YMZ THE 8TH SUNRISE
JANUARY 1 2021
TOKYO, JAPAN
AIRED ON YOUTUBE
REPORT BY REALDEALJRH, PARTS UNKNOWN PRESS
You’ve seen Jesse’s review of IMPACT, now it is time for my first review of the year! Not only is this my first review, but it’s also the first show I watched in 2021, YMZ’s The 8th Sunrise. For those not in the know, YMZ is a promotion started in 2013 by Kaori Yoneyama, which is known for its comedy matches but is also home to a variety of tremendous wrestling talent. This show here today comes from Nishiarai Daisen West Studio where YMZ runs a lot of its shows.
The show starts with a bit of talking about the show, as well as a rundown of I think supporters of the show, similar to Gatoh Move’s ChocoPro shows. During our intro sequence, we get a dance number and some other craziness. After a nice long chat with the ref, it is time for our first match!
Kakeru Sekiguchi vs Cherry vs Kuishinbo Kamen
For each match on the show, wrestlers enter to clapping and mouthed versions of their music. After some taunting at the camera, we start off with a nice three-way lockup. This leads into a three-way knucklelock which Kamen turns into a Mexican wave. Kamen is very vocal in this match, constantly saying things that make Sekiguchi visibly corpse. More three-way spots including a chop battle until Kamen is thrown away from the action. The action picks up a little, but for some reason, there are now tags? I like some dumb comedy, but I don’t know how I feel about this. It just irks me for whatever reason.
After a few spots, we get to one of the best parts of the match. Everybody hits each other with a leg-kick, including the referee. This results in everyone hobbling around comedically. There’s also a spot after that where they all crash into each other for a three-way pin which popped me. We then get a series of rollups on everybody, including the referee… All very close two counts. All of this leads to the finish as Sekiguchi picks up the win after Cherry double stomps her onto Karmen.
Overall, I felt this was a very enjoyable comedy match that was a little bit sloppy at points. I must say though, I think Kamen might be one of my new favourite wrestlers.
WINNER: KAKERU SEKIGUCHI IN 7:37
RATING: ** 3/4
Kaji Tomato & Makoto (w/ Matsuzawa-san) vs Hikaru Sato & Kaori Yoneyama
After some more dancing, it is time for our next match. For this match, Hikaru Sato, best known for being a great shooter and AJPW Junior Heavyweight trained by Minoru Suzuki, comes out in a bra and thong with a loincloth. It is quite a look, and I love it. The only thing is, I don’t know how I feel about the gimmick. They’re playing it for laughs, but because of the language barrier, I can’t tell if it is the horrible “ha-ha man in women’s clothes” kind of laugh, or the much better “ha-ha, super-serious wrestler wrestling in lingerie” that Ivory would’ve done in the Attitude Era. Hopefully, it isn’t the former, although the constant use of the word hentai doesn’t fill me with much hope.
The match starts with a nice lockup and a very sensual break by Sato. They then do a bunch of spots where Tomato feels awkward fighting Sato and starts screaming. In comes Makoto and Yoneyama. Eventually, there’s a double boot by Makoto and Matsuzawa-san, who hurts herself. Matsuzawa-san does some offense which is similar to if someone’s mother wrestled in their backyard fed, which fucking rules! Eventually, the match comes to a standstill as Yoneyama powers up, only to get attacked. Sato comes in and locks in a beautiful armbar.
He then starts lying on people, which results in Matsuzawa hitting him with a flyswatter. In his final act, Sato then sits on top of Makato who screams violently. This spot was very uncomfortable, and I don’t know if it was in a good way. This leads to everyone including his own partner beating him up. BIG HADOUKEN by Yoneyama. The finish comes when Matsuzawa-san accidentally hits Tomato with a spring onion (what a sentence) and flyswatters Yoneyama into a rollup by Makato.
This match was OK. Nothing really worth writing home about. The match was very sloppy in some parts, which is surprising given the talent level. Some of the comedy also felt very hit or miss.
WINNERS: KAIJI TOMATO & MAKOTO IN 10:10
RATING: * 1/2
Isami Kodaka vs Rina Yamashita
After some shenanigans between matches, it is main event time! Basic wrestling to start us off and a nice shoulder tackle spot. Kodaka is working over Yamashita’s arm. The work is very good, but the match kind of feels like it is going in slow motion… Just not in the good, funny kind. More arm work and a nice armbar by Kodaka. Things do pick up speed a little bit, with both wrestlers exchanging a few near falls towards the end. The match descends into a crazy and fun to watch brawl as the match goes to a time limit draw at 10 minutes.
This match was very enjoyable for the most part, with some great work in it. Sadly it felt like it dragged a bit at points, especially early on. If they had more time to work a story in or made things tighter, I would’ve rated it much higher.
TIME LIMIT DRAW AT 10:00
RATING: ** 1/2
Final Thoughts
Overall the show was pretty ordinary. There was some good work and good comedy on display, but some of the matches felt disjointed or like they overstayed their welcome. I can’t say I’d recommend the show, but there were some redeeming elements. If you want to make your own mind up, the show is up on YouTube for free.
RATING: ** 1/4
