Nanae Takahashi defended her NEO Singles & NWA Pacific Titles against Yuki Miyazaki at NEO's Mar. 8 Korakuen Hall show. Of course it was overshadowed by Haruka Matsuo's surprise retirement announcement. It doesn't help that no one believes that Miyazaki could ever win. Playing it straight for one match doesn't erase ten years of bad comedy. Miyazaki got the upper hand when she pounded Takahashi outside the ring. But the turning point came when Miyazaki's moonsault was foiled by Takahashi's knees. Takahashi hit a couple of lariats for the win at 21:06. Yoshiko Tamura will challenge for the title on May 5. Kyoko Inoue won over Hiroyo Matsumoto with the cyclone clutch at 16:24. Fuuka & Ray won over Kana & Natsuki*Taiyo when Ray used a hurricanrana on Natsuki at 11:41.
The other title match on the show had Kyoko Kimura & Atsuko Emoto defending the NEO Tag Team Titles against Yoshiko Tamura & Ayumi Kurihara. When I look at the pics of this match, I wonder when Tamura became so ineffectual. Kurihara really took a pounding. I know what NEO is setting up though I don't expect it to be as effective as they think but it makes me wonder what happened to Tamura. The match begins with Tomoka Nakagawa distracting Tamura & Kurihara and that gave Kimura & Emoto control. They concentrated on isolating Kurihara with heel tactics. Beating up a cute girl is a sure way to get heel heat. They wind up outside the ring Kurihara comes off the top rope. While Emoto slams Tamura into the arena wall, Kimura busts Kurihara open with a sharp piece of wood. Kimura continues to grind away at Kurihara and even bites her in the forehead. Tamura finally gets a bit of revenge but isn't all that effective. Just when it looks like Tamura & Kurihara are turning the tables, Nakagawa slams them both with a chair. Kimura nails Kurihara with the Big Boots but Tamura breaks up the pin. Emoto finishes her with the Bay Crash at 22:14. For May 5, NEO plans to bring in Mima Shimoda and reunite LCO to challenge for the titles. Been there, done that.
Haruka Matsuo's match on this show was a 15 minute draw against Yumi Ohka. So here's someone who doesn't even get wins in her home fed and Matsuo isn't allowed to beat her on a NEO show. It was a back and forth affair and neither of rhem came close to winning. It's pretty clear that NEO backstage wrangling is the primary reason for Matsuo's retirement. A match like this was a microcosm of her situation. Other matches had Etsuko Mita over Tomoka Nakagawa with the death valley bomb at 6:23, Aya Yuki, Hikari Shida & Tsukasa Fujimoto over Sakura Emi, Toshie Uematsu & Hamuko Hoshi when Yuki used a German suplex on Hoshi at 9:57 and Tanny Mouse over Aoi Kizuki with the European clutch at 5:01. Fans have been wondering why so many Ice Ribbon wrestlers are appearing on NEO shows. NEO is running a lot of shows to the point where it looks like they're spreading themselves too thin. The weirdest is the two out of town shows they're running on Mar. 29. They need two rosters for those so they will use several Ice Ribbon wrestlers. They also have a busy Golden Week coming up and they announced their annual Hokkaido tour. That's why the Genki & Matsuo retirements are a problem because it forces NEO to depend on too many outside wrestlers. I'd like to see them cut back on their schedule but I don't see Koda doing that.
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