Arisa Nakajima is back! Let’s revel in that fact before we worry about the announcement made at the end of this show. Nakajima returned at Korakuen Hall in an all-star showdown that also included the start of a temporary return for Tsukasa Fujimoto. That sounds like a good time, doesn’t it? Let’s find out if it was.
Ayame Sasmura defeated Miria Kouga
Miria Kouga was making her debut, proving a welcome sight to any SEAdLINNNG fan. I don’t want to make this review about the show’s closing announcement, but they need the wrestlers. Christ, even before that news, they desperately needed a few fresh faces.
If we’re rating this on my classic scale for rookies (yes, I am the one who decided it was now considered classic), Miria passed with flying colours. There was no crying, hiding under the ring or dropping Sasamura on her head. Job done. If we were to go deeper than that, it was still a solid entrance to the scene. She didn’t have the immediate impact of someone like former SEAd rookie Rico Kaiju, but Kouga put in a good showing against an opponent who didn’t make things easy for her. Sasamura was enjoying casually booting her in the head as she tried to clamber to her feet and forced the newbie to work for every opening she got.
When she did find some space, Kouga hinted at the toughness you’d expect from a SEAd rookie. Alongside repeatedly slapping the mat as she pulled herself up to keep going, her early forearms had a bit of oomph behind them while her kicks sounded crisp. She never managed to do enough to seriously hurt Ayame, but they weren’t butterfly touches either, as everything felt suitably meaty. There were some classic rookie flaws, a bit of a tendency for her face to go blank and a sense that her brain was working away, remembering what to do next, but it was, on the whole, an impressive first showing. As you’d expect from anyone coming through under the watchful eye of Taiyo and Nakajima, there was potential there. Now, it’s up to her to realise it.
Verdict: A Solid Start
Sumire Natsu defeated Kaz Hayashi, Ram Kaicho, La Pedita and Ka Kedita in a High Speed match
It’s high speed time! To set the tone, Ka Kedita and La Pedita danced their way through everyone’s entrances, showing a blissful unawareness of whether the music was suitable or not.
With such a myriad collection of personalities involved, it’s probably not surprising to hear that this was a tad chaotic. My MVP, however, was Kaz Hayashi. It’s hardly a new idea to throw someone unused to high speed into the mix and see what happens, but that doesn’t stop it from being entertaining. He spent most of this match looking baffled as he veered from Natsu trying to seduce him to being booted in the balls to having to do a lot more running than he’d planned for. Despite being the biggest and perhaps toughest wrestler in that ring, Taiyo and her band of weirdos ran rings around him for the bulk of the action.
I am aware some people don’t enjoy this stuff, but I’ll never understand why. It’s all delivered with its tongue in its cheek, but that doesn’t ruin the almost intricate way these matches are crafted. Everything is done at a million miles an hour, with Taiyo as the ringmaster, dictating it all from her position as the world’s most active referee. I had a blast with it, but then I have a blast with nearly all high speed matches, so maybe you have to take that with a pinch of salt. Still, you should watch it.
Verdict: Poor Kaz
Rina Yamashita & Misa Kagura defeated Veny & ChiChi
Former princess Misa Kagura and SEAdLINNNG don’t feel like a natural fit, but there is something about this company that suits her. When she steps into that ring, she becomes as pure a babyface as you can find, full of bluster and a determination to throw herself at the biggest challenge possible. Here, that was Veny, who she spent the whole match trying to square up to. It didn’t matter that she was repeatedly outclassed and booted away. Misa kept going, throwing everything into trying to make an impact. For most of it, she might as well have been grappling a wall, but when she finally broke through and folded Veny up with a lariat it was brilliant. A moment of earned catharsis that felt special.
It was a showdown that also suited Veny to perfection, her laid-back, cocky and violent nature perfectly contrasting with Misa’s frantic heroism. She treated everything Kagura did with a touch of disdain, laughing her off as she no-sold her strikes. If anything, she was maybe a bit too good at acting above it all, as young ChiChi felt like she could get in on the act, delivering some dismissive kicks to Kagura’s head that she quickly paid for. Although she also gave a good account of herself in her closing stretch with Rina, managing to match her physicality with some boots to the face as she went down fighting.
All these ingredients came together to make a great mid-card tag. It would have been easy to throw Veny and Rina each other, and we did get a slither of that, but it wasn’t what this match was about. Instead, they used their talents to highlight the two younger wrestlers, letting them take centre stage and show what they could do. It was Misa who really took advantage of that, but ChiChi put in a decent shift, too, and both came out of this looking a little better than they did coming in.
Verdict: SEAd Misa Rules
Las Fresa de Egoistas (Makoto & Nagisa Nozaki) defeated CreAkari (AKARI & Crea) to retain the Beyond the Sea Tag Team Titles
It’s funny how big a difference the name on the mat makes. If you took this showdown and put it in Ice Ribbon (where three of these people are regulars), it wouldn’t look like this. SEAd is down to the barest of bones as far as its roster is concerned, but it still has an identity, and when they task you with having a tag title match, you know what’s expected. It doesn’t matter that Nanae has gone, and the shape of the promotion has shifted drastically. It’s still SEAdLINNNG, and with that name comes a degree of responsibility.
All of which is my way of saying that this match was physical. Makoto has been arguably the cornerstone of SEAd’s tag division in recent years, and she lays into those strikes. There was a moment where, with little to no theatrics, she leapt up and came down knees first on a kneeling AKARI, which looked damn sore. It wasn’t alone either, as most of what she did looked bruising, and the rest weren’t exactly holding back. I haven’t seen much of her and Nagisa as a team, but they make sense, as they both have a tendency to make sure their opponents feel it.
Sadly, for all that crunchiness, this never quite got its claws into me. For a lot of the match, they stuck at something of a mid-tempo pace, Nozaki, in particular, looking to slow things down. There were moments where it picked up, generally when AKARI and Crea got going with some cool double teamwork, but it was never sustained, and it always felt like they wrenched them back just a little too quickly. Coming in, I never really felt like there was a chance of the Pure J team pulling off the upset, and the last act seemed to confirm my suspicion as everything came to a conclusion before it felt like they’d got up to that top gear.
That’s not to suggest this was a total disaster, but it was solid rather than great. They delivered what I’d expect from a SEAd tag title match, but it felt like it could have gone a step or two further, pushing that physicality through to tap into something a bit more thrilling. Instead, we got something decent that I probably won’t remember in a month or two.
Verdict: Solid, But It Failed To Find That Top Gear
Arisa Nakajima, Sareee & Tsukasa Fujimoto defeated Hiroyo Matsumoto, Miyuki Takase & Hanako Nakamori
Arisa was back, and for a short while, all was well.
These big all-star matches are always fascinating. You go in expecting something great, and more often than not, you’ll get it. The question, however, is how they get there. With six top-tier wrestlers involved, you can’t have everyone trying to be the main character, so some people naturally have to step back and take on a supporting role. For example, this match had Sareee assisting rather than leading. That’s not a criticism – she still delivered all the meaty strikes you’d expect – but with two returning partners beside her, she accepted it wasn’t about her and mainly worked to help them look good.
However, the other way to look at that question is to ask who managed to stand out amongst such illustrious companions. Takase was arguably at the bottom of this particular totem pole, but she was the one who stole the early going. With her nerdy over-eagerness to get involved, even her partners were sneering at her, but that’s what she does best. Not only did it bring a touch of levity to proceedings, but it built nicely to her showdown with Arisa when all the comedy vanished, and Takase was throwing everything she had at the returning hero. It was a beautiful example of carving out a niche in a match that wasn’t about you.
Who it was about was Nakajima and (to a lesser extent) Fujimoto. With one returning from injury and the other from having a baby, Best Friends were thrust into the spotlight, and they were brilliant. I know Tsukka has made a few smaller returns and had the kid a while ago, but she’s presumably still having to keep that wee one alive, so I have no idea how she’s managed to stay in ring shape. I struggle to exercise and keep myself breathing, so the idea of having to do it with a kid in tow sounds horrifying. There was a lot of playing the hits here, leaping off Sareee and Arisa’s backs to hit a dropkick in the corner, but that’s what you wanted! A lovely reminder of just how good she is.
As for Nakajima, it didn’t take long for things to get violent. The first time she and Nakamori were left alone, they went straight to scrapping, grabbing fistfuls of hair as they tried to tear at each other. There was the occasional moment of hesitancy, the kind I can’t imagine you’d see from an Arisa who had been wrestling regularly, but they were tiny and barely worth a comment. On the whole, this was Nakajima coming out the blocks strong, ready to dish out the pain to everyone in the ring with her, regardless of how close they might be outside of it.
You can rely on matches like this. In the right circumstances, it’s a potential best of the year, and while I don’t think this was that, it was still damn good. They went out and put on the show you’d want from them, and if you’re the type of person who is watching SEAdLINNNG, I can’t picture a situation where you wouldn’t enjoy this.
Verdict: Great Stuff
As hinted at throughout this review, the main event was followed up by some sad news. Injuries have caught up with Arisa Nakajima, and this return will be short. She’s retiring in August. I don’t think I hold Nakajima in as high a regard as some others do, by which I mean I think she’s one of the greatest wrestlers in the world rather than the greatest, but this is still a massive loss, both for the scene and SEAd. That’s the future, though, and we can talk about it when it arrives. Right now, we’ve got four months to celebrate someone special, and I hope we can see her out in style.
Overall Show
That was a good show. SEAd’s Korakuens have delivered some of the best matches of the last decade, so the expectations are always high, and for the most part, it didn’t let me down. I don’t think there was anything at that level here, but even the flawed stuff was decent, and watching Arisa and Tsukka kick arse together in the main event was always going to be a joy. It gets the thumbs up from me.
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