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SPECIAL VI EXPLOSION: Manami Toyota & Kaoru Ito & Nanae Takahashi vs. Lioness Asuka & Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita (all free) From AJW Satellite TV Odaiba W EXPOSLION Taped 7/11/99 Fuji TV Studio (1,850 sellout) |
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You really have to give these women a lot of credit because they delivered this quality during a torrential downpour where the ring was slippery as hell. To give you an idea of the conditions, when the action would be on one side of the ring, the seconds would reach in with a mop and try to push the water off the other side! All the wrestlers on the show could have decided it wasn't worth the chance of getting hurt and done nothing but goof around and stall, but none of them really did. These six seemed to do every spot they would have had it been a sunny day. The execution wasn't always perfect because of the rain, but I think the circumstances call for a little more leniency in that regard. This was a pretty crazy match. It was mainly a brawl with the best of Lioness and LCO's heel styles, but it also had the Toyota fast-pace and workrate. It was kind of chaotic and helter skelter, but in a good way because people were coming out of nowhere to stop moves, do damage, and make saves. The only thing that came close to slowing these women down was the rain, but they'd just keep plowing forward as soon as they regained their balance. It was a spotfest, but it was exciting and a lot of fun. They fought all over the place, through the crowd, on the stage, on the ramp, you name it. It wasn't just meandering through the crowd, they were kicking some ass. Normally the highlight would be Mita giving Toyota her Death Valley bomb on the ramp, but that was overshadowed by Ito giving Shimoda her diving footstomp off the lighting rig. You could really see how much it was raining when Toyota was on the top rope preparing to do her missile kick to the floor. I was thinking of how my grandmother would be afraid to leave her house as if she was going to melt, but these girls were all running and slipping around and having a killer match. Anyway, Lioness put a table on top of Ito and then gave her a diving footstomp to the floor. She did the same thing in the ring, and I don't know if Lioness plays baseball, but she unintentionally did a pretty impressive slide when she lost her balance landing on top of the slick table. Aside from that blooper, Lioness was definitely worth the money wrestling wise because she easily outclassed even Toyota and Shimoda. She may be the most underrated wrestler today. Not because people don't know that she's good, but because very few people understand just how great she is. It came down to Shimoda & Mita having the lump Nanae in trouble. They tried to give her their kakato otoshi then Death Valley bomb double team spot, but Toyota gave them their missile kick where she hits each opponent with one leg. This allowed Takahashi to come back with her Nana rocker, and the fans, who had all stayed despite the conditions and been pretty vocal in expressing their support, actually believed she could pin Shimoda. Lioness made the last second save, so Nanae looked good in that she "would have" won if it wasn't for Lioness. It got a little sloppy from here, but Shimoda wound up "hitting" Takahashi with her rolling kakato otoshi, with Ito making the save. Liioness and Ito then fought on the outside and Mita held Toyota, so there was no one to save Takahashi from getting pinned in Shimoda's deathlake drive. Gabe: Remember when WCW had that outdoor wrestling/music video show on MTV? As soon as it started drizzling, the show was for the most part cancelled. In this case, the rain is pouring down, but the fans are still cheering and the wrestlers are still wrestling. Wrestling on a slippery ring is dangerous in itself, but that didn't stop these girls from doing their highspots both in and out of the ring. An inspiring display of heart by everyone. This match was great, so imagine if it wasn't raining? Special thanks to: Gabe Bautista 23:18
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