-3hr. Q=Near Perfect 1st Gen. 2 DVDs
Etsuko Mita & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Chaparita ASARI & Mima Shimoda 19:35
Aja Kong vs. Yoshiko Tamura 2:02
Manami Toyota vs. Rie Tamada 18:37. Great job by Toyota carrying Rie to her best match so far.
Kyoko Inoue & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Mariko Yoshida & Takako Inoue 17:12
1/4/97 Tokyo Korakuen Hall New Year Rival Showdown Elimination Match: Manami Toyota & Rie Tamada & Yuka Shiina & Yumi Fukawa vs. Kyoko Inoue & Chaparrita ASARI & Misae Genki & Tanny Mouse 15:45. Toyota & Kyoko trying to carry the next generation through one of their a frentic workrate matches that the youngsters lacked the skill and offense to really impress at. Toyota & Kyoko were really good, but everyone else was just okay. They had an over the top rope elimination rule that mainly kept the match time down, though it did alter the dynamic some as anytime someone went to the top rope they were vulnerable. Kyoko gave Fukawa one of the fastest giant swings in history. Fukawa got the push of being one of the final three along with Toyota & Kyoko. **1/2
'97 rookie auditions
2/1/97 Kagoshima-shi Taiikukan: Rie Tamada vs. Yoshiko Tamura digest
2/8/97 All Japan Title Match: Rie Tamada vs. Yumi Fukawa 7:22 of 18:52. Kind of a non descript match. Fukawa was competent, but had no idea who or what she was supposed to be. Tamada might not have been the best choice to be a high flying action wrestler, but at least she knew what she was trying to be and had a few moves to back it up. The finish was odd as Fukawa was somehow injured taking what looked like a routine plancha from Tamada, so the ref stopped the match.
2/11/97 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Takako Inoue & Yumi Fukawa vs. Yumiko Hotta & Yoshiko Tamura
Aja Kong & Rie Tamada vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa
Tokyo Tower Bowling Center: Manami Toyota vs. Saya Endo. A promotion for Toyota's photobook, Toyota & Saya wrestle with huge blowups of Toyota's modeling pictures on the wall in the background.
Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa photobook shoot
3/2/97 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
REGENERATION TAG WAR: Yumiko Hotta & Etsuko Mita & Misae Genki vs. Kumiko Maekawa & Rie Tamada & Yoshiko Tamura
Mariko Yoshida vs. Emi Motokawa digest
3/4/97 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Mima Shimoda vs. Emi Motokawa digest
Zenjo SUMMIT OF SUPER TRIO ~6 Woman Tag One Night Tournament~ in Osaka 3/20/97 Osaka Maishima Arena (all digested)
1st Round: Yumiko Hotta & Yuka Shiina & Nanae Takahashi vs. Takako Inoue & Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa
1st Round: Kyoko Inoue & Misae Genki & Tanny Mouse vs. Plum Mariko & Tomoko Kuzumi & Kanako Motoya
1st Round: Toshiyo Yamada & Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa & Saya Endo
1st Round: Manami Toyota & Mariko Yoshida & Kaoru Ito vs. Aja Kong & Yoshiko Tamura & Momoe Nakanishi
Semifinal: Plum Mariko & Tomoko Kuzumi & Kanako Motoya vs. Takako Inoue & Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa
Semifinal: Manami Toyota & Mariko Yoshida & Kaoru Ito vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa & Saya Endo
Final: Manami Toyota & Mariko Yoshida & Kaoru Ito vs. Takako Inoue & Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa
undercard digest
Zenjo Strongest: Aja Kong vs. Kaoru Ito 30:00. Read Review. ****
2/3 Falls WWWA Sekai Tag Senshukenjiai: Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa. Watanabe & Maekawa win WWWA tag titles ****
WWWA & All-Pacific & IWA Sankan Senshukenjiai: Kyoko Inoue vs. Takako Inoue. Kyoko wins Triple Crown
Yumi Fukawa vs. Yuna Shiina
Yumiko Hotta & Mima Shimoda vs. Aja Kong & Misae Genki
Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa
Manami Toyota & Kaoru Ito vs. Takako Inoue & Mariko Yoshida
Nanae Takahashi vs. Yuka Shiina
Momoe Nakanishi vs. Tanny Mouse
Mr. Buddhaman vs. Tomezo Tsunokake
Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa vs. Etsuko Mita & Misae Genki
Aja Kong & Kaoru Ito & Takako Inoue vs. Mima Shimoda & Toshiyo Yamada & Yumiko Hotta
Yoshiko Tamura vs. Manami Toyota
Kyoko Inoue & Saya Endo vs. Kumiko Maekawa & Tomoko Watanabe
Zen Nihon Junior Oza Ketteisen: Momoe Nakanishi vs. Nanae Takahashi. Momoe wins title.
Junior Tag War With C: Yoshiko Tamura & Tanny Mouse vs. Yuka Shiina & Emi Motokawa (IWA Japan)
Zen Nihon Tag Senshukenjiai: Chikayo Nagashima & Sugar Sato (GAEA team) vs. Misae Genki & Saya Endo
Zenjo vs GAEA Tag War: Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa vs. Chihiro Nakano & Makie Numao (GAEA team)
Yumiko Hotta & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita.
WWWA Ranking Match: Manami Toyota vs. Kaoru Ito
WWWA Sekai Tag Senshukenjiai: Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Takako Inoue & Mariko Yoshida
Sankan Senshukenjiai: Kyoko Inoue vs. Aja Kong
*I have a limited amount of additional 1st Gen SP copies available on two T-120's*
3/25/97 Kyoko Inoue & Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Aja Kong & Kaoru Ito & Mariko Yoshida
4/20/97 Mariko Yoshida vs. Neftali
4/20/97 Toshiyo Yamdada vs. Kumiko Maekawa
4/20/97 Kaoru Ito vs. Takako Inoue
4/26/97 Tomoko Watanabe vs. Emi Motokawa
5/4/97 Highlights of One-night Tag Tournament
5/24/97-5/27/97 Photo shoot with Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa
5/26/97 Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita
6/1/97 Kyoko Inoue & Tanny Mouse vs. Toshiyo Yamada
6/1/97 Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa
6/1/97 Yumiko Hotta & Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Manami Toyota & Kaoru Ito & Mariko Yoshida
6/4/97 Yumiko Hotta & Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada & Tanny Mouse
6/4/97 Mima Shimoda & Etusko Mira vs. Kaoru Ito & Mariko Yoshida
6/17/97 Kyoko Inoue vs. Kaoru Ito
6/18/97 Yumiko Hotta & Kaoru Ito vs. Manami Toyota & Mariko Yoshida
6/18/97 Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita
6/19/97-6/30/97 Highlights of Grand North 6 Woman Tag Tournament
#136 taped 5/11/97 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan
All Japan Junior Title Match: Momoe Nakanishi vs. Yuko Kosugi 9:35
Aja Kong & Bison Kimura vs. Takako Inoue & Yumiko Hotta 23:12
Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Tokoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa 18:48
Triple Crown WWWA All Pacific IWA Title Match: Kyoko Inoue vs. Kaoru Ito 60:00
#137 taped 6/17/97 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center
CMLL World Women's Title: Mariko Yoshida vs. Rie Tamada
Aja Kong & Takako Inoue & Momoe Nakanishi vs. Yumiko Hotta & Tokoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa
Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada
WWWA World Single Title Decision Match: Kyoko Inoue vs. Kaoru Ito
Note: matches are edited
All Japan Junior Title Match: Momoe Nakanishi vs. Yuko Kosugi 9:35
Aja Kong & Bison Kimura vs. Takako Inoue & Yumiko Hotta 23:12
Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Tokoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa 18:48
Triple Crown WWWA All Pacific IWA Title Match: Kyoko Inoue vs. Kaoru Ito 60:00. ****1/4
CMLL World Women's Title: Mariko Yoshida vs. Rie Tamada
Aja Kong & Takako Inoue & Momoe Nakanishi vs. Yumiko Hotta & Tokoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa
Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada
WWWA World Single Title Decision Match: Kyoko Inoue vs. Kaoru Ito. Kyoko wins vacant WWWA title
All Pacific Title Decision Match: Takako vs. Yamada. Takako wins All-Pacific Title.
The Destiny Wars: Toyota & Yoshida vs. Hotta & Ito. Toyota is the worst worker of the 4 on this day because of her health so they use that as a storyline and had Hotta and Ito destroy her. Hotta was great instilling the stiffness and psychology, Ito & Yoshida supplied the workrate, and Toyota got the pops for her comebacks. Ito showed that she had outgrown her role in Freedom Force, which was officially ended after the match. ****.
2/3 Falls WWWA Tag Titles: Las Cachorras Orientales vs. Watanabe & Maekawa. Cachorras demonstated their heel style using chairs, the turnbuckle cover, scissors, and the security rail. Mita even threw Maekawa off the balcony. Everyone but Mita juiced heavily, and Watanabe & Maekawa were hospitalized after the match. Maekawa was put in the underdog role and she really got over in it. However, her selling of previous damage was non-existent. Shimoda & Watanabe were great against each other as always. Cachorras finally won the WWWA tag titles! ****
All bouts digested
June 1, Tokyo: Yumiko Hotta & Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Manami Toyota & Kaoru Ito & Mariko Yoshida
June 4: Yumiko Hotta & Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada & Tanny Mouse
June 18, Sapporo: Yumiko Hotta & Kaoru Ito vs. Manami Toyota & Mariko Yoshida
June 1, Tokyo: Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa
June 4: Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Mariko Yoshida & Kaoru Ito
June 18, Sapporo
WWWA World Tag Title Match: Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita
Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue vs. Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa
All Pacific Title Match: Takako Inoue vs. Toshiyo Yamada
#138 taped 8/9/97 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Chaparrita ASARI vs. Yuka Shiina
Japan Grand Prix '97 League Match: Tomoko Watanabe vs. Kumiko Maekawa
Japan Grand Prix '97 League Match: Manami Toyota vs. Kaoru Ito
Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue
#139 taped 8/20/97 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Shark Tsuchiya & Crusher Maedomari vs. Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa
Aja Kong Graduation Match: Manami Toyota vs. Aja Kong
WWWA World Single Title: Kyoko Inoue vs. Yumiko Hotta
7/13/97 Korakuen Hall: Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada. Highlights of Yamada's last bout as a member of AJW.
Chaparrita ASARI vs. Yuka Shiina. ASARI's first match back from her broken hip. Started out slow, but turned into a good match. **3/4
Japan Grand Prix '97 League Bout: Tomoko Watanabe vs. Kumiko Maekawa. Much better than I expected, as this is the first time I'm impressed by Maekawa. Watanabe does a good job of carrying Maekawa and Maekawa doesn't screw up her spots today. ***1/4
Japan Grand Prix '97 League Bout: Manami Toyota vs. Kaoru Ito. This was a great match that may have been the best women's singles match of 1997. Fast-paced with lots of creative spots. Tons of high spots and near falls. ****1/2
Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue. Tremendous wild brawl. Absolute top notch garbage style match because there was actually really good wrestling to go along with all the gimmick spots and there wasn't all the typical flaws of garbage matches. It's incredible that Shimoda & Mita could be this good at this style so soon after they turned heel. ****1/2
7/11 Hakodate 2/3 Falls WWWA Tag Titles: Las Cachorras Orientales (Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita) vs. Kaoru Ito & Momoe Nakanishi. Total heel domination. 17-year-old Momoe juiced a gusher.
Chaparrita ASARI & Yuka Shiina & Yumi Fukawa vs. Misae Genki & Tanny Mouse & Momoe Nakanishi. Fast-paced, all action, match with some nice high spots, but also some sloppiness and blown spots. No one could carry the match. Genki was actually useful, as she saved Tanny a bunch of times.
Etsuko Mita & Saya Endo vs. Yumiko Hotta & Yoshiko Tamura. Good match though it totally lacked heat. Steeped in submissions, but also had a lot of heel spots. Both youngsters pushed the veterans and looked good doing so. A GAEA type developmental match.
Japan Grand Prix '97 League Bout: Tomoko Watanabe vs. Kaoru Ito. Good match with NJ juniors type structure and a good mix of high spots and submissions, that was taken down by a few blown spots.
Japan Grand Prix '97 League Bout: Manami Toyota vs. Mima Shimoda. Good match, but very disappointing because there was no intensity.
Super Maniacs Never Ending Bout: Aja Kong vs. Kyoko Inoue. The beginning was nothing special, but the 2nd half was great with all the big spots back and forth for great false finishes that were well received. Stiff as hell, particularly Aja's last uraken. ****
#140 taped 8/20/97 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Misa Okade vs. Chiharu
All Japan Junior Title: Momoe Nakanishi vs. Emi Motokawa
U*TOP Challenge ~Vale Tudo Rule~: Kaoru Ito vs. Crystal Contal
WWWA World Tag Titles: Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa. ****1/2
#141 taped 9/21/97 Kanagawa Kawasaki Shi Taiikukaikan
Miho Wakizawa vs. Miyuki Fujii
Toshiyo Yamada & KAORU vs. Kumiko Maekawa & Momoe Nakanishi
Manami Toyota vs. Yumiko Hotta
Aja Kong Graduation Match: Manami Toyota vs. Aja Kong. ****1/4
WWWA World Single Title: Kyoko Inoue vs. Yumiko Hotta. Hotta wins title. ***3/4
WWWA World Tag Titles: Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa. ****1/2
Queen's Holy Night First Battle: Miyuki Fujii vs. Tanny Mouse ? of 8:32
Queen's Holy Night Second Battle: Miho Wakizawa vs. Nanae Takahashi ? of 6:21
WCW World Women's Cruiserweight Title Match: Yoshiko Tamura vs. Saya Endo 18:38. Pretty good match, that was a nice step forward for these two.
Battle High Flyers: Misae Genki & Momoe Nakanishi vs. Chaparrita ASARI & Yuka Shiina 11:17
All Pacific Title Decision Match: Tomoko Watanabe vs. Kaoru Ito 17:23. Very good match that was a bit better than their 8/10 match because the execution was more precise. Watanabe won the title, but Takako refused to give it to her.
Manami Toyota & Kyoko Inoue vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita 22:34. Toyota workrate style match. Very exciting with lots of choice high spots. ****.
U*TOPS vs. L-1 Strongest Bout: Yumiko Hotta & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Shinobu Kandori & Mizuki Endo 17:06. Uneventful.
Miho Wakizawa vs. Miyuki Fujii 9:03. Wakizawa is more advanced, but wrestled down to Fujii’s level for this rookie style match. Wakizawa couldn’t cleanly execute the better moves they allowed her due to footing issues. Otherwise, they basically traded rudimentary holds and it was the usual passable but uninspiring opening match stuff. *
Nanae Takahashi vs. Saya Endo 9:40. Wakizawa is better than Takahashi, but since Takahashi had a semi-established opponent she got to do a real match. Saya is adequate, certainly not good enough to raise Takahashi to the level of mediocrity, but in the end Takahashi did okay. They put a good deal of effort into the match, which at least wasn’t boring. Takahashi managed to injure her opponent as usual, waiting so long to fall off the ropes on her superplex she wound up simply dropping Saya, who landed hard on her knees and lower legs, putting a huge stretch on her Achilles’. Saya was momentarily hobbled, but managed to finish. As Saya was leaving as part of the mass exodus they had Takahashi score the big upset. *1/2
Chaparrita ASARI vs. Yuka Shiina 12:40. Dropkick war. The first half saw them haphazardly alternate quick standup sequences of athletic albeit overly choreographed action with slow uninspired matwork. Shiina doesn’t get the most out of her athleticism, as while she does several jumping moves she rarely expands beyond the most pedestrian. ASARI isn’t that much better as a worker, she simply has offense that makes you desire to see her matches. A decent but underwhelming match. **1/4
Toshiyo Yamada & KAORU vs. Kumiko Maekawa & Momoe Nakanishi 15:40. Yamada had left 3 months earlier, but wrestled as though she was glad to be back for a day. Yamada totally carried her team and was the best wrestler on the show thus far, which was pretty sad considering she’s the one that was put out to the GAEA pasture. Her kicks are far more accurate than Maekawa’s, but if you can forgive a few misses their kick exchanges were quite nice. Momoe was a bright spot as usual, stretched and tossed around early, but utilizing her athleticism for a counter. KAORU wrestled a far more solid match than in GAEA where she runs amok, as you pretty much have to be a main eventer to get away with doing superhero spotfu in the Matsunagas ring. KAORU was a pretty good sport, selling for Momoe in the latter stages without copping the usual veteran attitude. Losing to GAEA might not be what AJW needs, but their up and coming wrestlers looked promising and were competitive. ***1/4
Manami Toyota vs. Yumiko Hotta 30:00. The basic problem with the later Toyota vs. Hotta matches is Toyota is forced to conform to Hotta’s style, which is one she is capable but simply isn’t interested in doing. Toyota was smiling at Hotta when she had her in the figure 4, but did a better job of chaining her groundwork together than usual. They didn’t kill time in the most effective manner, but despite the slow start for a Toyota match it wasn’t obvious they were doing a draw. They did a good job of showing that Hotta was fighting to prevent the high spots. Even after the match picked up 10 minutes in, Hotta was blocking or countering Toyota’s more spectacular offense to maintain credibility, and bringing the match back to the mat to lengthen it as well as stay consistent with her “shooter” drive. As the biggest stars sticking with the company they tried to show they deserved the main event, and while it didn’t hold a candle to their great 9/3/95 JGP final, it was at least a worthy hard fought match. That said, despite the quality wrestling they seemed to lack the spark a match between stars of this caliber should contain, and perhaps the mediocre crowd reaction had something to do with the lack of intensity. Until the final minutes when they hit all their finishers, the fans basically only reacted when the wrestlers, largely Toyota, prodded them to. ***1/4
Kanaami (cage) Death Match VIOLENCE WAR: Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe. The best women’s match of 1997 and possibly the best cage match ever. The intense hateful tone was set right off the bat as Shimoda was hogging the spotlight - standing in the center of the ring while Ito was introduced - so Ito slapped her and they were in each others faces prepared to kill. Watanabe wore football shoulder pads to protect her injured left shoulder, which she did a great job of consistently selling, adding to the drama and psychology, which were plentiful as the moves were ordered properly, constantly building to the peaks of the final minutes. Though all four wrestled at once it was essentially Ito vs. Las Cachorras with Watanabe just being there to take abuse from someone while Ito tried to beat the other, both AJW faces seeming all the more heroic for their contributions. The match started violently with Shimoda & Mita using chairs and the cage to batter and bloody the opposition. Interestingly, when Ito came back after 4 plus minutes of this carnage by using LCO’s chair, she was immediately booed. While it never ceased being a brawl with LCO also using chains and even the guard rail due to Saya taking care of Maekawa long enough to smuggle it in, one of the many great aspects to this match is it developed into a wrestling match. They essentially got the blood, generic cage spots out of the way at the start, so actual wrestling could play an important role in the body of the match. Finally, they brought the cage back down the stretch when they were trying to escape, melding both the wrestling and brawling aspects through moves that were far more spectacular for being done off or with the assistance of the cage. One cool spot had Watanabe escape, but Mita pull Ito back as she was halfway over the top and piggyback drop her from the top rope back into the cage. Ito showed a lot more fire than usual and finally seemed like the star they devoted much of the year to trying to turn her into. Fighting 2-1, she used her diving footstomp on both, injuring Shimoda’s shoulder, but was still unable to escape and had to deal with Saya spraying a fire extinguisher in her eyes so Shimoda & Mita could make a break for opposite corners. Ito managed to stop Shimoda, arm barring her off the top, but Mita reentered to prevent Ito from escaping so Ito pulled her back in and rather than simply escape, delivered a deadly diving footstomp off the top of the cage. Read Review ****3/4
*I have a limited amount of additional 1st generation SP copies*
Manami Toyota & Emi Motokawa vs. Takako Inoue & Kyoko Ichiki
WWWA Tag Title Match: Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Kumiko Maekawa & Momoe Nakanishi 11:21 of 14:31, 3:30, 5:46. A well booked match getting some real drama to go along with the high quality work despite challengers who probably had no right to even be challenging. 17-year-old Nakanishi once again found herself in a tag title match against the vicious heel champs, this team on an even more overmatched team, & again got totally destroyed & juiced a gusher. Though Nakanishi had just brief advantages off counters, she carried the load for her team as the whipping girl, allowing Maekawa to be the threat & star, cleaning house with her powerful kicks. Shimoda & Mita controlled the match with their chaos, leading the youngsters through their exciting, fast-paced brawl. The execution was spotty at times, but it was a really fun match. Wisely, they had Maekawa & Nakanishi take the 1st fall, taking them out of the ridiculous underdog role & putting the pressure on the veterans to put down the new generation upstarts. Though Nakanishi is initially a liability, she proves her worth running a lot of interference for Maekawa, giving her opportunities to finish & generally catching Las Cachoras off guard and/or taking them by surprise. The crowd really gets behind this kid with the crimson mask because she's got spunk, & a ton of heart. Nonetheless, she gets pinned quickly in the 2nd falls as LCO set out to restore order, or rather disorder as Shimoda & Mita were wreaking havoc with their chairs. Mita was definitely the most solid wrestler in the match, but everyone played their role well, and the match exceeded the sum of the parts & left you feeling good about all the workers, especially Nakanishi, who has the kind of athleticism & fire that can't be denied. ***3/4
WWWA World Single Title Match: Yumiko Hotta vs. Kaoru Ito
Dangerous Queen Returns: Akira Hokuto (Free) vs. Miho Wakizawa. Wakizawa's move set is basically too basic for Akira to sell for her. Short squash. *
Handicap Match: Kayo Noumi & Noriko Toyoda vs. Nana Nakahara. Nakahara & Toyoda's debut match. Highlights only.
Miyuki Fujii vs. Sachie Nishibori (IWA Japan). Rookie style match though being from IWA Nishibori does more spots than the AJW rookies are allowed to do. *
Dick Togo & MEN'S Teioh & Shoichi Funaki (Kaientai DX, Michinoko Pro) vs. Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Super Delfin (Sekigun, Michinoku Pro). Good match, but not as good as you would expect, mainly due to being shorter than normal and on another promotions show. ***1/4
Tag League The Best '97 League Bout: Manami Toyota & Emi Motokawa (IWA Japan) vs. Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi. Good work and a lot of comedy. Toyota & Momoe work well together even though Momoe doesn't have credibility against Toyota. Some blown spots. ***
Tag League The Best '97 League Bout: Takako Inoue & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Yumiko Hotta & Kaoru Ito. Stiff match. A lot of spots, but no real storyline. Maekawa was better than Takako due to the style this was worked in. Hotta & Ito both have strong showings. ***1/2
1/3 Korakuen
Emi Motokawa & Sachie Nishbori (IWA Japan) vs. Manami Toyota & Momoe Nakanishi. Toyota has a new red outfit to start the year, but she looked much better in the old black one. Exciting match with a lot of glamourous spots, but this was far from the smoothest match you'll ever see and the youngsters looked green in points. ***
All Pacific Title Decision Match: Takako Inoue vs. Tomoko Watanabe. Good work and a lot of spots, but the pacing was very even. ***
Handicap Match: Eagle Sawai & Michiko Nagashima & Sayori Okino (Heisei GUREN-tai, LLPW team) vs. Yumiko Hotta & Kumiko Maekawa. Really one-sided with the LLPW team mainly using heel tactics. *3/4
Once Upon A Time: Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori 4/2/93 Yokohama Arena. A ***** match unedited, but here they show about 9 minutes
1/4/98 Korakuen: Momoe Nakanishi & Emi Motokawa vs. Pork Warrior (Watanabe) & Akira Hokuto (Free). Too much comedy for my taste. Watanabe does a good job of immitating a below average wrestler, Hokuto's husband Power Warrior Kensuke Sasaki. Last couple minutes were damn good, but overall nothing special. **
#146 taped 2/11/98 Tokyo Fuji TV Studio
~1st Valiable Wave~ The Hight Grade: Manami Toyota vs. Tomoko Watanabe.
Force-4 Scramble Bout Zenjo Special: Kaoru Ito & Emi Motokawa & Miyuki Fujii & Sachie Nishibori vs. Yumiko Hotta & Kumiko Maekawa & Miho Wakizawa & Kayo Noumi
Eagle Sawai & Sayori Okino vs. Takako Inoue & Momoe Nakanishi
Toshiyo Yamada vs. Kyoko Inoue
#147 taped 3/1/98 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Emi Motokawa vs. Nana Nakahara
Manami Toyoda vs. Kayo Noumi
Kumiko Maekawa vs. Momoe Nakanishi
Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue vs. ZAP I & ZAP T
~1st Valiable Wave~ The Hight Grade: Manami Toyota vs. Tomoko Watanabe. Toyota worked as hard in the opener as she would in the main event, certainly packing in more flying moves per minute than any other woman. It followed her typical contrived formula, except as it was a little shorter, the meandering matwork was pretty much as excised. Toyota was mostly on, and Watanabe was a willing and capable adversary. Unfortunately, Watanabe was really only there to make Toyota look good, taking countless missile kicks and once in a while being allowed to avoid or counter. Toyota took a handful of big bumps, but basically it was a fast-paced, action packed, glorified Toyota squash that was fun but lacking drama. ***
Chiharu vs. Noriko Toyoda. Short rookie match. Chiharu's finisher, the Chiharu special, is a version of the cross arm German suplex. That is a cool move, but it was the only highlight of this poor match. 1/4*
Force-4 Scramble Bout Zenjo Special: Kaoru Ito & Emi Motokawa (IWA Japan) & Miyuki Fujii & Sachie Nishibori vs. Yumiko Hotta & Kumiko Maekawa & Miho Wakizawa & Kayo Noumi. This was a series of singles bouts with a five minute time limit. A draw eliminates both wrestlers. The losing team is the one who has no wrestlers left. Noumi was eliminated by Ito in 43 seconds. I know there isn't much time to score a pin, but why even have someone in need of credibility like Noumi be in the match if you are going to have her job this quickly? Ito vs. Hotta was, not surprisingly, the best segment. Emi vs. Maekawa was quite good though, with near falls back and forth. A good match, but everything was rushed due to the time limit. **3/4
Eagle Sawai & Sayori Okino (LLPW team) vs. Takako Inoue & Momoe Nakanishi. Fast-paced match. Michiko Nagashima interfered at will. Very pro-AJW crowd. Momoe was by far the best in the match. Momoe juiced. ***1/4
Toshiyo Yamada (GAEA) vs. Kyoko Inoue (Neo Ladies). Last summer AJW demotes Yamada to the retirement home known as GAEA, now suddenly they not only have her headlining an AJW TV, but against another wrestler who is no longer on AJW's roster. Bizarre booking aside, I could have cared less if they could have found a way to flashback to 1993. Unfortunately, it was below even the level you'd expect; a decent match, but probably the worst they ever had together that saw the light of day. **
*Reviewed in Quebrada #43*
3/1
Kayo Noumi vs Manami Toyota. **1/2
Kumiko Maekawa vs Momoe Nakanishi. ***1/2
Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue vs ZAP I (Ito) & ZAP T (Watanabe). *3/4
3/21 LLPW at Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Double Title Match, WWWA World Singles Title vs. LLPW Singles Title: Yumiko Hotta vs Shinobu Kandori. Kandori wins WWWA title. **1/2
I thought this was a really cool program because not only did they show highlights of some of the best and most memorable women's shows and matches ever, but they also had highlight of the stars of the 1970's such as Jumbo Miyamoto & Mach Fumiake who I had never seen before. This is one of those tapes that the more you know about the history of AJW, the more you will appreciate it, but if you are new to women's wrestling then I definitely wouldn't get this because it might be too hard to follow.
Highlights of the biggest stars, the eras, the idols, the hair matches
Another choice show filled with historical footage of all the WWWA champion, and several stars of the past who never held the title (or in some cases even contended as Numacchi, Hozumi, ASARI, etc make the show). There's even a good segment on the various weapons that have been used in AJW (with names written in romanji).
Sachie Nishibori (IWA Japan) vs. Noriko Toyoda
ZAP Isozaki vs. Miyuki Fujii
Emi Motokawa (dressed like a black cat) vs. Miho Wakizawa
ZAP I & ZAP Nakahara vs. Manami Toyota & Momoe Nakanishi. Ito is great here, but Nakahara is beyond awful. Nakahara is just incredible slow and unathletic and practically everything she does looks bad. At one point, Nakahara did a series of horrible shots with the ZAPs kendo stick, and Ito cannot take it anymore so she comes in and takes the stick away from Nakahara, blisters Toyota with it several times to show the kid how it's done, then throws the rod at Nakahara. Momoe mainly sells and Toyota is hit and miss as far as playing her role. *1/2
JGP '98 League Match: Yumiko Hotta vs. Takako Inoue. The ZAPs attack Hotta during the match and basically destroy her. They try to get Takako to join them and use heel tactics. At first Takako shuns them, but later she uses the rod and chairs. Storyline was good in that it allowed Hotta to challenge Hotta, but Hotta's selling and comebacks were horrible. **1/2
AJW ATHENA Satellite TV 12/2/98 taped 8/9/98 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Japan Grand Prix '98 Junior League Match: Noriko Toyoda vs. ZAP Isozaki
Japan Grand Prix '98 Semifinal: Miho Wakizawa vs. ZAP I
Japan Grand Prix '98 Semifinal: Manami Toyota vs. Yumiko Hotta
Takako Inoue & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi
Japan Grand Prix '98 Final: Manami Toyota vs. ZAP I
8/23/98 Kawasaki Shi Taiikukan, WWWA World Single Title Match: Shinobu Kandori vs. Manami Toyota. ****
Noriko Toyota vs. ZAP Isozaki
Takako Inoue vs. Sachie Nishibori (IWA Japan)
AJ Tag Title Decision Match: Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi vs. Sumie Sakai & Megumi Yabushita (Jd' team). NanaMomo captures titles.
Kumiko Maekawa kickboxing match
ZAP I & T vs. Yumiko Hotta & Miho Wakizawa
WWWA World Single Title Match: Shinobu Kandori (LLPW) vs. Manami Toyota. ****
Highlights of the undercard matches of the 8/23/98 Kawasaki Shi Taiikukan show
THE BEST OF HEEL WRESTLERS (in theory this is the top 10 female heels)
10. Jumbo Miyamoto
9. Monster Ripper
8. Black Pair (definitely too low, Ikeshita was great back in the day)
7. Eagle Sawai (What a joke!)
6. ZAP (They've accomplished exactly nothing)
5. Dump Matsumoto (should be #1 by a wide margin. No one could match her aura or get that kind of heel heat)
4. Las Cachoras Orientares (Shimoda & Mita version. I think this is far more respect than Shimoda ever got when she was in their league)
3. Devil Masami (for her days in AJW, which is what they are predominantly basing this on, I can see this, but Super Heel is a DUD like the wrestler she stole the gimmick from)
2. Aja Kong
1. Bull Nakano (Far better than Dump as a worker, as are the others ahead of Dump for that matter, but that shouldn't be the point of a heel list)
FILE A-Women's debuts. 8/16 Junko Yagi (LLPW) & Yuka Nakamura (Neo). 9/15 Mika Harigai (AJW)
LOOKING FOR THE ATHENA-Pirates at AJW training camp. They got "preferential treatment" there.
9/15 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Mika Harigai vs. Miyuki Fujii. Highlights of Harigai's debut. Unfortunately she "ran away" from the league before I even saw her wrestle.
Emi Motokawa (IWA) vs. Sachie Nishibori (IWA). Highlights
Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi vs. Miho Wakizawa & Noriko Toyoda. Match was alright, but nothing special. Momoe was not surprisingly the best. Takahashi seems to have improved. Wakizawa was just kind of there and Toyoda was thankfully hidden by the editing. *1/2
STOP THE ZAP: Yumiko Hotta & Manami Toyota & Kumiko Maekawa vs. ZAP I & ZAP T & Takako Inoue. Hotta was mad at Takako for teaming with the evil ZAPs so she beat her up before the match. Hotta juiced early. Work was quite good, although it was too heavy on the gimmick spots. At least the rod spots were very stiff this time since Nakahara wasn't around. This match got everyone into it as Momoe & Takahashi & Wakizawa all interfered on the behalf of Hotta's team. The selling was weak, but everyone looked good doing their spots, which I suppose could be said for most good women's matches this year. ***
AJ Pro Wrestling 30 3/10/96 '96 Excite Series taped 3/2 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama. This was the Kawada and Akiyama show. Kawada may be the best storyteller in the history of the sport and this was his demo tape of how to elevate a kid big time in a loss. Everyone but Kobashi played their roles to perfection in this match, as Kobashi didn't seem to know how to do his thing without taking focus off the match, Jun's growth. This match builds excellently as everytime Jun clears a hurdle he always finds another one in front of him. This is far from the spot fests AJ has delivered in 1998, but the match is so much better for it because they get so much out of what they do because of the way they play it. Akiyama winds up jobbing in the end, but that is not what this match leaves you with. It leaves you with four words, the kid has arrived. ****1/2
8/23/98 Kanagawa Kawasaki Shi Taiikukan
Noriko Toyota vs. ZAP Isozaki
Takako Inoue vs. Sachie Nishibori (IWA Japan)
All Japan Tag Title Decision Match: Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi vs. Sumie Sakai & Megumi Yabushita (Jd' team). NanaMomo captures titles.
ZAP I & T vs. Yumiko Hotta & Miho Wakizawa
9/15/98 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Emi Motokawa vs. Sachie Nishibori
Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi vs. Miho Wakizawa & Noriko Toyoda
ZAP I & ZAP T & Takako Inoue vs. Manami Toyota & Yumiko Hotta & Kumiko Maekawa
The main focus of this tape is showing highlights of the most famous women in AJW history. It also has sections on hair vs. hair matches, the interpromotional era, and visual queens. Pretty much a combination of the two historical TV shows without the commercials and the time wasted in the studio. Tons of cool old footage that wasn't previously available on comm. Too bad they don't go back and release unedited versions of the 70's and 80's stuff.
10/10/98 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Tag League The Best '98 digest
AJ Tag Championship Tumbling Dice!: Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi vs. Miho Wakizawa & Kayo Noumi.
L-1 Ultimate Challenge '98 10/10/98 Ryoguku Kokugikan
note: the undercard matches are edited down, but some are so short they show just about the whole match*
Becky Levy vs. Terry Leposki
Yoko Takahashi vs. Aya Mitsui
Junko Yagi vs. Flor Holman
Sayori Okino vs. Lee Unjyu
Yumiko Hotta vs. Angel Amoroso (former ECW valet)
Lioness Asuka vs. Irma Verhoeff
Shinobu Kandori vs. Svetlana Gundarenko
Mika Harikai vs. Mayumi Takahashi
Kaoru Ito vs. Tomoko Watanabe
Takako Inoue vs. Miyuki Fujii & ZAP Isesaki & Sachie Nishibori
Tag League The Best '98: ZAP I & ZAP T vs. Kumiko Maekawa & Noriko Toyoda
Manami Toyota vs. Emi Motokawa
Tag League The Best '98, All Japan Tag Title Match: Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi vs. Miho Wakizawa & Kayo Noumi
LLPW L-1 highlights 10/10/98
3rd Junior All Star show 11/10/98 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
undercard digest
All Japan Tag Champion Decision Match: Miho Wakizawa & Kayo Noumi vs. Yuko Kosugi & Sumie Sakai
11/14/98 Budokan: Kyoko Inoue shoot match vs. cross dressing kickboxer Parinya
MihoKayo in Hawaii filming Malaho & Big Smile videos
Looking For The Athena-Pirates snowboarding
11/22/98 Tag League The Best '98: NanaMomo vs. Hotta & Toyota digest of 30:00 draw. Final match of the tag league. NanaMomo finished 1 point ahead of ZAPs & Hotta & Toyota to take the tag league.
Highlights of Jr. All STAR III taped 11/10/98 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Tag League The Best '98 taped 11/22/98 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Sachie Nishibori (IWA Japan) vs. ZAP Isozaki. 3/4*
Miyuki Fujii vs. Emi Motokawa (IWA Japan). *
Kayo Noumi vs. Miho Wakizawa. *3/4
Takako Inoue vs. ZAP T. **
Kumiko Maekawa vs. ZAP I. *1/2
Tag League The Best '98 Koshikisen: Yumiko Hotta & Manami Toyota vs. Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi. NanaMomo wins Tag League. ***
Opening act: Yuki Lee (JWP) & Sachie Nishibori (IWA Japan) vs. Chikako Shiratori (JWP) & ZAP Isozaki
A typhoon: Momoe Nakanishi & Miyuki Fujii vs. Rie Tamada (ARSION) & Mika Akino (ARSION team)
Men & Women & Midget Dangerous Super Mixed Match: Yuki Ishikawa (Battlarts) & Gran Naniwa (Michinoku Pro) & Emi Motokawa (IWA Japan) & Tomezo Tsunokake vs. Alexander Otsuka (Battlarts) & Yone Genjin (Michinoku Pro) & Kanako Motoya (JWP) & Little Frankie
J typhoon: Nanae Takahashi & Tomoko Kuzumi (JWP) vs. Tomoko Miyaguchi & Rieko Amano (JWP team)
AJ Tag Titles: Yuko Kosugi & Sumie Sakai (Jd') vs. Miho Wakizawa & Kayo Noumi. MihoKayo take titles.
All Pacific Title: Kumiko Maekawa vs. Kurenai Yasha (LLPW). Yasha takes title.
L typhoon: Takako Inoue & Noriyo Tateno (LLPW) vs. Shinobu Kandori & Harley Saito (LLPW team)
It's Wrong! Super Heel Tag Match: ZAP I & ZAP T vs. Eagle Sawai (G-Max) & Shark Tsuchiya (Modukutai)
LEGEND OF WWWA Former Belt Holders 6 Woman Tag: Jaguar Yokota (Jd') & Devil Masami (JWP) & Lioness Asuka (Bukyogun) vs. Aja Kong (free) & Dynamite Kansai (JWP) & Yumiko Hotta. Kansai injured(:.
THE DREAM CAME TRUE AAAW Single Title: Chigusa Nagayo (GAEA) vs. Manami Toyota
*I have a limited amount of 1st generation SP copies available on one T-120 and one T-160*