Joshi Spotlight — page 3

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.

HYPER VISUAL FIGHTING ARSION:
(July 3rd 2001)
* Here’s a full show from July at Korakuen! And wonder of wonders, LIONESS ASUKA has been hired away from freelancing (where she’s been a central part of GAEA Japan’s booking for years now) and is behind the scenes now the booker of ARSION. This naturally extends to her being a big star in the promotion as well, with Filthy Bridge Troll, Rossy Ogawa, making a statement and Asuka comes out to her standard music, leaving Ayako Hamada (the promotion’s Champion) in shock and shaking her hand. All of ARSION seems to be in the ring, but Michiko Omukai slaps her hand away and gets in her face, dragged away by her VIP stable-mates. LCO talk shit (perhaps referencing their GAEA run, where they abandoned Asuka mid-match). Asuka also calls out Mariko Yoshida for some reason, setting off another pullapart (humorously, a single referee is all it takes to split up everyone getting in each other’s faces). A backstage interview has Asuka happily put up an “ARSION Executive” piece of paper, so she’s also publicly the matchmaker I guess.

AI FUJITA vs. YUU YAMAGATA: The rookie of 1998 takes on the new rookie, Yamagata. They keep it simple with dropkicks and holds, Yamagata gets some rollups, Fujita hits her cartwheel handspring elbow and a standing moonsault for two. Yamagata gets whipped to the corner and hits a good run-up crossbody (!) for two, but Fujita awkwardly clobbers her down, then hits a German, missile kick and Moonsault for three (4:47 of 6:56 shown). I like how ARSION’s hiring & pushing tricks make me always assume Yamagata must be REALLY gifted since she doesn’t have model looks but is still there.

WHY ARSION DIDN’T WORK:
* So here’s a li’l thing I was thinking of doing that indicates in greater detail just WHY Hyper Visual Fighting ARSION didn’t work. It’s a bit funny to me, because as I’ve indicated before, I distinctly recall getting into Joshi circa 2002-2005 or so (I was in college so it was around then) and reading all sorts of stuff about ARSION and how cool it was, with Ayako Hamada talked about a bunch. I’ve been told it was probably a bunch of gooners who adored it because Hamada was purty, but I recall CherryBabes and such going on about the promotion, how unselfish Aja Kong was in putting people over instead of just brutally squashing people, etc. And Mike Lorefice on Quebrada was always adoring its in-ring stuff, too, so I know other contemporary sources were big fans. So I was a bit surprised and amused to find this weak-ass promotion struggling along doing crap business and never really getting over despite all the hype.

So “Hyper Visual Fighting ARSION” was formed in late 1997 by former All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling (aka AJW/”Zenjo”) office bitch Rossy Ogawa (future founder of Stardom & Marigold), alongside Aja Kong, who at that point had been dethroned as Zenjo’s top Champion a couple years before but was still a constant presence at the top of the card. Zenjo was losing its shirt and not paying wrestlers, and so Ogawa snuck in, found a backer or two, and a new promotion was formed using Zenjo’s wrestlers and a lot of other talent. Right away the promotion was a bit different in terms of identity, because it was decided to focus on grappling in a quasi shoot-style sort, focused around lots of mat-wrestling, holds and counter-holds, submissions, etc. In this, Mariko Yoshida, who’d been developing her style along those lines (along with a newer, muscular physique), would be very important, and she’d be pushed as their signature star right away. Various other wrestlers trained with men who had put a bit of focus on that style- according to stuff I’ve found, they attended Pancrase’s dojo as well as that of BattlArts, both doing a style I’ve seen jokingly called “Grapplefuckery”. Here, people would spend several minutes working moves on the mat, with submissions being taken seriously as potential match-enders and not just “random time-wasting”, weardown holds, or restholds like it usually was in Zenjo, JWP and other women’s companies.

GAEA JAPAN:
(May 13th)
* Big happenings in GAEA Japan… by which I mean STABLE RESHUFFLING TIME AGAIN! Yes, GAEA falls back to their exact same idea as always- once they run outta shit for their existing stables to do against one another, they break them up and do other stuff. Case in point: Last show saw Aja Kong get sick of KAORU’s endless cheating and URAKEN her. She then pals up with Dynamite Kansai & Toshiyo Yamada, her pals in the Second Generation Army. Meanwhile, the rest of the stable is in tatters- Devil Masami suffers a brutal leg injury that puts her out of action for an entire year! Also, Akira Hokuto puts so much of herself into a losing effort against Meiko Satomura that SHE’S out of action for months as well! We won’t see her again until the Fall. Therefore, the rest of the stable is effectively Mayumi Ozaki, KAORU, Police & Sakura Hirota. Thankfully Ozaki is still GAEA’s Champion.

But injuries are found elsewhere, too- Sugar Sato will miss a year with a knee injury, and even Chigusa Nagayo’s going down for shoulder surgery, and will miss months! Therefore the entire promotion is in a highly vulnerable position, missing out on a few major acts and even some midcarders to fill out the cards!

The card here sees the Class of 1995 split off into a variety of teams to take on veteran squads, making use of the limited roster for a unique show at Korakeun. And the aftermath sees the formation of the three NEW stables that form GAEA Japan for the next chunk of time: D-FIX, Rai Rai Ken & Team Crush!

AJW IN JUNE 2001:
* It’s time to move into Zenjo’s Summer, punctuated by what looks like a hotly contested Japan Grand Prix! This one features the whole company and ends up in a really tight race to the final match, which is very much a “Push the Next Generation” sort of deal! We also have the rising team of MihoKayo taking on Black Joker, plus Manami Toyota & Yumiko Hotta against a jobbery squad of try-hards! And… guys, you’re not gonna believe it… Miyuki Fujii WRESTLES A GOOD MATCH!

GAEA JAPAN- LIMIT BREAK:
(April 29th)
* It’s time for a big GAEA show! this show pays off the Meiko Satomura/Akira Hokuto rivalry that sprung up, pushing the kid farther. Also of great interest is Chigusa Nagayo & Maeda Miyuki having one of the messiest, most business-exposing matches in wrestling! I’m also gonna do a thing where I try to read YouTube’s translations of commentary because I pick up some interesting stuff. I find that doing that means I start skipping action and reading (like watching subtitled anime, lol- I have the same issue where I stop WATCHING and just read), but occasionally I pick up some insight.

THE OPENING CEREMONY:
* Coming down to Detroit Rock City by KISS of all songs, they bring out the entire roster of the 2nd Generation Army, who now includes Kyoko Inoue I guess. Apparently KAORU is “The Hardcore Queen”. The Third Generation Army, the Crush Gals and their students, are next, but Sugar Sato sits it out on the floor because she’s injured. … and injured BIG-TIME, as I take a look at Cagematch and she doesn’t wrestle for an ENTIRE YEAR after winning the Tag Titles on the last show. Incredibly, they hold the AAAW belts for her & Chikayo until then (and spoiler alert- they lose them to D-Fix, haha).

GAEA JAPAN IN SPRING 2001:
* It’s time for more GAEA Japan! Mostly because I got ahead on Zenjo and didn’t realize I still had April & May to do here, lol. And they stack the HELL out of their April content, with something like 3 Spotlights’ worth of matches just from there! This one continues the Meiko Satomura/Dynamite Kansai rivalry, adds Akira Hokuto into the mix, ramps up the Satomura “Rocket Push”, and eventually leads to the dream match of the Crush Gals vs. Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue!

APRIL 14th:
* Our first show is at Korakuen Hall.

AJW IN MAY 2001:
* It’s a big arena show! Well, Kawasaki Gymnasium, which looks PRETTY big. This is a very unusual show in that they seem to fill the entire thing with HUGELY long matches- Mike Lorefice counts it as 109 minutes of content starring Hotta, MihoKayo & Kumiko. We miss the MihoKayo vs. G-Max (LLPW’s Sayori Okino & Carol Midori) match, which is apparently 27 minutes long, which seems way outside of the capabilities of anyone there. It went to a no-contest, too. Also Manami Toyota beating Miyuki Fujii in (12:06). hahah that had to suck for TOYOTA- everyone else getting all these giant showcase matches and she has to deal with the Eternal Rookie?

The show features three big blood feuds at once- the increasingly-big Momoe Nakanishi vs. Kumiko Maekawa rivalry, which ends in the way only Zenjo likes to end ’em to establish people, then a Tag Title Match- LCO defending against new babyface squad Tomoko Watanabe & Nanae Takahashi, who is being increasingly focused-on and elevated! And finally, a HUGE arena-wide brawl with Yumiko Hotta vs. Kaoru Ito!

MOMOE NAKANISHI (w/ Miyuki Fujii) vs. KUMIKO MAEKAWA (w/ Manami Toyota & LCO):
* The two “upstarts” of the company, and obvious stars of the future, are up against each other in a feud that I’ve learned is to be a BIG part of 2001- as Kumiko has aligned with the heel veterans but is the lowest-ranked, and Momoe is the obvious rising star on the babyface side beneath Ito & Watanabe, this is an obvious choice for a “career-defining rivalry” in which two stars can hopefully rise each other up and become icons of a new era. If all the booking pans out and everyone gets over, of course. On paper, the idea is ridiculously-solid- a new feud with the stars of the future. If both girls are smart, they understand they need to BRING IT here. Kumiko’s in white & blue, Momoe’s in a ton of colors.

I’m away for a late Thanksgiving thing, so I figured I’d do a shorter Spotlight… and this ended up being 2400 words anyways because there was more than I expected, lol. And that’s AFTER I deleted a Hyuga/Bolshoi match that was actually from 2009! I’ll have to save that for focused Spotlights on both! Anyways, this is the three promotions too MINOR to focus on during my Spotlights, with some notes on JWP, a pair of IWA Japan matches, and Chikako Shiratori’s Retirement Ceremony in Osaka Pro!

JWP in 2001:
* So Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling shut down in late 2000- Wikipedia blames a February show co-promoted with All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling that failed, but I think the promotion was just a money-loser for a long time. The promotion always seemed kinda snake-bit- the first JWP was founded in the 1980s and had a combination of Zenjo stars who’d been forced to retire (Jackie Sato, Devil Masami) and fresh stars and Zenjo rejects they could train, resulting in some incredible rookies who turned into great workers (Shinobu Kandori, Dynamite Kansai, Mayumi Ozaki). Internal politics led to a big split in 1991-92, with Rumi Kazama and her friends forming Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling (LLPW), while the others teamed up with President Masatoshi Yamamoto to form JWP Project, effectively a second version of JWP. This acted as a small indie with a roster of about 10+ wrestlers.

After some good business with a Zenjo feud in the “Interpromotional Era”, however, they were falling on hard times. Popular idol wrestler Cutie Suzuki called it quits. Plum Mariko died in a huge in-ring tragedy in 1997. They’d lost Mayumi Ozaki in 1998, and she became a Freelancer and started up her own micro-promotion with monthly shows (OZ Academy). Candy Okutsu, a reliable midcarder, retires around then, too. Hikari Fukuoka, the champ for a year or so, retired (I’ve been told it’s because she wasn’t allowed to quit and join ARSION with her friends). Dynamite Kansai, whose health problems helped sink business, ended up leaving around 2000 to join GAEA Japan. Even Devil Masami mostly did as well. In 2000 there was a JWP/AJW feud of sorts that saw JWP’s top wrestler Azumi Hyuga come in and… mostly get beaten by Zenjo veterans and trade the All Pacific Title with Kumiko Maekawa (a 3rd-stringer). So by this point they held none of the cards and probably needed the exposure, and so Zenjo got to take them to the woodshed.

HYPER VISUAL FIGHTING ARSION:
(April 2001)

QUEEN OF ARSION TITLE:
AYAKO HAMADA (ARSION) vs. AZUMI HYUGA (JWP):
* Manji found the video for this match from the last ARSION show! This was the disastrous show’s main event, ending two “worked shoots” to kick people out of the promotion with an Interpromotional match to help solidify Ayako’s reign. For recap purposes, as they have similar looking names, this will be Hamada vs. Azumi. Hamada’s in blue & white, while Azumi has a big frilly blue suit.

AJW IN SPRING 2001:
* And now it’s time to check out Zenjo in the spring, as we hit a March show and some April ones! The “Old Guard” vs. “New Stars” feud now dominates the entire promotion, as eternal babyfaces Yumiko Hotta and Manami Toyota now join up with the hated LCO to take on Kaoru Ito, Tomoko Watanabe, and the “plucky rookies” making up post-1993 classes, particularly Nanae & Momoe. Essentially anyone whose push peaked after 2000 is a good guy and any preceding star is a baddie. Except traitorous Kumiko Maekawa, who is the “Akira Taue” in this situation- a disloyal traitor siding with the veterans. A lot of this show becomes about “elevating Nanae Takahashi”, as Momoe is already impressing people, but Nanae was lagging behind- here she gets a lot of focus in a tag match, then a solo bout against Etsuko Mita, who is VERY aware of what the assignment is, from the looks of things. But yeah, almost everything here is based around the “Old Guard” vs. “New Stars of the New Fans” feud.

Case in point, before the festivities, the Zenjo wrestlers welcome the fans and do introductions… and the yellow-clad heels assault them from behind, beating them all over the front rows. Ito & Tomoko come back and see them off, but someone is injured.

MARCH 25th:
* One match from Differ Ariake!

MARK WAR ON V:
MIHO WAKIZAWA & NANAMOMO (Nanae Takahashi & Momoe Nakanishi) vs. MANAMI TOYOTA & LAS CACHORRAS ORIENTALES (Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda):
* The babyface squad gets another shot against the heels dominating Zenjo- LCO recently stole back their 3WA Tag Titles from NanaMomo, giving this feud a lot more juice. Nanae’s in purple, Momoe’s in black & green, Wakizawa’s in yellow, LCO’s in pink/black & Toyota’s in some ALL NEW GEAR for once- a black & red kinda Mad Max version of her normal shit.

GAEA JAPAN IN MARCH-APRIL 2001:
* It’s time for more GAEA Japan! This one features a pair of big shows, as Aja Kong announces her partner for a match against the Crush Gals, Chigusa & Meiko team up against the main eventer squad of Mayumi Ozaki & Akira Hokuto, and finally the Crush Gals team up for revenge against that same team… in a match where if they lose a second time, the Gals have to split up!

First off, however, I hadn’t realized there was a mini-angle after the match on my last GAEA review- Aja Kong comes out in street clothes & attacks Chigusa Nagayo & Chikayo Nagashima after the match, then seems to argue with teammates Mayumi Ozaki & Akira Hokuto as well. Judging by the comments section, Aja declares a challenge to the Crush Gals, but won’t announce her partner:

HYPER VISUAL FIGHTING ARSION- BATTLE STATION:
(aka HOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY SHIT THE WHEELS ARE COMIN’ OFF!)
(Jan. 27th 2001)
* It’s here! The show BEFORE the legendary show where ARSION’s wheels completely come off! Which I sadly can’t find online, lol. That one features not one but TWO worked shoots as the company jettisons both Ryo Miyuki & Aja Kong but decides to make HOT ANGLES out of it to I guess generate excitement or news or publicity or something out of it. And… hoo boy. But this at least lays the stage for that so I can talk about it!

Re*DRAG (GAMI, Rie Tamada & Reina Takase) vs. CHAPARITA ASARI, AI FUJITA & YUU YAMAGATA: A very clipped trios match has each team paired up with a newbie (I think Reina actually joins Re*DRAG). ASARI does her mule kick to GAMI, Reina flies into Re*DRAG, and a triple-team by ASARI’s squad is countered, leaving Yuu there with Reina, who hesitates before judo-flipping her and hitting a jujigatame for the tap-out (0:42 of 9:48 shown).

MARIKO YOSHIDA vs. BIONIC J: What a weird match. Jessie Bennett of VIP out there taking on Yoshida, who is somewhat orphaned from important stuff. J counters a whip with a shoulder-ram, gets German’d, then is casually rolled into the Modified Sleeper, struggling a bit before tapping at (0:38 of 5:40 shown). lol what a jobbing.

MASK vs. HAIR MATCH- PIKO vs. LINDA STAR: !! So uhhhhh with Rossy’s fascination with lucha, we get one of its biggest traditions: a Hair vs. Mask match. Naturally, this feud doesn’t even remotely warrant that, but that’s Ogawa booking for you. This probably stems from the December show where Star unmasked PIKO mid-match, earning a DQ. A lack of decorum in Mexico but kinda lost here. This is also clipped despite the stips- we get mostly clips of them trading strikes, like THE ALMIGHTY SHOTEI, which PIKO then turns into a standing armbar for the tap-out at (0:47 of 6:08 shown). LOL they gave them six minutes for that? Aaaaaaaannnnnnnnddd, no hair cutting? Okay.

LAS CACHORRAS ORIENTALES (Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda) vs. AJA KONG & RYO MIYUKI:
* IT’S TIME FOR MIYUKI!!! So her story becomes somewhat of a legend in joshi history, as she is trained out of volleyball or some shit, Rossy tries to drum up publicity for it, and she showed up… for like a couple shifts then fucked off, missing a bunch of dates. Here she’s called “Super Rookie”, which makes the subsequent mess even more hilarious. She has a decent look, at least- tall enough and with tasseled leggings, all in white. Aja’s in white, too. She’s in there with three pros, but this is still clipped so we barely see anything.