Chikayo Nagashima vs. Nao Komatsu 6:31
Dynamite Kansai vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto 7:58
No Rule: Mayumi Ozaki & Takako Inoue vs. Aja Kong & KAORU 10:44 of 11:07. Standard weapon brawl. Mostly Ozaki & KAORU, with both bleeding before the ref stops it when KAORU has a fire extinguisher in Oz's mouth.
Manami Toyota vs. Carlos Amano 8:24 of 8:38
Chikayo Nagashima & Sonoko Kato & Ayumi Kurihara vs. AKINO & Ran YuYu & Tomoka Nakagawa 12:55 of 22:53. Though the entertaining match often isn't the main event, this set the tone for the year to come, a high pace, good quality & effort workrate match that was pretty consistent no matter who is in. ***
Witch's Party @ Osaka 2/7/10 Osaka Azalea Taisho
Elimination Match: Aja Kong & KAORU vs. Mayumi Ozaki & Takako Inoue 5:59. Chaos, though more of a wrestling match than 1/10, as everyone is fighting in the ring. Aja eliminates Oz in seconds, but she keeps wrestling anyway.
OZ Academy Tag Title Match: Ran YuYu & AKINO vs. Chikayo Nagashima & Sonoko Kato 16:23 of 23:15. This match is indicitive of the quality being based more on the number of quality workers than the stakes, as these women give roughly the same high effort in a midcard tag as they do in a title main event. While still good, they weren't able to maintain the pace or consistency of the 1/10 match with two less bodies to keep everyone fresh and make things a little more dynamic. Nagashima stands out more here as the speed wrestler amidst 3 more impact based wrestlers, but again there wasn't much difference in their levels, perhaps Ran was actually a little better? ***
AKINO & Tomoka Nakagawa vs. Sonoko Kato & Nao Komatsu 12:04 of 18:33. High speed B match. Kato really steps it up, but they're undergunned with Komatsu being just 2 months into her career. Nakagawa's performance also isn't nearly as good as the ones she'd start giving mid-year.
Chikayo Nagashima & Ayumi Kurihara vs. Ran YuYu & Hiroyo Matsumoto 13:40 of 18:48. Stronger than the 2/7 tag title match. The pace is much higher, Chikayo & Ran are in a higher gear doing better sequenes & more big moves. Ayumi & Matsumoto also brought more than AKINO & Kato, though Nagashima & YuYu are doing more here to put a stamp on it as their style match even though everyone else is going along with them, as usual. At this stage, Matsumoto can still fit into an action packed athletic match, while offering some diversity with her power moves rather than having to force a change in the style to fit in with her dominant Gojira gimmick. Surprisingly, I feel she was more impressive early one when she was going along with the others than later on in the year when Nakagawa somewhat took over that role for her, allowing Matsumoto to became more of a featured power wrestler & change of style. Chikayo & Ayumi do a double footstomp off the bleachers. ***1/4
2/7/10 Osaka Azalea Taisho
Dynamite Kansai & Ayumi Kurihara vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Tomoka Nakagawa 6:59 of 14:12. Mostly Matsumoto willing this to be good. Ayumi & Nakagawa contribute, and Kansai does her best to keep up, but she's really treading water.
5 Single Match Series #2: Manami Toyota vs. Carlos Amano 6:00 of 8:50. They're trying, but not necessarily succeeding.
2/21/10
5 Single Match Series #3: Manami Toyota vs. Carlos Amano 12:31 of 15:00. Execution is better, but now it's a standard Toyota match.
Mayumi Ozaki & Takako Inoue vs. Dynamite Kansai & Yumi Oka 12:41 of 13:03
KAORU vs. Aja Kong 10:46 of 11:41. Odd match where KAORU decides to just stand toe to toe with Aja & exchange table, chair, and can shots, and somehow winds up busting Aja open early & dominating the match. Not the most believable scenario, but KAORU is able to work her moonsaults in a lot better here, and you really feel like she has a chance. While KAORU gets her with a flash pin, it's still shocking seeing Aja just never get going.
DASH Chisako vs. Nao Komatsu 9:05 of 9:10
Carlos Amano vs. Manami Toyota 5:46 of 8:42
AKINO & Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Chikayo Nagashima & Sonoko Kato 19:01. They tried to do a bit of a different match with AKINO & Matsumoto instilling a slower pace with some Otani style heel tactics early on, that Nagashima threw right back at them rather than take, before changing the pace with her speedy offense to help counteract their high impact. This is possibly the worst of the recommended matches, as it has more filler & takes a while to get going, but it's also one of the few TV matches that's complete, so perhaps it's actually the most representative? Nagashima is impressive, as always, and AKINO really carries her side, what's holding this match back is that Hiroyo is a noticable dropoff from all the others. Matsumoto eeks out a big win over Nagashima due to a timely save by AKINO. ***
Dynamite Kansai vs. Ran YuYu 7:04 of 14:47
Mayumi Ozaki & Takako Inoue & Yumi Oka vs. Aja Kong & KAORU & Tomoka Nakagawa 18:08 of 19:12. Nakagawa is bloodied & destroyed, but it just falls flat with no intensity.
Be Wild 4/4/10 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE
Carlos Amano vs. Manami Toyota 2:51 of 10:45
Aja Kong & KAORU & Tomoka Nakagawa vs. AKINO & Ran YuYu & Hiroyo Matsumoto 2:10 of 20:40
5/2/10 Osaka Azalea Taisyo: Dynamite Kansai & Sonoko Kato vs. Aja Kong & Hiroyo Matsumoto 5:11 of 15:25. Kato does a nice job carrying her team, the best stuff is her vs. Hiroyo, but nice to see Aja in with some actual workers. Good hard hitting action.
Tomoka Nakagawa vs. Hiren
Mayumi Ozaki & Yumi Oka vs. Chikayo Nagashima & Nao Komatsu 15:05 of 15:39. Chikayo does her best to singlehandedly save this after Ozaki destroys Nao in the 1st half. Ozaki almost completely avoids Chikayo, but at least Oka gives her most reasonable performance in OZ so far this year.
Ran YuYu & AKINO & Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Dynamite Kansai & Ayumi Kurihara & Sonoko Kato 14:48 of 18:55. Better than expected with Kurihara, AKINO, & Kansai giving their best performances so far. Kurihara is the standout. She gets AKINO to work more to her actual ability doing some more interactive sequences rather than relying so heavily on kicking. Kansai is spotted well, throwing some effective kicks & not being asked to be things she no longer is. Kato gives a strong effort, as always. Match isn't as fast paced without Nagashima, but everyone works together well. ***1/4
KAORU vs. Takako Inoue
OZ Academy Tag Title Match: Manami Toyoda & Carlos Amano vs. Aja Kong & Kaoru Ito 22:39 of 22:41. Overlong, way too much Ito. Aja really needs to get involved with workers her skill rather than her age. There's some good stuff between her & Amano, and Toyota certainly tries, though she probably has a double hernia by the end of the match trying to keep lifting this opposition.
Hiren vs. Nao Komatsu
Chikayo Nagashima & Sonoko Kato vs. Tomoka Nakagawa & Hiroyo Matsumoto 12:13. While the new generation of Matsumoto, Nakagawa, & Kurihara often appear in the tags with Nagashima, Kato, Ran, & AKINO, they are mostly doing a good job of filling a spot or two in the veterans match. This match feels different because it's just a tag, and with Matsumoto & Nakagawa now being their own, entire team, they always have input. Nakagawa really steps it up & makes her presence felt here, doing some nice gymnastic sequences with Chikayo, who shines even more here given a more athletic opponent to work with. Nakagawa shows a lot of offense we haven't seen here, while Matsumoto plays the change of pace power wrestler trying to slow the opposition down by throwing them around rather than trying to keep up with Nagashima & Nakagawa's speed, which she can certainly do, but not quite as well as wrestlers who are built for speed. Nakagawa & Matsumoto are really out to prove themselves, and though this is one of the least important of these tag matches in the sense that it's a somewhat brief undercard filler, it's actually the most urgent & creative one we've seen so far this year. ***1/4
Dynamite Kansai & Manami Toyota & Ayumi Kurihara vs. Mayumi Ozaki & Takako Inoue & Yumi Oka 12:22 of 20:54. Filler. Kurihara/Oka make an attempt, everyone else just does their usual moves. Ozaki actually does a few wrestling spots with Kansai.
OZ Academy Tag Title Match: Aja Kong & Kaoru Ito vs. AKINO & Ran YuYu 18:02 of 23:15. AKINO really stepped up to try to salvage this thing. The gigantic opposition invariable slowed AKINO & Ran down a lot, so they had to double team & use some different moves. Match was good when Aja was in, but this Stay Puft version of Ito that can't move or control her body still wants to log a ton of ring time as if it's 10 or 15 years ago & she's going to carry people to 4* matches, so they couldn't really work around her. Ito may not have eaten her way from excellent to terrible, but most good joshi centers around timing & fluidity, which she actively hampers at this point.
~THE WIZARD OF OZ~ OZ Academy Openweight Title Match: Carlos Amano vs. KAORU 9:58 of 13:11. Both gave their best performances so far, doing a serious straight match where they rolled out all their big moves. It confirmed the sad news that Toyota is no longer as good as KAORU, who used to be one of the least of the many Toyota wannabes.
8/1/10 Shinjuku Face
Aja Kong & KAORU vs. Hiren & Takako Inoue 2:25 of 11:30
OZ Academy Tag Title Match: Chikayo Nagashima & Sonoko Kato vs. Mayumi Ozaki & Yumi Oka 3:12 of 21:20
Hiren vs. Nao Komatsu 4:06
Ayumi Kurihara vs. Takako Inoue 8:28. Takako, like Oz, specializes in just being there. Kurihara drags an actual performance out of her, getting her to take it seriously & do something beyond brawling & a couple signature spots. Match is surprisingly decent with Kurihara picking up a nice win.
Dynamite Kansai vs. Yumi Oka 7:40
~THE WIZARD OF OZ~ OZ Academy Openweight Title, The Dress Up Wild Fight LAST WOMAN STANDING MATCH: KAORU vs. Mayumi Ozaki 26:21. Oz finally wrestles a singles match, but there's so many people involved it could just as well be a royal rumble. Just a big mess, really that never felt like anything beyond a weird exhibition, failing to get beyond the play acting to the point of seeming like a real match that built up any tension/urgency. Funny spot where Oz scores the first fall with a Ligerbomb through a table that's so cut it almost gives way beforehand from them standing on it despite Police & Takako holding each side trying to keep it together. There were a few highlights including KAORU doing a moonsault off a ladder & a sort of senton through a table to the floor. Oz did a suplex off a ladder onto a barbed wire board then KAORU came back with an excalibur onto it. Finish saw KAORU spew Oz then break a giant light tube over her head. She threatened to use the broken tube on her, but instead they used Oz's chain to tie her legs up then Aja handcuffed her to the corner so she couldn't physically beat the 10 count.
Hiroyo Matsumoto & Tomoka Nakagawa vs. DASH Chisako & Sendai Sachiko 9:49. The emergence of the young members in the Jungle Jack 21 stable, Hiroyo & Nakagawa, is really enlivening the OZ undercards as they bring a slightly different style of high energy tag. I wish we saw more of these nice high effort matchups against other young wrestlers in OZ, but at least these two are usually involved with people who still can & want to go. Sendai's Jumanji Sisters are arguably an even better young team, certainly they feel more like a unit with cohesive teamwork. Nakagawa again gives a nice showing, working nice sequences & really facilitating the action for her team while Hiroyo comes in & cleans house from time to time. That being said, the best stuff is DASH not caring that she's taking on the much larger Lady Destroyer & totally taking it to Matsumoto, working nice speed vs. power sequences. Sachiko has a couple of spectacular athletic moves, but DASH is a much better mover who can manipulate her body a lot better when it comes to working sequences & taking bumps. JJ21 pick up a nice interpromotional win. ***
Aja Kong & Yoshiko Tamura vs. Manami Toyota & Carlos Amano 13:56. Amano has come to life of late, again topping her previous performances this year. This was mostly Tamura instilling some life, and a more technical rather than purely speed based style, but certainly her best work was with Amano, and they're mainly what made the match good. Aja was solid but not amazing, kind of just going along with Toyota. These two can still do their spots in their sleep, and Toyota, while not always in step with the others or exactly where she needed to be, was okay rolling out her signature moves. ***
OZ Academy Tag Title Match: AKINO & Ran YuYu vs. Chikayo Nagashima & Sonoko Kato 22:39. The match you want to see from OZ, the generation battle of the most currently relevant generation, & arguably the 4 best workers in the league. AKINO has often been the least of these 4 thusfar, but she comes on in the 2nd half of the year. She has the extra gear for the big match, and is a standout here, along with, of course, Chikayo, who is the clear cut best worker in the league with the next five spots really being pretty debatable between the other 3 here, Kurihara & Nakagawa. I like how AKINO pretended to engage in a flatfooted kick exchange with Kato, but then leaped over Kato's kick & took over with a jawbreaker. This is the closest we've seen so far to an attempt at a match of the year. Though their general match is high effort & loads of offense to begin with, here they use a lot more big moves & have more of a sense of urgency. The match is pretty frantic, sometimes to the detriment as everything doesn't come off the way they'd like. While this is a little sloppier than usual, it's the match where Nagashima & AKINO go at it for extended portions, really trying to take it to the next level. They probably could have had a better match a few years ago, but not for lack of effort. We have to live in the present, and I think this is the best OZ match of 2010. ***1/2
5/16/10 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE, The 15th Anniversary: Meiko Satomura & Ran YuYu & Toshie Uematsu vs. Chikayo Nagashima & Sonoko Kato & Carlos Amano 19:41. A hard fought tag match celebrating the 15th anniversaries of the 6 competitors. Amano & Miyaguchi debuted against each other in JWP on 12/4/94, while the 1st GAEA Japan show on 4/15/95 saw Nagashima vs. Uematsu & Kato vs. Satomura. Though the generations top worker, Azumi Hyuga, who retired the previous December, was nowhere to be found, original Oz Academy member Sugar Sato was in a neutral corner, delivering flowers after the contest. Uematsu has definitely had the least illustrious career of the 6, but she was perhaps the key here because, while consistency has been her problem, when she's in the mood to be serious & go hard, as she was here, she is certainly capable of delivering. Uematsu held up her end, carrying a heavy load for her side, and Kato was a standout for the opponents, renewing her old rivalries with Satomura & Uematsu, who she hasn't faced as often since GAEA folded. Nagashima, of course, did good things as well, getting Satomura, who was typically solid, to go out of her striking box for some counter sequences, but it never felt like Chikayo's match. This probably should have been the OZ Academy MOTY because it wasn't wrestled in a rushed manner, while consistently good they were actually building it, giving things a bit of time to develop & the moves a little more time to breath. The problem is they never seemed to get out of that developmental stage and into the finishing sequence. I was under the impression that the match was going close to a half hour & the best was yet to come, but then it ended up being around 20 minutes, which is the usual length. I enjoyed this match more than some of the others while I was watching it the first time, but once it was over, it felt like they left a lot on the table whereas some of the others may have less going on, but ultimately feel a lot more complete in their incompleteness. ***
8/15/10 Osaka Azalea Taisyo, Plum is Blooming in the Land of Oz 2010 ~Osaka Memorial Tag Match~: Mayumi Ozaki & Command Bolshoi vs. Dynamite Kansai & Carlos Amano 1:57 of 12:19
Hiren vs. Nao Komatsu 4:06
Hiroyo Matsumoto & Tomoka Nakagawa vs. DASH Chisako & Sendai Sachiko 6:10 of 9:49. The emergence of the young members in the Jungle Jack 21 stable, Hiroyo & Nakagawa, is really enlivening the OZ undercards as they bring a slightly different style of high energy tag. I wish we saw more of these nice high effort matchups against other young wrestlers in OZ, but at least these two are usually involved with people who still can & want to go. Sendai's Jumanji Sisters are arguably an even better young team, certainly they feel more like a unit with cohesive teamwork. Nakagawa again gives a nice showing, working nice sequences & really facilitating the action for her team while Hiroyo comes in & cleans house from time to time. That being said, the best stuff is DASH not caring that she's taking on the much larger Lady Destroyer & totally taking it to Matsumoto, working nice speed vs. power sequences. Sachiko has a couple of spectacular athletic moves, but DASH is a much better mover who can manipulate her body a lot better when it comes to working sequences & taking bumps. JJ21 pick up a nice interpromotional win. ***
Ayumi Kurihara vs. Takako Inoue 8:14 of 8:28. Takako, like Oz, specializes in just being there. Kurihara drags an actual performance out of her, getting her to take it seriously & do something beyond brawling & a couple signature spots. Match is surprisingly decent with Kurihara picking up a nice win.
Dynamite Kansai vs. Yumi Oka 7:40
Aja Kong & Yoshiko Tamura vs. Manami Toyota & Carlos Amano 10:00 of 13:56. Amano has come to life of late, again topping her previous performances this year. This was mostly Tamura instilling some life, and a more technical rather than purely speed based style, but certainly her best work was with Amano, and they're mainly what made the match good. Aja was solid but not amazing, kind of just going along with Toyota. These two can still do their spots in their sleep, and Toyota, while not always in step with the others or exactly where she needed to be, was okay rolling out her signature moves. ***
~THE WIZARD OF OZ~ OZ Academy Openweight Title, The Dress Up Wild Fight LAST WOMAN STANDING MATCH: KAORU vs. Mayumi Ozaki 24:54 of 26:21. Oz finally wrestles a singles match, but there's so many people involved it could just as well be a royal rumble. Just a big mess, really that never felt like anything beyond a weird exhibition, failing to get beyond the play acting to the point of seeming like a real match that built up any tension/urgency. Funny spot where Oz scores the first fall with a Ligerbomb through a table that's so cut it almost gives way beforehand from them standing on it despite Police & Takako holding each side trying to keep it together. There were a few highlights including KAORU doing a moonsault off a ladder & a sort of senton through a table to the floor. Oz did a suplex off a ladder onto a barbed wire board then KAORU came back with an excalibur onto it. Finish saw KAORU spew Oz then break a giant light tube over her head. She threatened to use the broken tube on her, but instead they used Oz's chain to tie her legs up then Aja handcuffed her to the corner so she couldn't physically beat the 10 count.
8/22/10 OZ Academy Tag Title Match: AKINO & Ran YuYu vs. Chikayo Nagashima & Sonoko Kato 18:27 of 22:39. The match you want to see from OZ, the generation battle of the most currently relevant generation, & arguably the 4 best workers in the league. AKINO has often been the least of these 4 thusfar, but she comes on in the 2nd half of the year. She has the extra gear for the big match, and is a standout here, along with, of course, Chikayo, who is the clear cut best worker in the league with the next five spots really being pretty debatable between the other 3 here, Kurihara & Nakagawa. I like how AKINO pretended to engage in a flatfooted kick exchange with Kato, but then leaped over Kato's kick & took over with a jawbreaker. This is the closest we've seen so far to an attempt at a match of the year. Though their general match is high effort & loads of offense to begin with, here they use a lot more big moves & have more of a sense of urgency. The match is pretty frantic, sometimes to the detriment as everything doesn't come off the way they'd like. While this is a little sloppier than usual, it's the match where Nagashima & AKINO go at it for extended portions, really trying to take it to the next level. They probably could have had a better match a few years ago, but not for lack of effort. We have to live in the present, and I think this is the best OZ match of 2010. ***1/2
Ran YuYu & Tomoka Nakagawa vs. Chikayo Nagashima & Nao Komatsu 11:40 of 15:52. Nagashima & Nakagawa almost make this a good match in spite of rookie Nao, who isn't bad but just isn't ready to work anywhere near this level.
Carlos Amano vs. Sonoko Kato 14:57 of 20:00. I was beginning to wonder if OZ Academy was going to go an entire year without a recommendable singles match. 20 minutes without a break must seem like a lot to Kato, who has just done tags all year. This starts much slower than her usual action packed match, but is good once it gets going. It's definitely not the best work they are capable of, and would likely have been better at 15 minutes, but there's probably a good 12 minutes of action & the early portion is passable enough. ***
Dynamite Kansai vs. AKINO 11:56 of 14:08. Kansai has figured out how to still be passable by at least staying within herself. She threw her kicks & let AKINO spice things up where she could. Highlight was Kansai countering a plancha with a middle kick.
Aja Kong & KAORU & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Hiren & Takako Inoue & Yumi Oka 14:38 of 15:38. Oka bleeds.
STAR(T)S 10/10/10 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE
Tomoka Nakagawa & Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Sonoko Kato & Nao Komatsu 0:40 of 16:06
Dynamite Kansai & Chikayo Nagashima vs. Manami Toyota & Carlos Amano 0:54 of 17:17
11/3/10
Mayumi Ozaki vs Nao Komatsu 4:57 of 11:19
Aja Kong & AKINO & Ran YuYu vs Dynamite Kansai & Manami Toyota & Ayumi Kurihara 11:46 of 20:11. Ayumi is always good, especially against AKINO, despite having no real role in the promotion. Ran was better than AKINO in the 1st half, but has kind of disappeared in the 2nd half while AKINO has come on. Aja actually got to wrestle here.
Tomoka Nakagawa & Hiroyo Matsumoto vs Yumi Oka & Hiren 9:21 of 16:06. Nakagawa has been a standout in every match since they gave her a role. Matsumoto was better here, including heavying Hiren to the floor out of a fireman's carry then hitting a plancha. This could have been good, but Oka & Hiren still choose to mostly do the useless OZ brawling rather than taking the ample opportunity to actually challenge themselves.
Carlos Amano & Chikayo Nagashima & Sonoko Kato vs Yoshiko Tamura & Tanny Mouse & Yuki Miyazaki 20:53 of 24:26. One thing I like about OZ this year is there's really no clowning or screwing around, at least not until Tanny arrived. This should be a good match with 3 top workers & Carlos who can be on their level when she wants to, but Tanny's shenanigans took over the match, and brought the worst out of Amano. Outside of Nagashima doing a couple revenge spots with the turnbuckle pad, the others didn't get sucked into the clowning, and even Miyazaki mostly wrestled. Miyazaki bled. This was okay, the 2nd half was mostly good but I was beyond caring by then.
~THE WIZARD OF OZ~ OZ Academy Openweight Title Match: KAORU vs. Takako Inoue 12:24 of 13:20. Takako's best performance, actually showing flashes of her AJW style of heel wrestling despite this mostly being a 5-1 where the immortal KAORU still somehow prevails in the most unconvincing manner.