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Welcome back to another edition of the Joshi Roundup! Since we are in a holiday this will be a shorter column this week. Let’s get right to the news!
Joshi News
Photo: battle-news.comAs Kana works her way towards her “hiatus” starting on September 15th, she is making her final rounds in the different promotions she wrestles in. On September 4th she wrestled in REINA for the last time, and relinquished her championship there. Kana and Syuri have been in a long-time feud, but put their differences aside as they teamed in the main event against Konami (Kana’s protege) and Makoto. Afterwards everyone posed and danced as isn’t unusual in Joshi, as Kana gave her final farewell. Kana has one more week of wrestling in Japan, leading to her own event on September 15th. After that… who knows? (Source)
Photo: battle-news.comIn more explosive news, the legendary Dump Matsumoto teamed with TARU to beat Atsushi Onita and Chigusa Nagayo for the Blast King Tag Team Championship! This is a tag title in a promotion called “Super Fireworks,” where the main events are generally barbed wire explosive death matches. Dump Matsumoto is afraid of nothing of course and withstood the violence to win her first title in many years, and while it doesn’t have the prestige of the AJW Championship she held 30 years ago it is still a noteworthy accomplishment.(Source)
Event Results
In the last week we have had three more days of results from the Stardom FIVE STAR GP. Unfortunately, Kris Wolf received a concussion in her match against Io Shirai and was forced to miss this week, hopefully she will return to action soon. Here are the results:
Day #3:
- Chelsea defeated Haruka Kato
- Io Shirai defeated Kaori Yoneyama
- KAORU drew with Queen Maya
- Hudson Envy defeated Kris Wolf by forfeit
Day #4:
- Queen Maya defeated Starfire
- KAORU defeated Haruka Kato
- Kaori Yoneyama defeated Kris Wolf by forfeit
Day #5
- Starfire defeated Haruka Kato
- Mayu Iwatani defeated Hudson Envy
- Io Shirai defeated La Rosa Negra
- Kairi Hojo defeated KAORU
For the standings, Queen Maya currently leads the Blue Stars Block by two points, while Io Shirai is first in the Red Stars Block as she is one point ahead of Hudson Envy.
Ice Ribbon also had a big event on September 6th, featuring Kana’s last Ice Ribbon match. Here are the main results:
- Kana defeated Yuuka
- Aoi Kizuki and Makoto defeated Cherry and Neko Nitta
- Tsukushi defeated Mio Shirai
Upcoming Shows
JWP has a major show on September 13th, featuring several singles matches:
- JWP Generation Struggle #1: Leon vs. Rydeen Hagane
- JWP Generation Struggle #2: KAZUKI vs. Rabbit Miyu
- JWP Generation Struggle #3: Command Bolshoi vs. Yako Fujigasaki
- #1 Contender Match: Kayoko Haruyama and Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Eri and Hanako Nakamori
And Stardom returns on September 9th (my birthday!) as well with four matches in the tournament in addition to a Wonder of Stardom Championship match:
- Red Stars: Kaori Yoneyama vs. La Rosa Negra
- Blue Stars: Chelsea vs. Starfire
- Red Stars: Kris Wolf vs. Mayu Iwatan
- Blue Stars: Haruka Kato vs. Kairi Hojo
- Wonder of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai vs. Queen Maya
Wrestler Spotlight: Aoi Kizuki
I want to take a moment to look at a lesser-known wrestler today, Aoi Kizuki. Even in Joshi circles, Kizuki frequently flies under the radar as she wrestles for Ice Ribbon, which is not a large promotion. Kizuki also was a late bloomer, as even though she debuted back in 2005 she did not win her first singles title until June of this year. Still, she is only 26 years old (they debut young) and she has been tearing it up this year, getting wins over such wrestlers as Tsukushi, Kurumi, and Mio Shirai. Here she is with the ICExInfinity Championship and the Union Pro Fly to Everywhere World Championship:
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And here is a move I just saw her do for the first time this week, normally she does a swivel body press, but this is a reverse swivel body press:
Kizuki appears to be finally hitting her stride, as she currently is at the top of Ice Ribbon and is only getting better. If you get a chance to see a match of hers I’d recommend it, she is a very entertaining wrestler and hopefully will continue to grow over the next several years.
Next Week
Next week I will be back with more news and I will spotlight a new wrestler as well. I hope everyone enjoys their holiday, and if you have any suggestions for the column, let us know! Also if you have any Joshi questions feel free to hit me up on Twitter, I can be found at @purocentral.
