Welcome back to ChocoPro #100. The celebrations for ChocoPro’s first full year continue as we enter day 2 of the action. If you thought yesterday was wild, it’s going to get even wilder today. In today’s episode, we’ll see round 2 of Sayaka’s return as she teams with RinRin against Sayaka Obihiro and Emi Sakura, Egg Tarts will do battle with Dragon Ninja, Emi Sakura pulls double duty as she tries to help Lulu Pencil fend off Gabai Ji-Chan and Kuishinbo Kamen, we’ll get a singles showcase between Mei Suruga and Mizuki and the main event will see Minoru Fujita battle Baliyan Akki over the vacant Super Asia title. Let’s get into the action.

Emi Sakura & Sayaka Obihiro defeated Sayaka & RinRin via Backbreaker Stretch on Sayaka

First up was the second match of Sayaka’s return. After a sad loss yesterday, she was getting a second chance at a return win by teaming up with RinRin against Emi Sakura and yesterday’s tag partner, Sayaka Obihiro. Would RinRin lead her to a victory or was her second match back going to be a second crushing defeat? The veteran team attacked during the handshake and RinRin locked up with Obihiro. Sayaka and RinRin played arm-drag pinball with Obihiro and posed over her body until Sakura attacked both of them. They batted back Sakura and hit Obihiro with a jumping arm stomp. Obihiro rolled across to a tag and Sakura instantly went after RinRin with kicks. She posed on RinRin’s back and the pair had a dance-off. Sakura couldn’t keep pace and admitted defeat, collapsing to the mat. RinRin buried her with a double stomp and Sayaka got the tag to hit a vicious set of forearms. She tried for the bow and arrow but Obihiro tried to interject with strikes. Sayaka dodged them all and swatted away Obihiro with another forearm. She locked on the bow and arrow, then tagged out so RinRin could smash her in with palm strikes. A Boston Crab from Sayaka came next but Sakura escaped and slammed Sayaka into the mat. She tagged and Obihiro offloaded on both RinRin and Sayaka with chops. She bounced Sayaka off the wall and ran her over with a sliding chop. Sakura got some revenge by chopping Sayaka’s soul out and went to tune up the band but RinRin hijacked it. Sakura got pissed and yanked on her hair so Sayaka tried to use the distraction for a roll-up. She continued to lash at Sakura with dropkicks and went to the top but Obihiro knocked her down with a throat thrust and threw her at the wall for We Will Rock You. Sakura locked on a Boston Crab and held on until RinRin broke the hold with a dropkick. RinRin continued to interrupt Sakura/Obihiro double-team and tanked a headbutt to drag Sakura into another Sayaka dropkick. RinRin crashed onto her with a crossbody and Sayaka scored a near-fall with a bridging roll. Sakura pummelled her back and ended the match by making her tap to a backbreaker stretch. RinRin and Sayaka had definitely gotten to Sakura but after all their efforts, their teacher was still able to pick up the win. It was a fun opener with another chance for both to show their talents.

Egg Tarts (Chie Koishikawa & Hagane Shinno) defeated Sayuri & Chon Shiryu via Double Armbar on Sayuri

Up next was another outing for the Egg Tarts. They had come up short against PSYCHO and CHANGO and were looking to rebound by taking a victory away from the Dragon Ninjas, Sayuri, and Chon Shiryu. Which of these hard-hitting teams was going to succeed in their second match of the celebration? Sayuri and Shinno started with Shinno easily overpowering Sayuri in lock-ups. She rolled under a head kick and both tagged out. Shiryu and Koishikawa did more of the same but it was much more even. Koishikawa tried to go for a run but Shiryu tripped her into an armbar. Demon Chie emerged early and chopped free of the hold, then once again, the pair fought to a stand-off. Shiryu stomped her foot and raked her eyes but she fought off the Sayuri tag and chased down the rolling ninja with demon chops, catching her prey against the wall and caving in her chest. She tried to deliver a second against the window but Sayuri dodged and chopped Koishikawa out the window. Sayuri continued to strike through the window so Koishikawa snuck in through the other window and chopped her in the back. Shiryu jumped in and the pair hit the Egg Tarts with dual rolling wall slams into dual double chops. Sayuri locked on a body-scissor and tried to win with multiple Gedo clutches but Koishikawa kept kicking out. Shiryu tagged in and continued the abuse with more stomps and a rolling senton. He winded Shinno with a kick and tried to snap Koishikawa in half. Shinno broke the hold with a back kick so Dragon Ninja jumped him. Koishikawa dropkicked her way to freedom and brought in a very game Shinno who kicked the life out of Shiryu and slammed him into the mat with a facebuster. A chop battle broke out and Shiryu rocked Shinno with a head kick into a Judo throw. He tagged out and Sayuri launched him with a Yakuza kick and turned a slam attempt into a small package. She hit him with the rolling wall slams and locked in a Sleeper, surviving a wall slam as Shiryu threw Koishikawa out the window. Sayuri tried for Ninja Magic but Koishikawa pushed her off the window and Shinno held her in pace for a diving X chop. The Egg Tarts killed off Shiryu with chops and Dragon Ninja did the same to Shinno. Dragon Ninja showed off an amazing chop combo before Shiryu used Sayuri as a launchpad for a double stomp. A roll-up war broke out and Shinno stole the win by tapping out Sayuri with a lethal double armbar. This was an amazing display for Dragon Ninja but it just wasn’t enough to best the Egg Tarts. Once again though, amazing match, and I hope that I can see more of Dragon Ninja as the season continues.

Gabai Ji-Chan & Kuishinbo Kamen defeated Emi Sakura & Lulu Pencil via Figure Four Reversal

Emi Sakura was pulling double duty today as she had covered for an injured Yuna Mizumori in the first match and now looked to score her second victory of the day with her Pencil Army commander, Lulu Pencil. Was she going to go 2-0 today or were her cunning opponents going to get the better of her? Kamen and Ji-Chan were showered with snack wreaths as they entered and Pencil Army attacked Kamen as he tried to remove them. They strangled Kamen with the wreaths, ignoring the old man in the middle of the mat as they enjoyed a snack. They turned their attention to Ji-Chan, tearing away his robe and stomping him down. Ji-chan dodged a double charge and choked Sakura out with his cane. He dragged Sakura onto Pencil and played golf with Sakura’s head. Pencil caught the cane as he tried to do it to her and pulled him into the wall. Ji-Chan dodged back elbow drops and kept pinning Pencil when she attempted them. Both tagged out and Kamen got kicked in the leg so he had to show everyone. Everyone got kicked in the leg and everyone showed they were hurt. Everyone collided on a dual headlock smash and sat up to beat a four-way pin. Ji-Chan went for the world’s slowest piledriver and threw his back out. Sakura tried to take advantage by hitting the Tiger Driver but she too threw out her back. Kamen injured his leg again trying to hit the same move and Pencil snapped it further with a Dragon Screw. She did the same to Ji-Chan and his cane then applied the Figure Four with a Sakura head-scissor. They nearly submitted Ji-Chan but Kamen reversed the pressure and Pencil tapped out. This was silly fun and Sakura’s refusal to accept the result saw her carted away on a chair. This won’t win any awards but I love the comedy of Ji-Chan and Kamen mixed with more comedic Pencil Army shenanigans.

Mizuki defeated Mei Suruga via Exploder

This one was going to be special. Mei Suruga and Mizuki are two of the fastest rising stars in the Joshi scene. They have only battled once before and now, years later, it was time to see who was better once again. Both are fast fighters and both are craftier than they appear, let’s see who would come out on top in the battle between the Apple Girl and the Popping Sugar Rabbit. The pair started with a rapid technical exchange and both collided on a dropkick. They went for a second round of exchanges with both testing their bridging strength. Suruga took advantage with a jump-scare and nailed the window-sill arm-drag into a dropkick. She bounced Mizuki off the wall and smashed her in the back with a wall-run double chop. Suruga snapped Mizuki’s arms and locked on a stretching body-scissor. The Kawaii pin followed which made Mizuki lose her temper and smash at Suruga’s legs. Mizuki hammered at Suruga’s midsection and crushed her in the window. A Camel clutch followed, Mizuki mockingly giving Suruga bunny ears as she broke her back and punished her with Bunny hops. She flattened Suruga with a crossbody and the pair danced around wall whips. Mizuki tried to whip Suruga into the camera but Suruga stopped herself and caught Mizuki with a roll-up. Suruga stomped down Mizuki and bridged into the Deathlock. Mizuki rolled free so Suruga bounced her off the wall and locked on Lucifer after fighting off Mizuki’s defence.

The pair fought over pinfalls and Mizuki spent a long time in the air as Suruga tried to keep her from pinning her. Mizuki thrashed but Suruga was able to stay strong and kicked her away. Mizuki smashed Suruga off the wall and dropkicked her into the bricks, then smashed her face-first into a notice board with a second running dropkick. She locked on a crossface and another roll-up war broke out. Suruga launched Mizuki out of the window but her cocky swinging from the window allowed Mizuki to strike back and hit her with the window. Mizuki hung her out to dry and smashed her in the back with another Bunny Hop. She hammered down Suruga again but missed another hop and ate the Supergirl Punch. The wall-run double stomp followed but she couldn’t capitalise quickly as her leg bothered her. She went back to Lucifer but Mizuki escaped again and dropkicked Suruga out of the air. A grounded slugfest broke out and the pair fought to their feet throwing bomb after bomb. Mizuki slammed her into the wall again after dodging the wall-run crossbody and kicked Suruga’s teeth out with a single-leg dropkick. She drove through Suruga with the diving Bunny Hop and fought through a guillotine to put Suruga away with an Exploder. This was awesome. It was a fast-paced, hard-hitting, technically sound Joshi match. It was excellent fun with both fighters meshing well and Mizuki showing Suruga levels of taunting at the end was just too funny. This is one of the matches to really catch from this show.

Super Asia Title: Minoru Fujita defeated Baliyan Akki via Leg-Trapped Tombstone

Last but not least, the main event. Minoru Fujita, the belt collector, was looking to add to his collection by adding the vacant Super Asia Title to it. In his way, a man trying to build his legacy by beating Fujita in his prime, Baliyan Akki. A lot has happened for Akki over this year, could he end the celebration on a high note by being a double Gatoh Move champion and beating one of the best on the Japanese indies? They started technically and both went through a series of lock-ups and limb control. Fujita took the lead with a DDT and went to work on Akki’s head and neck using his knees and the wall. He also gave himself a second target by jamming Akki’s knee in the window and driving an elbow into it. Akki kicked out at Fujita’s knee and locked him up in a knot. Akki continued to target the leg and the pair traded leg kicks. Akki tripped Fujita into an STO and splashed his legs before trying to lock it up again, bending his knee and ankle. This punishment continued with more holds, slams and splashes until Akki missed a knee drop and Fujita caught him into a strike-fest and knee breaker. He clotheslined Akki into the wall and hit We Will Rock You for a two count. They continued to grapple until Akki rolled Fujita through and hit him with a wall-run splash. Akki struggled through to a slam and climbed to the top but Fujita followed and threw him back down. More stiff strikes were thrown and Akki smashed Fujita in the face with a thrust kick, then winded him with a Swanton off the sink. He tried to follow up with the Namaste Press but Fujita got his knees up and tried to steal the victory. He dragged Akki up, drilled him with more knees and tossed him overhead with an Exploder. He charged and Akki tried to lock in the Deathlock but Fujita instantly broke it. Akki went back to the legs again after dodging a clothesline and trapped Fujita in the Deathlock again, this time in the centre of the mat. Fujita dragged himself free and escaped a Fisherman Buster but Akki was ready and ducked his spear to deliver a high knee.

Fujita tanked the knee and crashed hard into Akki with another spear. He dumped Akki with a twisting slam off the window and dropped Akki on his head with a Tombstone. That got two so Fujita tried to win with an Ankle Lock. He transitioned to a crossface and nearly pinned Akki when he got too close to escaping. They battled around Tombstones and roll-ups as Akki tried to find another foothold in the match. Fujita forearmed him down and Akki dropkicked Fujita out of a charge. He reversed another Tombstone and spiked Fujita with one before climbing to the top and landing the Namaste splash. It wasn’t enough though as Fujita cleverly rolled out of bounds. The two traded bombs and headbutts as Fujita reversed two Hurricanrana attempts into a pinfall and double knees. Staggered but undeterred both got to their feet again and threw more stiff shots and chops at each other until Fujita broke Akki’s spirit by kicking out of the Labyrinth. He levelled Fujita with another dropkick and landed a second Namaste Splash but Fujita rolled through into another Tombstone, trapped Akki’s leg and spiked him one final time for the win. This was another epic. Let nothing take away from either man in this fight. Akki was right to see Fujita was in his prime as he brought it hard here. This was brutal and only got more intense as time went on. Akki has come so far in the one year I’ve seen him in ChocoPro and with more doors opening every day, the sky is the limit. This showed how much he’s grown as he went nearly half an hour with a seasoned veteran and deathmatch star. That is no easy task.

With that, the celebrations were over. One year and 100 episodes had been celebrated in this two-day tirade of amazing matches and comedy hijinks booked ended by epic matches from the Best Bros. Here’s to the years and matches to come as the small chocolate square hopefully becomes home to more and more stars. We need more of PSYCHO and CHANGO, more for the main roster to fight and learn from and hopefully now that he is the Super Asia champion, more from Minoru Fujita at his absolute best. This is just the beginning for ChocoPro and with the ever-growing appeal it is garnering, I hope to be along for the ride as it continues to grow.

All images courtesy of Gatoh Move, Sayuri, FlyingVTrigger, Chie Koishikawa Video courtesy of Gatoh Move YouTube

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