ORIGINAL TAPES - ALL JAPAN WOMEN 1992-94
Miori Kamiya & Kaoru Ito & Mayumi Yamamoto vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Kazue Saito & Akemi Torisu. *1/2
Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Takako Inoue & Mariko Yoshida. **
Debbie Malenko & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Suzuka Minami & Yumiko Hotta. ***1/4
Bull Nakano & Bat Yoshinaga vs. Jungle Jack (Aja Kong & Bison Kimura). ***1/4
Heartbeat The Rival Bout '92: Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada. Read Review. ****1/2
IWA World Women's Title: Kyoko Inoue vs. Akira Hokuto. ****3/4
Miori Kamiya & Kaoru Ito vs. Etsuko Mita & Miho Nakamikawa. Far from the most basic opener, but the execution was sometimes mechanical when Nakamikawa was involved. Since it was short it was action packed and not too repetitive. Kamiya was at her best, execution well and having some impact on her strikes. Mita was solid, but her moveset was lacking compared to a few years later. Not that it was ever great, but more that she'd yet to learn how to make that fact of little relevance. *3/4
Zen Nihon Junior Senshukenjiai: Yuki Lee vs. Akemi Torisu. A real stinker. Lousy transitions, and everything else for that matter. Sometimes looked more like amaresu than puroresu, but either the only thing that saved it from being intollerably bad was they actually edited it down from 20:00 to 3:24.
Yumiko Hotta & Suzuka Minami vs. Bat Yoshinaga & Tomoko Watanabe. Fast, stiff, and well executed. Unfortunately, it was considerably one-sided and had an awkward early ending. Watanabe actually tried la magistral with Suzuka standing, which was all kinds of awkward. **1/2
Akira Hokuto vs. Takako Inoue. Hokuto took it to Takako right away, seeming determined to make this worthwhile. She looked great, and it was a very good match when she was on offense. What really stood out about her offense is how nasty the moves were, particularly destroying Takako's neck with piledriver and suplex variations. The match really couldn't be competitive, but was hurt more by Takako not being able to get some of her moves off quick enough. She looked less experienced than she actually was. **1/2
Kazue Saito retirement ceremony
Zen Nihon Tag Senshukenjiai: Sakie Hasegawa & Debbie Malenko vs. Mima Shimoda & Mariko Yoshida. Considering who was involved, this match was unimaginably bad. It's still hard for me to believe that I'd be describing it as a comedy of errors, especially since the Marinepiad match less than a month later that should be worse given Takako instead of Shimoda was instead very good. Shimoda & Yoshida had just returned from Mexico and wanted to show off some of the stuff they picked up, but Malenko admitted not understanding Lucha in her pre match interview and Hasegawa was in the same boat. That only scratches the surface on the problems here though. It's one thing for a match to have no concept of what it wants to be and keep switching styles randomly, but another to do so because all the undercard matches were uncharacteristically short so something had to kill 25 minutes. The match had it's moments, but there were far more when they were on different pages or just simply screwing up what they were trying. Malenko looked good on the mat. Yoshida sometimes looked good doing Lucha, with a cool spot where she somersaulted over the opponents double elbow. These two didn't get help in other areas, and Malenko was more a detriment in some of those than a help on the mat. Shimoda was way off, losing her balance when she try to climb the ropes. DUD
Kyoko Inoue vs. Bull Nakano. These two had special matches in '95 when Bull's body was in terrible shape, but Kyoko's status had increased tremendously. Bull delivered everything you'd expect from her, beating Kyoko fiercely as this was a Kyoko is very overmatched but has great heart scenario. Kyoko was disappointing though. Not only was she using way too many submissions, especially since she has no submission finisher and Bull never submits, but she was trying to put Bull in onces that Bull isn't meant to take like a ceiling hold. I wouldn't buy Bull submitting, but at least if it looked like Kyoko was hurting her or coming close...Too much talent for it not to be good, but it took way to long to get going having the look of a draw and Bull didn't bump well. Bull using like 20 lariats wasn't a plus either. **1/2
2/3 Falls WWWA Sekai Tag & UWA Sekai Joshi Tag Title Match: Aja Kong & Bison Kimura vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota. Excellent wrestler going at it for 35 minutes. Three strong falls, all fairly even in time for once, but no dramatic arch in any. No specific style here. They are diverse enough to pull off doing a little of everything, but it would have been better if they gave you something to get into beyond consistently good wrestling. It was never dull since the submissions were still useless but interspersed, but it was never great either. Bison carried her team and the match for that matter. Toyota was the spark plug, but I still enjoyed it more when Yamada was against Bison because their similar styles mesh very well. Obviously with Yamada, Bison, & Aja it was stiff. What separated Aja's offense from the other two is she did a bunch of brutal suplexes and bombs rather than mainly relying on the strikes for impact. Yamada & Toyota win WWWA tag. ****
*1992 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Best Major Wrestling Card Winner*
Yumiko Hotta & Suzuka Minami & Mima Shimoda vs. Miori Kamiya & Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe. Short fast-paced spot intensive match. Suzuka & Hotta looked really good. Their execution was crisp, but the others often didn't have enough on their spots and the basic wrestling of the younger wrestlers wasn't all that great. **1/4
Shootboxing: Bat Yoshinaga vs. Akemi Torisu. This was the style you'd see in a toughman contest. The technique was poor, but it had a ton of action as they were both bangers with poor defense. Torisu was incredibly active, but she almost never kicked and her punches were swooping roundhouses. Bat's strikes looked much better and did more damage, but her defense was lame.
AJ Tag Titles: Debbie Malenko & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Takako Inoue & Mariko Yoshida. These four were still learning, but they worked their asses off. It was a solid match with a hot final third. The problem was they, Sakie in particular, missed some spots. Yoshida and Malenko were the two best and they worked well together. Mat work needed to be more focused. Takako & Yoshida win titles. ***3/4
IWA World Women's Title: Kyoko Inoue vs. Manami Toyota. This is a great match due to the work and high spots. Last 5 minutes are particularly excellent with Toyota going a tope, a plancha, and a super quebrada in succession. Unfortunately, Toyota's comebacks made Super Koji's look good. Toyota wins title. ****3/4
All Pacific Title: Bison Kimura vs. Toshiyo Yamada. They worked the typical Bison style match with her carrying. It was a solid match with pretty much everything done looking good, but it was fairly traditional with few chances taken. A good match, mainly built around Bison's blazing chops, but the action failed to get hot and the crowd never really got into it. ***1/4
WWWA World Singles Title: Bull Nakano vs. Aja Kong. An excellent battle of the monsters. These two did some great moves for their size, including Bull doing a rolling guillotine leg drop and a moonsault and Aja doing a plancha, but what made this great is they knew how and when to use them. Bull carried this match and had a great performance as Aja wasn't all that great at this point. I don't want to make this sound like a high spot match because it was the typical brutal match from these two, complete with double juice. ****1/2
Zen Nihon Junior Oza Ketteisen: Saemi Numata vs. Akemi Torisu. Basic nothing rookie match. Neither of these two were worth anything in their prime, much less here. 1:33 of 6:54
Kaoru Ito vs. Miori Kamiya. Looked like a pretty good match, but all we got were the spots at the end. Based on that, it had some of the best effort of the night.
Suzuka Minami & Mima Shimoda vs. Bat Yoshinaga & Tomoko Watanabe. Appeared to be alright at best. Shimoda relied on her athleticism, but she was far less smooth then in later years when she wisely spotted those moves and focused on things she did better. Bat was pretty useless since she didn't kick. 3:43 of 13:36
Zen Nihon Senshukenjiai: Takako Inoue vs. Mariko Yoshida. If ever there was a match where there was too much effort, this was it. They acted like it was the biggest match of their lives, in total desperation for the duration. This produced a lot of good near finishes, but on the other hand they were too hyper performing some of their moves, resulting in looseness and wasted motion. Much of the match was mat oriented with Yoshida working Takako's back and Takako working Yoshida's knee. Takako hurt her ankle and was hobbling around a bit, but applied a quick tape job and was good to finish. 17:16. **3/4
Debbie Malenko & Sakie Hasegawa interview
Nichipai Shinsedai Tag 5-bon Shobu Saishusen: Debbie Malenko & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Aja Kong & Bison Kimura. Kind of the equivalent of a junior vs. heavy match. Malenko & Hasegawa had the Zen Nihon tag titles, a title for the younger girls, but were trying to hang with the meanest veterans in the land. Hasegawa, who had a bad back but one wonders if that even played into it, was totally overmatched. Malenko didn't fair well, but she wasn't completely destroyed. This was one of those medal of bravery matches where you were rewarded for simply hanging on as long as you good, surviving even in defeat. Work was fine, but there's no drama in this type of match. 22:44. **1/2
Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Yumiko Hotta & Kyoko Inoue. Yamada vs. Hotta was quite a good rivalry during the 1991-94 period, as they were the main AJW wrestlers influenced by the UWF. There stuff was closer to the quality you'd expect, with Yamada being the standout. Everyone else was good. Consistent quality, but no flashes of greatness. 18:33. ***1/4
Kaoru Ito & Chikako Hasegawa (Shiratori) vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Akemi Torisu
Yumiko Hotta & Suzuka Minami vs. Bat Yoshinaga & Miori Kamiya
Debbie Malenko & Mima Shimoda vs. Takako Inoue & Cinthia Moreno. LCO had been to Mexico, and this match was another that was helping Shimoda learn Lucha Libre. She worked almost exclusively with Moreno, who was the best in the match delivering several nice high spots that were all well executed. Malenko largely worked with Takako, doing ground work early and then their regular high spots. This was not as interesting, and had a few blown spots including what would have been the finish. Good little match with nice offense from Moreno that Shimoda took well. **3/4
Manami Toyota & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Kyoko Inoue & Mariko Yoshida
CMLL Sekai Oza Nippon ? Ketteisen: Bull Nakano vs. Toshiyo Yamada
AKIRA (Hokuto) & (Etsuko) MITA vs. Aja Kong & Bison Kimura
Bat Yoshinaga & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Saemi Numata & Akemi Torisu. 1/2*
Suzuka Minami & Rie Tamada & Cynthia Moreno vs. Yumiko Hotta & Miori Kamiya & Kaoru Ito. *1/4
Japan Grand Prix '92: Mariko Yoshida vs. Sakie Hasegawa. ***3/4
Japan Grand Prix '92: Aja Kong vs. Bison Kimura. Brutal match. Read Review. ****1/2
Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue vs. Bull Nakano & Akira Hokuto. ****
Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada. The actual wrestling is better than in their more famous hair match. *****
Kaoru Ito & Cynthia Moreno vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Saemi Numata
Mima Shimoda vs. Takako Inoue
Sakie Hasegawa vs. Debbie Malenko
AJ Title: Mariko Yoshida vs. Etsuko Mita
Aja Kong & Miori Kamiya & Terri Power vs. Bull Nakano & Yumiko Hotta & Suzuka Minami
WWWA Tag Titles: Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota vs. Akira Hokuto & Kyoko Inoue ****
Tomoko Watanabe & Akemi Torisu vs. Saemi Numata & Chikako Hasegawa
Mima Shimoda & Cinthia Moreno vs. Miori Kamiya & Kaoru Ito
Terry Power & Debbie Malenko vs. Suzuka Minami & Yumiko Hotta
Japan Grand Prix '92 Blue Zone Koshiki Leaguesen: Kyoko Inoue vs. Mariko Yoshida
Handicap Match: Bull Nakano & Etsuko Mita vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Takako Inoue & Sakie Hasegawa
Japan Grand Prix '92 Red Zone Koshiki Leaguesen: Manami Toyota vs. Aja Kong
Rie Tamada & The Goddess Chikako Hasegawa vs. Saemi Numata & Akemi Torisu. A glorified rookie style tag match. Tamada was the best of the 4, but no one did anything to make you think they'd turn into a great wrestler. *
Terri Power & Miori Kamiya vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Watanabe. This is when Power & Kamiya were members of Jungle Jack. They made short work of their opponents. Watanabe was actually the best of the 4 despite her team getting dominated. Power misses one of the most debacled pescados in history. *1/4
Bat Yoshinaga vs. Kaoru Ito. Ito showed a lot of potential here as she out toughed the tough woman Bat en route to the upset win. For the most part this was a stiff match, but some spots didn't have enough on them. **
Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue & Mariko Yoshida vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda & Cynthia Moreno. They expected nice high spots and strong work. Mita's team played heel, so that added a dimension. Basically everyone did their spots and got out. Kyoko was the best of the 6. ***
Fuji Television Tag Tournament Mid Summer Typhoon'92 Final: Bull & Aja vs. Akira Hokuto & Toshiyo Yamada. This match had an excellent story. Long time rivals Bull & Aja finally form a tag team, but its the Hokuto & Yamada team that doesn't get along, as heel Hokuto didn't want to team with face Yamada. Hokuto actually attacks her partner during the pre-match interview. The dissention continues throughout the match, predominantly build around Yamada trying to stop Hokuto from using her bokken (wooden kendo sword). This wouldn't have been all that good in America because these kind of dissention angles are so overdone, but in Japan they are rare and unlike most of the American matches, this had the work to back it up. ****1/4
Manami Toyota vs. Yamada. IWA Title Hair vs. Hair match: Toyota vs. Yamada. You had two "best friends" and partners battling it out for the title and their hair. Incredible match with great emotion, drama, heat, and intensity. Started out fast, but no one could get the advantage then slowed, but picked up at the 10 minute mark for nearly 10 minutes of great near falls before Toyota Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplexed Yamada to retain her hair and the title. Great post match with Toyota cutting some of her own hair instead of Yamada's. She had to be restrained by the other wrestlers from breaking up the hair cut, but the teary eyed Toyota got free a few times to temporarily postpone it. Toyota & Yamada hugged after the shaving to a big pop and then a Yamada chant erupted. One of the best women's singles matches of all-time. My only gripe is that the execution could have a bit crisper. The amazing thing about this match is that it came right after Yamada had worked a great tag match, although and most everything else really pales in comparison to this. *****
Cynthia Moreno vs Etsuko Mita
Miori Kamiya vs Mima Shimoda
Yumiko Hotta & Suzuka Minami vs Bat Yoshinaga & Tomoko Watanabe
Takako Inoue vs Kaoru Ito
Tag League The Best '92 Koshikisen: Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Sakie Hasegawa & Debbie Malenko
Special Tag Match: Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue vs Bull Nakano & Akira Hokuto
Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Miori Kamiya & The Goddess Chikako Hasegawa. *3/4
AJ Single Title: Tomoko Watanabe vs. Kaoru Ito. Ito wins title. ***
Tag League The Best '92: Takako Inoue & Terri Power vs. Suzuka Minami & Yumiko Hotta. **
All Pacific Title: Kyoko Inoue vs. Akira Hokuto. Hokuto wins title. ****1/2
Bison Kimura retirement ceremony
WWWA World Martial Arts Title: Bat Yoshinaga vs. Kyoko Kamikaze
Sakie Hasegawa & Debbie Malenko vs. Erika Tsuchiya & Yoshika Maedomari (FMW team). *1/2
WWWA World Single Title: Bull Nakano vs. Aja Kong. Aja wins title. ***3/4
2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Titles: Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki (JWP team). Probably the best women's tag match ever. Read Review 14:38, 1:44, 24:00. *****
*Special price one T-120 & one T-160 for $38 or $43.50 or $49 with replica package (there is only one unique package)*
Miori Kamiya & Kaoru Ito & Chikako Hasegawa vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda & Saemi Numata
Tomezo Tsunokake vs. Mr. Buddhaman
Bull Nakano & Terri Power vs. Yumiko Hotta & Suzuka Minami
Zen Nihon Tag Senshuken Oza Ketteisen: Debbie Malenko & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Bat Yoshinaga & Tomoko Watanabe
All Pacific Senshukenjiai: Akira Hokuto vs. Takako Inoue
Tag League The Best '92 Yushoketteisen: Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota vs. Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue
*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
Saemi Numata vs. Masami Watanabe
WWWA World Midget Championship: Little Frankie vs. Mr. Buddhaman
Suzuka Minami & Mima Shimoda vs. Terri Power & Kaoru Ito. Ito was a better wrestler in '93 than I previously realized. She lacked the brutality of her later years, but more than made up for it with fire and energy to go along with her crisp execution. She worked the majority of the match, allowing it to be as good as it could be by not giving the barbarian the opportunity to screw things up too much. Suzuka & Shimoda both worked well with Ito. ***
Miori Kamiya (Cooga) retirement ceremony
Sakie Hasegawa vs. Tomoko Watanabe. Good.
Manami Toyota vs. Takako Inoue. Very good.
Yumiko Hotta & Bat Yoshinaga vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Etsuko Mita. Good.
WWWA World Singles Championship: Aja Kong vs. Kyoko Inoue. Excellent.
*Special price $23 or $28.50 COOP*
This show is just an incredible show. An absolute must see. One of the three best shows in the history of wrestling, perhaps the best ever!
Plum Mariko & Hikari Fukuoka (JWP team) vs. Sakie Hasegawa & Kaoru Ito ****1/4
Terri Power & Saemi Numata vs. Shark Tsuchiya & Crusher Maedomari (FMW team) 1/4*
Mima Shimoda & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Infernal Kaoru & Ultima Tigrita (EMLL) ***1/2
Suzuka Minami & Etsuko Mita vs. Rumi Kazama & Miki Handa (LLPW) ***3/4
WWWA Martial Arts Title: Bat Yoshinaga vs. Susan Howard
Memorial Superfight: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Devil Masami ****
Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue vs. Mayumi Ozaki & Cuty Suzuki (JWP team) ****3/4
Aja Kong & Bull Nakano vs. Eagle Sawai & Harley Saito (LLPW team) ****
Yumiko Hotta vs. Dynamite Kansai (JWP team) ****
Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori (LLPW) Must see. Arguably the best women's singles match ever and the best example of a wrestler making a match an all-time classic on their own. Read Review 30:27. *****
Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota vs. Combat Toyoda & Megumi Kudo ****
*Special price one T-120 and two T-160's for $55 or $71.50 COOPs (3 unique)*
I could write just about the same heading for this show as I did DREAMSLAM 1. Again, a must see show that's one of the three best shows ever!
Sakie Hasegawa vs. Hikari Fukuoka (JWP). ***1/2
Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe & Saemi Numata vs. Utako Hozumi & Leo Kitamura & Mikiko Futagami (LLPW team). **1/2
Terri Power & Bat Yoshinaga vs. Rumi Kazami & Miki Handa (LLPW team). **
Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Combat Toyoda & Megumi Kudo (FMW team). ****
Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue & Yumiko Hotta vs. Cuty Suzuki & Plum Mariko & Bolshoi Kid (JWP team). This is the classic match where Hotta punts The Damn Clown. ****1/4
Suzuka Minami vs. Harley Saito (LLPW). ****1/4
Memorial Superfight: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Bull Nakano. ***
Aja Kong & Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori & Eagle Sawai (LLPW team). Read Review 20:43. ***3/4
2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Championship: Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki. 1993 Observer Match of the Year. Read Review 0:12, 14:55, 16:04. *****
*Special price two T-160's for $40 or $45.50/51 COOPs (one unique)*
*two tapes*
Saemi Numata & The Goddess Chikako Hasegawa vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Masami Watanabe
Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue & Bat Yoshinaga vs. Suzuka Minami & Mima Shimoda & Bat Yoshinaga. Very good all action match.
JGP'93 Blue Zone bout: Hikari Fukuoka (JWP) vs. Kaoru Ito. Good match. Should have been very good, but they booked it to go almost 24 min, which was too long for those two, especially because they had barely ever worked together, at that point in time.
JGP'93 Red Zone bout: Etsuko Mita vs. Harley Saito (LLPW). These two went all out. Lots of near falls. Probably if they were familiar with each other this would have been great. Still, considering it was their first singles match and this wasn't a major show, you have to be happy with very good.
JGP '93 Red Zone: Akira Hokuto vs. Toshiyo Yamada. Very good.
5/4/93
JGP '93 Red Zone Harley vs. Watanabe. Digest
JGP '93 Blue Zone: Toyota vs. Hotta. Digest
Bull Nakano & Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota & Kyoko Inoue
* I have one 1st Gen SP set available on two T-120's for $30*
*two tapes*
Mima Shimoda & Masami Watanabe vs. Tomoko Watanabe & The Goddess Chikako Hasegawa
JGP '93 Blue Zone: Kyoko Inoue vs. Saemi Numata
JGP '93 Red Zone: Suzuka Minami vs. Etsuko Mita. Good.
Aja Kong & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Bull Nakano & Kaoru Ito. Good.
JGP '93 Red Zone: Takako Inoue vs. Harley Saito (LLPW). Harley injured her back during the match, but ironically that's when it got really good as Takako kept it from hurting the match by attacking the back until Harley was ready to come back. This was a really long dramatic match with tons of near falls. The crowd was really hot, wondering if it was going the distance, or if one of the plethora of big moves would finally put someone away. Excellent match.
Yumiko Hotta & Manami Toyota vs. Akira Hokuto & Toshiyo Yamada. Really stiff. Very good.
* I have one 1st Gen SP sets available on two T-120's for $30*
Japan Grand Prix '93 Red Zone Koshikisen: Toshiyo Yamada vs. Suzuka Minami. Well paced and structured with diversity and good selling. Both women worked over the knee - Yamada because her kicks could exploit it and Suzuka to stop Yamada from doing just that. They would do a few spots then go back to the knee, so it didn't get "dull". Somewhat telegraphed, but overall a solid match with good execution. Suzuka got a bloody mouth. ***1/4
Akira Hokuto & Kyoko Inoue vs. Aja Kong & Bull Nakano. Even though she was phased down at this point, Bull was a real powerhouse in the ring. The problem with this team is neither Aja nor Bull sell much, with Bull always liking to come out on top 1 on 2. Basically Hokuto & Kyoko were going to get just enough to stay in the match. Bull dominated Kyoko with Aja continuing this, resulting in Kyoko being in the ring largely getting pounded on for the 1st 6 1/2 minutes. Although she was cleaning house, Bull missed or was outquicked enough to keep it exciting. Kyoko's athletic high energy style is the perfect compliment to what Bull (and Aja) were doing here. Hokuto kind of took the night off, but Bull was so good carrying the match and Kyoko such a good opponent for her that it didn't make much difference. Very well worked and executed match that was both stiff and dynamic. Might have been excellent if the ending was developed more. ***1/2
Japan Grand Prix '93 Blue Zone Koshikisen: Manami Toyota vs. Hikari Fukuoka. Typical Toyota starting fast, meandering on the mat although at least they were selling the holds, and picking up with the flying. There was a ggood segment in there where they tried to get the dropkicks and such doing, but through various backfires showed it was premature and they needed to go back to the mat. Hikari did a good job keeping up with Toyota. Where the match was very much inferior to the previous two is in the early portioning and structuring. While the others were worked to make you think the misses, counters, and lead changes were important, this one had you waiting around for it to pick up. Once it picked up it was obviously the most spectacular, with one flying move after another at the end. Above the usual sloppiness, there were some problems stemming from not working with each other before. Hikari overshot her plancha enough to hit her head on the floor. Hikari had no chance of winning, but she might have gained something matching some of Toyota's spots and surviving a barrage of moonsaults and bridging suplexes. ***1/4
2/3 Falls WWWA Sekai Tag Senshukenjiai: Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue. This match was more about punking your opponents and letting them know about it than how they were going about it. Lots of attitude. Also lots of weardown, but the personalities and rivalries kept it interesting. Ozaki did so many little things to make the match good. For instance, when Takako made one move and tagged after she'd been beat on from the start, Ozaki got up off her knee real quick and started backpedalling. This not only showed a different level of respect for Hotta than for Takako, but that she was going out of her way to avoid taking Hotta's feared kicks. The JWP team was pretty dominant here because it was their two top wrestlers against mid level AJW stars. It looked bad for AJW when Hotta went down in the 1st fall because she was overpowered by JWP's asskicker Kansai. The 2nd fall finish wasn't too convincing. Takako had a bad back, which they worked over a good deal in the 3rd fall. Ozaki ripped Takako's back support off and started whipping her with it then Kansai came in and laid in the kicks. Hotta's kicks were hit and miss again. She gave Ozaki a nasty lump above her left eye that would have resulted in an immediate stoppage if this was real. Ozaki kept going for the rest of the 60 minutes though, with the injury putting her more in her familiar underdog to the mean big girls role rather than the outsider heel role she began the match with. This was more a match that was consistently good over a very long period of time than one that had some really hot periods. It did build up pretty well though and picke up a lot in the third fall, especially with them battling to get the final pin before the 60:00 time limit expired. The pacing was successful because they had the energy for the last 10-15 minutes, and the crowd was hot for this portion. ****
Saemi Numata vs. Masami Watanabe (ASARI)
Little Frankie vs. Tomezo Tsunokake
Mima Shimoda vs. Chikako Hasegawa
Suzuka Minami & Etsuko Mita vs. Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe
Japan Grand Prix '93 Red Zone Koshikisen: Toshiyo Yamada vs. Sakie Hasegawa
Japan Grand Prix '93 Blue Zone Koshikisen: Kyoko Inoue vs. Hikari Fukuoka
Zenjo vs. LLPW: Akira Hokuto vs. Yasha Kurenai
Yumiko Hotta & Manami Toyota & Takako Inoue vs. Aja Kong & Bull Nakano & Bat Yoshinaga
Mr. Buddhaman vs. Tomezo Tsunokake
Kaoru Ito & Saemi Numata vs. Infernal KAORU & Masami Watanabe
7/2/93 JGP Digest
Yamada vs. Takako
Hikari vs. Bat
Takako vs. Harley
7/4
JGP '93 Blue Zone: Kyoko vs. Bat. Bat was not only more competitive than I expected, but she scored the upset. Good match.
JGP '93 Red Zone: Akira Hokuto vs. Suzuka Minami. Very good.
Manami Toyota & Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Aja Kong & Bull Nakano & Kaoru Ito. Very good.
JGP '93 Blue Zone: Yumiko Hotta vs. Hikari Fukuoka (JWP)
JGP '93 Red Zone: Toshiyo Yamada vs. Harley Saito (LLPW). Very stiff UWF style bout. Harley reinjures her ribs here, and this time it takes the match down. Good.
* I have one 1st Gen SP set available on two T-120's for $30*
*2 tapes*
Buddhaman vs. Tsunokake. DUD
Handicap Match: The Goddess Shiratori & ASARI vs. Watanabe. Watanabe dominated both opponents. Her work was pretty good, but the other two weren't very good and their offense was basic. *
Shimoda & Numacchi vs. Minami & Mita. Mima & Suzuka were very good and worked really well together. "Numacchi in the middle" was funny. ***
Bull vs. Bat. Surprisingly good. Bull sold for most of the first 11 ½ minutes, which gave Bat credibility. Bull did a vicious powerbomb where she drops Bat almost like a Tiger Driver '91. ***
Japan Grand Prix '93 Semifinal: Toyota vs. Hokuto. Great match, of course, with super work and great build. Heated and intense as hell. Hokuto carried the match, instilling her top notch drama and psychology. Hokuto was working with a blown out knee, so Toyota attacked it fiercely, and Hokuto sold the knee incredibly well. ****1/2
Japan Grand Prix'93 Semifinal: Hotta vs. Harley Saito. Both women kicked the hell out of each other. Lots of mirror spots. Hotta didn't look good here. **3/4
Aja & Infernal KAORU & Ito vs. Yamada & Kyoko & Takako. Very good and exciting match. Nice work. Aja & Yamada were the best. ***3/4
Japan Grand Prix '93 Final: Hokuto vs. Hotta. Hokuto carried the one-dimensional Hotta to a dramatic and memorable final. Hotta began her all out attack on Hokuto's bad knee with powerful kicks before the bell even rang. Hokuto's selling was excellent, making the match seem "realistic." Very strong psychology, great storyline, and excellent build to a climactic finish. Hall of Fame performance by Hokuto. Hokuto wins Japan Grand Prix '93. ****1/4.
* I have a very limed number of 1st Gen SP sets available on two T-120's for $30*
This tape is put out by Toshiba EMI, and is kind of a precurser to the Story of F tapes. It starts off with still pictures from the beginning of the promotion through the Chigusa period, goes into highlights of key matches from the early post Crush Gals comm tapes, has an introduction of the 20 current (in 1993) stars of the promotion with a highlight video and a profile, then shows highlights of a around 40 interpromotional matches from 10/17/92-8/25/93 plus some of the post match and press conference stuff that set these matches up.
*Special price $18 or $23.50 COOP*
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
Midget Korakuen Jikken (experiment) Leaguesen: Mr. Buddhaman vs. Tomezo Tsunokake
Tokubetsu Jiai: Numacchi vs. Reggie Bennett
Manami Toyota & Chaparita ASARI vs. Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe
Tag League The Best '93 Koshikisen: Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Eagle Sawai & Yasha Kurenai (LLPW team).
Tag League The Best '93 Koshikisen: Bull Nakano & Suzuka Minami vs. Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue
Tag League The Best '93 Koshikisen: Aja Kong & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Kyoko Inoue
Tomoko Watanabe vs. Candy Okutsu (JWP). **1/4
The Goddess Chikako Shiratori vs. Harley Saito (LLPW). DUD
Zen Nihon Junior Senshukenjiai: Mizuki Endo (LLPW) vs. Chaparita ASARI. ASARI wins title. **
Kyoko Inoue vs. Yukie Nabeno (FMW). *
Zen Nihon Tag Senshukenjiai: Sakie Hasegawa & Kaoru Ito vs. Yasha Kurenai & Mikiko Futagami (LLPW team). ***1/2
Bull Nakano vs. Hikari Fukuoka (JWP). ***1/4
Aja Kong vs. Eagle Sawai (LLPW). ***3/4
First Attack Saiyo (employ) Captain Fall Survival War: Akira Hokuto & Suzuka Minami & Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Dynamite Kansai & Devil Masami & Mayumi Ozaki & Plum Mariko. Similar to the 7/31/93 classic. ****3/4
All Pacific Oza Ketteisen: Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada. Yamada wins All Pacific. ****1/4
UWA Sekai Joshi Tag Senshukenjiai: Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue vs. Shinobu Kandori & Miki Handa. ***
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
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. It's not yet the great rivalry it would become, but these four are all coming into their own individually and as teams. Ito is probably the best individually at this point, but LCO have their act together and are poised for a few excellent big matches. Action packed match with strong tag wrestling, especially from LCO. ***1/2
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.
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)*
AJ Junior Title Sparkling Hussle: Candy Okutsu (JWP) vs. Rie Tamada. *1/2
Little Bigman no Arena Daiboken (big adventure): Abdullah the Kobutcher (Buddhaman) vs. Great Little Muta (Little Frankie). *
AJ Tag Titles: Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Miki Handa & Yasha Kurenai (LLPW team). ***
Space Flying Gymnastic: Chaparita ASARI vs. Hikari Fukuoka (JWP). *3/4
Professional Wrestling Bible: Suzuka Minami & The Goddess Chikako Shiratori vs. Megumi Kudo & Nurse Nakamura (FMW team). **1/4
IWA Women's Title: Manami Toyota vs. Plum Mariko (JWP). ****1/2
Amazon House: Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue vs. Eagle Sawai (LLPW) & Reggie Bennett. **1/2
JWP Tag Titles: Mayumi Ozaki & Cuty Suzuki (JWP team) vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda. Rather than tone down their heel tactics to get over as the home team, LCO emphasized them that much more. Not to be outdone, Ozaki took the action to the floor. Cuty even tried to play heel, though her efforts seemed half hearted. Things were going well early on, but they made the mistake of settling into a traditional match, which killed the intensity and just wasn't that inspiring. They saved everything for the final 7-8 minutes, which were damn good and got the crowd back. Cuty was far below the level of the other three, causing Ozaki to work the majority of the match. LCO winning the JWP tag titles was huge because they were the first outsiders to do it and they beat two of JWP's top stars. Considering their respective rankings, JWP looked really bad here. Though Ozaki is by far the best wrestler of the bunch, LCO actually looked better because Ozaki wasn't at her best trying to do too much and Cuty supplied little help. ***1/2
Demolition Woman Hot Running: Sakie Hasegawa vs. Dynamite Kansai (JWP). ***1/4
All Pacific Title Major League Derby Match: Toshiyo Yamada vs. Kyoko Inoue. Kyoko wins title. ****1/4
Dangerous Queen FINAL Countdown: Aja Kong & Bull Nakano vs. Akira Hokuto & Shinobu Kandori (LLPW). ****1/2
*Special Price 2 T-160's for $40 or $51 COOP (2 unique)*
Rie Tamada vs. Chaparita ASARI
Midget Single Match: Mr. Buddhaman vs. Tomezo Tsunokake
Suzuka Minami & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Takako Inoue & Kaoru Ito
Zen Nihon Senshukenjiai: Mima Shimoda vs. Miki Handa
Zenjo vs. LLPW: Etsuko Mita vs. Eagle Sawai
Bull Nakano & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Manami Toyota & Kyoko Inoue
Zenjo vs. LLPW: Yumiko Hotta & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Shinobu Kandori & Harley Saito
*Special price one T-180 for $23 or $28.50 COOP*
Zen Nihon Oza Kettei Tournament: Rie Tamada vs. Chaparrita ASARI. I don't know what they were thinking here. This match was so repetitive and it seemed to go on forever. Both wrestled used the same few moves over and over and over again. What made it so boring is that most of these moves you don't even want to see once. It started out with submissions like the crabs and then they moved up to dropkicks, a lifetime's worth. Just when I was relieved that it had gone the distance, they went into a 5 minute overtime. *
Mr. Buddhaman vs. Tomezo Tsunokake
Bull Nakano & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Suzuka Minami & Tomoko Watanabe. Maekawa obviously took all the punishment for her team. Watanabe nearly took her head off with possibly the stiffest lariat I've ever seen. Maekawa was given no offense, or at least none that was sold, so it was not that interesting while she was in. It was very good while Bull was in though. The final minutes were disappointing. **1/2
Aja Kong vs. Sakie Hasegawa. Sakie was a big underdog here. She got off to a quick start jumping Aja as she entered the ring and giving her a facebuster off the apron and doublearm suplex on the floor. Aja piledrove Sakie on the floor and proceeded to beat her more brutally than Aja normally does. The match was a bit sloppy, but the main problem was Sakie wasn't allowed to be competitive enough. ***
UWA & JWP Tag Senshukenjiai: Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Yumiko Hotta & Kaoru Ito. Hotta brought a good deal of intensity to the match. It started off with good brawling by Hotta & Ito, but then died with restmissions. Most of the match was LCO getting the best of Ito. They did their thing when Ito was in, so it was good even though it was one-sided. Hotta would help Ito out when she was in trouble and give her some opportunities to look good with their double teams. The match lasted almost 27 minutes, but it didn't seem nearly that long. ***1/2
Manami Toyota & Kyoko Inoue vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Takako Inoue. Toyota & Yamada vs. Kyoko & Takako probably would have been a little better, but it was interesting to see the pairs switched up. The work was excellent, but that was all they tried to deliver. It didn't have the crazy pace you might expect and there were a few blown spots including the finish. Yamada vs. Toyota was great, as was always the case at this time. Kyoko really got the crowd going with her antics. Fun match. ***3/4
Chaparrita ASARI vs. Kumiko Maekawa
Midget Puroresu: Tomezo Tsunokake vs. Mr. Buddhaman
Japan Grand Prix '94 Koshiki Leagusen: Takako Inoue vs. Suzuka Minami
Japan Grand Prix '94 Koshiki Leagusen: Yumiko Hotta vs. Toshiyo Yamada. Stiff as hell kickfest. ****1/2
Bull Nakano & Kyoko Inoue & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Aja Kong & Kaoru Ito & Rie Tamada
Japan Grand Prix '94 Koshiki Leagusen: Manami Toyota vs. Sakie Hasegawa
JWP Nintei Tag Senshukenjiai: Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Hikari Fukuoka & Candy Okutsu. LCO disrespected the up and coming JWP team to get them over as faces. They completely had their way with them for the first several minutes, getting the fans to support the road team rather than the home heels. As the match progressed the JWP team used their athleticism to make brief comebacks, though you never really believed they'd win it was a big deal for Candy to simply be in the match. The JWP team has more chemistry with wrestlers from their own league, and thus were more exciting than good. Mita was the standout here, holding the match together, covering a few mistakes, and providing a good base. Shimoda picked on Yamamoto and JWP after the match, dropping the mic at his feet and flipping him off. ***
*Special price $23 or $28.50 COOP*
Mid Summer Wrestling Academy: Suzuka Minami & Tomoko Watanabe & Chaparita ASARI & Rie Tamada vs. Hikari Fukuoka & Commando Bolshoi & Fusayo Nouchi & Hiromi Yagi (JWP team) 15:04. ***1/2
Budokan Midget Retsuden MIN: Tomezo Tsunokake vs. "Little Dangerous Queen" Hokuto Akiracito 5:42
Zenjo Fighting Glove (kickboxing): Kumiko Maekawa vs. Kyoko Kamikaze 5rd
Reggie Bennett & Kaoru Ito vs. Eagle Sawai & Carol Midori (LLPW team) 13:04
Infernal KAORU vs. Megumi Kudo (FMW) 13:43
UWA World Women's Tag Titles: Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Harley Saito & Jenn Yukari (LLPW team) 12:49. A much slower paced match than on the 7/14 show, which didn't help it. Harley was a much bigger star than Handa. Though she's also far better wrestler, LLPW's best, that fact actually hurt this match because LCO was dominating. As Harley was also a bigger star than either of them, it was largely Yukari getting beat on. Yukari once again took the match down; she was simply out of her depth and Harley had to come in and bail her out after one blown spot to keep her from embarrassing herself too badly. Mita was once again very good, and it was basically the typical solid LCO match of the time period. ***
Pure Heart Deep Panic: Takako Inoue & Cuty Suzuki (JWP) vs. Devil Masami & Candy Okutsu (JWP team) 17:15
Chigusa Nagayo (free) & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Sakie Hasegawa & Mariko Yoshida 16:08. Very good
Major League Derby Match II All Pacific & IWA Women's Title Unification Match: Kyoko Inoue vs. Manami Toyota 23:31. Great match.
Dangerous Queen Final Countdown ~4 Daikyoto (great big names) Pre-Dome Survival!~: Akira Hokuto & Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai (JWP) & Yumiko Hotta 24:39. Great match.
*Special Price two T-160's for $40 or $51 COOP (2 unique)*
7/16/94 Omiya Skate Center 5 Minute Exhibition Match: Mariko Yoshida vs. Rie Tamada. Yoshida returned after being out injured for about 21 months. Although an exhibition match, Yoshida took it very seriously and really worked up a sweat. The match was good for what it was. Nothing too difficult, but action packed and well executed.
8/24/94 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Sakie Hasegawa & Mariko Yoshida vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Toshiyo Yamada. Fans were into this from the get to, probably because of Chigusa but Yamada was the standout carrying her team. Pretty intense match with crisp execution. Hasegawa & Yoshida were both very good. ***1/2
8/28/94 Tokyo Korakuen Hall Re-Challenge 1: Mariko Yoshida vs. KAORU. Yoshida grounded KAORU after KAORU's quick start, working over her already damaged knee. Yoshida kept at the knee pretty consistently until the final minutes, with KAORU having a few lapses in selling like when she backflipped off the top rope, but generally doing a commendable job of putting it over. This is KAORU's best match because she actually bought into putting effort into the mat work rather than mailing it in until it was time for her to fly around. Of course,Yoshida did a good deal of KAORU's stuff, but the point is the match came together because they were into the portions where they were doing the other person's thing as well as their own. The problem with the match is you really never got the idea it was going to end inside 30 minutes. Then they went OT and it was inexplicably like a different match, ending in less than 2 minutes after moves that didn't seem to fit. Really a brilliant job by Yoshida though, reigning KAORU in for 30 minutes to deliver an efficient and technically excellent blend of submission and lucha. ****
8/31/94 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan 2 Re-Challenge 2: Mariko Yoshida vs. Takako Inoue. Takako did her typically unconvincing heel stuff early on. She wasn't into Yoshida's matwork. It got quite good when they started doing spots, but it took too long to get interesting considering the match itself was on the short side. **1/4
9/15/94 Tokyo Korakuen Hall Re-Challenge 3: Mariko Yoshida vs. Toshiyo Yamada. These two are very well matched with Yoshida doing her more technical style and Yamada doing her kicks. When Yoshida got into her lucha toward the end it didn't work as well. Solid technical match with Yoshida once again taking some wicked kicks. ***
9/23/94 Re-Challenge 4: Mariko Yoshida vs. Manami Toyota. Yoshida started off fighting her high speed lucha style. Unfortunately, the matwork didn't help much because Yoshida had no focus and obviously much moreso due to Toyota being disinterested. Toyota pulled out some of her excellent counters to liven up the early portion, and Yoshida started flying as well at 12:00. The fast sequences and counters were very impressive, but there wasn't enough of this. The work was good enough to get over most of the problems, but it was frustrating that Toyota didn't even allow you to feel that Yoshida had a chance of beating her. ***
10/1/94 Fukuoka Hakata Starlane Re-Challenge 5: Mariko Yoshida vs. Sakie Hasegawa. Hasegawa always wants to have a hard fought competitive match. That mentality under the ridiculous AJW 28 match a month schedule with no time to heal unless you are seriously hurt burnt her out way too soon, but made matches like this exceed matches that are better on paper like Yoshida vs. Toyota or Kyoko. So much more back and forth here with a real sense of equality. It had it's dull moments, but as a whole it was considerably more exciting than the Toyota match because the outcome was in doubt. Plus they struggled for the moves and did some really nice near falls to build the drama. Hasegawa can be a little sloppy, but this was consistently well executed. ***1/2
10/8/94 Tokyo Korakuen Hall Re-Challenge 6: Mariko Yoshida vs. Kyoko Inoue. Match got off to a mediocre start, Yoshida got a few good near falls, then Kyoko beat her with one lariat. Huge disappointment. *1/2
10/9/94 Kawasaki Shi Taiikukan: Mariko Yoshida vs. Yumiko Hotta. One of those matches where Hotta pretended she was putting her opponent over, but it was pretty obvious that she wasn't. For this one-sided loss, about all Yoshida got from Hotta was a bloody nose and mouth. *3/4
*Special price $23 or $28.50 COOP*
This tape predominatly uses match clips to chronicle the career ofone of the best wrestlers ever.
*I have a very limited quantity of additional 1st Gen SP copies of this tape that are available for $20. I also have a very limited quantity of xeroxs of the video's cover*
Kaoru Ito & Misae Watanabe & Nobue Endo vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Yuka Shiina & Kaoru Kaneyama
Midget Puroresu: Tsunokake X vs. Buda Genjin
Junior League Match: Kumiko Maekawa vs. Hiromi Yagi (JWP)
Junior League Match: Rie Tamada vs. Fusayo Nouchi (JWP)
Junior League Match: Chaparita ASARI vs. Candy Okutsu (JWP)
Suzuka Minami vs. Sakie Hasegawa
Tag League Match: Manami Toyota & Takako Inoue vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda 24:12. Everyone kind of did their own thing in this one. Toyota was in a class by herself, seeming to be working at twice the speed of the others and executing precisely. Shimoda worked best with Toyota because she's very good at taking, but didn't exactly distinguish herself on her own. Mita still seems to be the better wrestler of the two, she takes charge and instills a distinct style, which is increasingly influenced by Bison Kimura. Takako was very much outclassed, but didn't hurt the match in any way, usually getting beaten up by Mita. ***1/2
Mariko Yoshida Re-Challenge 7 Match 6: Mariko Yoshida vs. Kyoko Inoue
Tag League Match: Yumiko Hotta & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Aja Kong & Reggie Bennett
Jr League: Kumiko Maekawa vs. Fusayo Nouchi
Jr. League: Rie Tamada vs. Hiromi Yagi
Little Frankie vs. Tsunokake X
Suzuka Minami & Chaparrita ASARI vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Misae Watanabe
Bat Yoshinaga Retirement Ceremony
Mariko Yoshida Rechallenge 7: Mariko Yoshida vs. Yumiko Hotta
JWP Nintei Tag Senshukenjiai: Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Hikari Fukuoka & Commando Bolshoi
Aja Kong vs. Kaoru Ito
Sakie Hasegawa vs. Reggie Bennett
2/3 Falls WWWA Sekai Tag Senshukenjiai: Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue
This show is right up with Dreamslam 1 & 2 as the 3 best shows ever. Just incredible!
Chaparita ASARI & Bomber Hikaru (GAEA) vs. Hiromi Yagi & Hiromi Sugo (JWP team). **1/2
Midget Handicap Match: Tsunokake X vs. Great Littlemuta & Buta Genjin. 3/4*
AJ Junior Title: Candy Okutsu (JWP) vs. Rie Tamada. ***1/4
Suzuka Minami vs. KAORU (GAEA). ***1/2
Zenjyo Fighting Glove II: Kumiko Maekawa vs. Sugar Miyuki. Kickboxing
Joshi Amateur Pro Ring 1st Challenge: Kyoko Hamaguchi vs. Doris Blind. Amateur shoot.
Joshi Amateur Pro Ring 1st Challenge: Miyu Yamamoto vs. Anna Gomez. Amateur shoot.
Zenjyo vs. Shootboxing: Kaoru Ito vs. Fumiko Ishimoto. Shootboxing.
Big Heart Power Contest: Reggie Bennett vs. Chigusa Nagayo (GAEA). *1/2
Zenjyo vs. LLPW Doyume (dream which has been yearned for?) Survival War: Toshiyo Yamada & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Shinobu Kandori & Mikiko Futagami (LLPW team). ***3/4
UWA World Women's Tag Title: Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Yasha Kurenai & Michiko Nagashima (LLPW team). One reason the quality of LCO's matches is so consistent is Mita can give to anyone and Shimoda can take for anyone. The LLPW team was outclassed and didn't distinguish themselves, but LCO plugged them into their formula and got about the same positive results as usual. ***1/4
Legend of Memorial Fight: Jaguar Yokota & Bison Kimura vs. Lioness Asuka & Yumi Ogura. ****
Blizzard Yuki Debut Match: Blizzard Yuki vs. Mariko Yoshida. ***1/2
V*TOP WOMAN Nippon Senshuken (championship title) Tournament Round 1: Yumiko Hotta vs. Combat Toyoda (FMW). ****3/4
V*TOP WOMAN Nippon Senshuken (championship title) Tournament Round 1: Akira Hokuto vs. Eagle Sawai (LLPW). ***1/2
V*TOP WOMAN Nippon Senshuken Tournament Round 1: Manami Toyota vs. Aja Kong. ****3/4
V*TOP WOMAN Nippon Senshuken (championship title) Tournament Round 1: Kyoko Inoue vs. Dynamite Kansai (JWP). ****1/2
Miss Wrestling Universe Tag Summit: Takako Inoue & Cuty Suzuki (JWP) vs. Megumi Kudo (FMW) & Hikari Fukuoka (JWP). ***1/4
Michinoku Pro Doyume Lucha Tengoku (heaven): The Great Sasuke & SATO & Shiryu vs. Super Delfin & Jinsei Shinzaki & Gran Naniwa. ****1/4
V*TOP WOMAN Nippon Senshuken Tournament Semifinal: Akira Hokuto vs. Combat Toyoda. ***1/4
V*TOP WOMAN Nippon Senshuken Tournament Semifinal: Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai. ****3/4
WWF World Women's Title: Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano. Bull wins title. *1/2
V*TOP WOMAN Nippon Senshuken Tournament Final: Akira Hokuto vs. Aja Kong. ***1/4
*Special price $80 or $102 COOP (4 unique)*
Misae Watanabe vs. Kaoru Kanayama
Kumiko Maekawa & Yoko Takahashi vs. Chaparrita ASARI & Nobue Endo
Midget Puroresu: Mr. Buddhaman vs. Tomezo Tsunokake
Reggie Bennett & Rie Tamada vs. Suzuka Minami & Tomoko Watanabe
Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Mariko Yoshida & Kaoru Ito
Manami Toyota vs. Blizzard Yuki
Toshiyo Yamada & Takako Inoue vs. Lioness Asuka & Kyoko Inoue
WWWA Sekai Single Senshukenjiai: Aja Kong vs. Yumiko Hotta. Shockingly dominant performance by Aja, the beast walking over tough woman Hotta as if she were Takako. Aja exploited Hotta's weak left knee from the get go with a combination of stiffness, brawling, and submission that literally rendered her helpless. Aja's offense was essentially 95% knee, with the other 5 percent incapacitating Hotta so Aja could set up some more knee work. Ref Bob Yazawa actually reset Hotta's knee in the front row after Aja's second stint of out of the ring destruction. The focus was tremendous, and everything about Aja's offense was impressive. However, the main problem is they more or less ignored the other side of the coin, failing to credibly transition to Hotta's comebacks. What little offense Hotta had just seemed to be there because she had to have some. I enjoyed Aja's quick cutoff of Hotta's first comeback, hatcheting the knee then whipping out the tin can and demolishing it over Hotta's knee in a quest to break the challenger's spirit. At some point Aja should have slipped up though, allowing Hotta to make one credible run. The match also would have been better if Hotta's knee injury was highlighted as the reason she had trouble with her power moves so it wouldn't have seemed Aja was simply too big for Hotta to use the moves she was trying on. In the end, the match was at least as one-sided as Aja's WRESTLE MARINEPIAD '93 title defense against a near cripple Akira Hokuto, which didn't make much sense as unlike Hokuto, Hotta actually could have gone. ***