This is Chihiro's second defense of the Sendai Girls title and also a rematch of one of her first big singles matches that happened a year to this day. I loved how Aja worked the early part of this match. She always seemed to have a smart little counter to everything that Chihiro would try. Story-wise, this match tells the vet/rookie matchup a lot better than Chihiro's title win over Meiko Satomura. You get the feeling that if this was prime Aja, she would have chewed up Chihiro and spit her out. But at the same time, when Chihiro goes on her big run, you can see Aja relying on her wits and experience to survive. A smart, well crafted match. ****1/4

This match was interesting for me. The early portion was pretty slow and methodical for me but the finish stretch became really dramatic and I was excited to see Chihiro utilize her strength to perform the big throws on Aja. I was a little perplexed at the finish but it did seem to set up a big rematch in the future. ***1/2