This was clearly better than their match on the debut show. It was a good solid match built around Reggie's Global bomb (spinning Liger bomb). Tamada kept finding ways to avoid the killer move, and she was trying to damage Reggie's leg enough to make her submit. Thus, the match was going to come down to the Global bomb vs. the leg lock
Both women were impressive in their own ways. From a technical standpoint, this was the best I've seen Rie look. She's totally out of the Toyota mold now, and she's really become a diverse wrestler. She isn't close to great in any style, but she is proficient in pro style, shoot style, and Lucha Libre. Rie's conditioning, especially tone wise, also appeared to be better than it was on the debut show. You have to give Reggie credit because most wrestlers her age have long been locked into their style, but Reggie tried her best to change. Her technique on the mat isn't clean, and her size is a detriment when trying to work with the much quicker opponents on the mat, but at least she's trying to be a complete "HYPER VISUAL FIGHTER." Aside from the mat, she looked good, delivering impressive power moves and taking bumps that wrestlers of her body type almost have no right to be able to take.
They opened with Lucha, which worked because the spots made sense. Reggie was in perfect condition, so she pulled Rie off the top. When Reggie charged, Rie used her weight, as well leverage, against her by taking her over with arm drags. This showed that speed and technique neutralizes size. The pro spots that followed all worked, but the mat was hit and miss because Reggie lacks the speed and athleticism to make the transitions look clean and smooth.
Rie used a series of kneecap dropkicks to chop the tree down, which was good strategy. This also set up Reggie's comeback, which was catching Rie off the ropes with a powerslam. You could tell that Reggie was starting to blow up already, but she was able to get her wind back because they went to the mat. Reggie mounting Rie didn't work at all because instead of reigning punches or looking for a submission, Reggie basically just sat there and got her wind back. Maybe when ARSION recommended their wrestlers watch RINGS (and other shoot leagues) tapes, they forgot to tell Reggie that Maeda isn't the best guy to copy these days? Once in a while Reggie would throw a love tap to make it look like she was working.
Tamada did a great released German suplex then went back to focusing on the knee with a kneecap missile kick into a hizajujigatame. Reggie took a surprisingly good bump on a swinging DDT for a near fall. She avoided Rie's Dragon suplex finisher, but Rie returned the favor blocking Reggie's Global bomb. Rie turned Reggie's tilt-whirl style powerslam into an arm drag, which looked surprisingly great, then delivered an awesome missile kick.
Bennett again tried for her Global bomb, but Rie turned it into a huracanrana for a near fall. Rie continued countering the Global bomb, but at one point Reggie blocked her huracanrana, so Rie turned it into a sunset flip for a near fall. Reggie dragged Rie up after kicking out of the sunset flip, and Rie finally couldn't counter the Global bomb, so that was all she wrote. 8:57. ***1/4