Joshi+Jam Manila: A Night of Bodyslams and the Homecoming of Filipino-Japanese Wrestler, Syuri
Joshi+Jam Manila
When in Manila, and you are a pro-wrestling fan, Joshi+Jam Manila was the place to be last Saturday Night. After two years since the last pro wrestling event, Wheninmanila.com was a proud witness to Joshi+Jam Manila last January 25th, 2014. This event marked the first time that Fil-Japanese wrestler Syuri Kondo wrestled in the Philippines. Syuri and the other pro wrestlers from REINA Joshi Puroresu and Wrestling New Classic put on a night filled with bodyslams, spin kicks and even some green mists inside the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
On a personal note, I was excited to cover this event with my photographer since we’re both fans of professional wrestling. It’s been nearly five years since I’ve watched a live wrestling event in the country, so I told myself that there was no chance in hell I’d miss out on Joshi+Jam Manila. A little warning to my fellow ‘smarks’, this isn’t the usual pro-wrestling write-up. So, if you expect a product akin to Scott Keith or Dave Meltzer’s, this isn’t the blog entry for you.
Tajiri vs Akira
Joshi+Jam Manila kicked things off with Akira taking on the former ECW/WWE superstar himself, “The Japanese Buzzsaw” Yoshihiro Tajiri! The crowd was pumped up to see this opening bout that featured the former WWE/ECW superstar. It started off well with both competitors trying to get the better of the other. Tajiri whipped out his signature kicks against Akira at one point, but the latter provided some heavy offense to get the advantage.
Akira tries to overpower Tajiri
Throughout the match, Akira focused on either the arm or leg of Tajiri to ground him to the mat. Eventually, the Japanese Buzzsaw made a huge comeback and finished things off with his patented Buzzsaw Kick for the victory.
“The Flying Luchadores” Ray & Leon vs Lady Lory & Aliya
Next up was some women’s tag team action with the Flying luchadores Ray & Leon taking on Lady Lory & Aliya. The majority of the match was Aliya and Lory isolating Ray from the get-go. This ‘fiendish act’ was done most of the time when the referee was distracted and Lory and Aliya would double team on Ray. One spot I truly loved was when the Lady Lory teased the crowd for a Figure Four Leglock (made famous by Ric Flair), but instead she delivered a vicious stomp to the gut of her opponent. Ray and Leon made a comeback later on, which started when Leon hit a spear on BOTH Lady Lory and Aliya.
Lady Lory traps Ray on the ropes
Leon spears both Aliya and Lady Lory
Ray got the victory for her team when she rolled up Lady Lory with a victory roll for the deciding pin. After the match, Ray and Leon took out Aliya with a double dropkick for good measure. The challengers were held off in dramatic fashion and the tag champs had a few moments to celebrate their win inside the squared circle.
