Lioness delivered a Hall of Fame performance here (hint hint). She's become very much like Ultimo Dragon in that she has to pick her spots, but she can work to or above the level of any women in the business. She picked her spot here, and on this night she once again looked like what she was in the 1980's, one of the best workers in the world. Lioness did a masterful job of carrying this match. This was the kind of savvy performance that only an intelligent veteran who really knows how to wrestle can deliver. I'm sure if you think hard enough you can find an exception to the last statement, but I think you know what I mean. A lot of the things Lioness did right were so subtle that you won't even notice them unless you pay very close attention, but if she didn't do them you would have noticed that something was wrong or missing. Lioness basically put on a clinic of how to do a great match with a bloated wrestler that has limited mobility.
Kyoko weighed more than ever and was limited to powerbombs and lariats. There were some problems with Kyoko's work, but Lioness did such a great job of carrying this that even the spots Lioness couldn't save didn't hurt the match that much. The pacing of this match was great. Kyoko isn't a thoroughbred like she used to be, but Lioness knows that, so Kyoko didn't need to be in this match. This was the best match in Jd' history, and Kyoko was only good, so that tells you how much of this was due to Lioness.
Kyoko
lariated Lioness before the bell and took out Lioness' cronies, but this gave
Lioness time to hit Kyoko with a chain. If you are ever going to brag about
an impressive display of power then this is the match to do so because Lioness
proved here that she's a hell of a lot stronger than she looks. She was doing
a bunch of sheer strength spots to a woman at this point has to jump big time
just to help most of her opponent's German suplex her. The first of her power
spots was her requisite giant swing. Now this wasn't a 30-rep Hase giant swing
by any means, but it was nice and fast, and at this point I'm not sure if Hase
could whirl Kyoko around 30 times either. Kyoko tried to return the favor, but
her giant swing just wasn't happening, so Lioness cut her off.
I was surprised at just how over Kyoko was. I couldn't believe how vocal these fans were because Jd' shows, and it's really the same for every woman's promotion, are sorely lacking in heat. This was the hottest Jd' crowd ever, and Kyoko was over more than she has been any time I've seen her in the past 3 years. Unfortunately, the reason for all this is that Jd' dubbed in an applause track.
The Bloody got booed for breaking up Kyoko's ½ crab. Kyoko went right out after her, ramming Bloody into a table. Kyoko then she took out Fang Suzuki & Ryuna for good measure. By doing this, Kyoko was making a statement that these undercard heels weren't going to keep her from the gold. Once again, attacking Lioness' cronies cost Kyoko the advantage though.
Lioness launched a focused attack on Kyoko's knee, and Kyoko really put it over. The highlight of this segment was Kyoko trying her traditional comeback spot, the springboard back elbow, but Lioness knew it all to well so she kicked Kyoko right in the back of the bad knee.
Kyoko came back with lariats, but she was hobbling big time. She still tried her climb-up elbow spot, but it's down to a walkup, and Lioness, of course, cut it off by pushing Kyoko over the top to the floor before Kyoko embarrassed herself too much. They had a poor camera angle and their sound mix sucked, but I think Lioness body slammed Kyoko off the stage onto an unbreakable table. That doesn't sound like a nice bump to take because it's harder to adjust your body to land right when you aren't facing what you are about to crash into.
Back in the ring, Lioness nadare shiki no brainbustered Kyoko, which was really impressive, but it took too long to set up because Lioness literally had to stand Kyoko up, as if she was a baby. I mean, Lioness sat Kyoko on the top, but Kyoko can't lift her leg from a sitting position over the top rope, so Lioness had to do it for her.
Lioness went for her first powerbomb, but Kyoko was strong enough to resist it, so Bloody & Ryuna wore Kyoko down with kicks and chair shots then assisted Lioness on the Liger bomb for a near fall. Kyoko did a really sad "you are too short and I am too fat" body slam to Bloody. She then pushed Lioness off the top and took Ryuna & Fang out with her lariat. By now you know what happens in this match when Kyoko attacks Lioness' cronies. Well, this time Lioness hit Kyoko with a chain and turned her back not knowing that this shot didn't put Kyoko down. This allowed Kyoko to come back, by catching Lioness off guard. However, Lioness soon countered by back body dropping to the floor. Lioness followed with a great suicida, and when they were back in the ring did an equally great missile kick.
Lioness Ligerbombed Kyoko off a table that was on the 2nd rope for a near fall. This probably should have been the finish, and perhaps they realized that later on given it was the next time the met? She applied a sleeper, but Kyoko did an incredibly bad job of throwing her off. They exchanged no sell spots until Kyoko ducked Lioness' high kick and did an "I can't bend at the waist so I'll go down onto my knees" powerbomb. Lioness then caught Kyoko with an udehishigigyakujujigatame, which was a redo of the bad way Kyoko lost the title to Hotta.
"This spot is an example of how the ref can add to the excitement and realism of the match. If you compare this to the earlier hizajujigatame, you'll see that Kyoko sold the move and needed a rope break to escape. However, the move was not sold as devastating, as something that would do serious damage, or as something that would end the match. Kyoko didn't really seem to sell this submission anymore than she had earlier, but this jujigatame seemed a lot more dangerous because of the ref. Ran was very animated in reacting to the move. She got down very close to check on Kyoko, and she repeatedly asked her if she wanted to give up. This not only gave the impression there could be a submission at any moment, but that the hold was so dangerous that it had to be broken immediately if Kyoko submitted," wrote Michiko Kubota.
Kyoko tried her powerbomb, but Lioness slipped out. Kyoko then tried her lariat, but with a great transition, Lioness turned it into a wakigatame.
Later on, Kyoko did her lariat then a Liger bomb, which looked like the finish, but Bloody made the save. Lioness cronies started stomping Kyoko, but Kyoko took them out with lariats. With no one left to save Lioness, Kyoko delivered a Liger bomb, but Asuka lifted her shoulder just in time.
Bloody choked Kyoko with a chain, and Lioness inconspicuously used the turnbuckle for assistance on her Liger bomb. Since Lioness had already proved that she could lift Kyoko, she had no problem getting away with this, and it was a smart move because she got the same result while burning less energy. Bloody & Fang held a wobbly table up, and Lioness diving footstomped Kyoko twice, but the table wouldn't break. Lioness even piledrove Kyoko on this table, but only the leg gave out. Lioness got a hot near fall with her Liger bomb.
Kyoko came back with a released German suplex off the 2nd then lariated Lioness for the sure finish, but Lioness managed to kick out. Another lariat! Still Lioness kicks out. Another lariat! This time it was all she wrote. There was a ton of applause as well as a Kyoko chant for the new champion. Lioness challenged Kyoko to a rematch on the upcoming Neo show, and they actually shook hands. Kyoko stayed in the ring after Lioness left and got a standing ovation.
This was a little sloppy and Kyoko's comebacks could have been better because they were rather sudden, but it was definitely a match of the year candidate. I just watched their rematch from the 5/6 Neo show, and it was as good, if not better, than this match. 17:29 (16:44). ****1/2
"This performance by Lioness was another example of why she is one of the top 10 female wrestlers of all-time. Maybe she doesn't have the workrate of Toyota, the looks of Chikako, or the minkyness of Oz, but she has one other great element, consistency. By consistency I don't mean she delivers very good matches on a nightly basic, but that she's consistently been excellent throughout lengthy her career. Remember this is 1998. It was 13 years ago that she had one of the most memorable matches in women's Puroresu history against Jaguar Yokota. All these years later, she was still very much able to carry an overweight, out of shape, well past her prime Kyoko to a great match. Lioness did a hell of a job of carrying this one to a solid ****1/2," wrote Hadi.