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NIGHT 9/6/98 Tokyo Korakuen Hall Night Show THE SINGLE 4 x 4 Shin (new) JWP Sengen (announcement): Tomoko Kuzumi vs. Cuty Suzuki |
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My first question is why did this match go on first? The angle would have worked much better if either Kuzumi hadn't shown up or she was there but she wouldn't let anyone in her dressing room (assuming they have their own dressing rooms). In any case, this match should have gone on last with the idea that it was going to be cancelled, but Yamamoto and the lawyer were finally able to force Kuzumi to wrestle. "I think the match should've been scheduled first, but Yamamoto should've come out and explained that Kuzumi refused to wrestle and that he was going to make some calls to his lawyer to see what he could do to get the match on sometime before the end of the show. Then maybe he comes out after everyone else has worked and says that Kuzumi will either wrestle tonight or she'll be suspended without pay until she does decide to come back. Being that the women don't make much money, you can then understand Kuzumi wrestling that night and so on. I don't like her locking herself in her dressing room because it's too obvious that she'll be working the night show, but I don't think you'd have a choice in this case. Once Kuzumi does decide to finally come back and work, Yamamoto treats her like a green girl and makes her set-up the rings and seating again showing that two can play at this game. That would switch the heel heat off of Kuzumi for not wanting to work to Yamamoto for forcing her to work for JWP," wrote Michael. From what I understand Kuzumi is one of their best at taking the ring apart (she lugs several heavy boards at once). If they actually had any wresters, I assume she would have graduated from that duty a while ago. The action began with Kuzumi attacking Cuty on the floor before the bell. They brawled on the bleachers to keep the heat in this new rivalry. "I don't remember seeing any sneak attacks like this since Ozaki was in JWP. It would be nice if they could push this edge with Kuzumi more. Oz Academy gave JWP a great heel edge, but with Ozaki in GAEA, that has been gone. A fun match to watch thanks to Kuzumi's intensity," wrote Miko. "I definately agree that Kuzumi could pull off being a heel, but I think had they gone the old vs. new route then Kansai and Devil (sans the Stupid Heel gimmick) would be much better off as heels. I don't even think you had to make Kuzumi a heel if you left her on her own. You could've had her as a face being 'forced' to work in JWP without the holes that the Austin vs. McMahon fued had/has. I don't mean as much as making Kuzumi this foul-mouthed, anti-establishment, character as much as just playing off the real-life problem of the young girls being held down," wrote Michael. Cuty did a her double footstomp off the stage, which was cool but she
should not have comeback while they were out of the ring so the sneak
attack could have been the excuse for Kuzumi making short work of her.
It's not surprising that Kuzumi doesn't know how to play it, but Cuty
should know better at this point. In this match as well as her match
against The Goddess, Cuty finding it necessary to put over her own "toughness,"
even though she never was or would be tough, really took away from the
edge that Kuzumi needed to show and what Shiratori was trying to show. "It basically went down for three reasons. First, Cuty got in too much offense. Second, Kuzumi also wrestled like it was pretty much a normal (fast paced) match. Lastly, the most important reason of all, it took three Michinoku driver II's to put Cuty away, the final one coming off a reversal after Cuty had already been hit with two," wrote Michael. The main thing was that Kuzumi got the big win and they did another post match angle between Cuty & Kuzumi. "Kuzumi got the big win, but it didn't mean much because of how if came off. Cuty got up right after the three Michinoku drivers and got in Tomoko's face, so it came off more like Kuzumi was simply lucky to beat Cuty than like Kuzumi 'deserved' the win," wrote Michael. The problem was Cuty was the one slapping Kuzumi for something she said to her after the match. "This totally killed the whole point of the short match. Cuty gets beaten in under 7 minutes, but pops right up afterwards and gets in Kuzumi's face. Had it been a flash pin then I could agree with this, but Cuty got hit with one of Kuzumi's main finishers 3 times and didn't sell it at all," wrote Michael. If Cuty had to slap Kuzumi, Cuty should have replied to Kuzumi with a wisecrack instead of a slap then Kuzumi should have hit her. Kuzumi needed to show that she could not only be punkish, but that she wouldn't stand for anyone acting the same way toward her, and more importantly that she wasn't going to be held down any longer. "What she should've done is grab Cuty's arm while she was in the motion of slapping her and thrown a jujigatame on her or something because that would show her 'superiority' over Cuty or that Kuzumi is at least a step ahead of her," wrote Michael. This led to a pull apart where Hikari, who is Kuzumi's regular tag partner, got in the ring and slapped Kuzumi. "This aspect was more effective because you'd figure that Hikari must've been really pissed to go after her partner like this," wrote Michael. After they were separated Kansai went over to Kuzumi, seemingly to ask what was causing her to act this way, but Kuzumi pushed her away and stormed off to the locker room, leaving Hikari & Kansai in the ring with a puzzled look. "Ok, even forgetting the 'quitting' angle because it'd mean that JWP might lose another worker off their shows (even in the storyline sense), you could've easily have turned this into a young vs. old angle and have put some life back into the promotion. It was no secret at this point that Kuzumi, Kanako, Miyaguchi, and Amano were being held back, so why not have all four 'revolt,' and in doing so try to get them over as the faces. Ozaki was gone at this point anyway, so it would give Amano a new group to hang with, and more importantly it'd actually give meaning to the matches between the fab 4 and the veterans. The problem would be getting Kansai and Devil to put one or two of the young girls over, but they knew they'd have to do it eventually, so it should have happened sooner instead of later (or never)," wrote Michael. This should have been the whole point of the promotion from this point forward since they clearly weren't going any farther with Kansai or Hikari on top. Kuzumi and Miyaguchi getting wins over Cuty and Devil respectively certainly would have given the young side something to rally behind. The other possiblity would be having Kuzumi & Miyaguchi form a group to rebel against the older wrestlers. Amano & Motoya could request entry, but Kuzumi & Miyaguchi would refuse to grant it to them until they beat a veteran as well. Amano, of course, has done so in the past, but this would have pressed their hand when it came to getting Kana a much needed big win. It would put off the inevitable for another three or four months until Kana got her win, then they could have a series between the young and the old that would be more credible because all the younger wrestlers would have proven that they can beat the older ones. "I agree, but disagree with this scenario. Kana has the most color of the four, so you turn her immediately. I like your angle where it gives her something to fight for in trying to beat a Hikari or Devil or Kansai but I think you need to show unity between the girls who were revolting and have them let Kanako in off the bat. Maybe you leave Miyaguchi out at first because I think you need someone to turn heel on the older girls down the road to keep it fresh. Even though she had beaten Devil, she could be on their side saying that she was happy or content with her position in JWP. Due to beating Devil, she had more credibility than Kanako, so I think it wouldn't work if Kana was on the old side because it'd look like she was there because she couldn't beat any of them. I don't Amano has much in the way of heel charisma, but since she had already been one with Oz then you may as well turn her at the start. I think it'd be obvious that Miyaguchi was going to turn eventually, but if it was built right then you'd have people watching to find out when and that's the whole point," wrote Michael. I think in your scenario it makes more sense to have Kana be the one that eventually turns on the veterans. She's the youngest of the group and she's so shy and sheepish that it seems like she'd be the least likely to revolt against wrestlers she probably looks up to. "Her facials and (potential, though she's shown in it spurts) charisma don't lead you to believe that she is shy and sheepish," wrote Michael. Usually she's okay in the ring because she is comfortable wrestling the same dozen opponents that she knows well. However, what I said was the case at this point during just about any interview or anything involving the media. She was always covering her mouth with hand so you "couldn't see" her giggling. This defines who she is as much if not more than how she acts in the ring. "Then she can play the character of being a brash, young punk. If you're worried about her promos then have Kuzumi be the group spokeswoman," wrote Michael. Getting back to my reasoning for Motoya staying with the veterans, she's never beaten anyone. The only way she complain they've been holding her down would be to admit it was a work and start chewing out the veterans for not putting her over and the "powers that be" for letting them get away with it. "Her being the youngest of the 4 would also add to her revolting because youngsters are more apt to fight authority or whatever than even people only a couple of years older than them. The point in how I set it up is that she had nearly beaten Hikari on 9/6 (at least in my scenario) and was pissed at herself for not being able to finish Hikari off. Then she sees Kuzumi going at it with Hikari after her match with Cuty and she joins in. Maybe your storyline is that she's looking to Tomoko to be her older sister-type or that Kana thinks that what Kuzumi is doing is cool and she wants to be a part of it. The whole thing could've been built up over a couple of weeks before 9/6 with Kanako coming close to winning on several occasions, but always falling short. Then you don't have to go into the whole exposing the work aspect of it that you (correctly) brought up because she'd be taking her anger at herself out on others," wrote Michael. She might think what Kuzumi is doing is cool, but based on your scenario, I'm having a hard time figuring out how "mission" and Kuzumi's "mission" are similar. "Kanako's frustrated that she comes close to winning but always falls short. Kuzumi's also pissed that she never beats the older girls. To keep it a work you use Hikari as the bridge between them. That's why I laid it out as Kana being pissed at herself that she couldn't beat Hikari. She's friends with Kuzumi so when Hikari goes after Kuzumi, Kanako comes to her aid. She personally has heat (in her mind) with Hikari because she just lost to her and the other stuff I explained," wrote Michael. I don't know that anyone would buy the heat she has for Hikari. They had done the least with Kana and she is supposed to be a really sweet person. Turning didn't seem to be "in her blood" at that time, so I think you'd need to slowly show her frustration building and her personality changing, with the turn showing her growth. "You're correct in what you're saying, but if you and/or I were booking this then we would've put the steps in place to lead up to her turning at the 9/6 show instead of just everybody doing it 'for no reason' in one night. Kuzumi could've just turned there without it being really built up, but you could've easily built Kanako up because it's easy to get frustrated when you're young (or old for that matter). Maybe she felt that joining with Kuzumi could really boost her career fast and she wouldn't have to toil in the mid-lower end of the card for a couple of more years," wrote Michael. Maybe she'd get better matches if she sided with Kuzumi, but that still doesn't change that fact that she hasn't beaten anyone. Unless you get into the reasons she hasn't been able to beat anyone, that it's a work, I can't see how she could be considered anything better than a midcarder. It's not like she hadn't had opportunities to prove herself, it's that whenever those opportunities came, while she may have wrestled well, she wound up getting pinned. She's like a team that takes a lead into the fourth quarter, but always finds a way to self destruct. It's not like the refs are screwing her, so her constant choking can be blamed on no one but herself. As far as Kana goes, this would be way overrating how good she was doing against the stars. There was almost never a time when she had a legitimate chance of beating the people she'd be revolting against. "Which is why I said you lay it out differently heading into the 9/6 show. The fact that Kanako hasn't beaten anyone is what frustrated her enough to join with Kuzumi. I never said that it makes her a main eventer nor pushed her as one anywhere in my scenario. However, if she does go with Kuzumi then she can go over a Bolshoi or Cuty. If it looks too obvious then have her pull an Uncle Eddie and cheat to win. She can get the wins back cleanly later. The point was to focus on Kuzumi being the top girl and push her towards getting the title from Hikari in March. By the time everything plays out Kanako is a little better off and then you worry about putting her over the top. You can't push everyone as a main eventer at the same time, you have to do it in pieces otherwise everything gets blown out too soon," wrote Michael. You can't push everyone at the same time, that's why I don't like flockism. You just wind up shifting people without a push from one band to another. It's fine when it's guys like Lodi, Van Hammer, Virgil, and whatever name Ed Leslie is calling himself today because they suck and have no upward mobility, so there's not much else you can do with them. On the other hand, it wasn't good with Kidman because he was seen as another jobber that runs in to get chopped by Benoit. He was toiling before The Flock, and toiling in The Flock. They had to get him away from those other jokers for him to really mean something (well, until they decided he was getting too popular and his push vanished along with Juvi), so The Flock didn't help him because he had the talent to warrant the push long before he joined them. "I somewhat disagree that he had the talent for a lot of the time he was in The Flock. I saw him wrestle some indy matches and alot of WCWSN matches when he use to have the red tights and short hair and he wasn't much better than Bobby Walker. He didn't start to really improve until mid-1998 and a couple of months later he was out of The Flock and winning the crusierweight title. The Flock worked for him though in the sense that he got over as soon as he dropkicked Raven in that match vs. Saturn from Fall Brawl '98," wrote Michael. It's tough to not be much better than Bobby Walker when Walker was worse than almost everyone in the league. Back in the days when WCW Worldwide was still watchable, Kidman had plenty of "good TV matches." Sure, he was carried by some of the best in the world, but it's not like he was a Prince Iaukea....Wait, Iaukea held the TV title for two months in early '97. Was Kidman less worthy of a push than Prince? Anyway, that's how I see your use of Kana, like Kidman in the flock. She has the talent to warrant a push now, so unless she's going to get that push, she may as well stay where she is until the bookers are committed to pushing her. "I don't think the Kanako of a year plus ago had the talent to warrant a major push outside of being in a group. She wasn't on the level of the other 3 and in several matches we've reviewed we've said how she didn't have the ability to carry anyone and didn't have the ring sense to improve a match. That's not to say that you can't push someone who isn't overly talented (though that's selling Kana short) but as we've both said, you can't push everyone to the top at once so you slowly build her," wrote Michael. I agree that you are selling Kana short because the same thing could be said about Hikari Fukuoka, much less Kuzumi, Miyaguchi, and Amano. I don't see why a wrestler needs to be in a group to warrant a major push, rebels and loners are often the ones that the fans notice the most. The groups usually give the younger wrestlers some identity, but if they aren't going to be under an older wrestler anymore than that would give them identity as well. If she would be pushed as being on the level of Amano and Miyaguchi then that would be one thing, but I don't want her going from being in the shadow of the veterans to being in the shadow of Kuzumi, Miyaguchi, and Amano. It's hard enough to get out of the shadow of the veterans, much less the shadow of other wrestlers that are struggling for credibility (granted your plan hopefully gets it for them). I agree about the win over Cuty, but that absolutely had to be done (which means of course they didn't do it) regardless of anything else that was going on in the league. "Even though she wouldn't be pushed as hard as Kuzumi, I think you can push Kana as the promotion's idol and sort of give her that Takako push until you're ready to move her into the elite. Even though Takako hasn't really won a major singles match in her career she's still one of the more popular women because of her looks and slightly above average ability. I think you could get Kanako even more over (over time) because she'd be younger then when Takako got her "big" push in 1995-96 and Kanako could potentially be a much better worker (using the Kana from 1998 as the comparisson)," wrote Michael. I'd still kept her as the sheepish little girl who didn't rebel against the veterans for a while until her frustration build up to the point where it boiled over and she turned. The point of this program should be stretching things bout because the league has very little when it's over. When she finally turned, you could do an angle saying the schoolgirl known as Kanako Motoya is no more, now she's Kana Mizaki and she'll take no shit. "That's too obvious and something that's been done before, but on the otherhand it would be a legit reason for the name change aside from just doing it in hopes that people will buy the new t-shirts," wrote Michael. In regards to your situation where Miyaguchi is the last to turn, I think she should be the one that wants to turn the most. She has the most legitimate gripe when it comes to being held back. She was Kuzumi's equal through 8/97. However, when she beat Kuzumi for the Jr. Title, they gave Kuzumi a much bigger push, at the same time doing next to nothing for Miyaguchi. I think that legitimately had a negative effect on her because she doesn't have the fire she used to have. "True, but she had just beaten Devil at the 9/6 show so it wouldn't be as effective. She could say 'ok, now I beat Devil, so I want a shot at Hikari and I want to finally get the push I deserve,' but then you'd be doing the exposing the work angle you brought up with Kanako if she didn't get it. She had just beat Devil so you could stretch and say that she wasn't Kuzumi's equal anymore since even a washed up Devil is more important than Cuty was. I've been saying for awhile that Miyaguchi has lost her fire, but I don't think it was nearly as evident 15 months ago which is when this would've taken place," wrote Michael. One win over Devil doesn't make up for having no focus on you for a year. "I didn't say one win over Devil did. However, it gives her hope that her time has come. The key is that beating Devil means more then beating Cuty, like Kuzumi did," wrote Michael. True, but Kuzumi had recently pinned Devil to win the tag titles. A tag win doesn't mean as much, but beating Manami Toyota & Kaoru Ito and Devil & Cuty is a lot better than Miyaguchi defending against Amano & Motoya. Even though Kuzumi & Amano weren't usually successful, at least they had some important matches over that span. Miyaguchi wasn't even Amano's equal at this point because Amano had at least won the Zensedai league, beating Miyaguch in the semifinal. Finally, beating Devil doesn't necessarily warrant a shot at Hikari because Devil hasn't been in the singles title picture for years. "Which is why I said you don't give her one, but you use it as bait with her. The point was that even if she somewhat feels that she's being held back, it's safer to stay with the vets because maybe she feels it'll pay-off down the road and Kuzumi's group will fail and be made to pay for revolting," wrote Michael. Kuzumi and the others would already have turned before she knew whether she was getting the big matches she deserved. "That was my point, she would've felt that staying with the vets would be rewarded in the end. You could also say there was heat between her and Kuzumi and/or maybe she also would've felt that Kuzumi was out for only herself as opposed to all 4 of them and then Miyaguchi would be against everyone and have no allies," wrote Michael. I don't see why she'd want a rematch with Devil, as feeling she needed to beat Devil again would be admitting she could be nothing but a fluke. It's not like boxing where it would be a big payday for her, so even if she surrendered like Buster Douglas, she could sit around and get fat watching TV for years off all the money she would have earned from that match. If she felt she was better than Devil and deserved to be the champ, than she just proved everything she needed to by beating Devil. Thus, she'd either need to get the match with Hikari or they could say that Devil wasn't the number one contender, so she would need to beat the number one contender, theoretically this should be Kansai, before they'd give her a title shot. "Even Miyaguchi feeling that she's better than Devil doesn't mean anyone else would. It's like if Momoe pinned Manami today, even in a totally credible way, nobody would believe that she'd do it twice in a row and the same holds true for Miyaguchi and Devil," wrote Michael. I didn't say that anyone else would believe she was better, I just said that she wouldn't want the match because she wouldn't really have anything to gain. If she lost, then she'd be right back where she started. If she won, then the best she could do is get the same matches that she felt she deserved after the first win. As far as Momoe goes, Toyota pins her once a week so she's long overdue. No matter who was with the younger side initially, the key to booking this series would have to be that the younger side was continually gaining on the older side. They'd have to be credible and get some wins initially to give the series the lasting power you'd need to get to the key wins without having to give everything away initially in desperation or saving everything too long, so it got to the point that the younger wrestlers weren't taken seriously, once again. "Agreed. Kuzumi had just gone over Cuty so you have that match. Assuming that was the last match, you already had Kansai beat Amano and say Hikari barely beat Kanako. Even before Kuzumi's match, Kana gets pissed about pushing Hikari strong but still losing in the end (maybe off of a reversal or she missed her senton and Hikari wins with the footstomp moonsault). So after Kuzumi starts going at it with Hikari, Kana attacks Hikari from behind and you have a pull-apart with them and maybe Kansai gets involved to try and break it up. Amano goes after Kansai and then you have Amano, Kanako, and Kuzumi on one side and Kansai, Hikari, and Cuty (who has finally recovered instead of having gotten up immediately, maybe Kuzumi attacks the prone Cuty after the match to start the whole postmatch). The young 3 get on the mic and rip the promotion and try to get Miyaguchi to join them, but Devil grabs her and talks her out of it. That way instead of blowing it at once, you have the fab 3 trying to get at Miyaguchi, who doesn't agree with them because she already proved that she could beat Devil and feels that because of that she can be successful without disrespecting the company, etc. Eventually she turns on Devil and the rest and that sets up a rematch between Devil and Miyaguchi where Tomoko proves that the 9/6 match wasn't a fluke," wrote Michael For the angle to work like this, you'd have to keep giving Miyaguchi meaningless matches against the likes of Haruyama, Sai, Watanabe, etc. while Kuzumi, Amano, & Kano battled it out with the veterans. Otherwise, she'd be succeeding or failing to elevate herself on her own, so there would be no way to show she was being held down, thus no reason to revolt. "The last sentence was my point. Hikari and Kansai don't refuse to wrestle her, they keep putting it off until they take care of Kuzumi. Then you can play it out with Miyaguchi turning on them or vice versa. You could even throw something in like Devil being someone Miyaguchi looks up to so at first she doesn't want to disrespect her," wrote Michael. I think this would make Miyaguchi resent both factions. Obviously, she resents the veterans for "ignoring her." However, it would seem logical that she would be jealous of Kuzumi and co. because the only reason they are getting the matches she deserves is that they were immature and "acted up." "True, and at this point both Cuty and Hikari would be gone so you could move Miyaguchi into one of their slots and not have to worry as much about the old vs. young part of it. Only Devil, Kansai, and Bolshoi would be left on the old side and even if the fab 4 don't like each other, they'd still band together to thwart the vets if they had to. The final point you made would lead to the Kuzumi vs. Miyaguchi title match I'm still trying to decide on." wrote Michael. They didn't know that Hikari would be retiring, and if they did it would have been too late to do the program right. The promotion needed to get a year and a half out of this because there was nothing but rookies behind Kuzumi and co. "The point, at first, would be that Miyaguchi doesn't feel that she's being held down since she just beat Devil and feels her time is coming soon. You have her fued with either Amano or Kana for a few weeks then maybe she realizes that she is being held down because she's been loyal to the promotion and she's remained respectful to the older girls yet she hasn't gotten a shot at Hikari and pretty much has been kept stagnant. I don't think you need to keep her in matches with just the 3 and green girls though, you could give her a win over Cuty and maybe Bolshoi in that time span," wrote Michael. If she beats Devil then stays on a roll beating say Amano and Cuty there would be reason to revolt if Hikari and Kansai refused to wrestle her. Otherwise, she'd be succeeding on her own so there would be no reason to revolt. I think you are giving away too much too fast. I know Cuty & Bolshoi don't mean much, but if Kuzumi beats three of the five veterans quickly (assuming Bolshoi is considered a veteran) than there isn't much left for her, especially since in your situation Hikari will be retiring soon so Miyaguchi would have to be beating her before that point as well. "Maybe by the end of December or mid-January (depending on how many shows you've run) she realizes that even though she beat Devil she's gone down (or stayed at the same place) instead of going up," wrote Michael. If she was beating Amano, Kana, Cuty, and/or Bolshoi, she would be going up. If she was losing to them then she would be going down unless you got into it being her job to put them over. That's why I wanted her to be in with the green scrubs all the time, you could say that Devil saw the writing on the wall and didn't want to give up her spot, so she made a power play and got the matchmaker to give Miyaguchi a bunch of meaningless matches. "I can conceed this one to you, but to keep it from being overly obvious at first, I think you have to give her a win over either Bolshoi or Cuty. Kuzumi, Amano, and Miyaguchi were all about equal in people's eyes because they beat each other so many times that one going over the other wouldn't be a surprise," wrote Michael. I could see the point in having her beat Cuty because Kuzumi beat Cuty, so this would help keep them even. Also, you couldn't hold the win over Cuty off much longer when you knew before the angle even started that she was retiring in December. "Then you have the old girls jerk her around for a couple of more weeks and finally they turn on her and possibly turn the fab 4 into the faces. That way you can keep it fresh by doing more then just having one person turn sides. Depending on money, maybe you can bring in Tamura to the young side since Neo had pretty much always been in financial trouble and her and possibly ASARI seem to have wanted out forever anyway. I'd say go for Genki as well, but she seems more loyal to Kyoko," wrote Michael. I think this would help the league, but it really muttles the issue. Tamura, ASARI, and Genki have no beef with Hikari or Kansai. They've never been held down in JWP because they barely ever wrestled there. If you wanted to try to pull this off then you'd have to have Tamura, ASARI, Genki, and Saya revolt against Kyoko, Shimoda, and Mita. The young girls from Neo would have to show up in JWP and try to help the fab four beat Hikari and co. Also, the fab 4 would have to show up at the Neo shows and try to help the young girls in Neo beat Kyoko and co. Eventually, the veterans would have to form an allegiance because they couldn't hold off all the young girls that had banded against them, and then you'd have a full blown interpromotional young vs. "old" feud. "I think this would be more successful then my deal but only if Kyoko was willing to put someone over. I don't think just bringing in Tamura would muttle the issue though but I should've left ASARI out of it," wrote Michael. "Anyway, still assuming that Hikari would've retired in March, you have her drop the belt to Kuzumi there and break-up the fab 4 or 5 (if you can get Tamura). At this point you'd assume that Cuty had retired as well (maybe putting Kanako over making her the new 'official' idol of the promotion) and you can have them fued with each other and Kuzumi over the title. You'd still have Kansai to keep relatively strong but by 7/99 she would at least have put over Kuzumi (before she gets the title) and whoever her #1 challenger at that point would be. I'd say that you either outright let Devil go or retire her and make her a ref or something and keep her to work with the younger girls like Haruyama and the bulldog on psychology and stuff like that, a role similar to what Jaguar is doing in Jd'," wrote Michael. I think the plan has to be for this to last a lot longer than five months because in your scenario, they have nothing but Bolshoi beyond the five wrestlers that hopefully mean something. I don't think they could afford to force Devil out when they barely have enough wrestlers to run a show. As it is, the only reason they were able to hold shows this months is they got Chihiro Nakano & Kiyoko Ichiki to replace some of their injured wrestlers. "If things still played out in Neo like they did then conceivably you could bring in LCO and more, but I don't want to get into that because it's stretching way too much. You could turn Devil into an Inoki of sorts (I guess) by having her just work a few "big" shows a year, but I doubt it would really help attendence. I just don't see her bringing much to the table anymore except her past and I couldn't push that. A year ago though they still had Chikako and UgLee on the roster, but if I get into them then we're going to need diagrams and a flow chart," wrote Michael. Everyone is tired of Devil at this point, but she could be meaningful if she only wrestled a few times a year on big shows. You'd have to use her like AJW used Bull Nakano against Kyoko Inoue in 1995. Devil would come back and beat the girl they wanted to push in their first match, but later in the year the girl they wanted to push would beat Devil. After that, they'd never wrestle again. It wouldn't be a big draw, but it's something you could put 2nd or 3rd from the top on your biggest shows. Also, the Japanese press seem to like to play up these matches where a big star that hasn't "been around" in a while works a big show, so there would be some payoff when Devil lost. "Good point, but I wouldn't have Kuzumi lose to her and Miyaguchi would've beaten her twice so you couldn't use her there either. If you still had an Osumi and Chikako around then Devil would be more valuable, but it's harder to justify her when you don't have a roster like AJW used to and it'd be hard to do the same thing with Kanako and Amano when they'd be pushed hard already and Devil would've been nearly phased out," wrote Michael. The point is that Devil shouldn't do that many jobs, but her jobs should come in key spots and be convincing so they mean a lot. She eventually needs to lose in a credible fashion to everyone important, but they shouldn't run over her one after another with Devil getting no wins in between. Kuzumi wouldn't be the wrestler that Devil would split matches on big shows with, but there shouldn't be anything wrong with Devil beating Kuzumi one more time. If Devil was kept strong, you could get more out of Kuzumi winning two out of three over a period of time. As far as who Devil would come back and split with, if it wasn't Kana then it would have to be one of the younger wrestlers if they ever improved. The problem with Kana as Takako is Takako never wins any big matches. If Takako would have beaten Bull in 1995 prior to getting the title shot against Kansai that she didn't have close to the credibility for, maybe she'd be in a different position than she is now. "I'd look at the show where Hikari retires to be the main blow-off to the old vs. young fued though. That'd probrably be your big show of the year anyway so depending on the angle's effect on the fans, you could possibly hold it somewhere bigger then Korakuen like in the Kawasaki Shi Taiikukan or the Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan (even though you still probrably wouldn't sell it out). Besides Hikari vs. Kuzumi, you have Miyaguchi over Devil (which would set-up her up as the #1 contender), maybe Kansai over Kanako (since it wouldn't be her time yet), and maybe you can bring Oz in to put over Amano. If you have Tamura and/or Asari then you see if you could possibly trade wins with another group with them (maybe something like Tamura over Bloody and Sakai or Kosugi over Asari if you could get Jd' to do that) and you have a solid show with a few new angles coming out of it," wrote Michael. I think you'd need something other than Miyaguchi over Devil in your scenario because Devil would have "gone downhill" a lot since the initial "shock" of Miyaguchi beating her the first time. As far as Ozaki goes, you either have to get her for the "whole" feud or don't bother (if she's not involved and you could get her to put Amano over then it should be done after the feud has run it's course and you are desperate for a marquee match). The point of Amano turning against her would have to be that Ozaki abandoned her when she left the league, but it should culminate with Amano beating Ozaki on a major show. "Then at your May Korakuen Show you have Kuzumi over Devil in her first defense (since you don't need to build Devil up for a shot and before the March show you can announce Devil as getting the next shot at the title which would lead you to think that she was going over Miyaguchi) and Miyaguchi over Kansai to give her the extra boost going into her shot with Kuzumi. I'd try to build Miyaguchi vs. Kuzumi up to October, but by that point Miyaguchi might go postal if she doesn't get a title shot so maybe you do it in July and give Kansai a shot in September or October. All this may or may not work but at the very least you send the message that JWP isn't like the other leagues and is the fresh, young kid on the block," wrote Michael. The problem I'm seeing with your ideas is that Devil's losses are supposed to mean something even though she no longer wins. Also, Kana still doesn't have any real role and never wins a meaningful match. By the time she gets around to beating any of the veterans, the win won't mean much. "Devil would still have that win over Jaguar though which would at least keep her afloat in the current credibility department. Admittedly Devil is there just for a stepping stone, but what I was striving for was making people believe that she was going over Miyaguchi," wrote Michael. Generally it isn't good booking to announce a person is getting a title shot and then have them lose a key match prior to the title shot. As long as you gave her a good win or two prior to the title shot being announced, Devil is someone that could withstand the loss to Miyaguchi. Devil would certainly be the favorite because how many times has anyone beaten her in singles twice in a row? Whether the serious fans would believe Devil was going over Miyaguchi would mainly depend on how you've booked in past. The marks are too whimsical to try to figure out, but they would probably pop for Miyaguchi scoring the upset. "I'd have to find a win in there against somebody of note going into the March show. The problem though is that JWP only had Devil and Kansai left as far as (past) proven draws go. I don't know if I'd want Kansai to lose to Devil, and I can't see a credible interpromotional win out there for Devil," wrote Michael. Outside of a tournament or a title match, Devil and Kansai shouldn't be fighting each other when they are pretty much the whole veteran side once Hikari and Cuty retire. Maybe Kyoko would put Devil over, but there are more important people in JWP for Kyoko to trade wins with. The only options seem to be having Devil beat Hikari before Hikari retired or having Devil beat Amano. Devil over Hikari is a tired result that doesn't make a lot of sense because Hikari is with Devil. Also, it wouldn't do much because everyone would know Hikari was retiring. I think you could make a lot better use of Hikari's jobs, especially when the roster is so small that half the wrestlers have never even beaten her. Obviously Amano is one of the wrestlers that we are trying to help, but she has at least one win over Devil in the past and we are giving her other wins that can make up for this loss. It's not like beating Amano is a big deal for Devil, but the veteran side has to win around half the matches, so this is a good time for them to get one of those wins. "Possibly Kyoko jobbing to Kuzumi and Devil jobbing to Genki and eventually Kyoko? I know you're trading alot on the JWP side, but by the time I got to Devil vs. Kyoko it wouldn't mean anything anyway and I don't think it'd hurt Devil anyway because of the way she'd have been used. I'm sure you could trade like Kanako over Tamura as part of that as well since Kyoko never seemed to care for her anyway," wrote Michael. Kyoko putting over Kuzumi in exchange for Kansai putting over Genki would have been more than fair for Neo because Kuzumi is at least a champion. The problem is Kyoko is like Chigusa, she can deal with losing to her peers now and then, but some young punk, forget it. Unless, LCO are involved, the only meaningful win you can get from Neo is Kyoko though. Maybe she would accept wins over Kansai, Devil, and Miyaguchi in exchange for losses to Kuzumi & Amano. You'd have to give her Devil & Kansai right away and then have the losses come later on after Kuzumi & Amano had beat those two as well. Otherwise, you couldn't get close to equal value for Devil because you would have devalued her. "Outside of Cuty, you're right about Kanako not winning any meaningful matches. She would probrably be pushed hard ending this year in a similar way to how Kuzumi was pushed. I think with her you could trade wins with an ASARI (even if she wasn't in the promotion) and some of the other girls like a Momoe, Sakai, or whoever. Granted, those wins won't mean a ton, but they'd be a progression for her nonetheless," wrote Michael. I don't really see this as progression because these girls are also midcarders that don't win big matches. "I think it'd be progression in the sense that Kanako would be on the level where she'd at least to be able to win interpromotional matches agaisnt someone that means even a little as opposed to just a Tanny or Obatchi. I conceed it wouldn't mean much now, but eventually you have to figure that Momoe will mean alot in AJW and 2 or 3 years from now. I'd love to have Kanako with a win or two over Momoe because by that time I'd have pushed Kana to the top and you'd have to figure that Momoe would be near there as well," wrote Michael. The problem is that Kanako has been around a couple years longer than the girls you suggested (except Tanny, but she's mainly just a joke), so she should be able to beat them. They are all still juniors, while she already graduated. She would need to get interpromotional wins over people like Sonoko Kato or Chikayo Nagashima for it to be meaningful for her. The whole problem with the current scene is that in order for the younger girls to be accepted, they have to take the older girls spots by convincingly beating them in the center of the ring. The thing is, the older girls aren't ready to give up their spots so they either don't sell that much for the younger girls, make the wins look like flukes, or both. The whole point of this discussion is that Kuzumi isn't going to become the next big thing by beating Amano and Miyaguchi isn't going to become the next big thing by beating Kana. The matches you suggest would be good, but we need to find older wrestlers that Kana could possibly beat to show her progress. Instead Momoe and Sakai, we need Watanabe and Cooga. Those two don't have a ton of credibility, but they have some standing and stature because they have been around since the '80's. If Kana could beat Watanabe, people might think that she'd have a chance against Ito. On the other hand, if Kana beat Sakai, the best you'd get is people thinking she'd have a good chance against Yabushita. "You're right, but I think you can't start at a Watanabe or Cooga, you'd have to build Kanako to that level. I'd rather have Amano or especially Miyaguchi get those wins first, then worry about Kanako. I think with Kanako it'd take less effort to get her over because of how you could market her, but the other two would have to (and could be) pushed more as wrestlers then a combination of wrestler and beauty like Fukawa and Takako," wrote Michael. I think you could start with Watanabe & Cooga if you were committed to the future. Aside from maybe Kansai, all the older wrestlers are either gone or quickly devalued by your booking, so you may as well have them lose to big stars from the other leagues in exchange for the younger wrestlers beating lesser stars. It's not a strategy I would normaly subscribe to, but for women to be taken seriously these days, they have to beat wrestlers outside of their own league. JWP doesn't have a Kandori that is always going to get the best of the other leagues wrestlers when they tap out to Kazama's demands, but their biggest problem is who has Kuzumi, Miyaguchi, or Amano ever beat? For that matter, who has Hikari beat? She didn't beat big names prior to winning the title, and the only outsider she beat in a title match was Kurenai Yasha, who didn't even deserve to get an All Pacific title shot. You need to get as many wins as possible over as many names as possible, as shown by Hikari's standing not really improving even though she beat Kyoko. Special Thanks to: Michael Smith & Miko Kubota - Michiku Pro 6:42 (5:16 aired)
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