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JWP on WOWOW 3/14/98 SAND
WOMAN taped 3/6 Tokyo Korakuen Hall (1,720) |
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This was the final JWP TV show on WOWOW, a premium movie channel that's something like the Japanese equivalent of HBO, ending nearly a five rear run on the channel. This was a huge blow to JWP, as the WOWOW deal provided good money and exposure. WOWOW's decision to not renew the yearly contract couldn't have come at a worse time. Joshi (women's) puroresu business was way down across the board, but more importantly JWP needed the exposure to create new stars to replace the all the women that had been lost and the women who were getting to the age where their days on top could, if not should, be numbered. Of course, even if JWP was still on WOWOW the new stars wouldn't have gotten over as much as they should. I mean, JWP completely dropped the ball in 1998 when it came to pushing their youngsters. Kuzumi held the tag titles on two occasions, Amano won a singles tournament, and Motoya was elevated a little bit, but for the most part the "fab four" were completely misused by the promotion. One of the things that hurt was that the aging veterans, Kansai and Devil, were content to hold down the younger girls. I mean, even when they put them over they didn't really put them over if you know what I mean. I thought JWP was the best booked women's promotion in 1997, but this year they fell to the depths of the pit of despair, joining the league that sold our soul to draw 1/4 capacity in Yokohama Arena on 11/29 and the one that sold their's to get that legendary drawing card, Nicole Bass, so they could draw a couple hundred more people, most of which would have come anyway given all the outsider wrestlers that actually mean a little in Japan that were booked. |
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