Joshi Spotlight — page 2

ASSORTED HYPER VISUAL FIGHTING ARSION:
* Hey look! Because no one demanded it but I found some random shit on YouTube, there’s ANOTHER set of ARSION matches before the end of 2001! Most of these are scattered between September and December, and were on the very tail end of my list of videos saved from that Chinese channel that’s the source of most post-2000 Zenjo content. Why’s it all mixed up? Because that channel DOESN’T DATE THEIR SHIT, nor are the names legible via translation most of the time, making the whole thing a chore to sort through. But I managed to find six matches I haven’t covered. Including the Asuka/Yoshida vs. Omukai/Hamada Twin Star of ARSION Tag Title match, two LCO matches, and the full version of the Queen of ARSION Title match between Ayako Hamada and Lioness Asuka!

OCT. 21st:

JOSHI SPOTLIGHT- MIHO WAKIZAWA:
Billed Height & Weight: 5’5″ 141 lbs.
Career: 1996-2001 (AJW), 2011-2014 (Stardom)

-Miho Wakizawa, aka “Wacky”, was kind of a highlight of my Joshi Spotlight watchthroughs over the past couple years… then kind of a lowlight, as she was one of the wrestlers most given to huge effort, but eventually her talent level peaked and every Wacky match became basically the same exact thing. She had a hugely expressive face (mostly a gigantic mouth, which helps a lot to read expressions) and a long, gangly body, giving her a unique look, and she went all-out in sooooo many of her matches. This goes a long way towards making a weak wrestler be fun to watch, or can make a mediocre one into a good one… to a point. Then problem is, circa 2001 Wacky hadn’t really improved much and with an elevated position on the card, she was prone to doing 10-20 minute bouts with her weak moveset, without the creativity to really “push” it to make things more interesting or unique. This left every Wacky match being very “tries for the Fisherman’s Buster a lot; hits the third try; Super Frankensteiner hits… later she tries it again and fails”. It’s a good showcase of the effects of novelty- what was a highlight now becomes more of a chore, as once you see the same thing a dozen times you go “Oh, that wasn’t that great after all”.

AJW IN DECEMBER 2001:
* It’s a big one for Zenjo! Tag League THE BEST 2001 finishes with three last matches setting up the finals! A big push for NEO’s Misae Genki! The end of Miho Wakizawa’s Zenjo career as the “Wacky Final” concludes! And finally, a Steel Cage Hair vs. Hair Deathmatch match between Kaoru Ito & Yumiko Hotta!

DEC. 2nd 2001:
* A show at Korakuen Hall sees Tag League THE BEST 2001 finish! Three teams (Ito/Nakanshi, Toyota/Hotta, Watanabe/Takahashi) are tied for the lead, meaning today’s last matches for all three times will determine who fights in the finals.

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).

GAEA DEEP ENDLESS:
(Dec. 15th 2001)
* It’s the big GAEA Japan show near the end of the year! Meiko Satomura’s years-long build to the AAAW World Title leads to this! Will she finally win it on her third try against Aja, or will it be a “not yet, young Padawan?” moment? Also Las Cachorras Orientales have one of their final bit matches against Ozaki & KAORU’s heel asshole squadron D-FIX in a Moneyball match! Akira Hokuto fights AJW’s Miho Wakizawa! Oh, and the BEST DEBUT EVER, as a rookie comes out of GAEA’s training camp and has a LONG, hard-fought match with Chikayo Nagashima!

GAEA JAPAN IN NOVEMBER 2001:
* It’s a new era in GAEA! Chigusa said so! Sure it still involves Ozaki leading a heel group and endless bloody brawls with the same wrestlers as always, but NEW. ERA.

But yeah, Aja Kong just won the AAAW World Title back from Mayumi Ozaki, and Meiko Satomura has laid down her name as the first challenge. But we got a month to go yet! And the first show here details her teaming WITH Meiko… against Chikayo Nagashima and the returning DANGEROUS QUEEN, Akira Hokuto! Also a ton of house shows feature Aja & Meiko in tag matches where they work offense against each other, likely in preparation for their big fight… and a lot of drama as they try to establish that they can beat one another!

NOV. 10th:
* From Korakuen Hall.

AJW AT OTA-WARD GYMNASIUM:
(Oct. 24th 2001)
* It’s some Zenjo in October! With a LONG Momoe/Kumiko match! And the return of the ZAPs, as they face Las Cachorras Orientales to relive old times! This is from Ota-Ward Gymnasium, which is apparently “their MSG” and a legendary venue for the company, which I totally should pretend I’ve known all along cuz I’m the JOSHI GUY WOO! I barely recognize it, lol. The billed crowd is a respectable 3,680, which is probably BS but whatever- it’s a big crowd but the hard cam shows a lot of empty seats on the side facing away from the ring.

GAEA JAPAN IN OCTOBER 2001:
* It’s big doings in GAEA Japan! An angle they’ve been building to all year is coming to fruition, with Mayumi Ozaki’s AAAW World Title up for grabs as Aja Kong tries to win it back! The mechanics of the promotion are changing as the Class of 1995 keeps getting upgraded but finds a whole ton of veterans in their way, while CHIGUSA NAGAYO HAS JOINED D-FIX! But it’s such a half-hearted, weird “She’s there but subservient to Ozaki” thing that everyone seems to know something’s up. This set is a mix of OZ Academy stuff and a big Oct. 21st show., plus two Oct. 28th matches. Aja vs. Ozaki for the World Title!

OCT. 20th:
* This show is from OZ Academy, Ozaki’s promotion! You can always tell because of that giant lime green mat. It’s really shiny and weird, though, like a light film is applied over padding.

ARSION IN LATE 2001:
* I’ve managed to find assorted ARSION clips from the second half of 2001. With some actual GOOD MATCHES for once- Lioness Asuka & Mariko Yoshida challenge for the Twin Star of ARSION Titles from Las Cachorras Orientales! Then it’s Asuka/Yoshida vs. the champs of two promotions, Ayako Hamada & Azumi Hyuga! The final appearance of the VIP stable as they take on GAMI’s Re*Drag! A dream Interpromotional Match between Manami Toyota & Mariko Yoshida! With Toyota TRYING for once! And finally Ayako has to defend the Queen of ARSION Title against Lioness Asuka in the match they’ve been building for months.

GAEA JAPAN IN SEPTEMBER 2001:
* When last we left off, KAORU had just won a tournament to determine the AAAW World Title #1 Contender, cheating a lot to beat Aja Kong & Meiko Satomura! GAEA is now dominated by D-FIX, the stable led by Mayumi Ozaki and backed by KAORU & Police. But wait! CHIGUSA NAGAYO returned at the last show, apparently! And here’s the angle surrounding it… and she JOINS D-FIX?!!

JOSHI SPOTLIGHT- SAIKA TAKEUCHI:
Stats:
Billed Height & Weight: 5’0″ 117 lbs.
Career Length: 1999-2001
Trained By: Chigusa Nagayo, Meiko Satomura, GAEA wrestlers

So I knew Saika’s retirement was coming up in my watchthrough, but didn’t know the exact date and it went unannounced on the GAEA Japan YouTube channel, so I’ve reviewed my last Saika match without realizing it! So here’s a Joshi Spotlight just for her! One of the last rookies attempted by the promotion!

So weak little Saika Takeuchi is mostly known for the documentary “GAEA Girls”, which I’ve covered before, and is Chigusa’s attempt to show that “Pro Wrestling Is Hard”. The brutality of training is ramped up for the cameras most likely, causing multiple girls to quit (one running away in the middle of the night), Chigusa is made the “final boss” of Saika’s training, etc… and she might have been allowed to debut because otherwise what was the point of all THAT? I mean it’d make things look even worse if she also failed and wasn’t allowed ot debut. Takeuchi wrestles for the company as its only newbie for a short time, eventually upgrades to “gets to wear unique gear” and is given some moves to elevate her status… but she eventually quits after two years, effectively GAEA’s last real rookie debut for YEARS.

So it’s hard to assess someone fairly if they last such a short period of time. Saika was TINY but had a lot of spirit, but never developed into a well-rounded performer or gained any credibility. By the end, she was turning into a “kicker”, possibly to give her more cred. She retired just as she was able to pick up solo wins (against RIE-level people, but still). With her size, she was kinda limited in potential, but she wasn’t that much smaller than Meiko Satomura and she would have made a fine jobber, as she had energy and could sell.

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

Unfortunately 2 of the 4 matches are clipped on YouTube.

AJW ODAIBA W EXPLOSION 2001 SUPER LIVE 2 DAYS (Day One):
(Sept. 15th & 16th)
* This is a two-show set from Odaiba Island, where ATHENA TV holds Zenjo tapings! This one features a Manami Toyota/Takako Inoue vs. Yumiko Hotta/Mima Shimoda match that sets up a Las Cachorras Orientales vs. Hotta/Toyota match the next night, AND features a big WWWA Tag Title Defense from Tomoko Watanabe & Nanae Takahashi, as they defend against the up & coming youth squad, Miho Wakizawa & Kayo Noumi! Except Wacky’s retiring in three months! Also Rie Tamada returns from ARSION for one night to team with Kumiko Maekawa against Momoe Nakanishi & Miyuki Fujii!

ZENJO GARAGE SHOW:
(Aug. 19th)
* This is a pair from the Zenjo Garage. These were apparently free shows that they’d do for fun for the loyalist fans, and have about as much effort as you’d guess.

https://archive.org/details/arsion-09-22-2001-zion-tournament

Unfortunately it’s another Archive link.

ARSION- ZION 2001 TOURNAMENT:
* Guys!! Guess what?? ARSION’S RUNNING ANOTHER TOURNAMENT!!!

This is very different from other ARSION tapes- rather than showing like 15-16 matches in 3-minute snippets, it shows FULL matches, but all are about half ARSION’s typical length. But it also shows post-match arguments, interviews, etc., which goes a long way towards making it look like a more lively promotion.

JOSHI SPOTLIGHT- COMMAND BOLSHOI:
Stats:
Real Name: Unknown (masked wrestlers’ names are often not publicly disclosed)
Billed Height & Weight: 4’10” 99 lbs.
Career Length: 1991-2019 (28 years)
Other Names: Bolshoi Kid, PIKO, Bolshoi 666
Trained By: JWP

Yes, it’s finally time for the clown.

The reason I never got to her until now, when I’d gone through every notable wrestler in AJW, JWP & LLPW of the 1990s? Well, I felt I’d missed her “best stuff” since she peaked in push later on. She was head booker of JWP in the 2000s and OF COURSE gave herself some nice, juicy title reigns, and I’d heard she got better as a worker later. Checking stuff out from that time period, it looks more like she just got pushed more and so her stuff was sold more, and she hadn’t actually gotten super good or anything. I mean she did a goddamn Rock Bottom off the top rope in every match but she wasn’t cresting *** on the regular or anything. And overall, her career looks kinda like the “low-level employee who reaches a high spot more through waiting out everyone else than through being particularly excellent”.

So on a lot of cards of the early ’90s, you see a lot of Interpromotional Matches, as AJW (Zenjo), JWP and other promotions started mixing up their joshi cards and doing “Dream Matches” all over the place. This led to one of the greatest influxes of terrific matches the business has ever seen… but also led to a lot of “Token Bolshoi Matches”, as this undersized rookie was thrown out there in a clown costume to do comedy-adjacent matches. And LONG ones, too- JWP had a lot of time to fill on its cards, what with a gutted roster and all, and so a “17-minute Bolshoi match” was a terrifying inevitability a lot of the time.

GAEA JAPAN IN AUGUST 2001:
* It’s time for seven GAEA matches from August! This one features first a one-night Gaora Cup Tournament, then ANOTHER one-night tournament, this one deciding who the AAAW Title Challenger will be! With KAORU & Police doing SHENANIGANS the entire time!

AUG. 19th:
* From Korakuen Hall comes a one-night tournament! One of the best ways for a gutted promotion to maintain a “full card”- exhaust the talent by making everyone work multiple matches!

GAEA JAPAN IN SUMMER 2001:
* Looks like I’m a bit behind on GAEA after focusing on AJW’s Japan Grand Prix! So this brings us to early June and into July! With some BIG matches, mostly focused around elevating Toshie Uematsu, and ending with a giant Lioness Asuka vs. KAORU Hardcore Match!

So GAEA Japan is now a company in a bit of trouble- about tied with AJW in terms of fan support/drawing power, the company is now missing its top star (Chigusa Nagayo- out for surgery), several veterans (Devil Masami, Akira Hokuto), some of its big Class of 1995 students who are the backbone of the company (Sonoko Kato, Sugar Sato), and are about to lose Lioness Asuka to ARSION and even rookie Saika Takeuchi is about to give it up! Meiko Satomura  has been elevated a lot, but they’re rapidly forced to push Chikayo Nagashima at the same time, and several years of using Toshie Uematsu as mere “filler” has kind of bitten them on the ass, so they need to push HER really quickly, too!

If only they had one of the best workers of all time as a recurring freelancer, whose specialty was finding something somebody was good at and threading a whole match around that!

I… wait.

JUNE 3rd:

AJA KONG vs. TOSHIE UEMATSU:
* Okay this is a HUGE mismatch immediately, but probably a good way to “elevate” Toshie through a loss, which is one of Aja’s specialties. Aja, in a brand-new look, debuts a SILVER outfit and silver hair.

AJW- JAPAN GRAND PRIX (Part 4):
* Back to the Japan Grand Prix! This time things get really harrowing, as there are a ton of people close together in points. This has been a real “Tournament of Upsets”- low-ranked Miho Wakizawa defeated MANAMI TOYOTA, mid-tier Nanae Takahashi has beaten both members of LCO, rising upstart Kumiko Maekawa has drawn with Toyota & beaten champ Kaoru Ito and former ace Yumiko Hotta, and importantly, Momoe Nakanishi has beaten Manami & Hotta and drawn Ito! In other words, the bookers are explaining, in every way they know how, that the audience needs to get ready for the dawning of a new generation. Commentary is obviously informed of this, as one said “Nakanishi has opened the door to a new era” when she defeated Hotta in a “come from behind” victory (eating ass-tons of offense and pulling out a last-ditch win through luck & perseverance- the typical way a junior can beat a senior).

Some interesting results in August see Yumiko Hotta struggle hard, amassing only 9 points overall! Toyota has had some humiliating failures but at least she has 11! Interestingly, the World Champion, Kaoru Ito, is normally kept SUPER STRONG but rather than have her lose flukes, she instead hits three draws- Momoe, Hotta & Mita all take her to the distance. This is probably to “keep her strong” despite not winning a final spot.

The Wrestlers:
Yumiko Hotta: Former Ace and currently a snide martial arts heel. (9 points- d. Fujii, Kayo, Nanae, Wakizawa, draw Ito)
Manami Toyota: Former Ace and about to be reduced in push a LOT. (11 points- d. Kayo, Fujii, Mita, Nanae, Hotta, draw Kumiko)
Mima Shimoda: One half of LCO and a reliable “can pick up sneaky wins or just job” wrestler. (10 points- d. Mita, Kayo, Wakizawa, Manami, Hotta)
Etsuko Mita: One half of LCO with a similar “can win or lose”. Her Death Valley Driver’s been reduced in credibility a lot lately, but she’s also gotten a bigger push as a singles. (12 points- d. Kumiko, Wakizawa, Tomoko, Fujii, Kayo, Momoe, draw Ito)
Kaoru Ito: The current Champion and top star. (15 points- d. Tomoko, Shimoda, Fujii, Noumi, Nanae, Wakizawa, draw: Momoe, Hotta, Mita)
Tomoko Watanabe: Secondary babyface. “2nd tier” star. (12 points- d. Fujii, Hotta, Wakizawa, Manami, Shimoda, Kayo)
Kumiko Maekawa: Martial artist in the 2nd/3rd tier and never quite got the big push… yet. (14 points- d. Ito, Momoe, Shimoda, Tomoko, Hotta, Kayo, draw Manami, Nanae)
Momoe Nakanishi: A pint-sized super-athlete tryhard type with a big following. Currently in the 3rd tier but is a tag champion. (10 points- d. Nanae, Manami, Noumi, Hotta, Fujii, draw: Ito, Wakizawa)
Nanae Takahashi: Momoe’s lesser partner, and a bigger power wrestler. Slowly rising but needs to improve a lot. (8 points- d. Fujii, Mita, Shimoda, Tomoko, draw: Wakizawa, Nanae)
Miho Wakizawa: Try-hard lower ranked wrestler. (9 points- d. Kumiko, Fujii, Noumi, Manami, draw: Nanae)
Kayo Noumi: Lower-ranked wrestler & Wakizawa’s partner. Does great “broken doll” selling but low on the totem pole. (4 points- d. Nanae, Fujii)
Miyuki Fujii: Mega-jobber- “The Eternal Rookie”. (0 points)

AUGUST 17th:
* The final night of the tournament has a lot of people neck and neck- Kaoru Ito’s in the lead with 15 points, Kumiko Maekawa & Momoe Nakanishi both have 14. Close behind them but mathematically eliminated are Etsuko Mita & Tomoko Watanabe with 12 apiece.

AJW- JAPAN GRAND PRIX (Part 3):
* Back to the Japan Grand Prix!

The Wrestlers:
Yumiko Hotta: Former Ace and currently a snide martial arts heel. (6 points- d. Fujii, Kayo, Nanae)
Manami Toyota: Former Ace and about to be reduced in push a LOT. (8 points- d. Kayo, Fujii, Mita, Nanae)
Mima Shimoda: One half of LCO and a reliable “can pick up sneaky wins or just job” wrestler. (8 points- d. Mita, Kayo, Wakizawa, Manami)
Etsuko Mita: One half of LCO with a similar “can win or lose”. Her Death Valley Driver’s been reduced in credibility a lot lately, but she’s also gotten a bigger push as a singles. (6 points- d. Kumiko, Wakizawa, Tomoko)
Kaoru Ito: The current Champion and top star. (9 points- d. Tomoko, Shimoda, Fujii, Noumi, draw: Momoe)
Tomoko Watanabe: Secondary babyface. “2nd tier” star. (6 points- d. Fujii, Hotta, Wakizawa)
Kumiko Maekawa: Martial artist in the 2nd/3rd tier and never quite got the big push… yet. (10 points- d. Ito, Momoe, Shimoda, Tomoko, Hotta)
Momoe Nakanishi: A pint-sized super-athlete tryhard type with a big following. Currently in the 3rd tier but is a tag champion. (9 points- d. Nanae, Manami, Noumi, draw: Ito)
Nanae Takahashi: Momoe’s lesser partner, and a bigger power wrestler. Slowly rising but needs to improve a lot. (5 points- d. Fujii, Mita, draw: Wakizawa)
Miho Wakizawa: Try-hard lower ranked wrestler. (7 points- d. Kumiko, Fujii, Noumi, draw: Nanae)
Kayo Noumi: Lower-ranked wrestler & Wakizawa’s partner. Does great “broken doll” selling but low on the totem pole. (2 points- d. Nanae)
Miyuki Fujii: Mega-jobber- “The Eternal Rookie”. (0 points)

JULY 27th:

* This card is mostly focused around a Tournament to decide the new AJW Champion. This belt signifies “the champion of the lower-ranked wrestlers”- it’s above the Juniors (ie. 1-2 years) but below any other proper “contested” belts. Unfortunately this and the important “tier-defining” matches here (including Yumiko Hotta vs. upstart Momoe Nakanishi and Manami Toyota vs. upstart Kumiko Maekawa) utterly fails to draw, as a fairly large building has a TON of empty seats visible.

And once again, I remember to click on “Closed Captioning” because now the function actually works really well and we can better tell what’s being said! It’s like a whole new angle to the business!

AJW- JAPAN GRAND PRIX (Part 2):
* It’s finally time for more Zenjo! I wouldn’t normally want to put a one month gap between Japan Grand Prix updates but I was behind on GAEA and I was behind in posting one week so had to do an ARSION column before I got to there show. The JGP is still ongoing, with the wrestlers only having a couple matches apiece so far! This review will have matches from two shows- first a tiny “AJW Garage” show featuring an embarrassingly tiny show in Zenjo’s own building, then a bigger July 7th show at Korakuen Hall, with a lot of all-out effort!

The Wrestlers:
Yumiko Hotta: Former Ace and currently a snide martial arts heel. (6 points- d. Fujii, Kayo, Nanae)
Manami Toyota: Former Ace and about to be reduced in push a LOT. (6 points- d. Kayo, Fujii, Mita)
Mima Shimoda: One half of LCO and a reliable “can pick up sneaky wins or just job” wrestler. (6 points- d. Mita, Kayo, Wakizawa)
Etsuko Mita: One half of LCO with a similar “can win or lose”. Her Death Valley Driver’s been reduced in credibility a lot lately, but she’s also gotten a bigger push as a singles. (2 points- d. Kumiko)
Kaoru Ito: The current Champion and top star. (4 points- d. Tomoko, Shimoda)
Tomoko Watanabe: Secondary babyface. “2nd tier” star. (4 points- d. Fujii, Hotta)
Kumiko Maekawa: Martial artist in the 2nd/3rd tier and never quite got the big push… yet. (8 points- d. Ito, Momoe, Shimoda, Tomoko)
Momoe Nakanishi: A pint-sized super-athlete tryhard type with a big following. Currently in the 3rd tier but is a tag champion. (4 points- d. Nanae, Manami)
Nanae Takahashi: Momoe’s lesser partner, and a bigger power wrestler. Slowly rising but needs to improve a lot. (4 points- d. Fujii, Mita)
Miho Wakizawa: Try-hard lower ranked wrestler. (4 points- d. Kumiko, Fujii)
Kayo Noumi: Lower-ranked wrestler & Wakizawa’s partner. Does great “broken doll” selling but low on the totem pole. (0 points)
Miyuki Fujii: Mega-jobber- “The Eternal Rookie”. (0 points)

* Notable circumstances include Nanae getting a shock win over Mita, Kumiko one over Kaoru Ito, and Momoe one over MANAMI. Flukes are fairly common in these things, of course, but it’s always an indication of who is being pushed. Kumiko in particular going over the Champion, Momoe, Shimoda AND Tomoko is a great sign.

JUNE 24th:

* This is filmed on a potato in a TINY garage. Like there looks to be barely 50 people here in a room that couldn’t possibly hold more. This is is actually Zenjo’s own building, meaning they save on rental fees if anything else. The idea is these are called “AJW Garage Shows” and a recurring feature now. This is so poorly shot the matches are almost un-reviewable.