ALL JAPAN WOMEN ATHENA: SPIRIT OF LADY’S SPORTS TV
July 19, 1998
1. Manami Toyota & Momoe Nakanishi vs Zap I & Zap Nakahara
I can’t emphasize enough how short Nakanishi is, as she’s definitely shorter than wrestlers such as Chapparita Asari. Zap I was actually Kaoru Ito, one half of one of the most ill-fated tag team gimmicks as a heel masked team with Tomoko Watanabe. Zap Nakahara I believe was either a rookie or maybe a second year pro, and a protégé of the main Zaps who was pushed because she weighed over 200 pounds. Toyota and Nakanishi attacked their opponents before the bell and immediately took the fight outside the ring. Nakanishi and Toyota went for a double dropkick but Nakahara stayed against the ropes. Nakahara took Nakanishi into the crowd and hit her with a chair. Zap I also hit Toyota with a chair. Zap T (Tomoko) hit both Nakanishi and Toyota with a kendo stick or something similar. Nakahara gave Nakanishi two snapmares but Nakanishi fought back with a barrage of blows. Nakahara regained the advantage but Nakanishi rolled her up. Nakanishi dropkicked and backdropped Nakahara for a near fall. Toyota trapped Nakahara in the ropes and dropkicked her. Toyota briefly applied a camel clutch and then a half crab on Nakahara. Nakanishi and Nakahara exchanged blows. Nakahara kicked Nakanishi for a near fall. Zap I superkicked Nakanishi and dropkicked her. She chokeslammed Nakanishi twice and gained a near fall. Zap I hit a second rope corkscrew senton on Nakanishi for a near fall. She knocked Nakanishi out of the ring with a baseball slide kick and gave her a foot stomp off the apron to the floor. Back in the ring Zap I applied a loose version of a Boston crab on Nakanishi and hit her with the black (kendo?) stick repeatedly. The Zaps double teamed Nakanishi in heelish fashion. Nakanishi fought back with a ton of slaps and kicked Nakahara. Toyota hit a top rope dropkick on Nakahara at 10:00. Toyota then hit Nakahara with a black stick repeatedly. Toyota missed a dropkick in the corner and Nakahara gave her a tackle of sorts. Nakahara gave Toyota some weak shots with the stick so Zap I showed how it’s done with much harder shots on Toyota. Toyota fought back and dropkicked Nakahara. Toyota gave Nakahara a top rope dropkick for a near fall. Toyota went for a moonsault but Zap I caught her on the top rope. Nakahara elevated Toyota on her shoulders and Zap I drove Toyota’s head to the mat. Nakahara splashed Toyota and Zap I hit her with the stick. Toyota fought back and gave Zap I her rolling cradle for a near fall. Nakanishi German suplexed Zap I and Toyota moonsaulted her for a near fall. Nakanishi attempted a German suplex but Zap I blocked it and gave Nakanishi a lariat. Nakanishi countered a powerbomb attempt but Zap T tripped her. Toyota hit a top rope dropkick on both Zap I and Nakahara. Toyota then hit a springboard plancha onto both of them. Nakanishi went for a plancha but took out Toyota and an attendant when the Zaps moved. Zap I then took out both opponents with a tope suicida. Toyota recovered and gave Zap I a top rope dropkick in the ring. Nakanishi German suplexed Zap I for a near fall. Nakanishi and Toyota hit a double top rope dropkick on Zap I and Nakanishi gained a near fall when Zap T pulled the ref away. Zap I fought back but Nakanishi sprang to the top rope and hit a moonsault bodyblock for a near fall. Zap T hit Nakanishi with the black stick and Zap I powerbombed her for a near fall. Zap I missed a top rope foot stomp but Toyota then went for a top rope dropkick and hit Nakanishi when Zap I moved. Zap I powerbombed Nakanishi and Nakahara hit a second rope splash. Zap I then gave Nakanishi a top rope foot stomp and pinned her after about 16:00 (13:59 aired). Nakahara dragged down the match, but otherwise it was fine. However, given that Ito and Toyota and even Nakanishi were involved, this was a bit disappointing as it lacked the excitement and flow it should have had. The biggest positive was Nakanishi, who at barely 18 years of age already showed flashes of brilliance as a worker in this match. **1/4
2. Japan Grand Prix ’98 Match: Takako Inoue vs Yumiko Hotta
Hotta got the better of Takako on the mat but Takako held her own. Takako applied a chinlock and front facelock but Hotta then applied a sleeper. Takako repeatedly kicked Hotta and DDTd her. Takako landed some punches and Hotta went for an enzuguiri but missed. Takako went for a cross armbreaker, Hotta countered and applied a cross armbreaker of her own but Takako reached the ropes. Hotta missed a clothesline and Takako back suplexed her for a near fall. Takako applied a leglock on Hotta’s left leg. Takako then applied an STF on Hotta. Takako applied an abdominal stretch but Hotta escaped and applied a cross armbreaker. Hotta applied a choke sleeper on Takako and then a conventional sleeper. Hotta powerbombed Takako for a near fall as fans finally reacted to something. Zap T attacked Hotta with a kendo stick. Zap I slammed Hotta on the floor and hit a foot stomp off an elevated area in the bleachers about 5 feet up. Takako and the Zaps then triple teamed Hotta in the crowd and hit her with a chair and kendo stick repeatedly. Back in the ring Takako back suplexed Hotta on a chair and superkicked Hotta, who was bleeding by this point. Takako gave Hotta a Takako panic for a near fall at 25:00 and hit a second Takako panic. Hotta fought back with a legsweep and applied a cross armbreaker on Takako. Hotta spin kicked Takako twice but went for a third and Takako hit her with a kendo stick. Takako pointed at the Zaps with the stick and hit Hotta with it. Takako came off the top rope with another kendo stick shot on Hotta and hit a Takako panic for a near fall. Takako missed a second Takako panic and Hotta gave her two tiger drivers for a near fall. Hotta went for a powerbomb but Takako countered and gave her a backslide for a near fall. Takako applied a leglock on Hotta but Hotta countered and applied a cross armbreaker. Takako German suplexed Hotta for a near fall. She gave Hotta two Takako panics for a near fall but Hotta fought back and gave Takako a powerbomb for a near fall but time ran out at the 30:00 mark and the match was a draw. A solid, well-worked match, but also kind of flat. The heat was lacking if not nonexistent for most of the footage. Also, while some of the offense was sharply executed, some of the execution otherwise was rather sluggish and erratic. Not a bad match, but these two, even being past their primes, were capable of better. **1/4
Next up was a segment called “The Nexts”. This was a somewhat interesting segment that focused on some of the rookies and younger rising stars not just in All Japan Women, but in joshi puroresu in general. Among those profiled (with very brief clips) were Zap Nakahara, Kayo Noumi, JWP’s Kanako Motoya, Neo Ladies’ Misae Genki, and GAEA wrestlers Sakura Hirota and Meiko Satomura. The second half of the segment was what looked like a weird question-and-answer session in which the wrestlers were seated as a group in the studio and the hosts would ask them questions on certain topics. I can understand very little spoken Japanese but it looked like a light-hearted segment without much informational value. The question-and-answer session definitely went a bit too long for what it was.
The next segment was a very entertaining one, entitled “Once Upon A Time”. This counted down three randomly selected matches from All Japan Women’s recent past. The three matches were:
#3) Kyoko & Takako Inoue defeated Cuty Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki from DreamSlam 1 on 4/2/93. Only a minute aired, but it was a white hot series of clips of a classic match.
#2) Akira Hokuto, Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda defeated Reggie Bennett, Mariko Yoshida & Kaoru Ito from 6/27/95. Again only a little over a minute aired, but it was another hot series of clips.
#1) Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada defeated Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki from Dream Rush on 11/26/92. About 3 minutes of this best of 3 falls match aired, and the clips were absolutely white hot. Add unreal fan heat (like, they were visibly jumping up and down and were extremely loud) and you get a great highlight reel of, IMO, the greatest match in all of wrestling history. I can’t recommend this match enough to ALL tape collectors of any level of seriousness. Overall a fantastic segment.
The final segment was called “The History of Women’s Professional Wrestling”. This was a very interesting segment as well. First, clips aired of some of the early champions in All Japan Women, such as Jumbo Miyamoto, Maki Ueda, Mariko Akagi and Jackie Sato. They also showed clips of Mimi Hagiwara, Jaguar Yokota and the Crush Gals, Lioness Asuka & Chigusa Nagayo. Next they showed clips of some of the famous hair vs hair matches, such as Yokota vs Galactica, Dump Matsumoto vs Nagayo (and their rematch), Aja Kong & Bison Kimura vs Bull Nakano & Kyoko Inoue, and Toyota vs Toshiyo Yamada. They also highlighted the feud between Bull Nakano and Kong, including their legendary 11/1990 cage match. Finally they showed Shinobu Kandori winning the WWWA title from Hotta and hyped the upcoming Toyota-Kandori match on 8/23/98.
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