Joshi Spotlight: ARSION First Anniversary- STARDOM ’99

https://archive.org/details/arsion-01-17-02-18-1999-1st-anniversary-stardom-99_202102

Another show only on Archive.org. Here’s the Main Event, though.

HYPER VISUAL FIGHTING ARSION- FIRST ANNIVERSARY (STARDOM ’99):
(Jan. 17th & Feb. 18th 1999)
* It’s more ARSION! And the promotion celebrates its first anniversary, and finally has a top champion (Mariko Yoshida)! And she’s gonna be a “take on all comers” champion, taking on rookie Mika Akino, then Hiromi Yagi in separate months! The former is a masterwork in carrying a rookie to a long match, and the latter is considered one of ARSION’s best matches! There’s also a Survivor Series-style 8-woman tag! We also have the debut of Emiko Kado, who … oh. Oh no.

ARSION Roster: Aja Kong, Mariko Yoshida, Rie Tamada, Yumi Fukawa, Michiko Omukai, Reggie Bennett, Jessie Bennett, Hiromi Yagi, Mikiko Futagami, Candy Okutsu, Esther Moreno, Mary Apache, Rookies: Fabi Apache, Mika Akino, Ayako Hamada, Emiko Kado

The first show takes place at Club Citta in Kanagawa, drawing “600” (yeah, sure). These are pretty much entirely clipped, often with only 20-30 seconds of footage.

REGGIE BENNETT & MARI APACHE vs. AJA KONG & FABI APACHE: Fabi whips Mari off the top with a forward roll in a big spot, pinning her at (16:27).

MICHIKO OMUKAI vs. MIKIKO FUTAGAMI: Gami, billed as kind of a powerful striker/grappler, easily absorbs the tall, lanky idol’s kicks in a taunting manner, but is begrudgingly forced to sell for two, then Omukai gets a near-fall with a good roundhouse kick. Gami has to pin her with a La Majistral-type cradle at (11:11) with about a minute shown.

MARIKO YOSHIDA vs. YUMI FUKAWA: The Ace takes on the tiny grappler to give her a good show. Yoshida nearly puts her away with a Million Dollar Dream & powerbomb, then Fukawa nearly gets her with a couple flash submissions, but a pumphandle German into the Air Raid Crash (inverted over-the-back DDT with the leg cradled) pins Fukawa at (1:58 of 14:35 shown).

RIE TAMADA & HIROMI YAGI vs. AYAKO HAMADA & MIKA AKINO: HamaKino makes an appearance! And they’re already facing the Twin Stars of ARSION. We get mostly assorted clips- the champs are dominating, but Ayako gets all the highlights of her offense (she of course looks better when you just see random moves instead of how she threads stuff together). Twin Germans get two, and a Dragon Suplex finishes her off at (2:30 of 18:33 shown).

REGGIE BENNETT vs. JESSIE BENNETT: Reggie, who has lost a LOT of weight since the last show, takes on the other American. She’s in a white & blue singlet while Jessie’s in a US flag one. Reggie wins a slapfight, then promptly locks on a kimura for the dominant win (4:38). Jessie cries after the match, and apparently misses the next year+ in ARSION before returning.

REGGIE BENNETT vs. FABI APACHE: I think this is a gauntlet? Or just an evening show. Reggie absorbs a lot of high-flying and flash-pin attempts, but crushes Fabi with the Global Bomb (spinning sit-out powerbomb) in (4:57).

ELIMINATION TAG MATCH:
MIKIKO FUTAGAMI, RIE TAMADA, HIROMI YAGI & MARI APACHE vs. AJA KONG, MICHIKO OMUKAI, AYAKO HAMADA & YUMI FUKAWA:
* This one actually isn’t cut to pieces. Aja’s in green/black, Omukai’s in white/black, Ayako’s in white/pink (a in place of the previous blue) and Fukawa’s in black. Futagami’s in black, the tag champs are in their purple & black, and Mari’s in black/red.

Aja’s team repeatedly charges into Rie, but Rie dropkicks Omukai off the apron and her team hits plancha & topes on her, but Ayako impresses with a springboard moonsault to the floor. Yagi does a plancha, then Aja teases a tope, but gets stopped by Gami, only to bowl her to the floor and complete the move, except her own team eats it. Omukai gets pinned by Rie’s Dragon Suplex at (9:04) as we’re missing 6 minutes. Gami rolling kicks Aja to stop her from Uraken-ing Rie, but Aja catches her charging in (sorta- they awkwardly stop) for her Brainbuster at (11:21). Mari immediately charges in but AJA of all people does La Majistral… but Mari does her own and pins her at (12:13)! Yumi does an impressive rana off the ropes on Mari, then clipped to Mari hitting a big superbomb on Ayako, naturally only getting two on “Super Rookie”. But Ayako manages to avoid her and then locks on her complex submission with the arm held and the neck cranked at (16:04)- Mari’s out! But seconds later, Yagi charges in and taps Ayako out with a jujigatame (16:20). Fukawa’s left alone, and you can book the end run yourself. She tears up Yagi’s leg off a rolling leglock, and manages to German suplex Gami, but runs into a vicious Shotei palm strike for two. Pumphandle Ligerbomb & brainbuster can’t get her either, so the two crush her with a Spike Brainbuster at (6:53 of 21:57 shown). Yagi & Futagami survive.

Looked like a fun little match- these are a fun combination of “House Show Mode” mixed with crazy effort and interesting pins, as must like Survivor Series, people are way easier to beat with random shit, keeping things interesting- Aja going down to the lower-ranked Mari is a sign of that, and it requires spunky little Fukawa to try and beat two senior wrestlers. She fails badly, but of course kicks out of 2-3 “sure” pins and thus looks good despite losing. Cuz of course she has nothing to lose by jobbing to two higher-ranked wrestlers.

Rating: **1/2 (fun little TV thing even with all the clipping- the match could have been **-***1/2 depending on what the rest of it looked like)

QUEEN OF ARSION MATCH:
MARIKO YOSHIDA vs. MIKA AKINO:
* This is an interesting Main Event, and I can’t imagine this was much in question as to who was winning. It’s the champion taking on a kid in her first year. In the prelude, Akino beat Ayako Hamada on Jan. 7th, earning a hug & accolades from the champ, but Akino soon called her out for a title match! Yoshida slaps her for that, but it’s on. Akino’s in olive drab shorts and a sports bra, looking every bit the “ordinary up & comer” in more casual, less-expensive gear, while Yoshida of course looks like a supervillain in her Spider-Woman get-up.

Yoshida dominates Akino for the first several minutes, often with cool stuff like a backwards roll into a jujigatame, or figure-fouring the legs using her arms and pinning them against her own leg. Akino gets a couple of hope spots, but Yoshida can easily escape her own jujigatame attempts and methodically wears her down. Akino gets a run-up crossbody but leaps right into a powerbomb. She manages that rana after all but ends up in a grounded Million Dollar Dream for a struggle. She fires back with a lot of dropkicks & a superduperplex, but flies onto feet and gets her legs tied up a bunch. There’s literally an inverted figure-four in here as Yoshida is seemingly just inventing new shit on the fly to torture her tackling dummy- Akino’s barely able to shove her to the floor but cracks her head on the apron trying her tope con hilo spot (OOF). She’s alive, though! She gets a springboard rana for a near-fall, then counters a jujigatame to a flash-pin for another, but Yoshida spins out and figure-fours her head & arm. Another Dream nearly puts her out, but Akino stunners out of another attempt and defiantly fights up after a German and tries for another quick pin, but Yoshida’s done screwing around- she whips the kid into the pumphandle German set-up and the Air Raid Crash finishes with a knee on the chest pin at (14:39)- the champ dominates.

A GREAT example of a carry-job putting over a rookie, as Yoshida dominates nearly the entire match, but Akino looks like she’s fighting the entire way. Yoshida seemed like she was just creating new stuff on the fly, which works as her style is very “spin around and thread her legs around stuff” so she can just pop in with a figure-four around the head, or figure-fouring Akino’s legs and holding her in unique spots. Effectively, the lower-ranked wrestler was now her tackling dummy and she could do stuff at-will that a veteran might not sell for or be helpless enough to tie up. Akino got some rookie-fu comebacks and flash-pins for nearfalls, yet it was clear she was outclassed the entire time.

Rating: ***1/2 (fascinating stuff to watch, and one of the best matches out of a less-than-one-year kid you’re gonna see)

FEB. 18th Show:

AJA KONG vs. EMIKO KADO:
* Hooray! A new wrestler debuts! I can Google her to see what becomes of… oh no. This is THAT story. So uh, two months after her debut she takes a blow to a head in a match and dies- only two years after Plum Mariko, joshi puro has another death via head injury on its hands. She’s got her hair dyed red and is wearing a shiny black set of shorts and a shirt. Aja’s in the light blue & black this time.

Emiko Germans Aja right out of the pre-match handshake to start, then fires off shots to keep her off-balance until Aja resists a bodyslam and clobbers her. Emiko impresses the fans by pulling out a MOUNTAIN BOMB of all things, but Aja soon clotheslines her in the corner and hits a splash, then the Brainbuster at (2:45) to dust Emiko off. A pretty simplistic squash- give the rookie just enough to pop the fans early on, but dismantle her in short order.

Rating: 3/4* (even this squash told a mini-story about a spirited rookie and the spunky stuff she was pulling off)

THREE WAY MATCH:
MARI APACHE vs. FABI APACHE vs. LA GALACTICA: An unusual 3-Way Match in Japan, featuring the three luchadoras. Galactica’s in a grey bodysuit with a mask. Each Apache is wearing identical gear, meaning I don’t have a hope of recapping this accurately until I find out who wins and check Cagematch, haha. We’re clipped to some random spots, then Galactica rolling up Fabi for the pin at (1:55). She in turn pinned at (1:31) after Mari’s Ligerbomb & Michinoku Driver. Mari then pins Fabi with a Superbomb at (2:38) after resisting her super rana.

REGGIE BENNETT vs. MIKIKO FUTAGAMI: Reggie nearly chokes out Gami, who is dazed on the floor, resulting in a Reggie TOPE, and a powerbomb on the floor. Gami catches her in the ring with a rolling kick, then a horrible super rana (thank god Reggie has a good hold of her) gets two. Gami backdrops out of a sleeper but gets paintbrushed and is nearly KO’d, then lariated and powerbombed. Reggie goes up, but misses her flying splash and Futagami actually rolls her over and TAPS HER OUT, using a vicious neck-crank while tying up the let at (3:36 of 9:15 shown).

RIE TAMADA vs. YUMI FUKAWA:
* It’s a Veteran/Underdog fight, as the former tag partners battle! In a great bit of business, Yumi is badly hurt already, nursing a sore ankle, and when she jumps a shit-talking Rie before the bell, she loses the fight and has the ankle smashed into the ring post. Bawling on the floor, she’s nearly easy prey, but fires back and after a long outside brawl the ref finally starts the match in the ring.

Yumi does a really good job selling the ankle, pushing the ref away when he checks on it, and failing her bridges when she tries suplexes because of it. The ref finally has to shove himself between the two and force a match stoppage due to Yumi’s injury at (3:25), leaving her pounding her fists in defiance. Another good job in making Fukawa look fighty. Between the brawl on the floor (a good few minutes) and the in-ring stuff, we had a hell of a fight, with laser-focus on the ankle.

Rating: ** (all in all it’s a pretty good scrap, if limited)

MIKA AKINO vs. AYAKO HAMADA:
* The tag team partners now fight- Akino’s in black and Hamada’s in a powder-blue bodysuit now.

We’re clipped right away to Akino eating shit on a tope con hilo, but Hamada does the same on her own springboard moonsault suicida, then misses a springboard cannonball as the clipping keeps on coming. They get into some good stuff showing Akino’s superior technique and submissions while Hamada has the flying ability (even though Akino is actually more agile), then Akino catches her with the run-up crossbody into a jujigatame attempt, then a GREAT rana, but Hamada powerbombs her trying another- Springboard Moonsault gets two. Akino counters her perfect plex to a leghold but eats a spinkick, then the perfect plex hits, only for Akino to counter the pin of a super rana for two! That takes a lot out of her, so Hamada nearly catches her with her rolling submission finisher. Akino clobbers her for two, but a second try has Hamada complete the move, Akino tapping out instantly at (7:11 of 11:16 shown) even as Hamada slips up and lets go right away, haha.

Man, Akino was LEGIT. Her speed and agility was remarkable here- borderline Rey Mysterio-tier as she finds ways to spin in place in ways that seem impossible, like with lightning fast ranas and tumbling counters. Hamada, despite being the lucha-inspired one, is much slower and more belabored, though she manages some okay stuff and definitely looks better than the last year. She can actually sell submissions a bit, for example. But this was largely The Akino Show, getting all the good bits, all the good counters, and more.

Rating: **1/2 (very, very good for what are essentially 1st-Years)

CANDY OKUTSU vs. MICHIKO OMUKAI:
* Candy got the big push last year, and now she’s up against the rising star Omukai. Both are in all-black, with Candy dressing like Diesel and having her hair dyed red.

Candy wins a strikefest with a powerbomb (she IS Diesel!), but Omukai fires back and they do an interesting “Candy is better and more durable, but Omukai keeps booting her down even while Candy is dominant” thing, Candy finally selling an ax kick like a near-KO. But she springs up and hits a brainbuster for two, only to charge into an overhead belly-to-belly- Omukai throws more kicks, but Candy hits a run-up superplex and her Moonsault Trio for a “Fuck YOU!” bridge from Omukai. Rolling Germans get two, but Omukai gets a tiger suplex for the same, then a flying knee & big kick, making sure to sell “exhaustion” by posing like a question-mark at points. She boots Candy down and then poses on the top rope like a diva while the ref starts the count… but Candy springs up at “1” and bolts to the top, hitting a Run-Up Super Rana for the win at (6:13 of 13:24 shown)! Okay, that was clever.

Candy did a pretty decent job with this one- Omukai’s “Super Shooter” act isn’t at all convincing, but Candy sold it like she could absorb anything the kid could dish out… until she couldn’t, eventually being beaten down with those kicks. She could keep up on her via the usual big moves (hitting the three moonsaults that early is kinda funny, though- why is Omukai downed for the entire span?), but Omukai could always catch her clean with a boot to even things up a bit or buy herself some time. Then Candy overdoes it and gets cocky and pays for it with a great come from behind win. Fun Fact: I paused this match to go do something, got sidetracked for 30+ minutes, then pressed “play”… and Candy did her pop up and pin eight seconds later, lol.

Rating: **1/2 (pretty good for what it was- someone who was a dominant veteran through durability and high-flying/movez instead of size and striking)

QUEEN OF ARSION TITLE:
MARIKO YOSHIDA vs. HIROMI YAGI:
* Well hell- Yoshida at this point had upgraded from “slender high-flying rookie on her way up” to “Swole Goddess of Death”, now sporting huge arms and the most bitching gear in wrestling history- a big Spider-Woman deal with a red spider on the chest and a spiderweb on the back. Yagi has very “2000s Joshi” gear, being a two-piece sporty outfit with shorts and a smaller top, both with a lot of details. When I did a Spotlight on Yagi 2-3 years ago, I reviewed this match and, unfamiliar with the style, gave it ***1/2. Time to see if more familiarity raises the rating! It certainly did for Candy/Gami from 1998 (I went from 2.5-4 on that).

They square off and tease grappling for a bit, and then, in the very first move of the match, Yoshida nails her Air Raid Crash! Well THAT’s an unusual choice! Yagi kicks out and bails to sell for a while, re-entering to hit a German for two, but Yoshida nearly Fujiwaras her. However, it becomes clear that this is the one opponent Yoshida CAN’T just dominate on the mat, as the faster, well-trained judoka actually dominates using her speed and technique, using a rear-naked choke that Yoshida can’t break easily. Every time Yoshida tries something, Yagi shifts weight or slips in past her guard to snag her again. Yoshida has to use power to shift things, but Yagi keeps slipping out. Yoshida finally just muscles her into an STF, then hits a DDT, shifting to pro wrestling stuff again, and sure enough, Yagi counters her next hold (a half-crab) and even dominates after Yoshida gets the mount. Yagi starts pounding away at her suddenly to wear her down, Yoshida reversing a whip and powering her out of the corner, but she gets judo-flipped and now Yagi’s in charge again, then again off a whip where she rolls Yoshida up and immediately fights for the jujigatame. Yoshida powers out again and grabs her leg, then hits a knee and a headlock, but Yagi bridges right out and nearly submits her again, Yoshida having to make the ropes immediately. Yoshida resists another flip but her counter is countered until she rolls out and locks on a NASTY dragon sleeper from a rear-mount for our biggest near-fall of the match- Yagi makes the ropes and we finally have parity.

But so much for parity, because Yagi counters two straight moves (including Yoshida’s “flip to juji”) into jujigatames and they tease a near-fall off of the latter, Yoshida desperately arching and spreading across the ring to finally make the ropes, and she bails to put over the ferocity of the move, but Yagi just flies onto her off the top! There’s no respite! She waits Yoshida out in the ring, then rips into the arm repeatedly, sensing weakness. EVERYTHING Yoshida tries is countered back into that damn hold, and Yoshida knows how to sell things like “Yagi finally extends it” by thrashing about and desperately trying to counter. Like, she grinds out every last bit of leverage to take the pressure off and prevent the full extension of the hold, taking 1-2 minutes of manic fighting until she FINALLY manages to pop free and collapses into the ropes as the crowd pops. Yup- they finally convinced them to pop for submissions! Yagi gets huffy over that, but manages to catch a one-armed Yoshida in a backdrop hold for two. Yagi palpably gives up submitting her and wears her down with a missile kick and flying stomp for two before trying again, but when she goes for the arm, Yoshida actually does the “Deadlift Powerbomb” counter! Yoshida tries to build herself up, but is noticeably turtling holding that arm, but manages to pull Yagi backwards across her back with another dragon sleeper and just slams her down- Yagi is so worn down that her next grapple-fu attempts are easily countered with a powerbomb & German, and now Yagi’s so dead she’s reduced to just powering free of another waistlock, and a desperation forearm sees her backdrop suplexed! And Yoshida takes her beaten-up opponent and slaps on the Million Dollar Dream, then promptly switches to her finisher- the Modified Sleeper (the one against her thigh)! And Yagi fights… and rolls.. and fights… and rolls… and nearly escapes but Yoshida arches her backwards so she can’t reach the ropes, and is too heavy for Yagi to power out and lift her, so despite fighting up to her feet Yagi’s just muscled back down, and she has no choice but to tap out at (20:36). Yoshida finally got her!

Man, check out the way they made little Hiromi Yagi seem like a dominant monster in this match! Her legit judo skills and obvious capability and technique over Yoshida’s slower stuff was made really clear in this one, as Yoshida couldn’t answer for Yagi’s speed and was thus caught again and again despite that hot start, to the point where EVERYTHING she tried was reversed into another armbar. This made Yagi seem like this unstoppable dragon, putting her over tremendously (and reminding me of Bryan Danielson’s “technical monster heel” AEW run a couple years back). And Yoshida really had no answer to it until she just managed enough accumulated punishment that Yagi was now sore and slowed- NOW Yoshida’s power could make the difference, and she could get moves off without worrying about a little wolverine wrapping herself around her! So it’s a fascinating look at a match that’s 50% Yagi in control, then 50% Yoshida in control, but by different methods- Yagi dominates the entirety of the first half thanks to her better speed and grappling ability, but Yoshida is both tough and strong, and essentially grinds her out until Yagi is too beaten up to answer her. Finally Yagi can’t just spin out of things because she’s too hurt, and Yoshida can muscle her down. Then she hooks the cobra clutch right into her modified sleeper, and Yagi arches and rolls and stretches but can’t pry her off, and that’s that. Phenomenal little story.

Rating: ****1/4 (I definitely liked this one a lot better the second time around- the story is much more clear, especially once I’ve seen more Yoshida grapplefuckery stuff, and it’s more clear that YAGI was the dominant one and Yoshida actually had to beat her down into a submission victim)

After the awards ceremony for the belt, everyone gets ton the mic, and judging from the reactions and body language it’s a mass amount of shit-talk, as Omukai calls out Yoshida, Candy counters that, Akino pops the crowd with some remarks to Yagi, Aja shows up in a sweater and smirks at everyone, and more.