Welcome back to ChocoPro and another double-bill of wild wrestling from Ichigaya’s favourite wrestling company. The crowds were in to witness the last appearances of the Ace as Baliyan Akki prepares to depart to America for a two-month tour of the states (providing the flights don’t mess him around.) Akki has been the top dog of ChocoPro and now he was going to take that energy around America. Before that though, he had two shows to make it through. Starting with #243, we’d see CDK battle Choun Shiryu and Sayaka Obihiro, Ken Ohka vs Yuna Mizumori, and Akki’s first battle as he teams with Sayaka to take on Egg Tarts. Then in #244, Sayaka Obihiro and Antonio Honda battled each other and the buns of doom, Yuna Mizumori fought Tokiko Kirihara and Best Bros ended the weekend against Chie Koishikawa and Kaori Yoneyama. Would the Ace end his time with a high or a low? Let’s find out.

ChocoPro #243

CDK (Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi) defeated Choun Shiryu & Sayaka Obihiro via Takanashi Throne Pinfall on Obihiro

The show opened with a return from the Asia Dream Tag champions. CDK were back in Ichigaya and were looking to embarrass another team on the mat. This time, they were fighting the dynamic and devious makeshift duo of Choun Shiryu and Sayaka Obihiro. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this pairing but the mix of striking and spirit could pose quite the challenge for the champs. To say Brookes was overlooking Obihiro would be an understatement as he spent the opening stretch taunting the Iron Chef and using his height to prevent a lock-up. Shiryu gave her a boost and we finally saw the pair battle it out. Despite Obihiro and Shiryu working well, CDK were all business and followed their usual trend of bullying the team across from them. Obihiro and Shiryu faced the full assault of stretches and strikes with the pair continuously drawing on their fighting spirit to knock down Brookes and Takanashi to gain some breathing room. It was a valiant effort but the result was never really in doubt. It might have been predictable but that didn’t stop both teams from putting on an entertaining match with CDK showing why they’re still champs and the challengers getting more spotlight time. The audience enjoyed it too when Brookes wasn’t flying and falling at them.

Ken Ohka defeated Yuna Mizumori via Spear of Fire

Next up was a tropical hoss fight as Yuna Mizumori prepared to give Ken Ohka one hell of a beatdown. The pair had got heated last weekend and now, it was time to unleash that frustration on each other. They’d enjoyed a dance number before the match and now it was time for the fight number. Ken Ohka would be using this match as a warm-up as he prepared to partake in Ganbare’s biggest show the day after. Was he going to go into that match with glory or tropical shame? He left in glory after an absolute blast of a match. The pair just beat the hell out of each other both inside and outside of the studio. It was a mix of hard strikes, submission work, and explosive takedowns as the pair looked to break each other. Even the studio wasn’t safe as Mizumori ended up breaking a stool and braining Ohka with the pieces. It was non-stop and only got harder the longer the fight went on. Ohka got a big win ahead of his big title match and Mizumori showcased more of her unique brand of offence against someone equally as tough. This was excellent and well worth the watch. These two just get each other and put on one hell of a match.

Egg Tarts (Chie Koishikawa & Hagane Shinno) defeated Baliyan Akki & Sayaka via Armbar on Sayaka

Akki quickly turns the tide#ChocoPro #gtmv pic.twitter.com/uxXQEKdwn6

— Rylino (@FlyingVTrigger) July 9, 2022

Lastly for this show, the main event. Egg Tarts were getting the show-ending spotlight and the first of Akki’s two farewell matches. Shinno and Koishikawa were going to have to contend with the Ace and the Smiling Violence of Sayaka. This was going to be a highly physical contest but as we know, none of these combatants are afraid of getting stiff and laying it in. This made for one fun main event slugfest. Both teams laid it in and pushed each other to the limits. Egg Tarts were once again in-sync and Akki found a really nice rhythm with Sayaka prompting a nice mix of Egg Tart’s speed and Namaste violence. Shinno and Akki brought their always entertaining hostility whilst Sayaka and Koishikawa showed just how intense they could get against each other and even more so against the boys. I think I need to see a full-on singles match between Sayaka and Shinno after the teases we got here. There’s not as much to say about this one as there sometimes is with others because it was another high-quality ChocoPro tag match. Egg Tarts got the big win whilst Akki and Sayaka showed out against their foes. Akki starts the weekend with a loss but still fought his heart out to put Shinno and Koishikawa through the wringer. It made for great fun and ended the show in style. Sayaka is becoming one of my favourites on the ChocoPro roster because of her brute force style and smiling sadism. These elements all combined nicely to give us a proper show-ender. Again, it’s well worth the watch.

ChocoPro #244

Wasabi Cream Puff Deathmatch: Sayaka Obihiro defeated Antonio Honda via Wasabi Cream Puff

Honda tastes defeat?#ChocoPro #gtmv pic.twitter.com/c8dxHCDWtr

— Rylino (@FlyingVTrigger) July 10, 2022

show two kicked off with something a bit deadlier as we had the second Wasabi Cream Puff deathmatch. Sayaka Obihiro and Antonio Honda were about to fight to the spicy death as they played Russian Roulette with pastries. The rules are simple enough, avoid having to eat a cream puff by not eating a two-count and when you do, don’t pick the one full of wasabi. Other than that, fight until someone tastes the pain or the time limit is reached. Honda was his usual self, pulling in all his regular tricks and traps to try and catch Obihiro out and force her to eat cream puffs. He was merciless but it wasn’t working as well as he’d hoped. Referee Suruga couldn’t control the match as Honda fought dirty and kept bringing out weapons. We even had a musical number halfway through the deathmatch. The funny thing was very few cream puffs were eaten as Honda scored the first fall and Obihiro survived then Obihiro got late-match vengeance with Obihiro Magic and watched Honda run away with a burning mouth. It just goes to show no matter how entertaining the cheater they will never prosper.

Yuna Mizumori defeated Tokiko Kirihara via Wall-run Splash

The next contest of the show would pitch power against technique as Tropical Comaneci imploded. Tokiko Kirihara and Yuna Mizumori were going to fight and only one of them would leave the studio the winner. Would it be the Tropical Fairy and her raw power of the Comaneci Master and her range of kicks and locks that would get their hand raised when the smoke cleared? The Tropical Powerhouse won the day today but goddamn did Tokiko Kirihara bring the fury with her today. She was on fire, bringing out her best hits, surprising everyone with a window claw, and managing to wrangle Mizumori into a Comaneci. Mizumori was no slouch either and the pair just put on an absolute belter of a match. It was competitive, and intense and left both of them looking great by the end. Both wrestlers here seem incapable of having bad matches at the moment and brought the best out of each other across the match’s runtime.

Best Bros (Baliyan Akki & Mei Suruga) defeated Chie Koishikawa & Kaori Yoneyama via B3 on Koishikawa

Last but not least, Akki’s final match before his big tour. It was an emotional moment for the Best Bros as they prepared to have one last dance before Suruga would be left alone for a bit. They were taking on some hyperactive foes as Chie Koishikawa and Kaori Yoneyama had come to dance. It was going to be an anarchic end to the weekend with Akki looking to balance out his weekend stats before he vanished. There was barely a dry eye in the house as the emotions hit everyone. Despite the emotional nature of things, this didn’t stop both teams from giving it their all. Yoneyama became the match’s punching bag as Akki and Suruga did what Best Bros do best, divide, conquer and torture. When that finally stopped working, we went into another chaotic tag match main event with both teams going all-out. It was the type of energy you wanted to see from the last match before a tour. Both teams looked great, when Yoneyama and Koishikawa weren’t being bulled they too looked like they were enjoying the match and both teams made sure to leave a lasting impression. It’s always interesting to see the bond between the Gatoh Move/ChocoPro roster come into play and we saw it heavily throughout.

It's starting to set in that Akki's leaving#ChocoPro #gtmv pic.twitter.com/N8YMdA4spK

— Rylino (@FlyingVTrigger) July 10, 2022

As I said, emotions really were high with Yoneyama and Koishikawa getting emotional before the match and Suruga getting teary throughout. Reality hit home hard as everyone realised Akki was going to be gone for a couple of months. That gave everything they did a bit of an extra edge. It was do or die as Best Bros desperately tried to avoid the loss and Yoneyama and Koishikawa came dangerously close multiple times to giving Akki a double loss weekend. Even Suruga seemed to be slightly in on the sabotage as she hit Akki with the Spider. Despite all this, Akki and Suruga won the day. Akki gets to enjoy a win on his final ChocoPro for two months and enters the tour with momentum and optimism. He’d left on a high note. Good luck in America Akki. I know you’re going to be an asset to every place you visit and are going to represent ChocoPro with pride.

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