Not Williamson.
This is now the third time I've written about this particular tournament. It was a long tournament, I guess. At some point during it Michiko Ohmukai wound up with a busted shoulder. I don't remember how it happened but ARSION were always great at playing off injuries from show to show (or within the same show), so naturally it led to some good stuff. ARSION really was the best.
Neat five minutes that ended with one of the better roll-up sequences you'll see. Hamada is a literal teenager and Futagami has run the likes of Yoshida to the wire, so for the most part Hamada works from underneath. They blew one spot pretty badly but other than that all of Futagami's offence landed nicely. The start was pretty fun as well, with both of them trading derisory slaps after sitting the other on the top rope like a child on a time out. Hamada looked resourceful at the end and I bought Futagami being caught by surprise after she'd started properly gaining the upper hard. Sometimes a roll-up sequence is actually okay, maybe?
Mariko Yoshida v Michiko Ohmukai
This was Ohmukai with a kicker's chance against Yoshida who will tie her up and rip her limbs off if given half a chance. Both of them worked this with a sense of urgency, but Ohmukai almost felt desperate at points given her busted up shoulder. You knew that if Yoshida got a hold of it then it would probably be curtains, and Ohmukai knew that as well, so she swung for the fences straight away. There wasn't a ton of variety to what she did, I guess other than which type of kick she was throwing. The kicks looked mean though, most of them landing with a thud, a handful catching Yoshida flush. One in particular caught her right under the chin as Yoshida came back off the ropes. It wasn't a long match, but the longer it did go the more Ohmukai needed to push things and that left open doors for Yoshida, who will happily walk through a door and submit you. Even something fairly standard can look spectacular when Yoshida does it and this time it was the way she dropped to a knee for a rear waistlock as a counter to a simple arm wringer. Other than that she was hooking things from all angles, sprawling and rolling through and generally being relentless. She wasn't even all that bothered about targeting the shoulder. When the opportunity presented itself she went for it, but she wasn't perturbed when Ohmukai managed to escape. When she caught one of Ohmukai's high kicks and yanked her into a sick ankle lock you kind of knew it was inevitable. The only question was what Ohmukai would tap to. Because in the end they all tap.
Hiromi Yagi v Tiger Dream
This felt like a bit of a Tiger Dream showcase. I have no recollection of Tiger Dream but I guess she was being pushed as the female version of Tiger Mask. I'm guessing the idea didn't last very long. She had an extremely cool mask - a Tiger Mask mask, only pink - and rolled out some of the trademark Tiger Mask spots. Those spots looked decent, the twisting hammerlock into drop toe hold being super quick, but they kind of felt like they were being inserted specifically for the purposes of showing people that she could actually do them and it wasn't always the most compelling. Maybe a waste of Hiromi Yagi. Apparently it was also Candy Okutsu under the mask and I'd have preferred a regular Yagi/Okutsu match, tbh.
Mariko Yoshida v Ayako Hamada
The final! Hamada came into it having bested - or perhaps upset - Futagami and Mary Apache and maybe figured she'd have an outside chance of dethroning the queen in waiting. She was clearly a fool as this was basically an extended squash. What an extended squash though, with Yoshida twisting her into knots and never giving her a second's peace. She was relentless and any time Hamada looked like putting a run together she would be stopped emphatically. Yoshida is spectacular as always, just ripping off armbars and leglocks while this kid wonders what she's gotten herself into. There was one brilliant nearfall off a backslide where Yoshida managed to get a toe on the rope, then she got up and Hamada never got close again. In the end the poor lass is carried out like a pit fighter that Yoshida made an end of. The queen of ARSION.
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