GAMI vs. Ryo Mizunami 14:17
Io Shirai & Mio Shirai vs. Misaki Ohata & Senri Kuroki 12:38
Bullfight Sora & Mima Shimoda vs. Cherry & Sakura Hirota vs. Command Bolshoi & GAMI 16:55
Aja Kong & Moeka Haruhi vs. Ran YuYu & Toshie Uematsu 15:28
Mayumi Ozaki vs. Yumi Oka 14:30
Ayumi Kurihara vs. Shu Shibutani 17:47
HAPPY NEW YEAR WAVE 2010 1/4/10 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
GAMI vs. Ryo Mizunami 14:17
New Year Comical 3 WAY-VE: Mima Shimoda & Bullfight Sora vs. Cherry & Sakura Hirota vs. GAMI & Command Bolshoi 16:55
Yumi Oka vs. Mayumi Ozaki 8:56 of 14:30. Much better than what we get from Ozaki in OZ. WAVE defunded, so this was merely a 2-1, though Nishio didn't even play a huge role. There was an overlong chain segment, but Oz wrestled the rest of the time, and was fine to good. I won't say this was anything special, but it was an actual Ozaki wrestling match, and she was the better worker, looking like someone you could consider for the top 25 joshi.
Ayumi Kurihara vs. Shu Shibutani 9:37 of 17:47. Not only two of the best young wrestlers of this period, but two of the best, period. Shibutani is a workrate machine, and Kurihara is an excellent, diverse opponent who can hang with her no matter where the match goes. I thought this would be more MMA oriented, but I'm not sure if there was a single submission, which probably wasn't a benefit. Instead they just stuck to doing a fast-paced, aggressive junior style match where they were mostly charging/leaping at each other. The effort was really high as you'd expect, and it was all very well executed. It feels like this should be a WAVE match of the year, and maybe it was if they didn't cut so much out, but they are definitely capable of more. ***1/4
WEEKDAY WAVE VOL. 20 1/20/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Io Shirai vs. Misaki Ohata 6:27 of 8:44. Io is mostly a high flying spot merchant at this point, and Ohata is probably a good opponent for her because she wants to do an athletic style as well, and will match anyone, effort wise. This was the expected high energy athletic match where they did what they had & got out, though it started stronger than it finished. Early on, Io did a nice job of carrying Ohata through some nice lucha sequences that we otherwise don't see in WAVE, but as it progressed things became more generic with Ohata's comeback where she was simply just throwing herself at Io repeatedly with dropkicks & cross bodies. The match did improve again for the finishing sequence where Io took back over, though it remained more in the standard good gymnastics column than really getting back to the well thought out sequences we saw at the outset. ***
Kana vs. Shu Shibutani 6:35 of 11:45. The two best workers in WAVE turned a brief undercard match into a savage war through effort, impact, and intensity. Kana's stiffness varies greatly depending upon the opponent, in WAVE we could have a Shu-Moeka scale with this match being proof that Kana holds nothing back against Shibutani. Against any other opponent, Shu would happy to bang it out, but Kana is so vicious she would rather get into her high speed offense because she's the better athlete with the flashier, more high impact offense, but most of this is on the move or off the counter. She knows she can't just slug it out with Kana toe to toe, and the fact there's some semblance of actual strategy in play adds intensity to a contest that already feels very high stakes. Kana does a nice job of not make things easy for Shu, instead punishing her with a series of nasty blows any time she cuts her off. Thus, Shu has to do some calculated exchanging to slow Kana down enough to not just get knocked out of the air. Despite Kana being at her fiercest, Shu hangs in there in the strike exchanges, and this is just some electric action, with some of the fastest hard strikes you'll see. Shu gets in enough high spots to be doing her thing & remain competitive, without them seeming too out of place in this war. While the match is on the short side, that's reasonable so given your body can only withstand so much of this style. What isn't reasonable is why they are cutting so much out when this is a class or fifteen above anything else in WAVE this year other than their Match of the Year rematch. ***3/4
Bullfight Sora vs. Sakura Hirota 0:00
GAMI & Toshie Uematsu & Mio Shirai vs. Kaoru & Yumi Oka & Moeka Haruhi 9:23 of 29:25. Actually pretty good, mostly due to Mio, and secondarily Uematsu. GAMI vs. Oka was kind of clunky, but they were trying.
PRO-WRESTLING WAVE EXTRA 5 in NAGOYA 1/31/10 Nagoya Club Diamond Hall
Manami Toyoda vs. Shu Shibutani 9:26 of 13:50. Much better than any of Toyota's OZ matches this year, as Shu did a match that Toyota could do. It was pretty basic flying, eliminating most of the sequences and basically just doing dropkicks & top rope moves, but this is a match that Toyota fans can enjoy & it was a clean performance on her part. Funny spot where Toyota stole a batch of Shibutani signs from a fan in the front row, hit Shu with them, then ripped one up. Later, while Shu was recovering from a missile kick, Toyota eliminated some more Shu signs.
NAGOYA Premium WAVE Three Game Match: Sonoko Kato & Sakura Hirota & Toshie Uematsu vs. GAMI & Bullfight Sora & Yumi Oka 13:27, 3:34, 4:30
WEEKDAY WAVE VOL. 21 2/2/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring, THREE-GAMEs WAVE: Kana & Yumi Oka & Misaki Ohata vs. Mio Shirai & Io Shirai & GAMI 9:34 of 18:36 [16:04, 2:32]. A really interesting six person because they were able to make doing different styles depending upon the pairings work. Kana worked her striking style, but while Mio did stiff kickboxing with her, Io instead did her best to use her speed & athleticism to counteract. Ohata vs. Shirais was junior style. You might think the best thing GAMI & Oka could do is stay out of the way, but they were pretty good here, especially considering they mostly worked with each other. Oka actually pinned GAMI two straight falls. ***1/4
PRO-WRESTLING WAVE 100TH SHOW 2/13/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
THREE-GAMEs WAVE: Yuki Miyazaki & Misaki Ohata & Moeka Haruhi vs. Mio Shirai & Io Shirai & GAMI 10:17 of 28:45 [13:17, 4:41, 10:47]. Worth watching. Shirai's are good, everyone else other than Haruhi, who is a weak link, is pretty good.
Ryo Mizunami vs. Bullfight Sora 9:30
Ryo Mizunami vs. Sakura Hirota 9:00
WEEKDAY WAVE VOL. 22 2/24/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Murasaki WAVE: Mio Shirai & Io Shirai vs. GAMI 10:54 shown. I know Shirais were young & GAMI was a top worker a decade ago, but this was a bit much having her take
Yumi Oka & Ryo Mizunami vs. Bullfight Sora & Sakura Hirota 11:57
Kana vs. Toshie Uematsu 7:05 of 15:00. Uematsu wasn't up for getting lit up for 15 minutes, so Kana seemed to worked a more patient, submission oriented version of her shoot style, though the editing wasn't doing her any favors as she was trying to be more credible & they were jumping to the point where the leg lock happened. Uematsu was okay, but was neither doing Kana's style nor doing much to counteract it.
THREE-GAMEs WAVE: Ayumi Kurihara & Cherry & Shu Shibutani vs. Misaki Ohata & Moeka Haruhi & Tomoka Nakagawa 10:29 of 19:23 [3:38, 7:44, 8:01]. Shu was by far the best worker in the match because she was thinking about how to make the opponents look good working with her, for the most part jumping at her, which even Haruhi was able to do well enough that their segments were among the highlights. Kurihara was also good, but she was more getting her moves in & hoping the opposition could keep up or stand on their own, which wasn't necessarily the case. Ohata is one of the best utilized young wrestlers in the sense that she's actually not that great yet, rather basic '80's high flyer offense and can be a bit sloppy, but she usually has good opponents who can do good things with a hard worker in this style. Nakagawa definitely had the most to offer on her side, but didn't seem to be involved much. Good athletic action. ***
Yumi Oka vs. Mayumi Ozaki 6:51 of 10:37. Better than if it were in OZ Academy because Oka did more than the big boot, and Oz actually took a handful of bumps on her suplexes rather than delegating them to a minion. It wasn't a constant 5-2 & Oz only used the chain early to bust Oka open, but still their 1/4/10 match that was more of a straight match was much more interesting than this somewhat usual brawl.
WEEKDAY WAVE VOL. 23 3/9/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Ryo Mizunami vs. Moeka Haruhi
THREE-GAMEs WAVE: Shu Shibutani & Fuka & Misaki Ohata vs. GAMI & Mio Shirai & Io Shirai 15:30 of 25:09. Chaotic fast-paced spotfest. More toward the style of the Shirai's, who were among the better wrestlers, even though they weren't always on point. Shibutani was the standout because she can work at the highest speed, particularly doing nice things with Io, as they traded the 1st two falls. Fuka was here as part of her retirement road, and while they did the classic goofy sequence where she was shark attacked by the entire roster, she otherwise wasn't involved as much as I would have liked, perhaps because she was doing the exhibition with Shu afterwards, which was actually considerably better action. Fuka did finally come on in the 3rd fall, scoring the pin on GAMI. Ohata was surprisingly absent, while GAMI tried, but was really lagging behind even though she set a much slower pace when she was in. ***
Shu Shibutani vs. Fuka 3:31 of 5:00. These two were part of JD's 2004 class, and trained by Mariko Yoshida. I'll never understand the mindset of WAVE's editor, as this was a really short match people would surely want to see, and it was total gas, but they still cut out 1/3. Just great, lightning paced back & forth action. You knew it was going to be a draw, but these two pulled you in by doing what Shu does so well - go all out - so you actually were invested in the near falls, even though you knew better. One thing that seems to be a motif of 2010 is workers who seemingly have a lot left retiring, from Fuka to Atsuko Emoto to Asami Kawasaki, all of whom only wrestled 6-7 years, to Yoshiko Tamura, who was still at the top of the game, as she'd been for most of the decade. ***
OSAKA RHAPSODY VOL. 8 3/20/10 Osaka World Hall
Kana & Cherry vs. Shu Shibutani & Bullfight Sora 11:18 of 16:19. A could have been shoot style match between Yoshida trainees. While Emoto is quite talented, the problem is she does the Bullfight gimmick in WAVE, and regularly goring the opponent couldn't possibly be more out of place. This started credibly, but between Sora's antics, Cherry being in a lot more than expected (though she had a good match), and Kana busting Shu's nose right at the outset of what was seemingly finally going to be their big sequence together, the match didn't reach the expected level. Kana was great as usual, but Shu seemed a bit deflated by working with silly Sora, and they were just tagging so much neither could get on a roll. Shu did make a strong comeback late despite the injury.
Mima Shimoda & Yumi Oka vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Misaki Ohata 9:50 of 14:59.
THREE-GAMEs WAVE: Ran YuYu & Toshie Uematsu & Ryo Mizunami vs. GAMI & Mio Shirai & Io Shirai 12:32 shown. Good when Io or Ran were in. Mio had moments.
WEEKDAY WAVE VOL. 24 3/24/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Kana & Cherry vs. Mio Shirai & Io Shirai 9:30 of 12:12. It's interesting how much differently the Shirai sisters work against Kana, both to very good results. Mio tries to match Kana in standup, and they can actually do some sorely underused striking combos in addition to just banging. It's hard for your striking to get noticed when you are always with or against Kana, but Mio is definitely one of the more skilled strikers at this point. On the other hand, Io tries to avoid striking entirely, so she has to get really creative, ducking and dodging Kana's bombs then trying to capitalize on the miss to get an athletic move in. Cherry was fine, but this wasn't one of her better matches as she works much better against Kana than with her. Still, any match with Kana is where Cherry is going to do her best work, but she's just so far below the level of the others in terms of athleticism & crispness that the match still suffered when she was in. ***
Bullfight Sora & Sakura Hirota vs. Misaki Ohata & Moeka Haruhi
Yumi Oka vs. Sawako Shimono
HAPPY BIRTHDAY WAVE - Lumberjack Punishment Comical Death Match: Ran YuYu & Toshie Uematsu vs. GAMI & Ryo Mizunami 23:42
Yumi Oka HAPPY BIRTHDAY WAVE 2.0 ~SAKURASAKU 3.1~ 4/4/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Memorial WAVE 10th Anniversary: Tojuki Leon vs. GAMI 9:00 of 15:00 + 1:27. These two give an effort, but GAMI is lacking the speed & athleticism at this point, so it's clunky in points.
Toshie Uematsu & KAZUKI vs. Jaguar Yokota & Cherry
TLW World Young Women's Tag Team Title - Young WAVE: Ryo Mizunami & Kagetsu vs. Misaki Ohata & Moeka Haruhi 11:45 of 18:46. Pretty promising high effort tag match, though mostly due to the larger women. Mizunami may not be an artful mover, but she's always on the move in these days, running over or through the opposition. While she obviously has a rougher style than her tiny opposition, she's still able to do their style, more or less, and bring some different things to it. No one really had a fully developed offensive arsenal here, but Kagetsu was by far the best all around worker. The match was good when she was in, though the difference between her & Mizunami was a lot less than I expected. Ohata can play off the opposition a lot more than Haruhi can, but these two mostly just brought effort. They failed to establish any clear reason they could beat the much larger team of Ryo & Kagetsu.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY WAVE ~Meet again~: Yumi Oka vs. Asami Kawasaki 8:25 of 14:03. Kawasaki did a good job here with her martial arts style, but Oka isn't really the right opponent for it. Oka is normally a pretty decent worker with no offense beyond a couple suplexes. However, she just seems a second late here, more from not understanding the timing than not being capable of it, which saps the aggression & keeps the striking sequences from actually escalating. Nonetheless, Kawasaki is good enough that this is the best Oka match so far in 2010.
WEEKDAY WAVE VOL. 25 4/20/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Misaki Ohata & Io Shirai vs. Ryo Mizunami & Mio Shirai 10:59 of 15:00. While the contest was mostly good for the strong segments the Shirai sisters worked against one another, Ryo & Ohata gave the sort of strong efforts we saw from them all year. The match was predominantly in the Shirai's style with Mio bringing her kicks & submissions, and Io working with her the same way she does with Kana, finding flying offense out of ducking & dodging kicks. Ohata & Ryo more or less went along, more toward Mio's style, though they did more running. Mizunami is probably better than Ohata offensively at this point because her offense has more impact due to her size, and is executed with more explosion. There's one spot where Ryo counters Ohata's charge with an exploder that's really so much more well performed than had Ohata actually succeeded. I mean, Ohata executes her moves more or less properly, but they don't have the burst to them like when other small speedy athletic girls such as Bolshoi or Taiyo do them. That being said, being small helps Ohata have better stamina & take the opponent's moves better than Ryo, and ultimately, she finds a way to at least contribute to a lot of good matches, one way or another. ***
Tomoka Nakagawa vs. Moeka Haruhi 7:23 of 12:30
Rival WAVE: Kana vs. Shu Shibutani 11:11 of 18:16. Match of the Year for WAVE if not all of joshi. Kana is at her most vicious in WAVE because workers such as Shu & Mio are most willing to take it. There's one particularly nasty spot here where Shu is sitting, and Kana nearly knocks her out with a high kick. While Mio is most capable of doing a pure shoot style match with Kana, you never really feel she can win it, whereas Shu can do a really fast paced brutal pro wrestling match where, even if she's not as good a striker as Mio, she can strike with Kana enough to hang in by countering with her array of suplexes & DDTs which are bigger moves than Kana is generally willing to use. It feels a lot more like Shu can win with one of her bombs because she can make it her match, and similarly to what we'd come to think of Arisa Nakajima, is just one of those super athletic stamina for days types that can go full speed until she defeats you with a relentless combo of skill & desire, if that's what it takes. Shu can also counter Kana's clutches & submissions into flash pins, but this also works the other way around where Kana can can counter her throws into submissions, which adds to the urgency & unpredictability of the back & forth match. And that's one of the things that makes this bout stand out, it doesn't just glide along the rails the way so many matches do. Shibutani, who is the most energetic & fiery performer in WAVE to begin with, was extra fired up here because she's in the main event against Kana, who injured her last time they met. She's pretty much shot out of a cannon, but in their infinite wisdom, WAVE editors can't wait to start chopping up the early portion. That really sucked because this might be a great match in complete form, it definitely seems doubtful it ever slowed down in any sub optimal manner, as many other WAVE matches probably do. In addition to some brutal exchanges, Kana tried to work Shu's arm, but got slowed down by a pesky ringpost when Shu avoided a kick. Shu really took over after a tornado DDT on the floor, but Kana eventually came back going back to the arm by spinning out of Shu's German suplex hold into a Kimura. I like how Shu went back to this later on, but did a released version to avoid the potential counter. The intensity here is really high, and Shu is able to make you believe she can win this match, even though she ultimately loses to some sort of stump puller & armbar combo that apparently is another of Kana's moves that supposedly have something to do with Russia. Kana is great, but Shu really adds a lot of elements & intrigue to this match to make Kana's paired down style a lot more interesting without taking away from it by straining the credibility. These may be the two best to performers in all of joshi this year. ****1/4
WEEKDAY WAVE VOL. 26 5/11/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Ryo Mizunami & Moeka Haruhi vs. Ayumi Kurihara & Misaki Ohata 9:58 of 13:29. Ryo really goes all out here to carry her side and make this a compelling matchup. It's definitely better having Ohata & Haruhi on opposite teams because Haruhi is simply a much lesser version of Ohata, one of those Sachie Abe sort of girls who you want to like because she's cute, but then she's just not quick or athletic or stiff enough to actually be a compelling wrestler. Kurihara was definitely the strongest performer, but always seems stuck in the role of matching someone else, in this case Ryo, in their style. Ohata does a better job here or getting some more energy & explosion into her strikes & jumps to make them more viable, and hence does a more credible job of standing up to Ryo. ***
Toshie Uematsu vs. Io Shirai 8:02 of 11:05. Io did some good things, but Uematsu wasn't up to putting in the effort to make it good.
GAMI & Bullfight Sora vs. Aja Kong & Sakura Hirota
Shu Shibutani & Cherry vs. Yumi Oka & Asami Kawasaki 11:40 of 17:04. Shu/Asami was good, rest was decent.
WEEKDAY WAVE VOL. 27 5/19/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Yumi Oka & Kana vs. GAMI & Io Shirai 12:25 of 16:28. The problem with WAVE is they're built around GAMI & Oka, whose mediocrity is so overwhelming Kana knew not to bother.
Moeka Haruhi vs. Senri Kuroka
Toshie Uematsu vs. Mio Shirai 7:24 of 12:41. Way worse than Uematsu/Io, Io's flashy spots still work in a match w/o intensity whereas Mio's shoot stuff really falls flat.
THREE-GAMEs WAVE - Comical WAVE Bullfight Sora Retirement Road: Ayumi Kurihara & Tojuki Leon & Bullfight Sora vs. Shu Shibutani & Misaki Ohata & Cherry 4:30, 10:43, 9:30. Since the match centered around Sora, there had to be comedy, and since there had to be comedy, nobody went that far out of their way to have a good match.
Ayumi Kurihara vs. Bullfight Sora 4:29 of 4:50
WEEKDAY WAVE VOL. 28 6/9/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Diva & Idol WAVE: Yumi Oka & Bambi vs. Moeka Haruhi & Misaki Ohata 14:08
PRO-WRESTLING WAVE YOUNG OH! OH! 6 7/4/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Young vs. NO Young: Cherry & Io Shirao & Tomoka Nakagawa vs. GAMI & Yumi Oka & Toshie Uematsu 11:04 of 13:43. Oka vs. Io is a perfect example of how Oka could be good if everything didn't tediously revolve around the lame big boot because she can actually move & bump enough to follow/react to Io in the athletic sequences. Cherry had a better match here, and even got the pin on GAMI
Sakura Hirota vs. Sawako Shimono
TLW World Young Women's Tag Team Title: Moeka Haruhi & Misaki Ohata vs. Bambi & Basara 11:53 of 13:36
SUNDAY WAVE VOL. 4 5/30/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Bullfight Sora Retirement Series:
Final Rival WAVE: Bullfight Sora vs. Kyoko Kimura 7:21
Final Native of Hokkaido WAVE: Bullfight Sora vs. Tomoka Nakagawa 7:20
Final Technical WAVE: Bullfight Sora vs. Toshie Uematsu 5:06
Final Challenge WAVE: Bullfight Sora vs. AKINO 5:04 of 6:30
Final Comical WAVE - Slow Motion Lumberjack Punishment +? Comical Death Match: Bullfight Sora vs. GAMI 16:32
Young Block
5/30/10 Tokyo: Io Shirai vs. Sawako Shimono 5:06 of 8:41. Shimono didn't add much, but Io was able to do her thing against her.
6/9/10 Tokyo: Ryo Mizunami vs. Senri Kuroki
6/20/10 Tokyo: Misaki Ohata vs. Sawako Shimono
6/20/10 Tokyo: Ryo Mizunami vs. Io Shirai 7:07 of 10:00. Normally Ryo goes along with the others pushing the pace, but with Io looking to run circles around everyone, Ryo decided to use her striking, power, & submissions when she could instead. Both gave good performances, and I enjoyed the match, but even for a young block, a 10 minute time limit is ridiculous.
6/27/10 Matsushita: Ryo Mizunami vs. Misaki Ohata 4:55 of 10:00. This is the most convincing Ohata has looked against Ryo, mostly because she was fired up & performing with more energy & authority. Ryo worked her usual faster paced match here with some suplexes & submissions back & forth on the mat. As with the Io match, it was good while it lasted.
7/25/10 Tokyo: Io Shirai vs. Misaki Ohata 5:17 of 10:00. Probably the best match of the block. Io actually got to do her match against, and an opponent who benefits from that style as well. While not nearly as spectacular, Ohata did a better job here & was able to keep up.
7/31/10 Funabashi: Ryo Mizunami vs. Sawako Shimono
8/10/10 Tokyo Catch the WAVE Young Block Finalist Decision Match: Ryo Mizunami vs. Io Shirai vs. Misaki Ohata 7:05 of 10:46. Io is by far the most creative wrestler in WAVE, and she was at her freewheeling best here, finding interesting ways to keep everyone involved. She also kept them on their toes, as you didn't know if she was going to facilitate a double team, or just mess with the opponent for the fun of it. This trickery eventually came back to haunt her though as after she pinned Ohata with a huracanrana, Ohata helped Ryo pin Io with a leg drop to win the match. These three worked well together the entire tournament, with Ohata working better with Io than anyone else in WAVE. ***
Rival Block
5/30 Tokyo: Shu Shibutani vs. Moeka Haruhi 4:54 of 13:07
6/9 Tokyo: Cherry vs. Shu Shibutani 2:23 of 3:07. Intense, urgent, fast-paced Shu style match that had potential, but came to a surprisingly quick ending.
6/20 Tokyo: Asami Kawasaki vs. Moeka Haruhi 4:23 of 6:37
6/20/10 Tokyo: Shu Shibutani vs. Ayumi Kurihara 8:22 of 11:56. Two of the most technically sound women around, as usual they made everything they do look really easy. The action flowed back & forth nicely, this time they mixed some submissions in with the athletic spots. I thought this might be a draw because it wasn't quite as fast & all out as I expected. While it was one of the highlights of the tournament, they are definitely capable of doing a better match. ***1/4
7/4/10 Tokyo: Asami Kawasaki vs. Shu Shibutani 6:39 of 12:26. The intensity & urgency of Shu, in particular, really sets this match apart. It helps, obviously, that she has the speed, technique, and stiffness to back it up, but, as with Kana, fighting somewhat credibly like you really want to wreck the opponent really goes a long way. This is a striking oriented junior style match where they really push the pace, but in the more believable sense of wanting to stay on the opponent so they can't recover rather than the usual we just want to get the extra 6 moves in. Kawasaki, who started in JD before Shu but was mostly an acting student then TV actress, is also quite impressive, especially given how few matches she's managed to have over the years. She's definitely following Shu, but doing so better than the majority of full time wrestlers, and she brings a somewhat unique athletic kicking style that, while showy, still manages to maintain a somewhat competitive feel because she's willing to mix things up & throw combos. It's a shame this was actually one of her last matches as she really had a lot of potential. The version on YOUNG OH! OH! vol.1 - vol.Lucky7 is less incomplete. ***1/2
7/13 Tokyo: Moeka Haruhi vs. Cherry
7/25/10 Tokyo: Ayumi Kurihara vs. Asami Kawasaki 5:30 of 11:01. Kawasaki has a karate background, but seems to have been more of a judo player, having been on the high school team. Regardless, she is one of the best kickers we've seen in joshi in terms of actual technique, ability/willingness to throw combos, and diversity. Others hit harder, but they literally just stand there & throw the same 1 or 2 kicks their entire career. Kurihara was excited to have an opponent she could do a more realistic match against, and these two really went at it. Ironically, the stiffest shot was probably Kurihara's dropkick to the chin when Kawasaki was sitting against the ropes, which set up the finish. This looked like it may have been better than Kurihara vs. Shu, which I would not have expected, it just had more heat, intensity, and effort. Of course, WAVE edits with no regard to quality, and these two being outsiders probably made this more skippable to them. Regardless, Kawasaki's stock is rising with every match in this tournament, I think talent wise she could be top 10 joshi right now, her issues are really from never having actually wrestled that often. ***1/4
7/31 Funabashi: Ayumi Kurihara vs. Cherry 4:17 of 9:06. Cherry has been having a surprisingly good tournament, hanging in there with far superior workers through effort. Again, this was short, which probably helps, but seemed a pretty good match with Cherry pushing Ayumi.
8/10 Tokyo: Cherry vs. Asami Kawasaki 3:27 of 6:14. Kawasaki adjusted her style for Cherry, doing more suplexes & less strikes. Again, this was mostly Cherry pushing her, and coming up with another quick win.
8/10 Tokyo: Ayumi Kurihara vs. Moeka Haruhi 4:56 of 11:58. In a block with Shibutani, Kurihara, & Kawasaki, you'd think they could come up with a better scenario for the final match than having rightfully last place Haruhi involved. I mean, you want Kurihara to feel like she has to go out there and earn it, and Haruhi's feeble elbows are not upping anyone's intensity. One of the least interesting matches of the block.
Visual Technical Block
5/30 Tokyo: Kana vs. Yumi Oka 3:14 of 3:36. I thought Oka was finally going to have a good match, but then it was 3 minutes. At least this was a stiff, energized performance from both, though Oka still does little beyond the big boot. Good while it lasted is still a big improvement for her, though, of course, Kana is the reason it's reasonable.
6/9 Tokyo: GAMI vs. Mio Shirai
6/20 Tokyo: GAMI vs. Kana 7:42 of 15:00. You'd think that even though she's lost her athleticism, GAMI should still be able to do a good ARSION style match with Kana. This was noticably less stiff than your typical Kana match though. Note to GAMI, the changes you make to help get over being in slow motion don't include adding the rolling cradle.
6/20 Tokyo: Yumi Oka vs. Toshie Uematsu
7/4 Tokyo: Kana vs. Mio Shirai 5:54 of 9:22. Impressive Yoshida style technical match that was probably the closest we saw to shoot style in WAVE this year. They threw a couple running kicks, as is Mio's specialty, and did a vertical suplex, but I can find UWF-I matches that have way more obviously fake spots, and this was actually more advanced on the ground with actually properly applied submissions & some better positioning. Lots of hard hitting, and while the finish was out of nowhere, that was fine, it just shouldn't be due to the sort of submission Bob Backlund would use. ***1/2
7/13 Tokyo: Yumi Oka vs. Mio Shirai 6:47 of 8:54. An entire match of exchanging single head kicks with no set up. Sure...
7/13 Tokyo: GAMI vs. Toshie Uematsu
7/25 Tokyo: GAMI vs. Yumi Oka
7/31 Funabashi: Toshie Uematsu vs. Kana 5:15 of 14:49. Uematsu showed up here, bringing some nice rolls and lucha cradles to counter Kana's kicks & submissions. Kana wasn't stiff by her standards, but these two worked well together, with a number of nice transitions & counters. Seemed good.
8/10 Tokyo: Toshie Uematsu vs. Mio Shirai 7:34 of 10:37
8/10/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Catch the WAVE - Visual Technical Block 3rd Place: GAMI vs. Toshie Uematsu 1:22
Catch the WAVE - Visual Technical Block Finalist Decision Match: Yumi Oka vs. Kana 5:52 of 8:24. Considerably better than their league match or anything Oka has done so far this year because they were at least able to do an urgent, heated, & intense bout that made advancing seem important. Kana was stiffer here, and avoided the oh so predictable front kick to the face a few times, perhaps keeping the number WAVE's most tedious performer landed slightly below the total that have connected in the entire history of MMA. This match had more resistance in general. Even when they hit a suplex, it didn't just come immediately with no resistance.
Catch the WAVE Loser Battle Royal - Survival WAVE: GAMI, Asami Kawasaki, Io Shirai, Misaki Ohata, Cherry, & Kana 7:26 of 8:15
8/11/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Catch the WAVE Semifinal: Ayumi Kurihara vs. Ryo Mizunami 3:55 of 5:04. They went hard, and it was good while it lasted.
Catch the WAVE Semifinal: GAMI vs. Yumi Oka 9:53
Catch the WAVE Final: GAMI vs. Ayumi Kurihara 11:39 of 16:29. This should be a power vs. speed match and/or a mat match, instead GAMI is trying to rope walk, and Kurihara is perpetually waiting around for her.
Catch the WAVE - Young Block: Misaki Ohata [5] vs. Ryo Mizunami [4] 9:32 of 10:00. Started & ended well, but they don't have enough material yet, and that cut into even the energy that was making the match interesting.
Comical WAVE: Kanjuro Matsuyama & Cherry vs. Kuishinbo Kamen & Sakura Hirota 13:21
Young WAVE: Tomoka Nakagawa & Moeka Haruhi vs. Mio Shirai & Io Shirai 9:55 of 10:00. Io/Nakagawa was good, but Shirais didn't waste their energy on Haruhi.
Challenge WAVE: Carlos Amano & Chikayo Nagashima & Sonoko Kato vs. Kana & Ayumi Kurihara & Shu Shibutani 13:54 of 13:59. Great matchup pitting the top 3 workers in WAVE against the top 2 in OZ plus Carlos, who is mostly down because she didn't get many good matchups. This was basically the OZ style workrate match, with a little more martial arts oriented action. It was better than almost anything we saw in OZ just due to the level of opposition, even if it didn't feel like the match really lived up to the potential. Kurihara had the advantage here, being a regular in both leagues, and was quite good, but it was mostly Shu handling the load, even though she seemed kind of beat up. Amano was kind of goofy here with too many headbutts, and it never seemed that the other OZ workers really established themselves, though Nagashima, who had a bloody mouth almost as soon as she started working with Kana, had her moments. ***1/4
Super Challenge WAVE: Tigers Mask & Black Buffalo vs. Toshie Uematsu & Ran YuYu 8:20
Resurrection WAVE ~Target~: Aja Kong vs. Yumi Oka 13:25 of 15:25. Aja did her usual big match, but Oka doesn't have anything beyond the monotony she always displays.
Premium WAVE ~Daijo vs. Senjo~: Meiko Satomura & Kagetsu vs. GAMI & Sawako Shimono 20:17 of 23:03
YOUNG OH! OH! vol.1 3/20/08 Osaka World Building
Cherry vs. Moeka Haruhi 7:36
Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Kana 11:45
Shu Shibutani & Misaki Ohata vs. Bullfighter Sora & Tomoka Nakagawa 17:18
Yumi Oka vs. Arisa Nakajima 14:56
YOUNG OH! OH! vol.2 6/22/08 Tokyo Kinema Club
Hiroyo Matsumoto & Misaki Ohata & Ray vs. Mio Shirai & Io Shirai & Mika Mizunuma
Handicap Match: Ayako Sato & Hanako Kobayashi vs. Kana
Lady's Ring Presents ~ BATTLARTS Rules: Fuka vs. Chihiro Oikawa
Arisa Nakajima & Pinky Mayuka vs. Yumi Oka & Moeka Haruhi
YOUNG OH! OH! vol.3 11/9/08 Tokyo Kinema Club
Young vs. Young: Ayako Sato & Hanako Kobayashi vs. Kana & Shu Shibutani 13:31
YOUNG OH! OH! vol.4 3/20/09 Osaka World Hall
Dual Duelist Young Tournament 1st Round: Mio Shirai & Io Shirai vs. Kyoko Kimura & Mikado 13:41
Dual Duelist Young Tournament 1st Round: Apple Miyuki & Cherry vs. Kana & Chihiro Oikawa 11:04
Dual Duelist Young Tournament 1st Round: Moeka Haruhi & Tomoka Nakagawa vs. Kayo Fujimori & HARU 13:48
Dual Duelist Young Tournament 1st Round: Shu Shibutani & Ayumi Kurihara vs. Hanako Kobayashi & Misaki Ohata 15:00 + 2:51
AUTUMN ITABASHI WOMAN PRO CELEBRATION ~ YOUNG OH! OH! vol.5 9/21/09 Itabashi Green Hall
Young OH!OH! Tournament Dogfight Final: Shu Shibutani vs. Mio Shirai vs. Ryo Mizunami 7:45
YOUNG OH! OH! vol.6 7/4/10 Tokyo Kinema Club
Catch the WAVE Visual Technical Block: Kana vs. Mio Shirai 5:54 of 9:22. Impressive Yoshida style technical match that was probably the closest we saw to shoot style in WAVE this year. They threw a couple running kicks, as is Mio's specialty, and did a vertical suplex, but I can find UWF-I matches that have way more obviously fake spots, and this was actually more advanced on the ground with actually properly applied submissions & some better positioning. Lots of hard hitting, and while the finish was out of nowhere, that was fine, it just shouldn't be due to the sort of submission Bob Backlund would use. ***1/2
Comical WAVE: Sakura Hirota vs. Sawako Shimono 9:58
TLW World Young Women's Tag Title Match: Misako Ohata & Moeka Haruhi vs. Bambi & Basara 9:15 of 13:36. Offense isn't far beyond rookie level, but they're energetic & execute competently.
Catch the WAVE Rival Block: Asami Kawasaki vs. Shu Shibutani 8:03 of 12:26. The intensity & urgency of Shu, in particular, really sets this match apart. It helps, obviously, that she has the speed, technique, and stiffness to back it up, but, as with Kana, fighting somewhat credibly like you really want to wreck the opponent really goes a long way. This is a striking oriented junior style match where they really push the pace, but in the more believable sense of wanting to stay on the opponent so they can't recover rather than the usual we just want to get the extra 6 moves in. Kawasaki, who started in JD before Shu but was mostly an acting student then TV actress, is also quite impressive, especially given how few matches she's managed to have over the years. She's definitely following Shu, but doing so better than the majority of full time wrestlers, and she brings a somewhat unique athletic kicking style that, while showy, still manages to maintain a somewhat competitive feel because she's willing to mix things up & throw combos. It's a shame this was actually one of her last matches as she really had a lot of potential. ***1/2
YOUNG OH! OH! vol.Lucky7 2/20/11 Tokyo Kinema Club
Aya Yuki & Ryo Mizunami & Sawako Shimono vs. Cherry & Syuri & Nao Komatsu 15:18
Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Senri Kuroki 8:00
Mio Shirai & Io Shirai vs. Hanako Nakamori & Miki Iida 12:50
Kana vs. Kagetsu 11:31
Misaki Ohata & Hiren vs. Tomoka Nakagawa & Moeka Haruhi 17:34
WEEKDAY WAVE VOL. 29 7/13/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Io Shirai vs. Sakura Hirota
Ayumi Kurihara HAPPY BIRTHDAY WAVE: AKINO & Shu Shibutani vs. Ayumi Kurihara & Misaki Ohata 10:29 of 14:40. Started strong, but Kurihara hurt her back when she thought she was supposed to get up & respond to AKINO's arm drag with her own, but AKINO seemed to change things up at the last second with another arm drag of her own. Luckily, Kurihara was okay after 30 seconds, and didn't even have to tag out. The match didn't quite get back on track though. Ohata was pretty tiresome here just doing dropkicks & high cross bodies, while Shibutani was barely in.
Ayumi Kurihara vs. AKINO 4:27 of 5:00. AKINO is Kurihara's best opponent, at least in OZ, so it's no surprise it was quite good while it lasted. They should have just skipped the tag & done a proper singles match.
SUNDAY WAVE VOL. 6 7/25/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Shu Shibutani & Moeka Haruhi vs. Kana & Sawako Shimono 10:39 of 14:47. Match was all over the place, as you'd expect with such a massive gap in talent. Shu vs. Kana was some of the best stuff all year, really brutal striking sequences but also some nice evasion. I would have been okay with Shu & Kana not wasting their time with Shimono & Haruhi, but actually what made the match good is that Shu went the extra mile putting the effort in to carry Shimono to the point that their segments were pretty good, which meant that we didn't need to get much of the dreadful Haruhi/Shimono pairing. ***
Ran YuYu vs. Sakura Hirota
SUMMER FESTIVAL 2010 ~WATER~ 8/11/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Simono Sawako vs. Moon Mizuki
Costume Change Battle Royal
HARUHI & SHIBU ~HAPPY BIRTHDAY WAVE 10/12/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Yoshiko Tamura & Yuki Miyazaki & Tanny Mouse vs. GAMI & Yumi Oka & Moeka Haruhi
Hiroyo Matsumoto & Tomoka Nakagawa vs. Ryo Mizunami & Sawako Shimono 7:45 of 10:23
Kana vs. Cherry 7:11 of 15:00. Cherry isn't the best worker, but she fairs a lot better in WAVE due to the high number of martial artists/Yoshida trainees. She's a particularly good opponent for Kana, as her background is in judo, and she's best when things are kept simple & paired down. Once or twice there was a bit of hesitation as to whether Kana wanted Cherry to take or avoid a strike, but overall, this was a good performance from Cherry, and one of the best matches of her career. Both have competed in Battlarts Queen Bee, and that's the style they did. While Cherry can't exactly match strikes with Kana, she took some relatively stiff shots, and was able to counter with a kneebar, enzuigiri, a couple of suplexes. The work on the ground was good, with some nice rolling in and out of submissions, and this was the most credible WAVE match I've seen so far this year. There were certainly pro wrestling spots, but they were often explosive counters using the opponents momentum against them. Even though this took place on a goofier than average pro wrestling show, it felt like a real fight. Kana did a great job here not only of carrying this, but of making you believe Cherry had a chance. In the end, the draw somehow actually didn't seem unreasonable. ***1/4
HAPPY BIRTHDAY WAVE: Ran YuYu & Toshie Uematsu vs. Misaki Ohata & Moeka Haruhi 15:07
WEEKDAY WAVE VOL. 31 11/16/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Kana & Misaki Ohata vs. Cherry & Sawako Shimono 10:54 of 15:36. Match really overachieved due to a strong all around effort. Technically speaking, it was good when Kana was in, particularly against Cherry, who again gave as good a performance as she's capable of against Kana. That being said, Cherry did a good enough job here that the match was still reasonably decent when she was in with Ohata. Shimono has only been wrestling for 8 months, so not much could be expected from her, but she wasn't bad, just kind of there. ***
Ayumi Kurihara vs. Tomoka Nakagawa 5:26 of 10:42. A good part of a match. Nakagawa did a good job of taking the fight to Kurihara. Kurihara had a couple nice exploders, and that was basically it. It was probably better than the Kana match, the level was good & consistent, but the editing cutting a short match in half made it feel really slight & rushed.
Ryo Mizunami vs. Sakura Hirota
Yumi Oka & Bambi vs. Toshie Uematsu & Moeka Haruhi
GAMI vs. Yuki Miyazaki
12/5/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
NWA Women's Pacific & NEO Singles Double Title Match: Yoshiko Tamura vs. Yumi Oka 13:45 of 22:05. Apparently, if you watch enough Oka matches, one will actually be good. I don't know who was possessing her, but she was hardly recognizable here, sporting a full arsenal of suplexes and actual wrestling moves, and keeping the infernal big boot to a minimum. She even did some weird avalanche style neck hanging suplex, which probably sounds a lot better than it actually was, but anytime Oka uses an actual wrestling move I won't complain. It's not that Oka is a bad worker, she's perfectly capable, even good taking the opponent's offense, but she literally refuses to do less than 90% big boots in almost every other match, which gets old after 5 seconds much less hundreds of matches. Tamura was really good here, providing a framework for an action packed big match, but it's not so much that Oka needed someone to carry her, when she actually decided to wrestle she was capable of more or less matching Tamura and trading suplexes with her. The striking was pretty stiff, with Tamura accidentally busting Oka's lip with an elbow, but what was surprising here was that an Oka match actually built up & was exciting. ***1/4
JWP Openweight Title Match: Kaori Yoneyama vs. GAMI 12:00 of 21:59. This was better than expected because GAMI actually made some changes & wrestled a more reasonable style, letting Yoneyama do all the moving, and just throwing her around. This still wasn't great, but Yoneyama did what she could, and GAMI, at least, hid her own deficiencies.
Idol WAVE: Cherry & Moeka Haruhi vs. Aya Yuki & Sawako Shimono 12:47
Exhibition WAVE: Toshie Uematsu & Ran YuYu vs. Reika & Bachiko 5:00
Young WAVE ~ Shirai Sisters Mexican Farewell Match: Ryo Mizunami & Misaki Ohata vs. Mio Shirai & Io Shirai 10:35 of 11:14. Mio vs. Ryo was good, but otherwise the match was kind of disapppointing. The early portion was Ryo beating on Io, and while Mio did some good quasi shoot style with Ryo, who actually blocked some of her kicks rather than just standing there and eating high kicks like a doofus, by the time Io or Ohata really did anything the match was already into the final portion.
Revolution WAVE ~ Kyoko Kimura Return Match: Tomoka Nakagawa vs. Kyoko Kimura 9:47
Comical WAVE: Kana vs. Sakura Hirota 14:59
Resurrection WAVE: Meiko Satomura vs. Yumi Oka 11:18 of 14:39. They went through their usual moves (or in Oka's case move) without really doing anything to work together or incorporate them into a match. There was one nice sequence where Satomura tried to turn a vertical suplex into a wakigatame, but Oka rolled through and ducked a high kick, but even that kind of just died out because once Oka picked Satomura's leg all she had was her usual stomp & big boot.
Challenge WAVE: Aja Kong vs. GAMI 17:53 of 22:13. Aja, at least, got to do a big Aja singles match, which is more opportunity than she had in OZ. This would have been a good match if GAMI still had it. Aja did what she could, battering & bloodying GAMI including suplexing her off a table through another, but GAMI couldn't make the required lively comebacks. At least it had its moments.
VIRGIN 10/3/10
Osaka Bati Bati WAVE: Kana vs. Policewo~man. Kana did her usual strikes, and Policewo~man answered by squeezing Kana's breasts. Defund... 6:07 of 6:40
Destiny WAVE: Manami Toyoda & Mima Shimoda vs. Reika & Bachiko 9:57
NEXT Challenge WAVE: Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Ryo Mizunami 5:17
NEXT Challenge WAVE: Kayako Haruyama vs. Misaki Ohata 8:07 of 8:24. JWP workers haven't really appeared in WAVE this year, unfortunately, but Ohata works there fairly regularly, including teaming with Haruyama in the tag title tournament earlier in the year. This was a rare chance for Ohata to get a "big" singles match against another promotions former champion. Ohata is one of the tougher workers to rate because her effort is among the best, and she's a good athlete with a lot of desire & hustle, but her offense usually isn't that impressive because her default moves are still the dropkick and a low cross body. These two worked really well together though, doing a nice power vs. speed match. Haruyama did enough big moves, while Ohata scrambled to avoid & catch her off guard. Ohata didn't have big offense here, but Haruyama did a nice job of setting her up for her armbar & various flash pin counters, and that was a believable path to potential victory against a veteran who considerably outweighed, outranked, & outgunned her. ***
Comical WAVE - Slow-Motion Fast and Furious Comical Death Match: Kikutaro & Sakura Hirota vs. Toshie Uematsu & Ran YuYu 9:12
SUPER DREAM WAVE: Abdullah The Butcher & GAMI vs. NOSAWA Rongai & Aja Kong 7:33
Idol Grudge WAVE: Hiren vs. Moeka Haruhi 9:02
Future WAVE: Yumi Oka & Ayumi Kurihara & Sawako Shimono vs. Ayako Hamada & Yoshiko Tamura & Meiko Satomura 28:36 of 30:00. If Tamura, Satomura, & Ayako are available, I'm not sure this is the best use of them. Putting Ohata or Mizunami in here instead of Shimono, and trading one of the veterans would have made for a lot more balanced match. Kurihara was the best worker in the match, but the match lagged badly when she wasn't in. The big problem was Ayako was out of shape, and much of what she did was deliberate & slow motion. Oka was pretty clueless trying to work even the most basic lucha sequence with her, but was better than usual against the other opponents. Tamura was good, but not at her best, Satomura was the best on her team, seeming more motivated.
OSAKA RHAPSODY VOL. 10 9/5/10
OSAKA Young WAVE: Aya Yuki vs. Sawako Shimono 7:41
Change Ring WAVE: Ran YuYu & Moeka Haruhi vs. Toshie Uematsu & Misaki Ohata 12:21
OSAKA Comical WAVE: Policewo~man vs. Sakura Hirota 12:48
X-LAW Women's Title: A*YU*MI (Ayumi Kurihara) vs. Sakura Candle (Yumi Oka) 12:39 of 13:38. This wanted to be a more lucha oriented match, but aside from both wearing masks, it was basically 90% the same match they would have done and the other 10% wasn't improving things any.
OSAKA Scramble WAVE: Yoshiko Tamura & Asami Kawasaki & Kagetsu vs. GAMI & Kana & Ryo Mizunami 25:27 of 25:57. WAVE hasn't excelled this year in putting on longer matches, largely because being energetic & going hard are primary factors in their matches succeeding, particularly with Ohata & Mizunami, who are still developing. Certainly, there are workers here who would have been more intense in a shorter match, but it's also hard to be intense at any length when GAMI is (clowning) around. I always get excited about seeing Kawasaki because she'll put some real fighting skills to bear, and her stuff against Kana was some of the best striking we've seen all year in WAVE, ducking and leaping over kicks. It's really a shame they didn't have some singles matches, and that this was the final match of Kawasaki's career. Kawasaki was a bit indecisive at timed, but being a bit unpolished has its benefits as she relies a bit more on reacting to the situation & a bit less on trying to fit into the accepted foolishness. Kana vs. Tamura was also quite good. Tamura is one of the smartest wrestlers in knowing how to get something out of lesser and more limited opponents. Even though this was in the final months of her career & she wasn't going full force, her stuff with GAMI was among GAMI's best all year, as Tamura kept it to suplexes and other locked up offense, if anyone was running, it was going to be her. Considering GAMI was involved down the stretch, this finished quite well do to Tamura, who somewhat surprisingly got the pin on GAMI given they weren't setting up a singles match before Tamura retired (she instead beat Oka). Kagetsu & Mizunami had moments, Kagetsu being the better athlete & pure worker, but even less advanced offensively. Kagetsu especially was just kind of there with the main pairings being Tamura/GAMI & Kawasaki/Kana. ***
12/5/10 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Policewo~man vs. Sawako Shimono
Kana & Cherry vs. Toshie Uematsu & Moeka Haruhi 6:40 of 10:57. Haruhi is one of the worst opponents for Kana because Kana seems foolish putting over her 80 pound body attacks & high cross bodies, and has to ease up on her own strikes so much she kind of doesn't even want to throw them. This match needed Uematsu to step up to be useful, but Cherry was the 2nd best.
Ayumi Kurihara vs. Sakura Hirota
NWA Women's Pacific & NEO Singles Double Title Match: Yoshiko Tamura vs. Yumi Oka 22:05
JWP Openweight Title Match: Kaori Yoneyama vs. GAMI 21:59
Year-End Super Gorgeous Royal Rumble: Toshie Uematsu, GAMI, Bolshoi Hirota, Kaori Yoneyama, Command Bolshoi, Policewo~man, Kana Hirota, Aya Yuki, Mika Iida, Yuki Miyazaki, Yoshiko Tamura, Kana, Yumi Oka, Cherry, Moeka Haruhi, Sawako Shimono, Ayumi Kurihara, Aja Hirota, Tanny Mouse & GAMI 28:47
12/19/10 Osaka
GAMI vs. Sawako Shimono
Ran YuYu & Toshie Uematsu vs. Ryo Mizunami & Kagetsu 8:22 of 14:41. Action is pretty good, though the outcome is never in doubt, and it's kind of one-sided. Ran keeps things interesting without going all out, and Kagetsu shows some good potential.
Ayako Hamada vs. Sakura Hirota
Misaki Ohata & Moeka Haruhi vs. Yumi Oka & Bambi
OSAKA Scramble WAVE ~ Shirai Sisters Return Match: Kana & Mio Shirai & Io Shirai vs. GAMI & Cherry & Tomoko Nakagawa 11:36 of 16:38. Shirais wanted to show off their lucha here, and found some willing opposition in Nakagawa, who really made this match in a lot of ways, and GAMI, who was surprisingly passable outside of the finishing sequence. Mio looked improved, particularly seeming smoother & more fluid in her offense. Io showed a lot of good athletic offense, as she has all year. Kana was paired with Cherry, which is beneficial for both, with Cherry being much more useful when she's in a situation to use her martial arts training rather than trying to get by on athleticism, which is below average for a prime aged joshi competitor. The level was several notches higher when Nakagawa was in because her athleticism & workrate is much higher than her teammates. An entertaining match that went by very fast. ***
HAPPY NEW YEAR WAVE 2011 1/4/11 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE
Sawako Shimono 10 Match Trial Series 1st: Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Sawako Shimono 6:30
Ayako Hamada & Tomoka Nakagawa & Sakura Hirota vs. Kana & Mio Shirai & Io Shirai
TAKA Michinoku vs. Toshie Uematsu
Yumi Oka & Bambi & Misaki Ohata & Hiren vs. Ayumi Kurihara & Cherry & Ryo Mizunami & Moeka Haruhi
New Year HAPPY BIRTHDAY WAVE: Meiko Satomura vs. GAMI 23:00
WEEKDAY WAVE VOL. 31 1/19/11 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
Kana & Mio Shirai & Io Shirai vs. Aya Yuki & Ryo Mizunami & Sawako Shimono
Yumi Oka & Misaki Ohata vs. GAMI & Hiroyo Matsumoto