This time around I decided that I would try a different format to talk about joshi wrestling in April. Instead of doing a longer summary of each promotion, I thought I’d put together a list of matches that I watched in April and enjoyed. Honestly, the Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling April 14th Korakuen Hall show and the OZ Academy April 14th show were both great and worth watching in their entirety, but these are some of my highlights of the shows that I watched from the past month.
Hanako Nakamori vs. Chikayo Nagashima – Pure-J Big Top, 3/4
Pure-J doesn’t get aired very often, so getting to see this show was pretty special. Nakamori is the current ace of Pure-J (and now champion since she beat Leon at a show later in April), and Nagashima is a hard veteran who wrestles a lot for Pure-J, Marvelous, and OZ Academy. This was a nasty match that started with Nakamori refusing to shake her opponent’s hand then getting a beat down for her rudeness. This match spilled to the outside at one point, including a really hard looking suplex by Nagashima that dropped Nakamori on the stage. It also broke down in the ring, with both competitors introducing weapons when the referee was distracted. Nakamori spent most of this match working from underneath, but came close to winning herself with a Requiem Driver, following a chair shot. Finally Nagashima won after spitting mist into Nakamori’s eyes and hitting a roll up pin from a hurricanrana.
Maki Itoh vs. Miyu Yamashita – DDT Coming to America, 4/4
This was a rematch of the main event of Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling’s January 4th show, and for me this didn’t reach the same heights, but it was a really good showcase for the joshi promotion at the DDT New York show. Yamashita is one of the best wrestlers right now and Itoh’s charisma is off the charts, and it translated very easily to the American crowd. Miyu picked up the win here despite Itoh’s best efforts, and then went on to win the Shine championship from Allysin Kay a day later.
https://www.ddtpro.com/universe/videos/6477
Utami Hayashishita vs. Momo Watanabe – Stardom American Dream in the Big Apple 2019, 5/4
This was the most protected matchup in Stardom up until this point – Momo had been on a record setting run as Wonder of Stardom champion and Utami picked up four title belts since her debut last August. Watching this match it felt like the two were holding something back for a rematch in the future, which must be coming at some point, but it was still a very solid match and it garnered high praise from the live crowd. Annoyingly the Fite stream died just before the end of this match, which soured the live viewing experience for those of us at home. I expected this to go to a draw, but Momo managed to hit a Peach Sunrise on Utami to go over clean and retain her title.
Pipipipi Pinano Retirement Battle Royale – Pipipipi Pinano Graduation Special, 5/4
Pipipipi Pinano was a beloved member of the Up Up Girls, the wrestling idol quartet that debuted at the start of 2018, who announced that she was retiring from wrestling in April to move onto other things. This match was a really nice send off for Pinano as she battled pretty much the entire TJPW roster before her retirement. Things got very emotional by the end, especially when Pinano faced her fellow Up Up Girl Noa Hikari as the final entrant. Not one to watch when you’re feeling down, but a fun match overall and a nice way for Pinano to end her time at TJPW.
https://www.ddtpro.com/universe/videos/6291
Asuka vs. Kakeru Sekiguchi – YMZ Gokigen April, 5/4
YMZ is Kaori Yoneyama’s promotion, and known for its comedy wrestling – including a human Pokemon battle and a tongue twister battle on this show – but in the middle of this card they had a really good, serious wrestling match between Asuka and Sekiguchi. The match was just over seven minutes long, but it had good grappling to start things off, and Sekiguchi had a strong hope spot before Asuka’s superior strength and size proved overwhelming. Kakeru has become a very good wrestler, especially after her trial series in OZ Academy, and this was a top quality match.
https://filmuy.com/ymz/video/330339511
Isami Kodaka vs. Matsuzawa-san, YMZ Gokigen April, 5/4
This match came about since Matsuzawa-san kept interfering in Makoto’s matches and hitting people with leeks. Isami Kodaka is a famous deathmatch wrestler, who just won the BJW Ikkitousen Death Match Survivor tournament. Matsuzawa-san is an older woman who apparently had no wrestling experience. And yet they made this match into a highly entertaining spectacle, as Matsuzawa attacked Kodaka with lots of weapons she had brought with her, and even hit a nice spear at one point. Ulimately however, Kodaka prevailed (as he was always going to,) but Kodaka and Yoneyama tried to convince Matsuzawa-san to keep wrestling, so they may have a rematch in the future.
https://filmuy.com/ymz/video/330339511
Giulia vs. Rina Yamashita – Ice Ribbon Skip City, 14/4
Ice Ribbon held a two day show at Skip City in Saitama, although only one day was broadcast. Rina Yamashita announced that she will be making regular appearances in Ice Ribbon going forward, and this was her first match since that announcement. Giulia has been having some great matches recently, and this match was probably a little below the level of her match against Miyuki Takase last month, but still a very good match. Yamashita dominated most of the match with her power and hit some nasty chops and lariats, but Giulia had some good hope spots, and did well fighting from underneath for pretty much the entire match. Yamashita won the match with a Splash Mountain. I’m looking forward to seeing what she does in Ice Ribbon going forward.
Azure Revolution (Maya Yukihi and Risa Sera) vs. Miyako Matsumoto and Makoto – Ice Ribbon Skip City, 14/4
This was an Ice Ribbon tag team title match between Azure Revolution and MakokoMiyacoco. Miyako Matsumoto is either the heroine of Ice Ribbon or incredibly annoying to everyone else there, including her tag team partner Makoto who blocked her on social media before this match. The challenge to Azure Revolution was thrown down by Miyako for this show specifically because Maya Yukihi had an appearance at OZ Academy on the same morning, so she wasn’t there for the start of this match, which meant Risa Sera had to start in a handicap match. This was a classic odd couple partners who don’t get along match, with Miyako and Makoto clearly not on the same page, although they did come close to winning the belts, especially after a Miyako Clutch late in the match. When Yukihi did arrive to even the numbers the tide turned in Azure Revolution’s favour, and finally Sera pinned Miyako after a diving double knees to retain the tag titles. This was a really fun match to cap off another quality Ice Ribbon show and as the saying goes: when you are tired of Miyacoco, you’re tired of life.
Mika Iwata vs. Sakura Hirota – Pro-Wrestling Wave, Happy Birthday Wave Sakurasaku 14/4
This was the main event of the Yumi Ohka-Sakura Hirota birthday show. Hirota came to the ring with a green face from being misted in the earlier Yuki Miyazaki vs. Chihiro Hashimoto match, and started this match with some hard forearms in a challenge of the ‘Wave style’ against the ‘Sendai style’. Hirota’s Wave style of course involved a lot of kancho attempts, and at one point – perhaps as a mind game – she invited Iwata to perform her Takada Junji move (her version of the people’s elbow) before catching her in the face with a boot. The Wave crowd was somewhat partisan, and when Chihiro Hashimoto tried to help her partner Iwata she received a chorus of boos. Iwata had to dig deep to survive Hirota’s signature moves, and won after hitting a kancho of her own followed by a triangle kick from the corner. As an added bonus Hirota’s children were on the Nico Pro commentary broadcast.
Bolshoi Kid & Sakura Hirota vs. Aja Kong & Gabai Jichan – OZ Academy, It Is The Dawn Of The Era, 14/4
This was Command Bolshoi’s last OZ Academy event before her retirement, so while she appeared as Bolshoi Kid her partner Sakura Hirota appeared as Command Bolshoi. Aja Kong came to the ring doing the same gimmick as Gabai Jichan, which is essentially an old man who moves very slowly and uses a walking stick. This match was absolutely hilarious, as both Gabai and Kong moved so slowly, and Bolshoi Kid was having fun doing tricks, which left Sakura Hirota to actually be the serious one and try to have a wrestling match. This all lasted until Aja Kong took off her Jichan mask and reverted to her usual self. Hirota took the fall after an Aja Kong brainbuster. This match was really fun, and a good send off for Bolshoi ahead of her retirement ceremony later in the month.
Hikaru Shida vs. Mayumi Ozaki – OZ Academy, It Is The Dawn Of The Era, 14/4
This match was for Shida’s OZ Openweight Title, and came about after Ozaki won a number one contender’s tournament earlier this year. This match also came in the wake of the announcement that Shida is joining AEW and will be moving to the US later in the year. As such, the result here was interesting, and probably not surprising that Shida dropped the title to Ozaki. This followed the general format of Ozaki matches, in that Shida started off hot and then there was interference from Police and Yumi Ohka. Interestingly Shida said that she wanted to fight Ozaki-gun on her own, but her former tag team partner Syuri came to help her when the numbers got too uneven, although Shida seemed to be ambivalent about accepting her help. Shida survived the interference, and Ozaki’s poison mist, before she hit Ozaki with her own mist and a running knee strike. However, Ozaki managed to steal a win with a quick roll up pin and walk out the new OZ Academy Champion. Recommended since this will probably be Shida’s last title defence before she leaves Japan for AEW.
Sareee vs. Meiko Satomura – Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling, 16/4
Sareee faced Meiko Satomura in her debut match 8 years ago, and this rematch was one of the best matches of the year. Sareee wrestles for Pro Wrestling Diana so a lot of her matches never make tape, although this year she’s made quite a lot of appearances for Sendai Girls’ which is a blessing since we get to see those matches. This was a vicious match, with both wrestlers giving each other no quarter from hard strikes, hard kicks, and submissions. Sareee might have the hardest forearm strikes in all of wrestling right now, and she never holds back. She also hits a nasty looking dropkick to the face when her opponent is on the bottom rope. Satomura came close to putting Sareee away with a Death Valley Bomb, but Sareee managed to survive and hit two big uranages to pin Satomura. This was a huge win for Sareee, and shows the confidence that Sendai has in giving her a push. This match is absolutely a must-see, and honestly the entire Sendai Girls’ April 16th Korakuen Hall show is worth watching if you have the time.
Sakai Akai and Yukio Sakaguchi vs. Rina Yamashita and Keisuke Okuda – DDT Yokohama Twilight, 20/4
Really good, hard hitting mixed tag team match that featured some hard strikes and gave Yamashita and Akai the chance to show off in a stiff match. The opening couple of minutes was excellent – the crowd was nearly silent watching the wrestlers trade kicks and palm strikes. Yamashita hasn’t been around much in 2019 outside of OZ Academy but hopefully DDT bring her back for more matches.
https://www.ddtpro.com/universe/videos/6136
Kris Wolf Retirement Battle Royal – Pro Wrestling Eve, 26/4
The third major retirement in April (after Pipipipi Pinano and Command Bolshoi) was Kirs Wolf, who got a great send off from Pro Wrestling Eve (as opposed to Stardom who were conspicuously silent about it). This was the traditional joshi retirement gauntlet match where Kris faced everyone else on the show – Laura di Matteo, Erin Angel, Rhia O’Reilly, Jetta as Charlie Morgan, Rebel Kinny, Killer Kelly, Viper, Kay Lee Ray, Session Moth Martina, Nina Samuels, Jinny, Jamie Hayter, and Charlie Evans. The highlight of the match came when Kris was being beaten up by Jinny, Hayter, and Evans at the same time, and her old Oedo Tai stablemate Act Yasukawa came to the ring to make the save. It was an emotional night for everyone, and nice to see Eve give Kris a proper send off.
Sareee vs. DASH Chisako – Sendai Girl’s Pro Wrestling, 27/4
Sareee continued to make her way through the Sendai Girls’ roster with a really good match against DASH Chisako. DASH has been wrestling for a long time but it still feels like she goes under the radar when it comes to singles matches. Her current tag team with Hiroyo Matsumoto (Reiwa Ultimate Powers) is great, but I’d like to see her get a singles push too. This match was almost on par with the Sareee vs. Satomura match from earlier in the month, and DASH and Sareee just brutalised each other. Sareee probably has the edge in power, but DASH is so fast and her foot stomps look absolutely brutal. Sareee survived this match and picked up the win again with an uranage, which makes sense given her challenge to Hashimoto.
Arisa Nakajima & Sae vs. Miyuki Takase & Himeka Arita – Seadlinnng, 28/4
This was the opening match of the Arisa Nakajima Produce show that took place at the start of Golden Week. Nakajima and Sae beat Takase and Arita to win the Beyond the Sea tag team titles at Korakuen Hall in March, but in this rematch their opponents came in determined to avenge their loss. Arita in particular was fired up, since in the previous match she had accidentally knocked herself out when taking a German suplex from Nakajima, which led to the loss. Sae took the brunt of the damage in this match, which is unsurprising since this was the first of three matches Nakajima was wrestling on this show, but it was a good match and an emotional win for Takase and Arita, who announced their tag team name as The Beginning after this show. Also notable for Arisa Nakajima on commentary complaining about some obnoxious foreign fans in the audience.
Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto & Takumi Iroha vs. Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi & Yoshiko – Seadlinnng, 28/4
The second match of the night for Arisa Nakajima, as she teamed up with Tsukasa Fujimoto, her Best Friends tag team partner, and Takumi Iroha to take on the Lovely Butchers and Yoshiko. The lead up to this match was full of questions about whether Takumi Iroha would join in singing the Best Friends’ entrance theme (something that Tsukasa and Arisa do on their way to the ring). Iroha was initially very reluctant, but by the time the match came around she joined in with enthusiasm. Yoshiko also joined in the Lovely Butchers’ pre-match dance number, and generally seeing Yoshiko copying the Lovely Butchers’ antics was excellent. This match featured lots of fun spots, including Yoshiko doing Hamuko Hoshi’s special move, the Ham Roll. Tsukasa Fujimoto picked up the win for her team to end the Heisei era with a Best Friends’ victory.
Konami vs. Arisa Hoshiki – Stardom, 29/4
This was the final of the Cinderella Tournament, a one day tournament that Stardom holds annually and allows the winner to have a wish granted. Konami made it through her side of the bracket by beating most of her former Queen’s Quest stablemates, while Arisa beat fellow Stars member Tam Nakano and Natsuko Tora to get to the final. This was a good match, particularly in light of the fact that it was the fourth match both women had wrestled in one day. Konami targeted Arisa’s legs with her submissions in an attempt to neutralise Hoshiki’s Brazilian Kick finisher, which worked to an extent, although Arisa was still able to catch Konami with some strong kicks. Arisa also broke out some of her new moves, including a knee strike to the face and a sort of corkscrew splash from the top rope. Ultimately Arisa was victorious after a Brazilian Kick connected with Konami, and following her victory she challenged Momo Watanabe to a match for the Wonder of Stardom title.
https://www.stardom-world.com/set/343/contents/342?fcid=1
Recap of the Month
There were three major retirements in the world of joshi wrestling in April – Command Bolshoi of Pure-J, Pipipipi Pinano of TJPW, and Kris Wolf, formerly of Stardom. Bolshoi’s retirement show hasn’t aired yet, but it looks to have been an excellent Korakuen Hall show to bring an end to her 27 year career.
OZ Academy crowned a new Openweight champion as Mayumi Ozaki defeated Hikaru Shida to win the title for the third time. The Seikigun team of Maya Yukihi and Saori Anou challenged Beast Friends for the tag team titles.
Pro Wrestling Wave returned from their hiatus on April 1st, and announced their participants for Catch the Wave that starts on May 5th. There will be four blocks: Technical, Power, Visual, and Young. The Technical block is Mika Iwata, Sakura Hirota, Takumi Iroha, and Rin Kadokura. The Power block is Yuki Miyazaki, Yuu, Takase Miyuki, and Ryo Mizunami. The Visual block is Yumi Ohka, Nagisa Nozaki, Himeka Arita, and Hikaru Shida. The Young block is HIRO’e, Ibuki Hoshi, Haruka Umesaki, and Maria.
Stardom held their annual draft in April, which led to the tragic dissolution of Jungle Assault Nation. Jungle Kyona was drafted to Hana Kimura’s Tokyo Cyber Squad unit, as was Konami, while Natsuko Tora went to Oedo Tai. Despite the death of JAN, mixing up the units during the draft and the subsequent push for Konami and Arisa Hoshiki in the Cinderella Tournament is an interesting development. Arisa Hoshiki challenged Momo Watanabe for a Wonder of Stardom title shot after her Cinderella Tournament win, and Bea Priestley challenged Kagetsu for the World of Stardom title.
Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling set up a Princess of Princess title match between Miyu Yamashita and Shoko Nakajima for their Korakuen Hall show at the start of May, as well as a challenge by Maki Itoh to Aja Kong and a tag team title match between Magical Sugar Rabbits and Pandemic Boo Boo (Natsumi Maki and Noa Hikari).
Sareee challenged Chihiro Hashimoto for the Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling World Championship. Hashimoto said that she would accept Sareee’s challenge if she wins the WWWD World Championship at the upcoming Diana Korakuen Hall show.
Ice Ribbon announced the debut of their former referee and current Triangle Ribbon Champion Bunny Oikawa for the beginning of May. Her first match will be a title match against Maya Yukihi and Tsukasa Fujimoto. After losing their tag team title challenge, Miyako Matsumoto challenged Makoto to a “loser leaves Ice Ribbon” match in May.
Marvelous have their third anniversary show on May 12th, and they spent April doing promotional work ahead of that show. The headline match is Takumi Iroha vs. Yoshiko, and the three Marvelous rookies have singles matches – Mikoto Shindo vs. Ryo Mizunami, Mei Hoshizuki vs. Arisa Nakajima, and Maria vs. Chihiro Hashimoto.
Quick Hits
Wrestler of the Month: Sareee
Match of the Month: Sareee vs. Meiko Satomura
Show of the Month: Sendai Girl’s Pro Wrestling Korakuen Hall 14/4
Tag Team of the Month: Takase Miyuki and Himeka Arita (The Beginning)
Favourite New Unit: Tokyo Cyber Squad
