After a sparsely attended Korakuen in January, Ice Ribbon returned to that famous old venue backed by what appeared to be a much healthier crowd. With the show headlined by a rare mother vs daughter battle, plus the return of the Triangle Ribbon title and a hoss pairing going after the tag belts, this had the structure of a pre-everything going wrong Ice card, which is what I want to see. Let’s see if the vibes were able to match the potential.
YuuRI & Saran defeated Yuko Sakurai & Arisa Shinose
With Momoka Hanazono recently complaining that she’d run out of bubble wands, it’s brave of Saran to show hers off. If I had to choose a wrestler to feud with a child because she wants to steal their toy, it would be Hanazono, and if the powers that be at Ice Ribbon aren’t already planning on having that happen, they can have the idea for free. Yes, I realise I’m endorsing bullying a teenager.
Not that Saran needs more people to flaunt their size and power advantage over her. She already had Sakurai flourishing under the rare chance to be the dominant force in a match, goading the youngster into hitting her before showboating as she powered her up for a slam. Yuko and Arisa acted sweet and innocent before the bell, but it didn’t extend to how they treated poor Saran. While I’m not sure Sakurai will ever be a natural heel (even this had her being a little bit too smiley to come across as a proper bastard), it was fun to see her get the chance to stretch a different part of her skill set.
It also added a smidge of satisfaction to the finish, as after a helping hand from YuuRI, Saran picked up a win over Arisa. That’s not a huge upset, with Saran technically being the veteran in that pairing, but it felt like she’d had to work for it, particularly after spending the bulk of the match in the ring. It was a feel-good ending to a solid opener that did everything it needed to, even if it never extended beyond the basics.
Verdict: A Decent Start
Ancham defeated Yappy and bankrupted her
Yappy vs Ancham was outstanding undercard wrestling, and there’s not even a hint of backhanded compliment intended in that sentence. They took what, on paper, looked like a throwaway match and (thanks to their friendship outside of the ring) added some stakes by declaring that the loser would pick up the winner’s bar tab. It might not be a life or death situation, but if you’ve seen Ancham’s Twitter and how fond she is of a drink, it could be a bankruptcy one, so that simple story gave this match the perfect slither of tension to compliment their talents.
And they kept that neat storytelling going into the action. Early on, this was all Yappy, as she shrugged off Ancham’s early attempts at a takedown before plucking her out of the air on a crossbody. With the power advantage firmly on her side, she could bully her pal, taking great pleasure in slapping her stomach when she had her trapped in the corner. Ancham, meanwhile, was forced to battle for scraps, firing off the occasional kick to Yappy’s leg or trying to scramble her way into a rollup. It was a classic showdown of muscles vs technique that they executed brilliantly by playing into the strengths of both
The finish was the cherry on top, as Yappy was seemingly in place to wrap up the win, only for Ancham to bundle her up, steal out with the three and spend the night doing permanent damage to her bank account. The Twitter thread that followed after the show is well worth a scroll through, especially as YuuRI turned up to compound poor Yappy’s misery. This shit doesn’t have to be complicated, folks. A touch of jeopardy between friends, a well-told story and a fun conclusion – that’s all you need to take something inconsequential and turn it into a delight of a match.
Verdict: I Loved It
Yoshiko ‘Yoppy’ Hasegawa, Nanae Furukawa & Yuu Hanaya defeated Asuka Fujitaki, Yuuki Minami & Mayuka Koike
Yuu Hanaya is my favourite of the Ice Ribbon rookies, primarily because she’s the kind of person who tags in, growls and then charges straight into a kick. I’ve never claimed to be hard to please.
Look, obviously, this was messy. Most of these wrestlers have a handful of matches under their belt at best, and Yoppy was the one experienced head there to keep things under control. At times, the whole thing felt like a series of skits as they moved from a Yoppy and Minami pose-off to Asuka lying on the mat as all three of her opponents struggled to lift her. They’d clearly come in with everything laid out, positioned in such a way as to let all the kids show what they could do without asking too much of them, and we still got some moments where it felt like it was about to fall off the rails.
And yet, I couldn’t help enjoying it. In Asuka and Furukawa, this gang of rookies had a couple of people who have shown an aptitude for wrestling, and while neither one of them is there yet, they could be in the future, which makes their interactions exciting. Meanwhile, the others make up for any holes in their game with unbridled enthusiasm. I’ve already praised Hanaya, but Minami and Koike had similar energies throughout, bustling around the ring and throwing themselves into the fray. I hate to pull the ‘it’s fun’ card as if that somehow negates the wrestling not being great, but fuck it, sometimes it does. When the vibes are this good, I’m willing to forgive everything else for being a little bit dodgy.
Verdict: The Wrestling Wasn’t Great, But I Had A Blast
Yuuki Mashiro defeated Makoto and Kaho Matsushita to retain the Triangle Ribbon Title
Ice Ribbon will tell you this is the start of Mashiro’s second reign as Triangle Ribbon champion, but we all know the truth. That belt never left her waist, so we can officially chalk this down as V7. The Gacha King reigns supreme!
I can’t tell you how happy this made me. When Mashiro returned, I was worried she’d be plugged straight into the main event picture, her (very relative) star power helping to fill the gap Ice Ribbon undeniably has at the top of the card. Thankfully, they’ve been smarter than that. The Triangle Ribbon title is where Yuuki Mashiro belongs, messing around in the kind of matches that can (when you need them to) get serious but also leave her the space to be the genius wee weirdo she is. She survived the moment in this match where she appeared to be in the most danger (Makoto was lining up to boot her head off) by simply refusing to stand up, and if that isn’t great wrestling, what is?
Not that my happiness was entirely down to Mashiro. Makoto (for all her head-booting) is a brilliant comedy foil. I don’t know if there is anyone better at selling confusion than her, as she goes wide-eyed and baffled or starts to get frustrated at things not going how she expects. Kaho, meanwhile, was more than willing to go along with the antics but also dragged a bit of the serious stuff out of Yuuki, pulling her into a harder-hitting showdown that, while maybe not the highlight of the match, was at least a reminder that when Mashiro needs to, she can do that stuff. Not that I would ever care about it as much as I did the champ breaking her alliance with Makoto in the middle of a double team, not by attacking her, but by simply wandering over and grabbing her hair instead of Kaho’s.
It all made for one of those outings that I can’t help but love and which I consider an essential part of what makes Ice Ribbon what it is. It doesn’t matter how many great wrestlers they have. If they don’t have this, it’s not the company I fell in love with. Thankfully, they do. The King is back, long live the King.
Verdict: The Only King Worth Hailing
BIG DEKAI (Yuna Manase & Totoro Satsuki) defeated Kyuri & Mifu Ashida to win the International Ribbon Tag Titles
Up to a point, this match followed the theme of Kyuri and Mifu Ashida’s title victory at RibbonMania. Once again, Ashida was tasked with taking on the bulk of the action, being worked over by the hoss pairing of BIG DEKAI, leaving Kyuri free to play the goblin role on the outside (or as friend-of-the-site Sebastian brilliantly put it: ‘Ashida does the hard work, Kyuri does the crime‘). The veteran scampered around, making a nuisance of herself and tagging in now and then to throw fists. She even repeated her match-winning trick from Ribbonmania by taping Manase to the ring post, seemingly setting them up to pull out the win over Totoro. In every way, it looked like things were going to plan.
Until Yuna escaped, that is. Kyuri’s plan might have worked if she’d only had to deal with Totoro, but when Manase got free, the tide shifted back in the direction of the hosses, and sadly, the champs didn’t stand a chance. Before I get onto that decision, let’s make it clear that I enjoyed this match. Kyuri is one of my favourites, as she’s the definition of a wrestler you always need to keep an eye on. Even when she’s not actively involved in the action, she’s usually up to something, and while the cameras didn’t focus on her getting her tape out, I loved that you could still hear the sounds of it in the background, hinting at the carnage she was wrecking. On top of that, Manase and Totoro working over Mifu was good stuff. The talented but still green rookie trying to find a way through two powerhouses is a strong hook, and while I don’t think it quite hit the heights of the RibbonMania match (Ancham was so deliciously vicious in that one), it all worked.
My problem is with the result. I get it. Manase and Totoro are a safe pair of hands whom Ice Ribbon can trust, but safe can be a byword for boring. Kyuri and Ashida, with their slightly antagonistic relationship, felt like they had the potential to have a whole run of fun tags where one took all the punishment and the other was a menace, but instead, they’ve been cut off before they could get going. While I’m sure Totoro and Manase will also have some good matches, it feels like something we’ve seen before rather than a fresh and enticing pairing. I never love to gripe about booking, as it’s intensely dull, but this one felt like a mistake, even if the match still had plenty of charm before we got to it.
Verdict: Good Match, Flawed Result
Ibuki Hoshi defeated Hamuko Hoshi to retain the ICExInfinity Title
These two have known each other for a very long time.
Jokes aside, this is one of those stories that even an idiot could figure out. Ibuki, in the midst of her first title reign, defends against her mum, who last held that belt back in 2018. Even without the mother and daughter relationship, one of wrestling’s great narratives is an old hand trying to prove that they still have it in them to beat back those who came after. When you throw in the family element, it tells itself. You don’t have to fake this emotion.
But if you did manage to watch this without figuring any of that out, I think you would come away thinking it was good, yet perhaps not great. There were some awkward moments here and there, a few moves that didn’t come off and a bunch of strikes that weren’t quite crisp enough. I have a lot of affection for Ham, but she’s never been a top-tier wrestler, and I still feel like Ibuki is trying to develop her style, as her title reign has perhaps seen her strive to have the kind of epic matches that I’m not sure she excels at. There was impressive stuff in there, as the veteran Ham was forced to move away from her shtick and get serious when she realised it wasn’t going to work against the champ, but there were enough flaws to stop it from reaching that next level.
However, I don’t care about any of that. Wrestling, like everything in life, doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and maybe it’s because I watched this after a couple of beers, but emotionally, it hit me hard. Watching Ham, fifteen years into her career, get the chance to main event with her daughter, just the thought of it was enough to have me welling up. As she pushed Ibuki, taking more risks than I’ve seen her take in a long time (including a dive from the top to the floor), it was impossible not to see this as a mum forcing her daughter to be the best version of herself she could be. I’m sure she was aiming to win this match, but there was also a sense that she wanted her kid to prove that she isn’t just a champion but one who can stand right next to those who came before, carrying that legacy into the new era. As they battled back and forth in those final minutes, both going for their signature flash pins, it felt like Ham was daring her daughter to keep up, and Ibuki did it.
Part of me does suspect that this stuff is something I’ve put into the match rather than anything that was necessarily part of the narrative they told, but I also don’t think it matters either way. What you bring to art is an essential part of how you view it, and watching them made my heart feel full at the thought of how proud Ham must have been to be standing in that ring with her daughter. Afterwards, when the bell had rung, she grabbed the title, insisting on putting it around Ibuki’s waist, and that can make up for a million flaws. It was a moment for the Hoshis, and it’s a moment they both deserve.
Verdict: Flawed, But I Don’t Care
Overall Show
That might be the most I’ve enjoyed a big Ice Ribbon show in a fair while (if we exclude the one I was at, which is always going to tip the scales). It wasn’t perfect, and while I think you need to approach Ice now with the realisation that it’s a company made up primarily of rookies and people who are only now getting their chance in the spotlight, the atmosphere was good, and there were a couple of great matches in there. The main event hit me emotionally, but you should also check out Yappy vs Ancham, Mashiro’s antics and, fuck it, the fun rookie tag. Much like the Gatoh show I reviewed recently, this feels like the perfect spot to jump back into this company, and I’m starting to feel hopeful that you won’t regret it if you do.
You can watch Ice Ribbon shows here: https://iceribbonlive.ctpfs.jp/
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