Joshi Spotlight: Zenjo Turbulence 2002

ZENJO TURBULENCE:
(Feb. 24th 2002)
* And now we come to one of Zenjo’s biggest shows- ZENJO TURBULENCE! This is their attempt at a Pay-Per-View event (it says “PPV” right there next to the Japanese script!), with several huge matches- a dream match between Las Cachorras Orientales and the superteam of Yumiko Hotta & Shinobu Kandori! Kumiko Maekawa vs. Momoe Nakanishi as their rivalry continues! And the WWWA World Title defense- Kaoru Ito vs. Manami Toyota! We’re at Yokohama Bay-Side, so hopefully the famously-loud and intense Yokohoma fans are with us. The DRAMATIC highlight real and theatrical music before the show presents an epic spectacle of the five matches. You can tell it’s a big show because the main commentator announces the entire promotion out for the roll call and ceremony. This is also a LIVE BROADCAST- apparently the first time women’s wrestling was ever shot live like this. Attendance is said to be 4,160, and the building does look pretty packed.

Sadly, this is the moment (almost precisely so) where Zenjo loses their TV, and ends up doing like… guest shots on Samurai TV or whatever. Which kills business and permanently damages both the promotion and its wrestlers. GOOD TIMES!

Part One!

DRAMA during the opening ceremony, as they say goodbye to Commissioner Shinji Ueda (who died the previous November), but as soon as that’s done, Kandori gets into it with Lioness Asuka of ARSION, who arrives in the stands! And she’s packing Rossy Ogawa, President of ARSION, who gets shoved by Rumi Kazama (backing up LLPW partner Kandori). This whole set is an astonishing FOUR AND A HALF HOURS LONG, but only has like 6 matches- looks like there’s a lot of gaga, ceremonies, etc., surrounding everything. Speaking of, here’s Kiss World, which is the idol singer stable of Zenjo (Momoe, Nanae, Kayo & Mika Nishio swapping in for Miho Wakizawa). With choreography! In theory. KPop, it is not. Watching Noumi get some bits of focus while she stares down at the mat like she’s trying really hard to remember all the words is funny. Commentator guy going from Japanese to Japanese-accented English (teaming them “Nevah surrendah”) to FLAWLESS English (“Never Surrender”) is fascinating. This shall apparently be Kiss World’s new philosophy!

Rumi Kazama of LLPW takes a shot at ARSION’s President Ogawa.

Part Two!

FUMIKO YAMANE vs. SAKI MAEMURA:
* Yes, right out of the gate they open their biggest show in eons with ROOKIE MAYHEM! Ah, joshi card-making. Since everything follows a strict hierarchy, it defies Western “put a hot, fast-paced match on first” conventions and instead gives us barely-competent teen girls in unflattering haircuts and tights. Yamane’s in the pastel blue rookie swimsuit, Maemura’s in pink. Her career lasts the lost- 2001-2009. Yamane only lasts a couple months.

Yamane fires of snapmare spam into a crossface as commentary discusses Maemura’s growing number of male fans while adding that how “in my day” all rookies had messy black hair, but now debut with brown (ie. dyed) locks. Maemura tries to show fire with slapping shots and actually bites the leg to escape a hold while commentary discusses the similarities in look between Yamane and former wrestler Bat Yoshinaga and the visible bruisers all over Maemura’s legs. Saki uses elbow to the ass while stuck in a crab (commentary notes the 25kg weight disparity) and it’s mentioned that “if you want to see the characteristics of a promotion, watch the newcomers”. Maemura kicks out of the Rookieslayer Bodyslam then sunset flips outta the Rookie Standing Backdrop, going on offense with dropkick spam. The slams and pins get a bit weak as they get tired. Amateur-style craning kickouts of bodyslams- this brings me back. Maemura has to use crossbody spam to have any impact, but Yamane fires off a billion dropkicks, slams & clutches as she gets more tired. Commentary: “As always, the audience in this venue is quiet”, chuckling as he suggests “if they got a little bit more behind the wrestlers, they’d get motivated”. Yamane FINALLY manages to keep Maemura’s shoulders down for the pin at (11:28). Maemura has good fire and selling, but her offense looks very soft. Yamane is clumsy and has a bad look, but her stuff looks more impactful. Commentary put her over as having the most fire/mindset of the rookies.

Rating: * (about as exciting as increasingly-tired teenagers hitting endless dropkicks and slams is going to be. Commentary was fascinating, however)

MIYUKI FUJII & MIKA NISHIO (AJW) vs. KAORI YONEYAMA & KOMINIA ICHIKAWA (JWP):
* Another joshi standby! Man this card is reminding me of the early days of Joshi Spotlights, as this was customary in every big show: A shitty rookie match, then a tag team interpromotional one. This is AJW vs. JWP, with the future Acute Sae making her Spotlight debut as Ichikawa, a masked wrestler with theme music out of a Kabuki play. Ah, the whole thing is Kabuki-themed, with mask and mannerisms. Yoneyama is a short, squat rookie. This was supposed to have Kaori Haruyama in it, but as last week’s Spotlight showed, she suffered “a fracture” in a tag match and had to be swapped out. Fujii, “entering her 6th year” is teamed up with a rookie in her 2nd, getting a brand-new push as part of the pop group of Fujii’s peers who all outstripped her, haha.

Team JWP attacks from behind, but Ichikawa soon reveals herself to be a mere Rookie Offense type and quickly gets beaten up. Immediately it’s restholds and generic double-teams as this is highly uninteresting. Commentary mentions “JWP can only have a few matches per month right now” as opposed to the ridiculous Zenjo schedule, so they have to showcase themselves differently. Yoneyama does a Jaguar-style bridge-out from a pin but eats a million Nishio dropkicks. As Fujii is the experienced one, she has to take a bunch of quick rollups, but dodges Yoneyama’s moonsault and missile kicks her for two. Yoneyama gets a dramatic elbow smash for two and the double-wrist armsault as commentary hopes Ichikawa will do something cool at some point, and I guess her best shot is “missing a flying stomp and rollup Fujii into the ropes”. She manages a rana, but takes the 2nd-Rope Facecrusher & bridging suplex for two. Ishikawa finally gets some stuff with a Tornado DDT & Flying Stomp for 2s, but gets rolled up. Yoneyama flies in with a missile kick to flatten Nishio, allowing Ishikawa a sloppy “judo flip spam” spot as she’s very flaily and unbalanced-looking. Yoneyama flying splash and a rocket launcher hit- Fujii saves, then Germans Ishikawa so Nishio can try some sloppy flash-pins. Ishikawa catches her up top for a Super Judo Flip into a jujigatame- Fujii saves again, but is out of the ring when Ishikawa does an awkward leap into Nishio’s arms, rolling backwards for another jujigatame, getting the submission win at (12:47).

A very weak, disappointing rookie match, as Yoneyama showed fire but everything else was pretty basic and clumsy. Not sure what the Creepy Kabuki Wrestler was supposed to do, but I assume “clumsy, incompetent stomps” was not it. Haruyama not being there probably hurt it, as they were left doing the most plain offense to fill time. Fujii was probably the best, as she was bigger & stronger and it’s no mistake that’s why she was taking all the dramatic rollups & big moves (less likely to botch them). Ishikawa in particular didn’t have a good showing, looking undersized, physically weak and very awkward, sorta just hanging on and herky-jerking around. haha commentary lady even adds “JWP… performance was a little lacking”- lol that’s unusually blunt if YouTube is translating that correctly.

Rating: *1/2 (the classic “too long” rookie match that’s also pretty sloppy)

BLACK JOKER (Eagle Sawai, Takako Inoue & Rumi Kazama) vs. TOMOKO WATANABE, NANAE TAKAHASHI & KAYO NOUMI:
* So Black Joker, an LLPW/Freelancer squad of heels, unfairly won the WWWA Tag Titles from the Tomoko/Nanae team, and this is revenge, throwing in Kayo Noumi, who otherwise wasn’t doing anything. Her team (with retired Miho Wakizawa) was often victimized by Black Joker the year prior, though, so she has some skin in the game. But she’s an obvious weak link in that team, as BJ are often pushed pretty strong (Rumi is the LLPW President/Booker, so she ain’t keen on doing mega-jobs). Eagle’s in red, Takako black, Rumi purple, Tomoko orange, Nanae red & Noumi blue. As always, BJ’s theme being The Prodigy’s “Funky Shit” mixed with Takako’s cheeseball “Knockout” theme is the best.

The crowd oohs at Tomoko/Eagle being the starting wrestlers, but Eagle decides to bail and so Tomoko just charges all three. But an angry brawl leads to Tomoko saying she gets a singles match if she wins… and Rumi counters that if THEY win, the loser has to join Black Joker! And they succeed in GETTING VOLUME FROM A YOKOHAMA CROWD! Everyone brawls all over the place before they hit the ring and Noumi gets her ass beat- she really has her Selling Boots on today, flailing around, eyes lolling back into her head, etc. I love the “uselessly reach for a tag 20 feet away” sell. But she finally escapes Takako and the heroes triple-dropkick her, Noumi pounding the mat in triumph! YEAH! That’s how ya do it! “Watanabe & Takahashi have a tremendous amount of anger towards Black Joker. It extends far beyond being sulky. Their goal today is to unleash that anger in the ring”. Wrestling 101. Nanae tortures & bites Takako, but Eagle flattens her and slowly works her over, but then Nanae absorbs Rumi’s kicks and backbreaks her & Tomoko adds a lariat. Takako works over Tomoko but ends up dragon screwed. Figure-four for Takako! With Kayo & Nanae flying in with splashes because FUCK HER! Takako’s selling is off the charts as Tomoko dumps her body over to the corner. Eagle again backs away so Rumi has to take the bait… only for Eagle to hit a back attack like a fucking coward hahahaha. Tomoko’s “fucking bitch!” body language as they beat on her is tremendous. Tomoko finally comes back and makes sure to add an extra stiff kick to Rumi while she’s down, and now NOUMI plays heel by hair-whipping Rumi across the ring and standing on her in the ropes. Sweet comeuppance! Rumi manages a comeback and NOW Eagle is brave taking on tiny Kayo… who clotheslines her! But Eagle easily overpowers her again and hits a release backdrop.

Takako tombstones her for two, but Kayo manages an ugly-ass headscissors (got way too much momentum coming in and Takako had to scoot across the ring) & rollup. BJ double-team her but get clotheslined down, and Kayo absorbs some Takako MMA before firing off her double-wrist armsault and thankfully tags out. Nanae gets distracted, taking the backdrop hold & Super Chokeslam for twos. But Takako gest caught up top & Superduperplexed. Nanae misses the Vader Bomb and gets triple-teamed- they easily block her counter, but Tomoko bowls down all three to applause. This sets up the Vader Bomb on Rumi for two, but Rumi gets a scrappy inverted DDT and Eagle’s lariat… is no-sold! But a second one puts Nanae down, making a greater pop when she hits a big backdrop suplex on Eagle. Tomoko FINALLY gets Eagle, but misses a slingshot move so Kayo planchas her, but Nanae nails her own partners and BJ work them over with weapons on the floor. Nanae gets strangled & tied to the corner with a rope and the other two are beaten up, but a bloody Tomoko manages a comeback on Eagle with a rana & glancing lariat (Eagle wasn’t ready). BJ triple-team her in a mirror of how they lost the tag belts, but this time Kayo is the secret, as she throws out Germans! Including one to Eagle! Kayo finally fails, missile kicking Tomoko, and a Folding Powerbomb from Eagle… gets two as Nanae has freed herself! And the heroes rally as Kayo hits her double-wrist armsault to Eagle, Nanae throws out her Flying Back Senton, and Tomoko hits the Screwdriver (backdrop to powerbomb), but BJ saves. Another & Eagle kicks out. Tomoko roars to set up the finish, but dastardly Takako brings out the STUN GUN to zap everyone and Eagle hits another Folding Powerbomb… two! And the Triple Powerbomb ends it at (21:08)… meaning TOMOKO MUST JOIN BLACK JOKER!! Oh the unfairness of it all! Damn them! Damn Black Joker to Hell! Proudly placing their signature hoodie on Tomoko’s dead body is a true dick move. They challenge losers Nanae & Kayo to a Tag Title match at the very end, too.

This was WILD, haha. Just all-out crazy effort of people knowing they’re at a big show and pulling out all the stops. Noumi was at her “dying rooie” best, eyes rolling back into her head as her head lolled aorund as she’s abused by the heels, then Takako comes in and does some great whiny selling as she’s screaming in agony from dragon screws and splashes. Then Eagle shows tremendous cowardice to build to a showdown with Tomoko. Unfortunately the middle portion falls apart a bit as Noumi gets very sloppy, the Nanae bit is solid but slow, and they pad the match out more and more to make it 20+ minutes, hurting it as a whole. Like if they’d kept up the energy & selling of the first 5-10 minutes, this match is **** and then some, but instead they gotta peter it down, Noumi has to go on offense instead of defense which is not her best aspect, Nanae’s always been a “*** floor” wrestler, and even Tomoko isn’t quite as explosive or as good with her selling as she was a couple years prior. So there were good heel shenanigans in here and the match was EXCELLENT at points, plus the finish is another “brutally unfair BJ win”, which makes their future loss all the more compelling, should this follow the “LCO Formula”.

Rating: ***1/2 (almost a disappointment, like they coulda hit ****+ if things had gone differently)

Now it’s a long hype video for the next three matches. 20 minutes spent on this- what is the live crowd doing?

ALL PACIFIC TITLE (Vacant):
KUMIKO MAEKAWA vs. MOMOE NAKANISHI:
* These two were obviously “The Next Big Stars” as of the Summer of 2001, as the Japan Grand Prix leads to them leading on points, leading to a dramatic final match won by Momoe. Momoe challenged for the WWWA Title, but was crushed in a one-sided match by Champion Kaoru Ito. Then she tried to take the White Belt from Kumiko… and it was a huge, dramatic one-hour draw, going to a broadway finish. Kumiko, disappointed she didn’t win, chose to vacate the belt rather than accept it after failing. This of course leads to here, where they have a dramatic final battle over the White Belt.

Kumiko charges immediately, missing a Rolling Kick and Momoe hitting the Momo Latch (rana with a body twist) for a close call to excite the fans, but they’re back at square one when Kumiko fires off kicks and Momoe has to back off. But she promptly backdrops Kumiko to the floor and hits an Orihara Moonsault, but Kumiko wins a slugfest in the ring and scores a wicked spinkick. Because this is going LONG, they do matwork for a while, making sure it always looks like fighting instead of resting (they usually quickly make the ropes). Kumiko has the lead, using size, leverage and kicking every time Momoe’s free to work her over, but Momoe cleverly takes a kick in the corner and climbs up the ropes to drag Kumiko to the floor an throw her into 3 different guardrails. But Kumiko manages to snag a leg to prevent a chairshot and does the same stuff to Momoe- back in the ring, Momoe uses speed and evasion with dropkick spam, now working her own holds. I’m liking how she even uses speed with her matwork, spinning around Kumiko to change holds while not giving her time to make the ropes. But Kumiko leverages out of one and throws scissor kicks until Momoe’s in a Boston crab, Kumiko holding for 2-3 minutes and then working the back afterwards and throwing on another. Momoe throws elbows to counter, but Kumiko dodges another missile kick and Momoe lands back-first, getting it pulped with more kicks, too. She adds a backbreaker rack into a release powerbomb into a kick, throws on ANOTHER crab, and pulps Momoe with elbows to the spine. Poor Momoe fights and fights, but Kumiko forces her into a superduperplex, making her struggle desperately to kick out.

18 minutes in and Kumiko’s confident, but Momoe manages to counter her counters and put her down, but is unable to capitalize due to her back and stumbles right into another leaping scissor kick. Kumiko keeps up the pressure with 3 straight guardrail whips, but Momoe counters #4 by leaping onto it and flinging off with an elbow! Kumiko shrugs off the strikes but is surprised by a German on the floor, but recovers first and charges in with an Ax Kick! Momoe is just getting TOASTED here, which makes the pop all the better when she counters another crab by sitting up and slapping Kumiko right in the face. Kumiko again starts laughing off stuff, briefly selling Momoe before inevitably coming back again- this time Momoe leaps into the ropes for a counter but is so agonized she’s stuck holding her back, which is an easy target here for more kicks. But she gets cocky and ends up with her foot caught on the top rope and gets German’d, but Momoe flies in the air missing a Momo Latch and has to quickly counter a bow & arrow, which would have SUCKED to take. She finally gets more offense going, fighting Kumiko into a missile kick, but is so beaten down that AGAIN Kumiko can just stand up and hit a big move. They trade running face kicks and elbows, but Momoe suckers her- Run-Up Flipover right into her German gets two! A blood spatter on her face reveals that the last kick caught her straight in the fucking mouth. She tries to blow it off, but Kumiko leverages her into a pin when she tries a leghold. But she overcharges into a drop-toehold and gets tied up anyways- Meiko FINALLY has the lead 24 minutes in, and won’t waste it, working the knee with figure-fours and ass-slams trying to work Kumiko down and take away her primary weapon.

That Kumiko’s always been a fairly reliable potato merchant, haha.

Kumiko gets her feet up on a flying attack, but a breather on the floor lets Momoe surprise her with a run-up plancha instead. A missile kick follows, but Kumiko counters the jacknife pin and they keep countering until they’re in the ropes, Kumiko nearly pins her countering a German, and Momoe gets another rollup as they’re trying everything- Momo Latch misses but Momoe leaps over a sweep kick and dropkicks her in the head (NICE), but a run-up counter flies gut-first right into Kumiko’s kick. Kumiko catches her with another counter-kick, leading to a big double-down, but Kumiko’s Rolling Kick misses leading to a German, but a Momo Latch is countered to a powerbomb that comes a spider-web’s width away from a three count. Kumiko, limping and in pain, throws some weak kicks and a final charging Ax Kick that TKOs Momoe, and sensing the end, Kumiko does her Knee-Drive Facecrusher off the top for two. Momoe manages one of those “defiant punches” out of being picked up, but a blast to the skull just has her stumble to the corner, defeated. Another kick hits and Kumiko’s turned her focus to working the brain, but BAM! Run-up sunset flip from Momoe gets two! Dragon Suplex gets two! Momoe pounds the mat in frustration, but Kumiko rolls her up out of another suplex, and the Rolling Kick gets two! YOKOHAMA’S INTO IT!

Kumiko does the ol’ “miss a kick then brain her with the follow-up” trick for two, and another double-down sees Momoe counter a whip, Kumiko go to a kick, but Momeo duck and German her for two. Momoe ducks 2 kicks in a row & backslides her, then goes to work the leg again (probably a break before the last surge), then ties the leg in the ropes and hits a big running dropkick to it that has Kumiko rolling across the ring- Momoe does a small package right into a leg twist, Kumiko tries the same twist to her, Momoe headbutting free but Kumiko counters her German and sneaks in a trip for her own leg-twist. Then Momoe counters an Irish whip and gets SMOKED by Kumiko’s “counter-whip kick” and has to desperately make the ropes as the leg-twisting has become the new “way to finish”! Speaking of, Momoe does her usual wheelbarrow rollup right into one, and Kumiko has to fight to the floor for a break… and Momoe follows with a dropkick charging off the apron. But when she builds up the fans for a run-up plancha, Kumiko sprays the GREEN MIST at her! A green-faced Momoe is repeatedly kicked and grinded down, but she manages Rolling Germans for two by surprise. MOMO LA– no! Kumiko sat down on her for 2.9! Running Ax Kick- two! Momoe manages a Dragon Suplex, failing the bridge but running in to FINALLY get the Momo Latch for two, but Kumiko punts her in the brain thrice over for her own nearfall. Another Momo Latch try but AGAIN Kumiko leverages onto her, jacknifing her for two, but next time she tries her “catch her with the second kick” move, Momoe ducks BOTH of them and backslides her! Another kick dodged gets two! Kumiko’s “counter-whip” kick- dodged for two! And Momoe pumps her fist and charges in for one last Momo Latch- three (42:36)- Momoe is the All Pacific Champion!!

Completely bonkers match- great long, slow start to build to the later stuff. Kumiko confidently just wrecked Momoe for about 25 minutes, staying on the back for some incredibly precise stuff, and this kept paying off the psychology- Momoe’s specialty is rapid-fire comebacks and speed, but every time she’d manage something, she’d collapse or be unable to capitalize, allowing Kumiko more free shots. Her deadly kicks are perfect for this kinda thing, as they’re easy to do in a casual manner without much build, letting Kumiko just stand there and bully Momoe with them or just provide an insta-counter the second there’s any hesitation due to injury. But this would often make her overconfident, letting Momoe try something sneaky. As Momoe is a top-tier underdog, this was great for match psychology. And there was some GREAT chain-wrestling into dramatic nearfalls by the end, though the match construction led to some “stop and start”- it’s always disappointing when the uber-dramatic 2.9 counts get the crowd more and more into it… and then they do a double-down and suddenly start working submissions. The fans definitely quieted down in the last few minutes because of that, too, so it wasn’t just me. Like they rushed to a peak but suddenly it was like “Oh wait, not yet” and then they have to slow it dow to make it peak AGAIN. Though to be fair that last four minutes was the shit, Kumiko spraying the Green Mist of Cheapness to try and score a win and it turns into a giant mess of flash-pins. Best of all, Kumiko used a shitload of those kicks for nearfalls EARLIER in the match, so her trying them again and again now has Momoe showing she’s ready for them and learned, and the multiple flash-pins leaves Kumiko dazed and off-balance, enabling a Momo Latch to FINALLY hit and not be countered, scoring the pin.

Rating: ****1/2 (this is I think universally considered the women’s match of the year for 2002)

LAS CACHORRAS ORIENTALES (Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda) vs. SHINOBU KANDORI (LLPW) & YUMIKO HOTTA (AJW):
* And now a totally random Dream Match sees Kandori team up with Hotta! Hotta had lost some matches recently, leading to LLPW’s Kandori joining her out of mutual respect and get her to buck up or whatever. And since everyone hates LCO, why not form a team against them? Kandori’s in yellow, Hotta’s in black, Mita in ruffled white & Shimoda in pink.

LCO attacks before the bell to put the others on the floor, but Kandori & Hotta start scrapping with each other when they hit the apron, each wanting to get in first! LCO are like “hey, WE do the ass-kicking around here!” and separate them for some beatings on the floor, but also get beaten up. They reset in the ring with Hotta working over Mita, then amusing Kandori by swiping her “bearpaw/judo slaps”, earning a finger-wagging and a demonstration of how to do it right from the judoka while Mita just slumps down in a heap. Kandori’s arrogance earns her the Blazing Chop & Bitch Pose. Kandori quickly gets annoyed at Shimoda for existing and headbutts her, but Shimoda ignores Hotta to swat at Kandori on the apron, then works the eyeballs to escape submissions. Mita chops, chairs & piledrives Hotta, but working a taped knee isn’t sold- Kandori bludgeons Mita’s forehead repeatedly but gets DDT’d from a suplex, then Shimoda gets judo flipped and panics to escape a judo-hold. They easily bully a cowering Shimoda, who faceplants like a goober and the rolling kick & sleeper have Mita coming in with a chair to save. She ax kicks Kandori to escape and Mita has two use a running blazing chop to drop her. Kandori DDTs Mita in return and repeatedly punches her while Mita just snarls in defiance, and Shimoda’s stuff is easily avoided or no-sold by Hotta. She also walks through a chairshot & dumps Shimoda out of her clothesline, but she FINALLY sells a chairshot/ax kick combo and the fans finally start reacting again.

Mita keeps making this snarling face while selling during the first half of the match.

Hotta briefly sells for Mita before kicking her Blazing Chop hands and hitting the Tiger Driver for two & Shimoda has to save from a jujigatame. Hotta kicks Mita but she hits a stunner anyways, then another two, but Hotta avoids a DVD and scores the rolling kick. Mita backdrops out of Kandori’s powerbomb but immediately gets smoked by Hotta’s rolling kick and Kandori pulls her in front of Shimoda’s missile kick, then powerbombs her for two. Mita hits another stunner but it’s Hotta’s accidental shotei palm strike that sets up three straight Death Valley Drivers for two- Hotta saves. Kandori locks on a sleeper out of a stunner, but is stunnered out of a sleeper (hee) and Shimoda keeps fishing for her tiger suplex, Kandori repeatedly escaping until she’s dumped and LCO do a half-hearted beating on the floor. Oh nooooooooooooo Shimoda tries to separate the guardrail to do their Guardrail Drop spot but this particular one is connected way differently and LCO are unable to get it apart as Shimoda bends it, twists the connector, picks it up and tips it over, etc.- the crowd realizes this and laughs at their misfortune. So they’re like “uhhhhh chairshot?” and then do their DVD/Flying Ax Kick combo to Kandori for two. Mita just comically slaps away at Kandori with overhand chops as this is getting increasingly silly, and people laugh as Shimoda just trips Kandori into the ropes and throws chairs at her. Kandori escapes another tandem finish as Shimoda ax kicks Mita by mistake, and Stereo Powerbombs get two. uhhhhh Kandori has green mist aftermath on her for some reason (was that during the powerbomb kickout?), but kicks out of a rollup and Sleeperholds Shimoda and that’s the finish at (24:23).

This was less “LCO in a vicious LCO-style match with two powerhouse legends” and more “LCO get executed by their superiors”- they control almost NONE of the match for the first 15 minutes and are easily no-sold and pummeled at every opportunity. They still put in effort selling, but this felt very… final. Like the last kiss-off of heels. I mean it was so one-sided that the crowd was basically deader than they’ve been for an LCO match in YEARS, as none of their heelish shenanigans seemed to be worried (they were either no-sold by Hotta or failed utterly), and then fans started LAUGHING at them as a comedy of errors broke out with the failed guardrail thing and impotent slapping & tripping from the heels. Hotta being one of the laziest top-level wrestlers I’ve ever seen wasn’t helping, as she responded to chairs being flung at her like bugs off a windshield, more annoyed that she was expected to do everything. It wasn’t so much a BAD match as it was an incredibly one-sided one that never even got over the “very good” hump, much less the “excellent” one. And sure enough, from checking… this is their last Zenjo match until the Tag League in November (but they do team up in GAEA, JD’ another other places after this). So this is just their kiss-off from their original promotion.

Rating: **1/2 (an incredibly weak match given the skill level of 3/4 of them)

WWWA WORLD TITLE:
KAORU ITO vs. MANAMI TOYOTA:
* The Toyota/Ito rivalry has run during the past couple years. The true gameplan was an Ito/Hotta feud, but to save that, they had Toyota beat Hotta for the belt so Ito could take it off of HER. But at the Japan Grand Prix in 2001, Toyota unleashed the Queen Bee Bomb (a wrist-clutch Northern Lights Bomb) to pin Ito. Though this is a bit funny as it didn’t lead to a Toyota push and she did rather poorly in the tournament, I guess it builds drama for this one. Toyota has randomly gotten a push as of Jan. 2002, beating Momoe and putting in effort again the second bookers are interested in her once more. Reactions are the same for both- muted but universal appreciation. I actually reviewed this years ago for a Spotlight on Kaoru Ito- I rated it ***1/4, with my big takeaway being how much slower the wrestlers moved to the stuff I’d been watching (1992-95).

Because Joshi, Kaoru hits a lariat and two Powerbombs immediately after the bell, then a Flying Stomp to Manami’s spine. She works the back but misses a Stomp off the apron and eats a German on the floor- they both sell for a minute, then an impressing Bridging German & quick Moonsault get two for Manami in the ring. Starting fast after that boring match is a good idea. Missile kick and Octopus Hold try to wear Ito down, but she gets lariated after a JB Angels armdrag. Ito comes back with power stuff, restholds to the back, and release Uranages. Manami gets her corner rollup but is quickly hauled back down for more half-crabs. Good wincing sells from Manami, making this hyper-focus on the back (which Ito is currently kicking) look agonizing. She gets her pop-up dropkick, but can’t capitalize and gets clocked for more holds. Many a bootprint are left on Manami’s back, then she stomps her on the floor and half-crabs her out THERE. After this long period of rest/back-work, Toyota spazzes out, whips Ito around ringside and just hucks a table at her before running outta energy and selling the back again, waiting on the apron. Ito pounces on her but Manami pulls out sudden missile kicks and a Muta Lock to take the lead. Toyota tries to turn a lariat counter into the rolling cracle but is judo flipped out of it. Toyota tries it again but AGAIN is judo flipped, but FINALLY gets it after whipping Ito to the corner and pulling her back by surprise. Manami gets knocked off the top and does a Mulkey Bump through the ropes trying a dropkick on Ito, who follows with a big tope.

On the floor, Ito climbs the lighting rig- FLYING STOMP TO THE FLOOR! I mean, it’s only a 6-7 foot drop, but it looked cool as fuck and the crowd got LOUD when they saw her climb! In Yokohama, even! Ito tries to finish in the ring but Manami sits out on a powerbomb, but can’t get a German and another lariat drops her for two. A Manami Roll counters her for two, but a Moonsault misses, but she reverses a whip for a Japanese Ocean (double-hammerlock) Suplex for two. Ito follows her up top but gets the Sunset Flip Powerbomb for it, then the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex gets two (Ito noticeably had to lift herself up using the ropes there). Crowd didn’t bite on either of those. Ito uses the post-move sell to snag an arm for a near-tapout. Now it’s Ito’s time to bring someone off the top, as she catches Manami with a powerbomb into her beloved half-crab, but gets flung off the top for a big Tope Con Hilo. And then Manami builds up the crowd for her great Missile Dropkick Suicida, splattering herself on the floor in the process of killing Ito.

I was like “why is the TV there under the ring? Does somebody need to keep an eye on the whole match if it goes elsewhere?” then realized commentary is right in front of it. Zenjo didn’t do the “TV monitors on tables” thing.

Back in the ring, another Ocean Cyclone hits (Ito still pushing herself up via the ropes but less obviously) and AGAIN Ito kicks out and slaps on that armlock. Ito hits a big powerbomb, then goes up and when Manami climbs to the top rope, Ito just bombs her right back off and hits a HUGE Flying Stomp. Toyota writhes in agony as Ito builds herself up and crushes her side with another one (OW)… but “Fuck YOU!” bridges out after Ito slowly covers! A “Toyota” chant starts and she lands on her feet from a powerbomb but is immediately trucked by another lariat for two. Ito misses another Flying Stomp, but just calmly and slowly stalks over and shouts “Shi-ne!” (“DIE!”) as a big Ligerbomb gets two, and a Super Fisherman’s Buster gets… another “Fuck YOU!” bridge! Toyota weakly rolls away so Ito can’t flying stomp her again, annoying the champ, who charges in and Manami rolls behind her to hit a Queen Bee Bomb (cut-throat northern lights bomb), then immediately picks her up- another Queen Bee Bomb! For THREE (27:02)! New Champion! The crowd pops as the sudden outta-nowhere victory!

Toyota’s selling could be iffy at times, to put it delicately, but few people do the “look like absolute hell” thing at the middle or end of matches like she does. I wonder if it’s the hair (which is very thick and “clump-y”, meaning it often bunches up in weird ways).

This was a good, hard-fought match. One of their lesser ones for sure (which is too bad, given it’s the main event of their first and only ever PPV) but slightly better than I had it before, where I was too focused on how SLOW it was compared to the insane GO GO GO pace of the ’90s. Though yes, it’s very slow, especially as Ito is left doing most of the offense and that means LOTS of half-crabs and camel clutches which only serve as weardowns and match-filler. The focus on the back was good psychology, though, and Manami was more generous in selling it than she’s often stereotyped as being (and less prone to “hit a billion moves in a row” comebacks). Ito got to look the most dominant and do most of the cool shit, probably because she was doing the job. And the finish was interesting because it’s basically Ito pulling out everything she knows to kill Toyota, hitting multiple Flying Stomps, the Ligerbomb and even a Super Fisherman’s Buster of all things, and Manami pulling off a last-ditch comeback of two moves in a row and winning. Definitely not the “dramatic back & forth finisher-trading” of the Kumiko/Momoe match, which is interesting. The crowd was losing their minds for the White Belt match but this one popped them just from the surprise of it. Funnily enough, I declared years ago that “this was too obvious a carry-job” from Toyota when it was obviously ITO controlling 90% of the match and most of its big moves. Talk about my early bias showing, lol. Though even then I could tell that by this point the Ocean Cyclone & Flying Stomp had been badly killed as finishers thanks to all the big-match kickouts.

Rating: ***1/2 (two very good wrestlers having a long, arduous match with a sudden come-from-behind victory)

Post-match, an angry Ito talks shit, Manami draws a reaction for talking some back, and is crowned in a ceremony. It’s interesting that shortly after Ito completely destroyed Momoe to be like “Not yet” over the rising star, and having her year-long feud with Hotta end in a bloody cage match, she’d go on to lose her next big match to a previous champion who was a fading star in many ways. But as a big PPV they probably needed a Title change, AND Ito had been champion for a year and a half by this point (winning in Sept. 2000). This was probably a semi-necessary shake-up to avoid boredom and malaise that an endless title run can create… though means that the obvious “Next Momoe Shot” needs to be over a champ who already lost.

The tape ends with a long elevator-music jingle over a freeze frame and an occasional voiceover recording on repeat. Then a short ad for PRIDE 19 and then an ad for a porno PPV complete with bare breasts, lol. JAPAN!

Overall, it’s a good show. Not a hair on the great shows of the ’90s, but that era is largely gone and irreplaceable. Two ***1/2 matches and a ****1/2 match is “good enough”… especially on a 6-match card with rookie matches elsewhere. What it means for the future is up in the air- it’s the kiss-off for LCO in Zenjo, Toyota is the champion AGAIN, and Black Joker are the “New LCO” (ie. dirty-fighting heel tag champs), but Momoe & Kumiko are definitely showing the potential expected of them.