(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Akira Hokuto vs. Manami Toyota – AJW Japan Grand Prix 1993

When people talk about the best women’s wrestlers in modern times, two names that tend to come up a lot are Manami Toyota and Akira Hokuto. Both of them have long lists of incredible matches that many fans still go back to. Both of them changed the wrestling landscape. And both of them put their bodies through some of the worst physical punishment one can imagine, all for the sake of this wacky business we call pro-wrestling.

But these two women have only ever faced each other one-on-one a grand total of six times. Given that lack of regular interaction compared to their other opponents, were these two as good in the ring as other famous AJW pairings?

Also, special thanks to Evito#, xXx_420_bLaZiN_420_xXx, Manjiimmortal, and jabroniville for the match suggestion.

The Story

AJW, like every big Japanese wrestling company, has its own annual singles tournament, the Japan Grand Prix. It was a round-robin tournament to determine the #1 contender for AJW’s top prize, the WWWA World Single Championship. In the 1993 edition they decided to finish the tournament somewhat differently, with the top wrestler in each bracket facing the semi-finalist in the other bracket to advance to the finals. That’s how A Block winner Akira Hokuto found herself facing B Block runner-up Manami Toyota. This was the first time the two women had met in singles competition of any kind in over a year-and-a-half, their first singles match with any high stakes in two years, and their first Grand Prix encounter since 1990.

The Match

This took place on August 21, 1993.

They shake hands and then Toyota launches herself at Hokuto with a shotgun dropkick. She hits two more but misses a third as Hokuto holds onto the ropes. Hokuto throws her against the ropes and swings for a lariat but Toyota counters with a brief Fujiwara armbar. Toyota kicks Hokuto to the floor and teases some dive off the rope but Hokuto cuts her off, drapes her through the ropes, and stretches her back with her feet.

Toyota gets a quick breather and returns to the ring, at which point Hokuto kicks her and drops her with a snap piledriver. Hokuto follows with a Romero special, which she switches to a Romero spine stretch that pushes Toyota’s head lower than what is naturally possible. Toyota resists a Romero sleeper so Hokuto switches to a leglock. She sends Toyota into the ropes, knocks the wind out of her, and lands a back suplex for a two-count.

Hokuto applies an exceptionally brutal and high-angle Boston crab but Toyota resists and then jumps onto the top rope and lands a springboard crossbody. Toyota lands three of her four corners dropkicks for a two-count and applies a heel hook but Hokuto gets an instant ropebreak. She lands a light slam, traps Hokuto in the ropes, and kicks her leg.

Toyota works over Hokuto’s leg for a long time and then applies her own Romero special into a pin for two. Hokuto gets some time to recover ringside but the moment she returns to the ring Toyota rushes for her leg. Toyota applies some wacky Figure-4-type leglock which does further damage to Hokuto’s knee so when she tries ducking down off an Irish whip she’s too slow and Toyota’s able to stomp her hard. Undeterred, Hokuto hits hard to escape a German suplex and when Toyota tries stomping her Hokuto takes her down by the leg and traps her in a camel clutch.

Toyota resists the camel clutch and goes for her running Manami Roll counter but Hokuto counters with a one-shoulder powerbomb for two. Toyota escapes a Northern Lights Bomb and does a rolling cradle for two. Toyota charges for a running dropkick but Hokuto dodges so Toyota flies through the ropes. This allows Hokuto to land a top-rope somersault senton to the floor which wipes out Toyota and a trainee as well.

Hokuto gets up first and lands another snap piledriver, this time on the ringside mats and then on the floor in the crowd. She drags Toyota back to the ringside area and goes to send Toyota into some chairs…only for Toyota to do her no-hands springboard crossbody off a random ungimmicked table. That’s followed by a suicide dive through the ropes and a top-rope plancha that hits both Hokuto and another trainee. But Toyota’s not done. Diving quebrada from the top rope to the floor.

The crowd chants Toyota’s name as she lands a snap moonsault in the ring for a close two-count. Toyota attempts the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex. Hokuto counters with a roll-up for two. Hokuto charges again. Toyota counters with a bridging Tiger suplex. One, two, Hokuto survives. Irish whip. Hokuto counters with a huge German suplex for two. Hokuto fires up and hits a massive diving shotgun dropkick that sends Toyota careening across the ring. Hokuto covers but only gets two. Hokuto tries another NLB. Toyota counters with a Japanese Ocean Suplex. One, two – Hokuto kicks out. Toyota tries another moonsault. Hokuto gets her feet up in Toyota’s gut. Hokuto capitalizes with a Dangerous Queen Bomb. One, two, and three! Hokuto advances to the finals of the Japan Grand Prix!

Winner after 16:36: Akira Hokuto

Review

That was a fun match. It was short and to the point yet still competitive. It felt like a sprint and not an overly long epic. Both women wrestled in ways that largely complemented each other with Hokuto demolishing Toyota with brutal moves (and making the most out of Toyota’s crazy flexibility) and Toyota doing some exciting high-flying and last-second countering that made her so compelling in her prime. Both women endured plenty of incredible damage for such a short match. Both women threw crazy bombs at each other which sounded even more impactful than in other promotions (I don’t know if it was how the ring was mic’d or if the Zenjo ring was made of some different material but even the lightest of slams sounded so violent and brutal on impact). The final five minutes were especially great with lots of sudden counters and creative yet not too out-there ideas. So if you’re one of those fans who think you’ve already seen everything in wrestling, you can almost always count on 1990s AJW to come up with something new, even if it’s a single random move during a heat segment, to test the waters and push the envelope a bit further.

But even though it was exciting, it was far from perfect. Both women spent long times working limbs only for that stuff to mostly go nowhere. Using trainees as warm bodies to absorb high spots seemed a bit weird; was it some kind of contractual obligation for rookies to sacrifice their bodies for their seniors when they weren’t involved in the match? Additionally, I also found the match lacking in that sense of high stakes seriousness. I get that the finish came out of nowhere and that Hokuto needed to conserve her energy for the finals, and yet the match ended somewhat abruptly and thus it lacked that sense of ornate drama and escalation typical of both women in their primes. Comparing this to their more famous Destiny 1995 encounter this one just comes across as inferior even though it has more or less all of the same positive attributes.

Final Rating: ****1/2

Despite some minor flaws this is still an excellent match and one worth going out of your way to see. Akira Hokuto is a legend in women’s wrestling for a reason and Toyota’s legendary motor was on as usual here. Though Toyota’s reputation has become a bit muddied in recent years and her matches have become far more of an acquired taste, I have no doubt that most if not all viewers would get some degree out of enjoyment out of this match.

But if this particular match isn’t your cup of tea then there are other matches that I’d recommend to you as well. Manami Toyota had some genuine classics with Aja Kong, most of which still stand the test of time as some of the best women’s wrestling matches of all time. Akira Hokuto’s match with Shinobu Kandori at DreamSlam I isn’t just the best women’s match of the last three decades, but is in contention for best match in modern times. And if you really want to see a tournament semi-final match outshine its final then I’d recommend watching Kenny Omega versus Tetsuya Naito from the 2016 NJPW G1 Climax since that is a truly spectacular 5-Star classic.

So while there are better matches than this one out there, this one makes for a great starting point for the incredible careers these two women have had.

Thanks for reading.