OZ Academy "Voyager"
A Review by Kevin Wilson

Date: April 16th, 2014
Location: Yokohama Bridge Hall in Japan
Announced Attendance: 356

This is a pretty short show by OZ Academy (which is normal for them), but it is shown in full which is much more important to me. OZ uses a lot of the older Joshi stars from yesteryear (Kong, Kansai, Toyota, etc.) but they can still go to a reasonable degree and there are younger stars of course here as well. There are also wrestlers from SENDAI GIRLS, JWP, and WAVE on the card just to spice things up a little bit. Here is the full card:

- Kagetsu vs. Kyusei Sakura Hirota
- Kaori Yoneyama and Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Manami Toyota and Carlos Amano
- Aja Kong vs. Sonoko Kato
- Hikaru Shida vs. Tomoka Nakagawa
- Dynamite Kansai, AKINO, and Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Mayumi Ozaki, Yumi Ohka, and Mio Shirai

Kagetsu vs. Kyusei Sakura Hirota
Kagetsu and Hirota circle each other to start and lock knuckles, wristlock by Kagetsu into a hammerlock, and she applies a side headlock on the mat.  Hirota struggles back up and pushes Kagetsu off, they lock knuckles again and Hirota pushes Kagetsu down to her knees.  Wristlock by Hirota and she takes Kagetsu to the mat, cover, but Kagetsu kicks out at one.  Irish whip by Kagetsu and she delivers a dropkick.  Kagetsu gets Hirota up and goes off the ropes, but she stops from kicking her when Hirota puts her hand up.  Kick by Kagetsu, she goes off the ropes and hits another dropkick.  Kagetsu picks up Hirota, she puts her in the ropes and slaps Hirota in the chest.  More slaps by Kagetsu, cover, but it gets a two count.  Kagetsu picks up Hirota, Irish whip to the corner and Kagetsu hits a jumping knee.  A second knee by Kagetsu and she rolls up Hirota before applying an arm submission hold.  Kagetsu picks up Hirota and she hits a series of arm breakers.  Kick by Kagetsu, she goes off the ropes and dropkicks Hirota to the mat.  Kagetsu picks up Hirota, Hirota grabs Kagetsu’s arm but Kagetsu shrugs her off.  Hirota takes Kagetsu’s arm again and goes up to the top rope before walking the rope, but Kagetsu kicks the top rope to knock Hirota down.  Kagetsu goes off the ropes but Hirota drop toeholds her onto the second rope.  Hirota then stretches Kagetsu in the ropes, she goes off the ropes and hits the Oil Check.  Hirota goes off the ropes and hits a… sliding headbutt.  Hirota lays Kagetsu back down and she hits a doublestomp.  Hirota picks up Kagetsu and puts her in the ropes again but Kagetsu avoids the second Oil Check.  Hirota chases Kagetsu around the ring but Kagetsu rolls up Hirota for a two count.  Swandive missile dropkick by Kagetsu, cover, but Hirota kicks out at two.  Kagetsu picks up Hirota and puts him on his shoulders, but Hirota gets off.  German suplex by Kagetsu, she goes off the ropes but Hirota lands on top of her for a two count. Hirota goes out to the apron but she messes up the swandive move.  Kagetsu gets Hirota up again but Hirota rolls her up for a two count.  Hirota goes off the ropes but Kagetsu kicks her in the head and Kagetsu gives Hirota a kiss.  Hirota is as confused as I am, which gives Kagetsu time to pick her up and hit a Screwdriver.  Cover, and Kagetsu picks up a three count.  Your winner:  Kagetsu

Match Thoughts:  This was too goofy for my taste.  I don’t know what Hirota’s story is exactly but it’s just a weird thing where Kagetsu would stop wrestling at times and let Hirota recover, do a move, etc.  It is like it wasn’t a real match.  Kagetsu was clearly the stronger wrestler so the right woman won, it was just too odd for me to enjoy.  Score:  3.0

Kaori Yoneyama and Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Manami Toyota and Carlos Amano
Yoneyama and Amano start things off.  Tie-up, Yoneyama gets Amano into the ropes and she knees her in the stomach.  Irish whip by Yoneyama but Amano hits a back elbow, cover, but Yoneyama gets out of it and delivers a dropkick.  Amano hits Yoneyama in the head and flings her down by the hair.  Quick roll-up by Yoneyama, but it gets a one count.  They trade moves on the mat, but neither can wrestler can get the advantage.  Yoneyama asks for Amano to lock knuckles, she does, but Yoneyama stomps her in the foot and brings her over to the ring post.  Yoneyama and Matsumoto pull Amano’s legs around the post and then bite her on the feet.  Yoneyama tags in Matsumoto, and Matsumoto clubs Amano in the back.  Irish whip by Matsumoto and she delivers a dropkick.  Cover by Matsumoto, but Amano kicks out.  Matsumoto picks up Amano, and Matsumoto throws Amano to the mat by her head.  Matsumoto tags in Yoneyama, and Yoneyama chokes Amano in the corner.  Yoneyama picks up Amano and slams her into the mat but Toyota runs in and kicks her.  Yoneyama applies the Muta Lock and stomps Amano in the back before tagging in Matsumoto.  Scoop slam by Matsumoto to Amano and Matsumoto hits a double knee stomp.  Matsumoto hits it a second time, and she throws Amano into the corner.  Knees to the midsection by Matsumoto, cover, but it gets a two count.   Yoneyama comes in the ring, but she gets snapped in the mouth by a band.  Amano hits a diving lariat out of the corner onto Matsumoto but Yoneyama hits her in the back with the band.  Double Irish whip to Amano but she ducks the lariat and tags in Toyota.  Toyota kicks both Matsumoto and Yoneyama, and Matsumoto twists Matsumoto in the ropes.  Toyota goes off the far ropes and dropkicks Matsumoto in the back.  Toyota goes up to the top turnbuckle but Matsumoto recovers and joins her.  Toyota shoves Matsumoto back to the mat and hits a missile dropkick.  Cover by Toyota, but it gets a two count.  Amano comes in the ring, they pick up Matsumoto but Matsumoto fights then both off.  Toyota and Amano kick Matsumoto, double Irish whip but Matsumoto hits a crossbody on both of them.  Yoneyama comes in the ring, and they throw Matsumoto and Amano into each other.  Matsumoto and Yoneyama charge them, but Amano and Toyota move out of the way. 

Toyota and Amano hit the Oklahoma Roll on both of their opponents, making everyone dizzy.  Matsumoto snaps Toyota’s neck on the top rope, Matsumoto goes up to the top turnbuckle and Matsumoto hits a missile dropkick.  Waistlock by Toyota and she hits a snap German suplex.  Matsumoto ducks a Matsumoto big boot, slap by Toyota but Matsumoto hits an elbow.  Toyota comes back with a big boot, Irish whip by Toyota and she hits a German suplex hold for a two count.  Toyota picks up Matsumoto but Matsumoto snaps off a backdrop suplex.  Toyota tags in Amano while Matsumoto tags in Yoneyama, Yoneyama and Amano trade elbows, and Amano hits a snap double arm suplex.  Amano picks up Yoneyama but Yoneyama hits a Northern Lights Suplex for a two count.  Yoneyama picks up Amano, they trade waistlocks and Amano hits a backdrop suplex.  Cover by Amano, but it gets a two count.  Amano picks up Yoneyama and rolls up Yoneyama, but it gets a two count.  Amano picks up Yoneyama, headbutts by Amano, she goes off the ropes but Yoneyama avoids her attack.  Yoneyama blocks an Amano headbutt and hits an elbow smash, Amano goes off the ropes but Yoneyama rolls her up for a two count.  Knees by Yoneyama, Irish whip, but Amano hits a jumping elbow.  Amano tags in Toyota, and Toyota comes off the top turnbuckle with a missile dropkick.  Toyota picks up Yoneyama, she puts Yoneyama on her shoulders and Amano goes on the top turnbuckle, but Yoneyama rolls up Toyota for a two count.  Yoneyama picks up Toyota and goes for a suplex, but Toyota blocks it.  Matsumoto comes in the ring and applies a waistlock to Yoneyama, helping Yoneyama hit a release German suplex onto Toyota.  Amano and Yoneyama jump onto Matsumoto, and she hits a double kneedrop to Toyota.  Yoneyama goes up to the top turnbuckle and hit a diving senton on Toyota, cover, but it gets a two count when Amano breaks it up.  Matsumoto picks up Toyota and puts her on her shoulders, Yoneyama goes up to the top turnbuckle but she misses the missile dropkick.  Toyota puts Yoneyama on her shoulders while Amano goes up top and Amano hits a headbutt while Toyota hits a suplex on Yoneyama for a two count.  Amano headbutts Matsumoto out of the ring, while Toyota picks up Yoneyama and hits the Japanese Ocean Queen Bee Bomb for the three count pinfall.  Your winners:  Manami Toyota and Carlos Amano

Match Thoughts:  The parts that were real wrestling were fun.  I have noticed that Amano matches tend to have some goofy spots and this match was no different, I find it odd when matches are 95% serious and 5% comedy.  I prefer matches just go all out one way or the other, not try to straddle the fence.  But it’s always nice to see Toyota, and the bulk of the action was very fast paced and crisp.  Score:  6.0

Aja Kong vs. Sonoko Kato
Kong stalks Kato around the ring, they lock knuckles and Kong pushes Kato to her knees before standing on her hand.  Stomp to the hand by Kong, snapmare, and Kong kicks Kato in the back.  Kong picks up Kato and chops her in the chest, but Kato elbows her back and they trade blows.  Irish whip by Kato, but Kong slams on the breaks and hits a lariat.  Kong picks up Kato, kicks to the leg by Kato but Kong hits her back, Irish whip by Kong and she hits a double chop to the chest before posing to the crowd.  Kong picks up Kato, kicks to the leg but Kato hits a dragon screw leg whip.  Kato dropkicks Kong while she is still on the mat, Kato throws Kong into the corner, and Kato kicks Kong to a seated position before hitting a cannonball.  Waistlock by Kato but Kong drops down and kicks Kato in the head.  Kong gets a metal box and hits Kato in the head with it.  Kong drags Kato over, she goes up to the second turnbuckle but Kato recovers and powerbombs Kong off the ropes to the mat.  Kicks to the face by Kato, she goes off the ropes but Kong is up and she hits a lariat.  Kong picks up Kato and hits a backdrop suplex, cover, but it gets a two count.  Kong picks up Kato and goes for a spinning backfist, but Kato ducks it and kicks Kong in the head.  Cover by Kato, but it gets two.  Kato picks up Kong and hits a release German suplex.  Kato goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a guillotine leg drop, cover, but Kong kicks out at two.  Kato picks up Kong and tries to pick up Kong, but Kong clubs her in the back and goes for a powerbomb.  Kato gets out of the powerbomb and ducks the spinning backfist, but Kong slaps her and hits a brainbuster.  Cover, but it only gets a two count.  Kong picks up Kato and nails the Uraken.  Cover, and Kong picks up the three count.  Your winner:  Aja Kong

Match Thoughts:  I don’t care what anyone else says, Aja Kong can still go.  “Heavyweight sprint” is a good way to go with her, as this match had very little downtime as they took turns beating on each other.  Kato was the clear underdog here as Kong was bigger and stronger but it was definitely not a squash match, Kato got in her share of offense and had a nice near fall as well.  I really enjoyed this one, they both played their roles perfectly and it was an entertaining match.  Score:  7.5

Hikaru Shida vs. Tomoka Nakagawa
This match is in Round 1 of the OZ Academy Openweight Championship Contendership Tournament.  Nakagawa goes for a enzigieri to start the match, Shida ducks it and the two trade quick pin attempts with neither wrestler getting much of the advantage.  Back up they lock knuckles, wristlock by Nakagawa but Shida rolls out of it and applies a hammerlock.  Nakagawa reverses the hammerlock, Shida applies a side headlock, Irish whip by Nakagawa but Shida shoulderblocks her down.  Dropkick by Shida, she goes off the ropes but Nakagawa delivers a jumping kick.  Nakagawa picks up Shida, Irish whip by Nakagawa to the corner and she hits a jumping elbow followed by a face crusher.  Mexican Surfboard by Nakagawa, she picks up Shida and hits another face crusher.  Handstand knee drops by Nakagawa, she picks up Shida and applies a front facelock.  Snapmare by Nakagawa and she hits a cartwheel dropkick.  Cover, but it gets a two count.  Nakagawa picks up Shida, elbows by Shida and she goes for a brainbuster but Nakagawa blocks it.  Wheelbarrow suplex into the turnbuckles by Shida, she picks up Nakagawa, Irish whip to the corner and Shida hits a jumping knee.  Shida pulls Nakagawa’s head over the apron, she goes out of the ring and Shida hits a knee lift.  Shida goes back into the ring and she stomps on Nakagawa.  Shida picks up Nakagawa and but Nakagawa wiggles away, Shida charges Nakagawa in the corner but Nakagawa moves.  Kick by Nakagawa and she hits a Fisherman Suplex for a two count cover.  Nakagawa waits for Shida to get up but Shida kicks away the lariat attempt.  Shida gets Nakagawa on her shoulders and hits a fireman’s carry onto her knees.  Shida picks up Nakagawa, Irish whip to the corner, reversed, Shida sends Nakagawa out to the apron and they trade elbows.  Elbows by Shida and she rams Nakagawa into the corner.  Shida goes up to the top turnbuckle and suplexes Nakagawa back into the ring.  Cover, but Shida only gets a two count.  Shida applies a Stretch Muffler but Nakagawa gets a hand on the ropes to break the hold.  Shida goes off the ropes and hits a knee to the face, she runs off the ropes again but Nakagawa trips Shida and kicks her in the back of the head.  Lariat by Nakagawa, cover, but it gets a two count.  Nakagawa waits for Shida to get up and goes off the ropes, but Shida catches her with a high kick.  Both wrestlers slowly get up and elbow each other, Shida goes off the ropes but she avoids Nakagawa’s kick.  Shida hits Nakagawa in the midsection with a kendo stick, and Shida hits a scoop Falcon Arrow.  Shida goes off the ropes but Nakagawa rolls up Shida for a two count.  Shida hits Nakagawa a few times with the kendo stick, she waits for Nakagawa to get up to a knee and she hits the Three Count.  Cover, but it gets a two count.  Shida picks up Nakagawa but Nakagawa gets away, enzigieri by Nakagawa but Shida fires back with a Tamashii no Three Count.  Falcon Arrow by Shida, but Nakagawa rolls backwards and pins Shida for the three count!  Your winner:  Tomoka Nakagawa

Match Thoughts: I'm not a huge fan of someone "rolling through" someone's successful finisher to pick up the win, but besides that it was a solid match. Shida needs to broaden her moveset a bit as she was repeating moves here which shouldn't be necessary in a match that is sub-10 minutes. You can tell that they train a lot as they are both very crisp in the ring, meaning there didn't seem to be any miscommunications or slightly missed moves.... everything was on target. So it could have been better, but it was a fun back and forth match. Score: 6.0 

Dynamite Kansai, AKINO, and Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Mayumi Ozaki, Yumi Ohka, and Mio Shirai
Ozaki and company charge their opponents to start the match, attacking them with various weapons. AKINO gets singled out and choked by Ozaki with a chain, Ozaki picks up AKINO and hits her in the head with the chain. Ozaki chokes AKINO again, Ohka comes into the ring and chokes AKINO in the corner. Shirai comes in the ring too, double Irish whip to AKINO and they hit a double big boot followed by a double kick to the stomach. They then both kick AKINO in the head, Ohka goes off the ropes and hits another big boot. Cover, but it gets a two count. Ohka tags in Shirai, and Shirai puts AKINO in the camel clutch. Ohka runs in the ring and kicks AKINO, Irish whip by Shirai to AKINO but AKINO snaps off a dropkick. Ozaki and Ohka charge the ring to stop AKINO from tagging out, and Shirai kicks AKINO in the back. Irish whip by Shirai but AKINO slams on the breaks and kicks Shirai in the stomach and then in the back. AKINO tags in Kansai, and Kansai kicks Shirai in the chest before hitting Ozaki and Ohka as well. Kick to the chest by Kansai to Shirai, she picks up Shirai and hits a vertical suplex. Cover, but it gets a two count. Kuragaki puts Shirai in a camel clutch so that Kansai can kick her, cover by Kansai but it gets a two count. Kansai tags in Kuragaki, lariat by Kuragaki in the corner and Kuragaki hits a vertical suplex. Cover, but it only gets two. Kuragaki picks up Shirai, she goes for a slam but Shirai gets out of it. Shirai drop toeholds Kuragaki onto the second rope, Ohka kicks Kuragaki from the apron and Shirai follows up with a tiger feint kick. Shirai tags in Ohka and Ohka kicks Kuragaki in the head. AKINO runs in the ring but Ohka kicks her as well, Kansai comes in and puts Ohka in the claw. Ozaki comes in to help but Kansai Irish whips both of them before being knocked down with a double jumping lariat. Ohka throws Kuragaki into the corner and hits a big boot before choking Kuragaki with her boot in the corner. Ohka goes off the ropes and hits a big boot to the head, she then goes up to the top turnbuckle and chokes Kuragaki while Ozaki kicks Kuragaki from the apron. Kuragaki gets out of it and gets Ohka on her shoulders, but Ohka wiggles off. Kuragaki slams Ohka to the mat and hits a lariat while Ohka is against the ropes. Kuragaki tags in Kansai and Kansai kicks Ohka repeatedly in the chest. Kansai picks up Ohka and goes for a suplex but Ohka lands on top of her.

Ohka goes off the ropes but Kansai blocks the boot and applies a sleeper. Shirai runs in the ring but Kansai puts her in the sleeper as well, AKINO comes in the ring while Kansai hits a double lariat onto Shirai and Ohka. Kansai goes off the ropes but Shirai trips her from the apron, then Shirai hits a scissors kick from the apron. Ohka hits a heel drop, cover, but Kansai kicks out at two. Ohka tags in Ozaki, who has her chain, and Ozaki hits Kansai in the head with the chain. She hits her a second time and a third, Irish whip by Ozaki and Ozaki hits Kansai in the corner with the chain. Irish whip again and another chain shot by Ozaki, Kansai grabs the other end of the chain and they get into a tug of war. Ozaki lets go of the chain to send Kansai flying, and all three wrestlers hit running strikes on Kansai in the corner. Ozaki picks up Kansai, they trade missed strikes until Ozaki gets the better of it with a roaring double chop. Ozaki goes off the ropes but AKINO runs in and dropkicks her, Kansai then drops Ozaki with a high angle backdrop suplex. Another backdrop suplex by Kansai, cover, but the pin attempt is broken up. Kansai picks up Ozaki again and goes for a powerbomb but Ozaki gets out of it with an armdrag. High kick by Kansai, cover, but again it gets two. Kansai tags in AKINO, AKINO goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick. Shirai then hits a missile dropkick onto AKINO, Kuragaki runs into the ring to take care of Shirai and Kansai comes in as well so they can trade kicks on Ozaki. Cover by AKINO, but it gets a two count. AKINO picks up Ozaki and hits the Aki Imploder, cover, but the pin is broken up. AKINO picks up Ozaki but Ohka runs in the ring and boots AKINO. Kansai comes in and hits a lariat onto both Ohka and Shirai, AKINO picks up Ozaki but Ozaki elbows her away. Jawbreaker by AKINO but AKINO is hit by a lariat by Ohka's manager guy. Ozaki chokes AKINO with her chain, AKINO is then thrown over the top rope and hung by it while Shirai hits AKINO with a kendo stick. Kansai gets AKINO down while being attacked by Ohka, and AKINO is rolled back into the ring. Shirai hits AKINO in the head with the stick, she then picks her up, Irish whip, and Ohka whips AKINO in the chest. Everyone has fun attacking AKINO, Shining Wizard by Ozaki and a cover, but the pin attempt is broken up.

Shirai is tagged in and she hits AKINO with the kendo stick before hitting a big boot, cover, but it gets a two count. Roll-up by Shirai, but Kuragaki breaks it up. Shirai grabs AKINO but AKINO gets away. Shirai puts AKINO in a crucifix but AKINO catches her and hits a Schwein. Shirai tops AKINO from tagging and goes off the ropes, but AKINO catches her with a superkick and tags in Kuragaki. Lariat to the back by Kuragaki to Shirai, Kuragaki positions Shirai in front of the corner and goes up to the top turnbuckle, but Shirai recovers and joins her up top. Kuragaki throws Shirai off the top turnbuckle, AKINO then joins Kuragaki up top and Kuragaki throws AKINO down onto Shirai. Kuragaki then hits a big splash off the second rope, cover, but the pin is broken up. Kuragaki goes up to the second turnbuckle but Ozaki hits Kuragaki from the apron with the chain. Kuragaki ducks a big boot attempt by Shirai and Ohka in the corner, she then gets both of them on her shoulders before throwing them to the mat. Kuragaki positions Shirai in the middle of the ring, she goes up to the top turnbuckle and nails the moonsault. Cover, but it is broken up. Kuragaki gets Shirai on her shoulders, Shirai tries to get off and she manages to sneak in a roll-up, but it gets a two count. Big kick to the side of the head by Shirai, cover, but Kuragaki is in the ropes. Shirai gets the kendo stick but Kuragaki ducks it and hits a superkick. Kuragaki then lariats Ohka before going back to Shirai, but Shirai hits her with the kendo stick and rolls her up for a two count. Kansai comes in to help, she picks up Shirai, double Irish whip but Ohka hits a diving crossbody on them. AKINO runs in, Ozaki knocks her out of the ring while Shirai picks up Kuragaki but Kuragaki grabs her and hits a Jikiden Falcon Arrow for a two count. Kansai and AKINO run in to hold off Ozaki and Ohka, and they all hit backdrop suplexes. Cover by Kuragaki on Shirai, but it only gets a two count. Kuragaki picks up Shirai and nails the Metal Wing, cover, and she picks up the three count. Your winners: Dynamite Kansai, AKINO, and Tsubasa Kuragaki

Match Thoughts: Well this match was something. Matches filled with chaos can be really entertaining or just really silly, and this match was somewhere in the middle. Some of these wrestlers are past their prime and are just limited as hell (there must have been 1,410 'big boots' in this match), so having people run in and out and using weapons is a good way to cover for that. I did miss something resembling a structure, since the chaos at times got repetitive it wouldn't have hurt if they slowed down and had a more 'normal' match before ramping it back up. There were some spots here and there that were different, such as choking AKINO with the chain, but at other times I just wanted them to get on with it. So not a bad match and for OZ a fitting main event, but nothing great either. Score: 5.0

Final Thoughts:

Best Match:Aja Kong vs. Sonoko Kato. Shockingly I really did think this was an entertaining match. It was quite short but they didn't waste any of the time they had. Kong is a limited wrestler for sure but this is the type of match she excels in and she never appeared winded or anything like that. Kato got in her fair share of offense while playing the role of underdog, so it never felt like a squash. A really solid match between these two.

MVP: Mio Shirai. Shirai was the 'work horse' in the main event. She was the youngest wrestler and spent a good chunk of the match in the ring and of course looking cute in the process. She certainly brought some 'life' to the match as her moveset is more varied and she wasn't just depending on weapons. Plus she was small enough that her larger opponents could easily ragdoll her around. I know she got pinned, but I thought she showed the most in the match and helped elevate it.

Overall: This event was certainly better than the last one I reviewed from OZ Academy. It is still hurt by only having five matches, but at least four of the five had redeemable traits. A few of the matches I would recommend, and even though I thought the main event was only average overall it is certainly watchable. I wouldn't call this a 'must see' event but most Joshi fans will find something here enjoyable, and it was nice to see Kong kicking some ass again.

Grade: C+

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review completed on 7/13/14