Update on the infamous ARSION Debacle: more info, and more matches
Context: https://www.reddit.com/r/midcarder/comments/1r2b1nb/on_this_day_25_years_ago_the_infamous_arsion/
Somehow this shit is not ending, somehow I can't pass on by it, it has to bite me back in the face again. All I wanted was just the entire 3rd Anniversary Show video, what I got is somehow more context about what the fuck just happened. But, I guess here we go
The tape: https://archive.org/details/2-12-01-arsion_20260215
A RETURN ON FEBRUARY 12TH, 2001
How did we have to find the tape?
Like I said before, the tape was lost media, as nobody managed to find the full tape, but only snippets of it. So a friend and I decided to make the quest and to find it. And, to be honest, we had only one path: ask the few people, and one of them told us that someone has the VHS tape on an ISO file. After struggling to extract the file, we managed today to extract, download it and upload it on the Archive. The full PPV is now available to watch. And I'll add notes on it considering the matches, and more context on what was going on.
THE OTHER MATCHES
Recap of the February 10th house show
Before the February 12th televised show, ARSION ran a house show in Osaka, under the banner "3rd Anniversary Show" on February 10th. Here were the results (since each match had a 1-2 min highlight):
- Rena Takase def. Yuu Yamagata by submission (6:30)
- Bionic J (Jessie Benett) def. Faby Apache by submission (6:53)
- Akino (c) def. Ai Fujita by submission (LOL) to retain the Sky High Championship (12:19)
- Gami and Rie Tamada def. PIKA and PIKO (10:29)
- Ayako Hamada, Michiko Omukai and Mary Apache (seems to have been a last-minute fill up) vs Aja Kong, Mariko Yoshida and Azumi Hyuga ends in a draw (20:00)
So, quick notes to what we have:
- Clearly the main feud for now was Ayako Hamada vs Azumi Hyuga, as the two were frequently featured against each other since late 2000-early 2001
- Aja Kong seems to have kept her frustrations low-key, unlike Ryo Miyuki, who escaped (more context onto that)
- Yuu Yamagata and Rena Takase seem to be a feud they're continuing to build (since they were the other two rookies of 2000 alongside Ryo Miyuki, and both are clearly talented, especially Rena Takase, who'd become Leon)
- The Re:Drug faction seems to be going on an internal war ever since PIKA joined, and they'll settle it with a tournament on the February 12th show
- Clearly Mary Apache seemed to have been a last-minute fillup, considering the infos that'll be talked about next
The February 12th show itself
NB: This part will only include the matches not involved with Ryo Miyuki or Aja Kong, and the notes will be a bit more exhaustive
Bionic J vs Ai Fujita vs Rena Takase vs Yuu Yamagata in a 4-Way Elimination Match (8:09)
WHERE'S THAT REFEREE? WHERE'S THE TIMEKEEPER?????????
The show starts with the most LOLARSION opener match you can ever have. Rena Takase and Yuu Yamagata who have been fighting since last month are now shoved into a 4-way match with Ai Fujita (who has been retrograded to a low-midcarder) and Bionic J. And the first two to get eliminated are...Rena Takase and Yuu Yamagata. The ending is what matters here though:
So, Ai Fujita was initally the winner of the match via pinfall, but the thing is: THE REFEREE DIDN'T ACTUALLY COUNT TO 3, HE COUNTED TO 2. THE TIMEKEEPER MISTOOK IT AND AI FUJITA THOUGHT SHE WON! The referee orders the match to restart, and Bionic J wins via submission, and Ai Fujita looks like at the referee like he just committed a warcrime on her. I'm sure the post-match looked like this... LOLARSION. *1/2
Gami vs PIKA, Re:Drug Tournament Semi-Final (3:59)
Nothingburger of a match, just there to make GAMI over. Some heel shenanigans between PIKO and PIKA, but nothing really special. 1/2*
PIKO vs Rie Tamada, Re:Drug Tournament Semi-Final (3:59)
This match is also a nothingburger, nothing to note. Same shenanigans, Rie gets the job, and PIKO goes to face GAMI later on. 1/2*
Chapparita Asari, AKINO and Mr. CACAO?! (REALLY?!) vs Los Apaches (11:20)
Ah yeah, it's not a mixed-tag, it's an intergender 6-person match
So...actually this one surprised me. I didn't expect anything from this match, but the 6 of them pulled an entertaining one. Gran Apache (a legend in his own regard) was pretty funny, and we got some actual wrestling in the goofiness. No one looked bad, Faby and Mary really looked good, AKINO is as always fantastic. There were some LOLARSION moments and botches there and there, but if you want to just have fun, it's a match to watch to have a nice laugh. **1/2
Gran...there's no one here to showboat :sob:
GAMI vs PIKO (6:03)
LOLGAMIWINS! Again, nothingburger of a match. Some shenanigans there and there, but the leader wins. Nothing to recommend. *1/2
Also, sidenote, in also a LOLARSION moment, Gami's medal breaks...Kurt Angle's heart sank watching this.
That didn't work for the medal, brotha
Ayako Hamada (c) vs Azumi Hyuga for the Queen of ARSION Championship (15:08)
Only sidenotes here. They spent around 10 MINUTES to have a stupid hype package (that isn't on the tune of My Way so it's boring), with a recap of Ayako's struggles and rocky road to be the Ace of ARSION, as if she's Cody "Raheem" Rhodes, but at least, on a positive note, they took their time to develop Ayako Hamada and become this star by 2000-2001, and Azumi Hyuga got also a good rep from this hype package.
Post-match is basically everyone cheering each other after what happened, with GAMI cracking jokes. Now, onto the serious stuff
MORE CONTEXT ON THE DEBACLE
Ryo Miyuki vs Michiko Omukai (1:07)
I supposed last post that Ryo Miyuki departing ARSION was inevitable, considering she fled the company after her disasterclass on January 27th. But here, the tape goes into more info on what happened. Here's what it goes.
February 2nd show, in the Chiba Port Arena
Ai Fujita and AKINO vs Ayako Hamada and....RYO MIYUKI????!
Yea you heard me right. Ryo Miyuki, the blond fraud who couldn't do a move to save her life...was supposed to be in a tag team match with Ayako Hamada (OG Superrookie) vs Ai Fujita and AKINO that day. This mark called Rossy Ogawa saw the January 27th match, saw how unprepared, talentless and stressed Ryo Miyuki was, and thought "Hmm, such good shit. How about we put the Superrookie with the OG Superrookie Ayako Hamada and let them have an angle together for the better part of 2001?". I swear, if this was Rossy's plan for Ryo (with her probably ending Ayako's reign probably by late 2001 and have her be the top star)...I swear, I might just book a flight to Japan, storm Marigold's offices and cause havoc.
You can't book this, not even Vince Russo thought of doing that. Not even HERB ABRAHMS IN THE UWF THOUGHT OF THIS, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU ROSSY OGAWA?!
But right back on the crux. So...
Ayako Hamada comes out for her match, with a rookie (Rena Takase) by her side to contain the crowd. This was normal, what wasn't normal was...Ryo Miyuki wasn't there.
Ayako doesn't know where she is
So...after a while, one of the staffers ask Ayako Hamada: "uh look, you're 1vs2, where's your tag partner?". Ayako shrugs. She's not here. The staffer asks Rena where is Ryo (since she's a rookie like her, so she knows her more than the rest). Also, na da.
Hamada utters words I can't understand, since I don't speak Japanese, but the gist seems to be that she didn't find her where she was supposed to be. And considering this is your #1 star Ryo is no-showing...Miyuki got heat with Hamada (if there wasn't heat beforehand). And Rena Takase replaces Ryo for the match. And now you see why I highlighted Mary Apache earlier on? Now imagine if Ryo Miyuki never escaped, Ryo Miyuki would've been there, and I can't imagine the LOLARSION y'all will have.
Can I not see your face again, pls?
And yea, Rossy gets involved and he seems to explain what is the mess that just happened. And he's making the shoot happen on February 12th, with Michiko Omukai (who was pissed with Miyuki's performance on January 27th) taking the shot...smh what is wrong with this guy, can somebody analyse his head???
But the shitshow doesn't end here...
Las Cachorras Orientales (c) vs Mariko Yoshida vs Aja Kong (5:59)
Like I said, this one, nobody saw it coming, and instead of cropping it out, ROSSY INSTEAD DECIDED TO BROADCAST AJA KONG QUITTING ARSION...WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS GUY? NOT ALL PUBLICITY IS GOOD PUBLICITY. Like, seriously, what's the benefit of making this? Why did you broadcast two of your main-eventers quitting? The only thing it makes is that it makes everyone in ARSION look like a joke...and yea, Aja shoot brawls against LCO and Michiko Omukai in the end, to put salt on the wound even more...
What is wrong with this company???
So yea, I hope I finally get the closure on what happened on February 12th, 2001. Already this was a shitshow, but now with the full tape, this somehow makes Bash at the Beach 2000 a Dominion 6.11 2018...you've got to be kidding me. YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. Somebody should send this to Jim Cornette, Stevie Richards, Vince Russo and Dave Meltzer, I wanna see them react to this. This crap can't be real...ARGH
Posted Feb 15, 2026, 4:01 PM UTC