Adversity Nine Match: Emi Sakura vs Hikaru Shida vs Chii Tomiya vs Tsukushi vs Kurumi vs Mochi Miyagi vs Mary Naito vs Maki Narumiya vs Dorami Nagano
This match had an insane stipulation. It was a gauntlet of double round robin singles matches with a 1 minute time limit, with everybody facing everybody for 1 minute each, two times. So that means what you get here is 72 consecutive singles matches in a bit over an hour. That is the kind of insane thing that I absolutely have to check out, and it was absolutely worth it because this ruled and absolutely worked in every way.
A big part of why the match works so well is the set hierarchy and entry order. The wrestlers are ordered from strongest (Sakura) to weakest (Nagano). The clue is that everybody faces each other twice. So, Nagano has to start facing the strongest wrestlers, but after surviving that, the following round the weakest wrestlers are added back to the end of the gauntlet. That means even the high ranked wrestlers would get in trouble, because after facing 8 opponents in a row not getting beaten by the weakest wrestler in the group would be challenging even for them. After going through so many opponents it becomes challenging to not get tapped by even a basic Boston Crab, and that is really compelling.
Another
reason for why this match works so well is that everybody here had a
character and they were all working their own separate stories. The
main goal was clear – for the weaker wrestlers, survive the
gauntlet taking as few Ls as possible, and then try to beat the
stronger wrestlers later when they have to face you at the end of the
gauntlet. For the stronger wrestlers, pick up as many Ws as possible
and then try not to lose to weak ass Maki Narumiya or Dorami Nagano.
Before watching this I was not familiar with the 2011 Ice Ribbon
roster at all. I know Emi Sakura, I vaguely know about Shida and
Tsukushi, I didn’t really know anyone else, but watching the match
I got really into almost everybody here. You had someone like Shida,
who is a badass who can tap out everybody and drop bombs, and then
you had the likes of Maki Narumiya with nothing except a good
overhand chop and a torture rack. Watching someone like Narumiya
fight really hard and try to get a W despite her limitations was really cool.
Everybody here brought something unique to the table, and because of
the 1 minute format everyone could just get in, try to win, and get
out before getting exposed. There was also plenty of stylistic variety - you had the surely badass Shida with her straight forward armbars and knee strikes, the slick technician Chii, the explosive rookie Tsukushi, the more surely power moves of Kurumi or Miyagi, the basic rookie moves of Dorami Nagano etc. I’m not sure if I would want to watch
someone like Mochi Miyagi or Dorami Nagano in a normal match but in
this setting they were really cool because they played part in a
bigger story and freshened things up. The only wrestler who looked downright shitty was Mary
Naito, even that can be kind of forgiven because she was never in the
ring very long and in some case just got in to lose in 10 seconds.
Because of the 1 minute format, flash pins and submissions became important, which is always nice because it means you get more than just bomb dropping. Ice Ribbon is kind of flash pin central, and there were some really cool ones. Hikaru Shida was by far the biggest badass in the match, she was acing this thing tapping everybody out with cool out of nowhere armbars. I was also surprised by Chii Tomiya, who looked like a really slick wrestler with cool flash pins and a variety of ways to finish her opponents. Emi Sakura is of course the big boss and she played that role to perfection, and when it was time to go hard she did go hard. The first few gauntlets here were compelling due to the story being told with a few great moments and payoffs, but the last couple rounds when it was Tomiya, Shida and Sakura going through the gauntlet were some of the finest wrestling I’ve ever seen. The ‘any move can finish’ factor really made this edge of your seat stuff and there were some awesome counters and upsets, without going overboard. Watching the top ranked wrestlers try to survive the weakest opponents was fascinating. Tsukushi was really young here, and while her execution wasn’t perfect she’s a cool wildcard with her slick flash pins and high energy, also kicked Sakura flash in the face at one point. After the gauntlet is done the two wrestlers with the best score face off for another round to settle it and it’s a really cool ‘throw the kitchen sink and try to win’ scrap. Really one of the most unique matches I’ve ever seen, it was shockingly well put together, told a great story with wide cast of characters and delivered some awesome wrestling while the match time flew by. It’s the kind of insane thing that I would like to see tried again, although I think it can only really work in joshi. Emi Sakura, you are a whacky genius.
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