JWA Tokai Origins of Pro Wrestling 4/20/2025

 Shigeru Takagi vs Yuki Toyoura

This show was described as 'pro wrestling without show elements' and 'going back to the origins of pro wrestling'. And also, all matches were held under greco roman rules. Yeah, so only grappling, and no grappling below the belt! There are still submissions, and there are no rounds and seemingly no points or passivity warnings. Now this is an interesting set up. And this was - well, it was very much greco roman wrestling. Takagi is bald with no eyebrows, in a singlet, and barrel chested. Toyoura I've seen before and he also looks quite strong. This was two powerful men trying to hook an arm or neck and mostly averting and kind of attempts at offense through sheer struggle. There were no moves, no big throws, no fancy holds. Toyoura tries to go for a reverse gutwrench lift but doesn't make it despite struggling his hardest. After around 8 minutes Takagi is able to grab a side headlock - the first 'move' of the match  and turns Toyoura on his back, but instead of pinning him he cranks way back forcing the tap out. Quite antithetical to the pro wrestling landscape in 2025 but I enjoyed the sheer struggle these two displayed.

Yuina vs Mana Yokoi

Yuina is something of a veteran of the Nagoya scene, while Yokoi had only made her debut in 2025. That is almost more information than I can write about this match, as it's mostly Yokoi being in turtle position and Yuina unable to do much of anything. Yokoi reverses out of the position once, but the second time she tries it Yuina reverses her and pins her for the 3. Talk about hammering the point home.

Yasushi Sato vs Super Taira

The two previous matches were more like a set up for this main match. This was amazing to watch. Mind you, it was 15 minutes of greco roman pro wrestling, so it's a very aquired taste, but I thought for that they went above and beyond. Both guys here displayed an intricate knowledge of greco roman techniques, but also great struggle, anticipation and timing. Yasushi Sato just keeps cementing himself as a grappling master in my eyes and Taira is a great match for him. The pin attempts they did here were amazing, but so were the escapes from the pin attempts. Also, since they previous two matches established that a match can end with any move, there was a great deal of tension, end even something like a side headlock could spell the end. Loved the struggle over the attempted suplexes as well as Sato wheezing when Taira went for the sleeper. Finish was amazing not just because the actual move that ended it was great (it was a great move) but because of the struggle and build that had preceded it. A super unique piece of pro wrestling that most wrestlers could not even attempt yet these two pretty much nailed it when they stepped on that mat. I definitely do not regret checking it out, one of my favourite bouts of the year.

 

The Library

2025 Matchguide 

2025 Matchguide Week 52

 Leon & AKARI vs Moeka Haruhi & Rydeen Hagane, Pure-J 7/13

Dojo matches can be a mixed bag. Either you get something comedic or generic, or something that completely blows the expectations away. This was on the blowaway side. It's fun to watch these wrestlers have exchanges without relying too much on taking bumps. Lots of fast moving standing exchanges early on that were nifty. AKARI continues to impress although she was more hard hitting. Rydeen Hagane is also still a really fun power house, who mixes up the formula of the match a bit. Loved her going beast mode on AKARI after AKARI did the somewhat cutesy foot choke in the ropes, and she makes things more interesting simply by being hard to pick up for something like a suplex, and her hard lariats and big power moves were on point. Finishing stretch was super elaborate as they mix up all the possible pairings which each one making for a cool match up. Leon is ever classy and makes everyone else look good, and Haruhi continues to make any finishing stretch she's in fun with her violent offense and surprising knack for cool reversals. The ending of this was just two wrestlers frantically going for a pin fall and it was probably the most credible and breathless of that kind of exchange I've seen in quite some time. 20 minutes that flew by in a breeze with a lot of good stuff in it.

Kenichiro Arai vs Ayumu Honda, Tenryu Project 9/23

Excellent chess match. Arai is truely one of the most interesting guys going when he gets going, and Honda has seemingly been thoroughly Yanoified and is fully embracing the weird technical wrestling. Lots of takedowns from odd angles, neat tie-ups, cool bits of struggle and making something out of basic moves. Thought Arai could've sold Hondas arm work a bit more, but aside from that this really rocked. I can't say much more than that, they grappled a lot and did their thing and it was never boring and just a really good match. Either you love it or you won't care for it.

Takumi Iroha vs Senka Akatsuki, Marvelous 10/19

Well crafted match that avoided the typical overdog vs underdog tropes you'd expect. Typically, you'd have the veteran no-selling the rookie a bunch. Not the case here, because Iroha knows Senka is an animal and will maul her if given the chance. After Akatsukis early takedown and elbows, Iroha made sure to stay all over her. I really liked Akatsukis comeback, which just consisted of yanking Iroha off the apron and smashing her into the steel pole. It was a hell of a lot closer to something Roddy Piper would do in 1983 in the Mid South Coloseum than your typical 2025 transition. Finishing run had a few great moments: teasing Senkas signature deadlift suplex, a big slap that almost KO'd Akatsuki and Senka then going for the shoot pin, and Iroha just having enough and trying to snap an arm. Iroha also dialed back the thighslapping a bit and wrestled more like a female version of Hashimoto - loved her big spin kick that landed square in Akatsukis face. Really good, borderline great match, and one hell of a stepping stone for Senka who is being made to look like a killer.

Paul Ishida vs ASUKA The World, XGF 2025/11/23

More delightfully demented carnage from XGF. This starts somewhat lighthearted as ASUKA takes it to Paul with a Super Nintendo, but quickly turns as seedy and deranged as you want your nihilistic backyard wrestling deathmatches to be. They go to brawl in this big dark hall with ASUKA dripping blood on the floor and the shoots looking like something out of the Descent as they brawl in the darkness. Tons of inventive and nasty spots, I was particular to Ishida mimicking spurting sparks onto Asuka, although the ladder dropkick neckbreaking spot was also incredibly nasty. The long shot where ASUKA, covered in blood and with oil all over him falling around on the floor while Ishida was getting ready to run him over with a truck was straight out of a horror movie. Thought ASUKA was pretty great here as a bloody mess, he had some great offense too, great jumping kick and a great backdrop suplex that twisted Ishida around. Ishida was reliably trollish and gloriously seedy here too. I think this didn't need to be 25 minutes but that's really my only critique. Ghouls should have a field day with this.

Marino Saihara vs Rico Fukunaga, AWG 12/20

AWG puts up the big match for their main title for free, just like that! Really good match too! It's a short match too so you basically get all killer no filler. Lots of hard kicks, cool bits of struggle,  a few neat counters, and both of them going for the kill. Saihara had been the dominant champion for a while now so Fukunaga who had been in her shadow was pulling all the stops. There was a sense of desperation, even when Saihara was just able to lock 2 fingers together when trying for a crossface chickenwing. Loved the use of the savate kicks by Fukunaga, and her big reversal of Saiharas stalling german suplex was completely spectacular. I'm not sure what was up with Fukunagas weird catapult but other than that everything looked really good, not UWF level but good. I can't say much more than that, it's just well worked match between two wrestlers with believable hard hitting offense who put in some thought into their matches and an earnest effort, everything was sold and there was nothing that felt trite or by the numbers, it's just really good stuff all around and another great little chapter in AWGs current outstanding run.

2025 Matchguide 

Tarzan Goto Documentation #16

 Tarzan Goto vs Atsushi Onita, FMW 1/6/1993 - EPIC

BattlARTS level violence contained in a barbedwire ring, with both guys taking dangerous spills into the wire and getting sliced repeatedly. Right at the go they are mauling each other with shoot headbutts. Onita stops Goto with a punch to the face and goes for a sleeper, but gets pushed back into the wire. One lariat later and Onitas arms are cut. That about sums this match up, just two guys wreaking destruction on each other almost without pause. There is some filler figure 4 work which is a minor point deduction, but other than that this is just gritty insanity. Goto is a force of nature here pounding Onita to a bloody pulp, and also not afraid to fly into the wire, and Onitas aura is so insane that he can make almost any kind of beatdown work, let alone the kinda beatdown that Goto puts on him here. The barbedwire actually feels dangerous and people react with horro at the spills which is another plus of these early deathmatches. Another thing is that it’s 93 so they were excuting moves like a bulldog or DDT with maximum snap. Gotos facebuster moves also looked like an execution. At one point Goto goes for a German Suplex and I’m not sure I’ve seen him hit a german suplex in another match but holy fuck his German Suplex was beautiful here. Lots of epic exchanges here and the finish feels about as big as it gets without relying on some ridiculously big bump or anything, just visceral carnage done in a skillful way. You don’t quite get spectacles like this anymore.

Tarzan Goto & Mr. Pogo & Yuta Nakata vs Kintaro Kanemura & Masayoshi Motegi & Yusaku Obata, Super FMW 7/30/2010 - FUN

Raw injection of pro wrestling at it’s seediest. This is in Shin Kiba, it looks like there’s about 30 people intendance. They still go all out, but the emptiness of the building and the lack of crowd enthusiasm adds to the ghoulish atmosphere. We get Goto punching Kanemura in the face and them both hitting each other with shoot headbutts, some brawling that actually feels spirited. Mr. Pogo, around 37 years into his career and 10 years from having a broken neck feels like an ancient ghoul in this match. Oddly enough he takes more offense than I’ve often seen him take, eating one of Motegis nasty shotais. Motegi takes his boot off to beat on Motegi, but ends up still taking a sickle to the face. Nothing like Pogo taking the sickle to hapless fools in a dark nearly empty building. Nakata is a complete sleazeball and I like how Motegi completely no-sold his dive. Obata, being chiseled and young, looks like the one guy here who has a future still, and so Goto carves him up with a broken beer bottle and does some gritty Abby/Sheikh vs Funk Bros arm stabbing. A weird thing happens where it seems Goto and Pogo are gonna fight but they make up and do a double team move that involves Pogo doing a drop down which feels like some wild athleticism from him. Eventually it devolves to Goto vs Obata with Goto making Obata earn some offense. Obata hitting a basic suplex is made to feel like a big deal and he has a cool sliding leg lariat, though he ends up running into Gotos face and getting mauled by more punches and headbutts to the face. Everybody was working oddly hard here, but what you will mainly remember is the creepy vibe.

Tarzan Goto vs Shoji Nakamaki, IWA Japan 8/9/1995 - GREAT

Insane level of aura here. Normally these IWA Japan main event brawls have 6 or so guys in them. Here it’s just the two of them, but boy do they make up for it with action. Right at the go they are at each other with Nakamaki landing some hatefilled chairshots to Goto and Goto kicking him right back in the face. Nakamaki takes an insane bump where he falls through the barbedwire ropes to the floor and the crowd is just melting down at this. Goto proceeds to kick Nakamakis bleeding ass all over the place. You know Goto is great at dishing out punishment, and taking punishment is the one thing Nakamaki is famous for, so you can imagine the kind of asskicking that goes down. Nakamaki is quite great just firing up, hitting a headbutt, and then getting baredwire shoved in his face. Nakamakis only chance here is that the referee, Gypsy Joe is on his side. It doesn’t make a huge difference but it’s fun because clearly Nakamaki needs to hit Goto with just 1 good move and Joe will count the 3. Gotos response to this problem is to just kill Nakamaki dead. The finish in this is just absolutely heinous. It doesn’t even feel like a deathmatch freakshow exhibition spot it’s just a killing. After the match Goto beats the shit out of Joe too, knocking him over with a lariat (can you imagine how hard you have to hit Gypsy Joe that he will actually sell for you?). Joe eats some chair shots and gets shoved into the wire. A big GOTO chant breaks out and he just looks like the coldest dude on earth. This won’t win any workrate awards but it’s just an awesome heat filled spectacle in it’s glorious blood drenched and barbed wire wrapped way.

 

Tarzan Goto Documentation 

2025 Matchguide Week 51

 Mari & ACT & MARU vs Marino Saihara & Sakura Mizushima & Naru, AWG 9/7

Entertaining 3 vs 3 match that culminated in one of the best moments of the year. We get some fun exchanges early on with everyone playing their role. Mizushima is good in her underdog role as usual, and it escalates to some brawling with MARU busting out the chain. The two later had another extended in-ring segment that was pretty fun. The real greatness happens when Mari and Saihara tag in to face off. Just great wrestling as the usual confident overdog Mari was desperately scrambling for the ropes by Saiharas crossface and trying to avoid the German Suplex at all cost. Mari would then reestablish herself by braining Saihara with some hard kicks. Tremendous struggle here, even over something like a Sidewalk Slam. Mari getting caught by a surprise German suplex, being seemingly KO'd was ridiculously great. A bunch of chaos happens andhe faces all got together to try and have a superhero moment but it backfired in a funny moment on them. Then when Saihara gets the pin on Mari it actually feels like she did the impossible. Great stuff just for that, really intense without relying on an assload of nearfalls, just great character work, timing and struggle here, a good example of the kind of unique thing the AWG crew can pull off insanely well.

Senka Akatsuki vs Seri Yamaoka, Marvelous 12/28

The most awaited rookie face off of the year! And for the most part this delivers. Opening of this was great as they just did stubborn grappling, slapping the shit out of each other and sprawling on attempted takedowns. Loved how even something like the half crab felt intense and got a reaction. I could've done without the no selling in the middle but the finish is intense. Liked how Yamaoka had to constantly scramble to the ropes when Akatsuki started working for the dreaded pinfall. Also dug Yamaokas early Honda-ish submission. She should stick with that stuff more often given how everyone's just no selling German suplexes these days. I need these two to become perma-rivals.

Makoto vs Hiroyo Matsumoto, Seadlinnng 8/22

Well executed big match and probably one of the better ones of the year considering this was a believable match that felt like a struggle, never got boring and they both fucking walloped each other hardcore throughout this. Really liked Makoto putting over Matsumotos monster strength early on even when basic wristlocking stuff was going on. Makoto was ultra-vicious in this and Matsumoto is insanely hard hitting, putting some real violence even into something like corner stomps or an elbow smash. Makoto pulling illegal tactics to stop the beast made for good pro wrestling. Her kicking the rope into Matsumotos throat was really nasty looking, and her boots and double knee drops were devastating. Should also point out that Makoto going for an eye rake felt meaningful and lead to an important moment. Finishing stretch was mostly a damaged Matsumoto getting more desperate but also repeatedly re-establishing herself as a monster. Really liked how she tried to force a tap with a basic facelock that left Makoto hurting. The entire ending run was well put together thanks to Makotos precise offense and Matsumotos knack for unpredictable transitions and never lost me. Even the suplex no-sell was done right as Makoto was desperate to not loose the advantage and Matsumoto put her right back down turning her lights out and ending the match. Quality stuff and definitely a high note for joshi in 2025.

Minoru Kido vs taku, XGF 11/23

Ghoulish deathmatch spectacle + brutal face punches and headbutts. Oh and it's held in some apocalyptic setting outside a deserted factory. They are wrestling on concrete with just a little mat put on it. Last time I checked out xgf taku looked like a fairly normal guy, now he seems to sport a face tattoo and a green iro. I am only slowly getting into Kido but I am starting to see what makes him a modern cult favourite. He was pretty terrifying in this. The buzzing of the tattoo gun he used to cut taku open was haunting. I liked how whenever Kido got too comfortable in his casual sadism, taku would punch him in the face really hard. While there is some exhibition-y stuff typical of deathmatch wrestling here, there is a real vicious edge the way these two would waffle each other with a kendo stick or wooden plank in this. And they just keep punching and kicking each other in the face. Finish may have been the most insane I've ever seen as Kido just tried headbutting takus face to a mush. I liked how Kido didn't even care to piledrive taku onto those things he emptieed on the floor properly. This was like a combination of a Kurisu/Necro Butcher match and a leaked snuff video.

BADMAX Fujinaga vs Great Kuririn, Kobe MERIKEN 12/25

Who's Great Kuririn? Well, he's clearly stylized after Krillin from Dragonball. But here this bald little man who has a thick body and skinny arms and legs shows up in thai shorts and gloves to fight the man known as Badmax Fujinaga, who puts on the gloves and otherwise wears his usual shirt and pants. They start fighting and this seems to be a real fight. They start swinging and Kuririn quickly goes down and Fujinaga starts kicking the living shit out of him with brutal kicks and stomps to his bald head. Kuririn actually survives this by slipping out the ring. He continues to try and fight, but BADMAX is an unstoppable machine here quickly knocking him down again and then trying to crack his skull with knees on the ground. Kuririn tries to go for a takedown and is stuffed and after some more mauling a nasty armbar tweaks Krillins arm for the tap. I think this may have been a real fight. Whatever it was, it was a weapons grade sleaze at its finest.

2025 Matchguide 

HARD HIT Ryo Kawamuras Retirement ~ Complete Disposal 11/29/2025

 Kenta Hattori vs Ryutaro Watanabe
 

Pretty much what could be considered a light sparring session. Both these guys certainly looked like they could grapple, but there weren't a ton of highlights to what they were doing or anything. Hattori had this really cool sleeper hold into a Russian Leg Sweep. I thought that was cool. Solidly executed but forgettable stuff otherwise.

Yukito vs Takuma Uchiyama

Serious shootstyle, where they didn't hold back when it came to kicking and slapping each other hard. The grappling is decent and I liked the increase of aggression whenever either guy dropped a point. Nothing super great or anything but it's decent shootstyle wrestling. Uchiyama, I think is an MMA guy and based and this he would make good if he just continued to do shootstyle. I continue to enjoy Yukito, he does well for a 50 year old guy and I hope to see him more outside HEAT-UP.

Takahiro Tababa vs Koki Fujimoto

Kobe Merikens shooter boy Fujimoto shows up in his karate gi. This was a bit conservative when they were grappling as basically Tababa used Fujimotos gi to his advantage and Fujimoto couldn't do much, but it was really fun whenever they started beating the shit out of each other. We all know Tababa is a pitbull, but Fujimoto was standing up to him. Even knocking him down twice in succession, and on the 3rd the bell actually rang but referee Nikkan Lee had the decision reversed. Maybe Tababa was KOd legit as he seemed to struggle to get his senses, but then he threw Fujimoto with an incredible hard German Suplex and finished him with a nasty gi choke. I'm really gonna need a rematch between them in Kobe Merikena after Koki was robbed like this, regardless I am really happy to see guys like Fujimoto emerging in the Japan indy scene and branching out.

Hideki Sekine vs KURO-OBI

Pretty much a grappling match, and it was some nice slick grappling. KURO-OBI clearly has some BJJ skill as he transitions really nice and smooth from all kinds of esoteric leglocks and positions. Hideki Sekine is a real monster of a man. In the times of Giant Baba and Strong Kobayashi he probably would have been considered exceptionally handsome and he'd rock an afro or something and have epic battles with those guys and the tabloids would write about his affairs but the times have changed and now they call him Shrek. His grappling felt a bit like he was being overly nice, like if he really tried he could rip any mortal man in half but he was playing nice. But the one time he went for that old school wrestling leg split that harkened back to Giant Baba and it's the one thing in the match that really made the crowd wake up. Really good grappling otherwise and there was a cool finish, but I kinda wanted to see Sekine fight Gilbet Leduc and work a match around a bearhug or a canadian backbreaker or something like that. Talk about being out of time.

Takuya Wada vs Tyson Maeguchi

Two not very exciting wrestlers in a mediocre match. They tried to do the routine with Maeguchi being the dangerous striker, but he really doesn't hit any impressive strikes. Wada just kind of keeps him at bay with some forgettable grappling for the most part. And worst of all they just kind of went to a 10 minute draw without either guy really pressing for a win at point. Yeah, you don't need to know more about this than the first sentence I wrote.

Minoru Suzuki & Takafumi Ito vs Yoshiki Takahashi & Mitsuhisa Sunabe

Takahashi comes out rocking the Yasushi Sato tough old man with greying hair, wrestling shoes and baggy trunks look, AND a badass Pirata Morgan eyepatch on top of all that. So that alone makes this worth checking out. Takahashi had some slick takedowns here, I would've liked to see him more in the match. Ito and Sunabe did some really slick grappling that was great to watch and easily the best shootstyle grappling I've seen in a while. I'm puzzled by the career trajectory of Mitsuhisa Sunabe, who has been around a long time and popping up once or twice on OZ Academy cards. What's up with this connection to Oz Academy of all places? Regardless, Suzuki just has to shoehorn in a bunch of comedy stuff. The finishing sequence between him and Sunabe was cool, but otherwise, Suzuki was really bleh here. It's an old man grappling match, wtf are you doing shoehorning your old comedy spots in? You really need to settle down sometimes, Minoru Suzuki.

Ryo Kawamura vs Hikaru Sato

The final match of Ryo Kawamuras career, and a somewhat bittersweet reminder that this man could've been a lot more as a wrestler. After a somewhat tentative beginning where Kawamura easily lost a point, this turns into a pretty great shootstyle encounter. Both guys really palm striked the hell out of each other, and there were some choice submission counters. More importantly the story of the match was Kawamuras absolute determination to edge out one last triumph and really popping Sato with his shots. Great, super intense stuff, really some of the best work of the year here even when it feels like a short match, both guys displayed a ton of passion here and it was just really enthralling. 

The Library 

2025 Matchguide Week 50

 
Kotaro Nasu vs Yukito, Heat-Up 5/25

A very good little quasi-shootstyle match. Reminded me a lot of a Fu-Ten undercard match which is a very good thing in 2025. Yukito continues to be decent while Nasu continues to elevate things by being really vicious. He had some of the most vicious kicks and open hands I've seen all year in this. Him looking in a cool calf slicer and then going in further on Yukitos leg with brutal low kicks was quite good, poignant shootstyle action. There was also a nice punishing aspect since Nasu is the veteran so he is obligated to try and kick right though Yukito. It's really really fun and if it hadn't been for the somewhat awkward insertion of a few irish whip moves it would've been one of my favourite singles matches of the year. My man Nasu deserves more recognition (and more bookings so I can watch him more, dammit).

Sareee vs Chihiro Hashimoto, Sendai Girls 11/16

A no-brainer great match up that delivers pretty much what you expect. Still, I was pleasantly surprised by the opening half of this which was really good, smart pro wrestling. We get some cool matwork where Hashimoto shows off her Alexander Otsuka-ish cartwheels and granby rolls and what not, dominating Sareee in cool ways, then cutting her of with those massive body checks. It was great stuff. Sareee was fighting against a wall here, and she had to figure out how to get by and start bombing her with her signature crowbar dropkicks and stomps. Sareee then trying to break Hashimoto leg with nasty twisting legbars and diving stomps was quite great. Of course, that legwork was pretty much forgotten as soon as Hashimoto got back on offense. They have their obligatory 'we both no sell a suplex' moment and the match is a lot less interesting suddenly. Some Takaiwa-ish crowbar strikes, headbutts, bombs and lariats happen to get me back into the match. After some more trite no-selling we get at least a graceful finish. I really wonder if it's possible for a Japanese big match to exist these days without a bunch of suplex no-selling. Even the crowd seems bored of that stuff at this point. It's a slight let down because there was a bunch of objectively really great work here.


Shinya Aoki vs T-Hawk, GLEAT 10/9

As usual, Aoki provides plenty of entertainment toying with his opponent on the mat and trying to force his shoulders down for the pin in painful looking ways. T-Hawk knocking him off the top rope and then proceeding to bitch slap him around on the floor was some surprisingly adept brawling considering T-Hawk is a Dragon Gate guy. Still, I thought Aoki needs to learn how to sell. I get that he's supposed to be a monster but he shouldn't be making stupid faces after getting punched in the face. As such the end of the match was a bit underwhelming. Fair play to T-Hawk as throwing Shinya Aoki into a row of chairs and then bitchslapping him was probably the greatest thing he ever did.

 

AKARI vs Crea, PURE-J 5/16

Impressive 2/3 falls match between two skillful wrestlers. Crea is quite the fun hard hitting machine with her boots and chops and AKARI had lots of nifty lucha-esque takedowns and submissions attempts. Though Crea also had some good submission work of her own. There was some quite evil stomping and smacks to the face here. Really liked the struggle over the tarantula attempt. Creas jumping big boot thing that she does is awesome. The match felt gritty and most importantly, they fought really hard in all 3 falls and had an unpredictable match that had some thought put into everything down to how they built up things throughout all the 3 falls without going cookie cutter. Definitely felt like more people should have their eyes on these two. Admittedly, Crea could've done with a bit less slapping of the thigh, but other than this was great. 

2025 Matchguide 

Footage mining: Actwres GirlZ

Tae Honma vs Miyuki Takase, AWG 11/3/2019

Straight-forward awesome match. Begins strong with solid lockups and some slick matwork. The match soon turns into an ARSION-like affair as Tae Honma is an armbar fiend and was constantly trying to snap Takases arm off. Honmas laser focus and variety of ways to lock in shoulder popping joint locks is really entertaining, and Takase constantly cutting her off with gritty lariats to the throat was great. Takase continueing to crowbar Honma throughout the match while selling the damage to her shoulders felt like something out of a grittier Choshu match. Even the chest forearms, which I’m not a huge fan of, where pretty vicious and hard hitting here. I was surprised at the greatness of Honmas selling too as she really sold being almost choked out by a modified triangle choke very well, and then taking more shots to the windpipe from Takases lariat. Second half of the match had quite a bit of unexpected brutality such as a vicious boot from Honma, and Honma cycling in on Takase to destroy her shoulders and face with dropkicks out of a Santo/Casas match. The insane headbutt was by far the highlight. I’ve seen my fair share of gritty headbutts in Japanese matches by now, this one stood out because it came completely out of nowhere. Takases sleeper attempts becoming ineffective due to her arms being shot was another neat detail. There is one kinda weak sling blade from Takase and they do overindulge a bit with nearfalls, though Honmas counters were great and Takase never let up with those lariats. Real sleeper great match, by far one of the best joshi matches of the decade if you ask me.

 Mari vs Yumiko Hotta, AWG 3/28/2019

This was something to remind you how magical pro wrestling can be. 2019 Hotta is really over the hill, but still has insane levels of aura, and she does actually wrestle in this. She has that Johnny Valentine-feeling where even a basic headlock or half crab from her feel like she’s brutalizing the other person. Hotta is basically like a wall of concrete in this. Mari struggles to do anything at all to her, and that makes this really compelling. Mari is still a ninja at this stage, but she does look like a great wrestler already. Really does a great job putting over the struggle of facing the ultra-tough veteran, and hitting lots of great kicks, which most importantly were all insanely well timed. It starts like a pretty fun match but the way Mari kept chopping away at Hotta and selling even mundane submissions like a surfboard stretch as an insane struggle it really starts to feel like a special match. Hottas performance here felt like a combination of nearly immobile Tenryu and Yoshiaki Fujiwara, she still kicks hard as hell but is vulnerable due to being so shot, and really tears into Mari with submissions. Then you have Mari getting her nose busted and the finish which felt legit as hell. Really starkly different match from pretty much anything else in the modern wrestling landscape, and to see it in a promotion like AWG is downright insane. Best post-prime Hotta match I’ve seen by a mile and Maris great performance was a big part of it.

 

Mari & Yumiko Hotta vs Tae Honma & Hikari Shimizu, AWG 4/7/2019

This was another winner. Hotta is so immobile and lethargic that conventional wrestling becomes impossible, so all her interactions become interesting by default. There is some really good stuff between her and Honma with Honma trying to damage her arm and Hotta snapping into armbars. I also loved Hotta nonchalantly breaking up an armbar attempt. The non-Hotta women her were working pretty hard. Shimizu is all hard kicks and she’s pretty fun. Mari was doing more athletic stuff than nowdays, lots of ninja kip ups and such that are cool mixed with also hard kicks. Honma continued to look good with her flash submissions and she does pull off a really cool finish against Mari. Seems these two never had a singles match which strikes me as a bit of a waste. Cool submission work, lots of stiff offense, grumpy old lady Hotta bonus, yeah this was pretty unique and enjoyable.

Mari vs Hikari Shimizu, AWG 3/17/2021

Impressive match that had well executed wrestling, great selling, a clear story, and they both absolutely bruised each other with brutal kicks. After some slick opening wrestling, Mari caught a Shimizu crossbody and slammed her hard in a great spot to establish the roles. It quickly turns into overdog Mari punishing Shimizu with her kicks and submissions, and Shimizu having to try to gut it out. Shimizu had multiple great comeback attempts that were extremely sharp. She is not quite as brutal as Mari, but she was kicking pretty hard too, and they both have effective straight forward offense. Mari clearly excels when she is trashing an underdog like this, and Shimizu had a few great hope spots. Really liked the struggle over a basic body slam towards the end. Leg kick battle towards the end was also quite intense. Most importantly, it was a modern Japanese big match that didn’t have anyone no-selling a suplex.

Hikari Shimizu vs Hiroyo Matsumoto, AWG 11/20/2021

Probably even better than the Mari match, which I nearly didn’t expect. This was just the 3^rd match on the card and honestly when was the last time you watched a card where match 3 out of 5 was fucking great? But this was pretty fucking great. Very similar to Shimizu vs Mari except Matsumoto is more of a big bruising monster. Matsumoto is really impressive beating the life out of Shimizu here with stiff chops and elbows and Shimizu was just as good as in the Mari match, kicking away at Matsumoto with hard kicks and selling pretty great. Just really effiecient. Once again I thought all of Shimizus comebacks/hopespots were insanely well timed and executed. Loved her desperate sleeper attempt towards the end, just trying to choke the beast out. Need more of that ‘just trying really hard to win’ energy. Matsumotos spinning back elbow was also a thing of beauty and timed just perfectly.

Yasushi Sato vs Konaka, AWG 6/24/2018

Yes, these two are also Actwres Girlz! It’s pretty cool that one of the greatest match ups in all of Japanese wrestling ever just so happened at a random joshi card. This was them pretty much doing the Velocity version of their match – very technically sound, but with a few jokes thrown in and made palatable for a more casual audience. They still mixed in lots of great stuff that you won’t see from any other two wrestlers. There’s this little sequence with both of them balancing on their heads and foot-wrestling which was pretty insane. Konaka does some great sleeper hold work, and Sato hits this hammerlock Russian legsweep that was just a thing of beauty. Sato busts out his big springboard dive which I always love, and even a perfect looking Victory Roll. Konaka has a really nifty counter to Satos attempted gutwrench. Really cool to watch. I still want to see their Ironman match, dammit.