Joshi Spotlight: Odaiba W Explosion (Day Two)

AJW ODAIBA W EXPLOSION 2001 SUPER LIVE 2 DAYS (Day One):
(Sept. 16th)
* This is a two-show set from Odaiba Island, where ATHENA TV holds Zenjo tapings! This is the second day of the last Odaiba Island shows, as W Explosion means we pay off some stuff- including the big WWWA Title match between Kaoru Ito & Momoe Nakanishi! This is Momoe’s REAL big chance after winning the Japan Grand Prix in the summer! Also we have the last big Black Joker vs. 1995 Kids match, as they take on Nanae Takahashi & MihoKayo, plus Las Cachorras Oritentales takes on the elder stateswomen of Zenjo, Yumiko Hotta & Manami Toyota!

Unfortunately 2 of the 4 matches are clipped on YouTube.

BLACK JOKER (Eagle Sawai, Takako Inoue & Rumi Kazama) vs. NANAE TAKAHASHI & MIHOKAYO (Miho Wakizawa & Kayo Noumi):
* It’s the culmination of the Black Joker/MihoKayo feud! These two groups have been at it for an ENTIRE YEAR, doing various mixed matches as far back as June 2000 in my recaps, and MihoKayo always end up losing. As Eagle is an LLPW Title-level wrestler and Takako has reached the upper-midcard, the kids are massively outmatched by their seniors. MihoKayo are in some very bright sailor uniforms with neon colors, while Nanae’s in her violet tasselmania gear. Eagle’s in red, Takako’s in dark blue & Rumi’s in a black & light blue bodysuit.

Team AJW pounces to start, attacking Black Joker with team-ups and clubbering Eagle down with the softest slaps imaginable. Eagle & Nanae get into a HOSS BATTLE and Odaiba is way into that, as they no-sell lariats, but MihoKayo attack from behind so she takes a DDT, a double-suplex, & Wacky’s flying splash. But Black Joker attacks and beats them up in the stands and at the announce desk, but get jumped again when they start triple-teaming Nanae. Twin planchas for the heels, then Nanae dives into them! Eagle takes a Superduperplex (!) and Stereo Flying Headbutts! Flying Back Senton from Nanae to Eagle (headbutting her thigh lol)! Three simultaneous backdrop suplexes! Eagle gets her feet up on another back senton and FLATTENS Nanae with a flying splash (!)- MihoKayo saves! Double-Assisted Powerbomb hits and the kids are held back, but Nanae can kick out! Regular Powerbomb pins Nanae at (3:04 of 19:33 shown). This seemed TIGHT and the fans were way into it. Just showing the highlights made it look like all action, of course, even for a 10-minute match. Mike Lorefice said “Takako and Rumi carried the match, which had 15 times the heat of the previous tag title match”, which is funny cuz their shit is COMPLETELY ignored in this clipped version.

ALL PACIFIC TITLE:
TOMOKO WATANABE vs. KUMIKO MAEKAWA:
* Kumiko had dominated the White Belt for a long time as she had entered the “second tier”, oddly without Tomoko, who was her senior and elder partner… but then Tomoko ended up holding it for most of the past year. Tomoko’s in orange & Kumiko’s in blue & purple.

This is REALLY clipped, so we get all action- Tomoko scores a boomerang elbow while Kumiko is still smirking at her, then Kumiko hits a running ax kick in the corner and two Kicks of Fear. Tomoko catches a spinkick and threads it right into her Screwdriver (one-armed ligerbomb spike) for two, then later catches a kick for the dragon screw into two Screwdrivers for two more. Kumiko counters to a Pele Kick & Ax Kick for two. Tomoko does a GREAT stumble eating two more Ax Kicks (one from behind), appearing like she’s fighting but getting it beaten out of her, and a final Ax Kick pins her at (1:49 of 11:44 shown). This appears to be paying off Kumiko’s Japan Grand Prix push (getting #2), though it’s sorta like she’s back where she was a year or so ago, only now as a heel. Post-match, Maekawa appears to turn babyface, asking the fans to support her.

LAS CACHORRAS ORIENTALES (Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda) vs. YUMIKO HOTTA & MANAMI TOYOTA:
* An interesting match- last week, Shimoda & Hotta fought repeatedly while teaming up against Toyota & Maekawa, leading to a post-match fight. Manami now gets plugged alongside Hotta- both were in the same stable as LCO but that’s donezo. Shimoda repeatedly swats at Hotta before the bell, and both have to be held back by their partners. LCO are in matching gear, with Mita’s black/white and Shimoda’s black/pink. Hotta’s in white & black, Toyota’s in black with some red.

Toyoyta charges at Mita immediately, but both grab the ropes to prevent each other’s signature rope-running attacks. Manami easily shoves her into the ropes for her dropkick to the spine, and Shimoda gleefully tags in. Hotta whips her LADDER at her, but Shimoda easily dodges and punches away, then LCO team up to break the ladder apart and it leads to a fight in the stands. Hotta gets shoved off a table before she even has her bearing and gets dragged by Shimoda to the announce table while Manami throws on her Octopus hold on Mita on the ramp, apparently having gone full babyface again. Hotta ends up with Shimoda sitting on her shoulders and dumps her hip-first onto the desk, then Manami OF COURSE finds a concession stand with a roof so climbs up ten feet, makes sure to clap so the fans get into her big moment, then squashes LCO with a dive from the roof! Hotta whips a white ladder at Shimoda as Manami finds ANOTHER thing to climb, this time standing on a short truss and leaping down into the stands. Hotta drapes the ladder across two chairs and release Tiger Drives Mita onto it, but LCO does the laziest transition ever, just pushing Hotta down and shoving a chair on her so Shimoda can whip the ladder onto it. Hotta resists the DVD but just gets pushed into the Flying Ax Kick and THEN the DVD hits- Manami saves.

“I’m babyface again! Time to show the fuck off!”

Hotta scores a rolling kick but gets shoved into Mita’s red mist for two. The mist missed- Hotta’s neck sure is red, though. An Ax Kick/DVD sets up Shimoda fucking up some pin thing she was trying- Manami saves. Mita runs in with a Blazing Chop, but chairs Shimoda by mistake and has to save after the Pyramid Driver (cross-armed ligerbomb). Hotta tries for the Caribbean Splash (straightjacket super german), Mita tries the electric chair from behind, but Manami flies in with a missile kick and Hotta anti-airs the next flying ax kick. Then it’s time for Excessive Dumb Garbage Spotz as they drape the ladder across chairs AGAIN, taking forever to set it up while Shimoda obviously looks back to assess distance, but misses her mark as Hotta Germans her off the top and Shimoda sorta just snags it with her arm and pulls the ladder onto her. That looked both awful and like it might have hurt a lot. Hotta just flings the ladder at her and hits the Pyramid Driver… for two! Fans are kinda dead- the match has been all over the place but is going long. And then the worst possible thing occurs- Mita hits a DVD and shoves Hotta into… Shimoda desperately attempting to throw a fireball at her, but she gives up and the fans laugh while she resorts to a small package. Oh god the delay while Hotta tried to hesitate and just eat it no no no I feel so bad for them now haha. NO AND THAT WAS THE FINISH THIS IS EVEN WORSE- the commentary tries to blow it off as the “light rain” and wind fucking it up, so Shimoda FINALLY lights the flash-paper while Hotta’s lying on the mat, and that gets the pin at (10:09 of 24:33 shown). Commentary even tries to act like Shimoda had TRICKED THEM with the prior “no fire”, then pulled it off at the last second, all “HAHAHAHAHAHAH MY MASTER PLAN WAS TO MAKE US ALL LOOK LIKE MORONS BY FUCKING UP A FIRE ATTACK!”

This was almost kind of okay, but mostly “hit a spot, wander around, hit another spot”, giving Manami some big things to jump off of, but ended up kind of the typical “LCO Garbage Match” with half-effort, a lot of DVD & Ax Kick spam, then they started messing up all the big weapon spots, like Shimoda mostly missing a ladder and then ruining the finish with the flash paper. I assume we missed a lot of Manami MOVEZ because she’s not in the ring for ANY of this and never gets to hit all her suplexes or moonsaults or anything. Given how slow and lazy Hotta is in these kinds of matches that’s not a benefit, either (though at least Hotta is good at acting like her face got smashed by two spots that couldn’t have possibly hurt it- the ladder onto the chair spot and the mist).

Rating: ** (just another “walk and spotz” match and then a BRUTAL finish)

WWWA WORLD TITLE:
KAORU ITO vs. MOMOE NAKANISHI:
* This is it! Momoe’s been built up for a YEAR and has had her good tag team (NanaMomo) split up so she could pursue this goal. Wins over many of the big stars in the company and the Japan Grand Prix have all led to this point. This is an interesting booking situation because Ito’s been the champ for ages and has been “made”, even while a heel stable otherwise dominated Zenjo, BUT it’s way too early for Momoe to be champion. And yet the name of the game is likely “put her over in defeat” because Momoe is over, very skilled, and easily the best “next champion” they have with an aging company. The obvious gameplan is to have Momoe lose but “come soooooooooooo close” and establish that she’s the future- but how do you pull that off? Doing such booking is always tricky but much easier in Japan where it’s such a “given” that up & comers do jobs to their seniors and the push comes from “omg they kicked out of THAT?” and getting your ass beat but for a handful of miracle spots and less “they wrestle even stevens for 18 minutes and kick out of finishers until one wins” like you often see today. Moreover, the pressure’s on because this almost HAS to be good, or else it’s a complete disaster. Imagine if your “next champ” up & comer has a lame bout with the champ? Ito’s in white & Momoe’s in some kinda blue/red denim atrocity.

Momoe immediately charges past Ito and moonsaults her for two, but tries the lucha-rollup and Ito wheelbarrow Germans her. Ito USES THE ASS, and Momoe sells it like a baseball bat to the chest, flopping around and desperately grabbing for the ropes. Naturally Ito defaults to Sitting On Butts, repeatedly half-crabbing Momoe, who hits another run-up move off the top but then flies onto Ito’s feet and bounces. They trade elbow smashes and Ito easily wins- Momoe’s dumb for trying THAT but this establishes the stakes- she can NOT trade blows with the much bigger Champion. Ito bends her backwards and hits a double-axehandle (almost NEVER see that in joshi pro!) and other moves to the back to keep working on it and wear Momoe down. I’m liking her “slow & steady” approach to counter Momoe’s explosiveness. Momoe finally gets whipped off the ropes and THAT lets her counter- she hits that lucha rollup and ties up the leg. Ito has great selling here- by grimacing and desperately trying to pry Momoe’s arms off her leg she’s putting over how painful this must be, yet is still able to counter and have Momoe flailing for the ropes. But she whips Momoe off the ropes again and again gets hit- windmill crossbody gets two as commentary puts over “This is the first ever 3WA Title Match between two newcomers to the Heisei era”. Momoe tries elbows but Ito’s too durable, and counters a big suplex.

Ito’s confidence here is palpable as she does arrogant “count along” pins and fuckin’ FLATTENS Momoe with an uranage. Two more and “Momoe is officially becoming a punching bag”. More sittin’ on butts as this is increasingly hopeless for poor Momoe, but again a whip turns the tide- Momoe flips over Ito and puts her on the floor for a Moonsault Suicida. A dramatic run-up… nope Momoe botches and eats the floor. Too bad. Ito hits her own tope suicida and as Momoe tries to counter, Ito uses smarts and power to stop EVERYTHING- chops and Germans fail, then she dodges a Run-Up Moonsault and TRUCKS her with a lariat- two! Momoe hits a Manami Roll out of a powerbomb and sunset flips Ito off the top for twos, then hits her twisting rana (“Momo Latch”) finisher for two! Momoe gets dumped but drags Ito to the floor, only to immediately get powerbombed. Ito overreaches and tries a Flying Stomp to the floor, but Momoe catches her and counters twice to hit a German off the 2nd-rope, but takes too long up top and eats a Super Samoan Drop (OW) and measures her with a BIG powerbomb- arrogant pin gets two. Ito’s too cocky and misses a Flying Stomp, tries another powerbomb but gets Momo Latched for two! Ito just brute forces her into the corner to stop a suplex, so Momoe fires off a Momo La– no Ito sits on her and nearly pins her! Jesus she’s not just stronger she’s SMARTER so Momoe can never hit the same thing. A furious Ito tries to tear her apart with another half-crab, and when Momoe suckers her into trying a Flying Stomp, Ito catches another Momo Latch and buckle-bombs her. “Nakanishi has always set out without any fear, but I feel she has hit a wall on this Title stage”. Indeed.

Momoe in agony as Ito pulverizes her spine without mercy.

Ito confidently flattens Momoe with a big Ligerbomb, but the kid struggles during the pin and barely bolts up a shoulder at 2.8. Ito checks the ref and rolls her head back like “FINE…” as she heads to the top, but Momoe goes into SPAZ MODE and flails around with sudden energy… only to be slugged when she runs up the ropes. She manages to flop like a fish to escape another Stomp, and when Ito charges in, Momoe Dragon Suplexes her for two. Momo Latch! But she over-rotates and Ito escapes. Ito fights out of a second Dragon and just lariats Momoe when she charges in thoughtlessly, climbs… and when Momoe tries to catch her THIS time, Ito fires off a front superplex and Flying Stomps her IN THE BACK. Holy SHIT- Momoe writhes in agony like that just ruined her entire life as all that back work makes this an MDK, and then Ito’s like “hey check it out y’all” to the fans and Flying Stomps her front… for two! But Momoe dodges a second and does a REVERSE Momo Latch for two, but Ito just stretches her viciously (holding each arm to a different side) and finishes her with a final Flying Stomp at (18:20 of 24:27 shown). That was NOT what I expected- that was like 80/20 for Ito. The post-match promo continues this- “Defending the belt was important, but I think Nakanishi is up to par yet. She needs to push herself even further to get any higher. I wanted her to understand that through the challenge by this Red Belt.”

A very good, smart match as Ito plays “Aja Kong” and is like “not yet, young sapling” as this little brat gets absolutely fucking WRECKED. Momoe tries hard and is a super-athlete, but is too small and too inexperienced- Ito knows to act the bruiser here, and makes it look hopeless- she sits on Momoe’s ass for minutes at a time to slow her down & wear her out, which looks smart and also builds anticipation/makes Ito look mean for preventing cool fun spots. But every time she tries an Irish whip, Momoe has her- she’s too fast and too athletic and Ito can’t catch her at high speeds, so she pays for it every time she revs up the pace. And yet it still looks hopeless- Momoe starts trying all these Mongolian chops & suplexes but Ito either blocks her or stuffs her, then dodges her Moonsault and nearly pins her- a combination of brute force and experience. This makes things look impossible, but of course that’s where TRUE underdog luck pays off! It’s unrealistic for Momoe to suddenly score tons of uninterrupted offense on the World Champion, after all- everyone knows her only chance is to “catch” Ito and flash-pin her. So the Momo Latch is tried repeatedly, but Ito starts countering that at every turn until Momoe can pull off a bigger move (Dragon Suplex) and THEN do it. But even then Ito is absolutely lethal- all those shots to the back pay off the back-work from the beginning and then she starts doing insane shit like Super Samoan Drops and a front superplex into a Flying Stomp finisher to the small of the back. Momoe still looks great by kicking out after another Stomp, but only gets one last nearfall before Ito destroys her in the end. This was no mere “looks good in defeat match”- it was more like Ito set herself up as the new “Ultimate Obstacle”- a super-champion who is invincible, SMART and capable, and Momoe will need to train extra hard to even have a hope. Because this wasn’t even close- Ito only suffered two nearfalls and completely devastated Momoe at every turn.

Great job by both, ESPECIALLY Ito. Momoe was her usual energetic self and her selling is terrific- bringing the fans into her pain. But Ito was on another level entirely, just gobbling her up constantly. But it’s brilliant storytelling- obviously the endgame is “Momoe Is The New Champion” but it’s way too early for that, so why not shatter the fans’ hearts and make this look utterly hopeless the first time? After all that work and all that effort and still Ito crushes her? And Ito looked heartless in her dominance, too- just flattening her, countering even the counters, and mercilessly kills Momoe by the end. Perfect execution on all her stuff (and even saving Momoe periodically- that botch springboard is immediately followed up like Ito had “just the plan” for such an occasion, and Momoe nearly slips off on the front superplex and Ito plants her in place to get the spot off). It really made Ito look unstoppable. And the match overall is a great showcase of how a match doesn’t have to be “even” to be great- too many matches are just “back and forth action” with everyone getting all their shit in- this made an extended brutalization look good.

Rating: ****1/4 (one of the best women’s matches of the year)