Some more 80s AJW

 

Jaguar Yokota vs Devil Masami, AJW 9/7/1983

An amazing piece of new footage for the history, but also simply because it’s another Jaguar Yokota in her physical prime big match dropping on us out of nowhere. Watching this, it’s very much an early 80s AJW styled match. Serious, straight forward pro wrestling from before the Crush Gals melodrama took over. Starts with some fast paced moves, then they settle into hold-based groundwork before building up to another explosion. As much praise as Jaguar gets for being ahead of her time and insanely athletic, I always end up most impressed by the intensity of her basic wrestling. Just the fact she makes something like a schoolboy rollup look like an insanely forceful takedown or how she would pull back her opponent in the indian deathlock from the ropes. They work some momentum shifts that feel to happen at the drop of a coin but they still feel meaningful, loved how Jaguar immediately grounded the match again. Devil is as solid as you know her to be, hadn’t quite come into her character yet but her wrestling was credible and she made a fun powerful counterpart for the lighter Jaguar. However the big turning point was when Masami decided to hoist Yokota up and drop her straight on her head with probably the sickest ganso bomb I’ve ever seen. Yokota was able to slip out and hit Masami with a desperation suplex, and both of them looked like they had taken significant damage at that point. Something I miss about old school wrestling – the selling is not hyper-theatralic as it is now, but you can still tell damage was done and both of them were fighting for survival. This culminates in a brief but very memorable finishing run with some insanely intense pin attempts. Fairly modest compared to other AJW big matches, but memorable because they kept it intense and to the point. Jaguar looked liked a wrestling godess as she always does and the earnest challenger Devil Masami was really cool. A hell of a match to randomly drop on all of us.

Kazue Nagahori vs Yumi Ogura, AJW 3/20/1986

Another stellar match in the underrated careers of these two. This was both of them going hard for 30 minutes, with hardly a moment that dragged. No restholds or tentativeness, both of them go at it immediately, throwing explosive kicks and fighting like mad on the mat. Their kicks weren’t quite UWF-like yet either, so that made this pretty unique as you had the two of them spin kicking each other in the ribs and sometimes in the face. There is not a ton of overarching psychology, but there are some neat emphasized moves like the mirrored figure 4s throughout the match. Tons of cool moments of great struggle and some things that felt like a big deal. Heck, like 25 minutes into this match they would still scramble out of pinfalls before a 1 count like it was an amateur wrestling match, and that rules. Great last couple minutes with the repeated crashing and burning and both of them throwing the kitchen sink trying to win. Really unique to see a pure wrestling match in joshi like this and this ended up going down as one of the best bouts of the 80s.

Grizzly Iwamoto & Bison Kimura vs Akira Hokuto & Suzuka Minami, AJW 6/18/1989

Man checking out old AJW can be jarring. This was full-on in your face intensity, plenty of scrappy WAR-esque exchanges that would probably cause an uproar if they happened on US TV, borderline reckless brutality on display with girls slapping the shit out of each other, basic stomps and elbows executed with a real meanness, dropkicks landing flush in peoples face. First fall is pretty much an asskicking tour de force from Iwamoto and Kimura, who are in their badass military get up and there to stomp ass, with a few unpredictable babyface spots from Hokuto and Minami thrown in to keep things exciting. Minami getting punched in the face when she tried to go for a basic cover and then getting crushed by stomps and knee drops was another one of those basic but really violent moments that you seemingly don’t get in modern wrestling anymore. Minami and Hokuto won’t set your world on fire as a babyface team here, Hokuto is not yet Hokuto and Minami doesn’t have much personality at this point either, but they are energetic. Loved how Kimura and Iwamoto said ‘fuck this’ after the babyface started getting in some offense so they just grabbed some chairs and nightsticks to beat the shit out of their opponents some more. It does get a little meandering (30 minutes is long for an all out brawl) and there are some fuckups, though there is some more harrowing uncalled for kendo stick violence in the 3^rd fall, also blood because of course there’s blood. You really owe it to yourself to check this out just to see Iwamoto and Kimura kick ass.

Chigusa Nagayo vs Yukari Omori, AJW 1/5/1988

Insanely heated, bloody, clash of the titans match in Korakuen Hall, what else do I need to say to sell you on this? This was pretty fucking great, like the female version of Hash vs Tenryu but with more blood and bigger suplexes. I quite like Yukari Omori – she’s big, has a kind of understated charisma without trying to be dramatic, and her brain chops are a pretty fun different kind of weapon for joshi. She comes across like a force of nature, and Chigusa really feels that. Chiggy ends up getting chopped in the face which causes her to bounce out of the ring and bleed, which is awesomely old school. Chigusa hitting a desperation kick to Omoris face and then smashing her into a table was one hell of a comeback. After that both of them are gushing blood and it’s all desperation face kicks and shootstyle uncooperativeness. Omori is a great asskicker, and of course Nagayo is insanely good when its time to bleed and sell like you’re about to pass out. The finish was kind of beautiful as they are in kind of a stalemate and go into a test of strength – like they had done at the beginning of the match – only for Chigusa to hit a dirty headbutt and an angry Omori firing back with a swatting lariat. Kind of the pinnacle of Chigusas style, car crash violence, blood, drama, tinges of shootstyle, this may be one of my favourite 80s AJW matches I’ve seen because it doesn’t meander or waste your time. Just to the point, gory and awesome.

80s Europe #9

 

Marty Jones vs. Dynamite Kid, WoS 1/19/1983

Kid sure has got on the good stuff while abroad. Even Walton couldn‘t help but point it out. This match had some nice wrestling, but they soon got to business: Kid deciding he doesn‘t give a damn about the british rules anymore and just deciding to beat the shit out of Jones. It just turns into a super heated slugfest with both guys dropping bombs and stiffing each other. Jones going berserk at the sight of his own blood was great and Kids turnbuckle bumps shocked the audience. Dug all the brutal looking knee drop. They may have gotten a bit carried away bending the rules but what the hell, it was a great match.

Terry Rudge vs. Pete Roberts (WoS 3/21/83)

Nifty bout that was worked without rounds and just 2/3 falls. Rudge fucking rules sneaking in headbutts and working the cravate. His selling of the little things, like putting a random arm whip over by having his shoulder go limb and stumbling over in pain is so good. This had a nice mix of wrestling and niggle. Rudge never unleashed his full ass kicking tendencies, but they worked a breathless pace. Roberts looked good. The match had two cool finishes and some really nice nearfalls in the 3rd. Good shit.

Steve Grey vs. Steve Speed (1/25/84)

Here‘s the rarest creature in the world: A World of Sport sprint. You know it‘s gonna be good when a guy named Steve Speed is in it. Speed was really lean and could go hard. Chock full of great exchanges, and I loved how competitive they made this. Most workers would just go from one spot to another, but they took the time to work the holds and pins. Speed gets a nosebleed and as soon as Grey notices he elbows him in the fucking nose and stomps on his face. Grey could be a right prick when he wanted. Speed went hard hitting surprise dropkicks but in the end the champ was too much. Pretty great under 10 minute match.

 

80s Euro Master List

RIP Hacksaw Butch Reed

 

Butch Reed vs. Junkyard Dog (Mid-South 7/29/1983)

Really epic, insanely heated match and a total battle of superstars, like a blue collar working mans version of Rock/Hogan if that was an actually great match. If you ask me, US wrestling never got better than two guys just trading great punch combos with the heel bumping all over the place. Junkyard Dog opens this match coming forward like an offensive truck, hitting a bunch of great punches (yup). Loved how he made a basic hip toss exciting by immediattely following up with a punch in the face. Butch Reed is just perfect in that section, trying to fire back but being overwhelmed, really great escalating bumping from him. Reeds comeback looks really violent as he basically just punches JYD in the throat and then follows up with knees and boots to the throat. Instead of a standard heat segment/comeback they do this great battle of attrition segment with Reed going for a choke and JYD coming back punching him in the face from mount and gouging his eye. Normally chokes are pretty trite in wrestling matches but these two make it look like two men really trying to strangle each other to death. 5 minutes in and this feels like an epic battle. I didn’t even have a problem with the chinlock, as it didn’t go long, and JYD had seemingly punched himself out setting up another Butch Reed comeback. Down the stretch we get JYD headbutting Reeds bandage off, bloodying him, more great punch exchanges including a really great Lawler/Dundee one on their knees and another great barfight attempted strangulation. The finish was great as the referee gets bumped, initially it didn’t seem to affect thee match as they just continue beating on each other, but then another ref bump happens. King Kong Bundy comes in but JYD takes him out (because JYD was god that night), only to get caught with a beautiful Reed dropkick to the back of the head. Reed then lands a clothesline off the tope (were top rope moves illegal at this time?) for the 3 count. Really a way cooler finish than some serious of crazy death moves and a great way to cap off a great great match.

Butch Reed vs. Junkyard Dog (Mid-South 11/4/1983)

I love me a seedy dog collar match. Reed is great here putting over how he really doesn’t like the gimmick before the bell. This was short but good. Dog opens by catching Reed in the kidney with punches, but when he goes for a headbutt Reed catches him flush with a punch in the face. Really nice Reed control segment where he goes to town whipping the hell out of JYD and looking really smug and self satisfied when he was dropping chain wrapped elbows. JYD hits some great punches to come back before a bunch of run ins happen. Steve Williams comes in to hit a 3 Point Stance charge against the intruder just as Reed misses his flying clothesline in another cool moment.

Butch Reed vs. Master G (Mid-South 11/9/1984)

This was JIP, which I’m salty about because this looked like another great match. This is a “Ghetto Street Fight” which means both guys are in their street clothes and you get the cool visual of a bleeding Butch Reed limping around the ring with torn clothes like he had been through a war, really cool violent blaxploitation vibe. Master G is all kinds of fired up here and beats the shit out of Reed with chairs and a belt. Reed is able to dump G over the top rope (a dangerous move in Watts UWF) and tries to hit G with some powder, but G is able to kick the powder out of his hand in a cool spot. Reed has some powder left though and is able to stun G before absolutely nailing him with a massive piledriver.

Butch Reed & Ernie Ladd vs. Brickhouse Brown & Master G (Mid-South 10/21/1984)

Really, really fun houseshow tag. God, promotions today would kill to have this kind of heat on their biggest shows (pandemy or not). We start with Brown & G hitting really slick armdrags and dropkicks for a shine segment before Ladd & Reed take over to kick some ass. Ladd is so great here, he is pretty over the hill but still really fun as an old guy throwing punches and dropping legs across guys backs. Reed was in kind of a supporting role to the amazing charisma of The Big Cat, but he does hit some big offense including an absolute beauty of a back suplex to Brickhouse. I am not sure why I’ve never heard of Master G, because he looks damn good in these matches. The finish is really fun with G putting this funky RINGS style sambo leglock on Ladd and Reed just hitting a fistdrop for Ladd to get the pin. Super basic but such a cool match, old school is the best.

Butch Reed vs. Magnum TA (Mid-South 8/31/1984)

Really good US style title match. This was worked like how these matches should be worked. The stakes are high, so however gets an armlock or a shoulderblock is important, and they really work it that way. Really good hold for hold wrestling to start, executed with a sense of attrition. I love watching these guys running the ropes and doing leapfrogs. Reed takes over when he is able to catch Magnum with a really great jumping knee out of nowhere. Magnum is loopy after that and Reed follows up with further head/neck trauma moves like a hotshot, neckbreaker etc. TA comes back through a standard chinlock segment and starts pinballing Reed all over the ring to the crowds delight before Reed is able to clock him with a foreign object given from Ernie Ladd and score the upset win. Really good postmatch here with Jose Lothario throwing punches and a bunch of policemen having to be at ringside cause the crowd was getting quite unruly, really shows how ballsy you had to be to be a heel in that era.