Date: October 2nd, 2014
Location: Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 320
SEM is a bit of an odd ‘offshoot’ of NOAH. They don’t have a lot of shows and do use all of the big stars of NOAH, but it also uses a fair number of indy wrestlers as well. In a way it feels like a NOAH house show with some assistance from other smaller promotions such as Big Japan, and usually there is also a Joshi match as there is here just to fill out the event. Here is the full card:
– Genba Hirayanagi vs. Kenou
– Kana vs. Rina Yamashita
– Maybach Taniguchi and Hajime Ohara vs. Mohammed Yone and Taiji Ishimori
– Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, and Ogawa vs. Takashi Sugiura, Saito, and Daisuke Harada
– Quiet Storm vs. Takeshi Morishima
– Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Mitsuhiro Kitamiya
– Daisuke Sekimoto, Miyamoto, and Isami Kodaka vs. Marufuji, Atsushi Kotoge, and Kumano
Let’s get started.
Genba Hirayanagi vs. Kenou
Hirayanagi dares Kenou to hit him with the kendo stick before the match starts so he does, Kenou quickly covers Hirayanagi after the bell rings and he picks up the three count. Your winner: Kenou
Hirayanagi wants the match re-started, and after a bit of back and forth it finally does. They immediately trade elbows, Kenou goes off the ropes but Hirayanagi hits a dropkick. Stomp by Hirayanagi, he gets the kendo stick and he goes to hit Kenou with it, but changes his mind. Stomp by Hirayanagi, Kenou gets back up and Kenou kicks Hirayanagi in the chest. Hirayanagi catches a kick and hits a dragon screw leg whip and Hirayanagi applies a Scorpion Deathlock, but Kenou quickly gets to the ropes. Kenou kicks Hirayanagi back as he gets to his feet, back kick by Kenou but Hirayanagi grabs Kenou low and Hirayanagi hits a backdrop suplex. Hirayanagi flings Kenou to the mat, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and delivers a missile dropkick, cover, but it gets a two count. Hirayanagi picks up Kenou but Kenou elbows him off, Hirayanagi goes off the ropes but Kenou puts the referee in front of him and the referee gets hit. Jumping double knee by Kenou in the corner and he hits a sliding kick to Hirayanagi. Kenou gets a kendo stick but Hirayanagi avoids the shots, Hirayanagi goes off the ropes but Kenou traps Hirayanagi’s arms behind his back with the kendo stick. Kick by Kenou, he goes off the ropes and hits a double knee to the back. Kenou goes for a kick but Hirayanagi ducks it, swinging kick by Kenou and he delivers another kick to the head of Hirayanagi. Cover, and he picks up the three count. Your winner: Kenou
Match Thoughts: Since Hirayanagi doesn’t usually mind cheating I don’t know why he wouldn’t use the kendo stick and then lost due to shenanigans. Well technically he lost twice. This match wasn’t really long enough to be good, the two matches combined were less than four minutes total. Which is a shame as I think both are capable of doing more. The kendo stick being used to tie up Hirayanagi’s arms was a fun spot, not really logical but interesting none the less. Not a bad opener, just short and not much to it. Score: 4.0
Kana vs. Rina Yamashita
Tie-up to start, waistlock by Kana, reversed by Yamashita but Kana applies a wristlock. Yamashita reverses the wristlock but Kana applies a hammerlock, side headlock by Kana and she takes Yamashita to the mat. Yamashita gets out of it and they jockey for position before trading elbows, Irish whip by Kana but Yamashita hits a dropkick. Yamashita goes off the ropes and hits another dropkick, but Kana avoids the third. Kick by Kana and they trade elbows again, Irish whip by Yamashita but Kana elbows her. Irish whip by Kana but Yamashita shoulderblocks her down. Stomp by Yamashita and they trade elbows, stomp by Kana and she kicks Yamashita in the head. Kana hits a cross armbreaker takedown but Yamashita gets a foot on the ropes. Kana puts his knee in the back of Yamashita’s head and applies an armbar before putting her in a chinlock, crossface by Kana but Yamashita gets into the ropes. Kicks to the chest by Kana, she goes off the ropes but Yamashita hits a lariat. Yamashita goes off the ropes again and hits a second lariat followed by a pair of shoulderblocks. Another shoulderblock by Yamashita and she hits another. Cover by Yamashita but it gets a two count. Irish whip by Yamashita to the corner, reversed, lariat by Yamashita and she hits another one in the corner. Irish whip by Yamashita and she hits a lariat. Cover by Yamashita, but it gets a two count. Yamashita picks up Kana and goes for a backdrop suplex, but Kana blocks it. They trade elbows and Kana hits a release German suplex. Kana goes off the ropes and kicks Yamashita in the head, cover, but it gets a two count. Armbar by Kana and she applies a front facelock and then puts Yamashita in an armbar. Yamashita gets a foot on the ropes and Kana kicks Yamashita in the chest. Another kick by Kana but Yamashita catches one, Kana applies a side headlock and Yamashita hits a backdrop suplex. Cover by Yamashita but it gets a two count. Yamashita goes off the ropes and hits a lariat, she hits a second one but Kana doesn’t go down. Leg kick by Kana, cover, but it gets a two count. Kana picks up Yamashita and she hits a neckbreaker. Cover, but Yamashita kicks out. Kana picks up Yamashita and hits a German suplex hold but it only gets two. Kana goes off the ropes but Yamashita rolls her up for a two count. Inside cradle by Yamashita but that gets two as well. Backslide by Yamashita, but it gets another two. Kick to the head by Kana, cover, but it gets a two count. Kana quickly applies a cross armbreaker, Yamashita tries to powerbomb out of it but Kana gets it locked back in and Yamashita has to tap out. Your winner: Kana
Match Thoughts: First of all, I love Kana. Even though I rarely get to see her matches since they don’t all make tape she is probably current Top 10 for me. That being said this was a pretty average match. Yamashita just didn’t have a lot to offer here, she must have hit a dozen shoulderblocks and lariats. It just gets repetitive when a wrestler hits the same move over and over again. Kana’s focus on the arm was good, she stuck with it through the match and then won with an arm submission, so kudos to her for trying to keep to a structure but it just wasn’t interesting when Yamashita was on offense. Pretty lackluster but not a bad match. Score: 5.5
Maybach Taniguchi and Hajime Ohara vs. Mohammed Yone and Taiji Ishimori
Taniguchi and Ohara attack their opponents before the match starts, and Ohara stays in the ring with Ishimori. Ohara picks up Ishimori, Irish whip, reversed, and Ishimori hits a swandive crossbody. Headscissors takedown by Ishimori, and Ohara falls out of the ring. Ishimori knees Ohara as he gets back into the ring, and Ishimori tags in Yone. Double shoulder block to Ohara, cover by Yone but it gets a two count. Yone picks up Ohara and he hits a scoop slam. Leg drop by Yone and he applies a neck crank to Ohara. Yone tags in Ishimori, Ishimori picks up Ohara and hits a snapmare. Reverse chinlock by Ishimori and he knees Ohara in the back. Ohara gets a foot on the ropes and they trade elbows, Ishimori goes off the ropes but Ohara dropkicks him in the knee. Ohara tags in Taniguchi, and Taniguchi kicks Ishimori repeatedly in the leg. Taniguchi picks up Ishimori and he twists Ishimori’s leg in the ropes. Taniguchi tags in Ohara, and Ohara twists on Ishimori’s leg. Ohara pushes Ishimori into the corner and twists Ishimori’s leg in the ropes before hitting a dropkick. Ohara applies a reverse figure four but Ishimori inches to the ropes to force the break. Ohara picks up Ishimori and he tags in Taniguchi, kicks to the leg by Taniguchi and he kicks Ishimori down in the corner. Irish whip by Taniguchi but Ishimori kicks Taniguchi back and hits a reverse STO into the corner. Ishimori tags in Yone, Yone charges Taniguchi in the corner but Taniguchi boots him back. Lariat by Yone, Taniguchi goes off the ropes and Yone hits another lariat. Yone picks up Taniguchi and hits a scoop slam. Yone goes up top but Taniguchi grabs him by the throat and pulls him back into the ring. Taniguchi charges Yone and hits a lariat in the corner, he applies a waistlock but Yone elbows out of it. Chokeslam by Taniguchi, cover, but it gets a two count. Taniguchi picks up Yone, high kick by Yone but Taniguchi hits a powerslam. Taniguchi tags in Ohara, Ohara picks up Yone and they exchange elbows. Backstabber by Ohara and he goes off the ropes, but Yone delivers a dropkick and tags in Ishimori. Ishimori charges Ohara in the corner and hits a jumping double knee, he then hits another running knee in the corner. Cover by Ishimori, but it gets a two count. Ishimori picks up Ohara but Ohara punches him off, waistlock by Ishimori, Ohara Irish whips Ishimori but Ishimori hits the handspring into a cutter. Cover, but Taniguchi breaks it up. Yone comes in and throws Taniguchi out of the ring. Ohara is thrown into the corner, lariat by Yone, Ishimori goes up top and hits a swanton. Cover, but it gets a two count. Ishimori goes off the ropes but Ohara slams him to the mat. Cover, but it gets a two. Ohara goes off the ropes but Ishimori catches him with a double knee to the chest. Swinging kick by Ishimori, cover, but Taniguchi breaks it up. Ishimori picks up Ohara and slams him in front of the corner, he goes up to the top turnbuckle but he is hit from the floor with a kendo stick in the leg. Ohara picks up Ishimori and hits a backbreaker. Ohara applies a figure four leglock, Yone is nowhere to be found and Ishimori has to tap out. Your winners: Maybach Taniguchi and Hajime Ohara
Match Thoughts: Not a whole lot to the match but nothing really wrong with it. They did a good job of targeting Ishimori’s leg during the match…. not that it really stopped him from running around but at least the bad guys didn’t forget about it. Not a lot of selling or structure beyond that but it was a solid match if not unforgettable. Score: 5.5
Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, and Ogawa vs. Takashi Sugiura, Saito, and Daisuke Harada
Haste and Saito start things off. Tie-up, Saito pushes Haste into the ropes and he gives a clean break. Side headlock by Haste, Saito applies a wristlock but Haste reverses it. Haste goes off the ropes and applies a waistlock but Saito shrugs him off and hits a shoulderblock. Haste rolls out of the ring but returns after a moment and tags in Ogawa. Saito tags in Harada, Ogawa pushes Harada into the ropes and gives a clean break. Tie-up again, Harada pushes Ogawa into the ropes and Ogawa squirts away when Harada goes for a strike. They trade wristlocks, hammerlock by Harada and he applies a side headlock. Ogawa reverses it, Irish whip by Harada and Ogawa hits a shoulderblock. Side headlock by Ogawa and Harada tags in Saito. Ogawa tags in Nicholls, Saito and Nicholls tie-up, Saito gets Nicholls into the ropes and he gives a clean break. Side headlock by Nicholls, Saito Irish whips out of it and they collide with no result. They trade elbows, kick by Saito and he goes off the ropes, but Nicholls hits a spinebuster. Nicholls picks up Saito and throws him out of the ring, and Haste throws Saito into the guard rail. Back in the ring, Nicholls stomps on Saito and tags in Ogawa. Ogawa and Nicholls Irish whip Saito and they hit a double elbow smash. Ogawa tags in Haste, Nicholls and Haste Irish whip Saito and hit a double elbow, cover, but it gets a two count. Haste picks up Saito and tags in Ogawa, Ogawa and Saito trade elbows, takedown by Saito and he applies an ankle hold. Everyone brawls for a moment, things settle down as Haste stomps on Saito but Saito elbows him back. Uppercuts by Haste but Saito returns with elbows. Saito goes off the ropes, uppercut by Haste but Saito catches him with a spear. Saito picks up Haste but Nicholls attacks Saito from behind, double Irish whip to the corner but Saito boots Nicholls and then knees Haste. Big boot by Saito in the corner but Haste comes back with a leg lariat followed by a cannonball in the corner. Haste picks up Saito and goes for a powerbomb but Saito gets out of it with a hurricanrana. Waistlock by Saito, but it is reversed and Haste clubs Saito in the back. Release German suplex by Saito but Haste fires back with a lariat and both wrestlers are out on the mat. Ogawa and Harada are tagged in, enzigieri by Ogawa and he goes off the ropes, hitting a DDT. Cover, but it gets a two count. Ogawa throws Harada into the corner and then hits a backdrop suplex. Cover, but Harada kicks out. Irish whip by Ogawa to the corner but Harada kicks him back and rolls up Ogawa for a two count. Stomp by Ogawa, Irish whip, reversed, and Harada hits a jumping elbow in the corner. Cover by Harada but it gets two. Harada picks up Ogawa but Ogawa manages to tag in Nicholls, Irish whip by Nicholls to the corner and he hits a lariat. Irish whip again but this time Harada boots Nicholls back and he hits an elbow. Another elbow by Harada and he hits an overhead suplex before tagging in Saito. Saito hits a lariat on Nicholls in the corner and then hits a vertical suplex. Saito goes off the ropes and hits a lariat, cover, but it gets a two count. Saito picks up Nicholls, Nicholls goes off the ropes and he hits a lariat. Saito comes back with a lariat of his own, double Irish whip to Nicholls and everyone hits running strikes in the corner on Nicholls. Diving elbow drop by Harada to Nicholls and Saito hits a diving headbutt. Cover by Saito but it is broken up. Saito picks up Nicholls and fits a Final Cut. Cover, but it gets a two count. Saito picks up Nicholls, he goes off the ropes but Haste runs in and dropkicks Saito. Double Irish whip to the corner, and both Nicholls and Haste hit lariats. Double neckbreaker to Saito, cover, but it gets a two count. Nicholls picks up Saito and they trade elbows, knee by Saito and he hits a scissors kick. Chokeslam by Saito and he hits a release German suplex. Cover, but it gets a two count. Saito picks up Nicholls but Nicholls hits a lariat. Death valley driver by Nicholls, cover, but Saito breaks it up. Nicholls and Haste drop Saito, they then go to Saito and pick him up, but Saito fights them off. Saito goes off the ropes but Haste hits a lariat. Sliding lariat by Nicholls, cover, but it gets a two count. Nicholls picks up Saito and hits the Mikey Bomb, cover, and he picks up the three count. Your winners: Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, and Ogawa
Match Thoughts: Well this match certainly had a lot of issues with selling. I mean they were hitting big moves on each other and then just popping up like nothing happened. And not in a ‘fighting spirit’ way, but in a ‘we didn’t feel like figuring out a transition’ way. So it just came across as lazy and poorly thought out. Just a middling six man tag match with some solid action but lack of real direction. Score: 5.0
Quiet Storm vs. Takeshi Morishima
They circle each other to start, tie-up, Storm pushes Morishima into the ropes and he gives a clean break. Tie-up, Morishima pushes Storm against the ropes and he gives a clean break as well. Side headlock by Storm, Morishima Irish whips out of it but he can’t shoulderblock him down. Irish whip by Morishima but Storm hits a successful shoulderblock. Chops by Storm but Morishima punches him back and they trade blows. Clubs to the back by Storm, he goes off the ropes but Morishima hits a hip attack. Morishima picks up Storm and stomps him down in the corner. Hip attack by Morishima and he hits another one. Morishima picks up Storm, he puts him over the second rope and chokes Storm with his leg. Morishima picks up Storm, snapmare, and he applies a reverse chinlock. Storm elbows out of it but Morishima applies a sleeper. Irish whip by Morishima from the corner but Storm avoids his charge. Storm goes for a bodyslam but Morishima blocks it, Morishima goes off the ropes but Storm hits a bodyslam. Storm goes for a suplex but Morishima clubs out of it, Northern Lights Suplex by Storm but it gets a two count. Storm picks up Morishima and hits a reverse side slam. Cover, but it gets two. Storm goes off the ropes but Morishima catches him and hits a suplex. Lariat by Morishima, cover, but it also gets a two count. Morishima picks up Storm and goes for the backdrop suplex, but Storm gets out of it. Vertical suplex by Storm and he hits a lariat in the corner. Storm goes off the ropes but Morishima ducks the lariat. Storm hits a lariat anyway, cover, but it gets another two count. Storm picks up Morishima, he goes off the ropes and Morishima hits a backdrop suplex. Delayed cover by Morishima, but it gets a two count. Back up they both go for lariats, high kick by Morishima and he nails the backdrop suplex. Cover, and he picks up the three count. Your winner: Takeshi Morishima
Match Thoughts: Quiet Storm joined NOAH in the summer but even still I don’t really know what the deal was here. It didn’t seem like these two were feuding at all, it was just a random match. Obviously Storm wasn’t beating Morishima but he did get in some spots anyway and Morishima didn’t treat him like a far inferior wrestler. They had a weird thing going on where Storm would miss a move, then promptly successfully hit that same move, it happened several times to the point it stuck out. Nothing really bad, just random and short. Score: 4.5
Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Mitsuhiro Kitamiya
Tie-up to start, Kitamiya pushes Nakajima into the ropes and he gives a clean break. Waistlock by Kitamiya, Nakajima applies an armbar and they get into the ropes again. Side headlock by Nakajima, Kitamiya elbow Nakajima and eventually Irish whips out of it but Nakajima shoulderblocks him down. Side headlock by Kitamiya, but Nakajima hits a backdrop suplex. Nakajima pushes Kitamiya into the ropes and he gives a clean break. They trade elbows, Kitamiya goes off the ropes and he elbows Nakajima to the mat. Kitamiya charges Nakajima in the corner and hits a jumping elbow smash followed by a vertical suplex. Texas Cloverleaf by Kitamiya but Nakajima quickly gets out of it. Kick by Nakajima, snapmare, and he kicks Kitamiya in the back. Snapmare by Nakajima and he kicks Kitamiya in the back again. Back up, elbow by Kitamiya but Nakajima snapmares him and kicks Kitamiya before applying a crab hold. Kitamiya gets a hand on the ropes to force a break, kicks by Nakajima and Kitamiya goes back to the mat. Nakajima picks up Kitamiya and applies a reverse chinlock, Nakajima goes for a suplex but Kitamiya blocks it. Vertical suplex by Kitamiya, he picks up Nakajima and hits a suplex. Cover, but it gets a two count. Kitamiya picks up Nakajima, Irish whip, and Kitamiya hits a spear. Cover, but it gets a two count. Elbows by Kitamiya, back kick by Nakajima and he hits a running elbow. Kick to the chest by Nakajima and he kicks him again. Nakajima goes off the ropes but Kitamiya applies an Octopus Hold. Elbows by Kitamiya but Nakajima kicks him in the chest. Backdrop suplex by Nakajima, Kitamiya gets up and Nakajima drops him with a second one. Nakajima hits a third backdrop suplex. Cover, but it gets a two count. Nakajima picks up Kitamiya and goes off the ropes, hitting a PK. Cover, but Kitamiya gets a shoulder up. Brainbuster by Nakajima, cover, and he picks up the three count. Your winner: Katsuhiko Nakajima
Match Thoughts: A really basic match with really nothing to make it special. I am guessing that at this stage of his career this is the best type of match that Kitamiya can have as obviously Nakajima is capable of more, and the size of the show may have factored into things as well. But this was like an opener at a normal event, just some strike exchanges, a few suplexes, and the ending. No real crowd involvement or effort to make the match memorable, so it wasn’t, even though the action itself was fundamentally sound. Score: 5.0
Daisuke Sekimoto, Miyamoto, and Isami Kodaka vs. Marufuji, Atsushi Kotoge, and Kumano
Sekimoto and Marufuji start things off. They trade chops back and forth, tie-up, side headlock by Marufuji, Sekimoto Irish whips out of it and Sekimoto hits a shoulderblock. Drop toehold by Marufuji and he dropkicks Sekimoto in the head. Cover, but it gets a one count. Shoulderblock by Sekimoto and he tags in Kodaka. Kotoge is tagged in as well, dropkick by Kotoge and he slides out of the ring after Kodaka, hitting another dropkick. Kodaka and Kotoge return to the ring, cover by Kotoge but it gets a two count. Reverse chinlock by Kotoge and he elbows Kodaka in the head. Kotoge picks up Kodaka and he tags in Kumano. Kicks by Kumano in the corner and he clubs Kodaka in the back. Kumano and Kodaka trade elbows. Kodaka tags in Miyamoto, Miyamoto and Kumano tie-up, waistlock by Miyamoto but Kumano applies a wristlock. Kneelock by Miyamoto and he applies a stretch hold. Wristlock by Miyamoto and he elbows Kumano in the arm. Miyamoto tags in Sekimoto, scoop slam by Sekimoto and a cover, but he gets a two count. Sekimoto picks up Kumano and throws him in the corner before tagging in Kodaka. Kodaka twists Kumano’s arm in the ropes and he yanks on Kumano’s arm. Kodaka tags in Miyamoto, double Irish whip to Kumano and he gets hit by a double elbow strike. Miyamoto goes for a cross armbreaker on Kumano but Kumano quickly rolls into the ropes. Miyamoto tags in Sekimoto, Sekimoto picks up Kumano but Kumano clubs him in the chest. Sekimoto absorbs Kumano’s blows and chops him to the mat. Sekimoto throws Kumano into the corner, Irish whip, and Sekimoto kicks Kumano in the chest. Sekimoto goes for a suplex but Kumano lands on his feet, dropkicks by Kumano but he can’t knock Sekimoto down. Sekimoto throws Kumano into the corner but Kumano knocks him back and hits a missile dropkick. Kumano makes the tag to Marufuji and Marufuji boots Sekimoto in the head. Lariat by Marufuji but Sekimoto stays up, dropkick by Marufuji and Sekimoto finally is knocked off his feet. Irish whip by Marufuji to the corner and he hits an elbow followed by a doublestomp to the head. Superkick by Marufuji, cover, but it gets a two count. Marufuji picks up Sekimoto and goes for the Shiranui but Sekimoto blocks it and hits a backdrop suplex. Sekimoto picks up Marufuji, Irish whip to the corner and he hits a lariat. Another lariat by Sekimoto, he picks up Marufuji and hits a vertical suplex. Cover by Sekimoto but it gets a two count.
Sekimoto goes off the ropes but Marufuji ducks the lariat and hits a couple kicks. Sekimoto avoids the next kick attempt and levels Marufuji with a lariat. Both wrestlers are down, Sekimoto makes the tag to Miyamoto while Marufuji tags in Kotoge. Kick by Kotoge but Miyamoto elbows him and they trade shots. Kotoge goes off the ropes and he hits a reverse DDT. Miyamoto crawls to the corner and Kotoge elbows Kodaka on the apron. Kodaka snaps Kotoge’s neck on the top rope, Miyamoto goes up to the top turnbuckle but Kotoge blocks the diving attack. Kodaka then jumps off the top turnbuckle onto Kotoge, and Miyamoto applies a stretch hold to Kotoge. Double Irish whip to Kotoge and he is hit with a double flapjack. Cover by Miyamoto, but it gets a two count. Miyamoto tags in Kodaka, Irish whip by Kodaka and he hits a dropkick. Kodaka charges Kotoge but Kotoge drop toeholds him onto the second rope. Kotoge kicks Kodaka out of the ring, Miyamoto comes in but Kotoge dropkicks him out of the ring as well. Kotoge goes off the ropes and sails out with a tope con giro onto Miyamoto, Kodaka gets a running start in the ring but Kotoge quickly rolls back in and hits him with a cutter. Kotoge tags in Kumano, and Kumano hits Kodaka with an elbow. Dropkick by Kumano, cover, but it gets a two count. Irish whip by Kumano and he hits an elbow in the corner. Kumano goes up to the top turnbuckle but Kodaka avoids the missile dropkick. STF by Kodaka to Kumano, but Kumano gets to the ropes. Kodaka throws Kumano into the corner and Sekimoto hits a lariat. Miyamoto and Kodaka hit a double backdrop suplex onto Kumano and Sekimoto comes off the top turnbuckle with a diving body press. Cover by Kodaka, but it gets a two count. Marufuji and Kotoge come into help, they throw Kodaka into the corner and everyone hits a running strike. Kumano goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick while Marufuji and Kotoge both hit superkicks. Cover by Kumano, but it is broken up. Kumano picks up Kodaka and gets him on his shoulders, and he hits a bridging suplex for a two count. Kumano picks up Kodaka but Kodaka elbows him off and they trade strikes. Punch to the stomach by Kodaka, Kumano goes off the ropes but Kodaka sails out of the ring onto Kotoge. Miyamoto slides in, Kumano kicks him back, Irish whip by Kumano but Miyamoto hits a handstand elbow strike. Kodaka comes back in and applies the 689, and Kumano submits. Your winners: Daisuke Sekimoto, Miyamoto, and Isami Kodaka
Match Thoughts: This was a good tag match and a solid main event. The teams both worked together well, it helps to have matches with real teammates rather than wrestlers just thrown together as some of the spots were well-timed and everything flowed. It never dragged anywhere as they kept fresh wrestlers in to keep things interesting. The only real knock on the match is Kumano’s inclusion as it just made it obvious who was going to drop the fall, but he did get some good experience in there and he wasn’t completely treated as nothing but a whipping boy. Overall it was a fun way to end an otherwise lackluster show. Score: 7.0
Final Thoughts:
Best Match: Daisuke Sekimoto, Miyamoto, and Isami Kodaka vs. Marufuji, Atsushi Kotoge, and Hitoshi Kumano. By default, but it was a pretty good match. The teams worked really well together and there were some clever spots in the match. It never dragged since they changed around who was in the ring on a regular basis, and even though the ending was predictable it made sense. A fitting main event for a house show.
MVP: Hitoshi Kumano. I could have picked about anyone from the main event, but Kumano’s strikes seem to be getting better and he had some good exchanges with Sekimoto and Kodaka. Even though he lost, he looked strong since he was not put down easy as he was constantly being double teamed. I don’t think Kumano shows much as far as being a superstar but he is definitely improving.
Overall: For the most part this was just bland house show fodder. I was hoping the Joshi match would bring it up a bit, but it didn’t, and most of the rest of the matches were just basic and uninspired. The main event was fun, but the match would fit in fine on most mid-cards, it only fit as a main event because the rest of the card was so unexciting. Just a flat event, I know they use these shows to try out newer wrestlers and its not meant to be a major event, but it was just too dull for my taste. No real reason to watch this show.
