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Hitomi Akano wins Smackgirl World Middleweight Championship
Hitomi Akano won the Smackgirl Middleweight Championship at Smackgirl's Sept. 15 Korakuen Hall show. But it looks like a new challenger is on the horizon as Kanako Takeshita won the 2006 Smackgirl Next Cinderella Middleweight tournament. Also, JD Star Athtress Fuuka, US fighter Lisa Ward and WINDY Tomomi were victorious in their matches. And Fuuka had someone very special in her corner.
The vacant Smackgirl Middleweight Chanpionship was up for grabs in the main event between Hitomi Akano & Molly Helsel. Akano's ground attack is her strength and other opponents have found her very difficult to deal with. Helsel tried to counter with kicks but Akano's perserverence paid off as she secured an armbar which forced Helsel to tap out at 1:32 of round two. Akano credited her victory to her training with Megumi Fujii and other teammates. She declared this a great day for women's MMA. WINDY Tomomi wasted no time in pounding her opponent Seri with punches and a devastating body shot finished her at 2:15 of round one. Lisa Ward made a successful Japanese debut by easily defeating MIKU with an armbar at 3:04 of round one. Afterwards, Club Barbarian president Rian Fukumoto said MIKU was fighting above her weight class and she won't do that anymore.
JD Star pro wrestler Fuuka returned to Smackgirl with Josh Barnett in her corner. Her opponent Mai used strikes to counter Fuuka's takedown attempts. That didn't seem to work as Fuuka had several successful takedowns. But she was unable to finish Mai off as she couldn't do much with her once Fuuka got Mai on the mat. Fuuka won a unanimous decision despite a bloody nose and it appears she may have broken her thumb too. She'll have to see a doctor this week. Kanako Takeshita won the 2006 Smackgirl Next Cinderella Middleweight tournament over Sakura Nakamura with an armbar in 3:04 of round one. So a big win for Hitomi Akano and it should be interesting to see who will come forward to challenge her for her title. All bouts were scheduled for two five minute rounds unless otherwise noted. Here's the results of the show.
SMACKGIRL - 9/15/06 - Korakuen Hall
OPEN WEIGHT BOUT-Tama Chan def. Natsuko Kamei by armbar at 3:13 of round one
52 KG BOUT-Kyoko Takabayashi def. Akiko Naito by unanimous decision
48 KG BOUT-Ayumi "Edge" Saito def. Ikuko Tamada by unanimous decision
2006 SMACKGIRL NEXT CINDERELLA FLYWEIGHT SEMI FINAL-Fukuko Hamada def. KM-MAKI by unanimous decision
2006 SMACKGIRL NEXT CINDERELLA MIDDLEWEIGHT FINAL-Kanako Takeshita def. Sakura Nakamura by armbar at 3:04 of round one
48 KG BOUT-Masako Yoshida def. Eri Kanetari by unanimous decision
52 KG BOUT-Fuuka def. Mai by unanimous decision
52 KG BOUT-Lisa Ward def. MIKU by armbar at 3:04 of round one
54 KG BOUT-WINDY Tomomi def. Seri by KO at 2:15 of round one
SMACKGIRL WORLD MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BOUT (3-5 min. rounds)-Hitomi Akano def. Molly Helsel by armbar at 1:32 of round two
Azumi Hyuga wins JWP Championship
Azumi Hyuga has been working for JWP for a decade now. She has been very loyal to JWP at times when no one would have blamed her for leaving. So she is somewhat under appreciated though she is a tremendous wrestler. In the main event of the Sept. 17 JWP Korakuen Hall show, Azumi Hyuga won the JWP Championship from Manami Toyota. I guess it could be a kind of passing of the torch but Hyuga's in her thirties now. It's a little late to start passing torches. Toyota broke out all her big moves but couldn't finish Hyuga. Then Hyuga came back and won. Congratulations to her.
Yuka Shiina announces retirement
Veteran NEO wrestler Yuka Shiina won her match over Sachie Abe on NEO's Sept. 17 Korakuen Hall show and then announced her retirement. Shiina has been with NEO for over a decade. There's no date for the retirement yet but she says she will retire by the end of this year. She hurt her neck five years ago and it's just not getting any better. So it's time to get out while she can still walk. The main event of this show had Yoshiko Tamura defending her NEO Singles/NWA Pacific Titles over Chikayo Nagashima.
Shibutani goes to hospital at JD Star show
The main event for JD Star's Sept. 17 Shin-kiba 1st Ring show was supposed to be the big blowoff for the Shuu Shibutani/Kyoko Kimura feud. Things did not go as planned and it looks like they'll have to conclude this feud some other time. Fuuka also made her return after her successful appearance in Smackgirl.
The opener has Leon & Bullfight Sora over Apple Miyuki & Cherry when Sora used an avalanche style brain buster on Cherry at 11:16. Next was Sachie Abe vs Tsubasa Kuragaki. Kuragaki used her size advantage and when Abe tried a hurricanrana, Kuragaki blocked it and finished Abe with the Argentinian backbreaker at 12:13. Fuuka returned to JD Star to team with Bambi against Misae Genki & Gutsworld rookie Lily Urai. Not surprisingly, Fuuka & Bambi teamed up on Urai to win at 14:08.
The main event has Shuu Shibutani vs Kyoko Kimura. It appears that Kimura busted Shibutani open by accident when she hit her over the back of the head with a chair. Shibutani tried to continue but she was losing a lot of blood and the ref stopped the match at 12:20. Shibutani was taken to hospital for stitches. Kimura apologized to the crowd and said she wants another match with Shibutani when she's recovered. In the meantime, Kimura also wants a shot at Fuuka's POP Title. Nothing has been announced but it's not finished between Shibutani & Kimura.
LLPW announces All Star Strongest Woman tournament
LLPW owner Shinobu Kandori announced at a press conference on Sept. 13 what she has in mind for the LLPW 20th anniversary show at Sumo Hall. It will be called the All Star Strongest Woman tournament. The president for this tournament will be the God Toshino. He's the comedian who does the Inoki impression and they should have a prominent role for their biggest draw. Kandori wants to have a tournament with the oldest stars like 45 year old Dump Matsumoto and youngest stars like 26 year old Meiko Satomura. Remember when 26 was old in the joshi business? Those were the days.
There hasn't been a joshi show in Sumo Hall in eight years obviously because it holds 10,000 people. And LLPW can't fill Korakuen Hall to its capacity of 2,000. But Kandori believes that the way to revitalize the joshi business is to put on a big show in a big arena. I always thought promoters were in business to make money, not throw it down a bottomless pit. It just seems like Kandori is delusional. Can they even find enough fans to give comps? This is a recipe for disaster. She claims she doesn't care if she makes money on this show.
Along with the LLPW 20th anniversary celebrants Harley Saito and Shinobu Kandori and the rest of the LLPW roster, Aja Kong, Manami Toyota, Dump Matsumoto & Meiko Satomura are scheduled to appear. Kandori believes that a big show is best to get attention for the joshi business. Or it could be a good way to go down in flames. She said that fans don't want to see small shows in small halls. Considering that Kandori has run LLPW like a hobby instead of a business for years, she's living in a glass house.
Afrika 55, Wesna Busic & Panther Claw speak
With the Oct. 1 debut of Pro Wrestling SUN fast approaching, the SUN office received faxed promos from REM members Wesna Busic, Afrika 55 and Panther Claw.
Panther Claw says she started getting fan mail from Japan the moment she returned home. She says she lost to Hikaru because she was careless. She has been training and will be perfect this time. She wants a rematch with Hikaru but will leave her to Amazing Kong and promises a knockout for the Japanese fans. I'm sure they'll be pleased that she plans to wear a sexier costume.
Wesna Busic says she is glad that Ayako Hamada challenged her. Now she can prove that Mexicans are as weak as the Japanese. Apparently Ayako has demanded a Tables, Ladders & Chairs match. Wesna says she is skillful at hardcore matches and will win anyway. She's had hardcore matches against men in Germany. She apologizes in advance to the Japanese fans as she plans to make Ayako a bloody mess and she doesn't want anyone fainting. Last time she broke Hikaru. This time she'll break Hamada. Then she wants a shot at the AWA World Womens Championship. Wesna wants to prove she is the strongest girl wrestler in the world today.
Afrika 55 says she has never seen Nanae Takahashi but Amazing Kong told her Nanae is a big and powerful girl. That doesn't concern Afrika. She says she'll punch her so hard in the face she'll need plastic surgery. She also wants to know if Takahashi has any other areas that require plastic surgery and she'll take care of that too. Afrika says that because a beautiful visual is necessary for women's wrestling, she wants both Takahashi & herself to wrestle in bikinis because it will please the fans. Afrika says she is training hard five days a week; two hours each of boxing, wrestling, weight training and massage. She will be at 200% by the time she comes to Japan. And she wants a doctor ringside just in case the match needs to be stopped after she beats up Takahashi.
Nanae Takahashi responded by scoffing at Afrika 55's suggestion of plastic surgery and bikinis. She is who she is and words don't rattle her. Nanae says Afrika won't have it easy and Nanae plans on having the AWA World Womens Championship around her waist.
Two matches added to Pro Wrestling SUN debut
When Pro Wrestling SUN had their press conference last week to announce the main matches for their Oct. 1 debut at Korakuen Hall, Saki Maemura said she wanted a match with Steve Corino. As a compromise, SUN has decided to put her in a mixed tag team match. Her partner is ZERO-ONE MAX wrestler Yoshito Sasaki and the opponents are Steve Corino & Panther Claw. The have also added Natsuki*Head vs Ayumi Kurihara to round out the card. These two matches along with the three title matches is probably the complete card.
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