>>9696924I didn't like Mizuki vs. Yuka either. I think the Miu vs Rika did more to show mutual respect. The fans know their relationship, we know they are a tag team and we know they hang out a lot in real life, I don't need 50% of the match dedicated to telling me this. They had the conference and the interviews they did for Tokyo Sports to make it clear how they felt about facing their tag partner. The match was pure war, they just went at it and didn't slow down, they didn't have second thoughts about hitting their strongest moves, Miu didn't hesitate to do her most dangerous version of the swing so far, and Rika didn't hesitate to turn her white dragon sleeper into a crocodile twisting version that looked like Miu's neck was gonna snap. That for me, in wrestling, is respect, love and admiration, their match told me "I love this person but they're exceptional at their craft, so I must be exceptional too in order to surpass them, if I don't give it my 100% I'm disrespecting my partner". Seeing Yuka going soft and trying avoid damaging Mizuki while Mizuki was the only one determined to strike didn't tell me a happy happy "we don't wanna hurt each other" story. It just told me that Yuka doesn't see Mizuki as an equal like she did in 2020, she's superior now, she knows she can beat her, so she's holding back, and they could've done this very differently, but instead, it was right on your face, all the time, for about half the match, instead of just wrestling. The moment Yuka started going all out, she was already too tired and lost, very weirdly, almost out of nowhere. Making Mizuki's win look like a fluke, like plain luck, the same way it looked when Rika beat her for the title in 2021.
Miu and Rika told a great story in the ring, two equals who appreciate each other but won't hold back because they both have goals they want to achieve. And they ended it in a very emotional way before Rika even grabbed the belt in celebration.
