ChocoPro #300: Day 2 (12/3/23) Review
Could The Second Day Live Up To The First?
Front Matter
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After an excellent first show, day two of ChocoPro #300 would have to deliver something special to match what had come before. With CDK having successfully defended their tag titles, it was Akki’s turn, as he faced Shinno Hagane, a man he’d never beaten. Could he finally get the win? Let’s find out.
Chie Koishikawa & Tokiko Kirihara defeated Masa Takanashi & Miya Yotsuba
Miya Yotsuba gets it. She’s still young in her career, but she’s a natural. You can see it in the way she shifts her weight to set up a counter or falls back, wrapping her legs around an opponent to keep a rest hold active and propel the action forward. She’s not perfect, it has only been six months since she debuted, but you would also never guess it had only been that long if you didn’t know. She wrestles like someone who is supposed to be there, and it’s exciting to see.
Outside of Miya, this teased that things weren’t over between Chie and Masa after the previous day’s title match. It’s not often a ChocoPro opener takes place in such hot water, as they tend to dedicate this spot to nonsense or rookies, but pre-match, Chie made it clear that she has unfinished business with Takanashi. It was a shame then that they never really did anything with it. Chie and Masa’s interactions maybe had a bit of extra pep, but it wasn’t anything remarkable, and while this never got silly, it didn’t feel particularly tense either.
Still, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t any good, as Otoki (sporting new gear) had an impressive showing, reminding us that she is a decent wrestler alongside a master of nonsense. It’s also not like Chie and Masa shit the bed. It just never felt like they lived up to the promise of Chie getting in his face beforehand. Instead, this was a fun opening tag with a standout performance from a rookie, and when I put it like that, it doesn’t sound bad at all.
Verdict: Good, But It Perhaps Could Have Been Better
Kaori Yoneyama, TAMURA & Yasu Urano defeated Sayaka Obihiro, Dragon Sakura no Bo & Kojio
The silliness we often get in the opener was shifted to this match, as Obi was teamed up with two UMA representatives to take on a veteran trio. I’d never heard of Kojio before, but his Twitter informs me that he’s a Nightmare Factory wrestler, and my eyes inform me he’s a big lad, cutting an opposing figure in a costume and mask that look like they were ripped from the pages of a Batman comic. Early on, he was able to deal with Yone, Urano and TAMURA single-handedly, locking up with all three of them before shoving them away.
Unfortunately, this never hit the levels of frantic that these six-person tags are known for. I don’t know how long Kojio has been wrestling (he doesn’t have a Cagematch), but for all he looks a bit scary, he was a pretty basic worker and ended up being a bit too central to the action. The veteran trio tried to create excitement around him but couldn’t quite pull it off, and things only really came to life when he wasn’t involved. Still, there were a couple of fun moments, including Tamura improvising a rather literal Ripchord Lariat with the aid of Dragon Sakura no Bo’s belt.
Plus, Kaori Yoneyama was there, which basically guarantees some upside. She’s a master of this stuff, playing to the camera to sell her terror and being her generally brilliant self. The match might not have clicked with me, but Yoneyama’s performance did, so it didn’t feel like a total waste of time.
Verdict: Nothing Special
Mochi Natsumi defeated Mei Suruga
Different eras of Emi Sakura trainees collided, bringing with them a pettiness that I have no doubt Emi appreciated. There was an abundance of petulant aggression in this match, mainly built around grabbing each other’s cheeks, as they expressed their rivalry by finding ways to be as inventively cruel as possible. You got the impression that they were both out to prove a point and were delighted to do able to do so at the expense of the other.
And it should be no surprise that these two have clicked. There may have been a decent chunk of years between their training, but they both have that Sakura gene, which shone brightly when they came together. Yes, this was a match about trying to hurt each other, but it was also one that was won and lost in the little moments and the grasping of an opportunity. Mei didn’t lose because she was bad. She lost because when push came to shove, Mochi was the one who was a move or two ahead of her, able to counter her Super Propeller Clutch and power her through into position for the Styles Clash. You could call it opportunism or a veteran instinct. Either way, it worked.
It was also proof that while Mei Suruga may be conquering the world, charming everyone she comes across, she still has a thing or two to learn. Mochi might not have her levels of natural genius, but she’s got years of grind behind her, which, combined with that Sakura training, is a potent combination. She used every bit of it to win here in a great match that ultimately proved the winner in all of this is Emi Sakura, who excelled via proxy even when she wasn’t in the building.
Verdict: Sakuraism Wins
Shinno Hagane defeated Baliyan Akki to win the Super Asia Title
Akki vs Hagane is a feud that has run through the last few years of Gatoh Move and ChocoPro. Since 2018, they’ve faced off five times in singles matches, and the record currently stands at four wins for Hagane and one draw. It’s also one that has never clicked with me. I can see why people like it. They’re kick-heavy, serious bouts that feel like they should be good, but perhaps because of those things, I’ve never loved them. I like both wrestlers separately, but together they always seem a bit too desperate to be ‘great’.
Despite that, I came into this wanting to enjoy it. I wanted to see what plenty of others see in this pairing, and there were aspects of it that I liked. The match was built around Akki attacking Hagane’s leg, and some of the work he did was fantastic. There was a moment where he hoisted Hagane up into a Piledriver position, but rather than drop him on his head, he threw him forwards, causing him to come crashing down on his knees. The wrestling was also undeniably crisp, and the final flurry of flash pins was exciting, arriving at a point in the match where each one felt like a potential finish. I also loved that you could hear Chie Koishikawa cheering on her Egg Tarts’ pal Hagane throughout, continuing her long history of showing as much enthusiasm for her friend’s successes as her own.
But I didn’t love the match. There were a lot of reasons for that, but central to them was the overserious nature of it being hard to get past. I don’t want to sound like I only want my matches to be mired in nonsense (I genuinely don’t), but I struggle when people seem determined to tell me that it is serious. It had the tone of Oscar-bait, a slight self-importance as it tries to make it clear to everyone watching that what they’re doing is vital. The problem was that it wasn’t all important. In fact, for all that Akki’s limb work was good, it was also pointless. Hagane didn’t completely forget to sell it, but it didn’t play into the action, as it never felt like he was stopped from doing anything because of it. It’s the kind of thing I’m usually willing to forgive, but when a match leans that heavily on an idea, it feels like it should have some payoff.
I don’t think this was bad. In many ways, it was the opposite, but Akki and Hagane seemed to get in their own way by having an idea of what they wanted it to be rather than allowing it to unfurl naturally. They’re talented wrestlers, and I’m happy to see Chie’s awkward emo big brother win the belt, but this isn’t one that I’ll be going back to.
Verdict: I Suspect Other People Will Like It More Than Me
Overall Show
I think it’s safe to call this a flawed show. None of the matches sucked, and most had good stuff going on, but there was usually something to prevent me from loving them. So, if you’re only watching one of these Show 300 celebrations, you should probably go for the first. However, it’s possible that others will like the main event more than me, and Mei vs Mochi is definitely worth your time. Most of all, roughly three years since it started, I’m delighted that ChocoPro and Gatoh Move are still a thing. As I said at the start of my review of night one, I doubt anyone would have bet on this tiny company surviving the pandemic, and yet here we are, and that’s an achievement worth celebrating.
You can watch all of Gatoh Move and ChocoPro’s shows on their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@gatohmove