EL DANDY~! Tape Review-AJW Classics-Legends Of The 1980s

-For those of you who don’t know what joshi is, it’s the Japanese women wrestling. In fact, for those of you who are fans of the current female product on RAW, and it’s for the WRESTLING portion, you’ll find joshi entertaining at the very least, and if you don’t…well, you don’t really have a clue as to what you’re missing out on. Joshi has a history that goes back into the 1970s, and this tape focuses in a 10-year time period from 1975-1985, when some of the biggest names in history were just starting, and where their predecessors were molding the sport for their successors to follow. I’m doing the first three of these and will probably follow up with the next three after this. You can find these great tapes at Golden Boy Tapes. Tell Rob that I sent ya. Maybe he’ll throw in a free tape or twenty. MARKETING PLOY~! OK…maybe not. Just tell him I sent ya. He’d be glad to know that my writing on his tapes is getting him somewhere.

-This tape covers what would be AJW Classics #1-6 if you were to buy these by number.

–3/19/75-WWWA Title-Jumbo Miyamoto (c) vs. Mach Fumiake-Out of all the people wrestling under the All Japan flag named Jumbo, Miyamoto was certainly no Tsuruta. This match really wasn’t much at all, but that’s to be expected in the first place, knowing how early this was in the promotion. Both ladies weren’t fluid, although Fumiake trying to lift somebody at least 50 pounds over her body weight for her finisher, a double-arm suplex, isn’t gonna look good in the first place. Fumiake wins, although it’s clearly noticeable that Jumbo kicked out before the third count, and she argues and stuff while Fumiake celebrates. Not much here. 3/4*

–11/1/76-WWWA Title-Maki Ueda (c) vs. Jumbo Miyamoto-This is better than the first match, without a doubt. Jumbo looked a lot better here and they both did well in their control portions of the match. The simple psychology showed, with Ueda’s neckbreakers leading directly into the Hangman. Jumbo mainly did a lot of heel spots: choking, throwing Ueda around outside of the ring, and looked better because she established herself as a heel. Ueda with the Briscoe corner rollup. *1/2

–12/8/76-WWWA Tag Team Titles-Jackie Sato and Maki Ueda (c) vs. Yumi Ikeshita and Shinobu Aso-BEAUTY PAIR~! For the heel team to be smaller than the faces in size and stature is a rare case, but in this case, the heels really don’t care that the champs are taller than them. This is clipped, but most of the time, it’s the heels controlling the match, but it’s not always exciting. A lot of eye rakes, a lot of choking, brawling on the outside, but then they start double teaming Sato and you see that for 1976, Ikeshita used a lot of really sweet moves, including a butterfly suplex, blockbuster suplex, and a tilt-a-whirl slam. One thing I like about this is that there is hardly a pause between moves. A lot of them are done in succession and are done well. Sato had a nice lariat dodge into an abdominal stretch, and Ueda finishes it with a tilt-a-whirl into a tombstone piledriver, in 1976! This is a pretty good match, and in fact, this match SMOKES the stuff on RAW now-a-days. **1/4

–3/15/80-WWWA Title-Jackie Sato (c) vs. Monster Ripper-Ripper is the late Rhonda Singh, who had a run in AJW, and you might remember her with a few runs in the States during the 90s when WCW and WWF both had somewhat of a women’s division. Monster don’t need no stinkin’ flowers. Just looking at the size of the combatants, you can tell what type of match this will be right away. It’s very Sting/Vader in its setup; Ripper is gonna do what her name implies and Sato is gonna take it like the (wo)man that she is. Sato actually shows a good use of her power in this, using a Fireman’s carry drop and a vertical suplex on the bigger Ripper, and the schoolgirls are loving it. Whenever Ripper is on offense, you hear the screams from the schoolgirls, so the match is booked very well. Sato misses a splash from the top, the first highspot on the tape, and then Ripper hits two Banzai Drops. I don’t like the countout finish, but the booking made the crowd go NUTS. Girls were crying because the big gaijin came into town and defeated the hero, and in that situation, that’s all you need sometimes. *3/4

–5/7/83-WWWA Title-Hair vs. Mask match-Jaguar Yokota (c) vs. La Galactica-My first Jagaur experience. Dean and the boys pimp her as the greatest wrestler ever (although you’ll hear Jumbo and Akira Hokuto (HEY! She’s coming up, too!!!) in that conversation as well), and I can see why they might say that in this match. This match is so completely different than the other matches on this tape that it’s almost insane. It’s as if I was watching another fed. There is a decidedly lucha feel to this match. Lots of armdrags, lots of rope running, knuckle locks, submissions; it’s all flashy, but since it’s still early in the style, it’s not exactly polished.

The story is pretty simple; Jag needs to get inside and wrestle Galactica or else the cheating antics of her and Ripper will take the match over. The heels cheat like good heels should, but then Jag proceeds to give Galactica some payback by throwing HER into the chairs, and then taking her back in and working over the knee. Of course, this is lucha style until Jag PLANTS Galactica with the Tombstone. Galactica certainly sells it on the outside like she just got spiked. Then it gets into a clusterfuck; Ripper starts interfering at will whenever Jaguar shows any sign of offense, and then when they go outside, Ripper starts chopping locks of hair off Jag’s head, and Jag gets all mad and starts cutting Galactica’s mask. Then a chair gets involved, and everybody is down except for the two involved and Ripper, and Ripper and Galactica CHEAT TO WIN~ after Jag misses a plancha suicida. This is definitely the most different match on this tape, definitely more modern than the previous matches, but I just felt that the rampant interference got old after a while. Afterwards, Jaguar puts up a fight, but secedes to the scissors. But when they get to the back…they see that Jaguar had cut off a lot more than what was cut in the ring…***

–2/25/85-AJW Singles Title/AJW Jr. Title match-Bull Nakano vs. Itsuki Yamazaki-Boo for bad match listing, as it said 5/7/83, but really, Bull never even held the title back then, nor had she even debuted. Thankfully, the preview actually had the date down, so there ya go. Nakano didn’t have the crazy Don King haircut of DOOM~ yet, but she certainly had some weird ass hair. Bull was apart of DUMP~! Matsumoto’s army of thugs at this point, and they’re with her at ringside. And, just like the Galactica/Yokota match, the outside interference plays a big part. There are numerous gang attacks on Yamazaki throughout the match, and because of this, Nakano doesn’t really do too much in the ring outside of basic heel tactics. Like the Ripper/Sato match, the schoolgirls react big time every time Itsuki gets an advantage, and cry and scream when the Army gangs up on Yamazaki. It’s almost as if Nakano was the representative from the team to be the one who goes after Itsuki, and that the rest of the team is there to make sure she wins.
Yamazaki messes up her knee on a plancha attempt, and Nakano goes after it in pretty simple fashion. There’s really nothing exciting about Bull’s offense; she just whoops ass for a living and enjoys making other people suffer. This match fits the mold of any heel beat down you’d see in the U.S. around the same time, except the match would be thrown out immediately due to interference, and BOY does Dump’s army love coming in to interfere. After a while, Noriyo Toteno, her tag team partner (they made the team of the Jumping Bomb Angels, which made a run in the WWF during the 80s), comes in to help her out to try and even the sides, but it’s never really enough to give Yamazaki a sporting chance. The match eventually gets thrown out after Dump’s army totally disrupts the match, and Yamazaki retains her belt. However, after the match, she forfeits her title right back so that she and Toteno can make a run at the tag team titles. This match wasn’t exactly that great when it came down to execution, but the story was there. The interference, as in the Jaguar/Galactica match, was just a bit much and took away from the match, but it did have the feel of a street fight, and those are fun to watch. **3/4

–4/2/85-AJW Junior Title Tournament-Mika Komatsu vs. Kazue Nagahori-Not a bad match at all. Komatsu did well when she was in control of the match, even adding some heel mannerisms now and then with some hair pulling. She was definitely the better worker than Nagahori. This match stayed on the mat almost the entire time. Komatsu pulled out some nice moves, and these two worked an OK match, if unspectacular. Of course, these two were just starting out, so we could see where things might be a little shaky at times. *1/2

–7/4/85-Kyoko Aso vs. Yumiko Hotta-First thing I notice is the exquisite mullet the ref has. That thing is just too cool for school, my friends. I’ve heard good things about Hotta, but this is one of her first matches, so once again, I’m not expecting too much. Overall, this really was not good. I mean, sloppy, poorly executed, slow, but you know what, it’s another young lions match, so they just went out there and tried their hardest. Luckily for both, they can only get better from here. 1/2*

-From here, the tape ends with the 8/22/85 AJW supershow, which features a smorgasbord of classic matches for the time. Four matches from the show are included on this tape.

–8/22/85-Monster Ripper vs. Yukari Omori-Monster has the very large hair tonight. Yukari Omori actually looks like Takao Omori somewhat!!! Better than the first Ripper match simply because of my preference to this style. She was able to keep up with Omori, but since it’s Ripper and she’s the heel, she had no problem slowing the pace down to what she’s comfortable with. Omori had some interesting offense, but when Ripper was on offense, it wasn’t that great. Of course, Omori didn’t really have a chance from the get go. You could see that Ripper was adjusting to the new style brought on by Yokota, though. Ripper with the big splash. **

–8/22/85-2/3 falls-Bull Nakano and Dump Matsumoto vs. The Jumping Bomb Angels-This was set up by the Nakano/Yamazaki match from earlier in the tape, and folks, don’t expect a wrestling match AT ALL. In fact, Dump and Bull absolutely terrorize the Angels from the start, and it’s Toteno who takes the early beating. If you need to see why Dump Matsumoto is considered one of the nastiest heels of all time, this is a great place to start.

The first fall is just a whirlwind. The Army and the Angels just absolutely tear into each other as only they can. The Army uses anything and everything to gain an advantage, and when it comes down to it, they absolutely beat the living dog piss out of each other with kendo sticks, nunchucks, tables, chairs, lead pipes, rolled up programs, ice packs…you name it, they use it. Bull takes a NASTY bump into the first row and I love this match more and more. Eventually, they all get counted out, which means the second fall is nullified and they go straight to the third fall.

In the third fall, though, both teams end up wrestling for the most part, though Dump does make with the weapons shots from time to time, and there is some interference, but they do wrestle for a while so that you get the feeling this is more than just a street fight. The Angels single out Nakano and almost get a win, but Dump’s protege stays in just long enough to hand it over to Dump for the stretch run. In fact, Dump’s wrestling exhibition on her way to victory is quite surprising knowing what she usually does. The Angels fly around and such, but you see that Yamazaki is the only one who seems to be close to even with the Army; her near falls that she gets on Bull and the near falls she takes against Dump show that. Yamazaki does end up taking the fall when she gets crushed by a triple team spike piledriver, and once again, Dump’s Army shows why there has, is, and always will be, strength in numbers. Just an insane brawl, and the Army looks back as they walk to the locker rooms, with Dump grinning as she sees the carnage she caused that day. ***1/2

–8/22/85-AJW All-Pacific Title-Devil Masami (c) vs. Chigusa Nagayo-The first attempt by the Crush Gals to grab singles gold on the night comes in this match. There were musical performances by both Devil and the Crush Gals beforehand, but we all know that it’s sport before entertainment right? RIGHT? Anyways, I had watched this once before and was quite impressed by the vast moveset that was used by both ladies, especially knowing that this was 1985, but watching it a second time has given me the chance to like it for more than just the vast amount of offense that they brought to the table, and a third time has made me realize just how great this match really was.

In 1985, the pace was quickening. All throughout Japan, the older style brought on mostly through the old NWA style was either being thrown out or transformed into a new exciting style in various forms. In All Japan, Riki Chosyu’s invasion signaled the beginning of a new era in All Japan, with high impact moves and a faster pace to the matches. The two high men in AJPW, Jumbo Tsuruta and Gen’ichiro Tenryu, took it upon themselves to not only adapt to the style, but build their own style from there. That style was used throughout the rest of the 80s, and that style had a direct impact on the style that All Japan found in the 1990s.

UWF had brought some realism to wrestling through their feud with New Japan, with the various strikes and submissions giving wrestling matches a different feel to them, and also setting up many different and intriguing matchups between those who held close to either UWF’s shootstyle philosophy or the old style that NJPW’s wrestlers had been taught. The 10-man UWF vs. NJPW elimination match in March of 1986, one of the highpoints of New Japan’s history, and El Super Classico of 1986, Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Akira Maeda on 6/12/86, were great examples of that.

Jaguar Yokota had made an expedition years prior to Mexico to broaden her wrestling horizons. If you remember from earlier in the tape, her match with La Galactica was very different than any other match prior to that tape, and with her being on top of AJW, people had to work to that style to keep up with her. So with all these styles in place, we come to this place in time, where this match and the following match not only follow in the footsteps that Jaguar placed before them, but trumps that by going with the state of the art moves like All Japan was doing at the time, and then combined those with stiffness and shoot-style workings that UWF was bringing at the time.

You see a lot of mirror sequences to start, and you get to see where the advantages lie; Chigusa wants to use her judo stylings to get an advantage, and Devil wants to work over Chigusa in the Jagaur style. Both women try to shoot the legs and look for a half crab, but it’s Nagayo who is able to secure it well. The best part of this is the matwork. It’s extremely fluid and shows just how advanced and how far ahead of the curve these women were; watch how Devil moves from the headlock and battles for position for a Butterfly Suplex, but when she doesn’t get it, she’s smart enough to not stop and let Chig get an advantage, so she settles for the regular vertical suplex. Then watch Chig do the exact same thing, but she snaps off the Butterfly and it connects. The tit-for-tat sequences really show the strengths and weaknesses well. Chig tries to get a piledriver, but when she doesn’t, Devil shows her the right way to do one, and then goes on with her work. However, Chig is ever-reluctant to give up, and after using her speed to her advantage, gets that elusive piledriver.

The first 10-15 minutes of this seem like they took the lucha submission style that Jaguar used and interwove it with the UWF submission/shoot style, and the transitions they use are seamless. They do such a great job in going from submission hold to leverage hold to a suplex or strike that it’s amazing you’re watching a match in 1985. They also make sure that they sell on both offense and defense. After their mat sequence in the first five minutes, both ladies come up clutching at a limb; Chig with her leg and Devil with her shoulder, so when Chig gets a Triangle Choke a few minutes later, Devil is able to not only fight out of it and go right into a deathlock, but she still finds enough time to sell the shoulder work. The look on Devil’s face as she feels her shoulder and then wrenches in the deathlock is a great, “This is what you get for messing with me” moment. Even on a simple elbow drop from Chig, she shakes the elbow off as if the bone of her elbow met a bone on Devil’s face.

Then, Devil’s veteran presence shines through. Chigusa has the advantage and starts kicking away, but Devil catches one kick, and the leg work earlier pays off, as she segues right into the figure-four. With Chig in trouble, she uses it to her advantage, working over the knee on the apron, and then taking her outside and throwing her around before hitting a friggin’ 1985 plancha. It’s from here that they stop the matwork and go right to putting on an exemplary display of wrestling moves. Devil gets a quebradora and the Butterfly Backbreaker. Chig comes back with a sasoregatime, but when that doesn’t work, the ladies go into a beautiful transition sequence, which sees Devil take control and look for another butterfly suplex, but Chig is able to position herself for a double wrist suplex and take control again. However, Devil shoots one right back at Chig, as she reverses Chig’s German Suplex attempt into one of her own, and after Devil’s shot at a Dragon Suplex fails, it’s back to square one again with a standoff.

The ending sequence from here is just aces. They go seamlessly with their transitions to the very last one. And then, when they get tired of doing it through the knuckelocks, they go to the strikes, and when they feel they have an advantage, they go after bigger moves, and the moves here are just INCREDIBLE. You got Electric Chair Drops off the turnbuckles, cross-armed suplexes, chancery suplexes, vertical backbreakers…if you thought what Tiger Mask and Dynamite Kid was doing when they wrestled was innovative, you watch this match and tell me which pairing has the more impressive moveset, and on top of that, can actually sell the moves correctly. No no-selling of tombstone piledrivers here, people. Then when it’s all said and done, when they have exhausted both their bodies and their movesets, they start going back to basics in a scene that would be revisited nearly 8 years later in Hokuto/Kandori. Devil starts punching Chig’s lights out and actually bloodies her, and Chig returns in kind with some kicks to the face and head. However, there would be no winner on this day, as both women would stay down for the 10 count after Chig kicked Devil in the face and fell to her knees.

What you have here is the great example of versatility within a style. Chigusa brought in a shoot aspect with her kicks and numerous submissions and suplexes to counter Devil’s more wrestling oriented offense, but both women brought the expansive movesets. They used what they knew best, they sold, and they used great psychology. This match was incredible for the time period, and it still holds up EXTREMELY well today. ****1/4

–8/22/85-WWWA Title-Jaguar Yokota (c) vs. Lioness Asuka-If the previous match is an example in the elasticity of the AJW style, this match exemplifies how Jaguar can mold a masterpiece by being so elastic herself. Jaguar was the female Jumbo; a woman who could tell beautiful stories by interweaving the many intricate parts of a match and the end result would be yet another feather in the cap of a great career. This match is one of her biggest feathers.

Watch the fast start and tell me that your jaw doesn’t drop at the exchanges that occur between two WOMEN in 1985. Watch Jaguar’s leg work on Lioness and see how when she loses control, she gains control by going right back to the leg, and how she doesn’t just apply a hold, she ups the ante; there’s always a little more tightness to a hold, or she always adds a little bit more. Look at her inadvertently bitchslap Goldberg by dropping a Jackhammer 13 years before the move became famous.

Watch as she lets Lioness back into the match slowly but surely, giving the school girls hope that their hero can become a double champion. Look at the moves used and see how they all make sense in the order that they are done, and how the build for the bigger moves is subtle, but always there. Then watch the ending as everything comes back to square one: Asuka’s leg is messed up, and Jaguar is too good to let anybody make a mistake like that against her.

Watch the greatest wrestler that hardly any casual fan has ever seen and tell me that you aren’t impressed. If you aren’t, then quite simply you aren’t a fan. This is pro wrestling in 1985 smoking anything occurring nearly 20 years later…and it’s from two WOMEN. The matches YOU think are great today do not touch this match. The matches YOU think you see every month on PPV or on your ROH tapes that are so great and mind-bending and spectacular…they don’t touch this match. If you want to watch wrestling and be amazed and enjoy it for more than the uber-masturbatory moves that so many rubes think make a great match, you watch this. This is wrestling, ladies and germs. Learn to enjoy it. ****3/4

Conclusion: In the end, this is a great step into getting to know the history behind joshi. On top of that, you get two of the most influential matches in the 1980s, period. For you guys looking for something new and are tired of getting the same old stale crap every week, pick this up over at Golden Boy Tapes. It takes patience to watch, but trust me: the reward is well worth it. Next, I tackle either the second tape of AJW Classics, or me and Campbell take on 1/20/97. See you then.