By: Jeff Brown

Photos courtesy: Actwres girl’Z

Actwres girl’Z held their first show of 2025 at Radiant Hall in Yokohama; it was a mean and lean show consisting of four matches. The building was nearing capacity, which was a strong victory as the show was up against Wrestle Kingdom. 

AWG had finished out 2024 with a bang at Korakuen Hall, but there was one more performance for the crew before the year ended. Actress Time returned to AJPW at their New Year’s Eve 2024 show at Yoyogi National Gymnasium #2. Turning back the clock slightly, let’s have a look at their visit to All Japan.

Natsuki & Marino Saihara vs. ACT & Riko Fukunaga 

A really nice showcase of what AWG is all about in front of over 2,500 people. The Love Riddle kicked things off before transitioning into the tag match. Worth noting this was a one-off reunion of BE∀STZ REBELLION as Riko put back on her black gear to team up with ACT. Early on, Natsuki and Marino got ACT in the corner, and the entire crew did the train spot of charging ACT; this included ring announcer Yumi Agawa and referee Banny Oikawa. The spot was really fun and grabbed the attention of the people in attendance. While under 10 minutes, they squeezed in a lot of important signature moves, such as Natsuki’s Halo Hold submission, Riko got to show off her Tiger Suplex, and Marino took ACT out of the match with the MRN Smash! German suplex. 

Natsuki blasted Riko with a jumping knee and then the Cutie Special to pick up the win. Natsuki, in particular, looked strong, which is fitting as she is the AWG Champion and the focal point of the segment. Actress Time happens as the crowd is filling in, but it does keep the seated fans interested and is a unique pre-show spectacle. 

Back to 2025 and Radiant Hall, here are some impressions of ACTwrestling in Yokohama.

Nagisa Shiotsuki & Natsuki vs. Anri & Erisa Nagai

The champ Natsuki rejoins Nagisa as Mid Summer Sea Breeze to take on two rising rookies in Anri and Erisa. Early on, Natsuki exchanged kicks with Anri, who asked for more. Sea Breeze was a bit mischievous and had no problem double-teaming the young players. 

Nagisa in particular was chopping Erisa with glee and then landed a codebreaker and a double hand chop. Erisa did grab a heel hook and performed her signature standing split leg drop. Anri and Natsuki had a striking war, and things really started to cook. Anri nailed Natsuki with a seated senton for a good near-fall. Natsuki regained control and used the double foot stomp on Anri to get the three-count. Anri and Natsuki discussed meeting again for the title in the future. 

Anri has taken to AWG extremely fast and is already an exciting addition to shows. Her winning the rookies tournament and being a future title challenger was the right move.

Ayano Irie vs. Hinata Senya

Two faction members having a singles contest. Essentially, this was a one-sided affair with Ayano testing and trying to fire up Hinata. Hinata has had flashes of brilliance, but she has struggled to find her place on the roster; she already has a main event look and entrance. This is something that can be improved upon little by little, as she doesn’t need to be carrying the company next week or anything, and her mentors in AWG have a way of accentuating a player’s strengths while hiding their weaknesses. 

Ayano is the smooth and confident veteran who fits anywhere on the card. After a few minutes, Ayano puts Hinata down with the vertical sit-out facebuster for the win. Afterwards, she helped Hinata to her feet.

ACT & Mari vs. Chii Aoba & Yukina Uehara

Mari and ACT rekindled their Amaterasu team, and that was not good news for Chii and super rookie Uehara. To their credit, neither were wilting flowers, as Chii asked for kicks from Mari. Not to be left out, Uehara entered the ring and also demanded to be christened by Mari with kicks. The match became focused on Uehara, with her having a wicked striking battle with ACT and then exchanging penalty kicks with Mari. 

Overall, this was an important test for the rookie while Chii got some seasoning. However, just as important, people were reminded how good of a team ACT and Mari are. 

In the final stretch, Chii pulled out a frog splash and had a return of the fire she had shown in late 2024. Then Mari had to hit her with just about everything as she refused to go down. Mari did eventually get the job done with the crucifix bomb, and she pinned Chii. This was the strongest performance to date from Chii, as Mari has a knack for bringing out the best of these developing talents. 

Five Rumble Match-Naru vs. Marino Saihara vs. Riko Fukunaga vs. Sakura Mizushima vs. Yui Tensho

The main event was the Five Rumble Match between the members of Actress Five. 

Two competitors started the match with a new person entering at intervals. Yui was out 1st, and Naru was out 2nd to begin the match. Mizushima was out the 3rd and surprised them with a crossbody. Yui performed an impressive double gut wrench suplex. Riko was out 4th, immediately throwing kicks but was also nearly eliminated. Marino was out 5th and got beaten up by Riko. 

Yui was eliminated over the top rope but returned to help everyone pin Riko. Mizushima was drop-kicked to the apron and then drop-kicked to the floor. Marino pins Naru with the MRN Smash! German suplex. 

It was a very goofy but entertaining way to close out the show; it almost felt like a produce show when Natsuki got involved to form the top of the human kagami mochi (New Year’s decoration), which is fitting as she is the Summer fighter. The 5 signed off together to finish the first show of 2025 with smiles and pinkies up.