Joshi Spotlight: AJW in 01.03-04 2002 (Manami vs. Momoe!)

AJW IN JANUARY 2002:
* So Zenjo is coming off a pretty strong 2001 in terms of booking, elevating Momoe Nakanishi & Kumiko Maekawa to the “next level”, but still putting them notably behind Kaoru Ito, the Ace and World Champion. Older wrestlers like Yumiko Hotta & Manami Toyota have lost prominent matches and the booking appears to be de-pushing them heavily… BUT ABOUT THAT. I looked ahead at some big matches to create a watch-list for 2002 and um, not entirely.

Jan. 3rd:

TOMOKO WATANABE vs. KUMIKO MAEKAWA:
* So Tomoko had been Kumiko’s “Senior Partner” for a LONG time in 1997-98 or so), but eventually Kumiko turned on her friends to join the evil veteran squad and has been a heel ever since. But in the meantime she’s been elevated over and over again so might actually be equal to Tomoko by this point. Tomoko’s in orange, Kumiko’s in purple.

Tomoko throws a bunch of kicks, but eventually gets slugged down repeatedly. Tomoko misses her flying attack but catches a kick for her dragon screw, but Kumiko spins out of the next one and kicks her in the head. Tomoko still manages a counter-lariat for two, then catches a kick and segues it right into the sit-out Screwdriver (one-armed ligerbomb) for the same! Commentary openly discusses what I just mentioned about their tiers (“there was a time when it was expected if this match took place in Korakuen Hall, Watanabe would win. What about today?”) as Kumiko avoids another powerbomb and finds like six different variations of “kick Tomoko in the brain” for two-counts. But she over-relies on them as always, and Tomoko catches a high roundhouse with a dragon screw, but the Screwdriver again fails to pin. Shocked, Tomoko moves to her MDK, the Hellsmasher (high-angle tiger driver) to kill Kumiko at (3:55 of 10:12 shown). So a hard-fought victory that indicates Kumiko’s rising by taking Tomoko to the limit, if not being able to even score many nearfalls.

NANAMOMO (Nanae Takahashi & Momoe Nakanishi) vs. LAS CACHORRAS ORIENTALES:
* Another interesting one- this was THE FEUD of 2000, with LCO being horrible nasties all year long and NanaMomo fighting from behind and becoming beloved to the new, younger fans Zenjo had amassed, finally beating them… but of course LCO would win the belts back due to interference, Nanae would team with Tomoko to feud with them while Momoe was elevated to a singles push, and now LCO is sorta fading and probably expected to do a bunch of jobs to “pay” for their omnipresence and tons of winning in prior years, making this one fascinating from a booking perspective. Momoe’s elevation would suggest her team is even higher-level now. oh also, with the ending of MihoKayo as a team (since Miho retired last year), maaaaaaybe their plans to elevate them were borked and they have to reposition to an established duo again?

Commentary discusses the teams’ prior feud as NanaMomo attack before the bell and Nanae hits a hell of a dive at top speed, smashing LCO, then Momoe adds a run-up plancha to them and hits an Orihara moonsault to Mita. And then things further turn against LCO in their own trademark crowd brawl, as Shimoda’s spread-eagled on a chair, flailing her legs around and screaming as Nanae beats her, and Mita gets smashed into stariwells and hit with an aisle-running elbow smash from Momoe. Then they switch foes and Mita eats Nanae’s chairshot and another aisle-run move- a lariat. Back in the ring, Shimoda is noticeably put-out to realize Mita isn’t there to back her up, but manages to bite and spit at Momoe enough to take the lead. Mita flings the banana-yellow chair and piledrivers her for two, then helicopters Momoe around the ring by her hair and they do the Bitch Pose, as this becomes a very “LCO Match”. Mita with a delayed piledriver & open choking, then Shimoda’s off the top with an assisted choke-bomb and strangles away. Butterfly suplex & surfboard stretch Momoe out, Mita hits a hell of a stunner, but Momoe at last escapes and Nanae uses her “massive body” (lol commentary) to her advantage, but runs into a Blazing Chop and is chaired.

They appear to mess up a piledriver counter but try again and Nanae backdrops her out, then barrels her over and the Vader Bomb gets two, but Shimoda cheats to set up the Avalanche Electric Chair Drop for two. Nanae’s chopped down again, but counters a Tiger Suplex and she & Shimoda keep struggling against one another, and Shimoda gets her double-hook clothesline on them, then ducks a chair so Nanae’s smashed with it. Shimoda’s Flying Ax Kick gets two, but Nanae counters to a backdrop driver for the same, but Mita trips up Mome and the Tiger Driver gets two for Shimoda. Nanae interferes, but Shimoda still manages the Death Lake Driver (tiger superplex)- Nanae bowls them over, then interferes again so the German/Jacknife double-team nearly pins Mita. Nanae flings Mita off the 2nd rope when she tries another avalanche chair drop, but Momoe flies off the top onto outstretched feet & LCO beat up NanaMomo outside the ring, build chair mountain, then powerbomb Momoe onto it! Nanae’s sat in a chair and missile kicked out of it and Mita throws a chair at the ref, but Momoe counters a DVD to a German on the chairs, and Nanae ducks Shimoda’s punch and Germans HER onto them! But Momoe tries for a Momo Latch (twisting rana- her finisher) and Mita overthrows her onto the chairs. Momoe sells the gut tremendously as the chairs are at last cleared out, but Momoe flips out of a DVD, tries the Latch again, but Mita turns THAT into a full Death Valley Driver- for two, as Momoe roars to life! But Mita just kicks her in the head to stun her and the DVD/Ax Kick combo requires Nanae to save. They try it on her to kill off the team, but she dodges in and Mita takes it, allowing the Momo Latch to… get two.

Momoe pounds the mat in frustration and manages a Dragon Suplex, but Mita rolls over on the bump and herself growls and gets up, slapping Momoe and aiming for a DVD- countered to a Momo Latch and Shimoda saves! Momoe finally tags out and Nanae hits her Flying Back Senton, but Shimoda hops over and stomps the ref’s hand to stop the count. Nanae seems to try the NanaRaka (michinoku driver) but Mita stunners out, but her DVD is countered to Nanae’s lariat for two. She tries another Back Senton but hits Mita’s feet, then Shimoda’s in and they mess around a bit and the pace slows until Momoe tries another run-up plancha but only nails her partner. Nanae avoids the DVD/Ax Kick but Shimoda sprays green mist for two. They try the DVD/Flying Ax Kick to finisher her off, but Nanae Germans Mita and superplexes Shimoda, setting up the NanaMomo Driver (double-lift razor’s edge)- Mita saves! Nanae tries to finish, pushes Mita in the way of Shimoda’s chair, and the NanaRakka hits- Mita saves again! Shimoda tries a rollup and some ugly Majistral/armbar thing and Momoe hits a precision dropkick to the head, setting up another NanaMomo Driver… Shimoda kicks out! But time is ticking down, too! And so Shimoda Germans her for two, then Nanae hits another NakaRakka, but Mita flings in the yellow chair from off-camera to break it up and… that’s (23:03 of 30:00 shown) and it’s a Time Limit Draw. Momoe DEMANDS an extension, but LCO are like “Nah, not until you guys form a proper team” and bail.

This was a weird case where a match was good, but feels like it wasn’t quite as good as it SHOULD have been, and maybe it’s the extended length or the lack of strong Nanae bits. She was always the down side of past LCO/NanaMomo matches, as she was very unsteady and unpracticed so it was always All Momoe, All The Time during dramatic moments, and even though she’s elevated her game a lot in 2001, they still use mostly that scheme for this bout. However, after a series of hot nearfalls, Momoe finally tags out to Nanae and they do a whole nother end sequence with her and Mita (Shimoda, as always, is rarely ever let into the gritty final stretch of a match- you can see why, as when they do it here, there’s a lot of stop-and-start and the fans kinda die as the pace noticeably drops from the “Frenetic AJW Tag” into “kinda some random stuff goin’ on”). But then they kinda rev it up again and start the same stuff, almost like they finally let Nanae be important and she mostly pulls it off (though her selling is again nowhere near Momoe’s). The desperate final minutes of a Time Limit Draw are some of Zenjo’s best stuff typically, but Shimoda’s sloppy post-2000 execution and offense don’t really help it much, as her loose Germans and weird rollups that look like botches aren’t exactly devastating “this’ll do it for sure!” counters.

Rating: ***1/2 (some very, very good work, but never quite gets over the hump to be a top-tier match)

JAN. 4th:

AJW TITLE:
KAYO NOUMI (AJW) vs. KAYOKO HARUYAMA (JWP):
* So Noumi is now partner-less after Wakizawa retired in Dec. 2001, and naturally Zenjo is like “AW SHIT WE SHOULDA PUSHED HER INSTEAD!” and is now left with trying to build up Noumi through the year, as she is sorta “the next one to be elevated” in seniority and has now been taught Wacky’s finisher, the Fisherman’s Buster. For this purpose, JWP’s Haruyama was brought in to win the AJW Title (a lower-end “this goes on the rising kid with potential” belt). Kayoko’s in orange, Kayo’s in blue.

Noumi attacks with falling clotheslines and hairtosses to start, Haruyama coming back and giving her the same, including some facewashes with her boot. Noumi takes a beating on the floor, including some tossed chairs, then waits her out like a heel, hits a kneeling bodyslam for two, then works restholds while stretching out her nose. Noumi howls defiantly trying to resist a Boston crab but ends up sat on anyways, Haruyama ass-slamming her on the execution. Noumi escapes and pays her back with rookie-fu restholds and hairpulling, but a floatover DDT from Haruyama gets two. Noumi hits another hooking clothesline but gets slammed trying another, then takes an avalanche before countering another for two. Noumi dodges a missile kick and hits a plancha, hits a missile kick & flying splash to work counts, then gets her Double-Wrist Armsault after a fight. Haruyama counters another with knee shots & a stunner, then hits another stunner but gets rolled up. Haruyama hits a powerslam/legdrop for two, but climbs and gets caught with a Super Double-Wrist Armsault for two. Noumi hits more rollups to try and pin her, but Haruyama counters a charging one with D’Lo Brown’s Lo Down for two. Haruyama now pulls off a SUPER Bodyslam, Noumi popping out with a bridge in a close one. The match is finally getting some reactions. Haruyama hits two big flying splashes for two, but Noumi crucifixes her for two, then kicks out of an Inverted Sit-Out Spinebuster-type move. German gets two, Noumi rolls her up again, Haruyama lands a bridging vertical suplex and 2nd-rope legdrop, but heads to the top and misses, and Noumi immediately pounces with the Fisherman’s Buster at (11:56), winning the AJW Title.

A very slow, basic match that never really had the crowd behind it. Some solid work from Haruyama, who mostly carried Noumi through simple stuff and gave her the occasional comback, but despite both working holds and pulling hair, it lacked venom and savagery. Or the best selling from Noumi, who would usually have that as one of her best attributes. She didn’t do the “broken doll” selling as much, nor sell much desperation or agony. She never pleaded to the fans for support, got fired up, anything- it was performed more like both were trying to memorize and remember everything they planned. Even the finish was kinda weak- Noumi never goes for the Buster once before she pops up after a missed move and uses it to win. Practically a “banana peel” finish where Haruyama pays for getting cocky more than anything Noumi did as a virtue.

Rating: **1/2 (perfectly fine TV and a decent match, but never crossed the line into much more than “good”)

TOMOKO WATANABE & NANAE TAKAHASHI vs. BLACK JOKER (Takako Inoue & Rumi Kazama):
* The Tomoko/Nanae team are still Tag Champions, and now the Black Joker team moves on from fighting MihoKayo (ie. lower-card wrestlers) to taking on the top team, who have made one successful defense since winning the belts in July- against MihoKayo as well. Watanabe’s in neon yellow, Nanae’s in lavender, Takako’s in brown & Rumi’s in purple. No Eagle Sawai with BJ, which is a big outlier given their usual M.O. (ie. lotsa cheating).

FALL ONE: Rumi immediately sneaks in with MIDGET MUAY THAI, but Nanae just bowls the heels over with her clotheslines, but the champs’ double team fails as well. Nanae eagerly resists Rumi’s offense and won’t sell (showing her elevation over the past year, finally able to use her size to her advantage), finally getting flung off the 2nd-rope when she tries one of her corner moves and Takako grabs her. A brawl in the stands goes the champs’ way and Nanae hits a dive onto both BJ, and a Vader Bomb for two on Takako as the fans are still super quiet. Nanae unwisely chases Takako up top and takes the Super Chokeslam, but misses the Destiny Hammer (flying knee) and Watanabe knocks her into a backdrop suplex for two. Watanabe misses her flying move and gets backdropped, but no-sells and hits a German- only gets one. Takako gets an enzuigiri and everyone keeps running around and getting in the way as this is really herky-jerky so far. Speaking of, Watanabe uses her dragon screw but then a… weird powerbomb onto her own leg to Takako. WTF was that supposed to be? did Takako just “nope” out of a Screwdriver or do the wrong bump? haha and then Nanae tries her back senton from WAY too far away and barely taps Takako, and then Watanabe in fact hits the Screwdriver. ah, there we go. A Flying Elbow/Release Tiger Driver drills Takako and Watanabe does a crossface/hammerlock submission for the quick submission at (6:06).

FALL TWO: JIP with Nanae hitting a Vader Bomb on Rumi, but missing another, but Takako eats the snap fallaway slam. She comes back with her armdrag & super armdrag on Tomoko, then brings her tombstone out of the mothballs! Watanabe comes back with a slingshot move to Black Joker, but Takako zaps her with the stun-gun from the apron and fires off some spinkicks. Rumi powerbombs her but pulls her up at “2” so Takako can finish with the uraken, but Watanabe keeps ducking and blocking it after briefly selling one, Nanae kinda bumps into Takako in a bad spot. Nanae runs wild with shoulderblocks but gets German’d and bulldogged, but superduperplexes Takako for two. But ANOTHER back senton misses by a mile, Takako getting her feet up but Nanae just taking a monster back bump by missing completely. Double chokeslam gets two, and the Destiny Hammer has Watanabe save. Takako hits another Destiny Hammer, then urakens Watanabe, then Nanae for three at (5:16 shown). We’re tied, now.

Takako Inoue decides to slide FREE-HAND down the full length of Korakuen Hall from the upper balcony.

FALL THREE: Watanabe charges the ring right away, but NOW Eagle Sawai comes out and kicks her ass, leaving Nanae alone- uraken nearly pins her. Another one for another nearfall, but Nanae dodges Rumi’s double-team and desperately tags out. But Watanabe just kinda stands there a bit before running in for a double-lariat, but ends up triple-teamed and eats Rumi’s straightjacket German. Nanae flies in with a splash to Rumi but gets trucked by Eagle, then Watanabe is flung off the ropes by Takako and beaten up outside the ring, bleeding while Nanae & Takako fight by the merch tables. Nanae takes the lead, but soon gets urakened and they tease throwing her off the balcony while Watanabe gets her bloody face rubbed all over a white sign in the first good spot of the match. Then HOLY SHIT, Takako grabs the wall-length curtain and SLIDES DOWN like Errol Flynn in a crazy risk. Nanae tries to run the long way as Watanabe gets crushed by Rumi & Eagle, and all 3 hit the Double-Assisted Powerbomb for 2.8. Backdrop/Flying Chokeslam gets two. Second Double Assisted Powerbomb- Nanae saves. But Eagle does away with her and an uraken sets up Rumi’s Flying Wheel Kick for three at (7:42). New Tag Team Champions! The shitty Black Joker team win the belts, lol. An angry, bloody Tomoko demands a match against EAGLE and it’s a pullapart to end things.

Man, what a mess. Everyone here but Rumi is good almost all the time, so this is inexplicably bad. Like they weren’t on the same page at all, or didn’t have their flow down or any idea how to do stuff, so you had a lot of “someone runs in, then kinda stands there or barely grazes someone with their charge because they’re out of position” stuff. Or Tomoko gets tagged in after Nanae’s left alone and instead of just charging in, sorta awkwardly stands there and repositions her kneepad and then goes “YEAHHHH TIME TO KICK ASS!” after the moment is gone. This happened REPEATEDLY, which is a really bad sign and feels like they got the yips or just never work together and thus didn’t have their timing set up. Takako was at least precise hitting her spinkicks and urakens because Nanae kept missing with her flying moves. The fans picked up on all the weirdness too, I think, because they were quiet throughout, doing the “occasional yelling”. I don’t think BJ were properly set up as contenders, either- they just sorta showed up one day, and I don’t think Rumi means much to Zenjo fans. Things are only saved by a fairly good third fall, which requires tons of Eagle interference and big signature spots to be memorable. I wonder if the Champs just had “jobbing face” effort or Rumi’s general sucktitude just weighed on everything, because this is one of the weaker tag title matches I’ve seen the company do.

Rating: ** (barrrrrrrrrrrrely got over that hump by the end)

MANAMI TOYOTA vs. MOMOE NAKANISHI:
* So literally the day after the 30 minute draw against LCO, Momoe is called out to wrestle Manami. Another important one to show the current level of a rising star, as Momoe was well below Ito and got crushed in her Red Belt challenge, but Manami spent most of 2001 doing jobs or being a forgotten heel. But she’s still a former Champion and a top name in the company. Somewhat muted reactions for both to start.

Momoe greets Manami’s handshake with a pre-bell German, but gets shitcanned and plancha’d, then Manami throws chairs at her and actually gets the fans to clap for her, lol. But Momoe does a good takedown from a knucklelock and just punches the shit out of her, provoking a fistfight that she wins, but Toyota won’t go up for a suplex and slips trying a counter in the corner- slick cover by Momoe, who pounces with kicks until Manami can start no-selling and blast her with the dropkick in the ropes (EXCELLENT ragdoll sell by Momoe). She stretches out Momoe’s face while commentary openly talks about how “she says she spend 2001 feeling lost, but she is no longer lost” and “what kind of brilliance will Queen Toyota shine this year?” and “If she wins the Red Belt, she’ll be the first person in 26 years to win it four times after Jumbo Miyamoto”, suggesting they’ve renovated the internal rankings of the company, haha. You can tell she’s motivated by this because she’s being a shitbag to a junior in the ring again! She even makes the fans clap and dances to set up the Muta Lock, but Momoe turns it into a chinlock and growls when Manami repositions and swats her head repeatedly. Manami bends her backwards as commentary is like “What is Nakanishi lacking?” and brings up “small size is something she was born with”, then wishbones her legs.

The stories for the year are laid out by commentary: “Toyota is the Queen and rules” and “What is Nakanishi lacking?”.

Momoe kicks out of a pin and immediately takes the back, but Manami counters to… Kyoko Inoue’s “rocking cradle” move? *snrk* this is twice now she’s copied her old rival. What zone is she in right now? It’s a REALLY good swinging version, helped by Momoe’s small size. Cue the comeback: Momoe does a run-up crossbody, a missile kick, then another as commentary says her speed is the best in wrestling- but then Manami dumps her and hits a crazy tope con hilo to the floor. Momoe Germans her off the 2nd rope and jackknifes her, but Manami slides out in a great counter for two, and they counter each other 3-4 times each for twos, then Momoe roars in but gets caught with a deadlift wheelbarrow German for two, Toyota adding a missile dropkick to the spine for a cocky pin. But Momoe fires up after another one strikes her skull, but collapses, then wildly swings and gets caught in a Straightjacket German for two. Moonsault misses and Momoe hits the Momo Latch, but Toyota kicks out and immediately hits the Japanese Ocean Backdrop Hold (pumphandle german/backdrop) for two. Momoe snaps off a victory roll to counter the Ocean Cyclone, but misses a run-up moonsault counter, only to dodge Manami’s next dropkick in the ropes- MULKEY BUMP! Manami slides through the ropes and eats shit on the floor, and Momoe adds a cannonball off the apron and Germans Manami off it, too! But Manami does her “Doesn’t HURRRRRT!” no-sell after a missile kick and Germans her for two, then an octopus stretch sets up a butterfly suplex, but Momoe knocks her off the top and run-up planchas her. Then they’re like “lol let’s do it again” and Momoe hits the Orihara Moonsault instead.

Manami just throws some arrogant boots for two, but Momoe hits a run-up backflip right into a German for two. She tries a Momo Latch but gets powerbombed for two, right into the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex… 2.9 (commentary even says it, haha)! Manami goes for another, Momoe escapes, then Momoe tries to run up the ropes and gets caught and Manami tries AGAIN… inverted Momo Latch! But it was kind of ugly and hits like a scramble and gets only two. Momo La– Manami leverages onto her for two! That was SLICK, too. But Manami’s Moonsault hits feet and she’s hit with the Momo Latch, but the pin is sideways so she ekes out her shoulder at 2. Momoe struggles to come up with more stuff to do as the fans quiet down a bit, and she flies off onto Manami’s feet, but still gets a Momo Latch for two. Manami’s second JOCS also gets two, but she’s confident and still has energy… but the Ocean Queen Bee Bomb (pumphandle northern lights bomb) is countered to an inside cradle for two, then counters a JOCS to a Dragon Suplex for 2.5, then another Dragon for the same, but tries it too many times and nearly gets pinned. She leverages back for two, Moonsaults for two, Momoe run-up moonsaults her for two, but Momoe kicks out of another Straightjacket German as Time’s Up at (20:49 of 30:00 shown), Momoe scoring another time-limit draw, but against an elite! Momoe begrudgingly shakes Toyota’s outstretched hand, but is pissed- she shoves her off after and storms to the back, disappointed yet again.

WHERE HAS THIS MANAMI BEEN?!? She was lazy as shit for almost all of 2001, getting depushed like they were making it clear “we want you gone and you should probably like… be a freelancer or something lol” and then suddenly it’s like “Oh hey we’re renewing your push” and commentary’s all aglow over her skills and she goes all-out and gobbles up all the offense and has another “Toyota hits 100 movez” match with tons of effort. At least she’s senior to Momoe, who is mentioned in the booking as struggling to get over that hump to defeat the elites (Ito took her to the woodshed in the fall over the Red Belt; she couldn’t beat Maekawa in a White Belt match either). The fans definitely responded- Main Event Manami is a crowd-pleaser even if she’s not the most, uh, GENEROUS of workers, and since Momoe’s entire act works better if she’s fighting from underneath and both are crazy athletes, it provokes some good chemistry. Manami’s never happier than when she can burn off like 85% of her moveset in one match AND gets good reactions, and her dominance here had the crowd loving it. It’s largely “Manami exhausts all her moves and Momoe survives by making comebacks”, which is solid but not an epic or anything, but it’s a very good match to start the year. The big thing holding it back was Momoe didn’t really do the Kyoko Inoue “underdog” thing of like… screaming comebacks, desperation, “I’m ded” selling, etc. A lack of a killer finisher is brought up by commentary and indeed holds her back in matches like this, too- there’s nowhere to go with veterans able to deal with dragon suplexes & twisting ranas. But the match does have a good story in the end- Momoe Fails Yet Again. As 2002 is very much “The Year of Momoe’s Elevation” every bout like this is important, and it’s the third straight disappointment for her, while this and the last one fail to make her really look bad- Time Over finishes protect both wrestlers and these are important in giving her something to work towards.

Rating: ***3/4 (a very good MOVEZ match that showcases the ridiculous cardio and skill of both wrestlers, neither of whom were even selling being tired after hitting a hundred moves apiece across 30 minutes)

So the year’s angles are set up! As you’ve probably noticed from these columns, every single year Zenjo reassesses all the wrestlers and decides the year’s stories- several times I’ve noticed new people suddenly get Magical Pushes right at the beginning of the year (Shimoda one year, for example; Ito in another), others get elevated from middle ranks to higher, etc. Just from the January 3rd and 4th shows, you can see clear plans in motion:

Kayo Noumi, undercard bump machine and “the lesser partner” in MihoKayo, immediately gets a belt by beating an invader for the AJW Title, thus indicating to fans “this is the next one to watch”. Black Joker invade and win the 3WA Tag Team Titles, indicating that they’re the evil heels that need to be stomped by a babyface duo, who will be thus elevated. This one doesn’t get over but I dunno, might be something. I haven’t looked ahead yet. They also completely renovate and revamp Manami Toyota’s position in the company, shifting her from “Oh, she’s still here? Uhhhhhh she’s starting to job in JGPs now, haha” to “Queen Toyota will go SO FAR this year!” and trying to convince the fans that she’s a huge star. And importantly, “Momoe Nakanishi is lacking something”, showcased by Ito taking her to the woodshed in the fall in her first Title Match, then her failing to beat rival Kumiko later, then Manami here. Also importantly, she didn’t JOB in these last two, but still proved incapable of winning. And this means that she will have to ELEVATE herself to push past these limits and do something. So the suggestion is “She isn’t there yet”, but they’re fairly emphatic that “She WILL be”, which is the real kicker. Hopefully they don’t lose TV or something shitty like that to really ruin it when they pull the trigger!