Joshi promotion Ice Ribbon held the 139th episode of their weekly online show “19 O’Clock Girls Pro Wrestling” this morning. Here’s what happened:
The show starts with footage of the Ice Ribbon stars out and about in town, and having a couple of exhibition matches in the street on some mats. Pretty awesome stuff. (The Japanese language isn’t a strong point of mine, so if anyone can add any more information to that, feel free to do so in the comments!)
Kurumi and Risa Okuda wrestle to a draw in a three-minute exhibition match. Okuda gets some early offense in, starting with a dropkick then a body slam for a one count. 12-year old (!) Kurumi counters Okuda’s snapmare attempt with a snapmare of her own, into a bodyscissors. Okuda pushes back to get Kurumi’s shoulders on the ground for a few near-falls. Kurumi releases the hold, Irish whips Okuda into the turnbuckle and charges into her, then locks in a Boston crab. Okuda reaches the ropes after a bit of a struggle. An exchange of fists from both wrestlers, followed by a series of schoolboy roll-up attempts by Okuda. Kurumi then takes down Okuda with a body slam of her own for the two count, then bounces off the ropes and hits a splash but the time runs out before the 3-count can be made.
Tsukushi defeats Shoko Hotta. Tsukushi, despite being much younger, is definitely the more experienced competitor in this contest. Nice exchange of wristlocks and counter-wristlocks to start. Tsukushi gets the upper hand with a headlock takedown followed by a facebuster. A couple of stomps from Tsukushi onto Hotta’s back, then a half crab in the centre of the ring. Hotta grabs the ropes to break the hold. Tsukushi puts all of her weight onto Hotta’s back again, then drives her head-first into the turnbuckle. Tsukushi throws Hotta back into the lower turnbuckle and continues applying pressure, this time into Hotta’s chest and shoulders. The two hit each other with some fists before Hotta rolls Tsukushi up for a two count, then straight into an armbar. Tsukushi rolls out, and drives Hotta’s head into all four turnbuckles, one after the other, ties her up in the ropes and hits her back-first with a dropkick for a near-fall. Hotta counters Tsukushi’s Irish whip and hits a flurry of elbows, followed by a big forearm to the chest. Body slam from Hotta for another two count. Back to the armbar, with Tsukushi right in the middle of the ring. Hotta grabs the other arm and pulls, but Tsukushi manages to get a foot on the rope. Tsukushi locks in a perfect bow-and-arrow hold, then releases and lands a double stomp. Another two count. Irish whip to the turnbuckle then a dropkick to the chest by Tsukushi, and yet another near-fall! Tsukushi then locks in a camel clutch, and Hotta finally taps. Good match.
If you want to watch 19 O’Clock Wrestling yourself, Ice Ribbon stream it live every Friday at 7PM in Japan (so 10AM in the UK, and a few hours earlier in the States) at http://19pro.ne07.jp, with the replay available immediately afterwards for the rest of the week. See you next week for #140!
