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THE FIFTH STARTIST: Ayako Hamada (debut) vs. Candy Okutsu (10-3-2) |
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The fans showed up to see Hamada's debut, so all the hype worked for this one match. She wasn't really a draw after this match though, so in a sense the hype didn't really work because as good as she was, she was still a rookie. You could tell everyone was looking forward to this match, and they showed it by showering both women with streamers. The match itself was pretty much all you could ask for from these two. It was very rehearsed, but I think that was a good thing. Obviously, things look better if they seem natural (ok, maybe that isn't so obvious because how could liking Sable and Anna Nicole Smith be justified if this was the case), but Hamada was already asked to do way more than any normal wrestler does in their debut match. We cannot expect the world even from Super Rookie, so the rehearsed aspect may have made some spots look contrived, but it also took some of the pressure off her. It allowed her to just try to remember the ordering and hit her spots, which is a lot easier than making a lot of split second decisions on what to do and how to react. Hamada looked really good for a debuting wrestler. What separated her from the rest is that she didn't do one rookie spot. Instead, they did a match that was more complicated than a lot of the second and third year wrestlers do. By no means is she even close to as good as she was pushed as being, but she gave us no reason to think she won't become that good with more experience. This was a fast-paced match that incorporated a lot of Lucha and flying because the purpose of the match was to showcase Hamada, and obviously at this stage, that can only be done by working to her strengths. Hamada didn't go super crazy with the moonsaults like she did in later matches, so her offense wasn't quite as glamorous as it would soon become. Some of the spots looked so bad because Hamada was freezing when something didn't go as planned. Aside from that, it was a good match. The only thing I didn't like about the match is that the finish was pretty weak. I mean, if you are going to practice a match, don't practice a match where the match suddenly ends when a huracanana is turned into a powerbomb. Considering they were going to go so far with Hamada three weeks later, they may as well have had her go down a little harder. 7:22
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