1. Kenoh vs Menso-re Oyaji C***1/4
  2. Winner Gets Hana Swag Tag Team Battle Royal C***1/4
  3. Exhibition: Kyona vs Kimura **3/4
  4. Hirota vs Yoneyama, Anou C***1/4
  5. Kong vs Hirota NR
  6. Kong vs Hirota C**3/4
  7. Kong vs Hirota C***
  8. Syuri vs ASUKA ***1/2

Digest

The year prior, a tribute show for Hana Kimura was held and it actually was one of my favorite shows ever because, despite the somber occasion, it was full of love and featured some truly entertaining matches and moments. It really felt like a perfect way to pay respect to the fallen star. In 2022, a second one was ran. Emotions were high because situations like these never truly ever get better for those that knew her personally. You could tell that everyone here was trying to make this a sincere tribute in the truest sense.

This time that meant putting on a show that they thought Hana would've loved to see.

A well done opening ceremony kicked us off, then Okinawa and All Japan boy, Black Menso-re, and NOAH's Kenoh worked a singles match because...why the fuck not!? Bits of expected comedy alongside some of Kenoh's trademark aggression combined to make a rather entertaining opener that exceeded expectations. That stomp finish was a THUNK.

Next, a massive clusterfuck tag team battle royal that tried a lot. I'm not admittedly a big fan of battle royals and this was a tad clunky and ran a bit long. It was also entertaining and largely decent and I didn't hate it like I normally do.

Hana's mom worked an exhibition match against Jungle next. Emotional stuff with a built in story. Even though Kimura was in no way "ring ready", Jungle still carried this ahead a bit.

Hirota dressed up like Hana next and took on Anou and Fukigen in a handicap match where the latter joined in midway. Buttholes were poked and a flashpin closed it. Aja Kong came out immediately after and squashed the imposter, but a rematch was requested after in classic Japanese fashion.

Buttholes were poked again and kisses exchanged, but Kong would take the W again.

The parody of respect closed with Oedo Tai's Rina besting Hirota and her atomic boogers.

While a large portion of the event leaned heavily into the comedic, we did close with a more straight-forward singles match between ultra freelancer ASUKA and my 2022 women's wrestler of the year Syuri. Borderline great, both put in for about 18-minutes or so of main event joshi excitement.

If last year's show was a tribute show meant to mourn Hana's suicide, this one was a lighthearted celebration of her life with loads of comedy and a bit of expected emotion. Like Kimura, this show was truly unique. If you have no connection to Hana's work and/or dislike Japanese comedy wrestling than I am sure this one is of no value to you. If you do have such a connection and don't mind the style, this show was a fun one. 

I sincerely hope that Hana somehow saw it.

Overall Rating: 80/100%