Billy Robinson - Hall Of Talent

Eddy Guerrero - Hall Of Talent

Katsuyori Shibata - Hall Of Talent

1/5/86 2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Team Title Match: Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno vs. Bull Nakano & Condor Saito 11:52, 2:36, 9:12.
PA: Crush Gals vacated the WWWA World Tag Team Title belts in December due to an injury to Chigusa (who wouldn't return until March). So, the New Years show saw Yamazaki & Tateno getting another title shot, this time against the Gokuaku Domei #2 and #3. Bull ran through a bunch heel tactics to gain or maintain advantages, and she was really good in this match. Tateno takes well, and Yamazaki was usually thwarting them to come back. Yamazaki would hit her hot moves, but was never afraid to fight fire with fire, ramping up her viciousness and being happy to throw in some underhanded tactics herself. It was a fun dynamic. Condor was mainly just there to get worked over and help Bull with double teams, though she was the weak link when she had to get some offense of her own in. While Bull might be fairly basic, she displays viciousness and doesn't tend to do the same thing for too long. Towards the end of the fall, Tateno was being worked over, three on one with the masked manager assisting from the outside. Yamazaki bolted around there, but got trapped in a human hanging. However, while that was happening, Tateno made a comeback on Condor. Yamazaki came in, and they double teamed Bull, and then brought Condor in to double team her and get the first fall. While the first fall was very good, the same can't be said of the second fall. Yamazaki and Tateno got off to a fast start, but it got off the rails when Tateno had to hoist Bull onto her shoulders so Yamazaki could hit a dropkick. It just took forever, and killed the spot. Bul came back with the nunchakus, and Condor did an awful diving body press before Bull finished with a diving nunchaku lariat, which probably sounded cool when they thought of it, but looked incredibly stupid. At least that fall only lasted two minutes, and they had a chance to compose themselves for the third. Bull and Condor gave Tateno and good working over, slow but effective, and Tateno's selling was good here. The segment felt like it went on, but it needed to be for the big explosion later. The only issue I had with it was that they weren't feeding any hope for Tateno, so the crowd rallied behind her, with a huge “Noriyo” chant, but it died out because nothing was done for them. Tateno was able to tag Yamazaki, but they did the old referee didn't see it spot, though Yamazaki wasn't having that nonsense, and rushed in anyway. Bull continued attacking Tateno with nunchakus. And then Tateno and Yamazaki snapped! This was a great moment. Tateno grabbed a towel, using that as a weapon, and got control of the nunchakus. Yamazaki brought in a bottle and the heels got theirs and then some, both in and outside the ring. Yamazaki nailed Condor with a chair on the outside. Bull got the advantage back in the melee, and started hitting big moves on Yamazaki in the ring, but she wasn't staying down, and fought back. Bull did kind of an ugly lariat to Yamazaki and they both tumbled outside, with Tateno missing a dive. Bull waited in the ring for Yamazaki to come back, but Yamazaki slipped behind her to win with a German Suplex hold. Sure, they were just keeping them warm for the Crush Gals, but Tateno and Yamazaki were the new tag champions. This was a bit too much for Bull and Condor, though Bull did a really good job of carrying the team. The match had its issues, but they got a lot more right than they got wrong. Most importantly, they nailed the story and the payoff at the end was great. If you can nail that, it doesn't matter too much if you screw a few things up along the way. ***1/2

2/15/86 '86 All Japan Tag Title Champion Decision League Final: Yumi Ogura & Kazue Nagahori vs. Bull Nakano & Condor Saito 16:17.
PA: This was really the Ogura show, as she totally made the match worth watching with her feisty comebacks, showing all the fire in the world. She also spent most of the time playing face in peril, so that didn't leave Nagahori with much to do. It was mainly Bull and Condor heeling and double teaming, which they did fine on, Condor wasn't great, but she was better here than she was against Yamazaki and Tateno in January. Ogura was attacked with nunchakus and a chain, and got busted open. Ogura was selling the beating really well, and firing up for hot comebacks. She was cut off by weapons, but never for too long. Condor started choking her with a chain, but Ogura pried it out of her hands and laid into both heels with it, then snatched the nunchakus out of Dumps hands and gave them some treatment with those as well. Ogura ended up pinning Bull after a jumping knee attack. Pretty basic stuff from the work to the psychology, but the heels did their job and Ogura gave a terrific performance. ***1/4

3/20/86 Japan Grand Prix '86 League Match: Yumi Ogura vs. Kazue Nagahori 30:00.
PA: While Japan Grand Prix '85 started with the two top seeds, '86 started with probably the two lowest seeds, yet both got the tournament off to a great start. These two didn't have a great repertoire of offense to fall back on, and hey weren't masters of psychology, able to milk every move they knew. What they did was use their basics well, struggling for everything, and working at a good pace. The start wasn't particularly exciting, but they would briefly increase the tempo at the right times to keep your attention. They had a really good exchange of kicks about 8 minutes in, won by Ogura, who increased the viciousness on the mat trying to lock in a jujigatame, but Nagahori blocked it. Ogura continued to work the arm, and when she had to chance, Nagahori targeted Ogura's knee. Ogura got a run of offense after a reprieve on the outside, and they started looking for pins. Victory was the focus, in any manner possible from a big move, a roll up, a kick, a bodyslam, they didn't care. They worked it junior style, trying to hold the shoulders down while the opponent would struggle out and try not to get caught on their back, which made the basic moves they were trying to get falls with all the more compelling. There was a heating brawling segment and some matwork, with Nagahori working a knee injury (which disappeared pretty quickly) added in as well. They never put the thought in your head that it would do a broadway. They just kept trying to put each other away, but neither were able to. If one were to consider it a junior match (it wasn't for any of the All Japan Titles, but they were three and two years in respectively) it was easily the best one since Yokota vs. Chino Sato in 1979. A great effort by both, who really had no business going that long, but managed to succeed, and pulled off a really good, hard-fought match. ***3/4

3/20/86 Japan Grand Prix '86 League Match: Yukari Omori vs. Dump Matsumoto 24:26.
PA: Simply put, this was the ultimate Dump spectacle. There's nothing here that would ever change your mind about these types of matches, it would just confirm your opinion in either direction - either genius, or complete trash, there's no middle ground. There's no wrestling here. There's no skilful brawling. It's complete chaos, spectacle, and drama purely designed for maximum crowd reactions, and all taken to the extreme. This was Dumps return to Osaka after the imfamous hair match. She was hellbent on terrorizing the schoolgirls again, and a lot of the same ones were likely in attendance hoping for some revenge. It's also the match that set Yukari Omori up as the next major star, a meteoric rise from a forgettable midcarder all the way to being Devil Masami's successor as the WWWA World Champion. Dump was always great with the theatrics, and here she had the shogun outfit on in the entrance, and Shiro Abe (not assigned as the referee) was more unhinged than ever wearing ridiculous Dump like makeup. Dump was hollering on the mic through Omori's entrance, and started nailing her with the same microphone to start the match, whipping the schoolgirls into a frenzy. Within two minutes, Omori had juiced, and Dump was wielding a chain. Bull and Condor kept running interference with the referee, and then Chigusa came in and wiped out Dump with a trash can and helped Omori with a double team. The match basically stopped with all the seconds fighting in the ring, and then the scissors came out, drawing screams of terror from the schoolgirls. Masami tried to get the scissors from Dump, but Dump tried to cut her hair, so Chigusa jumped Dump with the microphone, and everyone started brawling again. Dump finally got her hands on Omori and started cutting her hair, then the match came to a halt again. Hilariously, Shiro Abe decided to fight with the referee, and the referee fired up and ran him off. The next one to try to bring back control was Commissioner Ueda, and he actually managed to do it! They finally restarted, again. Now Dump had a big grin on her face, offering a handshake to wrestle clean, but she had a concealed weapon, and Bull jumped Omori anyway. Omori tried to fight fire with fire on the outside, using a shinai, but the heels put the boots to her. They got back in the ring, and now Dump was wielding two shinais, but surprisingly she handed one off to Omori for a fair fight. Omori made the stupid decision to shred the shinai before laying into Dump with it. I'm not sure if it was supposed to look like that, or if it was supposed to look like she shredded it laying into Dump, but it didn't really work, and Dump didn't sell it anyway. Omori came back with an Octopus, but the heels ran in again. There actually was about a minute of wrestling here, and then Dump got the scissors again. She cut some hair. Omori showed some fight and fire, and made good comebacks, giving the crowd some hope that she might be able to pull something off, but then, what could you do with scissors that would be worse than giving someone an unwanted haircut? A stabbing! Dump inflicted a literal stab wound on Omori's upper arm using the scissors, penetrating deep enough for them to be embedded in her arm. You can't follow that up with anything, so Dump went to town on her with a shinai, and they ended up getting counted out with everyone fighting, and Bull biting away at the stab wound. Everything was chaos, so the ending might as well have been too. The pop would have been an all timer if Omori had won, but at least she didn't lose. The only thing that really annoyed me was Kahoru Kage constantly shouting on the microphone whenever the crowd would chant for Omori. ****

3/20/86 2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Title Match: Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno vs. Lioness Asuka & Chigusa Nagayo 13:00, 2:10, 5:49.
PA: This was the return of the Crush Gals, so it was time for the JB Angels to drop the tag belts. The Crush Gals tried to get the jump and blast the JB Angels away at the start, but that completely backfired, resulting in them taking stereo dropkicks and the JB Angels hitting topes on the outside. It wasn't costly, but it was a wakeup call for the Crush Gals, who weren't going to be trying that again for a while. The teams looked to stick to their strengths, with the Crush Gals looking to work the mat game and shut the JB Angels down, while the JB Angels path to victory was blasting them away with their fast paced running offense and double teams. Yamazaki spent a long time getting worked over. She was able to lure Lioness into a brief brawl, but Lioness outwrestled her expertly, countering everything, and stopping her jumping around. Yamazaki managed to work her way out when Chigusa was in and quicken the pace, but again, it was brief with Chigusa clutching onto her leg to stop it, but at least Yamazaki was able to switch to Tateno. Tateno hit her burst on Lioness, but she tagged Chigusa, who did a quick roll up as she was coming through the ropes. Tateno was able to find some control, targeting Chigusa's arm, but once she returned later, she took her foot off the gas, and it allowed Chigusa a reprieve. Tateno tried to go with Lioness but was outwrestled, then it was back to Chigusa vs. Yamazaki. Yamazaki got the upperhand and looked to quicken the pace. Tateno added a diving clothesline, but Chigusa caught a leg lariat coming off the ropes, and the Crush Gals pounced with all the big moves. Hart Attack, Giant Swing from Lioness, a flying bodypress, and a tombstone from Chigusa to put Yamazaki away. That fall was an expert shutdown from the Crush Gals. They never let the JB Angels get on a roll, but changed with the big explosive burst in the second fall displayed why doing so was dangerous. The JB Angels needed to force the pace. Yamazaki immediately tried to blitz Lioness, then Tateno drew her into a slap fight to fire her up. It worked, as Lioness lost her focus and played into her hands. Tateno hit dropkicks, and Lioness kipped up twice before hitting her own. Chigusa tagged in, but the JB Angels pounced with a double dropkick. Yamazaki followed with a flying body attack. Tateno hit a missile dropkick and a butterfly suplex. Chigusa survived that, and avoided another flying body attack from Yamazaki, but Tateno hit a German suplex to finish. Chigusa sold the German suplex like a deathblow, and Tateno hammered away at the neck. Yamazaki missile dropkicked Chigusa, and quickly jumped on Lioness with a piledriver after the tag was made. Tateno and Lioness had a neat exchange which ended with Lioness kipping up again after a kick out of the corner and high kicking Tateno in the head. Chigusa went in for the kill, getting Tateno in big trouble, but she was able to avoid a dive from Lioness and tag out. Yamazaki couldn't get out of the blocks though, with Lioness hitting big moves, including a second Giant Swing and a jackhammer. Yamazaki was able to fight off Chigusa when she was put on the top rope, responding with a backdrop suplex. Tateno tagged in and delivered a piledriver. Yamazaki did a jackknife pin, but got caught in a Sharpshooter. She came back with an Octopus hold. Tateno tagged in, but Chigusa sunset flipped her, and then finished her with a Tiger Suplex hold. The finish was slightly underwhelming, but this was a great match. Top notch wrestling, both with their spot wrestling and matwork. The Crush Gals showed more control, refusing to allow the JB Angels get away from them as much as they would have liked before eventually overwhelming them. ****1/2

4/5/86 Japan Grand Prix '86 League Match: Bull Nakano vs. Yumi Ogura 10:10.
PA: Ogura was Bull's biggest rival in their junior days, and here they took their rivalry into the Japan Grand Prix. Bull was trying to bully Ogura around at the start, but she wasn't taking that, and caught her with a missile dropkick. She worked the arm a bit before Bull took over and dragged her outside, but Ogura ended up winning that skirmish. Bull was pissed now, but Ogura kept coming at her until Bull reversed her on the mat. Bull did some heeling and slapped Ogura, but Ogura wouldn't take that, and they had a slapping fight. Ogura ducked Bull's slap and shot in for a crab. Bull introduced the nunchakus when she got the chance. Ogura tried to avoid it and spring off the second rope, but Bull dodged her. Bull missed the guillotine legdrop. Ogura missed a diving senton. Bull couldn't put her away, so she laid into her with the nunchakus. Ogura still fought back, and hit a German, and then hit a flying body press. They ended up fighting on the outside, but Bull prevented Ogura from returning, and it was a double count out. Of all of their matches, this was the one I liked the most. This was the feisty small girl standing up to the big school bully, and they worked really well in those roles. It was a very fun match. ***1/2

4/5/86 All Pacific Title Decision Match: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Dump Matsumoto 19:01.
PA: Devil vacated the All Pacific Title when she won the WWWA World Single Title. This is the best of the Dump vs. Chigusa matches. It had the atmosphere of the hair matches, but this time it was compelling, and it was laid out better than their Japan Grand Prix '85 match. Built smartly around the limited things Dump does, Chigusa made perfectly timed comeback attempts They teased moves they couldn't hit to turn them into bigger spots later, and of course, there was Dump's shenanigans. Dump wore down Chigusa for a while, and ended up using her own sharpshooter on her. Chigusa survived that, and tried hit German Suplexes, but couldn't get them. Dump hit one later just because she could. Dump had Chigusa beat after a spike piledriver with her cronies assisting, but due to the interference, the referee wouldn't count the fall. Dump's answer to that was to kill her off with a bucket on the outside. Dump stayed on Chigusa, but got a rest on the outside. Chigusa got a near fall off a sunset flip so Dump started cheating again. Chigusa got mauled until she kicked her way out of the corner. Chigusa kept fighting back, desperately and frantically trying to finish, but couldn't. There was more brawling. Dump got tied up in the ropes and Chigusa nailed her twice in the head with a chair. Dump was in trouble, so Bull brought in a giant metal drum. Dump ended up laying into Chigusa with it, but Chigusa avoided it, and put Dump away with a backdrop suplex. The pin was probably dodgy by design. It looked as though they both had their shoulders down, so there was some confusion. Dump protested the decision, but Chigusa was named the winner and the new All Pacific Champion, and the roof blew off Sumo Hall. ***3/4

4/5/86: WWWA World Single Title Match: Devil Masami vs. Lioness Asuka 22:01.
PA: Lioness had passed out during song rehearsals earlier in the day due to exhaustion (she hadn't been sleeping), and wasn't in much of a condition to be wrestling here. To her credit, if you didn't know this, her performance doesn't give much away. Lioness was wearing black instead of blue, which drew a few gasps when she disrobed. Lioness came out of the blocks hard with a Giant Swing immediately, and Devil fought back afterward to hit a German. Neither gained much ground on the mat, but Devil won the early battle with a bodyslam, and a crosschop that send Lioness out of the ring. Lioness regrouped, and took control herself. She ended up whipping Devil into the corner, and Devil leaped onto the top turnbuckle, mistake which Lioness quickly pounced on, dropkicking her to the outside. Lioness went for a dive from the top turnbuckle to the outside herself, but missed, and they both got counted out. They didn't want it to end like that, so Commissioner Ueda granted them another 10 minutes. The count out spot was memorable, but still felt like a somewhat contrived way for them to do a time limit draw without having to go for an hour. So, with the match restarted, they had 10 minutes to try to get a win. They got into an intense war of slaps to start before Lioness shot in for a sharpshooter. Devil worked Lioness's leg for a bit. It was mainly just big moves. After Devil hit a top rope brainbuster, Lioness came back with a backdrop suplex, a giant swing, piledriver and a missile dropkick. Devil survived, but she was on the ropes, and desperately drew Lioness into a fist fight, then hit a piledriver and fisherman's buster, which Lioness survived. They exchanged powerbombs, and the time ran out soon after. The action in the match was excellent, but it was split into two disconnected halves. It was like a 30 (or 60) minute draw with the middle of the match missing. The first half was a good start, but then it ended. The second half was intense and exciting, little more than big moves thrown at each other. They went hard to try to make you believe someone could win, but it was hard to buy a result was really going to happen. I'm not sure it did them any favors either. Devil needed a win, as she felt like a paper champion since she never beat Jaguar for the belt, but now she couldn't win her first title defense either. Lioness choked for the second time in less than a year, even if a draw was little more preferable to a loss. ***1/2

4/8/86 2/3 Falls WWWA Tag Title Match: Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka vs. Yumi Ogura & Kazue Nagahori 11:24, 6:09.
PA: The Red Typhoons tried and put up a good fight. They were too low ranked to be much of a match for the Crush Gals, but it was fun to watch them try. They didn't have much chance on the mat, but did get control at times. They tried to pounce when they could, throwing fast kicks They were hit and miss sometimes, particularly Ogura would go too fast for her own good, killing the impact. That isn't so bad from juniors out of their depth though, as long as the receiver knows how to react. Chigusa did, only putting over the good ones, while not reacting to the weak ones. The majority of the first fall was matwork and kicks, with the Crush Gals hitting a few spots at the end to win. In the second fall, Chigusa put a sharpshooter on Ogura, Nagahori came in and drilled her until Ogura could break free. Ogura dropped legdrops on the back of Chigusa's head, and hit her jumping knee attack, and a German suplex. Chigusa desperately got out of there and tagged Lioness, but Ogura pounced on her, hitting a piledriver. They hit some double team moves on Lioness, and the Crush Gals were actually in a lot of trouble, but Lioness avoided a dive from Ogura. They kept trying, but Ogura missed another dive later on Chigusa, and their luck ran out, with Chigusa finishing with a Northern Light's Suplex. It was a 2-0 drubbing, but still showed the Red Typhoons could be competitive. It was a well worked match, good all the way through and Ogura's comeback after the sharpshooter was tremendous. I'd still say the Black Pair vs. Queen Angels is the best 2-0 sweep to this point, but this was the second best one. ***1/2

5/13/86: Japan Grand Prix '86 League Match: Lioness Asuka vs. Chigusa Nagayo 19:36 of 30:00.
PA: Lioness was back in black for this one, and Chigusa was wearing red and blue to carry on the Crush Gals legacy alone. Lioness was hellbent on showing up Chigusa in this match, and came at her hard, while Chigusa mostly played defense. It kicked up a gear when the two started kicking at each other, in a battle won by Lioness, she drilled Chigusa with head kicks and a piledriver. After some matwork which saw Chigusa take over, she got her chance, and gave as good as she got. Chigusa tried a German suplex, but Lioness grabbed onto the ropes, and then shot behind attempting her own, which Chigusa blocked. They kept fighting to catch each others back, but couldn't execute anything. It's this type of struggle that the 1985 match was missing. Lioness went back to working over Chigusa on the mat after that. It wasn't long before they had another kicking exchange, and Lioness once again shot in for a takedown, and kept working the mat. Chigusa fought back with an enzuigiri and did manage a German Suplex, but couldn't put Lioness away. A piledriver and superplex followed, but Lioness wouldn't stay down. Lioness made a quick comeback, hitting a Giant Swing and a top rope backdrop suplex, but Chigusa wouldn't stay down either. Chigusa got a sharpshooter and more suplexes, but they didn't get the job done, and the two ended up kicking each other until the time expired. The 1985 match had way better mat work, but everything else I preferred in this match.You had the sense they were trying to win as they blistered each other with kicks and suplexes. It was mainly all Lioness, but Chigusa gave as good as she received when given the chance. ***3/4

5/17/86 Japan Grand Prix '86 League Match: Dump Matsumoto vs. Bull Nakano 11:09.
PA: Dump was out to teach Bull a lesson, and she was such a rat bastard that the schoolgirls were way into Bull. They laid into each other the whole time, and it was well worked chaos, with Bull actually making really good babyface comebacks that had the crowd popping big time. Dump mostly just laid into her with a shinai, with most of her cronies helping her out. Megumi Nakamae wasn't doing a good enough job, so Dump beat the crap out of her as well until she started attacking Bull. Bull bled, and then fought back with nunchakus, and ended up going for a crab until Nakamae ran in again and started biting at the cut. Dump tried to smother Bull, but she kept fighting back, and hit a brainbuster, which was a good spot they teased well. Dump used a chain, and dragged Bull outside with it. When they returned, Dump had two shinais and tossed one to Bull. Bull was winning the shinai duel, but the heels stopped her, and Dump bled as well. Bull hit another German, but couldn't get the bridge, and Dump came back with her own. A pair of lariats finished Bull off. This was a wild and entertaining brawl with the schoolgirls way more invested than you'd expect. Dump terrorized the crowd after the match, rushing out there and throwing chairs around, clearing entire sections with people screaming and running for their lives. Surprisingly good and heated Dump brawl. ***1/2

5/29/86 Japan Grand Prix '86 League Match: Bull Nakano vs. Chigusa Nagayo 15:31.
PA: Bull dominated the early mat portion, thwarting anything and everything Chigusa tried. Chigusa grabbed a desperate headlock to get some control, but Bull got out of that, and went for the legs. Her mistake was grabbing the nunchakus, which allowed Chigusa to grab the arm, and find some control. Chigusa hit a backdrop suplex and headbutts for a near fall, but Bull punched her way out of a body scissors, and went for a sharpshooter. That wasn't working well enough, so Bull tried to mug her on the outside, but Chigusa won the battle. Bull had some control again until Chigusa came back. Chigusa hit a piledriver, and when Bull survived that, she started kicking her in the head. Bull got her back a little while later when Chigusa put her head down for a backdrop, and Bull kicked her flush in the mouth. Bull hit a German suplex afterwards, which made for a good near fall. Chigusa frantically got Bulls back, and hit her own. The two ended up fighting outside, brawling and Chigusa hit a piledriver on the floor, which was no sold. It ended up in a lame double count out though. Bull wanted to wrestle, and she got to do it with Chigusa. She was good here, and I liked that Chigusa thwarted all of the underhanded stuff and it did more harm than good for Bull, while she managed to be competitive because of her wrestling ability. ***

6/22/86: Japan Grand Prix '86 Final: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Yukari Omori 27:20.
PA: Omori's Kesagiri Chopping hand was injured coming into the final. She gave Chigusa an early chop. Chigusa kicked her in the hand when she returned, though I suppose she was just seeing if it was actually hurt because she didn't go to hand much during match. It was largely a battle on the mat that built slowly, and their matwork was tight. Omori controlled a lot, and Chigusa would try to find ways to work herself on top, but could only find success for short periods. When her gameplan wasn't working, she got frustrated and targeted the injured hand, kicking and stomping at it. They had a tense standoff, with Chigusa going for the hand and Omori protecting herself. Omori ended up biting Chigusa's hand, which put her guard down enough for Chigusa to take her down by the legs. Omori kept fighting back though, and hit a bunch of power moves to make the Chigusa fans scream at the two counts. Omori had the injured hand, her's was damaged as well, so it was hard to follow up on. Omori came back with a backbreaker and injured Chigusa's rib. After that, Chigusa was mainly looking for big moves or a quick pin to finish. She went for a German suplex, but couldn't execute, so she tried to grind Omori down, but Omori easily worked out of it. Omori had the back, and while they were still on the mat, the schoolgirls started stirring, and sure enough, they were right because Omori German Suplexed her for a big near fall (I love how people think the schoolgirl Chigusa fans didn't pay attention to the wrestling, they were completely zoned in on everything). Avalanche Slam couldn't put Chigusa down either, and then she came back with a pair of Germans. Chigusa had forgotten about Omori's hand that was her main source of finding advantages earlier, and was just looking for big moves or pins now. She gave Omori a brainbuster from the top rope, and Omori managed to get to the other side of the ring to delay the pin. Chigusa took a dive off the top and ate a big Chop. Omori just sucked up through the pain, and killed her with repeated chops. Chigusa made it outside, but Omori clobbered her again when she got on the apron. Chigusa did make it back in the ring in the end, but a big one from the top rope finished her off. This was an excellent slow burn of a match, with a finish that made Omori look like the biggest badass in the league. With that, she won the Japan Grand Prix, and the match against Devil Masami on 8/23/86 was set up. ****

8/21/86: Dump Matsumoto vs. Itsuki Yamazaki 18:44.
PA: This is basically the pro-wrestling version of a horror movie. Dump Matsumoto played the role of Michael Myers, while Itsuki Yamazaki played the role of Laurie Strode. Dump didn't get to fight the girls with long hair very often (not that there were too many of them), so you could imagine where this one was going. This was supreme Dump chaos, with some brilliance from Yamazaki thrown in. Yamazaki hurled herself at Dump at the start and that didn't work, so she willed herself into a takedown. Dump mostly looked unamused by that. Dump was just looking to bully Yamazaki and cut her hair, but Yamazaki kept coming at her. Bull snuck in and placed scissors in Dumps hand. Yamazaki looked like she'd seen a ghost, and fled. Dump kept coming after Yamazaki with scissors, while Yamazaki looked scared to death. The babyface seconds would swarm in the ring whenever Dump started cutting her hair. Yamazaki made a great comeback when Dump and Bull tried a double team lariat using a metal pipe. Yamazaki grabbed it, flipped over it, and kicked them both down at the same time. Tateno came in to help out with some double teaming, but it was shortlived because Bull came in and attacked the referee, and everyone piled in when Dump went for the scissors again. The babyface seconds gave Dump a stomping, and in a funny moment, Dump just stood looking unimpressed by it all, and nailed Ogura with the scissors. Dump finally started trying to the win the match, hitting some wrestling moves, a lariat, backdrop suplex. She even did a press slam, but Yamazaki wasn't staying down. Dump did a superplex that apparently she wasn't comfortable doing because it took about 30 seconds to set up, but at least she tried. She even tried a dive, going for the big splash off the top rope, but Yamazaki avoided it, and made another comeback. Yamazaki whipped the referee (Crane Yu) into a Dump, which was certainly different, and then hit a big missile dropkick. The problem was the referee was being held back by the heels. Yamazaki got some revenge for the weapons, cracking Dump in the head multiple times with a shinai, but she got tied up with a chain. The scissors made another return, and now there was a haircut going down. Yamazaki had chunks of it cut off here, and that was about good enough for Dump. From there, it was a melee outside until the double count out happened. Yamazaki started out like a frightened and traumatized victim at the first sight of the scissors, and did a very convincing job of it, but she got past it and came back at Dump all match, never backing down and even getting Dump to wrestle her and try to pin her. Of course, it didn't end well for Yamazaki, after all there was a hair match in November to build up. The only thing that could have put it more over the top was if there was blood, but it didn't need it. ***3/4

8/21/86 All Pacific Title Match: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Leilani Kai 23:05.
PA: This one had some issues. The start was awful, with Chigusa just taking Kai down at will, and grabbing holds with Kai showing no struggle or ability to work out of anything. Kai's first comeback only got worse with the weak leg kick magically knocking Chigusa on her ass, and then it was Kai sitting in holds. It took them a while, but once they got all that out of their system, it got a lot better, and actually turned into a good match. There wasn't much in the way of impressive spots. It was all pretty basic stuff, but as it went on, they did a better job of struggling, and the near falls were dramatic enough. Kai had lost weight and trained in Japan for this match. You can't fault her effort, but she wasn't up to working the kind of high level match she wanted to, and she gassed out near the end due to the building being so hot. Towards the end, they both went for dives, and had some great near falls. Chigusa hit a German suplex, and tried another, but Kai blocked and slipped behind to hit her own. Chigusa tried for flash pins, but couldn't score a three count. She came off the top rope with a fist drop and still couldn't win. One cool thing they were doing was trying to pin each multiple times off the same move. Chigusa hit another suplex and got frustrated. At this point, it was hard to tell if the frustration was for show or legit because Kai was so gassed she could barely get up for anything. Kai sucked it up and came back though. She hit a nice missile dropkick, and then finished with a really badly executed suplex to win. Blown moves aside, they got there… eventually. It was really bad early on though. ***

8/23/86 WWWA World Single Title Match: Devil Masami vs. Yukari Omori 23:49.
PA: This match won't be for everyone because it's very slow paced and tentative, with quite a lot of stalling. This was Devil's approach, and it was once again effective. Devil executed a dive outside the ring, and Omori followed with an early Avalanche slam. Devil aimed to engage in mat-based wrestling, but Omori wasn't interested in that, hitting a backbreaker. They took a break afterward, and Devil didn't seem to know what she wanted to do. She seemed to have built her entire gameplan around blocking and avoiding Omori's Kesagiri chops, and wanted to draw her into it. She got her wish, as Omori went for chops early on, with Devil successfully blocking one using her hands and evading another, causing Omori to strike the ropes. Devil then went after Omori's arm. Unable to execute a German Suplex, Devil tried to take the fight outside, resulting in a restart in the ring. Devil blocked Omori's takedown attempt, and they sailed into the ropes, but Devil hurt her back in the process, and needed another breather. Omori dominated by focusing on Devil's back, applying various submissions, including her own Romero Special. Devil was on the ropes at this point, and needed something big to come back with. She thwarted Omori's Avalanche Slam attempt, and bought herself some time with an Electric Chair drop, but she went up top soon after, and Omori shoved her to the outside. Omori, leaping off the apron with a chop, narrowly missed Devil, causing her to strike the guardrail. Devil's facial expression was great here, as if she'd narrowly avoided a gunshot. Devil got another run of offense in the ring, but couldn't stop Omori, causing her to get frustrated and grab a chair. This was her biggest mistake. Omori chopped straight through the chair, leaving Devil shocked, and then she clobbered Devil with one to put her down. This led to a long, drawn out, dramatic ending, with Omori repeatedly chopping Devil down every time she got up. Devil wasn't a quitter, and kept coming, but she had no chance. Devil couldn't get up without the assistance of the ropes, and made one last lunge at Omori with a very feeble lariat attempt, collapsing afterward. Omori put her out of her misery with the big chop from the top turnbuckle to end Devil's title reign. I suppose one could point out that the finish snuck through a couple of logic gaps, but if you put that to the side, you won't see too many more definitive endings than that one, with Devil getting no offense in at all in the last 5 minutes. If the Japan Grand Prix finals didn't tell you, this match did; Omori is a complete badass. ****1/4

10/10/86 2/3 Falls Tag League The Best '86 Final: Yukari Omori & Hisako Uno vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Yumiko Hotta 0:06, 4:09, 16:50.
PA: This was an experiment to get the two ‘super rookies' over. Uno you could see trying this with, at least in the role of the rookie with too much fire and energy who gets her ass handed her, but shows fight. With Hotta there was nothing. She wasn't the most impressive rookie to begin with, much less wrestling at a level beyond that. Their matches in the tag league tended to be good while Chigusa was in, and then Hotta would ruin them. At least this match was good though, and Hotta even did okay, at times. The start was cathartic. Chigusa decided to be dumb and let Hotta start. Uno was set to start, but Omori changed her mind, and murdered Hotta immediately with a chop to the mouth, pinning her in 6 seconds before Chigusa even knew what happened. The second fall was mostly a battle of the rookies, and it was actually good. They went at each other early, with Hotta laying in kicks. Uno fired back at her, smacking her in the mouth, and anywhere else her wild swings would land. The seniors would just come in to take over, but didn't do much. Hotta hit a reverse fireman's carry throw to even the match up. The rookies kicked at each early in the first fall, but it wasn't long before we got to Chigusa vs. Omori. They went back and forth landing some bombs, and Omori felt she'd softened her up enough for Uno. Uno just got dominated immediately. She wanted to tag out, but Chigusa made her earn it. Uno was able to counter Chigusa on the mat and tag. Chigusa desperately clung onto the ropes to prevent Omori's German Suplex, so Omori settled for a piledriver, and then put her down with a nasty chop. Omori started to give her the same treatment she'd given Devil and Chigusa herself in the Japan Grand Prix finals, but after two chops, she really wanted to hit the German Suplex. Chigusa kept blocking it, but she was in trouble. The rookies got tagged in, and when it got back to Chigusa vs. Omori again, Omori continued to have the upper hand, but her partner was too overexcited. After Omori hit an Avalanche Slam, Uno ran in trying for the pin, which wasn't legal, and the referee just looked at her dumbfounded as to what she was doing. Omori perched up top for the killer chop, but Chigusa avoided it, and Omori hit her on the shoulder. Chigusa managed a German Suplex, but Omori shifted her weight on it, so Chigusa caught the brunt of it. Uno came in. again illegally, and while it was dumb last time, this time she screwed up the match for her team, throwing a dropkick at Chigusa, which hit Omori, and Chigusa seized the opportunity to flash pin Omori. This was a very good tag league final. It had great atmosphere, and felt like a final. You could never buy the rookie vs. senior matchups, but when the rookies battled, it was good, and Omori vs. Chigusa remained high quality and felt like a huge deal. ***1/2

12/6/86 Tag Team Elimination Match, Team League Final: Chigusa Nagayo, Yumi Ogura, Kazue Nagahori, Yumiko Hotta, Yachiyo Hirata & Nobuko Kimura vs. Dump Matsumoto, Bull Nakano, Condor Saito, Yasuko Ishiguro, Megumi Nakamae & Kahoru Kage 22:36.
PA: Zenjo had been running team league matches all year. I'm not sure how they determined all of the standings, but this was the final. It's team Chigusa vs. team Dump, one month after Dump's haircut, and it had all the heat you'd associate with that. It was bedlam before the start. Shiro Abe was up to his old antics of trying to take over the referees spot. Dump beat up the actual referee, Jimmy Kayama, and went after a cameraman with a shinai. Dump got rid of both of Chigusa's rookies in about 10 seconds. Everyone did a lot of running spots, except Dump, who tanked everyone, and they were mostly eliminated in terms of the hierarchy. Dump decided to beat up Jimmy Kayama so Shiro could take over, but then Chigusa beat him up, so Dump's plan didn't work. It was a really energetic and entertaining start, and the exchanges were always good, especially Bull vs. Ogura before Ogura was eliminated. Hotta survived the longest of Chigusa's partners, but after eating a bunch of kicks, she was eliminated, which left Chigusa alone against Dump, Bull and Condor around 15 minute mark. Bull nailed Chigusa with nunchakus, and then went over to tear off the padding in the corner, so while she was wasting time with that, Chigusa snuck behind her and eliminated her with a backslide. Jimmy Kayama got beaten up again, and Chigusa got beaten down by the three of them, with Dump using a shinai. Chigusa managed to catch a belly to belly on Condor after she tagged in, and eliminated her with a Northern Light's Suplex despite Bull trying to interrupt the count. So, as expected it was down to Dump vs. Chigusa. Chigusa's sharpshooter and suplexes were powered out of, but she was able to hit running spots. Dump beat her up with a trash can to put her down. Dump hit a German suplex and lariat to win. This was fairly predictable, as Dump had to get her revenge, but that's not really a bad thing. This was excellent from the start to around when Dump killed Chigusa with the trash can, then it was fairly anticlimactic. Everyone was working hard no matter how long they were in for. Ogura, Bull and Chigusa were the standouts, and Ishiguro looked the best of the youngsters. The final third of 1986 was pretty rough, but this was a great way to end the year. ****

1/4/87: Lioness Asuka & Chigusa Nagayo vs. Yumi Ogura & Kazue Nagahori 19:13.
PA: This was the Crush Gals return after 6 months apart, and all was right with the world again as far as the schoolgirls are concerned. This was a classic Crush Gals tag with an incredible atmosphere, even by the standards of this era. The schoolgirls had pompoms out and tears in their eyes. Their heroes were back! The Crush Gals wrestled as well as they ever did together. Lioness was back at her best, working perfectly with Chigusa. It helped that they were wrestling their favorite juniors, the Red Typhoons, and they were really good here as well. Crush Gals took over much of the early portion, with the Typhoons trying to keep up, but they got Chigusa in some trouble briefly targeting her leg. They were stopped when Ogura missed a diving senton and Lioness came off the top rope with a lariat, then the Crush Gals did stereo topes. They had Ogura where they wanted her, with Lioness hitting a Giant Swing, but she was having fun and didn't want it to end yet, so they did their double team elbow, but Jimmy Kayama wouldn't count for an illegal double team. Ogura managed a backslide on Lioness and tagged out. When Ogura came back in after Chigusa had gotten a near fall on Nagahori, she hit a leg lariat, and then got near falls with a German Suplex, a Tombstone and a missile dropkick, which had the crowd losing their minds. Nagahori threw what she had at Lioness as well, but Lioness wasn't selling much of anything in this. Crush Gals got their big run with a bunch of big moves on Ogura, but she survived and tagged out. Nagahori got a few shots on Lioness, and a near fall on Chigusa, and then another one with a piledriver. The finish came after when Ogura tagged back in, with Chigusa going for a roll up then winning with a German Suplex. Excellent tag team match all the way through. Crush Gals were back, and the Red Typhoons pushed them all the way through the match and got one big run in, though it probably came too early in the match to really buy into it. ****1/4

1/9/87: Devil Masami vs. Chigusa Nagayo 18:45 of 30:00.
PA: The rematch of the 1985 women's match of the year. In 1985 they weren't equals, but they came out of the match as equals. Here they wrestled as equals. Chigusa was still yet to gain a victory over Devil. Devil got annoyed with Chigusa early, she'd refused the handshake and outwrestled her, prompting Devil to drag her outside and ram her into the post as soon as she got the chance. Chigusa knew all too well that frustrating Devil was the key to cause her to make mistakes, but it could also mean she kills you, and there have been plenty of examples of both in past. There was always a bit of an edge to this, and you just felt like something could happen at any time. Devil was happy working submissions, and was almost insulted when Chigusa came back with a kneel kick. Chigusa baited her into a striking exchange and went to town on her with head kicks in a great sequence. Chigusa hit a piledriver and missile dropkick, and Devil had already had enough of it. She rolled outside and grabbed her bokken, similar to 1985, except she seemed more intent on using it this time. She was deterred when Chigusa grabbed a chair to defend herself, and they ended up handing their weapons off. They restarted, and Devil won a headbutt contest and took over, wearing Chigusa down and even hitting a flynig knee attack from the top rope. She was too methodical though, and Chigusa exploded back with a German suplex. Devil kept coming, but Chigusa was faster and able to take more control. She couldn't defeat Devil. Chigusa went up top and Devil Electric Chair dropped her, then did the unthinkable, she actually hit the diving rolling senton, but that didn't work. The time was running out, and they scrambled for pins, but neither were able to, and time ran out. Another excellent match from these two, with Devil doing a great job of displaying her frustrations throughout, and Chigusa being happy to add fuel to the fire. Ultimately, she kept her emotions under control and got a draw. After getting clobbered in a one-sided finish in her last big match against Yukari Omori, this was probably more of a win for Devil than Chigusa, though Chigusa still hadn't beaten her. She'd have to wait until the Japan Grand Prix in April to get another chance. ****

1/9/87 2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Title Match: Dump Matsumoto & Bull Nakano vs. Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno 14:21, 8:02, 9:22.
PA: The initial phase of the match was promising, especially with Bull's involvement. The wrestling between Bull and the JB Angels was good, but when Dump came in, she dominated and didn't do much. This was a slow fall until the end, longer than it needed to be. She ended up introducing a chain and getting annoyed at her own referee, tossing Shiro Abe around. Later, she took a shinai to both opponents, which allowed Bull to take advantage and pin Tateno with a German Suplex. The second fall was way better and far more interesting, with JB Angels strategically targeting Dump's knee. Despite their struggles, they managed to inflict offense on Dump. While she was temporarily down, the JB Angels frantically attacked her, uncertain of their next move. Dump came back with a superplex on Tateno, but she persisted. They focused on submissions targeting Dump's leg, with Bull attempting to intervene and save. Eventually, Bull tagged in and immediately got pinned with a German Suplex. That was pretty funny. Dump could have taken that defeat. JB Angels relentlessly attempted to defeat Bull again while Dump was incapacitated. It wasn't too long before she limped into the ring with a shinai and started attacking both opponents. Chaos ensued, with Bull using the nunchakus and Condor assisting. Yamazaki nearly pinned Bull with a sunset flip while Dump was busy with Tateno. Tateno tried choking Dump with a towel, but it proved futile. She got further with her athletic spots, but not far enough. Yamazaki had the right idea of targeting Dump's leg again, but they couldn't overcome her. Tateno got another 200 IQ idea to slap Dump. She did it repeatedly, but that only caused Dump to retaliate with two savage looking slaps of her own. Yamazaki attempted near falls, but Shiro was slow on the count. Dump executed a big slam from the middle rope, only receiving a two count after Tateno kicked Shiro. Then she'd had enough of wrestling, and nailed Yamazaki and Tateno with a trash can. She went after Yamazaki with a shinai, with Yamazaki narrowly avoiding the blows. Yamazaki managed a great near fall, kicking Bull off the apron and scoring a sunset flip on Dump out of the corner, but no one bought it. Then the stupid finish happened where Dump just smothered Yamazaki and pinned her while she was in the ropes, getting a three count from the crooked referee. Commissioner Ueda wasn't having any of this nonsense, and vacated the tag team belts. Post-match bedlam saw Jimmy Kayama and plenty of others attacked by Dump, Shiro attacked by Yamazaki, and general chaos. Mixed bag of a match that would have been significantly better if 10 minutes were lopped off the first fall. The last two were fantastic, even if the finish sucked. ***1/2

1/31/87 Tag Team Elimination Match: Mika Suzuki, Yumiko Hotta, Hisako Uno & Chigusa Nagayo vs. Drill Nakamae, Condor Saito, Bull Nakano & Pantera Surena 18:42.
PA: All action match with the eliminations in roughly the order you'd expect them. Everyone worked hard when they were in, and they were constantly switching in and out. Surena and Chigusa had a really good exchange early. I'd have actually liked to see Surena in the match for longer, but she made the most of the minute or so she had. The main highlight of the match was the Bull vs. Chigusa exchanges. It was just really good action all the way through though. Bull and Chigusa carried it through the end, being the final two, and they had a better one on one match here than they've ever had in singles, with the two trying to win with anything they could do. Chigusa couldn't win with a superplex, so she kept trying to hold the shoulders down, but Bull powered her way to the ropes. They exchanged flash pins, but Chigusa pulled out a German suplex to win. This was really good. ***3/4

2/26/87 WWWA World Single Title Next Challenge Decision Match: Lioness Asuka vs. Chigusa Nagayo 30:00 + 5:00.
PA: This was the best Crush Gals fight. Frantic first 30 seconds saw Lioness throwing kicks and Chigusa firing back only to get dumped outside. That pretty much set the tone. A more tentative restart saw the two trying to find advantages. Lioness would take the initiative, but Chigusa would worm her way into positions of strength. They were always trying new things on the mat, but never gaining much ground. Lioness took the initiative and unleashed a barrage of kicks on Chigusa. Chigusa kept thwarting Lioness on the mat, but Lioness was tenaciously grabbing holds. Chigusa managed to shoot in on a restart and get Lioness in a crab. She was already looking tired, while Lioness looked fresh, so this bought her some time to recover, if nothing else. Lioness eventually broke out of a bow and arrow, and then Chigusa burst on her own kicks. The mat battle continued to intrigue. Lioness went after Chigusa's knee, but she made it outside. Chigusa came back looking for a sharpshooter, which Lioness blocked, so she fell backwards to a leglock. The moves they wanted to hit were getting blocked, so they'd have to settle for something else less effective but still something. Lioness hammered Chigusa with kicks again, and avoided Chigusa's enzuigiri. A second attempted was blocked with her hand. Another intense kicking battle led to the two trying German Suplexes again, but still not being able to hit them. Lioness went for broke with a tope, and they fought outside. 20 minutes in, it looked like they were working to the finish, but unable to put Lioness away, Chigusa had to go back to the mat to wear her down more. They continued going for spots. Chigusa was able to hit a German Suplex, but only for a two count. A tombstone got the same result, so she went up top, and delivered a leg lariat. Lioness came back with a German Suplex, and referee Jimmy Kayama got a little excited, counting before Lioness even had her pinned, as she went for a regular pin rather than the traditional bridge, knowing she needed to cover Chigusa's shoulders. Lioness stayed on her until Chigusa initiated a brief slapping battle and immediately shot in to apply her sharpshooter. They were hitting bigger spots now. Chigusa hit a superplex for a near fall, and Lioness came back with the Giant Swing and a missile dropkick. They exchanged suplexes among other moves and flash pins, trying to finish, but the time defeated them. Commissioner Ueda gave them 5 more minutes. They just kept going for broke looking to win. They struggled well, but it was almost too back and forth. The one really good near fall came from Lioness's Giant Swing, and after that there was no doubt that they were drawing again. This match solved nothing about who was facing Omori in April, so Ueda asked the fans who won, and the schoolgirls correctly gave it to Lioness, who was more dominant throughout the match, so that set up Lioness vs. Omori in April. None of the other Crush battles even came close to what they did here. This was an all-time classic. They did what they always do, had an even fight, they just did it way better here, struggling for the moves they could hit, escalating into bigger spots later, and always pressing for a win. ****3/4

4/15/87 WWWA World Tag Title Decision Match: Judy Martin & Leilani Kai vs. Yumiko Hotta & Hisako Uno 11:00, 5:27, 4:03.
PA: This was Uno and Hotta's first major title victory, though it wouldn't last long. Kai was forming her Glamour Girls tag team with Judy, and came back to Japan to drop the All Pacific Title and secure a tag team for the U.S. run (which ended up being the JB Angels). They worked a basic and logical match. Very southern style. The start was mainly just Uno's leg getting worked over, and it was fine. They worked in a couple of funny spots. Kai wasn't adding anything of any interest, but Judy shone here. She was actually good throughout the entire match, as was Uno. After the comeback, Hotta unleashed a series of kicks on Kai, and then tried something like a rolling senton, but ended up diving headfirst into the mat. That led to some heel double teaming, and Judy won the fall with a powerbomb. Martin got overaggressive and almost got pinned, but they ended up back to the basic work they were doing before. Uno made a comeback, hitting her energetic dropkicks and kicked Kai out of the ring. She seemed to be setting up for a tope, but there wasn't enough room, so she leaped to the top turnbuckle and did the dive from there, crashing down on Kai's arm, and taking her out of the match. So, now Judy had to go alone. Judy fired up pretty well, and started taking them both on alone. Then Dump Matsumoto jumped into the ring, and it sent the crowd into a complete frenzy and saved the whole match. She had the scissors and busted Hotta open, tried to cut her while Judy went to town on Uno with a chair. Dump mostly left Judy to deal with the kids alone from there, but continued to help from the outside. Uno made her big dropkick flurry comeback on Judy, and hit a German Suplex, but it didn't finish the job. Hotta came in all fired up and finished with her own German Suplex. This was better than expected. I have no idea if Kai's injury was legit or not. I assume it was, but it worked out well for the match. Martin and the two youngsters did a good job, and there was welcome Dump carnage thrown in at the end. ***

4/15/87 Japan Grand Prix '87 League Match: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Devil Masami 19:10.
PA: Chigusa's game plan from the January 9 match continued here. This time she did shake Devil's hand to start, but then jumped her while she was walking back to the corner to start, angering Devil. She threw in a slap as well. The plan backfired early, and only fired up Devil, who gave her a beating on the outside, and then got nasty in the ring, kneeing her viciously in the face and wrenching back on a chinlock. Devil couldn't dominate like she wanted to. It was always a struggle with Chigusa occasionally taking, but it was mostly all Devil here. Everything she was doing had that heel edge and stiffness to it. Chigusa came back because Devil wanted to strike with her, but Chigusa was too smart, grabbing her and taking over for a while. Devil ended up slaughtering her with a pair of powerbombs, seemingly urged on by the crowd chanting for Chigusa. Devil hit a backbreaker and a legdrop before being dumped outside by Chigusa. It gave Chigusa a break, and she pounced with a pair of German Suplexes when Devil returned. Chigusa started giving Devil some of her punishment back in the form of kicks and stomps, then a piledriver on a chair. Chigusa put Devil on the top turnbuckle, but Devil fought her off and then grabbed her bokken. After teasing it in their previous two matches, this time she actually used it, coming off the top rope and nailing her in the head with it. She wound up to hit her again, but Chigusa moved, and she smashed it on the guard rail. Devil ended up wearing Chigusa out with it, and then beating up the referee, and the match was thrown out. Chigusa and Devil kept fighting after Chigusa got a chair to defend herself. The finish might seem like a cop out, but it was the finish they'd been building to for two matches. Devil's demeanour was perfect throughout, she was one step from going over the edge all match, and it's really what made the match work. Chigusa had a game plan, and it worked this time. Maybe not in the way she wanted, but she finally got her victory over Devil, as she was awarded the match by disqualification. ***3/4

4/15/87 WWWA World Single Title Match: Lioness Asuka vs. Yukari Omori 22:23.
PA: Lioness aimed to leverage her speed for advantages against the formidable Omori, but Omori would simply shrug her off, and wouldn't let her get anywhere. Lioness had to adapt, slowing down the pace and resorting to a chinlock to gain control. Her speed did come to her advantage to counter an attempted Avalanche, turning the tables. Omori was subtly heeling throughout the match, demanding Lioness get right back before she'd re-enter the ring. When she got in, Lioness went after her with kicks, but they didn't have any effect. They engaged in a slap exchange, and stared each other down with nothing but fire in their eyes. This was wonderfully intense stuff, Omori appeared to have as much disdain for Lioness as Devil did for Chigusa. Omori again asserted her dominance with a pair of flapjacks, and the heeling was less subtle when she stomped and grinding Lioness's face in the ropes. Lioness was persistent, but Omori was overwhelming her. They had another great little exchange where Lioness nailed her with a chop, Omori fired back with hers, but Lioness nipped up and took her down for a sharpshooter. Lioness went in for the kill with a diving lariat and a piledriver, attempting to pin Omori multiple times. She couldn't maintain control though, and Omori hit an Atomic Drop and an Avalanche. Lioness worked an injured back from that, selling as if she was seriously injured while Omori nonchalantly took a drink. The crowd willed Lioness back into it, but she didn't have much hope against Omori before the injury. Omori didn't care about any of that, she went straight for the bad back, and all Lioness could do was hang on. It had worked so well that Lioness surviving a Romero Special felt like a huge deal. Lioness made an attempt at a comeback after, taking her down for a Giant Swing, but she couldn't get close to executing it, and collapsed trying. Omori smirked and added insult to injury by doing a giant swing of her own. She didn't do it well, but that made it even more insulting. Lioness managed to mount a comeback, hitting a German Suplex, a Piledriver, a missile dropkick and a Giant Swing followed. The earlier comeback tease was tremendous, but I'd question the proper comeback kicking off with a German Suplex and a Piledriver barely a minute after the melodramatic giant swing collapse. If she'd built up to using her back, it would have worked much better. After that comeback was done with, Omori went back on the offensive, slaughtering Lioness with chops, but missing a diving elbow. She bailed out, and Lioness missed a tope, leading to Omori nailing her with a chop off the apron. Big Kesagiri chop from the top rope finished Lioness off, and Omori won with a piledriver. Omori was a real force in this match. She was amazing, and had a real badass aura about her. Lioness was great too. It was the best she ever sold in any match I can remember. This was a really excellent match, it started out hot, and remained that way with so many little great moments throughout. ****1/2

4/27/87, 2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Team Title Match: Hisako Uno & Yumiko Hotta vs. Kazue Nagahori & Yumi Ogura 10:06, 6:17, 3:05.
PA: I don't know where to start with this one, as there is a lot going on here. This is the infamous match where Hisako Uno takes a tombstone piledriver from the second rope from Yumi Ogura, and works through a legitimately broken neck. Akira Hokuto (still Hisako Uno here) is known for being one of the best workers ever (male or female), one of the toughest (this match went a long way to cementing that legacy), and also one of the most reckless. If she wasn't injuring herself, she was injuring her opponent, so it's ironic that her career was temporarily ended through no fault of her own. Yumi Ogura, who was a good worker, particularly with Nagahori by this point, seemed to lose her confidence and motivation after this, and could never be described as ‘good' again. In some ways, it was a breakthrough match for Yumiko Hotta, who had been pushed hard as a junior, but aside from sharing a vague resemblance to Chigusa Nagayo, had done nothing whatsoever to warrant it. The first fall is good, with the Red Typhoons being the more skilled of the two teams. Uno's explosions make up for it, though generally not for long, with Hotta, who is the biggest of the four, actually being more capable of holding her own for longer periods. By the end of the fall, Ogura immediately blunted Uno, leading to the tombstone spot that put the Typhoons up 1-0. The break between falls was abnormally long, and more uncomfortable than watching Uno take another piledriver later in the match, was watching referee Bob Yazawa pulling on Uno's neck between falls, as she was insisting it was just ‘jammed'. The second fall started with Uno wisely tagging out to Hotta. Hotta was out for revenge, and immediately took over and slaughtered Nagahori with kicks until she had to bail from the ring (Hotta was on the warpath and believed she had to defend herself, legitimately kicking as hard as she could). Ogura's turn came next, and she got it worse, with Hotta knocking her silly with head kicks and knocking a tooth out. Bull Nakano told a funny story that all the girls at ringside were hunting for the missing tooth and laughing that the Matsunaga's would have to pay the dentist bill, though it wasn't established if the tooth was actually recovered or not. The match had a high level of intensity in general, especially this passage which made Hotta come across like a real badass, but the match had broken down, and it was off the rails. Ogura was out of it, so they had to take another break, and then Uno tagged in to get her own shots in. Ogura was able to tag out, and Nagahori took over, leading to another piledriver on Uno. A missed diving senton from Ogura allowed Uno to tag Hotta again, and Hotta was able to even things up to 1-1 with a sloppy throw from the top rope. In the third fall, Hotta tried to kick Nagahori's head off again, since that had worked well in the second fall, but Nagahori was able to duck this time and score her spinning kicks to put Hotta down. Hotta kept trying to come back, but Nagahori kept knocking her down, leading to the Red Typhoons winning the tag belts, ending Uno and Hotta's reign after only 12 days. Uno ultimately wasn't in as much as I remembered, but the whole time she's in you're just cringing at everything that happens (especially that second piledriver). This was an extremely intense, dramatic and gripping match, but the reasons for why that was the case should never have happened. Paradoxically, it could be described as both excellent and awful for that reason. ****

4/27/87: Dump Matsumoto, Condor Saito & Judy Martin vs. Lioness Asuka, Yukari Omori & Mika Suzuki 14:13.
PA: This was a ridiculous Dump with scissors match, which was played out by this point, but the crowd always reacted to it, and it was highly entertaining. She was after everyone whether or not they were even in the match. She attacked Lioness to get the girls screaming, and then she went after poor Mika Suzuki, getting a piece of her hair. She went after Tateno later, who wasn't even in the match, and Omori. It did settle down for a while, allowing a wrestling match to break out. Lioness gave Dump a sunset flip and a Giant Swing before Dump once again decided wrestling wasn't for her. When Omori tagged in, Dump went after her with the scissors again while she was being choked from outside. Then she went for Lioness, and the tease was actually brilliant. They milked it for a long time, with Lioness using her strength to keep the scissors up (like their version of Tully trying to drive the spike into Magnum's eye at Starrcade '85). They got done with that tease, and some girl I didn't recognize (I think it was Sayuri Nakajima) got her hair cut, and so did Tateno and Suzuki again. She even got some of Lioness's. It almost settled down again until Omori had Condor beat with an Avalanche, and Dump came in again, this time with a trash can, which sent the match into another breakdown. Everyone hit moves on Condor, but Lioness accidentally nailed Suzuki with a diving lariat, and Dump finished her off with a powerbomb. More chaos ensued after the match. ***

4/27/87 All Pacific Title Match: Leilani Kai vs. Chigusa Nagayo 15:54.
PA: This was the match I wanted them to do in 1986. Chigusa showed her intent from the start. Kai was looking to take it the mat, while Chigusa wanted to kick her head off. When they were on the mat they struggled more rather than just sitting around in holds like they did in the first match, and it was more competitive with faster momentum switches. Chigusa was coming out ahead, so Judy Martin gave her a can, and she slugged away at Chigusa with it. Chigusa bled and Kai stomped and hammered at the cut. After a missile dropkick, Chigusa made her big comeback, kicking Kai in the head until she bailed out. When Kai returned, she was bleeding as well, and Chigusa was straight back to the head kicks. Kai fired up and hammered at Chigusa, who was too fired up herself, and walked her down. Chigusa decked her in response, and killed her with big moves, putting her away. In their first match, they tried to do too much and produce something, dare I say, epic, and the result was a disappointment. This time they had the right length, and it was a more simple match that worked to their strengths. The blood helped, but everything about this match was better. Chigusa was great here, and Kai was much improved. Her nasty and vicious streak was on show this time as well, which was missing from the first match. ***3/4

5/10/87 Japan Grand Prix '87 League Match: Yumiko Hotta vs. Chigusa Nagayo 12:07.
PA: Off the back of savaging the Red Typhoons with kicks and knocking out Ogura's teeth, Hotta was just as a reckless in this match, except now it was against the league's main draw. The matwork was good enough, but the standup kicking battles were the highlight. Their first strike exchange saw Chigusa throwing fast, stiff, controlled kicks to Hotta's leg, so Hotta retaliated with her unrefined, heavy, stiff ones. She had no control, and caught Chigusa in the face and put her down. After working her way out of some legwork from Chigusa, Hotta once again threw kicks while Chigusa on her knees, and once again gave her a stiff kick to the face. It came to a head later in the match. Chigusa wore some kicks, and then Hotta grazed her in the head again, and now Chigusa wasn't going to suffer this fool for any longer. Hotta kicked her in the head again, which looked like it hurt, but Chigusa was determined not to react, then Hotta threw slaps, so Chigusa retaliated with three of her own, and put Hotta on her ass. Chigusa looked to wear her out on the mat, eventually putting her down with a flying leg lariat. I don't know how good this was, but it was interesting, and certainly falls into the category of entertaining train wreck. I'd assume Hotta was told off because the next time we saw her on 5/22 (teaming with Chigusa against the Red Typhoons), she was very light with her kicks or missing them entirely. ***

6/13/87 Japan Grand Prix '87 League Match: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Lioness Asuka 16:26.
PA: The other Crush Gals fight in 1987. There were two differences between this match and every other match these two had in the previous two years. 1; The crowd was so dead they might as well have been wrestling in a cemetery. I know it's hot in Okinawa, but not a hot place to run a wrestling show. 2; The other was that after 111 minutes and 26 seconds, we had a result in a Crush Gals fight. This was a really good match, but it was on the low end of Crush Gals matches, part of that was certainly the lack of atmosphere. They got off to a frantic start before settling into their usual matwork, which at times felt more like it was killing time than working towards any advantages, but when they were going for their kicks or trying to hit their spots it was really good. Lioness gave Chigusa the usual thunderous kicking. Their final portion was fantastic though, after another kicking from Lioness, Chigusa reversed a tombstone and missed a diving knee. Lioness hit the Giant Swing, but Chigusa was too close to the ropes. After hitting a piledriver, Lioness missed a dive of her own, and Chigusa gave her a hideous giant swing of her own, which you could say cost her the match. She went up for a dive, but Lioness met her up there and did a backdrop suplex. Lioness missed another dive, but recovered to finish with a Fisherman's Backdrop. ***1/2

6/28/87 Japan Grand Prix '87 Final: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Dump Matsumoto 11:41.
PA: Chigusa went straight through to the finals here, while Dump had to wrestle Yumiko Hotta to advance just before this match. This was the final singles match these two ever had together, and it's the most bizarre. The reason it's the most bizarre is because it's a straight up wrestling match with no shenanigans, it's also bizarre because it's actually good. Dump had her working boots on, and Chigusa made her work, so it didn't meander along with Dump sitting around in holds. At the start, Dump tossed the shinai away and shook hands. Dump didn't suddenly become Jaguar Yokota for this match, her bumping wasn't much better. She wasn't particularly good, but her wrestling was competent. She wasn't doing anything super complicated (the most complicated spot she did was probably a Romero Special), but she could execute everything she tried just fine, even if some things looked weak. Chigusa was as good as she always was, and led her well. Dump did a couple of a signature Crush strikes and the two dropkicked each other at the same time, which took them into the finishing run, which saw them trying to finish each other off exchanging spots for really good near falls. Chigusa hit a missile dropkick and went up again and did a diving body press. Third time wasn't a charm as Dump brought her down with a suplex. Chigusa avoided a splash and tried a figure four, but Dump kicked her off. She tried a head kick, but Dump evaded. She tried a roll up, and that got the three count. Dump even shook her hand after the match. Novelty might be part of the appeal of this match, but it's genuinely a good wrestling match. ***

9/14/87 Tag League The Best '87: Lioness Asuka & Chigusa Nagayo vs. Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno 16:34.
PA: Crush Gals and JB Angels clashed with both teams at the peak of their abilities. The synergy between Lioness and Chigusa as a tag team in 1987 was the best it ever was. The same was true for the JB Angels, but more than that, Tateno was once again motivated, after losing interest in 1986. The passionate schoolgirl fans were out in full force supporting their Crush Gals, with more pom poms than I'd seen before, and the match had that special atmosphere. Lioness worked over Tateno briefly, but she avoided a sandwich lariat, and then it was the JB Angels turn, hitting tandem dropkicks. Chigusa got worked over, and when she'd try to take over, the JB Angels would just switch and take back over. The early comeback didn't last long, and when they got Chigusa in the ring again, they targeted her leg. Yamazaki started it, but the schoolgirls lost their minds when Tateno was doing jumping attacks on it, and Chigusa was selling it well. Chigusa was able to tag out after Tateno hit a cradle suplex, but she caught Lioness immediately with two knee attacks, culminating in an elevated missile dropkick. Yamazaki went for Lioness's leg, but she fought out and hit an enzuigiri, but only to Yamazaki's arm. Chigusa hit a German Suplex on Tateno, but Tateno retaliated with her own, which had the crowd worried, following up with a double arm suplex. They did a Hart Attack, and Yamazaki hit her flying crosschop and dropkicks. Chigusa was in big trouble and quickly got behind Yamazaki. She couldn't do anything, but it halted Yamazaki, and allowed her to get the tag. Lioness flew in with a lariat, and hit her Giant Swing. Yamazaki wouldn't stay down and got the tag. Now it was Chigusa's turn to go in for the kill on Tateno with suplexes. The match seemed to be going to same path as the 1986 match, with the Crush Gals on a role, looking like they were going to eat the JB Angels alive and they knew it with their cockiness slowly beginning to show. Tateno wouldn't stay down though. Chigusa opted for a sharpshooter, intentionally close to the corner, which allowed Tateno to make the ropes, but Lioness took over. Lioness was more interested in Yamazaki, and dragged her into the ring. She avoided Yamazaki's flying body attack, but the JB Angels cleverly switched, with Tateno scoring a roll up as she was coming through the bottom rope, but it only got two. It was to no avail, and the Crush Gals continued their run, hitting an elevate lariat. They went for another sandwich, but Tateno avoided it, causing them to take each other out. The JB Angels swiftly capitalized on that, going up top and taking both out with missile dropkicks, and then both hitting flying headbutts on Chigusa and securing the pinfall before Lioness could make it back in to break it up. This was all action and constantly exciting. It was a great match in just about any way you want to look at it, the offense, execution, match structure, the little touches like the repeated pin attempts and the crowd reactions. The finish was great as well, the Crush Gals displaying more cockiness as their assault continued, bordering on arrogance, and as soon as the mistake was made, the JB Angels pounced and won. And this was the best women's tag team match of the 1980s. *****

9/24/87 Tag League The Best '87: Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno vs. Kazue Nagahori & Yumi Ogura 8:41.
PA: The JB Angels were on fire here, aside from those swimsuits with the American flag on them. Ogura was never the same after the 4/27/87 match. Her confidence was completely gone and her fire with it. At the start here, she screwed up a leap over Yamazaki, but she held it together for the rest of the match. This was a JB Angels clinic, and although it wasn't a squash, they overwhelmed the Red Typhoons. It was fun to see them dominate a team. It was the basic matwork with spots interspersed with the Red Typhoons attempting to comeback, but not getting much in. Ogura did make a comeback on Yamazaki. They got her down, but she tagged Tateno. Tateno was completely fired up. Nagahori slammed her, and she did the old Jaguar bridge up and ran through all of her spots with twice the speed and intensity that she normally does. Yamazaki kept it going on Nagahori, but when Tateno came back, Nagahori backed her into the corner and tagged. Now Ogura got to have a run on Tateno, and the Typhoons got their double team spots in. When it broke down, Nagahori got kicked out of the ring and the JB Angels hit Ogura with a double missile dropkick to end things. This was short, but it was good. ***1/4

9/24/87 Tag League The Best '87: Lioness Asuka & Chigusa Nagayo vs. Devil Masami & Yukari Omori 12:13.
PA: They didn't attempt to do anything too interesting here. It was a fairly simple, well worked match with plenty of action. Lots of matwork early, building into their spots. Omori as the champion, and Devil as the senior felt like it was their right to dominate, and really laid into Chigusa. At one point, Omori almost took her head off with a lariat, and they crushed her with top rope double teams. Lioness tagged in, so Omori hoisted her up immediately and Avalanched her. Lioness made the comeback, and then it was the Crush Gals turn, trying to put away Devil. She hung on, and similiarly to the Lioness tag, once Omori came in, Lioness was all over her. Omori and Devil wised up and whipped them into each other, and then Devil took Chigusa out with a powerbomb, while Omori atomic dropped Lioness. Stereo Romero Specials followed, and then Devil Jumbo suplexed Lioness onto Chigusa. The Crush Gals came back again, and Lioness got the Giant Swing in, but then they all fought outside. They were never beating anyone properly in this match, so Devil and Lioness fought on the apron, and Lioness landed a kick and vaulted inside to get the count out win. By count out standards, that was a decent finish. This was a good and enjoyable tag team match, but only makes me wonder how good a fully fleshed out tag match between these two teams could have been. ***1/4

10/11/87 2/3 Falls, Tag League The Best '87 Final: Lioness Asuka & Chigusa Nagayo vs. Bull Nakano & Condor Saito 0:05, 0:33, 14:21.
PA: These teams had a good match in the league on 8/20/87, which was won by the Crush Gals, but this match was way better. Crush Gals had yet to win the tag league, having lost to Devil Masami and Jaguar Yokota in 1984 and Dump Matsumoto and Bull Nakano 1985. Chigusa did win in 1986, but that was with Yumiko Hotta. The start of this was a classic, just like 1986 it was a quick one. Bull slapped Lioness in the face, and German Suplexed her to take the first fall. Bull and Condor dragged Lioness back to try to finish her off, but Chigusa intervened, and they hit Sandwich lariats on both with Chigusa pinning Condor after another lariat. That was certainly an eventful start, so it was effectively a one fall match now. Bull and Condor beat up referee Jimmy Kayama, and he had to get taken to the back, leading to controversy. I assume Bull and Condor wanted Shiro Abe, but they didn't get him and Bob Yazawa took over. Bull was competitive and fired up, having great exchanges with Lioness. The heels were younger and outmatched, but used illegal interference and underhanded tactics got them advantages. Condor was bandaged up like a mummy, and spent most of the match getting worked over. Crush Gals did whatever they wanted to her, hitting a long run of moves on her until Bull ran in with nunchakus. Bull ended up getting worked over, and Condor tried to intervene, but Chigusa just threw her down like garbage and got back on top of Bull. The heels did make a comeback leading to Bull getting a really good near fall on Lioness with a guillotine legdrop. Condor took out Bull accidentally soon after, and the Crush Gals did a memorable finish hitting stereo moonsaults on both Bull and Condor to win the tag league, which would make this the very use of the moonsault in the league (at least in a televised match). The Crush Gals were so good at this point they would have had an excellent match with anyone. Condor didn't look she belonged there, but with how banged up she was I doubt she could have done a lot anyway. Bull looked like she belonged though, and was really good. ****

10/20/87 2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Title Match: Yumi Ogura & Kazue Nagahori vs. Bull Nakano & Condor Saito 4:38, 1:30, 7:04.
PA: I watched the Zenjo Classic version of this match, which showed a lot more of the first and third fall, but less of the second fall than the Fuji TV version (which showed over 3 minutes of it). This was a good action packed match. Condor looked better here than in the tag league finals aside from the odd poorly executed move. She always seemed to work the best with the Red Typhoons. The first fall went to the Red Typhoons with Ogura hitting a body press while Nagahori held Condor in a brainbuster position. Bull ran through Nagahori with bicycle kicks. Bull and Ogura scrambled on the mat, and Bull got a pin to level it. The third fall was really good, with both teams going for broke, hitting all their big moves. After Ogura missed a senton, Bull hit a plancha to the outside, and all hell broke loose. The Red Typhoons hit stereo piledrivers and went up top, but Bull and Condor missed their dives, then finished with their own stereo piledrivers and stereo German suplexes. Dump came in the ring to congratulate her proteges, and actually cried with them. ***1/2

10/20/87 WWWA World Single & All Pacific Double Title Match: Yukari Omori vs. Chigusa Nagayo 18:14.
PA: After Lioness had failed earlier in the year, now it was Chigusa's shot at Omori. In their last major match in the Japan Grand Prix '86, Omori had won, leading to her winning the WWWA World Single Title. Chigusa followed suit in this match to become a double champion. Like Lioness earlier in the year, Chigusa attempted to gain a quick advantage at the beginning of the match, but Omori wasn't having it, and clobbered her in response. Omori tried an early dive, but Chigusa avoided it, and Chigusa followed her out with a tope. It didn't accomplish much, as Omori took over in the ring, and set about chopping and working over Chigusa. Chigusa couldn't do much with Omori on top, though she broke out of a Romero Special only for Omori to almost pin her. Omori did her gutwrench, and nonchalantly dropped Chigusa, almost on her head. Chigusa mounted a comeback with a suplex and a leg lariat. She couldn't hit the piledriver, but the crowd willed her on, and she got it. Chigusa's run continued with a German Suplex and a sharpshooter. Omori made the ropes once, and emphatically broke out of the second attempt. Omori, now visibly damaged, but fired up and pissed off, retaliated with a chop and an Avalanche. A Kesagiri chop from the top, a move that had spelled the end for most, didn't keep Chigusa down. Desperation set in, as Chigusa went for a leg lariat off the ropes, but Omori skillfully blocked it with her arm, and countered with a devastating lariat. Outside the ring, Omori took a moment to drink water, only to spit it all over Chigusa. Chigusa came up bleeding from the chop, and Omori turned into a demon, clawing at the cut, and nailing her with chops and headbutts. She whipped Chigusa into the corner, and gave her just enough room to try a high kick. Chigusa caught her with the high kick. Omori's slight mistake let Chigusa in, and Chigusa capitalized, throwing repeated kicks. She had Omori rocked and vulnerable, and hit a German Suplex. Omori had one last surge and fired up, hitting a chop and a double arm piledriver. She went up top again, but Chigusa kicked her off and landed the decisive moonsault. Another incredible Omori title match. This was the best of them. She was calm, cool and collected when things were going well, but when the time came, she vicious and nasty here. Chigusa gave the classic babyface performance. At the end of the day, it came to the kicks vs. the chops, and the kicks won today because of her will to win. Classic title match. That wasn't all though, there was a post-match too. Chigusa did an angle with Shinobu Kandori to set up a match between them (Kandori was a freelancer, so JWP had no involvement). This was Chigusa's idea, and Takashi Matsunaga initially said yes, but the crowd didn't care about Kandori. They didn't know who she was, much less her reputation as the dangerous shooter who ended Jackie Sato's career. And since she wasn't coming in cheap, he lost interest in the whole thing, and passed on it. It was shown on the commercial tape, but it wasn't shown on TV. ****1/2

11/24/87 WWF, WWF Women's Tag Team Title Match: Judy Martin & Leilani Kai vs. Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno 13:59.
PA: This was from the Jumping Bomb Angels U.S. expedition in the WWF. The semi-legendary Madison Square Garden match. They'd have two televised tryout matches to convince Vince that this would work. The matches were good and Vince actually liked them enough to bring them back. This is the first televised match of the proper run, and it's the best one by far. The Jumping Bomb Angels won the WWF tag team titles at the Royal Rumble '88 in a more famous match than this one. That match is more notable for the moment, and Vince not having a clue what their names were on commentary. The match itself was decent, but disappointing because it was sloppy and slow paced (I rated it **1/2, and the other arena matches from 1988 were around the same level). The run was supposed to go through the WrestleMania V in 1989 where the Jumping Bomb Angels would drop the belts back to the Glamour Girls, ending the run, but the run was cut short when Fabulous Moolah sabotaged it over money disagreements (she wasn't happy she wasn't getting her booking fee from the Glamour Girls). The teams met in Japan on 6/8/88 in a match for the tag belts at the All Japan Women's event, and Moolah had convinced everyone that Vince wanted the belts to change hands, so they switch the belts back to the Glamour Girls, and Vince scrapped the whole thing. MSG initially showed lukewarm enthusiasm heading into this match, but it took a mere 30 seconds for Yamazaki to captivate them, resulting in a great atmosphere that persisted throughout the entire bout. Yamazaki was off to a lightning fast start, flipping through Kai, hitting a dropkick, a flying crosschop, and another dropkick. Tateno kept it going with Martin, hitting her knee attacks and a slam. The Glamour Girls were hauling ass too through this part, it was only a minute, but it was a really hot minute, and MSG probably saw more in that minute than they did in any of the other matches. The Glamour Girls tried to slow it down on Tateno, but she did a Jaguar bridge, and Yamazaki followed up with a monkey flip, prompting them to retreat. Glamour Girls were able to slow it down and start the heat section, using all the illegal tactics and stomping. Yamazaki played face in peril, and would get well timed hope spots mainly relying on her sunset flips. An attempted hot tag by Yamazaki went unnoticed by the referee, and the crowd were livid. Kai put a sharpshooter on Yamazaki, and Tateno came in to break that up. The Glamour Girls tried to sandwich Yamazaki, but she moved, and made the hot tag to Tateno. Tateno came in all fired up, bringing a ton of energy into the match, as she delivered a running clothesline and dropkick to Kai. She dragged Judy in, much to the chagrin of commentator Nick Bockwinkel. She executed a flying clothesline on Judy, and then all four were in the ring trying to double teams. The Jumping Bomb Angels had the upper hand, executing a double missile dropkick that seemed destined for victory, but Judy distracted the referee. Yamazaki wasn't happy, and tried to protested, but in doing so distracted him, and Judy powerbombed Tateno with Kai getting the pin. This was an excellent American style tag team match. You could say the heat segment might have dragged a little bit, but it only served the make the crowd hotter when the hot tag finally came. The Jumping Bomb Angels were obviously the highlight, and the Glamour Girls were quick enough to keep up and allow them to really shine here. ****

12/6/87 Team League Final: Chigusa Nagayo, Yumiko Hotta, Mika Suzuki, Yachiya Hirata, Mika Takahashi & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Lioness Asuka, Mika Komatsu, Kazue Nagahori, Mitsuko Nishiwaki, Kaoru Maeda & Sachiko Nakamura 15:46 of 30:00.
PA: The only version of the match was captured on a potato and it's clipped (with about 6 minutes shown of the first 15). This was a 30 minute match split into two halves, there were no eliminations. This was all action, all the time with a really hot crowd. Not the most complex high spots you'll ever see, but it was urgent and fast paced to the point where it's hard to even follow. All of the action as climaxed with electric Crush Gal exchanges, and they took falls on each other. It was highly entertaining and impossible not to enjoy, though I don't know exactly how the scoring worked, I guessed it was 3 points per fall, but Lioness's team damn sure had more falls. The New Yorkers (Chgiusa's team) finished with 30 points, Astros (Lioness's team) had 33. ***1/2

1/5/88 WWWA World Single Title Match: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Yukari Omori 14:33 of 31:52.
PA: Omori was given her rematch before retiring in February. This started out hot with Omori doing a leg lariat of all things. They went for a lot of big stuff early, and wore each other out. After some matwork, Omori hit a backdrop suplex from the top rope, and Chigusa juiced after a Kesagiri chop again. Omori wanted to press on, but Chigusa caught a head kick, and roughed her up on the outside. Omori bled too. They really just beat the crap out of each other and wore each other out with their heavy shots and big moves. They sold bigger and bigger, and were slower to get up after each blow, but they kept coming at each other. Omori got her revenge on the outside, and they kept throwing shots inside. One final big collision as they both came off the ropes caused a double knock out draw. The action was really intense, and they were going hard at each other. This match may potentially have been great, but 14 minutes doesn't do it justice, and any complaints I make are probably in the 17 minutes that are missing. The classics version is even more clipped than the TV version, so this is all we've got. It's hard to be super high on it, but what they showed was still very good. ***1/2

1/7/88: Yumi Ogura & Chigusa Nagayo vs. Lioness Asuka & Mika Komatsu 9:45 of 18:53.
PA: Another case of the Fuji TV cutting their Zenjo broadcast to one hour meaning they only showed half of the main event. What they left us with was a good, all action match. The highlight was when Chigusa and Lioness would fight. Their exchanges were really good. Komatsu wasn't that impressive. There was a lot of Ogura vs. Lioness in this, and they were really good together. Toward the end, Ogura accidentally took out Chigusa but redeemed herself by thwarting a double team straight after, which led to Chigusa flash pinning Komatsu. ***

4/2/88 WWF Women's Tag Title Match: Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno vs. Yumiko Hotta & Mitsuko Nishiwaki 12:11.
PA: The classics version is the better version of this match. JB Angels return to Japan. It was fairly back and forth, with neither team having the advantage for long, and there some clever double teams from the JB Angels to keep control. The action was good throughout. It wasn't a higher end JB Angels performance, but they were good, and carried the youngsters well. Fire Jets were mostly fine, if not particularly impressive, and there were a couple of hiccups on the way, though they worked pretty well as a unit. Yamazaki and Hotta had the best exchanges because Yamazaki worked some niggle between the two. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to make their exchanges a little more interesting. They kept it clean until Yamazaki decided to rough Nishiwaki up on the outside, though it didn't amount to much. The Fire Jets took over in the ring, and looked to put her away with their big spots, with Nishiwaki ending up with a good near fall from powerbomb. Yamazaki fought out of a double team, but came back quickly, and Tateno leapt up top. The two hit missile dropkicks to both opponents. Tateno charged at Nishiwaki, but got dumped outside while Yamazaki was giving Hotta a piledriver. Nishiwaki went over to Yamazaki, but she pinned her immediately with a crucifix. As a match clearly designed to make Hotta and Nishiwaki before beating them, this worked well, and it was a good match. ***

5/15/88: Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka vs. Noriyo Tateno & Itsuki Yamazaki 15:07 of 18:19.
PA: The final encounter between the Crush Gals and the JB Angels. Lioness pounced immediately, and hit a Giant Swing on Yamazaki, then Chigusa hit a lariat. Yamazaki fought her way to a takedown on Lioness, but had to scramble to get to the ropes. Chigusa aggressively went after Yamazaki with kicks, but got dumped. Lioness was straight in, and the two slugged at each other. It seemed the Crush Gals hadn't forgotten about their tag league defeat in 1987, but their over-aggression cost them early. The match slowed down, which was more in the Crush Gals wheelhouse, but they still couldn't get anything going. When Chigusa tried to outwrestle Tateno, Tateno turned into a double arm suplex and Yamazaki targeted her arm. Chigusa almost suplexed her way out of it, but Yamazaki held onto the arm and then Tateno joined in, jumping on Chigusa's outstretched arm. JB Angels effectively prevented Chigusa from making the tag, frustrating Lioness and the fans. Tateno dove off on the arm, and dropped elbows on her aggressively while glaring at the crowd. Chigusa wanted a tag, so Tateno kicked Lioness, and dragged her back to Yamazaki. Yamazaki did her flying armdrag in, which almost always ensures a tag, but was smart enough to maintain hold of Chigusa's arm. Chigusa once again got fingertips away from making the tag, but Yamazaki pulled her away. Lioness was ready to kill them at this point. Yamazaki didn't care, and hit a double arm suplex, executing her pin attempt with a knee driven into Chigusa's shoulder. Chigusa eventually managed to make the tag to Lioness, leading to a brief moment where the Crush Gals seemed poised to dismantle them. However, the JB Angels had other plans. Yamazaki avoided Lioness's diving elbow, and Tateno bailed out. Crush Gals tried to rough them up outside, but Lioness kicked the ringpost. The JB Angels tried to keep the Crush Gals out for a count out win, with the crowd going berserk, but they weren't successful. When the Crush Gals returned, the JB Angels rammed them into each other. Lioness came back, and Chigusa entered with a flying knee. Chigusa and Yamazaki fought for each others back and exchanged German Suplexes. Yamazaki took to the air with a missile dropkick, and Chigusa came back at her with a Northern Light's suplex. Tateno entered the fray, assisting with a lariat. Lioness got the tag in, but was cut off immediately, and Tateno dove off the top with a clothesline. She wanted to slow it down and work over Lioness's knee, but they should have stuck with the faster paced stuff, as Lioness took over from that. The Crush Gals then completely shut down the JB Angels. This was brilliant. They hit their spots, and the JB Angels would switch and immediately be pounced on. Tateno managed to blind tag Yamazaki to give them a way back in, and Yamazaki snuck in for a German Suplex. Now the JB Angels were back in the game. Tateno hit a piledriver for a near fall. They hit the double diving headbutts that won them the 1987 match, but Lioness survived it. It all broke down afterwards, and Lioness managed to finish the match with a backdrop suplex on Yamazaki. Another great match between the teams. The JB Angels had more viciousness than last time, which added nicely to the match, and the extended heat section was brilliant. The Crush Gals never dominated the JB Angels this time. They got caught in the Crush Gals onslaught, but worked their own way out of it. The Crush Gals were still the stronger team, so they won in the end. ****1/2

7/14/88 JWP: Devil Masami vs. Shinobu Kandori 31:27.
PA: Zenjo put Devil Masami out to pasture at the end of 1987, so she joined up with JWP to continue her wrestling career. Since Chigusa Nagayo's push for a match with Kandori in All Japan Women was vetoed by the Matsunaga's, Devil took her idea and used it herself, except the match would be in JWP. Kandori's gameplan early was to get Devil's arm, but she never got it for long, while the veteran had counters to most everything. She would try to strike or match power with Devil, but when she found success it was by being more clever and using her superior mat skills. When Devil blocked a brainbuster, Kandori took her down and worked leg submissions. The leg submissions worked to damage Devil, so she responded by baiting Kandori into a striking war, which Kandori had no chance in. Devil regained control with a run culminating in a powerbomb. Afterwards, Kandori caught a dropkick to come back. She didn't have the upperhand for long though, as Devil kicked her way back and hit a pair of powerful backbreakers, but when they fought over a brainbuster, Kandori small packaged her for a near fall and hit a tombstone. A German Suplex followed, though it was delivered poorly. Kandori's inexperience showed again, and she got caught with a headbutt out of the corner and a big lariat. Devil went up top and tried a rolling senton, but it failed, as it does 99% of the time, as did Kandori's missile dropkick that followed. What did work for Devil was a superplex from the top rope, which the crowd bought as a big near fall. Devil hit another big lariat, and wound up for a second one, but Kandori evaded it, dumping Devil and hitting a pescado. Devil still wanted to hit something off the top rope, but Kandori wasn't letting it happen, small packaging her off the top tope. Both tried for flash pins, and Devil ended up with a jackknife pin that resulted in a double pinfall draw at around the 22:30. The match was restarted, and they were given 10 more minutes. Devil hit a cradle suplex and Kandori tried to slug with her again, but she can't win that. Devil got the Romero Special on, and kept it on a little longer via hair pulling. The electric chair got a near fall, and then Devil decided to go top again. In a spot that wasn't done particularly well because Kandori was too fast while Devil was climbing too slowly, Kandori eventually dropkicked her down and got into a wild and intense brawl on the outside for a double count out with both covered in blood. They restarted again, and both were going down to blood loss. Masami hit a lariat, but had nothing left. Kandori hit a tombstone, but it didn't get three. The match ended there as a draw. The reality of this match is that it was a veteran dragging a green junior through a long match. Kandori was good on the mat, but outside of that she was iffy. It wasn't a problem that some of her offense looked bad because Devil doesn't sell bad looking offense anyway, it had more to do with some hesitation, and getting lost at times. For the most part, she followed along well though. The match was slow, and meandered along. It was a lot longer than it needed to be, but Devil did her best to stretch the match, always having something new around the corner to keep it interesting. The bloodbath is all this match is known for, but they didn't bleed until the last minute, and the restarts felt tacked on, though it was the most exciting part of the match. ***

7/19/88 All Pacific Title Match: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Noriyo Tateno 12:52 of 18:23.
PA: Chigusa's second All Pacific Title defense of 1988, after defeating Bull Nakano on 4/2/88. The early salvos of running attacks went nowhere, so they were quickly onto the mat, and it was good and competitive, Tateno can be known to just sit around in the holds, but they worked for positions. She wasn't afraid to bend the rules, knowing Chigusa was stronger than her there, resorting to biting. Chigusa used running spots to make it easier on the mat, but when Tateno had the chance, she went in for the kill. Chigusa worked on Tateno's leg. Tateno repeatedly kicked her in the head to break a leglock, but Chigusa was stubborn and hung on. She'd upset Chigusa, who changed her game plan to get revenge with her own kicks, and hers did a lot more damage than Tateno's. Chigusa got a near fall with a leg lariat from the top rope. Tateno came back, blocking another leg lariat and hitting a two Germans. She wanted a third, but Chigusa put her in a sleeper, and Tateno made the ropes with Yamazaki pouring water on her neck to wake her up. It must have worked because Tateno countered Chigusa's German Suplex and looked to go on a burst, but Chigusa was too clever. She got the sleeper on again, and there was no escape for Tateno this time. The work here was really good even if it was quite a basic Chigusa match, and the conclusion was never really in doubt. You couldn't really buy Tateno as a threat to her. ***1/2

8/6/88: Mitsuko Nishiwaki & Yumiko Hotta vs. Noriyo Tateno & Itsuki Yamazaki 9:47 of 14:21.
PA: This was a rematch from 4/2/88. After being defeated there, the Fire Jets (or FIER JETS if we were to judge by Hotta's swimsuit) were a little more aggressive this time, starting with cheap shots to get them an advantage to start. The problem for them was that the JB Angels can do the same, and they're still more skilled. Yamazaki and Tateno had answers for the Fire Jets, but the Fire Jets found success through double teams. This went in the similar fashion to their April match, but the work was better this time, particularly from the Fire Jets. Once they got control and maintained it they worked over Yamazaki's leg. Tateno made the fired up comeback off the hot tag, but Yamazaki missed a diving headbutt after receiving the tag. Yamazaki's knee was still bad, so Nishiwaki desperately hammered her knee when she was trying to get to the corner and kept her in the ring. Hotta dropped an elbow from the top and looked to put Yamazaki away, but Tateno intervened. Tateno took over briefly, but was countered by Hotta, who turned her body attack into a slam. Fire Jets tried another double team, but Tateno thwarted it. Yamazaki got kicked off the top rope, and they all fought out resulting in a count out. ***1/4

8/25/88 2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Title Match: Yumiko Hotta & Mitsuko Nishiwaki vs. Yumi Ogura & Mika Komatsu 4:55, 3:48, 4:58.
PA: Nagahori retired in May, leaving Ogura without a partner. Nagatomo retired in 1987, leaving Komatsu without a partner. So, now we have a new tag team, and they were just in Stampede, so they called them the Calgary Typhoons. They cut straight into the match, with the Typhoons destroying the Fire Jets on the outside before the introductions. Maybe Ogura finally got mad about her teeth being knocked out by Hotta. They went after Hotta's knee in the first fall, giving it a good working over, and she did an injury angle on the outside. Nishiwaki fought on alone and fired up. Nishiwaki was out of position for one Komatsu's spots, so she just started slapping her to wake her up, but it worked too well because Nishiwaki came back. They had a good little battle, and Hotta made it back to the apron, but Nishiwaki still got pinned with a rana by Komatsu. Ogura was in quickly, and got rid of Nishiwaki with disdain because she wanted to fight Hotta. She went after the leg, but Hotta hit a desperate fallaway slam and got out of there. The rest of the fall was all action, plenty of spots and pin attempts. Komatsu tried to assist Ogura with a double team on Nishiwaki, but it backfired, leading to the Fire Jets getting the fall back. Hotta tried to end things quickly in the third fall, coming in with a bunch of suplexes. Unfortunately, none of them looked any good, and Nishiwaki came in with a diving body press. Ogura got out of a fireman's throw and took over. All of the intensity and urgency the match had seemed to evaporate after this though, with Ogura just going at 1/4 speed for some reason. Hotta made the comeback, and slowly climbed up top, but got superplexed, which gave Ogura the win. This was short (like every other TV match), but it was really good stuff until they lost the plot for some reason. Unfortunately, the second fall had some glitches in the footage, so that doesn't make it easy to watch either. ***1/4

8/25/88 WWWA World Single Title: Chigusa Nagayo vs. Lioness Asuka 24:58.
PA: This match marked Lioness's fourth challenge for the red belt, and it came about due to an unconventional rule in the Japan Grand Prix. Unlike previous years where the winner earned a title shot, this time, the victor earned the right to face Lioness for top contendership. Bull Nakano emerged as the JGP winner (with no footage of the final available), and Lioness faced and defeated her. The number of streamers thrown in the intro really has to be seen to be believed. Lioness wasted no time going for the kill, executing a moonsault within the first minute. When a Dragon Sleeper followed, Chigusa managed to scramble to safety. Despite catching a desperate enzuigiri, Lioness's momentum was only momentarily slowed. Chigusa capitalized on a break and a restart, suplexing Lioness out of a test of strength. Chigusa then controlled the mat, primarily using a sleeper, but Lioness managed to reach the ropes when the hold was applied properly. Lioness fought back, attempting suplexes and unleashing kicks in the corner. She applied her own sleeper and a wakigatame to soften Chigusa's arm. Chigusa responded with a leg lariat, a series of kicks, and a German Suplex before reverting to the sleeper. A moonsault attempt by Chigusa was avoided, leading to Lioness executing a Giant Swing and a missile dropkick. Chigusa got out of a brainbuster attempt, and went back to the sleeper. She went up again, but Lioness dragged her down and put her in a Dragon Sleeper. Chigusa made the ropes, but Lioness pulled her back into the middle. A tombstone was reversed, and Chigusa got one. Chigusa goes up again, but got kicked off the top and landed outside, seriously injuring her shoulder in the process. Chigusa tried to fight on afterward, but there was nothing she could do with one arm. She managed a kick, and tried to fight, but Lioness destroyed her. Chigusa could do certain things like kick, a crab, she even managed a German Suplex, but the match was called off because she couldn't continue. Lioness was awarded the WWWA World Single Title, the thing she'd longed for the most, but she refused to accept it because of the injury. It was slower and smarter than their previous matches, largely building around chokes. Chigusa's fight at the end with the arm injury certainly added to things. ****

10/10/88 Tag League The Best '88 Semifinal: Hisako Uno & Mika Suzuki vs. Bull Nakano & Dynamite Jack 12:55.
PA: This was Smurf Nakano with the blue facepaint on. She had taken over the role of Dump, and not with any great deal of success. I liked her approach, she had a maniacal intensity that was more edgy than Dumps, but there was only one Dump, and Bull was no replacement for her. Bull needed to be her own thing, but that didn't happen until 1990. This match was ridiculous though, and the only time she really achieved proper Dump carnage. Bull and Jack just destroyed the Marine Wolves on the outside with weapons at the start. A wrestling match broke out in the ring, and it was pretty decent, although it was all heel domination on Suzuki. Eventually, Jack put her in the corner, and Bull stabbed Suzuki in the head with scissors until she bled. Uno tried to help her, and got the same treatment. Jack stomped all over Suzuki's hands and bit at the cut. Uno decided to take matters into her owns hands, dragging Suzuki's corpse to the corner so she could tag herself in, but Jack wasn't having that, and just got rid of Uno and dragged Suzuki back in. Suzuki endured guillotine legdrops from both heels, prompting Uno to rush into the ring with a shinai to fend them off. They went for Jacks mask, and successfully unmasked her, revealing Crane Yu. The unmasking would go into the pile of unmaskings no one cared about, but it was cool within this match. It was chaos after this, but Suzuki continued to be on the receiving end of the assault. She was bleeding so much that Crane was covered in blood herself. Bull tried to choke out Uno with nunchakus while Crane teed off on Suzuki with a chain. Marine Wolves made a fired up comeback, but it was only worth one dropkick, which was no sold. The heels continued killing them after that. Uno got thrown into referee Bob Yazawa, and then the Marine Wolves used him to take a sandwich lariat from the heels. That was enough to earn the disqualification victory, as Yazawa threw the match out, and awarded it to them. 200 IQ tactic from the Marine Wolves. Dumb finish, but there was no conceivable way they could have won in any way other than a DQ. This was by no means a great match, but it was an intense and savage, and more memorable than just about anything else all year. ***1/2

12/11/88 All Japan Junior Title Decision Match: Reibun Amada vs. Manami Toyota 6:16.
PA: This was a fired up wild junior match. They laid into each other, exchanged trips, didn't want to give up anything on the mat. Toyota threw out a bunch of dropkicks before Amada could slow her down. She tried to work the leg, but Toyota wasn't going for it. She did give her a brief junior stretching, and then hit some shoulder attacks, but Toyota just floated over and went back on offense, hitting the Yamazaki flying crosschops, and followed that with a really nice diving body press. Amada avoided her next running attack, and they fought outside. Amada roughed her up, and Toyota came up a bloody mess. Toyota tried another flying body press in the ring, while Amada hit some power moves in her attempts to win. Amada hit backdrop suplex. Toyota bridged out of the pin a couple of times, but Amada eventually won with it. This was highly entertaining juniors action. ***

8/30/92 AJW: Bull Nakano & Yumiko Hotta & Suzuka Minami vs. Akira Hokuto & Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda 17:51.
ML: A mostly random midcard six woman that really overachieved because they decided to go all out, perhaps because Megumi Kudo & Combat Toyoda were in the audience, as the first interpromotional match was set up for the 9/19/92 FMW show, though Hokuto & Bull would team there. They delivered an incredibly energetic sprint that was chaos in the best possible way, with useful brawling segments that didn't hijack the whole match. The actual wrestling wasn't the best I've seen, but great effort has a way of elevating very good wrestling. Hotta even did a dive here. Shimoda was arguably the worst worker in the match (I'd say Mita), but she was fearless, and made herself fun to watch taking the veterans head on. Shimoda and Suzuki were the workhorses for their teams, but a lot of the reason this was so good is that Hokuto, Bull, and Hotta contributed a lot more than they really needed to. There was an exciting climax with a lot of saves and double teams, certainly more near finishes than you would expect from a big tag on a show focused on the Japan Grand Prix. ****1/4

12/9/92 WCW: Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs. Barry Windham & Flyin' Brian.
ML: Intense, energetic, aggressive tag that's technically a dry run for STARRCADE, but aired after. Nothing too fancy, but it's snappy and spirited roughhousing. It's mostly Douglas as the face in peril, culminating with Windham taking him out with a devastating DDT on the floor, but Steamboat is all fired up when he's in. Steamboat goes alone for a while, eventually unknowingly making the hot tag to Dustin Rhodes, who came out to check on Shane. Unfortunately, despite this being the Watts era where rules are enforced and some logic is expected, the ref actually allows it, and Jesse Ventura loses his mind. Dustin KOs Windham with the cast to add insult to injury, unfortunately shifting from this better and more serious team of Windham and Pillman to the Hollywood Blondes, as Windham fueds with Rhodes. This was a really good high effort fight until it got silly, but Ventura is so good, it was still fun just to hear him lose his cool. ***1/4

12/28/92 WCW, NWA/WCW Tag Title: Barry Windham & Flyin' Brian vs. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas 20:02.
ML: Classic southern style tag with strong, fiery performances all around. They did a better job of actually utilizing Pillman, who as a face had been the best of these four earlier in the year, than in the later matches where he's simply miscast, trading in talent for the annoyance factor. Pillman and Douglas worked a more technical style early, while most of the striking was saved for Steamboat vs. Windham. Windham actually did a heel in peril segment and Pillman took his great face bump off the apron onto the guard rail to no major purpose before Douglas became the face in peril again after a big bump off the top rope to the floor, and even a sneaky chair shot from the Steamboat couldn't solicitate the hot tag. Steamboat was only able to clean house momentarily after his hot tag, as Windham injured him with a big power slam, and Steamboat's shoulder was injured when Windham posted him. Douglas was able to go two on one momentarily when he finally made the hot tag back, but this time Steamboat helped him, and took Windham out with a high cross body where both went over the top and crashed onto the ramp. Since Douglas isn't Magnum T.A., it still felt a bit aprupt when Douglas was then able to counter into his belly to belly suplex to retain. Windham mostly carried the match, as Steamboat was largely confined to the apron. ***1/2

AAA 5/14/93 Mexico City Juan de la Barrera, WWA World Welterweight Title: Heavy Metal vs. Hijo del Santo.
DC: Fuerza Guerrera was in Heavy Metal’s corner. Eddy Guerrero was in Hijo del Santo’s corner. Metal, who was wearing an awesome Morbid Angel shirt, showed some solid lucha matwork during the early portions of the match. Metal was the aggressor, as he was constantly trying to apply a hold on Santo, who in turn showed his technical proficiency in countering holds on the mat. This process would go on and on, but it was interesting at all times because they were always moving and changing holds and positions. Metal ended up winning the first fall via la casita. In the second fall, Santo was naturally more urgent in his approach. With this added urgency, it didn’t take Santo long to score the equalizer. The third fall was a lot more back-and-forth and spectacular than the previous two falls. After Metal took a bump to the floor, Santo immediately hit a superbly-executed tope suicida. Soon after, Metal hit a plancha off the top to the floor onto Santo. Metal took a Fuerza style bump to the floor, and Santo immediately hit a plancha off the top to the floor onto Metal. Near the finish, Metal tried to go for la casita, the move he used to pin Santo in the first fall, but Santo escaped as soon as he realized Metal was trying to finish him off. Santo hit a flying headbutt and went for the cover, but Metal kicked out at two. Santo applied the camel clutch, but Fuerza kicked Santo while the referee wasn’t looking, enabling Metal to apply a camel clutch of his own. Eddy complained to the ref, and even shoved the referee to the mat, but this all didn’t help as the referee awarded the match to Metal. A sneaky rudo victory, but such an enjoyable and well-worked match overall. Excellent match. ****

AAA 5/28/93 Queretaro Estadio Corregidora, National & WWA World Welterweight Title: Heavy Metal vs. Hijo del Santo.
DC: This time both of Heavy Metal’s titles were on the line. Just like in their match two weeks prior, the first fall mostly took place on the mat, as they applied and countered holds. This time, Hijo del Santo won the first fall via submission. Metal won the short second fall via a moonsault. At some point in the third fall, Metal hit a tope suicida. Soon after, Santo hit a tope suicida of his own. Santo went for the camel clutch, but Metal tried to resist and escape the hold with all his power. Metal was successful in avoiding the camel clutch. Metal went for la casita, but Santo saw it coming and avoided it. Santo once again tried to go for the camel clutch, but Metal was once again successful in avoiding it. Santo hit a flying headbutt. Metal slipped off the top rope when he tried to go for a flying headbutt of his own. Santo applied the Romero special, but as he tried to position Metal’s shoulders behind him on the mat, his own shoulders were also on the mat, resulting in a double pin. This was a very good match, but it basically was a less exciting version of their previous match. ***½    

AAA 8/13/93 Tonala Auditorio Rio Nilo, WWA World Welterweight Title: Heavy Metal vs. Hijo del Santo.
DC: This feud has been quite enjoyable so far. This was a really well-worked match with a lot of references to their previous matches and even references to previous falls within this match. Just like in their previous matches, the first fall took mostly place on the mat. Towards the end of the first fall, Santo hit a tope suicida. They teased a double countout, but they made it back in the ring on time. Santo applied the Romero special, which led to him winning the first fall via submission. Just like in the previous match, Metal won the relatively short second fall after hitting a moonsault. In the third fall, Santo immediately showed his determination by hitting a torpedo-esque tope suicida. Just like in the first fall, they teased a double countout, but they made it back in the ring on time. Metal hit a spin kick that sent Santo to the floor, and Metal immediately followed up with a tope suicida. Once again, they came close to both being counted out. Santo hit a spectacular plancha off the top rope to the floor. They both made it back in the ring before the 20 count once again. They both showed a lot of determination in trying to win this third and deciding fall. Metal went for a flying headbutt, but Santo moved out of the way. Santo executed the Romero special. Santo let Metal’s shoulders hit the mat while trying to lift one of his own shoulders up in order to avoid a double pin situation like in the previous match. However, it wasn’t clear if Santo was indeed successful, and the referee decided to let the match continue. In what was essentially the fourth fall, they continued where they left off, as they tried desperately to hit move after move in their quest to beat one another. Metal went for a cannonball off the top, but Santo moved out of the way. In the end, Santo made Metal submit to the camel clutch, much to the delight of the fans in attendance. The camel clutch was the hold Hijo del Santo’s father El Santo used regularly after it was invented by Gori Guerrero. Excellent match. ****  

AAA 10/29/93 Mexico City Juan de la Barrera, National & WWA World Welterweight Title: Heavy Metal vs. Hijo del Santo.
DC: This feud had been extremely enjoyable, and this match really felt like a truly excellent culmination of their feud. The work was of high quality, and the story telling was superb as well. Love Machine was in Heavy Metal’s corner. Octagon was in Hijo del Santo’s corner. This feud between Metal and Santo had come full circle, as they once again fought each other in Mexico City. This time, it was title vs. title. They both put over the struggle on the mat really well, as they were constantly trying to get the upper hand on the mat. There was almost a double pin in the first fall, as Santo’s Romero special almost led to all four shoulders being on the mat. However, they both kicked out in order to avoid similar situations that occurred in a couple of their previous matches. Metal pinned Santo via la casita to win the first fall. Metal went for a moonsault, a move he had previously used to win the second fall in two of their previous matches. However, Santo moved out of the way, and managed to pin Metal soon after. In the third fall, Metal went for the camel clutch, one of Santo’s main moves, but he couldn’t quite apply it successfully. Metal went for a sasorigatame instead, but Santo countered quickly. This third fall was quite different from most of the third falls in their previous battles, as they initially preferred to continue to try to out wrestle each other rather than simply launch themselves with big moves. Eventually, we did get several big moves. After a Fuerza Guerrera-style bump to the floor, Santo hit a tremendous tope suicida that sent Metal over the guardrail into the crowd. Once back to his senses, Metal leaped to the top rope and hit a plancha to the floor onto Santo. Soon after, Santo dropkicked Metal to the floor and followed up with a plancha to the floor onto Metal. They came close to both being counted out, but they made it into the ring on time. Machine tried to throw a drink in Santo’s face, but accidentally threw it in Metal’s face when Santo moved. Santo then launched himself with a tope suicida on Machine. Santo made Metal submit to the camel clutch. Great match. ****½   

CMLL 7/7/96 Mexico City Arena Coliseo, NWA World Welterweight Title: Negro Casas vs. The Great Sasuke.
DC: The first few minutes weren’t very interesting, because when The Great Sasuke does some random matwork, he is clearly just doing it to kill time, as he would much rather fly around than do matwork. And it was a high flying move, a moonsault, that got Sasuke the win in the first fall. In the second fall, we’re once again having to witness Sasuke’s random pulling of arms and legs in an attempt to satisfy the need for the prerequisite lucha matwork in a title match like this. Out of respect for Sasuke, Casas sells it and acts like he is in all kinds of trouble. In a clever but sneaky move, Casas pretended that Tiger Mask IV, who was in Sasuke’s corner, leg-tripped him. This gave Casas the opportunity to hit a low blow on Sasuke. This dastardly tactic got Casas the win in the second fall (or second round, as this Japanese commercial tape video version refers to it). In the third fall, Casas was quite aggressive and beat Sasuke up on the floor. Sasuke finally abandoned any attempts at matwork and hit an Asai moonsault. Later in the match, Sasuke hit a flying kick off the top to the floor. Despite Sasuke’s efforts, Casas won via la casita. A match like this really clearly shows that by this point in his career, Casas was significantly slower than previously in his career. As it feels like a younger Casas would have had a much more energetic match against someone like Sasuke here. The work was definitely quite good, but the match overall wasn’t nearly as good as it looked on paper. This match being pretty good overall was mostly thanks to Sasuke’s spectacular high flying. Good match. ***

NJPW 8/3/96 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan, NWA World Welterweight Title vs. NWA World Light Heavyweight Title: Negro Casas vs. Shinjiro Otani 11:34.
DC: This was part of the J-Crown tournament, which was a tournament in which eight of the top junior heavyweight champions participated with the purpose of unifying all eight titles to establish a J-Crown Champion. Negro Casas focused on trying to do lucha matwork early on. The interesting thing here was that Shinjiro Otani reacted in a far more urgent manner than what we’ve been seeing in Casas’ CMLL matches around that time. Of course, Otani isn’t the type of worker to see matwork merely as time killing. When applying holds himself, Otani tried to push Casas to at least show some signs of life and not lie around lifelessly. Otani’s performance and effort turned this into one of the most interesting Casas matches in a while. It felt like Casas got more in the mood to work a bit stiffer than usual thanks to the setting of this match. After the somewhat surprisingly interesting matwork, the match really started picking up, as both men started using the ropes as springboards, and we saw an increase in urgency. Casas springboarded off the second rope and hit his signature headscissors move. Casas went for la casita, but Otani managed to get out. Otani showed tremendous desperation and urgency when doing so. Otani dropkicked Casas to the floor and hit a springboard plancha. A bit later on, Casas hit a tope suicida. The match eventually came to an end when Otani springboarded himself into the ring and hit a spinning leg kick. This was the best match Casas had since the summer of ‘94, and it’s mostly thanks to Otani being able to push Casas to remember what he used to work like. Very good match. ***¾  

CMLL 10/18/96 Mexico City Arena Mexico, Hair vs. Hair: Negro Casas vs. Bestia Salvaje.
DC: These two did a really good job of putting over their dislike for each other. This was pretty much all about brawling. It was the typical hair vs. hair match in which two workers are not concerned with technical wrestling like they are in title matches, but were merely concerned to beat the crap out of their opponent in order to put over the stakes and save their pride. There would occasionally be some high flying, like a top-rope dropkick by Casas and a tope suicida by Bestia Salvaje, and they were executed in a way that showed that they were used to really take out the opponent. In the end, Casas won the match and saved his hair. This match mostly benefited from the ability of the wrestlers to draw heat and show the importance of this match through their energetic performances. Very good match. ***½

1/11/98 Jd' TWF World Single Title Match: Jaguar Yokota vs. Lioness Asuka 15:29 of 17:11.
ML: This immaculate hyper paced, plunder oriented spotfest isn't exactly the match you'd expect from women in their mid to late 30's at this time, to put it mildly! These two have the utmost respect for one another, total trust. They know they can go as fast and as hard as they desire, that this is their chance to match spectacular with spectacular and deliver a wild workrate extravaganza. Along with LCO, Lioness was pioneering the workrate end of the hardcore wrestling style during this period. These matches were gimmick and weapon oriented, but able to maintain the same pace and high quality brand of wrestling they had been doing otherwise, simply adding props to the mix to get heat and make the moves seem more deadly. Lioness didn't generate the level of chaos LCO did, but made up for it by being a lot more precise. She's a lot more calculating, even a bit methodical in the sense that's she's confident that no one can stop her from having her way with them. This match was very frontloaded, with an awesome lightning fast technical burst start, but then Lioness shifted to the hardcore style, and Jaguar just couldn't compete in that realm. Unable to break free from the Lioness formula that kept their 10/22/97 match from reaching the heights it was capable of, the match once again wound up being far too one-sided because while Jaguar had her hope spots through athletic counters, it was really always one and done due to either another weapon spot or interference from Lioness' minions. There were many insane spots for the time, with Lioness' highlights including a Ligerbomb on the floor, hanging Jaguar off the balcony, a piledriver off the apron through a table, and an avalache style towerhacker bomb. Jaguar's highlights included a tope con giro off the stage, doublearm piledriver on the apron, and avalanche style doublearm suplex. A few of Jaguar's counters didn't quite come off though, particularly the avalanche style reverse Frankensteiner that was her finally big chance. It's interesting that while this match doesn't have quite the same impact 26 years later when we've all become desensitized to Tony Khan breaking a toy or two each week for no real reason, at the time these two were really ahead of the curve, continuing to modernize even though they were legends that didn't need to, especially when you consider the stuff they were incorporating was the roughest, toughest, and most athletic spots and bumps. Certainly, the big 1980's stars of the men's leagues such as Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami weren't updating their matchups from the early to mid 80's, much less the WWE guys who, at best, continued to be narrow and formulaic. It says a lot for Lioness that 9 years after she retired the 1st time, she was arguably in the 3 best women's matches of 1998. I used to prefer Lioness' 4/26/98 & 5/6/98 matches against Kyoko Inoue, but Jaguar brings a lot more to the table in 1998 than Kyoko does, even though Kyoko is still in her 20's. Still, this match never really felt like a Jaguar match, and Kyoko probably came off as a bigger star than Jaguar did. The biggest fault here is the match grew less dramatic as Jaguar just couldn't complete a comeback, and went down rather unceremoniously. It was one of those matches where you couldn't believe it was over because you kept waiting for Jaguar to somehow find an answer. Lioness did the style Jaguar taught her in the '80's when she wanted to, but she wanted to win brutally a lot more, and Jaguar just didn't have an answer for Lioness in Lioness' new style. ****1/2

2/18/99 ARSION Queen Of ARSION Title Match: Mariko Yoshida vs. Hiromi Yagi 20:36.

BML 3/22/06 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hidetaka Monma 12:30.
DC: This was interesting because Hidetaka Monma was an MMA fighter who wasn't a regular pro wrestler. When the match started, it seemed what we were getting here was basically an overly flashy shoot-style match that was fun to watch. The match perhaps would have been better if they would have tried to focus more on realism than flashiness, as it feels that Monma was at times forcing himself to try to be more of a pro wrestler than an MMA fighter in this match (and he even executed a huracarrana at some point). Especially during the second half of the match, it seemed they were trying to have more of a regular pro wrestling match, which was in some ways a little bit of a disappointment, as it would have been interesting to see these two try to have more of a RINGS-style match. There were some cool-looking counters and sequences, and towards the end, they started getting a bit more creative again after a rather uneventful middle portion, but the match had certainly lost too much steam by then to garner any real interest. Still, the work displayed in this match was very good for the most part, and it felt like it delivered something that was at least slightly different from the standard and typical pro wrestling matches. ***¾

NOAH 9/9/06 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Katsuyori Shibata & KENTA vs. Go Shiozaki & Akira Taue 13:29.
DC: Akira Taue mocked Katsuyori Shibata early on, but that only seemed to light a fire underneath the already fiery Shibata. The strikes early on between Shibata and Taue set the tone for this match, and showed that this wasn’t going to be a half-hearted match. Shibata and Shiozaki grappled in an intense manner, as they clearly wanted to impress. Shibata was the most impressive worker of the match. His ability to constantly have a clear overview of what the match needed needed at all times was quite impressive. Shiozaki did a very good job of trying to keep up with Shibata and to provide Shibata with challenging situations. It took a while for KENTA to warm up in this particular match, but he was solid early on, and eventually quite impressive. Taue was the odd one out here, but he was useful in his grumpy veteran role. Shibata and KENTA tried to annoy Taue as much as possible while they tried to keep Shiozaki in their corner. When Taue was able to dish out punishment again, he showed that he was indeed an experienced tag team wrestler who had been in heated battles in the past. Once the match reached the climaxing minutes, all four workers made sure to contribute as well as possible. The storytelling and pace were done in an effective manner, which made it easy to stay interested in this match at all times, as the match was intriguing all the way through. This was the fifth match of the 8-match NOAH Shiny Navigation show, but it had the excitement of a main event. Excellent match. ****

Kensuke Office 6/13/08 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. KENTA 27:35.
DC: They started off by really taking it to each other, and they never really stopped. Even though the tempo wouldn’t always be non-stop, there was always something happening, and the selling displayed felt like it was natural and sensible. These two certainly showed eagerness, determination and lots of energy. Even when one of them was in a hold, they wouldn’t just sit there, they would show discontent for being in the hold and put over the idea that a knee-jerk reaction such as the pulling of the opponent’s hair was what naturally occurred. This showed that both were really focused on giving a high-workrate performance that was relatively realistic for pro wrestling standards. Even during the strike exchanges, they would try to retaliate quickly, which was a lot more enjoyable to watch than a lot of the typical strike exchanges in pro wrestling where the opponents just stand there and the striker isn’t in any hurry striking, as they see it more like a fun game of taking turns. It feels like these two were able to incorporate great striking in a relatively realistic and natural-looking way in a match that had a lot of variety to offer. The spontaneity displayed when an opportunity to react arose was refreshing to see in a wrestling world dominated by overcalculated and contrived pre-set sequences. These two really proved that they were two of the most promising wrestlers to come out of the relatively dull decade of the 2000s. This hard-fought match really set the tone for their feud being one to keep an eye on. Unfortunately, their overly long 2/11/09 match would turn out to be merely quite a good match. However, they made up for it on 3/1/09 when they worked an all-time great classic that was even better than this truly match from 6/13/08. Great match. ****¾  

NJPW 8/6/14 Takamatsu City Gym, G1 Climax 2014: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii 12:24.
DC: This was a very good match, but it was a big step down from their 2013 matches, mostly because it lacked the urgency those matches had. Here, it was more like they were just hanging out together and having some fun. It didn’t feel like an all out war. ***¾

12/12/14 PWG World Title: Kyle O'Reilly vs. Ricochet 22:20.
ML: O'Reilly controlled with brutal strikes leading into his submissions, working the arm, with Ricochet forced to use more suplexes and strikes to break free for his hot flying comebacks. More of a fight than a Ricochet exhibition, thanks to Kyle. Great finish with O'Reilly countering the shooting star press with a triangle. ***1/2

12/12/14 PWG World Title Guerrilla Warfare: Kyle O'Reilly vs. Roderick Strong 22:21.
ML: Strong arrived just in time for the late challenge, which O'Reilly decided should be guerrilla warfare. Match got Strong over as the new top heel with Adam Cole leaving, starting off hot and heated, but there were diminishing returns. It could have been excellent if it developed into a wrestling match, but it was just two talented wrestlers doing a match that had little beyond plunder. It had it's moments, but O'Reilly rightfully gassed, having already done a full match against Ricochet, while Strong was taking a minute to set up each shitty little spot. ***1/2

4/3/15 PWG: Chris Hero vs. Tommy End 19:50.
ML: End's PWG debut was a high quality striking match where he displayed a great deal of skill and variety with his kickboxing oriented style, and Hero adapted well to what his opponent had to offer. They didn't do much beyond beat the crap out of each other, but while it lacked urgency and the ref was killing all the near falls with his super fast count, they did a good enough job of making it feel like a fight. Hero ends it with a brutal jumping tombstone. Crowd was hot throughout, with End getting over well in the loss. ***1/2

4/3/15 PWG: Ricochet vs. Andrew Everett 16:23.
ML: Spectacular gymnastics display, with Everett showing he possesses the aerial offense to hang with Ricochet, including a swandive shooting star to the outside and a double moonsault. Ricochet was definitely a lot better when it came to working the sequences and transitions, and required less setup time in general. Highlight was Everett landing on his feet for Ricochet's avalanche reverse Frankensteiner, hitting is own reverse Frankensteiner, and then a regular Frankensteiner. ***1/2

RevPro 11/11/16 London Walthamstow Assembly Hall, RevPro British Heavyweight Title Match: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Chris Hero 13:18.
DC: This was a rather slow-paced match, but it was hard-hitting and intense all the way through. One of the main differences here compared to most of the memorable Katsuyori Shibata matches is that he was facing someone with a significant size and weight advantage. The hard-hitting strikes were the highlights of the match. Some of the strikes were literally echoing through the venue. The match was certainly enjoyable enough to watch for fun, but it really lacked the urgency for it to be truly considered for recommendation. The lack of urgency wasn’t as it annoying as it would have been with some of Shibata’s regular opponents, though, as it was believable that the punishment dished out by a man of Hero’s size would slow down nearly anybody, and it was believable that Hero wasn’t in a rush, and simply was out there to deliberately dish out punishment. ***½

11/22/20 NOAH GHC Heavyweight Title: Go Shiozaki vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima 42:35.
ML: These two have a lengthy history of working well together, going back to the Kenta Kobashi vs. Kensuke Sasaki program in the mid 00s. They are still stiff, crisp, and precise, but their move sets are tighter than they were in those days, and that didn't bode well for a match that was going over 40 minutes. The story they had was a reasonable one, with Nakajima constantly attacking Shiozaki's chop hand and lariat arm, but Shiozaki persisting. There was no reason for this story to be stretched out nearly this long though. They could have done this striking battle much better as an aggressive under 15 minute Shibata vs. Ishii style match, but we knew that would never happen, since NOAH has conditioned the fans to expect endless main events. Given the hand these two were dealt, they did a great job, but well before this ended there was no more that Nakajima could do to the arm, and Shiozaki clearly wasn't budging from using it, so it became repetitive. Early on, it seemed like Nakajima would actually have to switch to plan B, when Nakajima was so confident that he had suitably debilitated Shiozaki's arm that he actually just allowed him to try to mount a comeback, taunting him to chop him in the chest with the bad hand. Nakajima easily withstood a couple weakened chops, then continued his deflating mind games, armbarring Go then kicking the elbow. Although it started really slowly, everything they did early on was entertaining and built the match. Progressively though, it became silly, as Shiozaki regained more and more power in the arm despite Nakajima continuing to work it viciously throughout. The selling was still good, but the logic just became more and more questionable. Nakajima did a few other things, a series of big kicks exchanging with Shiozaki's chops, and knocking Shiozaki out with a lengthy series of mount elbows that the ref, of course, thought were completely fine for an unconscious Shiozaki to take despite him not offering any response whatsoever. Shiozaki eventually knocked Nakajima out with 4 consecutive lariats, so all Nakajima's work was for nought. There were nonetheless plenty of good individual moments, and they clearly gave all they had. Overall, the match was quite enjoyable and impressive until it just became overkill. ***3/4

8/23/23 PFL 9 Lightweight Tournament Semifinal: Clay Collard vs. Shane Burgos 3R

1/14/24 TNA: Josh Alexander vs. Will Ospreay 23:55.
ML: I wasn't a big fan of their first match from 10/22/23, which had one of the most obnoxious versions of Ospreay, posing or doing his cartoonish selling in between every move. It just seemed like a video game, where everything was random, but nothing was earned or set up. Alexander kept trying to make things simpler, and Ospreay kept trying to make things more spectacular, but they never really found a way to make either style come together into something that felt at all cohesive or worked for the match, they just took turns their doing styles that clashed, without incorporating any of it in an interesting manner. Will was behaving much better today, sticking more to the wrestling, and Alexander seemed to figure out how to work with him. This match mostly featured Will on offense, but he kept going. Even though Alexander was rarely actually turning the corner to make the comeback, he was doing a much better job of feeding Ospreay, making him gain or retain the offensive by avoiding or countering something, rather than just standing around while Will did whatever move he telegraphed with the latest pose. If what Alexander was theoretically supposed to be doing in the first match was ball control, in this match he wasn't even remotely cautious, trying to fight fire with fire. Alexander even got a table out early, but Ospreay came back with a tornado DDT, so they waited a while before Ospreay wound up Tiger drivering Alexander off the apron through the table. The match was good until this point, and then they went crazy trying to really push it over the top. Ospreay went for the Oscutter on the ramp, but Alexander sort of caught him, and answered with a tombstone. Alexander used an avalanche style crucifix roll, and somehow the cornball ankle lock was the only move Ospreay didn't have the quick and easy answer for. Ospreay came back with an avalanche style poison rana, and a hidden blade that actually looked half decent for a near fall. Outside of Ospreay waiting around forever for another hidden blade attempt, this match had a very energetic finish spam, with Alexander getting his win back via the C4 Spike. This was one of those matches where TNA got the result they wanted, but at the same time, Alexander was on the defensive so much I'm not sure how many people will buy into it. If nothing else, it's a match he won that was spectacular enough that people who don't normally watch much TNA will check out. ***1/2

2/11/24 NJPW: Zack Sabre Jr. vs Bryan Danielson 32:46

3/3/24 AEW: Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita 21:57

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