What do you get when you have a transition year, but nothing to transition to? All Japan Women in 1988. This was an absolute debacle of a year. The TV show was cut down to 1 hour often, which meant the matches were more clipped than ever. Devil Masami, Yukari Omori and Dump Matsumoto retired within months of each other. They wanted the Crush Gals to carry things while making room in the card for their successors, the problem was that there was no one on the Crush Gals level, and their only real rivals were each other. The replacements for the retirees, mainly the Fire Jets (Yumiko Hotta and Mitsuko Nishiwaki) and Marine Wolves (Hisako Uno and Mika Suzuki) weren't ready to replace them at all. Uno was a sure thing to become really good, the other three were questionable. They tried to make Bull Nakano into the next Dump. While Bull did have a presence and was building her aura, the boots were too much for anyone to fill. There could only ever be one Dump, and Bull needed to be her own thing. They decided to put Dump's stooges under masks and call them Dynamite Gundam, and they stunk up a lot of the shows, particularly early in the year. The JB Angels and the Crush Gals were the only ones capable of having good matches consistently, and they were all being phased out. This was how the Matsunaga family always did it. 1988 isn't much different to 1981, but attendance in 1981 was nowhere as low as it was in 1988. Jaguar Yokota, Mimi Hagiwara and Devil Masami were far more ready than anyone they thought was the future in 1988. It was just down to hope that Bull, Hotta, Nishiwaki, Uno and Suzuki would pan out along with the best of the 1987 crop, Toshiyo Yamada, Hiromi Hasegawa, Manami Toyota, Mima Shimoda and Etsuko Mita.

1/5/88 WWWA World Single Title Match: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Yukari Omori 14:33 of 31:52. Omori was given her rematch before retiring in February. This started out hot with Omori doing a leg lariat of all things. They went for a lot of big stuff early, and wore each other out. After some matwork, Omori hit a backdrop suplex from the top rope, and Chigusa juiced after a Kesagiri chop again. Omori wanted to press on, but Chigusa caught a head kick, and roughed her up on the outside. Omori bled too. They really just beat the crap out of each other and wore each other out with their heavy shots and big moves. They sold bigger and bigger, and were slower to get up after each blow, but they kept coming at each other. Omori got her revenge on the outside, and they kept throwing shots inside. One final big collision as they both came off the ropes caused a double knock out draw. The action was really intense, and they were going hard at each other. This match may potentially have been great, but 14 minutes doesn't do it justice, and any complaints I make are probably in the 17 minutes that are missing. The classics version is even more clipped than the TV version, so this is all we've got. It's hard to be super high on it, but what they showed was still very good. ***1/2

1/7/88: Yumi Ogura & Chigusa Nagayo vs. Lioness Asuka & Mika Komatsu 9:45 of 18:53. Another case of the Fuji TV cutting their Zenjo broadcast to one hour meaning they only showed half of the main event. What they left us with was a good, all action match. The highlight was when Chigusa and Lioness would fight. Their exchanges were really good. Komatsu wasn't that impressive. There was a lot of Ogura vs. Lioness in this, and they were really good together. Toward the end, Ogura accidentally took out Chigusa but redeemed herself by thwarting a double team straight after, which led to Chigusa flash pinning Komatsu. ***

2/25/88 Dump Matsumoto, Yukari Omori Retirement Match: Dump Matsumoto & Yukari Omori vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka 13:51 + 5:00. This is one of the legendary matches of the 80s, and the true end of that classic era. They sold out the Kawasaki Gymnasium. This is Dump carnage with the weapons and chaos, for the last time, and she destroyed everyone. Omori wanted to wrestle clean and got to do her spots, and wasn't too happy with Dumps antics, so Dump destroyed her as well. There was more though. After the match, Chigusa wanted to team with Dump, so we had the best babyface and the best heel as a tag team. There was a good Omori vs. Dump portion towards the conclusion, and they ended it with the retirees having the Crush Gals in a compromising position when the time expired, as Dump had Lioness in a sharpshooter, while Omori had Chigusa in a pinning predicament. They did the retirement ceremony here, though it wasn't quite the end, as both would wrestle in Saitama a few days later, with Lioness vs. Omori and Dump vs. her old proteges, Bull Nakano and Condor Saito being the true last matches (Dump would actually return when things were really dire for Zenjo in 2003, but Omori never made a comeback). Tons of fun, and a great way to see out the era, but also sad for the same reason. I don't think this is anything that should be rated.

4/2/88 WWF Women's Tag Title Match: Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno vs. Yumiko Hotta & Mitsuko Nishiwaki 12:11. The classics version is the better version of this match. JB Angels return to Japan. It was fairly back and forth, with neither team having the advantage for long, and there some clever double teams from the JB Angels to keep control. The action was good throughout. It wasn't a higher end JB Angels performance, but they were good, and carried the youngsters well. Fire Jets were mostly fine, if not particularly impressive, and there were a couple of hiccups on the way, though they worked pretty well as a unit. Yamazaki and Hotta had the best exchanges because Yamazaki worked some niggle between the two. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to make their exchanges a little more interesting. They kept it clean until Yamazaki decided to rough Nishiwaki up on the outside, though it didn't amount to much. The Fire Jets took over in the ring, and looked to put her away with their big spots, with Nishiwaki ending up with a good near fall from powerbomb. Yamazaki fought out of a double team, but came back quickly, and Tateno leapt up top. The two hit missile dropkicks to both opponents. Tateno charged at Nishiwaki, but got dumped outside while Yamazaki was giving Hotta a piledriver. Nishiwaki went over to Yamazaki, but she pinned her immediately with a crucifix. As a match clearly designed to make Hotta and Nishiwaki before beating them, this worked well, and it was a good match. ***

5/15/88: Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka vs. Noriyo Tateno & Itsuki Yamazaki 15:07 of 18:19. The final encounter between the Crush Gals and the JB Angels. Lioness pounced immediately, and hit a Giant Swing on Yamazaki, then Chigusa hit a lariat. Yamazaki fought her way to a takedown on Lioness, but had to scramble to get to the ropes. Chigusa aggressively went after Yamazaki with kicks, but got dumped. Lioness was straight in, and the two slugged at each other. It seemed the Crush Gals hadn't forgotten about their tag league defeat in 1987, but their over-aggression cost them early. The match slowed down, which was more in the Crush Gals wheelhouse, but they still couldn't get anything going. When Chigusa tried to outwrestle Tateno, Tateno turned into a double arm suplex and Yamazaki targeted her arm. Chigusa almost suplexed her way out of it, but Yamazaki held onto the arm and then Tateno joined in, jumping on Chigusa's outstretched arm. JB Angels effectively prevented Chigusa from making the tag, frustrating Lioness and the fans. Tateno dove off on the arm, and dropped elbows on her aggressively while glaring at the crowd. Chigusa wanted a tag, so Tateno kicked Lioness, and dragged her back to Yamazaki. Yamazaki did her flying armdrag in, which almost always ensures a tag, but was smart enough to maintain hold of Chigusa's arm. Chigusa once again got fingertips away from making the tag, but Yamazaki pulled her away. Lioness was ready to kill them at this point. Yamazaki didn't care, and hit a double arm suplex, executing her pin attempt with a knee driven into Chigusa's shoulder. Chigusa eventually managed to make the tag to Lioness, leading to a brief moment where the Crush Gals seemed poised to dismantle them. However, the JB Angels had other plans. Yamazaki avoided Lioness's diving elbow, and Tateno bailed out. Crush Gals tried to rough them up outside, but Lioness kicked the ringpost. The JB Angels tried to keep the Crush Gals out for a count out win, with the crowd going berserk, but they weren't successful. When the Crush Gals returned, the JB Angels rammed them into each other. Lioness came back, and Chigusa entered with a flying knee. Chigusa and Yamazaki fought for each others back and exchanged German Suplexes. Yamazaki took to the air with a missile dropkick, and Chigusa came back at her with a Northern Light's suplex. Tateno entered the fray, assisting with a lariat. Lioness got the tag in, but was cut off immediately, and Tateno dove off the top with a clothesline. She wanted to slow it down and work over Lioness's knee, but they should have stuck with the faster paced stuff, as Lioness took over from that. The Crush Gals then completely shut down the JB Angels. This was brilliant. They hit their spots, and the JB Angels would switch and immediately be pounced on. Tateno managed to blind tag Yamazaki to give them a way back in, and Yamazaki snuck in for a German Suplex. Now the JB Angels were back in the game. Tateno hit a piledriver for a near fall. They hit the double diving headbutts that won them the 1987 match, but Lioness survived it. It all broke down afterwards, and Lioness managed to finish the match with a backdrop suplex on Yamazaki. Another great match between the teams. The JB Angels had more viciousness than last time, which added nicely to the match, and the extended heat section was brilliant. The Crush Gals never dominated the JB Angels this time. They got caught in the Crush Gals onslaught, but worked their own way out of it. The Crush Gals were still the stronger team, so they won in the end. ****1/2

Rundown of all JB Angels vs. Crush Gals matches:

9/1/84: Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka def Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno 7:47 **1/4

1/6/85: Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka def Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno 10:31, 3:21, 3:00 ***1/2

9/8/85: Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno def Chigusa Nagayo & Noriyo Tateno 12:25 **1/2

3/20/86: Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka def Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno 13:00, 2:10, 5:49 ****1/2

9/14/87: Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno def Chigusa Nagayo & Noriyo Tateno 16:34 *****

5/15/88: Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka def Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno 15:07/18:19 ****1/2

7/14/88 JWP: Devil Masami vs. Shinobu Kandori 31:27. Zenjo put Devil Masami out to pasture at the end of 1987, so she joined up with JWP to continue her wrestling career. Since Chigusa Nagayo's push for a match with Kandori in All Japan Women was vetoed by the Matsunaga's, Devil took her idea and used it herself, except the match would be in JWP. Kandori's gameplan early was to get Devil's arm, but she never got it for long, while the veteran had counters to most everything. She would try to strike or match power with Devil, but when she found success it was by being more clever and using her superior mat skills. When Devil blocked a brainbuster, Kandori took her down and worked leg submissions. The leg submissions worked to damage Devil, so she responded by baiting Kandori into a striking war, which Kandori had no chance in. Devil regained control with a run culminating in a powerbomb. Afterwards, Kandori caught a dropkick to come back. She didn't have the upperhand for long though, as Devil kicked her way back and hit a pair of powerful backbreakers, but when they fought over a brainbuster, Kandori small packaged her for a near fall and hit a tombstone. A German Suplex followed, though it was delivered poorly. Kandori's inexperience showed again, and she got caught with a headbutt out of the corner and a big lariat. Devil went up top and tried a rolling senton, but it failed, as it does 99% of the time, as did Kandori's missile dropkick that followed. What did work for Devil was a superplex from the top rope, which the crowd bought as a big near fall. Devil hit another big lariat, and wound up for a second one, but Kandori evaded it, dumping Devil and hitting a pescado. Devil still wanted to hit something off the top rope, but Kandori wasn't letting it happen, small packaging her off the top tope. Both tried for flash pins, and Devil ended up with a jackknife pin that resulted in a double pinfall draw at around the 22:30. The match was restarted, and they were given 10 more minutes. Devil hit a cradle suplex and Kandori tried to slug with her again, but she can't win that. Devil got the Romero Special on, and kept it on a little longer via hair pulling. The electric chair got a near fall, and then Devil decided to go top again. In a spot that wasn't done particularly well because Kandori was too fast while Devil was climbing too slowly, Kandori eventually dropkicked her down and got into a wild and intense brawl on the outside for a double count out with both covered in blood. They restarted again, and both were going down to blood loss. Masami hit a lariat, but had nothing left. Kandori hit a tombstone, but it didn't get three. The match ended there as a draw. The reality of this match is that it was a veteran dragging a green junior through a long match. Kandori was good on the mat, but outside of that she was iffy. It wasn't a problem that some of her offense looked bad because Devil doesn't sell bad looking offense anyway, it had more to do with some hesitation, and getting lost at times. For the most part, she followed along well though. The match was slow, and meandered along. It was a lot longer than it needed to be, but Devil did her best to stretch the match, always having something new around the corner to keep it interesting. The bloodbath is all this match is known for, but they didn't bleed until the last minute, and the restarts felt tacked on, though it was the most exciting part of the match. ***

7/19/88 All Pacific Title Match: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Noriyo Tateno 12:52 of 18:23. Chigusa's second All Pacific Title defense of 1988, after defeating Bull Nakano on 4/2/88. The early salvos of running attacks went nowhere, so they were quickly onto the mat, and it was good and competitive, Tateno can be known to just sit around in the holds, but they worked for positions. She wasn't afraid to bend the rules, knowing Chigusa was stronger than her there, resorting to biting. Chigusa used running spots to make it easier on the mat, but when Tateno had the chance, she went in for the kill. Chigusa worked on Tateno's leg. Tateno repeatedly kicked her in the head to break a leglock, but Chigusa was stubborn and hung on. She'd upset Chigusa, who changed her game plan to get revenge with her own kicks, and hers did a lot more damage than Tateno's. Chigusa got a near fall with a leg lariat from the top rope. Tateno came back, blocking another leg lariat and hitting a two Germans. She wanted a third, but Chigusa put her in a sleeper, and Tateno made the ropes with Yamazaki pouring water on her neck to wake her up. It must have worked because Tateno countered Chigusa's German Suplex and looked to go on a burst, but Chigusa was too clever. She got the sleeper on again, and there was no escape for Tateno this time. The work here was really good even if it was quite a basic Chigusa match, and the conclusion was never really in doubt. You couldn't really buy Tateno as a threat to her. ***1/2

8/6/88: Etsuko Mita & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda 12:31. This did take place on the 8/6/88 show, but this was not on the TV taping from that event. This was shown later on a rookies special. These four were still all in their rookie year. None of them were bad. They were all decent for their experience level. The best one by miles from a technical standpoint was Yamada. Mita was second best. Shimoda was all over the place, some things would look good, others didn't, and her timing was off. Toyota was a bit of a train wreck. She was a fun rookie. She could do the basics well, but fancied herself as mini-Yamazaki and she tried to do too much. It was rough. The match itself was fine. There wasn't much to it. They were just running around doing basic spots and holds, as you'd expect. This was the hold down rules, and it wasn't surprising that the strongest rookie in the class defeated the weakest in the match with Yamada pinning Shimoda. This isn't anything that should make a ‘best of' list, I'm including it here more as a curiosity, as this is the most fleshed out rookie match that exists with these girls. **1/2

8/6/88: Mitsuko Nishiwaki & Yumiko Hotta vs. Noriyo Tateno & Itsuki Yamazaki 9:47 of 14:21. This was a rematch from 4/2/88. After being defeated there, the Fire Jets (or FIER JETS if we were to judge by Hotta's swimsuit) were a little more aggressive this time, starting with cheap shots to get them an advantage to start. The problem for them was that the JB Angels can do the same, and they're still more skilled. Yamazaki and Tateno had answers for the Fire Jets, but the Fire Jets found success through double teams. This went in the similar fashion to their April match, but the work was better this time, particularly from the Fire Jets. Once they got control and maintained it they worked over Yamazaki's leg. Tateno made the fired up comeback off the hot tag, but Yamazaki missed a diving headbutt after receiving the tag. Yamazaki's knee was still bad, so Nishiwaki desperately hammered her knee when she was trying to get to the corner and kept her in the ring. Hotta dropped an elbow from the top and looked to put Yamazaki away, but Tateno intervened. Tateno took over briefly, but was countered by Hotta, who turned her body attack into a slam. Fire Jets tried another double team, but Tateno thwarted it. Yamazaki got kicked off the top rope, and they all fought out resulting in a count out. ***1/4

8/25/88 2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Title Match: Yumiko Hotta & Mitsuko Nishiwaki vs. Yumi Ogura & Mika Komatsu 4:55, 3:48, 4:58. Nagahori retired in May, leaving Ogura without a partner. Nagatomo retired in 1987, leaving Komatsu without a partner. So, now we have a new tag team, and they were just in Stampede, so they called them the Calgary Typhoons. They cut straight into the match, with the Typhoons destroying the Fire Jets on the outside before the introductions. Maybe Ogura finally got mad about her teeth being knocked out by Hotta. They went after Hotta's knee in the first fall, giving it a good working over, and she did an injury angle on the outside. Nishiwaki fought on alone and fired up. Nishiwaki was out of position for one Komatsu's spots, so she just started slapping her to wake her up, but it worked too well because Nishiwaki came back. They had a good little battle, and Hotta made it back to the apron, but Nishiwaki still got pinned with a rana by Komatsu. Ogura was in quickly, and got rid of Nishiwaki with disdain because she wanted to fight Hotta. She went after the leg, but Hotta hit a desperate fallaway slam and got out of there. The rest of the fall was all action, plenty of spots and pin attempts. Komatsu tried to assist Ogura with a double team on Nishiwaki, but it backfired, leading to the Fire Jets getting the fall back. Hotta tried to end things quickly in the third fall, coming in with a bunch of suplexes. Unfortunately, none of them looked any good, and Nishiwaki came in with a diving body press. Ogura got out of a fireman's throw and took over. All of the intensity and urgency the match had seemed to evaporate after this though, with Ogura just going at 1/4 speed for some reason. Hotta made the comeback, and slowly climbed up top, but got superplexed, which gave Ogura the win. This was short (like every other TV match), but it was really good stuff until they lost the plot for some reason. Unfortunately, the second fall had some glitches in the footage, so that doesn't make it easy to watch either. ***1/4

8/25/88 WWWA World Single Title: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Lioness Asuka 24:58. This match marked Lioness's fourth challenge for the red belt, and it came about due to an unconventional rule in the Japan Grand Prix. Unlike previous years where the winner earned a title shot, this time, the victor earned the right to face Lioness for top contendership. Bull Nakano emerged as the JGP winner (with no footage of the final available), and Lioness faced and defeated her. The number of streamers thrown in the intro really has to be seen to be believed. Lioness wasted no time going for the kill, executing a moonsault within the first minute. When a Dragon Sleeper followed, Chigusa managed to scramble to safety. Despite catching a desperate enzuigiri, Lioness's momentum was only momentarily slowed. Chigusa capitalized on a break and a restart, suplexing Lioness out of a test of strength. Chigusa then controlled the mat, primarily using a sleeper, but Lioness managed to reach the ropes when the hold was applied properly. Lioness fought back, attempting suplexes and unleashing kicks in the corner. She applied her own sleeper and a wakigatame to soften Chigusa's arm. Chigusa responded with a leg lariat, a series of kicks, and a German Suplex before reverting to the sleeper. A moonsault attempt by Chigusa was avoided, leading to Lioness executing a Giant Swing and a missile dropkick. Chigusa got out of a brainbuster attempt, and went back to the sleeper. She went up again, but Lioness dragged her down and put her in a Dragon Sleeper. Chigusa made the ropes, but Lioness pulled her back into the middle. A tombstone was reversed, and Chigusa got one. Chigusa goes up again, but got kicked off the top and landed outside, seriously injuring her shoulder in the process. Chigusa tried to fight on afterward, but there was nothing she could do with one arm. She managed a kick, and tried to fight, but Lioness destroyed her. Chigusa could do certain things like kick, a crab, she even managed a German Suplex, but the match was called off because she couldn't continue. Lioness was awarded the WWWA World Single Title, the thing she'd longed for the most, but she refused to accept it because of the injury. It was slower and smarter than their previous matches, largely building around chokes. Chigusa's fight at the end with the arm injury certainly added to things. ****

10/10/88 Tag League The Best '88 Semifinal: Hisako Uno & Mika Suzuki vs. Bull Nakano & Dynamite Jack 12:55. This was Smurf Nakano with the blue facepaint on. She had taken over the role of Dump, and not with any great deal of success. I liked her approach, she had a maniacal intensity that was more edgy than Dumps, but there was only one Dump, and Bull was no replacement for her. Bull needed to be her own thing, but that didn't happen until 1990. This match was ridiculous though, and the only time she really achieved proper Dump carnage. Bull and Jack just destroyed the Marine Wolves on the outside with weapons at the start. A wrestling match broke out in the ring, and it was pretty decent, although it was all heel domination on Suzuki. Eventually, Jack put her in the corner, and Bull stabbed Suzuki in the head with scissors until she bled. Uno tried to help her, and got the same treatment. Jack stomped all over Suzuki's hands and bit at the cut. Uno decided to take matters into her owns hands, dragging Suzuki's corpse to the corner so she could tag herself in, but Jack wasn't having that, and just got rid of Uno and dragged Suzuki back in. Suzuki endured guillotine legdrops from both heels, prompting Uno to rush into the ring with a shinai to fend them off. They went for Jacks mask, and successfully unmasked her, revealing Crane Yu. The unmasking would go into the pile of unmaskings no one cared about, but it was cool within this match. It was chaos after this, but Suzuki continued to be on the receiving end of the assault. She was bleeding so much that Crane was covered in blood herself. Bull tried to choke out Uno with nunchakus while Crane teed off on Suzuki with a chain. Marine Wolves made a fired up comeback, but it was only worth one dropkick, which was no sold. The heels continued killing them after that. Uno got thrown into referee Bob Yazawa, and then the Marine Wolves used him to take a sandwich lariat from the heels. That was enough to earn the disqualification victory, as Yazawa threw the match out, and awarded it to them. 200 IQ tactic from the Marine Wolves. Dumb finish, but there was no conceivable way they could have won in any way other than a DQ. This was by no means a great match, but it was an intense and savage, and more memorable than just about anything else all year. ***1/2

10/10/88 Tag League The Best '88 Final: Yumiko Hotta & Mitsuko Nishiwaki vs. Hisako Uno & Mika Suzuki 11:59. After being destroyed earlier, The Marine Wolves still had to compete in the finals. Uno started it off as you'd expect, but got worked after Nishiwaki tagged in. She got worked over a while, but came back to tag in Suzuki. Suzuki was worked over as well, but Uno built some momentum with a series of dropkicks when the got the tag back in. Uno stretched Hotta, and then tagged Suzuki. She managed to prevent Hotta's tag and hit a piledriver. Uno came back in, but Nishiwaki double teamed her to put the Fire Jets back in control. Nishiwaki executed a powerbomb, and then Uno quickly tagged. Suzuki came in and reversed an Irish Whip to hit a pair of backbreakers on Nishiwaki and then a German Suplex, but she removed her bandage and tagged out so she could get a new one put on. Uno continued on, hitting a German suplex and a brainbuster. Applying a crab, Uno faced interference from Hotta, who kicked her head off. Nishiwaki executed a German suplex, and Uno bridged out. Hotta intervened with a Jumbo Suplex. Another suplex failed to get her the win, so they tried a double team, with Nishiwaki missing a dive off the top. A Marine Wolves double team hit with Suzuki delivering a kick from the top rope. Uno came off the top rope with her somersault dive for what I believe was the first time, and picked up the win. This certainly wasn't up to the standards of previous tag league finals, it wasn't even 2/3 falls anymore, but it was solid match, and brought the Marine Wolves story of the night home. **3/4

12/11/88 All Japan Junior Title Decision Match: Reibun Amada vs. Manami Toyota 6:16. This was a fired up wild junior match. They laid into each other, exchanged trips, didn't want to give up anything on the mat. Toyota threw out a bunch of dropkicks before Amada could slow her down. She tried to work the leg, but Toyota wasn't going for it. She did give her a brief junior stretching, and then hit some shoulder attacks, but Toyota just floated over and went back on offense, hitting the Yamazaki flying crosschops, and followed that with a really nice diving body press. Amada avoided her next running attack, and they fought outside. Amada roughed her up, and Toyota came up a bloody mess. Toyota tried another flying body press in the ring, while Amada hit some power moves in her attempts to win. Amada hit backdrop suplex. Toyota bridged out of the pin a couple of times, but Amada eventually won with it. This was highly entertaining juniors action. ***

1. Chigusa Nagayo. Like in 1987, Chigusa dominated again, the match quality was low, but Chigusa was in 4 of the top 5 matches. She couldn't have done any more than that.

2. Lioness Asuka. Lioness was in the two best matches of the year, but I wish she had more longer singles match in 1988. Her wrestling seemed to be a little smarter than in previous years, but there's not much to do when the matches were usually clipped down to 6 minutes.

3. Noriyo Tateno. The JB Angels were the best tag team of the year since the Crush Gals barely teamed up. Tateno edges out Yamazaki because of the singles match with Chigusa.

4 Itsuki Yamazaki, Yamazaki always had more talent than Tateno, but they were roughly equal contibuters in the 1988 tags. It's just a case of fine margins. Tateno had a really good match with Chigusa, Yamazaki's singles match in October with Lioness (which Yamazaki surprisingly won) was disappointing.

5. Bull Nakano. The league wanted Bull to be the new Dump Matsumoto. It mostly didn't work, but I found her unhinged version of the gimmick to be entertaining enough. She had a few good matches, and that was just enough for her beat out the Fire Jets for #5.

1. 5/15/88 Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka vs. Noriyo Tateno & Itsuki Yamazaki ****1/2

2. 8/25/88 WWWA World Single Title: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Lioness Asuka ****

3. All Pacific Title Match: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Noriyo Tateno ***1/2

4. Tag League The Best '88 Semifinal: Hisako Uno & Mika Suzuki vs. Bull Nakano & Dynamite Jack ***1/2

5. 1/5/88 WWWA World Single Title Match: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Yukari Omori ***1/2

Kyoko Inoue

Takako Inoue

Mariko Yoshida

Mayo Obata

Eiko Waki

Sumiyo Toyama