Kim's match reviews and pop culture emporium

 We're going to start well before the bell here with Chigusa's song performance. Now you might asking Jay Chigusa's not involved in this matchup at least officially. Well, that's the thing officially is the keyword here. Chigusa's ambushed by Dump here and Chigusa retaliates by blasting the alliance before the bell of this tag match. This sneak attack leads to a bloodied Dump Matsumoto getting double teamed by Bull and Condor leading to a surprising Dump face reaction. Dump eventually counters with her kendo stick while match breaks down ending in a no contest. Really fun match 8/10. Disk 11 felt like a bit of a lull Disk 12 felt almost overwhelming in the sheer amount of quality especially comparing the tag matches between the two disks. looking forward to disk 13.

 Omori comes out of the gates quick with a chop to the chest. I think there's some clipping in this so I'll go broad strokes with this review. Omori's main target is the back and abdomen of devil with two top rope samoan drops and other slams. Devil gets her foothold in the match after Omori misses a chop into the top rope which devil targets like a fucking shark which i love. An interesting thing i notice is how useful the surfboard is as a submission that can target multiple body parts. Every time Omori uses her size to counter the hand is a consistent vector of reentry for Devil. there is one use of the figure four though that is admittedly minor. There's an instance of Omori using the abdominal stretch escaped by biting the hand grimy love it. the finish comes via chop flurry with Devil desperately trying to get sunday shot off and paying for it every time ending in a top rope chop for 3. 8.5 if this was in full probably 9.

 Wildly quick first fall with the alliance sneak attacking the champions at the bell and Dump blasting Nagahori with a lariat for the first fall victory. the second fall is a synthesis of Chigusa getting ganged up on with Nagahori out of the picture with small moments for Nagahori while also getting bodied. the finish comes surprisingly after Chigusa crossbodies into Nagahori off the top after which Bull gets on the top to try to capitalize. Chigusa is able to recover and get Bull with a superplex for the win. The third fall is simple as the attrition of the first two falls catches up with the champions and the alliance getting a controversial win to become champions via a possible two count turned three count. Blasted through my theoretical ceiling via really smart use of Nagahori plus all the Chigusa vs Dump goodness we expect. 8.5/10

 We start off really chippy prior to the bell ringing. the early game is really defined by Chigusa showing her class on offense and low key dominating. Aside from the usual kicks there's a fun knuckle lock sequence where it seems like Kai might find a way in on offense. Chigusa rolls backward and gains the advantage. The most notable thing from this first stint on offense is an achilles tendon lock on Kai. Kai is forced into the corner by a barrage of kicks where she is able to get chigusa onto the mat and target chigusa's chronically injured legs which is a fun touch alongside building on some early work on chigusa's abdomen. Chigusa starts countering with with strikes and subs the lower ranking alliance members break it up and give Kai the oppurtunity to do a double chop from the chop. The two of them both get off suplexes with the notable ones being german's from both Kai's signature vertical suplex. Notable moves from the end sequence is a crossbody and a tope f...

 Yamazaki starts off dropkicking dump into the ropes before foolishly charging into her post Irish whip lead into a a body charge from Dump. the body of the face in peril segments consist of a really smart vicious attack on the head and body using the trio of dump's own mass, the assistance of the other Alliance members and copious weapon usage including multiple instances of Yamazaki in the fiction getting assaulted via nonconsensual haircut by dump. The hope spots are really fun and pre comeback mostly focus on Yamazaki's agility like jumping off the top rope on to the alliance at one point but being cut by Dump being able to use her size to tank a tope which is a really cool visual. The comeback comes about via Yamazaki doing a 360 counter into a dropkick against a double team attack with a metal pipe. The notable moments are a double team by the angels and Yamazaki Whipping Crane Yu into Dump leading into a missile dropkick. Both sides trade weapon shots as the match breaks...

 Omori comes in with a taped up hand and wrist wearing Raiders gear which as a bay area kid yes queen. There's a leverage versus quickness element to the opening stages with a big chop by Omori. the body of the match is defined by a battle between Chigusa targeting Omori's hand in a really focused fashion and Omori countering by building off of that first chop and targeting Chigusa back and midsection. Some notable spots include a second rope Samoan drop and top rope Jackhammer adjacent thing and trading piledrivers with two sharpshooters by Chigusa. the endgame is decided by a flurry of chops followed by a top rope move attempt countered to great effect for the win by Omori. Loved this maybe my favorite limbwork by Chigusa on the set. 8.5-9/10 loved it

 This is really interesting specifically for the team of Nagahori and Ogura as iirc this is the first match on the set for their team against their peers as opposed to the vets. The dynamics are fascinating. The challengers attack at the belland the early section of the match is defined by leverage vs quickness and the individual brilliance of the champions. The challengers take advantage by targeting Ogura's leg and they do a damn good vicious job of it and refreshingly both sides do a really good job of actually isolating the weakened members of the opposition. The comeback comes via double team and stereo missile dropkicks with one of them aggravating the injured knee eventually the challengers get the win after an extended back and forth. 7.8/10 the thing that stops this from being an 8 is some confusing selling of the knee in terms of who was hurt earlier but that may be on me confusing the champions cause of the outfits being almost identitcal