Joshi Spotlight: Odaiba W Explosion (Day One)

AJW ODAIBA W EXPLOSION 2001 SUPER LIVE 2 DAYS (Day One):
(Sept. 15th & 16th)
* This is a two-show set from Odaiba Island, where ATHENA TV holds Zenjo tapings! This one features a Manami Toyota/Takako Inoue vs. Yumiko Hotta/Mima Shimoda match that sets up a Las Cachorras Orientales vs. Hotta/Toyota match the next night, AND features a big WWWA Tag Title Defense from Tomoko Watanabe & Nanae Takahashi, as they defend against the up & coming youth squad, Miho Wakizawa & Kayo Noumi! Except Wacky’s retiring in three months! Also Rie Tamada returns from ARSION for one night to team with Kumiko Maekawa against Momoe Nakanishi & Miyuki Fujii!

ZENJO GARAGE SHOW:
(Aug. 19th)
* This is a pair from the Zenjo Garage. These were apparently free shows that they’d do for fun for the loyalist fans, and have about as much effort as you’d guess.

YUMIKO HOTTA vs. KAYO NOUMI:
* This is REALLY badly shot. Hotta naturally won’t sell for the kid, but allows her to get offense, looking bored as she’s stretched. Hotta finally smacks her with an elbow and boots her around, ending with a butterfly suplex. She lazily works holds and dumps Kayo, then actually walks away from the corner so Kayo can’t hit a flying move. She finally gets a plancha and some other flying moves, then tries rollups but Hotta gets the world’s clunkiest inside cradle for the pin at (8:34).

Rating: DUD (just incredibly lazy and slow, mostly sitting around in holds or Hotta being like “yeah do whatever, kid”)

MANAMI TOYOTA & KUMIKO MAEKAWA vs. KAORU ITO & TOMOKO WATANABE:
* This would actually be a big match if this was in a “give a shit” building.

Manami & Kumiko attack to start, but the babyfaces fire back on the latter- Ito sits on Kumiko’s butt a while but Tomoko eats the Pump Kick. Manami gets beaten up (funny bit as she tries her “no-sell” spot but Tomoko just pushes her over). Manami restholds Ito but takes two uranages & two Tomoko judo flips, then a figure-four while Ito fires of Stomp Spam on her. Restholdamania continues with nearly everyone ending up in one. Tomoko hits two dragon screws but OH MY GOD Ito just sits on Kumiko’s butt again. oh the half-crabs, lol. Manami misses a moonsault and runs into Tomoko’s lariat for two. Manami does a flip bump off a lariat (!) and the Manami Roll for two, Kumiko eats a German but gets a pump kick on Tomoko, who slingshots onto both opponents (commentary calls out how bad that looked- “I guess timing is important after all”). Kumiko does her great “backswing kick” catch on Ito for two but gets powerbombed. She manages a rolling kick but Tomoko “hits” her with the world’s softest lariat, then Manami hits a plancha as time ticks down, and her Moonsault hits just as Time Expires at (15:07 of 20:00).

Rating: 1/2* (just the funniest resthold-filled match. They’d do 1-2 cool things and then right back to a half-crab or camel clutch. I fast-forwarded the SHIT out of this one, haha- not worth watching)

ODAIBA W EXPLOSION (DAY ONE):
(Sept. 15th 2001)

* So it’s the first of a two-night show! I’ll split it up into two reviews as the second night has at least two REALLY long matches as well. We miss Kayoko Haruyama beating Mika Nishio in (10:43), and two of these matches are IMMENSELY clipped.

MOMOE NAKANISHI & MIYUKI FUJII (AJW) vs. RIE TAMADA (ARSION) & KUMIKO MAEKAWA (AJW): A clipped one sees ARSION bring in Tamada to her old haunt. She works a cobra twist on Momoe, setting up Kumiko’s Pump Kick for two. Rie’s stunner sets up Kumiko’s Powerbomb for two. Clipped to Fujii eating the Doomsday Device dropkick as Momoe Supermans in to save, then Fujii kicks out after the roundhouse to the head. Fujii comes back with flash-pins but can’t get the legs hooked, and Momoe accidentally missiles her. Rie’s Tornado DDT sets up Kumiko’s rolling kick for two- Momoe saves, but is held down by Rie so an Ax Kick finishes Fujii at (3:02 of 19:57 shown). Seemed spirited with some good Rie/Kumiko double-teams, like Rie was fighting for some recognition. That’s an IMMENSELY long match, though.

ZAP I vs. ETSUKO MITA: Just a one-minute clip. Both ZAPs (Ito & Tomoko as heels, remember) assault Mita with shinai while Mita uses a chair. ZAP I is not fucking around as she ANNIHILATES Mita with some brutal stick-shots to the forehead and stabs her with a fork, firing off a flying stomp and getting Disqualified at (0:35 of 15:26 shown) for bashing the ref with a stiff shot. Jesus, remind me not to piss off a masked Ito.

MANAMI TOYOTA & TAKAKO INOUE vs. YUMIKO HOTTA & MIMA SHIMODA:
* This is a weird one- nobody here is with a typical teammate (unless you could the old “Over The Idol” Tag League THE BEST squad the first team fielded) and it’s sorta like a partner-swap match done ten years after they were regular teams. Shimoda’s outfit is INSANE- a black two-piece with what looks like insulation carved up to make designs on it. Hotta has some garish white & black thing on, too. Toyota’s in black & Takako’s in blue.

Shimoda & Hotta squabble before the bell already and are attacked by the idols, things settling into Shimoda/Takako having a SPECTACULARLY uncoordinated fight in the ring until it’s time for beatings in the stands. Hotta & Toyota scrap on the ramp- Hotta gets to suplex both women on the ramp in good bumps and of course when it’s her turn takes the wussiest forward roll, haha. Toyota/Shimoda goes their usual way (ie. potato-adjacent facewatching and stretching each other’s faces out in restholds). Manami does her new “stretch their legs out” double-legdrop and missile kicks Shimoda around, then Shimoda & Takako do a really ugly bit with mistimed and whiffed kicks- Mima recovers with an ax kick for two. They trade punches, won by Takako’s uraken for two. Takako takes the falling clothesline but super-armdrags Shimoda off the top. Manami comes in but both take the falling clothesline, but Shimoda resists the tiger suplex and PLANTS her with a high-angle Straightjacket German on what looks like her head (but I’m told Mima specializes in neutralizing the impact with her toes, hence taking such a high arch). Naturally Manami follows this by dragging her around by the head, misses a moonsault and hits the Rolling Cradle to make her extra-dizzy. But Manami goes up again and gets dropped with the Death Lake Driver (tiger superplex) right into the Flying Ax Kick for two, then everyone fights to the floor again for Toyota’s mandatory ATHENA TV Plancha Off The Lighting Rig.

The Moonsault FINALLY hits, the pin stopped by Hotta flinging a LADDER at her, and Shimoda gets German’d to FINALLY bring Hotta into the ring. Hotta just starts throwing the ladder around to put the fight outta Manami, but gets it whipped into her own face during a charge. Hotta got her arm caught in it there, so Manami of course drops her weight plus the ladder onto the other shoulder from the top rope. But Hotta SWEEPS her down by pulling the ladder and catching her ankle, only to fail a top rope thing and eat the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex for two. Hotta magically recovers and starts beating Takako up, but Takako knocks Hotta into a theatrical bump that “accidentally” hits Shimoda, they “fight” and then both arbitrarily walk away so Hotta can walk into some offense- an uraken/German hits her as this is falling apart. Thank god JR isn’t covering this. Hotta stops selling again so they can hit Takako with a double-ax kick, but Hotta soon charges into Shimoda “trying to hit Manami” and they start scrapping- this lets Manami fly in, then Takako hits the uraken, but Hotta no-sells soon and holds her… and Shimoda of course nails HOTTA with a flying pink chair shot. She laughs but eats an uraken too, then takes Takako’s stungun to the face (!)- Hotta disarms Takako and Tiger Drives her for two- Manami saves. Hotta beats up Takako but gets caught in a Doomsday Device Super Chokeslam for two. Destiny Hammer (flying knee) from Takako! Shimoda saves. Hotta absorbs three urakens in a row by smokes Takako with a rolling kick, Mita charges the ring to DVD Toyota, and the Pyramid Driver (cross-armed ligerbomb) finishes Takako at (15:42 of 21:05 shown). Post-match, Shimoda & Hotta get into it so bad that Mita fails to pull them apart and Hotta chases Shimoda UNDER the rising ATHENA TV entrance door as we’re out.

Just a wild mess, lol- first off, Toyota ALWAYS hits “Get My Shit In” mode with Shimoda, finding a good enough bumper to take tons of offense, and brutally flung her around. Hotta sat on the apron for the first half of the whole thing. Takako & Mima couldn’t get shit done together, having one uncoordinate fight after another. Then Manami is in half the match and throwing out all her MOVEZ until finally Hotta no-sells just in time for Takako to eat some offense. Manami was actually working hard, if selfishly, while Hotta was openly doing some of the laziest shit I’ve ever seen, just sorta begrudgingly eating offense and stumbling around, then casually getting up to hit her own stuff, then sometimes lazily strolling over “dazed” so someone can get some free hits on her. I’ve rarely seen such disinterest in a professional. Shimoda was at least acting well even if she wasn’t doing anything smoothly. But WOOF, this was bowling shoe ugly. You do this in 1994 and it’s a ***1/2 match at mininum, and could easily crest ****. Here, it was just “Manami senses an opportunity to show off”.

Rating: * (Manami was trying but everything else was just sooooo ugly, Shimoda/Takako was sloppy, Hotta was at her laziest, and Shimoda appeared to get legit stunned at the suplex part)

EPIC GEAR.

WWWA WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES:
TOMOKO WATANABE & NANAE TAKAHASHI vs. MIHO WAKIZAWA & KAYO NOUMI:
* It’s time! The whole year they’ve spent building up MihoKayo in matches against Black Joker pays off with their Tag Title shot! These are usually a big deal, and will illustrate just how far up the kids have gotten. Tomoko’s in canary yellow with tassels, and Nanae in the same gear but pastel violet. MihoKayo are again dressed like cartoon Indians, but with neon yellow (Miho) and blue (Kayo). Interestingly, commentary brings up Wakizawa’s intentions to retire at the end of the year, and how this is a dream for her to win the belts.

FIRST FALL: The kids pounce with Germans immediately, but Kayo is caught trying a plancha to both- Wacky tries her own but only nails Kayo. So the kids climb a lighting rig out of fear but actually hit planchas from THERE, and they do an interesting playground spin on Tomoko for two. Then they SCREAM at her and actually get a two-count off of it and do their double-guns pose over her, playing this for comedy at first, played up to “throw them off their game”. Weird spot as Wacky can’t get a Super Frankensteiner on Nanae, but Noumi comes in and lifts her up to complete it for two. Wacky can’t hold Nanae down, but gets her feet up on the flying back senton and hits her Fisherman’s Buster for two- Tomoko saving, then another gets a kickout. They hit a rocket launcher, but Wacky flies off onto outstretched feet this time and gets crushed with a lariat for two, and the NanaRacka (falcon arrow) finishes at (5:50 of 15:15 shown).

SECOND FALL: We’re joined in progress with a tired Noumi escaping Tomoko so Wacky can spam clotheslines, then they work missile kicks as I fear they’re already running out of shit to try. Tomoko dodges one so Wacky can sell more, turning it into a showcase for her screaming and facial expressions. Wacky literally slaps the sweat of Nanae’s face in defiance, but crumples when the same is done to her, fires back, and is flattened by a happy Nanae (like “Ya THINK so?”). Nanae batters her repeatedly with lariats as commentary talks about the girls in the crowd with tears in their eyes because Wacky is retiring and how we have to “burn each match into our memories”, really laying it on thick. So Bret’s not the only one who loves that descriptor. Hopelessness is played up as Wacky looks exhausted and Nanae laughingly chucks her aside, easily avoids another Super Frankensteiner & dropkicks her. Side slam & Vader Bomb get two. A crumpled Wacky still dodges Tomoko but gets lariated anyways- she’s caught trying a cross-body so Kayo hits a flying one to the champs, and they hit Stereo Flying Headbutts to Tomoko’s lower body and a Fisherman’s Buster hits when Nanae’s lariat hits her own partner.

The fans are really just doing “errant yelling” here and not really excited- I think the slowed pace and one-sidedness are killing them. Tomoko aims for a finisher but fails and the worst rollup ever gets one as she won’t sell it. Noumi FINALLY comes in and they mis-time a lariat/backdrop to her. Noumi spams rollups but gets lariated and the flying seated splash gets two. A fight up top ends in Noumi’s Superduperplex for two, then she’s German’d, kicking out at one with a crazed look on her face, gets her own, then eats a lariat for two. Tomoko pulls her into the path of Wacky’s missile kick and hits the Screwdriver (neck-drop ligerbomb) and Wacky flies in to save. So Nanae dumps her and they finish Noumi with the Flying Back Elbow/Hellsmasher combo at (10:49 of 15:50 shown). Oh good lord, haha- I was WONDERING why there was so little match left. They won it in two straight! I’ve literally never seen that in a 3WA Tag! They shake hands and are about to leave, but as the ATHENA TV door raises… out comes Black Joker! The evil stable of Rumi Kazama/Takako Inoue/Eagle Sawai strikes! They throw the Champs around a bit and each make their challenges- “Our next target is you guys!”.

Just a long, dreary match. Like it’s fine to have the kids flail and flail and establish it as hopeless IF THERE’S A HOPE SPOT but there was never once in the second fall where you even thought they could pull out a fluke or something. There wasn’t even a SORTA finisher! It was just “let’s break Wacky” as they hit move after move to her and we got to see how good her selling’s gotten (it helps that she has a HUGE mouth- makes every expression seem gigantic), she crumples well off of moves, and things look hopeless…. but they never actually get better, so it’s 11 straight minutes of beating her ass. Then Noumi comes in and barely gets any offense either and doesn’t even get to do her “broken doll” selling. TO BE FAIR it was maybe hot out there, because Nanae in particular was sweating buckets, but it looked like the champs were just doing a “slow day at the office” thing. Also the final match length was thirty minutes, which is ROUGH- Japan is humid and hot as hell in this time of year. MAYBE they also felt they had to slow it down because Tomoko’s working tomorrow? But it seemed like such a casual thing for them, not helped by the challengers running out of moves in the first 6 minutes and being left trying to replicate them. I wonder if cuz Wacky was retiring in three months they no longer felt the need to “pretend” and just no-sold and half-heartedly went about it? Which is funny because the matches seem edited to be a “Wakizawa Showcase”, featuring all her moves, then her big, theatrical selling, while poor Kayo Noumi’s shit all stat on the cutting room floor.

Rating: *3/4 (one of the weaker 3WA Tags I’ve ever seen)

Well this wasn’t a great night of wrestling, lol. This comes off more like everyone is “Saving Themselves” for the next, more important show, and aren’t interested in putting over their opponents. The Champs seemed to be treating their big title defense like a night off, and the challengers had little energy to match them. Then the veterans did a pretty weak show to end it.