By: Jeff Brown

Photos courtesy of Actwres girl’Z

AWG continues a run of shows for the month of April at a new venue, Higashin Arena in Sumida. Marino and Natsuki had Ayano Irie and Kyoka Iwai in the main event, and Mizushima teamed with Anri as she tried to figure out the riddle of The Great Asako, who was with the former King titleholder Mari. ACT gave the returning Hinata a test, while Togi once again experimented with dark waters by tagging with her theater mentor MARU as they fought Rico and Uehara. Nene sharpened her skills against Chii. 

To see this and more, go to AWG Nets, which you can subscribe to here for roughly 1,000 yen a month, or you can opt for the YouTube membership. Once again, see a recap of the show narrated by the King of Entertainment herself, Sakura Mizushima.

Nene Arahata vs. Chii Aoba

Nene looked strong and is maybe getting herself ready to challenge one of the new champions. Chii has a good arsenal of moves and feels ready for the next step; perhaps a singles match with a veteran will get her to that next step.

Nene absorbed a lot of the fiery offense Chii served up, including multiple dropkicks. Nene’s rebuttal included a series of brainbusters and her Argentine Backbreaker to get the tapout win. Nene has an understated cool factor and swagger that can’t be taught. Good opening match.

MARU & Nanami Togi vs. Rico Fukunaga & Yukina Uehara

Togi has once again teamed up with her mentor MARU and is trying to find her place in this ACTwrestling world. While she is an obvious underdog babyface, she does a fine job of being a frustrated heel. Uehara is picking up confidence quickly. She came into AWG with a lot of promise, but that also meant she was under a lot of pressure. If you are going to be on the cover of Graffiti prior to your big debut, you better not crumble when things get tough.

Uehara did not crumble and has shown glimpses of being a future big match main-eventer. She and Rico are a good team, as they both like kicking people a lot. A lot. If you are in the ring against this team, prepare to be hit with every combination of kicks in the book. Rico traps Togi in a grounded sleeper to get the submission victory. 

Post-match, Uehara showed interest in joining Actress5, which Rico pointed out is a problem since there are 5 members already. A fun promo exchange (courtesy of Battle News ) and a year later shows the tide is turning with roster members wanting to fight alongside the babyfaces in Actress5. The group is popular, and it makes it seem cooler to have them chosen over the Killer’Z, who made such an impact in 2024.

ACT vs. Hinata Senya

Much like the previous show in Osaka, ACT was here to test a young roster member and try to light a fire under them. Hinata had a breakthrough in January; she gained some much-needed confidence with Ayano, but since then she’s maybe plateaued. She hasn’t regressed, and that’s noteworthy.

ACT was aggressive and tried to pull some emotion out of Hinata. ACT is the perfect coach because, as an undersized rookie, her early days were a mental and physical struggle. AWG is an environment that cultivates talent, and there is patience from the veterans and the company itself. A patience that allows someone like Hinata, who was an office worker who had never performed publicly nor had a long athletic career, to become comfortable with herself and transform into an entertainer. Hinata having meaningful growth this year is as compelling as a critically acclaimed feud and it will have an impact well beyond a highly rated match that inevitably fades as the next match of the year contender takes place.

Veterans mentoring new stars is AWG and a strong point of the ACTwrestling era.

Hinata attacked but was usually easily thwarted; her moves looked more crisp, and she did have some spark. ACT cut her off and hit the ACT Special for the pin. The finish was never in doubt, but again, that’s not why these matches take place; it’s to help Hinata reach new heights.

After the match, ACT spoke about the upcoming ARG shows on June 1st, and Yumi Agawa announced that she will be leaving the company after those performances. Yumi joined the company in 2020 as a member of Kaguya and will be fittingly graduating as she portrays Kikyo at Shinkiba for a pair of final performances. Yumi will be ring announcing one last time at Yokohama on May 6th.

Mari & The Great Asako vs. Anri & Sakura Mizushima

A good tag match that was a chance for Anri to shine. This was also an interesting development in the champ’s run, as Mizushima was terrorized by Asako for most of the match with a formal letter of challenge. It’s not merely enough to cut a promo or bluntly ask for a title match; Asako, of course, had an actual document written up.

Mari worked really well with Mizushima and Anri; then again, Mari works well with everyone. Anri’s kickboxing background lends an air of authenticity to her kicks; there is a marked difference between a person learning to kick in a performance setting versus being taught to win fights. It’s a subtle difference, but it’s usually apparent with the assassin-like coldness Anri displays while throwing brutal strikes.

Mizushima gets the better of Asako and catches her with the Blossom bridging pin for the three-count.

Mari took out her frustration on Asako while a confused Mizushima read the bloodstained document proclaiming that Ninja Girl Uran is the one issuing the challenge for the King of Entertainment belt. It was a nice twist and something out of old US territory wrestling in the ’70s or ’80s—think Jerry Lawler in Memphis or Gary Hart in Texas—a hired gun being brought in to take down the noble babyface champion and collect a bounty placed on their head.

Ayano Irie & Kyoka Iwai vs. Marino Saihara & Natsuki

Ayano and Kyoka are two performers that are dependable in the ring, but each has had moments of self-doubt, and both seem to be on a quest to find their path to a championship. Marino and Natsuki are top players shaping the new era, and both have held the AWG Title.

The match was a nice reminder of Natsuki’s and Ayano’s greatness, showcasing Marino’s new aggression while also building Kyoka into a viable threat. Kyoka had no qualms about using the umbrella, the ring post, and even a chair on Marino; she proved she will stop at nothing to win. Kyoka blasted the champ with a chair and hit a Samoan Drop for the pinfall. She taunted Marino and disrespected the Actress5, stating she wants to prove she’s stronger. Marino ended the show, and the crew are looking towards PiO Plaza for the next chapter.

The Killer’Z group is a united front, but it’s interesting the personalities that make up the unit. Kyoka in Jadoshu had that street punk anger in her heart, that desire to tear down the world. MARU stoked those flames, and along with Ishikawa, they are a different type of heel than, say, Mari or the former BE∀STZ REBELLION members, who are more like glamorous cool goths who enjoy being bad. The Actress5 has fresh, young energy that helps define this chapter of ACTWrestling; they have both belts but also are constantly under threat of attack.

A good show with the trio of tag matches at that sweet spot of about 12 minutes each while the singles matches helped build up the core roster.

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