Taking a look at... Hot Shushu

 Chon Shiryu vs Samas (Hot Shushu 5/6/2024)

I’m a big fan of Chon Shiryu, and I’m naturally inclined to check out any match he’s in. Samas is a pretty interesting guy, he’s a tall-ish foreigner with a cool mask and odd agility which allows him to hit some cool looking high kicks. Samas was a bit dainty with his movements at times but he sure looked convincing when has dropping bombs, I can definitely see potential in him, plus I am sucker for guys who look straight out of a 90s Mortal Kombat game. This was a lot like how I would fantasy book a hypothetical Chon Shiryu run in a US TV promotion, really nice fast paced big vs little match with Shiryu hitting his awesome spots including the diving kick to the floor. Samas was really cool to watch in this, lots of cool hurty looking offense without being cliché big man stuff. Cool little match in that dojo,

Kiku vs Banako (Hot Shushu 5/6/2024)

So I was looking through the Hot Shushu highlight videos trying to figure out what match ups look interesting, and I thought this girl Kiku looks cool. Then I look her up on Cagematch and SHE’S 47 YEARS OLD??? And her debut was just in 2021? I have a fascination with wrestlers who start wrestling late, they always seem to have a better mind for wrestling and with guys like Yasushi Sato, Yuta Oya or Hiroki Sakai the genre has produced some greats, so to see someone like that show up in the cosmos of Ice Ribbon is fascinating. And yeah, watching this Kiku is definitely really cool. She has actually hard kicks, and cool submissions. Banako is another one of those wrestlers whose personality is pretty much ‘joyful clown in a world of asskickers’. Banako didn’t strike me as insanely talented – not really having more than a basic dropkick and roll ups – but the contrast with her and Kiku being a more serious asskicker and putting the boots to her with said hard kicks and cool submissions is really fun. Kiku sets herself up for Banako in ways that really help the match too. I’m definitely gonna have to watch more Kiku.

Takahiro Tababa & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs Samas & Yoshikazu Yokoyama (Hot Shushu 7/20/2024)

Tababa and Takaiwa, what a team. Unfortunately Yokoyama may be one of the worst wrestlers I’ve ever seen, he’s just super low effort to the point where he shows up wrestling in a t-shirt, so this was a little rough. Samas also wasn’t in the match a ton. Takaiwa still looks insanely tough but can barely move. Tababa kicking Samas really hard was pretty fun, and Yokoyama did get it together to at least hit some nice Death Valley Bombs for the finish.

Chon Shiryu vs Kouyo (Hot Shushu 4/7/2024)

Another Chon Shiryu showcase match baby. This was also really cool. Shiryu could just coast and hit his spots, but he strayed from his usual stuff to work an indy main event formula match with his opponent. That means a bit slower pace but we get to see what Shiryu can do, working some cool matwork, attacking Kouyos legs with some nifty holds. He did have some cool parkour spots where he used the walls of this tiny dojo to his advantage in awesome ways. Kouyo is a bit green and bland, but he’s solid enough, he does hit some nice kicks, his 619 setup was cool, although his thigh slappy kick combo was pretty weak, he did sell the leg work though. Pretty insane finish. I love watching Shiryu do his thing.

 Daisuke Sekimoto vs Samas, Hot Shushu 2023/7/17

Apparently, this was Samas 3rd match ever, unless he was working some place elsewhere before that Cagematch doesn't know about.  And this is wisely kept very basic. Sekimoto could probably wrestle in his sleep. With him, you always get your test of strengths, your shoulderblocks, your forearm exchange... he has a simple formula that works, and it tends to bore me to death so I can only watch him once every couple years. Samas being the opponent makes things more interesting than usual, since he's actually quite a bit bigger than Sekimoto despite how freakishly large this short Japanese mans chest and shoulders have gotten. Because Samas is bigger and hefty Sekimoto is actually forced to come up with a few different touches and when he hits the deadlift german it's actually impressive. Samas didn't show a ton here, none of the cool stuff he did in the Shiryu match really, but sometimes a 3rd match is just a 3rd match.

 

5 minute exhibition: Yoshiko Tamura vs Tanny Mouse, Hot Shushu 12/24/2023

It's Christmas and Tamura is dressed as Santa and Tanny is dressed as a reindeer. And well... they work this pretty much exactly as if it were a serious 2005 NEO match or so. Just both of them going really hard, nailing their signatures, not wasting much time with comedy (though Tanny does get her due here and there) All their stuff still looks good and you get the sense either of them could return to in-ring competition and be near top level still. Tanny looked especially slick still, like she had never stopped. And they do it all while dressed in those ridiculous costumes. Too surreal not to talk about this. It was getting awe inspiring when Tanny went for the muscle buster but then the time ran out. What a Christmas dream!

 

Hopping Vampires and Monkey Men

 Tanny Mouse & Yuki Miyazaki vs. Chon Shiryu & Tottyann Ziyi, NEO 3/18/2007

Unreal match. Ziyi(?) is Toshie Uematsu doing a Chinese hopping vampire gimmick, and holy fuck she is amazing in that role. Just totally giving her all into every crazy pose, every throat thrust, every kung fu kick, just a face painted whirlwind with that outfit. This was basically a crazy Hong Kong movie as an under 10 minute pro wrestling match. Basically no comedy, just fun character work and cool kung fu kicks. Chon Shiryu if you ask me is absolutely one of the greatest pro wrestlers of all time. If a major US company had picked him up I guarantee he’d be a megastar or at the very least a cult hero. The man simply put his everything into his character and made every little moment stand out, down to the weird scorpion kicks and flying at people with kung fu kicks from odd angles. Shiryu and Uematsu do a lot of awesome shit here. There is one moment where Tanny and Miyazaki put a seal on Uematsu, paralyzing her, but then Shiryu unseals her and she goes berserk again, pure evil unleashed. It’s played completely straight and that’s why it works for me. They work a breathless pace just busting out one rad exchange after another with Miyazaki and Tanny mostly stooging but also adding some cool touches of their own, it seems at this point they both really had their routine down as a team, cutting out the comedy and just doing cool wrestling. Shiryu also hits his insane kick diving kick to the floor. Badass finish too. I really enjoy this kind of stuff more than your typical by the numbers epic match at this point. This was a great sub 10 minute match.

 

Chon Shiryu vs. HAJIME, Choco Pro 3/3/2024

This is in that no-ring dentist office space that Emi Sakura has been running shows in for like 18 years now. Really cool little match with Shiryu doing a bunch of great armwork, including hitting a really cool fist drop to HAJIMES joint and a few kung fu armlocks. All the environment stuff with Shiryu going for a 619 on the window, flying off the wall etc was great. Shiryu also based very well for HAJIMES lucharesu moves which I imagine is hard to do on a soft mat that looks to be 2 meters by 2 meters. Finish is completely awesome as HAJIME goes for the pin but Shiryu does a Negro Navarro style leg hock and  locks in a crazy llave for the tap.

Chon Shiryu & Kaori Yoneyama vs. Emi Sakura & Masa Takanashi, Gatoh Move 2/12/2024

Shiryu once again looked great in this match. His kung fu-stuff is so awesome, and he does a really nice job integrating it into a lengthy pro wrestling match structure. His opening technico exchange with Takanashi is really nice, and his hot tag is really great too. He just comes at people with odd kicks from weird directions and slick counters and it's great. The stuff he does between the big moves and set ups is great too, like randomly busting out a scorpion  kick or spin kick flush in the face.  If you liked that Ki/Amazing Red match I don't see why you wouldn't enjoy Shiryu since he goes hard all the time despite being 45 now. I also like how he can make the 619 his own, instead of coming across like another Rey imitator. Rest of the match had some very creative high workrate stuff but there was also some cutesie shit typical of Emi Sakura feds and I disliked how Masa Takanashi no sold that one awesome jumping kick Shiryu did, which keeps the match out of MOTYC consideration for me (well, if you make it a requirement that a MOTYC has to be at minimum a great match). But really nice stuff from Shiryu and well worth watching.

JWP 9/3/2000

 

Yuki Miyazaki vs. Acute Sa

Fun JIP opening match. Miyazaki is game and Sae is a cull mulleted grappler with fun throws and nasty double stomps. The start working the mat and move on to work some pretty cool standing exchanges before ending the match early. I really liked Miyazakis tight neckbreaker drop, such a cool move that a lot of girls don‘t make look good.

Capture International 5 Minute Exhibition Match: Nihao vs. Yuki Kubota

Kubota is a female MMA fighter who trained with Koki Kitahara a bit. This was a cool bonus match to have, Kubota is in a gi and she basically spars grappling with Nihao for 5 minutes. Some nice sweeps and such and probably the only pro wrestling footage of Kubota on film until we steal Kitaharas hard drive which we really need to do.

Misae Genki vs. Tanny Mouse

Another JIP match, they clip the pro style matches but show the grappling exhibition in full? Tanny Mouse has a rep as a terrible worker but she is actually pretty cool when she‘s serious. This was about Genki trying to finish off the little Mouse fast and Genki reversing her chokeslams into cool armbars which is a story I can get into. I loved the reversel of the top rope chokeslam into the Fujiwara armbar and Tannys flying armbar, does anyone even do tope rope chokeslams anymore? Really fun stuff and Genkis emerald frosion was nasty as fuck.

JWP Jr. Title Match: Kayoko Haruyama vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki

There was a pitiful small crowd at this show, but everyone here is working hard. This was an exciting match between two workers who should have gone on to become stars but just ended up cult favourites. Really stiffing each other up with nasty elbows and open palms. Kuragaki was a monster here, bruising Haruyama with shoot headbutts including one to the back of her head, and trying to break her back. Really great finish. This is the kinda shit why joshi undercards are often better than the main events.

Azumi Hyuga & Command Bolshoi vs. Reggie Bennett & Kana Mizaki

Workrate main event with the addition of Bennett and Bolshoi to spice things up. It‘s a shame Bennett didn‘t have much of a career because she always looks pretty great whenever I see her. She meshes really well with the workrate queens while retaining her swagger and looking like a monster. There‘s something a bout a beast who can grapple and drop bombs and strike funny taunts and she could do all that. Mizaki is also someone people never bring up who is pretty good. This didn‘t have some kind of epic story or selling but they worked a bunch of rad exchanges and it was all high energy and cool.

THE LIBRARY

Assorted NEO

 

Hiromi Yagi & Carlos Amano vs. Yuka Shiina & Chaparita ASARI, NEO 5/4/2001

This is the kind of joshi I love and miss dearly. 4 crazy grapplers going all out busting out crazy armbars and legbars left and right and fighting fiercely. My girl Yagi totally stole the show having some great exchanges. I was also super impressed with Asari. She is someone I usually enjoy, but she totally adapted to the others style and busted out some super dope shit including her awesome swinging rana into an armbar. I‘ve never noticed Shiina much but she was hellbent on choking someone out. Amano was her usual self. The finish was great with Yagi pulling out an incredible counter. It was something Fujiwara would do if he was a 95 pound lithe athletic girl.

Hiromi Yagi & Yuka Shiina vs. Tanny Mouse & Yuki Miyazaki, NEO 5/3/2001

Not a match people would seek out on paper, but there were some good standing exchanges here. Miyazaki and Tanny where kind of a workrate team in NEO while still doing some comedy. Some moments felt comedic but not like contrived jokes. And the rest of this was quite good, mostly built around flash submissions and cool hard head spots from Tanny. Shiina was once again working like a submission artist and I think she's becoming one to watch. She's really putting the Sleeper Hold to use and that's something that will always get a wrestler on my good side. The ending was built around her trying to choke Tanny out, finding various ways to lock in sleepers and Tanny desperately avoiding them until Tanny caught her in a her weird Pallo Special to get the submission herself. Fun match and an example of sprinty joshi done right.

Yuka Shiina vs. Chaparita ASARI, NEO 12/7/2001

Awesome match! Pretty much Shiina countering Asaris flying into her grappling moves, and Asari countering with surprising grappling skill of her own. I love a match where wrestler not famous for grappling reveals themself to be good at grappling, and this was that. And they stuck to this simple story and it really worked in getting me into all their exchanges. Once again Shiina was hyper focussed on the sleeper. It build to a great ending with ASARI trying to knock her out with shotais and Shiina going for Sleepers from different angles. It's kind of mind blowing how simple great matches can be sometimes. Add a neat finish and you have one of the best joshi matches of the year.

2002 MOTY Project Update #14

 

15. Hijo del Santo & Mascara Magica & Shocker vs. Tarzan Boy & Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Buccanero, CMLL 6/7/2002)

 

Great, heated trios full of unpredictable bumps and quite hate filled brawling. Very smart layout with the rudos starting strong only to get cleared out by a series of Santo topes. The finish to the second fall that saw a guy get taken down and jumped 3 on 1 was fantastic and added to the unpredictability. 3Rd fall breaking out into another brawl was great, too. The Guerreros were on fire that night. I especially liked Rey Bucaneros unexpected bump over the top rope. Shocker looked spry trying to boot peoples heads off and he had fun chemistry with Tarzan Boy. The Santo/Magica double tope was insane. Top stuff, maybe the best trios of the year.

 

24. Yoshiko Tamura vs Tanny Mouse (NEO 08/17/02)

Tanny Mouse carries Tamura to her best match of the year. No, I’m not kidding. Tanny was great here as she avoided Tamuras usual bullshit and actually got something interesting out of her. Her offense was also pretty great and varied. It kind of exposed how dull and repetitive Tamura is in comparison. Tanny mostly kept this on the mat, forcing Tamura to actually grapple a bit for a change, and during the standing sections she was mixing in awesome strikes and suplexes. There were also some amazing, perfectly timed cradles. So, Tanny was working this as a grappler with a hard head relying on cradles… was she high on Tamon Honda tapes that year? The nearfall section was slightly into overkill, but Tanny never was able to hit her finish and Tamura actually got to look badass for a change as she hit the worlds nastiest senton and later scored a great KO victory.

2002 MOTY MASTER LIST

NEO 9/16/2002

 

Kaori Yoneyama vs. Haruka Matsuo

Joshi undercard match which means it’s two workers doing some holds and trying to hit their spots. I’ve never seen or heard of Matsuo before. Her shit mostly looked weak. Yoneyama even at this stage is very good and she probably was one of the last really talented joshi workers to debut. She hits all of her dropkicks etc. with a real thud and never looks lost. That is enough for me not mind this kind of 8 minute match.

Yuka Nakamura & Tetsuya Koda vs. Yuka Shiina & Ayako Ishida

Weird 5 minute comedy match involving two non-wrestlers. Apparently Ishida is a ring announcer. Tetsuya Koda was some skinny guy who I’m assuming is a comedian or radio personality or something. Nakamura worked a few actual wrestling segments but this was basically a “let your buddy get in the ring for a laugh as he slips off the ropes and breaks his ankle” match. Ishida takes the win with the iron claw over Koda.

Captains Fall Match: Kyoko Inoue & Chaparita ASARI & Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Yoshiko Tamura & Misae Genki & Yuka Nakamura and Haruko Matsuo

Long match where I basically only liked the 3 minutes or so where Kyoko was in the ring. She quickly eliminated Nakamura and Matsuo early, which could’ve set up an interesting match, but then it just wasn’t. Tamura and Genki should’ve either ended up working in peril and making comebacks or destroying their opponents. Instead the match ended up being a mishmash of things that was neither here nor there. Also, Genki sucked. She’s a crowbar powerhouse so has the potential to be fun, but she kept blowing spots and no-selling. LCO did their thing, basically working on autopilot. I liked ASARIs ranas. The match built to this dramatic showdown of Genki facing 4 opponents and then eliminating 3 out of 4 in a really phony way before a stiff face off with Kyoko. Kyoko tagged out after her first segment and basically didn’t tag in for the next 15 minutes. She hits really great lariats which was enough for me to like that last segment. Still, you probably don't want this.

Tanny Mouse & Yuki Miyazaki vs. Ran Yu-Yu & Azumi Hyuga

Really fun main event that was way better than it looks on paper. Tanny Mouse has a reputation as a dreadful comedy worker, but she had her working boots on here. She came across as this tenacious grappler with a hard head, which is kind of my favourite Japanese wrestler gimmick. There were also multiple moments during the rest of the match where she looked very good, particularily during a segment where she tried kicking Hyugas head in. Tanny & Miyazaki are the NEO Machineguns and they are huge underdogs against the JWP ace team of Ran and Hyuga. The match was smartly laid out allowing them to take control using smart tactics and double teams. Lots of elaborate sequences that worked. When Yu-Yu and Hyuga got to comeback, they dished out some series punishment with their usual mix of suplexes and precise strikes. It built to a pretty hot run of nearfalls that actually felt earned, with the finish feeling like a fucking finish. Most importantly, the match was laid out in such a way that the selling weaknesses of Ran Yu-Yu and Azumi Hyuga were never exposed. I am not overly familiar with Yuki Miyazaki, but she looked solid, booting Hyuga in the face and taking some big bumps down the stretch.

 

Note: Main event added to 2002 MOTY project at #37