Joshi Spotlight: The Japan Grand Prix 2001 (Part 2)

AJW- JAPAN GRAND PRIX (Part 2):
* It’s finally time for more Zenjo! I wouldn’t normally want to put a one month gap between Japan Grand Prix updates but I was behind on GAEA and I was behind in posting one week so had to do an ARSION column before I got to there show. The JGP is still ongoing, with the wrestlers only having a couple matches apiece so far! This review will have matches from two shows- first a tiny “AJW Garage” show featuring an embarrassingly tiny show in Zenjo’s own building, then a bigger July 7th show at Korakuen Hall, with a lot of all-out effort!

The Wrestlers:
Yumiko Hotta: Former Ace and currently a snide martial arts heel. (6 points- d. Fujii, Kayo, Nanae)
Manami Toyota: Former Ace and about to be reduced in push a LOT. (6 points- d. Kayo, Fujii, Mita)
Mima Shimoda: One half of LCO and a reliable “can pick up sneaky wins or just job” wrestler. (6 points- d. Mita, Kayo, Wakizawa)
Etsuko Mita: One half of LCO with a similar “can win or lose”. Her Death Valley Driver’s been reduced in credibility a lot lately, but she’s also gotten a bigger push as a singles. (2 points- d. Kumiko)
Kaoru Ito: The current Champion and top star. (4 points- d. Tomoko, Shimoda)
Tomoko Watanabe: Secondary babyface. “2nd tier” star. (4 points- d. Fujii, Hotta)
Kumiko Maekawa: Martial artist in the 2nd/3rd tier and never quite got the big push… yet. (8 points- d. Ito, Momoe, Shimoda, Tomoko)
Momoe Nakanishi: A pint-sized super-athlete tryhard type with a big following. Currently in the 3rd tier but is a tag champion. (4 points- d. Nanae, Manami)
Nanae Takahashi: Momoe’s lesser partner, and a bigger power wrestler. Slowly rising but needs to improve a lot. (4 points- d. Fujii, Mita)
Miho Wakizawa: Try-hard lower ranked wrestler. (4 points- d. Kumiko, Fujii)
Kayo Noumi: Lower-ranked wrestler & Wakizawa’s partner. Does great “broken doll” selling but low on the totem pole. (0 points)
Miyuki Fujii: Mega-jobber- “The Eternal Rookie”. (0 points)

* Notable circumstances include Nanae getting a shock win over Mita, Kumiko one over Kaoru Ito, and Momoe one over MANAMI. Flukes are fairly common in these things, of course, but it’s always an indication of who is being pushed. Kumiko in particular going over the Champion, Momoe, Shimoda AND Tomoko is a great sign.

JUNE 24th:

* This is filmed on a potato in a TINY garage. Like there looks to be barely 50 people here in a room that couldn’t possibly hold more. This is is actually Zenjo’s own building, meaning they save on rental fees if anything else. The idea is these are called “AJW Garage Shows” and a recurring feature now. This is so poorly shot the matches are almost un-reviewable.

KAORU ITO & MIKA NISHIO vs. MOMOE NAKANISHI & KAYO NOUMI:
* Ito takes the rookie, her polar opposite on the card, against two rising stars.

Nishio takes the obvious beating from her seniors, then Ito leads the attack on Kayo, letting Nishio get in some shots. But Kayo uses power (hee hee) to turn it back on Nishio and they take turns bullying her with hair whips and alternating a figure-four/running stomps combo, swapping spots. Ito USES THE ASS and uranages Momoe in preparation for their match in two weeks, and YIKES- Ito tries to suplex Momoe on the ropes but falls way short and nearly spikes her vertically. Momoe messes up something and they do the figure-four/stomps on HER, but she laughs off Noumi using an Ito specialty on herself. Ito gleefully no-sells Kayo’s stuff and avoids both girls’ finishers, but Momoe literally bites her on the ass to set up Kayo’s double-wrist armsault for two. Momoe accidentally missile kicks Kayo, setting up Ito’s powerbomb for two. Ito crushes her with a lariat for two, but misses a Flying Stomp and gets dumped- Nishio gets abused for a minute or two, taking Double Flying Headbutts, but Ito finally rushes in to stomp Kayo on the pin. But Momoe finally holds her down so Kayo can hit a Flying Splash for the pin at (16:42).

Rating: * (A mix of “rookie abuse” with “Ito & Momoe are trying but kinda sloppy at points” and “Ito gladly no-sells Kayo’s stuff”- SOME effort shown but not much)

JAPAN GRAND PRIX:
ETSUKO MITA (2 points) vs. MIHO WAKIZAWA (4 points): This is filmed on a potato and in some tiny gym. Wacky immediately charges in and gets powerbombed, then Mita no-sells a German & clobbers her for two. Mita hits a piledriver & ties her up in knots, then works the leg for a few minutes. Wacky comes back and there’s some awkward pauses as they interupt one another’s movements. Wacky gets a German but Mita counters a whip with the Blazing Chop… for THREE at (5:20)! lol what the hell was that? Five minutes and a transition move and we’re gone? Either she called an audible or they were like “fuck it- there’s 30 people here”.

Rating: 1/2* (wrestled very much like two people working a quickie match in front of 30 people in a small gym and wanting to GTFO quickly)

JULY 8th:

JAPAN GRAND PRIX:
TOMOKO WATANABE (4 points) vs. ETSUKO MITA (4 points): Tomoko by this point had beaten Miyuki Fujii & Yumiko Hotta in an upset. Mita gets the better of Tomoko outside the ring and tosses chairs. Mita gets a hangman’s choke in the corner, then slingshots Tomoko into a “choke” on the bottom rope (doesn’t work- she’s too short), but Tomoko manages a corner bulldog and smashes Mita’s knee with a chair twice- dragon screw! But we’re clipped to a Mita chairshot, only for Tomoko to hit her rana for two. Mita gets the Avalanche Electric Chair Drop! Been a while since we’ve seen THAT. Tomoko gets another dragon screw and uses a chair again, but Mita swings her into the DVD for three at (2:51 of 12:05 shown). Okay Tomoko kicked out at EXACTLY three there. Weird finish. Looked very energetic and fighty.

JAPAN GRAND PRIX:
MIHO WAKIZAWA (4 points) vs. KAYO NOUMI (0 points):
* MihoKayo EXPLODES! Noumi’s got no points yet but Wacky is always vulnerable. Wacky’s in yellow, Noumi’s in animal print & blue.

Noumi pressures Wacky with dropkicks, but Wacky gets her own running attacks to take the lead. Wacky hits a HUGE dive to the floor that looks like it kills Noumi… until the camera zooms into her face, which is clearly looking around and thinking about what to do next. Kayo hauls Wacky off the ring apron and does the same dive. Ironically, Wacky takes less of a crashing fall than Noumi does but appears to be legitimately hurt, as the ref doesn’t bother counting her out and instead makes Noumi wait it out. Wacky finally recovers and seems okay as Noumi takes the lead with a flying splash. Wacky Germans her off the second rope and gets her own splash, and the Perfect Plex gets two. Noumi counters another and rolls her up, but goes up and gets Super Frankensteinered off! She re-rolls Wacky for a close one (Wacky just sorta over-rotates and slides out) but misses another splash & a German gets two. Wacky hits the Fisherman’s Buster, but instead of going for the pin, builds her SmackDown! meter and goes for a second, getting rolled up. Noumi hits the double-wrist armsault for two but now Wacky rolls HER up on a second try, but goes up and Noumi hits an AVALANCHE Double-Wrist Armsault for the seated pin… two! Noumi is exhausted and nearly gets German’d as she calls for the finish, then gets clobbered in the head and Wacky finally gets the full Super Frankensteiner for two! Fisherman’s Buster ends it at (9:14 of 15:08 shown). Wait I thought Noumi won. I read cagematch wrong, lol.

Like Wacky’s entire career, it’s energetic and effort-laden but kinda messy, which is fine. Both acted desperate to win, and I liked that they kept repeating each other’s spots (fitting for a tag team). The kickouts of “sure thing” finishers was pretty wild, as they ramp up the “2.9 Wrestling” to showcase both performers. At least Wacky’s “sure thing” finish immediately led to the proper one. Noumi was a good bumper here, though her face always looked less “dazed” and more “okay, keep alert”. Wacky showed a lot of effort with her roaring comeback and attempts to build herself up (good things for a young wrestler).

Rating: *** (one of the better singles matches for either- building up the finishers as potential killers earlier in the match, doing super versions of them, etc.)

IDOL WRESTLER DOJO PART 1:
TAKAKO INOUE vs. MIKA NISHIO:
* So Takako’s thing of late has been demolishing rookies. Last time she crushed one without taking a single move. Now, staring daggers at the rookie in a gray Jobber Swimsuit, she’s probably gonna try the same. Commentary suggests Nishio is the next “Idol Wrestler”, hence Takako taking special glee in demolishing her- every time she fights a pretty girl, she acts like a mirror just told her the girl was fairer than Takako was.

Takako aggressively no-sells Nishio’s dropkicks and just dumps her to the floor for an ass-kicking, then laughs off her weak punches in return and hits a rookie move, the standing backdrop, to make a point. Takako demands the rookie hit more forearms, laughing them off again and bullying her with an STF. She steps on Nishio’s hand, then slaps her, then hits a slap off an Irish whip, flattening the poor kid, but Nishio’s able to kick out of the Backdrop Suplex Hold, drawing some applause. A close-up of her dazed face sets up the finish, as an annoyed Takako just charges in and boots her in the face for the pin (5:03). A fun little squash, Takako making hash out of the kid and easily absorbing everything, as you’d imagine a veteran vs. baby match would go. It’s funny seeing TAKAKO INOUE as a monster opponent but rookies in Japan are typically useless in the ring. Post-match, Takako: “You haven’t made any progress, have you?” But the rookie is defiant and shouts “Next time!”, leaving Takako stunned and pissed off.

Rating: * (a very fun one-sided match, with Takako bullying Nishio relentlessly, and the kid showing some good fire and perseverence even though she can’t get anything going)

The comparative states of these two.

JAPAN GRAND PRIX:
MANAMI TOYOTA (6 points) vs. MIMA SHIMODA (6 points):
* The Tokyo Sweethearts EXPLODE! The two are in the same stable, Shimoda doing her usual “shitass veteran who smirks at everyone beneath her” thing while Toyota’s supposed to be a heel but doesn’t seem to know how to act, just doing her usual routine but without “cheer for me!” taunts. Shimoda’s in pink, Toyota’s in that ugly black/red/green thing.

Toyota looks super different with short hair and a lighter dye-job.

Shimoda of course kicks her stable-mate in the ass before the bell and drags her to the floor and around Korakuen for the usual crowd-pleasing spots, like bashing her into the sign against the wall and yelling to the fans. Missile kick back in the ring leads to Manami’s roaring no-sell and she Germans Shimoda and hits a monster rolling cannonball dive to the floor. Moonsault gets two. Straightjacket German gets two. Shimoda counters the Cyclone Suplex but Manami nearly pins her by kneeling down on her. Shimoda hits a bunch of sloppy ax kicks to set up her Flying one for two, but goes for her Death Lake Driver (tiger superplex) and gets kncoked back, but dodges another Moonsault, then Manami sorta dodges the Flying Ax Kick. Both sell (the attack bonked Manami slightly and Shimoda kicks her from the ground), then they have a chat and still mess up what they were going to do (Manami grabbing a leg and Shimoda bumping late). But Manami cracks her with some slaps, then is like “LOL I GONNA USE HER CHAIR!” and probably doesn’t get the reaction she wanted. She pops Shimoda with it a couple times, then sits her in it and hits a missile dropkick to the back! Well that’s a new one. Manami then Moonsaults her holding the CHAIR, and hits the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex… for two? She can’t beat SHIMODA with a run of moves like that? She tries another and Shimoda slips out for a Tiger Suplex for two, then they start interrupting each other with punches & kicks until Shimoda counters another JOCS for a flash-pin, then they each counter each other until Shimoda slidesher into a crucifix… for three (7:05 of 18:52 shown)! SHIMODA BEATS TOYOTA! Except Manami’s right shoulder was obviously up the whole time. She grabs the ref’s hair for this and launches him across the ring in a good spot, haha.

You can really tell what Manami was thinking with this one. If she’s losing to a flash pin, she’s gonna get ALL her shit in beforehand, so she does all the typical “Cheer for ME!” stuff like undo cheating, do “I’ll show you!” spots, etc. She actually hits a really big run of moves here and oddly enough the crowd just seems DONE with her, barely caring at all. Obviously she’s the heel but even heelish LCO can still get good reactions at times- it’s bizarre seeing Manami grab LCO’s iconic chairs and do spots with them and get nothing, then boot Shimoda with it, hit that huge missile kick to the back, then a Chairsault… getting very little. Hitting three huge moevs in a row and not pinning Shimoda, then losing anyways… it was like Zenjo’s bookers were actively trying to tell her to leave.

Rating: **3/4 (these two are always fun together- wild and unpredictable, with Manami in Get My Shit In Mode and Shimoda being snarly as usual)

JAPAN GRAND PRIX:
KAORU ITO (4 points) vs. MOMOE NAKANISHI (6 points):
* Momoe’s been an upset machine, but now she’s going against the Champion. Momoe’s ring gear is simply atrocious, looking like some 1980s patchwork denim thing made into a skirt, while Ito’s in her “Bam Bam Bigelow” gear again.

Momoe starts off with her usual calm, careful tactics via an Orihara moonsault & run-up moonsault press, then they throw some SNUG elbows, Ito overpowering her, but Momoe FLIPPING over Ito’s hunched frame to score a bigger one, then German suplexing her when she tries another. haha, FANTASTIC. But Momoe’s too small to get shit going and gets thumped with a forearm and SLAMMED with a huge uranage. Ito does another and works her beloved half-crab (“Nakanishi’s lifeline, her speed, is taken away by this primitive wrestling move”), but when she tries to use speed, Momoe outdoes her, dropkicks her to the floor, and hits the run-up plancha. Momoe’s back is still hurting and Ito’s clever enough to backdrop her to the floor, but Momoe grabs a chair to halt a potential dive- CLEVER. Clipped to Momoe desperately hanging onto the metal corner stuff to avoid a German, so Ito releases, amused… then just charges in and LAUNCHES her. But she still overshoots a punch and gets German’d. Momoe signals her Dragon Suplex, but no dice- she tries a wheelbarrow jump but gets German’d out of THAT, but Manami rolls out of a powerbomb, then turns another attempt into another Dragon attempt- still no. Then Ito dodges a second run-up moonsault BUT NO IT WAS A TRICK, Momoe flipping behind her to land that Dragon Suplex! Naturally, it gets two. Momoe is looking TURBO wiped and she leaps, exhausted, into Ito’s arms for a rana but just gets spun into a buckle bomb. Yeah she’s done.

The fight and speed taken outta Momoe, she’s vulnerable to a big powerbomb. A tired Ito is super late on a pin- Monsoon would be all over that lax cover. Ito climbs to finish, but Momoe rolls away from the Stomp’s reach & knocks her to the floor, but misses a cannonball off the apron. She’s fading. Ito works the back with a camel clutch on the floor & buckle bombs her AGAIN. Momoe tries to hang onto the ropes to avoid more assaulting, but Ito works another half-crab, hyper-extending the leg as well. Momoe tries a last-ditch comeback but splats trying another run-up moonsault and Ito AGAIN crabs her, using both legs after crushing her with a senton (“This is the strength of a Champion”). Momoe finally makes the ropes, but her comeback are now so slow and loose that Ito’s easily able to counter her back, hitting a baseball slide & tope. A big powerbomb on the floor sets up one in the ring, but another slow, lax cover gets two as there’s 3 minutes left. Ligerbomb- Momoe brilliantly waves her arms around in a daze then JERKS one up at the last second. Ito’s like “Ok that’s enough” and FINALLY goes for her Flying Stomp (commentary’s been talking about her not having to resort to it yet), missing and getting wrapped up in Momoe’s Twisting Rana finisher for 2.9! Fans screamed for that one. Ito goes for the reliable powerbomb again but this time Momoe Twisting Ranas her out of THAT for two, but she tries one too many times and gets Ligerbombed again for two. Ito tries the Stomp again, missing and taking a sunset flip powerbomb off the second rope, then another Twisting Rana. 30 seconds. Ito keeps countering stuff and finally lariats the crap out of her for two, the Flying Footstomp FINALLY hits… and Time’s Up at (17:09 of 30:00 shown). It’s a draw! Every JGP has at least ONE.

A GREAT example of “styles make fights”, as Momoe uses speed and agility to dominate the first ten minutes, but Ito slowly works over her legs and back to mess her up, robbing her of speed and turning it into “oh, how will Momoe survive this?”. She looks agonized as she sells big, making Ito look like a merciless monster and a dragon to be slain. Ito only has herself to blame for the draw, of course- she HAD IT but kept doing the predictably “Slow, steady” thing and taking her time with covers until it was too late- like she got overconfident and was so assured of her eventual victory that when the time came she couldn’t get it done. They ended up relying on the “Momoe kicks out of EVERYTHING” a tad much (I never like seeing floor powerbombs followed up by like 4-5 moves and have a dramatic kickout out of ALL of them- if I bitch about it in AEW I gotta bitch about it here), but at least they saved the Flying Stomp for the very end and “protected” it by having time be over anyways. The booking was perfect, though- have Ito mercilessly tear her apart, Momoe survive everything thrown at her but being likely to fall eventually, but she ekes out a point anyways. After all the sudden wins she’s picked up she was bound to falter against SOME veteran, and it might as well be the Ace.

Rating: ***3/4 (a great example of how good both have become)

July 17th sees Manami (8) beat Nanae, tying the overall lead. On July 20th, Kaoru Ito (7) defeats Fujii, but Kumiko Maekawa (10) BEATS YUMIKO HOTTA, taking the lead. The next day, Ito (9) beats Kayo Noumi. Then Noumi (2) finally gets on the board, beating Nanae Takahashi (probably the safest person to “fluke” defeat). Next night, Momoe (9) beats Kayo, then Wakizawa (7) & Nanae (5) fight to a draw. Tomoko (6) beats Wakizawa the night after that.

And that’s it for Part 2! Part 3 will feature a slightly bigger show, and appear next week. It has a one-night AJW Title Tournament and Takako vs. Nishio Part 2!