Japan Day Two: SMASH

SMASH is a different beast when it comes to Pro Wres outfits in Japan. It’s gender neutral. They bring in lots of foreign foreign talent, and not just from North America. They take great advantage of social media. They have after parties. Their Joshi heavy Happening Eve show was one that I was very much looking forward too, and it did not disappoint:

SMASH “INCIDENT EVE” December 24, 2010
Shinjuku FACE
570 Fans

0. AKIRA defeated Bambi (5:44)
1. Jessica Love defeated Emi Sakura (5:35) with a Swanton Bomb.
2. Toshie Uematsu, Tomoka Nakagawa, & Cherry defeated Hikaru Shida, Tsukasa Fujimoto, & Sayaka Obihiro (10:56) when Cherry pinned Obihiro.
3. Akira Shoji defeated Tsubasa Kuragaki (6:00).
4. Hajime Ohara defeated Lin Bairon (6:23).
5. Hardcore Match: KAORU defeated AKIRA (10:49) with a moonsault from the ladder.
6. Isami Kodaka, Yusuke Kodama, & Makoto defeated KUSHIDA, Chii Tomiya, & Hikari Minami (11:49) when Makoto used a Double Arm Suplex Hold on Tomiya.
7. TAJIRI defeated Kana (11:33) with a Buzzsaw Kick.
8. JWP Openweight Championship: Kaori Yoneyama defeated Shuri (12:49) with a German Suplex Hold. Yoneyama succeeds in the 9th defense.

Poor AKIRA got the crap beat out of him by not one, but two Joshi dominatrices. He still had welt marks on him from Bambi’s whip at the after party. His bout with KAORU was very good as well, and the Queen of Hardcore took the win with a moonsault off the top of the ladder.

Another intense match was the much anticipated kick-fest between Tajiri and the always controversial Kana. This was Kana’s last match for SMASH, as after a year of reeking havoc Tajiri decided she was ‘outdated’ as a wrestler. She did not take this well. Tajiri tried to lighten the mood a bit by coming out wearing Kana’s signature glasses, which she threw at him at the pre-show press conference. Nevertheless there was still a surrealistically tense stare-down to start off the match. Tajiri returned Kana’s glasses after KO-ing Kana with a Buzzsaw Kick, then topped it off with a redundant green mist.

SHURI proved herself a main event level talent with an excellent title match versus JWP’s Yoneyama. Seeing her in person, it’s easy to understand how she’s become so beloved by the SMASH fans.

Finally, there was the after-party. It’s a rare pleasure to mingle with the Japanese fans and wrestlers, and they were all very welcoming and fun to be around. While it wasn’t as wild as the SHIMMER gatherings in the States, it had the same sort of family atmosphere. The wrestlers went out of their way to speak to the fans, myself included, and made sure everyone had a great time.

I took a bit of video where you can see Christmas greetings from Jessica Love, MMA Legend Akira Shoji, Lin Bairon, and a few attempts from SHURI. Enjoy!

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONe3wKpL9Vo

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