Sendai Girls headed to Sendai PIT once again, this time bringing along two exciting talents from Marvelous—Takumi Iroha and Senka Akatsuki. Unagi Sayaka also joined the party, taking on the headhunter Mika Iwata. We also got some Yurika Oka singles action and a Sendai Girls Junior Championship match.
This show is a reminder of just how consistent of a product this company puts out. Senjo brings it in the ring on the big events as well as the smaller stuff. The undercard shouldn’t be skipped, either. Some rising star is going to be shining there on just about any given night.
The June 20 PIT show is proof positive of that. There were no major developments here or certified bangers, but the whole card gave us solid wrestling. The visitors from Marvelous made the night added a welcome electricity and gave us a peek at a potential future singles match that would be something special.
You can stream the full show on Wrestle Universe.
Yurika Oka vs. Miku Kanae
From the jump, this bout boasted high energy and intensity aplenty, especially considering this was their first match against each other.
Oka and Kanae packed the first five minutes with a good amount of action. The pace remained remained. There was a decent sense of struggle throughout in a mostly even matchup.
Near the end, both wrestlers went for rapid-fire pin attempts which gave us some pretty damn convincing near-falls.
Oka got the win to cap off a strong opener. With Mio Momono coming back in July, she can go back to being one half of one of the best tag teams in all of joshi. Oka teaming up with a hodgepodge of partners, from Manami to Hiroyo Matsumoto just ain’t cutting it. We need Bob Bob Momo Banana back in our lives.
Rating: 7.25/10
DASH Chisako, Hiroyo Matsumoto & Yura Suzuki vs. Manami, Ryo Mizunami & ZONES
Reiwa Ultimate Powers plus Yura Suzuki made for a fun trio, but this was definitely the weakest bout on the card.
Matsumoto, Chisako, and Suzuki all took turns beating on ZONES, but their onslaught wasn’t all that convincing. Usually, you can count on DASH and The Lady Destroyer for more fierceness, but that was lacking here.
As you expect, there were still some highlights including Matsumoto mocking Ryo’s shtick and Suzuki dishing out a nasty armbar. It was also fun to see Matsumoto flinging Chisako’s body into their foes. The story that played out overall, though, didn’t stand out. This was standard, good-enough fare.
Manami earned the pinfall and took the mic for post-match comments for those taking notes. Even among all the veterans, the company made sure it was the rising star who got the most spotlight. Senjo seems to know what it has in her.
Rating: 5.5
Aya Sakura vs. YUNA (Sendai Girls Junior Championship)
Tight, intense mat work highlighted the early part of Sakura’s first title defense. There was a simplicity to the match layout that mostly worked. The wrestlers struggled for control, twisting on the mat and such, but at times, the pace slowed too much for my liking.
I did enjoy the hell out of YUNA’s delight in pulling back on Sakura’s arm with a devilish look in her eyes. This showdown had a good number of flashes of why I’m such a fan of hers: pounding forearms, furiously going for the armbar, howling in pain.
Some weak strikes made for an underwhelming ending where Sakura got the win and successful defense. It’s early, but I am nowhere near as excited about this reign as I was with Chi Chi as champ. I’ll wait to fully pass judgement, though. Let’s see what defense no. 2 brings.
Rating: 6.25
Unagi Sayaka vs. Mika Iwata
Matches that start with two wrestlers blasting each other with forearms are my jam. We got that here with Iwata and Sayaka wasting no time in making this a slugfest.
The former Sendai Girls world champ disrespect and dismantle the visiting Unagi. Beating down folks like she did here is what Iwata does best. She hit a great kick to Unagi’s chin outside the ring that was an absolute highlight.
The bulk of the story after this was Sayaka working over Iwata’s leg. Things slowed down here and felt stagnant at times. The drama didn’t pull me in here.
Things picked up closer to the end when the two foes started trading shots. Maybe I am just a sucker for a slobberknocker.
The bout ended in a 15-minute draw. This was a good one, but wasn’t as great as I was expecting.
Rating: 7
Senka Akatsuki & Takumi Iroha vs. Team 200kg (Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu
When this main event got announced, I yelped in my living room, and my wife was mighty confused. Anyone who has followed my writing or audio content knows that I am a huge Team 200kg fan, and I have made it abundantly clear that I am 100 percent on board the Senka train. This was just such a fun pairing, and I was hyped for it.
The key narrative of this match ended up being Senka trying to step up to Hashimoto to prove herself, by way of trying to overpower her, by crashing into her. Big Hash was too much (for now) for her, however.
This bout had some good pacing with hard hits and fun times. Hashimoto and Yuu hit some nice moves that showed off their power like Yuu suplexing Akatsuki and Iroha at the same time.
In the end, the decorated duo outlasted the pair from Marvelous. Senka, being the rookie (super or not), ate the pin.
My biggest takeaway from this showdown is how much Senka looks like she belonged among these bigger names. Her presence is impressive. She feels like a star already. And she’s so good at turning a single moment like a body slam into something that pops the crowd big.
Now after getting a glimpse of Hashimoto and Senka banging heads, that’s a singles match that I need to see. Somebody make it happen!
Rating: 7.75
RESURA 