Arsion: Carnival Arsion '98 12/18/98
Yokohama Bunka Gym
Attendance: 1,650
This was Arsion's biggest show to date, and also concluded the federation's first year of existence. There were certainly some flaws. For one, the number of shoot matches seemed to dilute the purpose of putting on a great wrestling show. At the same time, Arsion wanted to maybe protect its credibility as the most realistic women's group in Japan. Also, the lack of fan heat for 99.9% of the show was amazing, if not downright scary. Fans were hard-pressed to pop for just about anything, even the hottest of moves, the most creative counters and many of the most dramatic near falls only elicited modest reactions. The lack of heat could also be attributed to the fact that the arena was only one-third full, a nearly disasterous attendance percentage for a major show, which may have been caused by the advertised Yoshida-Okutsu main event. As great as it was on paper and in reality, such a match had little chance of getting many people excited about the show. The undercard wrestling matches did not seem out of place on a big show at all, but hardly made for great box office material.
That said, once I finished viewing the tape, I found it impossible to dub this a thumbs-down show. The Okutsu-Yoshida main event, even with the lack of heat, was every bit as good as it could have been and was also a truly unique main event in terms of style for a women's show. Kong-Hamada also really delivered, and was almost amazing given that Ayako had just a few months of experience. The twin star title match was also an excelllent match, with smooth wrestling and impressive athleticism throughout. As for the shoot matches, while I could have done without them, I have also seen much worse. The tape itself and the event had good production values and presentation.
The event began with an introduction in which all the combatants were brought out.
Match 1: Miko Akino, Mary Apache & Fabe Apache vs Esther Moreno, Jesse Bennett & Lady Metal
Akino and company did a triple tope to little reaction early on. Overall an okay match, although there were some nice lucha exchanges. Akino gained a near fall on Moreno with a superbomb. She then made
Metal tap out to a cross-armbreaker at 8:53. 3:08 aired of this match. Not great, but Akino looked like a future star.
Match 2: Judo: Saya vs Aiyko Sato
Sato won via takedown in 45 seconds of round 3. Only 35 seconds of this match aired.
Match 3: Shoot Match: Mikiko Futagami vs Chiunjya
Chiunjya controlled the first two minutes of action. However, Futagami won at 5:22 when she made Chiunjya submit to an ankle lock. Most of this match was pretty dull.
Match 4: Kickboxing: Aya Matsui vs Natsumi Nakazawa
This match was fought in 5 three minute rounds. Natsumi knocked down Aya for an 8 count in the first round. Matsui turned the tables with a punch to Natsumi at 1:30 of round 2. She knocked Natsumi
down with a kick and scored the KO win in 45 seconds of round three. Not too exciting, but better than most shootboxing matches of this type on women's events.
Match 5 (Twin Star of Arsion title): Hiroumi Yagi & Rie Tamada (champions) vs Yumi Fukawa & Michiko Omukai (challengers)
The action began hot with a wild brawl all over ringside at first and then into the crowd. Yagi hit both opponents with a plancha and Tamada followed up with a somersault plancha early on. Most of
the work was very good, but there was little or no heat. Fukawa and Yagi did more mat wrestling and shoot-style work. Fukawa did some great counters into submission holds on her opponents.
Omukai and Tamada had an inspired exchange of offense and near falls down the stretch. Tamada gained a near fall on Omukai with a missile dropkick. The champions did a double top rope dropkick on
Omukai. Tamada German suplexed Omukai and pinned her at 12:18 to retain the title. Excellent match from start to finish but the scary lack of heat took it down a bit. ***3/4
Match 6: Rosina Elina vs Reggie Bennett
Bennett looked much lighter than in her AJW days, perhaps as light as 180 pounds. This match was also fought shoot-style. Nothing of consequence happened during the first 1:30. Elina
dominated the action for the most part but did not incur too much damage. Elina made Bennett submit to a choke-sleeper of sorts at 6:50. Dull match.
Match 7: Aja Kong vs Ayako Hamada
Ayako was only 17 and had only a few months experienced but looked great considering that. Aja almost completely dominated the first few minutes with her usual stiff offense. Hamada mounted
a brief comeback but was on the losing end of a slapfest. Hamada gave Kong an in-ring quebrada at 6:46 and gave her a superquebrada less than a minute later for one of the biggest fan responses
of the show. The two traded near falls in the closing minutes. Hamada hit a tornado DDT for a near fall but Aja came back with a released German suplex. Aja gave Hamada three back suplexes
for a near fall. Ayako German suplexed Aja for a near fall and gained another with three in-ring quebradas. Aja gained a near fall with a brainbuster and pinned Ayako at 13:32 after an uraken.
A near-perfect match in terms of making Ayako look like a future star while maintaining Kong's credibility. ***1/2
Match 8 (Queen of Arsion championship final): Mariko Yoshida vs Candy Okutsu
Not much heat for this match, but by far more heat than for any other match. The two traded offense on the mat early on in fast, smooth fashion. Everything they did was fluid and flawlessly
executed. The matwork was both innovative and believeable. In between matwork they did traditional moves like a Yoshida DDT and an Okutsu flying bodypress. Yoshida countered a flying
bodypress by Okutsu into a Fujiwara armbar. Yoshida gained a near fall after a German suplex. Throughout the match Yoshida was more dominant on the mat but Okutsu held her own. Okutsu
gained a near fall with a brainbuster at 10:00. Okutsu gave Yoshida a top rope superplex and two moonsaults as well as a Mero-like moonsault for a great near fall. Yoshida turned a rollup into a
leglock submission. Okutsu powerbombed Yoshida and hit a 5-locomotion German suplex for a near fall. Yoshida gave Okutsu a version of the Death Valley driver for a near fall. Yoshida grapevined
Okutsu's head with her arm and leg to force a submission at 16:08 to become the first Queen of Arsion champion. Definitely the best match of the show and a very unique match compared to most
other prominent women's matches in Japan. ****1/4
Overall, not the best event in wrestling history. However, with three great matches, this is a tape I would recommend, especially if you have never seen Arsion before- this is one of their best tapes to see to get familiar with the overall blend of styles in Arsion.