Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Io Shirai vs Mio Shirai

Here's the match video of Io Shirai vs Mio Shirai from the Feb. 14 M.I.O. show at Shinjuku FACE. This is billed as a sisters grudge battle. Though the match was hotly anticipated since it was the first time they worked together since splitting up three years ago, the match is unremarkable and then the angle became anti climactic when Mio announced her retirement on Monday. But I know fans want to see this match. I'm just warning you that it's OK but not epic. So why did they split up in the first place? When watching them as a tag team, I just felt that Mio wasn't cutting it in the ring. And the only way Io could advance herself in the joshi business was to go solo. You will see in this match that Mio can't keep up with Io. It's hard for her to look good when she just isn't a good enough wrestler. One would think they would be similar because they are sisters and at one time they were similar. But it's clear Io has made the effort to be more athletic in the ring and Mio chose not to do that. She chose to get by on sex appeal which got her to a certain level but Io is a much bigger star. Last year Mio signed a unique contract with four promotions, OZ Academy, Pro Wrestling WAVE, Ice Ribbon and Union. The main reason for this was to produce these M.I.O. vanity shows. I'm sure that deal was very complicated with that many hands in the pie. Just for the record, I'm not a big fan of vanity shows in general. They just seem like a big cash grab to me. And each of the four companies have different angles. They are only going to cooperate for the vanity shows. After Io won the match, there was no hugging or anything. I think there is animosity between them but the match didn't reflect that. It should have been more intense and it wasn't. Then on Monday, Mio announced her retirement show would be Sept. 20 at Korakuen Hall. She says she is retiring because of a lingering neck injury. The timing made the retirement announcement seem like a surprise. But I think it's been in the works for a while. Mio knew that she would lose to her sister and then retire immediately afterwards. I'm sure it affected her performance in the match. When asked about Mio's retirement by Daily Sports, Io said she didn't know about it. Maybe now that they aren't competing with each other, the two will reconcile. I certainly hope so. Enjoy the video!
Io Shirai Vs. Mio Shirai (2/14/15) Shinjuku FACE by Mosquitopilate1