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Zensedai (the whole generation)
Tournament Kesshosen: Rieko Amano vs. Command Bolshoi |
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All these Zensedai matches had these weird rules called "minute by minute rules" where there were 5 minute periods under "only give up" rules in between periods of puroresu rules. They might sound good on paper if you could understand them, but I've yet to see them work in practice. Amano carried this match, and it was impressive that the work was this good for this long. The problem was the amount of time they were out there, 34+ minutes, was ridiculous for these two, so they "had to" kill time by staying in submissions WAY TOO LONG. This was a submission oriented match, which was fine. The problem is that you simply can't do that style match if you aren't going to put the submissions over. What on earth made The Damn Clown think she should stay in legitimate finishers forever and barely put any of them over? Can you imagine in RINGS if Maeda decided to just lay there in a submission for 2 minutes at a time because he might blow up if he expended too much energy jerking around and trying to make his way to the ropes? I know this isn't RINGS, but that is not the point because the same basic principles apply to making a submission move credible. I give Bolshoi credit for being able to work a match that is totally out of her element, but anyone who would book someone who isn't remotely a shooter type in a 34+ minute submission oriented match has a few screws loose. I know that at least part of the problem is that JWP is running out of wrestlers, and no one is going to attend their shows if they make their fans sit through an hour of Watanabe, Haruyama, Sai, and Osumi. However, taking the women who are capable of good matches so far out of their element by making the matches twice as long as they should be just isn't the answer. The match wasn't all bad, but it was really frustrating. The work was good enough that it could have been a good match if the length was cut in half and someone gave Bolshoi a clue. In this form, I found it to be mediocre, and perhaps that is even overrating it. This is actually a case where I can sympathize with people who can't sit through this match. They just didn't do anything that could occupy you for this amount of time. The match made me think, but the thoughts were just things like why are they missing obvious points and killing off all the moves the tournament is build around. I just felt the match was doing more damage than good. It was like a movie with a weak plot. It might seem entertaining if you didn't think about it too much, but the more you thought about it, the worse it became. Amano eventually made Bolshoi submit to an udehishigisankakujime in overtime to win the tournament. Smith: Amano had Bolshoi in the jujigatame so many times that I lost count, yet you wouldn't know it if you only watched the overtime and saw Bolshoi have no problem with her arm. Jason: After watching this match you would think Bolshoi was the "Six-Million Dollar Clown." She finally submitted to Amano after 34+ minutes of a match where Amano had her in her jujigatame for a great portion of the time. It really made Amano look like she couldn't put Bolshoi away with her submission, and the jujigatame is a submission that should make anybody who gets caught in it submit very quick unless they get a rope break. Bolshoi just laid in the middle of the ring for too long, thus ruining the credibility of the hold. Special Thanks to: Michael Smith & Jason Higgs 30:00 + 4:03 overtime
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