Joshi Spotlight: JWP Sand Woman (Fukuoka vs. Kuzumi)

JWP SAND WOMAN:
(03/06/1998)
* It’s time for more JWP action! And this one is a show on “WOWOW” with some pretty cool matches (on paper, anyways)- Hikari Fukuoka, the JWP Champion, takes on the next in line, young Tomoko Kuzumi! Devil Masami & Dynamite Kansai each take a rookie and fight each other. And devilish Mayumi Ozaki takes on her own stablemate, Rieko Amano! So this whole show is really keyed towards elevating the younger generation. You know, that thing smartass columnists are always telling bookers they should have done in retrospect! Here JWP is actually kinda doing it!

Of particular note, though, is that Ozaki is LEAVING JWP- she’s joining GAEA Japan mostly full-time after this, ending a major era (as she’s been with JWP since the late 1980s, and was a signature wrestler in the reborn promotion)

CUTIE SUZUKI vs. COMMAND BOLSHOI:
* Oh jesus, of course the interesting JWP shows always gotta start with a Bolshoi match XD. At least this one is JIP! Cutie’s in white & Bolshoi’s in tiger-print gear.

Cutie climbs up to try a flying stomp, but Bolshoi hops up and BAM! Super Rock Bottom gets a close two! Bolshoi all powers up trying to get the crowd into her comeback, but her shotei palm thrust is reversed to the Dragon Suplex for two. Cutie has this great “UGGGGHHHHHH” look on her face as she gets up and hits that Flying Stomp, casually walking off and holding her head in pain. Exhausted, she cries out the same war-cry Bolshoi did (actually getting a reaction), and again climbs, for the same result as last time… except this time she’s ready and shoves Bolshoi off, and hits the Flying Knee to finish at (1:33 of 13:27 shown). So all we got was the finish. Well, it seemed somewhat strong- a good near-fall into a counter, into two big Cutie moves (one showing she learned from the earlier spot).

Rating: N/A (just a minute of footage)

They show a lil’ clip of the Four Rookie Stars of 1995, going from “jobber bob-haircuts” to their current selves- Tomoko Kuzumi, Tomoko Miyaguchi, Rieko Amano & Kanako Motoya. Nice little bit with cutting to their current selves with good gear and looks. Also interesting is that JWP has a much better Rookie Class of 1995 than AJW/Zenjo did (and almost as good as GAEA Japan’s). We see Kuzumi beating Amano for the JWP Junior Title in 1996, then AJW’s Yoshiko Tamura beating her months later, Kuzumi failing to take the AJW Junior Title. A year later, Miyaguchi ends up beating Kuzumi for the JWP Junior belt, then defends against Rieko Amano in a house show on March 5th. The clips we get are mostly Miyaguchi (though Amano uses a dive, chair and superplex), using strikes and then a brainbuster to pin the top submissions worker of that year.

DYNAMITE KANSAI & KANAKO MOTOYA vs. DEVIL MASAMI & TOMOKO MIYAGUCHI:
* So Kansai & Devil, the onetime top wrestlers of JWP, are teamed up with rookies and fighting each other yet again. Kansai’s in green & black, wearing what looks like a bicycle uniform, and looks like she’s lost a LOT of weight. Kanako’s in yellow. Devil’s in black & purple and Miyaguchi’s in red.

We’re JIP with Devil powerbombing Kanako on the floor while Miyaguchi actually does well against Kansai. Devil hits a sleeper to grind Kansai down, and Miyaguchi even avoids her backdrop driver counter, but Kansai ducks and Devil clotheslines her partner by mistake. Kansai kicks Devil down too (you can tell they’re vets because the glancing first shot is made up for with a big one that Devil sells by flinging herself down), and the backdrop on Miyaguchi gets two, but Devil kicks Kansai down from a Splash Mountain attempt. Kanako is still being attended to on the floor over that powerbomb while Miyaguchi’s sleeper fails and Kansai lariats her down for two. Kanako stumbles up to the apron and still sells before hitting screaming Senton Spam for two, then a Flying Senton for the same.

Kansai kicks Miyaguchi to set up more stuff, and when Devil comes in she gets blasted down too, and this sets up a double-senton from Kanako AND Kansai to a good reaction. They try a double-team, but Devil knocks Kanako off the top and punches Kansai off Miyaguchi’s shoulders (lol that was the worst Doomsday Device ever) for two. Miyaguchi hits her Brainbuster finisher, and Kansai has to rely on a rope-break, but clever Devil is already up top and BOOM! Flying Somersault Senton! Miyaguchi gets two off that, and Devil crushes Kanako with a sit-out powerbomb, then fires off ax kicks so Kansai can be straightjacket German’d, only for Kansai to fire up and no-sell. But Miyaguchi sneaks in for her step-up enzuigiri and that nearly gets Kansai. And then Devil sets up a SPIKE Brainbuster… and that gets the pin at (7:38 of 17:10 shown)! Miyaguchi pins DYNAMITE KANSAI! Okay it’s off of Devil’s assist but still! That’s huge! And Miyaguchi definitely sells the moment with glee and Devil even tackles her from behind for a congratulatory rolling hug.

Good little match conceptually, as Devil crushes Kanako, and we get some Miyaguchi/Kansai drama, where she keeps getting pummeled by saved by Devil. Good selling by Devil (selling the glancing kick as a “stun” and only tumbling to the mat off the solid shot, flinging her leg into the air on the landing; then sweep-kicking Kansai to counter her powerbomb but still stumbling against the ropes and rolling to the floor after), and the rookies all had the mandatory Scream To Show Effort thing that rookies do. Kanako was seen only briefly in the clip we got, but what a fun wrestler Devil is, frequently interfering to help out Miyaguchi, doing big moves, etc., then celebrating Miyaguchi’s huge pin. I mean she’s playing to the cheap-seats and you could argue she’s stealing the moment, but considering Miyaguchi’s selling near-death and shock, and Devil’s mannerisms are all “GOOD JOB, KID!” it works.

Rating: **1/2 (I wish we got more of it- what’s here was a great final run)

“Carlos” Amano becomes a bit of a star in 2000-ish joshi, having started out as Rieko in JWP.

MAYUMI OZAKI vs. RIEKO AMANO:
* It’s Mentor vs. Student, as the red & black-clad leader of OZ Academy takes on her primary goon. Amano’s in blue and has the short hair. Amano looks super-nervous, almost like a kid, while Ozaki looks like a combination of casual and intimidating.

Amano, a good student, naturally just charges Ozaki when her back is turned and lands a German before the bell. Ozaki quickly dodges her and mouths off, but gets caught in a rolling armhold, acting amused and eventually just standing on Amano’s face to escape. And now we commence to a lesson from teacher- Amano gets swatted down, choked against the ropes, stood on, and then has her injured arm worked. Amano manages to trip her up and work the leg, and the two take turns taunting each other, pulling hair, then finally biting (good old Oz, instead of selling pain, is doing “OH REALLY? OH REALLY?” laughing at her). Oz tosses her to the floor for a beating in the stands, and interestingly, blocks her way into the ring and fights her into a powerbomb when Amano tries to sneak in. Ozaki gets cocky and takes a ton of restholds- a few minutes’ worth Ozaki counters and avoids a move out of the corner, then a slingshot sunset flip (did Amano botch the first one and they just repeated it?), but after Ozaki takes her lightly, Amano rolls through a backroll and plunks her right on her head from a German. Amano hits her tope suicida and beats up Oz outside the ring- Ozaki chokes her out from the apron, but misses a cannonball and Amano pounches. But her flying splash only hits feet and she gets powerbombed… but grabs Ozaki’s arm and yanks on it for a submission attempt!

Amano tries more jumping lariats, but misses a second and Ozaki CRACKS her with a slap, but tries her backfist and ends up in a Fujiwara armbar. She hollers and scrambles for the ropes, but the crowd ain’t buying it- I don’t think they put in the work to make them believe. Amano ties up three limbs in a very Oz-like move, but Ozaki makes the ropes- Amano nearly charges into a Tequila Sunrise, but when she tries an armbar reversal she gets drilled down and hit with a flying stomp, and a Kneeling Powerbomb gets two. The crowd’s starting to appreciate it, so Ozaki plants the Uraken (backfist) and holds her down for a really close “two”, then laughs at a bloodied Amano, overdoing a backfist attempt and ending up in a cross-armbreaker that FINALLY has the crowd buying it a little bit. Ozaki finally escapes, but Amano goes right back to it, Ozaki struggling for a LONG time. Amano gets aggressive and goes for the Tequila Sunrise, shocking the commentators, but Ozaki backfists her and hits a Ligerbomb… for two! Amano is almost done, but tries her cross-armbreaker again, but this time Ozaki gets wise and leans on her… for the pin at (16:11)! Ozaki finally wins! Kansai comes in and awards her flowers for departing JWP, but stares daggers at her while doing so, playing off their rivalry (while Ozaki starts sniffling). Amano gets on the mic after, but is unable to even talk she’s so emotional, puts over her mentor, and even the JWP President comes out and shakes Ozaki’s hand, sending her away with a hero’s response.

Man, I was looking forward to this, but they ended up in the “JWP Special” for SO long: all restholds and simple taunting and stuff and not this defiance-filled match full of the rookie trying their hardest to beat their mentor. A little too full of resting, and not manic enough- to the point where the crowd never once bought that Amano could score a fluke, and only barely impressed them with a kickout or two. It took them until the last minute or two to really have the crowd believing it, and THAT’S where things got good- a bloody-faced Amano defiantly kicking out of “sure pins” and making you believe she can score a win with the cross-armbreaker, and trying Ozaki’s own moves to beat her. This was the only point where it felt like Amano was pushing her, and where what was a pretty mediocre match got saved.

Rating: ***1/4 (okay, I was totally dissing this and getting a **1/2 review ready, thinking it was ending at 14 minutes- I’d scrolled ahead and found what I thought was the end- but they cranked out an extra couple minutes and jacked up the rating)

Azumi Hyuga, known as Tomoko Kuzumi in her early career, eventually becomes the Ace of JWP and their most decorated wrestler probably ever. It’s interesting to learn these things about someone right when I hit their debuts, as I start to try and read into their performances even as a rookie and try and see why.

WOWOW SPECIAL SINGLE MATCH- QUEEN vs. QUEEN:
HIKARI FUKUOKA vs. TOMOKO KUZUMI:
* It’s the JWP Openweight Champion against her would-be rival, the rising star of JWP. It’s non-title, but the implication here is obvious as Hikari takes on her own Mini-Me. Both women are in white animal-print, which I don’t feel is a mistake- Kuzumi wears a full-body skirt outfit with leopard print (as opposed to her usual two-piece leather thing) and Hikari’s in… holy shit, NOT the usual animal print! It’s tiger-print but over top of an aquamarine bikini (with like, garters and stuff on the bottom and some kinda criss-crossing thing with tassels on the top).

Mirror Match dropkick to start! They scrap on the mat, Kuzumi getting the best of that and knocking Hikari around with dropkicks, while her elder sells with that kind of taunting “Oh you’re hitting HARD now?” smile I’ve seen vets get- very Ozaki-like. Kuzumi actually pulls off the GIANT SWING, and when Hikari tries to trick her into overshooting, Kuzumi still counters her and works the leg. Hikari finally reverses a hold and locks on a Boston crab, then keeps on the back, averts a dropkick-reversal and puts on an abdominal stretch that would have Monsoon CHEERING. She lands a big backdrop suplex and works the “confident elder” thing, but Kuzumi boots her off the apron and… has to stop her running springboard attempt and suplexes Hikari on the floor instead, THEN hits the running springboard plancha (assisted by a single hand). She hits a bridging butterfly suplex for two and attempts Rolling Germans, but Hikari blocks the second and cartwheel dodges into the hurricanrana for two. Hikari works the leg and cannonballs Kuzumi off the apron, then runs her into the guardrails a while, only for Kuzumi to jump over one and dropkick her off it!

Back in the ring, Kuzumi lands some springboard dropkicks, psyches her out with a rollup when she stops a third, and then lands a Bridging German for two, then Rolling Germans (3) for another two-count. Hikari swats her off the top rope when she tries to finish and hits a big missile kick for two and then they just go crazy and start headbutting the hell out of each other. Hikari slaps her coming off the ropes and hits a double-arm powerbomb into the Moonsault for two (RIGHT on Kuzumi’s face with her hips there- that had to hurt). Tiger Driver gets two as Hikari slowly moves up her list of stuff- Kuzumi bails to the floor, possibly hurt, but Hikari follows out with the Moonsault to the floor and cheers herself on in the ring to buy some time. Kuzumi finally climbs in, so Hikari of course Germans her right on her head (Kuzumi maybe was supposed to “land on her feet” but clearly donked it here), but Kuzumi defiantly no-sells and stuffs a second Tiger Driver by cramming Hikari into the corner and drilling her with the shoulder a bunch. Hikari knees her in the head and goes up, but Kuzumi brings her down with the Butterfly Superplex for two- her big move! She goes up with a flying sunset flip for two, but they keep reversing on each other and Kuzumi gets a DRAMATICALLY close two-count, and a Straightjacket German gets two. A leg-roll flash pin again gets close, but Kuzumi eventually charges into a head-kick and another Tiger Driver gets a really close two, and Hikari just waits for Kuzumi to stumble to her feet and hits the Rider Kick (somersault ass slam to the head) for three at (16:21)- good try, kid. Hikari puts over the dead Kuzumi after the match, then calls out Cutie Suzuki of all people for some reason.

A very solid match- probably not the epic they might have been hoping for but quite good and with few mistakes. They kind of pulled off the “rookie shooting their shot” bit with Kuzumi applying pressure, but very few near-falls until the very end, and Hikari didn’t quite have the “Unconquerable Ace” energy, just kinda doing the “Typical Hikari Match” (the progression of her moves is the same every time I see her), but by the end they got it going, with a ton of near-falls nearly going Kuzumi’s way in that “Wait, was that it?” sort of way. Hikari didn’t really “act” a lot during the match, at best having a few “WHAT?!” reactions to kickouts, and otherwise just hit her same old stuff, so the match didn’t have much “story” beyond Kuzumi’s desperation to win in the last bits. Kuzumi had a bunch of execution issues (even before she maybe got rocked a bit), with stuff like her springboard dropkicks being very weak and loose (compare them to KAORU’s, which are real missile-like and not these little hops), but by the end her manic desperation for pins rang through, which is a good bit.

Rating: ***1/2 (it was going to *** territory for a while but had a strong ending run)

Overall, it was a solid little show, albeit one that showcases some future problems- they’re trying to showcase the young stars and put them over, but in a lot of cases the experience disparity is just too big (wrestlers debuting in 1987 trying to put over people debuting in 1995) and the matches still can’t be competitive with third-years (it’s really not the “puro way” for rookies to beat on veterans at this point). The best performance of the night was from Devil (who was doing this while being the illegal person in a tag match of all things). It still bodes well for the future of the in-ring game that at least three of the Big Four 1995 girls are as good as they are (Motoya has also done some good stuff but is the least focused on, I think).