Golden Week goes on as we dig into the latter half of the ChocoPro festivities. We’ve covered the first two, including Sayaka Obihiro’s big anniversary, now it was time to dig into the other two from the Chocolate Square. For #224, we had three matches, Mei Suruga battled Rekka, Popcorn Carnival took on Fresh Fruit and in the main event, Tokiko Kirihara and Baliyan Akki went to war once again. For #225, Curly Crazies reunited to take on the combined forces of Shin Suzuki and Masahiro Takanashi then in the second main event, Apple Honey made a rare outing to take on Yuna Mizumori and Chie Koishikawa. There was once again, a lot to dig into so let’s get into the action.

ChocoPro #224

Mei Suruga vs Rekka ends in a Kappa Attack

Up first was a last-minute announcement to the card. Originally billed as Suruga vs Sayuri, the ChocoPro Ninja had fallen ill and Rekka was stepping in to take on the Apple Girl in her place. Did Rekka understand the horror he could be stepping onto the mat with? Suruga found herself at a bit of a size and strength disadvantage but that didn’t stop her from trying to outpower her oversized foe. He even brought out Sayuri’s tricks to keep the original spirit of the match alive. Suruga’s usual tricks didn’t always work but once she found a moment, she was stomping, yanking, and biting at Rekka despite the spin he’d put her through and slams he taunted her with. Rekka had had fun at her expense so she was going full goblin to kill him. Right as the match was picking up steam, it was completely derailed as Kappa Kozo ambushed the duo. The UMA was not done with ChocoPro and had just re-ignited the war. They had not forgiven nor forgotten the encounter with CDK and it seems they want to go again. Kozo had lain waste to everyone on the mat, leaving Suruga furious and in want of revenge. Maybe that’ll be the next match between ChocoPro and UMA?

Cherry & Yuna Mizumori defeated Popcorn Carnival (Sayaka Obihiro & Chie Koishikawa) via Cherry Pin on Obihiro

The carnival was in town once again as Koishikawa and Obihiro joined forces to take Cherry and Yuna Mizumori on a ride. They hadn’t forgotten about the battle with Best Bros and seemed determined to climb the tag ranks. The problem was, in their way were a devious veteran and an absolute powerhouse. Both teams brought frantic energy to the opening but Cherry and Mizumori outpowered the Carnival and began crushing Koishikawa. It was another merciless disregarding of the rules from Cherry as she used every devious trick in her book to alleviate the pain of her submissions and make Koishikawa tap. This was horrifying to watch as Koishikawa was just beaten more and more and more by both members of Fresh Fruit. When she finally escaped, Obihiro came in like a house on fire and started kicking ass and taking names, tanking the damage to try and lock up and strike down both foes. Despite all her efforts, Cherry and Mizumori swarmed and capitalised on the damage they’d done, Cherry using the wall to leap into one final pinfall on Obihiro. It had been a vicious one to watch as Cherry and Mizumori picked their foes apart, bringing out all the underdog fire from the Popcorn Carnival. It just hadn’t been enough today. It did make for compelling viewing though.

Baliyan Akki defeated Tokiko Kirihara via Akki’s Knot

Last but not least, we had our first main event. It was the Ace Baliyan Akki taking on a regular foe, Tokiko Kirihara. Akki and Kirihara have had some absolute wars in the past and continue to beat the absolute hell out of each other with each chance they get. Since winning that title, Akki has ascended to a new level and he wasn’t afraid to admit it, Kirihara was in for one hell of a fight this time. This started intense with a scramble of technicality and descended into an absolute limb-breaking nightmare for both. The kicks came out amongst the submission attempts as the pair seemed determined to break the other’s legs. This was a meaner Akki as he upped the aggression and tried to bully his foe. All this didn’t stop Kirihara from fighting back and putting Akki through his paces. She brought out new tools to match her current favourites and started giving back what Akki was giving her. These two held nothing back, ploughing forward to keep dishing out damage. The pairs had counters and holds and counter-holds to most things the other wanted to use and for almost twenty minutes, the pair destroyed each other.

Huge chops drops Otoki#ChocoPro #gtmv pic.twitter.com/XTo7Op64QE

— Rylino (@FlyingVTrigger) May 1, 2022

We even saw Kirihara pull out an Armbar through the window. Nothing was held back as Kirihara did everything in her power to score one over the ace and show why she’d been given the main event. She refused to go down, regardless of how hard Akki hit her or what hold he applied. It was back-and-forth to the bitter end with Kirihara throwing everything she had before finally succumbing to Akki’s Knot. The damage had been done and she had no choice but to tap. She’d given it her all and come close to knocking Akki off his pedestal. This might be the best match I’ve seen from Kirihara yet. This is the ruthless technician we all want to see from her. If she can keep that flame burning then she might just become even more of a threat within the company. Akki still remains the top dog though, with seemingly few people able to shift him from that spot. He does make killer main event matches though and given the ebb and flow of the company, Kirihara will be at his throat again soon enough.

ChocoPro #225

Curly Crazies (Baliyan Akki & SAKI) defeated Masahiro Takanashi & Shin Suzuki via Brainbuster B3 on Suzuki

SAKI makes the save#ChocoPro #gtmv pic.twitter.com/vF6givp2Bc

— Rylino (@FlyingVTrigger) May 3, 2022

The next show started with the return of the wild tag team, Curly Crazies. Baliyan Akki and SAKI were joining forces once again to bring the pain to Masahiro Takanashi and his biggest fan, the Headstand King, Shin Suzuki. After a break, Suzuki was coming back with a new fire and ready to drop some more headstands. Mei Suruga was the referee for this one and tried to hide her contempt for the crazies. Mizumori on the other hand had no problem calling them out from the sidelines. Suzuki and SAKI started with a fast and furious exchange before handing the floor to Akki and Takanashi for something more methodical. Takanashi became the match victim but quickly utilised some underhanded tactics involving Obihiro to take control and put the hurt on SAKI. Suzuki and Takanashi showed quite the repertoire as they bullied SAKI and tried to score a quick win. SAKI refused to stay down though and quickly escaped blowing the match wide open. No one remained a victim for long as there were counters at almost every turn. This was very physical and gave everyone the energy you’d want from an opening match. The Crazies are always good fun to watch and Suzuki is another dab hand at working with everyone. They all worked hard to make an awesome contest that the Crazies got the win in, hitting Suzuki with not only a Brainbuster but also B3, just to keep him down. The Crazies had racked up another win but neither Mizumori nor Suruga seemed happy for their partners.

Apple Honey (Antonio Honda & Mei Suruga) vs Yuna Mizumori & Chie Koishikawa went to a time-limit draw

Last but not least, the second main event for this part of the Golden Week festivities. It would be the old allies Apple Honey, Mei Suruga, and Antonio Honda, taking on the high-energy chop-ical team of Chie Koishikawa and Yuna Mizumori. Suruga and Mizumori started and ended up dancing then Honda and Koishikawa took over for much more direct dancing on Honda’s part. We had a wealth of entertaining chain wrestling and dance between Honda and Koishikawa until Honda gave Koishikawa a palm reading. He told her she was going to be a movie star, becoming a hit with Robocop 4 before attacking her arm. Koishikawa was bullied by the duo, mauled by nasty tag stretches but quickly dropkicked to freedom and unleashed Mizumori on the match. Honda and Mizumori hammered the hell out of each other and Honda got one-up on her with a timeout before running himself into the stools. It was all rather hectic and only got more so as Suruga and Koishikawa kept entering the fray. This was another one of the competitive tags with both teams remaining on even footing for most of the match. Tropical tactics crossed with goblin tactics meaning both teams were never too far behind. The creativity was through the roof for this pair of teams as they were pulling out a whole host of ridiculous moves, counters, and combos to inflict pain on the other. They just kept on going, never stopping to take breaks and beat the hell out of each other.

Giant Swing#ChocoPro #gtmv pic.twitter.com/899R5Eh1Ou

— Rylino (@FlyingVTrigger) May 3, 2022

Neither team really tried for wins until the last moment and by then, it was too late. The gong sounded and the match ended in a draw. Both teams had given it all and kept on fighting after the gong, unable to handle the draw. Something tells me that this was more a Koishikawa vs Suruga thing as their partners could only look on in horror as they kept scrambling and referee Suzuki had to pry them apart. The hostilities are far from over with those two. That ended another double-bill with a bang and provided an excellent slice of tag action to fire everyone up. All that’s left of Golden Week now is the triumphant return of GTMV and you can bet your hat we here at SteelChair are covering that.

All images courtesy of Gatoh Move, DOGU, FlyingVTrigger, Video courtesy of Gatoh Move YouTube