Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato vs Mayumi Ozaki & Chikayo Nagashima, Oz Academy 4/13
A tag on the coattails of Satomuras retirement run, but Kato vs Nagashima was probably the standout match up here. Don't get me wrong, Satomura is solid as always, but seeing these two revive their old rivalry and kicking ass was quite refreshing. I also enjoyed Ozaki here, she's 56 now and I imagine she can't do much. Some of her brawling with the chain felt a bit like a nostalgia act than actually viciously going after an opponent, but she looked still quite effective when she was beating on Katos hand with metal objects and backfisting Satomura in the face. Kato still has a badass vibe and Nagashima moves amazingly well still. Nice to see a match like this that's just fun all around without much nonsense, this resurrgence of old joshi stars is providing quite a bit of entertainment.
Bomber Okuno & Yosuke Takii vs Hiroaki Taniguchi & Tetsuya Goto, Pro Wrestling Shi-En 4/20
Really fun, effective indy tag. Takii is an old favourite of mine and he still looks really sharp here, his little matwork section with Tetsuya Goto is pretty slick. Tetsuya Goto is another guy whose name I keep seeing but I think I never really watched, checking him out here he's actually pretty good, and not afraid to rock bold colour combinations. Okuno and Taniguchi are two powerhouse guys which means lots of shoulder blocks and the usual, they aren't terribly interesting early on but Taniguchi at least puts really impressive oomph into all his stuff, even a basic body slam or shoulder block so he's fun to watch. The ending run for this turns into smashmouth wrestling though with Goto busting out some impressive babyface spots and everyone else turning it up a notch and doing the most awesome stuff they could think of. At first I thought Okuno sucked since he's a pathetic unimpressive looking chubby loser, but he's actually kinda gold in the last couple minutes feeding into Gotos stuff and setting his own power moves up in fun ways, he also does the coconut crush that is endearing. I would've liked to see Takii also getting to do a bit more but sometimes short and sweet is better. Most importantly, there was no thigh slapping or other stupid shit. This kind of indy formula tag is really easy but nowadays almost nobody seems to do it well anymore, so it's really nice to see one that hits, a solid basic build topped off with lots of sweet stuff towards the end. I should probably check out more of Shi-En.
Yuta Oya vs Yasuhiro Higuchi, Sportiva 4/9
It's been too long since we got to see my man Yuta Oya in a singles match. This Yasuhiro Higuchi guy looks insanely old, like old enough to be my grandpa. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but he's kinda not very good. but he does try, and Oya is really fun here working over his back and judo tossing him which looks painful because Higuchi is such a brittle old man. Pretty fun to watch considering Higuchi looked like he's in wrestling for a participation trophy, Oya is really impressive with what he can do, even against a limited opponent.
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
Pro Wrestling in 2025 Week 17
Monday, March 3, 2025
2025 Wrestling Week 9
Ari Najima vs Yuta Oya, Sportiva 2/24
Another very good little performance from the Sportiva super rookies. I love the absence of bullshit and rope running in Oyas matches. This was really straight forward, two guys hitting the mat, with Najima eventually working over Oyas arm with nasty cranks and kicks. Another great harai goshi spot from Oya here, and I loved the intense fighting for the sharpshooter with Najima selling his back. Really simple but enjoyable match.
Leon vs Hanako Nakamori, PURE-J 2/16/2025
These two had some of my favourite matches of the last decade. This was a 2 count pinfall match with the extra rule that there was a plastic circle in the middle of the ring and if you touch it you lose. That is a lot of bullshit ruleset. These two have a ton of fun ways to work around "the middle is lava" and clearly still have awesome chemistry. Lots of fun to be had here and some wild body control and ring positioning stuff (I imagine working a match where you can't touch the middle of the ring is pretty hard with most wrestlers being trained to work towards the middle). Still I want to see these two get up and face each other in a straight match again.
Ai Houzan vs Senka Akatsuki, Marvelous 1/4
Really enjoyed their shoot pinfall match, so I decided to check this out. Starts a little mundane but soon turns into hard as fuck match with Houzan beathing the hell out of the rookie. Lots of evil slaps and stomps from her. Sick moment where Akatsuki really cracks Houzan with a headbutt and Chigusa on commentary cracks up. Last couple minutes were pretty intense with Akatsuki trying to hit a bodyslam for the finish. For a wrestler whose signature moves are 'body slam' and 'intensely worked pinfall' she's really cool.
Ryo Mizunami & Sonoko Kato vs Mio Momono & Yurika Oka, OZ Academy 2/9
A lot of this was very good, but a lot of this was also not my cup of tea. One of the most annoying things about modern wrestling is the insistence of getting all your contrived sequences in, especially when you are a babyface tag team. Lots of hitting 3 or 4 moves after another really fast that just comes across like Momono & Oka were just running through their offense with none of it meaning much. I kind of hate the Motor City Machineguns for infecting wrestling with this shit. That said a lot of what Oka & Momono did was really solid and some of the sequences were genuinely impressive, so maybe I am just a miserable negative bastard. I was impressed with Kato and Mizunami. No offense to Momono and Oka, but once Kato stepped into the ring the match got about ten times more real. Her kicks are still vicious and she never looked out of place in this fast paced go-go match, which goes pretty hard considering she's 48. I also dig Mizunami when she's not goofing around. Her leg drops and Honda-ish shoulder chokes are great. Also, watching Momono doing the second half of the match with her injured arm in a bandage was pretty insane. I'd say this was very good for a modern style match.
Thursday, October 12, 2023
Assorted OZ Academy
Carlos Amano vs Kaoru Ito, OZ Academy 1/22/2006
Fun match where they both show off their awesome offense. You’re not going to get a ton of psychology in Kaoru Ito matches, but there was some semblance of her selling the arm, and she will absolutely murder someone with double stomps. Amano was a dynamo in this match, here constant arm attacks and headbutt variations were great. I dug all the counters she had to the uranage slam, and the finish was the kind of nifty touch she is so good at pulling off. It’s always nice to get a match where Amano shines.
Dynamite Kansai & Jaguar Yokota vs. Aja Kong & Misae Genki, OZ Academy 1/22/2006
Very cool match. All these legends aren’t going to work super hard in a mid card match on a small show, but you will still get plenty of neat touches. Loved all the little things Aja did in the match, such as blocking a Yokota footsweep and stomping on her leg. Kansai looked spry, throwing good kicks and never slowing down. Her exchanges with Aja weren’t 1993 level but they were still good and would look good on anyone elses resume. Lots of cool offense from the bigger girls in this match, and Yokotas out of nowhere rolling kicks were awesome.
Carlos Amano vs. Amazing Kong, Oz Academy 8/8/2004
Cracking little under 5 minute match that is built around Amano basically trying to crack Kongs skull with running headbutts and chairshots. Kong definitely moved like a star at this point and gave back pretty good. The finish is pretty crazy as Kong takes a belly first bump through a Japanese table before getting clocked with another jumping headbutt off the apron. Gnarly.