Joshi Spotlight: Dump Matsumoto vs. Itsuki Yamazaki

Hey, Joshi fans! Here’s a temporary look back into 1986, with the peak of the “Gokuaku Domei” era of Zenjo, as Dump Matsumoto and her stable of schoolyard bullies freak out Japan’s population of teenage girls as she faces Itsuki Yamazaki of the Jumping Bomb Angels in a freaky, chaotic mess! Featuring classic schoolgirl shrieking, wild comebacks, insane athletics from the Angel and Dump basing an entire match around the psychology of using SCISSORS to ruin an opponent’s appearance! Read on!

DUMP MATSUMOTO (w/ The Gokuaku Domei/Atrocious Alliance) vs. ITSUKI YAMAZAKI (w/ Noriyo Tateno):
(AJW, Aug. 21st 1986)
* Hell yes! Back to the 1980s for more of prime Dump Matsumoto in all her heelish glory! Here, she has a solo match against the faster half of the Jumping Bomb Angels- Yamazaki! Herself a former heel, Yamazaki is no stranger to cheating, and is backed by her partner (plus a squadron of rookies), though Dump has the entire Gokuaku Domei (often translated to “Atrocious Alliance”) with her, including Bull Nakano & Grizzly Iwamoto. And the referee is former stable-mate, Crane Yu. Dump’s in a black swimsuit that is ENTIRELY too small and sports a mohawk and tons of harsh makeup, while Yamazaki is in a blue one with dorky long ’80s hair. Which she is quite protective of, as we’ll learn.

Yamazaki immediately jumps Dump at the bell with a dropkick, but gets body-attacked and is already flipping around on sell-jobs. The goons immediately come in for the beatdown and Dump adds some shots while still wearing her studded vest- an incensed Yamazaki quickly does away with Bull & Grizzly, dropkicks Dump to the floor, and actually hits a springboard dive! But she promptly horribly botches a tope suicida and splats in front of five Alliance members like a doofus- Dump just handles this solo, tossing her into the guardrail & post, but we’re back to square one in the ring and Itsuki takes her down with a toehold and even pulls her mohawk repeatedly, as it’s clear she’s prepared to fight dirty, too. Bull’s legdrop sets up Dump’s offense, and we get our first “I-tsu-ki!” chant as Dump slowly grinds her down… and then Bull slips her a pair of scissors and the crowd FREAKS as Dump uses sleight of hand and putting them in her tights before lashing out with them and hauling Yamazaki to the apron and tries to cut her hair! Yamazaki’s panicked “WTF?” reaction and desperate escape really sell the deal.

Amateur heels take notice: If you’re gonna do something dramatically evil, make sure you hold your hands as high as possible so even the cheap-seats can see what you’ve done. Dump manages to do this amidst a dogpile of like eight people shoved into that part of the ring- Masterclass work.

Yamazaki appears to be in near-tears, but is interrupted by Bull’s attack- thankfully Tateno pops in to throw boots to the Alliance… but Dump has a pipe! Yamazaki gets battered and choked by it, but her allies hit the ring when Dump pulls out the scissors again and the teen girl audience is in full-blown hysterics. Dump of course cuts off a couple inches of hair and makes sure to hold the tuft high and laugh maniacally amidst the dogpile, because she’s the BEST HEEL EVER, and Yamazaki starts getting choked with the pipe again, looking so pained and desperate (impressive cuz it’s clear in close-up that Dump’s barely touching her). Yamazaki finally puts some distance between them and looks like she’s about to cry yet fully determined (a good babyface mix) while Dump chokes up on the pipe with a sick look on her face, and then the Alliance takes the ref as Dump reveals she’s still got the scissors on her. Yamazaki flees in desperation, gets on the mic to talk shit, then grabs the timekeeper’s hammer to parry the pipe and everyone’s piled up on the side of the ring and Dump dents the pipe taking wild swings into the guardrails! A bigger “I-TSU-KI!” chant breaks out as she’s dogpiled on the floor and Dump does a promo in the ring while the JB Angels are tossed into each other. Magnificent.

And then they’re in the ring and Dump whips Itsuki off the ropes and hits a vicious pipe swing into her stomach on the return, everyone piles in over the scissors again, and then, in the coolest thing ever, Dump & Bull whip Itsuki off the ropes for a double-pipe clothesline and she GRABS THE PIPE, swings up and over it in a backflip, and uses the momentum to kick both of them at the same time! That’s right out of an action move and I LOVE IT! And Yamazaki’s like “YOU WANNA GO WITH THE FUCKIN’ PIPE, BITCH?” and hammers it into the mat to choke up for some payback! Dump appears flummoxed at SOMEONE ELSE cheating for once and eats four shots to the gut before Itsuki tosses the pipe down and brings in Tateno for a JB Angels double-clothesline! Double-dropkick gets two! Bull comes in and beats the ref up with a hammer and soon ten people are in the ring again when the scissors come out, Dump having to fight off TWO people and jamming the scissors into one while Itsuki waits her out in the ring. Dump’s kinda like “No weapons, see?” but then the Alliance drag Itsuki out and Dump wraps a chair around her head on the floor.

I’ve seen some wild stuff in my day, but Irish whipping the REFEREE into someone to take over is a new one. Joshi rules. Also A+ selling by 1980s Longhaired Joshi Ref.

We’re back to square one in the ring (funny how weapons shots are shrugged off so easily) and Dump hits a clothesline (her first actual wrestling move in 11 minutes) for two. Body attack gets two as Tateno pushes the ropes to help Itsuki make them. Backdrop suplex- same result. Dump with a press slam for two and the goons assist a Superplex… for a “Fuck YOUUUU!” bridge! Bull sets up a flying splash for a mother of a finish, but it misses! And then Yamazaki IRISH WHIPS THE REFEREE into Dump, flattening them both! Missile dropkick… gets nothing cuz of course she just wiped that fucker out, and Tateno rolls Crane over too late. And now Itsuki grabs a shinai (kendo stick), blasting Dump with it until she collapses, then taking on the Alliance with it until Dump wraps a chain around her neck and drags her into the ring. And then the ref gets tossed and OUT COME THE SCISSORS AGAIN and Yamazaki’s hair is being cut off in CHUNKS. There’s a huge melee as Dump holds up hair in both hands and drops it in triumph, and everyone hits the floor so Yamazaki can dodge a shot with an oil can and bash the hell out of Dump with it until everyone’s Counted Out at (18:20). Yamazaki stomps off in disgust and holds her tattered hair in her hands, looking horrified while a furious Tateno cuts a promo on Dump from the floor. Yamazaki, face wet with desperation, just stares down Dump as the monster cuts a promo using the house mic… and it’s on! Both Angels take chomps out of Dump’s arms as she goes for hair-cutting again, and everyone’s finally pulled apart as we’re out.

Oh man, what a rollercoaster of manic chaos. Especially amazing is the use of scissors as a recurring element of psychology- not for the damage it causes, but the sheer specter of fear it raises over everything here- Yamazaki selling it with mortal terror, fleeing it, being humiliated and angered at getting her hair cut. I mean, her hair hung down way past her shoulders- that’s a LOT of growth we’re talking about, and a wrestler whose hair is part of their signature “look”, no less. The scissors hung over the entire match as every few minutes Dump would whip them out and threaten it, and it was played perfectly by the smaller wrestler, panicking, leaving the ring, etc. And you get bits like the entire Alliance running in to hold her down, Dump triumphantly holding up chunks of hair, etc.

But I loved that Yamazaki wasn’t some wilting wallflower or bawling victim- for all her horror at having her hair cut, she refuses to back down and came at Dump all match long, often redoubling herself despite clearly being traumatized- great heroic stuff. I loved the bit where she backflips over the pipe and goes to down with it, reverting to heelish instincts and laying waste to Dump for a comeback. Dump resorting to WRESTLING for nearfalls, only to fail again and it going back to a scrap was great, and ultimately all the chaos leads to a Fuck Finish and hurt feelings. The selling was kinda funny, as neither appeared to sell for more than a couple of minutes, as once it was there turn they just reverted to their pre-match state and were ready to go again- I wonder if that’s why Manami Toyota’s selling often stopped the second it was her turn to do moves again, lol. She IS a Yamazaki worshipper, after all.

Rating: **** (one of the best Dump matches I’ve seen- I loved Yamazaki getting her back, too, and it was great chaos throughout)