The fourth match on the card was a semi-final bout in the tournament for the newly created WIP Intercontinental championship and it is one of the two singles matches presented on the event.
Once the bell rang Odaeri rushed Sato and grounded her immediately applying her cross arm breaker submission. Sato managed to drag herself to the side of the ring while in the hold and got a foot on the ropes to force a break. Both competitors engaged in a battle of trying to knock each other down with Sato winning in the end. She was unable to follow up due to the damage to her right arm.
Odaeri regained control and continued working on Sato’s right arm with various attacks. Sato made a comeback using mostly an arsenal of kicks and knee strikes eventually hitting a jumping knee attack for a near fall.
Sato continued on offence eventually hitting a big lariat with her bad arm for a close near fall. She then tried for her suplex finisher but Odaeri countered by reversing direction and applying a guillotine. There was an attempt to transition to an armbar but she got slammed to the mat by Sato instead.
Sato finally landed her backdrop suplex finisher but could not pin right away due to the damage to her arm. She eventually sprawled over her opponent but Odaeri kicked out at the last second for another near fall. Sato followed up with a top rope lariat and went for her backdrop finisher again. However she was countered by Odaeri who rolled through and applied a Zack Sabre Jr. like submission hold for the victory.
Well this was surprising. It was close to an actual wrestling match with psychology and everything. It wasn’t perfect but the story of Odaeri overcoming her larger and more powerful opponent with technical skill was told well enough to make the match intriguing.
Match 5 was the second semi-final bout in the WIP Intercontinental Championship tournament and the last singles match on the card. Both competitors in this match impressed in the tag team matches they were involved in during WIP CLIMAX. This time they got the chance at impressing in singles action.
It started with both girls trying to take control with cruiserweight styled wrist locks and mat wrestling counters. Yumoto got the first bit of offence in with an arm drag. After a brief standoff Yumoto hit the ropes again and successfully landed a springboard armdrag.
Taniguchi rolled out of the ring after and took a walk outside to slow the match down. She cautiously got back into the ring and was immediately attacked by Yumoto who whipped her into the corner. She hit a weak elbow attack in the corner for the first near fall of the match.
Yumoto continued her attack by stretching Taniguchi and sitting on her back. When that failed to get a submission she rolled in into a pinning combination for another near fall. She then threw Taniguchi into the corner and tried for a splash. She ate a boot instead. Taniguchi still worn out from getting beat up slowly made her way up to the top rope and eventually got her first bit of real offence with an arm drag.
After firing up she attacked Yumoto with a slow Wil Osperay type of flipping kick to the back for her first pin attempt of the match. Her comeback was short lived as her attempt to send her opponent into the ropes ended with taking a disaster kick to the face instead. Taniguchi once again rolled to the outside but could not catch a breather as she was met with a diving clothesline.
She was then forced back into the ring by a drive by drop kick from Yumoto. She took a sustained beatdown with hints of another comeback until she was hit with two stunners for a near fall. Yumoto dragged Taniguchi to the corner and attempted a moonsault to finish her off. She hit nothing but mat.
Taniguchi took advantage of the mistake and landed a lung blower followed up by a Cross Rhodes for the win.
This was a pretty good singles match between two of the more athletically inclined members of the WIP roster. It had a good mix of high spots and mat based holds. Some of the forearm and elbow shots thrown during this match were hella weak and some of the big moves had less than crisp execution. But those minor details didn’t distract from the overall story of told in the ring.
