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This was the main event on Jd's 2/24 show at Differ Ariake, which drew a disappointing 650 to the 1800 seat venue. I don't remember the stipulations exactly, because they were changed a lot pre-match, but I believe if Abe lost she would retire.
The cage is a chain link cage with a roof, only with a small square cut out for escapes. They have a ladder and a chair in the ring to play with. The rules are win by KO, pinfall, submission, or escape.
Abe is Jd's primary cute babyface, and is generally carryable as a worker as she does what she does well and generally stays within her limits. Fang Suzuki is a member of the ultra cool ID4 group, which also includes Sumie Sakai, Megumi Yabushita, and the awesome The Bloody. Fang is also generally passable, with a basic power offense, but sometimes her timing on moves and spots is a little suspect. Anyway, onto the match!
Abe comes out looking a little nervous, I would be too if I was as banged up as her going into this. Fang enters, and presents a gift wrapped crutch to Abe, as she's GOING TO NEED IT, you see. Fang uses her brawling edge to dominate early, as the announcers talk about Zenjo cage matches, WCW War Games, and Stan Hansen (?) among other things. Fang pummels Abe with the ladder, and grinds her face into the cage which opens her up just a little. More Abe pinballing around off of everything, until she realizes she has to use her quickness advantage to win, and hits a reverse springboard "ankle headscissors" (think Rey Jr.) and a series of dropkicks.
Abe tries to escape but gets chaired, chaired again harder, and then put in a choke sleeper. She eventually gets free and and reverses a chokeslam, then hits a la majistral for two. Abe starts to build some momentum, until Fang powerbombs her into the cage, and Abe slides down grinding her back. Remind me not to become a pro-wrestler. Fang whips Abe into a ladder she set between the ropes in the corner, but Abe hops over it onto the top and kicks it back into a pursuing Fang. It sounds cooler on paper than it looked in practice, trust me.
Fang controls some more, punishing Abe with lariats, powerbombs, Aja-style short piledrivers, and backdrops. Abe's selling is really really good in this, if she IS actually selling and not in a lot of pain. She looks dead on her feet at this point, staggering around and glassy eyed, but not overdone.
A brutal spot follows, as Fang just tosses Abe onto her head, and knocks her goofy for a minute. It looked like Abe botched a Shiryu backflip out of suplex spot, and didn't rotate and just dropped on her neck. Fang stalls and covers for two, and Abe hits a desperation German suplex to catch her breath.
Aaaaaaaaaand brutal spot #2 of the match, as Abe sets up the ladder and goes to the top. She swings out, holding the mesh of the roof of the cage, and drops a double stomp TO THE FACE. That could have been really really bad, but Fang seemed to get her arms up to absorb most of it. Either way, Abe uses this chance to climb out to the roof, as since she has the speed advantage, it's her best bet to win.
Fang catches up, however, and slaps on a choke sleeper. Abe isn't quitting, so Fang hits an Ace Crusher and a ROMERO SPECIAL on the roof of the cage!! You can talk about Mick Foley all you want, but doing a Romero on top of a cage is about 864 times cooler than, you know, falling through it.
This is not enough to make Abe quit, so Fang hits an STO and starts to make the climb down. Abe grabs her hair, and tries to pull her up but Fang is just too big for her. Fang breaks free and is climbing down the large cage unopposed. Abe then lets out a yell of conviction, and JUMPS OFF THE TOP OF THE CAGE, directly past Fang and crashing into the Bloody. Whoa. Abe wins! 21:24
Postmatch, Abe is mugged by her fellow faces, and Fang has an awesome, smiling look of "Well…damn. Nothing I could do there, Abe you big crazy nut." Abe looks genuinely happy and relieved that it's over here too .
Well, I have to say this was a pleasant surprise. The match was about as good as it could possibly have been given the limitations of who was involved. There some sloppy spots and timing miscues, but overall, they done good! Abe really went over and above here, as her selling and execution was excellent, and Fang was pretty much her usual self, and did a good job pacing the match. The spots were exciting, and the finish kicked every ass possible.
It's kind of a shame the Matsunaga Bros. had to be such poor businessmen, as there's now groups like Jd' who work so hard to perform well, and try new things, and still can't draw because there's just too much to choose from. It's kind of sad that Jd' will do a match like this for 600 people, lose money, but still do their absolute best, while some OTHER groups with a lot more resources tend to go on half speed, and neglect to do anything booking wise to improve, yet still draw more due to having names that were big in the past. But I'm sure there will be more on that to come from me in the future.
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