Match One: Manami Toyota vs. Mika Iida
Manami Toyota is dressed somewhat like Awesome Kong or Beth Phoenix in her later WWE days. She just has that Amazon look to her that makes me think she's a warrior. Mika Iida is dressed in an attire which reminds me of Taka Michinoku for some reason. Iida is the smaller of these two women but I'm not sure if that means Manami Toyota is big or not, you know, if it means that Mika Iida would just be smaller than AJ Lee in WWE or if Manami Toyota would be bigger than Paige. Either way, the power and brute technical strength of Manami Toyota is winning me over during this match and regardless of the winner, Manami Toyota has won me over here. Mika Iida hits a beautiful top rope dropkick at one point. Iida hits some nice suplexes in the match and she has this side of her that makes me think she was trained by Daniel Bryan. When she runs off the ropes at one point, she is met by a big boot when she comes back. Anywhere else in the world and this match is a main event. Near fall after near fall and Manami Toyota finally wins in a devastating manner. She appears to have injured her leg after the match, but then gets up and appears fine. She kind of gives Mika Iida a hug and this was just a well fought match between both competitors.
Match Two: Koharu Hinata vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki
In this match, Koharu Hinata is the smaller of the two and it makes me want to see the two larger opponents from the previous match and this match face each other. Koharu Hinata is in trunks like most WWE women wear while Tsubasa Kuragaki is in an almost full body suit like WWF women wore. Kuragaki is also someone who could stand out in a crowd for her Greg "The Hammer" Valentine-like light blonde hair. Despite her obvious size advantage, Kuragaki doesn't really do the typical power moves and seems to be more mat-based with holds designed to wear down her opponent, which is still in itself a test of strength. The commentators laugh a lot but I still don't understand Japanese. Hinata hits a flying head scissors in an attempted comeback but cannot lift Kuragaki. Kuragaki gains the upper hand, slamming Hinata down to the mat and nearly forcing her to submit. After Kuragaki missed an elbow drop, Hinata got up and began hitting a number of running stomps onto Kuragaki. It is at this point in the match that Hinata is finally able to use her speed to her advantage. But when Hinata attempts to pick up Kuragaki for a suplex she still cannot. Kuragaki reverses it and then turns the suplex into a powerslam sending Hinata nearly all the way across the ring. A nice side suplex and a submission attempt can't put Hinata away, but Kuragaki finally does her in with the Torture Rack and it looks like Hinata is out. After the refs check on Hinata, Kuragaki raises her arm as well as a sign of respect and so far this has become my favorite show of this year if not ever.
Match Three: Hamuko Hoshi & Kaori Yoneyama vs. Mayumi Ozaki & Yumi Ohka
Hoshi & Yoneyama come out with matching title belts so they are the Tag Team Champions of something I suppose. The match quickly begins outside of the ring and the four women fight into the crowd. A male wrestler came out with Ozaki & Ohka and he's beating up Kaori Yoneyama. Someone tried to stop him but this guy is crazy. I recognize Hamuko Hoshi from (I believe) Ice Ribbon and everyone else in this match except for Kaori Yoneyama also seems familiar for similar reasons. I'm not sure if this match is No DQ or not but it looks like it from the start. Ozaki and Ohka both put their feet on Yoneyama on the middle rope and the ref joins in and does the same. None of these women really look like the type of women you want across from you in the ring. Yumi Ohka has some kind of whip type weapon with her-- I don't know, they might have bullropes for all I know- but they're taking it to the Tag Champs here. Ozaki & Ohka are everything that The Revival in NXT wish that they could be. With the referee's back turned and that rope in use again, Yoneyama is left hanging from the ropes in a choking herself to death way. It's strange that the one guy outside the ring beat up Yoneyama unfairly and now she is somehow being dominated in this match with no opportunity yet for Hoshi to tag in. Including the man they came out with, these three are doing quite a number on Yoneyama. Yoneyama catches a slight break but when she runs off the ropes she is met with a slam rather than putting on the brakes and going for the tag. Ah well, Hoshi is going to come in any way. Hoshi finally gets the hot tag and begins working over both of the other women. Hoshi proves she cannot be double teamed and man do I love joshi. Hoshi rubs the face of Yumi Ohka in her stomach in the corner. A stunner of sorts by Hoshi and the ref offers up a slow two count. Ozaki tosses the rope to Ohka and Hoshi takes it to the face. Ohka hits a backstabber on Hoshi but doesn't let go and proceeds to choke her with the rope. Hoshi came in hot but seems to be taking a beating now as well and I'm not sure how the champs are going to get out of this one. Hoshi mounts a comeback and hits Ozaki in the face with a flying stomach attack. Now the champs are getting in some double team action, but when they both go up top that guy from earlier goes back to Yoneyama like she owes him money. The referee is letting a lot slide in this match. She keeps trying to fast count for the heels as well. Ohka hits a nice t-bone suplex and then that downwards kick Shinsuke Nakamura does but Yoneyama somehow kicks out at two. After a fun sequence where the ref won't count, Yoneyama hits a top rope cannonball but the ref is pulled out of the ring. Ultimately, with a series of roll ups- the ref counting faster for the heels- Ohka gets a quick count on Yoneyama for the pin and win. These two teams are not friends after the match.
Match Four: Hikaru Shida vs. Rina Yamashita
Hiraku Shida comes out in a full robe with a kendo stick. She has the hood on and everything. Rina Yamashita is in pants that look like what Sabu used to wear only they're torn down the sides and so the sides of her legs are exposed. It is unique to say the least. For those watching at home though, wondering, Rina is in purple and Hiraku is in red. The two go through a nice series of reversals outside of the rings, Irish Whip style, neither willing to be thrown into something by the other. Shida appears to be wearing some kind of hood as part of her outfit that I just noticed but both of these women have outfits which I haven't really seen before in wrestling and I like them. It's like the first time I saw Jimmy Jacobs wear that one long and one short pant leg. These two just flow well together and they appear to be hitting each other rather hard as well. They take turns showing that they are pretty evenly matched. Shida hits a sweet looking superplex but can't get the three count. The two do that thing where they trade blows and it's a lot of fun to see who is going to give in first. Shida hits the first dropkick so I guess she loses. Both are down for a moment and both look hurt. Shida tries a running/flying knee strike but is caught and slammed down hard. After some more back and forths, Shida hits the running knee strike again and this time she gets the three count. She has something tattooed below her butt that she points to and then does a ritual with the kendo stick. She leaves without shaking Yamashita's hand and this is the first time we've seen the opponents just go their separate ways tonight.
Match Five: Aja Kong, Dynamite Kansai, Hiroyo Matsumoto & Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. AKINO, Kagetsu, Kaho Kobayashi & Sonoko Kato
While I can do my best to tell these eight women apart (some stand out to be more than others, Aja Kong for obvious example) I feel like the odds are not in my favor here and I'm just going to have to sit back and enjoy this one without typing about it. I thought I had who was who figured out and then I realized I was looking at the wrong side of the card. Aja Kong is not only larger than her opponents, her team on a whole is just larger than the other team. It's like a four on four battle of David vs. Goliath. It seems like in a four on one situation those across the ring from Aja Kong cannot defeat her or a member of her team. This might be full of women, but don't let anyone tell you it isn't hard-hitting. I'm not entirely sure who was involved in the finish of this match but I'm pretty sure Aja Kong's team won even though she didn't score the pin. Still, an excellent match with a lot of fast paced action that has left me out of breath. Whew!
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