ORIGINAL TAPES - BATTLARTS THROUGH KAGEKI
Satoshi Yoneyama vs. Tetsuhiro Kuroda. Nothing like what you see from today's Kuroda; it was very submission oriented. Nothing spectacular, but better than expected and decent enough. 5:07 shown. Okay
Shoichi Funaki vs. Victor Krueger. Funaki used his speed and quickness to combat Krueger's huge size advantage. The match was good while it lasted because Funaki can really go when he wants to and Victor wasn't afraid to let Funaki make him look foolish. Unfortunately for the match quality though, the point of the match was to put Victor over strong so once he caught up to Funaki it was all she wrote. 5:07 shown. Good for what it was
Carl Greco vs. Katsumi Usuda. '80's U.W.F style mat match. Technique was good, but since the style had evolved by this point and these guys aren't exactly Takada & Yamazaki, it wasn't that exciting. 9:13 shown. Decent
4/14/96 Saitama GAZA HALL: TAKA Michinoku vs. Minoru Tanaka. Good technical match. They pretty much explored all aspects of shoot style, although they weren't afraid to throw in a pro style move. TAKA made it dramatic. He made me believe that he could lose...and then he did. Excellent finish with Tanaka turning the Michinoku driver II into a hizajujigatame. ***1/4
5/31/96 Nagoya Nakamura Sports Center Independent World Sekai Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: TAKA Michinoku vs. Minoru Tanaka. As Tanaka won with a leg submission in the previous match, he focused on repeating that result again. TAKA sold his knee like crazy. Even though this was far more toward Tanaka's style, TAKA was on top of his game here and the reason it was very good. Smart, well worked match. 9:22 shown. Very good
8/4/96 Sappporo Teison Hall: TAKA Michinoku vs. Minoru Tanaka. Last 3 minutes of a 30:00 draw. They still had some stamina left.
Independent World Sekai Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: TAKA Michinoku vs. Minoru Tanaka. Such a good technical match, nice movement and execution.Once again, TAKA sold his knee for all it was worth. If you don't mind selling that's exaggerated, this was a clinic. TAKA even let Tanaka use his Michinoku driver II on him. Tanaka was hardly great at this point, but he did enough right to allow TAKA to give a memorable performance. Tanaka's problem was his strikes were at least as inaccurate as Hotta's, but lacked her stiffness. The other problem with this match was, after all Tanaka did to TAKA, TAKA put him away with two moves. 13:00 shown. ***1/2 range
Daisuke Ikeda & Takeshi Ono vs. Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka. Brutally stiff. Ikeda and even Ono were SO NASTY. Not that they went easy on Otsuka, but Ishikawa really took a beating. Intense match, particularly when Otsuka was in. The match wasn't anything special beyond it's stiffness, but this was the kind of stiffness that would make Kawada proud. Ikeda really impressed me here. ***3/4
1/12/99 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka vs. Daisuke Ikeda & Mohammed Yone. 6:11 shown
2/14 Across Fukuoka
Mohammed Yone & Katsumi Usuda vs. Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Yoshinori Sasaki. 3:53 shown
Yuki Ishikawa & Minoru Tanaka vs. Daisuke Ikeda & Alexander Otsuka. 4:20 shown
3/12/99 Tokyo FM Hall
TAG BATTLE '98 Yushoketteisen: Yuki Ishikawa & Carl Greco vs. Alexander Otsuka & Mohammed Yone. 4:54 shown
3/20/99 Nagoya
Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka & Mohammed Yone vs. Mitsuhiro Matsunaga & Katsumi Usuda & Ryuji Yamakawa. 4:43 shown
3/21 Osaka Maisu (?) Arena Sub Arena
Dynamite Kansai & Mohammed Yone & Maya Hashimoto vs. Alexander Otsuka & Azumi Hiuga & Hikari Fukuoka. 4:11 shown
JJC Sodatsuleaguesen Yushoketteisn: Minoru Tanaka vs. Masaaki Mochizuki. 5:03 shown
4/26 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
NWA World Middleweight Title: The Great Sasuke vs. Minoru Tanaka. 5:04 shown
Alexander Otsuka vs. Daisuke Ikeda. 4:28 shown
5/14 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Ryuji Hijikata vs. Yoshinori Sasaki. :50 shown
Carl Malenko vs. Mach Junji. 1:33
Tiger Mask & Ikuto Hidaka vs. Gran Naniwa & Masaaki Mochizuki. 4:50 shown
Masao Orihara & Takeshi Ono vs. Katsumi Usuda & Ryuji Yamakawa. 3:57 shown
Independent World World Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Naoki Sano vs. Minoru Tanaka. 4:56 shown
Alexander Otsuka & Mohammed Yone vs. Hayabusa & Tetsuhiro Kuroda. 5:16 shown
Daisuke Ikeda vs. Bob Backlund. 2:44 shown
Bed Of Nails Death Match: Yuki Ishikawa vs. Mitsuhiro Matsunaga
6/9 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Independent World World Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Naoki Sano vs. Katsumi Usuda. 3:32 shown
Joe Malenko & Carl Malenko (Carl Greco) vs. Yuki Ishikawa & Daisuke Ikeda. 5:21 shown
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Grey Skull vs. Yuichi Taniguchi
Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. The Jason
Tornado Juice vs. Blue Taurus
Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Rocky Santana. Good match.
Kendo Nagasaki & Satoru Shiga vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Michiyoshi Ohara
Danger Net Circus Death Match: Nakamaki & Yamakawa vs. Kojika & Matsunaga. Yamakawa takes a really sick bump off the scaffold onto the spider net. The thing actually spring back up kind of like a trampoline, but it doesn't shoot him back up in the air or anything though. Matsunaga adds to Yamakawa's injuries by then doing a Hokuto style tope con hilo off the scaffold onto Yamakawa, who's still on the spider net. Yamakawa tops this later in the match taking one of the couple sickest bumps ever when Matsunaga powerbombs him off the scaffold onto two unbreakable tables. Matsunaga also does a splash off the scaffold onto Yamakawa, who is on an unbreakable table. Far from a great match, but the two bumps make it as eventful, or uneventful, as the vaunted Cactus vs. Undertaker Hell in the Cell match.
Yuki Kondo vs. Saulo Ribeiro
Genki Sudo vs. Andre Pederneiras
Melchor Manor vs. Masato
Kunihiro Suzuki vs. Luciano Basile
Mario Sperry vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Jeremy Horn
Rickson Gracie vs. Masakatsu Funaki
Mayumi Ozaki & Devil Masami vs. Dynamite Kansai & Chigusa Nagayo. Started off fast-paced, but turned into a big bloody brawl. This wasn't sloppy, contrived, or chaotic like most brawls. Although it wasn't particularly structured, it was actually well worked. Ozaki looked particularly good, but Devil carried the match with her. Even though Devil was doing some Super Heel stuff, she actually accompanied it with good wrestling. There was a nice hot tag where Ozaki was choking Kansai with a chain and pulling toward the center, but Kansai choked herself more in order to get Chigusa back into the match. Considering the length of most GAEA main events, it's weird to think their first went almost 30 minutes. ***3/4
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History of GAEA in the summer of 1994 from the formation until the shoot style movement in the summer of 1997. The tape mainly focuses on the young girls, with footage from the auditions, training at the dojo, and highlights of their debut and early matches.
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Note: some if not all matches digested
2/16 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Toshie Uematsu & Kiyoko Ichiki & Rina Ishii vs. Sonoko Kato & Sakura Hirota & Hiromi Kato
Chigusa Nagayo & Akira Hokuto vs. KAORU & Maiko Matsumoto
3/15 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Akira Hokuto & Sonoko Kato vs. KAORU & Meiko Satomura
4/12 Hakata Starlane: Akira Hokuto vs. KAORU. Akira picked her spot here and had her best match of 1997. Unfortunately, the reality is that Akira can't produce a classic like she could in 1993 and KAORU is just a spot machine. This had tons of big spots, but they weren't utilized as well as they could have been and the drama wasn't near the level it should have been. Very good.
WCW World Women's Cruiserweight 1st Champion league digest
4/21 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan 2
WCW World Women's Cruiserweight Title Match: Toshie Uematsu vs. Yuka Shiina
Akira Hokuto & Maiko Matsumoto vs. Chikayo Nagashima & Reiko Amano
Devil Masami & Meiko Satomura vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Sonoko Kato
4/29 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Chigusa Nagayo & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato
WCW World Women's Cruiserweight Title Match: Toshie Uematsu vs. Sugar Sato
Akira Hokuto & Maiko Matsumoto vs. Mayumi Ozaki & Chikayo Nagashima
Note: All matches are league matches
10/10/98 Osaka IMP Hall
Meiko Satomura vs. Toshie Uematsu. Spot match. Work was good, and some of the near falls were credible. 4:14 shown
Sonoko Kato vs. Chikayo Nagashima. Nice sequences and counters here. The level of difficulty was fairly high, which led to some spots not being done as well as they could have. That said, everything flowed together really well and nothing was blown. 6:06 shown
10/11/98 Kyoto KBS Hall
Sonoko Kato vs. Toshie Uematsu. Match was decent, but the finish wasn't much. 6:18 shown
Meiko Satomura vs. Sugar Sato. This was supposed to be a technical match, which meant that Satomura had to do most of the work and really drag Sugar along. The match was dull, and it went 10 minutes too long. Sato worked the arm and the knee during this match, but had no focus in doing so. Actually, at one point Satomura was putting over her knee pretty heavily so Sato goes on offense and goes right after the arm. What's frustrating is this was clearly the worst match so far, so they decide to finally show the whole thing. *1/2
11/12/98 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan 2
Sonoko Kato vs. Sugar Sato. Kato did a much better job with Sugar than Satomura did, mainly because she let Sugar do her usual style match and stay within the little she can do. I don't blame Satomura for having ambition, but sometimes you have to chose the right opponent to be ambitious with. Sato was kind of sloppy here, but otherwise it was good and the fans were into it. Kato's performance blew away Sugar's, so of course that meant that Sugar won the match. 8:12 shown
Chikayo Nagashima vs. Toshie Uematsu. Uematsu was able to hang with Chikayo work wise, so it was a good match with some nice sequences. Again, some of the moves needed to be performed better. 7:53 shown
12/11/98 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan 2
Meiko Satomura vs. Sonoko Kato. These two always work well together, and this was no exception. Lots of counters here. Not many submissions, but the few they did were worked in well. 6:09 shown
Sugar Sato vs. Chikayo Nagashima. Chikayo looked really good in points, but the opposition was holding her back. Chikayo was trying to work sequences, but Sugar didn't take the time to figure out what to do or how to keep them going so most of them didn't go very far. Sato was pretty methodical here, and, as always, content to do the same couple of things over and over. She seemed to be hurt by Chikayo's diving footstomp, which I'm sure didn't help things any. Chikayo did some arm work to set up the finish, but Sato never really put it over, so it didn't have near the effect it should have. 8:51 shown. **
1/8/99 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan 2
Toshie Uematsu vs. Sugar Sato. The match didn't flow that well. Sato did a bunch of weak urakens. Uematsu didn't get much offense in, but was able to "shock" Sugar with a small package for the flash pin. 7:53 shown. *1/2
Chikayo Nagashima vs. Meiko Satomura. This started off slow, but kept getting a little better. They did a nice job of building the match around Satomura's Death Valley bomb. At one point they tried a cool spot where Chikayo turned the Death Valley bomb into a DDT, but it wasn't done perfectly. ***1/4
2/3/99 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukan 2
Premium League Yushokettiesen: Meiko Satomura vs. Toshie Uematsu. Traditional style maatch based around submissions. They showed a lot of intensity and worked their holds well. There were some highspots, of course, but for the most part they were incorporated in a fairly believable manner. Satomura did a good job of putting over the toll of the match. Long, hard fought match that could have gone either way. A real final. ***1/2
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2/3/99 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan 2
Toshiyo Yamada & Makie Numao vs. Lioness Asuka & Sugar Sato. 4:15 shown
2/11/99 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Undercard highlights
Aja Kong & Chikayo Nagashima vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Toshie Uematsu. Complete 7 second match
2/28/99 Kanagawa Club Citta Kawasaki
Highlights
3/20/99 Niigata Phase
Aja Kong & Chikayo Nagashima vs. Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato. 4:53 shown
3/22/99 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Etsuko Mita & Chikayo Nagashima vs. KAORU & Makie Numao. 3:34 shown
Lioness Asuka & Aja Kong vs. Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato. 3:45 shown
Mayumi Ozaki & Mima Shimoda vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Toshiyo Yamada. 0:59 shown
4/4/99 Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan
GAEA vs. Oz Academy Survival Single Match 3x3: Toshie Uematsu & RIE & Sakura Hirota vs. Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima & Kaori Nakayama. 18:40 shown
GAEA vs. Las Cachorras Tag Match : KAORU & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita. This was the typical GAEA spotfest, except it was bloody and 4 times as long. There was really no build, pacing, or structuring. However, they did ever move in their arsenal at least once, and there were some memorable spots like KAORU doing a moonsault off the lighting rig, plus seemingly a thousand near falls. Without telling a story of figuring out how to use the spots though, they lost their effect and it got monotonous. That said, considering GAEA, opposition, and 38 minutes, LCO deserve a lot of credit for having this good a match. 13:27 shown. ***3/4
GAEA vs. SSU Tag Match: Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato vs. Aja Kong & Mayumi Ozaki. This was very similar in story to the LCO vs. Hamada & AKINO match from 12/11/99. Satomura & Kato were very much overmatched against the veteran team, but they were going to fight until the end no matter how much punishment they had to absorb. One advantage this match had over the LCO vs. Hamada & AKINO match was that they did a consistently great job of playing up the rivalry. Aja & Ozaki dominated the match, but they did it in a way that you could tell they were taking exceptional pleasure in hurting Satomura & Kato. The first part of the match saw them take out Kato's bad knee, but when she finally tagged out the story shifted to Satomura trying to take Aja out with her Death Valley bomb. ****
Special Single Match: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Lioness Asuka. Much different than their 80's matches. It was still spot oriented, but the pace was much slower and many of the spots involved gimmicks. Lioness was pretty much the whole match, with Chigusa not really adding anything and basically just being along for the ride. I was surprised at how dominant Lioness was considering she was winning control of the company. I was disappointed at how little drama it had, all things considered. **1/2
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4/25/99 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Chigusa Nagayo vs. Kaori Nakayama. Complete 35 second match
KAORU & Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato vs. Lioness Asuka & Mayumi Ozaki & Mima Shimoda. 2:28 shown
5/16/99 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
AAAW Single Senshuken:Chigusa Nagayo vs. Aja Kong. Slow-paced match, but pretty high impact. Lots of heat and real good execution. The no selling portion was bizarre because a minute later they were both acting like they dead, and two minutes later it was over. There were some surprisingly nice spots and good near falls, but there just wasn't enough to the match to make it live up to the names involved. ***
5/23/99 Osaka IMP Hall
Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato & Sakura Hirota vs. Lioness Asuka & Chikayo. Lots of Satomura & Kato vs. Chikayo, so it was good. 5:38 shown
6/20/99 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Chigusa Nagayo vs. Etsuko Mita. The complete 19 second marathon
7/18/99 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
AAAW Tag Senshuken: Aja Kong & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima. Sato, and to a greater extent Nagashima, were first able to show resilience by withstanding a lot of punishment. They slowly gained momentum, setting up a section where both teams got near falls that looked like the finish, and finally scored the highly improbable upset. This match was similar to the Aja & Ozaki vs. Satomura & Kato match from 4/4/99, but it lacked the focused storyline and the intensity that Aja vs. Satomura had. Although there wasn't a more personalized story to the match, after being totally dominated early one, the basic underdog has a chance storyline slowly went into effect, and eventually the fans were reacting to and believing in Sato & Nagashima. Aside from a few blown spots, the main reason the match as a whole was not as good is that Sugar, although this was one of her better performances of the year, is not in the same stratosphere as Sonoko. That said, the match was fulfilling and is definitely one to check out if you like GAEA. Read Review. ***1/2
8/15/99 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Lioness Asuka vs. Sonoko Kato. This match seemed much better now that we saw more of it. It wasn't so steeped in Lioness' favor as it seemed on TV. Kato at least had one good run whwere she got a few near falls, and Lioness "had to" spew mist in Kato's eyes to regain the advantage and take her out. Kato was "virtually unconscious" in the last few minutes, but she kept dragging herself up.
Akira Hokuto & Aja Kong & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Toshiyo Yamada & Meiko Satomura. Chigusa was trying to get something out of the spots today. This wasn't the best wrestling you'll ever see, but they did play up the rivalry well. They got into the spots around the 10 minute mark, with Ozaki, Yamada, & Satomura stepping up. Satomura vs. Aja was featured, and this was the best part of the match because they worked really well together and Satomura was even more fired up than usual. This booking was abysmal because on the last "big" show before the title match in Yokohama, the challenger that was sorely lacking credibility put the champion over convincingly. Satomura even stayed down almost "unconscious" for the whole time Aja was cutting a promo on her. She only got up to her knees when Aja pulled her by the hair then threw her down again like a piece of trash. ***1/2
Oz Academy 8/29/99 Osaka IMP Hall
Mayumi Ozaki & Aja Kong & Sugar Sato vs. Lioness Asuka & Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita. Helter skelter match with heavy use of chairs and tables. Good moves, but these women should be above the ECW TV match level of lets do everything we know in 9 minutes because we don't want people to get bored and flip the channel. Ozaki's knee wasn't as much of a factor against her and she was in and out, so she looked better here. **1/2
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1/16 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Chigusa Nagayo vs. KAORU
Lioness Asuka & Aja Kong vs. Akira Hokuto & Mayumi Ozaki
2/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Toshiyo Yamada vs. Mayumi Ozaki
AAAW Tag Senshukenjiai: Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima vs. Lioness Asuka & Sonoko Kato
AAAW Single Senshukenjiai: Aja Kong vs. KAORU
3/12 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Chigusa Nagayo & Meiko Satomura vs. Akira Hokuto & Mayumi Ozaki
3/20 Osaka IMP Hall: Lioness Asuka & KAORU vs. Devil Masami & Mayumi Ozaki
4/8 Honkawagoe Pepe Hall
Chigusa Nagayo vs. Chikayo Nagashima
Meiko Satomura & Sakura Hirota vs. Lioness Asuka & Sonoko Kato
4/16 Tokyo Zepp Tokyo Free Weapon Match: Sugar Sato vs. KAORU. This was either the highlight or lowlight of Oz #4 depending on whether you think those TLC matches are great or a contrived piece of trash. KAORU did the best she could, using the props to do a bunch of athletic stunts. She did a moonsault press with half a table, a moonsault attack off the stage, a senton off the top of a ladder in the ring to put Sato through a table on the floor, and a moonsault off the top of the ladder that didn't wind up working right. Both bled. Sato was even more horrible than usual, plodding around and lamely swinging or throwing objects. She put a barrel over KAORU and touched it with a mallet a few times. Of course, the match had no believability and was the king of contrived anyway. Both bled. *1/4
4/23 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Chigusa Nagayo & Toshie Uematsu vs. Devil Masami & Chikayo Nagashima
Sakura Hirota vs. Mayumi Ozaki
5/14 Tokyo Ariake Coliseum
HHH Senshukenjiai: Sakura Hirota vs. Dynamite Kansai. The expected slaughter. The highlight was Hirota tickling Kansai's nose with a feather then trying to hit her with it, but Kansai kicked her arm. Hirota tried a windsprint lariat, but tripped before she reached.
RIE vs. Saika Takeuchi. RIE used her heel tactics. Takeuchi showed heart by fighting hard and continually coming back. Takeuchi eventually scored the upset win, which was important even though RIE is not exactly a legend because this was the biggest show in company history and many of the fans hadn't seen her before.
Toshiyo Yamada vs. Kyoko Inoue. A lot better than the last time they wrestled in AJW, but far from their best. These two know each other well and were able to adapt to the changes they've made in their styles since the days when they wrestled regularly. For Yamada, this included wearing open hand shooting gloves and punching with them often. Yamada was very into the match, showing a level of intensity and fire we've rarely seen from her since the first quarter of 1995. She was the better of the two. Good match.
AAAW Tag Senshukenjiai: Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima vs. Toshie Uematsu & The Bloody. Good action. The execution wasn't perfect, but they never slowed down and always did pretty good moves. Bloody & Nagashima made the match, but particularly Bloody since she had the unenviable task of trying to make Sato look decent. Cool finish where Bloody tried to turn Sato's Ligerbomb into a huracanrana, but Chikayo dropkicked Bloody in the face then Sugar did the Ligerbomb.
Free Weapon Match AAAW Single Next Challenger Decision Match: Mayumi Ozaki vs. KAORU. I'd like to be able to recommend all of Ozaki's brawls, but this was the typical illogical clusterfuck we always get from KAORU. Too many gimmick spots and too much time wasted. There were some nice spots like KAORU putting Ozaki through tables with both a senton off a ladder on the ramp and a senton off the top. Ozaki did a funny spot where she kept breaking chairs over KAORU's head and leaving them hanging by KAORU's neck. She powerbombed KAORU on a garbage can then tried to suffocate her with a plastic bag that was big enough to go over KAORU's whole body. While KAORU was in the bag, Ozaki Ligerbombed KAORU on a pile of chairs but KAORU's second Jenn Yukari made the save. 28 minutes was way too long for this mindless style. **1/4
AAAW Single Senshukenjiai: Aja Kong vs. Meiko Satomura. This match doesn't get the credit it deserves. Certainly, it's worse than their 9/15/99 match, but clearly it's one of the top 5 matches in company history. Today's match was shorter and faster paced than their previous. The psychology was still excellent. Satomura tried to control Aja, but Aja was using her power to throw Meiko around. Satomura was effective countering Aja and using her speed. She tried to use arm submissions as often as she could to neutralize the uraken. Aja was beating Satomura up, but Satomura isn't afraid to be stiff as well. Once again, Aja did a great job of guiding Satomura, who followed Aja well. What made this match worse is Satomura didn't make anyone believe she was winning. It just didn't have the drama, which not only meant it wasn't as good, but also that it did far less for Satomura. Although the match they did was excellent, you just have to scratch your head at why this match came after the previous one when you consider the point of the match should be Satomura's growth and when you hold them in comparison this did a lot more to send her careening in the wrong direction. ****
Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka vs. Devil Masami & Akira Hokuto. Work and spots as usual, but this time they worked harder and did it for twice as long. There was definitely more brawling than usual, with Lioness bleeding early. Nice teamwork by both teams. In particular, Crush 2000 had a new spot where Lioness held Hokuto up for her high angle powerbomb and Chigusa came off the top with a reverse neckbreaker. Devil was the farthest above her typical level. Unfortunately, simply trying harder didn't cut it. Although it was a good match, there was nothing about this match (unless you count the ring entraces) that made it feel like it was the main event of a major show. **3/4
*Special price $38 or $43.50/49 COOP (one unique)*
Tomoe Araya vs. Cinthia Moreno
Taisuke Tagami vs. Agila Negra
Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Jiraya
Takashi Okano vs. Gran Apache
Scramble Bunkhouse Death Match: Shoji Nakamaki & Takeshi Ono vs. Texas Hangmen
Nobutaka Araya vs. Tracey Smothers
No Rope Yuushitessen Scramble Bunkhouse Death Match: Terry Funk vs. Cactus Jack
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12/24
Rimi (Jaguar) Yokota vs. Nana Fujimura
Lady Conners vs. Flor Metallica
Yuki Lee vs. Esther Moreno
Jaguar Yokota vs. Lola Gonzalez
Bison Kimura & Chikako Shiratori vs. Bull Nakano & Cooga
12/25
Nobue Endo vs. Nana Fujimura
Esther Moreno vs. Lady Conners
Chikako Shiratori vs. Yuki Lee
Jaguar Yokota & Flor Metallica vs. Bull Nakano & Lola Gonzalez
Bison Kimura vs. Cooga
Sachie Abe vs. Aya Koyama. Standard rookie match. They didn't do anything of note, but as far as we could see didn't screw up. 4:18 of 15:00
The Bloody Phoenix & Nana Fujimura vs. Flor Metalica & Lady Connors. A passable match carried by the Mexicans. Flor looked decent, making her the only Metalica that did anything worthwhile since '88. Connors kind of had an idea what she wanted to do, but seemed to lack the physical ability to quite pull it off. 7:37 of 9:11
Chikako Shiratori & Xochilt Hamada vs. Cooga & Esther Moreno. Shiratori vs. Moreno was pretty good. Shiratori had attitude, and Esther was using her athleticism for smaller things like kip-ups she wouldn't mess up that look good. Had the typical Jd' problem where even though the spots aren't blown, they are done a lot better in other places. Cooga was passable but frustrating because she should step up and carry a match like this, but she isn't even aggressive. Xochilt just doesn't do anything well. 16:08 of 20:28.
Jaguar Yokota vs. Lioness Asuka. Started out with their perpetual motion stuff, but quickly became submission oriented. Initially, this portion was shoot oriented stuff where you had to be cautious trying to make your move, you couldn't just magically apply your submission like most matches. Unfortunately, it switched to more traditional stuff once they broke the ice. The first 15 minutes were mainly slower paced and less spot oriented then the final 5 had all the great moves. Lioness dominated, of course, with Jaguar mainly getting her offense off counters. The tamest and most conservative match I can remember these two having, probably in large part because having not wrestled all year they were rusty. Their styles and strengths play to each other so well, and they have tremendous familiarity and chemistry, so even a less than stellar performance results in a damn good match. 20:04 of 20:44. ***1/2
Shukan Puroresu Presents Velfarre Special Match: Bison Kimura vs. Manami Toyota. These two are too talented not to have a good match, but their styles didn't mesh well and they never developed any drama. Bison & Toyota were given a bouquet of flowers by a Shukan reporter. Bison attacked with her flowers while Manami was recieving them, leading to a strong start where she controlled with submissions and punishing chops. Toyota did Bison's submission style to an extent, but other than it taking longer to get to the spots this basically looked like the typical Toyota match. Toyota was fairly sloppy once they started doing spots at 10:00, screwing up a few of her counters to the point she wasn't able to pull anything off. Toyota's Japanese ocean bomb starts off like a Tigerdriver, but she brings her opponent up to thunderfire powerbomb position still holding the doublearm then slams them like a Ligerbomb. 17:43. ***
Highlights of the 8 woman tournament to crown the first Trans-World Wrestling Federation world champion. Interspersed are segments with the two Jd' representatives, Bison & Shiratori, sightseeing in Mexico, where the tournament took place.
JWP Match: Tomoko Kuzumi & Rieko Amano vs. Tomoko Miyaguchi & Kanako Motoya.***1/4 range
AJW Match: Kumiko Maekawa & Momoe Nakanishi vs. Nanae Takahashi & Kayo Noumi. *1/4 range.
Jd' Match: Yuko Kosugi vs. Shark Tsuchiya (Modukutai). 3/4*
Request Ni Yoru The Heel Taiketsu (showdown): Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima (Oz Academy) vs. The Bloody & Fang Suzuki (Bukyogun team). ** range
ARSION Match: Ayako Hamada & Mika Akino vs. Aja Kong & Mariko Yoshida. ***
Request Ni Yoru Yume no Tag Match: Hiromi Yagi (free) & Sumie Sakai (Jd') vs. Tiger Dream (ARSION) & Chaparita ASARI (Neo). ***
Jaguar Yokota Intai (retirement) Final Match: Jaguar Yokota (Jd') vs. Devil Masami. *1/4
Bukyogun Shuryo (leader) vs. Oz Academy Kocho (principal/headmaster) Chojo (top/climax) Taiketsu: Lioness Asuka (Bukyogun) vs. Mayumi Ozaki (Oz Academy). **
Zenjo vs. Neo Ikon (grudge) Karyu (whirlpool) Ku Kaisen (outbreak of war): Manami Toyota & Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue (AJW team) vs. Kyoko Inoue & Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita (Neo Ladies team). ****
*I have a very limited quantity of additional 1st Gen SP copies of this tape that are available for $18. I also have a very limited quantity of Xeroxes of the video's cover*
MUMYOU vs. Suicide Johnny
Basara vs. Daiyu Kawauchi. Kawauchi's debut.
Tadahiro Fujisaki vs. Hiroshi Kotsubo
Masakazu Fukuda & Cosmo*Soldier vs. Masaaki Mochizuki & Keiichi Kawano
SHINOBI & Azteca vs. Guerrero Diablo & Makoto Saito
Masahiko Toyofuku vs. Masatomo Iba
Hiromi Yagi vs. Megumi Yabushita
Hiroyoshi Kotsubo vs. Keiichi Kawano
Masakazu Fukuda vs. Daiyo Kawauchi
Masaaki Mochizuki & Guerrero Diablo vs. Basara & Tadahiro Fujisaki
Azteca & Shinobi vs. Cosmo*Soldier & Makoto Saito
*Special price $18 or $23.50 COOP (insert autographed by Azteca)*