I’ve spent most of the past few days trying very desperately to finish a few writing projects, but I did manage to get the second half of the February 18 show done!
The main event was Yuki Arai & Miyu Yamashita vs Moka Miyamoto & Aja Kong (rip Moka 
). I had a bit of help from Mr. Haku for the post-match, and I think I did alright on it:
Yamashita: “Today… Arai won, but she still has a long way to go, doesn’t she? Next, she’ll face Aja-san at Ariake. Both as an idol and as a pro wrestler, Yuki Arai-chan is always singing and dancing and fighting with all her might. Looking at her, I can see that she’s gotten really strong. So at Ariake, I want you to beat Aja-san. Aja-san has a massive presence, but I want you to win. Everyone here agrees, right? Everyone’s expecting it, and I think Arai can do it.” (crowd chants “Arai!”)
Arai: “Thank you so much. I won, but… Well, it’s really frustrating. Next month, exactly one month from now, I have a singles match with Aja-san. I think I was beaten today. I was left with the feeling that I’m not at all ready. Even if you all hadn’t told me to do it, I’m going to win. Of course, since we’re having a match, winning is the only thing on my mind. I’m going to do my best this next month so that I can show Yamashita-san as well as everyone else how much I’ve grown after today, so please watch me! I’m really happy that so many people came to our Nagoya show today. Thank you so, so much for coming!”
In Miyu and Arai’s comments, I think I did alright with the first part:
Yamashita: “It was fun teaming up with Arai-chan after a long time, and I’ve been watching as she’s gotten stronger. I was able to face Aja-san for the first time. I knew how big she was, but when we faced off, I thought she was truly a great wrestler. I was dizzy after taking that backfist, but I was really hoping to land a Skull Kick, so I’m glad that I was able to do that even though my head was spinning. Arai and Aja-san are having a singles match next, but I’d have liked to have been able to face Aja-san in a singles match first. Also, when she’s in matches like this, Moka is really strong. I think being able to show her strength in a situation like this is itself a strength. I really enjoyed fighting her.”
Arai: “It was a tag match today, so Yamashita-san helped me out a lot. If it had been a singles match, there were so many moments where I would have gotten pinned. Even though we got this chance to face each other, I feel frustrated… Next time, I will do what I couldn’t do today, and do a better job countering the moves that I just took. In this next month, I want to do my best so that I can beat Aja-san and show her how much I’ve grown.”
In the next part, I think the beginning went alright:
(You got the victory in your hometown show, but you’re still not convinced?)
“Of course I’m happy, but I really feel like I wasn’t able to do anything against Aja-san.”
Arai’s next answer was confusing to me, though, haha. She said: “持ち上げたりが難しいっていうのはあらためて思ったので、もっとブーツだったり蹴りだったりの技を磨いたりとか。通用するなってちょっとでも思ったものにかけて頑張りたいです.”
(What exactly are you going to work on in the next month?)
“I realized just how difficult it is to lift her, so I’m going to work on refining my Big Boot and my kicks. I’ve been using them regularly, and I’m going to do my best to depend on what I think works.”
(Concerning Aoki-san as the referee)
“Well, I want her to do her best. I don’t think that has much to do with me, but… I don’t know. But it makes me really happy to have members coming in for commentary and such. Plus, if a member comes in as a referee, that’ll give me a sense of stability or peace of mind. I’d like to see more and more members coming in to do various jobs.”
Yamashita: “But isn’t it a bit unfair, having Oshirin-san as the referee for Arai-chan’s match? There’s the possibility of her mixing business and her private friendships, and that’s not acceptable. So I want her to be the referee for my match.”
(But that’ll be at the Korakuen show in April, which is during your stay in America)
“I won’t be there, huh?”
Arai: “Won’t you be able to watch it?”
Yamashita: “But it’s not alright for her to referee for Arai-chan.”
Arai: “Please watch it on the stream.”
Yamashita: “Yes, I will.”
Arai: “There’s a possibility that Aoki-san will still be there to referee when you come back.”
Yamashita: “There’s a chance that she’ll keep doing it? Please ask her to do this.”
Arai: “I’ll try to persuade her.”
I laughed at Miyu obviously wanting Aoki to referee for her, haha. I hope Aoki tries out refereeing and decides to stick around. One of my friends is training to be a referee right now, and they say it’s really hard work, especially doing multiple matches in a row. I feel like if anyone has the stamina for that, though, it’s an idol.
Aja’s comments were a bit difficult for me 
. The first part went alright:
Aja: “As I said when this was announced, I don’t think of this as a preview match at all. I was thinking that it wouldn’t matter if it ended today and there was no Ariake, but it seems like we’re continuing until then.” (to Moka) “I’m sorry about what happened at the end there. Yamashita conked me on the back of the head and I wasn’t able to save you, so I’m sorry for the disappointing result.”
I really struggled with this whole chunk: “ただ私はこれが決まった時点で前哨戦ではないと言っているので、ひとつ今日その通りにファイナリー封じということをきちんと考えて、封じ手を考えてありますので。さぁ、ああいう封じられ方をして彼女はファイナリーをあと1カ月間でどう打てるか.”
“However, I said that this was not a preview match when it was set, so the only thing I’m thinking about after what happened today is how to seal away the Finally, if there’s a way to do it. Then, having prevented her from using it, how can she hit a Finally one month from now? At the end, she said in the ring that she has one month, but just as Yuki Arai has one month to prepare, so does Aja Kong. I have a lot of things in mind, and there are still some drawers that I haven’t opened yet. So what will I pull out of those drawers on March 15? Or will I be able to perhaps add something new to my arsenal in this next month? I want to crush her again until there’s nothing left.” (to Miyamoto) “We have different opponents at Ariake, but you seem to be doing well lately, so let’s both show a winning effort.”
Miyamoto: “Yes, I’ll do my best!”
In the second part, her first sentence here was confusing, but I think I maybe eventually figured it out? “成長云々とか、そんなのは見てても分かるように成長してないとおかしいでしょ。成長してない人間がここでタッグのベルトも取れないだろうし.”
(Did you feel how much she has grown compared to a year and a half ago?)
Aja: “Even looking at her growth and all of that, it would be strange if she hadn’t grown. Someone who hasn’t grown at all wouldn’t have been able to win the tag belts. But I think she’s growing at an astounding speed, though I’ve also been growing, albeit little by little, as much as I can. So conversely, I think I was able to show Arai that I have grown a little bit. Please report that I will have grown even more after one month.”
Hopefully I got 逆に right this time…
The SKE48 members also got to give comments afterward. One funny quirk of shupro was that for some reason, all of the idols (except for Arai) got a さん after their name in the transcript. I ended up keeping it in my translation because it’s easier haha.
Arai: “Today the five of us had the opportunity to do a mini live show! How was it?”
Okamoto-san: “Being able to enter a pro wrestling ring was an experience I never thought I’d be able to do in my life, so I’m grateful for that. It was a lot of fun”
Rika Aoki-san: “This was the first time I had the privilege of watching pro wrestling live, and it felt like I was watching a movie. It was really impressive, and I want to go see it again.” (To Arai) “You were so cool!”
Ito-san: “The mini live show was a lot of fun, of course, and I heard so many cheers. I was able to watch Yuki-san wrestle from up close. It was really cool, and deeply moving, too. I was overflowing with so many emotions, and I was really wowed by it.”
Shiori Aoki-san: “I came here today as an idol, but it was announced that I’d be refereeing. In the matches afterward, all I could watch was the referee!” (laughs)
Arai: “You’re already watching from that point of view.” (laughs)
Shiori Aoki-san: “I have been given this opportunity, so I want to do my best.”
Arai: “Do you think you can do it?”
Shiori Aoki-san: “…Yes.”
Arai: “I hope we can do something with SKE48 and pro wrestling in the future as well. I’ll continue to do my best in SKE48!”
And that’s it for that show! Phew!
I have the TJPW comments from Mutoh’s show already mostly done (there weren’t many), and then I’m hoping to get around to the press conference shortly after that. The VOD show has a few comments as well, though I haven’t looked at the transcript to see how long the post-match is in addition. Hopefully not a lot?
Maybe by the end of the weekend, I will finally be caught up again…
