3. Suzume vs. Ryo Mizunami
Suzume is a testament that with enough heart it doesn't matter how silly your gimmick is. She was so great as an underdog trying to find various angles to attack the larger, stronger opponent from. Her plancha has a low flight duration and resembles falling more than it does flying but conveys her desperate struggle for victory. Mizunami was a true professional who understood her role as a veteran helping to bring out the best in her younger opponent and as a low carder helping excite the crowd early. There were some clever sequences built around Suzume's Gun Stun straight out of a Tama Tonga or Karl Anderson match. ****
6. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh vs. Hikari Noa & Riho
Hikari was the obvious fall man but that didn't matter because she was working hard the entire match. It was a match where everyone was given their share of time to shine. The brief interactions between Miyu and Riho were the highlight of the match. ***1/2
7. International Princess Championship: Alex Windsor (c) vs. Miu Watanabe
Miu's first time competing against a foreigner. It's rare that Miu is physically inferior to her opponent. She was practically overwhelmed in every phase of the match, but she fought hard to get her impressive power offense in against the larger opponent. The work was stable and consistent throughout. It's surprising Windsor hasn't been picked up by any major promotion. She is big, strong and very skilled. ***3/4
8. Princess Tag Team Championship: Saki Akai & Yuki Arai (c) vs. Nightshade & Rhia O'Reilly
This was Yuki Arai's true baptism into the harsh world of professional wrestling. She was beaten worse than in any of her previous matches, including the Aja Kong match. Monsters Nightshade & Rhia carried out a prolonged strategy of shutting out Saki Akai and concentrating their attack on Arai, who received the worst punishment of her short wrestling career head-on. In the end, Akai finally made a breakthrough, clearing the path for Arai to hit a heel drop for the big win. ****
9. Princess of Princess Championship: Shoko Nakajima (c) vs. Yuka Sakazaki
The early goings had a nice subtlety to it, and there were clever things they did throughout making use of their technique, agility and suppleness. But it fell into a by-the-numbers development at the midpoint and was marred by strange decision making. The Avalanche Merry-Go-Round, a top rope version of Sakazaki's finisher, led to an elbow exchange without even a pin attempt in between. Treating avalanche variations of finishers as throw-aways will always be jarring for me. It did improve from there but ended with less impactful moves. A great main event, but nothing spectacular. ***3/4
