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HYPER VISUAL FIGHTING TOURNAMENT
ZION '98 Junkessho Ayako Hamada vs. Mikiko Futagami |
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This was pretty disappointing because Futagami's singles matches in ARSION had been so good. It was too short for a Futagami match, especially since she was losing. "It was disappointing for a Futagami match, but necessary for Hamada because she was going towards the end of the tournament, so she needed to reserve her energy. Just looking at her coming into the ring, you could tell she was already fatigued from her first match," wrote Keith. I don't find that flukish upsets like the one they did here come off well in Japan. "Hmmm...I think it came off pretty well, not in terms of people 'liking or disliking' the finish, but the fact that it caught people off guard. Unfortunately, even if Ayako was getting the push of her life, I was pretty sure that no one was going to buy Ayako beating Yoshida at the end of the tournament. I think it would've been a different story if she did beat Yoshida because then it really would have symbolized ARSION as this federation with all the up and comers and holding unpredictable endings in their matches," wrote Keith. I think a flash submission can work fine because it's art immitating life. Those goofy cradles where it's so obvious that someone is either; just laying down, has their shoulder up but the ref is ignoring it, or is getting a really fast count only work in America because US fans are taught that the matches are much better and more "entertaining" the less they think about them. Well, that's not really what they are taught, but the wrestling and angles in America are so illogical that you have to turn your brain off if you want to try to enjoy it. In Japan, you can maybe justify it with two stars opposing each other, but see this was just a cop out. It did nothing to help Ayako going into the final, and it did nothing to further assert what they started on 8/9 when they had Gami beat Yoshida to avenge her ARS loss. Beyond giving the floor to the two flagbearers of the style, there was some depth to having a Gami vs. Yoshida final, but they chose to ignore it. The problem with this match is that Ayako just didn't look worthy of beating Futagami. This was especially true after seeing how good Omukai looked pushing Futagami on the last tape, only to once again fail to beat one of the top stars in the company. Futagami was good here, and Ayako didn't make too many mistakes, but her inexperience was still all too apparent given the result. "My problem with this match and what they did with Ayako in this tournament was a double edged sword: she was pushed too far and not pushed enough. On the one hand, she was pushed beyond what she was apparently capable of wrestling wise by making it this far in the tournament. She looked legitimately hurt (not too seriously) from the first match and this one was a sprint for her. The fact that she got a fluke win in such short of a time with the surprise roll up made no statement about her overall endurance nor ability to beat Yoshida in the last match, so in my opinion, having Ayako lose to Gami here was a waste of both women," wrote Keith. I don't think they needed to make a statement about her endurance. Whether she was running on empty or not was another story, but showing the fans she can last a long time doesn't even register as far as what was important for her to prove in this tournament. If Hamada would have beaten Futagami in a convincing or at least semi credible manner in such a short time, that would have made a statement and possibly convinced some of the fans that she was a phenom. "I do think it would've made a difference if Hamada won the whole thing. When Candy won the last tournament, ARSION had done something similar to this situation: push the lowest ranking native to the top to continue to create new stars. But between that time and here, they became a bit predictable in booking. Now and then you'd see the lower ranked girls get a bone like Omukai pinning Yoshida in a tag match, but it isn't a consistent thing to make you want to watch them (as a fan paying for a show that is). Sure, Hamada isn't an Okutsu and sure, Yoshida was the one that deserved to win this tournament, but the way they pushed Hamada in this tournament didn't make the statement ARSION needed," wrote Keith. I think it would have been beyond the realm of sanity to have Ayako win the tournament. It's one thing to have someone like Candy who had been wrestling for six years, but had never recieved a top level push. Ayako hadn't even been around six weeks and she didn't have a big name in another sport like say a Naoya Ogawa did, so there was no way you could justify having her win the tournament. Having Omukai or Fukawa win would have been on par with having Candy win because they have the talent to justify a push. They were not great, but wouldn't have dropped the ball either. Having Ayako make it to the finals was like flying into a black hole. I'm sure they had theories on what the results of the adventure would be, but there was no way to prove the great big unknown without trying it. Unfortunately, the results of their little science project turned out to be proof of their worst case hypothesis. There's really not much to say about the match itself. Hamada avoided Futagami's abisegeri. Futagami then rolled through on Hamada's huracanrana, but Hamada tucked Futagami's head in between her legs for the upset win. Jerome: To me, it was the worst match of Ayako's push. If they wanted her to beat Gami, she should have done it convincibly and not in that flukish way. The match also needed to be longer but maybe it would have been too much for the rookie (they could have packed her first one in 5 or 6 minutes instead of 9). Ayako again blew some spots but hit a perfect swinging DDT that could have been the finish. It would have been much better that way instead of having Gami pinned in a lame craddle move. Ayako didn't prove anything here, and Gami smiling and laughing in her post match interview showed that it was really a fluke. Special thanks to: Jerome Denis & Keith Watanabe - Manami Toyota Rules! 4:39
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