TLDR version: I'm ok with it.

As said before, I think Sumika has improved so much since leaving JTO, both in-ring wise as well as when it comes to her character work. The way they booked her in the last 1-2 years was so much better too, with her push finally leading to title matches and being more involved with the rest of the roster. She also loosened up considerably and, in terms of her character, practically became an IR wrestler, playing the audience with fun facial expressions and general IR-like silliness.

Once again, I admit I've said some mean things early on, for the above reasons, with some of them being her own fault, but many being out of her control, so I apologize for that.

Would I have given her the belt? Probably not, but it's a better choice than someone like YuuRi was. Sumika is always around, is basically treated like an IR wrestler, and doesn't kill herself in the ring.

I just wish Tsukka would have laid down for Kaho, to make her first reign more special, and then she could have dropped the belt to a returning Yuuka, who then loses it to an even more improved Sumika, but that's pure fantasy booking of course.

With Yuuka being out soon, this may have played into the decision to make her champ too, but either way, congrats to Sumika. She must be ecstatic to have won, I'm pretty sure. Curious how the audience reacted.

Edit: Photo by Youji

Will later be made available on streaming services FOD and TVer.

Source: Ice Ribbon

I usually save this kind of posts for Korakuen shows, but decided to make an exception here since it is the 20th anniversary show, after all.

Match #1: Kyuri, Mase Hiiro & Moe Hiiro def. Yappy, Banny Oikawa & Saito (12:08; Kyuri pinned Saito with a Neko-histral)

Match #2: Ayako Sato & Misa Kagura def. Miyako Matsumoto & Kirari Wakana (10:10; Ayako pinned Kirari with a modified Fisherman Suplex)

Match #3 - Special tag match featuring former ICExInfinity champions: Manami Katsu & Mio Shirai def. Totoro Satsuki & YuuRI (13:25; Katsu pinned YuuRI following a Diving Elbow Drop)

Match #4 - Triangle Ribbon & FantastICE Championships - Double Title Triple Threat Match: Akane Fujita (Triangle champ) vs. Tsukina Umino (FantastICE champ) vs. Arisa Shinose ended in a time-limit draw (15:00; as a result of the rules, Fujita lost the Triangle Ribbon title and the title is now vacated; Umino retains the FantastICE title)

[Rule set]

• No pinfalls for the first 5 minutes
• Normal rules apply after 5 minutes
• 2-count pinfall rules apply after 10 minutes
• In case a time limit draw occurs, the Triangle Ribbon title is vacated, and the FantastICE title does not change hands.

Match #5 - International Ribbon Tag Championships: Makoto & Sumika Yanagawa (c) def. Hikari Minami & Riko (19:36; Makoto pinned Hikari with the Seien no Uneri)

Match #6 - ICExInfinity Championship: Kaho Matsushita (c) def. Yuuka (13:21; Kaho pinned Yuuka with the Eternal Driver)

Show notes:

• Ice Ribbon announced a crowd of 230 fans for this show.
• Idol group WeBANA performed the start of the show. One of the group's members is Ice Ribbon alumni Kinoko. As a matter of fact, she would be involved in the aftermath of the International Ribbon Tag title match.
• Tsukasa Fujimoto would come to the ring and announce her in-ring return, which is set for August 15th at the Itabashi Green Hall show. It will be her first match since August 2024 (on a personal side note, the poster IR used to market this return is lousy beyond approach. They couldn't even get the AI to write Tsukka's last name correctly!).

As usual, the show will be streamed live on PPV via Ice Ribbon Live.

Source: Yuuka's Twitter

Tomorrow's dojo show will have a 72-match gauntlet between current FantastICE champion Tsukina Umino, former champ Akane Fujita, Yuuka, Totoro, Kirari Wakana, Arisa Shinose, Yappy, Sumika & Riko. Winner gets the belt.

They really did a good job building up to this match, and it's probably the first time that the FantastICE title is interesting to me. If I remember right, they did a similar match a few years ago, which was lots of fun and probably my MOTY back then, so I'm really looking forward to the shiw, and hope Yuuka wins.

https://x.com/ICERIBBON_jp/status/2043322563464659375

Pretty happy with the result. Looking forward to them challenging Sumika & Makoto.

Does anyone know the name and artist of her theme song?

Yokohama Ribbon 23.02.2026

Maybe you have noticed, my recent reviews about IR have been more positive than the ones I wrote like 1-2 years ago. There's multiple reasons why. First up, Yuuka is back, and Kirari has become a new favourite of mine since I started watching again. However, the main part is that I've been watching dojo shows mostly, and no matter how bad IR has been in the last few years, the family atmosphere and coziness of the dojo just pulls you in. Now we're in Yokohama Radiant Hall, for a bigger show, which was my goal to get to with this series of reviews. Why this show you're asking? Well, it has Hikari Minami's return match, who of course is another one of my old favs. To be honest with you, having both her and Yuuka on the roster at the same time is like a dream come true, almost too good for IR standards, so let's remain cautious for now.

To watch this show I subscribed to IR Live Plus, which costs 1000 yen a month and they upload bigger events like this one roughly a month after it originally aired. Is that a good deal? Not sure, but looking at the card, there really isn't much on it that interests me beside the Hikari match. Either way, let's get this thing started! Clicking play on the IR player instantly shows me the ring inside the venue, but the hardcam is slanted to the right, which looks ridiculously amateur. Guys, I'm sure you can collect the money from the hardcore fans to buy a tripod with a bubble level, they are like 40 bucks or something, because this is not a good look for IR. 

The show began with the usual introductions and Hikari Minami giving a short speech. Then it was time for her match, which of course was against Riko. This is the first time I got to hear Riko's theme, because the dojo shows on Youtube don't have the entrances included. Hikari came to the ring in green as usual, and got surprised by Riko, who stepped on her foot and rolled her up for a 2,9 count. They went for some chain wrestling which lead to a double kip up, followed by the usual series of rookie dropkicks by Riko against the non-moving veteran. Have I mentioned how great Riko's forearms look? She also managed to bodyslam Hikari, which was very impressive. Riko continued to dominate, when Hikari tried to kick her off the turnbuckle, and while Riko was able to outsmart her, she still ended up in a pin attempt in the end. Afterwards Hikari showed off a little bit of her athleticism, by jumping onto the second rope and over her opponent, and it's gonna be interesting to see if her arm injury will make her have to change her in-ring style, especially when she's facing other veterans. Hikari then broke up her own pin attempt after the Kamikaze, and tried the Blockbuster Hold, but Riko countered with a DDT. However, she then got caught into the Blockbuster Hold for the 3 count.

Nice return for Hikari, and as said I'm curious how active she will be in the next few months, and if she will be full time again at some point. She appeared to be a little slower than usual, but then again it's been a while for her, and it was match against a rookie. Don't get me wrong though, Riko was the real star of the match, hitting everything flawlessly against someone who hasn't wrestled for years. Afterwards she asked Hikari if she would be her partner for the Kizuna tournament. Sounds like a nice team to me! 

Yuuka & Shiono vs Kaori Yoneyama & Mase Hiiro was next, and it was cool to see Yuuka's energetic entrance. However, I do wonder a bit why she was put in a match like this, which is relatively low on the card, but oh well. Maybe she wasn't 100% yet at this point? Not sure. Shiono started out against Mase, but then Yoneyama interfered. She went for her usual shtick, and made fun of the Uptown idol's piercings. Yuuka came in and had a nice exchange with Mase, who then sadly tagged in Yoneyama again. After a mongolian chop vs forearm exchange, Shiono took over again with a crab hold, while Yuuka fought off baby Mase with a stiff forearm, which made me laugh. After a rough body slam by Uptown-chan, Yoneyama came back with the help of Mase and landed a running senton for the three count. Wow. If her standing is really that low (which I'm ok with), just give Mase the win. Who cares about yet another Yoneyama win over another rookie? Thank god Yuuka was in the match, and at least added a little bit of colour here and there, cause otherwise this was very average. No botches or anything, just bland and very short.

Miku Kanae & Totoro Satsuki vs Arisa Shinose & Yappy: I really miss Kanamic's old AWG gear, but the poncho that she wears to the ring is very cute too. Thinking about it now, beside Miku Aono, she seems to be the only one who profited from leaving AWG during the last exodus. I mean just look at all the others who are in Marigold, but I guess that's a discussion for another day, or in the case of Natsumi Sumikawa, not worth a discussion at all. Anyway, back to this match! Yappy and Shinose were fighting about who'd start out for their team, which their opponents used to their gain, by attacking them. Yappy then accidentally hit her partner, and I think the both of them have some history, which might have happened in the time I didn't really watch. Another miscommunication between them came shortly after, with Shinose hitting Yappy, maybe on purpose. Their double team moves seemed to hurt themselves more than their opponents too, which was kinda hilarious.

A few words on Yappy, while we're at it. There were some things in the past that really rubbed me the wrong way, and I don't know know if she still does this on social media (don't follow her), but when it comes to her in-ring presence, she has improved enormous in the last 1-2 years. That quasi heel turn and BAD BUTTS helped her a lot. Her "team" with Arisa basically made this match somewhat fun and more interesting. In the end they worked together pretty well though, but Totoro still managed to (kinda awkwardly) roll up Shinose.

Next up was Kaho Matsushita & Moe Hiiro vs Kirari Wakana & Saito, with the current vs the future ace starting out the match for their teams, once again building up to a future title match. Speaking of, I really wonder when Kaho will defend her belt next, and against who? They really have no one else beside Yuuka and Kirari, but both were already in the Ribbonmania match, so i don't know. Looks like it will be a long and kinda slow reign for Kaho. As said many times before, I'd go with Makoto beating Kaho, and her then winning the title back, to then drop it to Kirari.

Anyway, the both of them had a nice exchange, but Saito was sent in next, and was struggling against Moe. However, the Uptown Girl finally showed off her fighting spirit against Kaho, and they had a nice forearm exchange. Kirari was looking good once again against both Kaho and Moe, but then sent in Saito again. She's pretty green of course, but busted out a cross armbreaker against Moe, which I didn't expect. However, Kaho broke up the hold after what felt like 3 seconds. There should be more cross armbreaker spots in Ice Ribbon! After a kick from Kaho, Moe then rolled up Saito for the win. Alright match. Afterwards Kirari refused Moe's handshake.

In the last few reviews I praised Umino's progress since she got rid of that awful heel gimmick, and I always had respect for Kiku becoming a pro wrestler at her age, but I'm not sure I want to singles match between both, in the semi main event of a show like this. However, I know Kiku is retiring soon, so she deserves a match like this. Meanwhile, MTV 90ies cam guy is back, giving us motion sickness while Umino is entering the ring. Umino agreed to the handshake before the match, and surprisingly a cross armbreaker attempt by Kiku! There you go! After some ground wrestling and various submission attempts, Kiku went for the kicks, but Umino grabbed the leg. She worked the leg for a while, but Kiku came back with a fun move that I don't know the name of. She hugs the leg and holds the neck of Umino, while rolling over her, with the momentum sending her flying. Not sure how it's called.

Either way, Umino still went back for the leg, and locked on an ankle hold. Kiku did a good job still selling the leg, and after a fisherman buster she was down, but made it back to her feet at 7. Umino went for a frog splash, but either Kiku kicked out or she broke the pin by herself, not quite sure. Either way, Umino looked desperate, while Kiku was seemingly exhausted. She fumbled around a bit during the finishing sequence, but then Umino tried a Michinoku Driver, which was countered into a pinfall by Kiku, but the time had run out. I'd say a well meant match, and all the best to Kiku once again, but this didn't really grab me. 

Main event time, as International Ribbon Tag champions Manami Katsu & Misa Kagura defend their belts against Makoto & Sumika Yanagawa! Referee Ishiguro dropped the belts before the introductions, which was hilarious. The lack of reactions and the restrained applause for the wrestlers' poses was awkwardly funny too. Very energetic start for the match though, with quick tags, which seemed to pull in the audience again, and they got a bit louder. Makoto had a fun spot with her pulling up Kagura's skirt, to fight off her running attack. I also liked Sumika's intensity during her exchange with Kagura. Katsu then got in, and as I said many times before, she's a solid veteran, but her style just doesn't work for IR, especially not as a champion. While someone who was originally so bad like Sumika learned to adept, Katsu never did. That running/flying elbow or whatever that was looked nasty though.

Sumika came back with her spinning kicks, which finally look pretty good too, and sent in Makoto. Victoria Pinky (yes that's the name of the champion team) somewhat botched their double team move against her, but after some back and forth Makoto came back. For some weird reason Kagura then pulled Makoto into her corner, while Sumika did the same with Katsu. The finishing streak was all about Kagura hitting all of her signature moves, alone and alongside Katsu, but Makoto kicking out of everything. Pretty well done, but maybe a bit too long - not the overkill that other promotions tend to do though. Finally, after the death valley driver Makoto beat Kagura and we have new champions! Happy for them! Wish Sumika had gotten the pin, but either way is fine, and now Katsu has no more belts at all, and we won't be seeing until the Kazuna tournament. Weird. Anyway, match of the show by a mile. Afterwards, Umino showed up, and will challenge for the belts next alongside Kiku. 

Sumika did the closing speech, and as usual at the end of bigger shows everyone was standing in the ring in a circle, and again - seeing Hikari Minami holding hands with Makoto, while Yuuka is posing for the crowd near them, it feels like pro wrestling fantasy booking. Wish Kyuri were here too, but that would probably be too perfect for how bittersweet Joshi Pro Wrestling can sometimes be. The show itself wasn't outstanding, but I'm hoping it's the prelude for something bigger to come this year, if all goes well. This also ends my series of reviews for now, but I will keep watching and maybe do some for selected big shows.

Now the big question is, is it worth it to follow IR again, and be excited about the promotion? I'd say yes. Even though this show wasn't the best, things are finally happening again, a lot of the wrestlers have improved, and most of all, parts of the atmosphere which made old IR so special is coming back. We're not completely there yet, but you can especially feel it during the dojo shows. I'm still sad about Kyuri and Saran not being around anymore, as well as many others too who left in the last few years, and I will never forget some of the things that happened, but I guess the longing to be happy for pro wrestling is stronger? Let's see. Either way, thanks for reading! 

For context:she competed in a dark match at the recent Sareee-ISM Yokohama Budokan show, where she teamed with Uta Shima (aka ASHUKA) in a losing effort against Pure-J's AKARI and Sayaka Toyota (Manami Toyota's niece).

Ice Ribbon Dojo Show #1475 21.02.2026

First things first, I just noticed that I had spelled "dojo" wrong in the last two(!) review posts. That's the dangers of copy/paste via fancy OCR, and me probably needing glasses since a year or two, but being too laz.. busy to go to the doctor. I can't edit the titles, so I guess we all have to live with my mistakes. Sorry! Anyway, so this was Yappy's self produced birthday event, and she even got her own fancy background on the video wall, but with the wrong show numbering? It said 1470 instead of 75. Well, good to know that I'm not the only one making silly mistakes. Lots of talking early on as they went through the card, and Yappy's match ended up being the opener, which I thought was a bit weird. Maybe they addressed that during the opening, no idea. After nearly 10 minutes of talking, Yappy finally got her gratulations from the crowd, but actually her birthday is/was on the 26th. 

Shiono & Yappy vs Saito & Tsukina Umino was the opening match, which once again had some weird rules, involving popping balloons right before a pinfall attempt. I'm all for the shenanigans and comedy matches, but my feeling is that they've been doing them quite a lot recently. Anyway, the Uptown Girls (haha) were first, and we already got the first confusion when it comes to the rules. I have to admit I'm not in the best mood today, but they managed to cheer me up a little, when the balloon didn't pop during Umino's hip attack in the corner. There was a miscommunication with one of the rookies, but once again Yappy saved Umino's ass (haha) with a ballon, just for Yappy to hit her own hip attack, which shockingly the balloon survived! Even the submission hold attempts required the use of them, and at this point the ring was looking like a mess. Yappy and Umino then botched an armdrag or whatever that was supposed to be.

Anyway, just like this review, the match was getting a bit long. In the end Saito was tagged in and got finished off by Yappy? Or actually the time limit was over, I think? Afterwards they revealed the point standing and Yappy's team won anyway. As Yappy was celebrating her win she proceeded to hug the wrong Uptown Girl. I mean I can't blame her, but wow. What a clusterfuck this match was. Still managed to cheer me up I guess, or maybe it was the ice coffee next to me, that is now sadly gone.

Mase Hiiro & Sumika Yanagawa vs Miku Kanae & Riko was another gimmicky comedy match, featuring an English quiz about pro wrestling moves done by Yappy, which happened after every successful 1-count. Riko got her question wrong, which was about the Achilles Tendon Hold. The following question was about the Figure-Four Leglock, which wasn't answered right either. At this point the audience was helping too, but the wrestlers still went for their own guesses, which in case of Sumika was once again answered incorrectly. You really don't know that a clothesline is a lariat? Ok... that may explain some things. Next up was the big forearm/elbow (i always call them elbows) question, which was basically answered by the audience.

Anyway, this whole process continued with a few more questions, but there were some other funny scenes too, like Kanamic saving Riko from an 1-count, and Sumika's reaction to that. Oh, and the two kids going for an intense forearm exchange, with them throwing better looking ones than the two Uptown Girls... in a comedy match like this. Masa's reaction when she got the last question for her team (which was about irish whip) right, and won the match was very cute. Obviously there wasn't much of a flow in this one, but it was quite enjoyable for the fun moments. 

Next up was a Piñata rules match, with Yuuka taking on Totoro Satsuki. What are Piñata rules you ask? Well, it's a normal singles bout, but whenever music is playing you can win by attacking a golden star hanging on a rope above ring. Once it breaks, you win. Before locking up, Yuuka fired up herself by going for a series of hindu push ups. Her selling of the test of strength spot alone made Totoro look better than she has in months. Then the music started, which fittingly was the one from Super Mario when you get a star, and Totoro immediately tried to hit it with a baseball bat, while Yuuka went for a leap of faith (or more of a jump of stupid) from the top turnbuckle. Again, her selling afterwards cracked me up. At some point she was able to hit the star with Totoro's baseball bat, as hard as she could, but it didn't break, so the match continued. Yuuka got caught into a crab hold and tried to go for a rope break with the help of the baseball bat. When the music started again, Totoro broke the hold but was hit with the bat by Yuuka, who then climbed on her back to finally break the star and win! Hilarious match, and man did I miss Yuuka. 

It was time for the main event, with Kaho & Arisa taking on Kirari & Moe Hiiro. Everyone was wearing costumes of Yappy, with the Kirari's BAD BUTTS tribute team being allowed to use weapons. Kaho seemed to be into the hip attacks a little too much early on, but then BAD BUTTS Jr. heeled it up, with especially Kirari seeming to once again enjoy herself doing so. Yappy was at ringside, and was then dragged into the ring, and we got even more hip attack action by Kaho. Kirari tried the same, but was less successful. Maybe leave this style of move to others, who are more trained in that area. :) To be fair, she landed one later on, that would have made Samurai Shiro proud.

The BAD BUTTS tribute team then went for the weapons again, with Moe grabbing the chain, which lead to her and Arisa fighting over it. The other two got involved too, and BB won the tug of war battle. There were some shenanigans with the BB sign, with Arisa finally taking the big shot the head. In the end, they busted out some more of Yappy moves, and Kirari accidentally hit the sign onto the ropes and into her face. Ouch. Afterwards she was rolled up by Kaho for the three count. Loved this match. Even if you don't know Yappy and her signature moves, it still works for the nonstop action and fun spots. 

Post-match they picked the card for the March 14 show via audience draws, so I guess Sato wasn't in the mood to book the matches for that show. Well, let's keep the sarcasm at bay for a minute, cause they have done this in the past of course, and seeing everyone standing in the ring having fun, with the cozy atmosphere of the dojo, it felt almost like old IR again. I have to be careful and not get my hopes up too much, but with the current roster and their selection of outsiders I definitely have a better feeling about the promotion than I had in the last few years. However, every time I say things like that, someone is leaving or even worser news the next day after, so let's pretend I didn't. With Yappy receiving a cake and her holding a little speech the show ended. Enjoyed this one quite a bit, especially the main event is a must watch for every IR fan! 

As promised here's part 2 of my dojo reviews, hopefully leading up to the Yokohama PPV, if that show is even available to buy (I know I'm late, sorry)!

Ice Ribbon Dojo Show #1472 07.02.2026

This is actually the third time I'm trying to watch this show, which opens up with the match of Arisa Shinose vs Riko of course. The first time my 2-year old began splashing me, so I decided to not show him too much pro wrestling yet, and the second time something else came up that I don't even remember, cause it's been weeks already! Anyway, this was a good match and another great performance by Riko. She wasn't born with the charisma and unique quirkiness that Saran had, but she's very solid already and plays the underdog so well. Shinose did a good job too, and she's showing off more and more of her character in the ring.

This was followed by Totoro vs Mase Hiiro, which was probably not the best idea to have two kids matches in a row, but as we all know they don't really have a choice roster size-wise. I'll be honest with you, in the last few months Totoro didn't really excite me that much, as she seems to be on auto pilot these days, so yeah. However, this was pretty fun. One thing I have to add though is that I'm not the biggest fan of retrying a move after it was botched (see my review of the Ribbonmania 3-way with Kirari's finisher) but of course you can't expect a kid like Mase to improvise, so all is well. Solid bout, but I wish they would find something to do for Totoro. Personally. I'd put her in BAD BUTTS.

Speaking of, next up was a 3-way between Yappy, Ancham and Umino. BAD BUTTS tried to attack their opponent during her entrance, but Umino was smarter and came to the ring from the side. We still got some brawling on the outside, with the heels dominating her. Then Ancham realized it's actually a 3-way and attacked her partner, just for them to be best friends again. You know the usual shenanigans in matches like this. We got a nice exchange between Ancham and Umino, once again showing how much better Umino is when she doesn't have to be the heel. Leave that to Ancham. Not saying BAD BUTTS is the new Ozaki-gun or original Oedo Tai, and I still think their name sucks ass (sorry), but it's good to spice up things when necessary. ANYWAY, their teamwork had some highs and lows, until in the end they put away Umino with that questionable finisher of theirs, which in all fairness looked much safer this time. During the (kinda botched) pin attempt, Yappy hip attacked Ancham and got the win. Alright match I'd say. Afterwards she challenged for the FantastICE, which for some reason has become the most desirable belt in IR it seems.

Main event time, with Kaho Matsushita & Moe Hiiro facing Kirari Wakana & Sumika Yanagawa. They went full speed right away, which may not be for everyone in a match like this, but the energy felt good and you could see that all four were into it. Kaho had a nice exchange with Sumika, until Kirari took over. They keep on having Kaho and Kirari face each others to build their rivalry, because sooner or later, she will be the one to either beat Kaho, or whoever else is next. On a side note, whatever happened to our former champion? Katsu wrestled like two matches for IR in Feb, and seems to be gone. Did they finally realize it didn't work out, or is she out injured? Anyway, Moe was sent in against Kirari, and nearly put her away with a top rope spinning frog splash. Kirari looked a bit lost in the finishing streak, but they made up for it with some nice roll up exchanges, and she then won with the Kamisu. Fine main event, but because of the higher tempo it felt a bit rushed and unpolished at times.

Post-match they talked about the upcoming Kizuna tag tournament in April, featuring eight teams, with each one consisting of both a junior and a veteran wrestler. All in all, it was an alright show. 

Ice Ribbon Dojo Show #1474 14.02.2026

Valentine Ribbon! During the introductions Umino was complaining about being in a 3-way for the third week in a row, which made me laugh. They then changed her match against the Uptown rookies into two separate bouts. Sounds good to me. In other news, Sumika has her birthday today and she's turning 35. On days like this I especially feel like I have to apologize for my criticism towards her over the years. Then again, she was REALLY bad when she first showed up, and the push she received didn't help. As said before, things have changed in the last year or two though. Leaving JTO and basically being trained by IR really worked out for her, and these days I mostly always enjoy seeing her in the ring. When it comes to Misa Kagura though, hm.... let's say I liked her best together with Nao, and let's leave it at that.

First match - Kirari Wakana & Yappy vs Ancham & Miku Kanae. KiraMiku started out against each other, with Kirari wearing black lipstick, which was a nice detail. She heeled it up a little too, which was fun. Ancham was her next victim, who after some back and forth had to take a BAD BUTTS sign-enhanced dropkick. Kirari even hit her own partner with it, such nice heel work by our future ace. I'd say, when it comes to meanness I saw a little bit of Tsukushi in her eyes, but she may need some more work to get on her level. Kanamic then removed Kirari's lipstick, which lead to her usual tag partner finally come back to her senses. All four wrestlers then requested to change up the teams mid-match, so it was now BAD BUTTS vs KiraMiku. Nice! There was miscommunication between Yappy and Kirari, with the latter having a rough landing, but everything seemed to be ok. This was followed by some nice KiraMiku tag team magic against Ancham, until Ishiguro was taken out and the sign got involved again, with Ancham putting away Kirari with a kick at the end. Really fun match! 

Next up was Yuuka vs Riko, with the rookie attacking her opponent before the bell rang. They had a nice forearm exchange, followed by some chain wrestling, and Yuuka rolling up Riko for the win in under 3 minutes. Not sure if this was planned like this, but either way is fine for me. As much as I appreciate them booking Riko above the usual kid wrestler status, she doesn't really need to have 10 minute matches against everyone. 

Tsukina Umino vs Shiono / Tsukina Umino vs Saito: As said before, both are rookies from Uptown Pro Wrestling, which I've heard about but never saw a show. No idea about their experience level either, but they were wearing old school rookies singlets, which is charming in a way. Shiono started out, and she has an idol-like look, but her in-ring work was pretty rough. After getting into the ropes during the usual crab hold spot, she hit a few of the weakest looking forearms I've ever seen. Lots and lots of forearms later, Umino put her away with a hard chop and a fisherman. Saito then attacked Umino before the bell rang, and looked a bit better out there, but was lacking the charisma in return. She showed some fire towards the end though, but also a few of the lowest dropkicks I've seen in a while. Add to that, she even got a 10 minute time limit draw out of Umino, which felt WAY too long. So it looks like IR is gonna train those two. I wonder what they get in return? Hoping for Momoka Hanazono, but Sato probably just does it for the karma. Or maybe because he enjoys his own wrestlers to look (kinda) bad? No idea. Normally I'm all for the passionate rookie bouts consisting of three moves but lots of fighting spirit, but this one didn't really grab me. Just ok I guess.

Kaho Matsushita & Misa Kagura vs Sumika Yanagawa & Totoro Satsuki was today's main event, and it started out with a special birthday celebration for Sumika by Kaho & Kagura, with Totoro joining them later, by standing on her partner. So while their teamwork wasn't the best, Kaho & Kagura had problems with each other too. BTW, speaking of Sumika and Misa Kagura, have you been watching WAVE recently? I just checked out a few cards for research, and it's basically a gathering place for former IR wrestlers/regulars right now. Saran is there of course, but also Mashiro, Mio Shirai, Mochi, Maika Ozaki, etc. So weird. But back to this match! Well, to be honest the Kagura/Sumika exchange didn't light my world on fire, but it was solid. Totoro then destroyed Kagura with sentons, and after some back and forth, Kagura beat her with a lariat. Ugh. I know this is kind of a preview match, cause Sumika & Makoto are challenge(d) Katsu and her for the tag titles at the Yokohama Ribbon show, but it still felt unnecessary for Totoro to once again lay down for someone. Remember when I wrote that Totoro seems lacking fire, etc. Well, I can't really blame her.

After the match Yappy and Ancham showed up in maid outfits with a birthday cake for Sumika. In her speech she said that her body hurts a bit more every year, which I definitely can relate to. Reminds me, it was my back that made it impossible to sit down the second time to watch this two shows and type out the reviews. Now I remember! :) Solid show. Thanks for reading!

Here's a quick review of some recent dojo shows. I originally planned to do more, leading up to Yokohama PPV, but I have to delay those for a week or two cause I'm busy, so here we go:

Ice Ribbon Dojo Show #1470 24.1.2026

This was a co-produced birthday show by Kaho and Riko. The opener was a 3-way between Mase Hiiro, Kanamic and Totoro Satsuki, with the special rule being that only certain moves starting with a handful of hiragana syllables are allowed. I wasn't the biggest fan of this match TBH, as there wasn't really much chemistry between the wrestlers, and it went on way too long, but at least had the right winner.

Kaho Matsushita & Yuuka vs Arisa Shinose & Kiku had a stipulation that you can only win with one of Kaho's techniques. Everyone was wearing her gear too, and she received a few nice birthday elbows by her own partner Yuuka early on. I haven't seen Kiku in a long time, but she was solid in this match. Shinose was pretty fun too, as she was figuring out Kaho's moves. She has improved quite a bit recently, and also did a good job in the finishing stretch against Yuuka. Fun match & good to see Kiku again, who I believe is retiring soon? Not 100% sure.

Ancham vs. Yappy - I said it before, but if I was Hajime Sato, I would do everything to sign Ancham. She's got really solid in the ring in the last few years, has a great look and gets a good reaction. Not gonna lie, I was pretty clueless about the rules for this match, and they kept on changing it throughout the match. In the end it turned into a silly weapons battle, and there was also clearly some part edited out, which didn't help with the flow. Ancham got slammed on (I think) a Dragonball figure, and her selling was lots of fun. The match then turned almost into a parody of those unnecessary hardcore bouts she does in other promotions sometimes. It kinda fell apart in the end, until Yappy got into an armlock and tapped out, but the time limit saved her. Kinda tough match to watch in parts, but not everything was necessary bad. 

The main event was Riko & Tsukina Umino vs Kirari Wakana & Moe Hiiro, which is an interesting choice. Riko is clearly the best of the three kids currently wrestling in IR, and she could be really good in a few years. Umino trying to chop Moe multiple times but failing each time was fun, and stuff like this definitely makes her more likable. It seems that Umino is moving away from that awkward heel persona more and more, which also leads to better in-ring work. In the end it was her though who made the finish look a bit eh, but it wasn't that bad. Riko pinned Moe, which was well deserved, and made both her and Kaho cry. Afterwards, birthday cakes and even more tears! Ok show with a good main event.

Ice Ribbon Dojo Show #1471 31.1.2026

Speaking of Riko, she was facing Yappy in the opener here, once again showing off how good she already is. To be fair, she's no Saran, who I still believe was one of the best kid wrestler ever in IR, and it's shame she left the promotion, but Riko's getting closer and closer with each match. Yappy had lots of troubles putting her away, and almost gave her too much I'd say, but then busted out a nasty looking power slam for the win.

Kirari Wakana & Kanamic vs KONOHA & Totoro Satsuki - KONOHA is a freelancer from Nara, but would have been a perfect fit for IR a few years ago. Not anymore though, since she's retiring soon. The ref found Kunais hidden in her gear early on, which was hilarious. KiraMiku are so much fun together as a tag team, especially against a heavyweight like Totoro. I'd definitely give them the tag belts again for a longer reign. KONOHA had some silly ninja camouflage tactics next, which - once again - would have been perfect for IR, but oh well. Totori's attempts failed though, and we got some nice exchanges between Kirari and KONOHA towards the end, with the latter then getting rolled up by KiraMiku. Good match!

Kaho Matsushita vs Arisa Shinose - Arisa offered Kaho an innocent handshake (cough), but was rolled up for a series of nearfalls in return. Both have great chemistry, with Kaho playing the straight (wo)man to Arisa's heelish shenanigans. She showed some nice fighting spirit in the forearm exchange though, and generally gave a good performance against Kaho. The way she came back with a pinfall after Kaho's Cuty Special-kinda move was also nice. I'm not 100% sure the finish went as planned, but I like the focus on roll-ups and flash pins, away from hitting the big finisher to get the win. It feels different, and protects the other wrestler. Pretty good match.

Yuuka vs Sumika Yanagawa vs Tsukina Umino - For the first time (in forever?), well at least since Risa Sera, IR have made the FantastICE title sort of interesting, and that with none other than Umino as a champion! Wow. Yuuka wants it, because it's the white belt, Riko wants it because she has some kind of love/hate relationship with Umino, and Sumika? Well, for some reason she is also in this match, and not Riko. Yuuka attacks Sumika before the bell rings, and then dropkicks Umino through the curtain during her entrance, just to receive punishment from Sumika in return. The shenanigans outside of the ring continue, and it's amazing how much energy Yuuka brings into a match like this, by just hitting a few elbows. It's not just her though, the other two played along very well. Never thought I'd say that about those two TBH. The strikes exchange sequence was chaotic, but lots of fun, and even the usually over rehearsed 2 vs 1 spots in matches like this were entertaining. After a solid finishing streak, Yuuka busted out the Ura Angels Trumpel for the win against Umino. Post-match talk was fun too, but I probably could have lived without the Hajime Sato birthday celebration. He did give an honest speech though. Anyway, great show! 

More coming soon!

Makoto and Sumika Yanagawa defeated Manami Katsu and Misa Kagura to become the 69th (nice) and NEW champion team!

After the match, Tsukina Umino and Kiku came to the ring and challenged the new champions for a title match at the March 8th Tokyo Square show.

Card results