Joshi Spotlight: AJW in 11.11.2001 & 01.12.2001

AJW IN NOVEMBER 2001:
* It’s time for more Zenjo! With some stuff from the awful-to-watch Zenjo Garage shows, and a “just above house show” event! That’s… something. But it’s the “WACKY FINAL” run, as Miho Wakizawa, she of the giant mouth and tons of effort, is retiring soon (she returns to Stardom in like 2009, but is gone for almost eight years), and so the company puts a lot of “Final Matches” out there, like her final match at the Zenjo Garage, a final singles match against people like Nanae, a team-up with Manami Toyota, etc. This’ll be an interesting look at Zenjo wrestlers in “non-major efforts”, as this stuff is being taped, but in smaller markets and not the biggest deal.

AJW GARAGE:
(Nov. 11th 2001)
* Hooray! Time for more sub-** goofy matches in front of the diehard fans at the Zenjo Garage!

YUMIKO HOTTA vs. MIYUKI FUJII & MIKA NISHIO:
* Poor Fujii is being Ronnie Garvin’d with the “teaming with a jobber” roll. Hotta goes along with a pre-match assault, being pulled all over the garage as they awkwardly beat on her, Fujii not even knowing where to put her feet in an LCO pose. Hotta casually takes her rob off while ignoring Nishio’s offense, gets hairtossed, but won’t go for a snapmare. Nishio keeps roaring defiantly as Hotta ignores dropkicks and drops her cross-body, but Fujii holds the veteran down for some flying splashes. Hotta sits out on Nishio’s sunset flip to easily pin her (2:48). Nishio keeps helping clumsy Fujii out, but Hotta finally knocks her off the top and chokes out Fujii at (4:44). Hotta calls out Ito after the match.

Rating: 1/2* (just some slightly amusing nonsense- Fujii comes off as barely trained here)

KUMIKO MAEKAWA vs. NANAE TAKAHASHI:

Kumiko works a front facelock, then Nanae goes to the leg, then Kumiko does, eventually dumping Nanae past the merchandise stands so we get a little tour of what the area around AJW HQ is like. I mean it’s a generic alley but yayyyyyyyyyy urban touring! They walk by a restaurant advertisement (it’s the famous Matsunaga restaurant- SUN!) and Nanae uses a fearsome empty plastic wastebasket as a weapon, but now Kumiko has a bucket! It’s placed over Nanae’s head so Kumiko can kick her a bunch, getting two, then puts it on during a resthold as a humiliation measure. Nanae comes back with bodychecks and twists the leg, and after ,a lot of screaming Kumiko gets fired up and throws chest-kicks, but sells exhaustion and gets beaten down. Nanae uses three more body attacks but misses a Vader Bomb and there’s a funny but where Kumiko does her pump kick but Nanae just walks through it and Kumiko sells because her leg hurts? That’s a unique sell. Possibly because Kumiko looked confused at first before going “oh yeah my leg hurts lol”. Amusingly, she pulls a cameraman in front of her to stop Nanae’s tope suicida, they take ANOTHER walk, but Nanae counters another kick to a leg submission for a nearfall, and two straight Vader Bombs gets two- Kumiko gets the ropes. Nanae keeps looking back, cueing Kumiko to get up and BITE HER ASS before German-ing her, and gets nearfalls off a rollup & spinkick. Nanae with a backdrop driver & flying senton, but Kumiko blocks that, Nanae gets a lariat for two… and Time’s Over at (15:00) when she tries a rollup.

Rating: *3/4 (almost some effort put in! Mostly goofing around and testing if Kumiko can remember to sell the leg consistently- she sort of can, but often pulls a “Test” and hits a move THEN remembers to sell)

SUN! The Zenjo-run restaurant!

WACKY FINAL:
MANAMI TOYOTA & MIHO WAKIZAWA vs. MOMOE NAKANISHI & KAYO NOUMI:
* The “Wacky Final” of her retirement tour saw her recently beg Toyota, a sorta-rival, to team up with her because she respects her so much, and Manami first talked shit… then agreed, hugging her. So now they’re gonna wrestle an insanely long match in the garage! Wacky’s wearing new Sentai/DBZ-looking gear for the first time on the schedule (she wears it later against Hokuto in GAEA).

Toyota & Wacky argue about who should start first, then Manami pulls off the JB Angels armdrag on Kayo. Wacky mimics the same move (amusingly even clunkier that injured, 30-year old Toyota), they pose on Kayo, then Wacky swipes the Toyota “wrap the hair around repeatedly” hairtoss. Momoe stretches out Wacky a bunch, then everyone takes turns running on Manami’s back (even Wacky gets in on it!), and all three pose over Toyota. Momoe holds Manami so Wacky can spray water in her face as they’re just goofing around here. Manami finally takes over on Kayo, hitting dropkicks, then MihoKayo EXPLODES as they exchange dropkicks. Wacky & Momoe trade wristlocks, but Manami pays her partner back all that cheating by donking her on the head during a “double-team”. Wacky works over Momoe with a rolling headscissors, and when Manami tries it she almost gets pinned. More tomfoolery while Manami’s in a bodyscissors, and Manami/Wacky miss stereo flying headbutts. Kayo & Momoe do dives, but ALSO miss headbutts. Toyota gets a moonsault on her second try, but Wacky slaps her on purpose after a tease and gets tripped for it. Toyota & Wacky do planchas, but Kayo gets her Double-Wrist Armsault on Wacky and Stereo Flying Headbutts gets two. Super Double-Wrist, but Toyota saves, then missile kicks Kayo to set up the Fisherman’s Buster from Wacky. Doomsday Device Dropkick- Momoe saves. Super Frankensteiner- Kayo reverses the pin for two, but Wacky hits an inside cradle for the pin at (17:28). Toyota hugs Wacky from behind while she bawls, being inconsolable in her last Zenjo Garage match. Though I guess there’s a long battle royal after this that we don’t see.

This was largely 18 minutes of goofing around, mixed with “occasionally trying”- slow planchas, dives, comedy spots, cheating, etc. Momoe was actually barely in it while the others got their fun spots in and played around, but Wacky also did her Greatest Hits in one of her last matches before retirement.

Rating: * (these are drudgery but inoffensive- like weakly wrestling in front of free fans?)

DEC. 1st:
* It’s that mostly brown gym again! In Fujikawa, Japan, I guess. This is… not QUITE a house show (I mean, it’s being filmed, and there’s a tournament going on), but hoo boy it’s close in terms of effort, as you’ll see.

KUMIKO MAEKAWA vs. MIYUKI FUJII:
* The Kick Demon takes on the Jobber! Kumiko’s in purple, Fujii’s in orange with black stripes.

Kumiko casually dominates with steady kicking, but gets taken down for some perfunctory mat wrestling by Fujii. Kumiko occasionally counters out, not really selling much of this beyond annoyance, but Fujii is loud and persistent, probably trying not to get fired. Kumiko lands the “house show” versions of scissor and spin kicks, then a bridging suplex for two. Fujii lands her rope-assisted headlock takeover twice, then counters with Jobber-Fu, firing off a bunch of running kicks and rollups, including the world’s shittiest backslide & La Majistral. Kumiko fires back with a more proper scissor kick for our “impressive jobber kickout”, slugs the ref for the count, Fujii scores more flash pins, then kicks out of ANOTHER big kick as Kumiko ducks her wild swing and uses the momentum to spinkick her in the face for two. Ax Kick finally finishes at (11:30).

Rating: * (another barely tolerable house-show-effort match, with Fujii showing a lot of fire, but still being quite clumsy and inaccurate. Kumiko was in slow mode almost till the end)

WACKY FINAL:
NANAE TAKAHASHI vs. MIHO WAKIZAWA:
* Wacky’s run ticks down with a solo match against Nanae.

Wacky attacks quickly to start, but Nanae quickly starts throwing her around with some mustard on it. Wacky sells the matwork as theatrically as possible, including biting Nanae’s boots. She takes over, and it’s such a house show she pulls on Nanae’s nose to each side of the ring so all the fans can see it. Nanae soon returns the favor with a clutch AND a crab as we’re killing all kinds of time until Wacky comes back with Jobber-Fu eight minutes in. Nanae casually bowls her over a few times but Wacky comes back with some leg stuff. Nanae shakes it off and clutches her AGAIN, then they trade elbows. Nanae hits a backbreaker but gets shoved to the floor for a plancha, but gets caught with a Superduperplex. Vader Bomb gets two. Each Germans the other off the 2nd rope and a Perfect Plex gets two for Wacky. Flying Splash misses but she gets a rollup, but gets backdrop drivered for two. Nanae holds the ropes during a Super Frankensteiner so Wacky splats- missile kick hits, but Nanae climbs and NOW gets Super Frankensteinered. Fisherman’s Buster gets two. Nanae does the “can’t be pulled up” sell, allowing her to catch a charging Wacky with another backdrop for a double-down. They spring to life with slaps, but Nanae wins with a lariat, holding down a struggling Wacky for a nearfall, then finishes with the NanaRakka (falcon arrow) at (19:34). Another finish, more Wakizawa tears as they embrace and she keeps bawling. Wacky needs to be carried away at the end.

Talk about dragging ass, haha. Classic “takin’ it easy” bout- you know when someone does the “pull on someone’s nose on all four sides of the ring” spots and “casually hitting the same running move 3 times in a row” that they’re killing time. This is basically 16 straight minutes of low effort and overselling every little thing to kill time, then 3 minutes of actual bumps and trying hard. Wakizawa gets her “greatest hits” of moves like she always does, then falls to a finisher- only one this time, though. They didn’t bother to milk it.

Rating: *1/2 (about what a TWENTY MINUTE Wakizawa match would be- she was always more effort than skill)

MANAMI TOYOTA & YUMIKO HOTTA vs. TOMOKO WATANABE & KAYO NOUMI:
* Time for… this apparently isn’t in Tag League THE BEST? Guess not- Tomoko was paired with Nanae. So it’s a weirdo “Pair the Spares” match. Kayo is way below everyone else in the pecking order. Tomoko’s white suit with orange tassels is unique- Toyota’s in black/red again, Hotta’s in white, Kayo’s in black & pink. I fear to see what Hotta & Toyota’s version of “this show’s effort level” will look like.

Hey, Kayo’s actually trying! She goes all “rookie-fu” on Toyota to start, Tomoko helping, and Kayo even doing Manami’s “dropkick in the ropes” spot to annoy her. Manami pays her back with the same, then a Muta Lock (no longer flexible enough to bearhug the body with the bridge). Hotta bullies Kayo, having a good time of it, Toyota adding the softest boots ever, looking like teasing. Tomoko helps Kayo make the ropes, then NUKES Manami with a pair of judo flips. Oh DAMN- quick spins by Manami and screaming effort by Tomoko, there! Tomoko actually pulls out Kyoko’s rocking-cradle surfboard (haven’t seen that in AGES) & uses LCO-like hairpulling tactics, but gets Manami Rolled. Hotta shrugs off some lariats and the vets work her over- a fireman’s carry/running hairgrab has impact, and they work double submissions when Kayo comes in and ineffectively tries to break up a half-crab. Kayo actually uses hair-whips and persistent jumping on Hotta, but Manami walks up and spits water in her face- an incensed Kayo beats on her until Manami fires off her corner dropkick, and even Tomoko gets one to the back. Kayo gets a German off the second rope, but Manami stuffs her Double-Wrist Armsault & Kayo settles for a rollup.

Funny bit as Toyota does her “roaring no-sell” after a missile kick, so Tomoko just flattens her with a lariat to set up a splash for two. Toyota goes inside-out off a lariat from Tomoko so Hotta nails the REF, drawing actual heat from the fans. Toyota follows with a big plancha to both opponents & Moonsaults Tomoko for two. Tomoko boomerangs onto the vets and everyone counters each other (Hotta knocking Kayo off the top to stop a double-team) and they mis-time a sandwich lariat bit (Tomoko ducks too early and they still go for it, hitting each other). Tomoko lariats out of a Tiger Driver for two, then hits another, but Hotta just ignores Kayo’s stuff. Tomoko pulls the vets to the floor and has Kayo plancha them. Kayo hits a missile kick, but runs into a rolling kick after failing to hit her finisher on Hotta. Tomoko accidentally nails Kayo but Manami missile kicks Hotta- Hotta still gets the Tiger Driver on Kayo… but now TOMOKO hits the ref! Hah! A flying version of the fireman’s/hairpull thing gets two- Tomoko saves- Hotta slaps the ref for the count, then Manami h olds Tomoko down so Hotta can land the Pyramid Driver (cross-armed ligerbomb) for three (18:30).

Well this was a bit more fighty! Best match of the show, with some genuine effort early on and in bits and pieces- everything Tomoko did looked stiff and impactful, and Kayo was always yelling, trying, and running around. Even Manami was good to go for a bit, though Hotta didn’t feel like selling anything. The bit with the ref was funny- heels hitting the ref to stop counts is so rude (especially since Hotta was closer to the PIN) but funny with Tomoko does the same. Still really long for the effort given but way fightier than the other bouts, and a bit more inventive. The story was that Tomoko couldn’t keep saving Kayo, who would routinely get eaten alive, especially against Hotta (who, to be fair, is challenging for the belt tomorrow).

Rating: **1/2 (some actual effort for once!)

TAG LEAGUE THE BEST:
LAS CACHORRAS ORIENTALES (Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda) vs. KAORU ITO & MOMOE NAKANISHI:
* LCO takes on the #1 and #2 wrestlers in Zenjo. This is during Tag League THE BEST, which used to be a guaranteed source of multiple ****+ matches in the peak period of the company. It’s in green over black, and Momoe’s in pink/puce over black. Shimoda’s in pink & Mita’s in yellow.

LCO naturally pounce before the bell, throwing chairs and whipping people into walls. Momoe gets double-teamed, piledriven by Mita, and worked over with Shimoda’s biting and hairpulling. Momoe makes a comeback and Ito starts throwing shots, and Shimoda takes the figure-four/splash twice in a row. Mita’s chair turns the tide, and she pulls off the Blazing Chop and a NASTY stunner. Mita sits way back on her for a crab and bites her boots (I love how this is treated as painful, lol), then Ito comes in with a short uranage and USES THE ASS, but Mita chops her down. Shimoda tears at the arm to kill more time, but charges into a pieface slam. She manages her double falling clothesline, however, taking out both opponents. Ito tries a comeback but Mita stunners her from the apron and hits a Blazing Chop, but Ito lariats her down, dumps LCO, and dives onto both of them.

Momoe adds a plancha, but LCO start swinging chairs to come back, then Ito turns a DVD attempt into a Ligerbomb on Mita for two. Momoe adds a run-up moonsault for two, but gets caught up top by Shimoda and takes the Avalanche Electric Chair Drop- “fuck YOU!” bridge! Mita gets her powerbomb, but Ito stops the DVD/Ax Kick. Shimoda pulls them to the floor for another crowd brawl, Mita bonking Momoe with the crowd mic and Ito sliding into a sea of chairs, but for the most part it’s pretty low-key. A big Mita powerbomb gets two on Momoe (twice now she’s done the “lie along their body” pin, which looks weird). Momoe gets a surprise German but is Blazing Chopped, then Shimoda misses her ax kick but gets a terrible Tiger Suplex for two. She gets the Death Lake Driver (tiger superplex) on her second try for two. DVD/Ax Kick- Ito saves. Momoe Germans Shimoda, but takes a chair & Chop. But then Shimoda missile kicks Mita by mistake and eats a HUGE Missile Kick/Powerbomb combo! Mita saves with a chair, but chairs Shimoda by accident and a Flying Stomp into a Momoe Dragon Suplex gets two- Mita sweeps out the leg but gets pulled away so Momoe can land the Momo Latch (twisting rana)… for two, but Ito was ready and flies off with another Stomp, and a second Momo Latch finishes at (18:01). LCO jobs out again!

This was such an interesting look at the “C-Tier LCO Match”, haha. Like they weren’t TOTALLY lazy (especially compared to the Nanae match) but they were at half-speed all match long, their “LCO crowd brawls” were less “mayhem” and more “well let’s do one thing and then just wander around”, and they didn’t have any unique ideas in the match, simply doing the same counters repeatedly. Mita hitting that many Blazing Chops NEVER happens in their “serious” matches- she’d be more creative if this were a Korakune main event. Here, it becomes their default counter with no more creativity needed, and it more than anything signifies that they’re just doing “the usual” and not putting much focus into this. The classic “drag ass for 15 minutes then TRY TRY TRY” finish is another big clue, as the speed suddenly ramps up and that’s the only stuff Ito does- she was hilariously low-effort for this one, as Momoe had to do EVERYTHING, from the heat segments to the bumping to the finish, while Ito just did two Flying Stomps to aid Momoe in victory. Once I checked what tomorrow’s show was I realized why they saved Ito, haha. Another sign that LCO is fading is that they barely had the Superteam in trouble at all, despite dominating everything.

Rating: ** (just a long, somewhat dull match with a hotter finish)

Well that was interesting! In that it was mostly boring and low-effort, but from a certain perspective it’s interesting seeing how they “take it easy”- knowing it’s being filmed, they fuck around for 7/8 of a LONG match (they kill way more time in these shows than on ATHENA TV, I notice), then do 1/8 of solid effort and big moves. Usually in a tag match, one person is taking it easy (note that the big examplse are Ito & Hotta, doing a 45-minute main event the day after).