We are back with another cluster of events from Pro Wrestling WAVE on V*PARADISE. Just a friendly reminder on how these shows work - this is four 30 minute TV shows that have slightly clipped down version of matches from several different events. This particular set of four shows had some matches from 2014, which I will not be reviewing here since this is 2015 matches only. Here are the matches we will be watching today:

WAVE on 5/3/15:

- AKINO and Yumi Ohka vs. Cherry and Shuu Shibutani

WAVE on 6/21/15:

- Catch The WAVE 2015: Cherry vs. Yumi Ohka
- Catch The WAVE 2015: Kana vs. Mika Iida
- Catch The WAVE 2015: Hikaru Shida vs. Ryo Mizunami

This won't be a long review since so many of the matches were from 2014, but still some quality Catch The WAVE action here. Let's get to it.

AKINO and Yumi Ohka vs. Cherry and Shuu Shibutani
This match took place on May 3rd, 2015. AKINO and Shibutani begin the match, Shibutani goofs off to start but AKINO isn't in the mood and kicks her around the ring. Shibutani quickly rolls up AKINO for a two count, but AKINO grabs her arm before she can tag in Cherry. Shibutani sneaks in a Northern Lights Suplex and makes the hot tag to Cherry, but Ohka comes in too to help AKINO. Cherry hits a jumping lariat on both of them, Shibutani returns to the ring and they both punch their opponents in the stomach before applying dual Scorpion Deathlocks. Shibutani holds Ohka for Cherry but Cherry hits Shibutani by accident, Ohka goes off the ropes but both punch her in the stomach. Shibutani and Cherry collide again and start pushing each other, Cherry punches Shibutani and elbows her in the corner. The ring fills with the WAVE roster and everyone hits running strikes on Shibutani in the corner. Its actually quite cute, since some are really smacking her and others are giving hugs or kisses. Even the referee gets in on it but finally everyone has their turn and AKINO dropkicks Shibutani. GAMI comes in the ring! She charges Shibutani but Shibutani moves out of the way and hits a Mongolian Chop. GAMI slaps her, they go to shake hands but Ohka runs in. They both elbow Ohka and then suplex Cherry onto Ohka. We clip ahead a bit as Shibutani and Ohka are in the bleachers, and Shibutani DDTs Ohka.

Back in the ring, snap tiger suplex by Ohka and she nails a big boot for a two count when Kana breaks it up! AKINO comes in, she picks up Shibutani but Cherry hits a missile dropkick from the top turnbuckle. Cherry chops AKINO and then Ohka, AKINO and Shibutani trade moves until AKINO hits a hard elbow. AKINO goes for the powerbomb, Shibutani reverses it into a hurricanrana but AKINO rolls through it. Ohka hits a chokebomb on AKINO (yes, on her teammate, everyone wants Shibutani to win), Shibutani goes for the Time Machine ni Notte but AKINO blocks it. AKINO points at Ohka, but Cherry dropkicks AKINO so Shibutani can roll her up, but Ohka breaks up the cover. High kick by AKINO to Shibutani and she hits a heel kick, Buzzsaw Kick by AKINO but Cherry breaks it up. AKINO kicks Shibutani some more, cover, but EVERYONE breaks it up. AKINO goes off the ropes but Ohka boots her, a chop by Cherry and GAMI hits a face crusher. Time Machine ni Notte by Shibutani, and she picks up the three count! This was so sweet. Wrestlers in Japan usually lose their last matches, but here literally the entire roster (including AKINO's own teammate) was trying to help Shibutani win the match. Shibutani was always a mid-card level fighter but was popular, so her going out in the main event with the roster trying to help her win was just fun to watch. Even GAMI was helping. Very emotional, needs to be seen to fully appreciate. Recommended

Cherry vs. Yumi Ohka
This match took place on June 21st, 2015 and is part of the Catch The WAVE Tournament. Cherry goes for a handshake to start the match, Ohka accepts but Cherry trips Ohka and rolls her up for a two count. Ohka blocks the next pin attempt and hits a heel drop, cover by Ohka but it gets two. Ohka goes for a suplex but Cherry reverses it, sending Ohka out of the ring. Cherry goes out after her and chokes Ohka before throwing her to the floor. Back in the ring, punch by Cherry and she hits a STO for two. Cherry slams Ohka's head into the mat, knee by Cherry and she goes for a roll-up, but Ohka blocks it. Armdrag by Cherry but Ohka hits a big boot, with a second one sending Cherry into the second rope. Backdrop suplex by Ohka, cover, but Cherry kicks out. Ohka picks up Cherry and goes for a tiger suplex, Cherry drops down but Ohka boots her in the back of the head. Back up, brainbuster by Ohka and she elbows Cherry, release German Suplex by Ohka and she hits a big boot, but it only gets two. Ohka goes off the ropes but Cherry chops her, Fantasy Illusion by Cherry and she picks up the three count! This was short and not particularly good. I guess that isn't fair since it was under five minutes, but neither do a lot for me anyway and it was mostly just pin attempts and pin attempt reversals. Not a big deal since it was part of the tournament which does tend to have a lot of pin attempts, but still not anything that needs to be seen.

Kana vs. Mika Iida
This match took place on June 21st, 2015 and is part of the Catch The WAVE Tournament. Iida goes for a roll-up right off the bat with no luck, she tries a few more times but Kana keeps kicking out. Cross armbreaker takedown by Kana but Iida is in the ropes to get a break. Kana kicks Iida in the corner, Iida fires back with elbows and she applies a kneelock, but Kana gets to the ropes to get the break. Iida stomps on Kana's leg, kneelock takedown by Kana but Iida gets to the ropes. Kicks by Kana but Iida hits an uppercut. Dropkick by Iida while Kana is in the ropes, she hits a side Russian leg sweep before applying a headscissors into a cross armbreaker, but Kana gets a foot on the ropes. Iida ducks Kana's kick and elbows her, backfist by Kana and she delivers a high kick for a two count cover. Buzzsaw Kick by Kana, but again Iida gets a shoulder up. Kana goes for another kick but Iida ducks it, she picks up Kana but Kana rolls her up for two. Elbows by Iida and another quick cover but Kana applies a cross armbreaker. Seated armbar by Kana, she gets behind Iida and goes for the chickenwing, but Iida blocks it and applies a kneelock. Kana gets out of it and hits a release German suplex, spinning kick by Kana and she applies the Kana Lock, making Iida submit! I understand it from the match psychology view, but for just enjoying a match as a fan I don't particularly like these matches being 50% quick pin attempts. The time limit is 15 minutes so its not like they have to rush to win, and it makes the match seem disjointed and random. Add in a few little miscues and it wasn't as smooth a match as I was hoping between these two. All that being said, Kana's strikes are always fun to watch as are her takedowns, so it wasn't a bad match. It just wasn't particularly good either.

Hikaru Shida vs. Ryo Mizunami
This match took place on June 21st, 2015 and is part of the Catch The WAVE Tournament. Mizunami quickly goes for a full nelson but Shida elbows out of it, Irish whip by Mizunami and she hits a lariat in the corner. Another lariat by Mizunami, cover, but it gets two. Shida goes for a hip attack but Mizunami catches her and hits a German suplex hold for two count. Mizunami charges Shida but Shida moves and Mizunami falls out to the ramp. Shida goes to the second turnbuckle and grabs Mizunami while she is on the apron, suplexing her back into the ring. Shida goes up top and hits a missile dropkick but Mizunami fires back with a shoulderblock. Big hip attack by Shida and she hits a backbreaker, she picks up Mizunami and hits a second one. Irish whip by Shida from the corner, Mizunami reverses it but Shida hits a rolling single leg crab hold until Mizunami makes it to the ropes. Running knee by Shida, she pulls Mizunami's head over the apron and hits a kneelift from the floor. Shida goes for a jumping knee out on the floor but Mizunami catches her and slams Shida back-first into the ring post. Mizunami then gets on the apron and hits a diving lariat down to the floor before returning to the ring. Shida slowly follows, Mizunami picks her up and hits lariats against the ropes before hitting a jumping leg lariat to the back of Shida's head. Mizunami hits two leg drops, cover, but it gets a two count. Mizunami picks up Shida but Shida wiggles away, Shida goes off the ropes but Mizunami catches her with a powerslam for a two count. Mizunami applies the Anaconda Vice, but Shida rolls to the ropes to force the break. Mizunami goes up top but Shida smacks her before she can jump off, Shida joins Mizunami but Mizunami pushes her off. Mizunami goes for the guillotine leg drop but Shida rolls out of the way before kneeing Mizunami in the back of the head.

Shida picks up Mizunami and hits an enzuigiri, jumping knee by Shida in the corner and she delivers a vertical suplex for a two count. Shida gets Mizunami on her shoulders and hits the backbreaker, cover by Shida but it gets two. Shida applies the Stretch Muffler but Mizunami gets into the ropes to get the break, elbow by Shida back up but Mizunami returns fire. They lock hands and keep elbowing each other, Shida goes off the ropes but Mizunami hits a lariat. Another lariat by Mizunami, cover, but Shida gets a shoulder up. Mizunami misses a jumping leg lariat but she grabs Shida and goes for a dragon suplex, but Shida pokes her eyes and sneaks in an inside cradle for two. Shida goes for a knee by Mizunami blocks it and hits Shida in the leg. Shida snaps of a hurricanrana but Mizunami hits a lariat for a two count. Shida gets away from Mizunami and hits the jumping knee, cover, but it only gets two. Shida picks up Mizunami and delivers the Falcon Arrow, but that also gets two. Shida goes off the ropes and nails the Three Count, but Mizunami quickly gets out of the cover. She tries a second one, but again Mizunami kicks out. Shida goes off the ropes again but Mizunami catches her with a dragon suplex hold for a two count. Mizunami goes up top but Shida joins her and nails the Avalanche Falcon Arrow for a two. Tamashii no Three Count by Shida, and she picks up the count! Unlike the last match, here both were content on trying to win by destroying their opponent, and it sure was fun to watch. Shida is one of the best women's wrestlers in the world right now, she is just on point with everything she does and is constant energy. Mizunami can more than hold her own so what you had here was a great match with lots of hard hits and drama. I wish it wasn't clipped a little bit but not much was, and I thought it was one of the more fun matches I've seen in awhile. Definitely worth a watch. Recommended

Final Thoughts:

Of the four episodes, two highlighted old matches and two had 2015 matches, which is why this review is so short. Of the four matches we got to see, one was emotional as a wrestler retired, and one was a great physical back-and-forth match I'd recommend to anyone. Unfortunately the other two fell flat, even though I think it is pretty well documented that I adore Kana. If you get a chance to just get #161 and #162 I don't think you'll be disappointed, and the retirement of a long-term wrestler is always worth seeing as it is very emotional for everyone involved.

Grade: B- 

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event reviewed on 8/2/15