Ran YuYu 7 Match Gauntlet

     Ran YuYu vs. Azumi Hyuga, JWP 12/3/2005

These two have fought each other a bunch in the past, in matches where they threw everything imaginable at each other. This was shorter (at 20 minutes), more focused and quite great if I may say so. It was basically an amalgamation of their rivalry but put together very well. Everything here felt like it mattered and they were always doing something cool, even making things like a figure 4 or german suplex that are often just thrown out in joshi matches look like a struggle and putting some fresh spins into everything. There are some great missed moves and reversals and cool touches like Hyuga sidestepping YuYus kitchen sink and making her fall through the ropes that nobody else would really think of working into a match. The body of the match was really good and the finishing run was next level with both of them trying to crack each others heads and YuYu going crazy trying to topple the eternal ace. Hyuga did pretty much her thing, which is not bad as she has such great offense, she did bust out one Honda-ish deadlift german suplex that was really sweet. YuYu showed the fire and charisma and some great strikes as she always does. It goes without saying these two have great offense but their creativity is what really brings it to the next level, just some amazing ideas here without becoming too cute, they would always maintain that gritty vibe. It feels like a bit of a putdown to say a match is ‘just what you expect’ but from these two you expect a great match, and this may have been a bit better because they went above and beyond.

Ran YuYu vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki, JWP 3/22/2010

JWP may actually be my favourite non-shootstyle promotion going in this period, at least when it comes to these kinda big move slinging main events they do them better than everyone else as far as I’m concerned. Kuragaki is a badass wrestler in her own right, and these two could’ve just had a generic match and I would’ve liked it, but they decided to make things a bit more interesting. Basically Ran is a total prick with her kicks and knees that were stinging Kuragaki like needles to the face, while Kuragaki is working like the more valiant clean wrestler, almost a bit like Hash/Tenryu in 1993. Kuragaki is pretty great at that and Ran is a really great prick. I just love her use of the elbows and knees, there was also some cool leg selling from her as Kuragaki is too valiant to outright attack her bandaged leg but she does sell that it’s bothering her in some cool moments. Really good build here the finish was great with both of them going for the KO.

Ran YuYu vs. Azumi Hyuga, JWP 6/16/2002

This was a 2/3 Falls match. Like I said, in 2002 these two had a bunch of matches where they really went all out in ways few other wrestlers have. It was sometimes ill-fated but this one really distillates what these two stood for. This had the special rule that the first fall was 2 count pinfalls, 2^nd was submissions, and 3^rd a regular match. They go way past 30 minute so it’s not for the faint of the heart but there is a ton of damn great wrestling here. 1^st fall was already worked at a sprint pace as they both did a mix of insanely fast pin combos and trying to knock each other out with some really hard strikes. It’s brisk, creative wrestling that few others could pull off. 2^nd fall gets all gritty and dirty as they get on the mat and try to tap each other out. It could feel like a bunch of performative time killing, but these two do so much cool stuff to remind you that they are a class above when it comes to skill. There are cool moments such as Ran looking in a great rolling crucifix hold during a shootstyle exchange and there’s some really good arm and leg submission work. Hyuga hitting a missile dropkick to Rans bad shoulder, or Ran locking in a great rolling cross kneebar, all straight up high end wrestling.Again these two are really creative to make that stuff as interesting as they do here. And they just keep bringing the hard hitting, almost everything these two has insane force, down to their signature knee strikes and elbows but also other things like their dropkicks, slaps and even shoot headbutts. Hyuga even hits a gritty out of nowhere lariat to mix things up. The 3^rd fall retains that vibe nicely though it does go a bit long they never lost me. These two were insanely ambitious but with the kind of talent they had you can’t fault them for flexing their skills like this. Even though it was a long match they always managed to do something interesting so it never feels pointlessly long, just super impressive wrestling.

Ran YuYu vs. Sawako Shimono, Ayumi Kurihara Produce 12/12/2010

We go from Ran going over 30 against arguably the top womans wrestler of the 2000s, to Ran taking on a stocky underdog on the second match of a random produce show. Matches like that can be totally mailed in and by the numbers, but this was insanely entertaining to watch and imaginative. Basically Ran is all ornery and evil, stomping on Shimonos face and not taking her seriously, but Shimono could overpower her with her thrusty offense, even crashing into her with body checks in positions that no other wrestler has taken a body check in. It’s really well done and you can see Ran is a) really nice to sell for Shimono this much and let her get in a lot of offense and not making her look like a total jobber and b) making the effort to make even a throwaway match like this memorable. Rans offense did look great – that low angle sideways jumping knee thing she does is an amazing piece of offense, and all her knees were really knocking the wind out of Shimono. I also appreciate her making the effort to make basic things, like the lift for a firemans carry, or getting out of a pinfall, or any of the basic knees she throws etc, look important.

Ran YuYu vs. Yuka Shiina, NEO 5/3/2002

Shiina is a pretty unique wrestler. She’s not exactly a shootstyle grappler, but she’s quite stubborn in going for submissions, in a way that makes her holds actually feel like a big deal. Of course Ran is no slouch on the mat either so you’ve got a rad match up here. Shiina has some awesome twisting ways to lock in sleepers and armbars, and YuYu is a good overdog here smacking her around and kicking her in the ribs really hard. She does let Shiina look great even in losing, and I love her use of the double armbar.

Ran YuYu vs. Mima Shimoda NEO 5/4/2002

Mima Shimoda rules in this. YuYus arm took a beating from Shiina the night before, so Shimoda goes right at it, and constantly goes back to it, with YuYu looking like she really did not want Shimoda to keep attacking her arm. Shimoda would also look Tenryu-ish kicking and booting Ran in the face with her gravel voice. It’s some really good compelling work that unfortunately isn’t paid off well as Ran seems to not really give a shit about the armwork once it’s done. Her stuff still looks great and she times it very well, still I would’ve liked her to take the ball and roll with Shimoda a bit more. The finish is some bullshit run in so maybe that explains that. Still, it’s nice to see Ran against someone who’s not one of her JWP peers, even if the match ended up being more simplistic.

Ran YuYu & Toshie Uematsu vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Leon, JWP 9/18/2006

I want to focus more on singles matches with these but Rans team with Uematsu was a major part of her career. This is pretty much what you associate with joshi, it’s a totally insane movezfest where they try to cram everything they can think of and more into a span of about 20 minutes and never really slowing down. It wasn’t the most substantial or consequential but when it comes to pure action they pulled off some face melting intensity here. There’s some learned spot across the 2/3 falls format for some semblance of psychology, and I enjoyed the hell out of Ran and Uematsu here as they understood you have to mix in some really hard shots in between the moves to pepper everything up a little. Not that Leon and Yoneyama were bad. Lots of nifty unique move combos that you won’t ever see attempted by saner wrestlers, and the finish is just Ran knocking someone the fuck out with an elbow to the face and I love that.

Random Joshi

Yoshiko Tamura vs Emi Sakura, NEO 5/5/2009

Nearly perfect 15 minute war, I know both these two can be pretty great when they’re inspired, and they still surprised me with how great they were. A big part of why the match rocks is Emi Sakura, who brings a ton of spunk and clever spots outsmarting Tamura and doing damage to her higher ranked opponent. Tamura cutting off Sakura by viciously strangling her with a cobra clutch was pretty perfect. There isn’t a ton of groundwork but they do a few neat inventive holds that are well worked. Sakura working the back was brisk, pretty violent with Sakura dropping her body weight on Tamuras spine in nasty ways and sold very well by Tamura. Final minutes were really good high end workrate stuff with Sakura desperately trying to pull off a flash pin, some really good dodge and counter move stuff and Tamura just demolishing her with her awesome pummeling elbows, I think her spin kick also gave Sakura a bloody lip. Do yourself a favour and go out of your way to watch this match.

 

Dynamite Kansai vs Sonoko Kato, Oz Academy 9/11/2016

This is definitely something I should have checked out in 2016, because this was pretty awesome, hard hitting pro wrestling with no padding. It’s one of Kansais last singles matches, but she goes all out here and still has her moments where she looks like a monster and kicks her opponent in the face. Thought Kato was pretty great here, really giving Kansai a working over with badass kicks and staying on her with submissions. What was best about this was that they went out and delivered 20 minutes of straight up non-formulaic pro wrestling. Loved the opening second as Kato kept stubbornly going for a waistlock to hit the German Suplex on Kansai. Build to the big bombs was really good as there was plenty of facekicking and struggle. I loved how even with the bigger moves, a basic kick to the face from Kansai could be a near finish. Great match, made me think I should go back and watch like 200 Sonoko Kato matches.

 

Azumi Hyuga & Command Bolshoi & Ran Yu Yu vs Misae Genki & Yoshiko Tamura & Carlos Amano, JWP 10/13/2002

Insane 45 minute iron woman match with everyone going insanely hard right from the start and never really letting up, just busting out one great exchange after another. The stiffness her was outstanding, they all decided to put some extra oomph and hatred into every blow, things like a headstomp or dropkick were really cracking people her. They mostly stuck to your classic match ups of Hyuga/Tamura, Genki/Ran and Bolshoi/Amano, although they cycle through here and there so you get a little bit of everything. Hyuga is a reliable tireless dynamo as always and her jumping knees and face kicks were sick, Tamura hits some of the hardest elbows as always and it seems she had gotten the hang out of how to work a more meaningful pace. Yu Yu vs Genki is always reliable and gritty, just two tanks with awesome offense barraging each other. Bolshoi/Amano is an all time great match up and they were going hard as fuck here. Tons of slick grappling, at one point they both were in a leg ride and twisting each others legs up in ridiculous ways. Their later exchange in the match was completely awesome with amazing submission counters, Amano hitting a Honda-style deadlift German with Bolshoi desperately trying to resist, incredible stuff. For a long match I think they did a great job mixing up the offense without repeating their moves too often, everything still felt meaningful, and because of the rules and the length of the match you buy something random like a dragon sleeper counter 40 minutes in as a potential finish. For that they did a great job, and like I said holy fuck did they go all out guns blazing in this, just ridiculous wrestling. Crazy this was done for 200 fans and a shitty one camera production. The business may have been nosediving but these women were still pushing the envelope when it comes to in-ring action. Great shit, really a bit of a hidden all timer in the rubble.

Assorted Joshi

 Some guy is uploading a bulk of old joshi to YouTube again, so that's a good chance to check out some forgotten gems.

Cutie Suzuki vs Chikako Shiratori, JWP 10/11/1998

Total out of nowhere bloodbath. Right away Shiratori blasts Suzuk with a big backfist and it's a hate filled brawl. I've never really noticed Shiratori as a worker, and I've never seen anyone talk about her aside from her looks, but she looked really impressive controlling the action here. When Suzuki resisted the hair toss, Shiratori make sure to shove her knee into her throat and then drive her face right into the mat. Pretty violent. The match also had plenty of face stomps, biting, hard slaps, and the right sense of escalating violence with chairs and a kendo stick being brought in. You don't expect these two to wrestle like Pirata Morgan vs Faraon but they totally rock it. Even something like a missile dropkick from Shiratori landed flush in Suzukis face. Kendo stick shots looked really grizzly and I dug how Shiratori would seemingly summon that thing out of nowhere. By the end Shiratori was bleeding too and getting dumped by Suzukis crazy suplexes, including one with the kendo stick behind her head, pretty insane. Both were on their way to retirement (Shiratori would quit joshi orgs and instead work Osaka Pro for a year) and this kinda had the feeling that they both didn't care about keeping their faces unscarred and decided to do something really grizzly.

Yumiko Hotta & Kumiko Maekawa vs Michiko Nagashima & Sayuri Okino, AJW 1/3/1998

Absolutely insane wild match. Eagle Sawai is with the LLPW girls in her awesome track pants and shirt, and right away she goes wild brawling before getting on the mic, apparently talking some trash to Shinobu Kandori who is sitting at ringside (looking amazing with her bleach blonde hair and suit). Kandori who has her arm in a sling gets attacked too, then Hotta jumps into the fray, chairs are thrown and this is crazy. Back in the ring the first thing Okino does is bite Hotta in the face, and sure you know the first chance Hotta gets she tries to kick peoples faces in. Okino and Nagashima are really good here brawling and doing chain punches. They handcuff Maekawa and Maekawa ends up taking a big beating, taking bumps with her hands cuffed on that ultra stiff AJW ring while Eagle and Hotta are brawling on the floor again. Hottas tag in and everything that came after building to her finally getting that big run of offense was pretty amazing. Hotta kicking the kendo stick is up there with the wildest kendo stick spots I've seen ever. The heat was super too with the crowd for some reason booing everything Hotta did, I guess LLPW fans must have done an invasion or something. Totally chaotic, violent and unpredictable fight, these kinda brawls are probably the most underrated part of mid-late 90s joshi.

Tomoko Miyaguchi & Kanako Motoya vs Tomoko Kuzumi & Dynamite Kansai, JWP 11/15/1998

I have to say, while some people say Kansai was largely done after 1997, I find she adds a lot to every match she's in simply by bringing a ton of violence and being a big menace. Not as hard as in 1993 but this is still a veritable great match largely thanks to Kansais presence. The match is fast action stuff when Hyuga is in, and focussed on young Miyaguchi & Motoya trying to take down Kansai when she's in. It leads to this really great sequence where they finally get her prone on the mat and start rushing her with all they've got, with Miyaguchi cracking Kansais jaw with probably the greatest elbow smash I've ever seen in a match. Hyugas all action stuff was good, Kansai as a hard to take down dangerous giant story was good, last couple minutes were pretty damn great with big bombs, Kansai kicking everyone in the face etc. Well worth checking out.

Assorted NEO

 

Kyoko Inoue vs Shinobu Kandori, NEO 4/3/2003

Kyoko was pretty much a clown at this point, but Kandori is so dangerous that she gets a serious match out of her. It's too bad there's not much Kandori footage from this time period because she was still an absolute beast through and through. Initially Kyoko wasn't being serious, so Kandori quickly starts beating her around the ring with awesome headbutts, stomps and palm strikes. Inoue gets serious  and starts giving it back to Kandori with cool out of nowhere crowbar lariats. All of Kandoris submissions still feel dangerous and they are extremely well timed. There was this amazing bit where Inoue tried to put an armbar on Kandori and Kandori reversed out of it, then gave Inoue this scolding bitchslap to teach her a lesson. Inoues reckless powerbombs also work for this kind of match. They worked this in a dingy little club and it's a testament to Kandori that she was able to make this feel like a big fight.

Mima Shimoda vs Azumi Hyuga, NEO 4/9/2003

Shimoda was drifting into irrelevancy at this point, but she could still go when she wanted to, and she was willing it here. Obviously credit goes to Hyuga too who was really pushing her opponent, but Shimoda made the match by adding a healthy dose of violence and pissed-offness to it. Hyuga did her usual stuff, but they made it insanely scrappy with tons of nasty face stomps and kicks. Even the usual stretching portion looked brutal and hate filled as they both tried to bend each other in half. Shimodas offense is great, her axe kicks land flush in Hyugas face and the rolling kicks were amazing. I also loved her just hurling a chair at Hyugas head in frustration. That chair/brawling stuff can often come across as rote in late period LCO matches but here it felt like Shimoda meant it. Hyugas jumping knees were plenty brutal as always and thanks to her the pace never slowed down. Loved her stomping on Shimodas face. It's weird how Hyugas act is kind of predictable but she keeps having great matches. Real sleeper match considering it's dark period joshi, but the sheer hatred makes this.

 

Momoe Nakanishi vs Misae Genki, NEO 8/14/2004

Very fun big vs little match. Genki is often sloppy but does a pretty great job here being a lumbering monster swinging at her faster opponent. Nakanishi was such a talented wrestler, she does a great job trying to outmaneuver her bigger opponent and coming from odd and unexpected angles. She was also quite hard hitting when it came to kicking some ass. Dug all her slick pin combos. Also lots of Genki absolutely ragdolling Nakanishi with suplexes and throws. Finishing run was all kinds of tricked out and fun, Nakanishi always makes things a bit more complex than your standard joshi match. Her suplexes on Genki were also amazing.

Assorted Joshi

 

Akira Hokuto & Chigusa Nagayo & Hiromi Kato vs. Meiko Satomura & Toshie Uematsu & Sakura Hirota GAEA 2/22/1997

I think this may have been a GAEA match that didn't seem to air on TV, although I may be misremembering. Another really good upload, whoever is curating this channel is really doing a good job. Loved the opening, where first Satomura et all try triple teaming Kato, then Hokuto runs in to save her but they end up triple teaming her, which backfires to Hokuto and her team trying to reverse the numbers game only for it to backfire and Team Satomura triple teaming Kato anyways. The match plays out nice and story driven, as Kato takes a beating but whenever Hokuto or Nagayo tagged in the would destroy the rookies and send them into desperation mode. Hokuto almost kicked Satomuras head off with her big spin kick. I loved all the Satomura/Nagayo interactions, Nagayo blew off her strikes so Satomura later went for a bunch of great desperation armbars at her. As usual with peak GAEA the match had a few fantastic moments. Great finish aswell. Another piece in the fantastic year this company had.

Mariko Yoshida vs. KAORU, AJW 8/28/1994

Yoshida had been injured and out of the ring for over 20 months. This was her return singles match, and it‘s one hell of a show. Even though this was not spider lady Yoshida, she was at her a-game. The match resembled a MUGA match, with both girls doing some intense grappling and stretching, and the few strikes they threw were hard as all hell. There were also a few neat spots and smart counters and learned spots. KAORU came across as quite the killer in this, focussing on Yoshidas neck, either elbowing her or applying painful looking bends, with Yoshida doing a great job selling the increasing trauma. Yoshida came across as giving her all in the match. It made the last couple minutes feel even greater as Yoshida seemed on the verge of securing the win before KAORU nailed a tombstone piledriver out of nowhere, followed with a wiping out quebrada and then just crushed Yoshida with 3 moonsaults in a row before getting the victory. After such a competitive match such a non-even finish felt like a real exclamation mark and Yoshida was pretty emotional in her post-match promo. Such a unique match that really stands out against the usual AJW midcard stuff and an absolute banger. It foreshadowed how these two would go on to make other promotions so much more exciting than AJW.

 

Azumi Hyuga vs. Kaori Yoneyama, JWP 2/20/2005

Really great match that crosses the high-impact go-go style of these two with plenty of vicious rookie-veteran cut off spots. Plenty of Yoneyama smacking the shit out of Hyuga, and Hyuga in turn punishing her with mean stomps on her head and face. Hyuga can be questionable in lengthy workrate sprints but she was impeccable here cranking up the viciousness and doing some very tight wrestling, while knowing when to sell in order to put her opponent over as pushing her to the limit. Yoneyama looked great here, tremendous energy and working really stiff, elbowing Hyuga in the head, spin kicking her in the face etc. Plenty of cool details, such as Yoneyama starting to run when Hyuga was on the top rope only to eat a really fast missile dropkick. Yoneyamas blown Yoshitonic may have actually added to the match as it came across as a desperation move gone awry that knocked both of them loopy. Yoneyamas constant nastiness throughout the match kept building and building until she just exploded with an insane flury of elbows to a grounded Hyuga, by the far the highlight of the match. The ending run was pretty grandiose but really well executed with plenty of neat finisher teases and counters. By far one of the best singles matches of 2005.

JWP THE FIGHT 5/10/1997

 Watch (Really good card from top to bottom, check it out=

Mayumi Ozaki vs. Sari Osumi

I mostly remember Osumi for dressing in a nazi uniform later. She played the role of anxious rookie here who's terrified of Ozaki. Probably for good reason. The match was just a silly little splash but it had one or two nice moments. Ozaki had a really nasty cutoff where she double stomped Osumi and there was a funny moment where Osumi teased diving from the top but decided against it.

Tomoko Miyaguchi vs. Carlos Amano

I really like the later work of both these two, and they had a really really good basic rookie match here. Some really nice tight holds and scrambles on the ground, not really shootstyle matwork but just cool nifty exeuction on pro style headlocks and headscissors, Amano also had a really crafty escape twisting Miyaguchis ankle with her leg. Standup sections were fast and intense and they built to the few big spots they had at this stage really well. Amano already had her great flying armbars and there was a cool sequence where Amano hit a splash right into Miyaguchis outstretched legs and then Miyaguchi worked her over with Kitchen Sinks. I love a worker who makes use of the kitchen sink. Really good stuff.

 Dynamite Kansai & Sari Osumi & Emi Sakura vs. Tomoko Miyaguchi & Candy Okutsu & Command Bolshoi

 A 3 vs. 3 tag that had some really slick wrestling and good character work. Initially they focused on beating down Miyaguchi who had just done a match, but then they shifted to putting Sakura and Osumi and their silly ways in the focus. It made for some good underdog wrestling though, I especially liked Sakuras armbars and Magistral cradles. Kansai didn't do much but when she was in she was a monster, crushing people with her kicks. Bolshoi, Okutsu and Miyaguchi teaming up to take her down and hitting a huge 3 on 1 missile dropkick was impressive. Osumis hip attack stuff is funny and charming and Bolshoi basically palm striking her face off was one hell of a finish. One of those matches that won't win workrate awards but if wrestling didn't have character matches like this it would be a whole lot less fun.

Kanako Motoya vs. Tomoko Kuzumi

One of those 90s joshi matches that is best summed up as "two extremely athletic lunatics trying to crush each other". It was good though. Nobody brings up Kanako Motoya anymore, but she could go. Really dug all the rope climbing and springboard moves, really impressive stuff that they knew to time extremely well. Motoya also had the most god awful crushing senton in history ever in this, it looked like it just took 10 years off of Kuzumis life. Kuzumi took another absolutely lunatic face bump into Motoyas outstretched legs. There was some repetitiveness, for example Motoya hit like 7 flipping sentons at one point followed by Kuzumi hitting 5 butterfly suplexes in a row. And there wasn't much of a story. That said there was enough struggle and chippiness to keep this from being a trained monkey show so I just enjoyed the carnage. 

Cuty Suzuki & Plum Mariko vs. Devil Masami & Hikari Fukuoka

This is a really great match, but man it is hard to watch Plum get powerbombed and clutching her head.  There was a fantastic underdog vs. overdog story here, Masami and Fukuoka are basically a pair of monsters and Masami especially was killing everyone here, with Suzuki and Plum trying to work a smart match to beat them. Cuty is kind of a weirdly good wrestler, like imagine if Torrie Wilson threw absolutely sick suplexes and stiff open hands, the opening where she tries to step up to Fukuoka is really great already. I loved all the submission work and arm attack stuff by Suzuki and Mariko and they have a bunch of great big vs. little comeback spots. Fukuoka isn't as charismatic but she will absolutely kick right through you with her dropkicks and she always has that Moonsault Double Stomp which is one of the most menacing moves in wrestling ever, you don't even want her to hit that on anyone. The finishing run was a bit too much with Masami hitting the nastiest powerbomb series I've ever seen on Plum and a spot where Plum gets thrown headfirst into the guardrail. I try not to safety police matches normally but it's rough when you know the wrestler in the match died from head injuries.

The Library

Command Bolshoi Treasure Trove #7

 Command Bolshoi vs. Azumi Hyuga, JWP 4/23/2006

These two have wrestled each other a lot and they have really special chemistry together. Starts out really solid with some smooth exchanges but gets really great towards the middle and end. These two pull off some great struggling for control sequences with insanely tight executen. There was also no random offense from Hyuga like she often likes to do. Finishing run was brief but really good and Bolshois surprise submissions and incredible counters kept the match interesting. This went pretty short which I appreciate a lot in a sea of bloated joshi singles. Very good match.

Command Bolshoi vs. Kayoko Haruyama, JWP 8/21/2005

These two had a really great match in 2010, and this was likewise pretty great. Less strikes were thrown, but the match was chock full of fantastic sequences and nifty surprise counters by Bolshoi. Haruyama had gotten quite good at this point and she kicked Bolshoi in the face hard a couple times. Good stuff that even the dark joshi period wasn't all so dark.

Command Bolshoi vs. Meiko Satomura DX, JWP 10/19/2014

It's 6 minutes of Bolshoi vs. Satomura with some weird interference from a bunch of masked characters in the middle. Still, any wrestling between these two is gonna be great, and damn do I need a singles match between these two. Not the greatest match when it comes to sprints, but it was a nice taste of what could be if they got together and had a real main event.

2002 MOTY Project Update #20

 

Yuji Nagata vs. Manabu Nakanishi, NJPW 2/1/2002

Surprisingly a really good match. It was all about Nagatas technique and precision vs. Nakanishis hulk strength. You forgot that Nagata can be a really good wrestler. I mean, this felt like a great midcard match rather than a great main event, but his wrestling skill is not to be denied here. Nagata shooting in an hitting a shoot exploder on an uncooperative Nakanishi was pretty great. Then, you get Nakanishi slowly falling apart while trying to shrug off Nagatas offense. They worked really stiff and Nakanishi is the kind of guy who‘s basic power moves feel like they will destroy you. Nagata desperately trying to avoid the Torture Rack was also really good, so was Nagata escaping only fro Nakanishi to judo throw him immediately. Nagata never came close to being another Hashimoto, but damn he tried the way he was braining Nakanishi with his kicks. Very NJPW-style match meaning it felt like it could end anytime due to the crossover with martial arts, and both guys real skill being a factor. No macho exchanges, just two guys trying to break eachother. I miss this kind of Japanese wrestling.

Command Bolshoi & GAMI vs. Azumi Hyuga & Ran Yu-Yu, JWP 4/14/2002

Bolshoi and GAMI make one hell of a team, and they had their working boots on here. Imagine how dull you have to be to not acknowledge the greatness of GAMI. The paper fan was used sparringly here, in funny ways, and later in the match it even felt pretty mean. The rest of this was chock full of highly intricate wrestling, just both Bolshoi and GAMI rolling out all their technical skill to be competitive with Hyuga and Ran. Just what these tricky, eccentric veterans do best. Ran and Hyuga are the workate queens of JWP and meant to be a higher rank, so Bolshoi and GAMI had to use all their ability. I really liked how Hyuga initially refused to tag out but her situation got increasingly desperate as GAMI and Bolshoi kept isolating and making dents in her. Then, she kind of botched a comeback move so Ran refused to let her tag out, as if she was saying „that was luck, go make a real comeback.“ The switch from GAMI and Bolshoi dominating to Hyuga and Yu-Yu standing tall and running over their opponents with their high end suplexes and strikes was really good and we got a fantastic ending run built around underdog GAMI and Bolshoi. Says a lot about how good two wrestlers are that they can rock two entirely different roles in the same match and make it believable and really good. Excellent match overall, very joshi flavoured, but it totally hit the right spots.

2002 MOTY Project Master List

JWP 9/3/2000

 

Yuki Miyazaki vs. Acute Sa

Fun JIP opening match. Miyazaki is game and Sae is a cull mulleted grappler with fun throws and nasty double stomps. The start working the mat and move on to work some pretty cool standing exchanges before ending the match early. I really liked Miyazakis tight neckbreaker drop, such a cool move that a lot of girls don‘t make look good.

Capture International 5 Minute Exhibition Match: Nihao vs. Yuki Kubota

Kubota is a female MMA fighter who trained with Koki Kitahara a bit. This was a cool bonus match to have, Kubota is in a gi and she basically spars grappling with Nihao for 5 minutes. Some nice sweeps and such and probably the only pro wrestling footage of Kubota on film until we steal Kitaharas hard drive which we really need to do.

Misae Genki vs. Tanny Mouse

Another JIP match, they clip the pro style matches but show the grappling exhibition in full? Tanny Mouse has a rep as a terrible worker but she is actually pretty cool when she‘s serious. This was about Genki trying to finish off the little Mouse fast and Genki reversing her chokeslams into cool armbars which is a story I can get into. I loved the reversel of the top rope chokeslam into the Fujiwara armbar and Tannys flying armbar, does anyone even do tope rope chokeslams anymore? Really fun stuff and Genkis emerald frosion was nasty as fuck.

JWP Jr. Title Match: Kayoko Haruyama vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki

There was a pitiful small crowd at this show, but everyone here is working hard. This was an exciting match between two workers who should have gone on to become stars but just ended up cult favourites. Really stiffing each other up with nasty elbows and open palms. Kuragaki was a monster here, bruising Haruyama with shoot headbutts including one to the back of her head, and trying to break her back. Really great finish. This is the kinda shit why joshi undercards are often better than the main events.

Azumi Hyuga & Command Bolshoi vs. Reggie Bennett & Kana Mizaki

Workrate main event with the addition of Bennett and Bolshoi to spice things up. It‘s a shame Bennett didn‘t have much of a career because she always looks pretty great whenever I see her. She meshes really well with the workrate queens while retaining her swagger and looking like a monster. There‘s something a bout a beast who can grapple and drop bombs and strike funny taunts and she could do all that. Mizaki is also someone people never bring up who is pretty good. This didn‘t have some kind of epic story or selling but they worked a bunch of rad exchanges and it was all high energy and cool.

THE LIBRARY

JWP Title Matches

 

Hikari Fukuoka vs. Yasha Kurenai, JWP 12/6/1997

The more Kurenai I watch, the more I think she‘s among the most underrated women in joshi history. This was an epic JWP title match all about the yanki ways of Kurenai. It‘s easy to dismiss her as a run of the mill brawler… but she will chop you in the throat, boot you in the face and hit you with a kendo stick, all done in a way that sets her a step above. She has no problem going Fukuokas speed, and Fukuokas workrate spots are made a lot more interesting by the factor of Kurenai smashing her with a chair in the middle of a handspring move. Kurenai kind of no-sold a Fukuoka tombstone, but it was a pretty soft tombstone, and she came back chucking a chair at Fukuoka, so I guess it was a rightful no-sell. I have no problem calling her performance here flawless. I thought Fukuoka was no selling Kureanai here a bit, but then Kurenai kept coming back (without being your turn-my turn) and making bigger and bigger dents in her. Early on Fukuoka was pelting Kurenai with nasty kicks and you got the sense she considered Kurenai an annoying lower ranked LLPW scoundrel, but Kurenai soon put some respect in her. Loved how Fukuoka went into panic mode whenever Kurenai went for her signature submission. Her moonsault to the outside also felt like an epic spot due to it being late in the match and the elaborate set up. Another highlight was Fukuoka blocking a chokeslam in cool fashion and then hitting an out of nowhere high kick. Overall I‘d file this as an excellent nuanced ace performance from Fukuoka. Kurenais last hurray being her hitting Fukuoka in the leg with the kendo stick out of nowhere also ruled. Great match between two workers people should talk about more.

Ran Yu-Yu vs. Azumi Hyuga, JWP 12/23/1999

Hyugas 1999 title run has to be up there with the greatest in joshi history. Too bad it was largely overshadowed by what Yoshida was doing in ARSION, but these matches still hold up. This was another excellent contest. Yu-Yu got to look like dynamite here. She is such a unique wrestler while being able to go the usual joshi pace. This didn‘t have some kind of hook-sinker story like other Hyuga title matches, but the work was consistently strong and everything made sense. Just the way Yu-Yu would work a random sleeper was outstanding. And she was fierce and competitive against the champion. Hyuga has a rep for being queen of workrate matches, but I thought Yu-Yus athleticism easily overshadowed her. They had excellent chemistry and made the whole match look like a struggle. I especially appreciated how hard they worked to build to the bombs, without just dropping them one after another as you often see in joshi matches. The finish felt a bit easy and an unbecoming end to Hyugas great reign, but you end up happy for Ran Yu-Yu.

Assorted NEO

 

Azumi Hyuga vs. Yoshiko Tamura, NEO 5/5/2003

These two had a more famous 60 minute draw in 2006 or so, this here is much shorter and livelier and more watchable. Opening exchanges were really mean and hard thought, submissions applied with full intent to tap the other person, and dropkicks landing right in peoples faces. I was getting ready to complain when they botched a couple moves and went into a marathon of kickouts and move exchanges (as these joshi big matches go), but then Hyuga hit a huge flying knee to Tamura outside the ring which was sold in a big way and they picked it up for an excellent finishing stretch that saw both women throwing brutal strikes. Real edge of your seat stuff with a killer finish.

Yoshiko Tamura vs. The Bloody, NEO 9/20/2004

Violent, scrappy big match. First 10 minutes of this were just great as it was like they decided to work a BattlARTSian joshi match. Just two ladies kicking the guts out of each other and scrambling for leg bars and chokes. Really nice, scrappy, uncooperative and hard fought stuff. They lost me a bit when they went for the extended outside tour, but it led to Bloody brutalizing Tamura with the chair which in turn caused a sick Tamura bladejob. Bloody continued to wail on her with nasty chair shots and trying to bend her in half with nasty crab holds while seconds jumped on Tamura when she was outside. Tamuras comeback wasn‘t the greatest as she basically no sold a bunch of chair shots but it felt gradual enough. The finishing stretch was neck spiking suplex mania peppered with exceedingly violent strike exchanges. Tamura has great looking elbows, and I also really dug The Bloody‘s double handed chops which she really blasted Tamura in the face with. Could‘ve done at half the length but it was a cool discovery.

Yoshiko Tamura & Carlos Amano vs. Misae Genki & Ran Yu Yu, NEO 5/3/2001

Ran Yu Yu in the early 2000s was a very special worker. Her exchanges with Amano here were fantastic. Tamura/Genki sections were solid, but a step down. They just go through their stuff, while Ran makes hers special. She was doing things no other joshi worker was really doing at the time, like busting out European style pin combos and turning her elbows and european uppercuts into brilliant moments. Her elbow to the sternum has to be one of the best simple strikes I‘ve ever seen. She even imprinted on the finish by hitting one of her signature elbows to set it up. They went for a big finish here but didn‘t overkill or go long, and so it was good. Amano also looked good as usual.

Yuka Shiina vs. Misae Genki, NEO 9/24/2001

Cool 5 minute sprint which had Shiinas unique style written all over it. I have no idea if this Shiina mini push ever went anywhere in NEO, it doesn‘t seem like it, but it was cool that she got to do her own thing for a while. This was Shiina dominating the bigger, higher ranked Genki by putting submissions on her left and right. Just when I thought Genki was gonna make an easy comeback Shiina viciously booted her in the face and went for the kill with another choke. Shiinas style, while basic, got tremendous heat. She even rabbit punched Genki in the back of the head. The finish was well done but I thought Shiina by all logic should have won. Eitherways, Yuka Shiina has my attention now.

Command Bolshoi Treasure Trove #2

 Command Bolshoi vs. Kaori Yoneyama, JWP 2/11/2008

Another excellent late 2000s Bolshoi singles. Yoneyama had yet to find her personality (give her a year or so to max out her afro), but she could go hard at it with a tough veteran. Early going was really good with slick mat movements and neat standing exchanges. Bolshoi countering the Muta look into a freaky sambo choke was such a master grappler moment, and I love her mixing up the Tiger Feint Kick by turning it into a foot stomp, she‘s just the queen of cool offense. Second half was the kind of rush of big suplexes and fast movements you expect from joshi, but it had the Bolshoi touch of added swank technical moves and neat counters, plus some well timed open hand blows. Yoneyama freaking out and just demolishing Bolshoi with brutal elbows and knees was completely unexpected and awesome, and the build to the eventual ending was great with both girls busting out some crazy top rope move reversals. I‘m pretty desensitized to pretty reversals but Bolshoi turning Yoneyamas avalanche Shiranui into a huge Uranage had me freaking out. Yoneyama was a little sloppy here or there and I can‘t really see her having a match this good against anyone else, similiar to the Nakajima match. Was Bolshoi actually Top 5 in the world in 2008?

Command Bolshoi vs. Kagetsu, JWP 1/29/2017

I‘ve quite enjoyed Kagetsu here and there and she has a fanbase with the joshi crowd, so this is a hot matchup that eluded me. To be honest Kagetsu annoyed me early on, she kept going for those weak chops in the ropes, and her spear and handspring elbow looked laughably weak. That said Bolshoi had her working boots on and pretty much carried the first half of this with some great groundwork. Her sprawling armlock and ultraslick leglock were just incredible, such a great grappler. Second half was really good with Kagetsu pulling herself together and busting out some cool flying armbars of her own before a great ending sequence. They weren‘t exactly going for EPIC here, but it ended up being a solid workday.

 

Command Bolshoi & Azumi Hyuga vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki & ECO, JWP 2/4/2007 (Body Slam Only)

This is a Body Slam Only match which means you can only pin your opponent after hitting a body slam. I am a sucker for weird rulesets and this came out really great. The body slam thing really adds a ton to all the exchanges, as everyone is now building to a bodyslam, and everyone has their own unique ways to get out of attempted bodyslams. Size difference is also at play, as Kuragaki can bodyslam people at will, but everyone struggles to body slam her. Of course these are also 4 workers who can just go hard at each other and produce some great exchanges. ECO (masked kickpadded lady wrestler) was cool, Hyuga was going hard, and Bolshoi and Kuragaki were such stars here. Kuragaki is pretty much Bolshois greatest dance partner, these two always do some mind blowing shit, and Kuragaki looks great in her own right here. Loved the big bodyslam teases. Pretty great match for what I assume was a funny idea for a dojo match.

A Treasure Trove of Command Bolshoi

 

Command Bolshoi & Yumi Ohka vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Megumi Yabushita, JWP 8/24/2008

Command Bolshoi is dropping unseen matches on us on her YouTube channel, which is something more Japanese indy wrestler who have been working most of the 2000s without making tape should do. Bolshoi and Yabushita just rule the show here. Yabushita is really underrated and may be close to Yoshida levels when it comes to forcing opponents to the mat and pulling them into submissions. She is just grabbing crazy armbars left and right and her flying armbar may be the best in history. Most wrestlers doing flying armbars still look like they are doing a spot, she looks like she is actively pulling and spinning wrestlers around and its great. The section where she and Bolshoi tried tapping each other out was awesome. Bolshoi has a few crazy submissions of her own, including one where she does this flying bodyscissor and slides into a rolling calf slicer, its flashy but it makes so much sense. I love any match where two master grapplers are in the focus, but Yoneyama and Ohka were pretty fun here too. Ohka is a different kind of wrestler, tall girl who will boot you in the face, and Yoneyama is such an energetic wrestler and honestly the modern day Kyoko Inoue. The finishing run is Yoneyama trying to put Bolshoi out after she got softened up by Yabushitas armbars and its really good edge of your seat stuff. Those kinda reversal ladden junior ending stretchs can get hokey but that wasn‘t the case here, Yoneyama went for the kill, and Bolshoi was worn down but clearly still able to catch her in a tricky move. The finish was totally awesome with some great partner spots (especially loved Yabushita pushing Yoneyama out of the way while connecting a shotai to Bolshois face) leading up to Yoneyama landing this nasty solebutt to Bolshois face before going for her finisher only for Bolshoi to slip out and lock in a crazy Volk Han submission for the tap. No filler, no overkill, everyone sticks to what they do well, and a bunch of unique wrestlers get showcased, this is everything you want from a joshi match.

Command Bolshoi vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki, JWP 8/2/2009

Kuragaki is one of those insanely talented wrestlers who just ended up not quite having the career they should‘ve had due to the industry tanking in the 2000s. So a match like this ending up on my internet is very pleasant. This is the kinda stuff that really bums you when it doesn‘t make tape so bless Bolshoi for granting us the watch. And well this was really really good too. These are two wrestlers who can do a ton of cool shit, and they do a ton of cool shit, and really work together in almost a Rey/Psicosis fashion. Kuragaki is just great basing for Bolshois crazy lucha moves, there was Mysterio Rana into a rolling legbar which just looked insane, 10/10 in execution really. Kuragakis power offense mixed with swank backbreaker holds and hard lariats, as well as the bits of athleticism she sprinkles in all make for a really compelling match. And Bolshoi is a great Rey. Her flash submissions rule as usual, and she also laid in really hard with the kicks to Kuragakis leg and back area, way harder than you expect from a match that would go unseen for over 10 years. It builds to this really sweet finishing stretch with Kuragaki selling the leg while trying to take Bolshoi out with lariats and powermoves. Really liked the spot where they tease Kuragaki reversing Bolshois leglock into a Scorpion Hold but then it just doesn‘t happen. The spot where she lifts Bolshoi from her leglock into this gigantic suplex was also out of this world, and the sequence of nearfalls as the time limit ran out was excellent stuff. I absolutely lost it for Bolshois kido clutch. Just a super well executed match, which had enough cool shit in it that 3 wrestlers could steal all the stuff in it and each one would be considered really fresh and unique in 2021.

Command Bolshoi vs. Arisa Nakajima, JWP 3/16/2008

Bolshoi gets up and carries young Nakajima to her career match, and this is just another gem right here. I liked Nakajima a lot better here than later in her career, but she is very much a hyperactive young girl wrestler here and Bolshoi is running the show carrying that hyperactive wrestler to something really good. Bolshoi is unusually overdog here, really working in a very Regal-esque manner controlling Nakajima through armholds, and countering Nakajimas hyperactivity with some great Fujiwara-esque counters and as usual ripping out awesome holds left and right. So yeah, picture a more lithe, clown-like Regal working like Fujiwara in a military getup and you have Bolshoi in this. That is an awesome way to work a match. And Nakajima is totally fine here doing a good job selling that armwork, hitting her suplexes and showing good aggression. Really liked the struggle over the german suplex outside the ring, as well as Nakajima taking a splash into Bolshois outstretched legs. And all that makes a really good match.

Command Bolshoi vs. Tiger Honey, (2 Count Match) JWP 8/12/2005

This is something you normally only see as clips on Occupation of the Indies. Tiger Honey is apparently Azumi Hyuga, and she is kind of more effective doing a masked technician gimmick than as herself. She has a really pretty Tiger Suplex. This was mostly a slick technical exhibition and really fun. Hyuga integrates the Tiger spots really well into a joshi pace match and Bolshoi is just a spectacle doing wonky pin combos and submissions and generally just being her fabulous lucharesu sambo clown technician self.

NEO 9/16/2002

 

Kaori Yoneyama vs. Haruka Matsuo

Joshi undercard match which means it’s two workers doing some holds and trying to hit their spots. I’ve never seen or heard of Matsuo before. Her shit mostly looked weak. Yoneyama even at this stage is very good and she probably was one of the last really talented joshi workers to debut. She hits all of her dropkicks etc. with a real thud and never looks lost. That is enough for me not mind this kind of 8 minute match.

Yuka Nakamura & Tetsuya Koda vs. Yuka Shiina & Ayako Ishida

Weird 5 minute comedy match involving two non-wrestlers. Apparently Ishida is a ring announcer. Tetsuya Koda was some skinny guy who I’m assuming is a comedian or radio personality or something. Nakamura worked a few actual wrestling segments but this was basically a “let your buddy get in the ring for a laugh as he slips off the ropes and breaks his ankle” match. Ishida takes the win with the iron claw over Koda.

Captains Fall Match: Kyoko Inoue & Chaparita ASARI & Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Yoshiko Tamura & Misae Genki & Yuka Nakamura and Haruko Matsuo

Long match where I basically only liked the 3 minutes or so where Kyoko was in the ring. She quickly eliminated Nakamura and Matsuo early, which could’ve set up an interesting match, but then it just wasn’t. Tamura and Genki should’ve either ended up working in peril and making comebacks or destroying their opponents. Instead the match ended up being a mishmash of things that was neither here nor there. Also, Genki sucked. She’s a crowbar powerhouse so has the potential to be fun, but she kept blowing spots and no-selling. LCO did their thing, basically working on autopilot. I liked ASARIs ranas. The match built to this dramatic showdown of Genki facing 4 opponents and then eliminating 3 out of 4 in a really phony way before a stiff face off with Kyoko. Kyoko tagged out after her first segment and basically didn’t tag in for the next 15 minutes. She hits really great lariats which was enough for me to like that last segment. Still, you probably don't want this.

Tanny Mouse & Yuki Miyazaki vs. Ran Yu-Yu & Azumi Hyuga

Really fun main event that was way better than it looks on paper. Tanny Mouse has a reputation as a dreadful comedy worker, but she had her working boots on here. She came across as this tenacious grappler with a hard head, which is kind of my favourite Japanese wrestler gimmick. There were also multiple moments during the rest of the match where she looked very good, particularily during a segment where she tried kicking Hyugas head in. Tanny & Miyazaki are the NEO Machineguns and they are huge underdogs against the JWP ace team of Ran and Hyuga. The match was smartly laid out allowing them to take control using smart tactics and double teams. Lots of elaborate sequences that worked. When Yu-Yu and Hyuga got to comeback, they dished out some series punishment with their usual mix of suplexes and precise strikes. It built to a pretty hot run of nearfalls that actually felt earned, with the finish feeling like a fucking finish. Most importantly, the match was laid out in such a way that the selling weaknesses of Ran Yu-Yu and Azumi Hyuga were never exposed. I am not overly familiar with Yuki Miyazaki, but she looked solid, booting Hyuga in the face and taking some big bumps down the stretch.

 

Note: Main event added to 2002 MOTY project at #37