AJW TV (Jan. 3rd 1997):
* So we start off AJW’s darkest year with what turns out to be a pretty great TV show, actually, as most of the remaining top stars come out for some rare matches- Manami & Aja get to destroy up & coming rookies (with an all-timer stiff shot in the Aja/Tamura match), then a pair of long tag matches. So if you ever wanna see wrestlers fight like they don’t want to be the next midcarder to job to the rookies, or a rookie get KTFO’d with a full “fencer’s response” reaction and a glassy-eyed death stare, have I got the show for you!

TOSHIYO YAMADA & ETSUKO MITA vs. MIMA SHIMODA & CHAPARRITA ASARI:
* A weirdo grab-bag of a match sees Dream Orca revived again, with the now-midcarders Yamada & Mita going up against Mita’s old partner Shimoda and the rising star ASARI. The levels here are kind all over the place, as Yamada is higher-ranked but only sorta as she’s been tumbling, and Shimoda is a former Tag Champ yet never got a big singles run. Mita is delightfully now in her Giant Powder Blue Pirate era, but her outfit is a black & pink skirt & top. Yamada’s in a black suit with blue writing & lines on it, Shimoda’s in a rather fashionable white top & black skirt, and ASARI’s in white/red/gold.

JOSHI SPOTLIGHT- CANDY OKUTSU:
Real Name: Tomoko Okutsu (aka Tiger Dream, Red Lynx)
Billed Height & Weight: 5’1″ 132 lbs.
Career Length: 1992-2001

-And now it’s time for a bio on one of the more reliable “decent performance” wrestlers of both the Interpromotional Era and later ones- Candy Okutsu!

Candy spent most of her career as a midcarder, using a fast-paced style. Despite her ability, she was never really given a big push or a good title reign- she only has three minor belt runs, and never got above “upper midcarder” even as joshi imploded in the late ’90s. Her small size and the sheer glut of talent above her (she’s perfectly good but usually not even in the top ten best workers on any given card) probably held her back, and she left after nine years in the business, having moved from Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling (JWP) to ARSION when that company debuted. There, it looks like she became an idol-adjacent wrestler (I insist I found those pics from a standard Google search for images for this article! I swear!).

Candy is a pretty good example of the “Communal Joshi Style”, though she was quicker than most- undersized but athletic and fairly smooth, she was a high-flier who also used the Rolling Germans (one of the first people to do so that I can recall). Even a couple years into the business she was already pretty good and seemed way more experienced than she was, being put in tag matches that were very good, so long as veterans were in to control things. She was a flashy wrestler for sure- to the point where she’d do a “run up to the top rope” move 3-4 times per match, often to the point of spamming it because it looked like she didn’t have the “wrestling sense” to shake it up, nor a deep enough moveset to avoid repetition. She was also injured quite a bit.

AJW REAL EARNEST:
(Dec. 8th 1996)
* And so we reach the end of the year for AJW, as the company seems to be falling apart creatively, and then Manami Toyota’s disappointing year as Champion culminates with a match against her longtime rival, Kyoko Inoue. This arena is blacked out all to hell, which really makes it look bad. I mean, how bad DID this draw?

Though to be fair, this card seems INCREDIBLY dire. Chaparrita ASARI defends her Super Lightweight Title against low-ass JWP wrestler Fusayo Nouchi? AJW feeds their lowest-end jobbers to JWP & JD’ teams? Rie Tamada vs. Chikako Shiratori in a singles match? What IS this?

PS here’s a list of my full Joshi Spotlight archives: https://www.echoesofthemultiverse.com/viewtopic.php?t=2086

The Skipped Matches:
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR MATCH:
MOMOE NAKANISHI d. MIHO WAKIZAWA (5:06): Momoe becomes a big star in the 2000s so it’s nice to see she wins this one.
EMI MOTOKAWA & TOMOKO KUZUMI (JWP) d. MISAE GENKI & TANNY MOUSE (AJW) (15:38): A horrifyingly long match for people this green, but JWP’s team gets the lowest-tier jobbers fed to them.
BLOODY PHOENIX, CHIQUITA AZTECA & PEQUENA AZTECA (JD’) d. YOSHIKO TAMURA, YUKA SHIINA (AJW) (13:31): Once again, AJW jobs its greenest rookies to another company. Pequena is Cynthia Moreno, and way above everyone else here, though Tamura is the hottest rookie AJW has right now.

AJW JUNIOR TITLE:
RIE TAMADA (AJW) d. CHIKAKO SHIRATORI (10:27): Kept about as short as it should be, as Rie defeats her old Class of 1991 classmate.

WWWA WORLD SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE:
CHAPARRITA ASARI (AJW) vs. FUSAYO NOUCHI (JWP):
* Oh, THIS is where that damn match goes, lol. I found it in an old recap and the original video of the full match is gone. The tiny ASARI defends her trophy belt against the rival promotion’s tiny Nouchi. All we get is the last 4 minutes, which really come off well as it’s the classic “try anything you can to win” AJW style.

AJW NAGOYA ULTRA WHIRLWIND ’96:
(Oct. 6th 1996)
* And it’s an extra AJW event before “Real Earnest” (the Manami/Kyoko match)! With some big… well ONE big match on it, with Manami Toyota taking on Aja Kong for the WWWA World Title!

PS here’s a list of my full Joshi Spotlight archives: https://www.echoesofthemultiverse.com/viewtopic.php?t=2086

Looks like most of this isn’t on YouTube, but here’s what goes down:

MIHO WAKIZAWA & SAYA ENDO d. NANAE TAKAHASHI & YACHIYO KAWAMOTO (11:18): The super-green rookies (some of whom go nowhere) get 11 minutes!
YUKA SHIINA d. MOMOE NAKANISHI (7:58): Momoe is the best of her generation, but gets fed to a 2nd/3rd year.
KAORU ITO & TOMOKO WATANABE d. MISAE GENKI & YOSHIKO TAMURA (11:53): Oh god- the legendary Rookieslayers of AJW get to murder the “next generation to get pushed”. Poor Tamura especially- she was in the finals of Discover New Heroine and gets to die here.

AJW TV (Nov. 21st 1996):
* Here’s a few matches found from near the end of the year on AJW TV! This is taped from Kobe World Memorial Hall, which has a sizable 8,000 seats but are bathed in pitch blackness so we can’t see them empty. On commentary is some VERY shrieky, annoying girl, and a card that doesn’t exactly set the world on fire. Mostly random tag stuff- even the main.

Oh, also I found an FMW vs. JD’ Beauty Athlete tag match featuring Megumi Kudo & Jaguar Yokota on opposite sides of the ring, so there’s that!

MISAE GENKI, SAYA ENDO & NANAE TAKAHASHI vs. YUMI FUKAWA, YUKA SHIINA & MOMOE NAKANISHI:
* Oh look! It’s the six bottom-tier wrestlers in AJW! I feel like the “elders” here have been curtain-jerking for like two years by this point, but Momoe & Nanae are very new. This is joined in progress and almost everyone’s in blue, making it super-annoying to recap as I barely recognize anyone. I mean there’s Genki the praying mantis in orange, so SHE stands out…

Takako Inoue challenges Mayumi Ozaki in Oz’s trademark “Dress Up Wild Fight!” hardcore match!

AJW IN 1996:
* So in this one I’ll take a look at some random 1996 AJW stuff (ie. a show that’s not on YouTube and some scattered crap I reviewed in the past or just now found online). Including another in the “Dress Up Wild Fight” series of Mayumi Ozaki’s, as she takes on Takako Inoue! In a Last Man Standing… oh jesus… 35 minute match!

PS I made a list of my full Joshi Spotlight archives: https://www.echoesofthemultiverse.com/viewtopic.php?t=2086

AJW THE RISING GENERATION QUEENS CARNIVAL (Sept. 1st):
-AJW ran yet ANOTHER rookie-themed show in Sept. 1996, but it appears to be not on YouTube. Almost the entire thing is just random rookies fighting, but the interpromotional stuff picks up a bit. Of note is Tomoko Watanabe crushing Kumiko Maekawa very quickly, which seems wasteful as Kumiko’s rising in skill quickly. TWO AJW Titles change hands, going to other promotions’ rookies- this is a curious booking thing they sometimes did with their meaningless rookie belts, which got swapped around a fair bit. So GAEA Japan gets its first gold with the Japanese Tag Titles of all things, while the future Ran Yu-Yu pics up AJW Junior gold.

GAEA JAPAN- BREAK OUT!:
* It’s time for more GAEA Japan, with a combination of tag matches as the Chigusa Nagayo vs. Toshiyo Yamada mini-feud continues! Yamada of course was an early “Chigusa Clone”, always giving these bouts intrigue, though the boss of GAEA seems to be way above her in the pecking order at this point. This also features a GAEA vs. OZ Academy match that’s one of the first big chances the rookies have had to prove themselves, and has been considered the first truly great all-rookie match for the company!

You gotta love it that they’re advertising clips with the “Angry Baby Meiko Satomura Face” image.

CHIGUSA NAGAYO & MEIKO SATOMURA vs. TOSHIYO YAMADA & SONOKO KATO:
* More of the Chigusa/Yamada series, as they take each other on in a tag bout with their color-coded rookie tag team partners.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcON99jWM30&t=2s

JD’ BEAUTY ATHLETE (August 6th, 1996):
* It’s the fourth of the JD’ Beauty Athlete shows I can find in YouTube! This one features AJW’s Chaparrita ASARI & Yumi Fukawa in a rookies match against Chikako Shiratori & Aya Koyama, then a Veteran/Rookie match between Jaguar & Yuki Lee and Cooga & The Bloody! Finally, our main event is the big star showdown of Bison Kimura (JD’s top star) vs. Lioness Asuka!

This is all shot from a single-camera point of view, similar to the wrestling of the 1950s. It’s odd how static it is, but gives the show a unique look and feel, and probably changes how the matches are wrestled, as people can’t run all over the place this way.

CHAPARRITA ASARI & YUMI FUKAWA (AJW) vs. CHIKAKO SHIRATORI & AYA KOYAMA (JD’):
* An interpromotional tag bout with two of AJW’s hottest rookie stars- the high-flying stunt worker ASARI and the more glamorous Fukawa, who keeps getting focused on around this time as an up & comer. Naturally, Chikako is a good opponent, being her JD’ counterpart. Koyama’s green as grass, though. ASARI’s in good red & white gear, Fukawa’s in a ridiculous black leotard with a pink frill going all around it, Chikako’s in black & blue, and Aya’s in a black jobber swimsuit with red & yellow stripes.

BUDOKAN MIDSUMMER NIGHT- DISCOVER NEW HEROINE (Day Two):
(Aug. 13th 1996):
* It’s the next day of the “Discover New Heroine” show! This time we get three straight rounds of the tournament, ending with a final match in this Rookie/Veteran Team tournament concept!

Tonight’s show is INFAMOUS for injuries, with two particularly brutal, violent-looking ones absolutely flattening some of the “New Heroines”. And, of course, those are the VERY TWO women going all the way to the final match!

In addition, we get the worked-shoot U*Top Tournament, where 3/4 of the fighters in it are of course big joshi stars who beat no-name European girls to move on. So come see rookies with potential teaming up with veterans giving mostly half-hearted efforts in matches half as long as the usual joshi contests… which actually kinda suits the style a bit more as the bouts have less padding than joshi typically does.

DISCOVER NEW HEROINE TAG TOURNAMENT ROUND TWO:

MEGUMI KUDO & KAORI NAKAYAMA (FMW) vs. BISON KIMURA & YUKI LEE (JD’):
* Most interpromotional stuff typically involves “Someone vs. GAEA” or “Someone vs. AJW”, so FMW & JD’ mixing it up is interesting for the time period. Both teams are the only representative of their company left, so it’s kinda anyone’s ballgame. Bison & Kudo notably were part of the same AJW training class in 1986. Bison & Yuki are in blue & white again, Kudo’s in black and Kaori’s in red & white.

BUDOKAN MIDSUMMER NIGHT- DISCOVER NEW HEROINE (Day One):
(Aug. 12th 1996):
* Welcome back to AJW, as they release this MONSTER interpromotional show in mid-1996, at the Budokan Hall! It’s just like the old days- AJW! FMW! JWP! JD’! GAEA Japan! Holy crap! It sounds like the biggest show in Joshi history… except it’s this weirdo “Veteran + Rookie” Tag Team Tournament so every match has amateurs in it, AND there’s also the U*Top Shoot Fight tournament on the same show, lol. MoskowDiskow, who regularly posts here, says this is one of those “the Matsunagas were losing their shirts so they let Rossy Ogawa book a show, and he did some weird Gimmick Show” situations.

Cagematch says this drew 4,500 to the Budokan, which is pretty crazy, but might be a lie… and also 4,500 is like 1/3 full, so if that’s papered/lying then HOLY CRAP. So this show is largely seen as a disaster. This show is also apparently quite infamous for injuries, but only on Day Two. So come see future stars and washouts give some decidedly iffy performances and take easy falls to veterans! And the “Joshi Style” wrestled in 5-8 minute matches instead of 16-minute wars!

DISCOVER NEW HEROINE TAG TOURNAMENT ROUND ONE:

AJA KONG & YOSHIKO TAMURA (AJW) vs. CHIGUSA NAGAYO & SAKURA HIROTA (GAEA Japan):
* Okay, so Aja/Chigusa is a huge “get” for a match, as their eras only barely overlap, and Aja was very young when Chigusa retired. I’m like “who the frig is Sakura Hirota?” but it turns out she’s making her DEBUT here, and is a new GAEA trainee to join the other recent ones this year. She’s actually still wrestling, making this a NON-washout GAEA hire! She’s a long-haired rookie in a pink Arena swimsuit (which was worn by Mariko Narita before her, but Narita vanished from the biz). Aja’s still a big, pushed star, and Yoshiko is a rookie getting a very sudden lot of emphasis. Aja is giving Chigusa the death glare to end all death glares, here- like I’m watching this on YouTube and even I’m kinda scared.

AJW JAPAN GRAND PRIX 1996 (Part Two):
(July 28th & Aug. 4th, 1996)
* Another set of mostly-clipped matches! This time we get full clips of TWO Chaparrita ASARI matches, as the company focuses on her more and more- we see her take on Kyoko Inoue and Mariko Yoshida in separate “come from behind” matches! Also come see just how serious AJW was about pushing Reggie Bennett in 1996, as she gets some of the biggest matches of her entire career! Also a full-length “Class of 1987 Reunion” match between Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Las Cachorras Orientales!

Crazy upsets abound as AJW’s booking combines the “Flukes can happen in round robins” puro trope with panicked booking!

MIHO WAKIZAWA vs. YACHIYO KAWAMOTO:
* Good heavens, who are THESE two? I’ve never heard of them. Expecting rookies who retired early (common to AJW at this time) I was surprised to find Miho had an 18-year career, moving on to Stardom, mostly in tag success. Yachiyo lasted… two? I think? One match in ’94 and a bunch in ’96? Miho’s in yellow (and is quite tall) & Yachiyo’s in black.

AJW GRAND PRIX 1996 (Part One):
(July 14th 1996)
* It’s time for another Grand Prix show! Though sadly, this one is 90% clipped matches- AJW was really cheaping out on tapes as profits fell by this point, I think. We do get a full Yumiko Hotta/Aja Kong match and they’ve had some REAL bangers, and a Manami Toyota/rookie vs. Kyoko Inoue & Chaparrita ASARI match, as AJW gets serious about pushing ASARI, though!

The opening clip shows Manami Toyota’s two 1995 Title wins- against Aja Kong and against Dynamite Kansai, then clips of other women’s faces beside the 3WA World Title and a Manami promo. Finally, the entrants enter the ring wearing sashes to denote their entry- we have exclusively AJW wrestlers this time around, meaning there’s no fun Interpromotional stuff, sadly. This one drops the concept of “Blocks” and is now a single 12-woman round robin tournament.

Our Participants:
* Kyoko Inoue: the heir apparent to the 3WA World Title and Manami’s longest rival. Probably gonna win, if AJW’s typical way of doing things holds true.
* Aja Kong: The dethroned champion. Was maybe gonna be pushed down the ranks like past champs, but is now just there again.
* Yumiko Hotta: Has now been training for shootfights for a while, but AJW wants to keep using her as a great “threat” to any top wrestler, despite never beating them.
* Takako Inoue: Amazing, underrated wrestler, but never QUITE pushed to the next level. Is All Pacific-level now, and if they’re smart, this should be a big run.
* Kaoru Ito: Now the highest ranked of the Class of ’89. Clearly meant for big things. Will probably earn middle ranks.
* Tomoko Watanabe: A rising star who is just now picking up some wins in tag matches. Has a bright future, and will probably score some suprise wins and earn middle ranks.
* Mariko Yoshida: Has been back from injury for a year, occupying an uncomfortable “middle ground” between pushed stars and midcarders. If they’re gonna push her, now’s the time (she’s easily better than either Ito or Tomoko at this point).
* Mima Shimoda: Now the current Tag Champion and has been in successful teams for a year now, but never quite does well in singles. They seem to see a future in her, so she should HOPEFULLY do well.
* Etsuko Mita: Now without Shimoda for most of a year, she’s floundered in the midcard, and has likely entered the “Suzuka Minami” role of being a gatekeeper. Probably won’t do well.
* Reggie Bennett: Foreigner powerhouse with some big title runs last year- again, a strong contender to do more, especially as she’s not as “tired” as the other stars yet. Her introductory interview, in English, was clearly not planned out ahead of time (“with the, uh, opposite belt and won the uh, six-man championship…”.
* Toshiyo Yamada: Gone are her All Pacific runs and now she’s just kinda ambling about the company. Injuries and motivation seem to have done a number on her.
* Chaparrita ASARI: No chance, but a stupendous acrobat they still wanna do things with. She has super-long hair now and no longer looks 13. Obviously gonna be in last place.

Manami Toyota: Now Ace of the promotion, but the fans are gonna let her have it on this one.

AJW OTA-KU CHAMPION LEGEND ’96:
(Jan. 22nd 1996)
* Our first big AJW event of 1996, and it’s a doozy. Manami Toyota defends her newly-won WWWA World Title against longtime rival Yumiko Hotta, who set this up by beating Manami during the “Manami vs. 30 People” Gauntlet last month! There’s also a weird one as the former Dream Orca team up with Chaparrita ASARI to take on Mariko Yoshida, a rookie, and a random Mexican lady. Unfortunately I can only find those two matches.

The Rest of the Card:
ELIMINATION MATCH: KAYO NOUMI, KUMIKO MAEKAWA, MARI MOGAMI & YUKA SHIINA d. MINA TANIYAMA, MISAE WATANABE, NOBUE ENDO & YOSHIKO TAMURA (12:39): Mogami d. Taniyama (5:45), Tamura d. Noumi (7:02), Misae d. Mogami (8:02), Kumiko d. Misae (9:14), Kumiko d. Endo (10:19), Shiina d. Tamura (10:19). Kumiko & Shiina survive.

REGGIE BENNETT d. TOMOKO WATANABE (11:20): Tomoko’s getting a bit of a push, but not THAT big- Reggie way outranks her.

AJA KONG d. KAORU ITO (16:05): Wow- Aja should absolutely be beating Ito at this point, but it speaks wonders for Ito that the match goes 16 minutes.

SAKIE HASEGAWA d. BULL NAKANO (11:47): Sakie Hasegawa’s retirement tour continues as she takes on BULL NAKANO of all people in one of Bull’s final AJW matches! Shockingly, Sakie DEFEATS Bull, likely a parting gift from the former Ace.

WWWA TAG TEAM TITLE: DOUBLE INOUE (Kyoko & Takako Inoue) d. AKIRA HOKUTO & MIMA SHIMODA (29:47): Hokuto pins Kyoko at (10:30), Kyoko pins Shimoda at (19:53) and Kyoko pins Akira at (29:47). Thus ends the reign of Shimoda & Akira, the latter of whom actually leaves AJW after a very odd 1995. Seriously, she wins the V*Top Tournament at the Tokyo Dome in late ’94 and is then “just another wrestler” for 1995 until having a ***** match against Toyota and winning the Tag Titles for a run. Hokuto leaving the company kicks a MASSIVE hole in the match quality, too. Meltzer went ****1/2 for this, so I really wish it was on YouTube (looks like an older one was deleted).

Can Manami Toyota successfully come out on top of a year of World Title switches? Read on!

AJW MONDAY NIGHT SENSATION:
(Dec. 4th 1995)
* It’s time! JWP’s Dynamite Kansai won AJW’s WWWA World Title in August and has held the rival promotion’s World Title ever since! Takako Inoue took a shot at her, but had no chance and was beaten- but now Manami Toyota’s year-long storyline comes to an head as she takes one more shot at the Gold! So in the year preceding this, Manami Toyota lost a classic match to Aja Kong at Big Egg Wrestling Universe in the Tokyo Dome… but months later, she took another shot and actually won the Title! But then she went to a 60-minute draw against Kyoko Inoue and then failed her very next challenge, as Aja won her Title back. Along the way, Manami took several failed attempts at the WWWA Tag Titles with Sakie Hasegawa as her partner, then had an insane pair of matches against Akira Hokuto (a ***** classic) and Yumiko Hotta (possibly Hotta’s greatest match, nearly getting the same rating) in which Hotta tearfully insisted Manami bring their Gold back home.

The rest of the show is a bit peculiar, as it’s very rookie-focused, with the first three matches featuring them in prominent positions. Then we get a lot of “establishing” matches, as it’s Tomoko/ASARI, Sakie/Ito, Takako/Reggie, Hotta/Yamada & Aja/Kyoko in bouts that seem designed to showcase the bigger stars and where they are in the pecking order. This entire show honestly feels like “So Here’s Where We’re Going”, with a lot of potential up & coming stars. Of course the Ringstarfield account I’m getting these from spoils nearly every single result, making that even more clear, haha.

The other insane thing is the vast majority of matches here are SHORT- kept to about 9-11 minutes apiece, which is just over half the length bouts of great importance would be. Only two matches on the card are left going longer than that and it’s the top two. That’s very unusual for AJW in general and I wonder why that is.

Lioness Asuka giant swings Chaparrita ASARI while Alundra Blayze, Kyoko Inoue & Sakie Hsegawa look on, alongside an old lady who was WAY into the entire show. WWF Survivor Series (1995).

Here’s a unique one, as I now hit the timeline where AJW runs a decently-big show at the same time as it features their wrestlers appearing on both WWF AND WCW programming! On PPV! In the same calendar week! Read on!

AJW WRESTLEMARINEPIAD ’95 & WWF SURVIVOR SERIES 1995:
* Okay, so we’ve reached the weird era where AJW runs a half-assed Wrestlemarinepiad right the day before they send some girls to the WWF, where Aja Kong is set up as the new challenger to WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze!

My full review: https://blogofdoom.com/index.php/2019/09/13/joshi-spotlight-ajw-wrestlemarinepiad-95/

The Results:
MARI MOGAMI d. KAYO NOUMI (6:56) with a goddamn headlock. 1/2*.
YOSHIKO TAMURA d. MISAE WATANABE (8:22) with the Rookie-Slaying Bodyslam. *3/4. What’s funny is this was early in my reviewing run of Joshi so I was at this point unfamiliar with the notion that rookies were so bad that bodyslams could readily destroy them.
MARIKO YOSHIDA & YUMI FUKAWA d. MINA TAMIYAMA & NOBUE ENDO (8:24) with a Flying Splash to Endo. **1/2. Yoshida was the only veteran in this match so that’s not a surprise. It was a fun thing seeing such an elite wrestler playing chess with some checkers-playing rookies.
TAKAKO INOUE & TOMOKO WATANABE d. TOSHIYO YAMADA & CHAPARRITA ASARI (15:03) with Tomoko’s Screwdriver on ASARI. ***. Yamada’s tumble down the card continues as she is teaming with a baby against Takako and rising star Tomoko, whose “She’s getting a big push next” thing is starting with the occasional win on big shows like this.
MIMA SHIMODA d. ETSUKO MITA (18:29) with the Death Lake Driver. ****1/2. A fucking awesome, bloody war as Las Cachorras Orientales EXPLODES and Mima’s push becomes solidified with a dramatic win over her former tag partner. The best part is when Akira Hokuto comes down after disrespecting Shimoda for their entire Tag Title run, carrying both Tag Titles down like she’s been doing lately… and lays one at her subordinate’s feet, as if to say “Senpai Noticed You”.
BULL NAKANO & LIONESS ASUKA d. AJA KONG & REGGIE BENNETT (14:29) after Aja Urakens Reggie by mistake. **3/4. Interesting result that kinda plays up the Aja/Asuka thing that’s been going on, and one more hurrah for Bull on a major stage. Largely a comedy bout for half of it, doing goofy things and egging the crowd on.
KYOKO INOUE d. YUMIKO HOTTA (15:46) with the Niagara Driver. ***1/2. Kyoko sets herself up as the “Next Challenger” through defeating Hotta, gatekeeping as always. Hotta repeatedly ignores lasting damage and pops up to do her own thing, and is rather plodding- this hurts the match.
REINA JUBUKI & BLIZZARD YUKI vs. MANAMI TOYOTA & BLACK BLIZZARD (17:03) with Yuki’s Rana to Black Blizzard. ***1/2. Jubuki is Akira Hokuto’s masked luchadore self, and she’s with Manami’s usual partner, while Kaoru Ito is now “Black Blizzard” and hates Yuki for some reason. A very bizarre match, with some clumsy lucha stuff wrestled at half-effort for a long period before they revved it up.

AJW TAG LEAGUE THE BEST 1995 (Part One):
(Oct. 1995-Dec. 1995)
* So the final AJW tape release of 1995 appears to be a compilation of the Oct. 10th show and the Dec. 10th show, where the round-robin of varied teams is played up for Tag League THE BEST. We start off with four tourney matches, two of which are VERY clipped, then a show two months later where they have the Tournament Finals, with complete matches and some undercard stuff. Most of which is also badly clipped. I’ll split this in two, since it’s two different shows entirely and this would be an immense review otherwise. I’ll post this part part when the matches actually fit into the timeline.

The teams this year are actually sort of bizarre, as nobody is with their regular partner except for Akira/Shimoda- everyone else is in these mish-mash teams. The roster this year: Akira Hokuto & Mima Shimoda (the WWWA Tag Team Champions); Manami Toyota & Kaoru Ito (at least they’re stablemates); Aja Kong & Takako Inoue (called “Beauty and the Beast” entertainingly enough- the team of a dethroned Champ and an up & coming upper-carder); Kyoko Inoue & Tomoko Watanabe (a rising star and her style-clone; former stablemates); Reggie Bennett & Yumiko Hotta (the strongest & best fighter in the company, respectively- both upper-level wrestlers who are a threat to anyone); Sakie Hasegawa & Mariko Yoshida (former feuding wrestlers, now stablemates); Toshiyo Yamada & Etsuko Mita (the reunited DREAM ORCA, though both now as midcarders, sorta); and Chaparrita ASARI & Kumiko Maekawa (jobbers, especially here).

Tag League THE BEST ’95:
REGGIE BENNETT & YUMIKO HOTTA vs. CHAPARRITA ASARI & KUMIKO MAEKAWA:
* Ohhhhhhhhhhh my god someone is going to murder these poor girls. Stiff, unprofessional bully Hotta teaming with the powerhouse against poor diminutive ASARI and a rookie. Yikes. ASARI’s in red & gold, Kumiko’s in blue & white, Hotta’s in black (with much longer hair that any time previous) and Reggie’s in black & purple.

Part One

AJW DESTINY:
(Sept. 2nd 1995)
* So AJW is going wild at the moment- we’re in the middle of the Japan Grand Prix round-robin, a rival promotion’s Ace (Dynamite Kansai) is AJW’s World Champion, and ticket sales are suffering in part because we’re outta fresh match-ups. Yet we’re still having ****+ matches all over the place, so fuck it- I’D be buying tickets! This is a mega, mega, mega-event, too, with TOYOTA/HOKUTO as the Main Event- two of the very best on the entire planet at this point. It’s like them, Bret, Shawn, and three of the Four Pillars and that’s it.

Also on the card are matches between upper-midcarders Yumiko Hotta & Reggie Bennett, Kyoko Inoue & Bull Nakano doing another match in Bull’s last hurrah as a major solo act (and she knows it), Aja Kong taking on her old partner Bison Kimura, and even LCO fighting the Raijin Army, which includes their trainer Jaguar Yokota. This show is STACKED, and nearly five hours long. Mike Lorefice darkly notes that this is “the last excellent top to bottom show AJW has presented”.

Of particular note is the fact that this show is literally THREE DAYS after the fantastic “Queen’s Holy Night” show, which featured Aja lose the 3WA Title to Kansai in a ****1/4 match, Akira Hokuto & Mima Shimoda hitting ***3/4, and a ****3/4-***** match between Manami & Sakie and Double Inoue! So everyone on here is busting their ass despite wrestling on the same level three days earlier!

“TL;DR: What’s The Deal?”: One of the year’s best matches in the main event, plus the big stars in assorted other bouts (including what I think is Reggie’s best match). Also shorter match lengths than in many other big shows- only two go over 20:00, so nobody is overstaying their welcome.

We start with like THIRTY MINUTES of assorted stuff, with Bull’s old stable (her, Kyoko & Tomoko) showing up for an interview, assorted signings and even memorabilia (a J.B. Angels magazine cover, ASARI’s gear, etc.). Backstage stuff with Hokuto & Bull putting on their gear together. Everyone comes out in white shirts and red shorts to start the show- the real mark of a “big event”. Biggest reactions by far are for Bull (who almost never wrestles now) and Akira. Manami & Kyoko get the next biggest reactions, but much more muted.

Double Inoue vs. Manami Toyota & Sakie Hasegawa.

AJW TV (Jan. 1995):
* And welcome to the beginning of 1995 in the Joshi Spotlight! So I found a handful of stuff from the early part of the year, but of primary importance here are the huge Title defenses of Double Inoue & LCO!! So this is a “two-match review”, as both major Joshi promotions defend their top gold in the early part of January 1995!

So first off, Double Inoue make a very big WWWA Tag Title defense as Manami Toyota comes back for her gold, but with Sakie Hasegawa as her new partner! And then we have Las Cachorras Orientales defending the JWP Tag Team Titles on JWP home turf against the odd pairing of evil Mayumi Ozaki & rising idol Hikari Fukuoka! Both matches are absolute bangers, so come take a look!

JWP STARS ON TOUR:
(Oct. 30th, 1994)
* As we continue through the last part of 1994, here’s a set of JWP bouts from a VERY dark arena, with a bizarre set-up- it’s an elevated stage in an auditorium like how you watch lectures and live theater, so the fans can only see one side of the ring (you can only see this in the final bout). It has two AJW/JWP Junior League matches (where rookie wrestlers fight each other), and is capped off by an 8-woman tag from people who’ve already wrestled that day.

So it’s an interesting look at tiny rookies putting in 10-minute sprints (a welcome change from “20 minutes, but half is padding”), and leads to some very good matches, especially considering the last one is everyone’s second match of the evening! So come take a look at Joshi’s #2 (or #3 if you REALLY like Megumi Kudo’s FMW stuff) promotion when left mostly to its own devices!

AJW/JWP JUNIOR LEAGUE:
CANDY OKUTSU (JWP) vs. RIE TAMADA (AJW):
* An interpromotional rookie match, as the lower-card wrestlers get more shots against each other. Candy’s in black & white, and Rie’s in white & blue.

Rapid-fire stuff to start, as they jockey for position and Candy hits rollups, but Rie controls with a chinlock and stretching. Candy comes back with her own, and the camera bounces around a lot, doing random close-ups. Candy tries Manami’s Running No-Hands Springboard move again, but overshoots her feet and falls- Rie covers for it and Candy soon hits a Run-Up Cross-Body out of the corner instead for two. Backslide gets two for Rie, but Candy slips AGAIN on a Run-Up, then tries again and Rie simply dodges. Rie hits two missile kicks for two, then two spinning cross-bodies for the same. Candy does her corner-dodge missile kick, and another big one gets two. Flying Splash… Rie “Fuck YOU!” bridges out! Candy tries and tries for a German, finally hitting it for two. She aims for another, but Rie rolls forward and wraps her up for the three (10:45).

AJW ZENJO MANIA- MAY STORM ’94:
(02.05.1994)
* From Korakuen Hall is the next big AJW show, with a lot of really, REALLY long matches, possibly to fill time and “justify” the ticket prices, and also to put over the resiliency of the athletes, I think. This show seems to have a theme of “rookie showcasing”, as the opener is massively long and between two of their smallest young stars, and the next two feature Kumiko & Sakie, a rookie and up & comer respectively, being murdered by their elders. This Korakuen crowd is hot as FUCK and stays that way all night long, giving even the rookies a huge ovation for big moves. As usual, you have to track through one guy’s YouTube channel to find these multi-part matches.

“TL;DR: Why Should I Care?”: The show ends with two fantastic matches, and nearly every bout is a testament to either joshi’s insane cardio or their invincible spinal cords. Also, a crowd that’s into EVERYTHING. Also, proof joshi invents everything with wrestling’s first-ever One-Winged Angel. By accident, but it counts!

ZEN NIHON OZA KETTEI TOURNAMENT:
RIE TAMADA vs. CHAPARRITA ASARI:
* Tamada beat ASARI on the last show, so this is a rematch, and the finals to some kind of tournament. ASARI’s in the neon yellow with silver puffy bits, and Tamada’s in black & orange.