This was a very good storyline match that Aja did a great job of carrying. Futagami showed she was on Aja's level, and she was willing to do anything it took to take the top star out. Thus, Futagami attacked Aja's legitimately bad knee. Aja's selling was fantastic. She did such an incredible job of looking like she was in excruciating pain that you wondered if she hadn't blown out her knee again. Either Aja was legitimately in a great deal of pain here or she's one hell of an actress because it's hard to fake this kind of emotion, but my guess is it's the latter.
"Since Aja had blown her knee out before, it doesn't surprise me that she can sell it as well as she did in this match. After all, she knows what this kind of pain really feels like. Combine that with her acting ability and everything looks really good," wrote Chris Martinez.
Aja's offense was about what you would expect, stiff. Like the Reggie vs. Rie match, this was a which would win out match, Aja's killer spot, the suichoku rakka brainbuster, or Gami's knee submissions.
Aja set the tone early on by attacking Futagami off a break, so Futagami returned the favor with some Don Frye-esque tactics such as not breaking when told to.
"Against almost any other fighter, Gami's tactics would have her a big heel. However, against a top star like Aja, it showed how determined she was to get the biggest win of her career," wrote Chris.
"At
one point, Aja can be heard shouting out, "Rope! Rope! Rope!" when
Futagami locks on her leg lock with Aja holding onto the ropes. We then see
how Futagami's ‘Stone Cold' persona develops, as she refuses
to relinquish the hold. This small moment really helped develop
Futagami's appearance as someone who is willing to win at all costs and wrestle
a good game. Aja would then sell her knee beautifully almost like when she truly
blew it out against Akira Hokuto at the Big Egg Wrestling Universe show. Futagami
would continue to pound on Aja after she released the hold, but Aja made a comeback
in shouting, "Sore dake!" (or "Is that it?") showing what
a monster Aja is. Yet, Futagami was relentless in her attack on Aja's leg, delivering
some great standing dropkicks that had nice hang time," wrote Keith.
The match really picked up at the 10-minute-mark with Aja doing some high spots before Futagami stopped her diving body press by pulling Aja off the top then locked Aja's bandaged up arm in an udehishigigyakujujigatame. Aja avoided Futagami's diving elbow and tried the brainbuster, but Futagami stopped it and came within a fraction of pinning Aja after a shotei As soon as Aja kicked out, Futagami went into a hizajujigatame. Aja was verging on tears she was in so much pain (yet still not looking like a cry baby as Kobashi & Otani so often do). She managed to grab the ropes, and Futagami was merely slow in breaking this time. Futagami made the mistake of going after Aja's head with a lariat (should have kept attacking the weakened knee or arm), so Aja ducked it and dropped Futagami on her head with a backdrop driver. Aja again tried for the brainbuster, but Futagami slipped out and applied a standing sleeper. Aja dropped down into a jawbreaker, and almost in one motion, also kicked Futagami in the head like you would to break the Dragon sleeper. Futagami was stunned, but she charged at Aja, who caught her with the uraken. This damaged Futagami enough that she was temporarily unable to defend herself. Thus, The Hellion dropped Futagami on her head with the suichoku rakka brainbuster for the 1-2-3.
"I thought that the finishing sequence with the Uraken-Brainbuster combination was beautifully done by Aja. She hits her uraken really fast then immediately executes the brainbuster. Since both focused on Futagami's head, it created the KO type of effect," wrote Keith.
"I agree with Keith. The uraken was great, and Gami's facial was perfect. This finish also shows that even *Aja's* old finisher isn't good enough anymore. For Aja to put away an ARSION girl, she had to use the uraken AND the brainbuster. Aja still got the win, but finishes like this help get the whole promotion over as very tough fighters," wrote Chris.
It was a simple but effective storyline, but it worked because it not only made Futagami look strong before jobbing, but, like the Reggie vs. Rie match, it put the finisher over huge because the first time it couldn't be avoided that was it. 13:32. ***1/2