Joshi Spotlight: Manami Toyota vs. Yumiko Hotta in 1997 & 1999

MANAMI TOYOTA vs. YUMIKO HOTTA:
* Hey look! I found a Toyota/Hotta match from 1997 I’ve never seen before! And also one from 1999! So I can do a two-in-one deal! Their chemistry has always been very interesting, and has produced both classics as well as slogs depending on effort, nerves, and injuries. Hotta is depicted as a tough, nigh-invincible shooter who can submit or knock people out, while Toyota’s specialty is incredible speed and acrobatics. Thus, Hotta is generally expected to dominate their matches (as the senior, she’d certainly be calling the matches, too)… though Toyota can have iffy selling at points and just fly into her comebacks as if no accumulated damage was done, particularly if she’s in a mood to show off. I’ve seen them have a ****3/4 match before, and I’ve seen some bad ones where Hotta won’t sell at it seems to piss Manami off and cause her to act out, throw tantrums or try to match stiffness, and then they get increasingly clumsy as the match goes on. It’s fascinating but makes me dread seeing things like the 30-minute runtime of the first match here, haha.

YUMIKO HOTTA vs. MANAMI TOYOTA:
(Sept. 21st 1997)
* This one has been uploaded semi-recently, which explains how I missed it. This is shortly after Zenjo nearly went bankrupt and the entire roster was gutted. After a weak show in which Kyoko Inoue announced she was quitting BEFORE her Red Belt match against Hotta (thus ruining any drama as to whether or not Hotta was going to win), this is probably their biggest shot to show what they have to offer from an in-ring perspective. Manami and Yumiko were seen as the “Mom & Dad” of the promotion as the two highest-ranked wrestlers left according to others. Both are in black & white here. Hotta is the Champion but this is not for the title. Also holy god look at that ring mat. DISGUSTING. So flaky and faded, haha.

They earn a “Woah!” from a bit where they tease hitting each other but both back off, but the crowd is silent for a “Hotta kicks Toyota, who hits her Running No-Hands Springboard Sunset Flip”. Oh geez if THAT spot impresses no one that’s bad. Hotta starts kicking around while Manami looks more offended than pained, then Manami knocks her over and puts on several minutes of holds, like a figure-four (get a load of her taking Hotta down, then picking her up and bringing her away from the ropes and tripping her again) and her deathlock bodylock (taking FOREVER to set it up). The Irish Whip of Momentum Shifting sees Hotta knock Manami down and work methodical with restholds and kicks. Very “Aja Kong” but too dull with the endless chinlock. Manami gets decent reactions for her screaming bridge-outs, at least. Hotta gets a flying spinkick but Manami puts her on the floor for the Suicide Dropkick. Fans are into that, but they slow it down again by countering finishers until Manami gets a horrible Japanese Ocean (double-hammerlock) Suplex- man did Hotta put all her body-weight across her on purpose? Looks like she just hopped up so Manami had to deadlift her across. Manami runs into a rolling kick, but Manami Rolls out of a powerbomb and dodges another kick- Moonsault gets two. Hotta counters the next one and Tiger Drivers her, then works a jujigatame with no urgency from either. Manami gets dropkicks and uses an octopus stretch. Fifteen minutes and still not much excitement.

Both try jujigatames to no reaction cuz it’s not sold as killer, then Hotta kicks her around and hits an inverted DDT in some new offense, working the pin a bit then just hitting a mount for some reason until she goes for another half-hearted juji. But Toyota hits a Running No-Hands Springboard Crossbody! Missile dropkick! Dragon Suplex! But Hotta avoids a dropkick and hits a Superduperplex then… a sleeper and a leg-hump, just in case you thought this was getting exciting. A small “To-yo-ta!” chant at least helps Manami make the ropes- fuck me, now it’s a half-crab? Hotta with some rolling kicks, but they start weakly countering each other (they look HURT) until Manami gets the crowd built up for another Running No-Hands Springboard, but Hotta kicks her out of mid-air in her floor dive. But Manami dodges her and hits a German on the floor, then puts her on a table… and crushes it with a Running No-Hands Springboard Somersault Ass-Slam! Okay THAT looked good! Manami looks to finish, hitting a missile kickzuigiri, but Hotta gets a big counter… by hitting a super jujigatame but landing IN the corner so it’s immediately broken by the ropes. Tiger Driver gets two, and Hotta tries for the Caribbean Splash (Straightjacket superplex) but Manami pops back for the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex for a CLOSE two and that’s the biggest reaction so far! Manami tries her new “underhook German” finisher, but Hotta rolls out with another juji right into the ropes, then hits that Caribbean Splash and Pyramid Driver (straightjacket ligerbomb) for two-counts, ANOTHER Driver gets two, then Manami counters the next to her Pumphandle German for two, then another for two, but Hotta pounces on her and they (THIS TIME) dramatically fight over a jujigatame until Hotta gets full extension… and it’s Time Over at (30:00) during a big count-down.

Man, this was DRY. Two typically very good wrestlers just not feeling it or unable to get into the groove of a big match (or just being beaten down) and just kind of tossing their signature moves in there periodically. Ideally “Hotta gradually and methodically wears down Toyota” is a great start to the match as it fits both their styles, and lets them upgrade later, but then it’s 14 or even 19 minutes in and they’re STILL going back to “Hotta sitting on Toyota and taunting her, then going for submissions”. And all the cross-armbreakers- all other joshi promotions treat that like a big move, and Hotta HAS won with it, but here they’re going for it and the other person isn’t even scrambling or reacting much. Manami is always iffy in submissions but even Hotta isn’t even pretending, and the fans I think pick up on that and don’t pop for the move- like I’ve seen MICHIKO OMUKAI get a big reaction for a full-extension on a juji, and that’s in failing promotion ARSION with its tiny crowds. The person eating it has to sell it like they’re desperately fighting to not let full extension happen. Manami was good at selling the pain of a resthold but not really the immediate tap-out potential of a finishing submission, and Hotta of course KNOWS THIS and still makes that the root of her offense. Both women were just slow and unsteady a lot, often countering things in a clunky, “been-there-done-that” manner. I wanna say both were hurt, but Manami hits four running no-hands springboards flawlessly during the course of thirty minutes so like… what?

The last 3-4 minutes was pretty well-fought, albeit was that Finisher Spam that Zenjo was starting to overuse, as they hit finisher after finisher for two-counts only (a problem that increasingly hit all of joshi). My best guess with that huge match-time is that they knew they needed to sustain themselves and were just deliberately going slower for too much of it, not realizing/caring this was boring the crowd.

Rating: **1/2 (just too casually-fought for way too long- doing 30 minutes of half-hearted submissions and restholds into a hot final few minutes)

They’d wrestle a rematch in Nov. 23rd for the Red Belt, won by Hotta. This match here is thus likely to establish how “even” they are (after a year of Toyota doing minor-league stuff and being de-emphasized, this might have been needed) and build anticipation for a “For Serious” match for the belt.

JAPAN GRAND PRIX ’99:
MANAMI TOYOTA vs. YUMIKO HOTTA:
(June 6th 1999)
* And now it’s two years later! Zenjo is about to go through a slightly more successful phase after some DARK years, and it’s time for the Japan Grand Prix round-robin again! Hotta is 3WA Champion once more at this point, having lost it to Shinobu Kandori of LLPW, then regained it a year later. And Thank Christ, the company has a fancy new ring mat, fixing that flaked-off faded one they were using in 1997. Manami’s now in her all-read gear that became a new signature, while Hotta’s in a more elaborate, thicker black outfit and has her hair dyed brown. And hey- there’s a crowd! Korakuen Hall looks decently full! Especially compared to contemporary ARSION shows, or AJW even a couple years prior.

Manami jumps Hotta to start, then dodges her enzuigiri counter and dropkicks her tailbone, starting hot. But Hotta backdrops her to the floor on her second try and simply throws her into one chair and waits her out in the ring rather than doing the “Crowd Brawl” spot. They go face to face (it’s so interesting to me that Toyota is actually noticeably bigger than Hotta given how their relative “sizes” project- Hotta comes off as stronger, tougher and like a believable monster despite this), Hotta defiantly no-selling some direct slaps and just walking back before kicking her down and working a mount. Butterfly suplex leads to Hotta trying to grab a limb, but Manami won’t give it up and then spits right in her face! She follows with STIFF Dropkick Spam (looking like she cracks Hotta right on the jaw with her foot once), then an octopus stretch & camel clutch as this slows down. Hotta talks some shit in a bodyscissors so Manami just ax kicks her repeatedly, but Hotta uses her standby elbow counter off a whip and throws kicks and a piledriver, then wastes time in a sleeper (AGAIN?) and fights for various armlocks. Toyota gets a leghold and the crowd murmurs until it’s clear Hotta won’t sell it, then they circle each other a while teasing a lockup until Manami turns it into her JB Angels armdrag into a juji attempt- eventually just releasing it in frustration.

Hotta quickly springs out of a corner whip with a rolling kick, but misses another and Manami tries the Rolling Cradle, Hotta turning the pin into another armbar attempt but Toyota German-ing her for two. She misses a Moonsault and gets knocked to the floor, but evades a slower Hotta and that’s enough for her to hit a sad, ugly Running Springboard- a crossbody where she hits her ankle against the top rope and guides herself using a hand (showing the difference between 1997 and 1999 Toyota). Missile kick to the spine hits, but she goes for a Moonsault and eats the Caribbean Splash- “Fuck YOU!” bridge! Tiger Driver gets two. Toyota escapes some holds but charges into the rolling kick for two, and the Pyramid Driver for the same. But once again it’s the “Sneaky go-behind from the Caribbean Splash to the JOCS” for two! Her Pumphandle German is countered to an armhold, as is her next JOCS attempt, but after a Pyramid Driver, Toyota rolls over at “2” and FIRES UP, doing the GAEA No-Sell to a crowd ovation, then just casually slaps Hotta to turn her over for the Pumphandle German, getting two. Another gets the same, but now HOTTA does the GAEA No-Sell, then JUMPING FUCK!!- just dunks Manami right on the back of her neck with a near-vertical Pyramid Driver, and Manami POPS OUT AT ONE! Man, everyone steals from joshi- even the awful no-selling spots, haha. So Hotta casually hits another, Toyota slumping over at “2”. A third FINALLY ends it at (21:19)! Hotta wins!

Much better than the last match, even as you can see their athleticism has faded, because they weren’t so beholden to a long match time and thus fucking around building to submissions that obviously weren’t ending it and so the crowd didn’t buy them. This one had a minimum of resting or weak submission-fighting and just went right to the good stuff, even without having to depend on four Manami Springboards. Of course you still had Finisher Spam Kickouts, even doing the “Kick out at ONE!” thing. To be fair, at least Manami didn’t fire up from that, even if it took two more to kill her. Both doing the GAEA No-Sell is funny, as even GAEA wasn’t doing that anymore, but it’s absolutely in the wheelhouse of both wrestlers to go “Ooh- *I* want to do that!” and start no-selling shit defiantly. And of course the crowds keep reacting to it so you can see why wrestlers wanna “chase” that spot. Still, though- the top-ranked wrestlers in Zenjo and they’re still barely hitting *** in big matches.

Rating: *** (mediocre through most of it, but they’re good enough to have a solid last eight minutes, even if it relies overly much on finisher kickouts and not clever counters or big dramatic moments)

Here’s the results for the 1999 Japan Grand Prix, in any case:

JGP 1999 (June 6 to August 15, 1999):

Points:
Yumiko Hotta (11 points)
Manami Toyota (9 points)
Kaoru Ito (9 points)
Momoe Nakanishi (9 points)
Takako Inoue (8 points)
Kumiko Maekawa (8 points)
Nanae Takahashi (7 points)
Tomoko Watanabe (6 points)
Miho Wakizawa (5 points)

After this, the #2-4 ranked women wrestled their own round robin to challenge the overall winner (Hotta). This was rapid-fire, with super-short matches.

Manami Toyota (4 points)
Kaoru Ito (2 points)
Momoe Nakanishi (2 points)
-Ito beat Momoe in (1:32), but lost to Toyota in (4:17). Momoe managed to beat Manami (!) in (10:46), but lost a playoff in (2:08).

Manami ended up beating Hotta in the final match in (18:45), which means I guess the one we just watched wasn’t the finals, lol. Good thing I checked! Manami & Hotta being the finalists and top wrestlers even after two years isn’t exactly surprising, but it’s clear from the rankings that Momoe has been elevated FAST. Ito has already beaten Toyota a few times in 1997 so appears to be threaded into the top wrestlers by this point.