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Plum Mariko vs. Chigusa
Nagayo From JWP on WOWOW 2/19/94 SMASH HIT!! Taped 2/11/94 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 2,020 sellout |
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| This was one of the best singles matches Chigusa's has had since she came out of retirement, and it's one of Plum's best singles matches ever. It wasn't that glamorous, but after starting out as an intense brawl, it was largely a very solid submission match. The work was very good. Plum was being much more aggressive and catching Chigusa in submissions left and right, so the match succeeded in creating the illusion that Plum could win. It would have came off better if Plum was stiffer, but that has always been a problem for her. The beginning was really cool. Plum dashed to the ring with this vicious look on her face like she was a police hound that was just let go to sniff for the scent of the lawbreaker, and she dropkicked Chigusa to the floor. Plum did some mediocre brawling in the crowd, leaving Chigusa bleeding heavily before she could even get her robe off. When Chigusa finally attempted to reenter the ring, Plum gave her a Thesz press off the apron. Everytime I see this move I here this voice in my head saying, "Perro, Perro, Perro!" Anyway, Chigusa made her first comeback too quick. Even though Plum had established herself, her early beating needed to have more effect on Chigusa if the fans were going to give her more than the slim chance of winning that she had in reality. They began exchanging submissions in UWF fashion. I enjoyed this, but this style is not for those who think two "memorable" stunts make a ****1/2 match. Chigusa began dominating the match. The fans booed when she didn't respect a rope break, so Chigusa gave the fans the finger after she released the hold. They also booed Chigusa when she used a chair on Plum. I liked it so much better when the male fans resented Chigusa because she was the hero of the school girls in the previous decade. Then again, having Chigusa as your hero is a whole lot better than what we get here, girls liking less than no talent stiffs like Hanson, Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, etc. Plum finally came back with a nice transition into a chickenwing crossface. Later, Mariko turned Chigusa's lariat into her stretch Plum. Chigusa eventually made it to the ropes, but Plum revenged the earlier spot by German suplexing her rather than breaking. Chigusa made a comeback, but Plum turned a Boston crab into a wakigatame. One thing about Plum is that her submissions always looked really good in the worked context because she always found glamourous ways to go into them or apply them. They didn't look so good in the shoot context because the chances of anyone being able to do the submissions the way she did in "real life" was pretty slim. Plum tried for her nadare shiki no Frankensteiner three times, but Chigusa stopped it then nearly KO'd Plum with kicks. Plum blocked Chigusa's leg lariat and applied an STF. What I really liked about this spot was Chigusa was squirming like crazy as soon as Plum had her leg locked, which showed how dangerous this move is. It also showed that Chigusa felt she might lose if Plum could get the facelock. Plum rolled into her hizajujigatame. Chigusa made it to the ropes, so Plum put it on again in the center of the ring as soon as she had the chance, but Chigusa once again made it to the ropes. Plum really worked both of these moves well, making it look like she was putting every ounce of effort she had into the hold. Plum had just about exhausted all her submissions by now, so it was time for the turning point in the match. Plum tried a move off the top, but Chigusa kicked her in midair. Chigusa then put Plum out with a sleeper hold for the win. What was great about this finish was how Plum "went out" when she was on her feet, so she could fall limp to the mat, taking Chigusa with her. What sucked about this finish is that Chigusa weathered a storm of Plum submissions then beat her with one kick and a crummy sleeper hold. This finish took away some of what Plum had gained here. They did a post match angle where Chigusa was yelling at Plum, which caused Cuty to attack Chigusa. This angered Plum, so she pushed Cuty, and they all basically wound up mad at one another. 22:40. Miko: Wow, heat! Plum attacked right from the start and just mugged Chigusa, which I thought was cool. Even a "Chi-gu-sa" chant, just like the old days. Plum is relentless, not even letting Chigusa back into the ring. There were some really nice reversals and counters in this match, especially on the submissions. Plum ducking under Chigusa going for her sleeper and turning it into a crossface chickenwing was cool. I like how aggressive Plum was. She really went after Chigusa with submissions and even made Chigusa pay for ropebreaks by standing on her hands, just giving her no rest at all. Chigusa got her shots in, mainly kicks (some good, some missing totally), but most of the match was Plum stepping up and pushing Chigusa with a series of submissions. The sleeper hold submission was out of the blue, but this match would make me want to see more Chigusa-Plum at least. Chris: I didnt't think this match ended too suddenly. It was an "out of the blue" finish, but not a bad one. This is probably my favorite Chigusa match. The only thing I even remotely didn't like was Plums chair stuff. She is no Balls Mahoney when it comes to chair swinging (or anything else thankfully), but I think that just the fact that she was using one got the point across well. Special Thanks To: Miko Kubota - Michiku Pro & Chris Martinez
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