Kaoru Ito & Miori Kamiya vs. Etsuko Mita & Shiho Nakamigawa 7:54. Some people might know Shiho Nakamigawa as Shiho Tsubaki from her comeback to joshi puroresu when she started appearing in Kaientai Dojo. Her run during the early 1990s was extremely short. Other than a random appearance at a W*ING show, this is the only time we see her wrestle in 1992. She’s one of those rookies that didn’t make it in AJW. Her work seemed fine for a rookie, but she was tiny and lacked the tenacity required to stay in AJW, arguably the best pro wrestling league in the world at that time. Miori Kamiya’s execution wasn’t consistently good, but she seemed smooth enough in her sequences. Kaoru Ito was the one who stood out most here. In spite of also being quite tiny, she actually did have the tenacity you want to see from a rookie who is trying to prove herself. In spite of her lack of actually impressive moves, Etsuko Mita showed a lot of focus and was clearly another promising worker. Mita and Kamiya were the most experienced workers in this match, with 4 and 5 years experience respectively. That sounds like a lot by today’s standards perhaps, but back then, you really had to work your way up and learn the basic mechanics of how to work a match properly before you’d get a push. This match wasn’t going to win the match of the day obviously, but it was quite good for an opening match featuring relatively inexperienced undercard workers. Ito pinned Nakamigawa. Okay match. ** 

AJW Junior Title: Yuki Lee vs. Akemi Torisu 3:23 of 10:00. The good thing about this match was the struggle shown. However, it was two kinds of struggle. First, the struggle you want to see in a competitive contest. There was some of that. Unfortunately, also the struggle of presenting anything that resembles an enjoyable pro wrestling match. It was like the blind leading the blind. Yuki Lee was the better of the two, but I can see why she didn’t make it in AJW. She ended up making a relatively successful comeback to joshi puroresu in Jd’ in 1995, though. Her execution here in 1992 was ungraceful and lacked fire. Akemi Torisu was probably the worst worker in AJW in 1992. She was heavy and slow. Her execution looked horrendous. AJW was generous and willing to give her some time to try to improve due to her karate background, but she was just too bad as a pro wrestler.  Thankfully, they edited the hell out of this match. Still, in edited form, they couldn’t hide how bad this was. Terrible match. ¾* 

Suzuka Minami & Yumiko Hotta vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Bat Yoshinaga 10:38. The awesome tag team of Suzuka Minami & Yumiko Hotta is one I can’t get enough of. They worked together so well, and they were two of the most effective workers on the roster. Tomoka Watanabe proved that she had what it took to make it by taking the beating she received so well. Bat Yoshinaga was a less promising version of Watanabe, and Watanabe definitely improved once she got rid of the Bat Yoshinaga II gimmick she had here. Yoshinaga was not bad and threw some good martial arts kicks, but it feels like the opponents always had to try to work around her instead of her being an actual useful member of the roster who delivered the goods. This ended up being an easy win for Minami & Hotta, and deservingly so. Decent match. **½  

Akira Hokuto vs. Takako Inoue 6:17. Akira Hokuto showed a tremendous amount of intensity and excellent execution. Takako Inoue sold and moved well. It was a really smoothly worked match. The only reason this was disappointing was that it was a short match designed to put Hokuto over. This was fair, however, since AJW felt that Takako wasn’t ready for a bigger push yet. Hokuto looked like one of the best workers in the world. Takako looked like a promising up-and-coming star. Yes, this was short, but the execution and work in general was so good that it deserves a mild recommendation. After this show, Hokuto would go to Mexico for a CMLL tour in April. She would return to Korakuen Hall on 5/24/92. Good match. *** 

Kazue Saito retirement ceremony. A weeping Kazue Saito got a brief retirement ceremony. She was quite likeable, but she was one of those struggling rookies who didn’t show enough progress in her work.

Mima Shimoda & Mariko Yoshida vs. Sakie Hasegawa & Debbie Malenko 23:15. Mariko Yoshida did some good lucha and some good grappling early on against Debbie Malenko. Debbie showed some resistance and showed that she was capable of hanging in there while being an active member of the match. In spite of being the only gaijin in the match, and really the only good American women’s wrestler at the time, she showed that she had what it takes to compete at this level. Yoshida botched a move that looked like it was going to be spectacular, but Hasegawa quickly followed-up to reduce the embarrassment level. This wasn’t the smoothest match, but the way everyone reacted in the moment made it still work in the end. What particularly helped keep this match from being a failure was the act that there was a constant display of struggle and constant movement. There was always someone wanting to keep things going and wanting to keep wearing out the opposition. Yoshida & Shimoda each did the tiger feint, but it looked more cute than like they were actually going for a dive. Yoshida & Shimoda definitely were the more effective team here. It was nice that they were given so much time, but it feels like they should have cut a few minutes off here and perhaps should have given it to the short Hokuto match, because they seemed to struggle to keep the momentum going during the middle portion of this tag match. During the middle portion, it feels they are just going on for the sake of it without any real determination or direction. It’s not like the will and effort wasn’t there, it was just that they all seemed to have one of those days where things didn’t go as well as they wanted. Hasegawa pinned Yoshida to win the match. All in all, this was surprisingly not a good match. Okay match. **¼ 

Bull Nakano vs. Kyoko Inoue 24:16. Bull Nakano was dominating the early portions of the match by really wearing Kyoko Inoue down. Kyoko would be able to fight back, and always showed a will to survive. It was a moderately slow match, but there was always something happening that seemed to have the purpose of further lessening the chances of the opponent winning. They were constantly switching up holds and trying to outdo each other in  terms of coming up with ways to be in control. The impact they were going for seemed that of the kind that would have a bit more lasting impact rather than flashy quick moves. That means the match was definitely not as exciting as it could have been if it was faster, but they way they did things in a purposeful way made up for it. And the selling was quite good as well. The difficulty level was relatively low, but at least what they did was done well enough to make things work. Especially considering that this was a long match, they deserve credit for what they did. That being said, it wasn’t lively enough to warrant more than a mild recommendation. Good match. ***¼ 

WWWA Tag Tam Title vs. UWA World Women’s Tag Team Title: Bison Kimura & Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada 37:13 (11:13, 10:01, 15:59). This was a two out of three falls match to unify two titles. The pace was high from the start. It was good to see a motivated and effective Aja Kong here. Jungle Jack (Aja & Bison) was a solid tag team, but it seemed like they lacked the ability to keep longer segments of dominance interesting. Bison Kimura was a really good worker, but it feels her style was slightly outdated by this point. Manami Toyota was phenomenal, and she was born to be in matches like this one. Toyota has been getting a bad rep lately, but I feel that she did an excellent job during her control segments and an excellent job backing up her tag team partner in this high-profile tag team contest. Toyota was also particularly strong during the flashy counter moments, as her speed and execution literally wowed the crowd. Toshiyo Yamada continued to shine bright as one of the best pro wrestlers in the world at that time. Her kicks were superbly executed, and her speed and agility all added quality to this match. Toyota pinned Bison to win the first fall. This was a very well-executed fall, as it featured really good pro wrestling and really made the viewer wish for more. Jungle Jack changed things up at the start of the second fall, as they went overboard with a violent attack that saw them beat the crap out of their opponents during a brawl in the crowd. Aja was particularly eager to use any object she could get her hands on. I preferred what they were doing earlier on in the ring, but it was admittedly interesting to see them switch things up and add some wild variety to this already heated match. Plus, the act of violence gave them an excuse for Jungle Jack pretty much dominating the second fall in a vengeful manner. Toyota and Yamada sold really well, and their superb selling made Jungle Jack’s attack even more impactful. Once Jungle Jack cooled down a bit, the match returned to a wrestling match contested in the ring. Aja’s tapatia on Toyota looked cool. The second fall wasn’t completely one-sided, but it told the clear story of an enraged Jungle Jack set out for revenge. And they were indeed able to score the equalizing pinfall when Aja pinned Yamada with a Liger Bomb off the second rope. The third fall was slightly longer than the first two, which emphasized that both teams refused to give up and were giving it their all in this big title unification match. The third fall also told the story of fatigue setting in, as both teams had been trying so hard to destroy the other in the previous two falls. Things were now evened out, and with the match now fairly contested in the ring, Jungle Jack didn’t necessarily have an advantage anymore, as Toyota & Yamada were more than capable of outwrestling their physically stronger opposition. While it was realistic and understandable that the longer third fall initially had a bit less action and slower-paced action (compared to the first two falls, at least), it also meant that the match started to feel slightly anticlimactic, at least temporarily. We also once again saw more control segments by Jungle Jack, which once again showed their issues with trying to keep their control segments interesting. Things picked up again once Toyota & Yamada decided it was time to go all out and go all or nothing during the final minutes, risking it all. This was emphasized by their willingness to use high-risk moves. Overall, this was a well-executed match that told a great story. Apart from the few down periods, this was intriguing from start to finish. The satisfying finish saw Yamada pin Aja, which was a moment worth watching this all the way. Excellent match. ****¼

Show rating: 7.0/10.0. Very good show.

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