ORIGINAL TAPES - JWP
Plum Mariko & Hikari Fukuoka vs. Itsuki Yamazaki & Miki Handa
Mayumi Ozaki & Yukari Osawa vs. Harley Saito & Rumi Kazama
Shinobu Kandori & Mami Kitamura vs. The Scorpion & Devil Masami
UWA Joshi International Title: Miss A vs. Eagle Sawai
Bolshoi Kid vs. karate girl
Hikari Fukuoka vs. Sumio Toyama
Plum Mariko vs. Sumiko Saito
Mayumi Ozaki vs. Devil Masami
Cuty Suzuki vs. Dynamite Kansai
Dynamite Kansai & Devil Masami vs. Plum Mariko & Hikari Fukuoka
Note: 1st 3 matches digested
Cuty Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Plum Mariko & Hikari Fukuoka
Dynamite Kansai & Sumiko Saito vs. Devil Masami & Commando Bolshoi
Sumio Toyama vs. Mitsue Kobayashi
Tournament Final: Cuty Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Dynamite Kansai & Sumiko Saito
Note: some matches are digested
Yumi Nagano (Tenma) vs. Sumiko Saito
Tomoko (Candy) Okutsu & Machiko ? vs. Mitsue Kobayashi & ?
Leaguesen: Plum Mariko vs. Hikari Fukuoka
Leaguesen: Sumio Toyama vs. Devil Masami
Leaguesen: Dynamite Kansai vs. Commando Bolshoi
Leaguesen: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Cuty Suzuki
Yumi Nagano (Tenma) vs. Sumiko Saito
Tomoko (Candy) Okutsu & Machiko ? vs. Mitsue Kobayashi & ?. Digest
Leaguesen: Plum Mariko vs. Hikari Fukuoka
Leaguesen: Sumio Toyama vs. Devil Masami
Leaguesen: Dynamite Kansai vs. Commando Bolshoi
Leaguesen: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Cuty Suzuki
Tomoko Okutsu vs. Sumiko Saito
Sumio Toyama & Yumi Nagano vs. Mitsue Kobayashi & Mika Kuwahara
Devil Masami vs. Machiko ?
Commando Bolshoi vs. Plum Mariko
Devil Masami & Sumiko Saito & Machiko ? vs. Plum Mariko & Commando Bolshoi & Sumio Toyama
JWP Nintei Tag Senshukenjiai: Cuty Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Dynamite Kansai & Hikari Fukuoka
Note: aside from the main event, everything is severely truncated
Glove Match: Mitsue Kobayashi vs. Mika Kuwahara
Tomoko Okutsu vs. Commando Bolshoi
Hikari Fukuoka vs. Machiko ?
Plum Mariko vs. Sumiko Saito
Hikari Fukuoka & Commando Bolshoi & Machiko ? vs. Plum Mariko & Sumiko Saito & Tomoko Okutsu
Devil Masami & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Dynamite Kansai & Cuty Suzuki. 18:42
Sumio Toyama vs. Hikari Fukuoka
Cuty Suzuki vs. Commando Bolshoi
Mayumi Ozaki & Tomoko Okutsu vs. Plum Mariko & Sumiko Saito
Dynamite Kansai vs. Devil Masami
Mayumi Ozaki vs. Candy Okutsu
Mayumi Ozaki & Bolshoi Kid vs. Cuty Suzuki & Plum Mariko
JWP Nintei Musabetsukyu Oza Senshukenjiai: Dynamite Kansai vs. Hikari Fukuoka
Devil Masami vs. Bull Nakano
Sumio Toyama vs. Yumi Tenma
Only Give Up Single Match: Plum Mariko vs. Commando Bolshoi
Dynamite Kansai & Hikari Fukuoka vs. Devil Masami & Candy Okutsu
JWP vs. Zenjo: Mayumi Ozaki & Cuty Suzuki vs. Takako Inoue & Sakie Hasegawa
AJ Jr. Title: Numacchi (AJW) vs. Sumio Toyama (Saburo). **1/2
Infernal KAORU (AJW) vs. Commando Bolshoi. *1/2
Suzuka Minami & Kaoru Ito (AJW) vs. Devil Masami & Candy Okutsu. Devil Masami & Candy Okutsu. Great performance by Devil, particularly how she carried this match. I mean, she was making Candy look impressive and she wasn't even wrestling against her. ****
Yumiko Hotta (AJW) vs. Plum Mariko. *1/4
First Attack Single Match Rule 60:00 Full Time Match: Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki & Cuty Suzuki & Hikari Fukuoka. I was saying the other day that it's a shame they never did a second match under these rules, but in a way it would be pointless because this could never be topped. This is the best gimmick/stipulation match ever and unquestionably one of the top couple women's matches of the decade. Awesome work and perfect booking. My all-time favorite finish. *****
*Special Price $36 (2 VHS/DVD) or $41.50 or $47 COOP (one unique)*
The Queens Road Yokohama Second: Candy Okutsu & Fusayo Nouchi vs. Chikako Shiratori & Chaparrita ASARI (AJW). Good match between the four youngsters with Candy carrying the match and ASARI showing her great highspots **1/2
Solid Black Queens Energy: Hikari Fukuoka vs. Manami Toyota (AJW). Excellent match with Hikari pushing her idol before doing the eventual job. Lots of mirror spots and great spots including Toyota doing a plancha over the security rail ****
Most Special Persons Wrestling Jam: Devil Masami & Plum Mariko vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Cuty Suzuki. Great long match with great build, psychology, and timing, a special aura, and lots of choice submissions ****3/4
Bolshoi Kid vs. Mima Shimoda (AJW). The clown is awful and this is a disaster of epic proportions. This is the only match they don't show in its entirety, and even in this chopped up form it stinks. Worst Mima match I've ever seen, though it's not her fault 1/4*
Pure Heart Meets The Dangerous Queen, Only One Time Singles Match: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Akira Hokuto (AJW). Pretty similar to Oz's match with Toyota on 10/9/93 though the selling here is superior. Breaking the opponent's main finisher was the key. Very solid match that built well ****1/4
Full Throttle Thunder Queen World: Dynamite Kansai vs. Kyoko Inoue (AJW). Very similar to Kansai/Yamada 10/9 with the same finisher vs. finisher storyline and great build and psychology. Not as good as 10/9 because it wasn't nearly as stiff. ****1/4
*Special Price $36 (2 VHS/DVD) or $41.50 or $47 COOP (one unique)*
1/12/94
Mayumi Ozaki vs. Cuty Suzuki 5:46 of 20:21. Cuty was getting major heel heat pulling Ozaki's eyebrows out by hand (what a waste). She cut Ozaki on the forehead, and attacked the wound. Ozaki got beat on the whole time, but came back and put Cuty away with a few moves.
2 Fall Count Match: Dynamite Kansai & Candy Okutsu vs. Devil Masami & Plum Mariko 4:33 of 20:24
11/29/93
Dynamite Kansai & Hikari Fukuoka vs. Yumiko Hotta & Kaoru Ito 24:16. Hotta had her attitude going in a way that helped the match, looking intense and hateful. She added a lot of small things to the match that helped put over the rivalry between the two promotions. Hotta really carried this, with Fukuoka & Ito doing fine as workers. Kansai was disappointing in that she didn't add more to the story and atmosphere. She played along with Hotta better than younger and smaller Fukuoka or Ito could, but she was ultimately also a follower. ***1/2
Cuty Suzuki vs. Candy Okutsu 4:06 of 14:26
Mayumi Ozaki vs. Devil Masami 5:57 of 17:22. Looked like a very good match. Ozaki was really pushing Devil here. She was on offense most of what was shown and didn't seem at all the underdog. You felt like she would win, but of course if Devil is selling this much...
Mayumi Ozaki & Plum Mariko & Candy Okutsu vs. Devil Masami & Cuty Suzuki & Bolshoi Kid 5:50 of 19:29
Note: tape also contains footage of their vacation activities
1st Battle A Block:
Cuty Suzuki vs. Fusayo Nouchi. 10:07
Dynamite Kansai vs. Candy Okutsu. 11:57
Note: tape also contains footage of their vacation activities
1st Battle B Block:
Hikari Fukuoka vs. Commando Bolshoi
Plum Mariko vs. Mayumi Ozaki
Note: tape also contains footage of their vacation activities
2nd Battle A, B Block:
Plum Mariko vs. Hikari Fukuoka. 10:10
Cuty Suzuki vs. Dynamite Kansai. 12:22
Note: tape also contains footage of their vacation activities
Mayumi Ozaki & Hikari Fukuoka & Bolshoi Kid vs. Cuty Suzuki & Candy Okutsu & Fusayo Nouchi. 15:47
Final Battle Kesshosen Special Tag Match: Devil Masami & Dynamite Kansai vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Plum Mariko. Tournament doesn't have a traditional final, rather the winner of A Block teams with Devil, while the winner of B Block teams with Chigusa. 15:58
Focuses on Chigusa Nagayo's involvement in JWP so far. All matches are edited, and they actually stop the tape of the match to show the wrestlers (mainly Chigusa) talking about it.
11/18/93: Cuty Suzuki & Chigusa Nagayo vs. Devil Masami & Plum Mariko. 12-13 min (all times on this tape include interspersed interviews)
1/9/94: Cuty Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki & Plum Mariko vs. Dynamite Kansai & Devil Masami & Chigusa Nagayo. 12 min
1/11/94: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Chigusa Nagayo. 17 min
Clips of each singles match in PACIFIC FIGHT Tournament about 2 min each than 3-4 min clip of tag final
Hiromi Yagi & Fusayo Nouchi vs. Kumiko Maekawa & Rie Tamada. Basic young girls match with stretching and dropkicks. Execution was fine. Yagi kept some intensity and suspense on the match even though aside from a few judo based moves she was doing the same offense as the others. She has a sense of timing and an understanding of what makes a match compelling that the others don't. **
Bolshoi Kid (ASARI) vs. Commando Bolshoi. It wasn't quite SUPER MAJOR CLOWNS Ariake TRASH!! like I feared, but it wasn't a good lucha or flying match like it could have been. The 10 minute time limit hurt because by the time it started getting good, it was over. The funniest part was when ASARI's hair extension came off in the midst of her turning a uranage into a wakigatame. Commando acted like it was a dead animal and scared the ref with it. The moves were a lot better than the previous match, but the execution was worse and there was no smoothness, timing, or flow. *3/4
Cuty Special vs. Takako Panic: Cuty Suzuki vs. Takako Inoue. These two don't need 20 minutes. Their lack of offense starts to bore you within 10. You know you are in trouble when Takako is doing all the offense, but her offense at least looked pretty good. Cuty's flying in particular looked pretty pathetic; she's just not very athletic. Cuty did an excellent job of selling. The lack of announcers actually helped the match come across better because Cuty was doing a great job of screaming in pain, actually putting some thought and emotion into when and how she screamed. The effort was strong, but too much of the match was just stretching each other out. They didn't get heat until things picked up at the end. **1/4
Over The Generation Grudge Match: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Chigusa Nagayo. This truly looked like a grudge match. There was a major staredown before it started and once it began they just beat each other to a pulp for 27 minutes. Violent and intense. Ozaki was nasty. The match was all about attitude. They wouldn't back down or give up no matter how much punishment they took. Obviously they were both over to begin with, but the match built up a great deal of heat not just because it was long and high quality, but because they earned the audience's respect. Both women had a couple of cuts, with the entire right side of Ozaki's face being covered in blood while Chigusa couldn't really get much blood. It wasn't just a brawl, of course, they each actually wrestled and even did a dive. One of the best matches they've had together. ***3/4
Candy Okutsu vs. Kyoko Inoue. Long before the ego feeding days of squashing everyone in Neo to the detriment of everyone but herself, there was a wrestler named Kyoko Inoue that was more interested in having a strong match. Even though she may never have had to face Candy again, she unselfishly carried her and put her over enough to lead her to one of the best veteran vs. promising youngster matches. They key to this typ eof match is the youngster looking impressive and being competitive. Nobody really believes they'll win, so it's okay if they are overmatched as long as they prove they are not only someone to watch but a player right now, which Candy did. In doing so, Candy got the crowd behind her. Well executed match with a number of nice high spots. The highlight to me was Kyoko doing an overhead belly to belly suplex with both women standing on the top rope. The finishing segment was disappoint, but that was the only major downside. ***3/4
Devil Masami & Bull Nakano vs. Hikari Fukuoka & Sakie Hasegawa. Surprisingly this was supposed to be the first time Devil & Bull teamed up. The best athlete each league had from the current generation faced each leagues aging monster. Unfortunately, the aging monsters didn't seemed cut out to go nearly 30 minutes. While the match was well worked and some excellent moments and exciting stretches, it lacked fire and really anything that would make the match seem important. Too often the match just plodded along. Hikari and Sakie did some nice moves, most notably Hikari moonsaulting off Sakie's shoulders, but the monsters for the most part seemed to just be there. The success of the match was more in having wrestlers that good than in anything particular they did. **3/4
WWWA Sekai Single Senshukenjiai: Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai. This is one of those inexplicable matches where you can't imagine how things could go wrong, but they really did. Before the GAEA days, every time these two had faced each other before or after it was excellent. This match however went on forever without much of anything happening. Aja dominated the match with a lot of dull submissions and some brutal strikes. She did a good job pounding Kansai with different types of shots so she could save her urakens until the end, but there weren't enough strikes or other high impact spots until that point to keep the quality up. Kansai wasn't on top of her game today. It seemed like she was having problems working with someone so big, although I can't figure why since she'd had no problem with Devil or Aja in the past. In any case, here you never got the sense that they knew where their opponent was going to be, so they were more tentative and deliberate than you'd expect. Wasn't a totally dead match, but didn't have anywhere near the heat and urgency you'd expect from JWP's top star vying to become the first native outsider to win the top women's title. **1/2
*Special price two T-120's for $36 or $47 COOP (two unique)*
Hikari Fukuoka vs. Hiromi Sugo. More like the original JWP with a bunch of submissions early then some spots from Hikari toward the end. Sugo didn't have a prayer. *1/2
Dynamite Kansai & Fusayo Nouchi vs. Commando Bolshoi & Hiromi Yagi. Yagi was already good. She did her submissions and Kansai did her kicks, but the other two didn't offer much. **1/4
Cuty Suzuki & Candy Okutsu vs. Devil Masami & Mayumi Ozaki. Devil & Ozaki played heel, and dominated the match. Cuty & Candy were alright, but nothing special. Ozaki worked hard and made it a good match. ***
Dynamite Kansai & Cuty Suzuki & Candy Okutsu & Hiromi Sugo vs. Devil Masami & Mayumi Ozaki & Commando Bolshoi & Hiromi Yagi. The main players did a good job, but, although they hit their moves, the bottom four didn't do too much. The fans were the most excited about Kansai vs. Devil, which was good. The finish was nothing special. ***
Fusayo Nouchi vs. Hiromi Sugo
Tournament Matches:
Hiromi Yagi vs. Commando Bolshoi
Hikari Fukuoka vs. Candy Okutsu
Cuty Suzuki vs. Mayumi Ozaki
Dynamite Kansai vs. Devil Masami
*Special price $18 or $23.50 COOP*
Tournament Junkessho: Hikari Fukuoka vs. Commando Bolshoi. Bolshoi works Fukuoka's bad arm. Good work, but the match seemed very flat due to a total lack of heat. Good match.
Tournament Junkessho: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Devil Masami. Ozaki was real good, but Devil made some of the spots that required athleticism look bad.
8/21 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Tournament Kesshosen 2 Fall Count Match: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Hikari Fukuoka. Ozaki carried the match and it was really solid with strong psychology, but Fukuoka didn't play her role well as her selling wasn't that good and her comebacks were way too quick. As Bolshoi did, Ozaki attacks Hikari's bad arm. Very good match, but the finish was bad because Ozaki kicks out at 1 but the ref gives Hikari the match anyway.
Zenjo & JWP Junior League Koshikisen: Chaparrita ASARI vs. Fusayo Nouchi
Zenjo & JWP Junior League Koshikisen: Rie Tamada vs. Candy Okutsu
Hikari Fukuoka & KAORU vs. Devil Masami & Hiromi Sugo
Dynamite Kansai & Bolshoi Kid vs. Mayumi Ozaki & Cuty Suzuki
Dynamite Kansai & Cuty Suzuki & Hikari Fukuoka & Hiromi Sugo vs. Devil Masami & Mayumi Ozaki & Candy Okutsu & Hiromi Yagi
Reiko Amano vs. Tomoko Kuzumi
Zenjo & JWP Junior League Koshikisen: Hiromi Sugo vs. Candy Okutsu
Dynamite Kansai & Sumio Toyama vs. Devil Masami & Fusayo Nouchi
Mayumi Ozaki & Cuty Suzuki vs. Hikari Fukuoka & Hiromi Yagi
Mayumi Ozaki & Cuty Suzuki & Hiromi Sugo & Fusayo Nouchi vs. Dynamite Kansai & Hikari Fukuoka & Candy Okutsu & Hiromi Yagi
Kanako Motoya vs. Yuki Miyazaki
Yasuko Kuragaki vs. Tomomi Kobayashi
Sumio Toyama & Reiko Amano vs. Tomoko Miyaguchi & Tomoko Kuzumi
Devil Masami & Hiromi Yagi & Fusayo Nouchi vs. Dynamite Kansai & Cuty Suzuki & Hiromi Sugo
Special Scramble Tag Match: Mayumi Ozaki & Hikari Fukuoka vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Candy Okutsu
Cuty Suzuki vs. KAORU. One of those matches where these two try to be tough girls even though they aren't. It was pretty good when they wrestled, but typically false when they tried to be bad girls. There were some execution problems and they didn't work together so well, but the other big problem was the match was at least twice as long as it should have been so it meandered considerably. Not only did they lose the crowd, but they didn't structure the match so they'd eventually get them back and anyone could see a draw coming from a mile away. *3/4
Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki & Sumio Toyama vs. Devil Masami & Candy Okutsu & Hiromi Yagi. The veterans gave this match to Yagi, Toyama, and to a lesser extent Candy. Toyama was never good, while Yagi & Candy were miles from their '96 level. Still, this was a good match because of the action, but more because of the smarts and timing of the veterans, particularly Ozaki. The veterans didn't wrestle each other so much because they were needed to carry the younger wrestlers, but that ensured the quality was always at least decent. Ozaki vs. Devil was quite good when it happened, with Devil still being real sharp. ***
Undercard highlights
Reiko Amano & Tomoko Miyaguchi vs. Hikari Fukuoka & Tomoko Kuzumi. 4:37 shown
JWP Nintei Junior Senshuken Shodai Oza Ketteisen: Candy Okutsu vs. Hiromi Yagi vs. Hiromi Sugo 7:08. You had to beat both opponents consecutively to capture the crown, and while the first two falls being so quick might not have helped the match quality if nothing else they made the near finishes in the third fall seem more legit. They put all they had into this match, not wasting any time and making the whole thing come off as frantic and desperate. Yagi was in top form, displaying really smooth and fluid work with lighting counters and transitions, and excellent body control. Candy was also good. Sugo was totally out of her depth, but wrestled so little it wasn't apparent. ***1/4
Hikari Fukuoka & KAORU vs. Devil Masami & Mayumi Ozaki 12:32 of 13:32. Everyone was kept involved, running or usually in the case of Fukuoka & KAORU flying all over the place. Hikari's team did a lot of double teaming, and except for a rare flub worked very well together. Devil & Ozaki did the spectacular style their opposition is known for, including Ozaki doing a diving footstomp off Devil's shoulders with Devil sitting on the top rope then Devil doing a diving leg drop to set up the finish. ***1/4
JWP-GAEA THE CLIMAX ONE: Dynamite Kansai vs. Chigusa Nagayo 22:10 of 23:35. As good a match as you could have hoped for. Chigusa could still wrestle in these days, and both went all out to deliver a memorable main event. Kansai was the monstrous aggressor, kicking the crap out of Chigusa, who was "injured" early. Chigusa made a quick recovery and injured Kansai with her kicks, to even things up in this brutally stiff match. Good drama with teases of the big holds and nice selling by both to put over the impact and accumulation of damage. ****
JWP Junior Senshukenjiai: Candy Okutsu vs. Saburo. They were always working hard, but most of the time they weren't doing much. They didn't do anything bad per se, but it was mainly submissions and just wasn't very exciting. *1/2
JWP Nintei Musabetsukyu Oza Kettei Leagusen: Hikari Fukuoka vs. Cuty Suzuki. Started off slow, but turned into a good match in the last third. ***
Dynamite Kansai & Hiromi Yagi vs. Devil Masami & Mayumi Ozaki. Match was always solid and entertaining, but they didn't really capitilize on the Kansai vs. Ozaki rivalry or the few stories they introduced. Devil & Ozaki played heel, punking Yagi, who was the big underdog here. Yagi looked good and got over in the underdog role, getting the biggest pops of anyone when she'd do something of note. Kansai was particularly brutal with Devil, drilling her with kicks and chops. ***1/2
Kanako Motoya vs. Yuki Miyazaki. 1:50 shown.
Tomoko Kuzumi & Tomomi Kobayashi vs. Tomoko Miyaguchi & Yasuko Kuragaki. 1:49 shown.
Fusayo Nouchi & Rieko Amano vs. Bolshoi Kid & Hiromi Sugo. 3:07 shown.
*Special price $18 or $23.50 COOP*
Tomoko Miyaguchi vs. Kanako Motoya
Hiromi Sugo & Saburo vs. Bolshoi Kid & Fusayo Nouchi
Devil Masami & Rieko Amano vs. Tomoko Kuzumi & ?
Cuty Suzuki vs. Hiromi Yagi
Mayumi Ozaki & Hikari Fukuoka vs. Dynamite Kansai & Candy Okutsu
* Special Price $16 or $21.50 COOP*
Kanako Moyota vs. Yuki Miyazaki
Mayumi Ozaki vs. Tomoko Miyaguchi
Devil Masami & Cuty Suzuki & Rieko Amano & Kanako Moyota vs. Dynamite Kansai & Commando Bolshoi & Hiromi Yagi & Yuki Miyazaki
5/30/93: Hikari Fukuoka vs. Sakie Hasegawa
Hikari Fukuoka vs. Sakie Hasegawa
Hiromi Sugo vs. Fusayo Nouchi. Kept moving and had decent work. Back and forth match that was clumsy at times, but generally adequate. *1/2
Candy Okutsu vs. Saburo. Candy kept it simple for Saburo, who is slow with no offense. Neither smooth nor developed. Candy kept it passable, but she's a worker and when work isn't a strength she's in trouble. *1/2
Kanako Motoya vs. Yuki Miyazaki. Selling, execution, sequences, and transitions were all pretty good. What impressed me was the intensitity, especially from Motoya. Not too much in the way of build or spots and the match ended quickly. **1/4
Rieko Amano vs. Commando Bolshoi. Amano was the underdog that kept trying and wouldn't stay down, gaining respect through her resiliance. More brawling than I expected, with Bolshoi using a metal rod on Amano right in front of Ozaki and raming Amano's head into the table Oz was sitting at which led to Amano juicing. Oddly, they began wrestling once Amano was cut. The wrestling was much more convincing than the brawling because Bolshoi is pretty smooth, but lacks impact and tough girl credibility. Amano would do a nice counter into a finishing predicament to keep hope alive. ***
Cuty Suzuki & Hikari Fukuoka vs. Esther Moreno & Hiromi Yagi. Nice action and moves for the majority of the match, only flagging in the middle when they went to submission. Yagi was the smoothest worker even though lucha and aerial doesn't really suit her offensive style. Moreno didn't botch anything too badly and showed the flashiest offense including a moonsault from the middle rope in the ring to the floor. Hikari is at home here and was very good, the other key to the impressive high flying action. Cuty knows how to get by in this type of match, though she looked silly when her and Hikari tried diving headbutts from opposite corners and she came up short. ***1/2
Devil Masami & Tomoko Miyaguchi & Tomoko Kuzumi vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato. Heated interpromotional match with well matched teams wrestling with fire and intensity. Unfortunately, there was some major ego feeding from Devil & Chigusa, who weren't going to sell for the younger wrestlers. Bull Nakano could not sell for somebody, but wind up making them look good because when they eventually got some over on her it was meaningful. Unfortunately, Chigusa never sold and Devil only put over Satomura's udehishigigyakujujigatame, which Meiko grossly overused. Chigusa was throwing some really good kicks, but that was like her only offense outside of a choke sleeper to the Tomoko's at the same time. The younger girls looked good against each other, at least, with the Tomoko's showing a lot of potential when given the chance. The finish was indicitave of the ridiculousness we regularly saw here. Kuzumi was nearly pinned because Chigusa kicked her. She survived because Devil saved with a kick, which meant Satomura was pinned becase Devil intercepted Chigusa before she could break Kuzumi's pin. **
Mayumi Ozaki & Kyoko Inoue vs. Dynamite Kansai & Takako Inoue. Very offensive minded match. They wasted little time and everyone used just about their entire arsenal. Good teamwork, and lots of it including Kansai & Takako doing a Die Hard Kansai/nodowa otoshi combination. Ozaki did the best job of playing up a rivalry with Takako. Kansai was the other standout early because everything she does is so high impact. The match lacked focus and storyline. It wasn't very dynamic, though it rarely slowed down either. Mainly it was a highlight reel with the expected spots and others like Kyoko piledriving Kansai through a table. The last 5 minutes looked like 1 finish after another. ****1/4
The Plum tape has still pictures and clips from throughout her career, and highlights of the first Plum Memorial show. The tape closes with a sad scene of Ozaki visiting Plum's grave. It would be a lot better, I'm sure, if I could understand what everyone was saying.
*I have a limited amount of additional 1st generation SP copies available for $18 or $23.50 COOP*