On 2/27/79, the final battle of the Beauty Pair took place in Nippon Budokan. It was Maki Ueda’s final match, and the end of the Beauty Pair. Though they drew big crowds for the major shows headlined by Jackie Sato’s battles against Monster Ripper, houses dropped throughout 1979, and they lost their weekly prime time TV slot, putting an end to the first boom period. The wrestling was generally good. They had a talented roster with most shows having something worth watching on them, though it was an archaic style at the time. The most advanced wrestlers were Yumi Ikeshita (but she usually just did Black Pair brawls) and Tommy Aoyama. The one bad period was late September and mid October, where they held a USA vs. Japan series, which meant Moolah’s girls were all over five TV shows, and the only remotely good match any of them were involved in was a tag team match with three natives and one gaijin (Leilani Kai, the most talented of Moolah’s girls). It did however, contain the most heated match I’ve ever seen in Zenjo. During the Jackie Sato vs. Winnie Barkley match, the crooked American referee was getting so much heat that one man ran in from the crowd and started fighting him, while multiple other men stood up looking like they were going to do the same. The referee got his comeuppance, and Jackie staged a big comeback, quelling tempers, but it was the closest I’ve ever seen to a riot breaking out at an All Japan Women’s wrestling event. 1979 perhaps isn’t the most ideal starting point, due to being the beginning of a down period. It would have been nice to have been able to see footage of the Beauty Pair boom at its peak in 1976/77, but at least a small piece of it has survived.

1/4/79: Monster Ripper & Mami Kumano vs. Jackie Sato & Maki Ueda. Monster Ripper’s debut was one of the most memorable debuts you’ll ever see (it was confirmed by her shortly before her death that this was indeed her first professional match). There’s nothing pretty about it, it’s a fight with an electric atmosphere. Kumano did a really good job of carrying the match. Only a couple of things Ripper did actually looked good, but she played her role effectively enough, which is all she needed to do. They mostly brawled and used weapons, always finding ways to get the heat going. Beauty Pair provided exciting comebacks, mainly Ueda, who really stood out. Jackie was just okay. It’s a shame there isn’t more footage of Ueda. ***1/2

1/79: Victoria Fujimi & Nancy Kumi (Golden Pair) vs. Seiko Hanawa & Rimi Yokota (Young Pair). Young Pair were the pair of nasty juniors. They weren’t gimmick heels like Black Pair, and they’d play the babyface role in other matches at times, they just weren’t shy about illegal double teams and using underhanded tactics to take and retain advantages. Yokota was just doing basics in these days, but she had a vicious edge to her that was fun to watch, and Hanawa was the same. Kumi and Fujimi just wanted to teach these young punks a lesson, and the result was a good hate-filled scrap. The Young Pair displayed aggression by attacking before the bell and securing victories whenever the action spilled outside the ring. Yokota tossed Fujimi into a fan's lap at one point. Fujimi notably stood out. She had plenty of fire hitting hip attacks, a seated senton, and a diving body press amongst other moves. The Young Pair’s answer to the barrage was to take the fight outside, rush their opponents all the way to back of the building and run back to the ring to beat the count out. Their plan almost worked, but they were prevented from making it back in the ring. ***1/2

2/27/79: WWWA World Single Title Loser Must Retire Match: Maki Ueda vs. Jackie Sato. The famous match. The crowd were so loud and emotional that you could barely hear the music, and they stayed that way for the entire match, which was 48 minutes total (about half of which aired, shown over two weeks on the prime time TV show). While the bulk of the match is technically sound, and you can find a degree of psychology because they wrestle in a logical manner, there isn’t really much here other than meaningless matwork for the first 2/3 of the match. The final third is a lot better, turning into an exciting match hitting some spots, dives, brawling and really looking to try to put each other away. At the end Ueda seemed to have the momentum, but Jackie caught her a Boston Crab position, but instead of turning over, she drove her knees into Maki’s shoulders to get the pin. Beauty Pair performed one last song together, but their voices were nearly drowned out by the screaming schoolgirls (probably for the best, these two couldn’t hold a note when they were the fresh, much less after a 48-minute long wrestling match). ***1/2

7/31/79: 2/3 Falls, WWWA World Tag Titles: Black Pair (Yumi Ikeshita & Mami Kumano) vs. Queen Angels (Lucy Kayama & Tomi Aoyama). This was peak Black Pair. Kayama was coming into this with an injured knee. The match started competitively enough, and Kayama managed to make it through her first run, but it turned into a catastrophe for her once she re-entered. The Black Pair ruthlessly went after the bad knee, tearing off the knee pad, and turning that into a weapon. It was a vicious and dramatic mauling, made all the more so by Kayama’s selling of it, while Aoyama could do nothing but watch, and Black Pair were more than happy to draw her in because it would serve as a referee distraction. After the first fall, Kayama was unable to continue. Aoyama went at it alone, and gave a great babyface performance. It was just enough to make you believe she could do something while being plausible. The Black Pair don’t play fair though, and squashed her comeback with a chair, double teaming to complete a 2-0 route. Great performances from everyone, and about as good as you could expect a match this one-sided to be. ***3/4

9/13/79: WWWA World Single Title Match: Monster Ripper vs. Jackie Sato. This was a return match from 7/31/1979 where Monster Ripper won the WWWA World Single Title. The match there was nothing, but is worth watching for one of the legendary Zenjo moments, as Jackie Sato bled a gusher, and thousands of schoolgirls in the crowd were in tears (I suppose you could describe it as that eras Dump vs. Chigusa moment). This match, however, was actually good. Despite a few poorly executed spots, Sato delivered a standout performance. She struggled well, and made it look like this was the biggest fight of her life. She didn’t really know how to take the monster down, she just tried for desperate takedowns, and would go all in any opportunity she got. It was simple but effective, and it had all the crowd heat with the schoolgirls losing their minds, fearing for Jackie’s life one moment and then jumping for joy when she did the impossible. ***1/4

12/11/79: WWWA All Pacific Title: Tomi Aoyama vs. Lucy Kayama. Queen Angels fight now. The opening exchange was great from the lockup, Aoyama jumped onto the top rope within 30 seconds, and she went back to it a few times, with it eventually coming back to bite her. When Aoyama was able to burst, she was in control, but Kayama was able to ground her and control the bulk of the match. It ended up with a car crash finish. Aoyama leaped onto the top rope again, and fell to the outside., Kayama tried a tope and injured herself, then Aoyama missed a pescado, but Kayama prevented her from beating the count. Very exciting match, and even the non-finish was satisfying. ***1/2

1: Tomi Aoyama. Aoyama delivered throughout 1979 as a standout in tag matches with her exciting comebacks and great fire, which included playing a major role in the best of match of the year (Queen Angels vs. Black Pair from 7/31/1979). She also delivered some of the best singles matches of the year and surely earned the push she was set to receive in 1980, though her lack of regard for her own knees would see her career cut short before that eventuated.

2: Yumi Ikeshita

3: Jackie Sato

4: Mami Kumano

5: Lucy Kayama

1. 7/31/1979 2/3 Falls, WWWA World Tag Titles: Yumi Ikeshita & Mami Kumano vs. Lucy Kayama & Tomi Aoyama ***3/4

2. 12/11/1979 WWWA All Pacific Title: Tomi Aoyama vs. Lucy Kayama ***1/2

3. 2/27/1979 WWWA World Single Title Loser Must Retire Match: Maki Ueda vs. Jackie Sato ***1/2

4. 1/4/1979 Monster Ripper & Mami Kumano vs. Jackie Sato & Maki Ueda ***1/2

5. 1/1979 Victoria Fujimi & Nancy Kumi vs. Seiko Hanawa & Rimi Yokota ***1/2

Kazuko Iwai

Mina Takahashi

Noriko Kawakami