ALL JAPAN WOMEN DREAM RUSH 11/26/92 Commercial Tape
Running Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
For most of 1992, All Japan Women churned out one memorable event or match after another, and 1992 marked the beginning of its second “glory era”. While Dream Rush was probably not AJW’s best event of 1992, it was its most historic and important. This event marked the first major interpromotional matches between AJW and JWP stars, and such interpromotional matches would be the centerpieces of joshi puroresu’s boom in the 1990s. In fact, the first major AJW vs JWP match was perhaps the best match in wrestling history. The crowd heat for much of this event was as strong as almost any AJW event in the 1990s. Fans were even hot for the interpromotional match featuring Sakie Hasegawa & Debbie Malenko against Eriko Tsuchiya & Yoshika Maedomari, which would have been a crappy match without the fan heat.
As an event overall, this was a very good show. With an all-time classic main event, a classic mid-card match and a very good WWWA title match, one would be hard-pressed to give this show a thumbs down. The quality of the undercard varied, but the matches were fine and the hot crowd helped their appeal.
1. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs Miori Kamiya & Chikako Hasegawa
Mita and Shimoda started quickly but their opponents held their own. Mita and Shimoda dominated Hasegawa in heelish fashion. Kamiya scored on Mita with a series of stiff kicks that looked good. Shimoda gained a near fall on Kamiya with a double arm suplex and applied a figure 4 leglock. Kamiya fought back and tagged Hasegawa but Shimoda and Mita easily got the better of her. Mita piledrove Hasegawa for a near fall. Kamiya gained a near fall on Shimoda with a top rope jumping knee. Shimoda gained a near fall on Kamiya with a top rope clothesline. Kamiya dominated Mita briefly but Mita fought back when Hasegawa tagged in, giving her an airplane spin. Shimoda top rope dropkicked Hasegawa but Kamiya came in and rolled up Shimoda for a near fall. Shimoda gained a near fall on Kamiya with a superplex. Mita gave Kamiya a unique cradle suplex and pinned her at 11:00. Kamiya was solid, Shimoda was good and Mita had good charisma. Decent opener. **1/2
2. All Japan Title: Tomoko Watanabe (c) vs Kaoru Ito
Ito attacked Watanabe at the bell. Watanabe dominated Ito early and occasionally used heelish tactics. Ito fought back with a series of dropkicks and a cross bodyblocks. Watanabe gained a near fall with a suplex and applied a figure 4 leglock. Watanabe took the fight outside the ring and into the crowd as she whipped Ito into a row of chairs and slammed her on the floor. Ito knocked Watanabe out of the ring and she took the fight to ringside and gave Watanabe a foot stomp off the apron. Ito also hit Watanabe with a row of chairs in the crowd. Ito gave Watanabe two hip attacks for a near fall. Ito gained a near fall with a double arm suplex. Ito worked on Watanabe’s legs and applied a Boston crab. Ito also used a camel clutch. Watanabe fought back with a judo throw but Ito quickly regained the advantage. Watanabe hit a second rope reverse cross bodyblock on Ito for a near fall. Watanabe scored with 2 more judo throws and gained a near fall with a suplex. Watanabe also gained a near fall with a second rope elbow. Ito gained a near fall with a sunset flip and another after four foot stomps. Watanabe gave Ito a huracanrana for a near fall. Watanabe won a slapfest and rolled up Ito for a near fall. Ito countered a huracanrana attempt with a powerbomb and hit a top rope foot stomp, a second rope corkscrew senton, a top rope splash and another top rope foot stomp for the pin at 16:22 to win the title. Very good match- they did well in terms of drawing crowd heat and Ito looked sharp down the stretch. Seemed like a breakthrough match for both women. ***1/4
3. 1992 Tag League Match: Suzuka Minami & Yumiko Hotta vs Terri Power & Takako Inoue
Power and Inoue got the better of Minami early on. Inoue worked on Minami’s leg. Hotta stiffed Power with her kicks, including a spin kick in the corner. Hotta piledrove Power for a near fall. Minami gained a near fall on Power with a backbreaker. Minami used a figure 4 leglock on Power. Minami and Hotta dominated Takako for a few minutes. Hotta gained a near fall on Takako after a stiff kick and Hotta applied a Boston crab. Minami also worked on Takako’s leg with holds such as a half crab. Hotta laid in a ton of stiff kicks on Takako and suplexed her for a near fall. Takako gained a near fall on Minami after a German suplex. Power gained a near fall on Minami with a powerslam and another after an elbowsmash. Takako tombstoned Minami twice for a near fall. Power gained a near fall on Minami after a lengthy vertical suplex. Minami rolled up Power for a near fall. Takako gained a near fall on Minami with a double arm superplex. Power gained a near fall on Minami with a lariat. Minami gained a near fall on Takako with a powerbomb. Minami hit a top rope senton on Takako and Hotta gave Takako a back suplex for the pin at 16:07. A watchable match with some good near falls towards the end. **1/4
A retirement ceremony for Bison Kimura was next. She was presented with a slew of gifts and flowers from various wrestlers and staff.
4. AJW All-Pacific Title: Akira Hokuto (c) vs Kyoko Inoue
Not as intense or as fast-paced as one would expect but otherwise a tremendous match. The match started slow until Hokuto hit a captured back suplex. Kyoko gave Hokuto an impressive 33 revolution giant swing. Kyoko then focused her attack on Hokuto’s back using moves such as a Romero special and a camel clutch. Hokuto piledrove Kyoko and gained an early near fall before applying a camel clutch. Hokuto then applied a sharpshooter on Kyoko at 9:00. Kyoko briefly broke the hold but Hokuto quickly reapplied it. Kyoko gave Hokuto a jumping dropkick off the second rope inside the ring. Kyoko dropkicked Hokuto and applied a unique backbreaker submission hold. Kyoko also briefly used a half crab. Hokuto countered a back suplex attempt and gave Kyoko several knees to the head followed by a spin kick as crowd heat picked up. Hokuto nailed a second spin kick for a near fall. Hokuto then locked Kyoko in a sleeper. Kyoko slammed Hokuto off the top rope but Hokuto fought back and knocked Kyoko to the floor. Hokuto gave Kyoko a plancha and dropkicked her off the apron into the barricade. She then hit her flip plancha off the top rope. Hokuto gained a near fall after a top rope dropkick. Kyoko attempted a German suplex but Hokuto countered and rolled up Kyoko for a near fall. Kyoko gained a near fall with a German suplex and another with her running top rope elbow. Hokuto went for her DQ bomb but Kyoko countered with a small package for a near fall. Hokuto finally gave Kyoko her DQ bomb and pinned her at 22:19. The last 8 minutes made the match a classic. ****1/2
5. WWWA Martial Arts Title: Bat Yoshinaga (c) vs Kyoko Kamakazi
This was mainly a kickboxing match scheduled for three 5-minute rounds. Kyoko was very active on offense early. She seemed to win the first round but Bat held her own. Yoshinaga was more active in the second round. Kamakazi landed some punches pretty well. Yoshinaga floored Kamakazi with a backfist/uraken style punch for the knockout 1:40 into the second round. More action than most AJW martial arts matches. Yoshinaga fought a smart fight and waited for her opportunity to make the kill. NR
6. Sakie Hasegawa & Debbie Malenko (AJW) vs Eriko Tsuchiya & Yoshika Maedomari (FMW)
The FMW women attacked their opponents before the bell. Hasegawa was dominated by Maedomari early. The match had great heat early even though the work wasn’t great. Hasegawa and Malenko attacked Tsuchiya’s injured left shoulder. Maedomari and Tsuchiya dominated Malenko but Malenko fought back by going after Tsuchiya’s arm. Hasegawa and Tsuchiya had a slugfest. The FMW women dominated Hasegawa for a couple minutes. Malenko dominated Tsuchiya on the mat. Maedomari fought in heelish fashion against Malenko but Malenko fought back and applied a leglock and then an STF. Hasegawa dominated Maedomari as the pace picked up and applied a leglock on the same leg Malenko had worked on. Maedomari gained a near fall on Hasegawa with a chokeslam and another with a double impact. Malenko again applied a leglock on Maedomari and then an STF. Tsuchiya gained a near fall on Malenko after a lariat. Tsuchiya and Maedomari took the fight outside the ring and into the crowd and dominated their opponents outside the ring. Hasegawa applied a crossface chicken wing on Maedomari and back suplexed her. Hasegawa pinned Maedomari at 18:59 after a running superkick. A mundane match since the FMW women were limited and the AJW girls could only carry them so much. The fan heat and Hasegawa’s work raised the match rating a bit. **
7. WWWA World Title: Bull Nakano (c) vs Aja Kong
Nakano hit a lariat at the bell. Kong recovered and dominated Nakano, including using her stiff kicks. Nakano fought back and piledrove Kong for an early near fall. Nakano dominated Kong for several minutes using a variety of submission holds including a sharpshooter and a figure 4 leglock with Kong’s back pointing upward. Nakano took the fight outside the ring and into the crowd, where she rammed Kong into a row of chairs. Nakano attempted a sunset flip but Kong sat on her for a near fall. Kong gave Nakano more stiff kicks and a piledriver for a near fall. Kong gained two near falls with back suplexes and another with a double arm suplex. Kong took the fight into the crowd again and hit Nakano with a chair. Kong dropped a row of chairs onto Nakano. Nakano fought back with an enzu-lariat but missed a top rope legdrop. Kong gave Nakano two foot stomps for a near fall. Kong splashed Nakano in the corner but Nakano fought back with a lariat and a kick off the second rope for a near fall. Nakano hit a tope suicida of sorts. Nakano gained a near fall with a top rope legdrop and another with a top rope somersault legdrop. Nakano missed a moonsault and Kong Herman suplexed her for a heated near fall. Kong gave Nakano three urakens for a great near fall. Kong pinned Nakano at 20:21 after a top rope legdrop of her own to win the title. A great match, especially in the final five minutes, but not a classic. They relied a bit too much on headlocks, sleepers and chinlocks in the early going instead of more relevant submission holds. ***3/4
8. WWWA World Tag Team Championship, best of 3 falls: Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada (All Japan Women; champions) vs Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki (JWP; challengers)
I never thought I would see a better match than their 4/11/93 classic, but this match proved me wrong. Same incredible workrate and moveset, but with even more stiffness and with crisper execution than in their sequel. This was also the first major interpromotional match between AJW and JWP, so the fan heat was enormous as they were popping for everything. The first fall began hot with a stiff exchange between Yamada and Kansai, who were both flawless in this match. Kansai and Ozaki dominated Toyota for a few minutes. Aside from the brutal exchanges between Kansai and Yamada, there were just lots of hot moves at a quick pace along with smooth matwork. Toyota got dumped on again for a while. Kansai even did a tope suicida. Kansai and Ozaki gave Yamada a double diving headbutt for a great near fall. Kansai nearly killed Toyota with a lariat. After several near falls, Kansai pinned Toyota at 14:34 after a splash mountain to win the first fall. The second fall was all Toyota and Yamada. At one point Yamada gave Kansai about 6 or 7 consecutive back suplexes. Yamada gave Kansai her reverse Gory special suplex and pinned her to win the second fall in 1:45. The thrid fall was all action as expected, with great execution and fan heat. Toyota shined in this fall, dominating Ozaki with great spots and crisp matwork. Kansai and Yamada again wowed the crowd with their stiff exchanges. The action briefly spilled to the floor. Yamada was then dominated both in and out of the ring. Kansai was really fired up as she kicked the stuffing out of Yamada. More great spots and near falls back and forth. Kansai and Ozaki continued to dominate as the action again spilled out of the ring. Yamada made an inspired comeback on Kansai. Toyota and Yamada gave Ozaki a double flying headbutt for a great near fall. A dive sequence climaxed when Toyota hit her superquebrada onto both opponents. Both teams scored more near falls until Toyota German suplexed Ozaki and pinned her to win the third fall in 23:58 and the match. As amazing as Toyota and Ozaki were in their work, both Kansai and Yamada nearly stole the show as both might have had their best matches here. They were so fired up, their kicks were brutally stiff and their execution as strong as ever. Actually, all four were at the very top of their game, making for the best match I have ever seen. The fan heat was also unreal, comparable only to the very best All Japan classics. *****+++++
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