JWP Notable Matches December 2010 |
Megumi Yabushita & KAZUKI vs. Leon & Senri Kuroki 14:15. A two woman show with Leon & Yabushita giving impressive performances that showcased their submission skills as well as their athleticism. Leon was all over the place and her stuff against Yabushita was as impressive as you'd expect, though unfortunately there wasn't that much of it because you didn't want to leave KAZUKI to try to carry rookie Kuroki. KAZUKI was competent and had enough offense to get by, and Kuroki was able to follow, they were just ridiculously outclassed and couldn't add much. Still, Yabushita & Leon were so good that it was a quality technical match even though KAZUKI & Kuroki could merely go along with them. **1/2
ICEx60 Title Match: Command Bolshoi vs. Hamuko Hoshi 12:20. Bolshoi wrestled technically, while Hoshi tried to clown the clown. It wasn't clicking at all, and Hoshi generally gave a poor performance. Her offense was okay once she stopped goofing around, but she showed no ability to counter Bolshoi, or really engage her in any way, so it was all you do your moves and I'll do mine. Bolshoi was actually the taller of the two, and her technique was so superior you felt she was just toying with Hoshi. They did do a good job of making the near falls credible, but it takes more than last fraction of a second kickouts to generate legitimate drama. Afterwards, Tsukasa Fujimoto challenged Bolshoi to a title match, dropkicking her on the way out. *1/4
Kaori Yoneyama & Sachie Abe & Hailey Hatred vs. Nanae Takahashi & Passion Hotty (Yumiko Hotta) & Kazumi Shimouma 18:05. Takahashi vs. Yoneyama would have been good, but they were needed to take a stab at making the others look passable, so they barely got to work together. Yoneyama had an opponent in Shimouma who was capable and motivated, and their work was by far the highlight of this structureless mess. It wasn't so much bad or inept as just lacking in skill. Certainly no one was horrible, but Abe, Hatred, & Hotta didn't do anything particularly well either. *1/2
JWP Battle Station 1/14/11 JWP CLIMAX 2010 |
Nanae Takahashi & Natsuki*Taiyo vs. Leon & Misaki Ohata 7:35 of 12:26. Exciting, spirited, and energetic sprint. Leon was on fire, looking excellent in different styles against both opponents. I was particularly impressed that she was able to match speed with Taiyo, who she had really good chemistry with. Ohata made a couple mistakes, but was able to keep up and more than held her own. Even though Leon was stealing the show, you had to like Ohata's effort and attitude, and certainly weren't begging for her to tag. ***1/4 range
JWP Tag & Daily Sports Women's Tag Title Match: Tsubasa Kuragaki & Kayoko Haruyama vs. Aja Kong & Sachie Abe 15:22. Aja didn't share Abe's enthusiasm for their partnership, so they kept teasing Abe accidentally hitting or crashing into Aja early. Aja worked most of the way, and was solid but hardly exceptional. She wasn't super dominant, but it was often 2 on 1 with her allowing Kuragaki & Haruyama take the fight to her. The JWP team was consistent, and at times impressive; certainly a good showing from them, but as with Aja hardly one of their memorable performances. Abe did okay when she was in as she's a willing bumper and can fly, but you can really see the difference between her and the others when it comes to the sequences. When it's simple she's fine, when counters and timing get involved, she's below average. Abe, of course, did the job. Her longtime friend and partner KAZUKI stood up for her to Aja after the match, taking a nasty slap in the face for her trouble. Aja was done with Abe, and at least for now with JWP, and Abe was back to teaming with KAZUKI. **1/2
JWP Openweight & NWA Women's Pacific & NEO Singles Titles Unification Match: Kaori Yoneyama vs. Yoshiko Tamura 30:00. A real good 20 minute match dragged out to 30 so they could keep all the titles where they were. Tamura dictated the whole match, and it was a Tamura match through and through, but Yoneyama was the energetic and exciting one. They killed most of the first half on the mat, and let's just say that slow unfocused matwork isn't exactly Yoneyama's strength. When they finally got up the brawled on the outside with Yoneyama injuring Tamura's arm with her chair shots. Yoneyama focused on the arm much of the rest of the match, and you had to wonder if they were going to tell an arm story, which Yoneyama is capable of doing, why wait until they squandered the mat portion to get into it? In any case, Yoneyama was pushing Tamura the entire second half, and while there weren't enough fans in the building to truly have good aura, it felt like an important match with all the JWP wrestlers banging on the apron and cheering for Kaori. The big armbar off the middle rope spot took way too long to set up, but the powerbomb off the apron and several other spots were impressive. The lame start left a bad taste in my mouth, but in the end both women did what they did well, and even though I thought Yoneyama should beat the retiring wrestler, JWP did a good job of making her come off as the victor without actually getting her hand raised. ***
