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Zenjo vs. Neo Ikon (grudge)
Karyu (whirlpool) Ku Kaisen (outbreak of war): Manami Toyota & Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue (AJW team) vs. Kyoko Inoue & Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita (Neo Ladies team) |
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This is an example of what an interpromotional match should look like. The performers showed great intensity and the crowd was really heated. The match was a spotfest, but that kind of made sense because they did such a good job of making it look like they resented each other. Basically, it worked because the match came off as a former coworkers throwing bombs in a battle for league supremacy. It was this aspect that made the match seem like something "new" even though we've seen all of these matchups so many times before. "I definitely agree with Mike's statement on how 'this is an example of what an interpromotional match should look like.' The main thing that differentiated this match from the others is that you had a focus. Sure, a few other matches had a rivalry going into the show, but they didn't quite exploit it in terms of a heated war the way AJW vs. Neo was handled. One of the things that really helped the match seem like a heated war was the 'pre-match' brawl that went through the crowd. It really livened things up and made each teams seem to genuinely hate each other. Since it lasted longer than your standard, run of the muck 'take opponent and hurl them into a bunch of chairs crowded to get cheap, quick heat,' it provided a hot, interesting start to the match," wrote Keith. These six are so used to working with each other that they pretty much didn't miss a beat even though it had been 14 months since they had really worked together. That said, the spots didn't look as good as they used to because so many of these women have really declined. Of the bunch, Mita and Shimoda have declined the least. They were really sharp here, particularly Shimoda, so they were the best of the six. Toyota was also excellent because this is her style. No matwork and no build makes Manami a happy woman. Toyota and Kyoko both stayed within themselves, and when they do that they are still among the best. Hotta's facials were much better than normal, but she was the one that was unimpressive in the ring. In particular, her transitions were quite weak. The segments where it was her against Kyoko were really the only ones in the match that didn't do anything for me. "I might be in the minority, but after seeing the pre-match brawl, I wanted more. Personally, I thought that the brawl should've been the entire match for some reason. The spots were good during the match but the intensity tapered off after the brawl, so it didn't have that same excitement factor for me, especially because the spots were the 'normal' ones they used. I kinda hoped that they were going to try some new things, or rebuild the intensity level they started off with in the beginning of the match, but overall everything worked out for this match and it did translate into the Neo vs. AJW feud (which should've happened before the splintering occurred because it would've given AJW a really interesting focus)," wrote Keith. The match probably should have been Cachorras style all the way. When you start thinking about it, I agree with Keith, it didn't make much sense for them to start being "nice." The problem was likely that you have these AJW women that don't want to do anything different and always have to get their way (well, Takako doesn't fit into this category). "One of my big complaints was that there were some continuity problems in the match or just odd spots. Like in the beginning brawl, at one point you can see Manami Toyota running away from Shimoda. WTF is that? It wasn't like she was running to her corner, but just trying to escape. Another bizarre moment happened when Toyota had been beating Mita (I think) and Shimoda was just standing there in the ring. If this was any 'normal' tag match, I could accept that 'small' flaw, but these two teams are supposed to really hate each other. Shimoda should've made an attempt to kill Toyota at that moment when Toyota was in the Neo corner," wrote Keith. The match got off to a good start with Kyoko wanting to start against one of the AJW aces, rather than Takako. Takako took exception to this, and decided to DDT Kyoko to get even with her. However, Kyoko no sold it to make Takako look weak, then threw her into the corners, thus "tagging in" Hotta. This seemed to piss Hotta off because she came in looking like the enforcer she should be, and started unloading on Kyoko. Hotta got Kyoko down, so Toyota & Takako joined her in kicking Kyoko until Shimoda & Mita made the save. Kyoko & Takako went at it for a stretch that further established Takako as being no match for her former partner. Kyoko soon delivered "1-2-3" lariats for the "Knockout." Gotta love how AJW allows their wrestlers to be killed off by the other leagues. In this case though, Takako getting taken out kind of worked in their favor because wrestling half the match two against three gave them an excuse for losing. That storyline plays a lot better when the team that was at the disadvantage comes back and wins, but that's not to say that it's bad when it's the other way around. One of the greatest matches of the 80's was the 1988 Real World Tag Team League final, and in that match a young Kawada was repeatedly taken out by Stan Hansen and Terry Gordy, causing Tenryu to eventually succumb to them. Takako's "injury" was right out of the All Japan playbook and they played it up really well. If it wasn't for the fact that it came from a lariat, I might have believed it. "Yeah, ever since Kyoko began to rely more and more on her lariat, they really have tried to put that move over. So, I guess it worked in terms of having Takako 'sell' the efficacy of that move, but it was lame," wrote Keith. Hotta just dragged Takako to the corner and Manami took over for her, mainly getting beat on, while Takako lay still on the apron. Later on, Takako was lying still on the floor with Maekawa looking concerned for her well being. Toyota finally made a comeback, but Shimoda quickly turned her Japanese ocean cyclone suplex into a victory roll. Hotta got involved to help Toyota out, including holding everyone so Toyota could do her move that used to be a springboard plancha. Toyota tried her Japanese ocean cyclone suplex again, but Shimoda countered it and they just kind of froze momentarily. Shimoda then ducked Toyota's lariat and Mita hit Toyota with her blazing chop. Shimoda thought she could end it with her deathlake drive, but this was how they finally worked the Japanese ocean cyclone suplex in. It's much better when Toyota does with her opponent in the corner off a counter because she doesn't have the burden of so much weight on her neck. This "would have" been the finish, but Kyoko made the save. "This spot is good in particular when Toyota's opponents utilize a corner type of finisher. It was a very interesting counter to Shimoda's deathlake drive," wrote Keith. Shimoda & Mita teamed up on Hotta, culminating with Mita delivering her Death Valley bomb, but Toyota made the save. Toyota missile kicked Kyoko and tried to double team her, but Kyoko lariated them both. They tried to escape to the floor, but Mita gave them her suicida and Shimoda followed with her tope con hilo. Back in the ring, Kyoko Niagara drivered Hotta for a 2 3/4. Kyoko tried another Niagara driver, but Hotta came back with a lame leg sweep into an udehishigigyakujujigatame. Toyota took Shimoda & Mita out with a double missile kick to the floor, but Kyoko was able to kick out of Hotta's pyramid driver on her own. Hotta & Kyoko redid the lame finish of their 8/20/97 WWWA title change, but this time Shimoda & Mita made the save. "Once I saw them do the Niagara driver into the udehishigigyakujujigatame (with Kyoko's arm sticking out again), I groaned almost as loudly as when I found out that Anakin's mother didn't have sex. I don't mind redoing finishes, but goddamn it was lame that Kyoko had her arm sticking out the first time, so you'd think she would've figured out a better transition by now," wrote Keith. Mita then took Toyota out with her Death Valley bomb, but Takako was finally up to the apron. Kyoko gave Hotta her Niagara driver, but Takako, who still looked out of it, just made the diving save. "This actually was a good moment because the crowd recognized that Takako was out and had finally made her reappearance, so they popped pretty wildly for this save. It was simple, but it conveyed the story very strongly," wrote Keith. Takako ate another lariat from Kyoko. Since Toyota was still down with Mita on top of her, Shimoda was free to take Takako out of the equation. This allowed Kyoko to deliver her deadly Victoria driver for the win. "Essentially, Neo got a symbolic three person pin where all three Neo girls had hit their finishers or were already in a pinning position. On top of that, having Kyoko pin Hotta was an interesting move because Hotta has pretty much become AJW's top dog. Now, in retrospect with Kyoko getting the title match against Hotta, there's definitely an issue there, one that I didn't see prior to this match," wrote Keith. To build heat for the first interpromotional shows between AJW and Neo, Kyoko said something on the mic that caused Takahashi to attack her. This led to a melee involving seemingly half of each league. When things finally settled down, all the Neo women joined hands and walked over to the AJW women with their hands raised in the air to rub in their victory. "This is what they needed to do for these interpromotional shows. Have some kind of massive fight scene to provide a strong image of hatred. It wasn't your run of the mill pull apart either. You actually had both federations that looked like they were going to kill each other," wrote Keith. The whole thing worked because both promotions sold out Korakuen Hall in January for their respective AJW vs. Neo shows. In the past, that would not have been a big deal, but outside of GAEA, Korakuen sellouts were a rarity for the women's groups in 1999. "I really liked the pre-match brawl and the post-match brawl. The match, I guess, can be said to be good these days for both groups, even though it was mainly everyone hitting their key spots. The storyline with Takako being taken out was great though. Her comeback, though short-lived, worked well, even though I would've preferred her to have done a lot more in the match," That's what things have become. This was one of the only women's matches of 1998 where you had heat, intensity, and a storyline to go along with the work. Still, it could have been a lot better, I agree, but to me this match was a ray of hope. Special thanks to: Keith Watanabe - Manami Toyota Rules!19:26
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