10/20/24 MLP AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Josh Alexander 29:31
ML: This was more or less the opposite dynamic than Takeshita's main event last night with Mike Bailey because here Alexander was the solid one and Takeshita was the spectacular one, such as it was with these two. This isn't the role Takeshita plays as well, but he's capable of doing different styles of matches, and always adapts well to the opponent. Alexander, who was channeling Bret Hart with his outfit, brings more desire and capability to do technical wrestling than most active stars. Alexander certainly isn't the most exciting wrestler, but he can do the NWA/WCW technical grappling with a few more head drops. This really only came to fruition in the early portion though, and then he just switched to doing random suplexes and the ridiculous ankle lock. There were a lot less big spots in this match, but they weren't really telling a story either, and the big spots didn't seem particularly meaningful. I mean, it was more that things were well spread out than that they we're gaining a lot of momentum with anything dangerous they did, or making you believe any of the stuff was leading to victory. This match held my attention, didn't drag despite being nearly half an hour because they weren't doing all the stalling that passes for "epicness", but it never really pulled me in. Alexander used a bunch of German suplexes on Takeshita in a row, including a German suplex on the ring apron before Takeshita stopped the German suplex on the outside, and hit a brainbuster on the ramp. According to Mauro, no one has ever kicked out of the C4 spike, but Takeshita managed to get his foot on the ropes. Alexander German suplex Takeshita into the turnbuckle. Alexander then went for the superplex, but Takeshita countered with the lariat off the top, hit 2 running knees, and finished with the raging fire. This was definitely more comparable to Bailey vs. Phantasmo in quality than to Bailey vs. Takeshita the previous night. ***1/4

10/20/24 MLP: Mike Bailey vs. El Phantasmo 16:18
ML: A more traditional junior heavyweight style match between two of Canada's better juniors, who one would presume would be regulars for MLP as long as Phantasmo can conquer his tumour. These two don't have as good of chemistry as Bailey & Takeshita. It's only their 3rd singles match (1st in Canada). It was a good effort, but certainly not the all out effort we saw from Bailey the previous night when he was in the main event. Obviously, with Phantasmo going through various cancer tests and being diagnosed around this time, he's not feeling his best, and would have had every right to be distracted and off his game, but he was good and kept getting better and better as the match went on. This was largely the standard, always highly impressive Bailey stuff. The winner was pretty obvious given the result of the previous night's main event, and there wasn't quite that extra push to make it dramatic or memorable, but for a midcard match the night after Bailey's featured all out match, this was still better than it should have been. The one odd choice was to flirt with a shin injury storyline when Phantasmo was never going to actually attack Bailey's shins (which definitely wouldn't have helped at this length), just get his knees up or avoid Bailey's moonsault double kneedrops. ***1/4

7/9/92 JWP Mayumi Ozaki vs. Dynamite Kansai 25:11
PA: This was their second singles match of the year after their 5/13 match. There, Ozaki was fearless but overmatched. However, she learned a few things along the way that she'd build upon in the rematch. They built up great tension before the match even began. Ozaki tried taking it to Kansai at the start, but couldn't hold her for long. Her next tactic was to bait Kansai into a test of strength and kick her the face. Four of those and a one legged dropkick to the face did some damage, enough for Ozaki to start working over the arm, which along with opening up the potential submission, would be the key to her counter for the Splash Mountain. Kansai regained control, and launched a brutal barrage of kicks. The kicks were nasty enough, but Ozaki getting in fetal position and trying to cover up, only to have Kansai continue kicking her in the head made it look so much worse. Not just that, Kansai also hurled into the guard rail, trashing the ringside area, and after the brutal exchanges she'd grind down Ozaki with holds. Ozaki got annihilated for a third time. She might have been better equipped to wrestle Kansai, but those kicks were just too powerful. She managed to ground Kansai when Kansai took her foot off the gas, and this time, she tried to tear Kansai's arm off with a wakigatame, putting it on a dramatic angle that had Kansai screaming. Suddenly a submission seemed not only possible, but likely. Kansai further injured her arm while powering out of Ozaki's hold, and Ozaki remained relentless, stomping on her, and even getting some revenge for the earlier assault outside the ring. The way Kansai sold the arm was excellent. She couldn't hide the pain she was in, selling as if it was dislocated, but was never helpless, nor ceased looking dangerous. It was enough to make it a more even fight now. When Kansai re-entered the ring, she showed how dangerous she still was, snatching Ozaki up in a nasty powerbomb, and unleashing another barrage kicks, but this time she was slower due to the damage on shoulder damage. It was just enough for Ozaki to get enough of a reprieve and dump Kansai outside when she ascended the ropes. Ozaki hit her springboard dive, but Kansai caught her in mid-air while attempting a cannonball to once again snuff out Ozaki's charge. In the final segment, Ozaki had answers for two of Kansai's big moves, the Splash Mountain, which Kansai went for first was countered with an armdrag. The Northern Light's Suplex was countered into a DDT. The latter gave Ozaki the chance to fire everything she could at Kansai, but Kansai had answers of her own. They ended up fighting over a suplex, which saw Kansai thrust kicking Ozaki when she slipped behind her, leading to her second Splash Mountain attempt, but on the second one, Ozaki was able to turn her armdrag into a pin and get the win. The finish was so well built up that it didn't feel like Ozaki got lucky, as you do you with most flash pins, it felt like she thoroughly deserved the win. The only other plausible Ozaki victory would have been by arm submission, but I like the finish they went with. It was unique, and left more intrigue. One of the reasons it worked so well was because they didn't fill the finishing run with too many big moves. They did just enough. Had they overdone it then Ozaki's win would have felt like a fluke. This was an excellent slow burn match, and though putting on a long, gruelling match was part of the story, some of the segments may have taken a little too long to get going and could have been improved had some of the filler been trimmed from it. I liked that they kept repeating things that worked though, and building on them with everything paying off in a satisfying way. What they did here worked to the point of legitimizing Ozaki through the match alone in a plausible way, and making her a credible rival for Kansai going forward. ****

7/15/92 AJW All Japan Title Match: Sakie Hasegawa vs. Mariko Yoshida 15:56
PA: Yoshida had just wrestled in a 15 minute match directly before this, defending the All Japan tag titles. Yoshida did another great job of leading Sakie through a really good match. It was better than their Japan Grand Prix match in that sense, and also assisted by being half the length, which suited them. Yoshida made all aspects of the match with her selling and flashy burst offense. Both went for the same targets as last time, Yoshida's shoulder and Sakie's leg. Sakie did some good work to Yoshida's shoulder, her holds were good, and she was throwing savate kicks to it. She had intensity. However, her lack of offense was more apparent here, and she was out of control with her savate kicks, either completely missing them or potatoing Yoshida, which resulted in Yoshida's mouth getting busted. That extended to the finish, which wasn't so great either, as Sakie won with a single rollng savate kick, which was overshot, that came not so long as Yoshida had survived five of them. Despite this, it was another memorable match for them. ***3/4

7/15/92 AJW CMLL World Women's Title Match: Bull Nakano vs Akira Hokuto 11:59
PA: Notable pre-match with Mima Shimoda invading the ring during the introductions, getting on her hands and knees begging to join Hokuto's group. Hokuto didn't seem much interested in this but let her join, and with that, the Las Cachorras Orientales, LCO is born for real. Hokuto was coming into this match with injured ribs, and it's a shame this match was derailed because Bull was properly motivated for the first time since the Aja match in April. They just went all out at the start, but it only took one bump off a lariat about two minutes into the match for Hokuto to reinjure her ribs. Bull tried to buy her time, and looked vicious enough while she was doing it while Hokuto writhed in pain. Hokuto did mount a comeback, and used a bokken to assist her. Hokuto hit a tope, then her somersault plancha, first off the apron and then off the top turnbuckle, but her run ended up fizzling out a few moves later when she went for a dive and crashed into Bull's knees. Bull was merciless, powerbombing Hokuto then hitting a guillotine legdrop. Hokuto kicked out, so Bull attempted to kill her off with a moonsault, but Shimoda jumped in, trying to hold Bull off while Mita protected Hokuto. The doctor called the match off. Hokuto gave an impassioned promo afterward and burst into tears wanting the match to continue, but Bull wasn't having any of it and dismissed her, telling her she loves pro-wrestling, to take care of herself and try again when she's healed. I don't know how good this was as a match, but they got everything they could have out of it, and then some. It was one hell of a drama, and gripping all the way until it was called off. This led to the cage match they'd have on 7/30. ***

7/15/92 AJW 2/3 Falls, WWWA World Tag Title Match: Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota vs. Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue 15:09, 5:51, 12:30
PA: Aja didn't have her Bison anymore, so she needed a new tag team partner, and picked Kyoko. Kyoko wasn't expecting that, but she jumped at the chance. Aja even held the ropes for her to enter. Kyoko and Aja couldn't decide who was going to start, so Toyota jumped them both to get things underway. They tried to have Kyoko and Aja work as the heels during this, but it was never going to work, so there was no heat in the heat segments. Aja was getting popular anyway, while Kyoko was the most popular wrestler in the company, and people love oddball tag teams. Loose ring ropes caused all kinds of havoc, with just about every move off them being blown. In spite of this, it was still a really good and enjoyable match with lots of fun spots, like Aja doing a rapidfire combo that felt like it was about 50 strikes, and a good build in the first fall, which saw the superior teamwork of Yamada and Toyota appear to have the first fall locked up until Kyoko saved Aja from the avalanche double backdrop. Aja and Kyoko winning after a diving elbow/body press combo on Toyota. The second fall had a lot of sloppiness, but was a good, short fall where Aja and Kyoko's lack of experience together ended up costing them, with Aja accidentally taking Kyoko out when she dove off the apron. Toyota took them both out with a sloppy quebrada, and Kyoko was at Toyota and Yamada's mercy with Toyota securing the pin with her Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex. The third fall was the best, with some brawling, Aja going after Toyota's taped up ribs which had been ignored all match and really brutalized her. This was a good heat segment, and Toyota's selling was actually good enough that she got a Toyota chant while she was in Kyoko's crab. They once again built up a good finishing run, but the finish with Yamada and Toyota getting Aja on the top rope for the backdrop wasn't well done, and Kyoko took out Toyota, leaving Yamada to finish the move herself, so it was somewhat anticlimactic. Still, for all the issues this was a really good match. The post-match saw the interpromotional rivalry era get underway with Shark Tsuchiya and Crusher Maedomari from FMW running through the crowd making a challenge to Toyota and Yamada. The angle was really well done, and felt chaotic and real, with Bull coming straight out to confront them. This set up the first interpromotional match that would take place in FMW on 9/19/92, although that would end up changing to Bull Nakano & Akira Hokuto vs. Megumi Kudo & Combat Toyoda. ***1/2

7/30/92 AJW Cage Match: Bull Nakano vs. Akira Hokuto 14:04 of 18:16
PA: Classics version of this match is the one to go for here, it shows 5 more minutes than the TV version did. Bull passed the torch twice in 1992. Aja eventually got the big prize, but Hokuto beat Bull at her own game, the cage match. This is another excellent cage match. Bull gave a great, stiff beating, and Hokuto brought so much urgency and intensity to the match, fighting the wild aggression she needed to be able to overcome Bull. The early exchange had a few lariats and other moves in there, but was mostly focused on the two grinding each others head into the cage to draw blood. They were both successful. Hokuto was a force, any opening Bull left for her she relentlessly pursued, and she was happy to introduce a bokken into the mix to grind down the monster. Bull was never down for long and was able to control Hokuto, that's all she had to do and she would eventually grind down Hokuto so she couldn't come back anymore. Bull wasn't particularly concerned about Hokuto's injured ribs, she didn't need to target them, but she did a lot of damage to them when she delivered two powerbombs, after which she seemed content to exit. Hokuto wasn't gong down so easily, and frantically pulled Bull back in. Bull continued her assault, but Hokuto kept firing back. Hokuto delivered three missile dropkicks that did almost as much damage to herself as they did to Bull. Hokuto climbed the cage, but Bull pulled her down and hit the guillotine legdrop, then Bull went for it all with the big one from the top of the cage and missed. That spelled her end. She was at Hokuto's mercy. Hokuto could've just escaped, but she wanted to defeat Bull, she didn't want Bull to defeat herself. She delivered two Northern Light's Bombs. Bull couldn't do anything except clutch onto Hokuto's leg, but Hokuto just gave her a third. Hokuto could have escaped, but that wasn't good enough either because Bull made it up to her feet, so she went for the big dive herself, a missile dropkick from the top of the cage, which knocked Bull out, and Hokuto escaped to win. This was Bull's 5th and final cage match, and the most action packed of all of them. It just never gets talked about because until recently, the only version available showed about half of the match, and doing five cage matches in less than two years was probably too much. It seemed the Matsunaga's realized that also because this was the last cage match until 1997. ****1/4

8/9/92 JWP 2 Count Fall, JWP Tag Title Match: Cuty Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Dynamite Kansai & Sumiko Saito 18:37
PA: Sumiko Saito was a really promising young girl from JWP who looked sure to be JWP's star once her experience caught up. Sadly, she retired in early 1993. This was a fun, high quality JWP tag team match. Ozaki and Kansai were good as always, and picked up where they left off from the their singles match. Cuty was good later on with her run ins and being the bitch heel against Saito. Whenever she was in with Kansai, it couldn't be competitive, so she just got worked over, but she could be useful as the illegal partner assisting Ozaki. While the early portion had some good action, the match didn't really pick up until the long heat section on Saito, which saw Ozaki and Cuty give her a good working over, using double teams and good cut off spots. It built into a hot finish that saw Kansai receive enough damage that she had to tag out. Cuty and Saito went for near falls, and while it wasn't Cuty's best day execution wise, it was enough to get the crowd chanting for Saito. It ended perhaps, a little quick with Ozaki switching and finishing her with a Tequila Sunrise, which left Kansai fuming again. ***1/2

8/10/92 AJW Bull Nakano & Bat Yoshinaga vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota 20:03 of 22:09
PA: Very good Bull tag that worked the basic formula. Bull was motivated and delivered a good, stiff beating, particularly to Toyota. Those two worked well enough together that it would have been interesting to see another singles match between them since Toyota was more credible than she was in 1990, but the only other match on tape is a 5 minute butchering of a match they had in 1994. Bat got more offense than she normally does when she tags with Bull, so she was able to make a good contribution. Yamada and Toyota provided hot bursts in between them getting worked over. Toyota got busted open hardway, and her getting beaten on was probably the best part of the match until the final portion. It was well-paced with the usual hot final five minutes. Toyota hit her hot moves and used Bull's nunchakus at one point. Yamada and Bat had a good run against each other. Toyota ended up pinning Bat with a moonsault. ***1/2

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