Five minutes can make a big difference. No one, outside of the minuscule Marvelous bubble, was talking about Senka Akatsuki until five minutes in Las Vegas changed it all. Suddenly, she became the most hyped joshi rookie in who knows how long, with the vast majority of it coming from people who had only seen those five minutes of her work. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be the one to pour cold water on the excitement. I was at Senka’s debut, and I’ve seen nearly every match. She’s worth paying attention to, but a lot of said hype has skated past the flaws. Which is a shame because we’re now at the point where Senka is trying to address those, and that’s when things get interesting.
Take this match, the final of the Jaja Uma Tournament, in which Akatsuki came in with a strapped-up shoulder. It meant, for the first time, that one of her peers had an obvious target. Spike isn’t dwarfed by Senka the way a Miku Kanae or Sora Ayame is, so she was able to take the attack to her, going after that arm and forcing her to really sell the onslaught. In the past, Akatsuki has relied on coming forward constantly, wrestling more like Lioness Asuka than her trainer, Chigusa Nagayo. In a match like this, and in her recent title shot against Takumi Iroha, an opponent has forced her to take a step back and actually acknowledge the damage being done. It wasn’t perfect. Spike, at one point, started going after the wrong arm, but it was fun to see someone try to slow the super rookie’s momentum,
The same can be said of Senka’s selling. She still forgets about it sometimes. The two of them pulled out an interminable strike exchange that both saw Akatsuki throwing forearms with her damage arm without issue and showed off that neither of them is particularly good at them, but, as is so often the case, that was the worst of this match. On the whole, Senka was dialled in, even selling the pain when she instinctively threw her arms back in celebration after taking Nishimura off her feet. You never forgot that the arm was hurting, and while some of her expressions were a bit too big and broad, she’s a 19-year-old with a year’s experience, so I’m not about to beat her up for that. I’d rather she go too big than provide nothing at all.
More importantly, she’s managing to do this without losing what makes her exciting. The worry with a Senka is that she gets Stardomified. That her flaws and idiosyncrasies are buffed out, and she becomes another well-rounded wrestler. I trust in the Nagayo, Iroha and Momono brain trust to prevent that from happening, but the biggest names in the scene all push that way, so it will be a battle. Thankfully, so far, it’s one they’re winning. After losing her first big belt challenge to Iroha, Senka has started to expand her arsenal, but always in a way that keeps what she does well. She’s a raw cannon of a wrestler, constantly attacking and never pausing to consider whether it’s a good idea. We didn’t see it in this match, but her recently debuted Giant Swing was the perfect example. It was delivered like someone who was only ever going to stop when they lost control.
I want to throw some credit Spike’s way, too. My interest in this match comes through Senka, as I’ve yet to click with the Sendai rookie, but this was the best performance I’ve seen from her yet. It was more focused and thought out, and that can only be a good sign. I have a shitload of respect for any wrestler who doesn’t only tour Japan but commits to doing it the hard way, going out there and learning from some of the best. She’s already improved a lot, and I have no doubt she’ll continue to do so.
As will Akatsuki. Winning this tournament is her first big prize, and barring any of the horrible things that can cut a wrestler’s career short, it will be the first of many. It’s easy to get excited about her, and I don’t want to sound like I’m berating those who have, but I also think it’s fun to watch her grow, to see how she figures out the wrestler she’ll become. What’s great about people like Senka is that they’re not the finished article, and if you really want to appreciate her, make sure you see more than just the hyped hits.
You can watch Sendai Girls on Wrestle Universe: https://www.wrestle-universe.com/
Ramblings About Wrestling 
Leave a comment