1/3
Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Kayo Noumi & Miyuki Fujii. Total domination. Noumi bled. Everything looked good since LCO were virtually the only ones to get any offense in during the first 10 minutes. The execution went down when the match finally got competitive in the loosest sense of the word. LCO got nasty to put an end to Noumi & Fujii's little rally, which was basically dropkicks and a few tries for a flash pin. Mita had Fujii pinned in the Death Valley bomb just before 17, but she pulled her up. Shimoda then took Kayo out with a piledriver on a table. Mita Death Valley bombed Fujii again, once again pulling her up. LCO did the kakato otoshi to Death Valley bomb spot, but Mita didn't try for the pin this time. She went to pull Fujii up for a 4th Death Valley bomb, but Fujii was "unconscious" so the ref stopped the match. LCO looked excellent, but the match quality was severly hampered by the one-sidedness. **1/2
2/3 Falls WWWA Sekai Tag Senshukenjiai: Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Manami Toyota & Miho Wakizawa. Lots of action, as you'd expect. Really fast-paced considering the length. Everyone worked their ass off, but unfortunately the match contained more than it's fair share of screw ups. Toyota was excellent here, and Watanabe wasn't far behind. The match was really strong when either of these two were in, but only alright when Maekawa was in with Miho. Toyota is now doing a plancha off the top of the entrance to the arena, although this is probably only 8-10 feet high. LCO came out after the match looking for a title match. ***3/4
1/4
Kaoru Ito & Kayo Noumi vs. Nanae Takahashi & Miyuki Fujii. Ito held the match together and, all things considered, looked tremendous. There's only so much one person can do though, and a lot of the reason she looked so great is that the others are so not good. Ito looked bad having to sell for these dropkick crazy clowns. *1/2
All Pacific Senshukenjiai: Kumiko Maekawa vs. Miho Wakizawa. A pleasant surprise. Maekawa really stepped up here. She instilled a focused storyline of Miho working over her left leg/ankle. Maekawa did a much better job of putting it over than Miho did of injuring it, especially when Miho missed it twice with the ever difficult stomp. Maekawa went after Miho's leg when she was on offense then Miho went back to working on Maekawa's when she came back. Once they went to the high spots, all the focus and carry over selling was out the window though. They did some nice sequences and dramatic near falls though. Definitely one of Maekawa's best performances, now she needs to do this kind of thing more consistently and figure out how to connect the body to the finishing sequences. ***1/4
WWWA Sekai Single Senshukenjiai: Yumiko Hotta vs. Manami Toyota. Not much rhyme or reason to anything that happened in this match. Hotta is so mediocre, and to make things worse she seemed disinterested. Toyota worked hard, but couldn't get Hotta do anything more than she usually does. Toyota did some cool moves like a tope con hilo and plancha off the entrance, but they only go so far when there's not much in the way of sequences and such. Toyota won the match, thankfully putting an end to the worse WWWA world single title reign since sometime in the 70's. **1/4
4/12/92 Mascara Contra Mascara: Love Machine vs. Blue Panther. Lots of big moves, but it was short and not very dramatic. Love Machine did a great job of working the crowd, as always, but I was hoping for more than a 2 fall match with a screw job in the 2nd. ***
Yumiko Hotta & Miyuki Fujii vs. Takako Inoue & Commando Bolshoi. Boring match where no one looked all that good. Fujii did all the work for her team, getting totally dominated for the majority of the match. Hotta would come in once in a while and kick ass; she got all the glory. *1/2
Devil Masami & Kayo Noumi vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki & Acute Sae. Devil is just too big for these girls. She wasn't in total no sell mode, but since they have no offense she may as well have been because they couldn't throw anything at her that was worthy of being put over. Devil was more motivated than usual today and carried the match, but she's not what she used to be and had nothing to work with. *1/4
Tomoko Watanabe & Nanae Takahashi vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda. All out brawl that started before the ring intros and ended well after the bell. Maekawa would get involved when they were on the floor to set up next months cage match. LCO worked over Takahashi's bad shoulder, which may or may not have been why Takahashi was barely involved in the second half of the match aside from getting beat on when they were brawling around the ring. Shimoda was hitting too lightly at times, and the lack of a finish also hurt in the sense that they had done so many near falls in the last 10 minutes. It was basically a match to set up future business that happened to also be good. ***1/4
All Pacific Senshukenjiai: Kumiko Maekawa vs. Azumi Hyuga. This was like Maekawa's previous defense against Wakizawa. It should have been much better because Azumi is a far superior worker, but I thought it was a little worse because it lacked the conviction. It lacked the amount of focus and drama that the Wakizawa match had, and the finish was unconvincing "so as not to make Maekawa look bad for losing." Maekawa didn't have to work as hard because Azumi brings a lot more to the table, but Maekawa really stepping up was what made the Wakizawa match. ***
Manami Toyota & Dynamite Kansai & Kaoru Ito vs. Ran Yu-Yu & Carlos Amano & Miho Wakizawa. The veterans dominated the match. Only Yu-Yu really stood up to them and took it to them. She knows how to work with Kansai, and made it look like Kansai was still good. The work was good, but the intensity and rivalry you'd expect from the first main event of the new AJW/JWP alliance era wasn't there. Everyone except Wakizawa had their moments, but the match was just so standard. Hotta cut a promo on JWP/Kansai after the match, so Masatoshi Yamamoto came up from behind and shoved her. This led to a scuffle between the two, and words between Hotta & Kansai. Why didn't we see this kind of resentment during the match? ***
4/21/95 Queretaro, QRO: Juventud Guerrera vs. Rey Misterio, Jr. It was great seeing a match where these guys actually had the time and an audience with some patience. The misconception is these guys matches were only about spots, but that was only when they had a 3 minute "time limit" and/or nothing else was expected from them. Whether they on the mat, running the ropes, or flying through the air, this match was mainly about coming up with a counter for your opponent's move. The offense was great, of course, but it was the speed and athleticism they displayed during the sequences of holds and counter holds that really stood out as something not often seen. These two had the Dynamite Kid vs. Tiger Mask chemistry where knowing how to react to your opponent really makes their skill come to the forefront and allows their match to reach the next level. It was kind of sloppy for them, although they covered the mistakes pretty well, and the finish wasn't believable, but otherwise it was pretty awesome. Rey got some incredible distance on his swandive plancha at the end. ****1/2
Kiss no Sekai practicing and recording their CD
Kiss no Sekai debut performance
Zenjo & J ~Spring Has Come~: Azumi Hyuga & Miho Wakizawa & Kayo Noumi vs. Ran Yu-Yu & Carlos Amano & Acute Sai. The 3 JWP wrestlers that were the core of the promotion at the time all looked really good, but the other three wrestlers pretty much only reduced the match. Luckily Azumi, Lan, & Carlos were in more than the others, with Sai & Noumi mainly coming in for double teams. Sai vs. Noumi was pretty weak when it happened, and unfortunately they were in for the finish. A little sloppy or chaotic at times, but for the most part it was a good fast-paced match. **3/4
BE AMBITIOUS II: Nanae Takahashi & Miyuki Fujii vs. Lioness Asuka & Morimatsu. This match proves anyone wrestling Lioness will look competent at the very least. The execution from the AJW women was better than usual, but they lack the move set to compete. Even Morimatsu was allowed to dominate Takahashi. Aside from being one-sided it was good. The highlight was Lioness doing a footstomp off the lighting rig with Takahashi on a table. Fujii did bring a lot of energy to the match. **1/2
Manami Toyota & Dynamite Kansai & Kaoru Ito vs. Yumiko Hotta & Commando Bolshoi & Takako Inoue. Some good moments, but the match never developed into anything. Ito was good, but not as good as usual. Bolshoi, who totally carried her team, was actually the 2nd best behind Toyota. Kansai wasn't very interesting after an initial heated exchange with Hotta. The match needed more of that, but it was rather mindless. **1/4
Kanaami Death Match: Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda. This was all LCO. They roughed the opposition up every chance they got and were in a particularly bloodthirsty mood today. They dominated up until the 7 minute mark when Mita escaped, but Mita had to come back in soon because Shimoda wasn't going to beat Watanabe & Maekawa by herself. Maekawa's kicking was really impressive; they were stiff, athleticm, on target. Her comebacks were too fiery though. Maekawa escaped, but eventually had to reenter because LCO were killing Watanabe with evil tactics like wrapping a chain around the knee they'd injured earlier and pulling in opposite directions. Shimoda did a missile kick from the top of the cage, but the timing of Watanabe putting Mita in front was off and Mita was also a few inches too far away. Later Watanabe could have escaped, but instead killed her shoulder when LCO avoided her moonsault off the top of the cage. Kind of illogical in points, but a very good brawl due to LCO. ***3/4
Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo: Octagon & El Hijo Del Santo & Rey Misterio, Jr. vs. Blue Panther & Jerry Estrada & Fuerza Guerrera. Really smooth match. The rudos did a great job of going with or supporting the faces on their fast athletic spots. As usual, the match had it's highs and lows because the rudos offense was dull. The 1st fall was the longest and best worked. It also helped that Misterio, who had his mask ripped, was in most of the way there, as he stands out in this type of match and was so damn quick at this point. The 2nd fall and first half of the 3rd fall were only good, but it really picked up after that with some excellent flying. The finish was lame and annoying, but at least it wasn't one of those fake fouls. ***3/4
Arena Mexico, D.F. Tag Tournament: Silver King & Texano vs. Vampiro Canadiense & Pegasus Kid. Old style slow building match where they made moves like the shoulderblock mean something rather than just whipping out a bunch of fancy moves. Damn stiff by Mexican standards. The selling was also more realistic. Everything was so well done. The problem is they never picked it up and took it to the final few levels. ***3/4
SAPPORO Opening Match: Yumiko Hotta vs. Chaparrita ASARI
SCHEMER VS JWP: Takako Inoue & Miyuki Fujii vs. Kayoko Haruyama & Acute Sae
Zen Nihon Tag Senshukenjiai: Kana Mizaki & Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Miho Wakizawa & Kayo Noumi
Zenjo vs. JWP Taikosen Kaike Sapporo Special: Kaoru Ito & Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi vs. Dynamite Kansai & Commando Bolshoi & Azumi Hyuga
2/3 Falls WWWA Sekai Tag Senshukenjiai: Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita
WWWA Sekai Single Senshukenjiai: Manami Toyota vs. Ran Yu-Yu
Arena Coliseo, D.F. Campeonato Nacional de Peso Semi Completo: Black Warrior vs. Olimpico
Leon, GTO Campeonato de Peso Semi Completo: La Parka vs. Lizmark
Japan Grand Prix 2000 Koshikisen 21 Seiki (century) Leaguesen: Miyuki Fujii vs. Kayoko Haruyama. Adequately worked and marginally interesting match. The last few minutes were pretty good. Haruyama was the better of the two with Fujii showing nothing offensively. *1/2
Japan Grand Prix 2000 Koshikisen 21 Seiki Leaguesen: Nanae Takahashi vs. Kayo Noumi. They don't have moves and don't do them well. What more is there to say? Well, that's not entirely fair. Takahashi was passable because she did moves that required little to no assistance from Noumi, who was totally unconvincing. I guess what makes people think these matches are actually good is that the crowd is so into it? *1/4
Manami Toyota vs. Takako Inoue. Toyota screwed around for the first five minutes then it got heated with Black Joker and Momoe getting involved. Takako's striking was better today because she threw a lot of quick strikes with something on them that Toyota ducked or blocked. Overall though, the execution wasn't the greatest and Toyota did jst about every good move. **
KO Kecchaku Match (must end in a KO): Yumiko Hotta vs. Kumiko Maekawa. Submissions were allowed, but obviously that's not their strength so it was almost entirely striking. It was stiff, but I'd much rather watch real kickboxers.
Japan Grand Prix 2000 Koshikisen 21 Seiki Leaguesen: Momoe Nakanishi vs. Miho Wakizawa. The quality was up and down, but for the most part Momoe was good enough to make up for Miho. Momoe's offense looked great with some impressive dives. Although there was no story the match built pretty well. Wakizawa looked bad (no comparison) when they were both doing the same moves to each other, and ran out of moves since the match was long. ***
JWP Tag Senshukenjiai: ZAP I & ZAP T vs. Commando Bolshoi & Azumi Hyuga. This probably would have been an excellent match if it wasn't for the limitations of the ZAP gimmick. While they were both really good when they wrestled, they did too much of their uninteresting brawling as always. The highlight though was I holding Boloshi up in powerbomb position so T could jump off the middle rope and break one of their rods over Bolshoi's head then I immediately went into a fierce Ligerbomb. Bolshoi wasn't clowning around though, and gave a pretty slick performance. Azumi, not surprisingly, was the best worker in the match. As you'd expect, the biggest problem was we were given no sense that Bolshoi & Azumi would win the match. ***1/4
Japan Grand Prix 200 Kessho Tournament Ikkaisen: Kaoru Ito vs. Reggie Bennett. Mat oriented with Ito working on Reggie's left knee a bit. Unfortunately, this matwork was of the laying around variety. Ito gave Reggie a nodowa otoshi early and built up to powerbombing her. The moves were well executed, but I didn't get into it and it was too obvious that Ito was going to win. **1/4
Momoe Nakanishi & Kayo Noumi vs. Takako Inoue & Miyuki Fujii. Momoe was the match. Her wrestling was excellent, proving Takako could still be made to look good, but no one else was even average. Aside from uninspiring wrestling, Fujii looked totally ridiculous with this orange hair that was red in front and regular lightened color on the side. Noumi was even a punching bag for Fujii. **1/4
Japan Grand Prix 200 Kessho Tournament Junkessho: Kaoru Ito vs. Tomoko Watanabe. It's hard to think of an Ito vs. Watanabe match that was better or worse than good (I think I gave their 8/22/97 match ***1/2). This wasn't one of their longer ones, so it was faster paced although it meandered with them delving into all areas and still had some restmissions. Once it got going it was damn good, but by that time there were only a few minutes left. As always, it was very well executed. ***
Japan Grand Prix 200 Kessho Tournament Junkessho: Yumiko Hotta vs. Etsuko Mita. Not very exciting, in fact it was plodding. The few sequences they did didn't look that great. *1/2
Manami Toyota & Miho Wakizawa vs. Kumiko Maekawa & Nanae Takahashi. Lighthearted. Some good moves, but it didn't gain any momentum. Once they started doing dives it got interesting. **1/2
Japan Grand Prix 200 Kessho Tournament Kesshosen: Kaoru Ito vs. Etsuko Mita. Hard hitting match. Very well executed with strong performances from both women and major crowd heat. Although the match wasn't very long, since neither has a very big moveset to begin with and they only used their high impact ones they wound up repeating themselves. Ito bled heavily early on from a Death Valley bomb out of the ring. Ito was on the defensive most of the match, and did a pretty good job of putting over the damage, but then ruined it with a Toyota-esque quick comeback selling nothing. At least Ito being fiery helped her crowd reactions. Mita's comebacks were much more believable. Ito did a diving footstomp off the balcony. ***1/2
NWA World Light Heavyweight Title Match: Shocker vs. Black Warrior. Technical match. Almost the entire primera caida was on the mat. Not that spectacular, but purists will definitely appreciate it. Tercera caida had tons of near finishes. Some flying there, but for the most part they stayed true to the match they were doing, using submissions and pinning predicaments rather than the glamorous stuff they are capable of. Dramatic and well built. ***3/4
Black Warrior vs. Negro Casas. Warrior was flying all over the place in this one. He took it to Casas. He's faster, more athletic, and generally a better looking worker than Casas at this point (1997 I guess), but the veteran Casas can still go and knows how to use his opponents strengths to his advantage. Great action while it lasted, but the tercera caida was either incredibly short or clipped down to nothing. ***1/2