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Tournament ARS '98 Kesshosen
(final): Candy Okutsu vs. Reggie Bennett |
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"If the federation was AJW, Neo Ladies', or any other one which utilizes the old style structure, the outcome of this match would be known way in advance. And most likely we wouldn't have these two wrestlers competing for the tournament final if Aja had an ego. Yet, this match demonstrates why ARSION is so good: you can't tell who will win. At first, one may think that this match is a complete mismatch in styles and sizes. Bennett has a history of beating Okutsu in singles for ARSION. Also, Okutsu's wins going into the final weren't as dramatic as Bennett's huge wins over ARSION's top two wrestlers. So, one would automatically favor Bennett in this case. However, what people may not realize is how strong Okutsu is and what a ring technician she can be (not the best but definitely good, although she looks to have slipped recently)," wrote Keith. Reggie was definitely the favorite, no question about it. I mean, I considered her the favorite over Yoshida at this point based on their positioning and push in AJW. As far as the match went, it was another pro style match. They blew a few spots, but overall it was a good match that told a story. Reggie injuried Candy's bad knee (and, for whatever reason, the good one at points) to make her even more of an underdog. The highlight of this was Reggie rolled through on Candy's plancha, and immediately locking the hiza jujigatame on. Candy came back with two missile kicks and a DDT, doing a really good job in between of hobbling and hopping around to put over the knee. She hit three moonsaults in a row, but it wasn't enough and Reggie came back. Unfortunately, the match kind of fell apart toward the end with a blown powerbomb that was to be a hope spot for Candy. They had to redo it, with Candy turning it into a 2 kaiten ebigatame for a near fall. Reggie caught Candy off the ropes in her Reggie rack (Argentine backbreaker/torture rack), the finish of their 3/2/98 Hakata Star Lanes match. Just when it looked like Candy was done, she turned it into a sleeper for the MEGA UPSET WIN! This spot looked really lame in actuality, but it's almost like I'm so happy for Candy that it didn't even matter. "Seizing the opportunity, Reggie placed Okutsu in the Reggie rack. As mentioned before, Reggie's immense size and power lend a great deal of credibility to her limited arsenal. She doesn't need a flashy arsenal to beat the other girls. Also, the Reggie rack is considered one of Reggie's 'bigger' finishing holds, so it looked as if Okutsu would walk home empty. However, Okutsu escapes the rack and slips on a sleeper hold for which Reggie passes out! With Okutsu receiving the big win, she would go on to challenge the winner of the ZION tournament for the first ARSION singles title," wrote Keith. I don't think many people would have predicted that at the end of the night, you'd be seeing Candy doing her muscle pose on the stage with the winner's trophy. This tournament took the lowest ranked native in the promotion, a women who we all thought was done due to a bad back, and made her a far bigger star than she was at any point in her five year tenure with JWP. What separates ARSION from other companies is not only did Candy have her night, but they followed through and made her a main eventer. "One can firmly say that the ARS tournament was Okutsu's night up to this point. However, there is a double meaning to that statement. Essentially, her three wins over three different opponents with three different finishes comment on Okutsu's ability to work in any style. If for any reason, that statement suggests the qualities that they want in their champion, which is a positive one," wrote Keith. Among other things, the way Candy won this tournament shows that ARSION doesn't want to be narrowly defined or predictable. In this way, they attempted differentiate themselves as something new and different, but it didn't really take off like they hoped. "This last match proves a number of ARSION's strengths as a federation. First, by having a smaller woman beating a larger woman, ARSION, thus, opens the doors for the rest of their wrestlers by de-mystifying the traditional 'monster gaijin' ideology that seems prevalent in Japanese wrestling (cf. Nicole Bass' one minute squashing of Asari)," wrote Keith. This is very true. If this was AJW, Reggie probably would have beaten Candy, Rie, and Yumi at the same time within 5 minutes. A win for a small girl over Reggie on a major show was crucial for showing women like Candy, Rie, and Yumi had a chance, and it opened the door for someone like Yagi to come in since they wouldn't be treated like a "junior." "Second, Reggie does not 'lose' by losing. What she gained in this tournament was two tremendous wins over ARSION's two top names in Aja and Yoshida. More importantly, I think this idea of not 'losing' by losing is a statement that ARSION has been able to make with their wrestlers. If Michiko loses to Aja Kong in 13 minutes, that does not necessarily mean she is incompetent as a wrestler. Instead, it shows that she is an equal to Kong by being allowed to wrestle her. Also, it shows that she is capable of lasting that long in the ring with Kong and gives her enough time to show her offense. With the exception of Kong vs. Reggie, the majority of the wrestlers in this tournament received ample time to develop their matches and show their talents off. I agree with your point about Michiko lasting 13 minutes, but it should be pointed out that time is relative. If someone lasted 13 minutes in an 80's NWA Heavyweight Title match with Ric Flair, they would basically be seen as a walk over. The same could be said of a Triple Crown match against Misawa. Since ARSION has shorter matches that are often 15 minute time limits, 13 minutes is a long time. As far as ample time to develop their matches, I thought most of these matches were short even by the standards of nights when people are working multiple singles matches. As for the development, even for in the time they were out there, it was often lacking. I often felt like these girls were searching for a style, especially in the earlier matches. "Also, the tournament had several subtle developments for future matches. For instance, Futagami would later receive revenge against Yoshida with the leglock she used in the post-match segment, but the set up would give fans a reason to see their next match up (although the in between parts might be off). Either way, this show does leave a satisfactory feeling because of the booking," wrote Keith. The booking was very strong, but the matches were better on paper than they were in actuality. The only matches you could make a case for being as better than it should have been were Reggie's final two, but in the case of the Candy match, it's only because other promotions are rather narrowminded. The show leaves you with conflicting feelings. On one hand, there was nothing spectacular and there are no matches that I'd really care to see another time (but I have seen this show three times so I could write a good review), which isn't something I'd say about most ARSION tapes. On the other hand, the show leaves you with a really positive feeling that there is hope that a women's federation has the potential to take off simply because they know what they are doing. Looking back, this aspect isn't truly the case. It's more of the case when it comes to the biggest shows like the tournaments, but not so much the day to day affairs, although a lot of the problem is a lack of visibility and resources. Still, the importance of a quality product being out there for those who care to take the time to find it and the monetary gamble to sample it cannot be understated. Special thanks to: Keith Watanabe -
Manami Toyota Rules!, & Miko Kubota - Michiku
Pro 9:35
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