Meiko Wins Yes We Can, Nanae Injured

Quite a bit going on this week, as "Golden Week" is well under way in Japan.

April 29th saw many more exchanges of the DDT Iron Man Heavy Metal title. The day started with a stuffed doll/action figure of deathmatch worker Jun Kasai as the champion. Takako Inoue won the title backstage at the Atrocious Alliance show, then brought it to WAVE to defend in a royal rumble style match. Apple Miyuki, the action figure, "Black Angel" Jaki Numazawa, Toshie Uematsu, and Cherry won the title, but Bullfight Sora left with the belt.

Mio & Io Shirai became the first holders of the TLW Tag Team title (for younger women) by beating Moeka Haruhi & Tomoka Nakagawa. Yumi Ohka & Nanae Takahashi beat Azumi Hyuga (subbing for Ayako Hamada, stuck in Mexico due to the swine flu situation) and Hanako Kobayashi.

The 29th also saw Sasori's retirement show. She's the skinny skinhead who debuted in AJW in the mid 1990s and is also known as Miyuki Fujii. The opener saw Fujii (wearing a wig) against Sakura Hirota (wearing a skinhead cap) in Sakura's first match since GAEA's final show. They went to a draw. Then Sasori teamed with Dump Matsumoto for the final time and beat Cherry & Toshie Uematsu, with Sasori using the Scorpion Clamp on Cherry. Dump turned on Sasori after the match and started beating the crap out of her, but Cherry & Toshie made the save and Sasori got an unofficial pinfall over Dump. The main event was Sasori against Zenjo classmate Nanae Takahashi. During the match, the other girls of that time period (Momoe Nakanishi, Miho Wakizawa, Kayo Noumi) came out of the crowd and briefly aided Nanae. The Nanaracka was the end for Sasori, and the traditional retirement ceremony followed.

The 29th also saw another Fuuka Matsuri. They sang, they danced, Mini Giant Baba beat Fuuka Kidd and Bullfight Sora, and Fuuka won the main event as usual, beating Ayumi Kurihara.

April 30th had the "Yes We Can" show, a 14 woman tournament sponsored by Oz Academy's Chikayo Nagashima, Sonoko Kato, and Carlos Amano. All competitors were from the mid-to-late 90s generation. Meiko Satomura won the tournament, beating Sonoko in their first singles match in 8 years, Ran Yu-Yu, and Chikayo in the finals. She won a cool sombrero and a future TV match in AAA. I'm not sure about Meiko working well in lucha libre. Both competitors were eliminated in case of a time-limit draw and this stipulation was used to conveniently get JWP champ Kayoko Haruyama and NEO's Yoshiko Tamura out of the tournament. Azumi Hyuga did job to Carlos Amano, who in turn lost in the semis to Chikayo.

The Revolucion Amandola show on May 2nd saw Atsuko Emoto in a three match series and Kyoko Kimura playing with lighttubes. Emoto beat Ayumi Kurihara in a 2 count match, drew with AKINO in a no pinfalls match, and then lost to Aja Kong in a hardcore falls count anywhere match. It looks like they used tables and ladders before Kong used the vertical brainbuster on the outside. Kimura teamed with Yuko Miyamoto against Takashi Sasaki & Masashi Takeda in the lighttubes/electric fans match. Apparently none of the other ladies want a part of this. Kimura ended up bloody and taking the fall.

JWP had a show on May 3rd. Arisa Nakajima has been absent from recent shows and for the immediate future for undisclosed reasons. JWP's main event was Kyoko Kimura (the next challenger for the JWP title) against Tojuki Leon. The match ended in a no contest and an impromptu tag match with Revolucion Amandola vs Leon, Kaori Yoneyama, and Pinkie Mayuka ensued, with Pinkie losing to Emoto. Expect more of R.A. torturing the JWP undercard over the next few months.

OZ Academy had the 2nd round of matches in their #1 contenders league, with a special point system. Aja Kong, Manami Toyota, and Carlos Amano all picked up 3 points by winning singles matches, over Mayumi Ozaki, Hiroyo Matsumoto, and Takako Inoue respectively. Hiren failed to pick up any points, taking the fall in a tag match with KAORU against Dynamite Kansai & Tomoka Nakagawa. Aja currently leads with 4 points with 4 rounds of matches left. Chikayo Nagashima & Sonoko Kato retained the OZ Tag Team championship after a 30 minute draw versus AKINO and Ran Yu-Yu. I'd expect a rematch.

Finally, the biggest news was the unexpected, accidental change of titles at the Passion Red show. Nanae Takahashi was defending the NEO/NWA Pacific singles titles against Emi Sakura, when a botched powerbomb knocked Nanae out and forced a referee stop. Nanae was taken to the hospital, has a concussion but nothing further, and is out for the immediate future. Emi finally wins the titles, but not the way she would have wanted. Nanae was supposed to defend against Yoshiko Tamura on May 5th, but this is off and I'd guess Emi will take Nanae's place and immediately drop the belts.