1986 was a mixed bag of a year. With Jaguar Yokota retired, and Chigusa Nagayo and Yukari Omori on the shelf, the first couple of months felt a little empty. Things really picked up from the 3/20/86 Osaka big show with the wildest Dump Matsumoto match ever, and the Crush Gals retuning with a classic against the JB Angels. From there, the next five months were tremendous. The league was in the same form as 1985, but dropped off again towards the end of the year, not only from a match quality standpoint, but also attendance wise. Devil Masami started the year as WWWA World Single Champion, but her title reign didn't go well. Since she couldn't beat Jaguar for the belt due to Jaguar being injured, she felt like a paper champion, and then she failed to defeat Lioness Asuka in what would be her only title defense. Yukari Omori was the breakout star of 1986, making a transformation from a bland and boring power wrestler into a charismatic boss, chopping everyone to death in 1986, and leapfrogging ahead of everyone to become Devil Masami's successor for the red belt on 8/23/86. The Crush Gals went in opposite directions, Chigusa had a great year, Lioness didn't, and the team was actually split up for most of the year – covered in depth below. This was the reason for the attendance drop and the reason Fuji TV cancelled their weekly prime TV, with the final airing being on 9/22/86. Although the league would bounce back in 1987, they'd never regain the weekly prime time TV slot again. Zenjo did have one ace up their sleeve in 1986, and that was a hair vs. hair return match between Chigusa Nagayo and Dump Matsumoto, which drew a big house in Osaka-Jo Hall, as Chigusa got her revenge.

Lioness Asuka's Turmoil in 1986:

It's impossible to talk about 1986 without talking about Lioness Asuka, and it can't really be glossed over in two sentences. So, let's do deep dive into it based on Ken Yanagisawa's authorized biography “1985 Crush Gals”.

Lioness Asuka found herself in a difficult situation in 1986, harboring feelings of resentment and jealousy. Chigusa Nagayo had taken the spotlight as the central figure in women's wrestling, and to add to her challenges, Lioness's mentor, Jaguar Yokota, surprised her by announcing her retirement. The resentment seemed to take root around the time of the Chigusa Nagayo vs. Lioness Asuka on 4/7/85 JGP match. In this match, Chigusa took the lead due to her mastery of ring psychology. The dynamic was simple: "Lioness, who is strong, attacks, and Chigusa, who is not as strong, receives." However, Lioness felt that, given her superior strength in hold downs (shoot pins), which were the basis for rankings in those days, she should have been the one leading the match.

Resentment escalated further in August. The semi-final at Budokan, featuring Chigusa vs. Devil Masami, was given more prominence on TV, and ultimately earned Match of the Year, surpassing Lioness' main event match vs. Jaguar Yokota, which was requested to be shortened because Chigusa's match went long. Six days later at Osaka-Jo Hall, the contrast became even more pronounced. The match from that event etched in everyone's memory was Chigusa's hair match with Dump Matsumoto, while Lioness participated in a forgettable match against Monster Ripper on the undercard.

Then, in December, Lioness's mentor, Jaguar Yokota, announced her retirement. She wasn't ready to be without her mentor, who she was closest with, and had lived with for two years. She would never get to face her in a hold down rule match, never get that opportunity to surpass her. Lioness couldn't understand why Jaguar was retiring when she was still the strongest wrestler – there's a misconception that Jaguar was forced to retire by the Matsunaga's, but this is false; they wanted her to stay on through 1986, and retire at the end of the year. Jaguar simply felt it was time, and wanted fans to remember her at her peak.

On 2/15/86, Jaguar had her retirement ceremony. She had the 5 minute exhibition match with Devil Masami, and afterward Lioness surprisingly entered the ring, delivering a series of brainbusters. Jaguar just assumed she wanted to have an exhibition, but Lioness suddenly started screaming at her. “Why! You can still fight! Fight me for the belt!” she exclaimed, with tears in her eyes. Despite Devil being the champion, Lioness recognized only Jaguar as the champion because she was never beaten, and was still the strongest. Her attempts failed, and she accomplished nothing aside from ruining Jaguar's special moment and losing her support. Devil eventually calmed the situation down, and the ceremony carried on.

With Jaguar no longer providing support, Lioness sought companionship with a female rock musician and former idol singer (whose name was never disclosed). This marked the first time Lioness had made a friend outside of professional wrestling. Curious about the crossover of wrestling and singing, she posed a very simple question: "Why do pro-wrestlers have to sing?" This deeply resonated with Lioness, who had been grappling with severe mental and physical exhaustion due to her demanding wrestling and show business schedule. While her primary passion was wrestling, she took immense pride in every aspect of her work. The Crush Gals were committed to delivering exceptional performances, whether in the wrestling ring or on the stage, and the idea of presenting anything less than their best was unacceptable to them.

Lioness proceeded to cancel several shows she had been scheduled for, and even failed to appear at an All Japan Women TV taping because she couldn't reach her new friend. Such behavior wasn't entirely unprecedented, as Jackie Sato had similarly missed multiple appearances during the Beauty Pair era (this was the reason Maki Ueda quit the tag team and retired). Atsuo Shiono was informed of this by Lioness's mother, and he then informed Jaguar, who was stunned, and feared Lioness had committed suicide. While this might sound extreme, the concern was understandable in the wake of Yukiko Okada's suicide, which had triggered a wave of copycat suicides in Japan.

Lioness's failure to appear on a televised broadcast created a significant uproar at Fuji TV and within the league. In response to the situation, Chairman Takashi Matsunaga and the directors of Fuji TV convened a meeting with both Lioness and Jaguar. Matsunaga declared that if Lioness uttered a single word during the meeting, that her days a professional wrestler would be over. Jaguar ensured this didn't happen.

On 4/5/86 at Ryogoku Kokugikan, Lioness Asuka was slated to challenge Devil Masami for the WWWA World Single Title. Chigusa was surprised when she saw Lioness coming for song rehearsals before the event. Her face was pale, and she had black circles underneath her eyes. It was obvious she hadn't slept at all. Chigusa began to sing, and when she looked over, Lioness wasn't there. She looked down and saw her lying the floor. Lioness was taken off on stretcher. Everyone appeared worried about her, and while some genuinely were, others were saying she was just acting. Lioness heard of all of it, and it further pushed her away from the group. Lioness did make the match with Devil, and shocked the audience when she removed her gown, revealing a black swimsuit instead of the Crush Gals blue, which she declared she'd never wear again.

On 5/13/86 in Korakuen Hall, Lioness and Chigusa had their second Japan Grand Prix singles match. Lioness once again wore the black swimsuit, while Chigusa, in response, wore a red and blue swimsuit to carry on the Crush Gals legacy by herself. Before the match, Lioness told Chigusa, “this will be the end”. The words may be lost in translation, but the impact of them was that there was no trust for this match. Lioness wrestled the match with a real chip on her shoulder, hellbent on showing up Chigusa. After the match, Lioness told the media she would stop all entertainment activities, and on 6/22/86 she reiterated that their new single would be the last time she would perform.

The news came as a shock to Chigusa, the Matsunagas, and Fuji TV, and all parties were furious. Chigusa faced significant financial losses, especially with both of her parents ailing, as her base salary from All Japan Women was insufficient to cover their living and medical expenses. The Matsunagas also faced the prospect of Fuji TV not renewing their contract. The All Japan Women's TV show wasn't solely centered on wrestling; it featured singing, wrestling, and various segments. If the Crush Gals weren't going to sing, Fuji TV were not going to renew their weekly prime time broadcast, which concluded on 9/22/86.

Chigusa gave an interview in Deluxe Pro Wrestling magazine with Makiko Ida. After initially being coy with her responses, Chigusa ended up revealing her feelings that Asuka was troubled, that she was no longer someone she admired, that she felt someone was manipulating her and she was possessed by the grim reaper (something she had told Lioness to her face after Lioness quit singing). Lioness was furious. She could take anything Chigusa would say to her face, but not in a magazine for all their fans to see. Lioness was scheduled to be interviewed by Ida, but cancelled it due to lack of trust.

On 8/23/86 at the Kawasaki City Gymnasium, Yukari Omori defeated Devil Masami to win the WWWA World Single Title, effectively putting an end to Lioness's one dream of wearing the red belt (though she would eventually win it in 1988).

At her lowest point in late 1986, Lioness stood at the rooftop across from her apartment and contemplated, “if I die today, they'll all write about me”. She stopped herself and after the thoughts subsided, she made an SOS call to Jaguar. “I can't stay with her anymore. Please help me” (‘her' being Lioness's friend mentioned earlier). Lioness came to the dojo with Jaguar, and Jaguar listened to her story for hours. Jaguar's conclusion was that Lioness's friend was going to destroy her, and she took her to her parents house, while her aunt picked up the luggage from the apartment. With the so-called spell broken, the wrestlers, the Matsunaga's and Fuji TV accepted Lioness's apology. Chigusa, too, forgave her. Lioness found herself back within the circle of All Japan Women. On January 4, 1987, after a six month hiatus, the Crush Gals made their triumphant return.

Match Versions:

It's probably worth noting that 1980s Zenjo has up to three versions of these matches available (with a few comm tapes on top of that) and some are clipped more than others.

The order of superiority is thankfully simple: Original STV Zenjo Classics run (2003-2005) are always the superior TV versions for anything from 1983 onward. Fuji TV original broadcasts are the second-best choice almost always, the matches are clipped, but Fuji TV did that well. The newer Zenjo Classics (2007-present) are the third choice. Unlike the first run, STV clipped the matches this time, and decided to cram too many matches into 1 hour.

1986 has two exceptions to the rule: 4/5/86 Devil Masami vs. Lioness Asuka and 8/23/86 Devil Masami vs. Yukari Omori. The best versions of those matches are on the new Zenjo Classics (you could also get a few more minutes of the Bull vs. Ogura match from 4/5/86, but I reviewed the Fuji TV version).

1/5/86 2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Team Title Match: Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno vs. Bull Nakano & Condor Saito 11:52, 2:36, 9:12. Crush Gals vacated the WWWA World Tag Team Title belts in December due to an injury to Chigusa (who wouldn't return until March). So, the New Years show saw Yamazaki & Tateno getting another title shot, this time against the Gokuaku Domei #2 and #3. Bull ran through a bunch heel tactics to gain or maintain advantages, and she was really good in this match. Tateno takes well, and Yamazaki was usually thwarting them to come back. Yamazaki would hit her hot moves, but was never afraid to fight fire with fire, ramping up her viciousness and being happy to throw in some underhanded tactics herself. It was a fun dynamic. Condor was mainly just there to get worked over and help Bull with double teams, though she was the weak link when she had to get some offense of her own in. While Bull might be fairly basic, she displays viciousness and doesn't tend to do the same thing for too long. Towards the end of the fall, Tateno was being worked over, three on one with the masked manager assisting from the outside. Yamazaki bolted around there, but got trapped in a human hanging. However, while that was happening, Tateno made a comeback on Condor. Yamazaki came in, and they double teamed Bull, and then brought Condor in to double team her and get the first fall. While the first fall was very good, the same can't be said of the second fall. Yamazaki and Tateno got off to a fast start, but it got off the rails when Tateno had to hoist Bull onto her shoulders so Yamazaki could hit a dropkick. It just took forever, and killed the spot. Bul came back with the nunchakus, and Condor did an awful diving body press before Bull finished with a diving nunchaku lariat, which probably sounded cool when they thought of it, but looked incredibly stupid. At least that fall only lasted two minutes, and they had a chance to compose themselves for the third. Bull and Condor gave Tateno and good working over, slow but effective, and Tateno's selling was good here. The segment felt like it went on, but it needed to be for the big explosion later. The only issue I had with it was that they weren't feeding any hope for Tateno, so the crowd rallied behind her, with a huge “Noriyo” chant, but it died out because nothing was done for them. Tateno was able to tag Yamazaki, but they did the old referee didn't see it spot, though Yamazaki wasn't having that nonsense, and rushed in anyway. Bull continued attacking Tateno with nunchakus. And then Tateno and Yamazaki snapped! This was a great moment. Tateno grabbed a towel, using that as a weapon, and got control of the nunchakus. Yamazaki brought in a bottle and the heels got theirs and then some, both in and outside the ring. Yamazaki nailed Condor with a chair on the outside. Bull got the advantage back in the melee, and started hitting big moves on Yamazaki in the ring, but she wasn't staying down, and fought back. Bull did kind of an ugly lariat to Yamazaki and they both tumbled outside, with Tateno missing a dive. Bull waited in the ring for Yamazaki to come back, but Yamazaki slipped behind her to win with a German Suplex hold. Sure, they were just keeping them warm for the Crush Gals, but Tateno and Yamazaki were the new tag champions. This was a bit too much for Bull and Condor, though Bull did a really good job of carrying the team. The match had its issues, but they got a lot more right than they got wrong. Most importantly, they nailed the story and the payoff at the end was great. If you can nail that, it doesn't matter too much if you screw a few things up along the way. ***1/2

2/15/86 '86 All Japan Tag Title Champion Decision League Final: Yumi Ogura & Kazue Nagahori vs. Bull Nakano & Condor Saito 16:17. This was really the Ogura show, as she totally made the match worth watching with her feisty comebacks, showing all the fire in the world. She also spent most of the time playing face in peril, so that didn't leave Nagahori with much to do. It was mainly Bull and Condor heeling and double teaming, which they did fine on, Condor wasn't great, but she was better here than she was against Yamazaki and Tateno in January. Ogura was attacked with nunchakus and a chain, and got busted open. Ogura was selling the beating really well, and firing up for hot comebacks. She was cut off by weapons, but never for too long. Condor started choking her with a chain, but Ogura pried it out of her hands and laid into both heels with it, then snatched the nunchakus out of Dumps hands and gave them some treatment with those as well. Ogura ended up pinning Bull after a jumping knee attack. Pretty basic stuff from the work to the psychology, but the heels did their job and Ogura gave a terrific performance. ***1/4

3/20/86 Japan Grand Prix '86 League Match: Yumi Ogura vs. Kazue Nagahori 30:00. While Japan Grand Prix '85 started with the two top seeds, '86 started with probably the two lowest seeds, yet both got the tournament off to a great start. These two didn't have a great repertoire of offense to fall back on, and hey weren't masters of psychology, able to milk every move they knew. What they did was use their basics well, struggling for everything, and working at a good pace. The start wasn't particularly exciting, but they would briefly increase the tempo at the right times to keep your attention. They had a really good exchange of kicks about 8 minutes in, won by Ogura, who increased the viciousness on the mat trying to lock in a jujigatame, but Nagahori blocked it. Ogura continued to work the arm, and when she had to chance, Nagahori targeted Ogura's knee. Ogura got a run of offense after a reprieve on the outside, and they started looking for pins. Victory was the focus, in any manner possible from a big move, a roll up, a kick, a bodyslam, they didn't care. They worked it junior style, trying to hold the shoulders down while the opponent would struggle out and try not to get caught on their back, which made the basic moves they were trying to get falls with all the more compelling. There was a heating brawling segment and some matwork, with Nagahori working a knee injury (which disappeared pretty quickly) added in as well. They never put the thought in your head that it would do a broadway. They just kept trying to put each other away, but neither were able to. If one were to consider it a junior match (it wasn't for any of the All Japan Titles, but they were three and two years in respectively) it was easily the best one since Yokota vs. Chino Sato in 1979. A great effort by both, who really had no business going that long, but managed to succeed, and pulled off a really good, hard-fought match. ***3/4

3/20/86 Japan Grand Prix '86 League Match: Yukari Omori vs. Dump Matsumoto 24:26. Simply put, this was the ultimate Dump spectacle. There's nothing here that would ever change your mind about these types of matches, it would just confirm your opinion in either direction - either genius, or complete trash, there's no middle ground. There's no wrestling here. There's no skilful brawling. It's complete chaos, spectacle, and drama purely designed for maximum crowd reactions, and all taken to the extreme. This was Dumps return to Osaka after the imfamous hair match. She was hellbent on terrorizing the schoolgirls again, and a lot of the same ones were likely in attendance hoping for some revenge. It's also the match that set Yukari Omori up as the next major star, a meteoric rise from a forgettable midcarder all the way to being Devil Masami's successor as the WWWA World Champion. Dump was always great with the theatrics, and here she had the shogun outfit on in the entrance, and Shiro Abe (not assigned as the referee) was more unhinged than ever wearing ridiculous Dump like makeup. Dump was hollering on the mic through Omori's entrance, and started nailing her with the same microphone to start the match, whipping the schoolgirls into a frenzy. Within two minutes, Omori had juiced, and Dump was wielding a chain. Bull and Condor kept running interference with the referee, and then Chigusa came in and wiped out Dump with a trash can and helped Omori with a double team. The match basically stopped with all the seconds fighting in the ring, and then the scissors came out, drawing screams of terror from the schoolgirls. Masami tried to get the scissors from Dump, but Dump tried to cut her hair, so Chigusa jumped Dump with the microphone, and everyone started brawling again. Dump finally got her hands on Omori and started cutting her hair, then the match came to a halt again. Hilariously, Shiro Abe decided to fight with the referee, and the referee fired up and ran him off. The next one to try to bring back control was Commissioner Ueda, and he actually managed to do it! They finally restarted, again. Now Dump had a big grin on her face, offering a handshake to wrestle clean, but she had a concealed weapon, and Bull jumped Omori anyway. Omori tried to fight fire with fire on the outside, using a shinai, but the heels put the boots to her. They got back in the ring, and now Dump was wielding two shinais, but surprisingly she handed one off to Omori for a fair fight. Omori made the stupid decision to shred the shinai before laying into Dump with it. I'm not sure if it was supposed to look like that, or if it was supposed to look like she shredded it laying into Dump, but it didn't really work, and Dump didn't sell it anyway. Omori came back with an Octopus, but the heels ran in again. There actually was about a minute of wrestling here, and then Dump got the scissors again. She cut some hair. Omori showed some fight and fire, and made good comebacks, giving the crowd some hope that she might be able to pull something off, but then, what could you do with scissors that would be worse than giving someone an unwanted haircut? A stabbing! Dump inflicted a literal stab wound on Omori's upper arm using the scissors, penetrating deep enough for them to be embedded in her arm. You can't follow that up with anything, so Dump went to town on her with a shinai, and they ended up getting counted out with everyone fighting, and Bull biting away at the stab wound. Everything was chaos, so the ending might as well have been too. The pop would have been an all timer if Omori had won, but at least she didn't lose. The only thing that really annoyed me was Kahoru Kage constantly shouting on the microphone whenever the crowd would chant for Omori. ****

3/20/86 2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Title Match: Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno vs. Lioness Asuka & Chigusa Nagayo 13:00, 2:10, 5:49. This was the return of the Crush Gals, so it was time for the JB Angels to drop the tag belts. The Crush Gals tried to get the jump and blast the JB Angels away at the start, but that completely backfired, resulting in them taking stereo dropkicks and the JB Angels hitting topes on the outside. It wasn't costly, but it was a wakeup call for the Crush Gals, who weren't going to be trying that again for a while. The teams looked to stick to their strengths, with the Crush Gals looking to work the mat game and shut the JB Angels down, while the JB Angels path to victory was blasting them away with their fast paced running offense and double teams. Yamazaki spent a long time getting worked over. She was able to lure Lioness into a brief brawl, but Lioness outwrestled her expertly, countering everything, and stopping her jumping around. Yamazaki managed to work her way out when Chigusa was in and quicken the pace, but again, it was brief with Chigusa clutching onto her leg to stop it, but at least Yamazaki was able to switch to Tateno. Tateno hit her burst on Lioness, but she tagged Chigusa, who did a quick roll up as she was coming through the ropes. Tateno was able to find some control, targeting Chigusa's arm, but once she returned later, she took her foot off the gas, and it allowed Chigusa a reprieve. Tateno tried to go with Lioness but was outwrestled, then it was back to Chigusa vs. Yamazaki. Yamazaki got the upperhand and looked to quicken the pace. Tateno added a diving clothesline, but Chigusa caught a leg lariat coming off the ropes, and the Crush Gals pounced with all the big moves. Hart Attack, Giant Swing from Lioness, a flying bodypress, and a tombstone from Chigusa to put Yamazaki away. That fall was an expert shutdown from the Crush Gals. They never let the JB Angels get on a roll, but changed with the big explosive burst in the second fall displayed why doing so was dangerous. The JB Angels needed to force the pace. Yamazaki immediately tried to blitz Lioness, then Tateno drew her into a slap fight to fire her up. It worked, as Lioness lost her focus and played into her hands. Tateno hit dropkicks, and Lioness kipped up twice before hitting her own. Chigusa tagged in, but the JB Angels pounced with a double dropkick. Yamazaki followed with a flying body attack. Tateno hit a missile dropkick and a butterfly suplex. Chigusa survived that, and avoided another flying body attack from Yamazaki, but Tateno hit a German suplex to finish. Chigusa sold the German suplex like a deathblow, and Tateno hammered away at the neck. Yamazaki missile dropkicked Chigusa, and quickly jumped on Lioness with a piledriver after the tag was made. Tateno and Lioness had a neat exchange which ended with Lioness kipping up again after a kick out of the corner and high kicking Tateno in the head. Chigusa went in for the kill, getting Tateno in big trouble, but she was able to avoid a dive from Lioness and tag out. Yamazaki couldn't get out of the blocks though, with Lioness hitting big moves, including a second Giant Swing and a jackhammer. Yamazaki was able to fight off Chigusa when she was put on the top rope, responding with a backdrop suplex. Tateno tagged in and delivered a piledriver. Yamazaki did a jackknife pin, but got caught in a Sharpshooter. She came back with an Octopus hold. Tateno tagged in, but Chigusa sunset flipped her, and then finished her with a Tiger Suplex hold. The finish was slightly underwhelming, but this was a great match. Top notch wrestling, both with their spot wrestling and matwork. The Crush Gals showed more control, refusing to allow the JB Angels get away from them as much as they would have liked before eventually overwhelming them. ****1/2

4/5/86: Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno vs. Hisako Uno & Yukari Omori 7:06. Short, all action match. It's startling to see Omori here compared to even her last appearances in 1985. She'd found her confidence and came off like a real star. She was the star of the match as far as the crowd were concerned. Rookie Hisako Uno wasn't doing much other than dropkicks and matwork at this point, but she was still worth watching because she put everything into it. She actually managed to fit in well, with the crowd getting behind her as well. The JB Angels gave their usual good performance. ***

4/5/86 Japan Grand Prix '86 League Match: Bull Nakano vs. Yumi Ogura 10:10. Ogura was Bull's biggest rival in their junior days, and here they took their rivalry into the Japan Grand Prix. Bull was trying to bully Ogura around at the start, but she wasn't taking that, and caught her with a missile dropkick. She worked the arm a bit before Bull took over and dragged her outside, but Ogura ended up winning that skirmish. Bull was pissed now, but Ogura kept coming at her until Bull reversed her on the mat. Bull did some heeling and slapped Ogura, but Ogura wouldn't take that, and they had a slapping fight. Ogura ducked Bull's slap and shot in for a crab. Bull introduced the nunchakus when she got the chance. Ogura tried to avoid it and spring off the second rope, but Bull dodged her. Bull missed the guillotine legdrop. Ogura missed a diving senton. Bull couldn't put her away, so she laid into her with the nunchakus. Ogura still fought back, and hit a German, and then hit a flying body press. They ended up fighting on the outside, but Bull prevented Ogura from returning, and it was a double count out. Of all of their matches, this was the one I liked the most. This was the feisty small girl standing up to the big school bully, and they worked really well in those roles. It was a very fun match. ***1/2

4/5/86 All Pacific Title Decision Match: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Dump Matsumoto 19:01. Devil vacated the All Pacific Title when she won the WWWA World Single Title. This is the best of the Dump vs. Chigusa matches. It had the atmosphere of the hair matches, but this time it was compelling, and it was laid out better than their Japan Grand Prix '85 match. Built smartly around the limited things Dump does, Chigusa made perfectly timed comeback attempts They teased moves they couldn't hit to turn them into bigger spots later, and of course, there was Dump's shenanigans. Dump wore down Chigusa for a while, and ended up using her own sharpshooter on her. Chigusa survived that, and tried hit German Suplexes, but couldn't get them. Dump hit one later just because she could. Dump had Chigusa beat after a spike piledriver with her cronies assisting, but due to the interference, the referee wouldn't count the fall. Dump's answer to that was to kill her off with a bucket on the outside. Dump stayed on Chigusa, but got a rest on the outside. Chigusa got a near fall off a sunset flip so Dump started cheating again. Chigusa got mauled until she kicked her way out of the corner. Chigusa kept fighting back, desperately and frantically trying to finish, but couldn't. There was more brawling. Dump got tied up in the ropes and Chigusa nailed her twice in the head with a chair. Dump was in trouble, so Bull brought in a giant metal drum. Dump ended up laying into Chigusa with it, but Chigusa avoided it, and put Dump away with a backdrop suplex. The pin was probably dodgy by design. It looked as though they both had their shoulders down, so there was some confusion. Dump protested the decision, but Chigusa was named the winner and the new All Pacific Champion, and the roof blew off Sumo Hall. ***3/4

4/5/86: WWWA World Single Title Match: Devil Masami vs. Lioness Asuka 22:01. Lioness had passed out during song rehearsals earlier in the day due to exhaustion (she hadn't been sleeping), and wasn't in much of a condition to be wrestling here. To her credit, if you didn't know this, her performance doesn't give much away. Lioness was wearing black instead of blue, which drew a few gasps when she disrobed. Lioness came out of the blocks hard with a Giant Swing immediately, and Devil fought back afterward to hit a German. Neither gained much ground on the mat, but Devil won the early battle with a bodyslam, and a crosschop that send Lioness out of the ring. Lioness regrouped, and took control herself. She ended up whipping Devil into the corner, and Devil leaped onto the top turnbuckle, mistake which Lioness quickly pounced on, dropkicking her to the outside. Lioness went for a dive from the top turnbuckle to the outside herself, but missed, and they both got counted out. They didn't want it to end like that, so Commissioner Ueda granted them another 10 minutes. The count out spot was memorable, but still felt like a somewhat contrived way for them to do a time limit draw without having to go for an hour. So, with the match restarted, they had 10 minutes to try to get a win. They got into an intense war of slaps to start before Lioness shot in for a sharpshooter. Devil worked Lioness's leg for a bit. It was mainly just big moves. After Devil hit a top rope brainbuster, Lioness came back with a backdrop suplex, a giant swing, piledriver and a missile dropkick. Devil survived, but she was on the ropes, and desperately drew Lioness into a fist fight, then hit a piledriver and fisherman's buster, which Lioness survived. They exchanged powerbombs, and the time ran out soon after. The action in the match was excellent, but it was split into two disconnected halves. It was like a 30 (or 60) minute draw with the middle of the match missing. The first half was a good start, but then it ended. The second half was intense and exciting, little more than big moves thrown at each other. They went hard to try to make you believe someone could win, but it was hard to buy a result was really going to happen. I'm not sure it did them any favors either. Devil needed a win, as she felt like a paper champion since she never beat Jaguar for the belt, but now she couldn't win her first title defense either. Lioness choked for the second time in less than a year, even if a draw was little more preferable to a loss. ***1/2

4/8/86 2/3 Falls WWWA Tag Title Match: Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka vs. Yumi Ogura & Kazue Nagahori 11:24, 6:09. The Red Typhoons tried and put up a good fight. They were too low ranked to be much of a match for the Crush Gals, but it was fun to watch them try. They didn't have much chance on the mat, but did get control at times. They tried to pounce when they could, throwing fast kicks They were hit and miss sometimes, particularly Ogura would go too fast for her own good, killing the impact. That isn't so bad from juniors out of their depth though, as long as the receiver knows how to react. Chigusa did, only putting over the good ones, while not reacting to the weak ones. The majority of the first fall was matwork and kicks, with the Crush Gals hitting a few spots at the end to win. In the second fall, Chigusa put a sharpshooter on Ogura, Nagahori came in and drilled her until Ogura could break free. Ogura dropped legdrops on the back of Chigusa's head, and hit her jumping knee attack, and a German suplex. Chigusa desperately got out of there and tagged Lioness, but Ogura pounced on her, hitting a piledriver. They hit some double team moves on Lioness, and the Crush Gals were actually in a lot of trouble, but Lioness avoided a dive from Ogura. They kept trying, but Ogura missed another dive later on Chigusa, and their luck ran out, with Chigusa finishing with a Northern Light's Suplex. It was a 2-0 drubbing, but still showed the Red Typhoons could be competitive. It was a well worked match, good all the way through and Ogura's comeback after the sharpshooter was tremendous. I'd still say the Black Pair vs. Queen Angels is the best 2-0 sweep to this point, but this was the second best one. ***1/2

5/13/86: Japan Grand Prix '86 League Match: Lioness Asuka vs. Chigusa Nagayo 19:36 of 30:00. Lioness was back in black for this one, and Chigusa was wearing red and blue to carry on the Crush Gals legacy alone. Lioness was hellbent on showing up Chigusa in this match, and came at her hard, while Chigusa mostly played defense. It kicked up a gear when the two started kicking at each other, in a battle won by Lioness, she drilled Chigusa with head kicks and a piledriver. After some matwork which saw Chigusa take over, she got her chance, and gave as good as she got. Chigusa tried a German suplex, but Lioness grabbed onto the ropes, and then shot behind attempting her own, which Chigusa blocked. They kept fighting to catch each others back, but couldn't execute anything. It's this type of struggle that the 1985 match was missing. Lioness went back to working over Chigusa on the mat after that. It wasn't long before they had another kicking exchange, and Lioness once again shot in for a takedown, and kept working the mat. Chigusa fought back with an enzuigiri and did manage a German Suplex, but couldn't put Lioness away. A piledriver and superplex followed, but Lioness wouldn't stay down. Lioness made a quick comeback, hitting a Giant Swing and a top rope backdrop suplex, but Chigusa wouldn't stay down either. Chigusa got a sharpshooter and more suplexes, but they didn't get the job done, and the two ended up kicking each other until the time expired. The 1985 match had way better mat work, but everything else I preferred in this match.You had the sense they were trying to win as they blistered each other with kicks and suplexes. It was mainly all Lioness, but Chigusa gave as good as she received when given the chance. ***3/4

5/17/86 Japan Grand Prix '86 League Match: Dump Matsumoto vs. Bull Nakano 11:09. Dump was out to teach Bull a lesson, and she was such a rat bastard that the schoolgirls were way into Bull. They laid into each other the whole time, and it was well worked chaos, with Bull actually making really good babyface comebacks that had the crowd popping big time. Dump mostly just laid into her with a shinai, with most of her cronies helping her out. Megumi Nakamae wasn't doing a good enough job, so Dump beat the crap out of her as well until she started attacking Bull. Bull bled, and then fought back with nunchakus, and ended up going for a crab until Nakamae ran in again and started biting at the cut. Dump tried to smother Bull, but she kept fighting back, and hit a brainbuster, which was a good spot they teased well. Dump used a chain, and dragged Bull outside with it. When they returned, Dump had two shinais and tossed one to Bull. Bull was winning the shinai duel, but the heels stopped her, and Dump bled as well. Bull hit another German, but couldn't get the bridge, and Dump came back with her own. A pair of lariats finished Bull off. This was a wild and entertaining brawl with the schoolgirls way more invested than you'd expect. Dump terrorized the crowd after the match, rushing out there and throwing chairs around, clearing entire sections with people screaming and running for their lives. Surprisingly good and heated Dump brawl. ***1/2

5/29/86 Japan Grand Prix '86 League Match: Bull Nakano vs. Chigusa Nagayo 15:31. Bull dominated the early mat portion, thwarting anything and everything Chigusa tried. Chigusa grabbed a desperate headlock to get some control, but Bull got out of that, and went for the legs. Her mistake was grabbing the nunchakus, which allowed Chigusa to grab the arm, and find some control. Chigusa hit a backdrop suplex and headbutts for a near fall, but Bull punched her way out of a body scissors, and went for a sharpshooter. That wasn't working well enough, so Bull tried to mug her on the outside, but Chigusa won the battle. Bull had some control again until Chigusa came back. Chigusa hit a piledriver, and when Bull survived that, she started kicking her in the head. Bull got her back a little while later when Chigusa put her head down for a backdrop, and Bull kicked her flush in the mouth. Bull hit a German suplex afterwards, which made for a good near fall. Chigusa frantically got Bulls back, and hit her own. The two ended up fighting outside, brawling and Chigusa hit a piledriver on the floor, which was no sold. It ended up in a lame double count out though. Bull wanted to wrestle, and she got to do it with Chigusa. She was good here, and I liked that Chigusa thwarted all of the underhanded stuff and it did more harm than good for Bull, while she managed to be competitive because of her wrestling ability. ***

6/21/86 All Japan Tag Title Match: Yumi Ogura & Kazue Nagahori vs. Mika Komatsu & Kanako Nagatomo. I didn't want to review or rate this one, but I did want to draw attention to it. This was hold down rules that appeared to kick in after 15 minutes. Viewed just as a wrestling match, it probably doesn't look like anything more than a decent-good match, but for the bizarre rules that blends pro-wrestling with shoot pins, it was fantastic, and the best example of it I've seen. The way it would work was one pair would come in, hit a spot that could conceivably win the match (this wasn't just your standard rookie bodyslams), and try to hold the opponent down for a pinfall. They'd switch out, and the next pair would do the same. It was mostly rapid fire, but occasionally they'd grab a hold. They all really wanted it, and the post-match reactions show what it meant to them. Komatsu and Ogura are feisty, and tempers flared between them on a couple of occasions too, just to make it more fun. They also had a rematch on 11/7/86.

6/22/86: Japan Grand Prix '86 Final: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Yukari Omori 27:20. Omori's Kesagiri Chopping hand was injured coming into the final. She gave Chigusa an early chop. Chigusa kicked her in the hand when she returned, though I suppose she was just seeing if it was actually hurt because she didn't go to hand much during match. It was largely a battle on the mat that built slowly, and their matwork was tight. Omori controlled a lot, and Chigusa would try to find ways to work herself on top, but could only find success for short periods. When her gameplan wasn't working, she got frustrated and targeted the injured hand, kicking and stomping at it. They had a tense standoff, with Chigusa going for the hand and Omori protecting herself. Omori ended up biting Chigusa's hand, which put her guard down enough for Chigusa to take her down by the legs. Omori kept fighting back though, and hit a bunch of power moves to make the Chigusa fans scream at the two counts. Omori had the injured hand, her's was damaged as well, so it was hard to follow up on. Omori came back with a backbreaker and injured Chigusa's rib. After that, Chigusa was mainly looking for big moves or a quick pin to finish. She went for a German suplex, but couldn't execute, so she tried to grind Omori down, but Omori easily worked out of it. Omori had the back, and while they were still on the mat, the schoolgirls started stirring, and sure enough, they were right because Omori German Suplexed her for a big near fall (I love how people think the schoolgirl Chigusa fans didn't pay attention to the wrestling, they were completely zoned in on everything). Avalanche Slam couldn't put Chigusa down either, and then she came back with a pair of Germans. Chigusa had forgotten about Omori's hand that was her main source of finding advantages earlier, and was just looking for big moves or pins now. She gave Omori a brainbuster from the top rope, and Omori managed to get to the other side of the ring to delay the pin. Chigusa took a dive off the top and ate a big Chop. Omori just sucked up through the pain, and killed her with repeated chops. Chigusa made it outside, but Omori clobbered her again when she got on the apron. Chigusa did make it back in the ring in the end, but a big one from the top rope finished her off. This was an excellent slow burn of a match, with a finish that made Omori look like the biggest badass in the league. With that, she won the Japan Grand Prix, and the match against Devil Masami on 8/23/86 was set up. ****

8/21/86: Dump Matsumoto vs. Itsuki Yamazaki 18:44. This is basically the pro-wrestling version of a horror movie. Dump Matsumoto played the role of Michael Myers, while Itsuki Yamazaki played the role of Laurie Strode. Dump didn't get to fight the girls with long hair very often (not that there were too many of them), so you could imagine where this one was going. This was supreme Dump chaos, with some brilliance from Yamazaki thrown in. Yamazaki hurled herself at Dump at the start and that didn't work, so she willed herself into a takedown. Dump mostly looked unamused by that. Dump was just looking to bully Yamazaki and cut her hair, but Yamazaki kept coming at her. Bull snuck in and placed scissors in Dumps hand. Yamazaki looked like she'd seen a ghost, and fled. Dump kept coming after Yamazaki with scissors, while Yamazaki looked scared to death. The babyface seconds would swarm in the ring whenever Dump started cutting her hair. Yamazaki made a great comeback when Dump and Bull tried a double team lariat using a metal pipe. Yamazaki grabbed it, flipped over it, and kicked them both down at the same time. Tateno came in to help out with some double teaming, but it was shortlived because Bull came in and attacked the referee, and everyone piled in when Dump went for the scissors again. The babyface seconds gave Dump a stomping, and in a funny moment, Dump just stood looking unimpressed by it all, and nailed Ogura with the scissors. Dump finally started trying to the win the match, hitting some wrestling moves, a lariat, backdrop suplex. She even did a press slam, but Yamazaki wasn't staying down. Dump did a superplex that apparently she wasn't comfortable doing because it took about 30 seconds to set up, but at least she tried. She even tried a dive, going for the big splash off the top rope, but Yamazaki avoided it, and made another comeback. Yamazaki whipped the referee (Crane Yu) into a Dump, which was certainly different, and then hit a big missile dropkick. The problem was the referee was being held back by the heels. Yamazaki got some revenge for the weapons, cracking Dump in the head multiple times with a shinai, but she got tied up with a chain. The scissors made another return, and now there was a haircut going down. Yamazaki had chunks of it cut off here, and that was about good enough for Dump. From there, it was a melee outside until the double count out happened. Yamazaki started out like a frightened and traumatized victim at the first sight of the scissors, and did a very convincing job of it, but she got past it and came back at Dump all match, never backing down and even getting Dump to wrestle her and try to pin her. Of course, it didn't end well for Yamazaki, after all there was a hair match in November to build up. The only thing that could have put it more over the top was if there was blood, but it didn't need it. ***3/4

8/21/86 All Pacific Title Match: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Leilani Kai 23:05. This one had some issues. The start was awful, with Chigusa just taking Kai down at will, and grabbing holds with Kai showing no struggle or ability to work out of anything. Kai's first comeback only got worse with the weak leg kick magically knocking Chigusa on her ass, and then it was Kai sitting in holds. It took them a while, but once they got all that out of their system, it got a lot better, and actually turned into a good match. There wasn't much in the way of impressive spots. It was all pretty basic stuff, but as it went on, they did a better job of struggling, and the near falls were dramatic enough. Kai had lost weight and trained in Japan for this match. You can't fault her effort, but she wasn't up to working the kind of high level match she wanted to, and she gassed out near the end due to the building being so hot. Towards the end, they both went for dives, and had some great near falls. Chigusa hit a German suplex, and tried another, but Kai blocked and slipped behind to hit her own. Chigusa tried for flash pins, but couldn't score a three count. She came off the top rope with a fist drop and still couldn't win. One cool thing they were doing was trying to pin each multiple times off the same move. Chigusa hit another suplex and got frustrated. At this point, it was hard to tell if the frustration was for show or legit because Kai was so gassed she could barely get up for anything. Kai sucked it up and came back though. She hit a nice missile dropkick, and then finished with a really badly executed suplex to win. Blown moves aside, they got there… eventually. It was really bad early on though. ***

8/23/86 WWWA World Single Title Match: Devil Masami vs. Yukari Omori 23:49. This match won't be for everyone because it's very slow paced and tentative, with quite a lot of stalling. This was Devil's approach, and it was once again effective. Devil executed a dive outside the ring, and Omori followed with an early Avalanche slam. Devil aimed to engage in mat-based wrestling, but Omori wasn't interested in that, hitting a backbreaker. They took a break afterward, and Devil didn't seem to know what she wanted to do. She seemed to have built her entire gameplan around blocking and avoiding Omori's Kesagiri chops, and wanted to draw her into it. She got her wish, as Omori went for chops early on, with Devil successfully blocking one using her hands and evading another, causing Omori to strike the ropes. Devil then went after Omori's arm. Unable to execute a German Suplex, Devil tried to take the fight outside, resulting in a restart in the ring. Devil blocked Omori's takedown attempt, and they sailed into the ropes, but Devil hurt her back in the process, and needed another breather. Omori dominated by focusing on Devil's back, applying various submissions, including her own Romero Special. Devil was on the ropes at this point, and needed something big to come back with. She thwarted Omori's Avalanche Slam attempt, and bought herself some time with an Electric Chair drop, but she went up top soon after, and Omori shoved her to the outside. Omori, leaping off the apron with a chop, narrowly missed Devil, causing her to strike the guardrail. Devil's facial expression was great here, as if she'd narrowly avoided a gunshot. Devil got another run of offense in the ring, but couldn't stop Omori, causing her to get frustrated and grab a chair. This was her biggest mistake. Omori chopped straight through the chair, leaving Devil shocked, and then she clobbered Devil with one to put her down. This led to a long, drawn out, dramatic ending, with Omori repeatedly chopping Devil down every time she got up. Devil wasn't a quitter, and kept coming, but she had no chance. Devil couldn't get up without the assistance of the ropes, and made one last lunge at Omori with a very feeble lariat attempt, collapsing afterward. Omori put her out of her misery with the big chop from the top turnbuckle to end Devil's title reign. I suppose one could point out that the finish snuck through a couple of logic gaps, but if you put that to the side, you won't see too many more definitive endings than that one, with Devil getting no offense in at all in the last 5 minutes. If the Japan Grand Prix finals didn't tell you, this match did; Omori is a complete badass. ****1/4

10/10/86 2/3 Falls Tag League The Best '86 Final: Yukari Omori & Hisako Uno vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Yumiko Hotta 0:06, 4:09, 16:50. This was an experiment to get the two ‘super rookies' over. Uno you could see trying this with, at least in the role of the rookie with too much fire and energy who gets her ass handed her, but shows fight. With Hotta there was nothing. She wasn't the most impressive rookie to begin with, much less wrestling at a level beyond that. Their matches in the tag league tended to be good while Chigusa was in, and then Hotta would ruin them. At least this match was good though, and Hotta even did okay, at times. The start was cathartic. Chigusa decided to be dumb and let Hotta start. Uno was set to start, but Omori changed her mind, and murdered Hotta immediately with a chop to the mouth, pinning her in 6 seconds before Chigusa even knew what happened. The second fall was mostly a battle of the rookies, and it was actually good. They went at each other early, with Hotta laying in kicks. Uno fired back at her, smacking her in the mouth, and anywhere else her wild swings would land. The seniors would just come in to take over, but didn't do much. Hotta hit a reverse fireman's carry throw to even the match up. The rookies kicked at each early in the first fall, but it wasn't long before we got to Chigusa vs. Omori. They went back and forth landing some bombs, and Omori felt she'd softened her up enough for Uno. Uno just got dominated immediately. She wanted to tag out, but Chigusa made her earn it. Uno was able to counter Chigusa on the mat and tag. Chigusa desperately clung onto the ropes to prevent Omori's German Suplex, so Omori settled for a piledriver, and then put her down with a nasty chop. Omori started to give her the same treatment she'd given Devil and Chigusa herself in the Japan Grand Prix finals, but after two chops, she really wanted to hit the German Suplex. Chigusa kept blocking it, but she was in trouble. The rookies got tagged in, and when it got back to Chigusa vs. Omori again, Omori continued to have the upper hand, but her partner was too overexcited. After Omori hit an Avalanche Slam, Uno ran in trying for the pin, which wasn't legal, and the referee just looked at her dumbfounded as to what she was doing. Omori perched up top for the killer chop, but Chigusa avoided it, and Omori hit her on the shoulder. Chigusa managed a German Suplex, but Omori shifted her weight on it, so Chigusa caught the brunt of it. Uno came in. again illegally, and while it was dumb last time, this time she screwed up the match for her team, throwing a dropkick at Chigusa, which hit Omori, and Chigusa seized the opportunity to flash pin Omori. This was a very good tag league final. It had great atmosphere, and felt like a final. You could never buy the rookie vs. senior matchups, but when the rookies battled, it was good, and Omori vs. Chigusa remained high quality and felt like a huge deal. ***1/2

11/7/86 Hair vs. Hair: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Dump Matsumoto 16:53. The rematch from the imfamous 8/28/85 match where Chigusa got her haircut. After the first match got Fuji TV so many angry letters, and even got the league thrown off in one region, there was no way they were airing this rematch. Since it wasn't going to air on TV, the league decided to release it as a commercial tape, and it sold a lot more than they thought, leading them to release more, and eventually releasing all of their big 1990's events in full. Dump decided to beat up the referee, and he was bleeding before the match started. Her referee abuse was actually pretty funny, but there was no motive there, and the whole match was Dump beating up Chigusa and the referee. Chigusa bled and sold all the way through, any hope spot was cut off quickly. Dump gave an even more over the top performance than she did in the first match. There were some good near falls later, and then Chigusa just won with a roll up despite Dump getting her shoulder up at two. So, I suppose it was really the referee's revenge. They were both good, but the match wasn't really interesting. 1985 was an out of control horror show that felt like anything could happen, it's just that it didn't. This one didn't give me the same vibe. The angle afterward with Dump going berserk and then defiantly taking her haircut is an all time classic moment though, and a great contrast to 1985. Like the first hair match, this is recommended because it's so legendary, so the rating is irrelevant, but I'm not as high on this one as the first one (for the sake of comparison, if the 8/22/85 encounter was ****, I'd go *** for this one).

12/6/86 Tag Team Elimination Match, Team League Final: Chigusa Nagayo, Yumi Ogura, Kazue Nagahori, Yumiko Hotta, Yachiyo Hirata & Nobuko Kimura vs. Dump Matsumoto, Bull Nakano, Condor Saito, Yasuko Ishiguro, Megumi Nakamae & Kahoru Kage 22:36. Zenjo had been running team league matches all year. I'm not sure how they determined all of the standings, but this was the final. It's team Chigusa vs. team Dump, one month after Dump's haircut, and it had all the heat you'd associate with that. It was bedlam before the start. Shiro Abe was up to his old antics of trying to take over the referees spot. Dump beat up the actual referee, Jimmy Kayama, and went after a cameraman with a shinai. Dump got rid of both of Chigusa's rookies in about 10 seconds. Everyone did a lot of running spots, except Dump, who tanked everyone, and they were mostly eliminated in terms of the hierarchy. Dump decided to beat up Jimmy Kayama so Shiro could take over, but then Chigusa beat him up, so Dump's plan didn't work. It was a really energetic and entertaining start, and the exchanges were always good, especially Bull vs. Ogura before Ogura was eliminated. Hotta survived the longest of Chigusa's partners, but after eating a bunch of kicks, she was eliminated, which left Chigusa alone against Dump, Bull and Condor around 15 minute mark. Bull nailed Chigusa with nunchakus, and then went over to tear off the padding in the corner, so while she was wasting time with that, Chigusa snuck behind her and eliminated her with a backslide. Jimmy Kayama got beaten up again, and Chigusa got beaten down by the three of them, with Dump using a shinai. Chigusa managed to catch a belly to belly on Condor after she tagged in, and eliminated her with a Northern Light's Suplex despite Bull trying to interrupt the count. So, as expected it was down to Dump vs. Chigusa. Chigusa's sharpshooter and suplexes were powered out of, but she was able to hit running spots. Dump beat her up with a trash can to put her down. Dump hit a German suplex and lariat to win. This was fairly predictable, as Dump had to get her revenge, but that's not really a bad thing. This was excellent from the start to around when Dump killed Chigusa with the trash can, then it was fairly anticlimactic. Everyone was working hard no matter how long they were in for. Ogura, Bull and Chigusa were the standouts, and Ishiguro looked the best of the youngsters. The final third of 1986 was pretty rough, but this was a great way to end the year. ****

1: Chigusa Nagayo. 1986 was the year of Chigusa and Omori. No one came close to those two. You could almost always count on Chigusa to have a good match, and all of her big matches delivered strongly.

2. Yukari Omori. Omori went from a boring power wrestler into a Kesagiri chopping beast. She was involved in the three best singles matches of 1986, and you can't ask for more than that.

3. Itsuki Yamazaki. Yamazaki shone again in 1986, despite having a tag team partner who seemed to lose her motivation sometime after losing the tag belts. Yamazaki tried hard, and remained a standout no matter what match she was in.

4. Dump Matsumoto. Dump Matusmoto making it onto a best wrestlers list makes about as much sense as Notorious B.I.G. making it into a rock and roll hall of fame. This was the year of the most memorable and chaotic Dump brawls.

5. Yumi Ogura. Ogura was a lot of fun, and quite consistent in terms of having good matches. Without wanting to compare her to Mimi Hagiwara as they're nothing alike, she had the same sort of quality as the feisty, fiery underdog.

6. Bull Nakano

7. Lioness Asuka

8. Devil Masami

9. Kazue Nagahori

10. Noriyo Tateno

1. 3/20/86 2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Title Match: Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno vs. Lioness Asuka & Chigusa Nagayo ****1/2

2. 8/23/86 WWWA World Single Title Match: Devil Masami vs. Yukari Omori ****1/4

3. 6/22/86 Japan Grand Prix '86 Final: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Yukari Omori ****

4. 12/6/86 Tag Team Elimination Match, Team League Final: Chigusa Nagayo, Yumi Ogura, Kazue Nagahori, Yumiko Hotta, Yachiyo Hirata & Nobuko Kimura vs. Dump Matsumoto, Bull Nakano, Condor Saito, Yasuko Ishiguro, Megumi Nakamae & Kahoru Kage ****

5. 3/20/86 Japan Grand Prix '86 League Match: Yukari Omori vs. Dump Matsumoto ****

Aja Kong (Erika Shishedo)

Bison Kimura (Nobuko Kimura)

Miori Kamiya

Kaoru Maeda

Megumi Kudo

Noriyo Toyoda

Mika Takahashi

Reibun Amada

Yachiyo Hirata

Daren Ohashi

JWP started up in 1986 with Jackie Sato and Nancy Kumi as the big stars. They had freelancers and a huge class of rookies. Their rookies are harder to track then All Japan Women's, but I believe this is the entire first class that made it as far as a debut (I'm aware at least one girl was ran off well before debut, and there were probably more).

Miss A (Dynamite Kansai)

Shinobu Kandori

Mayumi Ozaki

Eagle Sawai

Plum Mariko

Rumi Kazama

Harley Saito

Cuty Suzuki

Eden Mabuchi

Oscar Tomo

Dirty Yamato

Maiko Tsurugi

Yu Yamazaki

Yuki Ito

Smiley Mami

Ilia Yonemoto