needed to put the work in. It had the usual Omukai selling issues (screaming in agony like her leg is being removed, then getting up to fling around “elite” kicks) but was the best I’ve seen from both in some time.

Rating: **3/4 (actually an impressive TV match performance, especially for a one-night tournament)

AYAKO HAMADA vs. MIMA SHIMODA:
* huh, Shimoda’s in blue today. Given how highly the company thinks of Hamada, and Shimoda’s status as “resident jobber to the stars” when she’s not in a tag team, this one has “hard-fought rookie win” written all over it.

Shimoda starts quick with a German & ax kick for two, but Hamada comes back and tries a springboard moonsault, hitting feet. Shimoda spams backdrop suplexes, toys with her, and ends up in Ayako’s weird lucha submission, but is able to roll out of it (the fans don’t react much). Weird spot as Ayako tries to springboard again and Shimoda just runs away so Ayako eats shit trying to reposition. Shimoda with the Ax Kick/Somersault Ax Kick, having reduced that to mid-match nothing, then hits the Death Lake Driver (tiger superplex) for two. Man she can’t beat SUPER ROOKIE with that? Hamada tries a headbutt but eats a kick to the face & Tiger Suplex for two, but manages to kick her to the floor and hits a springboard dive (not having the room to try her moonsault). SHOTEIMANIA/Super Hama-Chan Cutter (flying cutter) gets two but Shimoda is pulled up and gets SHOTEIMANIA herself, stunning Ayako. SHOTEIMANIA from Ayako again! She puts Shimoda up for SHOTEIMANIA but gets pushed off, but nails a shotei anti-air for two, then keeps landing shoteis and kicks until the sheer force of SHOTEIMANIA leaves Shimoda slumped over in the corner to where Hamada can’t pull her out. The ref has to ultimately force her away and make a count, Shimoda standing up at “9” but landing right on her ass, and that kills her at (7:52 of 10:31 shown)- Ayako wins by KO.

Well that’s ONE way to showcase the rising star, I guess- put her over as a dangerous striker and malicious/intense enough that the referee has to literally force her off of her unconscious opponent to rescue the veteran. This bout kinda had Shimoda’s usual issue in singles- she’s great at TAKING offense but her own has become extremely weak and “defeated” since she never scores wins, even with moves she was using as finishers a couple years before. So she lacks credibility as a singles wrestler, kinda hurting the “rub” Ayako should be getting for just pummelling a veteran out cold. Also I tease “SHOTEIMANIA” for being used excessively, like ever since Liger started using it as a way to shore up his kit since he was aging/hurt, other wrestlers were like “Wait, we can use a LOW-EFFORT STRIKE and it has credibility as a KO move? Awesome!” and it’s infected the joshi scene… but this was just silly. Like all the last big moves of the match were shoteis, BOTH wrestlers doing that dumb palm-thrust, half whiffing by a foot yet still being sold. It’s like my least favorite move in wrestling, so it’s annoying that it’s being spammed as this high-impact super-finisher. The match itself was okay-ish, with some good effort and a few bits the fans liked, but had issues with weakling offense (a Hama-Chan Cutter meaning nothing but lots of sloppy palm-strikes are legit?).

Rating: **1/2 (“pretty much okay/almost good” is the usual for these two now)

SECOND ROUND:
MARI APACHE vs. AJA KONG: Aja gets a bye, making this even LESS dramatic, but let’s see if this is one of their big flukes. Mari immediately pounces with a powerbomb for two, and Aja sells this like she’s having trouble recovering, unable to get up. She dodges a flying somersault senton but gets kicked to the floor, Mari gets a SWEET flying somersault to the floor. Flying wheel kick in the ring gets two, but Aja springs up while Mari’s taunting, backdrops her, then no-sells some lariats and gets a big punch & Brainbuster for close two-counts. Mari gets the usual “sunset flip powerbomb” counter on Aja, then wows peopel with a big Michinoku Driver for two, but Aja splats her, wins a lariat war, then pins her with a big slap at (3:16 of 3:54 shown). Well that kinda made Mari look like shit, lol. I mean it was COMPETITIVE and they tricked the fans into thinking she was winning, but beating her in 4 minutes isn’t great)

Rating: *1/2 (actually smartly wrestled and with some good spots and great execution by Mari, who got to dominate before losing)

AYAKO HAMADA vs. GAMI: GAMI has also had a bye, whereas Hamada went 10 minutes with a veteran. GAMI jumps Hamada before the intros, then dodges her Springboard Moonsault Suicida. GAMI earns my fandom for pointing to her head to indicate intelligence, folds a chair over her head, then runs her back into the post. Pumphandle ligerbomb gets two, the work a half-crab, then SHOTEIMANIA strikes as they hammer away, won by GAMI switching to a lariat for two. Rana, countered, that’s countered, then Hamada nails the Shotei/Flying Hama-Chan Cutter and holds her down struggling for three at (2:50 of 4:13 shown). Another quickie- not a great sign for the heel stable leader.

Rating: * (mostly a quick showcase but not actively bad)

AKINO & AI FUJITA vs. FABI APACHE & LINDA STARR: Oh goodie, our non-tournament match puts the three flippy wrestlers in with AKINO. This one is super-duper clipped, at least. Fabi works lucha spots with AKINO (who is as capable as any of them at flipz), clipped to Fujita doing gymnastics, then AKINO launched into a bronco buster on Starr. Great run-up cross-body by AKINO to Fabi, but she’s caught in a wheelbarrow facebuster & Lionsault for two. They double-surfboard Fabi, then Fujita does some slick headscissors (I do like how she does the “gymnast thing” of swinging one leg at a time, creating more of a visual flair), then AKINO sets her up for a running cartwheel moonsault for two. Clipped to her & Linda trading flash-pins, Linda lariating her down but missing a flying corkscrew- AKINO immediately pounces with a missile kick and gets Fujita to hit her 450 Splash for the pin at (3:42 of 8:27 shown). This seemed largely like a showcase for Fujita, who is at least improving on executing her flippy stuff. AKINO seemed to be there to actually center the match with a good worker, setting up Fujita’s stuff so it wouldn’t look as phony or contrived. Once again the Tiny Lucha squad are the jobbers of ARSION.

ZION 2000 SEMI-FINALS:
MARIKO YOSHIDA vs. AJA KONG:
* A rematch of ARSION’s big early rivalry. Aja won like… all of them, I think.

Aja immediately flat-backs Yoshida and works her back with stiff kicks, but Yoshida manages to get her back and works holds. Aja twists her leg to escape and hits two backdrop drivers, but misses the back elbowdrop and eats the punch combo from Yoshida. Aja counters the Air Raid Crash but a big left gets two. Aja catches her in an armlock next try, and they kick out of each other’s strikes at one, but Aja Brainbusters her for two. Uraken misses, but Aja wipes her out with a slap- Yoshida having to make the ropes. Aja this time stops the sunset flip counter, but Yoshida punches her into two Air Raid Crashes (correctly a shitty first one), getting a close one. Yoshida is running outta shit, and can’t work Aja into a submission (she handily escapes the Modified Sleeper and buckle bombs her). Aja hits some brutal lariats but gets German’d, then charges into a punch combo yet again, but SMOKES her with an Uraken for a near-fall. Man that hit FLUSH. Aja tries a full Uraken this time, but Yoshida catches it and fights her into a neckscissors, then repositions to hit the Modified Sleeper, Aja totally fading and barely looking like she can fight, and Yoshida GETS THE WIN as Aja taps out at (8:24 of 11:34 shown).

That was a bit of a shocker- Yoshida has picked up zero big wins in ages, and Aja has been refashioned into the “Unstoppable Ace”, barely having trouble with most of her title matches, so Yoshida pulling out a win, much less one that wasn’t from a fluke but just catching Aja and outwrestling her, was unique. Match was decent but not terribly over aside from Aja barely kicking out of stuff, or Yoshida’s big Uraken near-fall- this bout had been seen enough that it probably wasn’t that compelling. At least they just avoided the “ARSION Problem” of bored fans sitting through Grapplefuckery but just… not having any and doing standard pro-wrestling “work a single hold” stuff.

Rating: **3/4 (usual good work from both)

AYAKO HAMADA vs. RIE TAMADA: Rie works a crab of all things to start, then catches Ayako with a slingshot tornado DDT, sorta puts her on the apron in ugly fashion, then necksnaps her. Ayako comes back with SHOTEIMANIA up top, but Rie superplexes her anyways. Ayako ties up her legs but her Lionsault gets her kicked, so she hits a backdrop suplex & Lionsault off the top instead. Rie hits a DDT out of a powerbomb (they’re having a LOT of issues staying balanced on shit, mostly saved by Rie), then a tornado DDT into a running Diamond Cutter for two. Ayako tries the Shotei/Ayakonoclasm but is too slow and gets rolled up, then the Dragon Suplex gets two. The trust Shotei nets Ayako a powerbomb for only one, then a Spinning Ligerbomb gets two. Ayako gets the Shotei/Ayakonoclasm, but Rie does the big “I NO-SELL YOU” roar, only to be tripped up and caught in Ayako’s submission… the poor girl having to just lie there while Ayako botches it repeatedly, letting her leg slip off Rie’s head so the head-locking part is messed up, then taps out at (5:00 of 5:45 shown).

A hard-fought match, albeit full of sketchy execution. Ayako’s never been the neatest of wrestlers, so Rie had to do a LOT of repositioning and just standing there so Ayako wouldn’t botch whatever they were trying. That even the finish got messed up wasn’t good.

Rating: ** (getting sloppy, possibly because they’re tired)

ZION 2000 FINAL MATCH:
AYAKO HAMADA vs. MARIKO YOSHIDA:
* So the final bout has some drama, as Yoshida is a former champion and the second-highest ARSION wrestler in rank, while Ayako has something to prove. Ayako comes out just looking exhausted, while Yoshida is blank-faced. Both get equally-decent (but not loud) reactions in the announcements.

Ayako tries to use speed, but immediately gets both her arms locked up painfully by Yoshida’s superior leverage & grappling, then escapes a jujigatame & keylock, as they’re clearly doing the “Yoshida Match”. She rapidly swaps into chinlocks, front facelocks and more until Ayako kinda squirms onto her back- Yoshida uses a double belly-claw of all things to counter a bodyscissors, then keeps on the gut with her punch combo, then a gutbuster, but switches to a juji again. Yoshida finally combos her down but hurts her hand punching Ayako in the face, neutralizing her own weapon. Ayako stunners out of a sleeper and they get into a chopfest (guess the hand is okay now?), Ayako winning with a headbutt and backdrop to no reaction at all. She Springboard Moonsaults onto feet and Yoshida spiders her again, tangling up her body, but ends up taking an enzuigiri and Ayako’s submission, having to fight through that for a minute, rolling across the ring into the ropes after a fight. Yoshida bails to put that over and takes the Super Asai Moonsault, then the Shotei/Ayakonoclasm & Ligerbomb (Monsoon would be all over her for not going for any covers), then tries some goofy rolling pin tying up the legs, but gets keylocked again, but Ayako kinda just slides out of it all, Germans her, and SHOTEIMANIA gets two. She charges right into a big boot and Yoshida’s Air Raid Crash hits- two! She tries her punch combo again but gets backslid, barely making the ropes. Ayako, selling the exhaustion and pain, fires off elbows but gets booted down for only one, then Yoshida locks her in the Modified Sleeper, Ayako barely toeing the bottom rope to escape. Yoshida ducks a shotei, Ayako ducks a punch, then Yoshida ducks a shotei and charges into a SWEET spinkick by Ayako for the “struggling the whole time” pin- barely kicking out. So Ayako puts her up top, wins a fight there, pulling Yoshida into position for a Superduper Hama-Chan Cutter, pinning her at (10:50 of 13:39 shown). Ayako is the ZION 2000 Champion! Taking four matches to do it, beating two veterans!

Okay, that was easily the best Ayako Hamada singles match I’ve seen- Yoshida did a great job building her up as a competitor, only having to sacrifice… well, every move in her kit to do it. Doing the punch combos early sets up the wild swings later, as they both swing for the fences for an ending after all their big moves didn’t cut it, and finally Ayako does an “extra” version of her finisher to score the pin. Ayako has kinda/sorta figured out a lot of the aspects of becoming a half-decent worker- she’s not GREAT but she’s improved a lot, knowing how to sell, fire up, demand the fans make noise, etc., though her execution can be iffy and the crowd still hasn’t quite bought it- Yoshida had to pull off a LOT of nearfalls to get the fans back into things.

Rating: ***1/4 (maybe Hamada’s best singles match yet?)

So it’s clear from this show that Ayako Hamada is here to stay- oddly, they’ve been building Omukai up for years but jobbed her out quickly here, giving Rie a mini-push to feed her to Ayako quickly, then jobbed out their first Queen so she’d have a “legit win” over a bigger name-value star. I forget who gets THE push first, so we’ll see where they end up, but it’s clear that one of the two “pretty girl wrestlers” they’ve built up from nothing will be a key to their “plan”, such as it is. Given how ARSION doesn’t really have any identity beyond “sometimes we sell photos of the girls in bikinis” now that the style is just what everyone else is doing, they’re gonna have to hope someone catches fire before too long.

BUT ENOUGH WITH THE SHOTEIS AND KICKING OUT AT ONE, ALREADY! This has happened repeatedly just on this very show when it should be a “one match per show” thing AT BEST. Never mind that GAEA’s been ramping it up the one-counts and “GAEA No-Sell” stuff lately again, so ARSION looks like it’s just copying what’s “popular”. But yeah, the Shotei… “lightly whipping up someone’s hair with your palm facing up” is not a finisher-quality move- it’s a lazy, often business-exposing “strike” and once wrestlers found out it could be made credible and takes zero effort at all to use, they’ve been spamming it all over the place out of laziness. That they seem to alternate between “legit knock-out move” and “can be spammed willy-nilly in huge segments of competing slaps” is not helping, as this rapidly reduces the moves impact and confuses fans, who now don’t know if they’ve seen a “match-ending move” or just some mid-match flurries.