Explanation: These following tapes are discounted by $3 until the said date. For regular price tapes (anything with no price noted at the end), this means if you order one of these tapes by itself it costs $12, if you order one of these tapes with another it costs $9, and if you order one of these tapes with two or more others it costs $7. For special price tapes, this mean it's $3 off the price listed (usually $18) and you still get as many regular price tapes as you want for $10 if you buy one additional special price tape. When you contact me about the order please note that these tapes are on the sale list.
Note: before the main match there's highlights of league matches from the television tapings
12/12/86 Tokyo Nippon Budokan '86 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei League Koshikisen: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiru Tenryu vs. Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase. This was an exciting match with Tsuruta & Tenryu looking excellent and Hansen doing what it took. The highlight was Hansen tackling DiBiase to save him from Tsuruta's Jumbo lariat. The problem with this match was that it was way too short. The promotion cheated the fans by doing ring out finishes in all three tag league matches on the final night. ***
12/11/87 Tokyo Nippon Budokan '87 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei League Koshikisen: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka. This was really weird. They showed the first 9 minutes of the match, but then cut to a still with the result and a picture of the victors, Jumbo & Yatsu, from the commendation ceremony.
12/16/88 Tokyo Nippon Budokan '88 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei League Koshikisen: Genichiru Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy. These guys had a classic match because they only did what they do well and were consistent in telling a story that made sense based on the setting and the roles the characters were playing at that time. The first half was even, but then Hansen saved Gordy by Kawada's weakened knee out. Hansen or Gordy took out the knee of the overmatched youngster Kawada everytime he tried to get up, so Tenryu was forced to go alone for the second half. Although the comebacks were somewhat unrealistic because of all the damage Tenryu & Kawada (not that he came back, but he didn't stay down either) had sustained, they were hardly Rockish and they were what made the match because they made the faces seem like heroes with a ton of heart and were what made the second half of the match being really dramatic instead of really one-sided. This match was glamorous, but it was stiff, instense, and heated, For story, psychology, playing roles, this match is hard to beat. 21:02. *****
6/8/90 vs. Tsuruta-Misawa's first pin on Jumbo-great match
6/1/91 vs. Gordy ****1/4
3/4/92 Triple Crown vs. Hansen
8/22/92 Triple Crown vs. Hansen-Misawa wins Triple Crown ****
Triple Crown: Misawa vs. Kawada. Best Mens Heavyweight Singles match of all-time! Their 6/6/97 match as well as Misawa vs. Kobashi from 1/20/97 and 10/21/97 are all more glamourous, but this match is a bit better because the psychology, build, timing, and selling are off the charts. Everything builds up to one of the great near falls ever at the 25 minute mark and from that point there's nearly 11 minutes of off the charts wrestling with the outcome very much in doubt throughout. Fans totally mark out for Misawa in the post match. What a performance by both men. *****
Triple Crown: Williams vs. Kobashi. Williams was at the top of his game here, and Kobashi shows why he's the best of the natives at working with the gaijins. Super match containing all the aspects that make AJ great. Williams suplexes are so dangerous that Kobashi could easily have broke his neck if one of the two made a slight mistake. ****3/4
12/4/92 Tokyo Nippon Budokan Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei League Koshikisen: Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue & Jun Akiyama. Great match that was a lot better than it had the right to be given Jun had been a pro for less than 3 months. Strong storyline and psychology with everyone playing their roles to perfection. This is the final match in the Tag League, and Misawa & Kawada needed a win to beat out Gordy & Williams and Hansen & Ace by 1 point. They were not going to let a rookie keep them from their glory. Jun worked most of the match, and he got elevated big time even though he did the job in the end. Misawa & Jun really worked well together, but Kawada vs. Jun was the highlight, as Kawada unmercifully punked Jun with incredible kicks. Great work. Hot crowd. Misawa & Kawada win tag league, but Fuchi & Taue pull Akiyama up and raise his hand because his gutsy performance hanging with the veterans was certainly worth of applause. For winning the tag league, Misawa & Kawada were awarded the Double Tag Titles that had been vacated by Jumbo & Taue. ****1/2
12/3/93 Tokyo Nippon Budokan Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei League Koshikisen: Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue
12/10/94 Tokyo Nippon Budokan Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei League Koshikisen: Stan Hansen & Giant Baba vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue. Baba did a lot of spots for him and tried to work serious, but it's so hard to buy that. Kawada hit him really hard. However, they have to hold back on their spots and Baba can't take many bumps, so the whole time Baba was in it was basically an exchange of blows. The match was a lot better with Hansen in, but he never works a sequence either. Good match, but considering it was the final match of the tag league, it was a big disappointment. Baba & Hansen's win here allows Misawa & Kobashi to finish ahead of Kawada & Taue and win the tag league. ***1/4
AJ 4/26 '98 Champion Carnival taped 4/18 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Kawada & Taue vs. Ace & Smith. Smith was the best here. The match was build around Smith, and he showed he belonged in top matches before jobbing in the end. Kawada was nothing special, but still was considerably better than Taue and Ace. **1/2
Kobashi & Takayama & Kakihara vs. Williams & Albright & Hawkfield. Takayama gets dropped on his head at a terrible angle accidentally by a Gary suplex. He was very lucky that he wasn't seriously hurt here. Kakihara has a strong performance that really stands out here, but no one else is very good. *1/2
AJ 5/4 Showdown at the Egg taped 5/1 Tokyo Dome
Triple Crown: Misawa vs. Kawada. Reviewed in Quebrada #48. ****1/2
Kobashi & Ace vs. Hansen & Vader. Kobashi is by far the best here. Vader not surprisingly works his ass off, but he's not in shape for this kind of match and it really shows. Stan also works incredibly hard, but the tank has long been on E. Ace doesn't look good once again. The match worked though, especially since the fans were really into Kobashi vs. Vader. Unfortunately each had a teammate to take the match down. ***1/2
AJ 5/10 Showdown at the Egg taped 5/1 Tokyo Dome
Akiyama vs. Hase. Bad AJ booking at it's worst having Hase out there this long in 1998. Too many submissions that weren't advancing the match that could have been eliminated if this was the proper length. **
1/22/99 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan Triple Crown: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada. Kawada wins title despite breaking his wrist and forearm during the match. Read Review. ****
1/2/99 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Heavykyu Battle Royal. Clip of Vader badly bloodying Kobashi above his right eye
1/7/99 Kochi-ken Min Taiikukan: Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama. Kawada & Taue were pretty nasty here. I particularly liked the knee drop Kawada did to the area on Kobashi's head Vader had bloodied. Fans got into it when Akiyama made the hot tag. They probably should have shown this whole match. It was technically good throughout and became highly dramatic with so many nice near falls, but I never quite had the feel for the overall quality. That said, if I were to guess I'd say it was an excellent match. Kobashi & Akiyama win titles.
1/15/99 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan: Kenta Kobashi vs.Vader. Read Review. ****
1/15/99 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan World Junior Heavyweight Title: Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Masahito Kakihara. Read Review. ****1/2
1/16/99 Tokyo Korakuen Hall Asia Tag Titles: Tamon Honda & Jun Izumida vs. Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki. Some nice moves, but that was the be all and end all because only one team could give you anything good. It was a fun match when Hayabusa & Shinzaki were on offense, highlighted by an awesome swandive body press over the guard rail by Hayabusa. On the other hand, it was really boring when Honda & Izumida were on offense. Shinzaki did a sick blade job early on, but it pretty much only provided shock value. Hayabusa & Shinzaki deserve a lot of credit for making this worthwhile, but it was still over 23 minutes of things happening for little if any rhyme or reason. ***
Nobukazu Hirai vs. Yasu Urano. *3/4
Kaz Hayashi & Jimmy Yang & Hi69 vs. Kazushi Miyamoto & Gran Naniwa & Ryuji Hijikata. **1/2
Hiroshi Hase & Hideki Hosaka vs. George Hines & Tomoaki Honma. **1/4
Sekai Junior Heavykyu Oza Ketteisen: Kendo Kashin vs. Masa Fuchi. *1/2
Giant Baba Hai Sodatsu 6 Man Tag Tournament Ikkaisen: Steve Williams & Mike Rotundo & Yoji Anjo vs. Mike Barton & Jim Steele & The Cedman. 1/2*
AJW Survival Shout in Korakuen Comm Tape 8/19/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall cont-fair VQ
Hokuto vs. Toyota
AJW TV-PG VQ
Chino Sato vs. Mimi
AJW TV-fair VQ
2/3 Falls: Mimi (A-P champ) & Nancy Kumi & Ogura vs. Bette Clark & La Bruja & La Furiosa
Mimi vs. Chigusa
AJW TV-PG VQ
Mimi & Chino Sato vs. Tenjin Masami & Hiroko Komine
AJW TV-PG VQ
AJ Junior Title: Aso vs. Suzuki
11/19/90 Kanagawa Kawasaki Shi Taiikukan Cage Death Match: Bull Nakano vs. Aja Kong
Bat Yoshinaga vs. Yumiko Hotta
Mika Takahashi & Miori Kamiya & Takako Inoue vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda
Suzuka Minami & Manami Toyota vs. Aja Kong & Bison Kimura
WWWA World Single Title: Bull Nakano vs. Akira Hokuto
Mika Takahashi & Mayumi Yamamoto vs. Takako Inoue & Mariko Yoshida
taped 11/27
WWWA Sekai Single 28th Champion Kettei Tournament Ikkaisen: Jaguar Yokota vs. Irma Gonzalez. Jaguar looked good finishing Gonzalez off, but that's all that made it onto this tape. Last 1:46
2/3 Falls: Lucy Kayama & Mimi Hagiwara vs. Mami Kumano & Irma Aguilar. Slow more methodical kick and stomp type of brawl. Dull. 8:41, 2:14, & 3:48. **
Jackie Sato vs. Devil Masami. Devil had clearly surpassed Sato in terms of ability by this point, just 2 years into her career, though I'm not sure how much that says when Sato's rep is primarily garnered on her star power and the lack of good workers before and during her peak. Work was good, but the match took a long time to get going. Sato apparently injured her knee when Devil back body dropped her over the top to the floor, with the ref stopping the match after Sato lie in pain for a few minutes. 17:10. ***
taped 11/5
'80 Shinsei Kettei Tournament: Kazue Sakamoto vs. Kaoru Matsumoto. Sakamoto didn't show anything and Dump is nothing without the heel persona and heat. 6:34. 3/4*
Tomoko Kitamura vs. Hiroe Ito. Better work than the previous rookie match. *
WWWA Sekai Single 28th Champion Kettei Tournament Ikkaisen: Nancy Kumi vs. Yumi Ikeshita. Ikeshita is certainly one of the most prolific cheaters in the history of women's wrestling. Ikeshita wore shooting gloves and did a bunch of punching, mainly illegal versions like to the throat or with a metal object. I liked how Ikeshita would find ways to turn a legal move into a choke like she'd do a knee dorp, but it would be to the throat and then she'd put all her weight on Kumi's throat for 4 seconds. Ikeshita was also one of the best athletes of her era, and although the heel style hampered her development in this area, she would pull out a dive sometimes. Here, she slingshot herself over the top rope to the floor with a knee drop. Kumi injured Ikeshita's leg and used some submissions on it. Long hard fought match where both dug deep into their arsenal. Pretty ridiculous that after 45 minutes of basically stalemate they have a 1:38 ring out finish in overtime. 23:19 of 45:00 plus 1:38. ***1/4
2/3 Falls: Lucy Kayama & Ayumi Hori vs. Monster Ripper & Noriko Kawakami. The lousy heel side dragged this down. Kayama did a few interesting things, but otherwise it was forgettable. 7:08, 4:34, & 3:04. *1/2
Mimi Hagiwara sings
Nancy Kumi & Jumbo Hori vs. Kaoru Matsumoto & Wild Kazuki
Zen Nihon Junior Senshuken Oza Ketteisen: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Itsuki Yamazaki
Lioness Asuka vs. Masked Yu
2/3 Falls: Jaguar Yokota & Mimi Hagiwara & Yukari Omori vs. Devil Masami & Velvet McIntyre & Lei Lani Kai
Mimi Hagiwara sings
Devil Masami sings
Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka vs. Kaoru Matsumoto & Masked Yu
Jaguar Yokota vs. Peggy Lee
All Pacific Senshukenjiai: Mimi Hagiwara vs. Princess Victoria
WWWA Sekai Tag Senshuken Oza Kettei Sanban Shobu Daiissen: Devil Masami & Tarantula vs. Jumbo Hori & Yukari Omori
Crush Gals sing Ride on High
Hisako Uno & Mitsuko Nishiwaki vs. Akemi Sakamoto & Kumiko Iwamoto
Kazue Nagahori vs. Penny Mitchell
Mika Komatsu & Kanako Nagatomo vs. Jean Cockrand & Mekume Nakamae
Devil Masami vs. Yumi Ogura
2/3 Falls WWWA Tag Oza Ketteisen: Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno vs. Bull Nakano & Condor Saito
Crush Gals sing
Keiko Nakano vs. Machiko Saito
Crush Gals fan vacation
Yukari Omori vs. La Galactica
Jumbo Hori vs. Lola Gonzalez
'84 Fuji TV Hai Tag Leaguesen: Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno vs. Dump Matsumoto & Crane Yu
'84 Fuji TV Hai Tag Leaguesen: Jaguar Yokota & Devil Masami vs. Lioness Asuka & Chigusa Nagayo
'84 Fuji TV Hai Tag Leaguesen: Crush Gals vs. Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno
All Pacific Senshukenjiai: Devil Masami vs. Dump Matsumoto
Zen Nihon Junior Senshukenjiai: Yumi Ogura vs. Keiko Nakano
'84 Fuji TV Hai Tag Leaguesen: Jaguar Yokota & Devil Masami vs. Jumbo Hori & Yukari Omori
Itsuki Yamazaki vs. Dump Matsumoto
'84 Fuji TV Hai Tag Leaguesen: Crush Gals vs. La Galactica & Lola Gonzalez
Crush Gals sing
'85 Zen Nihon Junior Senshuken Oza Kettei Tournament Kesshosen: Yumi Ogura vs. Mika Komatsu
'85 Japan Grand Prix: Yukari Omori vs. Itsuki Yamazaki
'85 Japan Grand Prix: Lioness Asuka vs. Jumbo Hori
2/3 Falls: Chigusa Nagayo & Noriyo Tateno vs. Dump Matsumoto & Bull Nakano
'85 Japan Grand Prix: Itsuki Yamazaki vs. Noriyo Tateno
Zen Nihon Tag Senshukenjiai: Reibun Amada & Miori Kamiya vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Etsuko Mita
various training footage including carrying and throwing logs
5 Minute Exhibition Match Itsuki Yamazaki Intai Jiai: Itsuki Yamazaki vs. Noriyo Tateno
JB Angels final song
WWWA Sekai Single Senshukenjiai: Lioness Asuka vs. Bull Nakano
Marine Wolves sing The Eve of Fight
Zen Nihon Tag Senshukenjiai: Toshiyo Yamada & Etsuko Mita vs. Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda
Lioness Asuka & Yumi Ogura vs. Noriyo Tateno & Medusa Miceli
Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda visit a puroresu store
All Pacific Oza Ketteisen: Mitsuko Nishiwaki vs. Bull Nakano
2/3 Falls WWWA Tag Oza Ketteisen: Akira Hokuto & Suzuka Minami vs. Kumiko Iwamoto & Nobuko Kimura
Marine Wolves sing The Eve of Fight
Zen Nihon Tag Senshukenjiai: Toshiyo Yamada & Etsuko Mita vs. Mika Takahashi & Kaoru Maeda
Jumping Bomb Angels sing
'86 Team Taiketsu Koshiki Leaguesen: Yukari Omori & Kanako Nagatomo & Sayori Nakajima & Kyoko Aso vs. Dump Matsumoto & Bull Nakano & Condor Saito & Yasuko Ishiburo. The girls were energetic, but most of them used low level offense because they were inexperienced. Nagatomo was pretty good when she was in, using her athleticism to roll into pins. Omori was left on her own against the top 3 members of Dump's team. They tried to injure her knee rather than just win the match. Omori came back against Condor and carried that over against Bull, forgetting to sell her knee during all of this. Dump attacked the knee when she came back. The story of Omori making the big comeback was good, but like the rest of the match it was played out rather flatly, lacking near falls and double teams to differentiate and get you into it. Everyone lost too easily. That might be more the problem of trying to do 7 eliminations in 20 minutes than these wrestlers fault, but coupled with the other dramatic problems it made what could have been an excellent match merely good. 20:26. ***
Itsuki Yamazaki vs. Lei Lani Kai. Started slow but got good after 8 or so minutes. Unfortunately, the match only lasted 9 1/2, ending with a cheap screw job where the ref didn't notice that Yamazaki got her foot on the rope. 9:30. **
2/3 Falls: Devil Masami & Yumi Ogura & Mika Komatsu vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Noriyo Tateno & Yumiko Hotta. Devil & Chigusa carried the younger wrestlers rather than wrestling each other. Devil was the main force here, working the best slower segments. Tateno worked the best fast segments though, and everyone else but Hotta contributed. 6:23, 2:40, & 7:38. ***1/2
Clips of TOURNAMENT SKY III
ARSION Triangle Battle: Yu Yamagata vs. Faby Apache vs. GAMI. Nothing special since Yamagata got squashed in 2 of the 3 falls and GAMI didn't work hard. 5:58 shown. *1/4
Mariko Yoshida vs. Bionic J. Pretty good short match with J's power against Yoshida's submissions. Satellite signal dies during the finish.
Dai-yondai Mikiko Futagami Nintei TWINSTAR OF ARSION Oza Ketteisen: PIKA & POKO vs. Rie Tamada & Rena Takase. Run of the mill house show match. Clowns showed some good teamwork at the end, but that was about it. 6:31 shown
Ai Fujita vs. Michiko Omukai. Omukai punked Fujita for several minutes, but did a good job of selling for Fujita when Ai was finally able to take control. Ai still can't chain her holds together in a way that makes them flow in the least. Omukai did a good job of keeping the match together, but it never seemed like Ai might win. **1/2
TWINSTAR OF ARSION Title Match: Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Ayako Hamada & AKINO. The rematch of the classic 12/11/99 match turned out to be a total role reversal. This time LCO were the champs, but Hamada & AKINO wrestled like they were the favorites. They were extremely confident and took it to LCO from the get go. They double teamed and brawled before LCO had a chance to start it. Their use of LCO's chair led to Mita & Shimoda bleeding, although not credibly in Shimoda's case. Shimoda's cut was a disgusting gusher like Ayako's in the first match. Hamada & AKINO were a step or two ahead of LCO for the first 14 1/2 minutes, and they took them apart piece by piece in a rather deliberate manner. The problem with the structuring of this match is it should have babyfaced LCO, but that's not logical since they are the heels and Ayako is supposed to be the hero of the promotion. LCO finally came back, and did so with a vengeance including Mita piledriving Hamada through a table. What was good about their comeback beside their usual moves was that they acted totally dead throughout since the opposition had put them through the ringer. The crowd didn't react too much to the whole thing, but then when there are only a few hundred people there it's hard to have a ton of heat. Considering the small crowd in the small venue, although both are almost a given these days, it was a great effort by the wrestlers. ***3/4
Yu Yamagata vs. Ai Fujita. Fujita isn't going to carry a young wrestler (or anyone else0, but her flying made it watchable. Started off boring, but there were some good moves, almost all by Fujita, in the last two minutes. 4:44 shown
Rie Tamada & Rena Takase vs. Chaparrita ASARI & Faby Apache. ASARI & Tamada did some good moves, but seemed rather lethargic. Faby & Takase (even though she lacks offense) were more fun to watch because they were much quicker. Faby seems to have the PuroLucha style down with nice athletic movs, but also stiffness on moves like the lariat and Ligerbomb. 6:35 shown.
GAMI vs. Bionic J. Battle of power with some submissions thrown in. Pretty good intensity from J and selling from GAMI. Execution wasn't bad, but could have been crisper. Decent while it lasted, but so short. *1/2
TWINSTAR OF ARSION Title Match: Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. PIKA & POKO. The clowns just did comedy. LCO isn't into this style and aren't going to give these opponents much respect. One-sided and uninspiring. 6:25 shown
Mariko Yoshida vs. Lioness Asuka. This was Lioness' first match in ARSION and it's what LCO's debut vs. Tamada vs. Fukawa should have been. It was intense and urgent, which helped garner some heat. What impressed me the most about this match was they combined Yoshida's submission and Lioness's high impact brawling in a smooth, interesting, and believable manner. Exciting match with Yoshida doing a number of excellent counters into her big moves. I liked the early portion better because it was more unique, but they did almost all their top moves when they went into the familiar territory so it wasn't necessarily a negative. Excellent execution. Read Review. ****
QUEEN OF ARSION Title Match: Ayako Hamada vs. Michiko Omukai. Flat, contrived, and directionless. Some nice segments, but mainly it was dull and not particularly well done submissions and tough woman stuff. They were supposed to be all big and bad, but they didn't make it believable or interesting. It was a total bloodbath, but there was nothing to warrant such bleeding and I don't see where they used it to help the match in any way. **
One Night 6 Woman Tag Tournament Ikkaisen: Lioness Asuka & noki-A & Rena Takase vs. GAMI & Rie Tamada & Yu Yamagata. Fast-paced match with good action, but a bit sloppy. It seemed to just go along and didn't really capture my interest. Takase does a spear now. What's next, a spear by Watabe or Cuije? **
One Night 6 Woman Tag Tournament Ikkaisen: Ayako Hamada & Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Mariko Yoshida & Michiko Omukai & Ai Fujita. These teams worked together pretty well, but the match was kind of hit and miss. Shimoda chose to wrestle and fly rather than brawl much. I'm not sure how much that contributed to her disappointing performance, but Shimoda vs. Yoshida sequences shouldn't look contrived. **1/4
Exhibition Man vs. Woman Mixed Match: Gran Apache vs. baby A. Baby is way too small for Apache to sell for. He made her various moves where she spins around the opponent's body before hooking them in something look fantastic by whipping her around really quickly. Otherwise he made her look like a fool because it was obvious he was going really easy on her, and she still wasn't able to compete. Baby wrestled seriously fighting hard for respect, while Apache hammed it up. I can't blame Apache, it's just a stupid matchup.
One Night 6 Woman Tag Tournament Kesshosen: Lioness & noki-A & Rena Takase vs. Mariko Yoshida & Michiko Omukai & Ai Fujita. Good work, but no drama even for the final. Of course, it didn't help that there were maybe 500 people in teh building. Yoshida did a good job as always, and Fujita also looked good. Takase is looking better and using a few more moves. She did a tornade bulldog for instance. **3/4
Takeshi Ono & Ikuto Hidaka vs. Minoru Fujita & Ryuji Hijikata. Hidaka did a spectacular dive, and the announcers talked about how the fans yell "ECW" for those since he's appeared there. Good match due to Hidaka and Fujita, who are two of the most promising young wrestlers in the world. 5:50 shown
Masao Orihara vs. Katsumi Usuda. This sounds pretty good on paper, but turned out to be uneventful in actuality. 4:37 shown
Yuki Ishikawa & Mohammed Yone vs. Alexander Otsuka & Carl Malenko. Good, solid match. 8:52 shown
Independent World Junior Heavykyu Senshuken: Naoki Sano vs. Minoru Tanaka. Read Review ****
Daisuke Ikeda vs. Mitsuya Nagai. Nagai dominated the match. He looked good here; you couldn't tell he's fairly new to pro style. I still have to get used to seeing him do moves like diving headbutts. As a whole, his offense is fairly limited though, mainly relying on kicks. This was one of the main reasons the match got king of tedious. The match was basically Nagai beating up on Ikeda with kicks and such, and Ikeda not doing much of a job of conveying that he'd been beaten on so much during his brief comebacks. Suddenly, Ikeda puts a run together doing his lariats, Death Valley bomb, and rolling kakato otoshi for the KO. Everything they did looked good, but the finish seemed ridiculous given everything else that had happened and that Nagai is a tough guy. **1/2
1/6/01 Osaka Bayside Jenny QOR & AWF Double Title Match: Megumi Yabushita vs. Fang Suzuki
3/4/01 Tokyo Differ Ariake QOR & AWF Double Title Match: Megumi Yabushita vs. Drake Morimatsu
4/8/01 Tokyo Differ Ariake: Megumi Yabushita vs. Kyoko Inoue
12/29/00 Tokyo Korakuen Hall QOR & AWF Double Title Match: Megumi Yabushita vs. The Bloody
*Replica package available*
1/6 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Hikari Fukuoka vs. Yuka Nakajima
1/7: Rumi Yasuda (Yasha Kurenai) vs. Sumiko Saito
1/13 Osaka: Hikari Fukuoka vs. Tomomi Kobayashi
1/13 Osaka: Rumi Yasuda vs. Shiho Imazeki
1/23: Rumi Yasuda vs. Mie Dohiki
2/11 Tokyo Korakuen Hall League Kesshosen: Hikari Fukuoka vs. Rumi Yasuda
Utako Hozumi & Hikari Fukuoka & Eden Mabuchi vs. Rumi Yasuda & Mie Dohiki & Yuka Nakajima
Cuty Suzuki & Plum Mariko vs. Yukari Osawa & Sachiko Koganei
Shinobu Kandori & Miki Handa vs. Harley Saito & Mami Kitamura
Devil Masami & The Scorpion vs. Miss A & Itsuki Yamazaki
Tokyo Den'en Coliseum: Tomi Aoyama vs. ? (bleached blond American)
Jackie Sato & Seiko Hanawa vs. Yumi Ikeshita & Mami Kumano
7/31/79 Tokyo Den'en Coliseum 2/3 Falls: Yumi Ikeshita & Mami Kumano vs. Lucy Kayama & Tomi Aoyama
History (these matches are edited down to roughly 7-10 minutes each)
4/2/93 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Cuty Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Dynamite Kansai & Hikari Fukuoka
9/8/96 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Mayumi Ozaki & Rieko Amano & Sugar Sato vs. Cuty Suzuki & Commando Bolshoi & Yuki Miyazaki
12/6/97 Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Rieko Amano & Sugar Sato (GAEA) & Chikayo Nagashima (GAEA)
Best Bouts (these are unedited)
12/9/95 Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Super Heel Devil Masami. **
10/30/97 Tokyo Ota-ku Taiikukan: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Dynamite Kansai & Cuty Suzuki. No rating
12/26/97 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Dynamite Kansai. ****1/2
*Replica package available*
This is a tournament of man & woman vs. man & woman mixed matches where the men and women have to wrestle each other because each match goes until everyone on one team is eliminated
Tournament Ikkaisen
Takeshi Ono & Ran Yu-Yu & Mach Junji vs. Devil Masami & Daisuke Ikeda & Kayoko Haruyama. **1/4
Yuki Ishikawa & Kana Mizaki & Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Alexander Otsuka & Azumi Hiuga & Hikari Fukuoka. *3/4
Tournament Junkessho
Devil Masami & Daisuke Ikeda & Kayoko Haruyama vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mohammed Yone & Maya Hashimoto. *1/4
Katsumi Usuda & Commando Bolshoi & Carlos Amano vs. Alexander Otsuka & Azumi Hiuga & Hikari Fukuoka. **1/2
King & Queen Tournament Kesshosen
Dynamite Kansai & Mohammed Yone & Maya Hashimoto vs. Alexander Otsuka & Azumi Hiuga & Hikari Fukuoka. *
Mizuki Endo vs. Keiko Aono. Highlights.
Endo vs. Aono. There were doing well, but then there was a couple spots where they weren't on the same page. *1/4
Carol Midori vs. Mikiko Futagami. All kinds of big spots back and forth for near falls. ***1/4
Harley Saito vs. Miho Watabe. Harley doesn't sell for little Miho and then sits down on her for the pin. DUD
Harley vs. Watabe. Miho was competitive for a little while in this one, but some of the spots were problematic due to her lack of size. Decent.
Harley vs. Watabe. Harley dominates this one throwing Miho around. Harley's offense is impressive, but this is just a squash match. It's doubtful these three matches helped Watabe at all.
Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Noriyo Tateno & Michiko Omukai. Cachorras toned their style down a bit and worked a slower pace because they were in LLPW. Omukai took the brunt of their punishment, but the match worked because the fans got behind her. It was good when Omukai in, though it would have been better if they were used to working together, but at this point Tateno can't hang with Cachorras. ***
Kandori & Rumi Kazama & Yasha Kurenai vs. Eagle Sawai & Michiko Nagashima & Sayori Okino. Very heated for LLPW. Heels used a lot of gimmick spots. Nagashima was the best in the match, and Okino was pretty good. Match was much too long, especially since the faces have no interesting offense. Eagle beats up and bloodies poor little Miho after the match. Safe to say that Watabe wasn't having a good day. **
9/3/82 Fukuoka Sports Center WWF Jr. Title: Tiger Mask vs. Villano III. Hot crowd and beautiful Lucha action, but only 6:38 was shown.
9/10/82 Kumamoto: Tiger Mask vs. Pete Roberts. Worst match from Sayama's prime that I've seen. Roberts didn't want to do anything but rest holds, and he apparently had less no high spots. Dull. Only notable because Black Tiger attacked Sayama before the match, but Sayama kicked his butt then Roberts tossed Black Tiger to the floor.
10/26/82 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan WWF Jr. Title: Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi. Excellent match. Kobayashi got build and psychology out of Sayama. Matwork was strong and for a purpose, which was not usually the case in a Sayama match. Kobayashi used simple heel techniques, but they were new spots against Sayama and got big time heat. Kobayashi worked at a much higher level than most of Sayama's opposition, though it doesn't seem like most people give him credit for what he could do in his day.
1/28/83 Ibaragi: Tiger Mask & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Black Tiger & Jose Estrada. Very good when the Tigers were in together, but generally nothing special.
2/7/83 Tokyo Sumo Hall WWF Jr. Title: Tiger Mask vs. Black Tiger. 1/2 the match was shown and it was another **** or better match. Tiger looked better here than in their previous encounters as his arsenal was larger and his work seemed better.
1/20/83 Oita: Tiger Mask vs. Negro Navaro. Just ok. Navaro was unimpressive. Too much time wasting. Signo & Texano jump Sayama after the match, but Kobayashi makes the save.
2/10/83: Tiger Mask & Hoshino vs. Hamada & Kobayashi. Very good match. Like the NJ junior tag matches of 1997, it had nice work and told a story. Hamada & Kobayashi concentrate on trying to unmask Tiger.
6/2/83 Tokyo Sumo Hall NWA Jr. Title: Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi. Great match. Excellent work and a hot crowd. Only problem was that the finish was flat.
9/14/90 Hiroshima Sun Plaza: Great Muta vs. Hiroshi Hase. Although it was a technically excellent match with with virtually perfect execution and great flow with so many counter holds, it's mainly memorable for Hase bleeding buckets and really milking the blood loss for all it was worth when he was selling. If it wasn't for the crappy American finish, this might have been a gret match. ***3/4
9/30/90 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena: Great Muta vs. Ricky Steamboat. This should have been a lot better, but their styles didn't mesh well. Good technically due to Steamboat, but kinda dull. Outside of Muta working over Steamboat's "injured knee," there wasn't a lot of direction. **1/4
3/21/91 Tokyo Dome: Great Muta vs. Sting. Muta's entrance was awesome, but they had better matches in the US. Muta looked really good on offense and made the match, but it dragged when Sting was on offense. The length would suggest a sprint, which could have been a good thing considering Sting was involved, but instead they did too many rest holds. **1/2
7/19/91 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Great Muta & TNT vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase. Muta was more heelish here, resulting in Hase doing another huge blade job. The match was only good when Hase was in, although that is a little unfair because Muta mainly worked with Hase. **
8/25/91: Great Muta vs. Super Strong Machine. These guys could have had a damn good match, but Muta was in slow and deliberate mode and there wasn't much of note here aside from Muta ripping Machine's mask off for the DQ. *1/4
9/23/91 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena: Great Muta vs. Tatsumi Fujinami. Muta mainly brawled, dominating Fujinami and making him bleed. Fujinami gave a good performance, resulting in this being better than the typical Muta match. ***
4/6/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan: Riki Choshu vs. Genichiru Tenryu. The fans were really into it. Another stiff match. This time Choshu bled. Choshu mainly dominated Tenryu though, and really the only reason it wasn't very good is that it ended before Tenryu had a chance to get much offense in. ***
9/23/93 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena: Hulk Hogan & Great Muta vs. Hellraisers. You know you are in trouble when Muta is by far the best of the bunch. A bunch of rest holds. Hogan vs. Hawk was particularly awful. 3/4*
Great Muta mini movie
Making of the Great Muta mini movie
3 different Great Muta highlight videos
Beef Wellington vs. Perro Ruso. ½ shown. Poor
Chaparita ASARI & Tanny Mouse vs. Yoshiko Tamura & Yuka Nakamura. ½ shown. Decent
The Great Sasuke & Minoru Fujita vs. Gran Hamada & Gran Naniwa. ***
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Masaaki Mochizuki. *1/2
TAKA Michinoku & Sho Funaki & Tiger Mask vs. Shiima Nobunaga & Sumo Fuji & TARU. ****
Kondo vs. Frank Shamrock-Kondo scores major upset in one of the better Pancrase matches, Suzuki vs. Delucia, King of Pancrase: Rutten-champ vs. Funaki-Super bout that's the best in the history of the company. Funaki absorbs a tremendous amount of punishment but shows great heart and fighting spirit in taking it.
Naomichi Marufuji vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa. ****1/4
Akitoshi Saito vs. Tadahiro Fujisaka. 3/4*
YU-IKEDA KO'd Takeshi Tosho
Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Gary Steele. DUD
Kazunari Murakami vs. Shinjiro Otani. **1/4
Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Alexander Otsuka & Tatsuhito Takaiwa. **3/4
Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Yuji Nagata. ****
Tommy Dreamer vs. Akira Taue
Stan Hansen & Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat vs. Steve Williams & Johnny Ace & Johnny Smith
Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori & Tamon Honda
Triple Crown: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi. 60:00 draw. Great match.
Triangular Carny Final match 1: Misawa vs. Kobashi-30:00 draw ****1/4
Triangular Carny Final match 2: Misawa vs. Kawada-Kawada's 1st singles pin on Misawa but the match is onesided and extremely disappointing
Triangular Carny Final match 3: Kawada vs. Kobashi-Kawada wins Champion Carnival '97 ****1/2
Hayabusa & Kanemaru vs. Ogawa & Shiga
Contains the entire 30:52 Misawa & Akiyama vs. Kawada & Taue tag league final from 12/5/97. This match was the requisite year end classic/match of the year candidate. BEST TAG MATCH OF 1997! It wasn't as good as the 1996 final because the storyline and heat weren't as good and it was more spot intensive, but the 1996 final is no worse than the 2nd best men's tag match ever, so that's not a knock. The tape also contains the finishing sequences from the tag league matches that occured on the nights the cameras were rolling. So it has 11/15 Korakuen Hall (Misawa/Akiyama vs. Wolf/Smith), 11/16 Korakuen Hall, 11/23 Sendai Miyagi Sports Center (Hayabusa/Shinzaki vs. Kawada/Taue, Misawa/Akiyama vs. Kobashi/Ace), 11/27 Sapporo Nakajima (Kobashi/Ace vs. Kawada/Taue, Misawa/Akiyama vs. Hayabusa/Shinzaki), & 11/28 Sapporo Nakajima (Kobashi/Ace vs. Williams/Albright, Misawa/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Taue). The highlights range from :45 seconds to 4 minutes (the best matches get more time), so you are actually seeing something
*Special Price $18 or $23.50 COOP.
7/24 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Triple Crown: Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama. Obviously really stiff with great execution. Suprisingly a story match, with Akiyama debilitating Kobashi's knee, rather than a spotfest. Akiyama carried the match, and was clearly the better of the two. ****1/4
Toshiaki Kawada & Masao Inoue vs. Hiroshi Hase & Maunakea Mossman. A good match, marred by hideous booking as Hase was pinned by Kawada. Yeah, that's right, with Mossman & Omori in the match and Hase having never faced Kawada in a singles match, they had Kawada pin Hase. Kawada was the man here, as he instilled the story and was the best worker. Hase didn't have stamina or fire of his heyday, but his work with Kawada was very good. Mossman wasn't much here and Omori wrestled like a robot. **3/4
7/19 Niigata Shi Taiikukan
World Junior Heavyweight Title League Final: Satoro Asako vs. Yoshinari Ogawa. Highlights. Asako was clearly the better of the two even though Ogawa wound up being the one getting the slot as Misawa's #2. Ogawa takes the title.
7/15 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
Asia Tag Titles: Wolf Hawkfield & Johnny Smith vs. The Headhunters. Highlights
World Tag Titles: Kawada & Taue vs. Gary Albright & Yoshihiro Takayama. Highlights
Kobashi vs. Masahito Kakihara. Another booking debacle as Kakihara wasn't anywhere near the respect his work or his push in other leagues warrants. Kakihara carried the match which was a quasi-shoot, and it was good despite Kobashi not excelling in this style. Kakihara attacked Kobashi's bad knee, which worked for him a lot better than for Akiyama because he has the submissions to back it up, although they didn't get the heat they would have because no one submits in AJ.
7/5 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Super Delfin & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Kentaro Shiga & Makoto Hashi. Highlights
Highlights of league matches
4/16/99 Tokyo Nippon Budokan '99 Champion Carnival Yushoketteisen: Kenta Kobashi vs. Vader
Triple Crown: Vader vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
Giant Baba Intai: Giant Baba & The Destroyer vs. Bruno Sammartino & Gene Kiniski. Not a match. Clips of Baba wrestling these guys are played on the video wall and they have a retirement ceremony
Yoshinari Ogawa & Maunakea Mossman & Masahito Kakihara vs. Hayabusa & The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask
Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota & Masao Inoue vs. Giant Kimala & Haruka Eigen & Jun Izumida
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Gran Naniwa & Makoto Hashi
Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama & Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Johnny Ace & Animal Warrior & Hawk Warrior
Toshiaki Kawada vs. Hiroshi Hase
Akira Taue & Stan Hansen & Steve Williams vs. Gary Albright & Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama
Johnny Smith & Tamon Honda & Masa Fuchi vs. Koji Nakagawa & Yukihiro Kanemura & Gedo
Satoru Asako & Takeshi Morishima vs. Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
*Special price $38 or $47 COOP (2 unique)*
Kakutogisen: Sakie Hasegawa vs. Mayumi Yamamoto
Miori Kamiya & Kyoko Inoue & Mariko Yoshida vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda & Kaoru Ito
Mitsuko Nishiwaki & Mika Takahashi & Kaoru Maeda & Esther Moreno vs. Grizzly Iwamoto & Bison Kimura & Hyper Cat & La Diabolica
Ishu Kakutogisen: Eriko Yoshinaga vs. Akemi Torisu
Akira Hokuto & Suzuka Minami vs. Noriyo Tateno & Yumiko Hotta
Kakutogi Street Match: Aja Kong vs. Medusa
WWWA Sekai Single Senshukenjiai: Bull Nakano vs. Manami Toyota. Toyota's first shot at the red belt
*Special price $20 or $25.50 COOP*
The Goddess Chikako Hasegawa (Shiratori) & Masami Watanabe (ASARI) vs. Rie Tamada & Sachiko Nakamura. *
Midget Puroresu: Tomezo Tsunokake vs. Mr. Buddhaman. DUD
Saemi Numata vs. Bat Yoshinaga. *
Suzuka Minami vs. Yumiko Hotta. Really strong work with strong execution and all their big spots. The storyline of Suzuka working over Hotta's bad knee was good, but they made the mistake of dropping it when they went to the near falls back and forth. ****
Debbie Malenko & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Terri Power & Kaoru Ito. ***1/2
Kyoko Inoue vs. Takako Inoue. The beginning had no purpose, but it turned into an excellent spot oriented match with heat when Takako took control and nearly beat Kyoko via count out. Both women worked really hard. ***1/2
Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota vs. Aja Kong & Bull Nakano. Fast-paced, all action Toyota style match. ****
Akira Hokuto & Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Harley Saito & Eagle Sawai & Miki Handa (LLPW team). Great intensity and story. They really played up the interpromotional aspect, as they needed to because this was kicking off the AJW vs. LLPW feud. Hokuto was born to do this kind of match. Harley was really at the top of her game in 1993, and she was the second best here, trailing Hokuto, of course. The post match added heat to this rivalry and put heat on the upcoming Hokuto vs. Kandori match. ****1/4
*Special price two T-120's for $30 or $35.50/41 COOP (one unique)*
Etsuko Mita & Tomoko Watanabe & Numacchi vs. Carol Midori & Mizuki Endo & Mikiko Futagami (LLPW team). It went along at a good pace, and there were no real lulls in the action, but it got sloppy in some parts and there wasn't much to get excited about. Mita was the lone veteran in the match, so she basically dominated the LLPW women when she was in, making it clear that she could pin them any time she felt like it. **
Roller Coaster 4 x 4 Captain Fall Match: Mima Shimoda (captain) & Kaoru Ito & The Goddess Chikako Shiratori & Chaparita ASARI vs. Cuty Suzuki (captain) & Plum Mariko & Hikari Fukuoka & Commando Bolshoi (JWP team). This match ruled, and I was suitably stoked because now I have a match with The Goddess that I could send somebody and they would actually want to watch it. This was all action from start to finish with tons of double, triple, and quadruple teaming, including an attempted quadruple dropkick and the requisite consecutive plancha spot. It was fast-paced early with basic moves, building to the big spots later on. Everyone contributed to this match, but Ito was the most impressive of the bunch. ****1/4
Sakie Hasegawa & Takako Inoue vs. Shinobu Kandori & Yasha Kurenai (LLPW team). This had great heat, particularly when Kandori was in. The match was built around Kandori's submissions, particularly her choke sleeper. For ring work, the other three weren't on the same planet as Sakie. However, Takako was pretty effective here, getting big pops when she got stiff with Kandori and when she used her Destiny Hammer on Kandori for a near fall. ***
Yumiko Hotta & Suzuka Minami vs. Bull Nakano & Reggie Bennett in a match billed as "Star & Rising Sun 4 VIPS." This was a boring slow-paced match with Suzuka being the best worker, but no one looking particularly good or bad. The match picked up after the 9-minute mark with Bull & Suzuka in, and continued with Suzuka & Bennett exchanging signature spots. Bennett's work wasn't smooth and fluid, which hurt the closing minutes. A big near fall came when Bull hit her guillotine leg drop then Bennett splashed Suzuka. Bennett then put Suzuka in her Reggie rack (Argentine backbreaker/torture rack) for the win. ***
Star & Rising Sun 4 VIPS: Yumiko Hotta & Suzuka Minami vs. Bull Nakano & Reggie Bennett. Not technically bad, but slow paced and kind of boring. Suzuka was the best worker, but no one looked particularly good or bad. **
Kyoko Inoue vs. Devil Masami (JWP). This was both exactly what it had to be and everything you could ask for from a singles match between these two. The storyline and psychology were great, and the match built perfectly. They worked a slow-paced Devil style match with Devil controlling the match, but Kyoko making comebacks by countering Devil's moves. Kyoko's comebacks were short lived though, as Devil would quickly cut her off, usually by avoiding or countering one of Kyoko's moves. I usually hate flash pins, but based on the body of the match, it was the perfect finish. ****1/4
Rainbow Sensation: Manami Toyota vs. Mayumi Ozaki (JWP). This match had much more mat wrestling then you would expect, but both women were really effective in that aspect. Unfortunately, while the match was solid and the quality was strong, it never really kicked into high gear. There was a conscious effort in this match, and the next, to keep the main finishers strong, with the main psychology here being whether Ozaki could put Toyota away before Manami J.O.C. suplexed her for the win. It was an excellent match, but not as good as expected. ****1/4
Toshiyo Yamada vs. Dynamite Kansai (JWP). This was the best match on the show, and it was a great match. Yamada was at the peak of her excellence during this time period. As usual, she did whatever it took to have a great match, which in this case meant absorbing a tremendous beating, but also dishing one out. This was really stiff, like All Japan main event level of stiffness, and the execution was very crisp. The storyline of this match, to a much greater extent than the last match, was that it was a battle of the two main finishers, Yamada's reverse Gori special bomb and Kansai's splash mountain. As with the last match, they were trying to strengthen the finishers, and it became clear that the women who successfully executed her finisher first would be the winner. Grueling match. ****1/2
The Marinepiad Biggest: Aja Kong vs. Akira Hokuto. Hokuto was coming off knee surgery and was still walking with crutches that day, so this match didn't approach the standard of excellence one would expect from these two. Still, it was a memorable match because Hokuto's performance was one of the gutsiest of all-time. Aja totally dominated Hokuto, predominantly kicking Hokuto's bad knee or working it over with submission holds. This match epitomizes Hokuto's legendary never say die attitude, but it wasn't that great of a match becase she just wasn't physically able to compete with Aja. **3/4
*Special price two T-160's for $40 or $51 COOP (2 unique)*
Tomoko Watanabe & Chikako Shiratori vs. Utako Hozumi & Leo Kitamura
Midget Puroresu: Little Frankie vs. Mr. Buddhaman
Zen Nihon Junior Senshukenjiai: Chaparita ASARI vs. Candy Okutsu
Zen Nihon Tag Senshukenjiai: Sakie Hasegawa & Kaoru Ito vs. Miki Handa & Yasha Kurenai
Combat Toyoda vs. Suzuka Minami
Zenjo Izumu vs. Pure Heart Scramble Jungle: Bull Nakano & Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Cuty Suzuki & Plum Mariko & Hikari Fukuoka
WWWA Sekai Single Senshukenjiai: Aja Kong vs. Megumi Kudo
WWWA Sekai Tag Senshukenjiai: Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota. The underrated match of the trio sees them shift completely to the glamorous Toyota style. Read Review 25:33. *****
Dangerous Queen Tokyo Saiban (trial): Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori. Read Review 21:15. ****1/2
*Special price two T-160's for $40 or $45.50/51 COOP*
The Goddess Chikako Shiratori vs. Kumiko Maekawa
Midget Puroresu: Little Frankie vs. Tomezo Tsunokake
Tag League The Best '93 Koshikisen: Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe
Bull Nakano & Chaparita ASARI vs. Yumiko Hotta & Suzuka Minami
Tag League The Best '93 Koshikisen: Aja Kong & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Eagle Sawai & Yasha Kurenai (LLPW team).
Tag League The Best '93 Koshikisen: Akira Hokuto & Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Kyoko Inoue. Great match.
Tag League The Best '93 Yushoketteisen: Akira Hokuto & Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Kyoko Inoue. Great match.
*Special price $20 or $25.50 COOP*
3-5 minutes of highlights from each match on AJW 1/4/94 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
The Goddess Chikako Shiratori vs. Rie Tamada
Kaoru Ito vs. Numacchi
AJ Title: Mima Shimoda vs. Tomoko Watanabe
Etsuko Mita vs. Suzuka Minami
Kyoko Inoue vs. Sakie Hasegawa
Manami Toyota vs. Bull Nakano
Toshiyo Yamada vs. Takako Inoue
Aja Kong vs. Yumiko Hotta
1/24/94 Tokyo Ota-ku Taiikukan
Captain Fall Survival War: Numacchi & The Goddess Shiratori & Miki Yokoe & Akiko Abe vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Rie Tamada & Kumiko Maekawa & Miho Ikari
Mr. Buddhaman vs. Tomezo Tsunokake
Suzuka Minami & Takako Inoue vs. Sakie Hasegawa & Kaoru Ito
Bull Nakano vs. Kyoko Inoue. The first 2/3 was very slow-paced with too many submission holds. Kyoko accidentally got her ankle caught in the ropes and was screaming in pain so they had to untie her. Althogh Kyoko was a little hobbled, the match really picked up from there, turning into an excellent match in the last third. The fans got really into this, particularly when Kyoko kicked out of and avoided Bull's guillotine leg drop finisher. This match would have been much better if it was 17 minutes instead of 27. Bull pretty much dictated the entire match. ***1/2
2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Titles: Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda. All action. Excellent work. All the big spots. Near perfect execution over a 35 minute match. Hot crowd that was really pulling for the upset. 3rd wall was particularly awesome. Yamada, who was still at the top of her game here, was the standout. Toyota was the 2nd best. The problem with this match is that the past was so fast that there wasn't much selling. Even after 30 minutes of big spots they didn't slow the pace or do anything to show that all these great moves were taking their toll. ****1/2
WWWA World Single Title: Aja Kong vs. Yumiko Hotta. This was just brutal. It was worked to look like a "real fight," as they were really intense and they stiffed each other back and forth. Another heated match. Hotta got a cut on her hand from one of the times she hit Aja in the head and it bled like crazy. Aja worked over the hand, which was cool because it's not something you see done often. At one point they wrapped it up in gauze, but it wasn't going to be much help so Hotta threw it off to show her toughness. Actually, Hotta did a great job of putting over the brutal beating Aja was dishing out without compromising her tough woman gimmick. The problem with this match is that it was rather onesided, which did kind of compromise Hotta's gimmick. ****1/2
*Special price two T-120's for $36 or $41.50/47 COOP (one unique)*
Zenjo Young Generation 4 vs. 4 Elimination Match: Tomoko Watanabe & Yuka Shiina & Yoshiko Tamura & Nobue Endo (Saya) vs. Chaparita ASARI & Rie Tamada & Naomi Kato (Bloody) & Misae Watanabe (Genki). The wrestling was basic, but it was good for what it was. The problem was ASARI's team eliminated the opposition in 7:38 without even losing one wrestler. Watanabe got like one near fall and that was basically it for her team. Puzzling to say the least. *
Midget Puroresu Handicap Match: Great Little Muta & Buda Ryuma vs. Tsunokake Sabu Masaru. They did poor immitations of the big spots the wrestlers they were immitating do or just purposely blew them. This lasted too long and was a total mess. -**
100th WWWA Sekai Tag Oza Kettei Tournament Ikkaisen
Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue vs. Suzuka Minami & Reggie Bennett. Last few minutes made the match with several good near falls that the fans reacted to. Overall there was just too much Reggie though. Even Kyoko vs. Reggie was nothing much. **1/2
Aja Kong & Mariko Yoshida vs. Yumiko Hotta & Toshiyo Yamada. Strong effort. Very stiff match with crisp execution. They tried all the big moves, but they'd counter or break up the finishers so the match would keep going. Yoshida vs. Yamada was particularly good. ***3/4
Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Lady Apache & Felina. The Mexican team seemed out of their element and were badly outclassed. *1/2
Manami Toyota & Blizzard Yuki vs. Lioness Asuka & Jaguar Yokota. Very good match, but disappointing considering the talent involved. The execution was very good, but the body of the match had too much dead time. The last few minutes were damn good, but that was the quality I expected throughout. The finish was very flukish, and Jaguar having to just roll through and pin herself didn't help matters any. ***1/2
Zenjo vs. Rideen Array Single Match: Kaoru Ito vs. Bison Kimura. This was one of those matches where they younger wrestler is in control most of the time then the older wrestler does a couple moves and it's over. Ito looked good, but the finish kind of negated that. ***
WWWA Sekai Kakutogi Senshuken Oza Ketteisen: Kumiko Maekawa vs. Fumiko Ishimoto. One of the dullest kickboxing matches ever on a joshi puroresu show. They'd throw one strike then disengage and circle and dance around the ring some more. Low punch counts and really no scoring.
Tournament Junkessho
Aja Kong & Mariko Yoshida vs. Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue. The match was always good and kept getting a little better until the finish where Yoshida & Takako had a few problems and Aja's uraken that led right to the finish was only a grazing blow. ***1/4
Manami Toyota & Blizzard Yuki vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda. Work was good, but the pacing was too even. It would have been better if the match was shorter, but faster paced and more dynamic. ***1/2
Tournament Kesshosen
Manami Toyota & Blizzard Yuki vs. Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue. This was what we were waiting for all night. A fast-paced all action match that showed just how good they were when it came to work and spots. It was a Toyota style match with Kyoko also standing out over Yuki & Takako mainly due to superior offense. This match was so good purely because of the work. They did so many nice looking and difficult spots, with the execution being right on. It could have been more dramatic if it was longer because you didn't expect the final to end before 12 minutes (it went about 15), and also because you were always waiting for the big Toyota & Yuki comeback that never occured. The fans did get into it and there were a lot of nice near falls that they made look credible even if in your head you didn't really believe it could possibly end here. The final was the best match of the tournament, which is the way it should be. ****1/4
*Special price two T-120's for $36 or $47 COOPs (two unique)*
Zenjo Fresh Woman: Rie Tamada vs. Kumiko Maekawa
AJ Junior Title: Candy Okutsu vs. Chaparita ASARI. ASARI wins title
Zenjo vs. Shootboxing: Kaoru Ito vs. Noriko Tsunoda
Lucha Libre Rule: Jaguar Yokota & Lady Apache vs. Mariko Yoshida & Felina
UWA World Women's Tag Titles: Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Suzuka Minami & Tomoko Watanabe. Excellent match.
Zenjo vs. Rideen Array Single Bout: Sakie Hasegawa vs. Bison Kimura. Very good
Triangle Match for Vacant All Pacific Title: Toshiyo Yamada vs. Takako Inoue vs. Reggie Bennett. Yamada wins title. Great match.
Zenjo vs. Rideen Array Single Bout Ultimate Rule (worked shoot) Match: Yumiko Hotta vs. Lioness Asuka. Great match. Incredibly stiff and brutal.
WWF World Women's Title: Bull Nakano vs. Kyoko Inoue. Great match.
WWWA World Single Title: Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota. Toyota wins title. Great match.
*Special price two T-160's for $40 or $51 COOP*
*two tapes*
Yumi Fukawa vs. Yoshiko Tamura
Midget Death Match: Atsushi Obuddha (Buddhaman) vs. Tsunokake. Buddhaman dresses up like Onita, and I don't know what Tsunokake was supposed to be, but they make a mockery out of the style FMW death match. They have little explosions and everything.
AJ Junior Title: Chaparita ASARI vs. Nobue Endo (Saya)
Takako Inoue & Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Mariko Yoshida & Kaoru Ito & Rie Tamada. Good match with Watanabe, who really carried things for her side, being the best of the 6.
Aja Kong & Reggie Bennett vs. Lioness Asuka & Bison Kimura. Aja is pretty awesome in this one. She disregards her former partner Bison because only Lioness is good enough for her. However, Bison keeps coming at Aja even though Aja is brutalizing her just about every time.
Minami Retirement Memorial: Suzuka Minami & Yumiko Hotta vs. Las Cachorras Orientales. Minami is as over as she ever was in her career on this night . Very good workrate match. After the match is over, Bull & her former Marine Wolves partner Hokuto come out and Minami gets incredibly emotional.
3 Minute Exhibition Match: Marine Wolves vs. Bull & Hotta. All action and heated. Minami worked over Bull's bad knees. This, of course, went to the time limit, but Minami didn't want to quit just yet, so her and Hokuto did a double Northern Lights bomb, the only time I've ever seen that, to Bull. Suzuka then covered Bull, and Bull didn't kick out, allowing Minami to go out with an unofficial win. Minami's retirement ceremony followed. This whole segment was one of the best and most emotional retirements in recent years for a women who wasn't a huge star.
WWWA World Singles Championship: Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue. As close as you can get to nonstop action in a 60:00 draw. Great spots and workrate. Awesome stamina. 1995 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Match of the Year. *****
*T-120's for $36 or $41.50/47 COOP (two unique)*
Note: This tape shows every match in the league in digest form, but has long versions of the following matches
7/23/95 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Takako Inoue vs. Mariko Yoshida. 6:52 of 12:49
Kyoko Inoue vs. Sakie Hasegawa. 9:43
7/31/95 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Sakie Hasegawa vs. Tomoko Watanabe. 19:47
Kyoko Inoue vs. Takako Inoue. 11:37 of 30:00
8/13/95 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Bull Nakano & Kyoko Inoue & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Aja Kong & Reggie Bennett & Mima Shimoda. 22:14
8/14: Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Akira Hokuto & Chaparrita ASARI. 15:19
Yuka Shiina & Misae Genki vs. Kumiko Maekawa & Yoshiko Tamura. 1:50 shown
Hair vs. Mask: Mr. Buddhaman vs. Tigrijo. A few dives here at least. Tigrijo seemed pretty good actually, but had nothing to work with. 2:52 shown
EMLL Campeonato Mundial De Miniestrellas: Mascarita Magica vs. Espectro De Ultratumbido. Good action, but awfully short. 3:07 shown
WWWA Sekai Midget Senshukenjiai: Little Frankie vs. Ultramancito. 2:09 shown
New Face Pin Up Board: Saya Endo. Not exactly the person that comes to mind when you see the words pin up...
Zen Nihon Tag Senshukenjiai: Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa vs. Saya Endo & Tanny Mouse. They clip a bunch of matches that were probably really good after this to show almost all of this match? TamaFuka worked pretty well as a team, but Tamada was deliberate and sloppy as usual, while Saya & Tanny brought nothing to the table. *1/4
Mima Shimoda vs. Tomoko Watanabe. 3:21 shown
Mariko Yoshida & Kaoru Ito & Chaparita ASARI vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Etsuko Mita & Takako Inoue. This had great action and look like it could have been ****, but only 1/3 is shown.
Zenjo G*TOP Week Special Digest: Highlights of Takako vs. Watanabe, Toyota & Yamada vs. Aja & Kyoko, Toyota & Yoshida vs. Mita & Shimoda, and Hotta vs. Ito
Shin Zenjo Greatest 4: Manami Toyota & Yumiko Hotta vs. Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue. Not the most spectacular match they've ever had, but it was a little over 20 minutes of solid action with every spot hitting. ***1/2
Opening act: Yuki Lee (JWP) & Sachie Nishibori (IWA Japan) vs. The Goddess Chikako Shiratori (JWP) & ZAP Isozaki
A typhoon: Momoe Nakanishi & Miyuki Fujii vs. Rie Tamada (ARSION) & Mika Akino (ARSION team)
Men & Women & Midget Dangerous Super Mixed Match: Yuki Ishikawa (Battlarts) & Gran Naniwa (Michinoku Pro) & Emi Motokawa (IWA Japan) & Tomezo Tsunokake vs. Alexander Otsuka (Battlarts) & Yone Genjin (Michinoku Pro) & Kanako Motoya (JWP) & Little Frankie
J typhoon: Nanae Takahashi & Tomoko Kuzumi (JWP) vs. Tomoko Miyaguchi & Rieko Amano (JWP team)
AJ Tag Titles: Yuko Kosugi & Sumie Sakai (Jd') vs. Miho Wakizawa & Kayo Noumi. MihoKayo take titles.
All Pacific Title: Kumiko Maekawa vs. Yasha Kurenai (LLPW). Yasha takes title.
L typhoon: Takako Inoue & Noriyo Tateno (LLPW) vs. Shinobu Kandori & Harley Saito (LLPW team)
It's Wrong! Super Heel Tag Match: ZAP I & ZAP T vs. Eagle Sawai (G-Max) & Shark Tsuchiya (Modukutai)
LEGEND OF WWWA Former Belt Holders 6 Woman Tag: Jaguar Yokota (Jd') & Devil Masami (JWP) & Lioness Asuka (Bukyogun) vs. Aja Kong (free) & Dynamite Kansai (JWP) & Yumiko Hotta. Kansai injured(:.
THE DREAM CAME TRUE AAAW Single Title: Chigusa Nagayo (GAEA) vs. Manami Toyota
*I have a limited amount of 1st generation SP copies available on one T-120 and one T-160 for $38 or $43.50/49 COOP (one unique)*
This DVD features several match highlights from the final months of MihoKayo plus out of the ring footage like them posing in the pool, visiting Miho's apartment, bowling, playing tennis, and so on.
12/16/01 Kanagawa Kawasaki Shi Taiikukan Miho Wakizawa Intai Jiai Wacky Final Smile: Miho Wakizawa vs. Kayo Noumi. A good match for them. They kept it simple early on then Wakizawa started going to her "big" moves at 8:00. Wakizawa got the majority of the offense in since she was losing, which boded well since even an injured up Wakizawa has far better moves and execution than Noumi. Everything was well executed for Noumi. Well there was a lot of repetition since neither are capable of doing much, I'd certainly rather see more missile kicks, fisherman busters, and doublewrist armsaults and the usual goofiness. Actually, this was probably as serious as MihoKayo gets. Although it had surprisingly little atmosphere, especially for a retirement match, this is probably the best match they've had against one another. Noumi pinned Wakizawa with her own fishermanbuster. During Wakizawa's retirement ceremony, Rumi & Takako made it look like they were going to have Eagle beat Miho up. However, they "doublecrossed" Eagle with a double DDT and had Wakizawa pin her with a diving body press. **1/2
Michael Smith's comments: The match started out slowly being that they were using very basic moves. The first few minutes were very reminiscent of a "green" girls match from say '94 or '95. That and the strategy of using eardrum piercing screams to make each other deaf took away from this match a bit. There were however a lot of nice near falls (which unfortunately were hurt by the lack of heat) over the last few minutes including Kayo rolling through on a top rope hurancanrana for a two count and another two count off Kayo's rolling doublewrist armsaults. It's a good thing this was Miho retirement match in the sense that Kayo surviving 5 fisherman's busters killed Wakizawa's finisher dead. Noumi eventually got the win with a fisherman's buster of her own that came off more like a regular fisherman's suplex (minus the bridging pin attempt). They kept the goofiness down in this match which helped it be better than I had expected going in. As I said before, the lack of heat hurt them but overall I feel they still put out a **1/2 effort. Miho got alot of streamers before and after the match, which makes you wonder why the crowd couldn't support her during it. I think she could come back though and be successful if she recovers from her injuries and decides she wants to wrestle again. She never was or will be a great worker but she and Kayo both have a lot of charisma as a team and since standards aren't as high as they were in the mid-late '90s, she certainly has a solid place in today's era.
*I have a limited number of additional 1st gen SP copies available for $18 or $23.50 COOP*
*reviewed in Quebrada #38*
The 1st Memorial: Fukawa vs. Candy. Really good match that was the best singles of Fukawa's career and on par with the best stuff Candy has done with her JWP peers. Exciting, flashy, and well executed submissions and high spots, but also focused attacks. Fukawa is like a new woman with a more mature look and an entirely different move set. Candy looked like her old self. ****
The 2nd Memorial: Futagami vs. Jesse Bennett. Bennett's Japan debut. Futagami looked good in her new gimmick as the lethal technician, but Bennett is very limited in what she can do right now. *3/4
The 3rd Memorial: Aja vs. Omukai. Very good match. Omukai plays the Kikuchi-esque role, just begging for Aja to punk her, and Aja does so with unbelievably stiff strikes. Even after Aja has put her out twice, Omukai is still looking for more. Omukai's facials in this match are incredible and she plays her role to perfection. Aja, who has a renewed vigor here, does a great job carrying her. ***3/4
The 4th Memorial: Tamada vs. Bennett. Unlike in AJW, this was actually competitive with Tamada doing a few nice things. Not a bad match with Tamada running around and trying flying, and Bennett just letting her do so hoping to squash her with a power move. **1/2
The 5th Memorial: Aja & Omukai & Fukawa vs. Futagami & Tamada & Candy. Very good workrate style match with more spots than you can count. A bit sloppy, but definitely exciting. Totally different in style from the other 4 matches. ***1/2
*Special Price $18 or $23.50 COOP (insert autographed by Fukawa)*
The first starlet: Michiko Omukai & Yumi Fukawa vs. Reggie Bennett & Jessie Bennett. Read Undercard Review. **
The second starlet: Michiko Omukai & Fabi Apache vs. Aja Kong & Lady Metal. ***1/4
The third starlet: Mariko Yoshida vs. Rie Tamada. Yoshida's ARSION debut. ***
The fourth starlet, women's kickboxing: Aya Matsui vs. KAORI
The final starlet: Candy Okutsu vs. Mikiko Futagami. Read Review. ****1/4
THE FIRST STARTIST: Mika Akino (0-5) vs. Yumi Fukawa (3-12-1). *
THE SECOND STARTIST: Lady Metal (ARSION Mexico 2-13) vs. Fabi Apache (ARSION Mexico 2-14). *1/4
THE THIRD STARTIST: Reggie Bennett (ARSION USA 15-1-2) vs. Mari Apache (ARSION Mexico 5-5-2). *1/2
THE FOURTH STARTIST: Rie Tamada (6-7-3) vs. Michiko Omukai (3-9). **1/4
THE FIFTH STARTIST: Ayako Hamada (debut) vs. Candy Okutsu (10-3-2). **1/4
THE FINAL ARSION: Mikiko Futagami (13-4-2) vs. Mariko Yoshida (15-1-2). ***
THE UNDERCARD TOURNAMENT: Lady Metal vs. Fabi Apache. 1/2*
THE UNDERCARD TOURNAMENT: Mika Akino vs. Aja Kong
HYPER VISUAL FIGHTING TOURNAMENT ZION '98 1st Round
Ayako Hamada vs. Mari Apache. *
Rie Tamada vs. Mikiko Futagami. ***
Michiko Omukai vs. Yumi Fukawa. ***1/2
Reggie Bennett vs. Mariko Yoshida. ***1/2
ZION '98 2nd Round
Ayako Hamada vs. Mikiko Futagami. *1/2
Michiko Omukai vs. Mariko Yoshida. ***1/4
'98 FINAL SUMMER FANTASY: Tiger Dream vs. Hiromi Yagi (Free). ***3/4
ZION '98 Final
Ayako Hamada vs. Mariko Yoshida. **
Career retrospective video charting Kudo's career from her AJW days to the present. 30 matches shown in highlight form along with Kudo vs. Kandori barbed wire match from 3/14/97 in unedited form. Jaguar, Combat, Reibun, & Onita hang out with Kudo and look back on her career.
*Special price $18 or $23.50 COOP*
1/16 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Chigusa Nagayo vs. KAORU
Lioness Asuka & Aja Kong vs. Akira Hokuto & Mayumi Ozaki
2/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Toshiyo Yamada vs. Mayumi Ozaki
AAAW Tag Senshukenjiai: Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima vs. Lioness Asuka & Sonoko Kato
AAAW Single Senshukenjiai: Aja Kong vs. KAORU
3/12 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Chigusa Nagayo & Meiko Satomura vs. Akira Hokuto & Mayumi Ozaki
3/20 Osaka IMP Hall: Lioness Asuka & KAORU vs. Devil Masami & Mayumi Ozaki
4/8 Honkawagoe Pepe Hall
Chigusa Nagayo vs. Chikayo Nagashima
Meiko Satomura & Sakura Hirota vs. Lioness Asuka & Sonoko Kato
4/16 Tokyo Zepp Tokyo Free Weapon Match: Sugar Sato vs. KAORU. This was either the highlight or lowlight of Oz #4 depending on whether you think those TLC matches are great or a contrived piece of trash. KAORU did the best she could, using the props to do a bunch of athletic stunts. She did a moonsault press with half a table, a moonsault attack off the stage, a senton off the top of a ladder in the ring to put Sato through a table on the floor, and a moonsault off the top of the ladder that didn't wind up working right. Both bled. Sato was even more horrible than usual, plodding around and lamely swinging or throwing objects. She put a barrel over KAORU and touched it with a mallet a few times. Of course, the match had no believability and was the king of contrived anyway. Both bled. *1/4
4/23 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Chigusa Nagayo & Toshie Uematsu vs. Devil Masami & Chikayo Nagashima
Sakura Hirota vs. Mayumi Ozaki
5/14 Tokyo Ariake Coliseum
HHH Senshukenjiai: Sakura Hirota vs. Dynamite Kansai. The expected slaughter. The highlight was Hirota tickling Kansai's nose with a feather then trying to hit her with it, but Kansai kicked her arm. Hirota tried a windsprint lariat, but tripped before she reached.
RIE vs. Saika Takeuchi. RIE used her heel tactics. Takeuchi showed heart by fighting hard and continually coming back. Takeuchi eventually scored the upset win, which was important even though RIE is not exactly a legend because this was the biggest show in company history and many of the fans hadn't seen her before.
Toshiyo Yamada vs. Kyoko Inoue. A lot better than the last time they wrestled in AJW, but far from their best. These two know each other well and were able to adapt to the changes they've made in their styles since the days when they wrestled regularly. For Yamada, this included wearing open hand shooting gloves and punching with them often. Yamada was very into the match, showing a level of intensity and fire we've rarely seen from her since the first quarter of 1995. She was the better of the two. Good match.
AAAW Tag Senshukenjiai: Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima vs. Toshie Uematsu & The Bloody. Good action. The execution wasn't perfect, but they never slowed down and always did pretty good moves. Bloody & Nagashima made the match, but particularly Bloody since she had the unenviable task of trying to make Sato look decent. Cool finish where Bloody tried to turn Sato's Ligerbomb into a huracanrana, but Chikayo dropkicked Bloody in the face then Sugar did the Ligerbomb.
Free Weapon Match AAAW Single Next Challenger Decision Match: Mayumi Ozaki vs. KAORU. I'd like to be able to recommend all of Ozaki's brawls, but this was the typical illogical clusterfuck we always get from KAORU. Too many gimmick spots and too much time wasted. There were some nice spots like KAORU putting Ozaki through tables with both a senton off a ladder on the ramp and a senton off the top. Ozaki did a funny spot where she kept breaking chairs over KAORU's head and leaving them hanging by KAORU's neck. She powerbombed KAORU on a garbage can then tried to suffocate her with a plastic bag that was big enough to go over KAORU's whole body. While KAORU was in the bag, Ozaki Ligerbombed KAORU on a pile of chairs but KAORU's second Jenn Yukari made the save. 28 minutes was way too long for this mindless style. **1/4
AAAW Single Senshukenjiai: Aja Kong vs. Meiko Satomura. This match doesn't get the credit it deserves. Certainly, it's worse than their 9/15/99 match, but clearly it's one of the top 5 matches in company history. Today's match was shorter and faster paced than their previous. The psychology was still excellent. Satomura tried to control Aja, but Aja was using her power to throw Meiko around. Satomura was effective countering Aja and using her speed. She tried to use arm submissions as often as she could to neutralize the uraken. Aja was beating Satomura up, but Satomura isn't afraid to be stiff as well. Once again, Aja did a great job of guiding Satomura, who followed Aja well. What made this match worse is Satomura didn't make anyone believe she was winning. It just didn't have the drama, which not only meant it wasn't as good, but also that it did far less for Satomura. Although the match they did was excellent, you just have to scratch your head at why this match came after the previous one when you consider the point of the match should be Satomura's growth and when you hold them in comparison this did a lot more to send her careening in the wrong direction. ****
Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka vs. Devil Masami & Akira Hokuto. Work and spots as usual, but this time they worked harder and did it for twice as long. There was definitely more brawling than usual, with Lioness bleeding early. Nice teamwork by both teams. In particular, Crush 2000 had a new spot where Lioness held Hokuto up for her high angle powerbomb and Chigusa came off the top with a reverse neckbreaker. Devil was the farthest above her typical level. Unfortunately, simply trying harder didn't cut it. Although it was a good match, there was nothing about this match (unless you count the ring entraces) that made it feel like it was the main event of a major show. **3/4
*Special price $38 or $43.50/49 COOP (one unique)*
Note: some matches are digested
Yumi Nagano (Tenma) vs. Sumiko Saito
Tomoko (Candy) Okutsu & Machiko ? vs. Mitsue Kobayashi & ?
Leaguesen: Plum Mariko vs. Hikari Fukuoka
Leaguesen: Sumio Toyama vs. Devil Masami
Leaguesen: Dynamite Kansai vs. Commando Bolshoi
Leaguesen: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Cuty Suzuki
Tomoko Okutsu vs. Sumiko Saito
Sumio Toyama & Yumi Nagano vs. Mitsue Kobayashi & Mika Kuwahara
Devil Masami vs. Machiko ?
Commando Bolshoi vs. Plum Mariko
Devil Masami & Sumiko Saito & Machiko ? vs. Plum Mariko & Commando Bolshoi & Sumio Toyama
JWP Nintei Tag Senshukenjiai: Cuty Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Dynamite Kansai & Hikari Fukuoka
AJ Jr. Title: Numacchi (AJW) vs. Sumio Toyama (Saburo). **1/2
Infernal KAORU (AJW) vs. Commando Bolshoi. *1/2
Suzuka Minami & Kaoru Ito (AJW) vs. Devil Masami & Candy Okutsu. Devil Masami & Candy Okutsu. Great performance by Devil, particularly how she carried this match. I mean, she was making Candy look impressive and she wasn't even wrestling against her. ****
Yumiko Hotta (AJW) vs. Plum Mariko. *1/4
First Attack Single Match Rule 60:00 Full Time Match: Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki & Cuty Suzuki & Hikari Fukuoka. I was saying the other day that it's a shame they never did a second match under these rules, but in a way it would be pointless because this could never be topped. This is the best gimmick/stipulation match ever and unquestionably one of the top couple women's matches of the decade. Awesome work and perfect booking. My all-time favorite finish. *****
*Special Price two T-120s on SP for $36 or $41.50 or $47 COOP (one unique)*
Note: tape also contains footage of their vacation activities
1st Battle A Block:
Cuty Suzuki vs. Fusayo Nouchi. 10:07
Dynamite Kansai vs. Candy Okutsu. 11:57
Focuses on Chigusa Nagayo's involvement in JWP so far. All matches are edited, and they actually stop the tape of the match to show the wrestlers (mainly Chigusa) talking about it.
11/18/93: Cuty Suzuki & Chigusa Nagayo vs. Devil Masami & Plum Mariko. 12-13 min (all times on this tape include interspersed interviews)
1/9/94: Cuty Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki & Plum Mariko vs. Dynamite Kansai & Devil Masami & Chigusa Nagayo. 12 min
1/11/94: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Chigusa Nagayo. 17 min
Clips of each singles match in PACIFIC FIGHT Tournament about 2 min each than 3-4 min clip of tag final
Hiromi Yagi & Fusayo Nouchi vs. Kumiko Maekawa & Rie Tamada. Basic young girls match with stretching and dropkicks. Execution was fine. Yagi kept some intensity and suspense on the match even though aside from a few judo based moves she was doing the same offense as the others. She has a sense of timing and an understanding of what makes a match compelling that the others don't. **
Bolshoi Kid (ASARI) vs. Commando Bolshoi. It wasn't quite SUPER MAJOR CLOWNS Ariake TRASH!! like I feared, but it wasn't a good lucha or flying match like it could have been. The 10 minute time limit hurt because by the time it started getting good, it was over. The funniest part was when ASARI's hair extension came off in the midst of her turning a uranage into a wakigatame. Commando acted like it was a dead animal and scared the ref with it. The moves were a lot better than the previous match, but the execution was worse and there was no smoothness, timing, or flow. *3/4
Cuty Special vs. Takako Panic: Cuty Suzuki vs. Takako Inoue. These two don't need 20 minutes. Their lack of offense starts to bore you within 10. You know you are in trouble when Takako is doing all the offense, but her offense at least looked pretty good. Cuty's flying in particular looked pretty pathetic; she's just not very athletic. Cuty did an excellent job of selling. The lack of announcers actually helped the match come across better because Cuty was doing a great job of screaming in pain, actually putting some thought and emotion into when and how she screamed. The effort was strong, but too much of the match was just stretching each other out. They didn't get heat until things picked up at the end. **1/4
Over The Generation Grudge Match: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Chigusa Nagayo. This truly looked like a grudge match. There was a major staredown before it started and once it began they just beat each other to a pulp for 27 minutes. Violent and intense. Ozaki was nasty. The match was all about attitude. They wouldn't back down or give up no matter how much punishment they took. Obviously they were both over to begin with, but the match built up a great deal of heat not just because it was long and high quality, but because they earned the audience's respect. Both women had a couple of cuts, with the entire right side of Ozaki's face being covered in blood while Chigusa couldn't really get much blood. It wasn't just a brawl, of course, they each actually wrestled and even did a dive. One of the best matches they've had together. ***3/4
Candy Okutsu vs. Kyoko Inoue. Long before the ego feeding days of squashing everyone in Neo to the detriment of everyone but herself, there was a wrestler named Kyoko Inoue that was more interested in having a strong match. Even though she may never have had to face Candy again, she unselfishly carried her and put her over enough to lead her to one of the best veteran vs. promising youngster matches. They key to this typ eof match is the youngster looking impressive and being competitive. Nobody really believes they'll win, so it's okay if they are overmatched as long as they prove they are not only someone to watch but a player right now, which Candy did. In doing so, Candy got the crowd behind her. Well executed match with a number of nice high spots. The highlight to me was Kyoko doing an overhead belly to belly suplex with both women standing on the top rope. The finishing segment was disappoint, but that was the only major downside. ***3/4
Devil Masami & Bull Nakano vs. Hikari Fukuoka & Sakie Hasegawa. Surprisingly this was supposed to be the first time Devil & Bull teamed up. The best athlete each league had from the current generation faced each leagues aging monster. Unfortunately, the aging monsters didn't seemed cut out to go nearly 30 minutes. While the match was well worked and some excellent moments and exciting stretches, it lacked fire and really anything that would make the match seem important. Too often the match just plodded along. Hikari and Sakie did some nice moves, most notably Hikari moonsaulting off Sakie's shoulders, but the monsters for the most part seemed to just be there. The success of the match was more in having wrestlers that good than in anything particular they did. **3/4
WWWA Sekai Single Senshukenjiai: Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai. This is one of those inexplicable matches where you can't imagine how things could go wrong, but they really did. Before the GAEA days, every time these two had faced each other before or after it was excellent. This match however went on forever without much of anything happening. Aja dominated the match with a lot of dull submissions and some brutal strikes. She did a good job pounding Kansai with different types of shots so she could save her urakens until the end, but there weren't enough strikes or other high impact spots until that point to keep the quality up. Kansai wasn't on top of her game today. It seemed like she was having problems working with someone so big, although I can't figure why since she'd had no problem with Devil or Aja in the past. In any case, here you never got the sense that they knew where their opponent was going to be, so they were more tentative and deliberate than you'd expect. Wasn't a totally dead match, but didn't have anywhere near the heat and urgency you'd expect from JWP's top star vying to become the first native outsider to win the top women's title. **1/2
*Special price two T-120's for $36 or $47 COOPs (two unique)*
Fusayo Nouchi vs. Hiromi Sugo
Tournament Matches:
Hiromi Yagi vs. Commando Bolshoi
Hikari Fukuoka vs. Candy Okutsu
Cuty Suzuki vs. Mayumi Ozaki
Dynamite Kansai vs. Devil Masami
Tournament Junkessho: Hikari Fukuoka vs. Commando Bolshoi. Bolshoi works Fukuoka's bad arm. Good work, but the match seemed very flat due to a total lack of heat. Good match.
Tournament Junkessho: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Devil Masami. Ozaki was real good, but Devil made some of the spots that required athleticism look bad.
8/21 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Tournament Kesshosen 2 Fall Count Match: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Hikari Fukuoka. Ozaki carried the match and it was really solid with strong psychology, but Fukuoka didn't play her role well as her selling wasn't that good and her comebacks were way too quick. As Bolshoi did, Ozaki attacks Hikari's bad arm. Very good match, but the finish was bad because Ozaki kicks out at 1 but the ref gives Hikari the match anyway.
Kanako Motoya vs. Yuki Miyazaki
Yasuko Kuragaki vs. Tomomi Kobayashi
Sumio Toyama & Reiko Amano vs. Tomoko Miyaguchi & Tomoko Kuzumi
Devil Masami & Hiromi Yagi & Fusayo Nouchi vs. Dynamite Kansai & Cuty Suzuki & Hiromi Sugo
Special Scramble Tag Match: Mayumi Ozaki & Hikari Fukuoka vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Candy Okutsu
JWP Junior Senshukenjiai: Candy Okutsu vs. Saburo. They were always working hard, but most of the time they weren't doing much. They didn't do anything bad per se, but it was mainly submissions and just wasn't very exciting. *1/2
JWP Nintei Musabetsukyu Oza Kettei Leagusen: Hikari Fukuoka vs. Cuty Suzuki. Started off slow, but turned into a good match in the last third. ***
Dynamite Kansai & Hiromi Yagi vs. Devil Masami & Mayumi Ozaki. Match was always solid and entertaining, but they didn't really capitilize on the Kansai vs. Ozaki rivalry or the few stories they introduced. Devil & Ozaki played heel, punking Yagi, who was the big underdog here. Yagi looked good and got over in the underdog role, getting the biggest pops of anyone when she'd do something of note. Kansai was particularly brutal with Devil, drilling her with kicks and chops. ***1/2
Kanako Motoya vs. Yuki Miyazaki. 1:50 shown.
Tomoko Kuzumi & Tomomi Kobayashi vs. Tomoko Miyaguchi & Yasuko Kuragaki. 1:49 shown.
Fusayo Nouchi & Rieko Amano vs. Bolshoi Kid & Hiromi Sugo. 3:07 shown.
8/17/95 Osaka: Ozaki vs. Hikari Fukuoka. Excellent match.
3/17/95 Hakata Starlane Street Fight: Ozaki vs. Dynamite Kansai. ****1/2 in unedited form, but this version ruins the build of the match by snipping parts out.
10/15/95 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Ozaki vs. Cuty Suzuki
11/4/95 Kawagoe: Ozaki & Cuty vs. Fukuoka & Kansai
Plus extra curricular activities such as Oz learning to ride a horse, learning to scuba dive, etc!
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Michiyoshi Ohara. Brawl. This was one of Liger's early junior vs. heavy matches, but Ohara doesn't appear to weigh much more than Liger. Ohara ripped Liger's mask. Ohara doesn't have much of a move set, but since he was mainly using heel tactics it didn't hurt this particular match too much. Good, crisp execution. Liger was on top of his game here, and he needed to be with this opponent. He's able to do a lot more with his usual opponents, but he was smart in that he kept things simple so Ohara could "excel." ***
*Special price $16 or $21.50 COOP*
NJ vs. L.A. Gym: Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Sean McCully
IWGP Junior Tag Senshukenjiai: Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka
GROUND X CROSS: Kimo vs. Yuji Nagata
Super Power vs. TEAM 2000: Scott Norton & Satoshi Kojima vs. Masahiro Chono & Don Frye
IWGP Heavykyu Senshuken: Keiji Muto vs. Manabu Nakanishi
Opening Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Tatsutoshi Goto
IWGP Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Kendo Kashin vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Osamu Kido & Takashi Iizuka
Genichiru Tenryu vs. Kensuke Sasaki
NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Naoya Ogawa vs. Shinya Hashimoto
*Special price $36 or $47 COOPs*
Tatsuo Nakano vs. Shigeo Miyato. Good match.
Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Norman Smiley. Good match.
Nobuhiko Takada vs. Akira Maeda. Excellent match.
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Masahito Kakihara
Kazuo Yamazaki & Tatsuo Nakano vs. Yoji Anjo & Yuko Miyato
Nobuhiko Takada vs. Tom Burton
Standing Bout: Makoto Ohe vs. J. Arlano. Good action. Arlano did better in round one. 2R 1:32
Tatsuo Nakano vs. Yuko Miyato. Their UWF matches seemed much longer, but this developed slowly as always. In a way that was good because the last few minutes were exciting, and you didn't have to wait forever to get to them. As a whole, the standup was good, but the mat was a bit dull. 9:41. **
Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Billy Scott. Exciting, dramatic, and smartly worked. Just vintage Yamazaki. They really fought with each other instead of the usual just go with the move offering no resistance. You'd think someone might have noticed how into this the fans were. 12:39. ***1/2
Nobuhiko Takada & Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yoji Anjo & Jim Boss. Great in points, but nothing special in others. Should have been much better than it was, but since they had so few workers and only got 25 minutes out of the undercard, this had to go on forever. In the first half they pretty much conserved the points then went through them in the 2nd half. 31:02. ***
Standing Bout: Makoto Ohe vs. Marb Winon (sp?)
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yuko Miyato
Gary Albright vs. Yoji Anjo
Nobuhiko Takada & Billy Scott vs. Kazuo Yamazaki & Tatsuo Nakano
Hiromitsu Kanehara vs. Masakazu Maeda. Kanehara is so underrated as a worker. Even with minimal experience, he carried a no experience rookie that never amounted to anything to a good match. Even match that was pretty good in all aspects. Kanehara controlled the mat, but Maeda had some long stretches of throwing all his strikes at Kanehara. Overall, it was more of a technical match, but Kanehara is a good striker too. His strikes were crisper and more precise than Maeda's even though striking was supposed to be Maeda's advantage. Kanehara did a handful of suplexes including an overhead bodylock. 15:00. **1/2
Standing Bout: Makoto Ohe vs. Bins Rose. Adequate. 2:52 of R2.
Masahito Kakihara vs. Jim Bose. Short but exciting bout that was almost all standup. Lots of knockdowns. Bose got a bloody nose. 4:03. **3/4
Yuko Miyato vs. Tom Burton. Even match. Burton clinched and use his size and strength to throw Miyato around or apply a submission. 7:50. **
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Gary Albright. Tamura did his job very well, but that was limited to making Albright look good. He made a lot of nice counters to gain control, but Albright was just too big for him to sustain an advantage. Tamura couldn't move Gary, who kept throwing him around and limited his offense to just above nil. 5:25. **1/4
Yoji Anjo vs. Bob Backlund. Anjo carried this and Backlund was okay. Backlund was better in UWF than UWF-I because the style kept progressing and leaving him behind. His wrestling was less credible due to these changes, and his world's silliest expressions didn't exactly add to his believability. That said, if he'd done this style full time during his formative years I have no doubt he'd have been very good. 11:25. **
Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Tatsuo Nakano. One of those UWF-I matches that was way ahead of its time, but didn't alter their style for the better like it should have. Cautious, strategic, more realistic match. It wasn't typical UWF-I where one wouldn't fear the consequences of throwing a kick. Yamazaki would try to sneak them in like a real shoot, but he'd still fail often. Yamazaki would basically kick, though hardly continuously, until Nakano caught his leg and took him down similar to the typical kickboxer vs. wrestler shoots. 13:23. ***1/4
Kakutogi Sekaiichi Ketteisen 3 Min 10R: Billy Scott vs. James Warring. One of the most boring and monotonous fights, ever! Scott took strikes all night looking for an opening to shoot that apparently never presented itself. That might be okay if Warring landed any good strikes, but basically Scott kept his hands up and Warring just threw occassional pawing punches. Once in a while he did connect with a decent low kick. The fans were booing after the 4th round. It seemed like Warring wasn't cooperating the way Scott expected because Scott didn't shoot until the 5th round, and after Warring grabbed the ropes to prevent the takedown, Scott seemed pissed in his future attempts. His second takedown attempt was a bodylock, but he just rammed him into the corner. I think Scott supposedly "shot" on Warring in this match, but it seemed like it was in a worked way to get Warring to open up rather than trying to do serious damage. Like, he'd refuse to release the submission when Warring grabbed the ropes, but he wasn't really choking him out and he wasn't doing it for heel heat since he was the face. It did seem like he took some cheap shots in the last few round when Warring grabbed the ropes, but really nothing that might injure Warring so it could have been part of the plan. Warring was a big problem, but Scott really sucked at takedowns too. He kept going high, so he was his own worst enemy driving Warring toward the ropes, which is where he wanted to be anyway. Finally Scott scooped Warring on his shoulders, but Warring grabbed the ropes before he could slam him, so Scott dumped him over the top. I suppose you could blame the rules for ruining the match, but I blame the competitors because I've seen these mixed matches with the rope breaks be damn good. It's smart for the kickboxer to grab the ropes to avoid the takedown, but in a work you want to mix strategy with action. Here, we just got 100 rope breaks. 10R. DUD
Kakutogi Sekaiichi Ketteisen 3 Min 10R: Nobuhiko Takada vs. Trevor Berbick. This wasn't intended to be comedy, but I can't think of many funnier matches. Berbick just had no idea what he was getting himself into and came off as one of the great wusses of all-time. Takada started with a low kick and Berbick complained it was below the belt. Takada threw another and Berbick stopped fighting altogether, complaining to everyone. Apparently, he thought this was like that crummy American kickboxing where there's no kicking below the waste. The thing is the match was a work and while Takada threw good kicks, he didn't come out throwing kicks that were noticably harder than the ones he regularly uses on his pals that weigh 70 pounds less than Trevor. In fact, I never saw a kick that convinced me Takada shot on Berbick in the traditional sense. Takada definitely didn't follow their agreement unless for some reason there was none to follow. In any case, Takada kept throwing low kicks because they were really rattling Berbick, who was totally clueless to why the ref wasn't warning Takada or deducting points for these "illegal" tactics. Berbick told Takada "no more" and pointed to his knee, but Takada kicked it again and again anyway. Finally, Takada kicked Berbick in the knee when he was in the corner and Berbick said, "What the fuck is this? What the fuck is this?" and hoped out of the ring never to return. Outside, he swore up a storm claiming Takada changed the rules. I don't know how to rate this, but it gets huge marks for perverse entertainment. 2:52
*Special price two T-120's for $30 or $35.50/41 COOP (one unique)*
Standing Bout: Makoto Ohe vs. Fernando Carlos
Hiromitsu Kanehara vs. Yoshihiro Takayama
Masahito Kakihara vs. Yuko Miyato
Yoji Anjo & Mark Flemming vs. Tatsuo Nakano & Tom Burton
Nobuhiko Takada vs. Steve Cox
Kazuo Yamazaki & Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Gary Albright & Mark Silver
Bad News Allen vs. Takayama. Bad News carried the match, and it wasn't terrible, but it was very one-sided and basic.
Jean Lydick & Tom Burton vs. Kakihara & Anjo. Good match with rivals Kakihara & Lydick tearing it up. Lydick was really good here.
Yuko Miyato vs. Kazuo Yamazaki. Very good match. Work was really good, and the match was very exciting because there were a ton of near finishes.
Naoki Sano vs. Kiyoshi Tamura. Very good match. Highly technical and extremely solid.
Tatsuo Nakano vs. Super Vader. Really heated match, with the fans fully behind the underdog native Nakano. Basically a squash, but that type of win was the perfect way to get their new monster, Vader, over huge.
Gary Albright vs. Dennis Koslowski. Decent match with Koslowski dominating the mat, and trying his best to avoid Gary's killer suplexes. Good psychology and a good job of getting Gary's suplexes over as lethal.
Dan Severn vs. Nobuhiko Takada. Severn was pretty clueless, but it was interesting to watch Takada struggle to figure out what he could do with him. He gave Severn openings, but Severn didn't take them. Not too dramatic and well below Takada's usual standard.
Tatsuo Nakano vs. Kenichi Yamamoto
Thomas Burton vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara
Yoshihiro Takayama vs. James Stone
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Yoji Anjo
Billy Scott vs. Yuko Miyato
Gene Lydick vs. Yuko Miyato
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Masahito Kakihara
Nobuhiko Takada vs. Kazuo Yamazaki
Hiromitsu Kanehara vs. James Stone. Stone was greatly overexaggerating his selling of strikes, as usual. Very good match when it was on the mat, which is where it was after the first minute. Kanehara made a few great moves, but it was just too short. *3/4
Masahito Kakihara vs. Billy Jack Scott. Theme match where they agreed not to strike. This sounds like a waste of Kakihara, but there was some really fine and more modern (i.e. Tamura) matwork. Perpetual motion with constant countering early then slowing down some when they started hooking submissions. ***1/4
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Koki Kitahara. Even though it's similar to what he regularly does in pro style, Kitahara was a little out of his element because he's not used to doing it shoot style. I though he would strike more to make up for it, but I'm not sure he struck as much as usual. Sakuraba controlled most of the match, and was definitely the better of the two. Enough talent in the ring to make it good, but I'm sure they could do a lot better if Kitahara did this style regularly. **1/2
Yuhi Sano vs. 200% Machine. Nothing much happened. 200% was somewhere in between Greco Roman and shooting, and very methodical at both. *
Nobuhiko Takada vs. Arashi. Takada is so patient that it makes him seem all the more explosive when he unleashes his strikes. Arashi doesn't have the right approach much less the talent, but this turned into an exciting match even though it wasn't the most believable. Takada had a good idea turning Arashi's shotei into and udehishikigyakujujigatame, but it turned out clumsy. Short but Takada looked very good after the feeling out period. **
WAR Nintei Sekai 6 Man Tag Senshukenjiai: Yoji Anjo & Yoshihiro Takayama & Kenichi Yamamoto vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado & Gedo. Very stiff pro-wrestling with lots of double teaming from Fuyuki's team. Anjo's team beat the hell out of Fuyuki's team all match because they are the "shooters", to the point of it being a massacre. Fuyuki bled immediately and his partners soon followed. This had some comedy as well with Anjo attacking Fuyuki with an octopus, as well as some brawling like Anjo's team using the title belts outside the ring. Fuyuki's team did their usual double team spots like the stuff powerbomb off the 2nd. Generally entertaining match even though it made no sense to have this as the main event of a show that was otherwise worked shoots, and losing to guys that don't do "real" fighting killed whatever myth the UWF-I guys had left. **3/4
Highlights of matches from 6/4/95 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Shiro Koshinaki & Akitoshi Saito vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Nobutaka Araya, Lion Heart winning the International Junior Heavykyu Senshuken from Gedo, Genichiru Tenryu & Arashi vs. Koji Kitao & Big Titan
Osamu Tachikiari & Hiroshi Itakura & Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Masayoshi Motegi & Kamikaze & Fukumentaro. 3:55 shown.
Nobutaka Araya vs. Nobukazu Hirai. 3:47 shown.
BATTLE OF KT: Koki Kitahara vs. Arashi. 4:17 shown.
International Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Lion Heart vs. Ultimo Dragon. Really a tremendous performance by Dragon because he got a "match of the year" out of a guy that was sloppy and wasn't smooth. Dragon has had matches that were better worked because Jericho wasn't on the level, but what made this special is they did one cool spot after another. The crowd was really reacting to the moves, so the match was dramatic even though there wasn't any great build or selling to make the moves meaningful. This is the kind of match you can show anyone because they don't need to know any background and will almost surely be impressed by the tremendous display of athleticism. Read Review. ****1/4
Eliminators & Hector Garza vs. Mil Mascaras & Bob Backlund & Hector Garza. The legends totally dominated, doing all their famous moves. 5:10 shown.
Jado & Gedo vs. Tarzan Goto & Mr. Gannosuke. Everyone worked hard. Good heated action with a real sense of desperation. Gedo bled. ***1/4
BATTLE OF I-SHI-N: Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Michiyoshi Ohara. Dull match with a bunch of kicking and punching. *1/4
Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Shiro Koshinaka. Koshinaka did his best, but Fuyuki is still Fuyuki. Shiro bled. **1/4
REVENGE 3 minutes 10 rounds: Genichiru Tenryu vs. Koji Kitao. A big nothing. Fuyuki broke a bottle over Tenryu's head, and Tenryu put it over huge. The problem was that Kitao is god-awful and Tenryu couldn't find a way to hide that. DUD
*Special price $18 or 23.50 COOP*