Joshi Spotlight: AJW Japan Grand Prix (Blue League) 1995

AJW JAPAN GRAND PRIX 1995 (BLUE LEAGUE):
* Hey look! It’s a blast from the past! This was uploaded to YouTube ages after I already covered 1995, but these are matches I haven’t seen! And since I just finished 2001, it seems like the perfect time to go through it! Even if it’ll be totally depressing to see how much more awesome the scene was in 1995, with fresher, more athletic wrestlers going all-out in front of excited fans!

This ends up being an interesting combination of Full Matches, a ton of clipped bouts with just the last minute or so shown, then a longer clipped match, and a finale- Bull Nakano bringing back Gokumon-to (her stable with Kyoko Inoue & Tomoko Watanabe) against old rival Aja Kong, Reggie Bennett, and Mima Shimoda! The clipped ones are mostly shot by hand-cam in darkened arenas or even outdoors as the company pulls the JGP tournament during a LONG three-month summer tour.

The Blue League:
* This half of the JGP (which was divided into two groups of 8 wrestlers) has a solid chunk.

Kyoko Inoue: One of the most popular wrestlers, and the one just behind Manami Toyota (but is more popular).
Takako Inoue: Kyoko’s friend, tag partner and classmate. Idol wrestler but fairly credible and White Belt-level.
Etsuko Mita: Part of Las Cachorras Orientales, before their split and reformation.
Yumiko Hotta: The badass “shooter” of the company and always relevant as a title contender, but never quite gets there until the company has no choice.
Sakie Hasegawa: The most-pushed wrestler of the Class of 1989, a rising star building credibility with time. Obviously set up as the “Future Ace” but it’s slow going and she’s been in an undercard role for eons by this point.
Tomoko Watanabe: Sakie’s 1989 Classmate, and the least pushed of the three still active. She struggled the most to get recognized and stand out, and is slowly improving now that she’s not trying to be more acrobatic than she is.
Mariko Yoshida: A hot rookie from 1988, but got injured in 1992 and missed two years of ring-time. Returns with the same style, but as to start all over again to build credibility.
Kumiko Maekawa: The “Pin-Eater”- a Class of 1991 wrestler who quit and returned, and is thus still very low on the totem pole.

The first two are from a VERY darkened arena.

KYOKO INOUE vs. TOMOKO WATANABE: Tomoko misses her flying bomb but gets a perfect plex, only to be lariated down for two. She fights for her Cannonball Buster (a backdrop suplex into a one-armed powerbomb toss- I keep thinking that’s the Hellsmasher but that’s the sit-out version lol), finally getting it for two. Tomoko goes up to finish, but Kyoko hits the Run-Up Belly-To-Belly for a dramatic nearfall. Weird ending sees Tomoko resist the Niagara Driver but not offer any other move, so Kyoko German suplexes her and hits the Driver for the pin (9:46).

TAKAKO INOUE vs. YUMIKO HOTTA: Takako works the knee, even modifying her Destiny Hammer (flying knee) to smashing it on the mat- Hotta chases her up top this time but eats the Super Chokeslam for two, then the Destiny Hammer. Another misses and Hotta kicks her head off, immediately finishing with the Pyramid Driver (12:51). Of course Hotta would suffer tons of knee damage and immediately hit a kick & finisher to win, lol.

ETSUKO MITA vs. KUMIKO MAEKAWA: A more brightly lit arena this time. Mita hits the Blazing Chop, but Kumiko rolls through a crossbody (!!) for two. Mita counters a whip with another Chop and finishes with a German Suplex (8:52). Pinning Kumiko with communal joshi offense is a good indication of her level.

KYOKO INOUE vs. YUMIKO HOTTA: Hotta resists the Niagara Driver but gets belly-to-bellied off the top. She stops the run-up back elbow, though, turning it into the Caribbean Splash (straightjacket superplex) for two. Kyoko gets a snap German, but runs into a Tiger Driver, and the Pyramid Driver finishes her at (15:50).

TOMOKO WATANABE vs. KUMIKO MAEKAWA: Tomoko gets a superplex, but is nearly pinned by a counter-kick. She eventually catches her with a Lariat to win at (10:22), though.

ETSUKO MITA vs. YUMIKO HOTTA: Hotta kicks through a Blazing Chop and Mita clearly ducks down so she can be hit with the Pyramid Driver (9:39), haha.

TAKAKO INOUE vs. MARIKO YOSHIDA:
(July 23rd)
Takako immediately pounces and bashes Yoshida’s head into the turnbuckles over and over again (you don’t often see that spot in joshi puro, actually), flipping off the annoyed crowd, hahaha. I missed this era of Takako. Yoshida’s so badly hurt she stumbles off of Irish whips, so Takako just sleeperholds her down repeatedly to work the injured neck, so that when Yoshida springs out with her miracle run-up crossbody for the comeback… she immediately flops over, holding it in pain again. But when Takako pounces, Yoshida manages the cartwheel dodge, dropkicks her to the floor, and follows with the run-up plancha! Oh god INSANELY bad trajectory there, looking like she was aiming straight down and barely hit her side (Takako dodged and shoved some ring girls in the way), so the ref dives to her and Takako hits the ring to stall. Yoshida victory rolls Takako out of her Aurora Special (shoulder-mounted backdrop), but Takako ax kicks her in the neck and hits the Backdrop Hold for two. The fans chant “Yoshida!” as Takako drags her up for the Super Chokeslam for two, but can’t get the Aurora and ends up perfect plexed. She follows, but a run-up dive lands straight into Takako’s boots (OW) and Takako aims for the Destiny Hammer (which is a head/neck-focused attack!), missing and La Majistral gets… 2.9, as the fans cry out for that one and Yoshida is SO disappointed. Takako just boots her in the head and confidently backdrop suplexes her for two, and stuffs her comeback, then easily makes the ropes out of a desperation armhold. Yoshida spams dropkicks to put Takako out of sorts and hits a SUPER DDT (!) for two, but is out of shit. She tries another, but Takako just cranks on her neck up top, dumps her off, does the “cut-throat” gesture to the fans and thumbs-down, then executes Yoshida with the Destiny Hammer, pinning her at (12:49).

GREAT showing from Takako, who knew Yoshida’s neck was a concern and so pounced on it mercilessly, immediately targeting it and making it the focus of the match. Yoshida’s selling was great, as she’s one of the best comeback artists in Zenjo at this point and knows to immediately hold her neck after every move like “Oh no, that was maybe one too far”. Agonized, she fights on until the neck is less of a concern, but still misses a plancha and gets crushed by a variety of Takako offense. Takako kicking out of some last ditch hope spots was good, as it crushes Yoshida’s spirt and leaves her with fewer options- only in joshi puro does a SUPER DDT fail to score a pin (DDTs just don’t mean much there, haha), and the neck is the means to the finish. Yoshida tries one more Super DDT to end it, but Takako’s wise and just twists the neck in painful manner to drop her, then aims her flying knee right at it for the win.

Rating: ***1/4 (top-tier midcard match between these two)

There’s a lot of “Do your best!” coming from the fans when there’s no commentary covering it up. YouTube’s auto-translator picks it up a lot.

KYOKO INOUE vs. SAKIE HASEGAWA:
(July 23rd)
* Oh man- two of the top athletes in the company! And Sakie’s back from three months off for injury. She’s in purple & white as a singlet, and Kyoko’s in yellow & red.

Sakie immediately belts Kyoko with her solebutt spinkick before the bell, but gets too aggressive and Kyoko slingshot backsplashes her. Kyoko responds to a chop by demanding more, eating a bunch of them before just lariating Sakie on her ass and hitting her corner DDT, then does an odd hammerlock DDT and stretches her, ending with the torture rack toss into a backbreaker (missing for the most part, which makes it look even nastier), then lariats the crap out of her in the ropes twice and hits the surfboard after Sakie stumbles forward on the sell. Sakie counters a whip with some hooking clotheslines, and a backdrop & piledriver get two. Sakie stretches Kyoko’s back, but ends up tripped and Kyoko whips her into the “rock the cradle” submission faster than I’ve ever seen. Sakie quickly rolls her up and dumps her, however, whipping her into chairs, and refusing to be countered, getting in some last shots so she can wait Kyoko out in the ring- but she ends up getting suplexed right to the floor in a NASTY double-bump- OWWWWWWWWWW Sakie looks agonized as she eats that bump tailbone-first. Kyoko mercifully Germans her for two, then flattens her with a lariat for an arrogant cover, and when she preps another one, Sakie goes APESHIT and catches her with an Uranage, stomps around like a maniac, then hits five more, goading the fans with each one. Kyoko kicks out, and Sakie Sobats her for two. But then she goes up and that’s the mistake- Kyoko hits the Run-Up Overhead Belly-To-Belly off the top and the Niagara Driver for three (9:43).

Man, these two were SO GOOD at this point in time- just super-athletes. Sakie was tall, fast and strong- like a racehorse disguise as a wrestler, and Kyoko was maybe the most balanced, athletic wrestler ever. The old Zenjo style was so athletic that nearly every transition took place off an Irish whip, and they did everything QUICKLY- none of that “stand there so someone can be ready” stuff- they just give it all and fling each other around without hesitation. Kyoko tripping Sakie and immediately hooking her legs and spinning her into the cradle submission was nuts, and they really only slowed down for two bits of stretching. An amazing sprint, going near ten minutes with all-out running, huge bumps, shitcans to the floor and a wicked double-move finish as Sakie spams out her pseudo-finishers (she’s far below Kyoko’s level so has to spam them, but any win would be a fluke) and Kyoko catches her getting too aggressive and hits her two big moves to win.

Rating: ***1/2 (an epic sprint)

Post-match Kyoko is like “Takako is going to do some nasty things, so I need to be a bit nasty myself”. Takako’s match was also followed by her talking about the Kyoko match so they’re probably building this tape to that.

ETSUKO MITA vs. TOMOKO WATANABE: Tomoko escapes the DVD and hits two straight Cannonball Busters for the pin at (17:02) in a bit of an upset.

YUMIKO HOTTA vs. MARIKO YOSHIDA: Hotta easily counters all of Yoshida’s counter-moves, hitting her rolling kick (STIFFLY) & Tiger Driver for two, but Yoshida “ducks” an enzuigiri and a reall bad La Majistral pins Hotta at (13:18) in a token upset spot.

KYOKO INOUE vs. KUMIKO MAEKAWA: Kyoko gets superplexed for two, but hits a lariat and a run-up flying back elbow (apologizing to the fans “for earlier”- probably having missed it) for three (7:43).

MARIKO YOSHIDA vs. TOMOKO WATANABE: They try quick pins, Yoshida hits a German out of a lariat, but her run-up flying splash gets two. Super DDT finishes at (13:15)- well I’ll be dipped- a *DDT* actually finishes a match in Japan, haha.

Sakie’s “uugggghhhhh…” face after Kyoko beats the hell out of her on the floor.

SAKIE HASEGAWA vs. TOMOKO WATANABE:
(July 31st)
* Sakie admits she hasn’t won any matches yet, while Tomoko goes on about her 2-2- record and how she wants to do better in the second half, especially against her Class of 1989 classmate Sakie. Sakie’s now in a rainbow singlet, while Tomoko’s in white tasseled gear.

They immediately play off the rivalry of classmates by staring each other down and pulling hair with intensity (crowd favors Tomoko), then Tomoko shouts “Shine!” (“Die!”) with a dropkick, with one returned by Sakie. Tomoko hits a boomerang elbowdrop and stretches her, but Sakie gets a bulldog, backwards attack in the corner and a corner bulldog for two. Sakie targets the arm with increasing brutality, stretching it then just booting it while growling at a defiant Tomoko, who eventually recovers with two Judo flips (selling the arm after each one, fighting through the pain). She hits a scorpion deathlock, Sakie pulling back on that arm until she can’t anymore. lol crowd even pops when Tomoko pulls SAKIE’s arm to stop her from making the ropes. Crowd even loves Tomoko doing the hold AGAIN. Sakie manages a hooking clothesline but her back still hurts so Tomoko keeps on the back with a suplex on the floor, but waits her out and Sakie comes back countering a slingshot to a plancha and the Uranage on the FLOOR. But Sakie gets too aggressive and tries a flying splash to the floor, landing face-first on the mats. JESUS- I think there’s a reason you never see people try front-face bumps like THAT. Great spot as Tomoko pulls her off the apron to keep her on the floor and bolts out from the aisle down the ringside with a big lariat. No rest for Sakie as she looks totally aggrieved and Tomoko hits her high Thesz press off the goddamn apron and beats on her in the stands- yeah I’m guessing Tomoko taking 80% of this means Sakie’s winning.

Tomoko even does her leap off a six-foot barrier and crushes Sakie out there. Then another one off 5 feet! She tries to finish with a Flying version in the ring but misses and eats the Sobat, but Sakie can’t get the Uranage, but Tomoko’s lariat is countered and she hits it! But Tomoko’s too fired up and recovers quickly as Sakie is too busy building her SmackDown! Meter to the fans, building anticipationm for the next big spot! But Sakie surprises her with a gut-kick/Uranage, but Tomoko RISES as the fans go apeshit! Tomoko takes another, and rises more slowly and the fans immediatetly chant “Watanabe!”, but Sakie pounces with two more for two. But now Tomoko rallies for a comeback, hitting two big lariats when Sakie tries to rally, then another pair for two. Sakie counters the Cannonball Buster but misses a sobat, gets whacked in the face for two, then lands on her feet out of another Buster attempt and Sobats Tomoko right in the back of the head for the “falling tree” bump- TWO! Tomoko grabs the rope! They’re running outta gas and getting desperate- Sakie tries another Uranage but Tomoko just weakly locks her head and collapses for a DDT that spikes her. She can’t capitalize, and Sakie surprises her with another sobat out of a whip for two. But Tomoko counters another whip with a lariat and finally gets the Cannonball Buster! But only two! Crowd is surprised by that one. Tomoko too, and she puts Sakie up for a SUPER Cannonball Buster, but even THAT gets two! But Sakie’s so dead she can’t recover, and Tomoko just leaps on for another pin attempt. Sakie can barely stand, but as soon as Tomoko pulls her up, it’s an instacomeback with an Uranage and she leans wayyyyy back and scores the pin at last at (19:47)! Sakie wins!

Well that was dynamic. I was expecting a good, solid *** bout but they went all the fuck out and were like “PUSH US!!” and holy crap. Shitloads of effort, athleticism and bumping. I recall Tomoko improving a lot in 1995 but not THIS good (checking my 1995 list, she’s only on the “Best Matches” three times, and it’s all tags). Doing the big build with all Tomoko’s stuff on the floor demolishing Sakie seems to be leading to Sakie’s last minute comeback pinning her, but Tomoko ends up recovering and firing back. And then they build up to her attempts at hitting the Cannonball Buster and failing, so when she FINALLY does it, it means a lot more. The Super version of it seemed a bit nuts, but at least it was sold well- like Sakie could kick out, and was so dead another pin attempt nearly got her. And this leads to a miraculous last-second move, and the fans go BANANA for it, which means it worked.

Rating: **** (unbelievably good- two sixth-years just going full-on and demanding to be noticed)

KYOKO INOUE vs. TAKAKO INOUE:
* Double Inoue EXPLODES!! Before the match, Kyoko asserts that she’ll have to fight dirty to beat her partner, who herself is a master of dirty tricks. This is clipped (apparently!).

And so Kyoko immediately bursts out of the corner with a lariat, then hits two more against the ropes, but Takako dodges a third and DDTs her, Kyoko DDTs her back, and Takako lands a final one. Takako gets a quick chokeslam, then resists Kyoko’s corner DDT and swipes Akira Taue’s CLIFF NODOWA, chokeslamming Kyoko off the ring apron! Kyoko sells a big cervical spinal injury, clutching at her throat in agony as the doctors check her out, and she can only slowly get back into the ring after a big delay- Good thing Takako is famously merciful and would never dream of brutalizing an injured opponent! Kyoko briefly pops to life but takes Takako’s armdrag and even that gets two in her current state. Kindly Takako targets the neck with a dragon sleeper/chickenwing, and after Kyoko bails again to shake it off, Takako just TOMBSTONES her for two, haha. Kyoko manages her slingshot backsplash, then even does a run-up flying elbow smash. Takako goes to the leg to fend her off, dodges a flying back elbowdrop, and does the leg thing again, switching gears out of desperation, but Kyoko flings her off of a half-crab through sheer explosive power. Kyoko does the torture rack toss & half-crab and a snap-fallaway slam, then another, but Takako avoids the Niagara Driver and goes up, resisting the run-up belly-to-belly and hitting her Super Chokeslam for two. Takako promptly beans her in the forehead with the Destiny Hammer for two as there’s one minute left. Takako climbs to finish, but NOW Kyoko can get the Run-Up Belly-To-Belly Superplex counter! That only gets two, and Kyoko hits the Niagara Driver… with the bell ringing while Takako’s still up on her shoulders. Time Over at (11:41 of 30:00 shown)- a single point for both!

Another hard-fought match, this one going the full 30 minutes. Zenjo has a particular “style” with these that makes them more obvious- usually there’s an extended selling period on the floor to show an “injury”, then submission focus on that so the “restholds” are actually “targetted assaults” on one body part. In this match’s case, the fans know Takako is well below Kyoko in credibility, so the neck injury and the fact it’s the JGP makes them suspect a fluke is easily possible- hence the Cliff Nodowa very early on putting Kyoko on the backfoot for the rest of the match. The clipping here was AMAZING- until it said “1 minute left” I had no idea they’d clipped it, since I accidentally read the result beforehand and was expecting 30 minutes. Post-match, both do a co-interview like “Hey, good fight!”. What’s a little attempted crippling between friends?

Rating: *** (hard to assess given 2/3 of it is missing, but what was left looked like this)

YUMIKO HOTTA vs. TOMOKO WATANABE: Hotta easily defeats Tomoko, kicking her out of her flying Thesz press and hitting a Tiger Driver, then Pyramid Driver (11:13).

TAKAKO INOUE vs. TOMOKO WATANABE: Poor Tomoko loses again, as Takako hits a Backdrop Hold, Super Chokeslam & Destiny Hammer in succession (8:41).

TAKAKO INOUE vs. ETSUKO MITA: Mita gets her Northern Lights suplex (reminding me she used to do that when she was younger), but Takako quickly hits her Super Chokeslam, then counters a DVD to a violent leglock that has Mita screaming for mercy and gives up (14:35). Neat outdoor setting for this one!

YUMIKO HOTTA vs. KUMIKO MAEKAWA: Another lazy day at the office for Hotta, as she easily counters all of Kumiko’s stuff, and another Tiger/Pyramid Driver combo wins (9:31).

SAKIE HASEGAWA vs. ETSUKO MITA: Mita hits a dive in another outdoor show, but Sakie sobats her for two. She misses a flying splash but counters a DVD for two, then hits the Sobat to stop a Blazing Chop at (14:49). haha are they just giving Mita all the long matches at house shows as a test or what?

KYOKO INOUE vs. MARIKO YOSHIDA: Kyoko hits the Niagara Driver at (9:38).

MARIKO YOSHIDA vs. ETSUKO MITA: An interesting one. These two had a bit of a feud in 1992, with Yoshida winning a long match to get the All Japan Title. But now both are struggling in the tournament and each needs a win, as the interviewer points out- Mita is 1-4 and Yoshida’s neck has been a target all the tourney long. We’re JIP as Mita pounces on Yoshida and hangs her upside-down in the corner. Piledriver gets two, but Yoshida Germans her and hits a run-up flying sunset flip for two. She charges onto Mita’s shoulders (could be 3 moves at this point in time), but they stumble into the ropes when she counters. Yoshida tries another run-up counter, but Mita catches her and hits a monstrous Avalanche Electric Chair Drop for two. The Death Valley Driver finishes at (2:35 of 9:57 shown). Post-match, Mita excitedly explains it’s been a while since she’s been able to use her “One-Hit-Kill” move (the DVD was NEVER kicked out of around this time), but if she could use it in any match, she’d win. She admits she’s lost to upcoming opponent Kyoko a lot, but wants to DVD her as well.

Mita’s like “Yay! I finally hit my finisher again!”

SAKIE HASEGAWA vs. TAKAKO INOUE: Both are in the middle sorta. Takako teases the interviewer for speaking so formally while Sakie’s just grateful she doesn’t have to go 30 minutes in the rain for this indoor match, like last year. We’re JIP with Takako tossing her off the top but missing the Destiny Hammer- Uranage gets two for Sakie. Takako cranks on her leg to stop a Sobat, but the next one hits for two. Takako pops up after another all defiant, but another nearly KOs her. A frustrated Sakie just mounts her and throws hands, but Takako does the same- Sakie rolls her up out of the backdrop suplex- Takako can’t get the Aurora Special but Sakie misses a sobat and Takako’s Backdrop Hold gets two, and she finishes with the Destiny Hammer at (2:43 of 18:57 shown). YouTube translates Sakie’s two finishers as “hair bristles and soba noodles”.

YouTube’s auto-translator does a pretty good job, but wrestler names and finisher names are a nightmare for it. “Hair Bristles and soba noodles” are Sakie’s finishers.

GOKUMON-TO (Bull Nakano, Kyoko Inoue & Tomoko Watanabe) vs. AJA KONG, REGGIE BENNETT & MIMA SHIMODA:
* !!!!!!!!!! It’s Gokumon-to! Bull revives her old stable for one last match, taking on a grab-bag team including her biggest rival (Aja), new powerhouse (Reggie) and… an extra person (Shimoda, with no link to anyone here really). Aja’s in pink, Reggie’s in a REALLY garish blue/pink outfit, Shimoda’s in purple/white, Bull’s in black, Kyoko’s in yellow/pink & Tomoko’s in white.

Gokumon-to immediately pounce with stereo corner lariats, but Aja cross-bodies Bull’s kids and clubber Tomoko, but Shimoda takes the oil can off the second rope and now SHE gets clubbered and Bull absolutely SLAUGHTERS her with a lariat. Hairtoss, piledriver & Bull’s Angelito torture her, and she & Kyoko hit a double-stungun. Kyoko rocks the cradle with her & Tomoko adds a flying crossbody and her judo flips for two, then a sharpshooter until poor Shimoda FINALLY escapes so Aja can beat people up. Tomoko’s crushed in the corner, then Kyoko is, and the body attack on Tomoko gets two. Tomoko wails in Aja’s half-crab, way beyond most “resthold” selling, and Aja even taunts her (“That’s what you did to Mima!” “Look- Nakano’s running away!”) to the point where the crowd gets OUTRAGEOUSLY into a mere half-crab spot when Aja ties up all her limbs. Then the whole team gives Tomoko a birthday bump on her face and Aja smashes an elbow into her spine for two, then Reggie tosses her overhead. Tomoko dodges a legdrop but can’t get a suplex, then Reggie suplexes her AND Kyoko simultaneously and does a regular one to Tomoko for two. Tomoko boomerangs to escape, but Reggie wows the crowd by resisting BULL’s hairwhips through sheer strength & size, then hairwhips her! They collide in a double-lariat spot, but Reggie manages a big avalanche until Bull just smashes her in the face and dumps her over, demanding Aja. The two titans face off, a test of strength going nowhere and Bull completely blasting Aja with a lariat that is no-sold, stunning the fans. But collide to neither’s ill fortune, but Bull smokes Aja in the back of the head and knocks her to the floor for a beating. Aja quickly comes back on the floor, grabbing her signature “piece of metal railing” as a weapon, but Bull GETS THE NUNCHUCKS in the ring and hits her twice, but Aja easily bludgeons Kyoko down.

Shimoda comes in and immediately takes the slingshot backsplash, but gets her hooking clotheslines and a flying one gets two. Reggie hits an avalanche, but Kyoko flings back out of the corner to stop another, then flies too close to the sun trying a Giant Swing on ol’ Reg, haha. She hilariously tries this three more times before Aja gets sick of it and lariats her- haha I mean Reggie was trying to help but NOPE. Kyoko’s now giant swung in return, Reggie doing a comedy bit by tapping her into falling down from the dizziness- Kyoko still manages her corner DDT on Shimoda, but Shimoda hooks both Kyoko & Tomoko down at once. Tomoko hits her lariat & flying Thesz press for two, then ranas Reggie for the same after Shimoda escapes. Reggie hits her whirling powerslam on Kyoko but misses a splash, then double-clotheslines Kyoko/Tomoko, only to climb up and get flung off with the Run-Up Belly-To-Belly Superplex! Reggie escapes the Niagara Driver & Kyoko/Aja overswing on each other several times until Aja catches her with the backdrop driver. Second-rope splash misses & Kyoko lariats her & hits a release powerbomb, but Bull gets hung up on top & Flair tossed so Reggie can 2nd-rope splash her, then Aja. Aja gears up an Uraken but gets dropkicked into Shimoda, who takes herself in (uh-oh) and hits a German on Bull, who lariats her & Aja down & powerbombs Shimoda for two. Shimoda dives onto Gokumon-to, but Aja only nails her own partners and that’s that- a dazed Shimoda is hauled in for Bull’s Guillotine Legdrop at (22:14)- Gokumon-to wins! hahah they even bring in BAT YOSHINAGA (I think) to do a final bow as a stable. Post-match, Bull & Kyoko talk about their upcoming match (Kyoko wins, the torch being passed) and Aja shakes hands with her old rivals. Tomoko also jokes that she got her ass beat.

Great fun as a match- you could tell Bull & Aja were just in for “special” bits and the majority was held up by the others- Shimoda mostly ate a ton of moves to start, then Tomoko did, as they’re the weakest links, then Reggie & Kyoko got to work a bunch in the middle. Reggie even got to look good against Bull, which was rare, setting her up as a powerhouse threat. But the crowd got the ending they wanted with the former Ace hitting her regular finisher on the weakest member of Aja’s team to win. Another entertaining look at how reversal-heavy the company was at this point in time- NOBODY could hit more than 2-3 moves in a row without trying an Irish whip and getting countered.

Rating: *** (just a regular day at the office)

LAS CACHORRAS ORIENTALES (Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda) vs. AKIRA HOKUTO & CHAPARRITA ASARI: A bizarre one sees the Dangerous Queen teaming with a baby against her own stablemates. LCO, in pink, pounce before the bell- Hokuto gets the better of Shimoda, but ASARI is hobbled by something we don’t see and can’t recover. Seems legit, but then LCO pounce on her and tear at her neck, and she misses no time after this. Mita demolishes short people and God’s in his heaven; all’s right with the world, and… the tape ends when Shimoda whips ASARI over to Hokuto. Alright, then! LCO apparently wins in (15:19).

An amazing, wildly depressing show, because 1995 Zenjo was so far ahead of every women’s promotion in 2001 that it’s sad and makes me wish it was happy times like this again. The sheer athleticism, selling, and crushing offense was completely on another level here.