Date:  February 1st, 2015
Location:  Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance:  201

This is a small show even for WAVE, so I go in with limited expectations.  We have our usual cast of characters, no major freelancers on this show, but my current favorite young wrestler Kobayashi is on the card so I am sure I will enjoy that one.  Here is the full card:

- Kagetsu and Sawako Shimono vs. Mika Iida and Hiroe Nagahama
- Cherry vs. Rina
- Kaho Kobayashi vs. Tsukushi
- Misaki Ohata, Mio Shirai, and Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Yumi Oka, Moeka Haruhi, and Fairy Nipponbashi
- AKINO vs. Shu Shibutani
- Ayako Hamada and Yuu Yamagata vs. Kyusei Sakura Hirota and Hikaru Shida

Let’s get into it.

Kagetsu and Sawako Shimono vs. Mika Iida and Hiroe Nagahama
Kagetsu and Iida start off and they quickly go to the mat.  Iida lets Kagetsu up and they start arm work before Iida gets Kagetsu back to the mat.  Kagetsu kicks Iida in the back but Iida hits a side Russian leg sweep.  Kagetsu rolls Iida down but Nagahama breaks it up.  Jumping elbow by Kagetsu and she kicks Nagahama off the apron before hitting a swandive dropkick.  Reverse STO by Iida and she tags in Nagahama.  Dropkick by Nagahama but Kagetsu avoids the second one.  Successful dropkick by Nagahama and she hits another one in the corner.  Nagahama loves dropkicks.  Scoop slam by Nagahama and she gets a two count.  Kagetsu and Nagahama trade elbows and Kagetsu tags in Shimono.  Shimono shoulderblocks Nagahama and Shimono hits a scoop slam.  Shimono applies a Mexican Surfboard before letting Nagahama go so both she and Kagetsu can take turns attacking Nagahama.  Nagahama sneaks in a roll-up for two but Shimono hits a shoulderblock.  Nagahama tags in Iida and Shimono hits a Samoan Drop.  Shimono goes for a seated senton but Iida moves. Nagahama runs in and dropkicks Kagetsu while Iida dropkicks Shimono.  Rolling Fisherman Suplexes by Iida but Shimono hits a Samoan Drop for two.  Roll-up by Iida for two, she grabs Shimono and pins down her legs for the three count.  This was a good way to open up the show, I really like Iida and the match worked well.  Solid way to start things off.  Score:  6.0

Cherry vs. Rina
This is a three points submissions match.  They are going wearing a Gi-like outfits because they are totally serious.  They trade grappling until Rina hits a judo throw, getting a point.  They go to the mat and struggle around, Cherry gets Rina in a submission and Rina taps.  So she gets a point.  They end up back on the mat pretty soon, Rina applies a cross armbreaker but Cherry gets to the ropes.  Rina kicks Cherry in the face and hits a lariat in the corner, followed by another lariat.  Cover, and she gets a two count, so I guess it isn’t a submissions match anymore.  I think they forgot their own gimmick.  Rina locks in a submission but Cherry gets to the ropes.  Cherry goes off the ropes but Rina chokes her with her Gi strap before chopping Cherry in the neck for a two count cover.  Lariat by Cherry but it gets a two count.  Cherry goes off the ropes and she rolls up Rina, getting the three count.  I don’t know if they stopped the submission thing, if it changed to pinfall at some point or what, either way it wasn’t very good. Cherry is no submissions expert so the first half was clunky, and then it was just pin attempts.  I mean it wasn’t bad, there were no mistakes and it flowed pretty well, it just wasn’t very entertaining.  Score:  4.0

Kaho Kobayashi vs. Tsukushi
This match is part of Kobayashi’s Trial Series.  Kobayashi is adorable.  I had to make sure she was over 18 before I said that, you never know with Joshi.  We join this in progress (sad face) with Kobayashi covering Tsukushi for two.  Scoop slam by Kobayashi and she hits a pair of sentons.  Short armbar by Kobayashi but Tsukushi gets to the ropes.  Dropkick by Kobayashi, she goes up top and hits a missile dropkick.  Kobayashi picks up Tsukushi and hits a bridging capture suplex for two.  Killswitch by Tsukushi but Kobayashi fires back with an elbow and both wrestlers are on the mat.  Back up they trade elbows, and Kobayashi delivers a dropkick.  They trade dropkicks, Tsukushi goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick.  Tsukushi grabs Kobayashi and she hits a tiger suplex hold for the three count.  I am sad this was clipped because it looks like we missed some Kobayashi offense.  It wasn’t a surprise she lost since it is her trial series, and Tsukushi is solid as well.  Lots of dropkicks, but what we saw was fun.  Score:  5.0

Misaki Ohata, Mio Shirai, and Fujimoto vs. Yumi Oka, Moeka Haruhi, and Fairy Nipponbashi
Nipponbashi and Shirai start off, but so does Ohata and Fujimoto and Shirai gets a paddle to hit Nipponbashi with.  Ohata dropkicks Nipponbashi in the head and they pose on her.  Nipponbashi’s teammates make no attempt to help.  Nipponbashi gets her wand to get out of the situation and tags in Haruhi.  Haruhi throws Shirai into the corner and Haruhi hits a body avalanche.  She hits a second one, she goes up top but Shirai hits her and throws her off.  Boot to the head by Shirai and she hits another one for two.  Shirai tags in Ohata and Ohata chokes Haruhi with a piece of rope.  Body press by Ohata to Haruhi and they trade elbows.  Christo by Haruhi and she rolls up Ohata for a two count.  Haruhi tags in Oka and Oka boots Haruhi in the corner because that is her only wrestling move.  Dropkick by Ohata but Oka boots her again.  Oka hits a suplex, then Haruhi comes off the top with a doublestomp.  Shirai hits Oka from the apron then runs in and hits a tiger feint kick.  German suplex by Ohata but it gets two.  Brainbuster by Oka and he tags in Nipponbashi.  Fujimoto is also tagged in and hits a PK to Nipponbashi.  Crossface by Fujimoto and she applies a cross-arm submission.  Nipponbashi is thrown in the corner and Fujimoto hits a dropkick.  Body slam by Fujimoto but Haruhi breaks it up.  Shirai and Fujimoto kick but Nipponbashi uses her wand on Fujimoto.  Oka hits Fujimoto with a heel drop, Nipponbashi goes for a rollup but Fujimoto reverses it and she picks up the three count.  These short six man tag matches don’t do a lot for me, I really like some of these girls (Ohata and Shirai) and am lukewarm on others (Oka and Nipponbashi) but with a match structured like this it doesn’t really matter.  Just mid-card filler and not memorable in any way.  Score:  4.0

AKINO vs. Shu Shibutani
Shibutani trips AKINO and Shibutani hits a pair of armdrags.  AKINO facewashes Shibutani in the corner then slams her before hitting a leg drop.  AKINO rakes Shibutani’s eyes and twists her arm in the ropes.  AKINO and Shibutani trade elbows, Shibutani slides out to the apron and snaps AKINO’s neck on the top rope.  Slingshot DDT by Shibutani and she dropkicks AKINO out of the ring.  AKINO returns the favor on the neck snapping and then knees Shibutani in the chest.  Stunner by Shibutani and she hits a DDT.  Mongolian Chops by Shibutani but AKINO hits a heel drop.  Shibutani knocks AKINO out of the ring, she goes up top and hits a plancha suicida.  Back in the ring, Northern Lights Suplex by Shibutani but it gets two.  German suplex by Shibutani but AKINO hits a PK.  Shibutani rolls up AKINO and they trade trips until Shibutani hits a rolling cutter.  Shibutani elbows AKINO but AKINO kicks her in the head.  High kick by AKINO and she kicks Shibutani in the head again.  Shibutani reverses a powerbomb into a hurricanrana, Shibutani goes for a roll-up but AKINO blocks it and covers Shibutani for a three count.   A decent back and forth between the two but nothing earth shattering.  It ended pretty suddenly, I wouldn’t have minded them going a bit longer with it as it felt like they had more left in the tank.   Pretty average overall.  Score:  5.5

Ayako Hamada and Yuu Yamagata vs. Kyusei Sakura Hirota and Hikaru Shida
A nice mixture of wrestlers and Hirota.  Yamagata and Hirota start off and trade holds on the mat but neither can get the advantage.  Hirota tags in Shida while Hamada is also tagged in and they are working at a snail’s pace at the moment, which is a sure sign this will not be a short match.  Hirota comes in to help and Hamada is hit with a double hip attack.  Shida throws Hamada in the corner and hits a jumping knee.  Headbutt by Hamada but Shida hits a hurricanrana followed by a hip attack.  Shida tags in Hirota, Hirota jumps in the ring and chops Hamada in the arm.  Hamada does a quasi-comedy type gimmick and it isn’t meshing with me here in the main event against more serious wrestlers.  Think I’ve had that complaint about Wave before.  Hirota and Shida both put Hamada in a submission hold but Yamagata breaks it up.  Double Irish whip to Hamada and Shida helps Hirota kick her.  Hirota holds Hamada but Shida elbows Hirota by accident.  Hamada grabs Hirota’s arm and walks the ropes, hitting an armdrag/headscissors combination.  Hamada gets Shida out of the ring and elbows Hirota in the corner before going up top and hitting a missile dropkick.  Hamada tags in Yamagata, Hirota grabs her arm and does up top, she walks the ropes but Yamagata kicks the rope.  Dropkick by Yamagata and she tags in Hamada.  Backdrop suplex by Hamada, she goes up top but Hirota grabs her.  Hamada punches Hirota away and hits a dropkick. 

Back bodydrop by Hirota, big boot by Hamada but Hirota kisses her and tags in Shida.  Hamada acts like the kiss hurt and then trades elbows with Shida.  Enzigieri by Shida and she hits a vertical suplex.  Wristlock by Shida, they trade strike attempts and Hamada hits a backdrop suplex.  Shida applies an ankle hold, Yamagata tries to break it up but fails.  Hamada gets to the ropes to break it up.  Hamada gets away from Shida and kicks her in the head, Hamada goes up top and hits a moonsault for a two count.  Enzigieri by Shida and she tags in Hirota while Yamagata tags in, oil check by Hirota and she hits La Magistral for a two count.  Kick to the head by Yamagata as I ponder how I can take a match seriously with a random oil check in the middle of it.  Armbreaker by Hirota but Yamagata is too close to the ropes.  Yamagata tags in Hamada, and Hamada hits a missile dropkick.  Sliding kick by Yamagata before Hamada hits a powerbomb, but Hirota rolls up Hamada for two.  Rolling chop by Hirota but Yamagata breaks up the pin.  Hamada grabs Shida and with Yamagata they hit a powerbomb/backstabber combination on her.  Shida is done, Yamagata puts Hirota in a stretch while Hamada hits a doublestomp.  Hamada picks up Hirota, nails the high kick, but Shida recovers to break it up.  Hamada locks Hirota in the La Ayakita, and she gets the submission.  As I mentioned, I really don’t like having one comedy wrestler in a match with three other more serious wrestlers.  Comedy wrestling certainly has its place, and generally I enjoy it, but here it just disjointed the action whenever Hirota was in the ring.  Hamada looked good and the other two were solid, it just wasn’t really what you’d expect from a main event.  Score:  5.0

Final Thoughts:

This wasn’t a great show.  The best way I can describe this event is ‘meh’.  The matches were generally very watchable but nothing on here went past that line.  Unless you adore Kobayashi as much as I do, there really isn’t any reason to watch this show even though nothing was bad on it.

Grade:  D

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review completed on 2/28/15