AJW BUDOKAN QUEENS- BRIGHTNESS:
(Aug. 20th 1997)
* And now we come to the last great hurrah of AJW, as the promotion more or less falls apart by we get two major matches- a “Graduation Match” of Aja Kong as she takes on her craziest opponent and best in-ring competitor, Manami Toyota just before Aja leaves AJW for good, and then it’s the World Title match, as Kyoko Inoue defends the Red Belt against Yumiko Hotta, one of the last holdouts as a bankrupt AJW loses almost all their big stars! Despite a year of pretty poor business, this one appears to have packed them in a fair bit, as AJW *gasp!* SHOWS THE UPPER DECKS! Aja is definitely a big draw of it here, as she’s already announced her impending departure.
Aaaaaaaaaaaand on this show (not aired here) Kyoko gets on the house mic in the opening ceremony and announces she is QUITTING THE PROMOTION, taking a few stars with her to form a new company! AJW management is understandably furious, and the heat for her World Title match tonight is therefore destroyed cuz like… everyone in the arena knows what’s gonna happen. haha, well serves ’em right for not paying her.
AJA KONG GRADUATION MATCH:
MANAMI TOYOTA vs. AJA KONG:
(Aug. 20th 1997)
* It’s Manami/Aja! One last time in a major contest (the others are far later and way past the prime of either)- the two have had more than one ***** match together, so hype would be high for this one. Aja’s in green & black and Manami’s in black with a gold chestpiece.
Aja bursts out of the gate with a German for two, then hits a body attack and the “TOYOTAAAAAAAAAA!” charge, but Manami starts going for the ears and nose to get out of a chinlock and this is gonna get ugly. Aja bends her backwards in a clutch and Manami bites her way free and slaps the shit out of Aja, who paintbrushes her for two. Aja continues to stretch her out as if Manami continuing to draw breath is a personal insult, while Toyota just launches into more trash-talk and clawing. Aja counters the Rolling Cradle with a painful-looking abdominal stretch then folds her even further, but Manami finally just jumps on Aja’s face and dropkicks her in the spine, so they brawl on the floor. Manami gets the worst of that, so STEALS AJA’S OIL CAN, but is taunted into dropping it, then she tries headbutts of all things and that goes about how you’d expect. Aja now gets the crowd to vote in favor of a can shot to the forehead, then piledrives Toyota after a big delay and the package piledriver gets two. Manami lands on her feet from a backdrop to hit a big Bridging German for two, but the Moonsault misses and Aja AGAIN has her number.
But Aja declares it’s over and splashes off Bret’s rope right onto knees, and rolls out so Manami… can hit a Running Springboard on a poor rookie as Aja moves. And then AJA hits a friggin’ tope suicida and the crowd ROARS! Manami groans in pain as Aja hits that splash… for a “Fuck YOU!” bridge! Aja goes for the Avalanche Waterwheel Drop, but of course Toyota hits the sunset flip powerbomb for two, only to eat the Backdrop Driver for two as Aja is just eating her alive. Flying Back Elbow- two! Manami literally stumble-ducks out of the way out of some Urakens, and catches Aja with the Japanese Ocean (double-hammerlock) Suplex for two, then fires off two missile dropkicks for the same. Rolling Cradle gets two, and Aja’s barely kicking out and selling like crazy for someone who was just on tons of offense, but manages a waterwheel drop on a running Manami. VICIOUS Backdrop Driver gets another bridge-out, and when Aja climbs Manami boots her to the floor and hits her suicidal missile dropkick to Hell, slaps Aja onto a table, and hits the Running No-Hands Springboard Tope Con Hilo onto THAT in a horribly painful-looking bump for both. The replay shows Aja took that somersaulting ass straight to the chest.
Manami tries another Ocean Suplex to finish, but Aja kicks her in the head- but the Uraken is blocked and Manami turns THAT into another Ocean Suplex for 2.7! Manami charges like an idiot and runs straight into the Brainbuster, bridging out at two, then kicks out after the Avalanche Waterwheel Drop! URAKEN- for 2.9! Seriously! Manami looks shockingly like a corpse as Aja hits ANOTHER one, but this time Manami bridges out! One more STILL can’t get it as Aja’s cover is now just “lies on part of her body”. Aja takes off the glove and roars as she prepares one final Uraken, crushing Manami but collapsing herself as the count goes down… and Time Expires as she crawls on at (18:39 of 30:00 shown). Aja is given flowers and a bit of a send-off (Kyoko Inoue is bawling as she hands Aja some), though we have a non-finish, likely for political reasons. I’m a bit surprised we’re missing 12 minutes.
These two are nuts- though the first twelve minutes is nearly all Aja, to the point where you wonder how it’s even realistic for Manami to fire back on her- Manami’s offense consisting of a ton of running can look a bit weird when she eats non-stop offense and can still suddenly do all that, though she’s usually good at selling the exhaustion in the moments between, like she’s a coiled spring good for “just one more”… and there’s 12 minutes missing of the match, so who knows what we missed? The last few minutes are non-stop Finisher Kickout Spam, sort of selling the moment as their last match, as all the previous stuff can’t get it done any longer. Aja having a nigh-unstoppable finisher in the Uraken made her hitting THREE, yet still unable to get the pin, was pretty nuts- this can be seen as over-doing it, but given the circumstances can feel kinda earned. The match ended up more a showcase of Aja’s finishers, as she hit everything but the Falcon Arrow thing- Manami left nearly all of hers in the tank.
Rating: ****1/2 (one hell of a way to go out on, as they swung for the fences and threw EVERYTHING at each other)
WWWA WORLD TITLE:
KYOKO INOUE vs. YUMIKO HOTTA:
* Kyoko, off-and-on World Champion for half a year, has been suffering through falling ticket sales and no pay… and just announced she was quitting! So her big Red Belt defense is against Hotta, the Super-Shooter, and of course it’s all spoiled. Suck it, AJW office people! Now, AJW’s been spending the last year or so putting Hotta over in dumb “shoot-style” matches and making her seem like a huge deal, but they’ve also spent the past five years treating her like “The one who almost beats the real stars”, as she gets juuuuuuuuuuuuust short of beating Aja, Manami and others. Sometimes she gets demolished (by Aja), and sometimes she’s the “safe”, political choice to job to a rival company’s Ace (Kudo, Kansai & Kandori all pick up wins over her on major shows), but she’s never, ever won the top belt, and probably never would… except for when every other person quits the company. Kyoko’s in rainbow stripes & Hotta’s in black.
Kyoko beats back Hotta’s kicks with her Mongolian chops, but tries her lariat and Hotta goes for the Fujiwara armbar, Kyoko rolling out to a stalemate in a great bit, then Kyoko tosses Hotta but gets the crap kicked out of her. Kyoko escapes another armbar and hits her slingshot backsplash, stretches Hotta out, then hits a snap fallaway slam, but Hotta fires back with more kicks and attempts a cross-armbreaker. A rolling kick softens her up but again Kyoko resists the armbar, making the ropes only for Hotta to hit a pretty nasty inverted DDT and grind away with her elbow. Kyoko attempts another backsplash and gets kicked in the back, but ducks another rolling kick and hits lariats for two. We’re obviously clipped a ways in because Kyoko’s makeup was a mess right away. Hotta manages another rolling kick and a mean Tiger Driver for two, and when Kyoko resists the Pyramid Driver (cross-armed ligerbomb), Hotta kicks her again and hits a near-vertical one for two. Hotta attempts the Caribbean Splash (straightjacket German off the top) but Kyoko blocks it and missile kicks her. Kyoko attempts her Run-Up Flying Back Elbow, but collapses on the first rope due to a sore ankle.
Hotta sweep-kicks the ankle, but Kyoko appears to recover immediately with a lariat, then tries a super ginger “run” to the top (using her hands to guide herself up), but misses badly and Hotta cross-armbreakers her. Kyoko only barely sells it physically- her face looks pained but her body language is hardly “OMG this is murder!”. Hotta throws kicks but gets German’d, and Kyoko gets a weak lariat but another run-up sees her dragged off the top with another cross-armbreaker- she makes the ropes, and rolls up Hotta when she attempts to reapply, getting a close two that actually pops the fans. Kyoko just FLATTENS her with a lariat off a whip for two! She calls for the Niagara Driver, but Hotta sweep-kicks the ankle again, but misses a flying Rolling Kick. Niagara Driver is attempted, but Hotta does a clumsy roll-out, front-sweeps the ankle and climbs… but Kyoko hits the Run-Up Super Belly-to-Belly for two! Niagara Driver- two! Crowd finally popped again! Kyoko gets hot and hits three powerbombs in a row, trying a weird “hold Hotta down” pin… and that gets her arm caught as Hotta hits a really clumsy, scrappy Cross-Armbreaker for the tap-out at (13:23 of 18:33 shown)! Hotta is FINALLY… FINALLY… the WWWA Champion of the World! There’s no ceremony seen, as she just pops to the back and does a post-match promo like that.
The match was a good display of the physical credibility of both wrestlers, as it was largely a war of strikes. Kyoko’s lariats lacked their old power, though, and the ankle thing was weird, as she’d sell it sometimes, fail a move because of it, and repeatedly get kicked down… but then she hits a Run-Up B-to-B and the finish on her is an armbar? The move application was falling apart by the end as nothing was hitting quite right, especially the sweep kicks and the finisher. Kyoko didn’t even bother to scramble or oversell said submissions either, meaning they were all feeling quite soft as a result. Granted Kyoko had no vested interest in putting Hotta over like gangbusters, considering she was bailing on the company after.
Rating: ***1/2 (still a good little match with a lot of their big stuff, but felt pretty low-tier for their maximum effort)
WWWA WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES:
LAS CACHORRAS ORIENTALES (Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita) vs. TOMOKO WATANABE & KUMIKO MAEKAWA:
* The hottest heels in the promotion, LCO, after pulling off bangers ever since they reunited, are set for another Tag Title defense- they were just taught a lesson by Aja & Kyoko just a week earlier, but the people they beat for the titles are back for another shot at them. Tomoko’s in all black leather (even the tassels are leather!), Kumiko’s in black with blue trim, Mita’s in purple & white with her hair ultra-long (does anyone else hear “Dreamweaver” playing? Is it just me?), and Shimoda has the colors reversed.
FALL ONE: Mita goes for the DVD right away, but Tomoko lariats her, only to try another and runs into Shimoda’s pink chair so hard the seat flies off! Death Valley Driver! For two! Another- gets three (0:53)!! LCO takes the first fall in a minute! Only in an LCO match do you see someone blading in the opening minute.
FALL TWO: A smirking Mita looms over a dazed, staggering Tomoko, but can’t get another DVD off- she settles for a piledriver and the Bitch Pose as Tomoko’s already way into her “agonized selling” routine as LCO look like they’re just having the BEST time. I love their sheer glee in cheating and eye-gouging- it’s really inspiring. Mita helicopters Tomoko around by the hair, but runs into the dragon screw/figure-four combo attack and suddenly Mita is now whining and crying as if it’s now totally unfair that Kumiko can come in and just kick her knee into dust. Their selling is just so incredibly WHINY and ensures they never get even a shred of fan sympathy and hahahaha Shimoda just gets sick of 3 minutes of this so she beans Kumiko with a chair to stop it. I love that she just tries to get one last kick in before the ref shoos her away, too. Kumiko’s arm hurts, but she makes sure to leave a bootprint in Mita’s forehead, but misses a running kick and it’s LCO BEATDOWN ON THE FLOOR TIME! Pink chair for Kumiko! Tomoko’s dazed body is dragged through commentary! Piledriver through a table for Kumiko!
They’re back to square one in the ring, but Kumiko lands the Pump Kick for 2.7! Mita gets her rollup and escapes, and Shimoda hits her double falling clothesline. Tomoko eats a missile kick and the Tiger Suplex for two-counts, but reverses Mita’s DVD to an armbar that has her screeching in rodent register. Tomoko’s rana gets two and Kumiko finally lands that Ax Kick in the corner, then kick-parries a Blazing Chop and wipes Mita out with a roundhouse for two! She climbs to the top for something but Shimoda hilariously just smashes her with a pink chair, and Mita hits the avalanche electric chair drop for two- Tomoko saves. Kumiko reverses another DVD, Mita ducks a kick, Shimoda comes in with ANOTHER chair, and Mita powerbombs Kumiko for two! Kumiko beans her out of another grab, then Shimoda in mid-chair swing, but then Tomoko runs in- CANNONBALL BUSTER (backdrop to head-spike powerbomb)! The Axe Kick kills Mita- 1…2…3 (11:20 of 15:45 shown)!
FALL THREE: Kumiko misses a kick on a dazed Mita but absolutely splats her with another one, but leaves herself open to Shimoda’s missile kick from behind, only to duck a blue chair which hits Mita, and a mother of a running face-kick gets two! Axe Kick #2- Shimoda saves! Kumiko is now bleeding like crazy (this is the “cut ear” match- a chairshot grazed her ear and has now split it wide open), and LCO stops a double-team and a Blazing Chop takes out Kumiko. Tomoko lariats Mita out of a powerbomb, but Mita dodges the Axe Kick and hits the DVD- Tomoko saves! Shimoda, because she rules, then full-on kicks the ref onto his ass for not counting fast enough, hahaha. Both legal wrestlers are dead, so everyone hits the ring to interfere and Kumiko reverses another DVD for two. Shimoda tags in and goes for the Death Lake Driver (tiger superplex), but Tomoko Germans her off the ropes, then tags in and lariats the bejeezus out of her to stop the falling clothesline. Backdrop-to-Ligerbomb gets two- Mita saves, so they hit a Doomsday Device Thesz Press… for two!
Mita rifles a chair at her ass so Tomoko just gets mad and grabs it and redmists Shimoda’s head with it and clobbers Mita while the fans go nuts- Running Kick from Kumiko for two! She pounds the hell out of Shimoda’s face until the ref drags her off, and Tomoko’s lariat accidentally crushes the two of them, allowing Mita to set up the Death Lake Driver. Kumiko fights out of that and everyone goes for another arena brawl and ohhhhhh shit that just leaves Kumiko in the ring so LCO can drop the guardrail on her. Well, on the pink chair that was draped over her, so it probably still hurts like a bitch. DEATH LAKE DRIVER!!! For two! Holy crap! Shimoda just scrunches her nose up at this annoyance, but Tomoko lariats her in the corner and it’s the AXE KICK… again for two! Kumiko climbs to the top to finish, but that just brings her into perfect range for Mita to rush in for the Death Valley Driver! And Shimoda just springs to life immediately and throws Kumiko to the top for Death Lake Driver #2, sitting on her for the triumphant pin at (7:32 of 10:14 shown). LCO wins!! They tell off the dweeb interview guy after getting their trophies, too. “You’re annoying!”.
Hot Take: LCO are good wrestlers. After a half-year full of ****+ matches they go out and have another amazing one with the ex-champs, avoiding the insanity of their first one (with Kumiko getting dropped off a balcony) and keeping it mostly around ringside and just using PASTEL CHAIRS as psychology, as it’s a never-ending horde of chairshots to stop any momentum the challengers can gain, LCO repeatedly dumping them to win back their advantage, and more. Just enough legit kickouts to keep things interesting, while the rest are from interference, and there’s some great stuff when Tomoko just gets entirely too sick of it and cheats herself, or launches chairs at the heels. Of course by the end they’re just kicking out of EVERYTHING, including everyone’s finishers, and Shimoda just rushes across the ring immediately following and Axe Kick, but whatever- it’s the endgame so I can buy it a LITTLE.
Rating: ****1/2 (I’m convinced at this point that LCO could hit **** with Men on a Mission or Disorderly Conduct)
The Other Matches:
Yoshiko Tamura & Miho Wakizawa d. Saya Endo & Nanae Takahashi (11:41)
Miyuki Okada d. Chiharu (11:37)- Evito tells me this one is -*** and has to be seen to be believed.
AJW JUNIOR TITLE: Momoe Nakanishi d. Emi Motokawa (13:38) with a Japanese Leg Roll Clutch.
Chaparrita ASARI & Yuka Shiina d. Misae Genki & Tanny Mouse (11:23) with ASARI’s Sky Twister Press on Genki.
Shark Tsuchiya & Crusher Maedomari (FMW) d. Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa (10:55) with Shark’s Powerbomb on Fukawa.
Amateur Wrestling: Kyoko Hamaguchi d. Reiko Sumitani (4:00)
Vale Tudo: Kaoru Ito d. Crystal Contal (1:57)
Holy crap! What an amazing show! TWO ****1/2 matches in one night! Thank God things are looking up for All Japan Women’s Pro…
AND THINGS GET WORSE:
* So as I mentioned, this was the year AJW went bankrupt. But fans were left unaware of it until August 20th, when after this show, Aja Kong, Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa all announced at once that they would be leaving! But this makes it clear to everyone that there’s a significant issue in the company. Worse still, immediately following the show the rest of the talent (who haven’t been paid since MARCH, mind you- they live in the company building which is the only reason they can survive) goes on strike to demand their unpaid salaries. The story broke days later, and on Sept. 12th the company admits what was going on.
Mariko Yoshida is injured but also joins the crew in quitting. And in another month, they’d lose Las Cachorras Orientales, Chaparrita ASARI, two rising rookies and a bunch of office personnel (including Rossy Ogawa, later founder of Stardom). By the end of the year, the only legit stars left are Hotta, Toyota, Ito & Tomoko.
Of course, the FANS were often in the dark about this, and I’ve heard tell a lot of them were embittered by all these “Traitors”, with a lot of companies struggling in the fans’ eyes as everyone was seen as disloyal. It could have been quite some time before the sheer totality of this breakdown was made clear.