ALL JAPAN WOMEN'S PRO WRESTLING
This was one of AJW's three "triple crown" megashows of 1994, along with Wrestling Queendon II and Big Egg Wrestling Universe. Unlike the Queendom show to an extent, most if not all of the matches on this tape live up to their potential, with a couple matches maybe exceeding expectations. The workrate was consistently strong from start to finish, with intense action in most matches. Also, the heat, while not always at a fever pitch, was much better than during the Queendom show, as this crowd responded enthusiastically to many of the matches and seemed to enjoy every match. Throw in a couple match of the year candidates to end the show, and you have arguably one of the ten greatest events in wrestling history.
Match 1: Suzuka Minami, Chapparita Asari, Tomoko Watanabe & Rie Tamada (AJW) vs Hikari Fukuoka, Hiromi Yagi, Fusayo Nouchi & Commando Boirshoi (JWP)
All eight women fought at a frenetic pace early on. The action was simple, but hot, with spotty yet decent heat. AJW dominated Nouchi early on with their effort led
by Minami. Fukuoka and company then got the better of Minami for a time. Asari and Fukuoka had a heated exchange that Asari eventually won. Fukuoka was then
dominated by Asari, Watanabe and Minami. Boirshoi gained a near fall on Tomoko after three urunages at 9:08. Minami went for a powerbomb but Fukuoka turned it
into a huracanrana, after which the action picked up. Asari looked great doing her athletic spots on Boirshoi. Boirshoi hit an Asai moonsault on Asari and Minami, then
moonsaulted Asari in the ring for a near fall. Fukuoka gave Minami a lengthy rolling cradle for a near fall. Asari hit everyone with her skytwister plancha in an amazing
spot. After more action, Minami powerbombed Yagi and pinned her at 15:09. Very good workrate match in which everyone looked good. ***1/2
Match 2 (Midgets): Tomezo Tsunokake vs Hokuto Akiracito
A short (no pun intended), but entertaining match as the normally Little Frankie impersonated Hokuto. Some of the work in between comedy spots was actually
decent. Tsunokake actually did a 20 revolution giant swing on Akiracito. Akiracito hit a mini-DQ bomb and pinned Tsunokake at 5:44. Not bad for what it was. *1/4
Match 3 (Martial arts): Kumiko Maekawa (AJW) vs Kyoko Kamikaze
This match was scheduled to be fought in five two-minute rounds. Not much action to speak of in the first two rounds, although the intensity did pick up a bit in the
third. The fifth round had some decent action, but overall a lackluster match, which was typical of AJW's kickboxing/shoot style matches. Kamikaze won via judges'
decision after the match went the distance.
Match 4: Reggie Bennett & Kaoru Ito (AJW) vs Eagle Sawaii & Carol Midori (LLPW)
Bennett and Sawaii did some tests of stature early on. Ito carried the match work-wise and Midori looked decent due to her intensity. Midori did a top rope
frankensteiner on Bennett for an impressive near fall. Ito German suplexed Sawaii for a near fall and gained another with a top rope foot stomp. Bennett gained a
near fall on Midori with a tilt-a-whirl slam to decent heat and another with a second rope splash. Midori hit a plancha on Bennett as Sawaii powerbombed and pinned
Ito at 13:07. A good match. Bennett vs Sawaii was much better than expected as both looked sharper and more inspired than they did on 3/27/94. Ito and Midori
played their roles really well as did the heavyweights, who did not detract from the match as had been expected. **3/4
Match 5: Infernal Kaoru vs Megumi Kudo (FMW)
Good, fast action early in the match. They then used submissions for a time. Kaoru dominated Kudo for a few minutes. While the heat was spotty, fans did not seem
to be bored. Kudo mounted a comeback with her hip attacks. Kaoru hit an Asai moonsault at 9:48. However, she then missed a moonsault but quickly recovered
and gained a near fall on Kudo with la magistral. Kudo gained a near fall with a tiger driver to good heat. The closing minute featured some good near falls. Kudo
tiger suplexed and pinned Kaoru at 13:45. After the match, Kudo removed her trademark mask. Really good match. Both women showed some flaws but did many
things well, including logically pacing the match in terms of content and intensity. ***1/4.
Match 6 (UWA Tag Team Title): Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (AJW, champions) vs Harley Saito & Jen Yukari (LLPW, challengers)
Yukari laid in some decent kicks on Shimoda. There were few crowd-popping moves in the first half although the work was decent. The action picked up as the
champions took the fight outside the ring and into the crowd. Mita and Shimoda dominated this segment of the match. Saito hit a tope and Yukari hit a plancha on
opposite sides of the ring. The near falls began around the 9 minute mark. Mita gained a near fall on Saito with a top rope superplex. Saito gained a near fall on
Shimoda with a tiger suplex. After Mita gave Yukari a Death Valley driver, Shimoda hit a springboard plancha on Saito, after which Mita hit a tope suicida. Shimoda
pinned Yukari at 12:53 after a tiger superplex. The first eight minutes were pretty good while the last four minutes were great. Another very good match- Saito and
Shimoda were the stars but Yukari and Mita also delivered. ***1/4
Match 7: Takako Inoue (AJW) & Cutie Suzuki (JWP) vs Devil Masami & Camdy Okutsu (JWP)
Masami flip-powerbombed Suzuki causing Suzuki to splash onto her partner Takako. Masami looked great in her dominant veteran role. Masami and Okutsu did some
heelish double teaming on Takako. Besides Masami, the other three looked solid although the match was nothing special for the first eight minutes. After Takako
tombstoned Okutsu, Suzuki followed with a tombstone of her own on her. Masami took the fight with Takako outside the ring, where Masami dominated the match
including press-slamming Suzuki onto a timekeeper's table. Masami had some good exchanges of offense with both opponents. She gained a near fall on Takako
with a powerbomb. Masami powerbombed Takako and Okutsu then did a 5-locomotion German suplex for a near fall. Takako hit Masami with her destiny hammer and
then gained some near falls on Okutsu amidst good heat. Suzuki attempted a plancha but Masami moved. However, she later hit Masami with a plancha as Takako gave
Okutsu a destiny hammer for the pin at 17:16. Masami turned in a great performance, Suzuki looked great against Masami and the other two also looked strong. ***3/4
Match 8: Toshiyo Yamada & Chigusa Nagayo vs Sakie Hasegawa & Mariko Yoshida
This was Mariko's first big match since returning from a nearly two-year sabbatical due to a neck injury. This was also the first time Yamada teamed with her idol Nagayo
(to my knowledge). Yoshida and Hasegawa attacked their opponents before the bell. Yamada looked sharp as she dominated Yoshida, including testing her neck right
away with a back suplex. Nagayo then took Yoshida to school on the mat but Yoshida held her own and gained the advantage on Nagayo with some impressive mat work
of her own. Hasegawa did two locomotion double arm suplexes on Nagayo. Nagayo and Hasegawa had an intense exchange with the veteran-underdog storyline
played out well. Yoshida dominated Yamada for a couple minutes. Hasegawa gave Nagayo an impressive urunage and Yoshida then hit a plancha on Nagayo. Yamada
hit her 360 spin kick on Hasegawa and Yamada then belly to belly superplexed her for a near fall. Hasegawa locked Yamada in a sleeper as Yoshida held off Nagayo
amidst great heat. Hasegawa gave Nagayo her spinning superkick for a great near fall. Nagayo trapped Hasegawa in a sleeper and scored the submission win at
16:08. A great match in which all four delivered their potential quality performances. Not a ton of near falls, but everyone played their roles so well that this match cannot
be denied. ****1/4
Match 9 (IWA & All-Pacific titles unification match): Manami Toyota (IWA champion) vs Kyoko Inoue (All-Pacific champion)
This was an amazing match in terms of spots and workrate. It was very close to five stars but there were three or four botched spots by Toyota that held the match back
a bit. Kyoko was at the top of her game here. Kyoko attacked Toyota at the start and hit a cool dropkick off the ropes. Toyota botched a spot and Kyoko gave her a giant
swing. Kyoko then dominated Toyota for a few minutes until Toyota dropkicked her four times. Toyota dominated the match briefly until Kyoko dove off the second rope
with an elbow. Kyoko used a couple submission holds but Toyota surprised her with a rolling cradle for a near fall. Kyoko gave Toyota a great released German suplex
off the second rope. Kyoko gave Toyota a pair of lariats for a near fall. She then hit a diving elbow off the top for another near fall. Toyota used her Toyota roll for a near
fall. Toyota dropkicked Kyoko out of the ring and gave her a springboard plancha. Toyota gained a near fall on Kyoko with a German suplex. Kyoko hit a great headscissors
move off the ropes for a near fall. Toyota gave Kyoko her top rope missile dropkick to the floor. Toyota hit a stiff looking top rope missile dropkick in the ring and hit a second
one for a near fall. Toyota missed a moonsault and Kyoko gave her a powerslam off the top rope for a heated near fall. Kyoko then applied her version of the camel clutch.
Kyoko went for a Niagara driver but Toyota surprised her and scored a great near fall. Toyota scored near falls with a dragon suplex, a moonsault and her ocean cyclone
suplex. Kyoko belly to belly superplexed Toyota for a dramatic near fall and gained another near fall with her Niagara driver. Toyota gave Kyoko an inverted ocean cyclone
suplex. Toyota then gave Kyoko a springboard top rope sunset flip and pinned her at 23:28 to unify the titles. Great match with super heat in spite of the botched spots by
Toyota. Kyoko was slightly better here because she sold better and did not botch any spots. ****3/4
Match 10 (Tag Team elimination match): Aja Kong & Akira Hokuto vs Dynamite Kansai (JWP) & Yumiko Hotta
This was one of the matches in Hokuto's final countdown, an aborted retirement series. A great match with all the moves, heat and drama you could expect. Kansai and
Kong began with the expected stiff exchange. Hotta kicked the stuffing out of Hokuto early on. Kong pounded Hotta with a multitude of slaps, headbutts and kicks. Hotta
was briefly dominated by both opponents. Kansai's kicks on Kong looked sharp. Hotta came off the top rope with a spin kick on Kong. Hokuto saw little action in the first
several minutes except for brief cameos, but the other three carried the action very well. Hotta piledrove Kong for a near fall. Hokuto came in and was back suplexed by
Kansai. Kong piledrove Hotta for a near fall and gained another with a powerslam. Kong gave Hotta a second rope splash for a near fall that the fans popped for. Kong
missed a top rope elbow but came back and back suplexed Kansai twice for a near fall. Hokuto powerbombed Kansai for a near fall. With Kong's help, she gave both Hotta
and Kansai a flip plancha off the top rope. Kong superplexed Hokuto onto Kansai and gave Kansai a second rope elbow for a dramatic near fall. Kansai kicked Kong in the
head and Kong went down for the 10 count to be eliminated. Hokuto was dominated, including Kansai back suplexing her for a near fall. Hotta German superplexed Hokuto
for a great near fall. Hokuto doctor bombed Hotta for a near fall. After more near falls and exchanges, Hokuto gave Hotta her DQ bomb and pinned her to eliminate her,
leaving herself and Kansai in the match. Hokuto briefly dominated the action until Kansai lariated her. Hokuto gained a near fall with a German suplex but Kansai then piledrove
her. Hokuto top rope dropkicked Kansai for a great near fall. Kansai gave Hokuto a splsh monutain for a dramatic near fall and scored the pin at 24:47 after a second one.
Super match with all four showing their strengths. ****1/2
Again, with three ****+ matches and four more at *** or better, this was one of the exemplary shows of the joshi puroresu glory days of 1992-1996. One of the ten best major events I have ever seen.