By: Jeff Brown

Photos: Masahiro Kubota

Color’s Girls Pro Wrestling Unit, aka Color’s GPU, was at Shin-kiba 1st Ring for the latest installment of Yes, My Way. The crew was back at full force with Rina Amikura returning from injury, but with the news of Hikari Shimizu’s impending retirement, it will be one of the last times.

The 1st Ring was full of fans and great spirits as Color’s brought in a great cast of friends from all over the joshi scene. Here are some impressions from the evening:

The show started with the four doing the opening dance set to the “We are Color’s” theme, but in typical chaotic fashion, SAKI had turned her microphone off, and they had to restart it. The crowd booed as this is not the first time a fumble has happened; it was all in good fun as there was a party atmosphere throughout the night. 

Honoka & Yuuki Mashiro vs. Minnie-chan & Momoka Hanazono

Honoka was in a match with three known lunatics, Hanazono and Minnie-chan were not getting along as a team. Minnie-chan may or may not be a parody of Minnie Mouse, and the wrestler doing the parody may or may not be familiar to joshi fans who watch Pure-J, for instance.

Hanazono and Mashiro had an eye poke battle, and that was just the kind of action you would expect from those two. Hanazono was eventually turned on by her partner, who did a moonsault onto her, followed by Honoka and Mashiro piling on to get the pin. 

Natsu Sumire, Sayaka Obihiro & Yuna Manase vs. Kakeru Sekiguchi, Sakuran Bonita & Tae Honma

Yuna and Tae started off, and it’s noteworthy because almost exactly 10 years ago at 1st Ring, Tae started her career with a Yuna-led AgZ. Yuna, like SAKI, has many connections and has touched many lives in joshi. A lot of triple teaming took place, which led to miscommunication and partners turning on one another.

Obi ended up helping Tae even though they were squaring off shortly before. A common theme and part of the charm of Color’s shows is the way matches become pure anarchy. Natsu introduced the whip to the match, but then SKG and she had a good pin sequence that ended with everyone collapsing in a heap, including referee Tommy. Natsu even stacked everyone in the corner for a Bronco Buster spot; after some misdirection, Natsu caught SKG with a small package to grab the victory. 

Makoto & Yuko Sakurai vs. Miya Yotsuba & Risa Sera

Miya started things off, but it very quickly dove into silliness as Sera was punching everyone’s feet repeatedly. It felt very off the cuff, and Color’s shows are like a group of incredible musicians coming together for a laid-back but grooving jam session. After a while, things got really cooking as Yuko and Miya went at it.

Yuko gets a vertical sit-out facebuster on Miya for the win. 

Shin Sakura Hirota vs. Hikari Shimizu

The written word cannot do this match justice, nor most of Hirota’s matches for that matter. When doing her doppelganger routine, she picks the perfect things to accentuate while imitating her opponent. It’s a perfect combination of well-thought-out and completely slapped-together cheapness with her outfits.

They locked up, and Hirota did the high-pitched Shimizu voice, and the entire building lost it. With Hirota, underneath all that comedy is one of the best wrestlers in the world, and Hikari got to show how spectacular she is as well. Somewhere along the way, the match featured a booger on the finger spot before doing the most mild brawl through the crowd with photo ops. All of a sudden, things got serious as Hikari did a diving crossbody off the top to the floor. Hikari kicks Hirota in the head, who then collapses on top of Hikari to get her patented slip on the banana peel win. Comedy masterclass and a definite recommendation. 

Hikari did request a match with Rina for the Color’s Championship afterwards.

Kaori Yoneyama & Rina Amikura vs. SAKI & Sonoko Kato

Main event time and orange glow sticks filled Shin-kiba in anticipation for Rina’s entrance and the crowd was loudly chanting “Amii.”

SAKI did drop her SPARK title belt during the entrance, and that was on par for the show (in a good way). SAKI and Rina begin the match with mean strikes before Rina knocks Kaori off the apron. On a Color’s show, you have a high probability of fighting your tag partner as much as your actual opponents. In between all the fun, they had an incredible wrestling match. Color’s expertly weaves seriousness amongst the frivolity in a way that almost sneaks in the top-level ring action.

Rina is taking an absolute beating as Sonoko is a vicious and aggressive fighter; the veteran is a good contrast to the wackiness of almost everyone else on the show. SAKI blasts Rina with a Michinoku Driver followed by a top rope leg drop from Sonoko, who then pins Rina. Fantastic match and a wonderful way to end the evening. 

Hikari did request a match with Rina for the Color’s Championship afterwards. The Color’s crew signed off and another volume is in the books.

Going back to the AWG days, Color’s shows have always been about brightly colored good times, both for the audience and the wrestlers. That tradition and spirit live on as they have been a freelance unit the last couple of years. It’s a celebration for each outing, people from all different kinds of promotions (or fellow freelancers) with a strong bond and ties to the four unit members. Like the names of these shows imply, it’s being done on their terms, and the wrestling world is better for it. 

Go out of your way to get this show when it becomes available on DVD. Yes, My Way shows are for sale at SAKI’s online store .