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Force-4 Scramble Bout Zenjo Special: Kaoru Ito & Emi Motokawa (IWA Japan) & Miyuki Fujii & Sachie Nishibori vs. Yumiko Hotta & Kumiko Maekawa & Miho Wakizawa & Kayo Noumi |
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This was a series of singles bouts with a five minute time limit. The rules were that a draw eliminated both wrestlers and the losing team would be the one that ran out of wrestlers first. Noumi was pinned in 43 seconds after Ito's rolling senton. I know there isn't much time to score a pin, but why even have someone in need of credibility like Noumi in the match if you are going to have her job this quickly? It just seems like AJW's theory is backwards here, in that when they do these matches they load them up with jobbers to get them over quickly instead of using the circumstances to give the star an out for a 'bad loss" to a young punk. Ito vs. Hotta was, not surprisingly, the best segment. Of course, that was a draw. If Hotta kicked the crap out of Ito, but Ito found a way to pin her they could have had Maekawa or Wakizawa beat a weakened Ito. In this situation, Maekawa or Wakizawa would have been elevated, but Ito wouldn't have been hurt because her upset over Hotta would put her in a program against Hotta that would lead to a world title match. They claimed to be pushing both Maekawa & Wakizawa here, but Wakizawa pinning Nishibori & Fujii or Maekawa pinning Emi isn't a push because everyone knows they are well above these women to begin with. Aside from Ito vs. Hotta, the other series that stood out for match quality was Emi vs. Maekawa. They did near falls back and forth before Maekawa pinned Emi after her kakato otoshi at 2:37 to win the series for her team 4-3. Overall, it was a good match, but everything was rushed due to the 5 minute time limits. 13:56
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