Quebrada #33

by Mike Lorefice (M.L.Liger@juno.com)

http://ohmygod.simplenet.com/quebrada

December 7, 1997

Champ Forum Michinoku Pro 9/27/97 taped 8/31 Sendai

After presenting their worst Champ Forum of the year, Michinoku came back with a great show which contained the two best singles matches Michinoku has presented on Champ Forum this year.

Men's Teioh vs. Tiger Mask 4 for Teioh's UWF Super Welterweight title. They worked Teioh's style, with Teioh doing a great job of carrying this match. Before the match, Tiger Mask said he wanted a match against TAKA Michinoku and that he didn't feel like challenging for the title. Teioh then insulted him on the house mic, saying something like the following, "Hey Cat, are you a TAKA groupie? Do you love TAKA?" These remarks caused a suitably pissed Tiger to tackle Teioh and throw punches from the mount. The main reason I was really into this match was that they were clearly concerned with laying a strong foundation before they went to their high spots. Both men's attack was focusing on their opponent's knee, mainly through submissions, and the high spots were nice teased dives by Tiger. The high spots kicked in 8:45 into the match, with Teioh doing a kneebreaker followed by a kneebreaker off the apron. This transition from the mat to high spots was very smooth because the initial high spots were a logical continuation of the attack Men's had been launching on the mat. Teioh played heel when they were outside the ring, as well as before and after the match, but inside the ring he was predominantly a very good technical wrestler. Teioh got two near falls then tried to suplex Tiger to the floor, but Tiger slipped out, landing on the apron and applying a sleeper hold. The action got hot with a great sequence where Tiger tried to slingshot sunset flip back into the ring while Teioh tried to shoulder Tiger in the gut. As a result, Teioh, who missed, wound up crashing to the floor and Tiger, who landed smoothly in the ring, followed with a tope. In an awesome spot, Tiger tried a diving move, but Teioh Ace crushered him in midair. Teioh tried his miracle ecstasy (nodowa-otoshi bomb), but Tiger turned it into a waki-gatame. Later, Teioh ducked Tiger's high kick and did his miracle ecstasy, but at the 2 count, Tiger turned it into a triangle hold. Tiger got a near fall with his Tiger suplex, but Teioh came back with his full nelson slam into his Teioh lock (kind of like an inverted full nelson). Tiger ducked a lariat, but Teioh immediately lariated him with his other arm. Teioh jogged like Kodo Fuyuki to celebrate the lariat. Teioh then did a final big flurry of a backdrop driver, two weak Misawa rolling elbow imitations, and his miracle ecstasy to put Tiger away. Teioh retained the UWF Super Welterweight title. After the match, Tiger offered a handshake, but Teioh responded by slapped him in the face, snapmaring him, and ripped his mask off. Very good psychology and build. The finish would have come off better if the execution was a bit more precise, but I have no other complaints. Maybe Teioh's best singles performance and the best singles match I've seen Tiger have in quite some time. The best singles match I've seen this year from the men's independent leagues! 15:32. ****1/2

The Great Sasuke vs. Dick Togo. This is the type of match I've been looking for from Sasuke for a long time. It was a more mature, toned down, intelligently crafted match. It ruled more than most of Sasuke's singles matches do, and he didn't even have to kill himself in the process. As with the previous match, this was a heavyweight style match, steeped in build and psychology, but with junior high spots thrown in. The storyline of Togo working on Sasuke's bad knee was a simple one, but simple is often the most effective. Sasuke came to the ring with Super Delfin's mask in his hand. Sasuke hit a rolling senton early and Togo took a breather, so Sasuke tried to quebrada him. However, in the key spot in the match, Togo pulled Sasuke off the 2nd rope to the floor, causing Sasuke to (purposely) land badly on his already bad knee. Togo then pulled Sasuke's pant leg up, revealing a knee brace and heavy taping. Togo launched an all out attack on Sasuke's bad knee, with Sasuke selling the knee really well. Just before the 8 minute mark, Sasuke made his comeback by back body dropping Togo to the floor. Sasuke then tried to quebrada Togo, who tried to hit Sasuke in the knee with a chair. It's hard to tell exactly what happened or was supposed to happen, but Sasuke wound up selling that his knee went out. Later on, Sasuke finally hit his quebrada to the floor. After both sold the spot, Sasuke followed with his Sasuke special (Space Flying Tiger Drop). Back in the ring, Sasuke focused his attack on Togo's arm. Sasuke whipped Togo into the corner and, for some reason, followed by using his bad knee to deliver a jumping knee, which he sold as well. Sasuke used a German suplex and an in ring quebrada for near falls before trying his Thunder Fire powerbomb, which Togo avoided. Sasuke then high kicked Togo, allowing him to follow with his Thunder Fire powerbomb for a near fall. Togo came back by fouling Sasuke. Togo used his high angle powerbomb then followed with his diving senton, but Sasuke just kicked out. Sasuke made a comeback, but went for a high risk Phoenix splash (a Hayabusa finisher which is a rounding body press turned into a 450 splash) too soon and Togo avoided it. Togo hit his released German suplex for a near fall then went back to the high angle powerbomb and diving senton combo for the win. Hiro Wakida (a.k.a. Super Delfin) showed up after the match with no costume, but sunglasses to "hide his identity." He wore a muscle shirt, which made him look really cut, probably from steroids. Sasuke attempted to give Delfin his mask back, but Delfin took off and Sasuke, who was hobbling around, couldn't catch up to him. This was simply a damn good match. The only problem was that it was missing the aura and intensity that a match between the leaders of the Sekigun and DX should have. The small crowd certainly didn't help things, but the real problem seemed to be that it was obvious when the workers were going to kick out of the near falls, and obvious the one time they weren't. 17:06. ****1/4

Michinoku Lucha TV 10/18/97 taped 10/10 Tokyo Sumo Hall

This was the biggest show of the year for the now unfortunately bankrupt Iwate-based Michinoku Pro Wrestling promotion. There was not a tremendous amount of interest in this card in Japan, as Michinoku Pro, which was showing growth in late 1996 and early 1997, has lost all the steam they built up. This lineup wasn't very deep, Shiryu was sorely missed, and there was no match that was guaranteed to be great, but everyone knows Michinoku Pro delivers the goods even if there's 400 people in the crowd, so you knew at least 1 match on the major show would turn out to be great. Unfortunately, on this particular show, there was nothing much beyond the one ****+ star match. Based on what aired here, this show doesn't compare favorably any of the bigger Michinoku shows from 10/96-4/97. The show drew 6,000, which is good for a regional promotion, but a bad crowd for 10,500 seat Sumo Hall. Last year's show on the same date drew 7,980, so you can see decline, as they only got 3/4 of that this year.

Satoru Sayama (freelancer) vs. El Satanico (EMLL). Everyone who has any sense of history will find an entertainer (or entertainers) that predate your interest in the medium, but, both defined their era and set the precedent for the medium's future. For me, in wrestling, that would be Satoru Sayama and Jaguar Yokota, as they were of the charts performers who were WAY ahead of their time and had the most influence on shaping the style of today's wrestling that I like the best. That said, it pains me to watch Sayama today because he's disgracing his legend. This match was not supposed to be good though, as it was a nostalgia match. As with just about every contemporary New Japan wrestler, the promotion sent Sayama off to foreign lands before bringing him back to Japan as a star. Before Sayama became Tiger Mask in 1981, one of the main places he worked was Mexico, working for EMLL from 1978-1980. Before Sayama left EMLL, on 3/28/80 in Mexico City, he dropped the N.W.A. Middleweight title to Satanico and the two have not met since. The blow by blow of this match would be much better on paper then it was in actuality because the execution was so hit and miss. Furthermore, the high spots weren't very graceful, which is typical of today's Sayama matches. Both men are out of shape, and Sayama looked like he was verging on blowing up a few minutes into the match. Sayama controlled most of the match, doing far more Super Tiger spots then Tiger Mask spots. The submissions were pretty good at least, but that was about it. The finish was similar to the finish of the Kyoko/Hotta match from 8/20, but it was much better than that debacle. Satanico did his patented sidewalk slam and leaned over to choke Sayama, but Sayama juji-gatame'd him for the flash submission. It was interesting that during the match, Satanico did the rudo ploy where he offers a hand shake only to try to kick his opponent, but after the match Sayama offered a handshake and they shook hands, showing good will and apparently ending their longstanding rivalry. 6:08 (4:00 aired). *1/2

Hakushi (Kensuke "Jinsei" Shinzaki) vs. The Undertaker (WWF). This was the first part of the main event, billed as a Michi Pro vs. WWF match. This was the most boring match that has aired on Gaora all year. Snails move faster than these two were moving. It was incredible just how much dead time these two could squeeze into a match that was just over 12 minutes long. When you add the long ring entrances in, they made a night out of doing nothing. There were a few good high spots, but the match had no flow, and was in a way reminiscent of Shinzaki's match on last year's Sumo Hall show against Hayabusa because the setup was nonexistent. To make things worse, the spots were so contrived. Hakushi was dominated and he lost, so it's actually surprising he gave as "good" an effort as he did. The announcers were talking about the tremendously overrated Hakushi vs. Great Muta Tokyo Dome match from last year, which for once made me glad that I still can't understand much Japanese. There was one excellent spot in this pile of poop. Hakushi countered Undertaker's nodowa- otoshi with a backflip, which was the same counter Mitsuharu Misawa invented in his 7/25/97 Triple Crown defense against Akira Taue, except this was in the ring, while Misawa's was off the apron. Undertaker got a near fall with his nodowa-otoshi before winning with his vaunted tombstone. After the match, Hakushi was put in Undertaker's coffin, signifying the death of that gimmick (certainly no great loss), but that was edited off tv for some reason. These two just suck. Period. 12:18. ½*

Super Delfin & Naohiro Hoshikawa & Masato Yakushiji (all Sekigun) vs. Dick Togo & Men's Teioh & Shoichi Funaki (all Kaientai DX). This Sekigun vs. DX 6-man tag match was the 2nd part of the triple main event. This match told a better story than, I believe, any of the other great tag matches and the timing was excellent, but the work wasn't quite as good because of the absence of TAKA, Shiryu, Naniwa, Sasuke, and Hamada. Delfin was wrestling his first match since he disgracefully submitted to Dick Togo by crawling though his legs on 6/22, though he was in the best shape of his life, and the main point of this match was for him to win his fans back. Michinoku Pro does tag matches better than any promotion in the world, and this was just another in a long line of great ones. This had great heat, particularly when Delfin was involved. There was a shift in psychology here due to the presence of Delfin. When Delfin was gone, the DX dominated all the Sekigun members. However, in this match, Hoshikawa & Yakushiji were still initially dominated, but Delfin controlled any and all the DX members from the outset. The match was built around a test of Delfin's courage, and the rest of the match, and the storyline future of the promotion, was riding on how he reacted to the test. Delfin started the match, quickly gaining control and tagging to Hoshikawa. Hoshikawa was kind of reminiscent of Samson early on, as his strength seemed to have left him when he got his hair cut. Teioh was just no-selling his strikes and Hoshikawa's gimmick is that he's a "shooter." Yakushiji came in and was dominated by Togo, but he did do an arm drag that was as intricate as any I can remember. Delfin tagged back in at about the 5-minute mark and he did a UFC punches from the mount sequence with Togo until the rest of the DX stomped on him. Delfin wouldn't be slowed down though, it was like he was on a mission, and he hit his lariat on Funaki. Yakushiji came in, but offered little resistance to the DX onslaught. Togo put Yakushiji in the STF and the DX held the Sekigun at bay, but Yakushiji made it to the ropes. Togo tossed Hoshikawa around like a rag doll with released Northern Lights suplexes. Togo & Teioh took Hoshikawa then Yakushiji out with their consecutive released German suplexes spot. This left Delfin to face all three DX. The point in this was that they were playing off Delfin leaving the promotion because he was afraid to compete in Michinoku rings. A coward would have run away at this point because 3-1 odds aren't good, but Delfin attacked the DX. His attack lasted about 2 seconds, before the DX took control, but the point was that Delfin proved his courage to the legion of fans he had disappointed for the past 3 ½ months. Funaki, who now has braided hair with beads in it and was wearing an odd white mask that looked like one of The Joker's rejects, gave Delfin an Ace crusher. Funaki then, got on the house mic and told Delfin to submit by crawling through Togo's legs like he did in Namia. This was Delfin's big test and it was probably the single most important spot of the year in Michinoku Pro. Teioh was prodding Delfin closer to Togo's spread legs and the crowd was wondering if their hero would fall again, but Delfin didn't this time. Instead, he popped up and took all three DX out. One of the great things about this match was that the requisite super 5-minute segment started just after this. Yakushiji & Hoshikawa were rejuvenated by their captain's courage, and they fought on an even plane with the DX the rest of the way. Funaki took all kinds of suplexes from the Sekigun youngsters before Teioh came in and broke it up. Just before the 16-minute mark, Yakushiji gave Teioh a flying huracanrana and Hoshikawa followed with a jumping DDT, but Funaki made the save. Funaki & Teioh did the double Ace crusher on Hoshikawa, but Delfin made the save. Togo gave Delfin an incredibly fast powerslam for a near fall. Togo did his high angle powerbomb and was ready to go to the top for his diving senton, but Hoshikawa was on the apron so he took a shot at him instead. While Togo was dealing with Hoshikawa, Delfin rolled him up for a hot near fall. This got the crowd into it and they were reacting to everything the rest of the way. Togo tried a press slam, but Delfin turned it into a DDT and followed with two swinging DDT's and his Delfin clutch, but Togo kicked out. Yakushiji missile kicked Togo then Hoshikawa German suplexed him. Hoshikawa & Yakushiji whipped Togo, so Delfin could deliver a version of the palm strike called an upper blow. Delfin then used his Delfin clutch for the upset pin on the DX leader Togo. A show saver. 18:44. ****1/4

The Great Sasuke vs. TAKA Michinoku (billed as WWF though at that point he hadn't actually signed with them). Before the match, they showed all the angles leading up to this match, including TAKA jumping Sasuke while Sasuke was being driven around, TAKA jumping Sasuke after Sasuke's match on 9/17 and Victor Quinones so eloquently saying, "Here's your fucking contract Sasuke," then shoving the contract for this match in Sasuke's mouth, and TAKA spray painting WWF on a poster for this show that had Sasuke's picture on it. This was the main event, so they had Sunny do the ring announcement and Pancrase co-founder Masakatsu Funaki come out and present Sasuke with flowers and shake TAKA's hand before the match. TAKA and Victor Quinones flipped Sasuke the bird when they were introduced. This match was really long, which should be a good thing when two of the best in the world wrestle each other. However, this match lacked direction and had a lot of dead time. They put a ton of elements into the match, from shoot style to wannabe AJ like selling to TAKA representing WWF by using well-known WWF spots. I thought it was just too much because it took the match too far away from what these two are really good at. The shocking thing was that this match never reached any level of greatness or excellence. Simply put, this was a very good 18-minute match dragged out into a near 30-minute match. Sasuke came out and did high kicks at the bell followed by his beautiful tope con hilo. Sasuke sold his bad knee while they were lying on the floor, foreshadowing a point that would become key later on. TAKA wasted a lot of time early on, which may have been part of the WWF psychology. They did a long "shoot" sequence that looked like it was out of a very mediocre Battlarts undercard match, with very worked looking spots and Sasuke clearly being out of his element. Maybe they were trying to impress Masakatsu Funaki, but I doubt a camel clutch thrown into a shoot scene will have him banging down Sasuke's door to give Pancrase a try. They finally developed a storyline 12 minutes in when TAKA caught one of Sasuke's many kicks and Dragon screwed him. If TAKA had been working on Sasuke's leg during the shoot sequence, the match would have flowed a lot better and made more sense. TAKA then worked over Sasuke's bad knee with submission holds. TAKA imitated Bret Hart, ramming Sasuke's knee into the ringpost, putting him in a figure 4 on the floor, then applying a sharpshooter when the reentered the ring. They tried to do a lot of selling, but it was so out of place considering all the high spots that are done in a typical Michinoku Pro match and how few had been done in this match. At the 18-minute mark, Sasuke dropkicked TAKA off the top to the floor and tried his quebrada, but TAKA pulled him off the apron and Sasuke crashed into a ringside table and sold his knee. Back in the ring, Sasuke tried a German suplex, but TAKA landed on his feet like Shiryu and did a Frankensteiner for a near fall. TAKA missed a moonsault, but got up in time to stop Sasuke from quebradaing him. Sasuke back body dropped TAKA to the floor and tried his Sasuke special, but TAKA got up in time to stop it with an elbow. Sasuke finally hit a quebrada out of the ring and they sold it pretty big. Sasuke followed with his Rider kick, which they sold even better despite the fact that he didn't hit it very well. The Rider kick is about the last move Sasuke should be doing when he has a bad knee, but Sasuke seems to feel he "has to" do it if there's a big crowd, which is silly. He needs to show the crowd that he can have just as great a match without killing himself, and the crowd will accept the change. TAKA slipped out of Sasuke's Thunder Fire powerbomb and did a Stone Cold Stunner. TAKA then hit his awesome Super quebrada. They went to the big spots and near falls at the 24- minute mark, including TAKA turning a German suplex into a Brian Christopher facecrusher and Sasuke getting a near fall with both his in ring quebrada and his Thunder Fire powerbomb. Sasuke went for his swandive huracanrana finisher, which I don't think he's used in a long time, but TAKA caught him in midair and powerbombed him. TAKA used his Michinoku driver II for a near fall. Sasuke came back and did a Thunder Fire powerbomb for a near fall. Sasuke missed a Phoenix splash and TAKA immediately La Magistralled him for a great near fall. Both men stopped their opponent's main finisher, then Sasuke hit a couple of kicks that weren't very good, but TAKA sold them really well, and a German suplex for the win. The idea of winning with the German suplex may have been that TAKA was blocking all Sasuke's regular finishers because he knew them, so it took a "surprise" finisher to put him away. If they tightened this up and compressed it into a 18-minute match, which is about the length of their typical singles match, this would have clearly have been better. Even though Sasuke was working with a knee that needs surgery, these two should still be able to do a lot better. Sasuke gave a speech after the match, basically saying that although the promotion would be shut down after the January tour, this wasn't the end of the line and that they would be back. 28:21. ***1/2

Junior 8-man tag

Jushin Liger & Chris Jericho (WCW) & Gran Naniwa (Michinoku Pro) & Dr. Wagner Jr. (EMLL) vs. Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yoshihiro Tajiri (Big Japan) & Hanzo Nakajima (Michinoku Pro) from NJ TV 6/28 taped 6/5 Tokyo Budokan Hall. This match consisted of 8 of the juniors that did not make the Best of the Super Jr. final, which took place later that night. As good as everyone in this match but Hanzo is, the three New Japan workers really outclassed the rest of the pack. Everyone did great spots, but the NJ workers execution was perfect. It started off hot with Liger and Otani, highlighted by Liger knocking Otani over the top to the floor with his palm strike. The heels double teamed Naniwa with sliding dropkicks, so the faces returned the favor to a good pop. Tajiri & Wagner did a good sequence, highlighted by Tajiri doing a Misterio rana, with Wagner rolling through for a near fall then hitting a Michinoku Driver II. Jericho & Otani worked an even better sequence, with Jericho getting a near fall with his Lionsault before Otani hit his swandive plancha to start a 5-dive sequence, which also included a great tope con hilo by Tajiri. With bodies splattered on the floor from all the dives, Liger and Takaiwa kicked it into high gear in the ring, with Takaiwa hitting his superfast turning powerslam and Death Valley bomb. Jericho then saved Liger from the Takaiwa bomb, but Otani caught him with his swandive missile kick for his trouble. Otani ducked Liger's palm strike and with a super slick transition went right into a released German suplex. Takaiwa tagged in and pushed Liger, hitting his Death Valley bomb and Takaiwa bomb (repeated powerbombs). Liger came back with his Frankensteiner off the top, but Takaiwa rolled through for a near fall. Liger than hit a running palm strike for the win. Basically one great spot after another with very good crowd heat. Not surprisingly, it was the best when Liger was in the ring. 13:45 (8:15 aired). ****

Champ Forum Gaea 7/19/97

Chigusa Nagayo vs. Rina Ishii. This was an education match for Ishii, a 23-year-old in her second year as a pro. She's a pretty good athlete who is in fantastic shape, with the best abs of any active woman's wrestler, but at this point she's not very advanced as a wrestler. The basis of the match was that Chigusa would let Ishii try her offense, dropkicks and the like, and just no sell it for a short while. Then Chigusa would get bored of no-selling and put Ishii down with one big strike. They built to Chigusa giving Ishii a little, letting her show fighting spirit by just kicking out of a backdrop and look good by turning Chigusa's running three into her great huracanrana finisher. Finish saw Ishii try to roll up Chigusa's body, which worked earlier, but Chigusa did what they called a running three for the win. A one-sided mismatch, as it had to be, with Ishii showing some potential. 9:28. *1/4

Akira Hokuto & KAORU vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Makie Numao. This was a decent match, but disappointing and basically nothing special. Yamada and Numao mainly attacked Hokuto's bad knee, with Hokuto selling the injury really well doing things like rolling and having the seconds gather around her, hobbling around, etc. KAORU jumped around the ring aimlessly as usual, rolling out a bunch of high spots for no rhyme or reason. Some of the high spots to Yamada were nice, but her execution wasn't as good as normal. The highlight was Numao springboarding off the 2nd into a reverse DDT on KAORU. Finish saw KAORU go to the top for her moonsault bodyblock, but Yamada suplexed her off and hit her reverse Gori special bomb for the win. I like Numao more each time I see her. 18:59 (7:51 aired). **1/4.

Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima & Maiko Matsumoto & Hiromi Kato vs. Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato & Toshie Uematsu & Sakura Hirota. This match badly needed Mayumi Ozaki, as it lacked direction and focus without her there to direct traffic. There were 5 quality workers in the match, but no one stepped up or showed much. Some of this can be attributed to Sonoko working on two bad knees that needed surgery and Satomura working with a bad elbow. However, people put WAY too little stock in who's calling and shaping the match and much too much stock in who is doing the best high spots. Without Ozaki or Chigusa or Akira or Yamada to lead the way, what we saw was a collection of spots. Some spots were basic, some were good, and some were sloppy, but none of them really led anywhere. There were some good near falls between Chikayo & Uematsu before Sato interfered, stopping Uematsu's springboard move and Chikayo did a reverse rolling clutch into a German suplex into a jackknife hold for the win. Hiromi Kato was once again very solid in her execution and she looks like she will develop into something down the road. 17:52. **

All Japan Women Wrestle Marinepiad '93 Commercial Tape 10/9/93 Tokyo Bay NK Hall

The Awesome One Glenn delivered the goods as always, raiding the Champions store near the Tokyo Dome so I could check out a choice match of the late Plum Mariko that I had never seen before and see my dream match, Manami Toyota vs. Mayumi Ozaki, in unedited form. 1993 was clearly the golden year of women's wrestling. This was far from the best show of that year, but it had a number of choice matches and it's a better show than any major show I've seen from 1997.

Etsuko Mita & Tomoko Watanabe & Numacchi vs. Carol Midori & Mizuki Endo & Mikiko Futagami (all LLPW). This was just an average match. It went along at a good pace, and there were no real lulls in the action, but it got sloppy in some parts and there wasn't much to get excited about. Mita was the lone veteran in the match, so she basically dominated the LLPW women when she was in, making it clear that she could pin them any time she felt like it. She would get her opponent in a fireman's carry, teasing her Death Valley bomb finisher, but let them off the hook with a move like an airplane spin. Numacchi, one of the all-time dogs of women's wrestling whose workrate only seemed good in comparison with her looks, was in way too much and brought the match down. At one point Numacchi, whose gimmick was that she was a construction worker, used her hard hat to headbutt Endo. The match picked up around the 14-minute mark with near falls back and forth, including Futagami getting a couple of hot near falls on Mita. Mita quickly gained control though, and tagged in Numacchi who did her Russian leg sweep finisher 5 times in a row but couldn't pin Futagami. Endo avoided Watanabe's moonsault block the first time, but Watanabe soon caught her with it. Watanabe then used a bridging suplex I've never seen before, I guess you could call it a bridging pump-handle suplex, to pin Endo. 18:55 (all times on this show are unofficial). **

Mima Shimoda (captain) & Kaoru Ito & The Goddess Chikako Shiratori & Chaparita ASARI vs. Cuty Suzuki (captain) & Plum Mariko & Hikari Fukuoka & Commando Bolshoi (all JWP) in a "Roller Coaster 4 x 4 30-Minute Time Limit Captain Fall Match." The basis of the rules is that it's an elimination match, but instead of the match ending when one team is completely eliminated (like a Survivor Series match), it ends when the captain of a team is pinned. This match ruled, and I was suitably stoked because now I have a match with The Goddess that I could send somebody and they would actually want to watch it. This was all action from start to finish with tons of double, triple, and quadruple teaming, including an attempted quadruple dropkick and the requisite consecutive plancha spot. It was fast-paced early with basic moves, building to the big spots later on. They tried to get heat between the promising youngsters, Fukuoka and Ito, who had opposed each other in a tag match at Dreamslam 1, early on. The action got hot about 6:30 in with a bunch of finishers and outside interference. Commando gave Mima her Nadare-shiki nodowa-otoshi (chokeslam off the top rope) and two regular nodowa-otoshis before Mima turned a third into a DDT and tagged in ASARI. ASARI got to shine here, using her great roundoff kangaroo kick twice before pinning Commando at 8:48 with her sky twister press, which was the best in-ring high spot in wrestling at the point (and maybe still). Ito tried her footstomps on Shiratori, but Fukuoka hit her in the back when she was running off the ropes. Fukuoka came in and the JWP women teamed up on Ito, leading to Fukuoka trying her moonsault, only to land on Ito's knees. Ito then used her diving footstomp to pin Hikari at 14:01. Things were looking really bad for the JWP team, who had to be considerable favorites going in due to the experience and the ranking of the women involved, as they were down 2 women and their captain, Cuty, was in trouble. However, Cuty came back and pinned Shiratori with her diving footstomp at 16:37. Cuty then ducked ASARI's lariat and pinned her with her Dragon suplex at 16:50. Talk about a quick change of tide. The pace slowed, as, for a little while, they built this like a regular tag match of the top two stars on each team. It picked up again with Plum and Ito, who did some nice spots together. Plum tried to give Ito her Frankensteiner off the top, but Mima pulled her off the top then Ito did her diving footstomp for a near fall. Shimoda plancha'd both opponents then Ito footstomped them off the apron. Ito used her footstomps on Cuty, but missed her diving footstomp. Cuty and Ito actually did a great sequence of reversals, culminating with Cuty getting a near fall with her Dragon suplex. Plum & Cuty did consecutive footstomps for a near fall on Ito. At 26:30, Shimoda & Plum started exchanging near falls. Cuty took Ito out with a released German suplex and Plum sloppily Frankensteinered captain Shimoda off the top for the win. Everyone contributed to this match, but Ito was the most impressive of the bunch. 27:49. ****1/4

Sakie Hasegawa & Takako Inoue vs. Shinobu Kandori & Yasha Kurenai (both LLPW). This had great heat, particularly when Kandori, who was really over, was in. Kandori was totally doing "shooter" spots, based on the reputation she garnered as one of the top female judo stars in the world, with the match being built around her submissions, particularly her choke sleeper. The LLPW team were natural heels because they were the "road team," which was good for Yasha since being a heel is her (only) thing anyway. Yasha even eye gouged Sakie, which is rare for a puroresu match. For ring work, the other three weren't on the same planet as Sakie. However, Takako was pretty effective here, getting big pops when she got stiff with Kandori and when she used her Destiny Hammer on Kandori for a near fall. At one point, Kandori powerbombed Sakie and leaned in deep, but Takako just made the save. Finish saw Sakie switch Kandori's powerbomb and try her rolling savate, but Kandori avoided it and choke sleepered Sakie for the win. It was good seeing Sakie again, but the only thing special about this match wast he heat. 11:09. ***

Yumiko Hotta & Suzuka Minami vs. Bull Nakano & Reggie Bennett in a match billed as "Star & Rising Sun 4 VIPS." This was a boring slow-paced match with Suzuka being the best worker, but no one looking particularly good or bad. The match picked up after the 9-minute mark with Bull & Suzuka in, and continued with Suzuka & Bennett exchanging signature spots. Bennett's work wasn't smooth and fluid, which hurt the closing minutes. A big near fall came when Bull hit her guillotine leg drop then Bennett splashed Suzuka. Bennett then put Suzuka in her Reggie rack (Argentine backbreaker/torture rack) for the win. 10:55. **

Kyoko Inoue vs. Devil Masami (JWP). This matched was the first match in a three part Zenjo (AJW) vs. JWP single match series. This was both exactly what it had to be and everything you could ask for from a singles match between these two. The storyline and psychology were great, and the match built perfectly. They worked a slow-paced Devil style match with Devil controlling the match, but Kyoko making comebacks by countering Devil's moves. Kyoko's comebacks were short lived though, as Devil would quickly cut her off, usually by avoiding or countering one of Kyoko's moves. Devil continually tried her powerbombs, but Kyoko either avoided them or kicked out. Kyoko, who proved just how exceptionally strong she was in this match, hit her Niagara driver just before the 19- minute mark, but Devil managed to kick out. Devil avoided another Niagara driver, but, after several counters, Kyoko turned Devil's suplex into a Japanese back rolling clutch hold for the flash pin. That was the only manner Devil was going to be upset in. I usually hate flash pins, but based on the body of the match, it was the perfect finish. A big win for Kyoko. 19:49. ****1/4

The great one Manami Toyota vs. the coolest of the cool, the minkiest of the minky, the sexiest of the sexy Mayumi Ozaki (JWP). This match, called "Rainbow Sensation," was the second part in the Zenjo vs. JWP single match series. This match had much more mat wrestling then you would expect, with both women being really effective in that aspect. This match was strong, but never really kicked into high gear. There was a conscious effort in this match, and the next, to keep the main finishers strong, with the main psychology here being whether Ozaki could put Toyota away before Manami J.O.C. suplexed her for the win. It started off fast, with action before the bell, but slowed before the 30-second mark. Some high spots were interspersed, but the early portion was predominantly mat work. They picked it up at the 9-minute mark, with Oz getting a near fall with her rolling (somersault) bodyblock before Toyota came back with her typical assortment of dropkicks. Oz took the match to the floor, but, unlike today, she got the worst of it when Toyota slammed her. At the 13-minute mark, Toyota missed a dropkick and went flying through the ropes to the floor, but this time Oz got the best of the out of the ring action by hitting her rolling senton block off the 2nd. Oz got some near falls, but Toyota came back with her rolling cradle. Both women did a series of near falls before Toyota missed her moonsault and Ozaki hit her tequila sunrised finisher, but Toyota kicked out. Toyota knocked Ozaki to the floor and did a released German suplex followed by an Orihara moonsault. Toyota got near falls with her moonsault and a dragon suplex. Toyota tried her Japanese Ocean Cyclone suplex, but Ozaki turned it into a victory roll for a near fall. Ozaki slipped out of the J.O.C. suplex and tequila sunrised Toyota for another near fall. Ozaki tried her rounding body press, but Toyota got her feet up. Toyota set Oz up for the Japanese Ocean Cyclone suplexed, and finally Oz had run out of counters and was pinned in it. The combination of Ozaki trying desperately to avoid the J.O.C. suplex and Toyota getting the pin the first time she successfully executed the move strengthened the finisher. This was important because the two ***** Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai tag matches (11/26/92 and 4/11/93) had an incredible amount of near falls and they wanted to still have heat on the key moves when the teams met for the third (and unfortunately final) time on 12/6/93. These two could clearly have done a lot better match together, hopefully they will get the chance someday, but, not surprisingly, I loved this nonetheless. 20:14. ****1/4

Toshiyo Yamada vs. Dynamite Kansai (JWP). This was the third and final match of the Zenjo vs. JWP single match series, a series that AJW had already won. This was the best match on the show and it was a great match. Yamada was at the peak of her excellence during this time period. As usual, she did whatever it took to have a great match, which in this case meant absorbing a tremendous beating, but also dishing one out. This was really stiff, like All Japan main event level of stiffness, and the execution was crisp. The storyline of this match, to a much greater extent then the last match, was that it was a battle of the two main finishers, Yamada's reverse Gori special bomb and Kansai's splash mountain. As with the last match, they were trying to strengthen the finishers, and it became clear that the women who successfully executed her finisher first would be the winner. It started out fast, but they quickly took it to the mat, with both women focusing on their opponent's legs. In between the matwork, both women stiffed each other with series of blistering kicks. At the 8-minute mark, Kansai pulled the mat away and suplexed Yamada on the hard wood floor. There were some unusual spots, like Yamada delivering a backdrop driver then going for a second, but Kansai stopped it by taking Yamada down with a headlock, which lead to more mat wrestling. Later on, Yamada ducked Kansai's high kick, sending her to the floor where she did a plancha. The match picked up at the 13:30 mark, with high spots and near falls back and forth, including Yamada using a series of running brain kicks. Yamada countered Kansai's Irish whip with a great spinning high kick. After a series of near falls, Yamada tried her reverse Gori special bomb, but Kansai powered out by standing up, so Yamada settled for a victory roll. Before Yamada could attempt her reverse Gori special bomb a second time, Kansai took her legs out with a spinning leg trip. Kansai tried her splash mountain, but Yamada resisted so she settled for a piledriver. Kansai went for the splash mountain again, but Yamada escaped after kicking Kansai in the head on the way up. Yamada did a running brain kick and tried her reverse Gori special bomb again, but Kansai powered out then put Yamada down with a vicious high kick. Kansai dove half way across the ring with a reverse elbow for a near fall, which was very impressive considering Kansai's size. Kansai then tried a back superplex, but Yamada switched it on the way down. Kansai used three more kicks, with the first two basically fanning, but the third one being stiff enough to KO someone legit, before splash mountaining Yamada for the win. Once again the finisher was strengthened. Grueling match. 19:42. ****1/2

Akira Hokuto vs. Aja Kong in a match billed as "The Marinepiad Biggest." There's an interesting story behind this match. Hokuto came into this match in really bad shape, as she was coming off knee surgery and was still walking with crutches on the day of the event. Aja was supposed to be defending her WWWA title here, but Hokuto came out and petitioned to get the match changed to a non-title match because an injured challenger would cheapen the credibility of the title. Since Hokuto was in such bad shape, this match not only didn't approach the standard of excellence these two could approach together, but it was barely a good match. However, despite the letdown in match quality, this was a memorable match because Hokuto's performance was one of the gutsiest of all-time. Hokuto did her flip dive almost immediately, but that was about it for her offense. Aja totally dominated Hokuto, predominantly kicking Hokuto's bad knee or working it over with submission holds. There was nothing wrong with the work, but the match was boring because it was so one-sided. Hokuto finally came back just before the 10-minute mark, getting a near fall with her German suplex, but when she tried her Northern Lights bomb, Aja kicked her leg out and regained control. Hokuto ducked two urakens, but when she tried to go on offense she ran into an uraken for a near fall. Hokuto would counter a move once in a while, making a courageous attempt at a flash pin, but she could never put together a series of holds. Hokuto tried to land on her feet for a backdrop, but her knee gave out legit. About 14 minutes in, Hokuto tried a missile kick, but Aja kicked her bad knee in midair. Hokuto couldn't get up, so the doctor came in the ring and undid her knee pad, allowing the ref to pull her knee back into place. The match was restarted about 2 minutes later, so we could see Hokuto do probably the worst counter of a powerbomb off the 2nd in history. They went to near falls, with Hokuto even getting some, but due to Hokuto's injury, the execution was worse than normal. At 18:30, Aja missed her diving reverse elbow then Hokuto delivered her Northern Lights bomb for a near fall. Hokuto tried a diving press, but Aja caught her in mid air and slammed her. Aja did an Orange bomb (suplex into a powerbomb) then her Nadare-shiki suisha otoshi (a water mill off the top rope, with water mill being a type of Greco-Roman backdrop) for the win. After the match, Aja gave an emotional speech on the house mic, actually bursting out in tears along the way. The highlight of the speech was Aja saying Hokuto was the gutsiest and most courageous wrestler ever. They showed Hokuto, in tremendous pain, having her knee attended to back stage, which included getting a needle in her knee cap. Their next big match together, the final of the V* Top Women tournament on 11/20/94 at the Tokyo Dome, was practically identical except their roles were reversed. This match epitomizes Hokuto's legendary never say die attitude. Hell, most wrestlers in her physical condition wouldn't have even attempted to work. 20:09. **3/4

JWP TV 11/20/93 Thunder Queen Battle in Yokohama 2 taped 11/18/93 Yokohama Bunka Gym

Candy Okutsu & Fusayo Nouchi vs. The Goddess Chikako Shiratori & Chaparita ASARI (both AJW) in a match billed as "The Queens Road Yokohama Second." This was definitely a good match when you consider how young and inexperienced these 4 were (Shiratori, 20, was the oldest of the four, as she debuted in 1991, while the other three debuted in 1992). The early portion was pretty basic with a lot of low-level high spots, but the match kept moving so it wasn't boring. Candy & ASARI were the featured performers in this match. Candy did her nice spots first, using a nice leg trip into a Japanese leg roll clutch hold on Shiratori, with Shiratori soon returning the favor, a German suplex, and a plancha on both opponents. ASARI got her big sequence in against Nouchi at the 12- minute mark. She did a Sayama backflip from the corner followed by a dropkick and her roundoff kangaroo kicks to set up her sky twister press, but Candy came in and pulled ASARI off the top rope. ASARI & Shiratori double teamed Nouchi, and Shiratori held Candy in the corner while ASARI sky twister pressed Nouchi for the win. They showed the replay of ASARI's sky twister 3 times in a row because it was such a hot move. The first time I watched this, I was fooled by ASARI's high spots into thinking she was the best worker in this match. However, upon further review, Candy was the one who carried the match. Candy's spots, while not as glamourous, were executed as well as you could ask them to be. Candy just needed a few more spots to move up wrestling against the stars, while ASARI was more glitter than substance at that point. 13:15. **1/2

Hikari Fukuoka vs. Manami Toyota (AJW) in a match billed as "Solid Black Queens Energy." Before the match, they did a long feature on Hikari, complete with several of Toyota's comments about her, building up to her big rematch with her idol Toyota. The purpose of this match was to elevate Fukuoka by having her make a good showing against her mentor, and in that aspect they more than succeeded. As with their 6/3/93 Japan Grand Prix league bout, this was a very good match, but it was disappointing because they were capable of a lot better. Fukuoka jumped Toyota before the bell and did a few spots, including her version of the rolling cradle, before taking it to the mat. The match built slowly, as this pattern of taking control with a brief series of high spots then taking it to the mat continued for the first 15 minutes. Fukuoka did a nice plancha, but Toyota topped it later on by doing a plancha over the security rail. The fans really got into the match when Toyota missed her moonsault and Fukuoka German suplexed her for a near fall. This fan enthusiasm continued as Toyota got near falls with a Dragon suplex and her moonsault. Toyota then tried her Japanese Ocean Cyclone suplex, and it appeared this was going to be the finish of the match, but she couldn't get Hikari up for it on either try. If this was to be the finish, the blown spot actually turned out to be a plus. Toyota did two German suplexes, and it appeared Toyota was looking for Hikari to stay down, but Hikari kicked out of both, did a German suplex for a near fall, and hit her moonsault. Fukuoka then tried a double wrist arm sault suplex, but Toyota did a super fast transition into her rolling cradle. After rolling Fukuoka around the ring for an incredibly long time, Toyota Japanese Ocean Cyclone suplexed Fukuoka for the win. The body of the match was solid and the last 7 minutes were pretty damn good. 22:55. ****

Devil Masami & Plum Mariko vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Cuty Suzuki in a match billed as "Most Special Persons Wrestling Jam." This was an excellent long match. It's surprising that these 4 could do such a strong match, even in 1993, but everyone more than served their purpose and without showing anyone up, Plum, Chigusa, and Devil all turned in great performances. One of the things that helped the match was it had a special aura. The aura was more something you see in men's puroresu matches when the two legendary old codgers that can't work a damn these days lock horns. The legends were obviously Chigusa and Devil, and there was a lot of heat on them based on their legend's match at Dreamslam 1, where Chigusa was pinned by Devil. However, unlike Choshu or Inoki, obviously these old codgers could still get it done in the ring. Another thing that made this match special was the way they used the submissions. Most matches use submissions to build to high spots, but this was the other way around. The pacing was slower then most great women's matches, but it was way stronger in psychology and timing. The match started similar to a traditional American tag match where the top face is dying to get his hands on the leading heel, but the heel is "afraid to face the face." This was a bit different, but I can't remember seeing two teams wait each other out to see who was going to start in any Japanese match. Chigusa petitioned for Devil to start and Devil eventually obliged . However, Plum blindsided Chigusa with a missile kick before the legends even locked up. Devil and Plum then tried to sandwich Chigusa, but Chigusa avoided it, causing them to crash into each other, then faked a plancha. Cuty got beat on for 3 minutes before turning Devil's powerbomb into a Toyota roll and tagging Chigusa in to set up the first real confrontation. Devil & Chigusa were very cautious feeling each other out, which increased the heat and anticipation. When Plum came back in, she used nice submissions on Chigusa. While she had Chigusa in figure 4, Devil threw Cuty on top of Chigusa with her Zun-Mae (an overhead throw from a powerbomb position that was made famous by Jumbo Hori). At one point, Devil tried a suplex, but Chigusa turned it into a Japanese back rolling clutch cradle hold for a hot near fall. At the 11-minute mark, Chigusa used her powerbomb and wheel kick on Plum to set up her scorpion, but Devil came in and put Chigusa down with chops before she could turn Plum over. However, Chigusa never released the grip, so she got up and locked in the scorpion. Plum came back at 15:30, turning Cuty's high cross body into a bridging fall away slam and hitting a huracanrana before tagging out. Devil hit a lariat and tried for a second, but Cuty surprised me by turning it into a waki-gatame. Cuty got a near fall on Devil with her Dragon suplex, then whipped Devil into the ropes and Chigusa reached over and enzui lariated Devil. Later on, Plum came in with a sky high hip drop then put Chigusa in a Dragon sleeper, but Chigusa snapmared her way out. Devil powerbombed Chigusa then tried it again, but Chigusa turned it into a huracanrana for a near fall. Plum elbowed Chigusa to the floor and, in the highlight of the match, gave Cuty an awesome jumping takedown into her hiza-juji gatame (knee cross scissors). Chigusa kept trying to get back into the ring so she could make the save, but Devil continually knocked her back to the floor. Eventually, Chigusa avoided Devil's baseball slide and high kicked her, which allowed her to reenter the ring and save Cuty. Devil & Chigusa got into an argument while Plum had Cuty in an STF. Devil turned a Chigusa high kick into a half crab, but Chigusa soon came back with a bunch of strikes, culminating in two consecutive knockdowns from crappy elbows. Chigusa used her sleeper on Devil and Plum tried to make the save, but Cuty Dragon suplexed her. Chigusa used two German suplexes on Devil for near falls, so Plum came in and German suplexed Chigusa. Before Devil could capitalize, Cuty came in and German suplexed her. Devil and Chigusa did about the best sleeper spot I've ever seen. Devil, who had Chigusa in it, had such an intense look and she would jerk it. Chigusa not only looked half asleep, but she was even frothing at the mouth. After 1 ½ minutes of this, Cuty finally made the save. Devil followed with a powerbomb spree (done well with no crime). There was a bad spot where Plum released German suplexed Chigusa too close to the corner for Devil to follow with her guillotine leg drop, so after some confusion, Plum redid the spot closer to the center and Devil followed with the guillotine leg drop for a near fall. Devil got another near fall with a German suplex before pinning Chigusa, again, with a guillotine leg drop. So far this is the best Plum match I've seen, though her best performance is 2/11/94 against Chigusa. Plum ruled! As Adrian Smith wrote and Bruce Dickinson sang, "Ain't it funny how it is, you never miss it 'til it's gone away." 33:07. ****3/4

JWP TV 11/27/93 Thunder Queen Battle in Yokohama 2 taped 11/18/93 Yokohama Bunka Gym

Bolshoi Kid vs. Mima Shimoda (AJW). Mima is great, but she isn't a miracle worker. Due to the damn clown, this was by far the worst match on the show. In fact, this may be the worst match Mima had in her entire career. This was worked at about half speed with slow setup and weak transition. There were some nice high spots by both women, but to tell you how good this was, the most notable thing about the match might have been that Mariko Yoshida was the ref. Shimoda finished the clown off with her deathlake drive followed by her Tiger suplex. This is one time I won't complain about a match being highly edited. 13:55 (5:09 aired). 1/4*

Mayumi Ozaki vs. Akira Hokuto (AJW) in a match billed as "Pure Heart Meets the Dangerous Queen Only One Time Singles Match." They did a few angles leading up to this match, but I can't really tell what was said, so it's hard to make any judgement. It appeared Hokuto was playing heel and insulting JWP in general, so Masatoshi Yamamoto, the JWP president, was standing up for his league. Hokuto's knee was all taped up again, but she was in much better shape than she was against Aja, as it wasn't noticeably hampering her. Though the selling was clearly superior, this pretty much followed the same structure as the 10/9 Ozaki vs. Toyota match. It started quickly with Ozaki German suplexing Hokuto before the bell, but they quickly took it to the mat. The match picked up around the 10-minute mark, with Ozaki turning a back body drop into a DDT then doing her rolling senton block out of the ring, but it was done off the top rather than the 2nd. Ozaki powerbombed Hokuto on the floor and Hokuto sold this huge, like they would sell it in AJ. It was obvious that Koji Kanemoto wasn't calling the match because when Akira finally got back into the ring 1 ½ minutes after being powerbombed on the floor, she didn't come back with an overhead belly- to-belly suplex and start doing all kinds of flying moves without selling the previous damage. Rather, Hokuto fell prey to an Ozaki's top rope superplex for a near fall. Ozaki used a series of powerbombs then tried her rounding body press, but Hokuto got her feet up and regained control. Hokuto threw Oz over the top and followed with her tope con hilo off the top rope. Hokuto came up a bit short on the tope con hilo, but they stuck to the game plan and Ozaki sold it for a long time before reentering the ring, only to get released Northern Lights superplexed for a near fall. They went to a series of finishers, highlighted by Hokuto, as Toyota did, breaking Oz's tequila sunrise. Ozaki missed her rolling (somersault) bodyblock and Hokuto hit her devastating henkei backdrop. Hokuto then used her Northern Lights bomb finisher, and like the Toyota match, Ozaki wasn't going to break the big finisher. A very solid match that built well. The strong selling clearly added to the meaning of the high spots. 18:26. ****1/4

Dynamite Kansai vs. Kyoko Inoue (AJW) in a match billed as "Full Throttle Thunder Queen World." This match was very similar to the 10/9 Kansai/Yamada match, as it had the same finisher vs. finisher storyline and the build and psychology were great. This match wasn't nearly as stiff though, which is the main reason the Yamada match was better. Kyoko missed a dropkick early, so Kansai punted her then faked a tope. Kyoko did probably the most devastating DDT I've ever seen, with Kansai's head rebounding off the mat. There was a good balance between high spots and submissions. The action picked up around the 13-minute mark, with Kyoko switching Kansai's backdrop driver and trying her springboard reverse elbow off the 2nd, but Kansai kicked her in midair. Kansai did kicks and a backdrop driver, leading up to her first attempt at the splash mountain, which resulted in Kyoko back body dropping her way out. Kyoko took control and built toward her Niagara driver, but Kansai returned the favor and back body dropped her way out. At the 16-minute mark, Kyoko tried her Niagara driver, but Kansai shifted her weight and landed on top. Kansai then tried her splash mountain, but Kyoko turned it into a Toyota roll for a near fall. Kansai used kicks, but Kyoko eventually ducked one and did a nice released German suplex, which both sold. Kansai tried her splash mountain, but Kyoko slipped out and German suplexed Kansai for a near fall. Kansai avoided Kyoko's Niagara driver twice. Kansai hit a backdrop driver then became the first to successfully execute her main finisher, putting Kyoko away with the splash mountain. The difference in look and style of the Kyoko of 1993 as compared to the Kyoko of 1997 is the difference between night and day. 20:46. ****1/4

Fuji Television Crush Gals Fighting Spirits Commercial Tape

A couple months back I made up a list of a bunch of 1980's women's stuff that would be cool for Glenn to rent. However, much to my chagrin, it appears AJW didn't start making commercial tapes until the tail end of the decade. All wasn't lost though, as The Awesome One dug this really cool tape that fully captures the Crush Gals phenomenon out of the Champions archives. This tape was put out by Fuji Television, back when they used to get phenomenal ratings for the then weekly AJW tv show, which aired on Saturday afternoon. Someone could definitely write a really good book about the Crush Gals and their importance to the sport, but I'll try to keep it short. The Crush Gals were both the most popular and the most idolized women's tag team of all-time, the best tag team of the 1980's, among the best faces of all-time with Chigusa being the most popular women's wrestler ever, the second and third best working women of the 1980's, one of the pioneers of the fast-paced style that women's wrestling is currently famous for, the most successful women's wrestlers at becoming cross over stars in the pop music business during their wrestling careers, and the women, particularly Chigusa, who inspired most of the stars of the 1990's to become pro wrestlers.

Crush Gals (Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka) vs. Devil Masami & Tarantula for Devil & Tarantula's WWWA tag titles from 10/27/82. I'm guessing this was the Crush Gals first shot at the tag titles. The Crush Gals were in their third year at this point. They displayed their famous fast- paced style in this match, but it was clear that their move sets were not as nearly developed as they would be a couple years later. Devil was a really strong heel in this match, hitting everyone including the ref with her rod. She did some good high spots before pinning Chigusa with a piledriver to retain the titles. 2:56 shown

Lioness Asuka vs. Chigusa Nagayo for Asuka's All Japan singles title from 1/4/83 Tokyo Korakuen Hall. I'm guessing this was Asuka's first title defense against her partner Chigusa. The great thing about the Crush Gals is that they were the best of friends for about 363 days a year, but once or twice a year they would have a high profile singles match against each other, and they could pull the rivalry off so well that you would think they were arch enemies. The main thing that allowed them to do this was their incredible intensity. They both portrayed an incredible desire to win, a winning is the only thing type attitude. These two were way too good to be so young. This was a heated match that went back and forth with high spots and near falls before Lioness did a blockbuster then the infamous rookie cover for the win. Very good match, great considering neither woman was 20-years-old. 3:00 shown

Aside: If you are looking to check out a battle of the Crush Gals, the one you need to see is 2/26/87 Kawasaki. This was an unbelievable match with tremendous heat, stiff kicks, crisp execution, great build with the teasing of big spots, and, of course, super work. The main psychology was that both women were equal, so it's great spots back and forth for the 30:00 time limit then and extra 5 min. Extremely exciting and intense match. Definite ***** and one of top matches of its decade.

Crush Gals vs. Dynamite Girls (Jumbo Hori & Yukari Omori) 2/3 falls for Dynamite's WWWA tag titles from 8/25/84 Tokyo Korakuen Hall. This was a fast-pace Crush Gal style match with tons of near falls. Hori was pretty choice and Lioness was the better Crush Gal here. The significance of this match was that the Crush Gals took a major step forward by winning the WWWA tag titles for the first time. 4:36 shown

Crush Gals vs. La Galactica & Lola Gonzalez for the Crush Gals WWWA tag titles from 10/6/84 Tokyo Korakuen Hall. This was a wild brawl. Asuka was busted open and the heels bit the cut. The fans, who really got behind the Crush Gals as always, didn't appreciate all the cheating by the heels, and some of them even threw things into the ring. Dump interfered, helping the members of her army by using a screwdriver to Asuka's head. Gonzalez, who also got busted open, was finally pinned after a Chigusa wheel kick and a Lioness backdrop. This appeared to be the worst match on the tape because good Mexican women wrestlers are few and far between, but it showed the Crush Gals weren't only in tough brawls when they faced Dump herself. 4:54 shown

Crush Gals vs. Dump Matsumoto & Crane Yu for the Crush Gals WWWA tag titles from 2/25/85 Tokyo. This was Dump at her peak as a heat generator, with the fans popping big for all the Crush Gals comebacks. A wild match with both Crush Gals bleeding and all kinds of interference by the Dump army. Dump's team was eventually DQ'd for beating up the ref. Dump gave Chigusa a hair trimming after the match, building up to their big hair vs. hair match.

Crush Gals vs. Dump Matsumoto & Bull Nakano from 5/16/85 Omiya Skate Center. Crane Yu was the ref. Crush Gals did simultaneous suicidas then Chigusa pinned Bull with a Japanese back rolling clutch cradle hold. This showed how big a move a "simple" dive through the ropes used to be. 0:43 shown.

Chigusa Nagayo vs. Devil Masami for Devil's All Pacific Title from 8/22/85 Tokyo Budokan Hall. This appeared to be a very dramatic great match. Chigusa brought the schoolgirls to their feet with all sorts of bridging suplexes. However, the main thrust of this slugfest seemed to be realism. There were a lot of stiff strikes that were sold big by both women leading to a double KO finish. 2:08 shown.

Lioness Asuka vs. Jaguar Yokota for Jaguar's WWWA Title from 8/22/85 Tokyo Budokan Hall. This is as good as it gets. An all-time classic and the best women's match of the decade. They worked a lightning pace with precise execution and futuristic moves. The crowd was super hot, reacting to everything. There were two spots that stand out over all the other great ones. One was Lioness reversing a tombstone, bouncing off the ropes, and hitting a jumping tombstone for an incredible near fall. The other was near the finish, where Jaguar is trying to suplex Lioness off the top, but Asuka blocks it and drops Jaguar off the top with a front layout superplex. The second spot is somewhat common now, but it was very innovative at this time. Asuka then misses a diving splash and Jaguar puts her away with a henkei fisherman suplex. Outstanding! 3:51 shown.

Chigusa Nagayo vs. Dump Matsumoto for the vacant All Pacific Title from 4/5/86 Tokyo Budokan Hall. Not surprisingly, this was a brawl. The thing that stood out was Bull bringing a barrel into the ring and whipping Chigusa so Dump could hit her with the barrel. Chigusa beat Dump the way she always did, with a flash pin. Chigusa won the vacant All Pacific Title. 1:53 shown.

Lioness Asuka vs. Devil Masami for Devil's WWWA Title from 4/5/86 Tokyo Budokan Hall. This was one of the slowest paced matches because Devil was involved, but it was real solid with the fans getting really into it. Devil retained her title when the match went to a draw. 2:42 shown.

Crush Gals concert footage. Kind of boring, but they couldn't make a complete Crush Gals tape without showing them sing. I prefer Mimi Hagiwara or Jumping Bomb Angels singing.

Crush Gals vs. Jumping Bomb Angels for J.B. Angels WWWA Tag Titles from 3/20/86 Osaka. This was really exciting. A great fast-paced match with bodies flying all over the place. Chigusa pinned Tateno with a German suplex in the third fall to capture the straps for the Crush Gals. 4:22

All Japan Real World Tag League Results

11/15 Tokyo Korakuen Hall (TV taping)

Kawada & Taue (2) beat Hansen & Duncum Jr. (0) when Taue pinned Duncum at 10:30 in his Dynamic bomb

Misawa & Akiyama (1) drew Wolf Hawkfield & Smith (1) 30:00

*Hawkfield is Jim Rocha, formerly known as Jungle Jim Steele and most recently in All Japan as Lacrossse. The new gimmick is taken from a character in the video game Virtua Fighter

Kobashi & Ace (2) beat Windham & Bradshaw (0) when Kobashi pinned Bradshaw at 10:39 with his lariat

Williams & Albright (2) beat Omori & Honda (0) when Williams pinned Honda at 11:48 with his backdrop

Hayabusa & Shinzaki (2) beat Kimala & Izumida (0) when Shinzaki pinned Izumida at 11:51 with his diving headbutt

11/16 Tokyo Korakuen Hall (Samurai TV taping)

Misawa & Akiyama (3) beat Kimala & Izumida (0) when Akiyama pinned Izumida at 17:33 with his jumping knee

Williams & Albright (3) drew Hawkfield & Smith (2) 30:00

Windham & Bradshaw (2) beat Hansen & Duncum Jr. (0) when Windham pinned Duncum Jr. at 14:59

Omori & Honda (2) beat Hayabusa & Shinzaki (2) when Honda pinned Shinzaki at 15:28 with a German suplex

11/18 Okayama

Misawa & Akiyama (5) beat Williams & Albright (3) when Akiyama pinned Albright at 20:41

Kobashi & Ace (4) beat Hawkfield & Smith (2) when Ace pinned Smith at 21:08 with his cobra clutch suplex

Kimala & Izumida (2) beat Windham & Bradshaw (2) when Kimala pinned Bradshaw at 14:27 with a diving body press

11/19 Kochi

Kawada & Taue (4) beat Kimala & Izumida (2) when Kawada pinned Izumida at 10:02 with his jumping high kick

Hansen & Duncum Jr. (2) beat Omori & Honda (2) when Hansen pinned Honda at 12:41 with his Western lariat

Windham & Bradshaw (4) beat Hayabusa & Shinzaki (2) when Bradshaw pinned Hayabusa at 15:04 with a powerbomb

11/20 Kobe World Memorial Hall

Williams & Albright (5) beat Kawada & Taue (4) when Albright pinned Kawada at 10:54 with his full nelson suplex

Hansen & Duncum Jr. (4) beat Hayabusa & Shinzaki (2) when Hansen pinned Hayabusa at 15:24 with his Western lariat

Hawkfield & Smith (4) beat Windham & Bradshaw (4) when Smith pinned Bradshaw at 14:09 with a reverse DDT

11/21 Fuji

Kawada & Taue (6) beat Omori & Honda (2) when Taue pinned Omori at 12:45 with his dynamic bomb

Kobashi & Ace (6) beat. Kimala & Izumida (2) when Kobashi pinned Izumida at 10:41 with his lariat

Hawkfield & Smith (6) beat Hansen & Duncum Jr. (4) when Hawkfield pinned Duncum at 13:53 with a turbo drop

11/23 Sendai Miyagi Sports Center (TV)

Misawa & Akiyama (7) beat Kobashi & Ace (6) when Misawa pinned Ace at 29:50 with his Tiger driver

Kawada & Taue (8) beat Hayabusa & Shinzaki (2) when Kawada pinned Shinzaki at 18:09 with his powerbomb

Williams & Albright (7) beat Windham & Bradshaw (4) when Williams pinned Windham at 12:35 with his Doctor bomb

11/24 Hachinohe

Kawada & Taue (10) beat Hawkfield & Smith (6) when Kawada pinned Smith at 12:44 with his powerbomb

Kobashi & Ace (8) beat Omori & Honda (2) when Kobashi pinned Omori at 15:40 with his lariat

Hansen & Duncum Jr. (6) beat Kimala & Izumida (2) when Duncum pinned Izumida at 12:32 with his bulldogging headlock

11/25 Aomori

Misawa & Akiyama (9) beat Hansen & Duncum Jr. (6) when Misawa pinned Duncum at 13:52 with his elbow

Williams & Albright (9) beat Kimala & Izumida (2) when Albright pinned Kimala at 15:44 with his German suplex

Omori & Honda (4) beat Windham & Bradshaw (4) when Omori pinned Bradshaw at 15:43 with a diving knee drop

11/27 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center (Samurai TV taping)

Misawa & Akiyama (11) beat Hayabusa & Shinzaki (2) when Akiyama pinned Hayabusa at 21:34 with his exploder

Kawada & Taue (11) drew Kobashi & Ace (9) 30:00

Williams & Albright (11 beat Hansen & Duncum Jr. (6) when Williams pinned Duncum at 18:53 with his backdrop

11/28 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center (TV taping)

Kawada & Taue (13) beat Misawa & Akiyama (11) when Kawada pinned Akiyama at 22:25 with his stretch plum

Kobashi & Ace (10) drew Williams & Albright (12) 30:00

Hawkfield & Smith (8) beat Omori & Honda (4) when Hawkfield pinned Honda at 11:23 with a diving bodypress

12/1 Iwate

Misawa & Akiyama (13) beat Windham & Bradshaw (4) when Misawa pinned Bradshaw at 14:32 with his elbow

Kobashi & Ace (12) beat Hansen & Duncum Jr. (6) when Ace pinned Duncum at 11:31 with his Ace Crusher

Williams & Albright (14) beat Hayabusa & Shinzaki (2) when Albright pinned Shinzaki at 16:11 with his full nelson suplex

12/2 Fukushima

Kawada & Taue (15) beat Windham & Bradshaw (4) when Taue pinned Bradshaw at 11:00 with his nodowa-otoshi

Hayabusa & Shinzaki (4) beat Hawkfield & Smith (8) when Hayabusa pinned Smith at 20:18 with his falcon arrow

Kimala & Izumida (4) beat Omori & Honda (4) when Izumida pinned Honda at 16:06

12/3 Niigata

Misawa & Akiyama (15) beat Omori & Honda (4) when at 6:55 with his elbow

Kobashi & Ace (14) beat Hayabusa & Shinzaki (4) when Kobashi pinned Hayabusa at 22:25 with his lariat

Hawkfield & Smith (10) beat Kimala & Izumida (4) when Smith pinned Izumida at 17:13 with a reverse DDT

12/5 Tokyo Budokan Hall (TV taping)

Real World Tag League Final

Kawada & Taue beat Misawa & Akiyama when Taue pinned Akiyama at 30:52 with his jumping high kick

*Kawada & Taue win The Real World Tag League for the 2nd straight year, joining Steve Williams & Terry Gordy (90- 91) & Misawa & Kobashi (93-95) as back to back winners. Terry & Dory Funk (77, 79, & 82) Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta (78 & 80), Tsuruta & Genichiru Tenryu ( 84 & 86) are the other teams that have won the tournament more than once. For Kawada, it's his third win overall, as he won in 1992 with Misawa before that duo was broken up.

'97 Real World Tag Team League Final Standings

place	team	wins	losses	draws	total points

1	Kawada/Taue	7	1	1	15 (winners)

2	Misawa/Akiyama	7	1	1	15

3	Williams/Albright	6	1	2	14

3	Kobashi/Ace	6	1	2	14

5	Hawkfield/Smith	4	3	2	10

6	Hansen/Duncum Jr.	3	6	0	6

7	Windham/Bradshaw	2	7	0	4

7	Omori/Honda	2	7	0	4

7	Hayabusa/Shinzaki	2	7	0	4

7	Kimala/Izumida	2	7	0	4

Coming some century: My review of the unedited versions of Misawa & Akiyama vs. Kawada & Taue from 12/6/96 and Misawa vs. Kawada 6/6/97 which should, along with Kobashi vs. Misawa 1/20/97, be listed on any ballot you do as your top 3 matches of the year!

Special Thanks To: Glenn Tsunekawa & Koji Yamamoto