Into the Indies 11.29.11: Dantai Taiko Flash Tournamet (Part 3)

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies, the company that doesn’t have any time for headers.

For the past two weeks, we have been reviewing the Dantai Taiko Flash Tournament, a tournament promoted by joshi promotion SENDAI Girls on October 27, 2011. (Read Part 1 of the review here or Part 2 here.) There is plenty of background on the tournament itself and the entrants in the first two parts of the review, so I’m not going to belabor those points. However, I will say that we have now made our way through all of the first round matches, and this week’s portion of the review features the semi-finals and the finals. That means there are four promotions still in play: the old school JWP, the hosting promotion SENDAI Girls, and the two young upset groups, Stardom and Diana. These teams will each send three women into the semi-finals for a six woman tag match and then four women into the finals for a straight-up tag team encounter to determine which of the eight companies who entered the fray will have some serious bragging rights.

Match Numero Cinco: Team SENDAI Girls (Meiko Satomura, Ryo Mizunami, & Hiren) vs. Team JWP (Kayako Haruyama, Tsubasa Kuragaki, & Nana Kawasa) in the second round of the Dantai Taiko Flash Tournament

For this semi-final match, JWP has sent in two of its veterans who we saw as part of their first round team, Haruyama and Kuragaki, along with a new face in the form of Nana Kawasa, a young wrestler who just made her debut with JWP earlier this year. Meanwhile, aside from company founder Meiko Satomura, Team SENDAI has trotted out new faces for this round who were not in the prior match. They are Hiren, the heartthrob of the promotion who started her career with SENDAI when it opened its doors, and Ryo Mizunami, the hard hitter of the group who actually got a year or two of experience in the old GAEA Wrestling promotion before jumping to SENDAI.

Team JWP attacks the SENDAI Girls during a pre-match handshake, and that gets the bell to ring. The JWP women isolate Hiren and Satomura in the corner, and, in an impressive physical display, Kuragaki uses that as a setup to simultaneously rack the two women.

She drops that hold quickly and clotheslines the two, following up with a double belly-to-back suplex. Hiren rolls out of the ring, so Kuragaka turns to Satomura. She and Haruyama team up to hit the SENDAI boss with a leg lariat variation of the Doomsday Device, which young Nana follows up with a superfly splash for a nearfall. Unfortunately for JWP, this means that Nana is left alone in the ring, and she’s the youngest and weakest member of the lot, meaning the Meiko is easily able to get rid of her and tag out to Ryo Mizunami. Mizunami takes Nana down and hits her with a series of snap legdrops, though she doesn’t get a three count off of them and gets stuck engaging Nana in a forearm war. Ryo comes out on top there and follows with a corner attack and the Patriot Missile for two. Mizunami tags out to Hiren, who gives Nana a big boot for two and then places her in the ankle lock. All the women run in to break that up, and, in the confusion, Kuragaki somehow becomes the legal JWPer in the match.

The veteran wrestler is hit with one of Hiren’s big boots but no-sells it and lariats her straight to hell. Kuragaki looks for a powerbomb, but Hiren reverses. At this point she gets a little help from her friends, with Satomura running in for a high kick on Kuragaki and Mizunami following with a spear. Hiren completes the sequence with another big boot, but Nana makes the save. Meiko comes into the match legally now, and she starts kicking Kuragaki like she owes her money. Kuragaki gets a desperation lariat after the flurry and tags out to Haruyama, but Ryo blindsides Haruyama with another spear to set up a belly-to-back suplex and rear naked choke by Meiko. Once again, all of the match’s competitors run in for a while, amidst which Satomura connects with a DVD. It gets two. It apparently had little effect, as Meiko quickly finds herself dropped with a brainbuster, which also gets two. The saves on those last two covers have been really lax, almost to the point that the ref had to hold up a three count to let them happen. You usually don’t see sloppy stuff like that in joshi.

Nana Kawasa tags into the match for a second time, forearming Satomura back into the corner until Hiren saves. Nana gives Hiren a stinger splash, but Hiren comes back with a lariat of sorts, followed by a BRUTAL looking kick to the back of the head. It gets two. Hiren’s big boot connects again, and, this time, it’s enough to put Nana away and give Team JWP a berth in the finals.

Match Thoughts: This match ran between seven and eight minutes, which makes it half as long as the other tournament bouts. In a six person tag team match, there’s not a heck of a lot that can happen in a match of that length, either good or bad. Aside from the couple of clunky pin breakups that I mentioned in the play-by-play, this was pretty innocuous. It was just there, not doing anything to stick out because it didn’t have the opportunity. If there was a star of the match, it was probably Satomura, who looked like an absolute killer with her kicks and got built up well as a player for the main event match. Young Nana Kawasa, in the first match of hers that I’ve seen, did not appear to be a joshi prodigy, though she appears to have a solid base that something can be built upon. **

Match Numero Seis: Team Stardom (Nanae Takahashi, Natsuki*Taiyo, & Yoko Bito) vs. Team Diana (Kyoko Inoue, Keiko Aono, & Sareee) in the second round of the Dantai Taiko Flash Tournament

Diana, much like JPW in the prior match, has a team consisting of two hardened veterans who were in the first round as well as a woman who recently debuted in wrestling, in this case the teenaged Sareee. (Why the three e’s? Your guess is as good as mine. Transliteration from Japanese is wacky sometimes.) Stardom, meanwhile, is the only team in the second round who has brought back three of the wrestlers from the opening match to compete in round two . . . which is odd, because they’ve got approximately 7,000 members of the roster accompanying them to ringside, so it’s not as though they couldn’t have switched it up if they wanted to.

Sareee and Nanae Takahashi are your first two wrestlers in the ring, and Sareee actually gets the early advantage with some forearms and dropkicks, though it’s not long before the veteran plows her down. Fortunately for Sareee, Kyoko Inoue is there to grab Nanae from the apron, setting up a unique spot in which Sareee cross bodies Inoue in such a way that Inoue falls back on Nanae and crushes her. Sareee doesn’t do too well after that, though, as Takahashi takes her back down and tags out to Yoko Bito. Bito asks for a test of strength, but Sareee rejects it and kicks her. Yoko fires back with a dropkick and several kicks against the ropes, which get her a two count. Now it’s Natsuki*Taiyo’s turn, and Taiyo connects with some insane looking dropkicks on Sareee as well as a bulldog that hits while Nanae is holding Sareee for a face eraser. Taiyo slaps on the half crab after that, but she voluntarily relinquishes it rather quickly to tag Nanae Takahashi back into the match.

Nanae traps Sareee in the corner, after which all of the Stardom girls take turns hitting big attacks on the rookie. Nanae misses a corner elbow smash, though, giving Sareee the opportunity to make a tag to Kyoko Inoue. Inoue rolls through Nanae and company with lariats and sets Takahashi up for a powerbomb. It’s blocked, though, after which we’ve got ourselves a forearm trading sequence. Nanae tries to throw lariats to end it, but she can’t take the larger Inoue off her feet until Kyoko misses an attempt of her own. That gives us a tag to Taiyo, who almost literally runs circles around Inoue and catches her with a flash sunset flip for a two count. Taiyo misses a high cross from the top, but a second hits after a distraction from Takahashi. It’s only good for two, and it’s not long after the move that Inoue has an opening to tag in Keiko Aono. Aono is unsuccessful in hitting a variety of kicks on Taiyo, after which Natsuki and Nanae connect with their own high-low kicks on Aono for yet another nearfall. In quite the impressive spot after that, Aono goes back to her kicks and they are again unsuccessful, as the tiny Natsuki*Taiyo grabs her much larger opponent’s leg and uses it to hoist her up for a sit-out powerbomb. It earns her a two count, but no more.

Yoko Bito becomes the legal woman at this point, and she lights up Aono with boots but fails at hitting a brainbuster. Keiko gets a kick or two off of that, but Yoko actually remains in the driver’s seat for a fair bit. This leads to more triple teaming by the Stardom duo, as Bito goes to the top rope. Aono looks like she might be able to cut her off, but Nanae interferes and gets Aono in position for a slop drop. Bito leaps off the ropes and hits a forearm on Keiko while Nanae also connects with her move, and Natsuki*Taiyo follows that with a HIGH elevation double stomp from the top rope. After that sequence, Keiko finally gets some meaningful offense when she catches Yoko unawares with an enzuguiri and begins murderdeathkilling her with a variety of kicks. Aono hits a falcon arrow after that, but it only gets a two count. Sareee checks back into the match afterwards, small packaging Bito for a two count and school girling her for the same. Sareee hits the ropes but runs straight into Bito’s boot-o. Yoko goes behind Sareee to set up a double team, but it actually misfires this time as Sareee ducks and Nanae Takahashi’s attempt at a leg lariat catches her own partner Bito right in the face.

Sareee tries a backslide but fails, and, before long, Bito is hitting her with a German suplex and a high kick. Neither finishes the match, so Nanae tags back in one more time. Sareee goes after her with a dropkick flurry, but it’s shrugged off as Nanae hits a backdrop driver. The rest of Team Diana saves, but the Stardom girls run them off and allow Nanae to connect with a shoulderbreaker, straight into a submission hold. Sareee has to survive in it for quite some time before her partners ultimately make the save. Inoue gets a lariat in now on Nanae, followed by kicks fom Aono, all building to a Sareee flying body attack. It only gets two as Taiyo breaks up the cover. From there, Natsuki slams Sareee and holds her in position for a superfly splash from Takahashi, which brings the match to an end.

Match Thoughts: This wasn’t the most action packed or hardest hitting match on the show, but it was probably my favorite of the lot so far, in large part because it did the best job of telling a story. If you paid close attention throughout the bout, you could tell that the Stardom team was exhibiting the most cohesiveness in terms of isolating their opponents and pulling off double and triple team maneuvers. At the end of the day, their cohesiveness managed to win the match. The other thing that I enjoyed about the match was Natsuki*Taiyo, who I have seen in the ring several times now but has just recently really started to click for me as a performer. She is TINY, even by joshi standards, and as a result she does these high flying maneuvers with such height and intensity that there’s literally nobody else in the world who is executing them in the same way. Check some of her stuff out. I doubt that you’ll be disappointed. ***1/2

Match Numero Siete: Team SENDAI Girls (Meiko Satomura & Kagetsu) vs. Team Stardom (Nanae Takahashi & Yoshiko) in the finals of the Dantai Taikou Flash Tournament

And this one is for all the marbles. Satomura, the SENDAI team captain, has selected Kagetsu as her partner. Kagetsu has not been seen much in this tournament so far, a former judoka who is also the youngest member of Satomura’s stable. Takahashi, meanwhile, has selected Yoshiko, another young wrestler who has some really impressive heel charisma even if she’s not necessarily the best in the ring.

There is some heat between Yoshiko and Nanae before the bell, as they shove each other when arguing about who will start. This maintains the fact that they’re normally on opposite ends of the face/heel spectrum in Stardom. Ultimately Yoshiko gets the nod, and she squares off against Meiko Satomura. They charge at each other when the bell rings and exchange kicks and lariat attempts. Yoshiko can never get Meiko down, but Satomura does succeed in getting her opponent’s arm on a clothesline attempt and slamming it down over her shoulder. This takes Yoshiko down and prompts a tag to Kagetsu. Kagetsu runs wild with dropkicks and such until Yoshiko blocks an Irish whip and turns it into a rare-for-joshi atomic drop. Team Stardom then double teams Kagetsu on the apron, stretching her out across the ropes and taking turns chopping her. This sets up the tag to Nanae Takahashi, who hits an axe bomber for two but has an Irish whip reversed to set up a Kagetsu corner dropkick and armbar. Yoshiko is in to break up the hold almost immediately. Nanae gets a crossface, and Satomura breaks that up immediately before tagging into the match.

With the bout’s two more experienced wrestlers going at it, the action heads to the mat. The two women exchange front facelocks until Nanae quickly pops up to a vertical base. She tries a big standing kick to her seated opponent but misses and, before long, the women have engaged in a Greco-Roman knuckle lock. Nanae gets the better of it, shoving Satomura down and putting the boots to her, though Meiko quickly responds with forearms and kicks to the back and chest once she gets Nanae off her feet. The kick sequence get two, after which the vets both tag out to their protégés. The larger Yoshiko controls early with shoulderblocks but eventually runs into a dropkick. Kagetsu looks for a German suplex, but Yoshiko blocks it by stomping on her foot and hits more shoulderblocks en route to an ARROGANT COVER~! for a two count.

Nanae returns at this point, and forearms are thrown. From there, the women start exchanging palm strikes, and Kagetsu hits the ropes to take Takahashi down with a jumping forearm of sorts. Kagetsu takes her down again with a fireman’s carry and applies the Fujiwara armbar. Yoshiko and Meiko both run in, and, as a result, they are hit with stereo codebreakers from Team Stardom. Nanae follows with a lariat on Kagetsu for two. Takahashi then cinches in a flying guillotine on the SENDAI Girl, but Kagetsu impressively reverses it into a vertical suplex and tags out to Meiko. She and Nanae engage in a kick versus forearm war, which Satomura wins by cartwheeling in such a way that she SLAMS her shin into the back of Nanae’s head at the end of the move. If the Spirit Squad were still around, that would be one for them to steal. The women’s partners run in and there is a bit of a skirmish that allows Nanae to retake the advantage which she does by alternately hitting Meiko with forearms and lariats, which she is LAYING IN. Jesus. Takahashi follows with a blue thunder driver for two, and, when that doesn’t put Meiko away, she hits her with a backdrop driver. Nanae sets up for a brainbuster, but Satomura slips out and hits her with a jumping overhead kick. (Think a Pele kick but with Satomura falling on her back at the end instead of doing a full flip.) That leads into a DEATH. VALLEY. DRIVER., but Yoshiko breaks up the pin attempt.

Satomura goes to the sleeper since the DVD didn’t work, and Nanae does one of the best jobs I’ve ever seen in terms of selling that she’s trying to keep the hold from being fully clamped on. In the process, she also makes the ropes. Meiko looks for the DVD again, but Yoshiko runs in and forearms her in the chest, allowing Takahashi to get a schoolgirl for two. Nanae also hits her sit-out brainbuster, only to have Kagetsu make the save. Nanae manages to tag out to Yoshiko, who initially mounts Meiko but has it reversed and gets kicked repeatedly in the back. One kick misses, though, and that gives Yoshiko an opening to hit a senton. Kagetsu runs in for the save, but Nanae dispatches her with a suplex as Yoshiko comes off the second rope with a senton on Satomura after a second brainbuster by Nanae. Kagetsu saves AGAIN, after which she disappears briefly and comes back with a missile dropkick on Yoshiko. That gives Meiko the opening she needs to make a tag.

Kagetsu is cut off almost immediately by Yoshiko and put into a sleeper for a bit before getting crushed by FIVE sentons. She somehow still manages to kick out at two and doesn’t just kick out but also slides over as she escapes the pinning combination and applies a Fujiwara armbar. Kagetsu hits the ropes, but Nanae cuts her off and allows Yoshiko to hit a Samoan drop for a nearfall. Yoshiko climbs the ropes again but misses this version of the senton, after which Kagetsu gets in her own Samoan drop for two. Now it’s Kagetsu’s turn to climb the ropes, where she is cut off and superplexed by Takahashi. Yoshiko follows with a lariat, but Kagetsu KICKS OUT. A spinebomb by Yoshiko hits, but Meiko Satomura returns from the dead and makes the save. She also hits a kappo kick on Nanae before going after Yoshiko. Yoshiko gets the better of her but fails to realize that Kagetsu is the legal woman. Of course, this leads to Kagetsu blindsiding Yoshiko and hitting her with her mentor’s own DEATH. VALLEY. DRIVER. to bring the match to an end and give Team SENDAI Girls a victory in the tournament.

Match Thoughts: This was great stuff on just about every level. Neither Yoshiko nor Kagetsu is the most polished performer in between the ropes, but they are both up and comers who clearly have a lot to offer the professional wrestling world, and this match was structured almost perfectly in terms of allowing them to get the “rub” from their more experienced partners while still making sure that the younger generation was the focus. Matches like this are exactly what good, young wrestlers need to become great, seasoned wrestlers. I was particularly taken with Yoshiko, who has awesome heel mannerisms and a look and entrance that clearly distinguishes her from anything else in joshi these days. If you’re somebody who likes to see previews of wrestlers who will be at a main event level in three or four five years time, this is a match that you’re absolutely going to want to hunt down. ****

Overall

This was probably my favorite show that I’ve reviewed for I2I for several months now. One of the great things about tournaments in indy wrestling is that they provide some great opportunities to get exposure to wrestlers that you might not otherwise see, and that’s exactly what this show did, with the effect being amplified by the fact that the matches were all tag team bouts. What’s better than a tournament that exposes you to a variety of new talent? A tournament that exposes you to a variety of new talent through GOOD WRESTLING MATCHES. Seriously, there was not a single match on the show that I would consider bad, and the majority of them were quite good. That’s the benefit of intermingling the youngsters with women who are true legends of the sport and can show them a thing or two about how to put their matches together. I wish there were more shows like this from promotions around the world, whether men or women are involved. Just a great, textbook example of how to entertain a crowd and endear new wrestlers to them. Two thumbs way up.

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