Issue 53B - 9/26/99 JWP on WOWOW 12/13/97

Dynamite Kansai & Kanako Motoya vs. Shinobu Kandori & Mizuki Endo (LLPW team)

This match was pretty similar to the Kandori & Endo vs. Hotta & Maekawa match from 8/15/97 (the one that worked). It was a battle of the tough quasi-shooter women, although Motoya has never fit that bill. By all means Motoya should have been out of place, but instead she displayed a lot of submission ability that we didn't know she had. Motoya was almost shockingly good in this setting, which was one of the main reasons it wound up being a very good match. Motoya and Endo worked together a lot. Their segments were quite good, but even in this style with Endo doing well, it was more good because of Motoya. For that matter, Motoya was the best worker in the match. Even though Motoya was the best worker, it should come as no surprise that Kansai was the standout. Kansai dictated most of the match, and everything she did looked great. She was very Hashimoto-esque here, but for some reason we wouldn't see any of this in 1998. The finishing sequence seemed off as Kansai was trying to call things, but Kandori wasn't on the same page. Kandori wound up choke sleepering Motoya on the apron. She soon put Motoya out and tried to save her partner Endo from being pinned after Kansai's kick, but the ref counted three. Kandori couldn't believe Endo was pinned, so it looked like this wasn't supposed to be the finish. Also, Kansai doesn't usually win with her kicks. "I can't believe that the finish we saw here was the planned finish. Kansai's kick that won it caught Endo right in the temple, so she may have hit her hard enough to be KO'd for a few seconds. At first, I thought Endo was waiting for Kandori to break the pin instead of Endo rolling her shoulder, but I don't think that's how it was supposed to be because Kandori would've gotten in there a second or two sooner. The look on Shinobu's face showed that she was shocked at this being the finish, and everyone else, including the ref, looked surprised too," wrote Michael. It's hard to say if it was the planned finish or not. Sometimes you'll see something goofy like this because they think it somehow saves face for the losers. In any case, it was an entertaining match where everything they did looked good, but they really burned through their spots. 18:41. Michael: I think a lot of Kansai's performance has to do with the fact that she was inspired to put out as much as possible here for obvious reasons. In 1998, there wasn't much that would lite a fire under her like facing Kandori did. Beyond Kansai's and Motoya's performance and the spots being well done, Kandori's charisma and facials really helped to make this match. Jason: Motoya is getting better with every match I watch. It's great that she is showing her submission ability because it just makes her that much better. It is a shame that Kansai hasn't been great in '98, but this match was one where, as you say, she did standout. The finish took the match down somewhat, but overall it was a good match, especially when Motoya was in. Special Thanks to: Jason Higgs & Michael Smith