1/4/91 AJW WWWA World Title Match: Bull Nakano vs. Akira Hokuto 18:31 of 19:46.
PA: This was the start of Bull's second year as WWWA World Single champion. The first year was about making Bull into the unstoppable monster, the second year was about bringing everyone else up with her, and it started with Akira Hokuto. Hokuto got the jump on Bull and used her speed briefly, but when Bull got hold of her, she took her outside for a thrashing. In the ring, they exchanged lariats, and Hokuto decided to throw a series of slaps to the face, but that only prompted Bull to ramp up the viciousness and deliver a wicked beating. There were some schoolgirls still coming to the shows, and they were cheering on Hokuto. Hokuto had blood trickling from her head, and tried to make a comeback, but Bull cut her off took over on the mat. Hokuto did take over there, as Bull appeared to be relaxing, and relinquished the advantage. Hokuto applied a crab and tried a sleeper. Once she moved into a body scissors, Bull took control back, and worked over the legs and back. When they got back up, Bull went for a lariat, and Hokuto took her down in a wakigatame. Hokuto hit a pair of dropkicks and a piledriver before going back to the sleeper. Bull kicked her way out and hit a pair of suplexes for near falls. Hokuto was showing signs of fire, but Bull was successfully shutting her down. Bull hit a great spot where she walked up the middle of the ropes and hit a plancha to the floor. In the ring, she hit the guillotine legdrop for a big near fall. She tried another, but Hokuto avoided and made the fiery comeback she was working on earlier. She came right back with a tiger suplex, then hit missile dropkicks from all four turnbuckles. That didn't get the job done, Hokuto was too tired to follow up immediately, and Bull hit some offense, but as she ascended up the ropes, Hokuto desperately kicked her outside and hit her somersault dive. Hokuto ascended, but Bull caught her. With Bull perched on the top turnbuckle, Kyoko Inoue assisted Bull in delivering the imfamous tombstone from the second rope, which broke Hokuto's neck in 1987. For Bull to go to such lengths, it showed how much of a threat Hokuto was to her. The referee wouldn't count the fall because of the interference. Hokuto made another comeback dragging Bull down with a superplex and hitting a Northern Light's Bomb. Bull was unbeatable though, and fired back with a backdrop suplex hold to win. It's arguable whether or not this was Bull's best match, but it was almost certainly her best performance. Not the most complex match, they kept it quite simple, and that was for the best. Bull showed great athleticism, paced the match well, and led Hokuto through a great match, slowing her down a lot from what we saw of her in 1990, where the pacing of Hokuto could get quite erratic. Hokuto was terrific as well, showing a lot heart and she became a credible threat. ****1/2

1/6/91 JWP: Mayumi Ozaki & Rumi Kazama vs. Shinobu Kandori & Harley Saito 10:34.
PA: This was all action, stiff work with plenty of vicious kicking. It started hot and ended hot. Kazama got in a lot of offense, and the length of the match suited her. Her kicking battles with Harley were good, and she'd decided to poke the bear early, firing up Kandori by kicking her in the head while she was on the apron. Ozaki was either running in to help Kazama or getting beat on most of the time she was in, but got her chance to shine later, and had some good near falls. ***1/2

1/6/91 JWP UWA International Champion Decision Tournament 1st Round: Miss A vs. Itsuki Yamazaki 16:46.
PA: Yamazaki is an intelligent veteran technician, while A is basically a straight ahead brute. She's extremely dangerous, but predictable enough for a crafty veteran to exploit. Right from the start, A tried to run through Yamazaki, nailing a lariat and dragging her outside, but Yamazaki caught her leg and rammed it into the post. Yamazaki was focused on the leg, and used it to constantly cut off A's attempts to make comebacks and keep control. Yamazaki's attacks to the knee are good, keeping Kansai constantly looking for ways to fight back, but when she does land a blow, it's a devastating one, re-emphasizing how dangerous she is. Yamazaki remained a step ahead and wasn't afraid to get inside A's head either. After Kansai took a breather to regroup, Yamazaki spat water on her, and taunted her to get back in. A obliged and played right into her hands, going for a predictable kick, which Yamazaki caught and once again put her back in her place. There was a nice simple leglock spot where Kansai tried power out of it, so Yamazaki quickly kicked her to put a stop to that and then reapplied it, forcing her to struggle to the ropes. A was finally able to answer Yamazaki, countering a forearm shot and hitting a Northern Light's suplex. She returned the favor with some leg work of her own, and there was another great little spot where A had a figure four on Yamazaki, and Yamazaki was trying to punch her way out of it with A kicking her in response. Little touches like that and Yamazaki getting brief reversals in and elevating herself for added pressure turned the simple spot we see in every match into something really interesting that you didn't want to take your eyes off of. A had Yamazaki in some trouble, and was able to start teeing off with kicks. Yamazaki couldn't do much with A hammering away, but she was able to avoid a corner charge and quickly hit a missile dropkick. Yamazaki went up again and hit her reverse body attack. The diving headbutt was to come next, but A was stirring, so Yamazaki thought better of it, opting to jump down and give her a piledriver first before going back up top to hit the headbutt. Kansai came back with a tombstone piledriver, but missed her diving headbutt. Yamazaki made it up first and charged, but only walked into a crushing lariat and A got the pin with it. The finish could be described as abrupt, but it did an effective job of putting over how dangerous A is. This was a really smart, and well worked match. ****

1/8/91 JWP UWA International Champion Decision Tournament Semi Final: Harley Saito vs. Devil Masami 13:23.
PA: Harley gave the sort of performance you need to against Devil. She got off the fast start before the bulk of the match was Devil methodically working her over, playing to the crowd as much as possible (who were eating it all up), and being completely dominant. Devil does this against most opponents who aren't at the top level, it's a show of arrogance, and its always dependant on how her opponent comes back later. Devil did a good job making the methodical beatdown entertaining. Harley showed fight, making the most of her micro-comebacks. Devil sold and was forced into a more serious frame of mind. Devil ramped up the brutality as it went along, but Harley refused to die. There was a terrific exchange of counters late that resulted in a double down (though, it was supposed to end with Harley's pin attempt but they didn't quite get there). Harley survived Devil's powerbombs and everything else she threw at her and scraped out of the match with a flash pin to move into the finals. ***1/2

1/11/91 AJW All Pacific Title Match: Manami Toyota vs. Akira Hokuto 16:20.
PA: Hokuto had a giant bandage on her right arm, and Toyota targeted it from the outset, hitting a Yamazaki armdrag, stomping at it, then stripping her of the bandage and the brace underneath. She took her time letting Hokuto return to the ring, and then immediately went for the arm. Hokuto screamed and writhed in pain, while Toyota mercilessly stomped away until Hokuto bailed out of the ring again. This was a different Toyota to what we'd seen before, she'd never shown this level of viciousness. Hokuto got her arm taped up, but when she returned, Toyota remained all over the arm. Hokuto snapped a flash pin for a near fall, but Toyota dropkicked her out of the ring straight after, hitting a tope but missing a plancha. Toyota took some damage to her knee, but more important for Hokuto, she got reprieve, and pounced on the opportunity and hit her somersault plancha. Once they returned to the ring, Hokuto jumped on Toyota's injured knee, putting on a nasty crab. After the break, both were wounded and circled each other. Hokuto took Toyota down, and they tussled for each others injured body part, but Hokuto got another submission on. Toyota made the ropes again and hit a double arm suplex and missile dropkick. She wanted a second, but Hokuto met her and hit with a superplex, but with her arm so injured, she didn't get much of it. It wasn't quite enough to break Toyota's run though. Hokuto tried to follow up, but Toyota got back on the arm, seemingly trying to tear it off while Suzuka Minami threatened to throw in the towel to save her old tag team partner. Hokuto fought on and made the ropes. She dramatically powered out, but Toyota was relentless, hitting a piledriver and a moonsault. Toyota hit suplexes and then missed her second moonsault. Hokuto hit her missile dropkick and a German Suplex for big near falls, but she missed her somersault dive, and now she was done. Toyota got back to the arm and Minami had seen enough, throwing in the towel. The only thing really missing was more personality from Toyota as she was tearing up Hokuto's arm to really put it over the top, but it wasn't really something she had in her. On the hand, her focus was tremendous, and instead of going for flashier submissions, she was just trying to stomp and tear Hokuto's arm off, and that's all she needed to. Hokuto's selling made the match incredibly dramatic, and she made great comebacks. This was a significant improvement over their frustrating 8/19/90 match. ****1/4

1/11/91 AJW Hair vs. Hair Tag Team Death Match: Bull Nakano & Kyoko Inoue vs. Aja Kong & Bison Kimura 22:54.
PA: The 11/14/90 cage match settled nothing, and less than two months later, it was time for another significant bout, with even higher stakes. Bull Nakano needed a new tag team partner after Grizzly Iwamoto's retirement, and Kyoko Inoue volunteered. Bull rewarded her with the opportunity after Kyoko looked out for her in the cage match. The match kicked off in chaotic fashion. In fact, the entire bout was chaotic. Aja went after Bull before the formal introductions, resulting in a wild brawl inside and outside the ring, amid a shower of streamers. After the initial frenzy, the match settled down, with Bison delivering her chops to Bull. However, Bull fired back with a lariat, merely irritating Bison. Kyoko found herself outmatched, attempting to fight both Bison and Aja, but falling prey, especially to Aja, who brutalized her with quick strikes. Kyoko got decimated, while Bull looked more than just a little concerned on the apron. Kyoko managed to break free of Bison's sleeper and switched with Bull. Bull started working over Bison until Aja came in with an oil can. Aja nailed Bull multiple times as hard as she could, putting Bull down. Bull took over, nailing Aja with her own Uraken, and Kyoko held off Bison when she tried to assist Aja. Bull brought out the scissors again, and cut off some of Aja's hair. Aja had a great shocked facial expression, which turned into rage quickly enough, and she returned the favor, hacking off some of Bull's hair, before stabbing Bull in the head, which Kyoko attempted to stop but wasn't successful. Bull juiced, and the fight spilled outside again. Upon returning to the ring, Aja and Bull engaged in a standoff with oversized weapons (nunchakus and bokken) used in the cage match. Bull won. They used chains next, and the brawl spilled outside with Bull cutting Bison's hair out there. Upon returning to the ring, Bull continued going for Bison's hair while she screamed and cowered in the corner. It turned into a scrap at this point. Aja got some of Bull's hair, and Bison put Bull in a sleeper. If Kyoko wasn't being useful on her own, she was helpful in assisting Bull by saving her in double teams. Bull hit a nasty powerbomb on Bison. Bison clutched onto Bull's leg to block a second one, an amazing and cowardly way to prevent it. Aja came in, ran through Bull and hit a brainbuster, but Bull came back with a lariat. Kyoko got a run of offense on Aja which was hit and miss. She missed one run-up elbow, but hit the second one, and executed an excellent German Suplex for a near fall before Aja ran through her. Bison got some offense on Bull, but she retaliated soon after. Bull used the nunchakus and hit another powerbomb. Mika Takahashi was on the outside with Bison's tonfa, but she couldn't get it to her. Kyoko came in and tried to execute her slingshot elbow but slipped, and Aja took over. That's the good thing about the botches in this match. Sure, Kyoko botched stuff, but the botch isn't always the problem, it's how you react to it, and here, Aja just came in and took over like nothing went wrong.. Bison got a two-count on Bull and decided to argue with the referee, so Bull backdrop suplexed her. Bison went outside, and Kyoko jumped up on top of Bull's shoulders and did a plancha. This kicked off a great finishing run. Kyoko set up Bison for Bull's guillotine legdrop, but Aja intervened with the oil can to break up the pin. Bull and Kyoko got thrown into each other, but Kyoko pushed off Bull, and sprung back with a flying backfist to Aja. Bull nailed Bison with one too, setting up a fallaway slam into the guillotine legdrop for the three-count as Kyoko dropkicked Aja to prevent her from breaking up the pin. Another memorable, bloody chapter in the Bull vs. Aja war. This match was messy and chaotic in all the best ways. Aja was looking a little more confident this time. She hit Bull harder, fought more on Bull's level, and had Bull in more trouble than in any of the previous matches. Bison was really good in this match as well. Kyoko had bitten off more than she could chew and really wasn't impressive here. She blew most of her spots, but did make a few positive contributions to the match. After the match, we got another classic haircut. Bison was hysterical, wailing at the thought of losing her hair and desperately trying to get out of it while Aja was in a silent rage. Aja was very reminiscent of Dump Matsumoto in the post match, sitting there in defiance while getting her haircut, refusing to give Bull one moment of satisfaction. Bison, on the other hand, sobbed through hers until Aja shouted at her to stop crying. The staredown afterward was great as well. Bison was completely broken, but held it together, and Bull and Kyoko got what they wanted, but judging by their expressions, they seemed less sure they wanted it after all. This was also the match that turned Aja into a star. ****1/2

1/23/91 AJW Cage Death Match: Bull Nakano vs. Yumiko Hotta 16:34.
PA: Handheld from Amasagaki, Hyoko, and it's one of the better shot fan cams, with a perfect viewpoint with no obstructions, following the action. This was never televised, but some footage was shot for local news, and the match was hyped locally, which is probably why we are lucky enough to that someone recorded it. It's basically Hotta's big homecoming match. Hotta started aggressively with kicks, but only ate a lariat for it. Bull took her all around the ring, ramming Hotta's head into the turnbuckle and the cage, grinding her face against the mesh. Hotta fired up and made a comeback, giving Bull the same treatment. Bull bled and Hotta elbowed at the cut. She gave Bull a piledriver and reflexed into a pin attempt afterward, which didn't do any good. Hotta threw kicks and a diving elbow and tried to escape the cage, but Bull recovered. Hotta maintained control with kicks to Bulls leg and a Tiger Driver, and tried to escape again, but Bull pulled her down even faster and hit a backdrop suplex. Bull climbed halfway up the cage and dove off the top rope with a lariat. The first half of the match was the two engaging in some quality, clean, cage match violence. Hotta had done enough damage that Bull resorted to the nunchakus now, but it felt lame given striking each other had so much more impact than the nunchaku jabs did. Bull kicked Hotta down a few times and pummelled away. Hotta got hold of the nunchakus and fought back, but tried to escape the cage, and Bull took back over. She got the giant nunchakus and flailed away at Hotta, and then it was back to regular nunchakus. Someone threw in a chain, and Hotta frantically grabbed it and choked Bull with it. The chain use was fine, but the weapons never added to the match like they did in the Bull vs. Aja match. Hotta hit one corner kick, but missed a second then Bull choked her with a chain in response, then tried to her up and make a break for it. Hotta escaped her predicament and stopped Bull escaping. Hotta gave her a firemans toss and tried to escape, but Bull nailed her with a chain. Bull missed the guillotine legdrop and the crowd chanted for Hotta. Hotta got on a roll with a German Suplex and her Tiger Driver. Now she seemed to have a real chance to escape and the crowd sensed it, but Bull doesn't give in so easily, and she fought back. Hotta tried to keep control, but Bull countered her charge. Bull set up the guillotine legdrop with a powerbomb, and then, I believe, debuted the somersault guillotine legdrop. She could have escaped, but that wasn't good enough, so she went up top and delivered the guillotine ledrop from the top of the cage again. That was it for Hotta, Bull didn't get up as quickly as she did against Aja, but Hotta wasn't moving, and Bull escaped. Another excellent cage match from Bull. There was part of this match that were better than the Bull vs. Aja match, while parts that weren't. This wasn't a grudge match, it was more of a badass, violent wrestling match that took place in a cage, and used the cage in logical ways, not only to damage the opponent, but with escape attempts that brought about some added excitement while making for logical transition spots. The first half of the match generally was better, but it wasn't as good once the weapons got involved. The finish was incredible though, yet again. There was even post-match chaos just to put the cherry on top, with Aja and Bison looking for revenge on Bull after the hair match a few weeks earlier. Aja rushed Bull with scissors looking to cut her hair, and everyone piled in the ring. Aja went ballistic outside in the crowd, hurling chairs around and sending people scurrying, and there were chairs being flung back at her too. ****1/4

2/11/91 JWP UWA International Champion Decision Tournament Final: Miss A vs. Harley Saito 17:15.
PA: This was the finals of the UWA International title tournament, and it was a hard fought, mat-based affair. They had a good tussle to start, with both avoiding the big blows and working on the mat with plenty of reversals. A was able to gain the advantage with a series of vicious elbow shots, but Harley pounced on her after a missed missile dropkick with brutal kicks and knees. They continued their struggle for control, but A was bigger and stronger, so she was always slightly ahead. A was able to really pull ahead and nullify Harley's quick comebacks by injuring the leg with her submissions. Harley had no other real means of getting back into the match, so she was going to be reliant on A either making a mistake or catching a counter if she was given an opening to do so. The chance came, and she managed to slip out of a suplex and turn A's charge into a German Suplex hold, but couldn't maintain the advantage, and got swatted with a lariat. A tried to press on, but Harley was still able to counter enough to have some hope. She hit her Tiger suplex for a near fall, then tried a kneel kick, but Kansai grabbed the foot only to get rolled up for a two count, which Kansai reversed for a near fall of her own. This got the crowd cheering for Harley after they'd been rather sedate up to this point. A still had a bit more left than Harley though. She wound up for a lariat to put her away, but Harley was able to counter, and sneak in a flash pin to get the win. Really good wrestling from start to finish. I thought the first half was the strongest part of the match. Afterwards, it turned into something more predictable, and culminated with a finish that was a bit of a stretch to buy. They got the point across well enough though for Harley's underdog story, and set the stage for Kansai to come back strongly at her later on. ***1/2

3/17/91 AJW All Pacific Title Match: Manami Toyota vs. Suzuka Minami 16:36.
PA: There were about two rows of schoolgirls still coming to the Zenjo, and they had the Minami chants going through the match. Minami didn't lead Toyota particularly well here. She held together the match structure and paced it well, but that was about all she did. It was disappointing because she's a better wrestler than this. It was like she was told to give Toyota most of the offense so she'd look good in losing, and then she just let Toyota do whatever popped into her head. After a quick burst at the start, it was on the ground for at least 10 minutes, with Toyota getting the vast majority of it, just running through holds she knew with no focus to any of them. Occasionally they'd break out of that and do something fast paced just to keep the crowd interested. Minami was okay with her offense. She was blown away by Toyota when the pace quickened, but Minami focuses her attacks well. The final portion made it worthwhile, as they countered each other back and forth. It was exciting, and there were a number of great near falls. Toyota hit all of her hot moves and her execution was great, particularly her moonsault. Eventually, Minami avoided a second moonsault, and hit a crossarm German suplex to win the belt. ***1/4

3/17/91 AJW: Akira Hokuto vs. Aja Kong 11:45.
PA: Aja was in nasty mood, mauling Hokuto for over half of the match. She started with her oil can outside, and it didn't get any better for Hokuto in the ring. Hokuto got some small comebacks, but Aja would get more vicious in response. Aja eventually hit an uraken when Hokuto was on the apron, which set up Aja doing her plancha, but she missed and Hokuto hit her somersault plancha in response. In the ring, she hit her Northern Light's Bomb for a near fall, but was caught soon after in a powerslam when she tried a flying body press. Hokuto survived Aja's uraken in the middle of the ring, and a piledriver. Hokuto had one more chance after avoiding a diving headbutt. She hit a German Suplex, but missed a dropkick. Aja hit another uraken, and then a piledriver from the bottom turnbuckle. Hokuto survived those, but Aja finally hit her big dive, a splash from the top rope to put her away. This was a very good sprint. After the match, Hokuto earned Aja's respect, and Aja wanted to form a tag team with her. Hokuto seemed to think about it, but gave the only response you'd expect from her, telling Aja to “Fuck off” and they continued brawling. ***1/2

4/21/91 AJW: Akira Hokuto & Mariko Yoshida vs. Suzuka Minami & Takako Inoue 14:24.
PA: This was the best match on the on the 4/21 Korakuen show, which was one of the Zenjo's lesser cards of 1991 (Manami Toyota & Debbie Malenko vs. Kyoko Inoue & Bat Yoshinaga, which went on before this is also worth a look). Marine Wolves seemed to hate each other now, and would be facing each other 8 days later for the All Pacific Title. If there was a story to the sudden disdain, I'd put together that Hokuto wasn't happy about Minami throwing in the towel in January, and then defeating Toyota before Hokuto had a chance to get revenge. In any case, their brief explosions when they were in together were the highlight of this match, while Yoshida and Takako did a good job as the secondary partners, taking their beatings from the seniors and looking fine against each other. It eventually got out of control when Minami and Yoshida were legal. Minami nailed Hokuto off the apron and went for a tope. Hokuto missed a plancha, and they brawled out in the crowd with Hokuto nailing Minami with a chair, while Yoshida made it back to the ring at 19 to steal the win by count out. ***1/2

4/26/91 JWP: Eagle Sawai & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Shinobu Kandori & Harley Saito 15:02.
PA: Intense and urgent match that never let up, and eventually got out of control. Ozaki and Kandori started, with Ozaki getting an early German, and then falling into a nasty crab, which Eagle broke up with great urgency. The intensity never let up from there, and while far from perfect, everyone was in fine form and contributed to a heated and nasty match. Ozaki slapped Kandori hard, which set her off, and she took it out on Eagle. Those two had a wild brawl outside, going at it with chairs, and Kandori ended up throwing a table on her. It left Ozaki to get thrashed in the ring, and by the time she avoided a dive from Harley to make the hot tag, Eagle still hadn't recovered. Once she did, she only wanted revenge, and brought in a chair, which Ozaki was happy to use. They dragged the guard rail into the ring and did a spike tombstone to Kandori on it, and the brawl continued until the match was thrown out. ***3/4

4/26/91 JWP: Devil Masami & Rumi Kazama vs. Miss A & Itsuki Yamazaki 16:30.
PA: It was the Yamazaki and Masami show, which was a good thing for the quality of the match. A was great here, but didn't feature as much. They spent a lot of the match nullifying Masami's leg, but couldn't get the job done, as Kazama kept running in to break things up. She had a really good match too, but also in a lesser role. She was constantly antagonizing A & Yamazaki, who were getting more fed up with it as it went on. Masami ended up press slamming Yamazaki the outside, but her aggressiveness cost her. She'd demolished Kazama with one lariat earlier by mistake, which resulted in a great near fall, and then tried to jumbo suplex her onto A, but A moved and immediately followed up with a lariat to win. ***1/2

4/29/91 AJW All Japan Junior Title Match: Kyoko Inoue vs. Takako Inoue 10:01.
PA: This was a good juniors match. Every now and then it's nice to see a simple plan stuck to, actually working and paying off. Takako worked over the knee relentlessly all match, and would use it to cut off Kyoko any time she started getting a run together, eventually making her submit. Takako's offense wasn't particularly good, but her knee work was fine, and that's really all that mattered here. Kyoko was becoming a really good worker, and she sold great here, and made some good comebacks. ***

4/29/91 AJW All Pacific Title Match: Suzuka Minami vs. Akira Hokuto 20:51.
PA: Minami won the fast opening burst by dumping Hokuto outside and hitting a tope. Minami got a nice start on the restart with a lariat, but Hokuto frantically got out of her attempt to ground her, causing another restart. Hokuto had more success the third time, hitting a nasty piledriver and locking in a Dragon Sleeper. Minami responded afterward, thwarting Hokuto's tombstone attempt and hitting her own, before getting her own sleeper on, but Hokuto kicked her way out of it. Hokuto looked to grind her down, but Minami targeted the knee. Minami gave her ankle and knee a vicious working over while Hokuto writhed in pain. Hokuto bailed out and used up most of the count to recover. She put a sharpshooter on when Minami returned, but her comeback was cut off with pair of backbreakers. Minami went for a Romero Special, which she didn't get, but was able to turn into a neat pinning combination. Minami continued working over Hokuto with a half crab and a sharpshooter, before deciding she had done enough, and it was time to go in for the kill. She hit a pair of flying knee attacks from the top turnbuckle, but Hokuto came back with a desperate German Suplex. Hokuto limped over to the corner and came off the top rope, but missed her dive. Minami hit two brutal powerbombs for near falls. A Fisherman's Suplex and a Crossarmed German Suplex also got near falls. Hokuto was almost finished, but countered a powerbomb, and hit a jumping double arm DDT. After pleading with the referee, she again made her way up the turnbuckle. Again, Hokuto was too slow ,and Minami met her up there and hit a double arm suplex for a near fall. Minami tried to drop an elbow, but missed and Hokuto hit a tiger suplex. She couldn't hit the Northern Light's Bomb. Her first attempt was countered, while Minami escaped to the apron on the second attempt, and Hokuto knocked her off, following with her somersault plancha. Hokuto ascended again, and hit her missile dropkick. One more from each corner followed, with the final one being a somersault, and she won the All Pacific Title with the Northern Light's Bomb. Dramatic and exciting match with great pacing and focus. They hit brutal looking moves, particularly Minami, and there were plenty of great near falls and everything was given time to breathe. ****1/2

4/29/91 AJW 2/3 Falls, WWWA World Tag Title Match: Aja Kong & Bison Kimura vs. Manami Toyota & Esther Moreno 8:13, 5:25, 9:57.
PA: Esther Moreno was the highlight of every undercard since she started working with All Japan Women, and she was the highlight of this high profile match too. It didn't take long for Jungle Jack to gain control. Bison gave both opponents nasty hair swings and Toyota got worked over. Aja got a fair bit of mileage out of doing nothing other than standing on Toyota's hand. Toyota forced a comeback on Bison, and switched with Esther, but after a couple of near falls on Bison, she too got worked over. Aja accidentally nailed Bison with an oil can, and Esther and Toyota quickened the pace. Bison evaded a double dropkick from them, but when she Irish whipped Toyota, Toyota dropkicked Aja off the apron. Toyota and Esther went for a double diving headbutt and then finished Bison with consecutive moonsaults. Toyota's dropkick spam started the second fall. Esther tried to follow up with Aja, but Aja took over and hit a pair of savage body attacks. Esther recovered to hit a seated senton from the top and rana, but Aja caught an armdrag. Aja headbutted her and hit a piledriver, which didn't get her the pin, so she just nailed her with an oil can. Esther juiced, and it was a gusher. Esther was able to get an armdrag and flip her way out to tag in Toyota. Toyota put Bison in an octopus and a rolling cradle. She kept trying to use her speed, but Bison caught her and hit a diving headbutt for two. She hit a couple of suplexes, but Toyota interrupted the pin, prompting Aja to run and take her out, giving Bison enough time to hit a rotating body press from the top to level the match. Bison targetted Esther's leg and bit at the cut on her head. She went with a Romero Special, but Toyota broke up that. Esther scrambled to make the tag to Toyota. Bison grabbed Toyota before she could do anything, and Aja mugged her on the outside, including using a chair out there. Aja stretched Toyota, but Esther ran in and diverted her attention. Toyota couldn't capitalize, and Bison took over. Aja wanted to fight Esther some more, but it didn't work so well for her here, as Esther managed to boot Aja out of the ring. Toyota hit a plancha on Bison, while Esther hit a quebrada on Aja. Aja made it back at the 15 count and got double missile dropkicked. She came with a flying body attack to both opponents. Then Bison hit a plancha, and Aja did one as well, which got the biggest pop of the match. Aja looked to finish with a diving splash, but Toyota moved. Toyota went for a flying body attack, but Aja caught her in a powerslam. Aja hit a powerslam from the top rope, which was sure to end Toyota, but Esther interrupted the pin. Aja missed her uraken and then exchanged German Suplexes. Aja perched up on the turnbuckle, and with the assistance of Bison, hit a powerbomb from the second rope to get the win. Simple dynamic, Jungle Jack dominated whenever they could control the pace, and were in trouble whenever their opponents got the chance to quicken it. There was plenty of drama and enough threat of a title change. As good as Jungle Jack were, Esther made the match. She had the best high spots, with the best execution, and even blew away Toyota. ****1/4

5/12/91 JWP: Harley Saito vs. Rumi Kazama 9:14.
PA: This was quite short, but it didn't feel too short. This was a high impact shootout with plenty of violent shoot kicking and submissions early from both. They did some brawling on the outside, and did high spot after high spot at the end. They had good urgency, trying to pounce on any advantage they got, and it was a really good match. ***3/4

5/23/91 AJW: Bull Nakano & Bat Yoshinaga vs. Aja Kong & Bison Kimura 14:44.
PA: This was a pretty good handheld. Good Gokumon-to vs. Jungle Jack action. This was mostly just brawling, which it what you'd expect from these four. Aja bled, and it was the formula you'd expect where Aja and Bull dominated and the other two took the beatings. They didn't do any more than they needed, but it was fireworks during the times they were in the ring together. Bat seemed out to impress, and did a good job when she got to do anything. Bison & Aja got a good run, double teaming Bull, but she turned the tide, and with some help from Bat, won with a diving legdrop on Bison. Bull and Aja continued their brawl after the match. ***1/4

5/25/91 JWP: Devil Masami & Hikari Fukuoka vs. Itsuki Yamazaki & Cuty Suzuki 13:45.
PA: Masami dominated whenever she was in, and Fukuoka just got beat on, hitting the odd dropkick here and there and sneaking in for a crab, which was her big moment in the match. Yamazaki was on fire, thrashing Fukuoka, and had some really good encounters with Masami. Masami tried give her young partner a big moment at the end, hitting a diving bodypress, but she missed, and Masami could only shake her head, while Yamazaki easily put her away afterward. ***1/2

5/26/ 91 AJW: Kyoko Inoue & Debbie Malenko vs. Esther Moreno & Mariko Yoshida 12:45.
PA:This match was all action, lucha style with lightning paced spots. There was a bit of miscommunication, but for the most part it was excellent. Malenko tried to work some early submissions, before giving way to the Esther vs. Kyoko showdown. Kyoko looked to match lucha with Esther, and didn't want to be outdone, but went back to what she knew to gain advantages. They did a funny spot where Kyoko and Malenko did a double Romero special and Esther snuck in and tried to pin them. Yoshida and Esther both did simultaneous topes to the outside. In the end, Esther gave Kyoko a dropkick to the back of the head, which gave Yoshida the pin. ***3/4

5/26/91 AJW: Suzuka Minami, Takako Inoue & Cynthia Moreno vs. Bison Kimura, Mika Takahashi & Miori Kamiya 13:49.
PA: This came on straight after the Esther tag match and these six didn't want to be outdone, and they weren't. They hit their spots, and then Jungle Jack all took turns working over Takako's knee. Their heeling was fun. Takako eventually turned the tide, and Kamiya got worked over for a bit before it turned into a wild spotfest which was almost too fast to even keep track of. Jungle Jack thought they had it under control, with Takahashi delivering a bulldog from top to Takako while she was on Kamiya's shoulders, and the other two followed up with dives, but Minami snuck in and powerbombed Takahashi and pulled Takako on top for the pin. ****

5/26/91 AJW: Toshiyo Yamada vs. Yumiko Hotta 13:29.
PA: This was mixture of pro-style and some UWF shoot stuff thrown in. Yamada dumped Hotta outside early, and she wasn't too happy about that, and hit backdrop suplex then punted her in the face, causing a bloody nose. Other than that, they started out slow and built up, but their submission work wasn't strong. It turned into the ultra-stiff kickfest, which was the best part and just brutal, particularly Hotta. They went into a hot pro-style finish, which saw Yamada outsmart Hotta by grabbing a roll up when Hotta was expected an Irish Whip. This was a really good match. ***3/4

5/26/91 AJW Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota 30:00.
PA: Aja mauled and worked over Toyota for the bulk of the match and worked at a level she hadn't really shown prior. She worked slow, and seemed to have a lot more in her arsenal to keep things interesting. Toyota made frantic burst comebacks that were borderline out of control. She would hit her running moves, but when she tried a suplex, Aja would just often shift her weight and cause the move to fail, forcing Toyota to use different things. This was an effective counter, and different to what you normally see, but it didn't look pretty. At one point, Aja did a ridiculous missile dropkick from the apron to the floor, landing back first on the exposed wooden floor (there were no mats). This was the only time I can ever remember her doing that, and for good reason, as she took a long time to recover from that. The match did still feel long and stretched out, but for the most part it was paced decently, logical, and they worked well together. They had some difficulties towards the end of the match getting some moves right, but that actually put over the toll of the match pretty well. The final portion was was built to well even if it threw most of the earlier psychology out the window, opting to finish on an exciting note with a lot of big moves and false finishes as the time expired. ***1/2

5/26/91 AJW 2/3 Falls: Akira Hokuto & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Bull Nakano & Bat Yoshinaga 0:14, 0:36, 10:20, 0:52. This match felt like it was on the verge of spilling over into complete chaos at any point. Hokuto and Sakie tried to double team Bull at the start, and it backfired in spectacular fashion. Sakie was glassy eyed and the Hokuto nailed Bat with a missile dropkick and Northern Light's Bomb. With two lightning fast falls, Bull and Hokuto went at each other and had a frantic exchange, with Bull press slamming Hokuto over the top. In the ring, Bull tried for a guillotine legdrop and Hokuto avoided, but Bull popped straight into Hokutos Tiger's Suplex, which was a neat sequence. Everything in this match executed by Bull or Hokuto was done in the most the brutal and vicious manner you could imagine, the DDTs, press slams. dropkicks, lariats, and every other move for that matter. Bat's kicks and slaps on Sakie looked nasty a well. Sakie was the worst one in the match, and struggled here, particularly when she was working with Bull, but her and Bat had a fine exchange. It wasn't pretty, but they did a good enough job, and retained the tone that Bull and Hokuto had set. Bull pinned Hokuto to finish the match with a guillotine legdrop, but Hokuto didn't want to accept that result, so they added a fourth fall that saw Sakie get pinned by Bat in 52 seconds. I'm not sure what the purpose of it was, but the crowd were into seeing Bat get a win. ****1/4

6/5/91 AJW: Aja Kong & Bison Kimura vs. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada 8:27 of 13:29.
PA: Aja's secondary rivalry with Toyota continued on here. Fuji TV clipped a fair bit of this, but what was left with a really good hyperspeed sprint. They just did spot after spot and didn't stop. Towards the end, Jungle Jack brawled outside and used a chair on Toyota. Yamada ended up helping her against Aja, but she countered a double team, clobbered Yamada with a lariat, got rid of Toyota, and won with a splash off the middle rope. ***1/2

6/5/91 AJW: Bull Nakano & Kyoko Inoue vs. Akira Hokuto & Mariko Yoshida 15:31.
PA: Bull and Hokuto had better partners than their previous tag match on 5/26. Another quality all action tag match. Yoshida was too green and low ranked to be any threat, but she didn't hurt the match. Seeing Yoshidda try everything she knew against Bull, get knocked down and keep coming back for more was a lot of fun. In fact, it was probably the highlight of the match. Kyoko, though still far from her peak, had improved significantly from the start of 1991 to this point. Kyoko and Hokuto worked really well together, giving a preview of their future singles matches. Bull and Hokuto were still best pairing and picked up where they left off on 5/26 when they were in together. Hokuto and Yoshida were able to double team Bull a little towards the end, but ended up overwhelmed with Yoshida predictably getting pinned. ***1/2

6/18/91 AJW: Manami Toyota, Mariko Yoshida & Takako Inoue vs. Cynthia Moreno, Esther Moreno & Mika Takahashi 10:25 of 12:58.
PA: The usual all action Zenjo tag. There were good contributions from everyone, and no one looked out of place. Esther was the best, and in another news, the North Pole is cold. Toyota was completely out of control. She was clearly not happy about being shown up by Esther, so she was trying to compensate by going even faster than normal, and either unintentionally or intentionally rushing everything way too fast. It was entertaining. At one point, she was throwing dropkicks before Esther was even back up to take the next one. They had a divefest near the end, and Esther ended up getting triple teamed inside before Toyota defeated her with a Japanese ocean suplex, and gave her a soccer kick after just to show she really didn't like her. ***1/2

6/18/91 AJW 2/3 Falls, WWWA World Tag Title Match: Aja Kong & Bison Kimura vs. Bull Nakano & Kyoko Inoue 11:11, 4:01, 7:42.
PA: This was another important chapter in the Bull vs. Aja rivalry - the rematch of their January 11 hair vs hair match - where Bull and Kyoko took Jungle Jack's hair. This time they had a chance to take their titles. They'd gradually built up Aja just a little bit in the previous matches. In the tag match the previous August, she could barely hurt Bull. In the cage matches she could do some damage, but wasn't strong enough to be a genuine threat yet. In the January hair vs. hair tag match, she did a lot of damage to Bull, they were close to equals, though she was still unable to defeat her. This one started out like the previous ones, with a wild and violent brawl. Bison and Kyoko narrowly avoiding a count-out as they sprinted back into the ring. Kyoko faced the early beating in the ring. Aja was bleeding from the initial brawl, and took it out on Kyoko. Bison ended up toying with her, which allowed Kyoko to come back with a fallaway slam and tag in Bull. Bull unleashed a beating on Bison like she always does, and then it was time for the first Bull vs. Aja showdown. Aja fired the first shot with a headbutt out of a test of strength, and Bull fired back with a lariat. Bull bit and hammered away at the wound. Kyoko tried to follow up, but she wasn't a match for Aja. Bison returned to stretch Kyoko. Bull decided to use the nunchakus on Aja this time. She tried to set Aja up for Kyoko's missile dropkick, but Aja avoided it, and Bull took the blow. Aja ran through Bull, but missed a splash from the middle rope. Bull launched Kyoko into an elevated dropkick, and a double team throw set up the somersault guillotine, and gave Bull the first fall. The second fall mirrored the chaotic start of the first fall. Aja was disoriented and received a wake-up slap from Miori Kamiya. In a dramatic moment that signalled a shift in power between Bull and Aja, Bull grabbed the oil can and repeatedly struck Aja in the head with it. Aja didn't budge and only fired up, knocking down Bull with a single headbutt. Bison remained Bull's bitch however, and was effortlessly wiped out. Kyoko hit two run up elbow drops, but Aja broke up her pin. Kyoko hit her slingshot on Bison, and then it looked like she was going for a sunset flip from the top, but that didn't work, so she ended up jumping behind into a small package for a two count. Kyoko followed up with her headscissor takedown into a pin, but her luck ran out, and Bison put her away with a T-Bone Suplex after a Bison Chop. Aja and Bull continued brawling, not caring about the rest period. Aja won and dumped chairs on her. In the ring, Bison was chopping Kyoko repeatedly, and they German Suplexed each other. Bull was now bleeding from the brawl with Aja. Kyoko made the tag to Bull, but Aja immediately cut her off, rushing over with an oil can and taking revenge for earlier. The difference was Aja's shots did damage to Bull and put her down. Bull survived a pair of piledrivers only by the assistance of the rope. Bull was warn down, but Bison was still no match for her. Bull needed to actually beat Bison while she was legal though, because it was becoming clear that she was no match for Aja on this day. Bull tried, she hit a Nothern Light's Sulex for a two count and a powerbomb, but Aja interrupted the count. Kyoko assisted with a slingshot suplex for two. Kyoko put a backbreaker hold into an airplane spin, and actually went on to survive her segment without suffering any damage. Bison and Aja tried to double team Bull, but she took them both down with a lariat. Bull went for the guillotine legdrop on Bison, and missed. Aja sensed the moment and immediately nailed Bull with an uraken, and followed it up with two more. Bull was in big trouble and bailed to the outside, but it was no safe refuge, as Bison took her down with a plancha, and worse, Aja followed up with one of her own. Bull was almost finished, but gallantly struggled her way back into the ring, beating the count out. The problem was that Aja waiting for her like she was prey, and her gloves were off. Bull made it back in, only to be struck by Aja with three barefisted urakens, and easily pinning Bull. Not only did Aja defeat Bull, she dominated her in a finish similar to the way Yukari Omori destroyed Devil Masami in 1986, though this wasn't drawn out like that one was. Bull didn't get up and had to be carried out while Aja sold as if her hand was broken. This was also the first time I could remember Bull being pinned in a match since 1988. The finish and the moments throughout where Aja dominated Bull were incredible, and the match itself was excellent, a little behind the chaotic 1/11 match, but had the benefit of Kyoko executing a lot better. This was supposed to set up a hair vs. hair revenge match between Bull and Aja for September, but Aja got injured, and the match was cancelled. ****1/4

7/14/91 JWP UWA Title Match: Harley Saito vs. Eagle Sawai 19:39.
PA: Harley's first defense of the UWA Title. Harley was the second best wrestler in JWP after Itsuki Yamazaki, and Eagle was lean and could go in these days. This was a methodical title match though, and unlike the more frantic tag matches of the era. The two were looking to grind each other down. Eagle got the early advantage, roughhousing and working over Harley on the mat. When Harley came back she was determined to lay on vicious beating on Eagle with her kicks. There was emphasis put on subtly selling while pushing through and transitioning so you could always feel like what they were doing to each other was adding up. The slow build was more interesting than the finishing run though. They did a count out tease and Eagle pressed on, but Harley counted a suplex and got a clean, strong win with her Tiger Suplex hold. ***1/4

8/4/91 JWP Dynamite Kansai & The Scorpion vs. Shinobu Kandori & Harley Saito 15:46.
PA: The stupid Miss A name is finally gone for good, and now she's Dynamite Kansai. This was the beginning of the Kansai vs. Harley feud that would go on for the next few months. They had been opponents on 7/24 in a 6 woman tag, and that seemed to be the start of the ill will, not that any encouragement was needed, just putting them across the ring from each other was enough to get the sparks flying. Kandori had just been out brawling with the freak show act, Pink Cadillac, before the match, so she was already wound up. The start of this is so frantic, intense, uncooperative, and stiff, and that was when the match was at its best. They couldn't maintain that level all the way through, as they took things down in the middle, before having a really good final portion. All Harley and Kansai wanted to do was get at each other. Kansai was laying into Harley and tagged Scorpion, but Harley had no interest in her, and tossed her away like she was garbage so she could keep fighting Kansai. Scorpion was JWP's top junior, but far outranked with this opposition. Scorpion was essentially there to hold things over and be a punching bag for Kandori, but she got her spots in here and there, and at least showed she was worth Kandori's time. In her first encounter with Kandori, she was chopped down and stomped, but after Kansai had done some damage, she was able to put together some offense on her in their next encounter. Kandori actually played face in peril for a few minutes until she was able to catch Kansai's arm and fight back. Kansai tossed her to the mat to break the attempted submission, and Kandori returned the favor, denying her snapmare and slamming her hard on the mat. They brawled on the outside after Scorpion dropkicked Kandori and did a plancha from Kansai's back. Kandori ended up doing a number on Scorpion, while Kansai did a number on Harley, but Harley was legal, so she was stuck in the ring after they returned. The bulk of the next few minutes saw Harley getting worked over until Kansai went up for her diving headbutt, Kandori held her, allowing Harley to superplex her down. When Kandori came in and went to the top rope, Scorpion pasted her a few times, allowing Kansai to backdrop suplex her down, and give Kandori any required motivation to kill her when she got the chance. Kandori and Scorpion were in soon after, and Kandori immediately hit a Tiger Driver, but Kansai broke up the pin. Harley and Kansai brawled on the outside while Kandori put a choke sleeper on Scorpion to quickly finish the match. Kansai wasn't too concerned with the result, she just wanted to keep fighting with Harley. Harley vs. Kansai was where the heat was, and their battles were great. Kansai vs. Kandori was the same sort of quality when it happened (and this was actually the last time they'd fight each other on tape until 1997). Scorpion wasn't bad at all, her work was good and her spots weren't really out of place, but she couldn't maintain the intensity that the match had when Kansai was in the ring. I suppose you couldn't really expect her to, but I think Rumi Kazama would have been a better fit for the tone of the match, as well as the style. ****1/4

8/8/91 JWP: Dynamite Kansai & The Scorpion vs. Harley Saito & Itsuki Yamazaki 18:30.
PA: JWP really hit their groove with these tags where they lay into each other every chance they get. Yamazaki was an amazing addition, who made for a much faster paced match than 8/4. It didn't take long for her to make her presence felt, and she got this off to a great start. Kansai was staring a hole through Harley and couldn't wait to start fighting with her, so Yamazaki jumped her, dragged her outside and threw her into the guard rail twice (no one takes a guard rail bump like Kansai) before feeding her to Harley to deliver some stiff kicks. Kansai was pretty much seething. She already wanted to kill Harley, but now she was looking for revenge on Yamazaki too. Yamazaki always got the best of her, and wasn't afraid to break the rules to do it. When Yamazaki was looking to settle into some matwork on Scorpion, Kansai came in with a kick, quickly tagged in but Yamazaki was quick and scrambled to get some room, grabbed Kansai's foot and raked the eyes. Yamazaki's effectiveness in shutting down Kansai was on display, as it had been in their singles match earlier in the year, but here, she was always looking to set her up for Harley to come in with the advantage. Scorpion had Yamazaki in a leglock that wasn't at all threatening, but Yamazaki still had to make the ropes, which put her within arms reach of Kansai, who took another opportunity to attempt some revenge by dragging her outside and throwing her into the guard rail. They brawled in the crowd, but Yamazaki turned the tide on her again, so Kansai still wasn't totally satisfied. Kansai being overaggressive got her into trouble every time, but she's Kansai, so she could survive. Yamazaki missed a reverse body attack on Scorpion, both of them tagged out and Kansai sprinted to Harley with complete tunnel vision, seemingly not realizing Yamazaki was still in the ring, so Yamazaki grabbed her and held for Harley to tee off with vicious kicks. Kansai was once again being dominated, but she was again able to wear the damage and fire back. There was a great moment late in the match when Kansai thought she had Yamazaki right where she wanted her, countering her headlock into a backdrop suplex, and unloading kicks to the chest. Yamazaki isn't a renown shootkicker, but she'll find an answer one way or another. She can boot you really hard and scrap when she needs to, and that's what she did here. She caught Kansai in the mouth and started going for her head, completely overwhelming her in the process. Harley and Yamazaki began to briefly work over Kansai's arm, but couldn't get far, as Kansai returned the favor and kicked Yamazaki in the mouth to put a stop to that. We got back to Harley and Kansai one more time with another brief but intense exchange, trading elbows, which Kansai finished with a backdrop suplex. Kansai missed her diving headbutt and Yamazaki quickly missile dropkicked her, sending her out the floor. On her way out, Scorpion switched in, so Yamazaki set her up on the turnbuckle for Harley, then completely took Kansai out of the match with a tope while Harley finished Scorpion with a Tiger suplex. Scorpion didn't have much of a role in the match outside of holding things over for Kansai again, but she fit in much better with the higher pace and two opponents who she could work her style with. She doesn't really engage in the stiff and aggressive style the opposition was doing with Kansai, but the contrast worked here. Her lucha spots looked good, and they never seemed out of place. The Harley vs. Kansai rivalry continued to build, and both had another excellent showing, but as good as they were, Yamazaki was on another level and really carried this match to be one of the best original JWP matches. ****1/2

8/11/91 JWP Cuty Suzuki vs. The Scorpion 14:55.
PA: This was the first match of the Cuty vs Scorpion rivalry, which ended up being the career highlight for both. Cuty went from being a little idol wrestler who just got beat up, to being kind of able to be taken seriously as a juniors champion (in a league with a strong group of juniors), so it elevated her in that sense. Cuty had better tag matches in the interpromotional era, most notably Ozaki & Cuty vs. Inoues 4/2/93 and Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki & Cuty Suzuki & Hikari Fukuoka 7/31/93, but while I do rate Cuty as a tag wrestler, but not a singles wrestler, good Cuty singles matches are a rare find, much less 3 in a row. This was Cuty's "story", whereas she was just a part those other better tag matches. Similarly, this was the pinnacle of Scorpion's singles career, carrying the matches rather than just being there to eat the pin after the veterans kicked her around. Cuty was the underdog here, and not really expected to be competitive, but she had other ideas. She took it to Scorpion, jumpstarting the match on the outside and ended up ramming Scorpions arm into the ringpost. With that opening, Cuty zeroed in on the arm all the match. She used submissions, usually a jujigatame, clubbed and stomped at it, at one point when she a flying knee attack to the arm. Cuty shifted from her gameplan briefly, trying a backdrop suplex, but Scorpion blocked it and kicked and slap her, so Cuty slugged her down with a good looking forearm strike. Scorpion still came back and hit a few of her spots, but a diving shoulder tackle damaged her more than it did Cuty, and Cuty put her in a jujigatame again. As they moved towards the finish, they went in a more spot oriented direction. Scorpion hit a tope and a moonsault, Cuty reversed a tombstone. Cuty went for superplex, but Scorpion countered and they went for pins. Cuty hit a jumping lariat and a missile dropkick, but her flying body press ate knees. Cuty meant business here and won most of the match, but one mistake cost her. Scorpion locked in a nasty choke with an armlock to win by submission. This was surprisingly good. Scorpion sold well and did all of her spots nicely. Cuty had never really shown anything like this before. Offensively, she didn't do anything new and not everything she did looked great, but she had a proper focus, and was even vicious at times. ***1/2

8/18/91 AJW Japan Grand Prix '91 Semi-Final: Aja Kong vs. Bison Kimura 20:04.
PA: Aja was coming in with a legitimately injured foot, so she couldn't do much. It was competitive at the start, with Aja getting the upper hand until Bison zeroed in on the foot. She used submissions, pounded away at it, used a chair and her tonfa amongst other things. She ended up ripping off her boot. Aja got a few shots in, but not much. Bison was all over her. Bison dished out a brutal beating, and Aja's selling put it way over. She was screaming in pain and frantically trying to make the ropes when Bison put a submission on. Unlike most matches, there was no comeback for Aja either, Bison just worked her over and won definitively, moving on to the Japan Grand Prix final. ***3/4

8/18/91 AJW Japan Grand Prix '91 Semi-Final: Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue 13:20.
PA: Kyoko was in her second match of the night after defeating Toshiyo Yamada. This is a rough version of every match they ever had together. They didn't have the impressive movesets yet, and Kyoko wasn't a smooth worker yet (Toyota wasn't either, but she never would be). They went through a ton of submissions, and even applied a few of them properly. Toyota was trying to do Hokuto's killer crab at one point. It was good once they got into the fast paced action. Kyoko had the giant swing by this point, and Toyota had a few of her trademark moves, like the quebrada. Kyoko tried to a rolling Romero Special, which she blew and fell to her side on, but it was still enough to win and move onto the finals. ***

8/18/91 AJW: Suzuka Minami & Etsuko Mita vs. Bull Nakano & Akira Hokuto 10:55.
PA: Bull's experiment with Kyoko against Jungle Jack didn't quite work out, so now she formed a tag with Hokuto, and you'd have to feel sorry for anyone against this team. At this point, Hokuto was out of control, injuring just about every junior she wrestled, and Bull was the stiffest worker in the league. Fireworks started between Minami and Hokuto with two hard slaps from Hokuto and then Bull came and wiped both Minami and Mita with lariats. Bull just murdered Mita, then Hokuto murdered her more with wild piledrivers and kicked her out of the ring like she was garbage. Mita was dazed when she returned and ate more slaps, then Minami switched in. She dished out some punishment to Hokuto, but then Bull tagged again and worked her over. Mita returned, but she might as well not have bothered. She was tough enough to survive the beating though. Mita and Minami tried to double team, but that didn't work either. Minami and Hokuto were the only ones who fought as equals in this match. Minami and Hokuto fought outside, and Bull went out and clobbered everyone. Hokuto hit the somersault plancha. Mita made it back into the ring, but Minami saved her from being defeated. Mita actually got a move in, which was a superplex on Hokuto for a near fall, and then an electric chair drop. Minami missed her diving senton, and traded tiger suplexes with Minami. Hokuto countered a powerbomb and Bull missed the guillotine leg drop. Minami and Mita tried to double suplex to the outside, but she just dragged them back in then Hokuto finished Minami with a double arm DDT. This was just a glorified squash match, but it was brutal and entertaining. ***1/4

8/19/91 AJW Japan Grand Prix '91 Final: Kyoko Inoue vs. Bison Kimura 11:05.
PA: Bison charged Kyoko, not waiting for any entrances, and mauled her on the outside. Kyoko juiced, but I'm not sure how noticeable it was to the live crowd given her red face paint. Bison dominated most of the match with her chops, stomps, and hair tossing. Kyoko fired back with slaps and a slingshot, then got revenge for the early brawl with a piledriver on the outside. Bison came back with chops, a piledriver, and a diving headbutt. Bison chops and a t-bone suplex which she defeated Kyoko with in the 6/18 tag match didn't get the job done here. The crowd were into Kyoko. Bison kept pressing, but Kyoko was showing fight. Kyoko avoided a Bison chop into a headscissor takedown, then ran into a uraken from Bison. Bison hit one dive then missed another, leading to Kyoko hitting a run up elbow and then she blew a Niagara Driver, got a near fall with a German suplex, then hit the Niagara Driver properly to win. Even with that blown finish, the crowd blew the roof off Korakuen, the biggest pop heard in a long time. This was really good match with Bison giving a good beating and Kyoko making exciting comebacks. ***1/2

8/30/91 JWP JWP/UWA Double Junior Title Match: The Scorpion vs. Cuty Suzuki 16:34.
PA: Despite not getting the win, Cuty's efforts on 8/11 seemed to be impressive enough to get a shot at the junior title on JWP's 5th anniversary show, their biggest show ever (with an announced attendance of 4,300 at Ota Ward Gymnasium). Scorpion used some lucha style moves to counter Cuty at the start, and then went for the knee, while Cuty tried to kick her way out. She was effective enough, at least in terms of making Scorpion break the hold, but only so she could fire off some stiff kicks and take back over on the mat, this time working a headscissors. Cuty got some offense in afterward with a flying lariat, a dropkick, and then she worked a camel clutch. She really wanted to dominate Scorpion, and used stomps and elbows. Scorpion kept using her fast paced offense to come back, but Cuty finally went back to the arm she had success with in their match. She did the same things, stomping all over it, utilising her submissions, and generally looking like she wanted to take it home with her. After a diving body attack, Scorpion did a Jaguar bridge up and put Cuty in a leglock. Cuty again used her free leg to kick her way out, but this time Scorpion just did a kneecrusher and went back to her leg submission. Scorpion hit an overhead suplex and a diving shoulder attack, and Cuty came back with a Cuty Special. Cuty went back to the arm trying to get a submission, but it didn't come. They fought outside, where Cuty continued attacking the arm, and did a pretty lousy gutwrench suplex. In the ring, Cuty hit a missile dropkick and missed a flying body attack. Scorpion hit her moonsault for a near fall. She did a hip attack off the apron and a plancha. Cuty tried a backdrop suplex, but got German suplexed on the floor. Cuty countered Scorpion's top rope backdrop suplex and almost caught her with a flash pin, but Scorpion hit a German suplex and rolled it through to get the win. This had better pacing and was more cohesive than the first match. Whereas the first match was about establishing Cuty as a big threat, this one they were able to have the competitive match. ****

8/30/91 JWP Devil Masami vs. Itsuki Yamazaki 19:02. Yamazaki initiated her attack on Devil before the bell sounded with a missile dropkick and a dive from the top rope. Yamazaki tried to continue when Devil was on the apron, but got caught and press slammed onto the top rope. Devil slowed it down on the mat, and they had a good battle with Yamazaki outworking Devil to get the leg while Devil would counter her and try to stretch her, which included a Romero Special with her foot driven into Yamazaki's back. Devil tried to play to the crowd while stomping on Yamazaki's hand and Yamazaki wouldn't let her. Devil tried an early powerbomb and Yamazaki dumped her. Devil tried another powerbomb on the floor, but Yamazaki turned it into a rana, and missed a dive from the top turnbuckle. Devil went after Yamazaki's arm and started to get more urgent and vicious as Yamazaki defended herself, though after a couple of arm wringers, Yamazaki was writhing in pain, and Devil felt all was under control. Yamazaki bailed outside for a reprieve, but Devil didn't give her one until she'd thrown her into the guard rail. Yamazaki returned, wounded, and tried to fight on. She managed a vaulting kick, but missed a missile dropkick. She was able to ram Devil into the ringpost and counter Devil's brainbuster to hit a dropkick. Yamazaki went after Devil's leg, following her outside and stomping it. Yamazaki had wrestled as a pure babyface in the match to this point, but was realizing she'd have to utilize everything she knew to truly compete with Devil. She got more vicious with her knee attacks, and stomped all over the ankle, and now it was Devil writhing in pain, almost in tears and unable to get up. Yamazaki dared her to get up and Devil did, just so Yamazaki could take her down with a toe hold and another submission. Yamazaki waited again for Devil to get up, Devil did and almost fought back. but Yamazaki just took her down again. Devil made the ropes so Yamazaki stomped on her hand, she had everything under control, and was just daring Devil to fight back. Devil hit a neckbreaker drop and a powerbomb, but collapsed afterward. She foolishly went up to the top rope and Yamazaki recovered to meet her, but Devil threw her own. Devil tried a diving headbutt, but missed, and they were both down again. Devil hit another powerbomb for a near fall. Yamazaki tried a rana coming off he ropes, but got powerbombed again. Devil still couldn't finish her. Another powerbomb attempt was rolled through, and Yamazaki pinned her. In the end, Masami only had one trick left, and the protege finally defeated the master. This was a slow paced, at times a little too slow, psychology heavy war with excellent twists and turns. It was a shame Yamazaki would retire at the end of the year. ****

9/7/91 AJW Heartbeat The Rival Bout: Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada 30:00.
PA: The opening was such a mess that it kind of worked in a roundabout way because of how frantic and uncooperative it looked. They moved into the body of the match, which saw both of them targeting each others legs. There was pretty vicious stuff being thrown in there, and Toyota still possessed some interest in this portion of the match, although by this point she wasn't trying to do mat counters anymore. It was broken up with their faster bursts. Toyota would hit spotty comebacks, while Yamada kicked the hell out of her whenever she could. All good and well paced stuff, even though it went on too long because they had such a long time to fill. They worked this formula for about 23 minutes and the rest was a big move marathon, which was started early enough that the draw wasn't totally telegraphed, and also starting early allowed it to be paced so they weren't rushing into a spamfest like some of the old Crush Gals fight turned into. It just kept escalating as it went along with bigger moves. Toyota was tired and not executing very well, but in this case, it came off as exhaustion, and can serve to explain why she was unable to put Yamada away. This was a big effort from both, and they succeeded and then some. The match was inevitably padded, but I though they did good job filling in their time here, and it was an excellent match. ****

9/7/91 AJW All Pacific Title Match: Akira Hokuto vs. Yumiko Hotta 16:15.
PA: Hokuto might as well have been wrestling herself because Hotta fast forwarded to the late 90s judging by how unmotivated she was here. Hokuto made the match whether she was on offense or defense. Hokuto gave her a good working over, Hotta more or less just let her do whatever she wanted and sold it, but that's about all she did. Hotta's kicks through the match were usually good, but not much else she did was. She took over on the mat, and Hokuto made her work it, which ended up being Hotta working a few basic leg submissions with all the enthusiasm of a broomstick, while was selling and trying to struggle out. The finish saw Hokuto hit her somersault plancha, and some big moves. Hokuto missed the somersault dive in the ring, and Hotta hit a kneel kick but missed a second. Hokuto went for a flash pin after, but Hotta didn't go over it, so Hokuto finished her with a Northern's Light Bomb. I wish they did the Hokuto vs. Minami rematch here where it had the benefit of being released unedited instead of being clipped to 6 minutes on a TV taping that received no commercial release, because that match looked great. This one, one wrestler looked great, the other just phoned it in. ***1/2

9/7/91 AJW WWWA World Title Match: Bull Nakano vs. Kyoko Inoue 20:02.
PA: Kyoko got this shot in the same way Toyota did the year before – winning the Japan Grand Prix because the wrestler who was presumably supposed to win it was injured. The difference was that Kyoko had big match experience by this point, and had stood up to Zenjo's top names even if she had mostly just gotten her ass kicked. So, she was a more credible opponent for Bull, even if not by much. The opening portion saw Bull make her credible. Kyoko charged the brick wall early and tried a crab, but that wasn't going to work. She dumped Bull outside though, and took it to her out there, slamming her head into the ring post and busting her open. Kyoko worked her over in the ring, which wasn't the most interesting, but Bull was willing to sell for her. After that phase was over with Bull demolished her with a lariat, Kyoko avoided two more attempts, so Bull bicycle kicked her, then powerbombed her. Kyoko hung with Bull and could get in positions to hit moves but Bull was too strong, so Kyoko took back over on the mat. Kyoko's obsession with the Romero Special continued here, she wisely only pulled Bull halfway up into a move she could manage, which was fine, but then an infuriating passage saw Kyoko try the rolling version three times and fail in all three attempts. She couldn't do it against people her own size, but she thought she could do it with Bull. Bull should have just got up and clobbered her. Kyoko had more luck with a bow and arrow. When they got up, Kyoko hit a slingshot elbow, but missed a second. Bull locked in a sleeper and kept going back to it. Kyoko kicked her in the head to break free, and threw strikes, but Bull took her down a lariat. Kyoko tried the giant swing, but she didn't manage a single rotation because Bull was too heavy. Bull worked a dragon sleeper. Kyoko hit a piledriver and Bull powered out and used her choke. Kyoko countered Bull's German Suplex, but Bull hung onto ropes, so she had to roll her up for a near fall. Bull had her up for Fireman's Carry, but Kyoko escaped it, hit a German suplex, spinning slam and a back elbow. Bull cartwheeled out of a toss, and hit a Northern Light's Suplex. Bull set up the guillotine legdrop with a powerbomb, and hit it for a near fall. Bull went up again, but Kyoko met up, and when she couldn't superplex her, she dropkicked her to the outside, and hit a slingshot elbow from the apron, sending them both crashing into the guard rail. Tthe crowd chanted for Kyoko as she waited for Bull. Kyoko hit a piledriver for a near fall and diving body press for another. She then tried Bull's guillotine, but hurt her tailbone in the process, and still couldn't win with it. Bull recovered first, and hit a reverse DDT, then finished Kyoko with a classic moonsault. Aside from some execution problems (the most notable being that of Kyoko's Romero Special), this was everything it could have been. Bull pulled Kyoko through an excellent match, and turned her into a credible threat along the way, to the point where it actually felt like she only just escaped this one with a victory. If the Japan Grand Prix put Kyoko on the map, this match was a star making one for her. ****

10/4/91 AJW Tag League The Best: Aja Kong & Bison Kimura vs. Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada 11:45 of 18:08.
PA: High energy sprint that was a lot better than the finals between these two teams would go on to be. Aja's foot was healed, and she was moving around well. They started out hot, and stayed that way throughout. Everyone was fired up, but Yamada and Aja were the standouts. At one point, Bison threw Kyoko into the seats, demolishing almost entire ringside section. Aja finished the job on whatever chairs remained. After that, they went into the finishing run, which saw Kyoko hit her slingshot elbow on both Aja and Bison, but they took over. Aja drew Yamada in just so she could take her out and Bison assisted for a double uraken finish on Kyoko. ***1/2

10/10/91 JWP: Itsuki Yamazaki vs. Shinobu Kandori 9:40.
PA: Yamazaki attempted to play Kandori's game initially, but that wasn't a good idea, although she was able to slip away from Kandori's submissions before any harm was done. She shifted gears, but that didn't work for long either. Kandori went for submissions in the ring and Yamazaki scrambled to the ropes. Yamazaki almost flash pinned Kandori early, upsetting her, but stunned her soon after when she hotshotted her, and gave her a few of Kandori's own boot scrapes, eventually applying a sleeper and body scissors combination. Kandori managed to work her way out, responding with a slap and a corner lariat. However, Yamazaki quickly rebounded, firing out of the corner with a roll-up attempt. Yamazaki then attempted a top-rope armdrag, but Kandori countered violently by yanking her down to the mat. Kandori attempted an arm submission, but Yamazaki quickly reached the ropes. Yamazaki then evaded a lariat and went for a manjigatame, which she transitoned to a jujigatame, but Kandori worked out of it, went for the leg, but Yamazaki made the ropes again. They exchanged dropkicks after that. Yamazaki aimed to deliver a beating to Kandori outside, but that backfired, and Kandori wouldn't even allow her to return to the ring before she bodyslammed her on the floor. Kandori followed up in the ring with two nasty backhand slaps, but Yamazaki retaliated with a backdrop suplex. Yamazaki continued her offensive with a missile dropkick to the back of Kandori's head, followed by a diving headbutt. Kandori answered with a tiger driver. Yamazaki attempted a crucifix pin. These were some really close near falls. Yamazaki ascended to the top rope again, and Kandori met her but was kicked off. Yamazaki missed her missile dropkick though, and Kandori locked in her crab to get the submission win. 9:40 sounds like a short match, but they did a lot with that time, and didn't need any more. This was one hell of a little match. These two weren't really naturals opponents, but if you'd paid attention to Yamazaki's JWP run, it would come as no surprise that she'd be able to work a strong match with Kandori. ***1/2

10/10/91 JWP Hair vs. Mask, JWP/UWA Double Junior Title Match: The Scorpion vs. Cuty Suzuki 15:29.
PA: Cuty won a good opening burst, though after that it seemed to take a little while for the two to find their intensity. Cuty was the aggressor, and threw some decent strikes and knees. Scorpion ended up daring her to hit her, so Cuty backdrop suplexed her. Cuty went for a flying body press, but only ate knees and Scorpion hit a missile dropkick. That woke the crowd up and Scorpion gave Cuty a beating on the outside. Scorpion had a cloverleaf on in the ring, and hit a backbreaker. She hit a shoulder tackle from the top rope before having her backdrop suplex reversed. Scorpion tried a brainbuster, but Cuty slipped out of it, and then avoided a kneel kick. Cuty worked a leg lock, and then sat right back on a half crab, but Scorpion wouldn't submit, so she went to the camel clutch. That didn't work either, so she lost patience, and hit a double arm suplex. Scorpion came out of the corner with a body attack and tried to take over. Cuty got the back, so Scorpion dumped her outside and hit a plancha, and then a moonsault to the outside, and it looked nasty with her knee smashing into Cuty's head. If the match had lacked something up to this point, it was starting to get really good, and finished hot. Cuty survived it though, and hit a Cuty Special on the floor. They struggled back into the ring, and countered each other before Scorpion locked in the same choke she won their first match with. It didn't work this time, as Cuty made the ropes. Scorpion slipped going up to the top, and Cuty backdrop suplexed her down. Cuty hit a German suplex for a big near fall, and did a second one. Cuty went up for a missile dropkick, but got caught and almost pinned. Scorpion hit a German Suplex of her own, but she floated over and into the ropes so she got nothing for it. She followed with a tombstone and a moonsault, but Cuty refused to stay down. Cuty reversed an Irish whip, and hit a big powerbomb to finish. Scorpion couldn't believe it and unmasked, this Scorpion thankfully was not Ric Flair all along, but instead Reiko Hoshino, and she'd wrestle unmasked under her real name going forward. This match was quite lackluster through the middle portion, but after Scorpion hit those two big dives on the outside, it really picked up and their final portion was great. ***3/4

11/2/91 JWP UWA International Title: Harley Saito vs. Dynamite Kansai 14:51.
PA: After months of bad blood and violent tag team matches, we finally got around to the big singles match. This was a smartly worked match with good pacing, build, and all the stiff striking and quality matwork we expect from these two, but since they were working a singles match, they couldn't have the same frantic pace and bursts of their more electric tag team exchanges. I thought they improved upon their 2/11/91 match in all aspects. They had a very good back and forth battle to start, with each scoring some big blows. Harley couldn't match Kansai's strength, but she was faster and craftier. Immediately, she jumped Kansai from behind and looked to stay on her, but as soon as she gave Kansai any room or took the pedal off the gas, Kansai was able to fight back. They remained mostly even through the mat phase as well. Harley was effectively answering Kansai, but was still prone to making some mistakes. Early in the match, she tried for a test of strength, which she had no chance of winning, and caught a knee in the face for it. When they were on the mat, she seemed to have Kansai in some trouble going for her leg, but switched to the left arm, which allowed Kansai to just take her down. These errors didn't cost her too badly, and she was able to come back from them, but going to the top rope proved to be flying too close to the sun, and was a major turning point in the match. Kansai knocked her to the floor and mauled her on the outside, then looked to put her away with big moves in the ring. Harley tried to come back, but she was getting completely overwhelmed. Kansai hit a lariat, which got a near fall and Harley rolled outside to take a breather. Kansai didn't want to let her have any respite, and went for a tope, but crashed and burned. Harley immediately followed up dumping her with a nasty backdrop on the floor, which completely finished off Kansai. She was too badly hurt to do anything, and wouldn't have even made it back in the ring if Harley didn't toss her back in. A few kicks and a Tiger Suplex, and Harley wins again. I really liked the finish this time, yes, it required some luck, but instead of the fluke pin we saw in their first title match, this was Harley pouncing on a mistake, and I thought both looked strong coming out of it. It was pretty clear the door was left wide open for another match at some point, and you would think Kansai would've taken the belt on her third try, but JWP wouldn't be around long enough for us to get it, and after it closed down these two would go their separate ways. ***3/4

11/21/91 AJW Akira Hokuto & Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada 32:03.
PA: Yamada and Kyoko were probably the lamest tag team of the era, they were fun and likable, but they looked completely ridiculous wearing sombreros and seeing them do their goofy spots they learned in Mexico or came up with themselves like that double wheelbarrow thing makes me happy Yamada ended up in a tag team with Toyota. This match had some great action, some real sloppy action and pointless submissions to catch a break with. It seemed to turn into a pissing contest between Hokuto and Toyota trying to show each other up. Hokuto was standout like always. They seemed to actually want to push this lame Kyoko and Yamada team, so they gave them two control segments early on, but beyond that there wasn't much structure here. They just seemed to be doing whatever they wanted. All in all, it was entertaining and there were innovative moves, and double teams. For a match so long it flew by, but there was little of substance here. Hokuto and Toyota completely blew Kyoko and Yamada away, but ended up on the losing end. They tried a stereo moonsault at the end, but they both missed. Kyoko held up Hokuto in a Hart Attack position and Yamada delivered an enzuigiri from the top rope which got them the win. ***1/4

11/21/91 AJW Street Fight Cage Match: Aja Kong & Bison Kimura vs. Bull Nakano & Monster Ripper 34:52.
PA: This was a weird match. The rules were elimination, and you won by regular means, but if the two partners survived, they'd have to fight each other. The Bull vs. Aja stuff was the best, but Aja was the first one out due to injury about half way through the match. She got the best of Bull again, but went for a dive off the top of the cage and ripped out the stitches in her stomach, and was bleeding like crazy, so they had to get her out of the match. That basically ruined it. Bison was left alone, and she just got beat on for a long time and eliminated. Then it was Ripper vs. Bull, which sucked in April, and it wasn't much good here either. Ripper dominated Bull. Bull caught her with a German, which was enough to keep Ripper down long for Bull to hit the legdrop from the top of the cage, and it's a nasty one that caught Ripper in the face. The match was about 4 star level before Aja was eliminated, and really dragged afterward. ***

12/7/91 JWP: Harley Saito, Itsuki Yamazaki & Hikari Fukuoka vs. Dynamite Kansai, Eagle Sawai & Reiko Hoshino 13:21.
PA: After being unmasked in October, the Scorpion switched to using her real name, Reiko Hoshino. This match is the last match for both Hoshino and Itsuki Yamazaki on tape. Yamazaki retired at the end of the year, while I believe Hoshino stuck it out for the last month, and just didn't join either of the splinter groups. Given the state of JWP at this point (no one was getting paid), it's hard to blame Yamazaki for bailing the titanic early, but it would have been great if they stuck it out in the new JWP. Lots of in and out tags, and really good action from start to finish. Fukuoka got beat on and roughed up early, but got a chance later to do Manami Toyota spots on Hoshino later on. Kansai and Harley continued to kick the crap out of each other like they've been doing for months. Hoshino did a couple of exciting spots, and Yamazaki was up to her usual excellent standards. ***1/2

12/9/91 AJW Tag League The Best Playoff: Bull Nakano & Akira Hokuto vs. Aja Kong & Bison Kimura 22:09.
PA: Bison and Hokuto were the workhorses holding over most of the match, and they had a good match between each other, though notably doing less than you'd expect given Jungle Jack still had the finals to wrestle. Hokuto just made a solid contribution and wasn't trying to steal the match, though she managed to almost killing herself with a moonsault, and did a missile dropkick out of the floor late in the match. Bull was the closest to her usual level. She brought the intensity and made the encounters with Aja here, while Aja was disappointing. Their rivalry overwhelmed the whole match, and while it was the highlight for the crowd, it wasn't as interesting as in past matches because there was no story to develop with it here, and Aja was below her usual levels. They were equals, dominant, and would barely sell anything for each other, much less their ‘lesser' opponents. The action was good throughout, but not on the level these four could have accomplished. They finished strongly, with Aja and Bison on the outside, Bull hit a plancha climbing up the middle rope with Hokuto following up with the missile dropkick. Bull went for the somersault guillotine in the ring on Aja, but she moved, and wiped her out with an uraken, leaving Hokuto to get finished off a Jungle Jack moved onto the finals. ***1/4

12/9/91 AJW Tag League The Best Final: Toshiyo Yamada & Kyoko Inoue vs. Aja Kong & Bison Kimura 23:31. The finals were straight after the playoff, so Yamada and Kyoko came in fresh, and their only gameplan seemed to be simply outlasting Jungle Jack. Yamada and Kyoko were energetic hitting fast paced attacks and their lucha submissions. As usual, there was good stuff mixed in with the bad with them, and the highlight of the match was Aja finally getting sick of their lucha nonsense and demolishing them with an oil can. Jungle Jack were as dominant as usual, and clearly the stronger team, with their usual beatdowns both in and outside the ring, and cheating whenever it suited them. Even after doing a 20 minute match immediately beforehand, Bison gave the best performance of anyone in the match. In the end, Jungle Jack inevitably got tired while Yamada and Kyoko had enough left in them to capitalize. Surprisingly, it was actually Aja who got pinned in a long finish, which saw Yamada kicked her off the top rope and go to town on her with kicks. Aja survived a piledriver, but was put away after that with Yamada top rope enzuigiri. ***

6/17/96 NJPW, British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Dick Togo vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 15:56

11/30/01 ICW World Title: Low Ki vs. Eddie Guerrero 17:11.
ML: In his first match after being fired from WWE, Guerrero challenges 3rd year wrestler Low Ki, one of the best and hottest wrestlers on the indies, for his ICW World Title. This was by no means an attempt to have a match of the year. It's mostly a safe technical match, well done basic stuff, but Guerrero's fundamentals are so sound that his artistry, combined with very precise explosive escapes that highlight their athleticism, keep things interesting. Due to the technical wrestling being taken seriously, when Ki finally explodes into a series of middle kicks with Guerrero on his knees, Guerrero's counter into an STF becomes a legitimate high spot. Guerrero had excellent answers to everything Ki threw at him throughout the match. Ki was more athletic and, of course, showed enough intensity and determination to be taken seriously against the legend. The finishing sequence was rather brief, but it's good that the veteran Guerrero was willing to put over the rising star, even if in an unconvincing, fluky manner. ***

8/4/05 WRESTLE-1 Grand Prix Tournament First Round Match: Jun Akiyama vs. Katsuyori Shibata 13:46

7/18/20 TNA Impact Knockouts Title: Jordynne Grace vs. Deonna Purrazzo 15:12.
ML: This was Purrazzo's 3rd match back with TNA, and they tried to put her over big as the new ace of the division. Purrazzo can't match power with Grace, and was biding her time a bit early on, trying to force or annoy Grace into a mistake. Eventually, Purrazzo was able to stop Grace from hitting an avalanche move, and injure the arm with a kick off the middle rope. Purrazzo is one of the most technically skilled women, and from here, all her offense was all about outmaneuvering Grace in order to beat down the arm, and eventually isolate it for the wakigatame. Purrazzo doesn't just do the same old moves that everyone does. She tries to be unique and clever, which makes her a lot more interesting to watch. Sometimes the sequences were a little slow or clunky because Purrazzo isn't that athletic, and they haven't worked together in a while, but it's easier to forgive that because they weren't just doing a worse version of the crap you see every match. Grace was doing her best to put over the damage done to the arm, even presumably executing the Michinoku driver II imperfectly to put over how compromised it was. Grace didn't have her normal amount of offense, but everything she does, even a simple bodyslam, has a lot more impact than normal, actually appearing to be damaging. Grace is somewhat simple but really brutal, while Purrazzo is exquisite but not quite slick or fluid enough to be great. In the end, I liked how Grace did it more than what she did, while the reverse was true for Purrazzo. This was a serious match, solidly worked with a lot of intensity, despite the empty arena. The match was always compelling, but lacked the final push to put it over the top. Still, they told their story well enough that their finish of Purrazzo catching Grace in a Venus de Milo (double arm wakigatame) totally worked. Their 8/25/20 iron man rematch did a better job with the final push, other than the goofy ref bump, but hardly anyone has 30 minutes worth of material these days, and they just eased into things, working 80% of the match at half speed. Even though there was more time for technical wrestling and Purrazzo's arm work there, it never approached the quality of this match because the entries and exits were much less explosive and dynamic, and they stuck with things longer than necessary to run down the clock. ***1/2

4/16/23 TNA Impact X-Division Title Three Way Elimination: Trey Miguel vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Mike Bailey 13:55.
ML: I'm not a fan of three ways, but Bailey was spectacular, as always, and they made a better effort to keep all three fighting at once. This required them to be more creative to keep it from being too ridiculous and implausible for the usual reason, but sometimes created a new problem of the cooperation being that much more obvious, and there was still too much ridiculous overselling, even if there was less of the one guy hiding on the outside or laying on the canvas while the other two fought than usual. At least even if one guy stopped fighting, that didn't pause the action like in most nonsensical singles matches these days because the other two kept at it. This was also better because it wasn't single elimination, so Bailey and Miguel continued on as a singles match after Gresham was eliminated when Miguel hit the Meteora while Bailey had Gresham in a figure 4. After throwing in the requisite chop exchange, things really took off with a flurry of high flying. I was expecting a more interesting finish than a handful of tights on the roll up reversal, but even though this could have gone another two minutes and ended in a more suitable manner, this was a fun match with some good contributions all around. ***

4/16/23 TNA Impact Knockouts World Title Decision: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Jordynne Grace 17:05.
ML: Both have improved since their 2020 meetings, and this was a considerably different match. They were moving and executing better, in addition to adding several bigger and more spectacular moves to their arsenal. They started off flashier before introducing Purrazzo's arm work, but surprisingly, we don't really see any sort of arm attack, just her few submission finishers. Instead, they stay in big move mode, with Purrazzo hitting a sloppy moonsault off the ramp. The match was more back and forth and hard-hitting, with Grace busted open hard way outside the left eye, but a lot less technical. I'm not sure this was exactly an improvement, as it felts like they were now doing a better version of what everyone else does, rather than highlighting the technicality that makes Purrazzo unique and to a lesser extent the power that makes Grace unique (there was still some of that, but Purrazzo was now operating more in that space so there was less constrast). I do like that they weren't just repeating themselves, and ultimately this was comparable in quality to their 7/18/20 match and way better than their 8/25/20 match. There was some miscommunication before and after Grace's rear naked choke that temporarily brought things almost to a halt, but they recovered with stereo headbutts for a double knockdown. The finish was a bit surprising in the sense that the match seemed to be going a few minutes longer, but Deonna definitely killed Grace with the Queen's gambit, so it felt right for Grace to stay down. ***1/2

5/26/23 TNA Impact Knockouts World Title: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Jordynne Grace 13:23.
ML: Grace had to win in order to be allowed to challenge for the title any time during Purrazzo's reign. Normally, this stipulation would assure a victory for Grace, but she had yet to resign with the promotion. This was Grace's style of physical, high impact match, with Purrazzo once again showing no real technical wrestling beyond a couple attempts at her wakigatame finisher. That was unfortunate because this style makes Purrazzo's weaknesses more apparent, and the match less dynamic in general. Neither looked particularly smooth here, and some of this was a bit too deliberate, largely because Purrazzo is a step slow. They brought big offense from the beginning, and everything they hit looked impressive once they got to the point of getting it off. Grace finally avoided Purrazzo jumping on her arm when she was holding the rope, so Purrazzo didn't have her usual in to work the appendage. Purrazzo did manage to roll into her wakigatame off her Russian leg sweep, but Grace forced her to break by rolling her backwards into a crucifix pin. This time Grace kicked out of the Queen's gambit, but Purrazzo upped the ante by putting her away with a second Queen's gambit off the middle rope. ***

9/8/23 TNA: Jordynne Grace vs. Deonna Purrazzo 11:48.
ML: This was Grace's first match back since her last loss to Purrazzo, putting her down four matches to none in their series in TNA. They only had 12 minutes, so they did a faster paced, more aggressive match. It was rushed, but it's probably the best example of both getting to do what they do best against each other, and that led to it being their best executed match, although the cooperation to set up some of their power moves was still very obvious. Purrazzo quickly brought back some technical wrestling, using on the outside a double wrist lock to ram Grace into the ring then jumping off the apron with the boot to the arm to set up her arm work back in the ring. Purrazzo countered everything she could by targeting the injured left arm. The arm was largely forgotten in the second half though until they brought it back for Purrazzo's big near finish where she used a tijeras into a wakigatame. Grace tried to immediately counter into a pin again, but Purrazzo shifted her weight back this time, though she still couldn't get the submission. Grace finally got her first one over Purrazzo with the juggernaut driver. Although it was an improvement over their previous match, it still felt more like a really good TV match than what we are used to from these two, as and it was a short non title match (Trinity took the title from Purrazzo on 7/15/23) tossed in the middle of the card. If they kept this up for another 3-4 minutes, it would likely have been their best match together. ***1/4

8/7/23 Marvelous AAAW Title: Mio Momono vs. Mayumi Ozaki 21:36.
ML: I think it was a terrible move to have Momono immediately lose the title after finally making it to the top, and delivering the Marvelous Match of the Year with Chikayo Nagashima in the process. That being said, even though the timing wasn't right, this was actually a much better match than expected that was quite enjoyable apart from the result. Ozaki's cronies were nowhere to be found, and she did the entire match without interference since she only gets to make the rules in her own OZ Academy promotion. Ozaki still dominated with her brawling and weapons, being particularly nasty to Momono's right hand early on, but not sticking with it. Ozaki was just doing her variation on Dump Matsumoto offensively, but gave a very legitimate effort here, doing a nice job of laying out and structuring an effective match that worked for both. Ozaki didn't embarrass herself like most of the old codgers, working smart and still being competent at roughing the opponent up and performing the few moves she does well. Her pace is a walk, but she stayed on Mio the whole time, not taking all the breaks we see from wrestlers half her age in the BS Road epics. Obviously, the main quality here came from Mio's exciting, fast-paced comebacks. Mio even seems small compared to Ozaki, but has 25x the speed and explosion, and had some fun bursts. The match dragged a bit early since it was one-sided and the skill level was low, but built well to a dramatic final portion. Momono bled heavily after Ozaki broke two chairs over her head, then drove the broken seat into her forehead. Takumi Iroha had a hard time witnessing this massacre, and was restrained a few times by referee Tommy Ran, who, of course, did nothing to prevent Ozaki from using chairs and chains. Eventually, Ozaki hung Momono over the top rope, but Iroha set her free. It was reasonable enough for Ozaki to completely dominate given she was the only one that is using weapons. Finally, there was a great near finish after Ran wouldn't count a pinfall after a Ligerbomb onto a chair seat where Ozaki did the regular Ligerbomb, only to have Momono break the count by finally using a weapon, hitting Ozaki in the head with the chair seat. Mio was on the move again, but Ozaki cut her right off with the chair seat, only to have Momono block the uraken with the chair seat. Momono finally got a couple near falls now that she was willing to stand up to Ozaki, and kicked out of the running three at 1. Ozaki resorted to spewing mist though, and finally put Mio away with the shining wizard and Tequila Sunrise. Ozaki footstomped the Marvelous belt afterwards, prompting Chigusa to embarrass herself with the geriatric tackle and pull apart. I didn't care for the 4/28/24 rematch, which was just the usual shenanigans of cycling through the seconds. ***1/4

4/21/24 AEW International Title: Roderick Strong vs. Kyle O'Reilly 17:18.
ML: Great to see O'Reilly not only healthy, but pretty much just picking up where he left off, and Strong actually doing a serious pro wrestling match in AEW rather than wheeling himself around and wasting his time on pocket pinball. These two have fought many times because their very physical technical styles are well suited for one another. This wasn't their best match, but they still take it seriously, delivering an intense match where they didn't waste much time or motion. They have great chemistry, counter each other beautifully, and bring the brutality, with everything seeming much more punishing than what others are doing. O'Reilly did a nice job of working over Strong's arm, while Strong found countless entries for his backbreakers. The match absolutely should have been left alone, but they had Wardlow come out before the finish only to get caught by the ref trying to interfere. The supposed idea was that he still distracted Kyle, causing him to lose, but O'Reilly never even looked at Wardlow when he was attempting his run in, and stayed on the offensive with a small package counter. What actually happened was the audience was distracted waiting for Wardlow to find his moment, and when they did the actual finish came a few moves later, with O'Reilly's back going out trying a bridging backdrop allowing Strong to finish him with the end of heartache, it came off flat because people were expecting O'Reilly to kick out so Wardlow could interfere. Afterwards, Adam Cole arose from his wheelchair to do nothing useful, as always. ***1/2

4/21/24 AEW: Will Ospreay vs. Bryan Danielson 32:40

4/21/24 TNA Knockouts World Title: Jordynne Grace vs. Miyu Yamashita 9:55.
ML: Really aggressive, stiff, hard-hitting, brutal stuff. They kept it simple, just mauling each other back and forth, putting extra impact on everything. At 10 minutes, they had to get to it right away. They didn't overstay their welcome or allow the match to become too unbelievable. Grace was just a beast here. She's much stronger, but also considerably more athletic, with an actual move set. She savaged Yamashita, who didn't have her usual size advantage here, and thus struggled to hang with the champion because Grace doesn't really need to exchange with her to beat her. Yamashita was a bit too deliberate given she can't overwhelm this opponent with her physical attributes, but Yamashita doesn't really have a plan B. They did a nice job of escalating the impact to the point it felt like they weren't holding anything back. The only knock on this is it's half the length of all the other best matches, but they just dropped the stuff everyone knows doesn't matter. ***1/2

4/27/24 STARDOM IWGP Women's Title: Mayu Iwatani vs. Sareee 20:26

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