JWP MONTHLY JWP No. 3 6/90 taped 5/25/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall |
Itsuki Yamazaki vs. Plum Mariko 14:09. AJW’s forced retirements gave JWP a top 10 female performer for 1990. Though Yamazaki is obviously a major worker, this match was all about Plum, who gave a huge effort to prove she not only had a bright future ahead of her, but was ready to push the veterans and deliver one of the best JWP matches of the year right now. The bout started fast with Plum German suplexing Yamazaki as soon as she turned her back. Yamazaki’s offense is too dropkick oriented to stand around in a headlock all night, but she slowed the impetuous youngster down, dictating a more moderate pace where she utilized controlled and measured aggression, allowing Plum to make the hot comebacks and shine offensively. One of the best segments saw Plum come back rolling into her kneebar, and when Yamazaki escaped, she simply pulled out a different jumping takedown into the kneebar. Yamazaki, who was a heel due to being reunited with her pre JB Angels partner Devil Masami, resorted to biting Plum’s foot to escape the submission. Plum piledrove Yamazaki on the floor and delivered a plancha, with both barely beating the count. The fans were increasingly supporting Plum, pulling for the upset. It was definitely the kind of match one could get excited about, as Plum being in top form allowed Yamazaki to work harder because the fans could see she wasn’t simply carrying some pushover by toying with her for 15 minutes. The main downside is the bout didn’t flow as well as it could have, almost seeming to stop and start again on a few occasions. Still, it was a well-worked match that had more drama than most matches of this type where the outcome is never actually in doubt ***1/2
Cuty Suzuki & Oscar Tomo vs. Mayumi Ozaki & Yukari Osawa 14:19. Ozaki’s offense was worlds ahead of her JWP peers, which makes one wonder how she ended up being a heel so early in her career, though obviously the world is much better for it. Ozaki was by far the star performer, though that could be said about most of her matches in 1990, working good sequences featuring quick counters with both opponents. They pushed the pace, delivering good quality action. ***
Ishu Kakutogisen 3 min 5 rounds: Rumi Kazama vs. Chan Mi Chon R4 1:03. Pioneer’s Ryuma Go and Masashi Aoyagi were on hand for a loose, sloppy, unbelievable, and just plain laughable martial arts exhibition that was the worst JWP match of the year by a landslide. JWP’s booking seems pretty competent in 1990, but I don’t get this choice of opponent for Kazama. They fashion her a shooter, but in her pro wrestling matches the only signs of her toughness and “legitimacy” are her kicks. So instead of getting a sambo or an amateur wrestler she could punt, they come up with a Lee Gak Soo protege whose entire offense consists of the world’s most implausible movie kicks. As Kazama couldn’t credibly kick with Chon even in an obvious work, she was forced into submission mode. Chon did an impressive nunchaku display before the bout, but should have quit while she was ahead. They didn’t know enough about what they were doing to make it the least bit credible, looking more similar to two 4-year-olds rolling around the grass in a headlock due to the ridiculous number of reversals. The rules didn’t help, as similar to the later ReMix shows it was flash submission or standup. Chon threw repeated spinning high kicks and axe kicks, but for all her flair, she had minimal impact when she actually did connect. DUD
