Sukeban 9/21/2023

Sukeban 9/21/2023

So this is Sukeban. We had basically heard for a while that a joshi promotion was forming in the US with some backstage people from Stardom involved. We got more details and it sounded like some artsy thing with a money mark. Everyone has new, over the top gimmicks and clothing. Some anime videos were made for this. Mostly, people just were talking about how much money they were going to lose over this.

We get a very short anime intro and then an announcer speaks in half-Japanese and half-English. He announces the various factions and says this is Sukeban.

Cherry Bomb Girls (Crush Yuu, Supersonic & Riko Blondie) vs The Vandals (Atomic Banshee, Otaku-chan & BINGO)

Sonic and Otaku start us off. Otaku wristlocks her then Sonic cartwheels and headflips out of a wristlock. Sonic runs the ropes fast then Otaku armdrags her from behind. Otaku goes for the pin and they stare down. Riko and Bingo go at it. Bingo gets a chant and gives Riko a thumbs down. Riko trips her and basement dropkicks her. Bingo pulls Riko over the top rope.

Yuu and Banshee get in. Banshee runs into her and goes down then eye rakes her. Banshee flips her off and does weird invisible dagger taunt that somehow hurts Yuu. Banshee tries to crossbody her but Yuu doesn't budge. Yuu then does her stupid steamroller spot to the outside.

Sonic gets in, snapmares Banshee and kind of walks on her. Sonic then does a cartwheel into an elbow to finish the move. Riko footchokes Bansee then shotgun dropkicks her in the corner. Banshee gets on Riko's back and sleepers her then Banshee crossbodies her.

Bingo hits mounted forearms on Riko. Yuu is pushed into Sonic. Bingo does the invisible wall mime routine and Yuu does sumo poses and somehjow breaks it. Bingo backbreakers Riko then Riko dropkicks her. Otaku does a pump motion and somehow inflates Bingo. Yuu then misses a senton.

Otaku knocks her opponents off the apron then Yuu takes running corner attacks. Otaku bulldogs Yuu for 2. Yuu suplexes Otaku then Sonic 619's Otaku. Riko hits a northern lights suplex then Yuu sentons Otaku. Yuu hits her 2nd rope bear-bear splash on Otaku and wins it.

This was bizarre, Chikara style wrestling. People were playing with invisible objects and acting goofy. The work was significantly worse than what these girls usually do. They did keep a fast pace though but some of the stuff they were doing didn't really translate onto the video like it may have in person.

Konami vs Saki Bimi vs Queen Takase

Konami's wearing a blue dress here. Saki's in a sailor's outfit and Takase is wearing a red dress. They do a three person lock up then all 3 hit armdrags and roll-ups. Saki shoulders Konami over then Konami chest kicks her. Konami puts her in a camel clutch and Takase also puts a boston crab on Saki at the same time.

Saki takes running corner lariats then is sapmared and kicked in the back. Takase hair throws Saki then Konami goes too. Takase and Konami start fighting then Saki bulldogs them both. Saki hits an atomic drop and a running facekick on Takase. Saki then vader bombs Takase or 2. Takase dropkicks Saki then abdominal stretches her. Konami then abdominal stretches Takase while she does that. Saki slips out and headlocks both.

We get a three way forearm exchange. Takase is double teamed then hits double chops. Takase is then double booted. Konami and Saki trade forearms and Saki facekicks her on the ropes. Konami germans her then Saki rocking chairs Konami. Saki michinoku drivers Konami and Konami rolls her up. Konami buzzsaw kicks her.

Konami facekicks Takase off the apron then Konami sunset flips Saki and wins it.

This was bad. Everyone was wrestling in slow motion and had trouble moving around in their outfits. Everything looked bad and it was just embarrassing.

Saki tries to get Konami to join her team after but she teams up with Takase instead. Maya Yukihi then makes the save for Saki.

Stray Cat vs Midnight Player

They trade wristlocks and Cat snapmares her. Cat headlock takeovers her and rolls her up for 2. Player bites Cat's ear then Cat kicks Player in the chest. Cat eye rakes her in the corner then kicks her in the back for 2. Player facekicks her then facekicks her again in the corner. Player then hits a reverse sling blade for 2.

Player pulls back Cat's arm and kind of curbstomps her. They trade chops then Cat hits a forearm flurry. Player boots Cat then facekicks her off the apron. Cat pop-up knees her for 2. Cat is put in a submission then rolls and ankle locks her. Player elbow slices her then Player hits another sling blade for 2.

Cat pops her up into a spinning high kick. Cat then runs, stops and kicks her in the chest to win it.

I do kind of like the Stray Cat character, but the wrestling was pretty bad here. Player did not look good just losing to a simple chest kick.

Player tries to invite Cat to join her Vandals faction but Cat says no.

Dangerous Liaisons (Lady Antoinette & Commander Nakajima) vs Harajuku Stars (Maya Mamushi & Babyface)

 

Maya and Baby come in and dance around to "I Want Candy". Maya and Baby get hit from behind, get whipped into each other htne do a dosey do into forearms. Lady is spin kicked into a bulldog. Baby takes a double boot then is footchoked on the ropes. Nakajima stomps Baby then chokes her with her hair. Nakajima then basement dropkicks her.

Lady gets a chain and nails Baby with it. Baby headscissors her into acradle then Maya top rope crossbodies Lady. May makes her comeback and hits a big high kick on Nakajima. May jumping knees Lady. Maya hits some shots on Lady then Lady pulls the ref in the way. Nakajima then hits knees on Maya.

Lady chokes Maya with a chain then Lady does a spinning back rackbomb on Maya. Nakajima facekicks Maya then rolls her into a double stomp. Nakajima facekicks Maya on the ropes then Maya basement dropkicks her. Maya is tripped by Lady on the outside then Baby gets in.

Baby crossbodies Nakajima for 2 and armbars her. Baby hits forearms on Nakajima then Nakajima drops her with one. Nakajima top rope dropkicks Baby then hits a cuty special on her to win it.

In-ring wise it was the best thing so far on this show. But due to the outfits, they all kind of worked slower and didn't hit things as well as they usually do. Maya had a short skirt on and small underwear on, so she had to spend most of the match covering up. Not complaining by any means, but I was surprised someone didn't realize that was going to happen. I really do kind of like the Babyface and Maya tag team and I like the gimmick.

Bull Nakano came out and was announced as the commissioner. She had a title belt and said they would have a match for it. She was super hard to understand.

Sukeban World Championship Eliminator Match - Ichigo Sayaka defeated Countess Saori

 Sayaka poses on the ropes and is hit from behind. Saori chokes her in the corner then facewash kicks her on the ropes. Sayaka's head is banged off the steps then she is stomped in the ring. Saori bridges out of a pain and axe kicks her back. Saori indian deathlocks her and drops back. Saori puts her in a figure four and pulls on her hair during it.

Saori slaps her and eye rakes her. Sayaka facekicks her and limps on a running back elbow. Sayaka legdrops her for 2 then does a gori special submission. Saori dropkicks her in the leg. They trade chest forearms then Sayaka facekicks her. Sayaka sliding d's her for 2 then Saori dropkicks her in the knee. Saori fisherman suplexes her then figure fours her.

Sayaka rolls her up after avoiding a facekick then does another roll-up and wins it. Or....no. The announcers say Sayaka won but the match keeps going. Saori dragon screws her then Sayaka rolls her up to win it.

It really wasn't that good. They completely botched the finish and the announcers said the match was over when it wasn't. Sayaka had high lifts on her shoes and was struggling just to stay up with them. Meanwhile, Saori had too small of an outfit on and was adjusting it the whole match. 

 

Sayaka and Nakajima push each other and Nakajima hits mounted forearms. Their factions come out and we get a big brawl. Bull Nakano then says it will be Sayaka vs Nakajima for the title on the next show, though it's not clear why or how if this was an eliminator.

Overall thoughts: It was basically WOW. Everyone had gimmicks and is in factions. Oddly, despite many of these girls being good workers, they had bad WOW quality matches. Everyone looked like half the workers they usually are. Everyone significantly simplified their movesets. Everyone struggled to move around and many of them spent their time pulling at their costumes as they didn't fit well. The announcers had a lot of screw-ups including announcing that the main was over when it was still going on. The venue was dark, making it hard to see and supposedly, the TikTok stream for this was awful. I really didn't enjoy covering this as everyone had different names and some girls looked completely different, making it very confusing to talk about. It was like the one Twilight Zone ep (Wordplay) where various words started meaning completely different things and the main character was confused. I don't know if this will be the only show from Sukeban or not, so we will have to see what happens.