Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Miori Kamiya & Chikako Hasegawa 11:00. Serviceable opening match. Chikako, the rookie, couldn't do anything and just got worked over. It was competitive when Kamiya was in. Kamiya and Mita were the best ones in the match, and worked decently together. Shimoda was struggling a bit with her neckbreaker drops due a hurt shoulder, but aside from that, execution throughout was fine. Mita pinned Kamiya with a Northern Light's Suplex, even though Kamiya kicked out at two. **

Tag League The Best '92: Takako Inoue & Terri Powers vs. Suzuka Minami & Yumiko Hotta 16:07. This was supposed to be Yoshida, but she was injured, so Terri took her place in the tag league. Terri and Takako didn't work as a team at all, they're too different and green. Takako got punted around and worked over, and took her beatings well enough. Hotta had someone to kick around, and she was winning, so she was happy enough. Minami was just there, but she's always solid even when she's not motivated. Terri was her usual wooden self. She could skin the cat, but she couldn't do basic power moves properly, such as lariats and suplexes. The match got better when Takako got to take it the veterans towards the end. Her work wasn't great, but it was fun, and she even managed a convincing near fall before she got slaughtered at the end with Hotta pinning her with a backdrop superplex. **

Eriko Tsuchiya & Yoshika Maedomari vs. Debbie Malenko & Sakie Hasegawa 18:58. This was supposed to be a Tag League The Best match, but since the FMW team dropped out, it was billed as a tag league revenge match. Aja made some comments accusing Tsuchiya and Maedomari of being too scared to face All Japan Women as their reason for dropping out of the league, which added more fuel to the rocky Zenjo/FMW relationship. Shark returned from injury early to do this match after All Japan Women agreed to send Malenko & Hasegawa to FMW to return the favor the next day. Tsuchiya was taped up like a mummy, and made her excuse for losing in the pre-match promo, pretty much giving it away. Just to cap it off, Maedomari's knee was taped up as well. This one was pretty awful. Someone told Sakie to not give them a thing, and she was very uncooperative here. It made for as many awkward moments as good ones, but it was entertaining; she didn't even want to give up an Irish Whip to these fools. It wasn't Malenko's best day. She struggled. She went for submissions on Tsuchiya's bad arm, and Maedomari's bad knee, which there was nothing wrong with, but it was pointless, and Tsuchiya couldn't get the timing down on her moves. Tsuchiya and Maedomari were typically awful, and were completely gassed out. They tried to do a hot finish, but they weren't up to that. Sakie ended up beating Maedomari with a backdrop suplex, and as you'd expect, Maedomari made sure to kick out before the three count. Maedomari made sure to point out Tsuchiya's injury was the only reason they lost after the match, then made the challenge for the following day, as if Shark would be 100% by then. *1/2

In lieu of the awful Bat Yoshinaga vs. Kyoko Kamikaze martial arts fight, let's have a look at the 11/27 rematch.

11/27/92 FMW: Eriko Tsuchiya & Yoshika Maedomari vs. Debbie Malenko & Sakie Hasegawa 12:00. Like the previous night, Debbie and Sakie focused on the injuries of Tsuchiya and Maedomari. Tsuchiya must have been actually hurting because she was selling. Sakie was as uncooperative as she was on the previous show, which made watching her fun. The match was mostly just a submission based wrestling match with some breakdowns in between. It was more boring than it was bad, and it lacked the comedic value of those two FMW idiots gassing out. There was no chaotic brawling like we saw when Tsuchiya and Maedomari worked the Zenjo shows. There was a short brawl before the finish, but that was about it. At at the 10 minute mark, Maedomari picked Sakie up and did her double arm facebuster. Sakie went down head first, and didn't move for a while after that. It seemed like she received a stinger and was pretty shaken up, but she did recover to finish the match. It looked more like clumsiness than maliciousness. She took a double backdrop suplex on her neck afterwards, but that wasn't so out of the ordinary. After a brawl on the outside, Maedomari finished it with a chokeslam. Due to the headdrop, Sakie refused to work with FMW again, and it seemed to put an end to the FMW/Zenjo relationship for a little while, but the Matsunaga's always wanted them involved in Dream Slam, so they would find a way to make it work. *1/4

All Japan Title Match: Tomoko Watanabe vs. Kaoru Ito 16:34. This wasn't too good while Watanabe was in control. She did the usual junior matwork and couldn't execute her slingshot moves at all. They threw in some brawling outside in amongst it. It got really good in the second half once Ito took over, and it turned into an exciting match with lots of hot near falls in the home stretch. Watanabe was much better in the second half as well. Ito ended up winning her first title with a footstomp, and wouldn't be the last time a Jungle Jack member defeated a Gukomon-To member to win a title today. This match showed they both had potential, though Ito was clearly the one capable of having good matches now, while Watanabe wasn't there yet. **3/4

Bison Kimura retirement ceremony. It was a shame that on the night of the generational change, with the interpromotional boom which she played a major role in bringing to fruition about to kick off, that she wouldn't be a part of it. Not only did she deserve to be, she could have added a lot to it. She returned two years later, after the boom ended, and while she still did some good work in her comeback years, it was never the same. Aja wasn't quite letting her quit yet though, and asked her to be in her corner for her match with Bull Nakano later.

All Pacific Title Match: Kyoko Inoue vs. Akira Hokuto 22:18. In their 1/4 match, they started out with such urgency they couldn't recapture it. Here, they opted for a slower pace, methodically executing their moves. Initially, they were in each other's faces, with Kyoko shoving Hokuto into the corner and delivering a slap, prompting Hokuto to respond with a German Suplex. Kyoko retreated momentarily before returning with a 33-rotation Giant Swing, which saw Hokuto bail to regroup as well. While Kyoko attempted to dominate Hokuto on the mat, Hokuto countered her usual holds with pinning attempts, making Kyoko work for her eventual control. Hokuto was always looking for openings. Kyoko Irish Whipped her, which she used to try a baseball slide, but here Kyoko had an answer of her own, which was as simple as stomping her in the face. Kyoko was too predictable, simply kicking Hokuto until Kyoko grabbed the leg. Hokuto worked over Kyoko in response. Despite being relatively even on offense, Hokuto appeared far more dominant. She was more vicious, and her holds had a little more on them. She'd throw out her nasty jumping piledrivers. At one point to gain the advantage, she frantically kicked Kyoko repeatedly in the face. Hokuto just never held back, if there was an opportunity, she would try to pounce on it. Kyoko attempted a comeback by ascending the ropes, but Hokuto knocked her off and followed up with a plancha. Kyoko struggled her way back up to the apron, so Hokuto dropkicked her off and hit her somersault plancha. Kyoko struggled her way back for the second time. Hokuto waited on the top, forcing Kyoko's only way in to gently roll underneath the bottom rope. Hokuto followed with a missile dropkick when she made it to her feet. Although she appeared half-dead, Kyoko rolled through a flying body press. The final portion continued building on all of their countering and answering each other, with thrilling near falls and teases. Kyoko had worked herself back in and built up to her Niagara Driver, but Hokuto answered that, dropping her into a pin attempt. Then she countered Kyoko's springboard elbow attack with a dropkick. Kyoko was able to answer the Northern Light's Bomb with a roll up that resulted in an incredible near fall. Hokuto hit a German Suplex and then hit knees on a diving body press, then in turn, did the same to Kyoko when she tried her run up elbow, which looked devastating, and turned out be the killing blow. Hokuto didn't win with it, but she was easily able to hit the Northern Light's Bomb and win the All Pacific Title. A tremendous performance from both, with impeccable pacing, selling, and execution. Hokuto was a class above, just adding a little extra onto her holds and milking Kyoko's pin attempts to make you think Kyoko got her. A real classic capped off with one of a brilliant finishing run that brought together everything they were building. ****3/4

Hokuto had just wrestled the best women's singles match of the year and she wasn't done yet. The Matsunaga brothers aimed to involve all women's leagues in the interpromotional rivalry. While they had secured participation from JWP and FMW, LLPW had yet to sign on. LLPW declined involvement in this event, and were only considering participation for Yokohama in April. Invitations were extended to Rumi Kazama, Shinobu Kandori and Harley Saito to attend this event as spectators, which they accepted, and the trap was set. Hokuto took the opportunity in the post-match to grab the microphone and call out Kandori, trash talking and challenging her to fight. The wrestling media ran with it, and overnight, it became the biggest story in women's wrestling. LLPW had no choice but to accept, or look like cowards, so they were locked in.

WWWA World Title Match: Bull Nakano vs. Aja Kong 20:20. The final battle of these two monsters after a two year war. Aja had come a long way. She knew she let the opportunity slip in April. Bull knows she was fortunate to still be the champion, and she knew she wouldn't be so lucky next time. This was ‘next time'. Bull opened faster than she ever had before, with a jumping lariat and quick strikes to take Aja by surprise. A diving lariat missed though, and Aja ran through her twice. Aja pounded Bull until Bull nailed her with a lariat. Bull took control for a quite a while on the mat. One interesting aspect of the match is how they struggled to apply holds and found it challenging to even lift each other, with Bull just getting Aja up, and the moves not hitting cleanly. After a brawl outside, Bull tried a sunset flip from the top, which didn't come off. and Aja came back. Where Bull had to struggle, Aja had an easier time of it. It wasn't one of Aja's better beatings, even the brawl on the outside wasn't to her usual standards, though Bull put it over strongly. The final five minutes make the match though. Bull tried a guillotine legdrop and missed, then Aja started paying tribute to her Jungle Jack members. She pointed to Kamiya and gave Bull the heart punch, then pointed to Ito and used her footstomps. Perhaps she got too arrogant in calling her shots, as Bull came back with a lariat. Bull wasn't playing around, and after hitting a bicycle kick which saw Aja bail outside, she launched into her with a tope. Bull hit the guillotine, but Aja kicked out. She hit the somersault version, and Aja kicked out of that too, just like in their last match. She needed to hit the moonsault, but Aja avoided it. Aja hit three urakens, and Bull was struggling up looking in agony each time, but she survived. Aja pointed to Bison and delivered two Bison chops. Her final tribute was to Bull herself, finishing her off with her own guillotine legdrop. This wasn't a great match like their April match, but it was certainly a very good heavyweight battle with strong psychology, and the ending, not just of the match, but the rivalry was excellent. They got it right, Aja kicked out of everything she kicked out of in April, but she learned and avoided the move she couldn't kick out of. Had she kicked out of the moonsault, it would have been too over the top. Bull had survived Aja's offense before, and did here too, so tributes to Jungle Jack were not only a cool thing to do, but Aja needed something new, ultimately that something was Bull's very own move. The post-match, that's just one of the great moments, with the monsters finally embracing for real and letting it all out. They hated each other. They settled their differences, and now they can respect each other. Having Bison there only made it even better. ****

2/3 Falls, WWWA World Tag Title Match: Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki 14:38, 1:44, 24:00. The first real rivalry match carried an atmosphere beyond comparison. Eriko Tsuchiya & Yoshika Maedomari of FMW had turned the whole thing into a circus. While they created an element of danger, they couldn't back it up in the ring. Of course, no one expected them to, and traditional wrestling fans had little respect for FMW anyway. Expectations were vastly different for these four. The pressure was on them to deliver nothing short of a classic that would capture the minds of the spectators. Additionally, Ozaki and Kansai themselves faced added pressure as they defended their relatively unknown upstart, JWP, and had to legitimize themselves to an audience, most of whom had never seen them before. Everyone was amped up for this, and the start was incredible. Yamada and Kansai were the right pair to start the match. They exchanged stiff kicks and strikes, setting a tone of intensity from the outset. An Irish Whip went awry, but Kansai covered it in the best way possible: by clobbering Yamada immediately. Instances like this occurred throughout the match, and instead of any of them being a negative, they added to the match by making things feel uncooperative and more legitimate. When Ozaki and Toyota faced off for the first time, Toyota delivered the most devastating dropkick of her career. It was brutal and it knocked Ozaki out momentarily. This all happened in the first 90 seconds. From there, things slowed down as Toyota got worked with submissions. Toyota played the face in peril for much of the first fall. A lot of basic submissions were used to go with the occasional burst, but it never felt slow-paced because they never stayed in one hold for long. Partners would run in, and they'd crank up on the holds more. It took only 8 minutes for the crowd to fall in love with Ozaki and chant for her; one of the match goals was complete at this point. But they didn't want to babyface themselves, so they continued working over Toyota, slowing the match down until the crowd chanted for her, and then gave her the comeback. While Toyota wasn't posing too much of a problem, Yamada was. Each time, she would come in for a burst and dish out some heavy damage. They got the chance to double-team her when Kansai knocked Toyota off the top turnbuckle to take her out. They moved into an urgent finishing run after that. They were ahead and left Toyota and Yamada playing catch-up. They were able to save and get offense, but not enough of it. Toyota ended up missing a moonsault and getting slaughtered with a lariat from Kansai. Ozaki was tied up with Yamada, but when she broke free, she hit Toyota with a missile kick to the back of the head, and Kansai put her through the mat with a Splash Mountain to claim the first fall. Not only had they taken a 1-0 lead, but they made it look easy. Kansai thought she could finish Toyota off quickly in the second fall, but it backfired. Yamada went on the run she was trying to in the first fall, and put away Kansai with her Reverse Gory Special Bomb in a short time. The third fall had a bit of everything. Toyota had been quiet through the first two falls, but came into the match here. She hit her dropkick spam, some of her flashier submissions, which fit better by this point in the match than they would have early, and she even made sure to get in her rolling cradle later. Ozaki was having the match of her life, from both the apron and in the ring. Her nasty submissions were on show, and she was stomping away, smashing fingers, keeping the crowd reactions under control; when Toyota ran in to assist Yamada, she got booed, so Ozaki came in straight after, shifted the heat back and getting the crowd to chant for Yamada. Kansai had given Yamada a big working over with kicks and suplexes, even an assault outside with a chair, which later led to Yamada giving up the advantage on Ozaki in order to get revenge on Kansai. This resulted in the best exchange of the match. An unforgettable exchange of kicks, as intense as you'll ever see. Kansai won initially, but Yamada came back with a leg sweep off an Irish Whip and gave it all back to her. The toll of the match was high, and it was becoming harder to execute. Both teams needed to push for the end, and that played into Toyota and Yamada's hands. Kansai was hanging on and remaining competitive with both, but she was exhausted and couldn't stop Ozaki from being double-teamed. Toyota and Yamada hit a double diving headbutt. Ozaki survived it, and came back with a German Suplex on Toyota before setting up Yamada for Kansai to take her out with a tope. It backfired though, and Toyota took out both opponents with her quebrada. Ozaki survived a double backdrop and a moonsault, and there was no stopping the Ozaki chants at that point. Ozaki and Kansai had one more chance as Ozaki fought off Yamada. Toyota was isolated, and Kansai set her up for Ozaki, but she missed her twisting body press, and Toyota capitalized with a German Suplex for the final pin while Yamada held off Kansai. The finish is debatable, as Ozaki got her shoulder up on the three count. Whether it was blown or not is anyone's guess, but it left the door open for obvious rematches. The crowd chanted “Zenjo, Zenjo” after the match, but they gave Ozaki and Kansai the respect they deserved. This was actually more like an original JWP match than anything, with the stiff offense, brutal submissions, and the flare of non-cooperation. Ozaki was the biggest contributor. She controlled things, when they got off track, she would get it back. Her apron work, heeling, and working the crowd were masterful. Offensively, Kansai was the standout by far, she was brutal, while Yamada was able to hang with her, together the two were magic. Toyota was the outlier, but she was frantic and her high energy fit in the end. Keeping her relatively quiet until late in the match made her contributions stand out as game changers. All four contributed positively, and what they achieved was nothing short of the greatest women's tag team match of all time. *****

Best Joshi Puroresu Matches YouTube Playlist