ORIGINAL TAPES - AJW ALL JAPAN WOMEN'S PRO-WRESTLING 1995-2004
Shiina & Nobue Endo (Saya) vs. Tamura & Misae Watanabe (Genki). Bad and boring AJW rookies match with no one distinguishing themselves. 1/2*
Midget Puroresu (handicap match): Mister Buddhaman vs. Little Frankie & Tomezo Tsunokake. Good for an AJW midget match with some decent wrestling, mainly by Tsunokake, and different spots. *1/4
Zen Nihon Senshuken: Ito vs. Watanabe. Very good match with solid and polished work. Both women looked deserving of a bigger push. ***1/2
Handicap Junior Trial match: Reggie Bennett vs. Rie Tamada & Maekawa & ASARI. Three separate squash matches with Bennett winning each in under 1:30. Really bad way to use the youngsters that you need to become the stars of the company a couple years down the line. DUD
Zenjo vs. Rideen Array: Lioness & Jaguar & Bison vs. Suzuka & Mita & Shimoda. Very good and heated bout. There was bad blood between the teams, especially between Mita and her idol Bison, who went at it during the opening ceremonies and pre-match introductions. Very high workrate. Cachoras team did a lot of teaming, especially on Bison who they wanted to take out. Bison gets a cut on her head when Mita piledrove her on a chair and also got a nasty bruise on her shoulder later on. ****
4/2 Tokyo Dome Shinshutssha Pasen! (advance melee) Zenjo BEST 8 Dead Heat Rumble Survival Elimination Match: Aja Kong & Toshiyo Yamada & Kyoko Inoue & Mariko Yoshida vs. Yumiko Hotta & Manami Toyota & Takako Inoue & Sakie Hasegawa. When there was a pinfall the loser was eliminated, but the winner also left the match as they now earned their spot on the Dome show. Great workrate, exciting match, and very high stakes. Takako turned on Toyota, opting to help her regular partner Kyoko instead. Hotta was also a traitor to Manami. Best action may have been the final sequence where the two lowest ranked wrestlers, Sakie and Yoshida, were battling it out for the last spot. ****1/4
*I have a limited supply of additional 1st Gen SP copies available for $20 or $25.50 COOP*
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 COOP (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. Raijintai (thunder god squad) 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. Raijintai (thunder god squad) 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 (2 unique)*
4/28/95 North Korea Mayday Stadium: Akira Hokuto & Bull Nakano vs. Manami Toyota & Mariko Yoshida. Short GAEA style match, but the work was better. They packed a lot into the time they had. It was exciting and everyone was impressive. ***3/4
4/29/95 North Korea Mayday Stadium: Akira Hokuto vs. Bull Nakano. Really good action while it lasted, mainly due to Hokuto. Bull was stiff, but she wasn't made for these kind of spot matches, especially at this point in her career. ***1/4
The rest of the tape is non-wrestling footage shot during the North Korean tour; sight seeing, dancing, etc. There's also backstage footage where we see that Hokuto needs to get 2 needles so she can withstand the pain and go out and entertain us.
*Special price $18 or $23.50 COOP*
*Special price $18 or $23.50 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)*
Akira Hokuto & Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Reggie Bennett & Mariko Yoshida & Kaoru Ito. They didn't do anything out of the ordinary except a pointless blade job by Hokuto; they are just this talented and work so well with one another. A collective match with lots of tags and several double teams. It was almost equally good no matter who was in. Yoshida was not surprisingly the best on her team and Bennett the worst, but Bennett was able to take a few surprising bumps and the only negative was she screwed up one of Hokuto's spots by guessing wrong on whether to bend over more or stand up straight. LCO worked really well together and apart is was almost a toss up between who was the best and worst. Both sides did a really good job of pulling off the moves, putting as much effort into taking them as doing them. 15:19. ***3/4
WWWA Sekai Single Senshukenjiai: Manami Toyota vs. Aja Kong. Kong got this off to a really good start giving Toyota the big staredown before the match. This baited Toyota into pushing Aja, but Aja didn't fire back, she just got right up in Toyota's face and continued the staredown as if nothing happened. Toyota might have got the last laugh though, as Aja turned to walk to her corner so they could start the match, she snuck up behind Aja and German suplexed her. Aja avoided an early missile kick and actually hit one of her own, but after this the match pretty much went downhill. All the flash in the later stages was going to be there, but what disappointed me is Aja didn't do anything to give it any substance. I was hoping she would develop something that could then be worked into the glamorous portion, but instead there was just a lot of down time early. Aja had some good moments like when Toyota tried to pick the pace up at 7 and she just smacked her down. Just before 14 the match took off, with Toyota starting to fly around then Aja giving her a wicked powerbomb. From here it was all the great moves back and forth. If that's your thing than this match was amazing. However, I just found that to be all there was, flash over substance. There was a great near fall where Aja slipped out of the corner assisted Japanese ocean cyclone suplex hold and tried a backdrop, but Toyota landed on her feet only to have Aja level her with an uraken before she could capitalize on her nice counter. There should have been more of these spots, instead of waiting until Kong was just about ready to take the title to pull one out. 22:45. ****1/4
Note: This tape shows every match in the league in digest form, but has long versions of the following six matches
7/23/95 Tokyo Korakuen Hall Leaguesen: Mima Shimoda vs. Manami Toyota. They did just about every big spot they know, and did them well. Really exciting match with great near falls, and the crowd was really into it. However, there was no psychology whatsoever and basically no selling. ****1/4
7/31/95 Tokyo Korakuen Hall Leaguesen: Mima Shimoda vs. Reggie Bennett. **
Leaguesen: Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada. Not as exciting as the Toyota vs. Shimoda match, but a smarter match due to Yamada. They were countering everything, which made perfect sense given how well these two know each other. ***3/4
Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa vs. Kumiko Maekawa & Yuka Shiina. *3/4
Aja Kong & Chaparita ASARI vs. Jaguar Yokota & Kaoru Ito. Good match, but unfortunately only 1/3 shown.
8/13/95 Tokyo Korakuen Hall Leaguesen: Manami Toyota vs. Bison Kimura. Major style clash. ***1/4
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
Rie Tamada & Yoshiko Tamura & Yumi Fukawa vs. Chaparita ASARI & Misae Watanabe & Yuka Shiina. *1/2
Kaoru Ito & Mariko Yoshida vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa ****
Yumiko Hotta & Toshiyo Yamada & Etsuko Mita vs. Jaguar Yokota & Bison Kimura & Reggie Bennett. ***1/4
Lioness Asuka vs. Bull Nakano. *
Mima Shimoda vs. Akira Hokuto ***3/4
WWWA Singles Title: Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai. Kansai wins WWWA title ****1/4
2/3 Falls WWWA Tag Titles: Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue vs. Manami Toyota & Sakie Hasegawa. Rapid pace with super workrate tons of high spots and near falls *****
*Special price two T-120's for $30 or either $35.50 or $41 COOP (one unique)*
*The last excellent top to bottom show AJW has presented*
Zenjo Up To Type II: Misae Watanabe & Naomi Kato vs. Yoshika Tamura & Yuka Shiina
Midget Puroresu Gabyo (thumbtack) Match: Tiger Jeetmezucito vs. Buddha Nakamaki Hiroshi
Vacant AJ Tag Titles: Chaparita ASARI & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa
Toshiyo Yamada & Takako Inoue & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Blizzard YUKI & Mariko Yoshida & Kaoru Ito
UWA World Women's Tag Titles: Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Jaguar Yokota & Lioness Asuka
THE DESTINY STRONGEST: Yumiko Hotta vs. Reggie Bennett
THE DESTINY BEASTY: Aja Kong vs. Bison Kimura
THE DESTINY MEGA-POWER: Kyoko Inoue vs. Bull Nakano
THE DESTINY CLIMAX: Manami Toyota vs. Akira Hokuto. *****
*Special Price two T-160's for $40 or $51 COOP (2 unique)*
Yuka Shiina & Yumi Fukawa vs. Nobue Endo & Yumi Fujimoto. Short Nothing match. 1/2*
Yoshiko Tamura & Misae Watanabe vs. Kumiko Maekawa & Chaparita ASARI. *1/4
Midget Handicap match: Tiger Jeetumen (?) Singh (Tomezo Tsunokake) vs. Mr. Buddhaman & Little Frankie. Tiger was rolled around in a dolly, hung over the Korakuen balcony, and rolled up in a gym mat so everyone could diving body press him. *
8 Women Elimination Match: Reggie Bennett & Sakie Hasegawa & Mariko Yoshida & Kaoru Ito vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda & Rie Tamada. Spot wrestling. Work wsa really strong, but eliminations came too quick. ***1/4
Japan Grand Prix '95 3rd Place Match: Takako Inoue vs. Bison Kimura. Surprisingly strong match. Takako worked over Bison's shoulder, but in an exciting way as she did things like her Takako Panic to the shoulder and turned Bison's blazing chop off the 2nd into a wakigatame. What they did was excellent, but the match was too short. ***3/4
Aja Kong Debut 10th Anniversary: Kyoko Inoue & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Aja Kong & Reggie Bennett. They tried a lot of things, but too many spots were botched. After the match they honored Aja, with some of her class of 1986 members like Miori Kamiya, Reibun Amada, & Megumi Kudo (who wasn't shown for some reason), as well as obviously Bison, showing up to present gifts.
Japan Grand Prix '95 Final: Manami Toyota vs. Yumiko Hotta. An excellent match that may be the best of Hotta's career. Pacing and implementation of the holds was excellent. Toyota's selling and comebacks were way better than normal due to Hotta, although they still could have been better. The finishing sequence was tremendous with each move looking like it would be the end if it hit. Hotta was really stiff for the most part, but some of her strikes missed or barely hit which hurt. Toyota took a hell of a beating, but eventually put Hotta away to win the JGP for the 2nd time. Emotional post match with Hotta shaking a crying Toyota's hand and basically telling her to bring the belt back to AJW (this was just after Kansai had won the red belt, and the winner of the JGP gets a title shot), which Toyota would do on 12/4/95. ****3/4
*Special price $23 or $28.50 COOP*
undercard digest
Lioness Asuka vs. Kyoko Inoue. Kyoko pins Lioness out of nowhere. Tremendous disappointment because it was over before it had a chance to become any good. This booking is puzzling to say the least, and I tend to doubt Kyoko got maximum effect out of this win. *1/4
Aja Kong vs. Takako Inoue. Takako did her spots, but none of them are dangerous enough to be a threat to put Aja away, so Takako couldn't even compete. **
Sakie Hasegawa & Kaoru Ito vs. Manami Toyota & Mariko Yoshida. 1st half was nothing special containing matwork that didn't go anywhere, bu the 2nd half had all the big moves. Some of the spots weren't as fluid as normal and the match lacked heat. The finishing sequence was really good as Sakie & Toyota really kicked it into overdrive. Toyota's moonsaults were incredibly fast. ***1/2
2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Titles: Akira Hokuto & Mima Shimoda vs. Bull Nakano & Tomoko Watanabe. I'd probably think more of this match if it was one fall because the first two falls were too short to even form an opinion on. The third fall was really good though. This also lacked heat and the matwork took the match down because it was obviously just rest holds. Hokuto & Bull, though obviously not what they once were, fired up. They always worked well together and this was no exception. Shimoda & Watanabe being much better than they were in the early days of these units helped make up for what Hokuto & Bull were lacking, but the veterans didn't hide behind them by any means. Hokuto took all the credit for the victory, snubbing her kohai by walking off with both trophies and title belts. ***1/2
Zen Nihon Junior Senshukenjiai: Yoshiko Tamura vs. Yuka Shiina
Zen Nihon Tag Senshuken Oiza Kettiesen: Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa vs. Nobue Endo & Misae Watanabe. TamaFuka wins title.
Etsuko Mita & Mari Mogami vs. Mariko Yoshida & Mina Taniyama
Zen Nihon Senshukenjiai: Tomoko Watanabe vs. Chaparita ASARI
Freedom Explosion ~RIVAL BEAT~: Kaoru Ito vs. Sakie Hasegawa
IWA Single Senshukenjiai: Reggie Bennett vs. Takako Inoue. Takako wins title.
All Pacific Senshukenjiai: Yumiko Hotta vs. Toshiyo Yamada
Trio Las Revancha
Akira Hokuto & Mima Shimoda vs. Lioness Asuka
Akira Hokuto vs. Mima Shimoda
THE HIGHEST DREAM: Kyoko Inoue vs. Aja Kong
WWWA Sekai Single Senshukenjiai: Dynamite Kansai (JWP) vs. Manami Toyota. Toyota wins title.
*Special price one T-160 & one T-120 for $38 or either $43.50 or $49 COOP (one unique)*
Yuka Shiina & Mina Taniyama vs. Nobue Endo & Misae Watanabe
Zen Nihon Junior Senshuken: Yoshiko Tamura vs. Mari Mogami
Reggie Bennett & Mima Shimoda vs. Yumiko Hotta & Etsuko Mita
Aja Kong vs. Toshiyo Yamada
Sakie Hasegawa Single Countdown 7-ban Shobu: Bison Kimura vs. Sakie Hasegawa
Captain Fall Survival War: Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue & Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa & Chaparrita ASARI vs. Manami Toyota & Mariko Yoshida & Kaoru Ito & Yumi Fukawa
1st Junior All Star Match: Chaparita ASARI & Yumi Fukawa & Yuka Shiina & Tanny Mouse vs. Kumiko Maekawa & Yoshiko Tamura & Saya Endo & Misae Genki. Highlights
Midget International 6 Man Tag Match: Ultramancito & Mascarita Magico & Mr. Buddhaman vs. Tigrecito & Espectro De Ultratroncito & Tomezo Tsunokake. Highlights
Yumiko Hotta vs. Etsuko Mita. Highlights
Toshiyo Yamada vs. Mariko Yoshida. Highlights
Manami Toyota & Kaoru Ito vs. Aja Kong & Mima Shimoda 29:46
2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Titles: Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue vs. Reggie Bennett & Tomoko Watanabe 11:31, 7:07, 12:01
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
Chihiro Nakano & Makie Numao vs. Sayori Okino & Keiko Aono
Reiko Amano vs. The Bloody Phoenix
Graduation Tournament 1st Rd: Sugar Sato vs. Aki Kanbayashi
Graduation Tournament 1st Rd: Misae Genki vs. Kyoko Ichiki
Graduation Tournament Final: Misae Genki vs. Sugar Sato
Junior Idol Fiesta: Kanako Motoya & Yumi Fukawa vs. Hiromi Yagi & Kaori Nakayama
Yuka Shiina vs. Yuki Miyazaki
Tomoko Miyaguchi vs. Saya Endo
Tomoko Kuzumi vs. Yoshiko Tamura
Chikayo Nagashima & Sonoko Kato vs. Kumiko Maekawa & Tanny Mouse. 20:00 draw
Chikayo Nagashima & Sonoko Kato & Sugar Sato vs. Kumiko Maekawa & Tanny Mouse & Misae Genki
WWWA Sekai Super Lightkyu Oza Ketteisen: Chaparrita ASARI vs. Toshie Uematsu
Chikako Shiratori & Michiko Omukai vs. Meiko Satomura & Rie Tamada
*Special price two T-160's for $40 or $45.50/51 COOP (one unique)*
All Pacific Crown Decision Tournament 1st Round: Kaoru Ito vs. Tomoko Watanabe 12:49. Probably the worst thing about Watanabe & Ito forming a team in 1997 is their matches against each other tended to be among their more impressive. This one, though shorter due to the tournament final being later in the night, was better than usual, as their matwork was purposeful then they threw all they had at each other. Ito worked Watanabe’s back early, setting up a hot comeback where Watanabe tried to get the crowd involved. The audience was initially reticent, but began to come around when Ito hit a tope but injured her knee when Watanabe avoided her diving footstomp to the floor. Watanabe attacked the knee with her Dragon screw to figure four, but Ito persevered, still relying on her footstomps despite the fact each one hurt her. They execute really well, delivering a very good crisply wrestled match. ***1/2
All Pacific Crown Decision Tournament 1st Round: Mariko Yoshida vs. Reggie Bennett 10:24. Essentially a glorified squash. Yoshida used her athleticism early with a nice climb-up knee, but Reggie quickly took control turning her monkey flip into a sidewalk slam. Yoshida had occasional success jumping at Bennett with dropkicks and flying moves, but was simply overwhelmed. Yoshida does take Bennett’s power moves better than most, but having such a one-sided match in a four wrestler title tournament seemed rather pointless given Bennett has been in the league for ages. **
WWWA World Super Lightweight Title Match: Chaparrita ASARI vs. Rie Tamada 12:09. Given their inexperience, the fact that the finish is very good is quite promising. The fans got into the final portion that contained all the hot moves, including ASARI doing a 450 splash to the floor. The middle is average though, and the beginning is weak, lacking point and direction. The execution could have been a little better, but at least when ASARI was a little off it was with something spectacular, moves no other woman was doing at all. Rie, on the other hand, didn’t even execute the pedestrian dropkicks and body attacks that are all she gets out of her quickness and athleticism to perfection. **1/4
All Pacific Crown Decision Match: Kaoru Ito vs. Reggie Bennett 9:56. Ito, who was the third best wrestler tonight behind Kyoko & Toyota, looked impressive dominating the match, but unfortunately was dispatched of rather quickly and unceremoniously. Bennett did sell more for Ito in the first few minutes than she did in the entire Yoshida match. And it was a good match, it’s just that it really needed to go another 3-5 minutes. Ito took it to Bennett aggressively, punishing Reggie’s right knee. Bennett did a good job of selling the knee injury, which aided the story that Ito was using the speed differential to get off before her oversized opponent. Ito was better in 1996 than from 1997 on when she was heavier, as she was large enough to take it to the big girls but small enough to pull off a huracanrana, and more importantly far more energetic. **3/4
2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Title Match: Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue vs. Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda 3:29, 10:47, 16:33. The rematch from WRESTLE MARINEPIAD 5/11/96 was entirely in Toyota’s workrate style. The previous match was slowly paced by mid ’90’s AJW standard, but this was a total sprint with a first fall that was faster than any GAEA Nitro sprint, except these women actually have stamina, for the most part maintaining the pace for the entire half hour. This time they never got any type of story going, just did countless spectacular spots. Beyond her usual bit of sloppiness Toyota was outstanding, and Kyoko may have been even more impressive given she hits all her spots and is able to combine power with the incredible speed and energy. Shimoda & Takako were out of their element though, forced to either rush or slow the pace down. The match kind of died when they did a segment together at the start of the third fall, but for the most part they had Shimoda & Takako opposing the other team’s star, with Toyota or Kyoko dictating and carrying them in the fast paced style. The first fall had a great surprise finish where Toyota did one of her springboard reverse counters to an attempted Inoue double team. Kyoko bailed out, but Takako tried to duck, which seemed a successful strategy until Toyota hooked a sunset flip as she was flying over Takako for the pin. After the crazy start, the second fall was more or less the normal beginning of their match with some weardown, but it didn’t take long to get and remain lightning paced. It wasn’t so much the pace itself, but the speed in which they were pulling the moves and counters off, whether it be Kyoko whipping her opponent over for a fisherman suplex that was a snap at heart or Toyota turning Kyoko’s Niagara driver into a sunset flip. Toyota took a great flip bumb on Kyoko’s lariat for the second fall. Toyota & Shimoda captured the titles, which Double Inoue had previously won from Shimoda with Hokuto on 1/22/96. ****
7/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Aja Kong vs. Yumiko Hotta. Very good
7/28 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Chaparrita ASARI vs. Kyoko Inoue. Good
8/4 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Chaparrita ASARI vs. Mariko Yoshida. Good
Kyoko Inoue vs. Reggie Bennett. Good
7/14: Manami Toyota & Yoshiko Tamura vs. Kyoko Inoue & Chaparrita ASARI. Good
8/4: Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda. Excellent
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Manami Toyota & Yoshiko Tamura vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Rie Tamada. Good
Japan Grand Prix '96 Koshiki Leaguesen
Kaoru Ito vs. Tomoko Watanabe. Very good
Takako Inoue vs. Mariko Yoshida. Pretty good
Etsuko Mita vs. Mima Shimoda. Good
Yumiko Hotta vs. Reggie Bennett. Poor
Kyoko Inoue vs. Aja Kong. Aja wins Japan Grand Prix ****1/4
Tag Tournament Round 1
Aja Kong & Yoshiko Tamura vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Sakura Hirota (Gaea team)
Jaguar Yokota & Yuko Kosugi (Jd' team) vs. Megumi Kudo & Kaori Nakayama (FMW team)
Shark Tsuchiya & Miss Mongol (FMW team) vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa
Toshiyo Yamada & Sonoko Kato (Gaea) vs. Etsuko Mita & Misae Genki
Mima Shimoda & The Goddess Chikako Shiratori (Jd') vs. Bison Kimura & Yuki Lee (Jd' team)
Takako Inoue & Kyoko Ichiki (IWA Japan) vs. Dynamite Kansai & Tomoko Kuzumi (JWP team)
Manami Toyota & Rie Tamada vs. Hikari Fukuoka & Rieko Amano (JWP team)
Kyoko Inoue & Chaparita ASARI vs. Devil Masami & Tomoko Miyaguchi (JWP team)
U*TOP Tournament (legit shoots) Round 1
Yoko Takahashi (Jd') vs. Rosina Elina
Reggie Bennett vs. Elma Wayhoff
Lioness Asuka (Free) vs. Margot Neyfoft
Yumiko Hotta vs. Valerie Witt
Tag Tournament Round 2
Kudo & Nakayama vs. Bison & Lee
Kansai & Kuzumi vs. Watanabe & Maekawa
Toyota & Tamada vs. Yamada & Kato
Aja & Tamura vs. Kyoko & ASARI
Battle Royal
Tag Tournament Semifinals
Bison & Lee vs. Kansai & Kuzumi
Aja & Tamura vs. Yamada & Kato
Tag Final
Kansai & Kuzumi vs. Aja & Tamura
U*TOP Semifinals
Elina vs. Bennett
Lioness vs. Hotta
U*TOP Final
Hotta vs. Elina
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AJW Zenjo Perfection '97 Commercial Tape 1/20/97 Tokyo Ota-ku Taiikukan
-2hr 10min. Q=Original
undercard digest
Zenjo Strongest: Aja Kong vs. Kaoru Ito 30:00. Read Review. ****
2/3 Falls WWWA Sekai Tag Senshukenjiai: Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa. Watanabe & Maekawa win WWWA tag titles ****
WWWA & All-Pacific & IWA Sankan Senshukenjiai: Kyoko Inoue vs. Takako Inoue. Kyoko wins Triple Crown
*2 tapes*
Zen Nihon Junior Oza Ketteisen: Momoe Nakanishi vs. Nanae Takahashi. Momoe wins title.
Junior Tag War With C: Yoshiko Tamura & Tanny Mouse vs. Yuka Shiina & Emi Motokawa (IWA Japan)
Zen Nihon Tag Senshukenjiai: Chikayo Nagashima & Sugar Sato (GAEA team) vs. Misae Genki & Saya Endo
Zenjo vs GAEA Tag War: Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa vs. Chihiro Nakano & Makie Numao (GAEA team)
Yumiko Hotta & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita.
WWWA Ranking Match: Manami Toyota vs. Kaoru Ito
WWWA Sekai Tag Senshukenjiai: Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Takako Inoue & Mariko Yoshida
Sankan Senshukenjiai: Kyoko Inoue vs. Aja Kong
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All Pacific Title Decision Match: Takako vs. Yamada. Takako wins All-Pacific Title.
The Destiny Wars: Toyota & Yoshida vs. Hotta & Ito. Toyota is the worst worker of the 4 on this day because of her health so they use that as a storyline and had Hotta and Ito destroy her. Hotta was great instilling the stiffness and psychology, Ito & Yoshida supplied the workrate, and Toyota got the pops for her comebacks. Ito showed that she had outgrown her role in Freedom Force, which was officially ended after the match. ****.
2/3 Falls WWWA Tag Titles: Las Cachorras Orientales vs. Watanabe & Maekawa. Cachorras demonstated their heel style using chairs, the turnbuckle cover, scissors, and the security rail. Mita even threw Maekawa off the balcony. Everyone but Mita juiced heavily, and Watanabe & Maekawa were hospitalized after the match. Maekawa was put in the underdog role and she really got over in it. However, her selling of previous damage was non-existent. Shimoda & Watanabe were great against each other as always. Cachorras finally won the WWWA tag titles! ****
7/11 Hakodate 2/3 Falls WWWA Tag Titles: Las Cachorras Orientales vs. Ito & Momoe-total heel domination. 17-year-old Momoe juiced a gusher.
Chaparita ASARI & Yuka Shiina & Yumi Fukawa vs. Misae Genki & Tanny Mouse & Momoe Nakanishi. Fast-paced, all action, match with some nice high spots, but also some sloppiness and blown spots. No one could carry the match. Genki was actually useful, as she saved Tanny a bunch of times.
Etsuko Mita & Saya Endo vs. Yumiko Hotta & Yoshiko Tamura. Good match though it totally lacked heat. Steeped in submissions, but also had a lot of heel spots. Both youngsters pushed the veterans and looked good doing so. A GAEA type developmental match.
Japan Grand Prix '97 League Bout: Watanabe vs. Ito. Good match with NJ juniors type structure and a good mix of high spots and submissions, that was taken down by a few blown spots.
Japan Grand Prix '97 League Bout: Toyota vs. Mima. Good match, but very disappointing because there was no intensity.
Super Maniacs Never Ending Bout: Aja vs. Kyoko. The beginning was nothing special, but the 2nd half was great with all the big spots back and forth for great false finishes that were well received. Stiff as hell, particularly Aja's last uraken. ****
Miho Wakizawa vs. Miyuki Fujii 9:03. Wakizawa is more advanced, but wrestled down to Fujii’s level for this rookie style match. Wakizawa couldn’t cleanly execute the better moves they allowed her due to footing issues. Otherwise, they basically traded rudimentary holds and it was the usual passable but uninspiring opening match stuff. *
Nanae Takahashi vs. Saya Endo 9:40. Wakizawa is better than Takahashi, but since Takahashi had a semi-established opponent she got to do a real match. Saya is adequate, certainly not good enough to raise Takahashi to the level of mediocrity, but in the end Takahashi did okay. They put a good deal of effort into the match, which at least wasn’t boring. Takahashi managed to injure her opponent as usual, waiting so long to fall off the ropes on her superplex she wound up simply dropping Saya, who landed hard on her knees and lower legs, putting a huge stretch on her Achilles’. Saya was momentarily hobbled, but managed to finish. As Saya was leaving as part of the mass exodus they had Takahashi score the big upset. *1/2
Chaparrita ASARI vs. Yuka Shiina 12:40. Dropkick war. The first half saw them haphazardly alternate quick standup sequences of athletic albeit overly choreographed action with slow uninspired matwork. Shiina doesn’t get the most out of her athleticism, as while she does several jumping moves she rarely expands beyond the most pedestrian. ASARI isn’t that much better as a worker, she simply has offense that makes you desire to see her matches. A decent but underwhelming match. **1/4
Toshiyo Yamada & KAORU vs. Kumiko Maekawa & Momoe Nakanishi 15:40. Yamada had left 3 months earlier, but wrestled as though she was glad to be back for a day. Yamada totally carried her team and was the best wrestler on the show thus far, which was pretty sad considering she’s the one that was put out to the GAEA pasture. Her kicks are far more accurate than Maekawa’s, but if you can forgive a few misses their kick exchanges were quite nice. Momoe was a bright spot as usual, stretched and tossed around early, but utilizing her athleticism for a counter. KAORU wrestled a far more solid match than in GAEA where she runs amok, as you pretty much have to be a main eventer to get away with doing superhero spotfu in the Matsunagas ring. KAORU was a pretty good sport, selling for Momoe in the latter stages without copping the usual veteran attitude. Losing to GAEA might not be what AJW needs, but their up and coming wrestlers looked promising and were competitive. ***1/4
Manami Toyota vs. Yumiko Hotta 30:00. The basic problem with the later Toyota vs. Hotta matches is Toyota is forced to conform to Hotta’s style, which is one she is capable but simply isn’t interested in doing. Toyota was smiling at Hotta when she had her in the figure 4, but did a better job of chaining her groundwork together than usual. They didn’t kill time in the most effective manner, but despite the slow start for a Toyota match it wasn’t obvious they were doing a draw. They did a good job of showing that Hotta was fighting to prevent the high spots. Even after the match picked up 10 minutes in, Hotta was blocking or countering Toyota’s more spectacular offense to maintain credibility, and bringing the match back to the mat to lengthen it as well as stay consistent with her “shooter” drive. As the biggest stars sticking with the company they tried to show they deserved the main event, and while it didn’t hold a candle to their great 9/3/95 JGP final, it was at least a worthy hard fought match. That said, despite the quality wrestling they seemed to lack the spark a match between stars of this caliber should contain, and perhaps the mediocre crowd reaction had something to do with the lack of intensity. Until the final minutes when they hit all their finishers, the fans basically only reacted when the wrestlers, largely Toyota, prodded them to. ***1/4
Kanaami (cage) Death Match VIOLENCE WAR: Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe. The best women’s match of 1997 and possibly the best cage match ever. The intense hateful tone was set right off the bat as Shimoda was hogging the spotlight - standing in the center of the ring while Ito was introduced - so Ito slapped her and they were in each others faces prepared to kill. Watanabe wore football shoulder pads to protect her injured left shoulder, which she did a great job of consistently selling, adding to the drama and psychology, which were plentiful as the moves were ordered properly, constantly building to the peaks of the final minutes. Though all four wrestled at once it was essentially Ito vs. Las Cachorras with Watanabe just being there to take abuse from someone while Ito tried to beat the other, both AJW faces seeming all the more heroic for their contributions. The match started violently with Shimoda & Mita using chairs and the cage to batter and bloody the opposition. Interestingly, when Ito came back after 4 plus minutes of this carnage by using LCO’s chair, she was immediately booed. While it never ceased being a brawl with LCO also using chains and even the guard rail due to Saya taking care of Maekawa long enough to smuggle it in, one of the many great aspects to this match is it developed into a wrestling match. They essentially got the blood, generic cage spots out of the way at the start, so actual wrestling could play an important role in the body of the match. Finally, they brought the cage back down the stretch when they were trying to escape, melding both the wrestling and brawling aspects through moves that were far more spectacular for being done off or with the assistance of the cage. One cool spot had Watanabe escape, but Mita pull Ito back as she was halfway over the top and piggyback drop her from the top rope back into the cage. Ito showed a lot more fire than usual and finally seemed like the star they devoted much of the year to trying to turn her into. Fighting 2-1, she used her diving footstomp on both, injuring Shimoda’s shoulder, but was still unable to escape and had to deal with Saya spraying a fire extinguisher in her eyes so Shimoda & Mita could make a break for opposite corners. Ito managed to stop Shimoda, arm barring her off the top, but Mita reentered to prevent Ito from escaping so Ito pulled her back in and rather than simply escape, delivered a deadly diving footstomp off the top of the cage.Read Review ****3/4
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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
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6/24
Japan Grand Prix '01 Koshiki Leaguesen: Etsuko Mita vs. Miho Wakizawa. Mita tried to ground Wakizawa by working on her bad knee. Between Wakizawa's lack of sizes and damaging moves, it's hard to buy her against Mita. Wakizawa had one good series with her missile kicks, but then Mita got her with the blazing chop and that was it. Match was fine, but very short and not too competitive. *1/2
Kaoru Ito & Mika Nishio vs. Momoe Nakanishi & Kayo Noumi. They do more comedy on these small shows to save their body. Ito is so intense that she still works hard, but she kept laughing at Noumi, especially when Noumi expected her to sell such weak offense. There was a funny spot where Ito held Nishio to stop Momoe & Noumi's double dropkick then came in, so Momoe & Noumi both ran to their corner. Another interesting spot saw Nishio try to make it to her corner to tag, but Momoe just pushed her back into her team's corner almost like a sumo spot. Ito & Momoe got into it pretty well, but the other two were just good for a laugh. **1/2
Nanae Takahashi & Miyuki Fujii vs. Yumiko Hotta & Manami Toyota. You got the idea early on that Hotta could beat these two by herself. The first 10 minutes were so onesided that it seemed like a squash match even though the last 5+ were fairly competitive and good. Toyota was good, doing the moonsault and plancha even on the smallest of shows, but Hotta was in too much. **1/4
Japan Grand Prix '01 Koshikisen: Tomoko Watanabe vs. Kumiko Maekawa. Good spurts, but as a whole it was uneven. They didn't stick with anything and it felt pieced together. Should have been a little longer and better developed. **1/2
7/29
Japan Grand Prix '01 Koshiki Leaguesen: Kayo Noumi vs. Miyuki Fujii. All things considered they executed pretty well. Of course, what they executed pretty well was their usual weak and/or uninteresting offense. Fujii makes regular moves look pretty good. She kept it passable. *1/2
Japan Grand Prix '01 Koshiki Leaguesen: Kaoru Ito vs. Nanae Takahashi. Ito was in bad shape from her shoot with Erin. Her cheek and the area under her left eye were black and blue with a bandaid covering the worst part. Her eye was still swollen too. Takahashi was clutzy as usual, catching her foot in the ropes on a tope, but this was the most intense of the garage JGP matches. Ito did her good hard hitting match rather than easing up. **1/2
Japan Grand Prix '01 Koshiki Leaguesen: Manami Toyota vs. Miho Wakizawa. Considering Wacky and the garage this was actually an intense match. Unfortunately it was really short and they didn't cut out much of the dilly dallying and clowning. Wakizawa got a fluke victory. **1/4
Tomoko Watanabe & Momoe Nakanishi vs. Yumiko Hotta & Kumiko Maekawa. Hotta & Maekawa are a bad pairing because they have the same no selling gimmick. Watanabe got beat on for several minutes, including accidentally getting cut from a bootrake. She was good, but it's hard to be effective when Hotta won't even go down for her lariat. Momoe kept it interesting even though most of her moves were avoided. Execution was top notch. **1/2
Momo*latch Camera 1, II, & III. Momoe "filming" the various AJW wrestlers, particularly Kiss no Sekai, usually on the Zenjo tour bus.
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Debut 5th Anniversary Memorial Match: Nanae Takahashi & Miyuki Fujii vs. Momoe Nakanishi & Mika Nishio. Wakizawa was supposed to be in this match, but couldn't work so the less experienced Nishio took her place. The offense was at quite a low level, especially with Nishio working so much. It got better after 10:00 with Momoe working against Takahashi. These last 4 minutes were pretty good, but the finish was lame. **
Yumiko Hotta vs. Kayo Noumi. As one-sided as you'd expect, and then some. Almost like watching the old American squash matches. *
Midget Japan Grand Prix '01 Kesshosen: Mr. Buddhaman vs. Tomezo Tsunokake
Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Manami Toyota & Kumiko Maekawa. Good action. Had some energy and wasn't toned down much, just had a shorter time limit. Ito & Watanabe were closest to their tv taping level. Maekawa worked at about her usual pace, but her kicks were somewhat off. **3/4
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Fumiko Yamane vs. Chiemi Kitagami. Yamane is so slow and deliberate. She does some really awful stand over her opponent and touch her boot to them (aka stomps). Kitagami showed nothing either. 1/4*
Tomoko Mori vs. Mika Nishio. What's scary is Nishio looks really competent in comparison to this year's rookies. Mori is better than the previous two. She's more athletic and there is some speed and impact to her moves. Passable. *
Miyuki Fujii vs. Kumiko Maekawa. Fujii is a pretty good opponent for Maekawa because she doesn't require much offense. Maekawa did some good kicks, but the match was short and one-sided. *3/4
Manami Toyota & Yumiko Hotta vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Momoe Nakanishi. Good effort here, particularly from Toyota & Momoe. Actually, Watanabe gave close to her best effort, but with her favoring her knee so much the results weren't what they used to be. The time limit was short, but they filled those minutes with action. It's amazing how much better Hotta was in 9/01 then in 12/01, not that she was good in either but at least here she still moved. ***1/2
Miho Wakizawa & Kayo Noumi vs. Kaoru Ito & Nanae Takahashi. Lots of comedy since MihoKayo weren't going to be taken seriously. They had their buddy put a dog on Ito when Wakizawa had her in a figure 4. Even MihoKayo's double teams couldn't hurt the opposition. **1/2
NanaMomo at the beach
Basically the entire roster demonstrating their cell phone
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Mika Nishio & Fumiko Yamane vs. Chiemi Kitagami & Tomoko Mori. Standard rookie match, but these women don't show any potential yet. Way overlong match with lots of bad dropkicks. 3/4*
Manami Toyota vs. Miyuki Fujii. Toyota had to dominate because Fujii lacks the offense to take it to her. Not the smoothest match, but it was a lot more complex than the typical garage fair. Both women did dives. **3/4
Yumiko Hotta vs. Kumiko Maekawa. Meandered along for quite a while before becoming interesting. Still, it seemed like they didn't want to give anything away. Yamane interfered on Maekawa's behalf so Hotta could sell a little without "looking bad." **
Momoe Nakanishi & Miho Wakizawa & Kayo Noumi vs. Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe & Nanae Takahashi. Lighthearted match, but there were still a number of good moves, especially in the later stages. Momoe's team wore Ito's old Peter Pan outfits, while Ito's team wore her new fire outfits. Later, Momoe provided Peter Pan tops for Watanabe and Takahashi, so everyone gave Ito her footstomps. Some good stuff, but Ito and especially Momoe didn't do as much as usual to make up for MihoKayo's liabilities. **1/2
Karaoke performances by Nakanshi, Takahashi, & Nishio
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Tomoko Morii & Ayako Sato vs. Chiemi Kitagami & Saki Maemura. Dropkick match, but at least what they did was passable. Sato showed the most potential of the bunch. *
Handicap Match: Yumiko Hotta vs. Miyuki Fujii & Mika Nishio. What a bore. Even 2 on 1, they couldn't do anything to the vaunted "shooter" who was once again feeding her ego. 1/4*
Kumiko Maekawa vs. Nanae Takahashi. The offense was fine, but as you'd expect neither did much bumping or selling. Lots of brawling outside the garage, with Takahashi shoving a banana in Maekawa's mouth and Maekawa putting a plastic bucket on Takahashi's head and kicking it. Takahashi was in control a lot considering she was wrestling Maekawa, which didn't make for much of a match. Maekawa did one exceptionally nasty kick - accidentally - when Takahashi ducked into her boot during a sequence where she was supposed to avoid the kick and back body drop Maekawa to the floor. **
Momoe Nakanishi & Kayo Noumi vs. Manami Toyota & Miho Wakizawa. Toyota & Momoe eventually did some good things to save the match. Even though the Toyota of today is lazy by her '95 standards, she still gives a better effort on the small shows than even most of the younger wrestlers. Started off goofy with Kayo's team getting Miho to join them against Toyota. Wakizawa did a nice elevated missile kick. Lame ending. **1/2
Farewell Garage Battle Royal. Everyone did a tumbling drill in the ring when the match started then a series of arm whips and snapmares, just as they did here when they began their training. After the long warmup they went to more conventional comedy with everyone putting the next person in a headscissors and Ito jumping on their stomachs. Once they cleared the ring there was some spurts of good wrestling, but mainly a lot of clowning and the usual stupid pileup pins. After the match, Wacky wore a hanger on her head.
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Fumiko Yamane vs. Ayako Sato
Handicap Match: Kaoru Ito vs. Mika Nishio & Saki Maemura
Kumiko Maekawa vs. Miyuki Fujii
Momoe Nakanishi vs. Kayo Noumi
bonus lifestyle segments
Manami Toyota & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Yumiko Hotta & Nanae Takahashi
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Tag Tournament Round 1
Manami Toyota & Momoe Nakanishi vs. Nanae Takahashi & Fumiko Yamane. Yamane was so ridiculously outclassed. She doesn't know how to bump yet, so Momoe used rookie offense on her. I didn't mind Toyota joking around here because her totally dumbing down her real offense to Yamane's level is too ludicrous to suggest. Match was way too long given the mismatch and limitations it entailed. It wasn't like seeing Toyota & Momoe because they couldn't and/or wouldn't do anything until the last few minutes. Execution was fine, but match wasn't compelling. *3/4
Kaoru Ito & Yumiko Hotta vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Ayako Sato. Watanabe took most of the match and did pretty well. Hotta was sluggish as ever and Ito didn't bother. No one denied Sato was way out of her depth, but it was funny when Watanabe would come in and push Ito down after she caught Sato's high cross body. *1/4
Tag Tournament Semifinal
Manami Toyota & Momoe Nakanishi vs. Mika Nishio & Miyuki Fujii. Pretty much the same story as the 1st round, another non-competitive match. Fujii & Nishio were inept, failing to even do a good dropkick. Toyota & Momoe laid back until the final few minutes to drag it out for 17. *1/2
Kaoru Ito & Yumiko Hotta vs. Kayo Noumi & Saki Maemura. Ito & Hotta actually took "a lot" from Noumi & Maemura even though their offense is weak and it isn't credible for Ito & Hotta to sell for them. Still, it was readily apparent that Hotta could have pinned Maemura after the 1st move. Noumi was allowed to get some flash pins on Hotta. Would have been a better match if Noumi & Maemura showed they could take because no one was going to buy them beating either of these two with their uncredible offense. *1/4
Tag Tournament Final: Manami Toyota & Momoe Nakanishi vs. Kaoru Ito & Yumiko Hotta. Toyota seemed motivated at the outset, but it wasn't the case. Some good portions, with Toyota & Momoe doing interesting segments, but it dragged in between. The submissions were uninspired, and there were way too many of them. Seemed in slow motion, especially with Hotta being worth less than a broom. There wasn't a smoothness to the execution and Hotta & Ito weren't too stiff. Still Toyota & Momoe did enough to make it acceptable. **1/4
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