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2/11/98 Tokyo Korakuen Hall JWP Nintei Tag Senshuken Jiai: Manami Toyota & Kaoru Ito (AJW team) vs. Hikari Fukuoka & Tomoko Kuzumi |
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This was a one dimensional spotfest, but it was one of the best spotfests of the year. The spots, in particular the flying, were awesome. The work was great work, and the second half in particular was excellent. On the down side, it wasn't just that they rolled the spots out and the match lacked build and psychology. It was that even the intensity was nothing special, so the spots really seemed meaningless. You'd think that the three Toyota's would all be into wrestling each other and want to show each other up, but that really wasn't the case even though the work and spots were exceptional. Fukuoka & Kuzumi won the tag titles (10th overall champs) when Hikari pinned her idol Toyota for the first time after her moonsault footstomp. Jason: I agree with what you said about the match having great work, and that's why I liked this match. Other than that, there wasn't anything else that I could say was good. I think the only portion of the match that had focus was when Ito worked over Kuzumi's back early in the match. It's weird giving a match a big rating then really having nothing to say about it. The problem with this match is that, while it was excellent, it was the same old Toyota formula done worse than in the past because everyone (but Kuzumi) is down from their peak due to age, injuries, etc. I'm glad they fired up and had an excellent match, but there's really nothing new or different about it to report. James: I really enjoyed this match. It was one of the better JWP tag matches of 1998. Toyota's selling could have been better throughout the match. In particular, I didn't like that she virtually laughed at Kuzumi's giant swing. She shouldn't have had that big smile on her face then, but Kuzumi did cover well by jumping straight onto Toyota and going to the arm submission. Seeing Hikari finally pin Toyota was good, but it should have lead to a singles match since still needed to avenge her singles losses. Jason: I agree with James about Toyota's selling. She really ticks me off with her lack of selling, especially when she is working with younger girls, who really need somebody to sell for them. Special Thanks to: Jason Higgs & James Phillips - Japanese Womens Wrestling 18:37
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