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.

Hopping Vampires and Monkey Men

 Tanny Mouse & Yuki Miyazaki vs. Chon Shiryu & Tottyann Ziyi, NEO 3/18/2007

Unreal match. Ziyi(?) is Toshie Uematsu doing a Chinese hopping vampire gimmick, and holy fuck she is amazing in that role. Just totally giving her all into every crazy pose, every throat thrust, every kung fu kick, just a face painted whirlwind with that outfit. This was basically a crazy Hong Kong movie as an under 10 minute pro wrestling match. Basically no comedy, just fun character work and cool kung fu kicks. Chon Shiryu if you ask me is absolutely one of the greatest pro wrestlers of all time. If a major US company had picked him up I guarantee he’d be a megastar or at the very least a cult hero. The man simply put his everything into his character and made every little moment stand out, down to the weird scorpion kicks and flying at people with kung fu kicks from odd angles. Shiryu and Uematsu do a lot of awesome shit here. There is one moment where Tanny and Miyazaki put a seal on Uematsu, paralyzing her, but then Shiryu unseals her and she goes berserk again, pure evil unleashed. It’s played completely straight and that’s why it works for me. They work a breathless pace just busting out one rad exchange after another with Miyazaki and Tanny mostly stooging but also adding some cool touches of their own, it seems at this point they both really had their routine down as a team, cutting out the comedy and just doing cool wrestling. Shiryu also hits his insane kick diving kick to the floor. Badass finish too. I really enjoy this kind of stuff more than your typical by the numbers epic match at this point. This was a great sub 10 minute match.

 

Chon Shiryu vs. HAJIME, Choco Pro 3/3/2024

This is in that no-ring dentist office space that Emi Sakura has been running shows in for like 18 years now. Really cool little match with Shiryu doing a bunch of great armwork, including hitting a really cool fist drop to HAJIMES joint and a few kung fu armlocks. All the environment stuff with Shiryu going for a 619 on the window, flying off the wall etc was great. Shiryu also based very well for HAJIMES lucharesu moves which I imagine is hard to do on a soft mat that looks to be 2 meters by 2 meters. Finish is completely awesome as HAJIME goes for the pin but Shiryu does a Negro Navarro style leg hock and  locks in a crazy llave for the tap.

Chon Shiryu & Kaori Yoneyama vs. Emi Sakura & Masa Takanashi, Gatoh Move 2/12/2024

Shiryu once again looked great in this match. His kung fu-stuff is so awesome, and he does a really nice job integrating it into a lengthy pro wrestling match structure. His opening technico exchange with Takanashi is really nice, and his hot tag is really great too. He just comes at people with odd kicks from weird directions and slick counters and it's great. The stuff he does between the big moves and set ups is great too, like randomly busting out a scorpion  kick or spin kick flush in the face.  If you liked that Ki/Amazing Red match I don't see why you wouldn't enjoy Shiryu since he goes hard all the time despite being 45 now. I also like how he can make the 619 his own, instead of coming across like another Rey imitator. Rest of the match had some very creative high workrate stuff but there was also some cutesie shit typical of Emi Sakura feds and I disliked how Masa Takanashi no sold that one awesome jumping kick Shiryu did, which keeps the match out of MOTYC consideration for me (well, if you make it a requirement that a MOTYC has to be at minimum a great match). But really nice stuff from Shiryu and well worth watching.

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

 

Kaoru Ito vs. Junko Yagi, AJW/LLPW 7/2/1999

Cool, scrappy, unique match. Opening judo grappling was pretty cool, Yagi kept getting the better of Ito early on and there were some cool throws, until Ito absolutely spiked Yagi with a huge back suplex. Frustrated Yagi started hammering away at Itos head with fists, causing them both to take the jackets off. Ito comes across as such a murder machine that when she gave Yagi the death stare and threw her jacket and belt away it felt like a real „oh shit“ moment. Last few minutes were gritty with Ito hitting some lariats and dropkicks on Yagi that made me feel Yagi did something to piss her off. Nasty nasty double stomp finish too, but that‘s pretty much a given with Ito matches.

Takako Inoue vs. Kyoko Inoue, NEO 5/5/1999

This was the kind of insane and great spectacle that you pretty much only get with joshi. Takako has MMA gloves and she gave the kind of „kicks the shit out of you“ performance that gets you over with me as a badass. Kyoko starts right away trying to take Takakos head off with lariats but Inoue is able to get her with a taser. The taser stuff may seem goofy but they didn‘t waste much time with it and Kyoko sold the fuck out of that taster, and they got right back to Takako stomping on Kyokos face, throwing body shots and landing some insane solebutts. What I loved about the match was how they really worked this like a big time arena brawl, a lot of stiff matches feel seedy and back alley, which is cool, but this was clearly worked for the huge crowd they had and that‘s a pretty unique thing for this kind of violent brawl. And they just succeeded in giving everything the right amount of space. Second half had some psycho bumps, more fantastic striking from Takako and at one point Takako takes her gloves off to hit a punch that may have been one of the most insane punches I‘ve ever seen in a wrestling match. I didn‘t love Kyokos superheroine comeback but it was the kind of frenzied insane ending a frenzied insane match needs.

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.

2002 MOTY Project Update #17

 36. Kensuke Sasaki vs. Yoshihiro Takayama, NJPW 8/3/2002

Insanely violent fight in front of a hot crowd. The psychology here was caveman level simple. Sasaki is able to throw off his opponent at first but Takayama re-establishes himself as the monster. Eventually it just devolves to both guys stubbornly trying to crack each other. The level of stiffness provides more than enough entertainment though, and Sasakis wild flailing plus things like Takayamas full weighted knee caving into Kensukes chest were far more entertaining than the usual elbow fest. No idea how those lariats didn‘t break Takayamas jaw. Finish was simple but super well done and Takayama punching Sasaki in the back of the neck was fairly crazy. This was easily Sasakis most exciting match of the year I‘ve seen so far.

35. Yuka Shiina vs. Yoshiko Tamura, NEO 10/22/2002

 Interesting match. Shiina was on fire, throwing out one crazy submission reversal after another. By far the best I've seen her look. She was hellbent on forcing a tapout from Tamura. Yoshiko Tamura is someone who frustrates me as she clearly is a competent pro wrestler, but she has this tendency to throw it worthless ace crushers and DDTs that serve no purpose. This match was short and mat based, so it ends up one of the better Tamura bouts of the era. The match was almost all submissions, but they walloped each other with some kicks between the holds. Tamuras cross legbar reversal towards the end was pretty great. I need to see more of this Shiina. 

34. Kengo Mashimo vs. Sambo Oishi, K-Dojo 4/20/2002

I think this was Mashimos second match ever. It was one hell of a match for a second ever match. There were a couple damn great exchanges here. Tenacious grappler Oishi ruled, too. Mashimo wasn‘t fully embracing his later dickhead character, but when it was time to throw kicks he beat the shit out of Oishi. Some outstanding submission work. There were some pro style touches but they were executed in a really explosive way and integrated perfectly. Really made me want to get both guys back catalogue. Best 6 minute match of the year?

25. Koki Kitahara & Johta vs. Nobuyuki Kurashima & Masayuki Mineno  (CAPTURE 12/8/2002)

Exactly what Capture promises, 4 guys just beating eachother silly in savage ways. The Mineno/Johta sections were really fun with both guys throwing fast hands and kicks, all ultra stiff of course. Then you had the heavyweights – both Kitahara and Kurashima looked like they were twice the size of either Johta or Mineno – bullying the little guys around. Kurashima is a MUGA boy and he mostly sticks to matwork here, altough he does punish opponents with some brutal throws and inventive submissions. At one point he did a Backlund lift from an armbar into almost a One Winged Angel. Kitahara was an absolute bastard once again, stomping on Minenos face and sucker punching him from behind. Match is really good shootstyle in parts but starts breaking down into chaos towards the end with the referee losing control over who is legal and who isn't, so you would get Kurashima tackling Kitahara while Mineno would try to kick him in the face. Still this is what Capture promise and each fall had a great finish.

2002 MOTY Master List

Assorted NEO

 

Hiromi Yagi & Carlos Amano vs. Yuka Shiina & Chaparita ASARI, NEO 5/4/2001

This is the kind of joshi I love and miss dearly. 4 crazy grapplers going all out busting out crazy armbars and legbars left and right and fighting fiercely. My girl Yagi totally stole the show having some great exchanges. I was also super impressed with Asari. She is someone I usually enjoy, but she totally adapted to the others style and busted out some super dope shit including her awesome swinging rana into an armbar. I‘ve never noticed Shiina much but she was hellbent on choking someone out. Amano was her usual self. The finish was great with Yagi pulling out an incredible counter. It was something Fujiwara would do if he was a 95 pound lithe athletic girl.

Hiromi Yagi & Yuka Shiina vs. Tanny Mouse & Yuki Miyazaki, NEO 5/3/2001

Not a match people would seek out on paper, but there were some good standing exchanges here. Miyazaki and Tanny where kind of a workrate team in NEO while still doing some comedy. Some moments felt comedic but not like contrived jokes. And the rest of this was quite good, mostly built around flash submissions and cool hard head spots from Tanny. Shiina was once again working like a submission artist and I think she's becoming one to watch. She's really putting the Sleeper Hold to use and that's something that will always get a wrestler on my good side. The ending was built around her trying to choke Tanny out, finding various ways to lock in sleepers and Tanny desperately avoiding them until Tanny caught her in a her weird Pallo Special to get the submission herself. Fun match and an example of sprinty joshi done right.

Yuka Shiina vs. Chaparita ASARI, NEO 12/7/2001

Awesome match! Pretty much Shiina countering Asaris flying into her grappling moves, and Asari countering with surprising grappling skill of her own. I love a match where wrestler not famous for grappling reveals themself to be good at grappling, and this was that. And they stuck to this simple story and it really worked in getting me into all their exchanges. Once again Shiina was hyper focussed on the sleeper. It build to a great ending with ASARI trying to knock her out with shotais and Shiina going for Sleepers from different angles. It's kind of mind blowing how simple great matches can be sometimes. Add a neat finish and you have one of the best joshi matches of the year.

2002 MOTY Project Update #14

 

15. Hijo del Santo & Mascara Magica & Shocker vs. Tarzan Boy & Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Buccanero, CMLL 6/7/2002)

 

Great, heated trios full of unpredictable bumps and quite hate filled brawling. Very smart layout with the rudos starting strong only to get cleared out by a series of Santo topes. The finish to the second fall that saw a guy get taken down and jumped 3 on 1 was fantastic and added to the unpredictability. 3Rd fall breaking out into another brawl was great, too. The Guerreros were on fire that night. I especially liked Rey Bucaneros unexpected bump over the top rope. Shocker looked spry trying to boot peoples heads off and he had fun chemistry with Tarzan Boy. The Santo/Magica double tope was insane. Top stuff, maybe the best trios of the year.

 

24. Yoshiko Tamura vs Tanny Mouse (NEO 08/17/02)

Tanny Mouse carries Tamura to her best match of the year. No, I’m not kidding. Tanny was great here as she avoided Tamuras usual bullshit and actually got something interesting out of her. Her offense was also pretty great and varied. It kind of exposed how dull and repetitive Tamura is in comparison. Tanny mostly kept this on the mat, forcing Tamura to actually grapple a bit for a change, and during the standing sections she was mixing in awesome strikes and suplexes. There were also some amazing, perfectly timed cradles. So, Tanny was working this as a grappler with a hard head relying on cradles… was she high on Tamon Honda tapes that year? The nearfall section was slightly into overkill, but Tanny never was able to hit her finish and Tamura actually got to look badass for a change as she hit the worlds nastiest senton and later scored a great KO victory.

2002 MOTY MASTER LIST

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