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THE FOURTH STARLIGHT: Mikiko Futagami (12-4-1) vs. Michiko Omukai (3-8) |
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This match was great in points, but weak in others. Overall, it was a very good match. Futagami gave a strong performance. Her selling, particularly her facials, are so much better than they used to be. Up to this point, it had been Omukai selling for the majority of the match when she fought a higher ranked wrestler, but she finally got to be dominant offensively in this match. Omukai pushed Gami for all she was worth, in an attempt to get her first victory over one of the big 3 natives in ARSION. Gami sold as well as Omukai has been, so that part of the match was really strong, but Omukai's offense, while improving, still isn't where it needs to be. You can tell that working with Sakie was helping her though, and it's easy to be patient with someone when they are giving you very good matches and showing improvement on each tape. The match got off to a slow start, showing that neither could gain an advantage standing up or on the mat. Omukai finally pinned Futagami in the corner, and used a series of knees. She followed with a series of Yakuza kicks, several of which were no sold by Futagami because they were building to Omukai putting her down with the Sakie rolling savate. Omukai took it to the mat, but Futagami escaped all of her submissions. She knocked Futagami to the floor with a leg lariat, and followed with a plancha. Once Omukai got the advantage, it pretty much went this way for the first 8:30. She tried every kick, suplex, and submission she could think of, but Futagami withstood them all. Futagami finally came back, including using Ozaki's tequila sunrise into the modified full nelson that she beat Omukai with in their 3/22/98 match. Omukai was in this for a long time, but she eventually got her feet on the ropes. Omukai countered Futagami's nadare shiki no Frankensteiner with a powerbomb off the 2nd, but it was really weak looking because she let Futagami go in midair. Omukai did her old destiny hammer finisher for a near fall then the Sakie uranages and rolling savate for a near fall. They countered each others suplex attempts until Omukai went into the Crippler crossface for a great near submission. Omukai was disgusted when Futagami made it to the ropes, so she Machine windmill suplexed her to the center of the ring then reapplied the Crippler crossface, but once again Gami got to the ropes. Futagami, whose selling had been so good, made a quick comeback that culminated in a near submission with a hadakajime (naked choke). Omukai ducked Futagami's shotei, and punched her in the face pretty hard for a near fall. She tried to end it with her rolling savate, but Futagami ducked it and caught her with a shotei. Futagami proceeded to apply the hadakajime, but Omukai refused to submit so she just lied there in it trapped until she "passed out." Futagami's facials made this move seem deadly, but in reality she wasn't putting any pressure on at all to the point it looked bad when they showed a close up of her arm around Omukai's neck.The idea of the match was to get you to pull for Omukai to win. Even though it's not surprising that she didn't, (aside from the light showing) losing in this manner helped get over how much heart and fighting spirit Omukai has. Although Yoshida surpassed her by the end of the year, Gami was the best overall performer in the promotion up to this point, and this match was no exception. However, Omukai's offense was what was going to make or break this match, and in this case it made it. Jerome: GREAT MATCH! Omukai pushed Gami to the limit, to the point it seemed that they were going to a draw. One funny thing is that there was a fan that chanted for Chama during the whole match and at one time, Gami told him something that I didn't understand, but I think was to the effect of "Shut up" or stuff like that. The early part of the match was on the mat, and both were pretty equal. Chama then took the advantage through a flurry and kicks and knees. Her kicks were not that great at that point, but she got better with experience. They incorpored some pro-style spots like a plancha that looked good because Chama didn't lose any time. The crowd really got into the match after the destiny hammer, and from there gave some good reactions for the near submissions like the Crippler crossface. As much as her kicks were not great, Omukai proved that she knew the meaning of the word stifness by punching Gami right in the face with full force which caused visible swelling. That shot looked really vicious and the idea that 95% of the wusses in the US Big Two wouldn't want to receive that kind of treatment is pretty....amusing. Gami ended the match with the hadakajime, but Omukai didn't give up and that was the final act to elevate her. Both were very good and as always, Chama gave everybody a lesson on selling and facial expressions. Miko: They did the usual Arsion mat work, working toward submissions, though at times it got a little unfocused. At last, we saw some slaps by the wrestler on top. Omukai's stiffness level seemed to be down some because she was kicking with the sole of her boot more often than not. Special Thanks to: Jerome Denis & Miko Kubota - Michiku Pro 14:19
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