The Queendom of the W.W.W.A. 7/6 Tokyo Ota-ku Taiikukan
Maemura beat LLPW's Mako Ogawa in a junior league match. Maemura, one of the two AJW rookies from last year that hasn't quit yet, is gaining a little bit of a fanbase. She's the minature underdog that shows some heart and doesn't take crap. Maemura is growing in competence, but Ogawa made a lot of mistakes.

Nishio beat Jd's Emi Tojo in a junior league match with a German suplex hold. The guys like Tojo, who does something of an S&M gimmick with tight black PVC outfit and bearing a cat o' night tails. She's possibly the most competent athtress, although obviously that's not high praise. She uses her athleticism in somewhat useless ways though, doing spins or flips yet barely doing anything to her opponent with the actual move. Nishio has some understanding of what it takes to be a popular wrestler, but lacks any of the skill or originality and pretty much comes off as a far less attractive version of Noumi.

Tamada beat Fujii in a totally heatless JGP league match.

Watanabe drew Maekawa in a simple but effective JGP league match. This started off dull, but was made quite good by Watanabe, who was putting Maekawa over big time. Watanabe took a ton of punishment with her face looking sunburned, and she put over the fatigue from the damage and the time so well it looked like she was really going to faint. At one point, Maekawa destroyed her on the stage and Watanabe was out for a good minute or so and at the end Watanabe dropped outside the ring as if she was dead. Maekawa's selling wasn't good as always though. They repeated a lot of moves, but the crowd was into it by this point so it might even have worked for them.

Hotta & Noumi split cheap wins with GAMI & AKINO. As usual the talent (AKINO) was totally wasted in favor of the latest installment of Vincent K. Ogawa vs. Stone Cold Yumiko Hotta. Ogawa came out to manage and the heel ref he hired worked the match. Ogawa's ref did the fast count crap for ARSION, but after they won and Hotta chased him, he was suddenly friends with Hotta. No one understood this, but I guess it probably means a stupid turn is coming soon. Anyway, he ordered a rematch where AJW got all the stupid fast counts. After AJW won through this cheap method Hotta called out Rossy and ridiculed him (as usual) and said that next time she's going to bring her friend Kandori. And at that moment Kandori showed up to a HUGE pop.

NanaMomo won the WWWA Sekai Tag Senshuken from Rumi & Takako when Momoe pinned Rumi in the 3rd fall. Early on Black Joker focused on Momo's bad neck, and did a series of neck injuring moves which setup a variation of the Dragon Sleeper by Kazama, but from there it degenerated into the typical BJ chaotic brawl. Rumi & Takako got tons of outside assistance, leading to Yoshida getting involved. She had a little brawl with Eagle, but the real point of her being there was a post match ringside confrontation with Takako that helped set up her their 7/23 match. NanaMomo bled heavily. Kazama and Eagle actually left quietly as Takako and Watanabe (most notably Watanabe) did some mic work which sounded like they might've quit BJ to continue their feud with NanaMomo. Takako and Yoshida had a ringside confrontation to continue the setup.

Kaoru Ito regained the WWWA Sekai Single Senshuken from Manami Toyota a little more than 4 months after losing it to her on the promotions first PPV. This was an excellent if not great match. The crowd was clearly here to see it with Toyota being really over and both women getting a ton of streamers. This match had a more AJ heavyweight feel to it, with the moves being more deliberate and more thought out. Each move has more impact these days and each one got a huge pop from the crowd. Ito initially focused on Toyota's back which Toyota sold at first but Itoh moved her attacks around but tried to keep Toyota from gaining any momentum. Toyota made her comebacks but instead of doing it quickly, she would do it out of desperation as she has to take her opponent seriously in this case. There was some nasty head dropping towards the end where the match really picked up in terms of high impact moves. The final consisted of some nasty suplex by Ito followed up by her double footstomp. It drew a pop from the crowd, more to the surprise finish. Toyota then caught everyone offguard by announcing she quit Zenjo. Everyone was shocked, most were devestated, some were even crying. Toyota staying in '97 when the promotion was buried in debt is probably the only reason AJW exists today as anything more than a zombie promotion like JWP and the like. At the time she swore her loyalty until the end, and she was a representative of that old line of Japanese thinking where you have pride in your company and there's a mutual trust that'll keep you with them until retirement. Her fans have largely followed her in sticking with the promotion through the very lean years of '98 and '99 and now that the promotion has lost their other key, the Fuji Television deal. Today she said she'll always love joshi puroresu, but she's tired of Zenjo. She wants to do things her way and now has become a free agent. Everyone was screaming about the situation because no one knew what was going on. We'll have to see what happens, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was like Takako's free agency where she still wrestled in AJW, but she didn't have to be there every night and could pursue some other opportunities. Of course, unlike Takako, Toyota on the open market would be huge. In AJW she's done everything and despite being champ hasn't even had a program of late (possibly because her leaving was in the works?), but now that she's on her own we could finally see her against Lioness. We could see her try to avenge her loss to Chigusa or Ozaki try to avenge her loss to Toyota.It doesn't make me happy, but I can see where it makes sense and where it has elongated the careers of women like Mita & Shimoda. AJW is the only women's promotion with a brutal schedule and Toyota isn't going to reduce herself to being nothing more than a character like Hotta. As a free agent she can fight less matches but have them be more interesting ones rather than taking on Fujii before 200 at the Garage.

From Nick Higley:
All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling kicks off it's annual "Japan Grand Prix" tournament, the longest continually run annual tournament in wrestling. This year sees a slimmed down field of 9 participants, 8 from AJW and 1 ARSION representative. Surprisingly, reigning WWWA Champ and four time former JGP winner Manami Toyota is not participating, she will instead face the tournament winner in a title match in the fall. The seeding:

1. Momoe "Momo" Nakanishi - 2001 Japan Grand Prix winner, reigning All Pacific Champion
Viewed by many as the top joshi worker of 2001, her one-hour draw with Kumiko Maekawa received many votes for Match of the Year. Noted for her insane bump taking and ultra high-speed offense, once she kicks it into high-gear she doesen't stop until the match ends. Seemingly boundless energy and charisma enables her to generate insane amounts of crowd heat, even when working with slugs like Yumiko Hotta. "Momoracci" finisher is a
twisting rana into a victory roll. Had an off the charts spotfest with ARSION's Ai Fujita on 3/12. Will probably finish in the top 4, though will not win as
her push is being toned down somewhat.

2. Yumiko Hotta - Former WWWA Champion, 1994 Japan Grand Prix winner, leader of AJW Army in ARSION invasion angle
Suffered a humiliating tag match loss to the scrawny Rossy Ogawa (ARSION president) on 5/11. Viewed as Lioness Asuka's successor until she switched to a dreadful "shoot-style" offense in 1995 that turned her once exciting matches into snoozefests. The worst drawing WWWA champion of the post-Crush Gals era. May actually win the tournament this year since she's leading the AJW army against ARSION and the Matsunaga's may feel they "owe her" for her undying loyalty.

3. Kaoru Ito - Former WWWA Champion, 1997 & 2000 Japan Grand Prix winner
Lost the WWWA title to Manami Toyota at February's "Zenjo Turbulence" PPV. Debuted a new "stone cold" attitude against Kumiko Maekawa on the 4/28 Korakuen show. Has gained signifigant weight in the last two years, though her offense is ground based so it has not resulted in any noticeable change in her workrate. Will probably finish in top 5 of tournament.

4. Tomoko Watanabe - former two-time All-Pacific Champ
Has had a virtual stranglehold on the WWWA tagtitle for the last five years, trading it with Mima Shimoda in different team pairings. "Forced" to join
Black Joker heel stable at "Zenjo Turbulence" PPV against her will, but she has since turned full fledged heel and accepted her new teammates. Workrate has suffered over the last six months due to nagging left knee injuries, recently began wearing a kneebrace ala Steve Austin and has returned to her old form. Will probably finish in 4th or 5th place.

5. Kumiko Maekawa - finalist in last year's JGP and three-time All Pacific Champ.
Push has been toned down considereably since last year's JGP finals. Had much celebrated series of matches with Momoe Nakanishi over the last year. Employs a wide variety of kicks in her offense, though often does not put much force behind them in comparison to guys like Hashimoto. Too many
variables in her push to figure out how she'll finish in the tournament.

6. Rie Tamada - Sole ARSION representative, former three-time TWINSTAR of ARSION champion.
Left All Japan Women in 1997 to help create ARSION with Aja Kong, she was two steps above job girl when she left. Posesses a mediocre offense, pushed in ARSION primarily due to her friendships with bookers Lioness Aska and Michiko Ohmukai. Will probably be buried in tournament due to ARSION's weak bargaining power.

7. Nanae "Nana" Takahashi- former WWWA World Tag Team champion and 1998 Tag League The Best winner with Momoe Nakanishi
Scored fluke win over Tomoko Watanabe in last year's tourament. Posesses a simple offense, seems better than she is due to constantly being programmed with superior workers like Las Cachorras Orientales and Tomoko Watanabe. Will probably finish in bottom 3.

8. Kayo Noumi
Scored fluke win over Manami Toyota in last year's tournament. Job girl with limited offense, though she is often praised for her superior physical conditioning. Will finish in bottom 3.

9. Miyuki Fujii
Job girl who won zero matches in 2001 tourny. Has slowly improved over the last year, though still limited. Strong possibility she may finish with negative points this year. ;)

4/28 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1,840
Hotta & Momoe vs. Tamada & Fujita was a no contest at 20:03. Rossy was at ringside, which created tension any time Hotta was in the area. At one point Tamada tried to throw Hotta into some chairs, but Hotta stopped herself and went after Rossy. After that Rossy joined ARSION seconds Yoshida & Takase. Rossy, now thinking he's not only a wrestler but also the king of puroresu sports entertainment, did a bunch of cheap interference spots that had the fans booing loudly. The thing is this wasn't good heat, it was disgust that Zenjo was allowing their product to be ruined. One fan even threw a drink on Rossy. To make things a lot worse, Rossy is totally inept in his interference, doing a pitiful shotei and such devestating things as fanning a picture across Hotta's face. Hotta finally dragged Rossy in the ring and ripped his shirts off until he was down to his ARSION T-shirt. Rossy slithered away and fled the to the back as the ref threw the match out. The fans booed like crazy. Yoshida & Takahashi brawled in the ring then Fujita & Noumi. GAMI hit the ring, but all the ARSION girls wound up scattering to the back and Hotta declared war on them. An afterthought in all this is that Momoe vs. Fujita was really good. Hotta was off in addition to being her usual no energy self, but she's good in these angles because her mic work is really funny. At least in the short term, her program with Rossy is getting her a lot of heat.
Ito pinned Maekawa at 15:35 following her diving footstomp. Maekawa was going to get her first shot at the WWWA single on the 1/4 Korakuen show, but Ito couldn't wrestle then lost the belt to Toyota the next month. The result of this non title match was the same as it would have been, leaving Maekawa no closer to getting a title shot. Match was said to be disappointing.
Eagle & Takako & Watanabe defeated Takahashi & Noumi & Nishio when Watanabe used her screw driver on Takahashi at 18:18. The heat was on Watanabe vs. Takahashi since Watanabe was Takahashi's partner before being forced to join Black Joker. I'm surprised they'd give away this result given Watanabe vs. Takahashi might have a little legs and Takahashi's partners are so weak. I guess since Black Joker had teamed up for a powerbomb that lead to her demise it was more like they beat the poor girl than Watanabe is superior.

3/3 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1,980
Yoshida & noki-A beat Toyota & Noumi when Yoshida made Noumi submit at 22:33. In spite of being booked into oblivion Yoshida was really over in her return to Zenjo rings. Noumi took the lion's share of the punishment as expected with Yoshida twisting her into knots. Toyota took noki-A's offense but didn't really sell it as you'd expect. After some post match challenges Hotta came out and attacked Lioness & Rossy Ogawa. Since AJW vs. ARSION is not likely to draw many people (especially if ARSION is promoting) LLPW has been added to the feud as well. Their upcoming "big" show will have Lioness & GAMI vs. Kandori & Hotta. GAMI came out sometime after Hotta was cutting ARSION up and there was a pull apart between those two to end the show.
Nakanishi & Fujii & Nishio beat Tamada & Takase & Yamagata when Nakanishi pinned Takase in a German suplex hold at 19:51. This had a lot of heat at the beginning and end, and there was a small pull apart between Nakanishi & Takase after the match.
Maekawa beat Takahashi in 28:05.
Ito & Watanabe defeated Hotta & Ayako Sato & Saki Maemura when Watanabe pinned Maemura at 10:53. Rumi & Takako came out to pressure Watanabe, who was forced to join Black Joker against her will as per a stip on the 2/24 show.
Show was supposed to be good for heat and setting up the upcoming interpromotional shows, but not that great wrestling wise.

2/24 Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan 4,160
Toyota became the 52nd holder of the WWWA Sekai Single Senshuken, pinning Ito at 27:03. Toyota's 4 reigns is the 2nd most behind Jumbo Miyamoto's 5.
Hotta & Kandori beat Shimoda & Mita when Kandori made Shimoda submit to a hadakajime at 21:24.
In another marathon length match, Momoe beat Maekawa with her Momo*latch at 42:34 to win the vacant All Pacific Senshuken. Momoe is the 41st champ.
Rumi & Eagle & Takako beat Watanabe & Takahashi & Noumi when Eagle pinned Watanabe at 21:08. This means Watanabe has to join Black Joker.

12/24 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1,930
Mita & Shimoda beat Watanabe in a handicap match at 10:15 when Mita got the pin.
Haruyama successfully defended the Zen Nihon Single Senshuken, pinning Fujii at 15:12.

From Nick Higley:
All Japan Women announced this week that they will begin cooperating with the strugging ARSION promotion.

For ARSION, who tanked with 3,000 for their NK Tokyo Bay show, this is a last gasp desperation move to save the promotion. Somebody should have told Rossi Ogawa that the last two companies to co-promote with AJW (JWP and NEO) were forced to shut down temporarily after the interpromotional period ended.

For All Japan Women, it creates a fresh program for their roster now that the "Young Generation vs. Old Generation" feud is drawing to a close (more on that later). It is also a chance to humiliate a talent-rich rival and hopefully scoop up said talent at a cheap price after the rival goes bankrupt.

Leading the "invasion" force from ARSION will be Queen of ARSION/Fighting Producer Lioness Aska. Aska made several "special appearances" in AJW in 1999 during the NEO feud, but hasn't played a major role in the company since the Freedom Force vs. Rideen Array feud of 1995.

This is really a lose-lose situation for ARSION. Aska is their top draw, yet they did plenty of Hotta/Toyota vs. Aska matches during the Rideen Array period and Lioness' team was usually on the losing end of those matches. They just ran Yoshida vs. Toyota on 11/25 at NH Hall, but it wasn't good enough to draw more than 3,000. But AJW isn't dumb enough to try to run such a huge building these days after the 30th Anniversary fiasco.

On the ARSION side, only Yoshida, Aska, Ohmukai and Hamada could be considered legitimate draws (and that's being generous). The potential match-ups could be Ito vs. Aska, Momoe vs. Hamada (future aces battle), Ohmukai vs. Maekawa ("young heels" battle), Hotta vs. Yoshida ("shooters" battle).

All in all, I look forward to a year from now when ARSION and JWP go belly-up and Hyuga, Yu-Yu, Hamada, Ohmukai, and Yoshida are all full-time in AJW.

Other AJW Notes: AJW has their big year-ending show on 12/16 at Kawasaki City Gym. Main event is a hair vs. hair cage escape death match between Hotta and Ito, a re-match of the absurd 50 minute street fight from 5/4. This will be the first hair match the promotion has run since Toyota vs. Yoshida in 1992. Hotta won the 5/4 match, so it's a safe bet she'll be bald for the holidays.

Semi-main event is Kumiko Maekawa vs. Manami Toyota (who is HUGE these days) in a #1 contender's match for Ito's WWWA Title. Maekawa will probably go over, then lose to Ito at the traditional 1/3 Korakuen Hall show. Long-term plan seems to be to make Maekawa the next-in-line for the WWWA belt, with Momoe stepping up as Pacific Champ and her long-term rival.

The current feud over the WWWA tag titles is between Black Joker and Watanabe/Takahashi. This pretty much guarantees that the WWWA Tag belts won't be involved in the ARSION feud. Watanabe/Takahashi will probably win the Tag League, then job the belts to Sawai and Inoue at the 1/4 Korakuen show.

9/1 Takamatsu Kokusai Hotel Bekkan Dai Hall 1,470
Momoe went to a 30 minute draw with Maekawa. They split in the JGP, with Momoe winning the important final, and also had a 30 minute draw on 4/29.