At the time of this event, AJW was at its peak in popularity and quality. Their monthly shows at Korakuen Hall were all released on videotape, and this particular event shows why they were. Although the tape I got only has 4 matches on it (I believe the complete tape has 5 or 6), each of the 4 matches are 4 stars or better, and the consistency in quality reflects the overall quality product that AJW and the other women's groups in Japan were presenting at this time. Each match is 20:00 or longer, and each has a different feel to it, making the tape all the more fun to watch. Needless to say, AJW packed the 2,100 seat hall. This event was also the first Korakuen Hall show of the annual Japan Grand Prix tournament.
Match 1 *Japan Grand Prix Tournament match*: Yumiko Hotta vs Toshiyo
Yamada
This was as good a match as you could expect from these two. The central
focus was both women beating the hell out of each other with brutally
stiff kicks, particularly by Hotta. In between the kicks, during the
body of the match they used good, realistic wrestling. Most of the first
15 minutes weren't flashy, but the execution and selection of moves were
perfect for these two. They saved the near falls for the final five
minutes, which were fantastic. Both women used a combination of their
kicks along with suplexes and powerbombs for near falls. Hotta ended up
winning the match at 20:20 after a powerbomb. So close to ****1/2, but
the crowd could actually have been hotter considering the stiffness of
the moves. ****1/4
Match 2: Aja Kong, Kaoru Itoh & Rie Tamada vs Bull Nakano, Kyoko
Inoue & Tomoko Watanabe
Considering the setting and those involved, this was a super match as
well. It also had an All-Japan feel as each participant dominated, or
was dominated, according to their status in the federation. Tamada was
mostly beaten on, although she looked good including a plancha off the
top turnbuckle. Aja and Bull fought very smart matches, making sure the
young lions knew their role while still giving them a chance to shine.
From a workrate standpoint, Kyoko & Kaoru were the stars; Kyoko on
offense while Itoh on offense and defense. Watanabe also looked really
good in most of her spots. Most of the first 15:00 contained great spots
and decent psychology but not many pin attempts. The match got hot
around the 17:00 mark, and from then on most of the participants
attempted or executed their main moves. Itoh looked great down the
stretch simply by kicking out of one near fall after another. A great
spot saw Kyoko run, in one fluid motion, from the canvas across the ring
to the top turnbuckle and send Itoh crashing to the mat with a
belly-to-belly superplex. Another fun spot saw Tamada and Itoh struggle
and struggle and finally superplex Bull Nakano off the top rope. Kyoko
won the match at 23:27 when she forced Itoh to submit to her version of
the camel clutch. My sentiments want to give this ****1/2, but I'm not
convinced of such a rating yet. ****1/4
Match 3 *Japan Grand Prix Tournament match*: Manami Toyota vs Sakie
Hasegawa
Another excellent match, but then again are these two capable of failing
to have one?This match went 20:15, although it didn't get hot until the
last 7:00. The first 13:00 were strong, but occasionally lacking in
intensity. One thing I realized here is that Toyota has a better first
half when working with someone more powerful than herself so she can take
brutal punishment, which in turn would make that segment more dramatic.
Sakie also seemed a bit tentative working a 20 minute singles match. The
last 7:00 were hot, with neither woman showing much if any flaws.
Toyota's springboard plancha was so great that she almost completely
overshot Hasegawa! Hasegawa later attempted a plancha, but Toyota
sidestepped her. Toyota nailed her top rope dropkick to the floor late
in the match. She attempted her ocean cyclone suplex, but Hasegawa
escaped and hit her in the head with a spinning savate kick. Hasegawa
then pinned Toyota for the upset win, which was the biggest win of her
career to that point. ****1/4
Match 4 *JWP Tag Team Championship*: Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (AJW;
champions) vs Hikari Fukuoka & Candy Okutsu (JWP; challengers)
Nineteen year old Okutsu was already a great worker by this match,
although she was slightly disappointing here. The other three worked at
or near their expected level and this turned out to be a great 25 minute
match. Although the period of near falls was shorter than 5 minutes, the
pace was generally good and the heat was actually more consistently
strong than in the previous matches. Okutsu and Shimoda both hit their
top rope planchas, with Shimoda's springboard version being more
spectacular. Mita and Shimoda had such a great chemistry with each other
and the crowd that the crowd reacted to nearly everything. The final few
minutes were excellent, with several near falls. Okutsu nearly pinned
Mita after giving her several successive German suplexes. Fukuoka also
gained a near fall after her second moonsault attempt after missing her
first one. Mita won the match when she pinned Okutsu after a Death
Valley driver. Although the time of the match was about 25:00, only
18:55 aired. Based on what I saw, it seemed to be a great match. ****
