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TWF Sekai Single Senshuken
Jiai: Kyoko Inoue vs. Lioness Asuka |
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This was similar to Lioness' match with Jaguar Yokota from 1/11/98 in that it was one great spot after another. Even though Jaguar was a better worker than either of these two at this point, this was a better match largely because the pacing was better and it was more creative. It was also similar to the Lioness vs. Kyoko match from 4/26/98, but, for whatever reason, Kyoko seemed a lot more spry here and was worlds better in this match. Lioness performance wasn't as good, but it didn't need to be. Kyoko was able to hold up her end this time, so Lioness wasn't forced to do all the work. The mental aspects in this match could best be described as fine, but nothing special. For the most part, they didn't do anything to take the match down or anything "questionable," but they also didn't really try to develop anything that would improve the match. Realistically, what made the match great was the exceptional work, precise execution, kick ass moves and big bumps. Kyoko's mental was always weak anyway, but for one night she flashed back to the Kyoko of 1992-95 that was a top ten worker and had several great work and spot matches. Lioness has learned to do a really good job of using the props without making it a garbage match. She relies on the props to some extent, but she mainly uses them the same way some wrestlers use the middle or top rope, to do more deadly versions of her favorite wrestling maneuvers. Like the aforementioned Lioness vs. Jaguar match, this got off to a really quick start. I think that helped get the fans into it. While they were never all that loud, this match did have some heat. Even though it got off to a fast start, they didn't go to the spots immediately, which was good, but they still could have done more to build to them. Not surprisingly, Lioness's cronies once again interfered freely when Kyoko would get the advantage. They would also supply Lioness with and/or set up the gimmicks. Basically, the main thrust of the early portion was to get Lioness and co. over as heels. Kyoko no sold Lioness' kicks, so Lioness no sold her lariat. I thought the no sells in this match were actually pretty good because they showed they were trying to show each other up, but the key was that they moves were so strong that someone eventually had to sell. "I didn't have a problem with them no-selling each others hard blows early. In many Triple Crown matches the wrestlers hit each other with some stiff shots and no-sell before one (or both) of them eventually goes down," wrote James. That was basically where I was going with the comment. We want people to hit as hard as they can while still "faking" it. It's good when wrestlers show they are tough as long as they also show they aren't invincible. As long as someone goes down before things get "out of hand," in other words before they kill the perception of stiff moves doing a lot of damage, then there's no problem. The problem is when they take too much before falling because that raises the bar for everyone else. For instance, if most people can take one stiff chair shot before they are dropped, the move still has meaning because it is dropping them. The problem is if someone decides to regularly take 5 stiff chair shots before they are dropped because then everyone who can only take one is no longer tough, they might even be a wuss that has been left in the dust. No one wants to be a wuss, so pretty soon everyone is taking more an more. When this happens, the move doesn't mean that much and they will all be out of brain cells by 40, but it won't really matter because their body won't hold up that long and even if it somehow does they didn't think during their matches to begin with. "Boxers and shoot fighters rarely go down after one blow, so I don't think it is really making the wrestlers look weak if it takes a few shots to put them down, especially near the beginning of the match. I wouldn't be so happy about it if they did this 35 minutes into a match because by that time they should be 'tired' and would get knocked down more easily, but at the beginning of a match both wrestlers should still be fresh and able to take some blows unless they have Rock's stamina," wrote James. Kyoko proved early on that she really can still do her tope reversa (springboard reverse elbow off the middle rope, so this isn't aptly named IMO given that a tope is a headbutt), so when she tried the spot later on, it actually had some credibility. Of course, Lioness countered it by dropkicking Kyoko to the floor then followed with a tope, but at least I believed there was a chance Kyoko could hit the move now that she'd hit it once out of her last hundred attempts. Lioness hit Kyoko with a long piece of wood that was really to big to swing all that well. She also nadare shiki no brainbustered (suplex off the top rope) Kyoko into a pile of chairs. "I was worried at this point that the match might have begun to fall apart because Kyoko's comebacks were a bit too quick after the gimmick spots. I feared that she might start making ridiculous comebacks, for example jumping straight up after a top rope powerbomb or something like that, but after this point her comebacks weren't so annoying," wrote James. She then tried to powerbomb Kyoko into the pile of chairs, but Kyoko avoided it, ducked a lariat and released German suplexed Lioness into the chairs. I liked this spot because Kyoko's own spot didn't work on her, but she was able to use Lioness' gimmicks against her. Lioness avoided Kyoko's reverse diving elbow, which Kyoko was surprisingly able to do the climb up with some grace on, so Kyoko landed in the chairs. Lioness followed with a moonsault for a near fall. They once again no sold the kick and lariat respectively before Kyoko put Lioness down with a lariat. Lioness stood on the bleachers, picked Kyoko up in fireman's carry position, and pressed her off the bleachers through a table. This was a nasty bump to take, and it looked like it really hurt Kyoko. Lioness brought Kyoko up the bleachers then sat her down in a chair at the top of the stairs so she could knock her down the stairs when she kicked her out of the chair. Back in the ring, Lioness Liger bombed Kyoko twice for near falls. She went for her moonsault again, but Kyoko made a quick comeback, (released) German suplexing Lioness off the top then lariating her when she got up for a near fall. Lioness tried to work over Kyoko's lariat arm, but Kyoko turned the wakigatame into a DDT, which was nice. Kyoko hit another lariat, but The Bloody & Fang Suzuki prevented her from making the cover. Kyoko lariated both of them for their trouble. Kyoko Liger bombed Lioness for a near fall. Lioness tried to come back, but even with the help of Ryuna and Fang, Kyoko still wound up catching her with a lariat for a near fall. "Trying to damage the lariat arm is a sensible thing to do when the opponent relies mainly on that move as a finisher. As Kyoko had used the lariat to win the belt from Lioness in their previous match, it would seem pretty likely that she'd try to use the same move again as she 'knows' she can be Lioness with it. Due to this, it was a smart move by Lioness to go after the arm. The only problem is that Kyoko rarely puts over the damage of arm submissions and the like for any length of time. Maybe before their next match (if there is one) Kyoko should watch a tape of the June 11, 1999 Kobashi vs. Misawa match where Misawa does a great job of selling the damage to his arm," wrote James. Bloody choked Kyoko in the corner. Lioness did a twisting Liger bomb, that started with Kyoko on the middle rope, for a near fall. Kyoko made another quick comeback with a (released) German suplex and Liger bomb, but Bloody made the save. The finish saw Lioness powerbomb Kyoko off the apron through a table before Liger bombing her off a table set across the middle rope for the win. Kyoko had kicked out of a "mere" Liger bomb off the table on the second in their previous match, but when you throw the powerbomb off the apron in, there's "no way" Kyoko could have been expected to survive. The match was great, probably the best wome'ns match of the year although it was only slightly better than their previous match. Lioness was better in their first match, but she had to be because Kyoko was so much worse. Kyoko hit some of her old high spots that she had been trying in every match even though she seemingly couldn't do them anymore, but still her move set is very tight and her quick comebacks were the worst and most annoying part of the match. Kyoko took a lot of big bumps here though, so her lack of variety on offense was made up for by the fact that Lioness did so many cool spots. The thing with Lioness is that she believes the heel (her) should dominate most of the match, but since her move set is better than just about any women's, it doesn't reduce the match like when the heels in Mexico dominate with their pitifully fake strikes. Kyoko didn't really come off looking all that great, but she was fighting three to four people at once so it made sense that she couldn't dominate the whole lot of them. Michael: Better then their 4/26 match, and maybe the best joshi match of 1998. Somebody must've lit a fire under Kyoko's ass before this match because she was more agile and into it then she had been in previous matches from late 1997-early 1998. It was pretty much just a spot-oriented match, but when a match is this good there's no problem with that, IMO. I guess Kyoko didn't like everyone realizing that Lioness carried her ass through the 4/26 match, as she really got into this match and took some wild bumps and threw clotheslines that would have Bradshaw wetting his tights. Someone still has to explain to me why Ryuna was no selling everything Genki, Tanny, and Shiina hit her with being that this was a Neo show, but it wasn't a major point of the match. James: The Jd' wrestlers sure helped out Lioness more than the Neo wrestlers helped out Kyoko! I don't know whether it was the intention or not (I suspect it wasn't), but to me Tanny, Genki, and Shiina (before Lioness took her out with the powerbomb on the floor) looked like a bunch of old ladies with their weak blows that could do nothing to stop the interference from Bloody, Ryuna etc. No matter if it's Jd' faces trying to help Jaguar or Neo faces trying to help Kyoko, they always look pathetic when they are trying to stop Lioness' cronies. I think part of it is by design, but most of it is a combination of not striking or brawling all that well and not being able to play it in a believable manner. James: It wouldn't have hurt Bloody to sell a bit though. Maybe they were trying to protect Kyoko a little by making it look like she was fighting four people, even though she beat the four in the previous month. The four on one aspect makes it more justifiable for Lioness to dominate and win. The thing is, the previous match was much closer to 4-1 than this was because Kyoko's followers were all here (since it was a Neo show as opposed to a Jd' show) making their lame attempt to help her. Logically, this should have resulted in the outcomes being reversed, but I think they 1) didn't want to make things too obvious for once and 2) needed Kyoko to take the title in match 1 on the Jd' show so they could have this match where she lost it on her Neo show. Miko: I really enjoyed this match. The best match of the card, easily. Kyoko actually hits all her agile spots, running up the ropes as well as I've seen her since she pudged out. She also takes some nasty looking bumps, including a powerbomb off the ring apron through a table and being slammed from the bleachers through another table. It's interesting to see how good Lioness still is. She worked really well as a heel here. Her 'proteges' interfering helped establish Kyoko as the underdog, but thankfully wasn't as intrusive as in other Lioness matches. I liked how Lioness used the chain in the match...Kyoko was hammered, but came back from it to lariat then get Lioness in a sleeper hold. Kyoko had forgotten Lioness still had the chain and Asuka broke the hold by choking her with it. Overall, a really fun match to watch. Special Thanks to: Michael Smith, James Phillips- Japanese Women's Wrestling & Miko Kubota - Michiku Pro 18:12
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