Nippon Sports Mook Selection - clips from Moeka Haruhi, Mai Ichii, Bambi, Yumi Oka, Nozomi Takesako, & Yuna videos
JWP Openweight Title History 9th Champion Decision Tournament highlights
2/20/05 Tokyo Kinema Club, JWP Openweight Title Match: Azumi Hyuga vs. Kaori Yoneyama of 18:55 of 19:55. This was voted 2005 Best Single Bout in the Lady's Gong 2005 Joshi Puroresu Awards issue, but that seems very wishful, as it's hard to discern why it was considered anything beyond the standard good Azumi match. Yoneyama's 771 day year reign JWP Jr. champion ended in August, and her 263 day second run with the JWP tag titles ended in September. Unfortunately, these good stepping stones didn't result in her being competitive enough against Azumi to be taken seriously. Yoneyama showed some heart and fire early on, but by the time she fought her way to a certain amount of credibility, the audience had likely long since dismissed any notion of her potentially winning. Also, nothing we saw from this match suggested she deserved to win. Azumi brought the action, and fought with confidence and crispness, moving smoothly and fluidly. She kept the match entertaining, but it was ultimately one of her sloppier matches because Yoneyama made some mistakes. When things went well, Yoneyama was a good opponent to work with because she tried hard and is athletic. Overall, this was a fun match, but it felt more like an elongated squash than a competitive title match. ***
5/15/05 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, JWP Openweight Title Match: Azumi Hyuga vs. Kaoru Ito of 5:10 of 20:31. Named 2005 Best Single Bout by JWP
9/18/05 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, JWP Openweight Title Match: Azumi Hyuga vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki 4:28 of 23:40. Kuragaki uses Hayabusa's firebird splash to become the 10th champion
12/3/05 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE, JWP Openweight Title Match: Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Kayoko Haruyama 5:58 of 26:58
GUTS WORLD Selection - 20 min. Yuna vs. KAZUKI twice then Yoshida twice
Fuka & Moeka Haruhi in Akiba
Bullfight Sora rides a bull
Neo Machineguns Report - follows Neo on tour
Kana & Ayumi Kurihara & Fuka Lady's Gong cover photoshoot
KAZUKI vs. Kyoko Kimura 12:45
ECO vs. Yuka Nakamura 12:10
Tsubasa Kuragaki & AKINO vs. Jaguar Yokota & Tojuki Leon 15:59
Azumi Hyuga & Command Bolshoi vs. Kayoko Haruyama & Erika Watanabe 26:39
Yuka Shiina vs. Kyoko Kimura
Kazuki vs. Yuka Nakamura
ECO vs. Tanny Mouse
JWP Tag Title Match: Tsubasa Kuragaki & AKINO vs. Kyoko Inoue & Haruka Matsuo
NEO vs. JWP Iron Woman Match: Yoshiko Tamura & Misae Genki & Etsuko Mita & Yuki Miyazaki vs. Azumi Hyuga & Command Bolshoi & Kayuko Haruyama & Erika Watanabe
KAZUKI vs. Erika Watanabe 13:51
The Bloody vs. ECO 13:51
AKINO & Tojuki Leon vs. Jaguar Yokota & Kyoko Kimura 19:24
Kayoko Haruyama vs. Yuki Miyazaki 19:07
Azumi Hyuga & Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Command Bolshoi & Kaoru Ito 21:25. Everyone was quite good here, and made a solid contribution. All the pairings were quite good, to the point it would be difficult to say pick the best worker or pairing. It was all very professional, and everything was very well done. Having the outsider Ito added a bit of intensity and urgency, but that was the main problem. Even though JWP is a proud league that takes things seriously and has arguably the best work ethic, this was still just a very small show main, so it wasn't the excellent match their talent made them capable of. It was always at least good throughout, and they definitely amped it up for the final third. ***1/2
Kyoko Kimura vs. Keiko Saito 8:45
JWP Junior Title Match: Haruka Matsuo vs. Erika Watanabe 16:46
Command Bolshoi & GAMI vs. ECO & KAZUKI 13:23
Kumiko Maekawa vs. Kayoko Haruyama 15:28
JWP Tag Title Match: Tsubasa Kuragaki & AKINO vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Tojuki Leon 20:28
JWP Openweight Title Match: Azumi Hyuga vs. Kaoru Ito 20:31. JWP picked this as their Best Single Bout of 2005, but it's more a great win for Hyuga than a great match. They did a nice power vs. speed match that looked like you'd expect, with all their signature moves. I was hoping for a little more from this. Ito seemed a little sluggish, and was having a hard time keeping up with Azumi at points. There was something of a loose knee storyline Azumi was using to slow Ito down, but in actuality, Ito just didn't seem to have the conditioning she had a few years earlier. She still executed really well, and had bursts of energy, but wasn't consistently moving from spot to spot as quickly or efficiently as she used to. The Ito vs. Momoe Nakanishi matches from 2001 and 2002 had the feeling of both being elite workers, while this felt like Hyuga was doing her thing, and was capable of a better match, but Ito just wasn't the worker Azumi was tonight. The match was good from the outset, but it never picked up enough speed or urgency to move beyond that level. ***
Atsuko Emoto vs. Erika Watanabe 13:23
Jaguar Yokota & AKINO vs. ECO & KAZUKI 15:46
Baby-M Retirement Road Extra @ JWP: Command Bolshoi & Darkness Bolshoi & Darkness HERO! vs. Baby-M, Baye-L & Asian Cougar 14:55
Kaori Yoneyama & Tojuki Leon vs. Kyoko Kimura & Natsuki*Head 18:25
Azumi Hyuga vs. Ran YuYu 21:46
JWP Openweight Title Match: Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Kayoko Haruyama 26:58
Nippon Sports Mook Selection - clips from Moeka Haruhi, Mai Ichii, Bambi, Yumi Oka, Nozomi Takesako, & Yuna videos
JWP Openweight Title History 9th Champion Decision Tournament highlights
2/20/05 Tokyo Kinema Club, JWP Openweight Title Match: Azumi Hyuga vs. Kayoko Haruyama of 18:55 of 19:55. Voted 2005 Best Single Bout in the Lady's Gong 2005 Joshi Puroresu Awards issue
5/15/05 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, JWP Openweight Title Match: Azumi Hyuga vs. Kaoru Ito of 5:10 of 20:31. Named 2005 Best Single Bout by JWP
9/18/05 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, JWP Openweight Title Match: Azumi Hyuga vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki 4:28 of 23:40. Kuragaki uses Hayabusa's firebird splash to become the 10th champion
12/3/05 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE, JWP Openweight Title Match: Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Kayoko Haruyama 5:58 of 26:58
GUTS WORLD Selection - 20 min. Yuna vs. KAZUKI twice then Yoshida twice
Fuka & Moeka Haruhi in Akiba
Bullfight Sora rides a bull
Neo Machineguns Report - follows Neo on tour
Kana & Ayumi Kurihara & Fuka Lady's Gong cover photoshoot