WAVE "Osaka Rhapsody Vol. 27"
A Review by Kevin Wilson

Date: June 14th, 2015 
Location:  West Ward Community Center in Osaka, Japan
Announced Attendance:  231

I am a big fan of round robin tournaments, especially singles ones that are spread out over enough time that the wrestlers don't get tired. The Catch The WAVE tournament is one such tournament, and even though it is run by WAVE the matches sometimes are even in other promotions. This event has five Catch The WAVE matches, including two of my favorite wrestlers (Kana and Hikaru Shida) facing off against other wrestlers that I enjoy as well. Here is the full card:

- Mari Anne vs. Sawako Shimono
- Catch The WAVE 2015: Hikaru Shida vs. Kaho Kobayashi
- Catch The WAVE 2015: Cherry vs. Mika Iida
- Chikayo Nagashima, Fairy Nihonbashi, and Yuu Yamagata vs. Hiroe Nagahama, Moeka Haruhi, and Tsukasa Fujimoto
- Catch The WAVE 2015: Misaki Ohata vs. Rina Yamashita
- Catch The WAVE 2015: Sakura Hirota vs. Yumi Ohka
- Catch The WAVE 2015: Kana vs. Ryo Mizunami

This will be fun, let's get to it.

Mari Anne vs. Sawako Shimono
Shimono pushes Anne into the ropes to start but gives a clean break. Shimono works a side headlock and she hits a back elbow. Irish whip by Shimono but Anne hits a poor dropkick, another dropkick by Anne and finally a third but Shimono stays up. A fourth ones doesn't work either, inside cradle by Anne but it gets two. Two more dropkicks by Anne and a third, cover, but Shimono gets a shoulder up. Scoop slam by Anne and she sneaks in a backslide for two. Anne goes up to the second turnbuckle but Shimono avoids the missile dropkick and hits a shoulderblock for a two count. Crab hold by Shimono but Anne wiggles to the ropes to force a break. Scoop slam by Shimono and she hits another one, a third scoop slam by Shimono and she covers Anne for two. Shimono picks up Anne but Anne wiggles away, another shoulderblock by Shimono and she hits a scoop slam. Raideen Drop by Shimono, and she gets the three count. This wasn't good by any means, Anne is a rookie so this type of match is probably necessary, but even by rookie standards it was a bit repetitive. Rookies come along at different speeds, Anne is definitely early in her path to greatness. Skippable.

Hikaru Shida vs. Kaho Kobayashi
This match is part of the Catch The Wave 2015 Tournament. They get right to it as Kobayashi runs the ropes, armdrag by Shida and they trade arm locks before Kobayashi flings Shida to the mat. Both wrestlers go for dropkicks and flip back to their feet to face off again, Shida gets Kobayashi's arm and applies a wristlock. Irish whip by Shida and she knocks down Kobayashi with a hip attack. Dropkick by Kobayashi and she hits another one, she picks up Shida in the corner and hits a series of elbows. Irish whip by Kobayashi and she hits a dropkick, another Irish whip and she gives her another one. Kobayashi goes for a fisherman suplex but Shida blocks it and hits a backbreaker. Shida applies a reverse chinlock, she picks up Kobayashi but Kobayashi elbows her. They trade elbows, Kobayashi goes off the ropes but Shida applies a rolling single leg crab hold. Kobayashi gets to the ropes to break the hold, backbreaker by Shida but it gets two. Shida picks up Kobayashi, Irish whip to the corner, reversed, Shida drops Kobayashi onto the apron and Kobayashi kicks her over the top rope. Kobayashi goes up top but Shida joins her, Kobayashi elbows Shida off and she hits a missile dropkick. Kobayashi picks up Shida but Shida blocks the fisherman suplex again, elbow by Kobayashi and she hits another one. Kobayashi goes off the ropes but Shida hits a jumping enzuigiri, she goes off the ropes but Kobayashi dropkicks her. Fisherman suplex hold by Kobayashi but it gets a two count. La Magistral attempt by Kobayashi but Shida blocks it for a two count. Shida picks up Kobayashi and goes for a suplex, Kobayashi briefly blocks it but Shida hits it anyway. Sliding kick by Shida but it gets a two count. Shida picks up Kobayashi and throws her out of the ring, she gets on the second turnbuckle while pulling Kobayashi up and suplexing her back into the ring. Cover, but it gets two. Shida goes for the Falcon Arrow but Kobayashi reverses it with a victory roll for a two count. Shida knees Kobayashi hard in the face, she goes for the Three Count but Kobayashi ducks it. Shida applies a stretch hold, she releases it and knees Kobayashi in the back. Shida picks up Kobayashi but Kobayashi reverses the Falcon Arrow into La Magistral for a two count. Shida gets Kobayashi on her shoulders and hits the backbreaker, cover, but Kobayashi kicks out. Shida picks up Kobayashi and finally hits the Falcon Arrow, picking up the three count. Kobayashi must be every wrestler's dream opponent, she is so little and bendable that she makes everything look good. I enjoy both of them a lot so I was going to enjoy this match, but it was a little short for my liking. I liked they both knew each other's finishers so there were a lot of move reversals/blocking to try to avoid it. I think it took Shida four tries to get the Falcon Arrow, Kobayashi three tries to get the Fisherman Suplex, etc. which I always like to see. The striking was a bit basic but overall I thought it was a solid match. Mildly Recommended

Cherry vs. Mika Iida
This match is part of the Catch The Wave 2015 Tournament. Cherry knees Iida as soon as the ball rings and applies an inside cradle for two. Armdrag by Cherry and another cradle for two before applying another bridging pin for a two count. Heel kick by Cherry but Iida avoids the next kick and applies a seated armbar. Cherry gets to the ropes, armbreaker by Iida but Cherry avoids the dropkick. Cherry clubs at Iida, Irish whip by Cherry but Iida avoids her charge and snaps Cherry's arm over the top rope. Cherry applies a dragon sleeper through the ropes, she drags Iida back in and hits a reverse DDT. Iida slides out of the ring but Cherry goes after her and throws Iida into the ring post. Cherry returns to the ring with Iida following, Iida grabs Cherry's leg from the apron and snaps it over the bottom rope. Kneelock by Iida but Cherry gets out of it and applies an armtrap chinlock. Iida gets a toe on the ropes to break it up, Cherry picks up Iida and she hits a wrist clutch Northern Lights Suplex for two. Back up, uppercut by Iida but Cherry hits a running elbow followed by a bridging capture suplex for a two count. Iida ducks Cherry's strikes and gets two quick pin attempts, backfist by Cherry but Iida rolls her up for two. They trade pin attempts until Cherry applies a Jikiden Gannosuke Clutch and gets the three count! For a Cherry match this was not bad but it was too short and uneventful for my personal liking. Lots and lots of pin attempts which is perfectly logical in this type of setting but not as entertaining, the ending was a bit anti-climatic as there were so many pin attempts it didn't feel like any were going to actually work. Just too short to get excited about.

Chikayo Nagashima, Fairy Nihonbashi, and Yuu Yamagata vs. Hiroe Nagahama, Moeka Haruhi, and Tsukasa Fujimoto
Nagashima and Fujimoto start off, shoulderblock by Nagashima but Fujimoto hits an armdrag. Nagashima returns the favor and they trade pin attempts with no luck. Nihonbashi and Haruhi are tagged in but Nihonbashi tags in Yamagata. Haruhi kicks Yamagata, Nagahama comes in the ring but Yamagata throws Haruhi into Nagahama and hits a slingshot stomp. Yamagata tags in Nihonbashi but Haruhi chokes Nihonbashi in the corner and tags in Nagahama. Snapmare by Nagahama and she applies a chinlock, cover by Nagahama but it gets two. Fujimoto is tagged in, she holds Nihonbashi for Haruhi and Haruhi mushes her with her boot. Haruhi is tagged back in, she charges Nihonbashi in the corner and hits a body avalanche. She hits another one before driving Nihonbashi into the mat and applies a camel clutch. Nagahama and Fujimoto come in the ring as do Nagashima and Yamagata and they end up watching while Haruhi goes up top with Nihonbashi still in the ring. Nihonbashi knocks her off I guess but Fujimoto snapmares Nihonbashi and kicks her in the back. PK by Fujimoto, but Nihonbashi kicks out of the cover. Fujimoto goes off the ropes but Yamagata kicks her from the apron and Nihonbashi gets her wand. Nihonbashi hits Fujimoto in the knee with the wand and tags in Nagashima, dragon screw by Fujimoto but Nagahama runs in and dropkicks Nagashima a few times for a two count.

Elbows by Nagahama but Nagashima boots her to the mat for a two count. Irish whip by Nagashima and she applies an armbar over the top rope until Haruhi breaks it up. Yamagata runs in and kicks Nagahama, Irish whip by Yamagata but Nagahama ends the sequence with a dropkick. Yamagata returns the favor but Haruhi comes off the top turnbuckle with a missile dropkick. Standing armbar by Haruhi and she rolls up Yamagata for two. Nihonbashi comes in with her wand but Haruhi takes it from her and throws it to the ground. Irish whip by Haruhi and she dropkicks Nihonbashi in the corner. Haruhi goes up to the second turnbuckle and hits a diving crossbody for a two count. Scoop slam by Haruhi, she goes off the ropes and hits a footstomp. Cover, but Nihonbashi kicks out. Haruhi slams Nihonbashi in front of the corner, she goes up top but Nihonbashi talks her back down. Northern Lights Suplex by Haruhi but it gets two. Haruhi gets the wand but Yamagata runs in and stops her from using it. Haruhi hits Yamagata with the wand but Nihonbashi gets the wand back and uses it on Haruhi. Dropkick by Yamagata, Fujimoto walks over and she takes the wand but Nagashima hits her from behind. Nihonbashi goes up top but in the ring Nagashima hits a Fisherman Buster on Haruhi and she picks up the three count! This isn't something I likely will ever enjoy, I think Nihonbashi's stuff is funny in really small doses but not throughout a match as it prevents the match from ever getting into any sort of rhythm. Add in that some of these wrestlers aren't that good anyway and it just wasn't a good match. Very limited redeemable qualities.

Misaki Ohata vs. Rina Yamashita
This match is part of the Catch The Wave 2015 Tournament. They get right to it as Ohata goes for a pair of pins right off the bat before applying an armbar, but Yamashita gets into the ropes. Armbreakers by Ohata, Yamashita quickly applies a sleeper but Ohata gets into the ropes. Elbows by Yamashita but Ohata elbows her repeatedly and hits a crossbody while Yamashita is against the ropes. Ohata goes up top and applies a necklock over the top rope before goes for a crossbody, but Yamashita ducks. Running elbow by Yamashita in the corner and she hits a shoulderblock for two. Big boot by Yamashita, but that gets a two as well. Yamashita goes for the sleeper but Ohata rolls out of it and applies a seated armbar. Ohata switches it to an armbar/headscissors submission, but Yamashita gets to the ropes. Ohata picks up Yamashita and she hits a scoop slam, Ohata goes up top and she hits a splash onto Yamashita's arm. Ohata picks up Yamashita and hits a German suplex hold, but it gets two. Ohata goes for a crucifix but Yamashita clubs her and applies the sleeper with a bodyscissors. Cover by Yamashita but it gets a two count. Yamashita picks up Ohata and hits a lariat, but the cover gets another two. Yamashita picks up Ohata but Ohata goes behind her back and hits a release German. Schoolboy by Ohata and then a roll-up but both get two. Yamashita fires back with a lariat, she picks up Ohata and she hits two short range lariats. Yamashita grabs Ohata back up but Ohata ducks the next one and hits a German suplex hold for two. Knees by Ohata, she goes off the ropes but Yamashita hits a lariat. Yamashita swings Ohata around and goes for the sleeper but Ohata blocks it, Sorarina by Ohata and she gets the three count! The good thing about this match is that it was pretty much constant action. Like some of the other tournament matches it was based a lot around quick pin attempts, but Yamashita was throwing in some power moves too and Ohata has her suplexes. Not great as I prefer matches that are a bit longer than seven minutes, but not bad.

Sakura Hirota vs. Yumi Ohka
This match is part of the Catch The Wave 2015 Tournament. There is a 0% chance I will like this match, two of my least favorite singles wrestlers in WAVE. Ohka boots Hirota right away, cover, but Hirota kicks out. Darn. La Magistral by Hirota but that gets two as well, Ohka pushes Hirota off but Hirota grabs her arm and runs up the corner. Sort of. She makes it up there but Ohka grabs her, roll-up by Hirota but it gets two. Hirota jumps up on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving hurricanrana, she goes up top and does a handstand but Ohka boots her in the head. Hirota lands out on the apron but Ohka suplexes her back in, wheelbarrow suplex by Ohka and she boots Hirota while she is in the ropes. Backdrop suplex by Ohka and she hits a heel drop for a two count. Ohka picks up Hirota but Hirota reverses the chokebomb into a hurricanrana for a two count. Oil Check by Hirota but Ohka kicks her in the face for two. Ohka picks up Hirota and she hits a release Tiger Suplex, but Hirota jumps on Ohka for a two count. Another quick pin by Hirota gets the same result, big boot by Ohka but Hirota kicks her back and both wrestlers are out. Backfists by Hirota, she goes off the ropes but Ohka hits a chokebomb for a two count. Ohka grabs Hirota and hits a brainbuster, but Hirota rolls on top of her for two. Ohka goes off the ropes and hits a big boot but Hirota kicks out of the cover. Another big boot by Ohka and this time she gets the three count! I am not going to say this match was great but I will say it is probably one of my favorite Hirota matches from the year. It was still a bit repetitive with the boots and Hirota still does silly stuff, but it had some big hits and Hirota did more real moves than I am used to. So it went well over the 'average' line with a few cute spots, which is about the best compliment I can give. Mildly Recommended

Kana vs. Ryo Mizunami
This match is part of the Catch The Wave 2015 Tournament. Kana and Mizunami tie-up to start, headlock by Kana but Mizunami Irish whips out of it. Hip attack by Kana but Mizunami catches the second one, Kana gets away but Mizunami hits a lariat. Cross armbreaker takedown by Kana but Mizunami rolls into the ropes to force a break. Kicks by Kana and she drills Mizunami in the corner. Mizunami rolls out of the ring, Kana goes out to the apron but Mizunami avoids her kick and knocks her legs out. Mizunami throws Kana into the ring post but Kana ducks the lariat attempt and Mizunami hits the post. Mizunami picks up Kana and rams her into the ring post before returning to the ring. Kana gets up on the apron, Kana avoids Mizunami's charge and kicks her through the ropes. Back in, hip attack by Kana and she covers Mizunami for two. Crossface by Kana and she then applies the seated armbar, but Mizunami rolls her up for two. Kana goes back to the arm but Mizunami gets into the ropes to break up the hold. Kana kicks Mizunami in the chest, Kana goes off the ropes but Mizunami catches her with a powerslam. Leg lariat by Mizunami and she applies a rolling side choke before cinching in the hold, but Kana gets a foot on the ropes. Mizunami picks up Kana but Kana elbows her off, jumping back kick by Kana but Mizunami hits a shoulder tackle. Elbows by Mizunami and she hits a lariat, but the cover gets two. Mizunami picks up Kana but Kana hits a spinning backfist for a quick cover. More backfists and a heel kick by Kana, but Mizunami gets a shoulder up on the pin. Kick to the head by Kana, they trade more attempts but each gets blocked. Lariat by Mizunami, but it only gets a two count. Mizunami charges Kana and hits a lariat against the ropes, another lariat by Mizunami, but Kana gets a shoulder up. Mizunami goes for a spear but Kana avoids it and applies the crossface chickenwing. Mizunami gets out of it and she drives Kana into the corner, but Kana jumps on her back and applies a sleeper. Spinning knee strike by Kana and she gets the Dojime Chickenwing Sleeper Hold locked in. Mizunami struggles but Kana rolls her back to the middle of the ring, and the referee calls for the bell! This was a really good main event. Kana was smooth and her kicks were on point, Mizunami went a bit lariat-heavy but she mixed in enough other stuff that it wasn't distracting. Kana took a hell of a bump on the apron and Mizunami took some hard shots to the head, so they were definitely not just coasting along. I wish of course it was longer, under ten minutes is short for a main event but it was still enjoyable. Mildly Recommended

Final Thoughts:

The main thing holding this show back was just match length. I know someone will come along and say "great matches can be under ten minutes!" and of course that is true, but the majority of wrestling matches just need more time. It is the middle that gets hurt, most matches have the few minutes standard opening and the stretch run so it just doesn't give them a lot of time to tell a story. There was a lot of solid action here for sure, only the opener and the tag match are skippable, but right when I was getting into the matches they would end. The time limit for tournament matches is 15 minutes so they still had more time to work with, just wish they pushed it a bit closer. Not a bad event but nothing that will be memorable in the long run.

Grade: C- 

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review completed on 6/21/15