A Review by Kevin Wilson
Date: January 18th, 2015
Location: Itabashi Green Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 116
This is a little itty bitty show by JWP which for some reason was not only taped but made available to us lucky fans here in the States. JWP can be hard to track down in a timely fashion so I am thankful for anything that I can get. Looks like this event has one match from the Tag League The Best, and otherwise not much else. Here is the full card:
- KAZUKI vs. Rabbit Miyu
- Kayoko Haruyama vs. Raideen Hagane
- Command Bolshoi vs. Eri vs. Leon
- Tag League The Best: Arisa Nakajima and Hanako Nakamori vs. Yako Fujigasaki and Yua Hayashi
- Battle Royal with Arisa Nakajima, Bolshoi Kid, Eri, Hanako Nakamori, Kayoko Haruyama, KAZUKI, Leon, Rabbit Miyu, and Raideen Hagane
Less than an hour of in-ring action here, so this shouldn’t take long.
KAZUKI vs. Rabbit Miyu
Knees by KAZUKI but Miyu snaps her leg over the bottom rope and yanks on it. They take turns rolling in and out of the ring and Miyu runs on KAZUKI’s back. Literally nothing is happening in this match, it has been a few minutes and I’m bored. Miyu dropkicks KAZUKI in the back and they trade knees. Miyu stomps on KAZUKI’s foot and hits a brainbuster. Miyu goes up top and hits a missile dropkick then a diving body press for two. KAZUKI puts Miyu on the apron, they do a weird awkward exchange and Miyu falls to the floor. She rolls back in and KAZUKI hits a dropkick followed by a double knee in the corner. Reverse double knee drop by KAZUKI but she gets a two. Victory roll attempt by Miyu but KAZUKI sits down on her. KAZUKI goes up top but Miyu joins her. KAZUKI slides down and powerbombs Miyu into the corner, they trade pin attempts and Miyu gets the three. This was just awful, I’ve seen them both in other matches that weren’t like this. They just did nothing for literally half the match, traded a few moves and it was over. Not a good way to kick things off. Score: 2.0
Kayoko Haruyama vs. Raideen Hagane
Maybe this match will be good. Shoulderblocks by Hagane but Haruyama throws her down by her hair. Haruyama applies a chinlock but Hagane gets a foot on the ropes. Dropkick by Hagane and she hits a body press for two. Camel clutch by Hagane and they trade chops. Haruyama applies a STF, this match isn’t going much better but at least they are doing offense. Hagane gets to the ropes but Haruyama bites her arm. Hagane rams Haruyama into the corner and she hits a body avalanche. Lariat by Hagane and they trade lariat attempts until Hagane hits a backdrop suplex. Back up Haruyama hits a German suplex but Hagane hits another backdrop suplex. Lariat by Hagane and she hits a reverse splash. Avalanche reverse splash, Hagane goes up again but Haruyama hits a German suplex. Thrust kick by Haruyama and she hits lariats in the corner. Backdrop suplex by Haruyama and she hits a guillotine leg drop. Orange☆Blossom by Haruyama, but Hagane gets a shoulder up. Lariat by Hagane but Haruyama kicks out. Rainmaker by Hagane, but it gets two again. Hagane goes for a moonsault but Haruyama moves. Lariat by Haruyama and she gets the three count. This match got better as it went along, Haruyama got into the groove as at first I wasn’t impressed. It felt really jerky and sluggish for the first few minutes but the last few made up for it. It still wasn’t a good match but it wasn’t a bad match by the end of it. Score: 5.0
Command Bolshoi vs. Eri vs. Leon
Triple waistlock to start and they trade lariat attempts. Eri dropkicks Bolshoi but both kick Eri, but Eri hits a plancha suicida out of the ring onto Bolshoi and Leon. Leon and Bolshoi start fighting and Bolshoi hits a DDT for two. Bolshoi slams Eri in the corner and Leon hits a backbreaker on both. Leon lariats both in the stomach and applies a double ankle hold. Eri and Bolshoi get out of it, Eri puts Leon in a crab hold but Bolshoi puts her in a sleeper. They trade sleeper holds but Eri and Bolshoi get to the ropes. Leon puts Eri in a leg submission while Bolshoi puts Leon in her own submission hold. Bolshoi twists up Eri and Leon’s legs and sits to watch them struggle, which admittedly is pretty funny. Bolshoi runs on Leon’s stomach and they all trade elbows. Eri and Leon attack Bolshoi in the corner. Bolshoi walks the ropes and dropkicks Leon, then she hits a cutter on both of them. Bolshoi goes up top and hits a diving body press on both of them. They trade pin attempts and Eri hits a tilt-a-whirl DDT on Leon. Eri goes off the ropes but Bolshoi trips her, she goes off the ropes but Leon pushes her back. Leon ends up on the apron and Bolshoi dropkicks her to the floor. Tiger Suplex Hold by Bolshoi and she gets the three count. Bolshoi did the same thing my brother and I do in wrestling games, knock the opponent off the apron and quickly do the pin before they can recover. Bravo. This was a fun match and had some good spots, which is about all you can expect from this type of match. All three looked good though, Bolshoi in particular was on point here. Score: 6.5
Arisa Nakajima and Hanako Nakamori vs. Yako Fujigasaki and Yua Hayashi
This match is part of the Tag League The Best Tournament. Fujigasaki and Hayashi dropkick their opponents before the match starts. Both are thrown in the same corner so Fujigasaki and Hayashi can hit running strikes, but the double dropkick is avoided. Nakamori stays in the ring with Hayashi and throws her down by her hair. Kicks by Nakamori and she tags in Nakajima. Double underhook suplex by Nakajima and she goes for the cross armbreaker, Hayashi blocks it so she applies a crossface instead. Dropkick by Nakajima and they trade elbows, Hayashi tags in Fujigasaki and she trades elbows with Nakajima as well. Nakajima quickly gets the better of it and applies a headscissors. Dropkick by Nakajima and she tags in Nakamori. Nakamori toys around with Fujigasaki and hits a running boot in the corner. Fujigasaki avoids the next one but Nakamori side steps the dropkick attempt. Hayashi comes in but Nakamori dropkicks both of them. Kick to the stomach by Nakamori to Fujigasaki and she hits a suplex. Inside cradle by Fujigasaki but it gets two, she goes off the ropes and with Hayashi’s help gets a sunset flip for two. Dropkick by Fujigasaki and she tags in Hayashi. Nakamori knocks back Hayashi and kicks her in the chest for a two. Ankle hold by Hayashi but Nakajima breaks it up. Hayashi kicks at Nakamori but Nakamori hits a lariat and she hits a fisherman suplex for a two count.
Nakamori tags in Nakajima and Nakajima knees Hayashi in the face. Hayashi avoids the running knee and kicks Nakajima in the chest. PK by Hayashi and she hits a scoop slam for two. High kick by Nakajima and she applies an ankle lock, but Fujigasaki breaks it up. Nakajima kicks Hayashi, she goes up top and hits a missile dropkick. Knees by Nakajima and she hits a backdrop suplex. Running boot by Nakajima but Fujigasaki runs in and dropkicks Nakajima. Cross armbreaker by Hayashi and she rolls up Nakajima for two. Hayashi tags in Fujigasaki, and Fujigasaki hits dropkicks on Nakajima. Fujigasaki goes up top and hits a missile dropkick. She goes up top again and hits another one, again Fujigasaki goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a third missile dropkick for a two count. Knee by Nakajima and she elbows Fujigasaki to the mat. So Nakajima is awesome, I dunno about the rest of them though. Hayashi runs in and kicks Nakajima in the leg, Nakamori also comes in and they throw Hayashi to the mat before kicking her in the head. They then throw Fujigasaki down and kick her as well. Nakajima goes up top and hits a diving doublestomp, but Hayashi breaks up the cover. Nakajima goes for a German, Fujigasaki elbows her off and applies a backslide for two. German suplex hold by Nakajima, but it is broken up. Elbows by Nakajima and she hits another German suplex hold, this time for the three count. I love Nakajima, she’s awesome. The other wrestlers were fine, a few awkward moments here and there but generally it was very watchable. Mostly when Nakajima was in the ring. Score: 5.5
Battle Royal with Arisa Nakajima, Bolshoi Kid, Eri, Hanako Nakamori, Kayoko Haruyama, KAZUKI, Leon, Rabbit Miyu, and Raideen Hagane
Everyone goofs around with Bolshoi Kid to start the match, including the hop at the end. They then all apply headscissors to each other while Hagane rolls them over while applying a crab hold. We then get a line of wristlocks as needless to say this isn’t being taken seriously. Miyu and Bolshoi Kid walk the ropes and jump down to complete the visual, then we get the big everyone suplexes everyone spot. After more large group shenanigans, Hagane and KAZUKI are twisted up in a submission and they give up, so they are eliminated from the match. Eri rolls up Bolshoi Kid and everyone helps her get the pin, then everyone jumps on Eri as well, so both Bolshoi Kid and Eri are both eliminated. Nakajima hits a German suplex on Leon but it is broken up, Nakajima covers Miyu and she gets a three count. Miyu is eliminated. Nakamori and Nakajima double team Haruyama but Haruyama dumps Nakamori out to the apron. Nakajima then dropkicks Haruyama into Nakamori, eliminating Nakamori. Haruyama beats up both Nakajima and Leon, then Nakajima trades elbows with Haruyama. Nakajima holds down the rope when Haruyama charges, and Haruyama lands on the apron. Leon then shoulderblocks her, sending Haruyama down to the floor as she is eliminated. Leon gets Nakajima out on the apron, she charges but Nakajima holds down the rope, so Leon lands on the apron as well. They trade elbows on the apron. Nakajima gets back in but Leon hits a swandive missile dropkick. Elbows by Nakajima but Leon levels her with a high kick. German suplex by Nakajima, she picks up Leon but Leon catches her with a Capture Buster and picks up the three count. Leon wins the Battle Royal! This was a good mixture of goofy comedy and then hard hitting action once they got to the last two. If the last bit had lasted a few minutes longer it would have been a really solid match, but as a ‘bonus’ battle royal it fit the bill just fine. Score: 6.0
Final Thoughts:
This event definitely had a ‘house show’ feel, as a good bit of the action felt half-hearted and awkward at times. The big exception was Nakajima as she was great in both the tag match and the battle royal, making her the clear MVP of the event. Lackluster overall with a few bright points here and there.
Grade: D+
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review completed on 1/28/15
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