Akira Hokuto is one of the most famous Joshi wrestlers of all time. She is known to many as one of the “strongest” Joshi wrestlers not only for her actions in the ring, but outside of it as well. Hokuto never did any of the gravure photobooks, as that wasn’t her style, however she did have a few photobooks with pictures of her wrestling and from her personal life. This one, titled UNO (her real name), focuses on her wrestling matches the year prior as well as casual pictures of Hokuto outside the ring. It also covers her career in Mexico, with many pictures of her as Reina Jubuki with the CMLL World Women’s Championship.

The book is hard cover and has an outside sleeve, making it one of the better quality photobooks I have ever owned. Below are a sampling of some of the pictures in the photobook:

The post Akira Hokuto Photobook “Uno” appeared first on Joshi City.

I have a bit of a special feature today. Joshi Legend Akira Hokuto wrestled over a dozen times in WCW from 1995 to 1997, with the most activity coming after WCW and GAEA entered into a working relationship in late 1996 (which didn’t very long). During that period, Hokuto helped establish the first ever WCW World Women’s Champion (she was the only person recognized by WCW to ever hold the belt).  I have tracked down every televised match that I can find, so hopefully even if I missed one this is a good representation of her stay in WCW. Please note I am watching the matches in the order they aired, not were recorded, as that is how fans at the time saw the matches. Here are the matches I will be watching:

• November 26th, 1995 on WCW World War 3 – Akira Hokuto and Bull Nakano vs. Cutie Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki
• November 27th, 1995 on WCW Nitro – Akira Hokuto and Bull Nakano vs. Cutie Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki
• November 4th, 1996 on WCW Nitro –  WCW World Women’s Championship Tournament Quarter Final: Madusa vs. Reina Jubuki
• December 8th, 1996 on WCW Pro – WCW World Women’s Championship Tournament Quarter Final: Akira Hokuto vs. Meiko Satomura
• December 29th, 1996 on WCW Starrcade – WCW World Women’s Championship Tournament Final: Akira Hokuto vs. Madusa
• January 12th, 1997 on WCW Worldwide – WCW World Women’s Championship: Akira Hokuto vs. Madusa
• January 19th, 1997 on WCW Worldwide – Reina Jubuki vs. Sonoko Kato
• February 9th, 1997 on WCW Worldwide – Akira Hokuto and Kaoru vs. Madusa and Meiko Satomura
• February 23rd, 1997 on WCW Worldwide – Akira Hokuto and Kaoru Maeda vs. Meiko Satomura and Sonoko Kato
• March 31st, 1997 on WCW Nitro – WCW World Women’s Championship: Akira Hokuto vs. Debbie Combs
• April 6th, 1997 on WCW Spring Stampede – WCW World Women’s Championship: Akira Hokuto vs. Madusa
• June 9th, 1997 on WCW Nitro – WCW World Women’s Championship: Akira Hokuto vs. Malia Hosaka
• June 15th, 1997 on WCW The Great American Bash – WCW World Women’s Championship: Akira Hokuto vs. Madusa

Even though its a lot of matches, most are going to be really short so I’ll try to fill the space when necessary with some backstory on why the match is taking place.

Hokuto made a splash with her first ever WCW appearance, wrestling live on PPV at World War 3. During this time period, Hokuto wrestled in AJW with Nakano, while Suzuki and Ozaki wrestled for JWP. Technically this was not the first match Hokuto had on an event at least partially sponsored by WCW, as she also wrestled in the NJPW/WCW Collision in Korea shows, but this was her first appearance live on United States television. This was more of an Offer Match than anything else, which fans of Japanese Wrestling are familiar with as its a common practice in Japan. On the show, Mike Tenay explained the match was booked so WCW could bring the top stars of Japan to WCW, but I have no idea what the story was behind the scenes. Fans at the time may have been familar with Bull Nakano, since she had just the WWF a few months prior, but the rest were unknown in the US to the casual non-tape trading fan.

Akira Hokuto and Bull Nakano vs. Cutie Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki
WCW World War 3 on November 26th, 1995

The best thing about this one was just listening to the crowd. They also got plenty of time (compared to most WCW midcard matches) as they had almost ten minutes. The aspect I enjoyed quite a bit in retrospect, which I doubt most fans at the time thought about, is that the heel team won clean. In mid-90s WCW, it was incredibly rare for the heel team to win without any cheating, course that was more the Japanese style but the point is nothing about this match fit into WCW at the time. Just women wrestling wasn’t very WCW, but wrestling competitively and hitting big moves to wow the crowd certainly wasn’t. This was actually a damn good match by any measure, all four of these wrestlers are great, but its one of the more unreal moments in WCW history which says a lot.

Since they were already in town, they wrestled again the very next night!

Akira Hokuto and Bull Nakano vs. Cutie Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki
WCW Nitro on November 27th, 1995

I loved the crowd reaction to the finisher, I think its important to remember that to the casual WCW fan this was way beyond anything they’d seen before. In a promotion that at the time was promoting things like the Dungeon of Doom and other silly things, you had four women killing each other with moves many people were seeing for the first time. I was watching WCW back in 1995 and while I don’t remember these matches, I am sure they left me in awe, of course I was familar with Bull Nakano but not with any of the others. A really fun sub-five minute match, not a lot of substance but tons of sizzle.

After that, Akira Hokuto did not appear again in WCW for almost a year. In fact the only Japanese wrestler that was still active in WCW during the first part of 1996 was Bull Nakano, but she was gone from the promotion before Hokuto returned. The reason Hokuto returned was by the end of 1996 she was wrestling in a promotion called GAEA. GAEA was a very popular Joshi promotion that ran from 1995 to 2005. In 1996, GAEA and WCW entered into a working agreement where GAEA wrestlers would come to WCW and participate in an eight wrestler tournament (well, seven) to crown the first ever WCW World Women’s Champion. Then in theory the belt would be defended in both promotions.

I mentioned it was really seven wrestlers, well that is because Akira Hokuto participated in the tournament twice, once as herself and once under a mask. This of course was not acknowledged on TV and I doubt the average viewer noticed a difference, Hokuto had not been seen in WCW for a full year and while the above tag matches were fun it is doubtful anyone retained which wrestler was which and their styles after so much time passed. I am not sure why Hokuto wrestled twice, but wrestling is a strange place. Here were the brackets:

courtesy of www.prowrestlinghistory.com

Madusa vs. Reina Jubuki
WCW Nitro on November 4th, 1996 – WCW World Women’s Championship Tournament Quarter Final

Hokuto wrestling and losing under a mask is really confusing on a few levels. They could have found another female wrestler in the US or Japan to be in the tournament, so it wasn’t a last minute thing where they were short. Going into the match, Hokuto as Jubuki was the CMLL World Women’s Champion but was stripped due to losing this match (I have no idea if she intended on going back to CMLL anyway but its still an odd way to lost the belt). Anyway, this was a really unusual match and not satisfying in any way, these two would go on to have good matches but this wasn’t one as Jubuki dominated until Madusa suddenly won with the German suplex. No harm done since no one knew it was Hokuto, and it got the tournament some airtime on Nitro, but nothing much to it.

Zero and Kaoru both won their respective tournament matches, leading us to Akira Hokuto as herself wrestling against Meiko Satomura. Satomura debuted in 1995 for GAEA, and was trained by Chigusa Nagayo. She is mostly in this tournament as a jobber (spoiler!) as obviously a wrestler as inexperienced as her was not going to defeat a legend like Akira Hokuto. Sony Onoo is out with Hokuto as he would be for the rest of her stay in WCW.

 
Akira Hokuto vs. Meiko Satomura
WCW Pro on December 8th, 1996 – WCW World Women’s Championship Tournament Quarter Final

Not a very long match, but matches on Pro and Worldwide generally weren’t. Hokuto needed a strong win since she was entering soon into a feud with Madusa (another spoiler), whom happened to be the only American wrestler that was any good in WCW. Too short to be offensive but too short to be memorable, aside from Satomura’s crazy arm waving elbows.

I wasn’t able to locate Hokuto’s second match in the tournament against KAORU, so we are skipping straight to the tournament Finals against Madusa. Madusa defeated Zero in her next match, after Zero and Onoo had a miscommunication, leading to Hokuto being the only wrestler that he still represented. The Finals of the tournament had a big stage, as it took place on WCW’s biggest pay per view of the year. Starrcade 1996 was a massive show, with Hogan vs. Piper main eventing and it also had the first ever match between Jushin Thunder Liger and Rey Mysterio Jr.. Kensuke Sasaki accompanied Akira Hokuto to the ring even though he was a ‘good guy’ and she was a ‘bad guy’, and the commentary crew acknowledged that they were married.

It was explained at some point that the reason that Hokuto wore a oxygen mask in WCW was so that she would be in peak shape when the match began. It sounds silly but it is a different concept at least, and there is some science that would support it. Downside is that it made her look like a cyborg.

Akira Hokuto vs. Madusa
WCW Starrcade on December 29th, 1996 – WCW World Women’s Championship Tournament Final

If you can tune out the commentary crew, which alternated between talking about the match and discussing the nWo, this wasn’t a bad match. It didn’t feel like the epic it could have been but it was still on the undercard on a WCW PPV, they weren’t going to get but so much time. Plus while Madusa was popular, by late 1996 she was not in Hokuto’s league and there were a few mistakes in the match. It was still very historical however, as Hokuto became the first champion and beat a popular wrestler in the process, course we didn’t know at the time that the championship would fade out of existence on WCW TV in six months.

In those six months however, Hokuto was certainly a fighting champion as GAEA’s partnership with WCW continued into the summer. Due to the interference in the match, and also the fact she was the only female American wrestler on the roster, Hokuto’s feud with Madusa continued. Next we will watch their non-title match which aired two weeks later on WCW Worldwide. The reason it was a non-title match was because it was filmed back in November, so she did not have the title at the time anyway, but it did give Madusa an ‘immediate rematch’ after the screwy ending at Starrcade.

 
Akira Hokuto vs. Madusa
WCW Worldwide on January 12th, 1997

This was more of a house-show style match, a quick one for the syndicated show to get a few new eyeballs but while giving away nothing of interest. All it really did was confirm that they were still feuding.

The next few matches were also taped on November 10th, 1996, which is why we are seeing wrestlers that haven’t been in WCW since November. For example, Sonoko Kato did not fly back to the United States just to have a match on Worldwide. This was a good idea of course, as it gave WCW a handful of matches with the champion to keep her on television without her having to keep coming back to the United States. In fact, Hokuto did not have any live appearances in WCW between Starrcade and her match on Nitro in late March. All her matches shown in January and February took place the previous November but with new commentary so they could talk about her being the champion (although one that never carried her belt).

Course, her next match was under the mask so they couldn’t even acknowledge it was Hokuto, which makes it an interesting choice to air at all. Kato was still a youngster at this point, not the star that she is today in Oz Academy, so it was more ‘small show filler’ than anything else.

Reina Jubuki vs. Sonoko Kato
WCW Worldwide on January 19th, 1997

Not much to that one, even though it is fun seeing a really young Kato wrestling in WCW. So we can skip right to the next match, with Madusa teaming with Satomura (I guess Madusa decided which one was the least evil to team with) facing Hokuto (back wrestling as herself) and KAORU. This match was actually the main event of the show, which demonstrates the popularity of Madusa and her battle against the evil foreigners.

Akira Hokuto and Kaoru vs. Madusa and Meiko Satomura
WCW Worldwide on February 9th, 1997

This was more about Madusa hating Onoo than anything else, Onoo was also the manager of Nakano when Madusa battled her so they had a long history together. Course as soon as she was distracted, Satomura was no match for both Hokuto and Kaoru so the match quickly ended. But this is what the syndicated shows were good for, a quick match that continued the bigger storyline of Hokuto vs. Madusa without any real harm being done, even if it was a really quick match.

One more of these, and then we get back to new content. The next tag match was done at the same recording as the past few matches, which again is why Hokuto does not have the title with her. Madusa wasn’t even in this one, as its an all Japanese affair with only one wrestler (Hokuto) that was still an active part of the promotion. Definitely filler.

Akira Hokuto and Kaoru Maeda vs. Meiko Satomura and Sonoko Kato
WCW Worldwide on February 23rd, 1997

That was basically a squash, as they continued attacking after the bell rings. That brings out Madusa, she gets in the ring to face off with Hokuto but Onoo keeps them apart. They eventually get to each other and trade strikes, but its a stalemate and Madusa leaves with Kato and Satomura. This angle was just done like everything else the last few weeks, to keep in the public eye their simmering feud.

That was the last Worldwide taping with the Japanese wrestlers present so we didn’t get to see more of Hokuto until she returned to Nitro over a month later. But when she did return on March 31st, she returned with a bang as her match kicked off the second hour of Nitro. Debbie Combs was put over a bit by Mike Tenay on commentary, referring to her as a second generation star. She started wrestling in 1975 so she is definitely a veteran of the ring. This is the first time we’ve seen of Hokuto holding the title coming down the ramp, and she no longer has the oxygen tank or the headpiece. In fact she is noticeably more “Japanese” now as she is wearing a kimono and fanning herself with a fan with the Japanese flag on it. It is interesting that she went from having a unique look to being more stereotypical, perhaps they were afraid she would get cheered and wanted to emphasize her nationality more. Can’t say I am a fan of the change, hopefully her in-ring work is the same as it was before.

 
(c) Akira Hokuto vs. Debbie Combs
WCW Nitro on March 31st, 1997 – WCW World Women’s Championship

After the match they interview Madusa (they refer to her as ‘prior title holder’ which isn’t true) but Hokuto interrupts it and they battle in the entrance until they manage to be pulled apart. Course this was just to set up their match the following week, but why in the world they had Combs in for this match I have no idea. She wasn’t familar to the crowd but she wasn’t really of the right age for Hokuto to throw her around and impress anyone. The issue wasn’t just that it was short but Hokuto didn’t get much of a chance to really show off which should have been the point.

But that led straight to Hokuto defending her title against Madusa the following week on WCW Spring Stampede. The match didn’t need much set-up considering their history, however Madusa did defeat Malia Hosaka two weeks prior on Nitro which was her first appearance on Nitro or PPV since Starrcade. With how much WCW had going on at the time with nWo, it wasn’t unusual for the other storylines to get pushed aside (or to Worldwide) until there was a bigger match to promote. Madusa came out fully decked out in USA attire, as they wanted to emphasize the America vs. Japan aspect of the match.

(c) Akira Hokuto vs. Madusa
WCW Spring Stampede on April 6th, 1997 – WCW World Women’s Championship

Funny how just a few months have passed but the quality has dropped so much. The Starrcade match was short but at least the commentators talked about the match and Hokuto didn’t win in such a weak manner (she still got help, but it was done better than it was here). It was hard to concentrate on this match and it felt like nothing important, rather than the first defense of the title on PPV since December. A step down from their other matches and it felt more like filler.

After this match, Hokuto got a bit of a break. Madusa had to take care of Luna Vachon, which is a match that took place at the next PPV, and WCW wasn’t capable of having multiple women feuds going on at the same time. Hokuto went back to Japan, wrestling for GAEA, and was not seen again in WCW until June. In the meantime, WCW and GAEA were still working together fairly well as they had a four woman tournament to crowd the first ever WCW Women’s Cruiserweight Championship, which was won by Toshie Uematsu. Besides that though not a lot was going on, as Akira Hokuto was the only GAEA wrestler with any type of presence on the more watched programs in World Championship Wrestling.

Akira Hokuto made her return to Nitro the week before her big match against Madusa at the Great American Bash. Just to give the crowd a bit of a reminder on who she was. She faced off against the veteran Malia Hosaka, who had participated in the WCW Women’s Cruiserweight Championship. Oddly enough, Hokuto is back to her old attire for this match, wearing the headpiece and oxygen mask as she had when she returned to WCW in November of 1996.

Akira Hokuto vs. Malia Hosaka
WCW Nitro on June 9th, 1997

After the match she hits another one on Hosaka and poses over her, out runs Madusa from the back and she hits a German suplex on Hokuto. Another German suplex by Madusa and she hits a third, but Onoo manages to get Hokuto out of the ring. This was just to hype up their match at the Great American Bash, which it did a decent job in doing as the crowd popped pretty good when Madusa came out and hit the German suplexes. I had forgotten until I re-watched these matches how popular Madusa was, the fans definitely enjoyed watching her.

The set-up for the next match is that in order to get another title shot, Onoo forced Madusa to put her career on the line to make it a Title vs. Career match. If Hokuto lost she wouldn’t have to retire, she would just lose her belt, so the pressure was on Madusa to pick up the win. Up to this point, Madusa had been in WCW regularly for a year and a half, and while she was the only regular female wrestler during that stretch they always managed to find her competition. Up to this point, Madusa had never beaten Hokuto in WCW, but with her career on the line that was sure to change here, right?

(c) Akira Hokuto vs. Madusa
WCW Great American Bash on June 15th, 1996 – WCW World Women’s Championship vs. Madusa’s Career

After the match, even though Madusa was now forced to retire, Hokuto kept beating on her anyway just for giggles. This was my favorite match of the set and a good way to end their feud. First, as I mentioned, the commentators all did a good job putting over what was going on and giving them respect, which wasn’t always the case during Hokuto’s run (to be fair, they were better than I remembered throughout). The match had a story, with Madusa’s knee being the focus, and Onoo didn’t have as much of an impact. It is still rather shocking that Madusa lost, the crowd didn’t seem to know what to think as the obvious story was the injured fan favorite coming back and winning to save her career and win the belt. But that didn’t happen, as Hokuto pinned her in the middle of the ring and Madusa is done forever.

And that was it, Akira Hokuto never appeared in WCW again, nor did the WCW World Women’s Championship. I am not sure why the partnership between WCW and GAEA ended but that was the last match with any GAEA wrestlers in the promotion. Devil Masami won the suddenly vacated championship while in GAEA but it was not recognized by WCW, and in 1998 the belt was referenced as still being held by Hokuto. Madusa really did retire, at least for two years, which is probably the longest a “Loser Must Retire” stipulation has ever been honored.

When you think about it, it is pretty amazing that Hokuto had over a dozen matches in WCW and she never lost (wrestling as herself). She came in and battled the best female wrestler that WCW had and not only beat her, but forced her into retirement. Then left like it meant nothing, one could even kayfabe that she left WCW because there was no more competition there since she retired the only great wrestler they had. Normally, it always appears that the larger company ‘gets over’ on the smaller company, but here that was certainly not the case as Hokuto was the clear victor in the GAEA/WCW partnership.

After leaving WCW for good, Hokuto continued wrestling in GAEA until 2002, when she retired from wrestling (aside from a few quick comeback matches, of course). WCW never got serious about a women’s division again, as this would be the only women’s title that the promotion ever had (I’m not even counting the Women’s Cruiserweight since it was forgotten by WCW even faster than Hokuto’s title was), making Akira Hokuto the most accomplished woman wrestler in the history of WCW. Looking back it is very unusual but Akira Hokuto’s stay in WCW was definitely memorable, as she showed the WCW fans a side of wrestling they had never seen before and left the promotion undefeated. In the end, WCW was just another promotion that fell to the immortal Danger Queen.

The post Akira Hokuto in WCW Retrospective appeared first on Joshi City.

All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling is one of the most important and influential Joshi Puroresu promotions in the history of the sport. At one point in the early 90s, AJW was drawing crowds similar to the most popular male promotions in Japan (with the clear exception being New Japan Pro Wrestling) and the promotion had some of the most recognizable Joshi wrestlers with Manami Toyota, Aja Kong, Bull Nakano, and Akira Hokuto.

There is some debate on when the exact heyday of AJW was, but few would argue that the promotion was not at the top of their game in 1993. In April of that year, AJW promoted two of the biggest events in Joshi history, All-Star Dream Slam and All-Star Dream Slam II. The first event drew over 16,500 fans, the largest recorded attendance at a Joshi event at that time (a record that would be smashed the following year at Big Egg Wrestling Universe). AJW ended 1993 wrestling in Sumo Hall for the first time, with an announced crowd of 11,500. Between those events, on August 25th, 1993, AJW had their first event at Budokan in almost 15 years called “Legacy of Queens.”

As was not unusual at the time, JWP sent some of their best wrestlers over to enhance the card, as did LLPW and FMW. While the promotions competed against each other, there was also an understanding that these big events were good for all promotions in terms of exposure. Plus I am sure money exchanged hands to make it worth their time. AJW was one of the first promotions to get regular cooperation from multiple promotions in order to put on ‘super cards’, and these events helped build the legacy of many Joshi legends. Here is the full card for the show:

• Tomoko Watanabe, Numacchi, and The Goddess Chikako Shiratori vs. Utako Hozumi, Kurenai Yasha, and Mizuki Endo (LLPW)
• Infernal KAORU and Chaparrita ASARI vs. Bolshoi Kid and Candy Okutsu (JWP)
• Elimination Match: Bull Nakano, Suzuka Minami, Etsuko Mita, Mima Shimoda, and Bat Yoshinaga vs. Eagle Sawai, Harley Saito, Miki Handa, Yukari Osawa, and Leo Kitamura (LLPW)
• Takako Inoue vs. Cuty Suzuki (JWP)
• Toshiyo Yamada and Kaoru Ito vs. Megumi Kudo and Yukie Nabeno (FMW)
• Kyoko Inoue vs. Shinobu Kandori (LLPW)
• Yumiko Hotta, Manami Toyota, and Sakie Hasegawa vs. Mayumi Ozaki, Plum Mariko, and Hikari Fukuoka (JWP)
• All Pacific Championship: Akira Hokuto vs. Rumi Kazama (LLPW)
• WWWA Championship: Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai (JWP)

As you can see, every match pits AJW against an ‘invading’ promotion but there would be no outside interference or cheating, just wrestlers from different promotions squaring off to see who was the best. Before each match below, the wrestlers are standing in the same order as I have listed their names to help with identification, and the AJW team will always be listed first.

 
The Goddess Chikako Shiratori, Numacchi, and Tomoko Watanabe vs. Utako Hozumi, Kurenai Yasha, and Mizuki Endo (LLPW)

This was probably an easy way to get LLPW a win without doing any damage to AJW (LLPW was at best the 3rd ranked Joshi promotion, with JWP being second). I think it was longer than it needed to be but aside from one mistake from Numacchi it was fluid. Simple, but fluid. An average and forgettable match, but non-offensive.

 
Chaparrita ASARI and Infernal KAORU vs. Bolshoi Kid and Candy Okutsu (JWP)

Mariko Yoshida is refereeing this match for reasons unknown, I am sure it is known to someone but not to me. Unlike the last match, this one started with fireworks as team JWP both dive out of the ring onto their opponents, Bolshoi Kid and Okutsu goof around too much so Team AJW leave and walk up the ramp. Bolshoi Kid and Okutsu apologize and we then have a normal match after that. An unusual way to start but things settle down into the normal arm work and limb work, with Bolshoi Kid getting the brunt of it. Bolshoi Kid is tied to the ropes at one point by her hat, and is generally clowned by KAORU until escaping to tag in Okutsu.

Okutsu has more luck against KAORU, but ASARI is a different story. Both teams have trouble gaining an advantage, in this match Okutsu is clearly a step ahead of everyone else as she flies around with dropkicks. Some of this is ugly, such as an attempted catapult kick and some of the interactions with Bolshoi, and it has very little structure to speak of. KAORU and Yoshida get into it, so Yoshida hits a crossbody on her which is counted by Bolshoi for two. This is in the middle of the match, mind you. About ten minutes in, KAORU gets the first real nearfall of the match with a hurricanrana on Okutsu, but Bolshoi hits an avalanche Uranage onto ASARI. ASARI very quickly recovers and hits a dive out of the ring onto Bolshoi, soon after she she nails a top rope twisting something but Okutsu breaks up the pin. Okutsu hits ASARI with seven straight rolling Germans that makes me cringe each time, and she picks up the pinfall! Bolshoi Kid and Candy Okutsu win!

This was not as bad as I had read. It wasn’t good but man was Okutsu bringing it, I was incredibly impressed with her. She just debuted in 1992 when she was only 17, but she showed a lot here. Bolshoi Kid was fine at her thing but it didn’t mesh well in this match, the spots were cute but it would have worked better in the opener. A step down from the last match but with some bright spots.

 
Bat Yoshinaga, Mima Shimoda, Etsuko Mita, Minami, and Bull Nakano vs. Eagle Sawai, Harley Saito, Miki Handa, Osawa, and Kitamura (LLPW)

This match is traditional Tag Team Elimination Rules, like Survivor Series. It starts chaotically, as it would have to with 12 wrestlers from two different promotions facing off against each other, but it does settle down.  They take turns in pairs so everyone has a bit of a chance to shine with no one wrestler taking offense for more than 30 seconds before getting some help from their teammates. Unfortunately for Kitamura, she is the first to be isolated by Team AJW and she soon is planted by a Death Valley Bomb by Mita, and she gets the three count! Kitamura is eliminated. Handa is in next, she hits a beautiful fallaway slam hold but Shimoda comes back with a Tiger Suplex Hold for the three count! Handa is eliminated.  Osawa comes in for her but Minami comes in for the All Japan Women and within a minute she plants Osawa with a powerbomb to get another three count! Osawa is eliminated. This very temporarily puts Sawai and Saito in a 5 vs. 2 situation, but it won’t last long. Eagle Sawai runs in and knocks Minami to the mat, she covers her and gets three! Minami is eliminated.  Sawai lariats Shimoda and covers her as well, getting another quick three count cover! Shimoda is eliminated. Sawai powerbombs Mita but the cover is broken up by Nakano and Yoshinaga. Sawai catapults Saito at them so she can hit a dropkick, Sawai powerbombs Mita again and she gets a three count! Mita is eliminated.

It is 2 vs. 2 now as Nakano comes in, and she faces off with Sawai. Sawai knocks down Nakano first but Yoshinaga comes in and they hit a double powerbomb. Sawai avoids the Diving Guillotine Drop and tags in Saito, diving spinning heel kick by Saito to Nakano and she covers her for two. Saito kicks Yoshinaga in the back of the head but Yoshinaga kicks out of the cover, and Yoshinaga hits a head kick of her own. Yoshinaga hits a heel kick on Nakano by accident, but then she immediately hits one on Saito and covers her for the three count! Saito is eliminated. Missile dropkick by Yoshinaga to Sawai and she tags Nakano, powerbomb by Nakano but it gets two, as does the Diving Guillotine Drop. Sawai hits a superplex on Nakano but Yoshinaga comes in and hits a heel kick. Somersault Diving Guillotine Leg Drop by Nakano, and she picks up the three count! Sawai is eliminated, Team AJW wins!

This match accomplished a lot. First, even in defeat it put over Sawai as an invading force to be reckoned with, as she pinned three wrestlers and took a lot of offense before going down. Second, it established that Nakano is still badass, we knew this but a reminder every now and then never hurt anyone. And finally it introduced some new wrestlers to the AJW crowd, all the wrestlers got at least a few minutes to show what they could do. The downside of the match is that it did not need twelve wrestlers, as it meant some really solid wrestlers got pinned really easily. It may be forgotten in the grand scheme of things but Shimoda and Mita were pinned too quick for wrestlers of their stature. A really solid match overall as I think it accomplished what it was going for, but not without its faults. Recommended

 
Takako Inoue vs. Cuty Suzuki (JWP)

This match was billed as “Over the Idol ~Summer Heroine Series.” Basically this match is both promotions’ resident hottie battling against each other, both did gravure videos and were known as much for their ‘other media’ as for their wrestling. But both are solid wrestlers also so this should be a fun one. They go right to slapping each other and hard elbows, there is no love here between these two as Suzuki hits a quick German suplex hold for two. I like when matches don’t have five minutes of limb work, I am not against that but its enjoyable when matches go in their own direction. Suzuki controls the action on the mat but Inoue drops her with a sudden tombstone piledriver. Inoue works on Suzuki’s leg for a minute, but it doesn’t go anywhere and soon Suzuki is back in control.

Suzuki quickly hits two backdrop suplexes, she then applies a Dragon Sleeper but Inoue gets into the ropes. She gets it re-applied but Inoue gets to the ropes again and applies her own Dragon Sleeper. Guess the legwork is out the window. Suzuki sneaks in a suplex and hits some quick footstomps, but Inoue avoids the diving footstomp. Chokeslam by Inoue and she hits another one, but Suzuki bridges out of the pin. Avalanche Armdrag by Inoue, she goes up top but Suzuki joins her, allowing Inoue to hit an avalanche chokeslam for two. A backdrop suplex hold also gets two for Inoue, and Suzuki sneaks in a dragon suplex hold for a two of her own. Inoue comes right back with a German suplex before punching Suzuki right in the face. Diving kneedrop by Inoue, and she gets the three count pinfall! Takako Inoue wins the match.

I can’t say I particularly enjoyed this one. If they wanted to just trade bombs, they should have done that, as the first two minutes were solid and the last few were good also, but the middle portion really dragged. There is no need to do five minutes of leg work if it is going to be immediately forgotten by both wrestlers, it is just time filler at that point. I liked the passion, both show emotion very well, but as a wrestling match it was lacking.

 
Kaoru Ito and Toshiyo Yamada vs. Megumi Kudo and Yukie Nabeno (FMW)

Nabeno eats some hip attacks as she is a bit out of her league, she gets away to tag in Kudo and Kudo trades bombs with Ito. Sleeper by Kudo, Nabeno comes in and they double team Ito. Tiger Driver by Kudo, she picks up Ito and hits another one followed by a third but Yamada comes into help. Kudo gets rid of Yamada but she comes back again, but Kudo hits a hurricanrana for two. Kudo tags Nabeno and Nabeno hits a missile dropkick on Ito. Ito has finally had enough and hits a cannonball, she tags Yamada and Yamada dives down onto Nabeno. Yamada hits four jumping kicks on Nabeno, then Nabeno is double teamed until Kudo comes in and lariats Ito. Ito goes up top with Nabeno and hits a superplex followed by a series of footstomps. Kudo interferes, so Ito hits a diving footstomp off the top turnbuckle to the floor onto Kudo. She then gets back up top and hits one on Nabeno, and she gets the three come! Ito and Yamada win the match.

I liked this match, mostly because of Yamada. I haven’t seen a lot of Yamada but her strikes and suplexes are so good, she is just the type of wrestler that I enjoy watching. Everyone played their parts right though and unlike some previous matches they didn’t waste time doing things that ultimately meant nothing. A bit predictable on whom was taking the fall but a solid tag match. Mildly Recommended

Kyoko Inoue vs. Shinobu Kandori (JWP)

Kandori does finally get the first big break in the match as she spins around Inoue with a sleeper, powerbomb by Kandori but it gets two. Kandori goes back to the sleeper but Inoue gets out of it, Inoue quickly springs to the top turnbuckle and she hits a diving back elbow drop. Missile dropkick by Inoue and she hits another one, but Kandori blocks the powerbomb attempt. Elbow by Inoue but Kandori catches her arm to go for an armbar. Inoue gets away and hits an enzuigiri, but Kandori hits the Tiger Driver for two. Kandori gets Inoue’s back but Inoue rolls her up and they trade quick pin attempts. Powerbomb by Inoue, Kandori manages to get the Fujiwara Armbar locked in but Inoue reaches the ropes. Kandori drags Inoue to the middle of the ring, she applies a double armbar submission and Inoue is forced to give up! Shinobu Kandori is your winner.

This was a great match that even if you don’t know their history (I am not sure where the hate comes from) it was palpable from start to finish. They both brought something different as Inoue went for power moves while Kandori was more into strikes and submissions, so it led to an interesting dynamic as either could have won at any point with their preferred methodology. Kandori targeting the arm was on point and the finishing submission had that feel of “well Inoue isn’t getting out of this” which is always the right reaction. Really entertaining, just two top end wrestlers in their prime putting on a smart and entertaining match. Highly Recommended

 
Sakie Hasegawa, Manami Toyota, and Yumiko Hotta vs. Mayumi Ozaki, Plum Mariko, and Hikari Fukuoka (JWP)

That ends the JWP portion of the match, as AJW takes over with the slow destruction of Fukuoka. And a glorious destruction it is as she is suplexed around the ring in rapid fire fashion with her teammates occasionally coming in to break things up. Finally Mariko is tagged in and she has more luck, powerbombing Toyota to turn the tide back to the invading team. Toyota’s leg is worked on, but soon she breaks away and gets back to her corner. Toyota tags in Hasegawa, she gets Ozaki in a submission but Ozaki gets out of it. There really are no long breaks here, its pretty much non-stop tagging and big moves to whomever is unlucky enough to be in the ring. Fukuoka drops Hotta with a missile dropkick but Toyota flies off the top with a crossbody on all of Team JWP, Oklahoma Roll by Ozaki to Toyota but it gets a two count. Toyota returns the favor but Ozaki tags back out and all six women take turns hitting big spots again. The higher flying wrestlers take dives out of the ring, ending with a Toyota moonsault, Hotta gets Ozaki on her shoulders and she eats a double missile dropkick. Hotta gives Ozaki a hard powerbomb but accidentally hits Hasegawa with a heel kick, bodypress by Mariko and Ozaki delivers the moonsault for two. Cross-arm suplex by Ozaki to Hasegawa, and she gets the three count! Team JWP wins the match!

There was a lot to love about this one, mostly the lack of downtime in a 25 minute match. They were just going hard from bell to bell, it wasn’t as strike based as the last few but more suplexes and double (or triple) teaming. The ending actually came out of nowhere as Hasegawa had just recovered from the previous moves done to her when she took the suplex that kept her down, since wrestlers have been kicking out of everything all night I’d have preferred it take a bit more to get the three count. Still, a hectic and fast paced match, not a ton of psychology but lots of goodness nonetheless. Recommended

(c) Akira Hokuto vs. Rumi Kazama (LLPW)

This match starts with a bang, as Kazama hits Hokuto to the mat but Hokuto fires back with two straight piledrivers. That’s how you kick things off. Hokuto tries to choke out Kazama with no luck so she sits down on the Scorpion Deathlock instead. Kazama gains the upper hand with some kicks and starts on Hokuto’s already injured knee, they roll out of the ring together and Kazama lays in with the leg kicks. Back in, Hokuto delivers some kicks of her own but Kazama hits a German suplex hold for two. Tiger suplex hold by Kazama, but that gets a two as well. Spinning heel kick by Kazama and she kicks Hokuto out of the ring, Kazama goes up top and dives out of the ring, but Hokuto moves. Hokuto then goes up top and hits a somersault splash down onto Kazama, but back in the ring Kazama kicks Hokuto when she goes for a Northern Lights Bomb. Hokuto goes for a gutwrench bomb but Kazama reverses it with a hurricanrana, Hokuto goes up top but Kazama kicks her as she jumps off. Kneebar by Kazama but Hokuto gets in the ropes, gutwrench bomb by Hokuto but Kazama kicks out. Missile Dropkick by Hokuto but Kazama hits a German suplex hold for two. Powerbomb by Kazama but Hokuto drops Kazama right on her head with an inverted powerslam. Northern Lights Bomb by Hokuto and she retains her championship!

Hokuto matches are always a pleasure because she is high energy and high impact. Kazama learned that the hard way as she was dropped on her head several times, while all she had to retort with was leg submissions and an occasional suplex. Kazama was good with the reversals though, it showed that she had scouted Hokuto which is a degree of realism that I appreciate. Hokuto could have sold the leg better between holds but it was an exciting and fun match. Recommended

 
(c) Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai (JWP)

This match started slower than the last few as both were feeling each other out, looking for a way to get the advantage. Kong’s headbutts send Kansai reeling, she picks her up and drops Kansai with a piledriver. Kong concentrates on Kansai’s leg and back but Kansai takes back over and locks in a chinlock. This won’t go anywhere but the crowd is enjoying it and a slow build in title matches isn’t a bad thing. Kansai hits her own piledriver before going after Kong’s leg but Kong knocks Kansai to the mat and applies a Scorpion Deathlock. Kansai boots Kong and hits a lariat, but Kong fires back with her own lariat and the champion is back in control. Body Avalanche by Kong but Kansai ducks the Uraken and slams Kong for a two count. Kansai kicks Kong out of the ring and then dives out onto her with a pescado.

Back in, Kansai slams Kong and hits a diving bodypress for a nearfall. Kansai hits a lariat as the champion is on the ropes, but Kong decks Kansai with a Uraken. Kong goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a body press, but the challenger gets a shoulder up. She goes up again, Kansai goes for a kick as she jumps off but Kong crushes her leg instead. Kong drops Kansai on her head with a backdrop suplex but Kansai ducks the Uraken. A high kick by Kansai sends Kong to the mat, Kansai charges Kong but Kong hits a suplex. Kong goes up top, Kansai grabs her from behind however and nails the Splash Mountain but Kong barely kicks out. A STF by Kansai doesn’t get the submission so she goes back to kicks, but Kong catches one and hits a German suplex hold. Backdrop Driver by Kong and she hits a Uraken, another Uraken by Kong and she takes off the gloves to hit another one. Kong puts Kansai up top, she gets Kansai behind her back and drops down to the mat, squishing Kansai underneath her. Kong quickly covers Kansai and she gets the three count! Kong retains the championship!

Another great match, these inter-promotional cards were just stacked with talent. The crowd was really eating up some of the nearfalls, especially the Splash Mountain, and Kansai was hard enough to put down that it didn’t hurt her stature in JWP to lose. I wasn’t surprised the match had a slow start since title matches are usually more likely to have a ‘feeling out process,’ partly to increase the length and partly to push the idea that its such an important match that neither wants to make the first mistake. Once the bombs started there was no going back though, and the atmosphere was incredible. Perfect way to end the show and a must-see match between two Joshi legends. Highly Recommended

Results Recap:

• Utako Hozumi, Kurenai Yasha, and Mizuki Endo defeats Tomoko Watanabe, Numacchi, and The Goddess Chikako Shiratori
• Bolshoi Kid and Candy Okutsu defeats Infernal KAORU and Chaparrita ASARI
• Bull Nakano, Minami, Mita, Shimoda, and Bat Yoshinaga defeats Eagle Sawai, Harley Saito, Handa, Osawa, and Kitamura  – Recommended
• Takako Inoue defeats Cuty Suzuki
• Toshiyo Yamada and Kaoru Ito defeats Megumi Kudo and Yukie Nabeno  – Mildly Recommended
• Shinobu Kandori defeats Kyoko Inoue – Highly Recommended
• Mayumi Ozaki, Plum Mariko, and Hikari Fukuoka defeats Yumiko Hotta, Manami Toyota, and Sakie Hasegawa  – Recommended
• All Pacific Championship: Akira Hokuto defeats Rumi Kazama  – Recommended
• WWWA Championship: Aja Kong defeats Dynamite Kansai – Highly Recommended

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