Quebrada #32

by Mike Lorefice (M.L.Liger@juno.com)

11/7/97

Foreword: I’ve had a tremendous amount of work to do over the past two months, which is why I haven’t written many columns. Due to this, I am WAY behind on tape reviews, as you will soon see. I decided not to talk about current events in this issue because I’m so far behind on reviewing tapes that if take the time to write the typical 7 pages on current events, there’s no way I’m ever going to catch up on the tapes. I’m sorry these tv shows are so old, but you have to review shows in chronological order, if possible, for things to make the most sense. I figured it was either skip some of them or start from where I left off and try to catch up to the current stuff, so I’m trying the latter.

All Japan Women TV 8/10/97 taped 8/9 Tokyo Korakuen Hall

The show opened with brief highlights of Toshiyo Yamada’s AJW graduation match against her former partner, Manami Toyota, from Korakuen Hall on 7/13. Yamada was indeed buried in red streamers before the match. This appeared to be both a special and a really good match.

Yuka Shiina vs. Chaparrita ASARI. ASARI was making her return from her broken hip, which has kept her out almost the entire year. The fans were glad to see her finally back, greeting her with an avalanche of streamers. Shiina took the early advantage, sneak attacking ASARI after ASARI refused a handshake and turned her back on her. Shiina surprisingly went to Lucha, which resulted in ASARI taking control of the match and hitting her roundoff kangaroo kicks. The pace slowed, with Shiina focusing her attack on ASARI’s back. After controlling the action for some time, Shiina went for her missile kick, but ASARI knocked her off the top. Shiina cut ASARI off before she could do a flying move, dropkicking her off the top to the floor then hitting a plancha. ASARI got her legs up for Shiina’s diving splash, then followed with a "revenge" plancha. ASARI’s offensive sequence culminated with a missed sky twister press. Shiina’s missile kick started a series of near falls that was far from the smoothest you’ll ever see. The series culminated when ASARI hit her Frankensteiner off the top and tried to hook Shiina’s leg. Propelled by the momentum of kicking out, Shiina turned it into a roll up of her own for the flash pin. This was good booking by AJW because they stuck with athletic credibility by having ASARI job in her first match back, but in doing so, they elevated a lower ranked wrestler. ASARI was clearly rusty and not 100%. Thus, the match wasn’t worked as well or as fluidly as it would have been under normal circumstances. It picked up in toward the finish and turned into a good match. 18:13 (9:17 aired). **1/2.

Kumiko Maekawa vs. Tomoko Watanabe in a Japan Grand Prix ’97 league match. This was a big match for both U*TOPS partners, as they were still in the running to win the Japan Grand Prix. With 1 match after this, Watanabe had 13 points and Maekawa had 14, so both badly needed this win, and get some other help, if they wanted to pass the current leader, Ito, who had 16 points and two matches left. The main point here is that Maekawa has finally become a pretty good worker. It helped that Watanabe has quietly had the best and most consistent year of her career, but Watanabe wasn’t doing it all here. Maekawa tried to throw her kicks, but Watanabe did her Dragon screw to figure 4 combination. This spot began the theme of Watanabe working on Maekawa’s knee. After getting a near fall with a spinning high kick, Maekawa tried for a jujigatame (cross arm scissors/Fujiwara arm bar), but Watanabe made it to the ropes before Maekawa could lock it in. Soon after, Watanabe’s attempted jujigatame produced the same result. Maekawa unleashed her whole arsenal of kicks for some near falls, with them hitting better than normal, but still not like they should. Watanabe came back with a nice short lariat followed by her regular lariat for a 2 3/4 count. Maekawa landed on her feet for Watanabe’s screwdriver, but Watanabe immediately put her down with a lariat. Watanabe got a near fall with her diving hip drop and went for a second, but Maekawa cut her off with a kick and did a calf-branding neckbreaker from the top. Maekawa followed with her heel kick finisher for a 2 9/10 count. Maekawa signaled to the crowd that she was going to put her partner away, making the mistake of turning her back on Watanabe. Watanabe capitalized with an enzui lariat then delivered her screwdriver finisher for the win. This finish kept Maekawa strong, which was one of the main themes of the Japan Grand Prix, while doing the best thing for booking, which was to make the Ito vs. Watanabe match the next day be of utmost importance because the winner would be at least tie for the lead with only the Toyota vs. Shimoda main event remaining (ok, actually there were two unimportant matches on 8/11, but that was because they were rained out on 7/30). Both women incorporated their new submission gimmicks without compromising their previous style. One drawback was that they did the submissions without doing any matwork to build up to those finishers. Certainly better than I expected. 13:48 (7:15 aired). ***1/4.

Manami Toyota vs. Kaoru Ito in a Japan Grand Prix ’97 league match. Toyota had a good chance of winning the Japan Grand Prix if she could win this match. However, a Toyota loss meant that Ito would have won the tourney before the big final night on 8/10 at Korakuen. Ito got a wakigatame on almost immediately, signifying her new more submission oriented style. They worked the fast-paced style Toyota is legendary for in between the submissions, so neither women’s style was compromised. Ito did her typical high spots early on, but instead of following them with her traditional footstomps, she did it U*TOPS style and followed them with jujigatame’s. This match built really well. Just after the 9 minute mark, Ito went to her typical footstomp and senton attack. Ito missed her first diving footstomp, and when she went for the move a second time, Toyota knocked her to the floor and followed with an awesome missile kick to the floor. Ito avoided Toyota’s moonsault then hit her diving footstomp for a near fall. The match became excellent when Toyota countered Ito’s lariat by back body dropping her to the floor. Toyota followed with her springboard plancha then put Ito on a table and tried a plancha, but was greeted by Ito’s feet. Ito then went to the top and did a diving footstomp to the floor, which is a really cool spot if your not on the receiving end. Ito countered the Toyota roll with a powerbomb & jackknife combination for a hot near fall. Ito tried her Super fisherman buster, but Toyota knocked her off the top then connected with an enzui missile kick for a near fall. Ito slipped out of the Japanese Ocean Cyclone suplex, but wound up getting caught in a sloppy Japanese Ocean suplex for a near fall. On the second try, Toyota J.O.C. suplexed Ito for a near fall. Toyota tried successive moonsaults, but Ito got her feet up the 2nd time. Ito couldn’t finish Toyota with her diving footstomp. Toyota tried to come back, but Ito did a new spot where she countered the J.O.C. suplex with a triangle hold. Ito got a near fall with her Super fisherman buster. Toyota planted Ito on her head with a German suplex then went to the top. Ito stopped Toyota and tried her Super fisherman buster, but Toyota turned it into a sunset flip powerbomb for a near fall. Toyota then invented a new suplex that was similar to the cross-arm German suplex. Toyota hooked Ito’s right arm around Ito’s waist with her left arm and also hooked Ito’s left arm between Ito’s thighs with her right. Toyota then suplexed her back like she would if she was doing a regular German suplex for the win. Excellent match that broke new ground between the former Freedom Force allies. Really good build, timing, and psychology to go along with the expected great work. The only things that held it down were the 20-minute time limit and a bit of sloppy execution by Toyota. Great performance by both. This is what they could have done at Queendom ’97 had Toyota been healthy. Ito is having the best year of her career and Toyota was healthy enough here to return to her typical off the charts self. The best woman’s match thus far in 1997. 18:02 (17:00 aired). ****1/2

Las Cachorus Orientals (Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita) vs. Kyoko Inoue & Aja Kong in a no-DQ match. Cachorus had been heels for about 2 ½ months at this time. During that time period, they have been brawling, using objects, and often making their opponents bleed. It’s absolutely amazing that in such a short time, they could do a match that set a new standard for garbage style wrestling, but they did it here and their match on the 8/31 TV show, though not as crazy, was better overall. Cachorus, particularly Shimoda, are just that good that they not only have quickly adapted, but have quickly excelled in their new style. *This match turned out to be more memorable than Toyota vs. Ito, as it marked the beginning of LCO's great heel period which shot to its apex with the greatest women's cage match on 9/21/97* The quality of Aja’s matches had fallen off this year, seemingly due to boredom, but she was the Aja of old here, going back to her Jungle Jack routes and having too much fun raising hell in this match. Kyoko adapted really well to this style. She had been in similar matches in years past when she was a Bull cronie, but her role in those matches was much more to supply the energy and take the bumps then to brawl. Kyoko & Aja attacked Las Cachorus before the bell and they brawled through the crowd. Aja got cracked on the head with a chair that Mita threw incredibly hard, which caused her to bleed. Even though the heels dominated Kyoko early, Cachorus wanna be Saya Endo was already interfering in their favor. Aja tagged in and used stiff blows on Mima. Mita lost the advantage for a short period, but Mima turned the tide by coming in and throwing a chair at Kyoko’s head. With Saya holding the opposition, Mima hit a springboard tope con hilo and Mita followed with a suicida. Aja used a can on Mita, then Mita revenged. Aja and Mita tried to throw each other off the Korakuen Hall balcony, but obviously, neither were successful. Aja did the bizarre spot of the year by spraying a fire extinguisher. She didn’t just spray it a little. Rather, she sprayed it enough that she set the hall’s fire alarm off. Everyone in the hall was waving their arm trying to get the mist out of their face. Meanwhile, Shimoda was throwing chairs and performing missile kicks on Kyoko. Kyoko & Aja gave Mita then Shimoda double press facebusters on a pile of chairs. The announcers were mumbling because they were talking with towels over their mouth to avoid inhaling harmful chemicals. Aja gave Mita a Gypsy Joe chair shot. Aja then got near falls on Mima with a piledriver through a table and a Ligerbomb. Aja soaked Shimoda with water, which got her brownie points with the men. Mita used a series of her blazing chops for a near fall on Kyoko. Kyoko came back with her springboard reverse elbow then Aja scooped Mima up so Kyoko could do a sky high diving reverse elbow for a near fall. Right after avoiding Kyoko’s two main finishers, Mima spewed mist in Kyoko’s face. Kyoko countered Mita’s Death Valley bomb with her lariat. After some double teaming, Mita got a near fall on Aja with a chair off the top. Aja and Shimoda worked a nice sequence using a lot of their big moves. It looked like Mima might finally use her Aussie suplex (Tiger suplex) on Aja, but Kyoko clocked her from behind with Aja’s can then Aja delivered a backdrop driver for a near fall. The match got out of hand with the combination of Saya taping Kyoko to the rope and Aja having the seconds fill the ring with chairs. Aja brainbustered Mima on the chairs, but Mita made the save. Mita took control with chairs, and after two blown attempts, Death Valley bombed Aja on the chairs. However, Kyoko was able to break free from the tape in time to make the save. Kyoko "eliminated" Mita by powerbombing her on the chairs. Aja was practically knocked out legit for the DVB, to the point where Kyoko had to assist her in standing so they could do the finish. With Kyoko holding Mima, Aja urakened her for the win. Great match! This style has not been seen in AJW rings for half a decade and back then it wasn’t this good, or generally even that close. One of the greatest garbage style matches ever because it had all the craziness and gimmicks, but didn’t fall prey to all the liabilities of the garbage style. They also did all this without compromising their forte, which is high workrate. 33:49 (27:03 aired). ****1/2

All Japan Women TV 8/31/97 taped 8/20 Tokyo Budokan Hall

To fully understand this show, you have to understand the circumstances surrounding this event. Riding the wave of the two Dream Slams, AJW started running their major show of the summer at Budokan Hall in 1993. This show, with several interpromotional matches including the first meeting between WWWA champion Aja Kong and JWP Open Weight Singles champion Dynamite Kansai, was a huge success drawing an announced crowd of 14,500 which at the time put it very close to the top of the women’s wrestling list for both attendance and gate. By 1994, the newness of the interpromotional idea was gone, but the quality of the matches was excellent, and they were able to sellout Budokan for a show headlined by a super elimination match of Kansai & Yumiko Hotta against Akira Hokuto (this was to be one of her final matches) & Aja Kong. By 1995, AJW had decided to go it alone, but they were able to do it successfully because they had the match. 14,800 people showed up to see the battle of arguably the two greatest women’s wrestlers of all-time, as Hokuto put over Toyota in a ***** classic. In 1996, marred by the youngsters not improving even to a level where they were in the ballpark with the top stars they were supposed to overtake soon, AJW had nothing to present. So, being the brilliant businessmen they are, the Matsunaga Brothers went for their most ambitious undertaking yet, a Budokan double shot. The debacles were built around two different tournaments. The first was an interpromotional tag tournament, called Discover New Heroine, which paired a star with a youngster. The idea showed they understood their problem, but didn’t understand the reasons for it. Women’s wrestling, the way they were booking it with no heels and no rivalries, was all about workrate. Thus, you aren’t going to get over if you are an average worker. Period. Secondly, for AJW not to know that there was no interest in this tournament was inexcusable since they had just done the same type of tournament with just their own wrestlers on 5/1/96 at Korakuen and drew an abysmal 1,100 (half capacity). The only thing AJW did right was have the team with the best youngster, JWP’s Tomoko Kuzumi, who just rules, win the tournament. AJW had never focused a show on non-worked matches before, so it was a fair idea to test that aspect, but you have to have something that can draw in case it doesn’t work. The result of the U* Tournament was not only a flop at the box office, but the goal of the show, to get Hotta over as the company "shooter" failed as well. AJW only but 10,500 people in the stands for the combined double shot, which is worse than abysmal since two sellouts would have been about 32,000 people.

This brings us to 1997. The promotion is now millions of dollars in debt, the youngsters still aren’t good or over, attendance has sucked all year and there is a terribly low 6,000 people (if that) in Budokan tonight, the women haven’t been payed since March and they’ve still been working practically every night. One of your biggest stars is "graduating" (read: leaving), you have a total nothing undercard, and to make matters worse, your champion gets on the house mic before the show and gives away the big main event title switch before the show even starts by announcing that she too is leaving. With these circumstances, you could not blame the overworked veterans if they just packed it in. I mean, the promotion is failing and the stars are bailing so why kill yourself again, right? Wrong. The veterans showed tremendous ability and class, and made this not just the best AJW TV show of the year, but the best TV show any promotion has presented thus far in 1997, complete with two matches that are strong candidates for women’s match of the year.

The format of the show was given a complete overhaul. It now has a new futuristic look with an excellent computer generated opening, better graphics, & very cool looking wrestler profiles. They also have two hosts in a computer generated studio and they do various features. This show had a great feature on Aja Kong, with highlights of some of the biggest matches of her career.

Manami Toyota vs. Aja Kong in Aja Kong’s "graduation" match called, "The Best Match Final." When I saw Aja German suplex Toyota at the bell, I could just tell they were poised to present another of their classic matches. Toyota, always the consummate professional, was extremely unselfish in this match. Toyota was the one that was staying, but she didn’t use that as an excuse to get Aja to put her over big on the way out. Instead, Toyota sold a ton for Aja and let Aja both be in focus and shine in what was to be her final major AJW match. Aja controlled the early portion, both laying in stiff blows and contorting Toyota’s body with various submissions, including using the stretch plum in honor of the late Plum Mariko. Toyota basically sold for the first 5 ½ minutes that aired, then made a brief comeback where she ran Aja into the post, but Aja no-sold it and immediately did a Kawada-esque lariat to regain control. Toyota got Aja’s can, but when Aja stood there and basically said hit me with it, Toyota tossed it to the floor. Aja brought a can into the ring, but the ref told her not to use it. Aja asked for the crowd’s approval and when they cheered she gestured to the ref that the fans wanted to see it, then gave Toyota a blistering shot with the can. Aja started using her signature high impact moves for near falls, until Toyota countered a backdrop driver and German suplexed Aja. Toyota then missed her moonsault and it looked like Aja was back in command, but Toyota got her legs up for Aja’s diving splash off the 2nd. Toyota then tried her springboard plancha, but Aja avoided it then suidida’d Manami. They did a series of great near falls and, at one point, it looked like Aja was ready to put Toyota away, but Toyota ducked two urakens and did her Japanese Ocean suplex for a near fall. Aja did an awesome backdrop driver, but Toyota bridged out. The match and heat really picked up when Aja went for her diving reverse elbow, but Toyota knocked her to the floor then hit a missile kick to the floor. Toyota put Aja on a table and did a springboard tope con hilo, but, of course, the table didn’t break or even bend. Toyota tried her J.O.C. suplex, but Aja dropped to the ground and booted her in the face. Toyota blocked an uraken and J.O. suplexed Aja for a near fall. Aja took control, getting near falls with signature spots, which led up to her going back to the uraken. Aja hit 3 stiff urakens for big pops, but each time Toyota kicked out for big pops. A disgruntled Aja then took her glove off and blew Toyota away with an uraken, but she sold her previous injuries and, by the time she made it over to Toyota and covered her, the bell rang before she could get even a 1 count. These two have done better in the past, but this was another great match and it was surely better in unedited form. Toyota’s match vs. Ito was better than this because that broke new ground and took their matches forward, while this match was basically a step backwards for Toyota since she wasn’t nearly as competitive against Aja as she had been in the past. 30:00 (18:36 aired). ****1/2

Kyoko Inoue vs. Yumiko Hotta for Kyoko’s WWWA title. This match was like the NJ vs. UWF matches of 1980's (though they were far more clever), with Hotta using her credible moves, kicks and submissions, but still having to sell Kyoko’s fake moves, powerbombs and lariats. Hotta used stiff kicks, but her main thrust was trying to get a flash submission with her wakigatame or jujigatame. Very slow-paced match, especially by AJW standards. After delivering a reverse DDT, Hotta mounted Kyoko, but couldn’t get anything done. Kyoko tried flying, but Hotta would have no part of it. Kyoko went to her lariats for a near fall. Hotta had a lot of trouble lifting hefty Kyoko up for her Tigerdriver, but was able to do it for a near fall. Some of the transition was really good, but the gap between spots was too long in some cases, making certain spots look contrived. Hotta did her Pyramid driver for a near fall, again having huge problems lifting Kyoko to the point that Kyoko is lucky she didn’t get dropped directly on her head. Kyoko tried to bound the ropes to deliver her diving reverse elbow on two different occasions, but she can’t bound the ropes very well anymore because she’s so chubbed out. It must be embarrassing to have your champion falling off the ropes when they are performing one of their signature spots (though at least she doesn't need a special ass holding ref like Choshu), though she sold an ankle injury when she fell so maybe there was a legit reason for it. On the 2nd try, Kyoko missed her diving reverse elbow, giving Hotta the opening to apply the juji- gatame, though Kyoko eventually made the ropes. Hotta did some more kicks then Kyoko did some more lariats, I think we’ve seen this before. There was an interesting spot in there where Hotta avoided a lariat and had Kyoko in position for her wakigatame, but Kyoko used her other arm to lariat Hotta before Hotta could take Kyoko down to the mat. Hotta stopped Kyoko during her rope bounding spot and did the Meiko Satomura jujigatame from the 2nd rope, but Kyoko got to the ropes. Seeing that they were told the finish by Kyoko hours earlier, the few fans that were present were surprisingly animated for the finish of this match. They did a series of near falls, with Kyoko hitting her lariat then trying her Niagara driver, but Hotta kicked her on the way up, then swept her knee. In a lame spot, Kyoko tried her Niagara driver, but Hotta kind of fell out of it and swept Kyoko’s knee again. Kyoko got the advantage back when she had a flashback, bounding the ropes like she used to and taking Hotta over with an arm drag. Kyoko then got a near fall with her Niagara driver. Kyoko did two more powerbombs then a Niagara driver where she covered Hotta with her arm extended. This was terrible. If I’ve seen Kyoko do the Niagara driver once, I’ve seen her do it 1000 times, but I’ve never seen her cover her opponent in this sloppy manner. It was so obvious that Kyoko was leaving her arm out so Hotta could jujigatame her. It was made worse when Kyoko fell to her back before Hotta had the jujigatame half applied. Hotta finally locked it in and Kyoko obviously submitted. Kyoko made a farce of the finish, though Hotta didn’t help things any with her ineptitude in applying her move. Hotta won the WWWA title through possibly the worst finish of the year in a major Japanese match. This match was not exciting at all. It was kind of effective, having both good points and flaws, but it contained nothing that resembled greatness. ****1/2 for this match is one of the most ridiculous ratings of the year, particularly since it got 1/4* better than the next match, Shimoda & Mita vs. Watanabe & Maekawa, a match which as Dean Rasmussen would say, "smokes it like a cheap cigar." 16:33 (13:25 aired). ***1/2

Las Cachorus Orientales (Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita) vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa 2/3 falls for Cachorus WWWA tag titles. This match had it all. It was a great match because they not only blended all the different styles and elements, but they did so without losing anything. It was a blend where everything was not only present, but clicking. The storyline of the match was Maekawa pushing the veterans, getting crowd heat because it looked like this might be the night she got over the hump and fully established herself as a "big star." I can’t believe I’m typing this, but this was Maekawa’s best performance to date and she finally proved she was at least close to worthy of her push. That said, much of the credit goes to the opposition and even her partner, as Maekawa is still a limited worker but they made you forget that. Mima & Mita proved that the 8/9 match was not a fluke by any means and they were as much, if not more, a part of the greatness of that match as the much more versed brawler Aja was. Cachorus have really mastered both being heels and the garbage style. What the Cachorus really proved here is that, since garbage wrestling doesn’t take much skill, a great and special straight match worker can make a smooth transition to the style, and quickly excel in it, if they are willing to increase the stiffness and take the bumps. However, a "great" garbage wrestler has a hell of a time making the transition to straight style, and excelling, because they generally lack the technical ability, selling, and psychology for that style. Thus, a great worker like a Shimoda or a Michaels can substitute some gimmick spots for their regular moves, without losing what made them great in the first place. However, a "great" garbage wrestler almost always isn’t a great worker, so when you take away the gimmick spots, their limitations are greatly magnified and you realize the full extent of their suckiness. The first fall was the requisite quick fall. Mita went for her Death Valley bomb immediately, but Watanabe stopped it and hit her lariat. Mita then ducked Watanabe’s lariat and Shimoda broke "their" chair over Watanabe head, bloodying Watanabe. Shimoda held Maekawa off, while Mita’s Death Valley bombed Watanabe twice for the fall. :57

Cachorus used a bunch of illegal moves to really dominate the bloody Watanabe, with Watanabe’s only glimmer of hope coming when she turned Shimoda’s sleeper into a jujigatame. However, Shimoda used the traditional block (clasp your hands together), so even that went nowhere. Watanabe finally came back with her Dragon screw to figure 4 combination on Mita’s bad knee. Maekawa tagged in and used several high impact kicks to the knee as well as various leg locks. This sequence culminated with Shimoda making the save, breaking a figure 4 by chairing Maekawa in the arm, and Maekawa subsequently blading her arm. Maekawa kicked a 60-yarder with Mita’s head. As usual, Maekawa missed her heel kick in the corner, which resulted in the action spilling to the floor. Highlight here was Mita piledriving Maekawa on a table. Back in the ring, Maekawa got a near fall on Mima with a good thrust kick. The pace really picked up with Mima and Watanabe working together. Mima ducked a double lariat and delivered her running neckbreaker drop to both. Shimoda worked for her Aussie suplex (Tiger suplex), but Watanabe got the ropes. Watanabe hit two lariats, but Shimoda landed on her feet for the screwdriver, ducked a lariat, then Aussie suplexed Watanabe for a near fall. Mita tried her Death Valley bomb, but Watanabe turned it into a jujigatame. Maekawa hit a pretty stiff heel kick in the corner. Maekawa gained momentum on Mita with her kicks, but Shimoda once again turned the tide by coming in and hitting Maekawa with "their" chair. Maekawa slipped out of the Death Valley bomb, but Shimoda came in and chaired her then Mita powerbombed her for a near fall. When Maekawa took control again, she was ready for Shimoda to come in and chair her. She thrust kicked Shimoda, but Shimoda still got her with the chair, so both sold. This spot caused Maekawa to bleed from the top of her head. Watanabe immediately cannonball bustered (same setup as her screwdriver, but she releases her opponent instead of sitting down and pinning them like you would on a Ligerbomb) Mita and ran to the corner to hold Shimoda, who was just recovering, off while Maekawa heel kicked Mita to take the 2nd fall 15:45 (11:20 aired).

Maekawa used kicks on Mita, but Shimoda stopped her with a missile kick. Shimoda accidentally chaired Mita, then Maekawa got a few near falls with her kicks. Mita came back with her blazing chop and tried to powerbomb Maekawa, but Watanabe lariated her. Mita ducked a heel kick, Maekawa typically wound up out of position, and Death Valley bombed Maekawa, but Watanabe just broke free of Shimoda’s grasp in time to make the save. Later on, Mita went for her Death Valley bomb, but Maekawa turned it into a sunset flip for a hot near fall. Shimoda tried her deathlake drive (Tiger superplex) on Maekawa, but Watanabe stopped it by giving her a released German suplexed off the 2nd. Watanabe tagged in and used several finishers on Shimoda, but couldn’t put her away. Mita finally stopped Watanabe’s run by chairing her before she could give Shimoda yet another screwdriver. Watanabe retaliated, using chair shots on both opponents. Maekawa came in, and she was so fired up that, when she mounted Mima, the ref had to restrain her. While this was going on, Watanabe tried to lariat Shimoda, but Shimoda ducked and Watanabe took Maekawa and the ref out. The heels brought a ladder into the ring and Shimoda did a ladder drop off the top onto Maekawa. Shimoda deathlake drived Maekawa for a near fall. Maekawa took advantage of Shimoda signaling that she was going to end it by pushing her into the corner. Watanabe then lariated Shimoda and Maekawa heel kicked Shimoda for what would have made a storybook ending of the show and Maekawa’s rise to stardom, but Shimoda just kicked out and reality set in. While setting Shimoda up for a calf-branding neckbreaker from the top, the youngster Maekawa failed to see Mita get up and was caught in Mita’s Death Valley bomb. Shimoda capitalized on the mistake, hitting her deathlake drive. Shimoda covered Maekawa and Watanabe made a last ditch effort to make the save, but came up inches short and the ref counted 3. Cachorus retained the WWWA tag titles. Great performance by Shimoda, who I can never say enough about. I don’t want to make it sound like this was the best match in the world or anything, but I really liked it and it was great. The brilliance of this match is its uniqueness. It combines a lot of elements into one great package, a package that combines styles from all over the world, but through the combination is different then what you see anywhere else in the world. Definitely worth seeking out. 10:14 (7:31 aired). Total time 26:56 (20:28 aired). ****1/2

They showed highlights of Momoe Nakanishi vs. Emi Motokawa and from them, it’s clear that AJW has finally loosened the reigns on Momoe. Now that Momoe is allowed to do high spots, combined with the fact that she’s often working in the main event, she could very well improve at a record rate for an AJW wrestler in the 1990's. If AJW lasts long enough, she’ll be a great worker by the time she’s 21.

Champ Forum Michinoku Pro 9/6/97 taped 8/24 Yahaba

The story of this show was that Kaientai DX was just too powerful, too dominant, for the weakened Sekigun. The Sekigun needed a Hiro, but the Hiro was still holding out on them.

Gran Hamada vs. Shoichi Funaki. Hamada worked over Funaki’s ankle for an extended period. They did a decent Lucha style sequence of counters, which Hamada won when he lariated Funaki. Funaki wasn’t knocked to the floor by the lariat. Rather, he obviously rolled to the floor on his own. At first I thought this was really fake Lucha, but it seemed like Funaki’s game plan was to take the action to the floor no matter what. Even if he took a few hits from Hamada, he was the superior brawler and he would soon dominate Hamada outside the ring. This is exactly what happened, Funaki took a plancha, but quickly gained control posting Hamada. Funaki brawled to the merchandise table and back, bloodying Hamada with a spike (I’m pretty sure Hamada bladed just before the shot with the spike). Back in the ring, Funaki continued the rudo onslaught by taking the turnbuckle pad off and ramming Hamada’s head into the steel. Hamada finally made a comeback, culminating with near falls on his swinging DDT off the 2nd and backdrop (back suplex). Hamada set Funaki up for a second backdrop, but Funaki supposedly fouled him (he kicked air) then small packaged Hamada for the win. Ok match, but these two are capable of way better. It had the makings of a good slow builder, but they went home too soon and the finish was lame. I was glad to see Funaki elevated, but it would have had more impact if the match wasn’t built so much around the rudo spots. Since Funaki controlled so much of the match with his fierce rulebreaking attack, he never looked like the underdog. 12:43 (9:51 aired). **1/2

Naohiro Hoshikawa & Masato Yakushiji vs. Dick Togo & Men’s Teioh. The youngsters gave it their all, but they just don’t have what it takes to defeat the two highest ranked members of Kaientai DX. Hoshikawa jumped Togo at the bell and took the action to the floor, which was a mistake because Togo soon decked him with a chair then broke a chair over his head. Togo tried to piledrive Hoshikawa on a table, but the table collapsed when the stood on it, so they had to redo the spot. The DX double teamed Yakushiji, with the highlight being a great spot where Togo did a released German suplex then Teioh followed with a backdrop driver. Yakushiji took great bumps on both of those suplexes and sold them incredibly. It looked like he was paralyzed, as he didn’t even move to brace his fall when the ref rolled him off the ring apron. DX then double teamed Hoshikawa, including the same consecutive suplex spot. Highlight was the DX using a new move where they set up a double nodowa-otoshi, but instead threw Hoshikawa backward for what I’ll call an overhead choke suplex. Togo then taunted Hoshikawa on the house mic, which pissed Hoshikawa off and caused him to "lose it." Hoshikawa made a hot comeback, using nice strikes to both opponents including a diving kick off the apron. Yakushiji finally recovered, but Togo no sold his jumping moves. Togo soon grew tired of no-selling, and when Yakushiji rebounded off the ropes, he decapitated him with a lariat. Yakushiji’s limp carcass was rolled to the floor once again. Teioh beat on Hoshikawa, but Hoshikawa showed great fighting spirit by making a hot comeback. Hoshikawa set Teioh up on the top rope, but Togo cut him off and they gave Hoshikawa double impact (sky high lariat/elevated clothesline/doomsday device). Teioh slammed Hoshikawa with his miracle ecstasy (nodowa bomb) and Togo hit his diving senton for the win. After the match, Togo cut some of Hoshikawa’s hair. Good work. The match was what it had to be due to the ranking of the workers involved. The young faces were simply overmatched here. 8:14. ***

The Great Sasuke vs. Super Boy in a ladder match. Sasuke had a brace on his bad knee. The 1st 5 minutes was matwork. They picked it up with some basic Lucha spots, but the pace slowed when Super Boy took a year and a day to get back in the ring after being back body dropped to the floor. Super Boy worked on Sasuke’s bad knee. Sasuke came back and had his quebrada set up, but Togo and Teioh held him off. Sasuke eventually warded off their attack and quebrada’d Super Boy, who had the ladder in his hand. Back in the ring, Super Boy hit ref Ted Tanabe with the ladder while Togo & Teioh choked Sasuke with a cable. Togo & Teioh used the cable to whip Sasuke into the ladder. Super Boy then did one ladder spot after the other, from guillotine leg drops to slingshot sentons. Unfortunately, many of these spots were very poorly executed. Sasuke eventually came back, doing a guillotine leg drop off the ladder, but he missed a rolling senton off the ladder. One problem with this match was that the ladder was way too light and unsturdy. Even though Togo & Teioh were both holding the ladder, Super Boy almost killed himself trying to moonsault off it because he wasn’t able to push off right. With Sasuke lying on the ladder, Super Boy missed a diving knee and injured his knee. Sasuke did a nice tope con hilo. Sasuke placed the ladder in the corner, lying over the top rope. It took two tries, but Sasuke back body dropped Super Boy onto the ladder. Later, Sasuke ran into the corner where the ladder was draped over the top rope and tried for a diving reverse cross body off the 2nd, but DOH! he hit the ladder and hurt his tummy. Super Boy used the ladder to assist his rolling (somersault) senton off the top, which was pretty cool. Sasuke piledrove Super Boy for a near fall. Sasuke hit a flying huracanrana off the ladder and Super Boy accidentally almost switched it into a pin of his own, but Sasuke sat up again for the win. Finish was very weak because the ref was counting the fall on Super Boy when his shoulders weren’t close to being down. After the match, Togo & Teioh attacked Sasuke with a ladder then Super Boy started throwing chairs into the ring, hoping to bury Sasuke in them, but Tiger Mask 4 made the save. I can’t remember the last time, or if I ever saw a time, when Masanori was in a match this bad. This was so bush league. It was bad indy level garbage wrestling with contrived spots, blown spots left and right, and no psychology once the ladder was introduced. You probably have to see it to believe it was possible for Sasuke to be involved in a match this poor. It’s sad that they devoted so much time early to building a match, only to leave the knee psychology and start rolling out one sloppy ladder spot after another. It seemed Sasuke was trying to do an ECW match, but they weren’t even successful in incorporating the good points of an ECW brawl into this match. This match would have been much better if they kept that flimsy ladder where it belongs, against someone’s house. Maybe next time Sasuke will console with the "master of the ladder match," Scott Hall. 18:47. *1/2

This was the worst Michinoku Pro Champ Forum of the year.

Champ Forum Gaea 7/5/97 taped 6/13 Kawasaki

Meiko Satomura vs. Hiromi Kato in a shoot style match. This was a UWF/UFW-I style worked shoot. Lots of kicks early with both snap and impact. Surprisingly, I thought the bigger Hiromi Kato, who really doesn’t kick much in her normal matches, was the better kicker of the two. Satomura has the quicker hands and she did a few pretty good palm strikes. The matwork was pretty smooth with nice transitions. The thing is, this just made it look fake to anyone who’s seen Pancrase or UFC. Satomura used 2 rope escapes, while Kato used 1. Finish saw Kato reverse Satomura, but she never take control on top, allowing Satomura to get behind her. Satomura then grabbed Kato’s neck and rolled to her back, locking in a choke sleeper for the win. Kato tapped immediately, showing the days of the dramatic resistance to submission holds are gone. I hesitate to call this good because doing so would cheapen a lot of UWF-I matches. I enjoyed this though and, given these two had little experience in this style, this match was pretty impressive. 5:03

Makie Numao vs. Sonoko Kato in a shoot style match. Same deal as the last match. Numao is and was the better kicker, though I thought some of her kicks looked too pulled for this genre. Mainly contested on the mat. About 4 minutes into the match, Kato put Numao down with a high kick and worked for a jujigatame. By the time she was able to break Numao’s grip and extend her arm, Numao was too close to the ropes. Finish came when Kato was cranking a headlock and not really thinking about keeping Numao on the mat. During one of the cranks, Numao rolled Kato to her stomach and turned the headlock into a wakigatame for the win. The first match was much better.

Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima & Hiromi Kato & Toshie Uematsu & Maiko Matsumoto vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Toshiyo Yamada & Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato & Makie Numao in an elimination match. Chigusa was going back to her AJW roots, booking a 10-woman elimination match. She doesn’t have the magic to carry a bunch of youngsters to a great match these days, but the good thing is that she knows it. She basically stepped aside here and let the kids do it the best they could, which worked because the kids are good workers. A key thing here was that Uematsu & Matsumoto are faces, thus anti-Oz Academy, but were on the team with three heels, two Oz Academy members and Hiromi Kato, a candidate for entry into the Academy. The Oz Academy immediately showed that they were not thrilled about having the two faces on their team. When Uematsu & Matsumoto were shaking hands with the Chigusa’s team of faces, Sato & Chikayo whipped Hiromi, who dropkicked Uematsu & Matsumoto in the back, knocking them into Chigusa’s team. Sato & Chikayo & Hiromi followed by running and trying to dropkick Uematsu & Matsumoto in the back and further move the faces back, but Uematsu & Matsumoto saw it coming and avoided the dropkicks. A bit later, Hiromi tagged Uematsu by slapping her in the face, so Uematsu answered by kicking Hiromi in the gut. First elimination came when Uematsu tried her double-wrists arm sault suplex on Numao, but Numao blocked it and tried a lariat. However, Uematsu avoided the lariat and went into a Haneori Kubi gatame (small package with chickenwing armlock) for the pin at 2:41. The over the top rope elimination rule was in effect, so Satomura got Uematsu on her shoulders and tried to drop her over the top rope. However, Matsumoto gave Uematsu a little push, which supplied enough momentum for Uematsu to victory roll Satomura. Satomura tried to push Uematsu over the top, but Uematsu resisted, so Satomura climbed to the 2nd rope and took Uematsu down into a jujigatame (since Uematsu was on the ropes in the middle of the ring, this was a variation of one of Satomura’s finishers), causing Uematsu to submit at 8:02. Chigusa just didn’t have it in this match. Chikayo worked really well with the youngsters, but when Chigusa tagged in, it really went downhill with some sloppy and deliberate spots. Chigusa tried to dump Chikayo over the top, but Chikayo slipped back in between the bottom and middle rope like she was Rick Martel in the Royal Rumble. Chikayo & Sato double teamed Chigusa, but she wound up suplexing them both. Chigusa tried to lariat both young punks, but they ducked and with the help of a Hiromi dropkick, the Oz Academy dumped Chigusa over the top at 9:51. Sonoko & Satomura were about to press slam Chikayo over the top rope, but Hiromi saved with a dropkick. Chikayo cut Satomura off before she could do a diving move, but Yamada kicked her and pushed her half way over. Yamada then went to hold off the other team, leaving Satomura to give Chikayo the final nudge. Satomura eliminated Chikayo, but Chikayo held Satomura’s arm and, while she was on the floor, pulled Satomura off the top to the floor, eliminating her at 11:01. Sato used her running powerslam on Sonoko, and went for her diving reverse elbow, but Sonoko got up and tried to push Sugar over the top. Hiromi, who was on the ring apron, held Sato up until Yamada knocked Hiromi off the apron. Even with Hiromi on the floor, they couldn’t get Sugar out, so Kato settled for bulldogging Sato off the 2nd. Later on, Sato tried her Dragon screw on Sonoko, but Yamada broke it up with a lariat. Yamada & Sonoko ran off the ropes and tried kicks, but Sato caught Sonoko’s leg and performed her Dragon screw to hiza-juji gatame (knee cross scissors) for the submission at 14:09. Yamada quickly eliminated Hiromi with a thrust kick at 15:00. This left the two youngsters, Sato & Matsumoto, against the veteran Yamada. She youngsters tried to double team, but it didn’t last long. Yamada backdrop drivered Matsumoto and tried her reverse Gori special bomb, but Sato and Nagashima facebustered Yamada. All hell broke loose with the eliminated wrestlers interjecting themselves. Yamada eliminated Matsumoto by high kicking her over the top rope at 16:54. This left 18-year-old Sugar, the captain of her team, to face Yamada one-on-one. As if those odds weren’t bad enough for Sugar, the faces that had been eliminated all came into the ring and one of them worked with Yamada double teaming Sugar well the others kept the heels out of the ring (Matsumoto & Uematsu didn’t care to help Sugar out). Sugar made her comeback when she avoided Satomura’s diving forearm, causing Satomura to hit Yamada with it. Sato then applied her hiza-juji gatame on Yamada, and it looked like Sugar could get her first win over Yamada here, but Chigusa came in and broke it up. Yamada dragged Sato up, but Chikayo missile kicked Yamada and Sato small packaged Yamada for a good false finish. Yamada came back, connecting with a back spin kick. Yamada then delivered her reverse Gori special bomb for the win at 17:56. Very good match, with the Oz Academy looking strong despite their leader not being present. A lot of these youngsters are verging on moving up a notch. After the match, they showed the press conference where Yamada joined Gaea. 17:56. ***1/2

Champ Forum Gaea 7/12/97 taped 6/22 Shizuoka

Akira Hokuto & Maiko Matsumoto vs. Hiromi Kato & Sakura Hirota. This match was a good step forward for Matsumoto & Hirota. Matsumoto didn’t have the role of the least pushed and experienced wrestler in the match, like she often does when she teams with Akira, so she got to show a bit more offense. However, I definitely get the feeling that Chigusa is unhappy with Matsumoto’s lack of progress because she went from being one of the pushed youngsters, as Akira’s "top protégé," to being a non-factor on the undercard, which is really where she belongs at this point. Hirota didn’t get totally stomped like normal, so she got to show a bit of what she can do (though that isn’t much). Matsumoto, Kato, & Hirota all have the same major weakness, they have no move set. Matsumoto’s offense is as arcane as Genki’s, while Kato & Hirota combined have a handful of high spots. I find Kato to be the best of the three because she has the best presence and does what little she does well. Hirota has a lot more energy than ability at this point. One good spot in this match saw Hirota try to plancha Matsumoto, but Hokuto cut her off and tried to back superplex Hirota. However, Kato then stopped Hokuto by putting her in her Argentine backbreaker (torture rack). Kato then held Hokuto so Hirota could do a diving version of her hip attack. Finish saw Hirota try a regular hip attack on Matsumoto, but Matsumoto caught her in midair and did her henkei atomic drop (version of the atomic drop. More specifically, she rams her opponent into the mat instead of her knee). Hokoto and Matsumoto then gave Hirota a double henkei atomic drop and Matsumoto followed with her side suplex to pin Hirota. Finish was good and all three youngsters were better than normal. 11:20. **1/2

Mayumi Ozaki & Sugar Sato vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Sonoko Kato. This was a wild grudge match with all kinds of brawling and outside interference. Since Oz was involved, it was guaranteed to be a cool match. Sugar attacked Chigusa before the bell, sending her to the floor where the other two Oz Academy members, Rieko Amano & Chikayo Nagashima, aided in an all out chair assault. Meanwhile, Oz was making short work of Kato in the ring. It looked like Oz had Kato pinned, but Meiko Satomura jumped into the ring and made the save. Satomura took Oz to the floor where the faces returned the favor by double teaming the leader with chair shots. Much to Makie Numao’s chagrin, the Oz Academy were still chairing Chigusa and she couldn’t do much to stop it. When Oz and Kato reentered the ring, Sonoko was bleeding from her forehead. In some points, Numao was taking more of a beating than the participants in the match. Kato finally tagged Chigusa in and Chigusa petitioned Oz to come in as well, but Sato refused to tag and kept attacking Chigusa. Chigusa was putting Sugar down every time and throwing her into the heel corner, so eventually Oz came in. Chigusa took the action back to the floor, holding Oz while Satomura & Numao chaired her. Finally, Chikayo had seen enough of this, and she held Satomura & Numao at bay. Oz and Kato did their typical nice high spots back and forth. At one point, Kato ducked Oz’s uraken and crucifix rolled her for a near fall. Sato controlled Chigusa briefly, making the mistake of going for her diving reverse elbow when Chigusa wasn’t in bad enough shape and getting Combat drivered (one-arm powerbomb) for her trouble. Kato then gave Sugar her leg drop off the 2nd, but Amano & Chikayo made the save. At the 16 minute mark, Sato tried a running powerslam, but Kato turned it into a cradle for a near fall. Oz tagged in, entering the ring with a rolling (somersault) block off the top. Sato then held Kato so Oz could uraken, but Kato avoided and Sugar took the impact. Oz Ligerbombed Kato for a near fall. Chigusa tagged in, but Oz took control, rolling up her opponents body and turning it into an arm drag. Chigusa gained the advantage, using strikes then her superfreak (gutwrench into a high angle powerbomb). Instead of going for the pin on her superfreak, Chigusa went to her old sleeper finisher. Chigusa’s rival Akira Hokuto, who was sitting in the front row, came in and started stomping on Chigusa until the finisher was broken. Oz used her main finishers, uraken and tequila sunrise, on Chigusa, but Satomura and Kato made the save. Sato used her diving reverse elbow for a near fall on Chigusa. Chigusa tried to come back, but Oz stopped her with an uraken then Sugar used her Dragon screw. Oz and Chigusa brawled through the arena with both using any object they could get their hands on. Oz DDT’d Chigusa on the floor. Sugar was the legal woman in the ring when Oz & Chigusa brawled to the floor, so Oz kept Chigusa from reentering the ring and got the count out win. Despite it being a screw job, the Oz Academy played the win up huge. Very good match that combined good brawling, good wrestling, and captured the stakes of the Oz Academy vs. Chigusa and her youngsters feud. My only complaint is that the count out was kind of ridiculous because there was a long segment early on when there were 8 women outside the ring having a chair fest and 0 women inside the ring, yet we saw no count out. Ozaki remains the best heel in wrestling and Oz Academy remains the coolest heel group. I know Chigusa wants to rely on other promotions as little as possible, but this feud is too good to let fade away. 21:40. ***3/4

Pancrase Special on Gaora 7/12/97 taped 6/30 Hakata Star Lanes

Alex Andrade vs. Satoshi Hasegawa. Andrade, a student of Guy Mezger’s from Dallas, Texas who had a 7-0 record in kickboxing with the WKA, was making his Pancrase debut. Andrade totally controlled this match. Andrade is the much better striker and he just threw palm strike after palm strike. Hasegawa was way overmatched on his feet and was unable to take Andrade down the couple times that he tried. With so much stand-up fighting, this may have been a theme match. Hasegawa lost two points, one for each time he was knocked down via palm strike, while Andrade lost one point when he was red carded for punting Hasegawa’s face when Hasegawa was trying to shoot. It was clear by Andrade’s reactions and protest that didn’t know kicking your opponent when you are standing and they are on the mat is illegal in Pancrase. The match went the time limit with Andrade winning 2-1. Andrade’s win was the only surprise outcome of the show on paper, but you have to consider that Hasegawa had fought 12 days earlier, which is very uncommon in Pancrase, and he was fighting on his feet, which isn’t his strong suit. Still, Andrade was very impressive, especially considering it was his debut. 10:00 (6:47 aired).

Osami Shibuya vs. Brian Gassaway. The Gassaway brothers, who are small time fighters with experience in IFC events, made their Pancrase debut here. Brian seemed better on his feet, but Shibuya had no trouble taking him down. Shibuya was patient looking for a submission, but Gassaway wasn’t going to make it easy on him. Shibuya had Gassaway in trouble when he applied an ankle lock, but Gassaway squirmed like hell and was able to make it to the ropes, thus losing a point, rather than the match. Shibuya got the jujigatame on, but Gassaway rolled to his knees and escaped, very nice. Finish came when Shibuya was on top of Gassaway, riding high up his body. Shibuya hooked Gassaway’s arm in a position that Gassaway had a hard time clasping his hands in, then spun to the side tried for the jujigatame. Gassaway held Shibuya off for a while, but Shibuya eventually straightened his arm and he was forced to tap. Gassaway had no offense, but he was not easy to beat. The potential and desire seemed to be there, but the technique wasn’t good enough to put his opponent in any danger. Decent match. 8:47 (8:26 aired).

Keiichiro Yamamiya vs. Guy Mezger. This was a very technical bout with lots of subtle movement and positioning. Both men’s defense was really good. Unfortunately for Yamamiya, Guy was always on top trying for a submission and he was always on the bottom, where he was unable to get anything done. Guy worked for an arm submission, but the ref stood them up twice because it was going nowhere. Guy finally got a V-1 armlock on, forcing Yamamiya to use a rope escape. Later, Guy used a headlock to force another rope escape. This went the time limit, with Guy winning 2-0. Even though Guy controlled the match, I doubt he could have got Yamamiya to tap if this went another 15 minutes. Good bout. 15:00 (10:35 aired).

Bas Rutten vs. Takaku Fuke. Fuke is not only washed up, but he’s out of touch. He comes out at the bell trying a movie kick, and against Bas of all people. Bas was just too powerful for Fuke. Bas fought from his back. Bas got a jujigatame on, but Fuke made it to the ropes. Finish saw Bas, who had Fuke in a form of a headscissors, try to turn it into a juji- gatame. Fuke was on his knees trying to fight it, but even in the awkward position, Bas was still able to extend his arm and make him tap. One-sided bout. Bas outclasses Fuke so bad that it’s a wonder it took him this long to win. This was not, IMO, "the Bas of old." 4:28

Masakatsu Funaki vs. Wesley Gassaway. Wesley was in with much better competition than his brother Brian was, and it showed. Funaki came out trying to strike, but Gassaway caught his leg and took him down. Good technique, but not really a good strategy when you are fighting a mat master. Funaki had Gassaway’s ankle and Gassaway was tapping from the ankle lock in no time. A walk over. 1:06

King of Pancrase Yuki Kondo vs. Semmy Schilt in a non-title bout. This was an interesting match. Kondo’s technique is way better than Schilt’s, but Schilt is 6'9" and size was a key here. Due to Schilt’s size, it was hard to for Kondo, who’s listed at 6'0", to get any leverage on him. In turn, Kondo’s defense and mat technique made it very hard for Schilt to mount any kind of offense. Schilt was trying to beat Kondo with his forearm choke, I’m like, "come on Semmy, learn a real finisher already." Basically, this was a stalemate. The highlight was Kondo baiting Semmy by working for a submission on his upper body for a few minutes, then, when Semmy’s guard was down, he exploded into a hiza-juji gatame. However, once again, Kondo couldn’t really get the leverage and Schilt got out of it without using a rope break, which would have cost him the match almost for sure since the time limit was just about up. This went the distance, with Kondo winning via judges’ decision. Schilt has really come a long way and if he can learn some finishers, he could be lethal. 20:00 (14:46 aired).

Jd’ Special on Gaora 7/1/97 taped 5/15 Tokyo Kitazawa Town Hall

Sumie Sakai vs. Miyuki Sogabe. Both women are rookies, though Sakai is a 25-year-old one, but there’s a huge difference in their ability and potential. Sakai was impressive, showing good judo maneuvers with good solid execution, while Sogabe’s offense was so weak looking, lacking both crispness and impact. Finish saw Sakai use three ippon-zeois then do the rookie routine where she covered her opponent until she stayed down for three. Despite the match being nothing special, Sakai showed that, with some seasoning, she could become a very good worker. 13:01 (5:06 aired). *

Neftaly & La Infernal vs. The Bloody & Ryura. This was the epitome of a bad indy match, complete with sloppiness, missed spots, no build, no flow, and no psychology. Like most bad indy matches, there were some decent high spots, including two suicidas by Bloody and a plancha by Ryura, but that doesn’t make this good or close to good. Lowlight was Bloody doing the worst arm drag known to woman. Finish saw Neftaly assist Infernal on a rolling (somersault) senton off the top (The old Quebecer finisher) to pin Ryura. 11:41 (4:57 aired). 1/4*

Cooga vs. Xochilt Hamada. Xochilt, who is the daughter of future hall-of-famer Gran, attacked Cooga at the bell and had a short flurry highlighted by a hip drop off the apron. Cooga then came back and "brawled" around the arena. They went to high spots, with the execution being hit and miss. Some spots were quite good, with the main problem on the blown spots being that Hamada has gotten pretty overweight. After screwing up the first attempt, Cooga Tiger drivered Hamada for the win. 11:41 (6:27 aired). *

Jaguar Yokota & Megumi Yabushita vs. The co-masters of spot blowing Esther Moreno & Alda Moreno. Jaguar’s ability was once again extremely apparent as there were two different matches here. The first match was Yabushita in with either Moreno and it produced nothing short of an awful display of missed spots. The second match was Jaguar in with either Moreno and it was exciting with precise execution by Jaguar and well-performed high spots by all. Yabushita’s shoulder was in bad shape, and she was clearly hampered by it. However, the main problem is the Moreno’s need someone to both hold their hand and make sure no one gets injured, and you can’t expect a rookie to do that. Yabushita, the former amateur judo star, showed good athleticism, particularly with a nice counter where she lands on her feet for a snapmare. Finish saw Esther hold Jaguar & Yabushita so Alda could come off the top rope, but both got away and Alda’s rolling block took Esther out. Jaguar immediately applied a choke sleeper for the win. 15:35 (5:22 aired). *1/4

Yuko Kosugi vs. Lioness Asuka. Kosugi’s idol is Megumi Kudo. Countless numbers of school girls used to idolize Asuka when she was in her prime. After watching 30+ hours of 1980's AJW over the past two weeks, I finally saw her greatness first hand and I actually think her ability and popularity, as compared to her Crush Gal partner Chigusa, were underrated. The workrate assessment may be a bit off because the main edge for Asuka was that she worked much better than anyone I’ve seen with Jaguar, who was always clearly the best working woman until she retired. In any case, from what I’ve seen, Lioness was better than Chigusa at the fast-paced style, with Asuka and Jaguar really flying when they were in the ring together. After seeing Asuka in her prime, in her matches with Chigusa against Jaguar & Devil Masami, in her matches against Chigusa and Yukari Omori (who was really great, particularly for psychology, build, and storyline, during her big run in 1986-87) it’s so sad that this once great performer who was idolized by most of today’s greats has patterned her current style after the lowest form of life Shark Tsuchiya. This match was Jd’s version of Kudo vs. Shark. Kosugi jumped Lioness before the bell, but she was quickly cut off. Lioness dominated the rest of the match in Shark-esque fashion, including using the metal mask she wears to the ring to cut Kosugi. Lioness had Kosugi pinned in her Ligerbomb, but Kosugi’s buddy Miyuki Sogabe jumped in and made the save. Asuka promptly dispatched of Sogabe then Ligerbombed Kosugi for the pin. Nothing wrong technically, but the feud they were redoing sucked majorly. This was even a lower level of suck because Kosugi doesn’t have the credibility and isn’t close to the worker Kudo was. Therefore, she can’t supply the flashes of brilliance that Kudo could and just gets stomped even worse. Lioness piledrove Kosugi after the match then they set up an angle on the mic which led to the Lioness vs. Kosugi & Sogabe hair vs. hair handicap match on 8/3 at Korakuen, which Asuka won causing Sogabe and the owner of Jd’, who spared Kosugi, to have their heads shaved. 4:24. 1/4*

The Goddess Chikako Shiratori & Yuki Lee vs. Jaguar Yokota & Bison Kimura. This was a good solid wrestling match, which you come to appreciate more after seeing the first 4 matches on this show. Even the normally sucky Yuki Lee looked good, she actually had something on her strikes, though this was mainly because the veterans were carrying her. The veterans dominated early, but the youngsters took over for a stretch and had Jaguar in trouble. Bison then made a hot tag and used her billy club on Lee. The match built well, with a lot of good high spots and finishers coming in the 2nd half. The Goddess got near falls in succession on Bison with a DDT off the 2nd, La Magistral, and a Japanese rolling clutch cradle hold. Jaguar tombstoned Shiratori then Bison moonsaulted her, but Lee saved. After Bison got a near fall on Shiratori with a nodowa-otoshi, she slammed Shiratori and this time Jaguar did the moonsault for the near fall. Just after the 15 minute mark, Bison suicida’d both opponents. Back in the ring, Jaguar and Bison did simultaneous suplexes then slammed both opponents. Bison followed by powerbombing Jaguar onto both opponents and Jaguar covered Shiratori for the win. 16:43 (14:51 aired). ***

This show really magnified the main problem of Jd’, which is a total lack of depth. All the Mexican women in the league really suck and it’s really hard, particularly for the youngsters, to improve when there’s only 2 or 3 women that can carry the opposition and one of them is out indefinitely.

Special Thanks to Koji Yamamoto