Tonight I and others watched Mina's RevPro Undisputed British Women's Title Run! It was absolutely awesome, and all of these matches are on archive.org if you just look for them! I definitely recommend checking them all out (they're all in big VODs of the events they're from, so you'll have to do some scrubbing) because this is a fantastic little title run she had!
08/24/2024, RevPro 12 Year Anniversary Show - Mina Shirakawa vs Dani Luna (c)
Really good start. I haven't seen Dani Luna before but the people I was watching with were really talking her up and they weren't kidding! It's also so awesome to have an overseas audience who knows ball and respects/loudly cheers for Mina, because she deserves it. I love 2024 era Mina in terms of hair and she looked sooooooo good. She was also doing SO GOOD as a wrestler! Lots of great limb work, lots of variations in her moves, and you can really see how comfortable she's gotten and how smooth she's gotten. Her figure fours are absolutely KILLER and her putting Dani Luna through multiple figure fours to wear her down before the tap out was really fantastic. The strategy is so clear and it's great.
Also seeing Mina be so happy and emotional and brought to tears after getting the belt. God. That's my joshi. I'll always be behind her, I'll always root for her. She will always be my #1.
10/19/2024, RevPro Global Wars UK - Mina Shirakawa (c) vs Lizzy Evo
I also haven't seen Lizzy Evo before! But her very evil woman ways were quite alluring and I enjoyed her. There was one or two small goofs in the match in terms of executing moves, but overall it was a really freaking solid match, too. I really enjoyed the back and forth, as well as seeing Lizzy get the advantage and push Mina was great! Again, you get to see those times of Mina being a little mischievous, going for the limbs and the knees and it's truly beautiful. Knee buster Mina is so perfect. Fantastic match, and again, I'm still so happy to see the crowd so hot on Mina!
12/21/2024, RevPro Uprising 2024 - Mina Shirakawa (c) vs Dani Luna
Rematch vs Dani! This was even better than the first one tbh. Mina getting a leg lock while Dani's leg was wrapped around the post and then hanging was just so good. I know I've seen her do stuff like that before (to Toni iirc) but it's just, so fun to see. Great use of the ring honestly. This is also another case of "give Mina a long match and it's gonna be a banger", and her and Dani have really great in ring chemistry imo. They played off each other SUPER well.
Also a FANTASTIC comeback factor from Mina. Even knowing the results of the matches, seeing Dani hit the Luna Lander and go for the pin, only for Mina to break out at the last section was AWESOME. It got a pop from me, just like, wow, she really got out of that! And then she managed to get the win! Everything I love to see in a Mina Shirakawa match tbh, would definitely recommend it if you're looking for some good matches to watch!
Also, afterwards evil women attacked Dani and Mina, including an evil Windzah which was surprising (and hot) to see. It made me think about how badly I need evil Mina… Evil Mina please… She gets attacked by evil women so much, she deserves to be the evil woman attacking!!
01/05/2025, Wrestle Dynasty 2025 - Mina Shirakawa (c) vs Mercedes Mone
I've said it many times before but Mina really thrives with a long match and this is no exception. And honestly, Mercedes can help make anyone look good. These two things combine to create an INCREDIBLE match that's honestly one of my matches of all time contenders. Mina limb work is one of my most beloved, and she does a great job with it here. Mercedes is fantastic at selling and the two have an INCREDIBLE back and forth that really made it feel like it could've been either woman, even as this was during Mercedes's incredible belt collection era. Like, god. What a match. Really shows what Mina is capable of and the more technical, limb work side that I wish she would lean into (they would let her lean into?) more in AEW (she's done it against Shida and at times, I think she needs to be able to do it way more because that's where her specialty lies).
And seeing Mina so upset and so heartbroken after the match… emotional Mina makes me emotional. Only four matches including getting and dropping the belt but they were four REALLY great matches! Fantastic run from her and I hope we can get another singles title run from her soon because god she deserves it.
Also Utami wearing a We Want Mina shirt helping Mina out of the ring after her loss… Utami knows ball.
