This event took place at Yokohama Bunka Gym on November 18, 1993 before a sellout crowd of approximately 4,800 people and was the biggest event up to that point for the women's group. Like many of the successful All Japan Women events of that year, this was an interpromotional event with five matches being JWP vs AJW wrestlers. The main event pitted three JWP wrestlers and one freelance wrestler, Chigusa Nagayo. She and legendary rival Devil Masami were on opposite sides for a tag match that teamed them with lower level stars Cutie Suzuki & Plum Mariko, respectively.
Despite its small size (only six matches, this rates as one of the ten best shows I have ever seen. Four of the six matches earned at least ****, while another match featuring mostly rookies garnered ***. The tv version of this event was well produced, with one two hour show and a second show at approximately 75 minutes in length. In addition to the matches, these episodes featured profiles of many of the wrestlers on the card that were in-depth and even someone who doesn't understand Japanese but was aware of what was going on would find this informative. Overall, a great show and presentation. Instead of reviewing the matches in the order they took place on the card, I will review the two individual shows on tv themselves.
TV PART ONE
-The tv show began with an "opening ceremony" in which all the wrestlers were brought out in order of their matches, which were announced to the crowd. Simple, but effective beginning as it made the show seem major league (even though it already had that atmosphere).
Match 1: Chaparrita Asari & Chikako Shiratori (AJW) vs Candy Okutsu &
Fusayo Nouchi (JWP)
This was a really strong opener and impressive considering the youth and
inexperience of the competitors. The JWP women were both only 18 years
old while the AJW girls were only 20. Shiratori had only wrestled for
two years, while the others had barely a year of experience. All four
worked hard and to their potential. Okutsu and Asari shined the most,
with both displaying hints of the athleticism that they would
predominantly be known for in the years to come. Candy was actually the
best of the four in terms of overall work, while Asari was the most
spectacular. Asari won the match by pinning Nouchi after a skytwister
press in 13:15. ***
Before the second match on the tv show, they did an extensive highlight and profile package for the Manami Toyota-Hikari Fukuoka match that followed.
Match 2: Manami Toyota (AJW) vs Hikari Fukuoka (JWP)
As expected, this was an excellent match and one of the better matches in
JWP history. Both women generally lived up to their potential. The
match began hot with Fukuoka going after Toyota. The pace slowed for the
next ten minutes with mostly mat wrestling and sporadic interspersed
highspots. This part was good, but not great from these two. The last
7-8 minutes were what you would expect from these two, with tons of
highspots. Both women did planchas, including Toyota doing one over the
ringside barricade. Lots of good near falls down the stretch, with
Toyota asserting her dominance much of the way. After a lengthy rolling
cradle, Toyota finished Fukuoka off with her ocean cyclone suplex in
22:55. Although the Ozaki-Hokuto & Kansai-Inoue matches come damn close,
I would have to peg this as the second best match of the card. ****1/2
A highlight/profile package aired for the next match, and this was even more detailed than the previous package. Much of it focused on Chigusa Nagayo's return to wrestling. Very well-produced package.
Match 3: Chigusa Nagayo & Cutie Suzuki vs Plum Mariko & Devil Masami
The tone for this match was set by the fan response to the entrances and
intros. All four women were really over, although Devil and moreso
Chigusa were super-over with the fans. You could tell this was a
different audience than was at the Dreamslam shows because there were
mostly younger females who were familiar with Chigusa in her heyday in
the 80's. They erupted loudly and at a high pitch for their returning
hero, and chanted her name throughout the match. Once the wrestling
began, fans continued to be into everything, with Chigusa vs Devil
getting the loudest response. These two were masterful against each
other, milking and selling each spot to perfection. They also worked
well with the rising stars as well, giving them a chance to shine against
the veterans. This was the perfect match for Plum Mariko, who had the
match of her life, to work in. The pacing was slower than most big
women's matches, and a higher percentage of submissions were used and
emphasized. This paid off for Plum, who is fantastic in neither style
singularly but is when she has the chance to use both prominently.
Suzuki was the worst of the four, but even she looked strong. Masami and
Chigusa dominated the action down the stretch. After a german suplex,
Masami defeated her longtime rival after a guillotine legdrop in 33:07.
This match was so close to *****, although the pacing highspots needed to
be just a HAIR more spectacular. If I could rate this 4 and 7/8, I
would. ****3/4.
TV PART TWO
This tv broadcast was around 75 minutes in length and featured the other three matches on the card. Shimoda-Kid received the least prominent treatment, with no preview package and only 5:09 of the match airing. The other two matches were given packages and were super as expected.
Match 1: Mima Shimoda (AJW) vs Boirshoi Kid (JWP)
This was by far the worst match of the card. Although there were some
good spots, the match lacked flow and Kid's comedy ruined the bulk of the
match. Shimoda won after a tiger suplex in 13:55. Only 5:09 aired of
the match, which does not create a positive impression of the match. *
Next, a highlight package aired previewing the Hokuto-Ozaki match.
Match 2: Akira Hokuto (AJW) vs Mayumi Ozaki (JWP)
As expected, this was a great and heated match. The match started hot
with Ozaki attacking Hokuto, and then the next ten minutes were
prominently good but unspectacular mat wrestling. The last eight minutes
were fantastic, with great selling of their animosity for each other as
well as selling of the moves. Lots of near falls and highspots as well.
Both women did dives off the top to the outside, including Hokuto doing
her beautiful tope con hilo. Ozaki powerbombed Hokuto on the floor and
dominated the next couple minutes of action. The two then exchanged
moves for the last two minutes before Hokuto executed her DQ bomb and
pinned Ozaki in 18:26. ****1/4
Match 3: Kyoko Inoue (AJW) vs Dynamite Kansai (JWP)
This was a great match featuring one of each group's most intense
wrestlers. This was slightly different from their 11/20/94 match, which
was more spectacular and had more highspots. This match had slightly
better psychology with a slightly smaller emphasis on spectacular
highspots. The format worked well, though, with sound wrestling for the
first 12+ minutes. The action picked up at the 13 minute mark, with
great spots and near falls the rest of the way. Like their
aforementioned match, they did a great job of tesing and countering their
finishing versions of the powerbomb. Kyoko was unable to execute her
Niagara driver, but Kansai was successful in executing her splash
mountain, which she used to pin Kyoko in 20:46 and win the match. Great
conclusion to the show. ****1/4
