1993 was clearly the golden year of women's wrestling. This was far from the best show of that year, but it had a number of choice matches and it's a better show than any major show I've seen from 1997.

This was just an average match. It went along at a good pace, and there were no real lulls in the action, but it got sloppy in some parts and there wasn't much to get excited about. Mita was the lone veteran in the match, so she basically dominated the LLPW women when she was in, making it clear that she could pin them at any time. She would get her opponent in a fireman's carry, teasing her Death Valley bomb finisher, but let them off the hook with a move like an airplane spin. Numacchi, one of the all-time dogs of women's wrestling whose workrate only seemed good in comparison with her looks, was in way too much and brought the match down. At one point Numacchi, who had a construction worker gimmick, used her hard hat to headbutt Endo.

The match picked up around the 14-minute mark with near falls back and forth, including Futagami getting a couple of hot near falls on Mita. Mita quickly gained control though, and tagged in Numacchi who did her Russian leg sweep finisher 5 times in a row but couldn't pin Futagami. Endo avoided Watanabe's moonsault block the first time, but Watanabe soon caught her with it. Watanabe then used a bridging suplex I've never seen before, I guess you could call it a bridging pump-handle suplex, to pin Endo.

Michael: Mariko Yoshida (who was refereeing due to being injured) got a noticeably bigger pop than any of the wrestlers during the introductions. This wasn't too bad for an opener, but probably a couple of minutes too long. For some reason Endo and Numacchi logged the most ring time, so the match wasn't as good as it may've been otherwise. The match was also hurt by a lot of sloppiness and miscommunication in the early going. Midori and Watanabe looked the best of the six, but Mita was good as well the couple of times she was in there. *3/4

18:55

Rating:

Roller Coaster 4 x 4 Captain Fall Match: Mima Shimoda (c) & Kaoru Ito & The Goddess Chikako Shiratori & Chaparrita ASARI vs. Cuty Suzuki (c) & Plum Mariko & Hikari Fukuoka & Command Bolshoi

The basis of the rules is that it's an elimination match, but instead of the match ending when one team is completely eliminated (like a Survivor Series match), it ends when the captain of a team is pinned. This match ruled, and I was suitably stoked because now I have a match with The Goddess that I could send somebody and they would actually want to watch it. It was all action from start to finish with tons of double, triple, and quadruple teaming, including an attempted quadruple dropkick and the requisite consecutive plancha spot.

It was fast-paced early with basic moves, building to the big spots later on. They tried to get heat early on between the promising youngsters - Fukuoka and Ito - who had opposed each other in a tag match at Dreamslam 1. The action got hot about 6:30 in with a bunch of finishers and outside interference. Commando gave Mima her nadare shiki no nodowa-otoshi (chokeslam like sumo throw off the top rope) and two regular nodowa otoshi's before Mima turned a third into a DDT and tagged in ASARI.

ASARI got to shine here, using her great roundoff kangaroo kick twice before pinning Commando at 8:48 with her sky twister press, which was the best in-ring high spot in wrestling at the point (and maybe still). Ito tried her footstomps on Shiratori, but Fukuoka hit her in the back when she was running off the ropes. Fukuoka came in and the JWP women teamed up on Ito, leading to Fukuoka trying her moonsault, only to land on Ito's knees. Ito then used her diving footstomp to pin Hikari at 14:01.

Things were looking really bad for the JWP team, who had to be considerable favorites going in due to the experience and the ranking of the women involved, as they were down 2 women and their captain, Cuty, was in trouble. However, Cuty came back and pinned Shiratori with her diving footstomp at 16:37. Cuty then ducked ASARI's lariat and pinned her with her Dragon suplex at 16:50. Talk about a quick change of tide.

The pace slowed, as, for a little while, they built this like a regular tag match of the top two stars on each team. It picked up again with Plum and Ito, who did some nice spots together. Plum tried to give Ito her Frankensteiner off the top, but Mima pulled her off the top then Ito did her diving footstomp for a near fall. Shimoda plancha'd both opponents then Ito footstomped them off the apron. Ito used her footstomps on Cuty, but missed her diving footstomp. Cuty and Ito actually did a great sequence of reversals, culminating with Cuty getting a near fall with her Dragon suplex. Plum & Cuty did consecutive footstomps for a near fall on Ito. At 26:30, Shimoda & Plum started exchanging near falls. Cuty took Ito out with a released German suplex and Plum sloppily Frankensteinered captain Shimoda off the top for the win. Everyone contributed to this match, but Ito was the most impressive of the bunch.

Michael: This was booked in kind of a weird way, but made sense by the time it ended. Usually the home promotion will go in the hole early on and then rally to win, but since JWP went over in the end AJW actually eliminated Bolshoi and Hikari first. ASARI's skytwister press wasn't as impressive as it would become as she developed more, but it still got one of the biggest pops of the night when she hit Bolshoi with it to eliminate her. That was the first time the crowd really got into the show as well besides just applauding the wrestlers before the matches.

After Hikari left via an Ito footstomp things quickly evened up when Cuty eliminated Chikako and ASARI less than 10 seconds apart. I didn't neccessarily like how Shiratori was pinned though. She was just body slammed then footstomped for a pin, with no lead up to that. I realize she was still young then and not AJW's most prized junior, but to have her go out like that didn't look good at all. The dragon suplex Cuty caught ASARI with for a 3 count was a really cool fall though because she caught Chaparrita trying to catch her off guard as she literally uncovered Chikako. Up to this point the match was solid but not spectacular. Things quickly picked up though when it got down to 2 on 2. Cuty actually did a good job of selling and despite her back seeming to be legitimately hurt Ito looked the best of the 8. After several strong near falls Plum got the surprise win on Shimoda with a hurancanrana off the top turnbuckle. JWP was totally over as the underdogs here and the crowd was very happy that they got the win. A great match that totally made the first half of the show. ****1/4

27:49

Rating:

Sakie Hasegawa & Takako Inoue vs. Shinobu Kandori & Kurenai Yasha

This had great heat, particularly when Kandori, who was really over, was in. Kandori was totally doing "shooter" spots, based on the reputation she garnered as one of the top female judo stars in the world. The match was built around her submissions, particularly the choke sleeper. The LLPW team were natural heels because they were the "road team", which was good for Yasha since being a heel is her (only) thing anyway. Yasha even eye gouged Sakie, which is rare for a puroresu match.

For ring work, the other three weren't on the same planet as Sakie. However, Takako was pretty effective here, getting big pops when she got stiff with Kandori and when she used her Destiny Hammer on Kandori for a near fall. At one point, Kandori powerbombed Sakie and leaned in deep, but Takako just made the save. Finish saw Sakie switch Kandori's powerbomb and try her rolling savate, but Kandori avoided it and choke sleepered Sakie for the win. It was good seeing Sakie again, but the only thing special about this match wast he heat.

Michael: Probably the best way to follow the elimination match came here. The work obviously wasn't up to that level but everyone, even The Muppet, looked good and Kandori was seriously over as usual. The most heated segments were between her and Takako, which was cool because Shinobu decided to sell well for her, even collapsing on a punch and kick combo from Takako. However, I felt the finish was pretty weak. Sakie quickly succumbed to a sleeper that Kandori had barely applied to her (she kept taking her top arm off Sakie's forehead to taunt Takako and her bottom arm showed some light against Sakie's neck). Overall, the finish did work though because Kandori's sleeper was and still is respected enough that it wasn't a shock that she could put Sakie away with it. I would've like to have seen them go a few more minutes because the 11 minutes just flew by here, but I don't think they could've done much better than this if they had more time. ***

11:09

Rating:

Star & Rising Sun 4 VIPS: Yumiko Hotta & Suzuka Minami vs. Bull Nakano & Reggie Bennett

A boring slow-paced match with Suzuka being the best worker, but no one looking particularly good or bad. The match picked up after the 9-minute mark with Bull & Suzuka in, and continued with Suzuka & Bennett exchanging signature spots. Bennett's work wasn't smooth and fluid, which hurt the closing minutes. A big near fall came when Bull hit her guillotine leg drop then Bennett splashed Suzuka. Bennett then put Suzuka in her Reggie rack (Argentine backbreaker/torture rack) for the win.

Michael: Nothing memorable here, but a pretty decent match nonetheless. Minami looked to be by far the best of the four in my opinion, but the match seemed so short that they never developed anything leading to the finish. It just ended seemingly out of nowhere with Suzuka submitting to the Reggie rack. Although they didn't do much I didn't find the match boring because it was only 10 minutes or so, but it was somewhat disappointint that it was only average at best. **1/4

28:21

Rating:

Kyoko Inoue vs. Devil Masami

This matched was the first match in a three part Zenjo (AJW) vs. JWP single match series. This was both exactly what it had to be and everything you could ask for from a singles match between these two. The storyline and psychology were great, and the match built perfectly. They worked a slow-paced Devil style match with Devil controlling but Kyoko making comebacks by countering Devil's moves. Kyoko's comebacks were short lived though, as Devil would quickly cut her off, usually by avoiding or countering one of Kyoko's moves. Devil continually tried her powerbombs, but Kyoko either avoided them or kicked out. Kyoko, who proved just how exceptionally strong she was in this match, hit her Niagara driver just before the 19- minute mark, but Devil managed to kick out. Devil avoided another Niagara driver, but, after several counters, Kyoko turned Devil's suplex into a Japanese back rolling clutch hold for the flash pin. That was the only manner Devil was going to be upset in. I usually hate flash pins, but based on the body of the match, it was the perfect finish. A big win for Kyoko.

Michael: It's a shame that Devil didn't work a match like this with Motoya, Kuzumi, Miyaguchi, and/or Amano (obviously by 1998 she couldn't physically be this good again but a similar attempt still would've helped any of them immensly). This was a near perfect example of how to do an elevation type match which seems to be a lost art these days. Early on Devil realized that the crowd was totally behind the underdog Kyoko and she played to this throughout the match, always keeping them involved. She didn't dominate Kyoko then just allow herself to be meaninglessly flashed. Kyoko had a good deal of offense here and her beating Devil came off as a great and strong victory instead of a fluke (though AJW was smart about these things back then so I doubt they would've let Devil run roughshot over her anyway). As I alluded to above, the joshi scene as a whole would be much better off today if the veterans of the late '90s (including Devil) had treated the up-and-comers of '97 and '98 in this manner. ****1/4

19:49

Rating:

Rainbow Sensation: Manami Toyota vs. Mayumi Ozaki

This was the second part in the Zenjo vs. JWP single match series. It had much more mat wrestling then you would expect, with both women being really effective in that aspect. This match was strong, but never really kicked into high gear. There was a conscious effort in this match, and the next, to keep the main finishers strong, with the main psychology here being whether Ozaki could put Toyota away before Manami Japanese ocean cyclone suplexed her for the win.

It started off fast, with action before the bell, but slowed before the 30-second mark. Some high spots were interspersed, but the early portion was predominantly mat work. They picked it up at the 9-minute mark, with Oz getting a near fall with her rolling (somersault) bodyblock before Toyota came back with her typical assortment of dropkicks.

Oz took the match to the floor, but, unlike today, she got the worst of it when Toyota slammed her. At the 13-minute mark, Toyota missed a dropkick and went flying through the ropes to the floor, but this time Oz got the best of the out of the ring action by hitting her rolling senton block off the 2nd. Oz got some near falls, but Toyota came back with her rolling cradle. Both women did a series of near falls before Toyota missed her moonsault and Ozaki hit her tequila sunrised finisher, but Toyota kicked out. Toyota knocked Ozaki to the floor and did a released German suplex followed by an Orihara moonsault. Toyota got near falls with her moonsault and a Dragon suplex. Toyota tried her Japanese ocean cyclone suplex, but Ozaki turned it into a victory roll for a near fall. Ozaki slipped out of the J.O.C. suplex and tequila sunrised Toyota for another near fall. Ozaki tried her rounding body press, but Toyota got her feet up. Toyota set Oz up for the Japanese Ocean Cyclone suplexed, and finally Oz had run out of counters and was pinned in it. The combination of Ozaki trying desperately to avoid the J.O.C. suplex and Toyota getting the pin the first time she successfully executed the move strengthened the finisher. This was important because the two ***** Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai tag matches (11/26/92 and 4/11/93) had an incredible amount of near falls and they wanted to still have heat on the key moves when the teams met for the third (and unfortunately final) time on 12/6/93. These two could clearly have done a lot better match together, hopefully they will get the chance someday, but, not surprisingly, I loved this nonetheless.

Michael: Oz is just so epic. Arguably the best heel of the '90s and certainly the best in women's wrestling. She gave a clinic here on how to make the little things look big and as a result the crowd was totally behind her by the end of the match. There was more matwork here then you'd expect, but I liked it because Manami did a good job of making the submissions work, whether she was applying or selling. Same with Mayumi who did every little trick she could think of to punk Manami while working her over. They did a great job of playing up whatever rivalry their tag matches with Kansai and Yamada had caused up to this point. Towards the end Manami seemed to be pissed off that the crowd began rooting for Oz, so she immediately attempted to put her away with her Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex. This led to an excellent sequence of near falls by Oz that eventually culminated with Manami applying the JOCS for the win (which got most of the crowd back on her side). And even I was kind of rooting for Ozaki because she was just so excellent here. Near flawless execution from both women and a fantastic finish to a match that was as close to ***** as it gets. ****3/4

27:49

Rating:

Toshiyo Yamada vs. Dynamite Kansai

This was the third and final match of the Zenjo vs. JWP single match series, a series that AJW had already won. It was a great match, the best match on the show. Yamada was at the peak of her excellence during this time period. As usual, she did whatever it took to have a great match, which in this case meant absorbing a tremendous beating, but also dishing one out. This was really stiff, like All Japan main event level of stiffness, and the execution was crisp.

The storyline of this match, to a much greater extent then the last match, was that it was a battle of the two main finishers, Yamada's reverse Gori special bomb and Kansai's splash mountain. As with the last match, they were trying to strengthen the finishers, and it became clear that the women who successfully executed her finisher first would be the winner.

It started out fast, but they quickly took it to the mat, with both women focusing on their opponent's legs. In between the matwork, both women stiffed each other with series of blistering kicks. At the 8-minute mark, Kansai pulled the mat away and suplexed Yamada on the hard wood floor. There were some unusual spots like Yamada delivering a backdrop driver then going for a second, but Kansai stopped it by taking Yamada down with a headlock, which lead to more mat wrestling. Later on, Yamada ducked Kansai's high kick, sending her to the floor where she did a plancha.

The match picked up at the 13:30 mark, with high spots and near falls back and forth, including Yamada using a series of running brain kicks. Yamada countered Kansai's Irish whip with a great spinning high kick. After a series of near falls, Yamada tried her reverse Gori special bomb, but Kansai powered out by standing up, so Yamada settled for a victory roll. Before Yamada could attempt her reverse Gori special bomb a second time, Kansai took her legs out with a spinning leg sweep. Kansai tried her splash mountain, but Yamada resisted so she settled for a piledriver. Kansai went for the splash mountain again, but Yamada escaped after kicking Kansai in the head on the way up. Yamada did a running brain kick and tried her reverse Gori special bomb again, but Kansai powered out then put Yamada down with a vicious high kick. Kansai dove half way across the ring with a reverse elbow for a near fall, which was very impressive considering Kansai's size. Kansai then tried a back superplex, but Yamada switched it on the way down. Kansai used three more kicks, with the first two basically fanning, but the third one being stiff enough to KO someone legit, before splash mountaining Yamada for the win. Once again the finisher was strengthened. Grueling match.

Michael: Excellent and brutal war. Like the previous match, these two played up their previous meetings for the WWWA Tag Titles and the animosity those two matches had caused. A lot of the success this match would have was predicated on how stiff and effective their offenses would be and they held nothing back. Even moreso than the last match, there were a lot of great near falls here which climaxed with Kansai hitting a strong looking splash mountain for the victory. A close second to Manami vs. Oz for best match of the night. ****1/2

19:42

Rating:

The Marinepiad Biggest: Aja Kong vs. Akira Hokuto

There's an interesting story behind this match. Hokuto came into this match in really bad shape, as she was coming off knee surgery and was still walking with crutches on the day of the event. Aja was supposed to be defending her WWWA title here, but Hokuto came out and petitioned to get the match changed to a non-title match because an injured challenger would cheapen the credibility of the title. Since Hokuto was in such bad shape, this match not only didn't approach the standard of excellence these two could approach together, but was barely a good match. However, despite the letdown in match quality, this was a memorable match because Hokuto's performance was one of the gutsiest of all-time.

Hokuto did her flip dive almost immediately, but that was about it for her offense. Aja totally dominated Hokuto, predominantly kicking Hokuto's bad knee or working it over with submission holds. There was nothing wrong with the work, but the match was boring because it was so one-sided.

Hokuto finally came back just before the 10-minute mark, getting a near fall with her German suplex, but when she tried her Northern Lights bomb, Aja kicked her leg out and regained control. Hokuto ducked two urakens, but when she tried to go on offense she ran into an uraken for a near fall. Hokuto would counter a move once in a while, making a courageous attempt at a flash pin, but she could never put together a series of holds. Hokuto tried to land on her feet for a backdrop, but her knee gave out legit. About 14 minutes in, Hokuto tried a missile kick, but Aja kicked her bad knee in midair. Hokuto couldn't get up, so the doctor came in the ring and undid her knee pad, allowing the ref to pull her knee back into place. The match was restarted about 2 minutes later, so we could see Hokuto do probably the worst counter of a powerbomb off the 2nd in history. They went to near falls, with Hokuto even getting some, but due to Hokuto's injury, the execution was worse than normal. At 18:30, Aja missed her diving reverse elbow then Hokuto delivered her Northern Lights bomb for a near fall. Hokuto tried a diving press, but Aja caught her in mid air and slammed her. Aja did an Orange bomb (suplex into a powerbomb) then her Nadare-shiki suisha otoshi (a water mill off the top rope, with water mill being a type of Greco-Roman backdrop) for the win.

After the match, Aja gave an emotional speech on the house mic, actually bursting out in tears along the way. The highlight of the speech was Aja saying Hokuto was the gutsiest and most courageous wrestler ever. They showed Hokuto, in tremendous pain, having her knee attended to back stage, which included getting a needle in her knee cap. Their next big match together, the final of the V* Top Women tournament on 11/20/94 at the Tokyo Dome, was practically identical except their roles were reversed. This match epitomizes Hokuto's legendary never say die attitude. Hell, most wrestlers in her physical condition wouldn't have even attempted to work.

Michael: Pure Heart has been half of JWP's slogan for over a decade, but few have ever exemplified that more than The Dangerous Queen. Had a wrestler of lesser standing and stature put out her same effort vs. Aja, their stock in the eyes of the fans and promotion would've skyrocketed. For Akira though it just continued to add to her burgeoning legendary toughness and heart. In my opinion, she is the true definition of hardcore. It's not about taking sick punishment because you can't do anything else to get heat. It's about always busting your ass no matter how hurt, always leaving everything in the ring, and putting the promotion and fans before yourself. Under these circumstances with her leg and back being messed up (to the point that the had to stop the match to re-adjust her leg in the socket), nobody could've put out a better and more convincing performance than Hokuto. ***

Special thanks to: Michael Smith

20:09

Rating:

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