Joshi Spotlight: All Japan Women’s 30th Anniversary Show (Chigusa vs. Manami!)

AJW 30TH ANNIVERSARY MEMORIAL HALL OF FAME:
(Nov. 29th 1998)
* AJW is finally back on TV! They made a deal with Athena TV for a timeslot and everything! And it’s their 30th Anniversary show! Granted, the gutted company needs to fill the entire card with Interpromotional Matches to draw some interest (and there isn’t much- the show doesn’t draw well), but it’s a pretty big assortment of stuff- a JWP/AJW rookie tag, an AJW vs. ARSION rookie tag, the ZAPs vs. Eagle Sawai & Shark Tsuchiya in a big heel vs. heel tag, and most importantly, CHIGUSA NAGAYO, Ace of GAEA Japan and the AAAW World Champion, heads back to her original promotion to defend it against the Ace of 1995 AJW, Manami Toyota! It’s legend vs. legend! Sure to be an amazing match and not an infamous shit-show! RIGHT?

The arena is very weirdly set up, with people sitting at round tables with dinner and everything, like they’re just holding the matches right in the celebration hall. But importantly, AJW FINALLY, at long last, has swapped out their hideous, faded ring mat for a fresh new one! This one has the classic Zenjo logo but in red.

The Stuff We Miss:
Chikako Shiratori (JD’) & ZAP Isozaki (AJW) d. Sachie Nishibori & Yuki Lee (JD’) in (7:27).
Midget & Mixed Tag Match: Alexander Otsuka, Kanako Motoya, Little Frankie & Yone Genjin d. Emi Motokawa, Gran Naniwa, Tomezo Tsunokake & Yuki Ishikawa (11:49)
Eagle Sawai (LLPW) & Shark Tsuchiya (FMW) d. ZAP I & ZAP T (10:38)

A TYPHOON:
RIE TAMADA & MIKA AKINO (ARSION) vs. MOMOE NAKANISHI & MIYUKI FUJII (AJW):
* Oh dang- Akino, the best rookie trainee of ARSION, teams with former AJW wrestler Rie (who is BY FAR the most experienced person here) against two AJW rookies. Momoe is already fantastic but I haven’t seen Fujii much. Momoe’s in powder blue, Fujii’s in yellow & blue, Akino’s in grey sports clothes and Rie’s in animal print.

Momoe & Akino IMMEDIATELY impress by flying around the ring and doing run-up crossbodies at their experience level, then Rie dominates Momoe a bit. Fujii fares worse but works with Akino, looking rookie-ish but okay. Momoe accidentally moonsaults her on the floor and Akino of all people hits a “no touch” tope con hilo (well, she did graze the top). Momoe manages a perfect Bridging German in the ring on Akino, but gets caught with armbars and eats shit trying a run-up moonsault on Tamada, only to superplex her for two. Fujii sets up a DRAGON Suplex on Tamada, but once she’s in there alone she starts getting her ass kicked. A German gets a close-call and Momoe has to save her from a Rolling Elbow, and a pair of missile dropkicks from Tamada end it at (8:54). As expected, the veteran kicks the crap out of the rookies but sold enough for Momoe.

Perfectly acceptable rookie bout in parts, and SPECTACULAR display of just how advanced Momoe Nakanishi & Mika Akino were at this point, as they were both freak athletes hitting shit perfectly already, noticeably better than Tomoko Kuzumi and other more “advanced” rookies later on in this very show, never mind the worn-down veterans. Fujii didn’t stand out at all- she’s tall and a bit gawky and unathletic, but in that typical “eats offense” zone.

Rating: ** (totally not bad for what we got)

J TYPHOON:
TOMOKO KUZUMI (JWP) & NANAE TAKAHASHI (AJW) vs. TOMOKO MIYAGUCHI & RIEKO AMANO (JWP):
* It’s a Rookie Match of sorts, featuring three JWP wrestlers who debuted in their miracle Class of 1995, and Nanae, Zenjo’s star of the Class of 1996. Kuzumi’s in frilly blue, Nanae’s in dorky red, Miyaguchi’s in red and Amano’s in aquamarine and has her short hair now dyed blonde.

They fight dirty to start, nailing each other’s partners, then settle into the match- Nanae feels a lot less advanced than everyone else, possibly due to lack of training partners and them all being familiar with each other. Miyaguchi/Amano work heel, but Nanae comes back using surprising power and seems to lead that way, Kuzumi instead using speed. Kuzumi uses a springboard dropkick on Amano, but they take turns landing on their feet out of Germans- Amano runs out of luck, but avoids a flying move and armbars Kuzumi. Kuzumi badly butchers a springboard, first falling back and then falling short and only getting Amano. Kuzumi takes missile kicks and Miyaguchi hits an INCREDIBLY fast airplane spin Samoan drop for two. Flying enzuigiri and Super Samoan drop keep up the good shit, but Amano messes up her submission and gets German’d out of it by Nanae, who keeps getting her arm worked by Amano’s good rolling submission work. Amano does a weird falling cross-armbreaker off Miyaguchi’s shoulders, broken up by Kuzumi, but Nanae gets a superplex & flying back senton on Miyaguchi and Kuzumi gets a ridiculous amount of Rolling Germans for two. Kuzumi manages a good Victory Star Drop-ish rollup from the top for two- Amano saves- and Kuzumi makes the ropes after a double-team nails her. Nanae assists and Kuzumi gets a Straightjacket German for two, and a Michinoku Driver finishes at (15:54)- Kuzumi & Nanae win!

This was equal parts a generic rookie match with filler offense, a REALLY good showcase of athleticism and cool moves for people only a few years into their careers, and a nasty botch-fest, as people would frequently screw things up. Nanae seemed very simplistic, but a decent power wrestler the others could sell for, and Miyaguchi seemed VERY quick and innovative, impressing me the most. Amano has some good submission work, too, but Kuzumi might have nerves because she was unusually botchy. In the end, the two top 1995-ers of JWP continued their feud as they just kept trading stuff and the other two were just window-dressing, occasionally pulling assists. To the point that the back five minutes kind of felt like “just trading moves”.

Rating: **1/2 (a bit too long and botchy at points, but otherwise solidly wrestled)

JAPAN TAG TITLES:
YUKO KOSUGI & SUMIE SAKAI (JD’) vs. MIHO WAKIZAWA & KAYO NOUMI (AJW):
* AJW’s rookies try to take the rookie tag belts back from a JD’ team, and everyone’s in matching gear. Kosugi’s in pink with white, Sakai’s in blue with pink, Wakizawa’s in black with yellow and Noumi’s in black with blue. The AJW team has some bomb-ass gear on, I have to say- they’ve really stepped up. Wacky & Noumi were tag champs previously in the year, but we’ve had another change since then.

The teams take turns being snotty, flexing over beaten bodies, and JD’ leads to start. Wacky/Noumi are working REALLY hard, though, screaming through everything and hitting things precisely. The JD’ team seem a lot clunkier by comparison, doing simple things like stomps but not really going all-out. Wakizawa actually lands on her feet out of a judo flip and perfectplexes & Germans Sakai. Double-splashes from Team AJW, but a Rocket Launcher misses. Kosugi planchas Sakai and Noumi gets Launcher’d successfully for two. Noumi gets missile kicks but is launched off by Sakai for two and a Moonsault/Stomp combo gets two (Wacky saves). Noumi avoids a Doomsday move but takes a somersault missile kick for two, and Wacky just cheats on German-ing Sakai out of the corner and hitting two huge Fisherman’s Busters- Noumi’s German gets two, and a Northern Lights Suplex finishes at (11:48), Sakai kicking out at 3.1. Wakizawa & Noumi become Japanese Tag Team Champions again!

This was going swimmingly, but I think it ended up going too long, especially as the JD’ team didn’t really have the good offense going or a ton of effort, leading to a lot of repetition and “okay time for the next spot…” stuff. Wakizawa looked the best of everyone, already seeming pretty well-rounded and good at everything, and Noumi was okay.

Rating: ** (fine, but went too long)

ALL PACIFIC TITLE:
KUMIKO MAEKAWA (AJW) vs. YASHA KURENAI (LLPW):
* Another big Interpromotional match, and one of only TWO singles matches on this show! Kumiko has become the secondary champion of Zenjo in the interim between stuff I’ve seen, which is a huge push for someone who was mostly Tag Champ only a year before, and her opponent is the stick-wielding street tough of LLPW, Yasha Kurenai! Yasha’s in all red with yellow fire on the pants, and Kumiko’s in white & blue. Their diametrically opposed styles are gonna be interesting to see here- lethal pump-kicker/shooter vs. rough brawler.

Yasha takes some kicks, but trips up Kumiko and begins controlling with basic stuff, but Kumiko gets her pump kick and works the leg. They do a long bit where Kumiko won’t let go of the ropes, but Yasha starts working the leg herself and grabs her stick- Kumiko acts more offended than pained and tosses it away and we’re at square one nine minutes in. Yasha pulls on Kumiko’s prominent ears and drags her to ringside for a leisurely stroll, smashing a pop can and her stick over the kid’s head and a release pedigree gets two. Hangman’s choke & 2nd-rope legdrop and the crowd is still SILENT here, waking up only when Kumiko deflects a shot and spinkicks Yasha’s head off. Step Kick! That gets two, but she charges her boot into the corner and Yasha hooks the leg from there and backdrop suplexes her, then hits three chokeslams only for Kumiko to ax kick her on the top rope and then hit that charging kick.

Yasha hilariously ducks a kick and just piefaces Kumiko for two, but can’t get her submission finish and eats a Pump Kick carelessly whipping Kumiko to the ropes! Yasha reverses a whip, but Kumiko hangs on and fires a kick- Yasha ducking and ending up pumphandling Kumiko into a suplex and her Guillotine Legdrop gets two. And one to the back of the head for the same- she pins Kumiko’s arms back and cranks on the neck for her submission finish, but Kumiko rolls out on the ground, shoves her back, and hits a good rolling kick, right into the Ax Kick and oooooooooooh way too close to the ropes. Clever- protects the finisher. Kumiko is now FIRED UP and wants the finish, but Yasha again ducks two kicks and piefaces her down, then hits a wrist-clutch uranage and puts her up top, catching her with a Wrist-Clutch Uranage from the top, and holds her down struggling for the three (16:30)! YASHA KURENAI IS ALL PACIFIC CHAMPION! An invader wins the gold!

Hey, that got good! Of course it was like nine minutes of legwork that went absolutely nowhere and was clearly filler, into a leisurely walk into the stands, but by the end they were whipping stuff out and pretty much have the match of the night with just a “good match”, haha. Oh this damn show. But Yasha being this wily veteran and being able to deal with a superior physical specimen was pretty cool- she was just mean enough and had enough foresight to duck instead of try and absorb all that shit. And when Kumiko DID hit her, Yasha got rocked and once needed a rope-break to save. Kumiko was spirited and felt like the underdog a lot, as Yasha controlled much of the match and got most of the big moves, to the point where the Ax Kick and the like felt like last-minute killshots.

Rating: *** (they did a basic “filler” match and then pulled it all out in the last five or so with some good work and fun selling and getting rocked by things)

L TYPHOON:
TAKAKO INOUE (AJW) & NORIYO TATENO (LLPW) vs. SHINOBU KANDORI & HARLEY SAITO (LLPW):
* It’s a 3/4 LLPW fest, with one of the most tactically-minded (to the point of a being a lazy shortcutter) wrestler in LLPW, the former Jumping Bomb Angel, teaming up with Takako against the bleach-blonde duo of Kandori & Saito! Kandori is the reigning WWWA Champion at this point, and Harley’s a close rival/partner who I see all too little of in these kinds of shows. Kandori’s in orange & gold, Harley’s in some blue atrocity with floral print (looking like a dentist’s curtains), Takako’s in white & purple and Tateno’s in white.

Tateno & Kandori do a stand-off after trying to annoy each other, so Takako of course blasts Kandori from behind, setting off a short brawl. Harley works over Tateno with her usual tight offense, and Takako just looks nervous against Kandori. But she manages to catch her a few times, angering the champ until she can finally catch the idol with some palm strikes (and the mandatory “Hi ya” pose at the end). Takako catches Harley with a DDT and Tateno adds a flying kneedrop, surfboard & bridging butterfly suplex. An STF wears Harley down, Takako talking smack, but she eats the wheel kick and Kandori hits the spinning sleeper, but Takako hits another DDT & STF. Harley hitting wheel kicks, a backdrop & tombstone on Tateno, but Takako/Tateno double-team her repeatedly only to miss tandem splashes off the top.

There’s a funny bit as Kandori no-sells Takako and judo flips her, but TAKAKO of all people counters to a hold (drawing a pop for it), and Kandori angrily has to reverse to her own. Takako escapes Harley with her 90th DDT of the night, then hits her Flying Knee to halt a comeback. Takako hits her Super Chokeslam, but gets kicked out of another flying knee and Kandori works over her midsection for a weird two-count. Takako manages her Backdrop Hold for two, then FIVE straight Flying Knees, Kandori barrrrely kicking out. This builds some drama for Takako to hit some flash-pins, but she tries a front facelock to submit and Kandori threads it into a weird grounded stump puller and Takako gives up at (15:29). Team LLPW wins! Good job helping, Tateno- way to just stand there

A pretty basic “filler” match, nobody working TOO hard but Takako working in some of her “unpleasant queen” schtick to annoy everyone. It was very random, though, with Takako spamming DDTs as her only counter move, momentum changing every minute or so, people hitting random stuff and tagging out, etc. No real flow; just STUFF. Funniest bit was Tateno barely doing ANYTHING, which is definitely par for the course with her stuff. Like who does a tag match and has one person in for 90% of it? They built a bit of drama with Takako hitting a preposterous FIVE enzuiknees, but since she never beats main stars with it, it’s gotten devalued. STILL the crowd popped for the kickout on the last one, though.

Rating: **1/2 (mostly just fine- Harley & Tateno weren’t in it very much and Takako is too reliant on spamming out the same couple moves, but it had some decent character bits)

LEGEND OF WWWA FORMER BELT HOLDERS 6-WOMAN TAG:
AJA KONG (ARSION), DYNAMITE KANSAI (JWP) & YUMIKO HOTTA (AJW) vs. JAGUAR YOKOTA (JD’), DEVIL MASAMI (JWP) & LIONESS ASUKA (JD’):
* Oh yeah, it’s SIX former WWWA World Champions in one match, pitting all the Aces against each other! Jaguar was the Ace of the early 1980s, Devil after her, and Lioness during the late ’80s. Aja ruled the Interpromotional Era (1992-95), and Kansai was the big rival who finally unseated her until they managed to find respect and become a monster team- Hotta is a rival of both who always came up short, but held the Title when AJW went bankrupt. Putting both Kick Demons and the Jungle Emperor on the same team seems almost unfair, were it not for the dominance of the other side. Hotta’s in black, Kansai’s in lime green, Aja’s in pink/black, Jaguar’s in silver, Devil’s in black/purple & Lioness is in black. Oddly, everyone looks… unhappy, sorta. Like they don’t wanna be there, lol. At least they’re smiling during the plaque ceremony and interviews (though neither Kick Demon gets one of either).

We get Kansai/Jaguar (can’t say I’ve ever seen that pairing), Aja/Lioness & Hotta/Devil to start, everyone feeling the other out to set the stage of everyone being careful. Asuka proves the most capable on the mat as even Kansai has to scramble for the ropes, but Kansai beans the whole opposite team and all three flatten Lioness in the corner, sending her staggering out. Aja pummels the whole other side, Urakening Devil! Aja beats on Lioness and then ANNIHILATES her with one of the stiffest fucking Urakens I’ve ever seen- jesus christ. Asuka is out on her ass, and Kansai hits Splash Mountain- Jaguar saves! Jaguar tiger suplexes Hotta for two, but immediately eats a kick & Tiger Driver for two. Aja slaughters Jaguar with backdrop drivers & a piledriver, wowing the fans a bit- they’ve been quiet so far, probably because everyone is clearly hitting pseudo-finishes but pacing it like they’re going longer. It’s a weird thing to see because it’s all big moves but everyone’s just slowly ambling about between them. Devil & Kansai do their JWP double clothesline routine and everyone trades off as the pace slows and they find every way possible to stall, coming off like “early match” bits but still being okay- Jaguar gets a rana out of the corner and a German on Aja.

Jaguar gets splatted trying a crossbody and has to roll out of Kansai’s finisher- the Kick Demons attack but Devil runs in and powerbombs her on Kansai. Devil & Kansai do more JWP bits in slow-motion (they’ve lost a step), Devil missing her cannonball and getting drilled, but she sleepers Hotta, then ducks to avoid an Uraken and Aja CRANKS Hotta by mistake! Lioness with a moonsault- she misses another but gets a powerbomb, but Hotta works the arm, then everyone just decides to fight on the floor now. Then Kansai AND Aja do big tope suicidas but Hotta nails Aja by mistake and Jaguar gets her Vertical Drop Pedigree finisher on her for two. Devil absolutely levels Aja with two lariats, getting two. Aja brainbusters Jaguar for two, but Jag reverses Super Splash Mountain for two on Kansai. Now everyone hits finishers but the pileups break it up- Jaguar Fisherman’s Buster on Kansai, Devil flying cannonball on Kansai, Asuka front superplexes Jaguar ONTO Kansai, but then it’s a disaster as Lioness hits a Ligerbomb but falls flat back and Kansai just BOUNCES her head off the mat and is totally fucked up. Like both arms shoot up in the “fencer’s response” and Aja just drags her unconscious body to the side while the crowd murmurs. Aja improvises a brainbuster on Asuka as time counts down, and Urakens her at (30:00) as Time Expires.

The sad thing is, you hold this match in 1993 and it has MONSTER heat and is probably ****1/2. Here, it kind of came off this weird mix of unmotivated wrestlers, “okay let’s step it up”, then “let’s get all our shit in!” mixed with “yeah but we’re going thirty so tone down the speed a little” so you get weird things where 7 minutes in they’re hitting their set-up near-finishers (tiger driver, tiger suplex) and ACTUAL finishers (uraken, splash mountain) but… then just kinda fucking around, wandering about the ring, barely trying, taunting after hitting moves, etc., like they’re killing time and doing early-match routines despite the moves being their big stuff. Then suddenly the match slows down to do ACTUAL “early match” stuff but it’s 15 minutes in, then we build a bit with Kansai/Devil bits but in slow-motion, then there’s some ugly stuff with Hotta (trying Meiko Satomura’s super cross-armbreaker but falling down in a heap because it came off as improv and they’re already in the ropes), and then it’s CROWD BRAWL time. Like everything feels ordered kinda funny except for the “feeling out” portion at the beginning. They started doing hot near-finishes at the end but honestly even if Kansai HADN’T been hurt, they’d left a ton in the tank and nothing was even “OMG this is definitely gonna do it!” yet.

Kansai was in fact out for two months, judging by Cagematch.

Rating: **1/2 (honest to god it feels like they wrote down all the shit they wanted to do, but someone dropped the pages and they put them together in the wrong order)

AAAW WORLD TITLE:
CHIGUSA NAGAYO vs. MANAMI TOYOTA (AJW):
(AJW Show, Nov. 29th 1998)
* It’s finally happened! Legend vs. Legend! Chigusa, the biggest women’s star of all time, takes on AJW’s top star of 1996! Except Chigusa is super-injured and slowing down, and Toyota has lost her motivation and spends most of her matches just messing around or amusing herself. Chigusa’s in all black and Manami’s in red & gold. Manami looks deadly serious here, stalking forward and looming over Chigusa (I didn’t realize Manami was taller), who stone-faces her back.

Manami of course springs for a bridging German right out of the opening handshake, but they do a lot of taunting and careful stuff, Chigusa getting hung up in the ropes off a kick and getting dropkicked in the spine repeatedly, but Manami starts a slapfight that only fires up Chigusa, who ties up Manami’s leg after pummeling her. But Manami locks on Chigusa’s signature Scorpion Deathlock, going all “hey look!” to the crowd to be extra cheeky with it. Chigusa bails to sell the leg, then trips up Manami and puts on her OWN deadlock, which of course has much better execution, and Toyota rages in it, haha. Love that defiant “NOOOO it doesn’t hurt!” while being clearly angry and in pain (“NO NO NO, no give up BAKAYEROHHHHHH!”). They’re back at square one, Manami taunting her with and hitting a JB Angels armdrag into a figure-four, bridging to agonize Chigusa, but she promptlyl hits the GAEA MDK Sleeper and follows with a belly-to-belly, but gets shoved off the top and Manami does that suicidal missile dropkick to the floor, then follows with a Running Springboard Tope Con Hilo (more or less rolling over the top rope instead of leaping) onto a table… which doesn’t break at all so Manami just crushes Chigusa’s ribs with her ass, haha.

Chigusa’s good to sell that, but dodges a Moonsault, and Manami turns a leghold into the rolling cradle in a weird spot that took the fans by surprise without the anticipation of the typically crowd-pleasing spot. Things break down a bit as Chigusa tries an armbar and Manami’s not really interested in selling that big, then keeps trying to straightjacket Chigusa and a Bridging German from Manami gets two instead. But Chigusa gets Death Valley Driver… and Manami does the GAEA NO-SELL (oh shit noooooo) and is like “haha DIDN’T HURRRRRT!” to a big crowd pop and Chigusa goes bug-eyed in shock like a cartoon character. Manami does her new(ish) Cross-Arm Suplex for two and Chigusa’s up fast, and Manami no-sells a powerbomb. They clumsily get into a Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex, but Manami can’t lift Chigusa and they fall forwards (that’s a shoot), then gets a proper (if bad) one on a lead-assed Chigusa for two. And now CHIGUSA’s like “didn’t hurt!” and gets up, and gets the worst powerbomb ever, gutwrenching Manami but just kinda falling down as this looks to be falling apart. Chigusa is bigger but appears to have forgotten Manami has deceptive booty-weight as she can’t hold her up, so she settles for a good regular powerbomb and kinda just casually strolls over for two.

Chigusa climbs (for WHAT?) and Manami tries the corner JOCS only for Chigusa to stuff it, and OH MY GOD SHE’S GOING FOR THE VICTORY STAR DROP ARE YOU PEOPLE INSANE? She couldn’t even hit that without spiking herself when she was super-acrobatic! Alas, this time it’s merely a horrible botch where she leaps up and puts her heels in Chigusa’s armpits and falls straight back, doing a huge back bump while Chigusa falls back on her head, which of course doesn’t hurt Manami and she goes for a pin. What should have been a HUGE 2.9 kickout spot is instead not getting a pop because the move clearly didn’t hit right. Manami goes for the JOCS twice, Chigusa reversing to the octopus stretch… and Manami SUBMITS TO IT AT (14:40)! A spot that hasn’t won a fuckin’ match since 1979 and Manami GIVES UP? Oh my god what even is this match?

oh NOOOOOOOOOOOO this was going to be a perfectly fine little *** match and then it ended up in the last five minutes of “oh my god you’re heavier than I thought” botching and all sorts of bad fuckups. OI was thinking the notoriety of this one was from being instead of this ultra-serious clash of titans it’s a lot of schtick, talking shit, and revenge spots. It was fun for that, but anyone hoping for this ****+ masterpiece you’d expect from the Aces of two different eras is gonna be disappointed (nobody watching their work in 1998 could have been surprised, but those looking back not realizing they were washed would be shocked). Chigusa is injured and hasn’t been in a great match all year, and Toyota’s been in “loses to the ones we actually want to push” mode for ages, so expecting the best is a bad idea. But yeah, this was going okay until they started dropping each other. The Victory Star Drop was a pretty bad one, as it was clearly supposed to be the “Holy SHIT Chigusa kicked out of the MDK of MDKs” that once pinned Aja Kong and/or Kyoko Inoue, but it’s obviously just them falling backwards here and so doesn’t draw a pop, and then they go right to the finish, which of all things is an OCTOPUS STRETCH, not even one of Chigusa’s shoot-style submissions that could actually have fit the match.

Rating: ** (it was gonna be a perfectly fine *** match and I’m like “WTF why is this match so notorious? It’s perfectly fine” and then it turns into THAT- botchy, clumsy and with a bad finish. Chigusa was totally washed and Manami hadn’t really figured out how to be good again)

And… yeah. A completely washed ’80s star having a weak, botchy match against an unmotivated ’90s star, both losing a physical step or two since their prime and being unable to counteract it through experience and ring smarts. That about sums up where the joshi scene is in late 1998, sadly. And we end my look through joshi in 1998 with THAT, haha.

Next up- ARSION’s last show of 1998 and “Joshi in 1998- The Year In Review”!

Joshi Spotlight Master List