Date: November 20, 1994
Attendance: 42,500
Gate: $4,000,000 (est.)
Significance: Biggest show in women's wrestling history, women's
wrestling attendance record, longest major event in wrestling history
This event is the most historical women's pro wrestling event to date and one of the most historical overall. There were 23 matches (19 of which were pro wrestling; the other 4 were shoot-style matches), and the time of the show was five minutes short of ten hours. Taking place at the legendary Tokyo Dome, the attendance mark of 42,500 shattered the previous women's event attendance record, which was around 19,000.
The production values of this event certainly mirrored its importance and historical nature. All sorts of special effects lighting were used, including lasers. Smoke stacks, fireworks, a marching band, a motorcycle gang, and other items highlighted many of the entrances of the stars. The staging for the entrance itself was amazing in size, as overall the structure took up one-third of the outfield (it is a baseball stadium), and the main entrance was over 100 feet in width.
As with other AJW supercards of this time period, wrestlers from other promotions appeared, including wrestlers from JWP, LLPW, FMW, and GAEA (which had not officially become a wrestling federation yet, but was at this time a stable of wrestlers captained by freelancer Chigusa Nagayo). The quality of the wrestling matches, again, was second to none, with seven matches between *** and ***3/4 and seven matches rated at **** or better. The in-ring highlight came in the first round of the V-Top tournament, in which Aja Kong defeated Manami Toyota in a 17 minute ***** tour de force that is one of the best under 20 minute matches ever.
The centerpiece of this event was an 8-woman V-Top single elimination tournament. In addition to five wrestlers from All Japan Women, LLPW (Eagle Sawaii), JWP (Dynamite Kansai), and FMW (Combat Toyoda) sent a wrestler to the tournament.
Match 1: Chapparita Asari (AJW) & Bomber Hikaru (GAEA) vs Hiromi Yagi
& Hiromi Sugo (JWP)
This was a good opening match, albeit a bit short. That fact helped,
however, as Sugo & Hikaru were inexperienced and did not get exposed
here. Yagi and Asari carried the action from a quality standpoint,
although the other two worked hard and reasonably well. The highlight of
the match (and the card!) was Asari flying from the top turnbuckle onto
both JWP women with her skytwister press. Asari won the match with a
skytwister press in the ring at 6:53. **1/2
Match 2 (AJW midgets): Great Little Muta & Buta Genjin vs Tsunokake X
As expected, this was the worst wrestling match on the show, although
this was not as bad as it could have been. The content consisted mainly
of basic midget spots and comedy, although with a few decent moves thrown
in. Muta pinned Genjin in 4:44 to win the match. *
Match 3 (All Japan Women Junior Title): Candy Okutsu (JWP, champion)
vs Rie Tamada (AJW, challenger)
This was a really good, all action match while it lasted. Except for a
few athletic highspots from both women, much of the action was somewhat
basic, but well-executed and they cut a hot pace. Okutsu pinned Tamada
in 8:52 after a locomotion German suplex. ***
Match 4: Suzuka Minami (AJW) vs Kaoru (GAEA)
This was another good, fast-paced match, although the moves were slightly
more advanced and the psychology was basic, but more significant than in
the previous match. Both women did some nice moves, including Kaoru
doing a picture perfect moonsault. Good back and forth action down the
stretch ending when Minami pinned Kaoru in 9:35 after her signature
powerbomb. ***1/2
Match 5 (Kickboxing): Kumiko Maekawa (AJW) vs Sugar Miyuki
This was a kickboxing match fought in five three-minute rounds. There
were some flashes of interest, but on the whole, the match was nothing
special. Maekawa gained the judges' decision after the match went the
distance. (NR: no rating)
Match 6 (Amateur wrestling): Dorio Bulinda vs Kyoko Hamaguchi
This was the first of two four minute amateur wrestling matches.
Hamaguchi is the daughter of famous male wrestler Animal Hamaguchi, whose
prime was in the 70's and 80's. Generally a boring match. Bulinda won
on points. (NR)
Match 7 (Amateur wrestling): Miyu Yamamoto vs Ana Gomez
This match was fought with the same rules as match 6. Again, this match
was nothing special and generally lackluster. Yamamoto won on points.
(NR)
Match 8 (Shoot boxing): Kaoru Itoh (AJW) vs Fumiko Ishimoto
This match was fought in five three-minute rounds. This was nothing
great, but was the best of the four "real" matches, with Itoh showing
good fire and both women getting in a few decent blows. Ishimoto won via
judges' decision. (NR)
Match 9: Reggie Bennett (AJW) vs Chigusa Nagayo (GAEA)
This was a fairly average match with some good points. Bennett attacked
Nagayo before the bell to establish a grudge storyline. Decent, stiff
work back and forth until Nagayo pinned Bennett to win the match in
8:39. **1/4
Match 10: Toshiyo Yamada & Tomoko Watanabe (AJW) vs Shinobu Kandori &
Mikiko Futagami (LLPW)
The crowd really came alive with this match, the first excellent one of
the show. Fans were into every move, especially when Yamada and Kandori
squared off as they have a martial arts aura and style. Great moves and
counters, especially with Kandori teasing and using her Fujiwara armbar
on the opposition. Watanabe and Futagami also worked well as the lower
level women trying to make a name for themselves. Kandori forced Yamada
to submit to the Fujiwara armbar at 11:30 to win the match for her team.
****
Match 11 (UWA Tag Team Title): Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (AJW,
champions) vs Yasha Kurenai & Michiko Nagashima (LLPW, challengers)
This was another excellent match, although slightly different than the
previous match. This match featured more brawling and double-teaming,
with less of an emphasis on mat wrestling. Mita and Shimoda looked great
in carrying this match, and Shimoda was the best and most athletic of the
four. Mita pinned Kurenai in 15:36 after a death valley driver to win
the match and retain the title. ****
Match 12 (Legends match): Lioness Asuka & Yumi Ogura vs Jaguar Yokota
& Bison Kimura
Considering the inactivity of the four women at this time, this was a
super match. All four women did their trademark moves, with Asuka and
Yokota stealing the show. In particular, Yokota looked amazing for
someone who hadn't competed in almost nine years. She was also the most
athletic, performing such moves as a great huracanrana. Asuka also did a
fantastic spin kick that was as good as any in the industry. The four
battled to a ten-minute draw, although they actually went about 10:50.
Great stuff and a joy to watch. ***1/2
Before the next match, the 8 women involved in the V-Top tournament were brought out one at a time and a brief ceremony took place to mark the tournament taking place.
Match 13: Blizzard Yuki vs Mariko Yoshida
Both women represented AJW. Another excellent match. This match
featured the most acrobatic and flying moves except for Toyota's classic
and the Michinoku Pro men's 6 man tag match. Sakie Hasegawa debuted her
Blizzard Yuki persona with a very spectacular entrance. She and Yoshida
were both excellent and fluid in most of their work. Yuki executed a
somersault plancha while Yoshida chipped in a springboard plancha from
the corner. Yuki pinned Yoshida in 12:03 to win the match. The rating
would have been a notch higher if a couple moves had been crisper. ****
**The next four matches are the first round of the V-Top tournament.**
Match 14: Combat Toyoda (FMW) vs Yumiko Hotta (AJW)
The first ten minutes were very good with both women looking strong.
Hotta was really stiff and carried Toyoda well. However, over the last 7
minutes of the match, Hotta and especially Toyoda turned in career
performances to produce one of the great "revelation" (shockingly great)
matches of this decade. Both women traded near falls at a hot pace, with
Hotta's kicks and Toyoda's powerbomb getting the biggest reactions. The
crowd went nuts as they realized how far above expectations both women
were performing. Toyoda pinned Hotta at 16:55 for the upset win and a
big pop. This was actually the second best match of the show! ****3/4
Match 15: Akira Hokuto (AJW) vs Eagle Sawaii (LLPW)
Hokuto did a good job carrying this match from an athletic standpoint.
Sawaii looked good, but it was obvious she was being carried. She
dominated a surprising amount of the match, although Hokuto ended up
winning in 11:08 with her DQ (dangerous queen) Bomb. The finish was
impressive because Sawaii had to weigh in excess of 220 lbs, around 70
lbs more than Hokuto. ***1/4
Match 16: Manami Toyota (AJW) vs Aja Kong (AJW, WWWA champion)
This was an amazing match, by far the best of the night, and actually one
of Toyota's best efforts. She and Kong worked perfectly together and
counteracted each other's limitations so perfectly it was amazing. Much
of the first 10 minutes saw Kong torture Toyota to the point that Toyota
should have had a broken back. Toyota fought back with the spectacular
moves that made her famous and the crowd responded loudly, begging for an
upset. She nailed moves such as her springboard plancha, top rope
missile dropkick to the floor, and even did a top rope splash onto Kong
through a table at ringside. Kong gained the upper hand and defeated
Toyota after her uraken and a brainbuster in 17:20 of amazing non-stop
action. *****
Match 17: Kyoko Inoue (AJW) vs Dynamite Kansai (JWP)
They had a tough act to follow, but nearly succeeded. This was the best
match they ever had against each other. Non-stop action from the start,
including Kyoko giving Kansai the giant swing on the entrance ramp for a
pop. Kansai wowed the crowd with her stiff kicks that were reminiscent
of Kong's. Both women did a great job teasing their finishing moves, which
were two different variations of the powerbomb. Kyoko finally hit her
Niagara driver late in the match, but only gained a near fall. Kansai
won in 17:44 after giving Kyoko her splash mountain powerbomb. This was
the third best match on the show. ****1/2
Match 18: Hikari Fukuoka (JWP) & Megumi Kudo (FMW) vs Takako Inoue
(AJW) & Cutie Suzuki (JWP)
This was an interesting match featuring the "beauties" of their
respective groups. The work itself was very good with the main emphasis
being on the highspots rather than psychology. All four women looked
good, with Fukuoka and Inoue looking the strongest. Kudo pinned Inoue to
win the match for her team in 14:04. ***1/2
Match 19 (Michinoku Pro 6 man tag team match): Great Sasuke, Sato &
Shiryu vs Super Delfin, Jinsei Shinzaki & Gran Naniwa
This was a really good match that I have enjoyed more and more each time
I have seen it. In addition to the high flying moves that put this group
on the map, there was also some comedy, including Delfin accidentally
wrenching Naniwa's arm and later kissing him on the lips when asking for
forgiveness. Sasuke and Delfin really shined down the stretch, although
all six did dives in this segment. Sasuke pinned Naniwa in 21:45 to win
the match. Considering how inexperienced most of these wrestlers were,
this was a heck of an effort. ***3/4
**The next 2 matches were the semifinals of the V-Top tournament.**
Match 20: Akira Hokuto (AJW) vs Combat Toyoda (FMW)
This was a hot match, although way too short. It almost seemed as if
they were burying Toyoda in compensation for her upset win in the first
round. Anyway, the action was hot while it lasted, with Hokuto winning
the match by pinning Toyoda after only 5:48 of action. **3/4
Match 21: Aja Kong (AJW) vs Dynamite Kansai (JWP)
This was a surprisingly hot match between these two heavyweights. The
match had a major-league feel and the heat was tremendous. Both women
laid in the stiff kicks and popped the crowd numerous times. Both women
teased their finishers throughout the match. The finish was one of the
hottest you will see just because of its flawlessness in execution.
Kansai tried her splash mountain, but Kong countered with her uraken.
Kansai kicked out of the subsequent pin attempt, and the crowd went
nuts. Kansai ducked a second uraken attempt, but then Kong nailed two
brutal urakens for the win at 12:24. This was also the best match
between these two. ****1/2
Match 22 (WWF women's title): Alundra (Madusa) Blayze (WWF, champion)
vs Bull Nakano (AJW, challenger)
Although the heat for this match was strong early on, it didn't sustain
at a high level for much of the match, which was disappointing
considering the setting. The work was fine and neither woman looked bad,
but they didn't turn it up a notch like you would expect. Nakano pinned
Blayze to win the match and the title in 9:27 after a top rope legdrop.
**1/2
**V-Top tournament final**
Match 23: Akira Hokuto (AJW) vs Aja Kong (AJW)
The entrances of the two stars were both lengthy and quite spectacular.
The match itself was a let down considering its importance. They worked
an injury storyling with Kong banging up her leg early on. The two went
back and forth, and the crowd heat was strong. They were able to pull
off some near falls, although the storyline limited Kong in what she
could do. Hokuto won the match and tournament when she pinned Kong in
20:24 after her DQ bomb. She was supposed to win the WWWA title, but
gave the belt back to Kong in an emotional post-match scene. Although
the match was a letdown, the drama and post-match activity made up for it
and concluded the show on a high note. ***1/2
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