5-Star Match Reviews: AJW Big Egg Wrestling Universe Anniversary Review

Yes, this is a ten-plus-hour, 23-match show.

Yes, I’m reviewing the whole thing in one go. In detail.

Yes, this single column has about 14,000 words. But hell, if these women embodied the notion of “go big or go home” then it’s only fair that I do the same in covering this famous show over three decades later.

I was originally going to post this last year on the show’s 30^th anniversary but I couldn’t get to in time for a number of reasons, namely burnout, family issues, and the fact that, again, THIS SHOW IS OVER TEN FUCKING HOURS LONG. I’m a very patient man when it comes to wrestling but not even I could watch this in one sitting. It was so painfully long that I had to work on it in segments and eventually I had to focus on more pressing things. And now that I’ve had time to do a bit more research on this show (including a mixture of online video essays and some books on AJW written by Japanese journalists and some by Rossy Ogawa himself), I can finally tackle this gargantuan show and see how it holds up over thirty years.

So this was and still is considered to be the single greatest “women’s wrestling” show in modern history. I put that term in quotation marks because technically it’s not a purely women’s show because, among other things, there are two matches involving men. But if we’re talking about a show promoted or carried by women’s wrestling performances, then yes, it’s still the biggest of them all. After all, how many other women’s wrestling shows can say they drew between 32,500 and 42,000 fans to the Tokyo Dome and kept most of them there for almost eleven full hours?

The main story was the one-night V*TOP Five Star Tournament which featured eight of the best women’s wrestlers selected from AJW, JWP and FMW, all fighting for a winner’s purse of ¥15,000,000 and the title of Best in the World. Some of the names involved are well known by now: Aja Kong, Manami Toyota, Dynamite Kansai, and Megumi Kudo are among the participants. But there’s one more whose star shone brightest during that time: Akira Hokuto, who was arguably the best wrestler in the world at the time, regardless of promotion or gender. Earlier in 1994 Hokuto announced that she planned to retire at the end of the year, citing her many injuries as reason the decision. This was understandable: she broke her neck in 1987 when she ate a second-rope Tombstone Piledriver and continued the match holding her head in place with her hand, suffered a serious leg injury in a 1991 match and had to be physically restrained from continuing, got so battered in her DreamSlam I match with Shinobu Kandori that she went back to the Matsunagas and to Rossy Ogawa crying, and in general was so often seen covered in bandages that earned a second nickname of “The Mummy”.

The initial plan was for Hokuto to work three big shows for AJW, with the Dome being her final. As time went on this angle ended up being less of a last hurrah and more of a departure abroad as Hokuto found immense success wrestling as ‘Reina Jubuki/Rain Storm’ in Mexico and even married Mascara Magica. But their marriage fell apart and with time Hokuto returned to Japan which changed the ultimate outcome of this Dome Show to now have a new stipulation: if Hokuto won the whole tournament she wouldn’t retire.

The other stories center more on the historical aspect of the show. It was meant to mark the 40^th anniversary of Mildred Burke’s 1954 tour of Japan which is often considered the birth of women’s wrestling in Japan. This isn’t quite true, though: women’s wrestling originated almost ten years earlier in immediate post-war Japan as more of a cabaret/side show attraction with heavy burlesque elements and was seen as pure entertainment on an almost exhibitionist-level of public immorality. So while Burke added some degree of competitive credence to the medium, it would be inaccurate to call her its originator.

The show’s planning and promoting spanned months with plenty of changes and rumors coming out leading up to it. Initially there were reports that Tonya Harding would appear, either as a wrestler or as a special guest of some sort, but those plans fell through mainly due to Harding having a multi-million-dollar insurance policy on her legs through Lloyd’s of London and her at the time staggering demand for $2million to wrestle just one match. This arrangement never materialized but at least it served as a halfway decent publicity stunt for the show.

Notably absent from this show were two big names in joshi: Devil Masami and Mayumi Ozaki. Both of them were high-profile figures during the 80s and during the 1990s interpromotional era, with Ozaki in particular being central to this big-money period thanks to her trio of tag matches alongside Dynamite Kansai opposite Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada. Details on Ozaki’s absence remain murky with some rumors blaming a supposedly bitter relationship between her and AJW booker Rossy Ogawa. As for Devil, she’d recently won JWP’s world title from Dynamite Kansai and JWP was not in any position to have their world champion job in a one-night tournament. So now that we have that out of the way we can begin.

All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling Super Women Great War/Big Egg Wrestling Universe
Tokyo Dome, Tokyo Japan
November 20, 1994
Attendance: 32,500-42,000*

*debated, and thousands had to leave during the tail end due to curfews for under-aged fans

We get some shots of the women in the tournament making quick statements at a press conference, a backstory on Hokuto’s imminent retirement, and shots of the crowd line wrapping around the Dome and blocking traffic on some side streets.

Match #1: Hiromi Sugo & Hiromi Yagi (JWP) vs. Bomber Hikari (GAEA) & Chaparita Asari (JWP)

Asari backflips her way down the extra-long elevated entrance ramp to show off her athleticism before the match starts. They all shake hands but the moment the bell rings Yagi dropkicks Hikari. Hikari no-sells two more dropkicks but then both JWP women double dropkick her seconds later. A double-team slam doesn’t even get a one-count and then Hikari knocks Yagi down. Asari tags in but is quickly shut down with a series of judo arm throws for a two-count. Yagi tags in and lands some shoulderblocks for another near-fall. Yagi tags in and sends Asari into a corner but Asari counters with a headscissor into a Danielson-style quick cover exchange. Asari hits some running strikes for a one-count. Asari prepares a big move but Yagi counters with a cross armbreaker out of nowhere which Hikari intercepts. Asari applies a deep chinlock but Yagi gets to the ropes. Yagi hits a crossbody for two and then the two women trade holds on the mat. Asari wrestles out of an armbar and hits a crossbody for one and hits a pair of corner handspring back kicks followed by a back body drop/moonsault splash combo for two.

Hikari tags in and hits a top-rope body splash followed by a fireman’s carry press. Yagi escapes a back suplex and does a headscissor into a kneebar which is pretty sweet. Hikari gets a ropebreak and counters a crossbody with a scoop slam for two. Asari tags in and attempts an aided dive but Yagi cuts her off. Then both JWP women cut her off again and Yagi hits a diving judo throw for another near-fall. She hits a missile dropkick and then tags Yagi who does the same. Then the JWP team hit an avalanche Hart Attack for another near-fall. Yagi hits a huge running knee and then all four women start brawling ringside. Asari hits a crazy Sky Twister press to the floor and Hikari drops Yagi with a pair of powerbomb-like slams. Asari hits a diving side kick and that’s enough to get the pin and the win.

Winners after 6:53: Hiromi Sugo & Hiromi Yagi (GAEA Japan)

Review: **3/4 Solid opener with plenty of high-speed action. It was almost shoot-like given all the no-selling and the finish came out of nowhere. It also felt like more of an exhibition and a display of what these women could do rather than anything with any heat or story. But otherwise there wasn’t anything exceptional either way here, which made this a completely passable opening match.

Match #2: Handicap Match: Tomezo Tsunokake vs. Buta Genjin (Mr. Buddha Man) & Little Great Muta (Little Frankie)

Background: So this is a match involving midget wrestlers (as they’re called in Japan). As it turns out, women’s wrestling used to be combined with midget wrestling on shows in decades past as both were seen as sort of side shows/freak shows among the general public. So in that sense this is a bit of a throwback to a different time. Anyways, Tsunokake looks like a generic Japanese dude with silver face paint, Muta resembles his namesake wrestler but with an afro, and Buta looks like a cross between a face-painted Abdulla The Butcher and Hotei the Laughing Buddha.

The Match: This is a handicap match with the two-man team needing tags. Muta starts things off with a corner handspring elbow, a snap suplex, and an elbow drop. Buta tags in and hits a body block and a martial arts kick. Muta tags in and Tsunokake hits him with some little person slapstick. He even makes Muta do a headstand and spins him around like he’s breakdancing. Muta gets thrown around the ring in comedic fashion and eats a snap suplex but he bounces back up and hits an enzuigiri. Muta hits a back kick and tags Buta who dumps Tsunokake onto the ramp. They run all the way up it, puts him on a dolly, and runs him into the ropes.

Buta slams Tsunokake and does some handsprings but then the ref whacks him with a paper fan for “misbehaving”. A clothesline drops Tsunokake and then Muta tags in and lands more back kicks. Both guys fall to ringside and when Buta struggles to get into the ring (because, you see, he’s short and also HE’S FAT!) the referee whacks him again. Back in the ring, Buta lifts Tsunokake into the electric chair position and drops him throat-first on the second rope. He lands a scoop slam and tags Muta for some aided double-team move but both guys fall down in what looks like a planned botch. Muta ignores this mistake, trips Tsunokake, and locks him in an STF for a near-immediate submission victory.

Winners after 4:46: Mr. Buddha Man & Great Little Muta

Review: ** Harmless, lighthearted slapstick comedy. Nothing really all that offensive as this was clearly meant to be a gimmick match not to be taken seriously. All three guys did basic moves but got the intended reaction out of the fans. While it seemed different from everything else on the card, it did its job at making people laugh for a few minutes. Though if you ask me, I’d have moved this match up the card a bit to make it a palette cleanser between big instead of leaving it in a death slot following a more intense opening exhibition.

Match #3: AJW Junior Title Match: Candy Okutsu (c) vs. Rie Tamada

Background: Sadly I don’t know much about these two other than that this is for an undercard title.

The Match: Okutsu wins a test of strength and lands some kicks followed by a triangle crossbody to the outside. Tamada holds onto the ropes and dumps Okutsu ringside. Tamada hits a diving plancha followed by two across-the-ring hairpull whips. A scoop slam gets two, as does a flying crossbody. Okutsu counters an Irish whip and lands a sick drop toehold/European clutch combo for another near-fall. After a high kick Okutsu locks in a Boston crab and then a half crab. Tamada avoids a corner charge and lands a some dropkicks for a near-fall. She applies her own crab holds but she also traps one of Okutsu’s arms before switching to a modified bow-and-arrow hold. Tamada applies a double-arm stretch and goes for a corner whip but Okutsu hits first with a counter crossbody. Tamada counters an Irish whip with a flying scissor takedown for two. Tamada follows with more crossbody presses but misses a top-rope one. Okutsu misses a diving dropkick. Tamada hits more running kicks and presses but Okutsu kicks out at two. Okutsu hops onto the apron and hits a springboard dropkick and a neckbreaker drop for two followed by a backward diving press for two once more. Tamada gets a small package out of nowhere for another close call. A struggle in a corner ends with an avalanche norther lights suplex. Okutsu follows this with five rolling German suplexes to get the three-count and retain her title.

Winner and STILL AJW Junior Champion after 8:52: Candy Okutsu

Review: **1/4 A passable death slot match with nonstop action. It was all basic wrestling with neither woman really selling. They just sprinted around, hit whatever came in the moment, and appeared to at times shoot pin each other. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good either. It was just there. Both women worked hard so at least they deserve credit for that.

March #4: KAORU (GAEA Japan) vs. Suzuka Minami (AJW)

The Match: They shake hands and the match is on. The instant the bell rings KAORU rushes Minami and is met with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Minami tries a powerbomb but KAORU counters into a press and then they trade flash pins. KAORU follows with more Thesz presses for a near-fall. KAORU follows with a suplex and a Romeo special. KAORU applies a heel hook and then a Boston crab which she then turns into an inverted four-limbs rocking hold. Minami gets a sudden roll-up for two, lands a piledriver, gets another two-count, and applies a chinlock. That becomes a back stretch and ten Minami lands a Samoan drop. More submission holds plus a butterfly backbreaker from Minami. Unfortunately Minami has one of the shrillest, most irritating scream voices I’ve ever heard and it makes her attempts at exciting the crowd a doomed effort. Minami lands another butterfly backbreaker and clotheslines KAORU when she backflips out of a corner. KAORU counters a chain sequence with a backslide for two. Minami clotheslines KAORU off the apron, lands a suicide dive theough the ropes and, once back in the ring, lands a diving kick for two. KAORU lands a counter Bridging German suplex next to the ropes. Then the women trade slaps. KAORU slaps Minami off the top rope to the floor and follows with a plancha. In the ring KAORU lands a top-rope Lionsault for two and misses a second one. Minami tries capitalizing but KAORU counters with a Majistral cradle for two. KAORU botches an escape-the-corner sunset flip so she turns it into another schoolboy pin for another near-fall. Minami counters with a pop-up powerbomb and then a kneeling powerbomb for two. a third powerbomb is countered with a Frankensteiner which leads to another cover exchange. KAORU lands a top-rope arm drag for two and her next moonsault connects with Minami’s knees. Then Minami lifts KAORU up by her vagina into another powerbomb and spikes her with it to get the pin and the win.

Winner after 9:33: Suzuka Minami

Review: **3/4 Decent MOVEZ match but that’s about it. There wasn’t much in terms of story or heat as the crowd was quiet for most of it. The effort was clearly there and both women tried to make this into something more but the crowd just wasn’t that interested. Still, if you love highlights and highspots then I’m sure you’ll find something to like here.

Match #5: Kickboxing Match: Kumiko Maekawa vs. Sugar Miyuki

Background: I don’t know much about Miyuki but Maekawa was a wrestler who seemed to prefer the more realistic shoot style.

Review: NR There wasn’t anything really worth discussing here. It was amateurish kickboxing without any real intensity. I’m sure there was some political or symbolic reason for putting this on the card but beyond that this was completely skippable. A bathroom break contest if there ever was one. For what it’s worth, Maekawa won via referee’s decision after five two-minute rounds, probably because she was on offense more than Miyuki.

Match #6: Amateur Wrestling Challenge Match: Doris Blind vs. Kyoko Hamaguchi and Match #7: Amateur Wrestling Challenge Match: Anna Gomis vs. Miyu Yamamoto

Background: This Kyoko is the 16-year-old daughter of famed wrestler and trainer Heigo “Animal” Hamaguchi. She is a multi-time gold medalist at several wrestling championship tournaments and won Olympic Bronze Medals in women’s freestyle wrestling. Her opponent is a French freestyle wrestler who basically says that this is a groundbreaking event for both France and women’s wrestling in general. We also get, in this same slot, the pre-match interviews for the following match in this slot with, again, a French wrestler taking on a Japanese one.

Review: NR Since this is amateur/pure sport athletics you can’t really rate it like you would a worked match. It’s just technical mat wrestling with points earned/lost depending on who’s in control and who touches the ropes. Although the sentiment is there to give this match a nod to early joshi history it’s not an ideal setting to have amateur or freestyle wrestling take place in a pro-wrestling ring with ropes since they get in the way and lead to more whistling and breaking than necessary.

Match #8: Shootboxing Match: Kaoru Ito vs. Fumiko Ishimoto

Background: This is a different Kaoru hence her name not being written in ALL CAPS. She also has some experience in the shootfighting space as well as seen with this being a “shootboxing match”

Review: NR once again since, after all, this isn’t a wrestling match. That said, of the four non-wrestling matches this one’s easily the most interesting. It feels much more heated with more shots to the face, more clinches, and a more aggressive tone. There were even a few take-downs that gave this a bit more of an MMA feel to it so if you like seeing primitive women’s MMA with combatants wearing oversized boxing gloves then you might like this as well. For what it’s worth, Ishimoto beat Ito after five three-minute rounds.

Match #9: Chigusa Nagayo (GAEA Japan) vs. Reggie Bennett (AJW)

Background: Bennett was a mainstay in AJW while Nagayo, was…well, one half of the most famous women’s wrestling duo ever in the Crush Gals. And of the two it’s fair to say that Chigusa was more closely tied to wrestling, especially in later decades. If the Crush Gals were The Mega Powers then Chigusa would be Hogan and Lioness Asuka would be Savage. Yet for some reason in this match there’s already signs of some added tension. Chigusa flips Bennett off during her entrance which causes Bennett to walk up the ramp and confront the legend far away from the ring to before the match starts. This early attack leaves Chigusa bleeding from the forehead and more pissed off than before.

The Match: Bennett, who at first looks rather unimposing with her utility worker outfit complete with hard hat, stiffs Chigusa and drops her to the mat. Chigusa fires back with spinkicks to Bennett’s head and a dive to the floor. Bennett gets up first and knocks Chigusa against the steel barricade. In the ring Bennett squishes Chigusa in a corner and locks her in a bodyscissor. A big slam/splash combo gets Bennett a two-count. She lands a suplex and then stomps on Chigusa’s hands but Chigusa fights back. Chigusa lands a head-butt and applies a brief Boston crab. Bennett counters an armbar with one of her own. She follows with a clothesline, a big slam, and a diving body press for two. She misses a second one and Chigusa applies a sleeper. Bennett counters into her own sleeper but Chigusa fights out. Chigusa reapplies hers bur Bennett backs her into a corner. Then Chigusa gets a sudden roll-up. The referee’s hand touches three times but Bennett clearly kicks out at the exact same time. Still the bell rings to signal the end of the match and everyone involved looks upset.

Winner after 8:39: Chigusa Nagayo

Post-match Bennett leaves in a hurry while Chigusa demands a microphone. I don’t know exactly what she says but here’s a great video from Kim Justice covering the show as well. Basically in his summary it is noted that Chigusa basically says something along the lines of “no one is going to believe a gaijin in zenjo”, even though, if you listen clearly it’s hard to tell whether she actually says the word ‘gaijin’. The reason this is important is because that word is, in this context, meant to be a venomous word to describe a foreigner/non-Japanese person. However ‘gaijin’ doesn’t always carry that biting undertone but in this case it’s meant to be far more negative and lacking in the usual Japanese politeness.

Anyways after the match we get another contrast in interviews with Chigusa apparently crying from how her match went. Meanwhile Bennett cuts a purely professional promo apologizing to fans for that contest not being her style. She states she prefers to wrestle and not fight and isn’t the type of person to throw F-bombs around like Chigusa did. Anyways Bennett comes off as a total sweetheart and a consummate professional while Chigusa…not so much.

Review: *3/4 Underwhelming match that never really got going and fell apart at the finish. Apparently Bennett was, at this point in her life, deaf in one ear and the ref’s count was to her deaf side so she didn’t know it was the three-count. That aside this match featured middling chemistry that bordered on nonexistent with Chigusa throwing live rounds and Bennett making the most of her bulk and soaking up hits like a sponge. I have no idea why Chigusa entered this match pissed off but that anger continued well through the match and into the locker room backstage supposedly. For what was meant to be Chigusa’s final match as an AJW employee this was a massive disappointment, though part of that was due her own dubious decisions.

Match #10: Shinobu Kandori & Mikiko Futagami (LLPW) vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Tomoko Watanabe (AJW)

Background: Futagami is the only person I’ve never heard of. I’ve seen Watanabe’s a longtime wrestling veteran, Yamada is an AJW mainstay and Kandori is perhaps the most dangerous woman on this entire show, being a former judoka and the heart and soul of LLPW.

The Match: Futagami and Yamada start with Futagami hitting a pumphandle suplex. Watanabe knocks Kandori off the apron and planchas to the floor as Yamada locks Futagami in a sleeper. Both LLPW women find themselves looking at each other in sleeper holds. We get a tease of the judoka (Kandori) and the amateur wrestler (Yamada) locking eyes and finally the crowd pops for something presented as big…four hours into the show. Kandori tags in and she brings the hate with head-butts and stiff shots. Yamada returns fire but finds herself outwrestled. Kandori drags her onto the entrance ramp and does a sleeper giant swing. Kandori drags Yamada to the ring by her neck and chokes her some more but Yamada escapes with stiff kicks to Kandori’s face. Kandori gives Yamada the biggest ‘now you’re fucking dead’ face and shoot headlocks her. Futagami tags in but then Yamada lands a counter suplex and kicks her demanding that Kandori tag back in. I think Yamada says “omae” to Kandori which is the rudest possible way to say “YOU” in Japanese. Futagami doesn’t want to be ignored but Yamada dismisses her and tags Watanabe who lands some slams and leg drops for two. after a big suplex Yamada tags in and throws Futagami to Kandori’s corner like yesterday’s trash which leads to another clash. Kandori lands rapid fire palm thrusts but Yamada answers with a roundhouse kick. After another kick barrage Yamada takes Kandori to the mat and then Watanabe lands an ax handle. Watanabe tags in and tries a judo throw ON AN OLYMPIC JUDOKA so of course Kandori mops the floor with her and puts her in a cross armbreaker. Watanabe gets a ropebreak and then Futagami starts working the arm. Kandori tags back in and flips Yamada off between head-butts. Yamada saves Watanabe and the AJW duo go for stereo clotheslines but Futagami holds onto the ropes and distracts them both long enough for Kandori to enzui lariat both of them.

Yamada stops another pumphandle suplex but accidentally hits Watanabe with a diving forearm. A pumphandle buster gets Futagami two and then Watanabe gets her feet up to block a diving splash. Watanabe lands a counter clothesline for two followed by a Backdrop suplex. Kandori goes in to make the save but seems to target the ref making the count and not the wrestlers. Strange. Watanabe lands another Backdrop suplex and Kandori breaks this one up as well. Kandori hits Watanabe with a Tiger Driver, tags in officially, and tries another powerbomb. This time Watanabe counters with a Frankensteiner for two. Yamada tags in and lands some kicks but Kandori catches her foot on one of them and applies an ankle lock. Kandori and Yamada trade suplexes. Yamada lands a diving spinkick. Futagami interrupts a reverse Gory Special. Kandori applies a Fujiwara armbar until Yamada gets a ropebreak. Kandori counters another Gory Special with an armbar until Watanabe makes the save. Kandori punishes Watanabe with a powerbomb. A thrust kick from Yamada gets two. Yamada goes for another dive but Kandori catches her in an armbar and taps her out to get the win.

Winners after 11:29: Shinobu Kandori & Mikiko Futagami

Post-match there’s a tense staredown between Yamada and Kandori that almost breaks into another scrap but a bunch of seconds and trainees from both camp keep them from killing each other.

Review: ***3/4 The best match of the show thus far. There was an actual story here with Yamada and Kandori wanting to kill each other which came through in most of their interactions. They wrestled and fought with what was presented as legit heat and hit each other hard time and again. Kandori and Yamada were clearly the stars and had some awesome exchanges while the other two were kinda just…there. It felt like Futagami and Watanabe were mostly warm bodies added to build up and tease the fights between Kandori and Yamada though otherwise they didn’t do all that much. This would’ve been much better served as a straight singles match given the chemistry between the two main women involved and how hard they were hitting each other.

Speaking of hitting, apparently there’s more to this than what was shown on camera. Kandori allegedly got into a fight with Akira Hokuto backstage before the match (because of course they did) with Hokuto suckerpunching Kandori (in various Japanese joshi books Hokuto admits that she comes across as self-centered and sometimes rubs people the wrong way because of it). Tensions continued with Kandori allegedly telling Eagle Sawai to shoot on Kandori in their V*TOP Tournament match later in the evening. Although this is unsubstantiated, the fact that LLPW stopped working with AJW for some time afterwards adds credence to this story and shows just how political such supershows could be.

Match #11: UWA World Women’s Tag Team Title Match: Las Cachorras Orientales (Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda) (c) vs. Michiko Nagashima & Yasha Kurenai

Background: LCO are considered arguably the best tag team in women’s wrestling at the time while their opponents…are two women I’ve never heard of dressed like 80s gang members.

The Match: Chaotic start with Nagashima and Shimoda trading holds and counters. Mita tags in and launches Nagashima across the ring by her hair. LCO double-team her for a bit and land a chokebomb/diving lariat combo. Mita follows with a proto-Ganso Bomb that surprisingly gets zero reaction so Shimoda tags in and does a hangman’s choke. Nagashima counters a powerbomb into a sunset flip and uses that to tag Kurenai. Her hot tag is cut short almost instantly as Shimoda boots her down but she fires back with a swinging neckbreaker. The two challengers wrap Shimoda in the ropes and then she eats another neckbreaker drop. Shimoda answers with a blatant choke and tags Mita who lands more running neckbreakers. Some matwork slows things down and then Nagashima, who is now legal, does a back scratch spot. Kurenai tags in and we get a foot stomping spot. Kurenai fires up after eating some slaps and lands a Backdrop. She follows with her own hangman’s spot and a kneeling piledriver, which is followed by an aided spike kneeling piledriver and a headscissor neck lock.

Nagashima lands a sudden neckbreaker drop to escape and tags Mita who lands a big double chop to the neck. Mita lands a piledriver and then forces Kurenai to tag in. Kurenai eats a similar chop and after taking a few hits from Shimoda when she tags in Kurenai locks in a cobra twist while Nagashima locs Mita in a heel hook. Kurenai stops a charge with a Taue-style nodowa otoshi. LCO try double-teaming her but Kurenai dumps them both to the floor and then Nagashima dives onto both of them. The challengers hit a doomsday chokeslam for two and then someone throws Kurenai a baton. Suddenly weapons are allowed in this match, because, FMW I guess. Another tag leads to a cradle exchange on the mat. Kurenai pokes an eye and botches a diving chokeslam. Nagashima tags in but she ends up in a fireman’s carry and launched into her own partner. Then both of LCO dive onto them either over or through the ropes and to the floor.

LCO attempt an electric chair/splash combo but the splash part misses. Mita lands a northern lights suplex for two and a sick counter Tiger Suplex for another two-count. Things get chaotic and a bit cooperative with some long setup spots and some interference and Mita lands an avalanche butterfly suplex for two. Nagashima escapes a combination attack and tags Kurenai but Kurenai eats a German suplex. Kurenai avoids a diving splash and motions for her baton but this time Mita catches it and uses it on Kurenai. Kurenai counters with a German of her own and then hits what looks like a crotch-lift uranage for two. Nagashima tags in and lands a diving splash for two. Shimoda tags in and trades cradles with Nagashima. An avalanche overhead suplex gets Nagashima a near-fall. Nagashima sets Kurenai up for a diving senton and goes for her own but she misses. Mita follows up with a bridging German suplex for two and then her patented Death Valley Bomb to get the three-count.

Winners and STILL UWA World Women’s Tag Team Champions after 15:36: Las Cachorras Orientales (Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda)

Review: **3/4 A passable but borderline frustrating match that felt rudderless, repetitive, and emotionless. It felt aimless with things just randomly happening without rhyme or reason. There was a clear skill gap between LCO and their opponents with the challenger duo botching quite a lot of moves. Despite some solid efforts especially from Kurenai the champions never looked like they were in any real danger; as a result the match didn’t feel as tense or urgent as it should have. I had much higher expectations given how vaunted LCO were said to be but this is far from their best outing.

Match #12: Lioness Asuka & Yumi Ogura vs. Bison Kimura & Jaguar Yokota

Background: This is a legends’ return match with Jaguar, Bison, and Lioness all coming back for what is essentially a no-stakes exhibition match.

The Match: Jaguar and Lioness start with a blistering exchange. Lioness lands a big suplex but Jaguar bridges out smoothly and lands a seated senton press and a Frankensteiner. Jaguar eats a back suplex but bounces back seconds later like it’s nothing. Then their partners tag in with Ogura landing a crossbody. Bison launches Ogura around the ring but then Ogura counters one hairpull whip with an arm drag. Lioness tags in and lands some basic slams followed by an inverted DDT. Ogura lands a kick that somehow sends Bison into her corner so that Jaguar can tag back in. Jaguar gets a one-count with a cradle, lands two flying ass attacks, and then a Jackhammer suplex (which she invented), for a two-count. A short-arm scissor hold ensues and then Ogura tags back in. After some basic matwork Lioness tags back in which leads to some more ground work. Lioness stiffs Bison with kicks and then both she and Ogura land double enzuigiris. Bison ducks double lariats and then hits nasty overhead slaps to both of them.

Jaguar tags in and accidentally missile dropkicks Bison instead of Lioness. Ogura lands some running kicks but Jaguar counters with a proto-Tiger Driver’91 for two. Some more countering ends with Bison locking in a cobra twist and Asuka locking in a sharpshooter. Lioness counters another seated senton attempt with a snap powerbomb and deadlifts her into a modified giant swing. Then a normal giant swing for Bison. Ogura accidentally hits Lioness with a shoulderblock and then appears to counter a superplex with a flying press or something. She doesn’t notice Jaguar’s blind tag so Jaguar seamlessly lands a second-rope sunset flip for two. Jaguar and Ogura trade bridging suplex variations. Ogura helps Lioness land a second-rope gourbuster but then Lioness misses a diving elbow. Jaguar and Lioness go back-and-forth again with suplexes when the bell rings to signal that times has run out.

Match result: Ten-Minute DRAW

Review: **3/4 Completely fine match but nothing out of this world. The biggest story out of this is that this was Jaguar’s first match after being retired for almost a decade yet you wouldn’t know it from how well she moved and wrestled. Everyone involved did a great job here and aside from a few repetitive spots copied from earlier matches, there was nothing bad or out of place here. It was just a bit too short and lacking in genuine tension to be anything more than a midcard legends’ placeholder.

We then get an intermission of sorts with, of all things, Indian girls’ wrestling. These girls don’t even get entrances or announcements; maybe their names are written somewhere but the show cuts to them already in the ring. This goes on for about three minutes of them trading light throws and delicate wrestling, the kind most of us did with each other as kids. It’s fine and all but why stretch an already-bloated card with more filler?

Match #13: Mariko Yoshida vs. Blizzard Yuki

Background: Mariko Yoshida is another longtime AJW veteran who would go on to have more success after leaving that promotion, especially in ARSION. Meanwhile, Blizzard Yuki is Sakie Hasegawa, a longtime AJW wrestler who was being repackaged as a new character that AJW’s bosses hoped would become a huge crosspromotional star. Think Tiger Mask or Jushin Liger but in the opposite direction, with the wrestler coming first and the other media second. There was already a shonen manga lined up for her and even a video game with her likeness all being worked on at the time. So here she was dressed kind of like Hayabusa hyping up her big debut her and then she gets the biggest entrance of the show. Another big dance routine takes place with four guys in ninja outfits and one performer WAY up in a shark cage as TAKA Michinoku’s WWF music plays. Said stuntman then falls 20ft onto like no padding and is later learned to have injured himself.

The Match: For all the hype behind Blizzard Yuki’s debut, the initial spattering of crowd noise features people cheering for…Yoshida. Not a good start. A kick exchange ensues and then Yoshida lands a counter crossbody press out of a corner. Yoshida works Yuki on the mat and then some acrobatic exchange follow that showcase Yoshida instead of Yuki. Yuki fights out of a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker with an arm drag. A rolling senton gets her a quick near-fall. After some slams and quick suplexes Yuki tries a Figure-4 leglock but Yoshida blocks its full application, albeit briefly. Yoshida gets a ropebreak but that only leads to more matwork. Yoshida with a counter free fall drop, a gutbuster, and a butterfly suplex for two. Yuki gets a roll-up for two and has a minor miscommunication on a spot to the floor. Yuki appears to be out of position for a dive so Yoshida waits for a moment to fly to the floor. Back in the ring Yoshida lands a high-angle suplex for two and goes for a monkey flip but Yuki lands on her feet, dropkicks Yoshida to ringside, and dives with a plancha. Yuki misses a frog splash in the ring but escapes a Majistral cradle. Yoshida counters a running facecrusher with an armbar. She follows with a suplex into some armlock and counters a corner whip with a jumping sunset flip for two. Yoshida follows that with an avalanche DDT but Yuki kicks out. Speaking of kicking, Yuki lands some kicks to regain control followed by a diving press out of nowhere for the three-count.

Winner after 12:01: Blizzard Yuki

Review: *1/2 Disappointing match in every possible way. Whoever put this match together must’ve had their priorities backwards because this match was 95% Yoshida on offense while Yuki did fuck all to get over. If the goal was to showcase Yoshida then great job, but Yuki spent most of the match on defense and looked a step or two behind her at all times. It also didn’t help that the crowd was completely dead: seriously, you wouldn’t know they were in the Tokyo Dome based on the sound because there was next to no noise. Even during the high spots and big dives the crowd barely so much as reacted. Though to be honest, Hasegawa was put into an unenviable position, having to debut this new character with new moves on this stage in front of this crowd at this point in the card. And on top of that she probably watched some stuntman fall 20 feet and had to go on like nothing happened. Even for the steeliest of minds it would be next to impossible to pull off a great performance with so many negating factors at play.

We then get a sudden surprise appearance from Lucia Rijker, a Dutch kickboxer with an undefeated streak who, allegedly, was once billed as “the most dangerous woman in the world”. Rijker was initially supposed to have a mixed-style fight with Kyoko Inoue on this card; however she pulled out citing an ankle injury. Still, Rijker appears in the ring and apologizes to everyone in attendance and hopes to have a fight with her sometime in the future. I don’t think she ever does.

Match #14: VTOP Woman Tournament First Round Match: Yumiko Hotta vs. Combat Toyoda

Background: Hotta won a tournament in AJW to earn the right to enter this tournament while Toyoda was handpicked in FMW for the same position.

The Match: It opens with a Greco-Roman knuckle lock and Toyoda out-powering Hotta. Hotta eats a corner cloesline but escapes a powerbomb and stiff Toyoda with knees and palm thrusts. The ref begins a down count and gets to three out of ten when Toyoda powers up. Toyoda lands a fallaway slam but Hotta kicks her in the face. Hotta unloads with live rounds in the form of kicks and forearms which causes Toyoda to fire back in kind. Toyoda gets pissed and spits on Hotta. She shoot headlocks Hotta to the mat and applies a half crab. That half crab becomes a full crab and then Toyoda smashes Hotta’s knees while maintaining the hold. Never seen that before.

Hotta brushes these off and lands more kicks. She goes for a rope-assisted side kick but Toyoda catches her foot and turns it into a heel hook giant swing. Hotta blocks the full application of a Figure-4 leglock but Toyoda eventually locks it in. Hotta gets another ropebreak and ducks a few shots but then Toyoda lands a clothesline. Hotta blocks a powerbomb. Toyoda avoids a wheel kick. A corner struggle leaves Toyoda hanging upside down on the apron side so Hotta lands more kicks. Hotta lands a light slam onto a ringside table but nothing more comes of this. In the ring Toyoda tries a powerbomb but Hotta counters with a sitting press. Hotta charges but runs into a powerslam for two. Toyoda follows with two powerbombs and a diving slash, each one getting a two-count. Hotta blocks another move so Toyoda lands a lariat. Toyoda charges again but this time Hotta counters with a high-angle Tiger Driver for two. Another Tiger Driver and another near-fall. Toyoda counters an attempt at a third with a backslide for two. Toyoda blocks a corner move and lands a falling back elbow.

A ThunderFire Bomb from a torture rack gets Toyoda another near-fall. Hotta cuts her off in a corner and lands an avalanche straightjacket suplex for two. Hotta misses a top-rope wheel kick but the next one lands. Hotta signals the end but Toyoda’s not moving on the mat so the ref starts counting. Toyoda gets up at nine so Hotta rushes her with stiff shots. The referee has to physical restrain Hotta so that Toyoda can get to her feet. Hotta shoves the referee aside but Combat catches her by surprise with a bridging German suplex. One, two, and…three…? Wait, really?

Winner after 16:54: Combat Toyoda

Post-match Hotta is PISSED OFF and gets in the referee’s face. It takes several trainees at ringside to restrain her as Toyoda’s music plays.

Review: ***3/4 An exciting match but also bit of a weird match to be honest. The dynamic was completely upside down with the smaller Hotta bullying the bigger and more bizarre-looking Toyoda with stiff shots to the head and multiple strike barrages. Toyoda stuck to the orthodox path with power moves, rest holds, and traditional pacing while Hotta wiped her ass with that structure and no-sold wherever she could. The clash of styles between them made this a bit of an inconsistent and sloppy match at times but things picked up during the final five minutes. Then there was the finish which came across as contrived and a bit tonally off given the no holds barred environment they created up to that point. I suspect there might’ve been some sort of political reasoning for that specific finish but that’s what happens when there are so many moving parts on such a gigantic show. Someone’s going to be on the short end of the stick somewhere and it looks like Hotta was that person here.

Match #15: VTOP Woman Tournament First Round Match: Akira Hokuto vs. Eagle Sawai

Background: Hokuto’s looking pretty menacing in her blue and black onibaba costume. I’ve only seen Eagle Sawai once or twice before and she reminds me of Rhonda/Bertha Faye/Monster Ripper.

The Match: A stare-down ends with a hair-pull from Sawai and a one-shoulder powerbomb for two. Sawai lands some running body blocks and lariats before dumping Hokuto ringside. Back in the ring Hokuto tries fighting back but Sawai outpowers her for another two-count. Hokuto tries a corner counter but Sawai counters with what looks like a top-rope uranage for another near-fall. Sawai follows with a chinlock with bodyscissors and then a delayed butterfly backbreaker. Big slam by Sawai followed by a high-angle Boston crab. Sawai lands another slam and goes for a Vaderbomb but Hokuto dodges and lands her counter spinkick. And then another. Sawai bails to ringside but Hokuto dives onto her with a somersault plancha. After a long struggle in a corner Sawai lands a shotgun dropkick and goes for another Vaderbomb. This time Hokuto gets her feet up but Sawai fires back with a tilt-a-whirl slam for two. Hokuto avoids another diving splash and lands what looks like a low-angle German suplex. Hokuto follows with another normal German and a diving dropkick for two. Hokuto attempts a Northern Lights Bomb. Sawai counters with a Fujiwara armbar. Hokuto escapes another powerbomb and lands her new finisher which is called Witchcraft for two. NLB connects. Two-count. Hokuto tries again. Sawai small packages her for two. A second NLB connects. Hokuto gets the three-count to advance.

Winner after 11:08: Akira Hokuto

Review: ***1/4 Solid back-and-forth match with Sawai dominating early and Hokuto fighting from underneath in the end. Sawai did her job as the bigger powerhouse well enough and created enough of a roadblock to make Hokuto into something of an underdog. By overpowering Hokuto early they created this story where Hokuto’s status as the favorite to win the tournament became not so clear. She had to overpower a much bigger opponent despite being blindsided early so she threw some vicious finishers whenever and wherever she could. For a match just over ten minutes long this was fun and action-packed.

Match #16: VTOP Woman Tournament First Round Match: Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota

Background: Manami Toyota & Aja Kong! These two have had several classics over the years but this one is BY FAR their most famous. It’s arguably the most emblematic match of the 1990s AJW style and was many fans’ – myself included – introduction to 1990s joshi. This is also the pair’s first singles match in over two years.

The Match: Toyota hits a running dropkick to Kong as soon as the bell rings. Kong reverses an Irish whip but Toyota reverses that into a Manami Roll/Yoshi Tonic powerbomb reversal for a one-count. Kong tries a superplex but Toyota a diving sunset Powerbomb for a 2.5-count. All of this happens within 24 seconds.

Toyota dives off the top rope but Kong suplexes her for another near-fall. Kong with a corner whip and a follow-through lariat followed by stiff kicks and a running shoulderblock. All for a bridging two-count. Kong grounds Toyota with a Boston crab and stomps on her back. Then Kong locks in a camel clutch and then sits back to arch Toyota backwards in a way that makes me think Toyota’s spine is actually made of rubber and not bone. Kong follows with more strikes to the small of Toyota’s back and a drop suplex but still Toyota kicks out of any covers.

Kong lands a slingshot backbreaker and then rolls back into a half crab. She then slingshots Toyota into the corner and then hits a vertical suplex and pins but Toyota bridges out again. Kong whips Toyota but Toyota lands on the top rope and hits a springboard crossbody. Toyota goes for another move off the top rope but gets kicked hard in the gut by Kong as she lands. Kong follows with a jumping piledriver but Toyota kicks out at two. Toyota reverses another Irish whip and hits a dropkick. She starts kicking but Kong does the monster no-sell and stiffs Toyota with two kicks of her own.

Kong elbows Toyota’s leg at the five-minute mark to stop her from kicking and then lands a superplex-style Jackhammer for a two-count. Kong applies another Boston crab but Toyota crawls to the ropes. Then Kong Dominator presses Toyota into a corner and hits a Vader body block. Dissatisfied, Kong carries Toyota onto her shoulder up the ramp and then hits a running Dominator slam that sees Toyota land on her head. But wait, there’s more. Kong wraps her in the ropes, runs up the ramp, and lands a huge running spear and nearly bisects Toyota in the process.

Back in the ring Toyota shrieks in horror as Kong spikes her with another piledriver for two. The crowd wakes up and chants Toyota’s name, impressed with her tenacity. Kong’s having none of this and lands a package piledriver but, of course, Toyota survives. Toyota ducks a clothesline and tries an abdominal stretch but Kong tosses her off. A waterwheel suplex gets Kong yet another near-fall. Kong goes to the top rope but Toyota plays possum and boots her to the floor. Then Toyota runs to the ropes, balances herself on the top rope, and lands a plancha to the floor. Then Toyota climbs back to the top rope and lands a diving shotgun dropkick to the floor.

Toyota places Kong on a table and dives onto it from the top rope but it’s a Japanese table so barely bends, much less breaks. In the ring Toyota lands a scoop slam/snap moonsault combo for a two-count. Kong breaks out of a German suplex and swings for an Uraken. Toyota blocks and lands a bridging Japanese Ocean Suplex for a very close two-count. Kong blocks another suplex and powers Toyota into a corner. Toyota charges but Kong ducks and lands a German of her own. Toyota tries the sane Manami Roll that she hit at the start but this time Kong counters into a one-shoulder powerbomb for another great near-fall.

Kong lands a second-rope splash but only gets two. Kong goes back up top but Toyota cuts her off…and spikes her with a back-to-back headscissor piledriver, a.k.a. a Victory Star Drop/ Backwards Frankentoyota. To this day that’s one of the most insane wrestling moves ever conceived…and it gets a two-count.

Toyota tries the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex but Kong blocks. She goes for another moonsault but Kong kicks her away mid-dive. Toyota blocks a superplex and lands another diving shotgun dropkick to the back of Kong’s head. Toyota tries a dive but Kong cuts her off. Toyota tries the sunset bomb reversal like before but this time Kong holds on and then lands a Yokozuna-style Banzai Drop. How Toyota’s chest didn’t cave in from that God only knows. Toyota kicks out again (because of course she does) and lands on her feel following a Backdrop attempt so Kong drills her with an Uraken. But that’s still not enough so Kong has to bust out the big guns with her own take on a Steiner Screwdriver! That’s enough to get the three-count and advance to the next round of the tournament.

Winner after 17:17: Aja Kong

Review: ***** This match was and is absolutely insane. It’s a nonstop war filled with some of the most vicious high-impact bombs you’ll ever see. Toyota and Kong were perfect opponents for one another with their tried-and-tested David versus Goliath dynamic on full display. Toyota rushed Kong hoping for an early lead but Kong just decimated her and spent 2/3 of the match wearing her down. Toyota persevered like an unyielding babyface and threw everything she had at Kong. This forced both women to go as far as possible with some of the wildest and most dangerous moves ever seen, including a Victory Star Drop that is still too ludicrous to be used stateside.

This is one of the few instances where Dave Meltzer’s hyperbole wasn’t all that farfetched. He used the term “years ahead of their time” a lot to describe these women. Hell, this match was so influential that even Kenny Omega, considered in some circles to be the best wrestler in modern times, was inspired by and copied some of the stuff seen here:

“When I’d lost faith in wrestling it was these types of joshi matches that made me feel excitement for the sport again. Why couldn’t the men replicate that passion? It wasn’t until mid-2016 I think I was able to allow myself to empty my heart and soul into a match like Toyota and Kong and use that in conjunction with my ability to do what I’ve been doing.” – Kenny Omega in Chris Charlton’s book ‘Eggshells’

What’s perhaps most impressive about this – aside from all the balls-to-the-wall wrestling insanity between the bells – is that these women actually pulled a good reaction out of the crowd. Keep in mind that this match took place around seven hours into the show. Even the most stereotypical polite Japanese fans were probably getting tired at this point and were probably groaning internally with the prospect of having to make any sort of noise. Yet these women impressed them so much that their action overtook any sense of fans’ discomfort or exhaustion. It was like pulling teeth to get a reaction yet this crowd cheered these women loudly and passionately enough to both overcome their own exhaustion and the Tokyo Dome’s bad, wrestling-unfriendly acoustics. It takes a lot to do that so these women deserve all the praise and attention. Highest recommendation possible!!

Match #17: VTOP Woman Tournament First Round Match: Kyoko Inoue vs. Dynamite Kansai

Background: Kyoko is a somewhat heavyset AJW veteran with a penchant for creativity and crazy moves. Despite her big stature she’s no monster; with her loud colors, warm face paint, and love of dancing and playing to the crowd, she’s as babyface as it gets, even if her moves are impactful as hell. Then there’s Dynamite Kansai who looks like a power ranger with a butch haircut but make no mistake, she’s a damn killer who won’t hesitate to copy Hotta and aim for kicks to the face.

The Match: Strike exchange to start. The action spills onto the elevated entrance ramp with Kyoko hitting a springboard back elbow and a giant swing on the ramp. Kyoko attempts her modified Romero Special on the ramp but the ref demands they return to the ring. Once there Kansai escapes a suplex and lands a clothesline for two. Kansai applies a chinlock and then wraps Kyoko through the ropes. Kansai kicks Inoue’s chest and lands a nasty elbow drop to the sternum for two. Another long chinlock ends with a ropebreak. Kyoko fights to her feet and trades strikes with Kansai until Kansai counters with a sidewalk slam. Kansai applies an armbar but Kyoko gets a ropebreak. Kyoko hits another springboard back elbow to counter an Irish whip. She tries applying her modified Romero special but Kansai resists with all her might so Kyoko does a normal Romero stretch instead. Kyoko follows with a modified deathlock but Kansai answers with a low sweep and a sharpshooter. Kyoko gets a ropebreak so Kansai locks in an STF. Another ropebreak leads to a corner lariat from Kansai. Kyoko ducks another corner lariat but Kansai still drops her for two. Kyoko lands a counter lariat out of nowhere followed by a run-up diving back elbow for two. Both women stiff each other with strikes and both go down. The action spills to ringside with both women being launched into the barricade and more clotheslines. Kyoko lands a diving dropkick in the ring and goes for a powerbomb but Kansai escapes and lands a high kick. Another exchange ends with Kansai dropping Kyoko with yet another lariat. Splash Mountain Bomb connects. 2.5-count. Kansai attempts an avalanche Splash Mountain. Kyoko blocks and hits a diving back elbow for two. An elbow exchange ends with Kyoko landing a random headscissor takedown for a near-fall. Northern lights suplex. Two-count. Run-up avalanche belly-to-belly by Kyoko. Two-count. Kyoko fails her first attempt at a Niagara Driver but succeeds the second time. Two-count. Modified STF. Kansai gets a ropebreak. Kansai escapes another Niagara Driver attempt and lands another low sweep. Stiff shots to the head from both women. Another corner struggle. Kansai maneuvers into position and lands an avalanche Splash Mountain. One, two, three! Kansai advances to the next round.

Winner after 17:38: Dynamite Kansai

Review: **** Great match with more of the same joshi craziness. It was fast-paced craziness top-to-bottom, your typical 1990s AJW MOVEZ match but with a constant tension and, unlike much of the undercard, a sense of focus. It didn’t get too chaotic or directionless at any point and both women complemented each other more often than not. Though it wasn’t as great as the match that preceded it, these two women didn’t fare all that badly given that they had to follow historic greatness.

Match #18: Hikari Fukuoka (JWP) & Megumi Kudo FMW) vs. Cutie Suzuki (JWP) & Takako Inoue (AJW)

Background: This was billed as a match between the four prettiest women in joshi or something like that. Takako and Cutie fit that bill perfectly but Kudo was something of a surprise: not only was she pretty but she was also half-crazy given what she did in FMW. Longstanding rumors that continue into the present suggest that many women were straight-up afraid of wrestling her so let’s see how she fares here.

The Match: Fukuoka and Suzuki shake hands but Kudo and Inoue do not. The match starts with mayhem as the bell rings. There’s a double clothesline on Suzuki followed by a running neckbreaker. Kudo & Fukuoka hit double-team moves on Suzuki but then Suzuki escapes another, only for Inoue to accidentally dropkick her own partner. Fukuoka dives onto Suzuki with a plancha to the floor while the other two women brawl elsewhere. Back in the ring Fukuoka lands a flying crossbody for a one-count and tags Kudo.

Suzuki lands some facecrushers and tags Inoue, who quickly lands a Tombstone Piledriver with knees to Kudo’s face. Kudo gets choked through the ropes and then Inoue carries her around in the Tombstone position around the entrance ramp and eventually spikes her a second time. Inoue gets worked over for a while with a camel clutch and a DDT. Suzuki continues targeting Kudo’s head and neck for a while but then when Inoue tags in Kudo lands a counter neckbreaker drop. Kudo and Fukuoka do the same double-team moves on Inoue as were done to her earlier and then Fukuoka tags in with a diving dropkick. Some amateur matwork ensues and Inoue bitchslaps Fukuoka.

A butterfly suplex gets a one-count so Suzuki tags back in. Suzuki works a sleeper for a long time and tags Inoue. A Doomsday Device gets two and then Fukuoka blocks a German so both women hit a double DDT on her. Fukuoka escapes a corner move and does a rolling cradle for two. a diving moonsault gets Fukuoka another near-fall so she tags Kudo who runs into a sudden chokeslam from Inoue. Suzuki tags back in and lands a diving foot stomp for two. Another complex sequence ends with a bridging dragon suplex for another close call. Kudo counters another dragon suplex with a Diamond Cutter and takes both of her opponents down singlehandedly. Fukuoka tags in and lands what looks like a swinging gutwrench powerbomb for two. Suzuki with a sudden bridging German for another near-fall. Inoue and Suzuki attempt another Doomsday Device but Fukuoka dodges via victory roll for two. Fukuoka with a counter sunset flip and another near-fall.

Kudo tags in, avoids a suplex from Inoue, but eats a diving dropkick to the back of the head from Suzuki. Inoue gets two of a bridging back suplex so she goes to the top rope. Fukuoka holds her in place but then Suzuki interferes leading to some kind of slam out of the corner for Inoue that, of course, gets two. Inoue lands a jumping knee strike for another near-fall. Kudo counters a sequence with a Perfect-Plex for two. Kudo dodges an attack from Suzuki and turns it into what looks like a Stretch Plum but Suzuki continues targeting her. Suzuki continues fighting the women one-on-two and lands a bridging Tiger Suplex for two. Suzuki and Inoue continue double-teaming Kudo with long-range attacks yet Kudo keeps kicking out. Kudo counters another suplex into a victory roll but Inoue kicks out. Fukuoka holds Suzuki on the ropes as Kudo hits two Tiger Driver ‘91s in a row followed by a ‘standard’ Tiger Driver to get the pin.

Winners after 14:03: Hikari Fukuoka & Megumi Kudo

Review: *** Crazy, chaotic mess of a match. There was little in the way of structure here just moves, moves, and more moves. Though that was physically impressive the match just felt like action for its own sake without much in the way of story or hook. It was a filler match that had so much happening but I think they lost the plot at one point with interference galore and a blatant disregard for any tag rules. But if pure unpredictability’s your thing then this match had enough of that to go around.

Match #19: SATO, Shiryu & The Great Sasuke vs. Gran Naniwa, Jinsei Shinzaki & Super Delfin

Background: Michinoku Pro-Wrestling (MPW) had a working relationship with one of the joshi promotions so this was a trade-off for that.

The Match: Naniwa and Shiryu spent the first minute playing with the crowd with Naniwa doing low-rent versions of Hulk Hogan’s famous poses. Shiryu does a quick arm drag and does some flips to show off his athleticism. Naniwa lands the next arm drag and does his crab taunt. Naniwa applies a hammerlock but Shiryu escapes and does Naniwa’s crab taunt. A decent technical chain ends in a stalemate. SATO and Shinzaki tag in and trade shoulderblocks until Shinzaki press slams SATO. They trade strikes back-and-forth until SATO teases a running dive to the floor, only for him to fake Shinzaki out and land in the ring instead.

Delfin and Sasuke tag in next and Delfin lands a dropkick followed by a corner body press. Sasuke hits back with a corner back flip but then Delfin shuts him down with a sick spinning Atlantida backbreaker. Delfin teases a dive onto the ramp but Sasuke’s teammates stop him. Naniwa and Shiryu tag back in and they to a criss-cross that ends with another Atlantida countered into an armdrag. Naniwa hits a bulldog followed by a backbreaker and then does his second-rope crabwalk elbow drop. Each time Shiryu tries rolling away, Naniwa just keeps going, until Shiryu trips him off the ropes.

Delfin and SATO come in and have another extensive criss-cross with lots of quick tosses, flips, and spinning, which ends in another backbreaker variant. Delfin rolls to the floor and since this is MPW rules someone else enters the match without tags, because, sure, why not. Shinzaki throat thrusts Sasuke but Sasuke hits back with a wheel kick, sending Shinzaki to the floor. Shinzaki stalls but then lands his version of Old School. Shiryu and Naniwa tag in and have yet another high-speed exchange. We get some comedy/slapstick two-on-one sequences that pop the crowd.

Shiryu dropkicks Delfin to ringside and teases a dive but Delfin poses with a woman at ringside. SATO tags in and manages to handle Delfin and Naniwa by himself with more slapstick comedy spots. Shinzaki tries to stop him but ends up splashing his partners which leads to a short argument and some bowing. Amazingly this shtick is actually getting consistent reactions from the audience.

Naniwa and Delfin double-team Shiryu and then triple-team him by stomping on his crotch while the referee is distracted. Naniwa with an airplane spin and then Shinzaki hits a dropkick/spinebuster combo into a Boston Crab. Delfin stands on Shiryu’s head and then applies a camel clutch. Then both of his partners come in and do the same thing and then Shinzaki hits a dropkick. Delfin locks in a sharpshooter and then hits multiple armbreakers from the apron. This starts off serious but soon turns into more comedy as he does the same spot to SATO. Then he does the same to his partner Naniwa unknowingly as everyone claps along. Naniwa gets pissed pulls an Eric Cartman but then falls on his face on the entrance ramp. Delfin and Naniwa hug and apparently kiss, which brings them all back to the ring.

Delfin and Naniwa try more double-team spots but Delfin hits Naniwa by accident. Chaos erupts as some dives to the floor get broken up, leaving Shinzaki in the ring with Shiryu. Shinzaki hits a chokeslam followed by a double spinebuster alongside Delfin into a double arm-and-leg hold. Then Sasuke and SATO get involved and add leglocks to this situation and Naniwa crab walks in a circle around them. Just what the fuck. Naniwa crawls through to cover but only gets two. Team Sasuke all hit simultaneous Frankensteiners for some near-falls. That’s followed with coordinated dives to the floor. In the ring Delfin hits a tornado DDT followed by a majistral cradle. More interruptions lead to double dropkicks and both Shiryu & SATO diving to the floor. Naniwa and Sasuke duke it out in the ring until Sasuke hits a moonsault press and then a Thunder Fire Powerbomb for the three-count to win the match.

Winners after 21:45: Kaientai (SATO & Shiryu) & The Great Sasuke

Review: ***1/2 A lighthearted comedy match meant to bring down the crowd after the intensity of the women’s tournament first round. This whole match was clearly played for laughs with plenty of random slapstick action and complete mayhem from start to finish. Some of the sequences were cool and innovative but they were all wrapped in this silly presentation that made it clear this wasn’t meant to be taken seriously. It was just acrobatic nonsense with Japanese-style comedy and honestly some of it was genuinely funny so at least it served its purpose. The only problem is it went way too long on an already exhausting marathon of a show. They could’ve shaved off a good five minutes and this would’ve been much more palatable.

Match #20: VTOP Woman Tournament Semi-Final Match: Akira Hokuto vs. Combat Toyoda

The Match: Hokuto comes out dressed as a kijo/onibaba once again but this time she’s in all pink. Toyoda wastes no time slapping Hokuto and the fight is on. Hokuto answers with a spinkick followed by a handspring kick to send Toyoda ringside. Then Hokuto hits a somersault plancha to the floor and the crowd pops bigtime. Toyoda sells for a bit but the moment she enters the ring and Hokuto rushes her she counters with a ludicrously high-angle Backdrop suplex and dumps Hokuto right on her head. Toyoda follows with a barrage of single-leg dropkicks and lands a sick torture rack into a one-shoulder powerbomb for a two-count. This is one reason I love watching these old matches: just when you think you’ve seen all sort of moves these wrestlers surprise you with something else.

Toyoda goes for an avalanche Backdrop but Hokuto escapes via sunset bomb for a two-count. She kicks out of a bridging northern light suplex so Hokuto tries the Northern Lights Bomb but Toyoda escapes and press slams Hokuto to the floor. Toyoda bring a Japanese table into the ring as Hokuto slowly makes her way back. Toyoda slams it onto Hokuto from overhead, spikes her with a Ligerbomb, sets her onto the table and goes for a dive. Hokuto dodges the dive and Toyoda skims the edge of the table and hurt her leg while doing so. This allows Hokuto to hit a Northern Lights Bomb for the pin and the win.

Winner after 5:47: Akira Hokuto

Review: **3/4 Fun for a match that barely went over five minutes. These two women just destroyed each other with a small handful of big moves and high-risk spots. It was a sprint with big bombs and what looked like a botch table dive that didn’t work as intended. Still, they packed plenty of cool-looking action into such a short period. If instead of being lost on this card this match was some sort of televised match meant to advertise or summarize both women then it would’ve been perfect in that setting. Here, though, it’s a bit forgettable in comparison to everything else.

Match #21: VTOP Woman Tournament Semi-Final Match: Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai

Oh God, these two are going to beat the shit out of each other.

The Match: They go for a knuckle lock but Kong hits first with a surprise Uraken. Kansai backs off and then both women hit simultaneous lariats. Kong gets up first and kicks Kansai as hard as she can. Kansai blocks a corner lariat and hits one of her own for a two-count. She stomps on Kong’s head before locking in a sharpshooter and then returns the favor with more kicks when Kong powers out. Kansai with a heel hook but Kong gets a ropebreak. Kansai applies a Fujiwara armbar on Kong’s Uraken arm. Kong powers out of a front facelock with a suplex but Kansai goes back to the arm with a cross armbreaker. Kong powers out but Kansai sweeps the leg. Kansai goes from a camel clutch to a piledriver to a two-count to a dragon sleeper. Kong counters into an armbar and after a long struggle releases the hold and lands a second-rope splash for a two-count.

Kong applies a chickenwing hold and then places Kansai upside down in a corner. She goes for a Vader body block but Kansai dodges it and goes for a dive. Kong blocks and lands three Backdrop suplexes for more near-falls. Kong goes to the top rope but Kansai cuts her off. Kansai goes for a top-rope Splash Mountain but Kong blocks with an Uraken. Kansai dodges a diving back elbow and punts Kong in the side of the head, only for Kong to hit back. Both women go down.

Kansai gets up first and Kong avoids a loss by knock-out at the count of seven. Kansai lands more kicks and tries a knock-out victory again. Kong almost falls at the count of nine but gets up by using the ropes. Kansai struggles to lift Kong up but manages a second time and spikes her with the Splash Mountain bomb. One, two, Kong kicks out. Kansai charges but runs into another Uraken. Kansai gets up at seven so Kong fires up with shoteis and forearms. Another Uraken drops Kansai but she gets up at nine. Kansai blocks the next Uraken and hits a Backdrop of her own for a two-count. Kong hits yet another Uraken to stop Kansai from diving and hits an avalanche waterwheel suplex for another two-count. She lands a diving back elbow but that gets a near-fall as well. Diving double-stomp by Kong. Another two-count. Kansai blocks the suplex that Kong used on Toyota earlier and sweeps the leg. She lands more kicks to Kong’s face but misses some others. Kansai blocks two Urakens but can’t avoid the next two. Kong covers but gets another two-count. Another final Uraken gets Kong the three-count! Aja Kong advances to the finals of the tournament.

Winner after 12:22: Aja Kong

Review: **** Another exciting and brutal match. It was pure hard-hitting chaos without much of a structure. Instead it was nonstop action, violence, and stiff striking. These two women tore into each other like they owed each other money with Kansai stiffing the shit out of Kong. I didn’t think anyone in joshi hit harder than Aja Kong yet Kansai gave her a run for her money. There was at least one point where Kansai looked like she toe kicked Kong right in the eye yet Kong didn’t even register it. What a beast. It came off as a struggle with both women throwing all they had from the start and not pulling any punches. If you like your wrestling action realistic, believable, and without any semblance of phoniness or staginess, this is the match for you.

It’s at this point that the show’s gargantuan length starts to have even more serious repercussions. Even the most patient and polite fans in attendance would’ve certainly been fidgeting in their seats at this point but there was also a heavily-enforced 10:30pm curfew for anyone who was under 18 years old in Tokyo. Additionally, some adult fans also had to leave to catch their last train or risk being stranded in downtown Tokyo until morning. This meant that thousands of people had to leave the show before it ended; not because they wanted to, but because they had to.

Match #22: WWF World Women’s Title Match: Alundra Blayze (c) vs. Bull Nakano

Background:Nakano and Blayze had a storied rivalry on WWF programming earlier in the year and it seems like Vince was comfortable in letting them work a big match in Japan where their style would actually be appreciated. Too bad it never took off from there…

The Match: Nakano comes out first with a relatively simple entrance save for her usual nunchaku display. Blayze comes out next in with a huge motorcade of bikers with the WWF Women’s (which she calls ‘Ladies’) Championship around her waist and Old Glory in her hands. They shake hands and the match begins. Nakano powers Blayze to the ropes for a clean break. On the next lock-up Blayze ducks down and lands some kicks. Nakano catches her leg, ducks an enzuigiri, and slams her down. An Irish whip chain ends in another slam. Nakano lands more power moves and lands a leg drop for a two-count, followed by a big chop for two once again. Nakano works the legs and eventually locks in a bow-and-arrow hold. She sends Blayze across the ring but Blayze handsprings onto the apron and hotshots Nakano on the top rope. Those leg holds meant nothing.

Nakano blocks a diving dropkick and choke-tosses Blayze from the top rope. She gets a two-count off a piledriver and beats Blayze down for a bit until Blayze sends her into the bottom turnbuckle. Big boot by Nakano into a chinlock followed by a hairpull slam. Nakano with a vertical suplex for another two-count and another chinlock. Blayze kicks Nakano’s head and reaches the ropes with her foot but Nakano lands a big slam for another near-fall. Blayze suddenly slips out and begins her comeback out of nowhere. A trio of running neckbreakers get her a two-count. She goes for a piledrover but Nakano counters into an Alabamaslam followed by a Bull’s Poseidon submission hold. She lets go because she’s pulling hair but then she applies a hangman’s choke in a corner followed by a falling facecrusher for another two-count.

Nakano hits both a draping DDT and a suplex/impaler DDT for more two-counts. Blayze stops her from diving but Nakano stops a superplex. Nakano misses a diving leg drop but still kicks out of a bridging German suplex at two. Blayze tries a flying kick out of the corner but doesn’t get all of it so she hits some roundhouses and a moonsault splash for two. Nakano blocks another German and lands some sort of Scorpion Death Drop followed by some kind of Alabama faceplant. Then she slams Blayze and hits the guillotine legdrop from the top rope for the pin, the win, and the title!

Winner and NEW WWF World Women’s Champion after 9:27: Bull Nakano

Review: **1/2 Solid but decidedly average at the same time. It was the kind of match one would expect of mid-1990s WWF for better or worse with lots of solid action but minimal heat or story. Despite some cool moves mostly from Nakano this just didn’t reach that higher level. It was presented as a break in the tournament and came off as such, for better or worse.

Match #23: VTOP Woman Tournament Final Match: Akira Hokuto vs. Aja Kong

They pull out all the stops for the final entrances as both Kong and Hokuto enter from elevated platforms as smoke billows from the stage. As for Hokuto she’s back to her white onibaba look. During ring intros Kong respectfully places her WWWA World Single title belt in the middle of the ring without ever breaking eye contact. Both women slap each other once and then shake hands. They’re making sure they’re getting the absolute best out of each other.

They lock-up and Kong gets a clean break on the ropes. Kong overpowers Hokuto with a knuckle lock so Hokuto quickly switches to a Tiger Suplex. Hokuto goes for a spinkick but Kong catches her leg and hits a Backdrop suplex. Kong follows with a running corner lariat and a scoop slam for two. She almost chokes Hokuto with a deep chinlock and then does an overhead double chokelift slam followed by an elbow drop for two once more.

Hokuto gets a ropebreak to escape another chinlock so Kong hotshots her throat-first onto the top rope from her shoulders. Kong gets a two-count off a vertical suplex but Hokuto counters the next suplex attempt with an armbar. Hokuto transitions into a crossface but Kong powers out and throws her down. After a stalemate Hokuto starts working Kong’s leg but Kong brushes her off and then the two women trade slaps. Kong wins this exchange and lands a jumping piledriver for a two-count. Both women end up in simultaneous heel hooks until Kong overpowers Hokuto with a half crab. Kong switches to an STF and kicks Hokuto’s leg. She goes back to the half crab and when Hokuto gets another break Kong dumps her to the floor. Feeling confident, Kong decides to risk everything with a topé through the ropes. She misses Hokuto and touches the ropes during her dive, completely fucking her knee in the process. Hokuto takes advantage with another somersault plancha from the top rope to regain control.

The action stops as Kong groans and whimpers in severe pain. She can be heard crying as the ref and officials use cold spray and tape up her knee so that she can continue. Whether she’s gutsy or crazy is a matter of opinion but ultimately she decides to continue. The ill effects of that injury are seen immediately as she can’t even enter the ring under the bottom rope properly. Hokuto then shows the true meaning of wrestling storytelling as she gives no quarter and kicks Kong’s injured knee right away. Kong gets back in and Hokuto puts her in a heel hook instantly. Even with all the heavy padding and the fact that it’s likely a worked hold must mean nothing to someone whose nerves are shot and so Kong must still be in excruciating pain.

Kong actually whimpers as Hokuto stands on her leg using the ropes for assistance and then locks in a sharpshooter. I’ve never seen Kong rush to the ropes as fast as she did here. Hokuto tries other leglock variants and each one makes Kong scream in a way that clearly does not sound like wrestler selling. For someone who was billed as a monster it’s impossible to not feel sympathy or pity for her situation. Hokuto’s reluctant to let go following another ropebreak and so she lands a somewhat poorly-done Northern Lights Bomb followed by a second one that looks much better. But despite all of this Aja Kong still kicks out.

Kong hits a desperation Uraken to create some space and punches her own leg to fire herself up. It’s a bit of a tough sell because she can still be heard panting and almost hyperventilating like a frightened child or someone experiencing an anxiety attack. Still she hobbles over and tries a vertical suplex but it doesn’t work as intended due to Kong’s lack of power and control. Undeterred she fights on and drops Hokuto with her own finisher for a two-count.

Trying to show people more of her will to fight, Kong goes for a second-rope diving head-butt and misses, damaging her knee even further. The referee keeps asking her if she wants to keep going and she says something along the lines of ‘don’t stop things’. Hokuto goes after her right away and hits another special finisher called Witchcraft which is some sort of arm-trap high-angle Backdrop suplex. Because, screw your neck, apparently. Yet that move only gets a two-count and Kong seems to be more bothered by Hokuto hooking the bad leg on the pin than the finisher.

Hokuto starts going for top-rope dropkicks but on the second one Kong kicks her in midair with her bad leg. Kong tries a superplex but Hokuto counters with a diving chokeslam. A northern lights suplex gets a two-count so Hokuto goes for a heel hook and Kong rushes to the ropes to stop it. A tense standoff ends with another Uraken and Backdrop from Kong. A follow-up Uraken ends with a ropebreak. Hokuto dodges another Uraken and lands a crucifix sunset flip for a one-count. That’s followed by three Northern Lights Bombs in a row. Hokuto covers and gets the three-count to win the match and the tournament.

Winner of the VTOP Women’s Tournament after 20:24: Akira Hokuto

Post-match, the camera zooms in on Hokuto who has a vacant expression on her face. Rather than be elated that she won the tournament, her moment is somewhat overshadowed by Kong’s injury which renders Hokuto’s victory hollow as a result. However, seconds later Kong crawls over and hands Hokuto her WWWA title belt out of respect. Hokuto doesn’t accept it, but as part of winning the tournament she’s given a special title belt along with a big trophy and a gigantic check as the winner’s purse.

Hokuto cuts a promo putting over Kong and the camera cuts to Aja Kong and she’s bawling her eyes out. Then after getting her photo-op with her collection of winner’s prizes, Hokuto too is teary-eyed. Had she lost any match tonight she would’ve retired. Now that she has won she’s overcome with emotion, and in a surprising turn, despite being in the building for over ten hours, some 30,000 of the remaining fans give her a standing ovation that actually has passion behind it.

Review: **** A great match despite Kong’s injury almost derailing what was supposed to be Hokuto’s crowning moment. They wrestled a highly physical style and worked the injury into the match which was, depending on your point of view, incredibly tough or incredibly stupid. Either Kong was the toughest wrestler on the planet to allow Hokuto to work what was likely a legitimate injury or she was a bit too wrapped up in performance to risk further aggravation to it. Then again I suspect that the AJW style wasn’t one to ignore such obvious short cuts so Hokuto likely didn’t have the choice to pretend that injury wasn’t there for her to exploit. Either way this flipped the match’s dynamic around with Kong suddenly become a sympathetic babyface and in doing so she sort of overshadowed Hokuto’s own fight against time and injury. Inverted dynamic aside, this match was hard-hitting and they worked around the injury as best they could. Though it wasn’t as airtight as much of what preceded it, both women deserve plenty of respect for pulling such a match off and overcoming a serious injury as best they could.

In Conclusion

Overall: 6.5/10 Dear God, this was unnecessarily long. Just because you could put on a ten-hour show doesn’t mean that was a good idea. I get it, this was likely a one-time deal and the promoters wanted to get the most money out of being in such an enormous venue. But there’s a reason such an enormous and ambitious card hasn’t been done since: it was too long and had way too much filler. It could’ve been cut into two separate shows and there would’ve been plenty for both. But even if turning this into a two-day affair wasn’t possible they could’ve cut so much out. The first EIGHT matches were largely inconsequential and didn’t belong on a WrestleMania-level card. The MPW match should’ve been trimmed down since it went too long. You could discuss which matches to remove completely but that, naturally, would bring up political discussions over this person being on the card and not that one. Based on my own experience being stranded outside a gigantic arena with no taxis in sight unable to get home until the crack of dawn, I can only imagine how many thousands of people had to rough it that night and either sleep in capsule hotels or sleep wherever they could until the trains resumed.

All that being said, if you opt to skip 5-6 hours of utter filler and curate your experience to focus only on a select handful then you’ll be in for something truly great. The Kandori/Yamada tag match is the sole bright spot on the non-tournament undercard and it flirts with **** greatness as does the tournament opener between Toyoda and Hotta. Hokuto/Sawai was good for an eleven-minute match. Hokuto/Toyoda was fine. But even though the biggest star of the show was supposed to be Hokuto, the real MVP of the night was Aja Kong. Not only did she have two **** matches in one night and one ***** that is among the greatest matches you will ever see, but she continued her main-event match legitimately injured, fighting through indescribable pain, and in some ways stole the spotlight on Hokuto by out-babyfacing her on her big night, albeit unintentionally.

So if you’re daring enough to watch this show from start to finish I’ve got two links included below just in case one of them gets nuked by yet another copyright claim.

Thanks for reading.