A lot of companies must be looking at Sendai Girls with envious eyes at the moment. They’re selling tickets, the roster is growing, and with Senjo Spirit, they’ve opened themselves up to a whole new fanbase. As they march towards Budokan, there is a real momentum behind them, and it’s hard not to get caught up in the fun of it all. The vibes are great, and with so many things going right, it would have been a real shock if this show hadn’t followed suit. Let’s have a chat about whether it did.
Ryo Mizunami & Saori Anou defeated Hiroyo Matsumoto & Yura Suzuki
I’ve seen some people online being sniffy about Aniki recently, and I understand some of the criticism of her shtick (although I don’t agree with most of it), but it’s impossible to deny her popularity. Sending her out to kick off a big show is ideal. The second her music hits, people wake up. That Saori Anou, who was, in theory, the outsider attraction in this match, ended up playing second fiddle to her says it all. She’s a force of nature.
And everyone involved understood their role. Even Yura, who hasn’t racked up the years of the other three, has been doing this long enough to have a grasp of the job. Go out, do a few crowd-pleasing spots, and make sure the fans get to clap along with Aniki chopping the shit out of someone (in this case, that was one of the tasks Suzuki was handed). It hit all the beats you’d want from an opener, without ever feeling like it was trying to steal the show away from those who had to follow it.
None of which should be seen as a negative. These big shows, with a million things happening on them, need matches like this. Will I ever watch it again? No, but sometimes that’s not the point. The point is to leave the bar at the perfect height for those who follow to leap over. In that sense, they did a great job.
Verdict: A Solid Opener
Saya Iida defeated Manami
I’m always happy to see Saya Iida. As I’ve said a million times, she was the first joshi rookie I ever followed in real-time, so while Stardom has lost its appeal for me, I’ve still got a lot of affection for her.
That said, coming in, this didn’t feel like a natural pairing. I couldn’t quite picture what Manami vs Iida looked like. It was a match without a hook. In the end, it was a worry that proved well-founded. This was decent. Iida has become a reliable wee tank, and while Manami isn’t my favourite wrestler in the world, she rarely lets you down. They’re two people you can trust.
The problem is that it wasn’t anything more than that. They hit all their spots well, but there was no edge to it, which meant it kind of drifted by. Despite my affection for her, that’s the flaw with bringing in Giant Saya for a show like this. If you put Manami in the ring with YUNA or Spike, there’s a natural rivalry there. A battle for their position on the card and a chemistry built over hours sweating side-by-side. When you pair her up with a random name from Stardom, you have to create something out of nothing, which is a talent only the very best wrestlers have. With there being no bad blood between the companies to spice things up, you end up with a fight that ticks all the right boxes in a somewhat passionless way.
It was two solid wrestlers having a solid match, and while that’s not worth complaining about, it’s also hard to get too enthusiastic about it all.
Verdict: Solid, But Lifeless
Aja Kong & Miku Kanae defeated YUNA & Reina Takano
I wrote about this in my latest Matches of the Month, but Takano was in an unusual place ahead of her debut. On the one hand, Senjo Spirit has meant she’s arriving with a huge groundswell of support. People have followed her journey, falling in love with this dedicated young lass who has worked her arse off. On the other hand, with that support comes more pressure than most rookies will face on their debuts. Debutants often have some hype, but rarely has a large percentage of the audience had the chance to develop the attachment they have to Reina. People were desperate for her to succeed.
With all that in mind, it’s not surprising that Takano looked nervous to begin with, but I thought she absolutely smashed it. She was sympathetic when selling, the emotions written large across her face, and also scrappy and exciting on offence. The pop for her first dropkick made my heart feel full, but equally as important was her willingness to go headfirst at Aja Kong – charging towards her when they first faced off. I’ll be thinking about her kneeing her way out of a backdrop before following up with a series of boots for a long time. It ended badly, but that’s not the point. You only have to listen to the fans to understand that. In this match, Takano simply had to show that she was ready for the fight.
Credit also has to go to everyone else. Senjo were smart here. Aja is Aja, and there is a reason so many companies turn to her to face exciting youngsters. She’s built a terrifying legacy, her mere presence being enough to build support for the rookie across from her, but while she’ll slap a kid around, she knows how to look after them. You might get a few bruises, but you’ll come out the other end in one piece. Plus, there’s the emotional hook of her promise to keep battling every student that follows in Satomura’s footsteps. Kanae, meanwhile, has become one of the more reliable young wrestlers in the scene, and YUNA has been by Reina’s side since day one. They set things up for the rookie to succeed.
She still had to walk out there and do it, though. I can’t imagine how nervous you would be in that moment. The sound of the crowd, the fear of fucking up. Yet, she figured it out. She made it through the match, and not only survived, but flourished. While Takano has a long way to go, and she’s going to have to face a lot of situations that aren’t as custom-made for her to succeed, she’s been given all the tools she needs to survive. It’s got the potential to be a hell of a journey.
Verdict: You Did Well, Kid
Daisuke Sekimoto defeated Super Sasandango Machine
I think everyone who got into puro in the last decade or two or so has time for big Daisuke. He was, for a long time, a guy you were always going to want to watch. It’s also true that I probably have more patience for Dango than most. His PowerPoint comedy doesn’t really work if you don’t speak the language, but I understand his place, and I’ve never really been bothered by his matches.
However, this didn’t need to exist. Sekimoto isn’t moving great these days. Yes, he managed the big dive to the outside, and fair play to him for that, but everything looks a bit stiff, and not in the way it used to. He’s taken a lot of damage while carrying a lot of muscle, and it’s no surprise his body is starting to protest. They were smart about how they put this together, sticking mainly to simple big lad stuff, so it wasn’t a disaster – it just felt out of place on this show. If the same thing happened on a DDT card, I would have no complaints, but on a big night for Senjo, it all felt a bit unnecessary.
Verdict: Fine, But Not Needed
Jaguar Yokota, Unagi Sayaka, Saira & Senjo Daikannon defeated Anita Vaughan, Safire Reed, Kuroshio TOKYO Japan & Stephanie Maze
I think this is a prime example of how not to structure a show. Following on from the plodding Dango vs Big Daisuke match, which had a whole PowerPoint presentation before it, we then had to go through the rather drawn-out entrances required for this showdown (not helped, of course, by Ikemen’s shtick). It made everything feel like it had ground to a halt. If you’d slotted Manami vs Iida in-between, it might have helped the show maintain at least some momentum.
Anyway, this way my first time seeing Saira, who I believe is a former Senjo Circle participant, so she has a relationship with the company despite currently being an Uptown wrestler. She’s only 17, so she’s very young, but judging by this, I’d put her at similar level to CoCo – a fun talent who can do some very impressive stuff, but still has a long way to go to be more than that. However, at this point in her career, her showing off what she can do isn’t something I’m going to complain about. If she’s learning from the right people, the rest of it will come.
Elsewhere, this was what it was. It was a match to get a bunch of folk on the card, including the returning, and quite bizarre, Senjo Daikannon. There’s not a whole lot to say about it beyond what I’d normally say about the likes of Unagi and Jag. However, I would like to take a second to say that Hyper Active have smashed this tour. I still think they have a way to go as wrestlers, although they’ve already improved after just a couple of months in Japan, but they clearly get Sendai Girls. Like Spike, everyone is very fond of them, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them become a regular fixture there. Being a good wrestler gets you so far, but clicking with the culture is what makes you a favourite.
Anyway, this was entirely disposable. If you skipped from Reina’s debut to the Junior Title match, you wouldn’t be missing a whole lot. Although I was glad to get a chance to see Saira, so it wasn’t a total waste of time.
Verdict: It Was What It Was
I paused the show to write all that, then clicked play to see Hyper Active announcing they’ve signed with Senjo. So I’m even more confident now that my prediction about them becoming a regular fixture will come to pass.
Spike Nishimura defeated Senka Akatsuki to win the Sendai Girls Junior Title
The friction that I noted was missing from Iida vs Manami showed its face here. It’s hard for people not to find that in a Senka match. She is a stubborn opponent, who is never going to give you an easy time. It’s not in her nature. She fights for everything. Whether it’s a submission, a pin, or a strike exchange, her talent is in making it all feel important.
Which isn’t to dismiss Spike. Nishimura has been winning me over. After fading into the background a bit when she first arrived in Senjo, she’s slowly figuring out her role, using her natural size advantage over her peers. While Senka bulldozes through most people at her level, Spike was a tougher wall to smash. She was able to take the fight to the champ, booting her in the face and meeting her in that basic, hard-working style.
And what’s great about stripping everything back is that things begin to mean more. Spike being lariated over the top rope, a move we see all the time, felt like a potential finish. It didn’t even matter that we’d seen fancier things earlier in the show. There was a feeling that while these two were in the ring, something as routine as hitting your opponent really hard could be the way to success.
I’m even alright with the winner. My gut-feeling was that Senka should continue to plough through everyone around her, but it makes sense for Senjo to get the title back on one of their wrestlers, and Akatsuki will be fine without it. Spike’s improvement in the last few months (and her commitment to making it work in Sendai) earned her a go at holding the belt, and it’s already a credit to both of them that a title that often opens the show was this high up the card. After a bit of a stumble, this was the match that got proceedings back on track.
Verdict: Great, Simple Stuff
In the aftermath, YUNA came out to challenge for the belt one last time before her eligibility for it ends. It’s the obvious thing to do, and while I think she should probably be past that stage, I’m intrigued to see what the two of them can come up with.
Red Energy (Mika Iwata & Miyuki Takase) defeated Bobubobu Momo Banana (Mio Momono & Yurika Oka) to retain the Sendai Girls Tag Team Titles
Red Energy aren’t the natural opponents for Bobo Momo Banana that Team 200kg were. However, over time, they’ve found their way into a match that works. Oka and Mio benefit from having people who are willing to get mean, playing off their scrappy underdog nature. Iwata and Takase showed more of that here. They laid into their kicks and lariats, forcing Oka and Mio to fight for their openings. It’s still not on the level of those great matches with Hash and Yuu, but it’s getting there.
And I think Iwata is the key to that. Takase is a bit too happy, a touch too carefree to ever truly be the bully. While Senjo Spirit has revealed Iwata is not quite the stern-faced, no-nonsense person she portrays in the ring – angry is still her natural emotion. Bobubobu Momo Banana wind her up, and the more they wind her up, the better these matches tend to be. I want to see her get frustrated with their bursts of frantic offence. Because when she does, she starts kicking them really hard.
They were also smart enough to have the final act focus on her and Oka. The weird friendship between the eccentric junior and her stern senior is the emotional core of this feud. You only have to look at them to see how far apart they are, and yet, underneath all those differences, there is clearly a hell of a lot of affection. Truthfully, I wanted more of them, perhaps another burst of offence from Oka where she got close to the win. I’m normally fine with cutting things off sooner rather than later, but the reaction from the crowd when she was grasping for it suggested they wanted it too. I’m not upset Red Energy won – I want a team to have a proper run with these belts – but I felt like there was a bit more rope to burn before we got there.
Still, this was a very good match that at times verged on great. I don’t know if these two teams will ever hit their full potential together, but they’re getting closer. I am sure, however, that Oka and Iwata have a great match in them, and while we got a taste of what it could look like recently, I want to see them share the ring a lot more in the next couple of years.
Verdict: Very Good, But I Still Feel Like They’ve Got Better
Chihiro Hashimoto defeated Veny to retain the Sendai Girls World Title
It feels like a wild thing to say about someone on their 6th run with a title, but this feels like it could be Big Hash’s definitive era on top of Sendai. She has been brilliant recently. It’s not just the title matches, either. The stuff against the likes of YUNA, Oka and Senka is just as important. At a time when Senjo are expanding, theoretically allowing Hash to share some of the load, she seems more determined than ever to strap the company to her back and carry them to the top.
And Veny played off that feeling perfectly. I often find her main events frustrating, as she has a tendency to coast through them, delivering the hits regardless of opponent, but this was a performance tailored to Hashimoto. She worked slower, going after the arm and leaning on her more heelish tendencies. There was no chance of her being booed by this crowd (they’re not that kind of audience, although it would have been great), but it worked for Big Hash. Veny is one of the few people who is a physical match for her, so it allowed her to battle from underneath, standing up as the Ace of the company to put down a challenger.
It’s a role she flourished in. Underdog might not be what you expect from Hashimoto, but with those blasts of pace and power, she can do it. She has that ability to turn a match in an instant, throwing Veny with a suplex or firing off a lariat. Yes, she could have sold the arm more, especially with Veny going back to it towards the end, but that was the one flaw in her performance. Her kickouts were all perfectly timed, and she was patient in delivering those game-changing hits. Hashimoto’s offence always looks incredible, and it was only improved by a touch of desperation.
I’m not sure where I’d put this in the year’s big main event ranking so far, but it’s definitely up there. The way they approached it gave everything a sense of occasion. A feeling that this was important. If the crowd had been a touch more rabid (which is always the sacrifice in these bigger rooms), it would have put it over the edge, but even that became less of a problem as they went on. Hashimoto showed once again that when it comes to channelling people I can find frustrating, she’s one of the very best, and her incredible run continues.
Verdict: Great Stuff
Overall Show
There was a dip in the middle of this show. Big Daisuke vs Dango and the silly tag match going back-to-back was a mistake, and knocked some of the wind out of their sails. Thankfully, they got it back. The three title matches all had something going on for them, and when combined with an impressive debut from Reina Takano, this show has to go down as a massive success. Sendai have some real momentum at the moment, and with a sold-out Korakuen just a week or so away, it seems unlikely to stop any time soon.
You can watch Sendai Girls on Wrestle Universe: https://www.wrestle-universe.com/
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