[1998-02-18-ARSION-Grand Opening] Aja Kong vs Michiko Ohmukai

[Jetlag]

Michiko Ohmukai was this skinny girl with supermodel looks who worked like Daisuke Ikeda. I have no idea why she's not famous. She threw all those reckless kicks and impressive suplexes and was like a magic ingredient for matches that made everything crazier. Here she slaps Aja right at the bell and Aja just smirks at her and then Ohmukai starts dropping her with those 50 yards football kicks. Hell of an opening for a match. They get into a slugfest like this fucking BattlARTS or WAR and I am in love with this. Then they settle down a little with Aja dominating on the mat through size and Ohmukai trying to topple her. I think Aja was kind of mailing it in in Arsion which is such a disappointment but this match hit all the right spots and was really good stuff like it always is when Aja has someone to work with who brings the fight to her.

[Zenjo]

Omukai blasted Aja with some vicious head kicks to start, nearly KO-ing her. This would prove her most effective weapon against the monster. Otherwise it was Kong working her over in this fledgling hatefest. They made an upset seem possible before Michiko had the lights turned out. Amazing chokeout to finish with Aja applying a vice like grip. The quality of the action fluctuated with Omukai being a bit repetitive. It had a strong storyline to back it up. The youngster was battling to earn the respect of the veteran, and not doing it in a respectful manner. Great postmatch angle as the hatred between them grew. Establishing a rivalry was an ideal thing to do on a promotions opening show.

[corwo]

Before the match begins, Omukai slaps Kong, and Aja gives her a wry smile, almost as if to say: “You messed up.” Boy, did she ever.

Omukai’s briefly able to gain a sustained run of offense when she lands a kick to the bridge of Kong’s nose. Kong collapses as Omukai sends her into the ropes for an Irish whip, and Michiko wails on her with kicks. Even though one of the strikes whiffs, it feels like Omukai throwing caution to the wind to try to topple the behemoth in front of her.

Kong regains control through a series of kicks to the leg. Between Kong chopping Omukai directly in the throat and laying in some thudding kicks of her own, Aja’s heat segment is brutal. For her part, Omukai’s hope spots and selling are equally great. One moment that sticks out to me is Omukai desperately trying to bridge upwards as Kong leans over the ropes and stands on Michiko with her full body weight.

From there, Kong spends most of the match toying with Omukai. When she gets Omukai in a full mount, she grabs Omukai’s hands, mocking her as she lies helpless on the mat. Omukai is able to snag an armbar, but Kong’s overwhelming strength allows her to nail a modified powerbomb. Omukai nails a German suplex, and the crowd erupts, but it’s not enough to plummet the giant. Omukai gets one final burst of adrenaline, hitting a spinning wheel kick and almost steals the win with a leg clutch pinfall, but Kong extinguishes her flame with an Uraken and a sleeper hold.

The opener of this show, Candy Okutsu vs. Yumi Fukawa, seems to have a reputation online as the first great ARSION match, and while I enjoyed it, this was more up my alley. If this is the quality of wrestling ARSION was producing on their first show, I can’t wait until I reach the peak.