LogFAQs > #950860562

Alright, so I watched the round 1 of the Japanese bracket for the AEW Women's World Championship and... well, meh. (By the way, I think the last thing I'll bother listing my thoughts on will be the WWE Main Event episode. I haven't been able to find an ROH episode to check out, so I'm not even bothering with that.)

First off, the thing was shot in what looked like a warehouse with curtains up. I thought there was no audience, but later on they referenced that some people were there. Where, exactly, I do not know.

The Magical Girl Yuka Sakazaki vs Mei Suruga I'm not rating this shit/5
Mei is adorable. I love the weird insect wing cape. Yuka is also cute, but her entrance is nowhere near as fun or dramatic. Otherwise it's so weird because you don't have titantrons, etc, they're just coming out from behind a curtain.

Given the setting and the way they're acting, I don't necessarily have the highest hopes when it comes to their actual performance... and, from the production values, I didn't have the highest hopes for the coverage either. And I was right on both counts. The footage is choppy because it's just some guys wandering around the ring with camcorders. The actual fighting is silly stunt shit, although some of it is cute (like that Oklahoma Roll into a pin attempt or something.)

The match was terrible, but I kinda enjoyed it. The performance was mostly lousy, but I liked how they reacted and sold the moves. I'm not sure I could watch something like this on a regular basis (which I mention only because these girls from some Japanese women's promotions so, in theory, if I cared enough I could watch more of stuff like this.)

I think my favorite parts were the double missed drop kicks, Mei trying out a scoop slam (which is hilarious since she's fucking tiny), that array of weird holds Mei placed on Yuka while she was on the mat, and the sliding lariat.

I was kinda disappointed by the outcome. I was really liking Mei by the end.

Veny vs Emi Sakura 3.5/5
Talk about a difference in competitors. The first match was between two cute schoolgirl-ish wrestlers, whereas these two are older and more serious-looking.

When they introduced Emi Sakuara and mentioned she'd trained two of AEW's champs, it kinda felt like the match and tourney might favor her.

...and unlike the first match, right away it looks like these women might be talented, serious wrestlers. (And I made that note *before * the oddly impressive-looking hair throw.) And their style of fighting is helping with the production, since shit doesn't look as choppy.

All things considered, I was pretty impressed by Veny. Emi was surprisingly decent as well, executing a few wrestling moves I haven't seen in a while.

The headbutt shit was stupid. It looks like they were waiting and posing to be hit. Very sloppy shit.

All in all, a pretty solid match. I think I might look up more of Veny's stuff.

Maki Itoh vs Ryo Mizunami 2/5
I was most interested in seeing Maki in the tourney, simply because of the feud she had going with Cornette. I had watched a clip of her at another promo, which made her look like shit so... my expectations for her ability were pretty low. Her ring entrance was cute, but she's a former idol so... kinda expected. It basically gives her a legit gimmick.

From the photos, I thought Ryo might be a guy which confused me. If this was an actual fight, Ryo would kick the crap out of Maki in seconds so it's not a credible match-up.

I like how Maki sold the hell out of that forearm shot.

For a while, things actually really good. They were playing the match in a somewhat realistic manner, with Ryo no-selling many of Maki's attacks and Maki over-selling Ryo's hits... but then they had to fuck it up. Towards the end, it looked they were striking in an equally effective manner, which breaks any suspension of disbelief when you see the two of them. Not to mention that a lot of Maki's strikes just looked sloppy.

And I should note that Maki's hard forehard gimmick doesn't really work when earlier in the match I could have sworn she had been struck in the head and sold.

On the whole, Maki's performance was a lot better than I had expected it'd be. There's nothing particularly impressive about Ryo.

Aja Kong vs Rin Kadokura 1.5/5
Rin's entrance was probably the weakest I've seen so far. She doesn't have much energy. Aja came out to the ring looking like a monster. Not sure why she's carrying around that trashcan. Kinda silly. Her ring attire is really fucking cool. During the introductions, Rin looks bored.

Once again, at a single glance it's pretty obvious who should win a match like this. Aja Kong is a foot taller and probably a hundred pounds heavier than Rin.

Just noticed there are only 7 or 8 minutes left... this is going to be a squash match, just like it should be. Aja is no-selling everything.

I liked Aja's casual pin attempts. I don't get why where are so many near-falls. It just seems kinda stupid. It was a kinda-lousy match. Every near-fall had me wondering why this wasn't over already.

Overall thoughts:
The only match that felt like a complete waste of time was Aja Kong's, since it dragged on for longer than it needed to. Emi vs Veny was pretty damn good. Maki vs Ryo was entertaining, even though it had problems. I enjoyed watching Mei fight Yuka, but that was pretty lousy. The pacing sucked, the camera wasn't adequately following the action, and Mei had a habit of seemingly breaking holds for no rhyme or reason.

And, while I love elimination tournaments, the selection of competitors was iffy. I'm kinda curious whether or not they're going to book the winner of the Japanese side to win the tourney. That would make the most sense logically, but they're not showing these matches on broadcast which suggests this side isn't being taken seriously.


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