Before I get into this match, I want to say that something felt missing from this match. I cannot tell you what it is because I don't even know, but something is missing.
Quick thoughts/info on each wrestler:
Meiko Satomura - Meiko is one of the rock's of the mostly failed joshi generation from 2000-2010. Always a solid worker, reliable and a true embassador for joshi wrestling. She got started in Chigusa Nagayo's GAEA promotion and was a top rookie from the beginning. She eventually held GAEA's AAAW championship title and has been a consistent main eventer for years now. After GAEA closed, she opened up her mostly unsuccessful SENDAI Girls promotion, which runs infrequently and tends to focus on the non-existant Northern Japanese wrestling audience. Most companies would close shop once they realize this, but SENDAI is still having a few shows a year and is doing a little more in Tokyo.
Nanae Takahashi - Simply put, Nanae has been Joshi's ace for the last 5 or so years. She's always in the main event, she always delivers and I once saw her have three 4*+ matches in a span of 10 days. Nanae is one of the last holdouts from All Japan Women's dying days.
Fun facts: While during the 90's and early 2000's older joshi wrestlers tended to gain weight and lose some of their talent, the late 2000's wrestlers did the opposite. Whether it's Emi Sakura, Nanae or Meiko, alot of the top talent has tended to actually get thinner and get in better shape than they ever were to begin with!
Let's get to the match:
Opening: The opening was pretty good. They quickly started striking each other and their strikes have been some of the best I have seen in a while.Meiko has some seriously stiff forearms and Nanae's slaps make me feel the burn on Meiko's skin.
Middle portion: The middle portion was so-so. After a pretty good opening, things have to level off a little or else you are going to have to jump off of the building to get the action any hotter. Knowing this, the girls worked on the ground some without any serious advantages either way. This part kind of cooled me off as being a wrestling fan and a joshi fan in 2012, I know submissions aren't going to end the match. Therefore, it's kind of hard to get into it. Towards the end of the middle portion the girls go outside for some dives and start to get ready to put the big moves on.
Ending: The ending is your typical 2.999 style japanese wrestling. The strikes were still pretty good and the winner was still in doubt. Meiko fires up a little kicking Nanae hard and goes for the last ditch attempts at submissions. Without her working the submissions enough though, I found it hard to believe that a submission was going to end the match. Nanae ends up hitting Satomura with an arm trapped Emerald Fusion to take the match
Match thoughts:
This was mostly your typical Nanae main event match but like I said in the pre-face, something was missing. It was still a pretty good match, but I feel like I've seen it before.
Rating: *** 3/4 - I feel this is where this should be. It didn't really hit the 4 star range for me but was very close. I think it's overall probably worth a look though and I would reccomend it.
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