Date:  January 25th, 2015
Location:  Diamond Hall in Nagoya, Japan
Announced Attendance:  327

WAVE is a cute little promotion that doesn’t have a ton of its ‘own’ wrestlers, so they use a lot of Freelancers and wrestlers from other small promotions.  This is one of the bigger events for WAVE, as two of their Championships are on the line.  We also have Kana stopping by, as well as Isamu Kodaka and Yuko Miyamoto.  Here is the full card:

- Hiroe Nagahama, Moeka Haruhi, Sawako Shimono, and Yumi Oka vs. Kana, Mika Iida, Fairy Nipponbashi, and Rina Yamashita
- Kaho Kobayashi vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto
- Isami Kodaka and Yuko Miyamoto vs. Shu Shibutani and Cherry
- WAVE Tag Team Championship: Ayako Hamada and Yuu Yamagata vs. Misaki Ohata and Mio Shirai
- Regina Di Wave Championship: Hikaru Shida vs. Kyusei Sakura Hirota

Onto the matches!

Nagahama, Haruhi, Shimono, and Oka vs. Kana, Iida, Fairy Nipponbashi, and Yamashita
Fairy and Nagahama start off.  Nagahama doesn’t know how to take Fairy so she clubs her in the chest before missing a dropkick.  Fairy talks to Nagahama’s teammates, sadly I have no idea what they are discussing, but Fairy uses her wand on Haruhi.  Nagahama gets the wand treatment, then Shimono does.  I think they are trying to teach Nagahama how to wrestle Fairy, as Nagahama doesn’t sell the wand.  Fairy yells at her and she tags in Iida.  Elbow by Iida and she hits a cutter then a dropkick.  Nagahama slams her twice and tags in Shimono.  Samoan drop by Shimono and she applies a surfboard.  Iida gets away and hits a STO on Haruhi and Shimono.  Fisherman suplex hold by Iida on Shimono and she tags in Yamashita.  Shimono lariats Yamashita and hits a seated senton.  Shimono tags in Haruhi and Haruhi applied a submission.  Yamashita hits a backdrop suplex on Haruhi and tags in Kana.  Kana kicks everyone, then everyone hits running strikes on Haruhi in the corner.  Kicks by Kana  and she hits the flying cross armbreaker, but it is broken up.  Rana by Haruhi and she dropkicks Kana.  Haruhi goes up top and hits a diving crossbody.  Northern Lights Suplex by Haruhi but it gets two, and she tags in Oka.  Big boot by Oka to Kana, then everyone hits Kana in the corner.  Backdrop suplex by Oka but Fairy bops Oka with her wand, then Iida dropkicks her.  Sliding kick by Kana to Oka but it gets two.  Rolling ankle hold by Kana but Oka suplexes out of it.  Brainbuster by Oka and she hits a pair of boots.  Buzzsaw Kick by Kana but the pin is broken up and she tags in Yamashita.  Oka tags in Nagahama and other wrestlers come into help.  Double team to Yamashita but Fairy breaks up a pin attempt.  The ring clears and Yamashita trades pin attempts with Nagahama.  Lariat by Yamashita, she applies a sleeper and picks up the victory.  Not a bad way to start out the show, a nice mixture of comedy and harder action.  Not all of these are top tier wrestlers but you can hide that in eight man tags, and Kana was fun with her strikes and quick submissions.  Solid opener.  Score:  5.5

Kaho Kobayashi vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto
Fujimoto dropkicks Kobayashi to start the match and then dropkicks her again.  Kick to the back by Fujimoto and she applies a single leg crab hold.  Fujimoto dropkicks Kobayashi in the corner and she hits a cutter.  Fujimoto goes for a dropkick by Kobayashi moves and dropkicks Fujimoto while she is twisted in the ropes.  Sentons by Kobayashi and she hits a standing moonsault for two.  Kobayashi goes up top but Fujimoto dropkicks her and tosses her back to the mat.  Dropkicks by Kobayashi (lots of dropkicks in this match) and she applies an armbar.  Fujimoto gets to the ropes, elbows by Kobayashi and she hits a fisherman suplex hold.  Kobayashi goes up top and hits a missile dropkick for two.  Dropkick by Fujimoto after Kobayashi goes off the ropes, kick to the head by Fujimoto and she goes up top, but Kobayashi avoids the dropkick and rolls up Fujimoto for two.  Kick to the chest by Fujimoto and she hits a PK for two.  Crossface by Fujimoto, then she applies a cross armed submission, but Kobayashi gets to the ropes.  Dropkick by Fujimoto in the corner and she slams Kobayashi for a two count.  Fujimoto goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick.  Cover, and she gets the three count victory.  Lots of dropkicks.  A perfectly watchable match but not much to it.  Score:  4.0

Isami Kodaka and Yuko Miyamoto vs. Shu Shibutani and Cherry
MEN VS. WOMEN, OH THE HUMANITY.  Kodaka and Shibutani start off and they trade submission holds.  Miyamoto and Cherry come in but Miyamoto dumps Cherry out of the ring.  He goes out after her but she beats him repeatedly with an object before throwing him around the floor.  Shibutani also is having success as she throws Kodaka into a row of chairs.  Cherry and Miyamoto return to the ring and Cherry stomps on him.  Miyamoto kicks Cherry into the corner and tags in Kodaka, and Kodaka trades elbows with Cherry.  Shibutani and Cherry both apply Scorpion Deathlocks, then Cherry applies a headlock before tagging in Shibutani.  Shibutani hits a DDT to Kodaka, but Kodaka punches her and tags in Miyamoto.  Scoop slam by Miyamoto and he hits an elbow drop.  Kodaka comes back in, he applies a submission to Shibutani before tagging Miyamoto back in.  Miyamoto applies a crab hold to Shibutani but she makes the ropes.  Shibutani gets away and tags in Cherry, and Cherry hits a missile dropkick to Kodaka.  She then hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors on Miyamoto, Cherry goes back to Kodaka and hits an exploder.  Kick by Kodaka and he delivers a dropkick before tagging in Miyamoto.  Diving chop to the head by Miyamoto and he hits a dropkick for a two.  Sleeper by Miyamoto to Cherry but Cherry rolls him up for a two count.  Cherry tags in Shibutani and Shibutani hits a dropkick.  Kodaka kicks Shibutani but Shibutani hits a tornado DDT on Miyamoto followed by a Northern Lights Suplex to Kodaka.  Elevated DDT by Shibutani, but it gets a two count.  Miyamoto gets Shibutani on his shoulders but she gets away, Miyamoto hits a double lariat and Kodaka returns to the ring.  Kodaka and Miyamoto attack Shibutani in the corner, then Miyamoto hits a powerbomb for a two count.  Miyamoto picks up Shibutani, scoop slam, Miyamoto goes up top but Shibutani avoids the senton.  Roll-up by Shibutani but Kodaka breaks it up.  Kodaka takes care of Cherry, Miyamoto returns and he hits a handspring overhead kick.  Fire Thunder Driver by Miyamoto and he gets the three count.  Cherry is average-ish but nothing was held back in this match, Miyamoto and Kodaka respected Shibutani and Cherry throughout.  Shibutani tried to use her quickness the same way a male cruiserweight would, it just didn’t work out for her.  It wasn’t great as they were a bit limited but a solid match overall.  Score:  6.0

(c) Ayako Hamada and Yuu Yamagata vs. Misaki Ohata and Mio Shirai
This match is for the WAVE Tag Team Championship.  Shirai and Yamagata start off.  Shirai gets Yamagata to the mat and they trade holds, until both return to their feet.  Hamada and Ohata are tagged in and they trade full nelsons.  Armdrag by Ohata and they trade trips before getting back up.  Yamagata comes in and he hits a sliding kick to Ohata’s face.  Hamada goes up to the second turnbuckle and hits a corkscrew senton.  Yamagata comes back in and she applies a chinlock to Ohata followed by a stretch hold.  Yamagata tags in Hamada, Hamada applies a wristlock and Yamagata hits an ax handle to Ohata’s arm.  Hamada elbows Ohata in the arm and she applies a seated armbar.  Ohata gets into the ropes and Hamada tags in Yamagata.  They go back and forth working on Ohata’s arm, but Ohata finally hits a headscissors and tags in Shirai.  Shirai beats on both Hamada and Yamagata, and Shirai applies a headscissors on both of them while hanging over the top rope.  Shirai tags in with Hamada and boots her but Hamada boots her back.  Spinning heel kick by Hamada and she tags in Yamagata.  Yamagata attacks Shirai in the corner and hits a jawbreaker before  applying an ankle hold.  Shirai gets to the ropes, Yamagata goes up top but Shirai joins her and hits a superplex.  Shirai tags in Ohata and Ohata hits a running crossbody for two.  Ohata picks up Yamagata but Yamagata goes for Ohata’s arm again.  Yamagata and Ohata trade elbows and Yamagata hits an enzigieri.  Yamagata tags in Hamada, Ohata goes up top and hits a diving crossbody but Hamada kicks her in the head.  Hamada goes up top but Ohata avoids the dive, then Ohata hits a German suplex hold for a two count.  Yamagata comes in and hits a Lungblower, then Hamada hits an enzigieri for two.  Hamada hits a sitdown powerbomb, but Ohata kicks out.  Hamada goes up top but Shirai kicks her off.  Shirai dives out onto Hamada, while in the ring Ohata dumps Yamagata out of the ring.  Ohata then goes up top but Yamagata hits her before she can jump off and she falls to the floor also.  Hamada goes up top but Ohata pulls her down and throws her into some chairs.  Ohata finally goes up successfully and hits a plancha down onto Hamada.  Ohata goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, then Shirai kicks Hamada as well.  Ohata goes up top and hits a diving crossbody, but it gets a two count.  Ohata hits a senton and then a fisherman buster to Hamada.  Ohata goes up top but Hamada kicks her as she jumps off.  Hamada kicks Ohata and they all trade strikes.  Hamada picks up Ohata but Ohata hits a crucifix slam for two.  Lariat by Hamada, Yamagata comes in and puts Ohata in a stretch hold while Hamada comes off the top with a double stomp.  Gutbuster by Hamada and she hits the AP Cross for the three count.  Hamada and Yamagata remain champions.  This was a lot of fun but something was missing to make it special.  I don’t know what that special something was, maybe that all of these wrestlers are good but none were able to elevate the match to make it really memorable.  But still, I enjoyed the arm work, it was paced really well and overall I was entertained.  Score:  7.0

(c) Hikaru Shida vs. Kyusei Sakura Hirota
This match is for the Regina Di Wave Championship.  Armdrag by Hirota to start, she goes for a cover but naturally it doesn’t work.  Hirota grabs Shida’s arm and goes up top and bounces off the ropes before hitting an armdrag.  Shida comes back with a big boot and hits a hurricanrana.  Hirota rebounds off the ropes and collides with Shida, she goes up top and does a handstand before covering Shida for a two.  Hirota goes off the ropes and I think blows into Shida’s ear.  Shida stomps on Hirota’s hand repeatedly and hits a jumping knee for a two count.  Shida hits a vertical suplex and they trade elbows, Hirota gets the better of it and applies a leg lock.  Shida reverses it and gets into the ropes, Hirota twists Shida in the ropes before applying a stretch hold.  Shida rams Hirota into the ring post and then suplexes her back into the ring.  Shida picks up Hirota and she hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, but Hirota applies an armbar.  Spinning backbreaker by Shida but Hirota hits a backhand.  High kick by Shida and she hits a running knee for two.  Strikes by Hirota, she kisses Shida and hits a hurricanrana for a two count.  They trade elbows, which Shida gets the better of,  Shida goes for a hip attack but Hirota blocks it with an oil check.  Inside cradle by Shida and she slams Hirota to the mat for a two count.  High kick by Shida but Hirota falls on top of her and gets a two count.  Spinning backfist by Hirota and she hits a pair of wrist-clutch suplex holds for a two count.  Hirota gets on Shida’s shoulders, she goes for a hurricanrana but Shida catches her and throws her to the mat.  Running knee to the face by Shida but Hirota reverses the cover for a two count.  Another running knee by Shida and she hits a falcon arrow.  Shida gets a running start and hits the Three Count, picking up the three count victory.  I don’t really like random comedy in title matches, it just feels like something wrestlers should take more seriously.  Shida is quite good but Hirota is better in tags then main event title matches, and it showed at times.  It was perfectly watchable and fun at times, but overall it wasn’t at the level I had hoped for.  Score:  5.5

Final Thoughts:

From top to bottom this was a solid card.  Nothing MOTYC level here, but nothing bad either.  The main event title match wasn’t as good as I would expect but Hirota is limited so what can ya do.  The wrestling here was limited by the cast involved but there was no lack of effort and the event went by very quickly (and it also unclipped which I appreciate).  There are worse ways to spend a Saturday night than watching this event, but nothing here that you need to rush out and see right away.

Grade:  C-

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review completed on 2/4/15