In the first match of the night, Mari Manji of Ladius faced ZERO1 star and NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Champion Yasu Kubota.
Yasu Kubota and Mari Manji have been on opposite sides of the ring in the past. Last year, Yasu Kubota and Hide Kubota competed with Manji and fellow Ladius member Sae in a tag team match at a YPW event.
At the beginning of the match, Mari Manji attempted to overpower Yasu Kubota, but whether it was via technical wrestling or attempting to shoulder block him to the mat, she was unable to gain an advantage.
That changed when it was Yasu Kubota's turn to deliver a running shoulder block. The shoulder block sent Manji into the ropes, and when she rebounded, Manji used the momentum from the shoulder block to hit Kubota with a shoulder block of her own, which put him a little off balance. Manji then followed up with three more shoulder blocks, the final one sending Kutota to the mat. With him not expecting this and attempting to regain his bearing, Manji went for a schoolboy multiple times, until Kubota escaped the ring for a breather.
Mari Manji waited for Yasu Kubota to return the ring, but he instead surprised her by pulling Manji out of the ring by her legs and working on Majii's left leg and knee, slamming them into the apron.
Mari Manji managed to drag herself back into the ring, but Yasu Kubota was waiting for Manji, where he continued his attack on her leg as Manji screamed in pain, much to Kubota's delight.
Mari Manji continued to fight, and it even appeared that she was going to win at times, particularly when she went for the cover after delivering two corner hip attacks and when she attempted to make Yasue Kubota submit to a grounded manjigatame (known as a grounded octopus hold in the US). However, Kubota was ultimately the winner after he made Manji submit to a grapevine ankle lock to her already-weakened leg.
The next match was Yanagase Kamen Fuerza & Jack Kennedy vs. Rob Stardom & Lowther in a tag team match.
Rob Stardom was the wildcard of this match. Born and trained in Canada, Rob Stardom uses a style that his opponents were not accustomed to- "Canadian strong style", is how Stardom has referred to it. Meanwhile, this was his second Japan tour and appearance in YPW, having wrestled for the promotion in 2019 in tag team action.
On the other hand, Jack Kennedy and Lowther are very familiar with each other, with this being their third time being on opposite sides of the ring in a tag team match, the previous times being in December and January. Their interactions are a clash between Kennedy's power and Lowther's experience.
Jack Kennedy's power advantage served him well in this match, as well as the fact that he and Yanagase Kamen Fuerza have good tag team chemistry. Although they have been opponents on more than one occasion, they have also teamed together many times. Their tagging in and out to keep each other fresh during a match, being familiar with each other's styles, and Fuerza's technincal skills complementing Kennedy's power make them a competitive team.
The interaction between Jack Kennedy and Rob Stardom was very interesting. Kennedy's opponents are usually wrestlers who have been Japan-trained, and with him usually being the biggest wrestler in the ring, their offense tends to be very methodical- for example, try to get Kennedy off his feet and keep him on the mat so that he can't utilize his advantage in size and strength. Stardom on the other hand a different strategy- he went at Kennedy head-on, to the extent that when Stardom had him off his feet after a dropkick to the knee, Stardom stood Kennedy back up in a corner of the ring so that he could deliver backhand chops to Kennedy's chest.
Rob Stardom's aggressive style seemed to make Jack Kennedy become more aggressive as well, as he angrily utilize Stardom, and delivered chops of his own in retaliation.
Rob Stardom is a multi-time tag team champion on the Canadian independent circuit, and his tag team expertise shined through when he was able to gain the upper hand over Jack Kennedy and quickly tagged in Lowther. Stardom had Lowther assist him in a double team before going to his corner, hitting a wishbone on Kennedy. Then, while Lowther was continuing to work on Kennedy, Stardom noticed that Kennedy very close to the corner where his partner Yanagase Kamen Fuerza was standing. Wanting to prevent a potential tag from happening, Stardom directed Lowther to knock Fuerza off the apron.
In the closing moments of the match, all four men were battling, with Rob Stardom and Yanagase Kamen Fuerza the legal men, and Lowther and Jack Kennedy on the outside. Stardom won the match for his team after hitting Fuerza with a brainbuster and gaining the pin.
In the final match of the night, Michio Kageyama and Sui Pro Champion (in the Shonan-based Seisho Pro Wrestling promotion) Kenta Kosugi faced NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Champion Hide Kubota and Twin Wave Champion (in Chigasaki Pro Wrestling) JADE.
Early in the match, Kenta Kosugi and JADE were eager to continue from where they left off in their singles match at this past December's YPW Akishimo Sanshaku ("Autumn Frost Sanshaku") event, delivering stiff shots to each other.
It didn't take long before this become a wild one, with all four men battling outside of the ring.
Once in the ring, Hide Kubota and JADE displayed ring psychology by targeting Michio Kageyama's weakened left leg and continuing to work on it, showing why Kubota is a current NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Champion and why JADE is a current Twin Wave Champion. And at one point, Kageyama almost tapped out.
Michio Kageyama fought through all of the pain he had endured, and eventually caught JADE with a surprise leg lariat as he was rebounding off the ropes.
Kenta Kosugi then got the hot tag and cleaned house by shoving Hide Kubota off the apron and Irish whipping JADE into the ropes, connecting with a high knee after he bounced off.
Kenta Kosugi stayed on JADE and tried to pin him multiple times, but JADE kept kicking out. He soon after put Kosugi down with a lower superkick before tagging in Hide Kubota.
Hide Kubota back kicked a now-standing Kenta Kosugi, Irish whipped him into a corner, followed up with a corner back elbow, and then gave Kosugi a bronco buster.
Hide Kubota then went for the cover but only got a two-count. Determined to finish Kenta Kosugi off, Kubota then gave him a neckbreaker slam, once again only getting a two count, much to Kubota's displeasure.
Hide Kubota slapped a sleeper hold on Kenta Kosugi before switching to an abonominal stretch. He hip tossed Kubota to escape from the submission hold.
Kenta Kosugi hit an enziguri on Hide Kobuta before tagging in Michio Kageyama, who exchanged forearm blows with Kubota before utilizing his background in karate and hitting Kubota with a series of kicks.
Michio Kageyama attempted to Irish whip Hide Kubota into a corner, but Kubota reversed the whip, sending Kageyama into the corner. He rebounded the turnbuckle pad with a clothesline attempt, but Kubota ducked and then applied a waistlock on Kageyana. But Kageyama began delivering back elbows to Kubota's face, so he released the hold and ducked, which put him in position for a Kageyama DDT.
Michio Kageyama went for the cover, but only got a two count. He then gave Hide Kubota a backdrop (which is known as the belly-to-back suplex in the US) and went for the cover again, and once again only got a two count. Determined to gain a pinfall, Kageyama then tried to position Kubota for a vertical suplex piledriver, but he escaped Kageyama's grasp and again applied a waistlock. Kageyama made him release it with a back elbow to Kubota's face, followed by a back kick. Kageyama then bounced off the ropes, but he ran into an inverted atomic drop by Kubota, which was followed by a savate kick.
Hide Kubota and Michio Kageyama collapsed to the mat, exhausted from giving their all for the full house at SPORTS BAR M's Cafe and the fans watching internationally via TwitCasting.
Michio Kageyama managed to crawl over to his corner to tag in Kenta Kosugi, while Hide Kobuta simultaneously tagged in JADE. Kosugi and JADE remained the legal men for the rest of the match with the action going forth until Kosugi pinned JADE for the win after delivering a sitout chokeslam.
This Yanagase Pro Wrestling event is available to watch in full via TwitCasting until 2/18, 23:59 Japan Time! You can use a time zone converter to find out what time that is in your area.
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