Mika Kukahara vs. Mitsue Kobayashi 11:42. Most people will likely not be familiar with either of these wrestlers. Mika Kukahara was the one with the longer hair. They both wrestled in their martial arts gi. This wasn’t a terrible match, but it was quite a low-impact match between two youngsters who clearly didn’t have much experience. They showed potential, but they never really ended up making it in the wrestling business. Some of the moves looked relatively poorly executed, but I feel that that was in line with their lack of experience, and the effort shown made up for the lack of crispness. They definitely tried, and it wasn’t boring. With a bit more coaching and experience, these two could have potentially had a decent match. Mediocre match. *¾ 

Devil Masami vs. Sumiko Saito 18:07. Devil Masami, the wily veteran, tried her best to make Sumie Saito look like a better wrestler than she was. Saito was light on her feet and quick to react, but she lacked the presence and strength required to form any realistic threat for the powerful Devil. At least she tried. Saito had been a wrestler for less than two years and maybe had only worked once during the previous incarnation of JWP (the OG JWP). The match only seemed more competitive than it was because Devil was quite generous in this bout, which was essentially an extended squash (which it kinda had to be, since it was one of only four matches on a 2-hour card). You could say that the story was that Devil was enjoying the punishment she was dishing out and was so confident that she would win that she wasn’t in any hurry to put the youngster away. Devil’s offense looked quite good. Her powerbomb looked awesome. The problem with Devil’s selling was that it looked a bit overly deliberate most of the time. All things considered, technically, this was fine. This wasn’t bad, but it won’t make anyone’s list for best matches that week. Okay match. **

Plum Mariko vs. Bolshoi Kid 15:51. Before Commando Bolshoi became known as the excellent technical master, she was known as the damn clown Bolshoi Kid, pretty much a comedy wrestler. In spite of that, Bolshoi showed lots of potential, especially for someone that tiny in a clown suit. Plum Mariko was a very likable wrestler who was quite the mature worker for her age and experience level. She showed that she understood how to react appropriately in every situation she was in. Mariko did a good job of selling the idea that she was overwhelmed by her unusual opponent. Eventually, Mariko told the story of getting more grip on the match. One of the cooler parts of the match was Mariko kicking Bolshoi to the floor when Bolshoi went for the Satoru Sayama tiger feint, which Mariko followed up with a Perro Aguayo-esque seated senton off the apron. Don’t let the clown gimmick fool ya, this match actually made sense and was a well-worked one. The execution was really good overall. Good match. ***¼ 

Mayumi Ozaki & Cuty Suzuki vs. Dynamite Kansai & Hikari Fukuoka 23:09. This was easily the best match of the show. In case you didn’t know, JWP Project was the revived version of the Original JWP.  This JWP show indirectly set the wheels in motion for an era that would become the inter-promotional era of joshi puroresu, which was the absolute peak of joshi puroresu in terms of high quality and high workrate, led by the two main leagues AJW and JWP. And this big main event indeed started off with fast-paced action. Hikari Fukuoka showed tremendous agility, and she kinda came across as a more athletic version of Mima Shimoda here. At some point (later in the match), Fukuoka took a nasty bump when she (accidentally?) launched herself straight to the floor when Kansai pulled the ropes down while ducking Fukuoka’s flying attack. Dynamite Kansai was the powerhouse, and she also showed she had a strong sense of timing. Cuty Suzuki looked fine but was the least impressive worker in the match. Mayumi Ozaki’s selling and swiftness made her excel in her role. The structuring of the match was quite good, as during the early portions, after the initial fast start, they focused mainly on wearing down the opponent and staying in control while doing damage at the same time. Then at some point, they would pick up the pace and excitement level with bigger moves and near falls. Ozaki would end up pinning Fukuoka to win the match. The only thing that prevented it from being excellent was that when they slowed down, they weren’t able to keep the intensity level as high, which made the slower portion feel too much like a mid-day energy crash as opposed to a more meaningful change of pace. That being said, it was a strong main event of an entertaining debut show. These girls made sure that JWP was going to be a league to keep an eye on. Very good match. ***¾   

Show rating: 7.0/10. Very good show.

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