Welcome back to ChocoPro and to a manic marathon of shows from Ichigaya’s favourite wrestling square. It was Golden week and that means we were in for a quintet or shows, ending in the grand return of Gatoh Move. ChocoPro had been pulling everything along and now GMTV was going to re-emerge. First, though we had a barrage of chocolatey goodness to break through. In #222, we were celebrating Sayaka Obihiro’s 12th wrestling anniversary. To do so, it would be a two-match show as Chie Koishikawa and Masahiro Takanashi opened the show against Mei Suruga and Tokiko Kirihara then Obihiro would take the main event spot against the ace, Baliyan Akki. For #223, it would be Best Bros against the fearsome might of Hoshitango and Yuna Mizumori and the main event showdown between CDK and the fourth generation’s Chie Koishikawa and Sayaka. Let’s get into the action.


ChocoPro #222

Chie Koishikawa & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Mei Suruga & Tokiko Kirihara via Chop Roll on Kirihara

Up first, we had some frantic tag team action as Chie-DK kicked off Golden Week against the odd couple team of Mei Suruga and Tokiko Kirihara. We know both Kirihara and Suruga are devious when they need to be but would they be able to co-exist? Hagane Shinno was still kicking around so he was going to be reffing this one. Things started fast and technical between Suruga and Takanashi with the pair reaching a stalemate. They both tagged and allowed Koishikawa and Kirihara to do the same. Koishikawa had a hot start, even getting Takanashi to reluctantly go for a run but that was cut off and she became the match’s punching bag. Suruga brought out the goblin tactics and everyone was deafened by popping balloons. We even saw the pair pulling off a Cute on Purpose Comaneci. When that stretch ended, we got a highly competitive tag bout between two even teams. This was one of the most open tag bouts the company has had in quite some time as Koishikawa and Kirihara were temporary punching bags but never beaten down for too long. It was fast, furious, and full of the tag goodness we like to see. It’s always fun to see the four in action with everyone getting some fun exchanges in. Of course, we saw more Suruga biting as she continues to be a cannibalistic goblin and more heart from Koishikawa but it was Takanashi and Kirihara that would decide the finish as Takanashi countered the Cobra Twist into a double-team chop roll. Kirihara ate another pin in tag action but continues to show great synergy with whoever she is with. She found some excellent moves with Suruga but just couldn’t get past the crafty teamwork of Chie-DK. As always though, ChocoPro knew how to open a show in style.

Baliyan Akki defeated Sayaka Obihiro via Inverted Deathlock

Whenever a wrestler’s anniversary comes up in ChocoPro, there’s only one way to celebrate. With a big match, of course. For Obihiro’s 12th anniversary, she was getting a one-on-one battle with the Ace, Baliyan Akki. The title wasn’t on the line this time but if she got one over on the champ, she could shoot right into title contention. Once again, Shinno was reffing so there could be no bias in this one. This turned into quite the chess match. It started methodically and maintained a cerebral tone as the pair tried to pick the other apart. It wasn’t the hyper exchange you might expect of Obihiro as she looked to lock Akki down and tried to tap him out whilst he did the same to her. We saw a whole lot of limb-bending and breaking from the two as Akki went after the back and legs of Obihiro. Akki’s repertoire of holds just continues to increase as he found new ways to damage her knees and inflict damage. Obihiro kept fighting through and tried to come back on multiple occasions throwing out thrusts and chops to be met with just as harsh retaliation.

She refused to quit, giving back as good as she got, and had the champ reeling when she kicked into another gear. It got very physical and forced the hand of the champ, making him match the ferocity Obihiro was giving him. It took everything Akki had and nearly twenty minutes to end this one. Obihiro might have lost but she showed off a lot of what she learned over these twelve years and came out stronger than ever. She pushed Akki to his limit and that should be commended. Nothing is ever easy against the champ and Obihiro had his number at several different moments. The Iron Chef has been a dependable hand throughout my time reviewing ChocoPro and still keeps improving now. Happy 12th anniversary. May there be more to come and more main events showcasing just how good you can be.


ChocoPro #223

Best Bros (Baliyan Akki & Mei Suruga) defeated Yuna Mizumori & Hoshitango via B3 on Mizumori

Show two kicked off with a monster of a match. Best Bros may not be the top dogs of the tag division anymore but goddamn do they get thrown some horrifying challenges sometimes. This time Akki and Suruga were taking on the mountainous might of the Pineapple Fairy Monster Yuna Mizumori and the immovable Hoshitango. Akki and Mizumori opened with another thunderous exchange and opened the floor to Suruga and Hoshitango. Suruga did her usual wind-up act and got absolutely wiped out by the giant. Even the pair together couldn’t cut down the tropical powerhouses. What followed was a whole lot of pain for the Best Bros as they tried to find ways to work around Hoshitango. Their usual shtick wouldn’t work and there was the added obstacle of a very fired-up Mizumori beating the hell out of them too. It was all about surviving this time. Best Bros and especially Akki, took the brunt of the abuse in this one until Mizumori and Hoshitango made a critical error and allowed Best Bros to steal the win with some crafty double-team. It made for an entertaining fight in which Mizumori shone with more brutal lariats and Suruga got to have fun at Akki’s expense.

CDK (Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi) defeated Chie Koishikawa & Sayaka via Grounded Manji on Sayaka

Last but not least, the second main event. CDK were back in the building and had brought all their gold with them. None of it was up for grabs this time but it made for excellent bragging rights as they prepared to take on two of the top talents of the fourth generation in Sayaka and Chie Koishikawa. CDK are the masters of tag wrestling but were they prepared for the energy this pair was going to bring? Oh, and Suruga was the ref so you knew Brookes was going to be over the moon with her work. It began with one-on-one bouts between Sayaka and Takanashi and Koishikawa and Brookes before becoming a dogpile on CDK as the fourth-gen got one over on them. It was awesome seeing Sayaka and Koishikawa both doling out demon strikes in harmony. The fourth-gen were on the same page and were finding multiple ways to put the hurt on CDK. It couldn’t last though and CDK firmly found a way to shut the underdogs down, being as dickish as possible in the process and using referee Suruga as a weapon. Takanashi tortured Koishikawa and Brookes made sure to advertise the new DBRU drop (sadly it’s all sold out now.)

Sayaka played saviour as Koishikawa escaped and brought the brutality with forearms and slams to Takanashi. Brookes derailed the match by throwing Suruga outside and CDK returned to their torture, making Sayaka their victim now. The problem was though, Suruga wouldn’t count their pinfall because of what they’d done. They went full goblin on gen four and because of her defiance, attacked Suruga again, trying to use her as a weapon. Instead, she attacked CDK and helped gen four get back into things. Once again though, that was derailed as CDK attacked everyone and thwacked everyone with a basketball. They went full-on comedic villains by trying to use Hoshitango as a weapon but he too rebelled against them and would have cost them the match had Suruga not broken up everything. She tried to bulldoze order back into the match and after one final hurricane of chaos, Brookes tapped out Sayaka with a grounded Manji. CDK had won the day despite the odds and got to swagger away the winners. They had been fully villainous this time but it had helped push Koishikawa and Sayaka to new heights so I guess it was worth it. It definitely made for fun viewing and ended this part of the marathon in style.

All images courtesy of Gatoh Move, FlyingVTrigger, Yuna Mizumori, Videos courtesy of Gatoh Move YouTube

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