80s AJW

 Yumi Ogura & Kazue Nagahori vs Mika Komatsu & Kanako Nagatomo AJW 6/21/1986

Crazy match that was over 30 minutes of straight wrestling with a ton of intensity and hard-fought chew-em-up style matwork. Really unique from a modern perspective. The match followed a simple formula, they would alternate between matwork and explosive standing moves, but the intensity at which they fought in and out of the holds was great. In terms of moves there was nothing mindblowing happening, but its 80s AJW so it feels somewhat familiar but different, and the real selling point is the struggle. They sold the match like a sporting contest that would occasionally come to a boiling point. The pinfall attempts and the struggle over getting out of them was fantastic – really nailed that amateur wrestling-like feeling of when a guy feels he is about to get rolled in his shoulders and gets into that “oh shit” zone to desperately scramble out. I really liked Kanako Nagatomo here, she hit these cool Zidane headbutts and knew how to work some mean indian deathlocks. Ogura & Nagahori would throw these wild kicks and solebutts, often out of nowhere, and they weren’t afraid to get chippy. At one point you had Komatsu and I think Nagahori going into this almost Lawler/Mantell style strike exchange on their knees with both of them throwing open hands. So the chippiness was great, the matwork was great, and the flying moves were cool (at one point one of them hit this awesome jumping victory roll that looked like the most beautiful flash pin ever). The match didn’t have a ton of limb selling or build to the transitions but they sold the whole thing as an intense sporting contest where either team could take the lead at the drop of a hat, so I didn’t care. Even something like a takedown into an ankle lock felt important, and the way they would elaborate on that really drives the point home. Matches like this that eschew traditional US style ring psychology but still work in their own way are really interesting to me. Really unique, great match that everyone should give a shot.

Chigusa Nagayo vs Lioness Asuka, AJW 6/13/1987

The match begins with a jump start. In the first minute, there's a suplex on the floor and then Lioness misses a crazy dive. Nagayo goes for the kill locking in a sharpshooter, but Lioness scrambles for the ropes. Lioness comes back with a shootstyle armbar and attacking Chigusas arm for a bit. Is Lioness gonna work the arm? No, they reset to a neutral position, working a test of strength before Chigusa takes over. After that the match becomes more focussed on grinding matwork with occasional outbursts of Lioness' kicks, with Chigusa always grinding her back down with headlocks etc. A flick is switched when a tombstone attempt is reversed and they work a 50/50 nearfall run with a lot of big moves. Lioness giant swing as a nearfall is a really cool spot, Chigusas much less energetic version less so.

A lot of cool wrestling on display here with both of them hitting some cool fireman carrys and suplexes. There was considerable struggle and a palpable sense of "grind her down". The UWF influence was really cool. Certainly made me wish this style would come back and be brought to its completion. This match felt a little random to be truely gripping for me but it was cool to watch.

Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka vs Lola Gonzalez & La Galactica, AJW 10/6/1984

Another really wild match from this era. What makes this stand out is the rudo tour de force from Gonzalez and Galactica. They both did a great job both bumping for their opponents and beating the hell out of them. Gonzalez especially stood out in a major way and I was surprised this match isn't more famous considering she doesn't exactly have a ton of matches on tape. Galactica was a bit more subdued but she got some good licks in. At one point she had this really awesome sugar hold on Chigusa tearing up her leg. Also, Dump Matsumoto and her gang is at ringside and she interfers liberally in this match, at one point jumping straight in the ring to beat on people with an iron rod. If you don't like liberal interferences you'll probably dislike this but I didn't mind it because the action still stayed in the ring and it was all part of the beatdown. In a way mid 80s AJW feels like this corrupt lawless land where all the referees are crooked and you might get stabbed by Dump Matsumoto at the drop of a hat. Of course the Crush Gals are generating molten heat by just existing in this match. There's a minute long Chigusa chant as she's exchanging basic knucklelocks. Any wrestler alive today would give their toe for these kind of reactions. They were super in the moment and feeding off the energy. Some things they did looked a little sloppy or blown, with Chigusas kicks not looking very good yet, and the comebacks felt pretty random (e.g. Chigusa gets her leg worked over and comes back just hitting a random tombstone piledriver), but it doesn't really matter when you have a pair of babyfaces this passionate. The escalating violence towards the end was really great with Asuka bleeding in a really grizzly way, and Gonzalez also getting bloodied with a bleeding Asuka hitting an amazing late match giant swing, fans pelting the ring with garbage in protest to the over the top heel antics etc. Both looked like they wanted to make the cover of an Apter mag. Great spectacle with the atmosphere being off the charts.