Going into 1980 there was slight feeling that there might be a generational change coming, with Tomi Aoyama set up for a challenge of Jackie Sato. Unfortunately, Tomi didn’t have any regard her knees, frequently doing a pescado, which would miss and she would crash on the floor knee first, often in venues with no mats outside the ring. In the non-title match against Jackie Sato on 1/4/1980, she seriously injured her knee, and had to withdraw from their planned WWWA World Single title match on 3/15/1980. She returned too early, and in a match on 4/4/1980 against the Black Pair, teaming with Lucy Kayama, a rematch of the 1979 drubbing in Denen, she reinjured her knee during the match (this match was shaping up be a very good one until it fell apart). Aoyama retired soon after, with her final match on the Guam tour in August. The Matsunaga’s had no challengers, so Monster Ripper was called up again to challenge Jackie Sato on 3/15/1980, recreating their 1979 feud to get them through the big Denen show in August. The title went from Sato to Ripper to being held up to a tournament at the end of the year to recrown Sato – if you ever want to see what a year-long holding pattern to get you out of all the big shows looks like, there you go. There were no clear contenders from here, it had to be someone of the newer generation, and Rimi Yokota was the only one, but she hadn’t graduated from junior status yet. Wrestling wise, it wasn’t as good as 1979, though a little better at the highest end. Rimi Yokota and Yumi Ikeshita were in all of the best matches, and it would have been a very poor year without them.

1/4/80 All Japan Junior Title: Rimi Yokota vs. Chino Sato. This was a real junior barnburner to kick off the new year. Yokota got frustrated early and decided to use the bucket to gain an advantage, so Chino responded with a chair and went after the leg, which she mostly stuck to. There's a great spot where Yokota slips out of a Boston Crab, so Chino hurls her with a Giant Swing. Yokota hadn't reached her peak yet (that wouldn't be until 1982), but she was already the second best worker in the company (after Yumi Ikeshita), and this match was a great showcase of why. Sato didn't have the explosion of Yokota, but could do a few things well, and was able to keep up with what Yokota was doing, which is all Yokota needed. I thought Sato had a lot of potential, and with maybe 18 months experience at the time of this match, she was well ahead of curve. They basically threw out everything they knew, went all out, and stuck to the right roles for the match. This is a rarity in junior matches, as junior matches are basic by design, and in these days were contested with legit shoot pins at the back end, which did affect how much they were paid and their ranking amongst the other girls. They typically wanted to do what was expected to entertain and fill in time in the early portions of matches, while conserving energy for when it mattered (though sometimes the referee would just rig it anyway). The shoot pins, with the girls really fighting to get off their backs and onto their stomach, adds a lot to the urgency the match had already build up. ***3/4

1/4/1980: Jackie Sato vs. Tomi Aoyama. Not a match where you’ll find much in the way of interesting offense, more notable for the significant heat and atmosphere than anything else. It’s largely a mat battle, with the odd athletic spot thrown in, which didn’t always come off well. Aoyama focused on Sato's leg, with the schoolgirls losing their minds when Aoyama applied the figure four, and even more so when she attempted it again. Sato fought back and attempted to finish Aoyama, but couldn’t secure the victory. Eventually, Sato flew out of the ring, and Aoyama followed with a pescado, taking a ridiculous knee first landing and injuring herself in the process. She made it back into the ring, but only for a double knockout. This match was to set up Aoyama challenging Sato for the red belt on March 15, but due to her injury, she couldn’t make the match and they had to bring back Monster Ripper to challenge Sato. ***

2/21/80 All Pacific Title Decision Match: Lucy Kayama vs Yumi Ikeshita. If there were more matches available or if she had been around for a few more years, I have no doubt I'd put Yumi Ikeshita's name up there with the great women's wrestlers of all time. For her time, she was so far ahead of everyone else technically, and not only that, she was the best heel, with her street fight brawling style and constantly coming up with new and creative ways to cheat in all of her matches. This is mostly a clean match from Ikeshita, and it's a joy to watch her work this way. Kayama could be hit or miss with her performances, but she was good here. Ikeshita started out with really nice work to Kayama's arm. Kayama found her opening, and went after her leg. There was a neat spot where she's trying to apply a figure four, but Ikeshita rolls to her stomach, and Kayama eventually gets annoyed and kicks her out the ring. Ikeshita wasn't thrilled with with Kayama being competitive, so she stole a pen from the announce table and started cheating with it to get the advantage back. The back end of the match was mainly brawling with lots of big moves thrown in. It ultimately ending up with both going for dives, with Kayama crashing and burning, allowing Ikeshita to throw her corpse back in the ring and take the title after a pair of piledrivers, though a rare Fuji TV screwup meant the pinfall was missed because they were focusing on Tommy Aoyama. ***1/2

8/80 Rimi Yokota vs. Yumi Ikeshita. The two best wrestlers of the year, just a few weeks after their 60 minute draw in Denen (which is unfortunately unavailable). This was Black Pair Ikeshita vs. babyface Yokota, and it’s a good match, but I’d have loved to see them have a match with Ikeshita in wrestling mode. They got off to a slow start with Ikeshita on heel offense, Yokota got a run and went for Ikeshita’s arm, so Ikeshita went for the knee. Yokota was able to get a burst in, but Ikeshita cheated more. Yokota got a big reaction when she stole her weapon, and they were solidly behind her for rest of the match, as they both went for wins, but it was a time limit draw. ***

8/?/80: Mimi Hagiwara vs. Rimi Yokota. This was from the Guam tour in August 1980. It's the only televised singles match I'm aware of these two having, which makes it fascinating by default, and it was a good one too (there is one other match from a spot show from January 1984, which is a fan-cam, also a good match, and actually watchable, which can't be said of many 80s handhelds as most are just perv-cam). Yokota played heel and was a lot of fun to watch, with vicious stretching, working over Mimi with disdain and being more than happy to bite and pull hair (there was still some Young Pair Yokota left in her after all). She was nasty, and Mimi sold well, being sympathetic and making admirable attempts at comebacks, which usually wouldn't go anywhere. The layout was about as basic as you could imagine, but I'm not one who thinks wrestling is rocket science, and they worked what they were doing very well. ***1/4

11/5/80 Fuji TV Cup WWWA World Single Title Tournament: Nancy Kumi vs. Yumi Ikeshita. This match went to the 45 minute time limit (plus about two minutes overtime), and they showed about 25 minutes of it. Ikeshita was wearing black shooting gloves, potentially loaded, and used illegal striking and gouging. She eventually discarded the gloves, and the match went to the mat. Kumi took control, dragging Ikeshita outside and throwing her into the chairs. Back in the ring, Kumi won another round. Ikeshita then introduced a weapon, but the referee intervened and removed it. Kumi focused on Ikeshita's legs, attempting submissions, but couldn't secure a victory in the ring. The action spilled outside for another brawl, with both wrestlers giving their all until the time limit expired. They were granted a 5-minute overtime, continuing the brawl outside, and Kumi managed to make it back into the ring for the victory by count-out. Of all the ways to finish a 47 minute match, that was certainly one of them. If Kumi winning wasn’t required, the draw would have actually been the better finish. The match was really good though, with very good wrestling and cheating, and a good example of how good Ikeshita was. ***1/2

12/16/80 Fuji TV Cup WWWA World Single Title Tournament Semi Final: Jackie Sato vs. Rimi Yokota. Not a flashy match by any stretch of the imagination; this was a scrap with a lot of intensity that's my pick for 1980 AJW Match of the Year. Yokota was incredible with all of her burst and fire, and it was the best match I've seen from Sato, who I do think was a better wrestler than she gets credit for and got to show that here (she was technically good, but takes some getting used to because she looks awkward and stiff). In the early going, Yokota couldn't take Sato head on, so she was trying to take down her down with trips and rolling takedowns, which was fun, before inevitably getting stretched. Yokota took over, and Sato just burst on her, but Yokota was able to match her. The whole thing ended up in a mad scrap on the outside, which resulted in a count out. They were given 5 more minutes (a good move, as if the result stood, it would have meant Nancy Kumi walking out with the title), and Sato won with a crab. Sato defeated Kumi in the finals to win the belt, but Yokota would have the last laugh winning the title from Sato two months later. ****

1: Rimi Yokota. Yokota had a breakthrough year in 1980, starting strongly against Chino Sato in a really good juniors match and ending with a great match against Jackie Sato that would’ve been fitting of a main event. Much like 1979, the top ranked wrestler of the year was set to get a big push in the following year, though Yokota's would go to plan. Ikeshita was right next to Yokota and was the best wrestler, ability wise at this point, but Yokota edged her out for match quality.

2: Yumi Ikeshita

3: Jackie Sato

4: Lucy Kayama

5: Nancy Kumi

1: 12/16/1980 Fuji TV Cup WWWA World Single Title Tournament Semi Final: Jackie Sato vs. Rimi Yokota ****

2: 1/4/1980 AJW Junior Title: Rimi Yokota vs. Chino Sato ***3/4

3: 2/21/1980 All Pacific Title Decision Match: Lucy Kayama vs Yumi Ikeshita ***1/2

4: 11/5/1980 Fuji TV Cup WWWA World Single Title Tournament: Nancy Kumi vs. Yumi Ikeshita ***1/2

5: 8/1980 Mimi Hagiwara vs. Rimi Yokota ***1/4

Chigusa Nagayo

Lioness Asuka (Tomoko Kitamura)

Dump Matsumoto (Kaoru Matsumoto)

Yukari Omori

Crane Yu (Yukari Honjo, Masked Yu)

Wild Kazuki (Hiroe Ito, Tarantula)

Yuriko Takashina

Kazue Sakamoto

Hitomi Okumura

Junko Shinkuni

Emi Hasebe

Mariko Hagiwara