By: Jeff Brown

 Photos courtesy of Actwres girl’Z

Actwres girl’Z  were at Shin-kiba 1st Ring for Step 61 of ACTwrestling, which saw the semi-final of the ACT game decided as MARU and The Great Asako squared off against Marino Saihara and Rico Fukunaga. ANRI and Erisa Nagai battled Ayano Irie and Mari. Sakura Mizushima was challenged by Rio, while Natsuki and Yukina Uehara faced off against Kyoka Iwai and Nanami Togi with ACT in their corner.

This show and many others can be found in AWG’s vast archive; go to AWG Nets. It’s 1,000 yen per month with a very quick and easy sign-up process, or you can opt for the YouTube membership. 

Mizushima once again has narrated a recap video of the recent happenings in AWG, which can be viewed here:

Chii Aoba vs. Hinata Senya

Chii had a nice solid opener with Hinata, who by the way, was very smooth in all her sequences. Hinata also showed some new aggression by dropkicking an unsuspecting Chii before the bout officially began. It’s a performance like this that can build confidence in Hinata, who seems to be turning a corner.

Chii should feel better as well, as she was the leader in this match and picked up another victory with a splash off the ropes. Chii has been on a roll lately and wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to hone her skills before her match at GLEAT.

Speaking of Chii and shoot-style fighting, Actwres girl’Z will be taking part in the Lidet/UWF (aka GLEAT) show on 8/9 as part of the company’s new initiative to have joshi involvement once again in their promotion. Rico Fukunaga will fight Chii Aoba, and Marino Saihara will take on Yukina Uehara. You can watch the action on the official YouTube channel or see updates on X.

Ayano Irie & Mari vs. ANRI & Erisa Nagai

Polaris☆ faced off against Killer’Z in a match that they were not expected to win, nor was that really the purpose. ANRI and Erisa, while having meteoric rises, are still rookies, and Ayano and Mari were more than happy to make that clear.

This was a fairly one-sided fight and will be something that Polaris☆ builds off as they keep adding tandem moves and continue to figure out what works best for them as a unit. ANRI with her kickboxing skills (which would be at home in Lidet/UWF) and Erisa’s unwavering tenacity are good base coats for a growing tag division. Ayano was especially vicious in this fight and had ANRI beat with Teardrop Angel but opted for a straight jacket-style Camel Clutch to get the tap-out win.

Sakura Mizushima vs. Rio

The King Mizushima had her work cut out for her as she once again stood across the ring from Rio. The rookie brought a lot of strength and was able to easily throw Mizushina around, but the champ had experience and speed on her side. Rio also hit big chops that Mizushima shrieked in pain from, but brute strength is not enough to beat the King of Entertainment. Mizushima utilized all her speed and dazzling offense to catch Rio off guard. Mizushima will never back down; even when she is outgunned, she always finds a way to victory.

A good way to spotlight Mizushima, as she had the advantage for the majority of the match. Mizushima hit a crossbody off the top rope to pick up a win on her way to face Nagisa at Koruakuen. 

Natsuki & Yukina Uehara vs. Kyoka Iwai & Nanami Togi (w/ACT)

Natsuki and Yukina were against Kyoka and Togi, while ACT was up to no good and was blasting everyone in sight with her sake bottle. A really fun match that was a good combination of comedy and hard-hitting action.

Togi and Kyoka were good foils using Allen’s umbrella and sometimes getting help from ACT, but they were not able to defeat the dynamic duo of Natsuki and Yukina. Natsuki really embodies AWG as their Ace and Yukina is learning incredibly fast and being earmarked for big things herself. Yukina blasted Togi with a heel kick to the head to get the pinfall.

At Korakuen, they will be representing the company on its 10th Anniversary as they face STARDOM’s Natsupoi and Anou Saori.

MARU & The Great Asako vs. Marino Saihara & Rico Fukunaga ACT Game Semi Final Point Tag Team Match

The ACT Game tournament continued on with a solid main event as MARU and The Great Asako tried to spoil the day for Marino and Rico.

MARU was fantastic as always and, as expected, made this a brawl; however, that has become a specialty of Marino as well, so it was a bit more of an even fight around Shinkiba. Rico had a nice showcase and yet again felt like she belonged in a big match. Her Dragon Sleeper is a nice addition to her expanding arsenal of submissions. The Great Asako had no issues being Asako and even resorted to biting the Marino at one point in the match. MARU also leaned into rule-breaking with her biting and her signature chain. The end sequence was epic storytelling, with Marino trying the MRN Smash and MARU answering back with MARU x 2 Suplex. Asako accidentally sprayed poison fog on MARU, and the AWG Champion Marino ended it with a 3 x rolling MRN Smash! for the pinfall. 

Marino and Rico of Actress 5, like all good heroes, overcame the villains and advanced to the finals against Amaterasu. Marino has a chance to become a double champion if  they win the tournament. Mizushima is taking on her longtime friend Nagisa for the King title. Natsuki and Yukina are taking on AWG originals Natsupoi and Anou in one of the most important matches for themselves and the company, as a lot of new eyes will see the product. That’s the main takeaway of the last year: the company has rebuilt and has a roster ready for new fans; it’s now time to show them what ACTwrestling is all about.

RESURA’s faithful readers should be following AWG on X and checking out their fun videos on TikTok.