Welcome to another review of All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling Classics! AJW Classics is a television program that airs on SAMURAI TV in Japan. There are several different series within the AJW Classics name, I will be reviewing the series starting with the “Retro Hour” AJW Classics that first aired on August 7th, 2007.  They are still airing to this day.

AJW Retro Hour Classics #5 features friends (and soon to be former friends) clashing! In a departure from the last few episodes, with the Fuji TV Cup Japan Grand Prix taking place, tag teams are now facing against each other as Gokuaku Domei, Crush Gals, and Dynamite Girls all battle in singles action. Here is the full listing:

• 4/2/85 – Fuji TV Cup Japan Grand Prix ’85 League: Jumbo Hori vs. Yukari Omori
• 4/26/85 – Fuji TV Cup Japan Grand Prix ’85 League: Dump Matsumoto vs. Crane Yu
• 4/6/85 – Fuji TV Cup Japan Grand Prix ’85 League: Lioness Asuka vs. Chigusa Nagayo

This is an interesting event, let’s see how it shapes up.

Jumbo Hori vs. Yukari Omori

Omori dropkicks Hori as soon as the bell rings but Hori comes back with a bodyslam. Omori yanks on Hori’s arm and puts Hori in a backbreaker, and Hori rolls to the apron to get her back worked on. Back in, Hori and Omori trade chops but Omori tosses Hori to the mat and drops Hori with a gutbuster. Hori rolls out of the ring to re-group but returns after a moment and stomps on Omori, working on her leg. Omori gets Hori up and slams her stomach-first, but Omori tosses Hori off the top turnbuckle. Back bodydrop by Hori and she covers Omori for a two count. Back up, Hori throws Omori into the corner but she jumps up on the top turnbuckle and hits a diving lariat. Hori then goes up top and hits a diving crossbody, piledriver by Hori but Omori bridges out of the pin. Backdrop suplex hold by Omori, she picks up Hori and she hits another one for the three count! Jumbo Hori wins the match!

The most exciting thing about this is Hori trying to kill Omori at the end with the piledriver and backdrop suplexes, as up to that point not a whole lot of interest was happening. They had oddly little chemistry for two wrestlers that team together, as there were a few missteps in a match that not much was shown of. The last few minutes were great for sure and there were some big hits in this, but as an overall match it just felt too segmented.

Dump Matsumoto vs. Crane Yu

They shake hands to start but they are pleasant for about six seconds before Matsumoto drags Yu out of the ring and slams her repeatedly into the table. After choking and whipping her around the ring, they back into it and Matsumoto chokes her some more. Matsumoto stabs Yu repeatedly in the head until she starts bleeding all over the place, then Matsumoto stabs her in the head some more. Even Abe finds the violence excessive but Matsumoto swats him away and keeps up the attack. Yu manages to get a chain and chokes Matsumoto with it, she then gets a chair and hits Nakano with it but Nakano hits her back. Matsumoto lariats Yu and hits Abe with a pail, she covers Yu but Yu bridges out. Irish whip by Matsumoto but the two collide, Matsumoto takes Yu to the corner and bites her in the head. Yu is continuing to bleed everywhere as Nakano comes in, as if Matsumoto needs help, and they lariat Yu. Yu is beaten around the ring and slammed into the ring post, the referee finally has enough and calls for the bell, so it is either a Double Countout or Matsumoto was DQed, who knows.

I couldn’t find an exact record, but this was either Crane Yu’s last match before retiring (for the first time) or really close to it, so this was a ‘passing of the torch’ type match more than anything else. Not that Matsumoto needed the torch passed, but more to Nakano, as Nakano was very visible in the match and at the end it was her and Matsumoto standing tall in the ring while Yu was bleeding everywhere. Yu took her beating like a champion, there was no point during this match that it felt she was going to win, it was just a bloodbath brawl. Even Abe, the heel referee, couldn’t get Matsumoto to stop. I thought it did a great job at accomplishing what it was trying to do and it really set the stage for what was coming next. Which we will get to in the next few weeks. A fun brawl but perhaps not for the faint of heart.  Mildly Recommended

Lioness Asuka vs. Chigusa Nagayo

They start on the mat as they feel each other out, but neither gets a real clear advantage. This was definitely starts slow as they struggle for the upper hand, Nagayo gets the first real advantage as she goes for the Scorpion Deathlock and she finally gets it locked in. Asuka gets out of it but Nagayo picks her up and drops her with a piledriver. Nagayo goes for Asuka’s arm but Asuka lifts out of it and throws Nagayo to the mat. Now it is Asuka that gets the Scorpion Deathlock applied, she picks up Nagayo and hits a piledriver of her own for a two count. Dropkick by Nagayo but Asuka comes back with a back kick followed by a vertical suplex. Diving body press by Asuka, she gets Nagayo’s waist but Nagayo reverses positions with her and hits a German suplex for a two count. Nagayo applies a stretch hold to Asuka but Asuka gets into the ropes, kicks by Nagayo but Asuka puts her on the turnbuckle and hits an avalanche backdrop suplex. Double underhook by Nagayo and she hits a suplex, Irish whip by Nagayo and she delivers the heel kick for a two count. German suplex hold by Asuka, but Nagayo gets a shoulder up. Giant Swing by Asuka but Nagayo hits a quick backdrop suplex, Asuka grabs Nagayo and drops her with a piledriver. Asuka goes up top and hits a jumping kick to the chest, she picks up Nagayo but Nagayo kicks her in the chest and hits a leg drop. Asuka chops Nagayo in the chest and kicks her in the head, and they trade kicks back and forth. As they count down to the end of the match, each wrestler goes for quick pins but neither can get the three count. The bell rings, and the match is a Draw.

This was a bit more low key than I was expecting. Not the crowd, they were going crazy the entire match, but of the three matches this one felt the most like a tussle between friends than two wrestlers dying to get those points in the Grand Prix. It took awhile to get going, it was about ten minutes in before anything of note happened, and after that it was mostly just them trading moves without much rhyme or reason. The transitions were non-existent, or it was poorly clipped, as they weren’t really selling anything before going back on offense. It was helped a lot by the hot crowd, and the crisp action, but it wasn’t the greatness I was hoping for as it felt like they were just going for the Draw.  Mildly Recommended

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Welcome to another review of All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling Classics! AJW Classics is a television program that airs on SAMURAI TV in Japan. There are several different series within the AJW Classics name, I will be reviewing the series starting with the “Retro Hour” AJW Classics that first aired on August 7th, 2007.  They are still airing to this day.

AJW Retro Hour Classics #4 features more Crush Gals, Bull Nakano going for the All Japan Women Championship, and more! All three matches come from the same date, on February 25th, 1985. Here is the full listing:

• All Japan Women’s Championship: Itsuki Yamazaki vs. Bull Nakano
• Jaguar Yokota and Devil Masami vs. Dynamite Girls (Jumbo Hori and Yukari Omori)
• WWWA World Tag Team Championship: Crush Gals (Lioness Asuka and Chigusa Nagayo) vs. Dump Matsumoto and Crane Yu

Only three matches on this one, so I hope they can deliver!

(c) Itsuki Yamazaki vs. Bull Nakano

They get right into it with the champion dropkicking and slamming the challenger before armdragging Nakano around the ring. Nakano takes over and they roll out of the ring, with Nakano throwing Yamazaki into chairs at ringside. Back in, Nakano bounces Yamazaki around the ring as her friend Matsumoto and Yu come in to help. Which she didn’t need, since Nakano was winning at the time anyway. Nakano bites Yamazaki and she is triple teamed in the corner, Yamazaki goes up top and dropkicks Nakano but she dropkicks the referee too on accident. Chaos briefly ensues but is restored rather quickly, Irish whip by Nakano and she knees Yamazaki in the leg. Yamazaki is thrown out of the ring and assaulted by Matsumoto, she gets back in as Nakano goes for a big slash, but Yamazaki rolls out of the way. Nakano knocks Yamazaki back out of the ring where more cheating commences, and Nakano hits a body block. Vertical suplex by Nakano and she covers Yamazaki for two.  Yamazaki fires back with a crossbody, but soon Gokuaku Domei runs in the ring and stomps on Yamazaki. The heel referee Shiro Abe actually has enough and he calls for the bell much to my surprise. Yamazaki is your winner by DQ.

This wasn’t as good as it could have been. It was nice of the referee to actually DQ someone for a change while normally he just watches, but the match finally felt like it was getting going when it was suddenly over. Nakano was pretty green here but was only 17, it would take her a few years to really get the evil brawling technique down pat. Yamazaki ended up forfeiting the title after the match, so why Nakano couldn’t go ahead and win it I am not sure as DQ endings in title matches is never ideal (even if it was better than the referee continuing to allow the group attack). Some good parts here and there and it is interesting to see a young Nakano, but it just never fully clicked.

Jaguar Yokota and Devil Masami vs. Dynamite Girls (Jumbo Hori and Yukari Omori)

Yokota goes after Hori to start the match and hits a jumping elbow followed by a dropkick. Masami comes in with Omori and they struggle for position on the mat, Masami elbows Omori but she tags in Hori. Masami gets Hori to the mat and tags in Yokota, dropkicks by Yokota but Hori gets to her corner and tags in Omori. Omori tosses Yokota to the mat and she hits a gutbuster for a two count. Yokota gets back in control and hip attacks Omori before hitting a Jackhammer. I guess it is true that all moves originated in AJW. She tags in Masami, the action spills out of the ring as Yokota and Masami stay in control. Omori and Masami get back in the ring and Omori hits a tilt-a-whirl slam, she gets Masami on her shoulders and Hori dives off the top turnbuckle with a diving crossbody. Alabama Slam by Hori to Masami but Masami comes back with a backdrop suplex. She tags in Yokota and Yokota puts Hori in an Octopus Hold. Hori gets out of it and slams Yokota in front of the corner, reverse splash by Omori and she covers Yokota for two. Dropkicks by Yokota, Masami goes up top and she hits a diving lariat. Omori lands close enough to her corner to tag Hori, but Masami levels her with a lariat. Hori picks up Masami and drops her with a powerbomb, but Masami gets a foot on the ropes. Masami gets Hori on her shoulders and hits an Electric Chair, they both pick up their respective opponents and hit tombstone piledrivers. Yokota gets on Masami’s shoulders and drops down onto Hori, picking up the three count pinfall! Yokota and Masami win the match!

I knew going in that Yokota and Masami were of a higher stature, but I wasn’t expecting them to handle the Dynamite Girls like this. Of course it was clipped so I do not know what was clipped out, but Yokota and Masami controlled the action for sure. The action was very smooth though, I wasn’t expecting Yokota to bust out a Jackhammer (it was a move she did from time to time but I hadn’t seen it yet) but everything here clicked. And it was nice to have a match that was clean and didn’t have crazy interference every five seconds. A solid tag match, only really hurt due to the clipping as I would have liked to have seen more. Mildly Recommended

(c) Crush Gals (Lioness Asuka and Chigusa Nagayo) vs. Dump Matsumoto and Crane Yu

Nagayo is bleeding before the match even started, which is never a good sign. A few minutes of the recording was black so I do not know if they aired what happened to her, but I assume there was a pre-match brawl considering the participants. The first few minutes of this match were carnage, as you’d expect, but Nagayo manages to lock the Scorpion Deathlock on Matsumoto. It gets broken up, Asuka comes in but she is double teamed in the corner. Nagayo is tagged back in and she kicks Yu against the ropes, she applies a submission but Matsumoto breaks it up and drags Nagayo out of the ring. Matsumoto chokes Nagayo on the apron before dragging her back into the ring but Nagayo hits a sunset flip and tags Asuka. Heel kick by Asuka to Matsumoto, but all of Gokuaku Domei jump in the ring to help. Yu stays in the ring and Asuka slams her to the mat, Asuka applies a front headlock, but Yu gets out of it and Matsumoto hits a Banzai Drop. Matsumoto throws Asuka down by her hair, but she gets close enough to the corner to tag Nagayo. Nagayo kicks Matsumoto to the mat and applies a sleeper, but Matsumoto punches her way out of it. Matsumoto bites Nagayo’s already bloody head and stabs her repeatedly with a pair of scissors. Yu gets in the ring with Nagayo slowly following and Yu bites her head before hitting a body block. Another body block by Yu and she tags in Matsumoto. Nagayo avoids Yu’s diving leg drop, but Asuka accidentally lariats Nagayo.

They end up out of the ring again as Nagayo is thrown into the ring post and attacked more with scissors. Yu gets in the ring as Nagayo is counted out, and Gokuaku Domei wins the first fall. It is now 1-0 for Matsumoto and Yu. A even more bloody Nagayo gets back in the ring and she hits a quick German suplex on Yu, a equally bloody Asuka gets up top and hits a missile dropkick. Double kicks by Asuka and Nagayo, and they drop Yu with a spike piledriver for the three count cover! The match is now tied at 1-1. After a moment to re-group, Nagayo kicks Yu in the leg and applies the Scorpion Deathlock with Asuka keeping watch, but Matsumoto comes in with a trash can and hits everyone with it. Asuka knocks her down and puts her in a Scorpion Deathlock, but Bull Nakano and company run in the ring help Matsumoto take back over. Piledriver by Matsumoto to Nagayo, but Nagayo gets a shoulder up. Spike piledriver to Nagayo, but Nagayo bridges out of it. Next she is hit with an assisted leg drop and a Samoan Drop, but Nagayo fires back with a heel kick to Yu. Asuka comes in and hits an avalanche backdrop suplex, but Matsumoto breaks up the cover and the rest of Gokuaku Domei comes in again. Matsumoto gets some scissors and starts cutting Nagayo’s hair (the crowd is going ballistic during this), and Matsumoto lariats Nagayo repeatedly to the mat as referee Shiro Abe gets in the ring (not the original referee but the heel referee). Another lariat by Matsumoto, she covers Nagayo and picks up the three count! Matsumoto and Yu are the new champions!

First the good – I love a good heated bloody brawl and this was certainly that. The crowd was at a fever pitch for much of the match as it just never slowed down, every time it looked like the match was going to turn down a few notches suddenly someone would be stabbed with scissors or dragged out of the ring. Nagayo is beyond amazing, she is such a sympathetic wrestler and has tons of charisma that draws you into everything she does. As for the bad, Shiro Abe was basically Gokuaku Domei’s referee, and I don’t like big title matches ending with these kind of shenanigans. It is just a cop-out to have a different referee come down and count, its not an uncommon one but it is just a tactic that I grew tied of after it was over-used in the 90s. I realize this match came well before that but it still makes the ending feel a bit cheap. Still, that is my only real complaint as it was certainly an exciting and emotional match, definitely worth a watch.  Recommended

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Welcome to the first review of All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling Classics! AJW Classics is a television program that airs on SAMURAI TV in Japan. There are several different series within the AJW Classics name, I will be reviewing the series starting with the “Retro Hour” AJW Classics that first aired on August 7th, 2007.  They are still airing to this day and are currently up to #141, so this will be a long journey.

AJW Retro Hour Classics #1 is special in that all the matches came from the same event. Most Classics are a compilation of matches from the same time period, but not usually from the same day. This was a massive show however at the Kawasaki City Gymnasium with thousands in attendance, featuring a mask vs. hair title match in the main event. The following matches are featured:

5/7/83 – All Japan Women Jr. Championship: Noriyo Tateno vs. Hiromi Komatsubara
5/7/83 – Mimi Hagiwara vs. Monster Ripper
5/7/83 – Devil Masami and Tarantula vs. Dynamite Girls (Jumbo Hori and Yukari Omori)
5/7/83 – WWWA World Championship, Mask vs. Hair: Jaguar Yokota vs. La Galactica

 
(c) Noriyo Tateno vs. Hiromi Komatsubara

Normally I would complain about a title match being so short and basic, but this belt was designed for wrestlers still training so I will cut them some slack. They did get into it very quickly as they bounced each other off the ropes, and the mysterious Komatsubara controlled the early portion of the match. Tateno goes for a tackle that epicly fails as Komatsubara catches her arm, and she focuses on that arm for the next several minutes. Komatsubara doesn’t let up and she elbows Tateno in the corner, but Tateno finally kicks her back. A few shoulderblocks by Komatsubara sends Tateno back down, but Tateno rolls her to the mat and delivers a dropkick. That is a high spot for them by the way. Headlock by Tateno which Komatsubara rolls out of, Tateno back bodydrops Komatsubara and bodyslams her for a three count! Tateno wins the match and retains the title.

Tateno held onto the championship until losing it back to Chigusa Nagayo on January 8th, 1984. The AJW Jr. Championship was a belt that never had much prestige, many future stars of AJW held the title but it was early in their careers and before they had fully blossomed. Both of these wrestlers looked solid, there were no awkward moments, however the strikes were weak and the match ended with little fanfare. It is fun to watch Tateno so early in her career knowing she became a success in the WWF, but this was more like an opener match than a title match.

 
Mimi Hagiwara vs. Monster Ripper

Ripper sets the tone early with brawling while Hagiwara is tossed around like a rag doll. Ripper has the classic monster offense, filled with punches and body bumps with an occasional slam for extra emphasis. Ripper throws Hagiwara out of the ring and into the crowd, and back in the ring she continues her assault. Hagiwara finally gets some help from ringside and drops a knee onto Ripper’s head before jumping down on her back and applying a chinlock. Ripper effortlessly gets out of that and suplexes Hagiwara, kneedrops by Ripper and she tosses Hagiwara to the mat. She tries to do it again but Hagiwara hits a hurricanrana for a two count! She goes off the ropes but Ripper hits a bodyblock, slam by Ripper and she military presses Hagiwara. Ripper is pulled out of the ring and double teamed on the floor, they get back in and Ripper is dropped with a double back bodydrop and a double vertical suplex. Double backdrop suplex to Ripper, Hagiwara goes up top and hits a diving crossbody, but Ripper slides out of it and hits a lariat. Military press drop into a backbreaker by Ripper, she hits another military press drop and covers Hagiwara for the three count! Monster Ripper wins!

I am sure that Ripper deserved it but it is unusual to see the monster heel being cheated against and not the other way around. It did help put her over a bit more that she in essence defeated two wrestlers, and her strength was impressive. I think this one accomplished its goal, Hagiwara didn’t go down easy but was no match for the Monster Ripper, decent for what it was.  Mildly Recommended

 
Devil Masami and Tarantula vs. Dynamite Girls (Yukari Omori and Jumbo Hori)

The Dynamite Girls attack first as Masami is isolated, and the Dynamite Girls start working on Masami’s arm. The arm work is good but not overly diverse, Hori kicks Masami but they are really light strikes that are probably barely making contact. Masami tags in Tarantula, she immediately brings Hori out of the ring with her and tosses her around the floor. Back in, Masami has returned but Hori pulls her out of the ring and they take turns throwing each other into the crowd. Masami suplexes Hori back into the ring and tags in Tarantula, but Hori throws her to the ground and hits a powerbomb. Omori comes in and they drop Tarantula with a double suplex, Masami comes in and throws Hori out of the ring while Tarantula attacks Omori with the bell hammer. Back in, Hori is double teamed but the Dynamite Girls regain the advantage. Tarantula runs into the corner and does a crossbody onto Masami, Masami catches her and throws Tarantula over her head onto Hori, and Tarantula picks up the three count pinfall! The series is now even 1-1.

This was a bit structure-less, if I saw this match in a vacuum I would have idea which was the heel team since neither were really playing fair. Not long enough to get excited about but the action kept up and it was fun to watch. With a bit more meaning (i.e. not the second match in the series) this may have been better but the match was fast paced and both teams did a good job showing the match was important.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Jaguar Yokota vs. La Galactica

After some introductory limb and mat work, business picks up as Galactica gets in control and drags Yokota out of the ring. Galactica throws Yokota into the ring post and the crowd before choking her on the apron and throwing her into the post again. Ripper takes over at that point, throwing Yokota into the stands, and back in the ring Ripper continues to help her friend while Yokota applies a leglock. Figure Four Leglock by Yokota, Ripper runs in but the referee gets her back out before she can do much damage. Hip attacks by Yokota and she hits a double underhook bridging suplex, which brings Ripper back into the ring. Tombstone Piledriver by Yokota, but Galactica is into the ropes. Galactica rolls out of the ring but returns after a moment and Yokota begins to stretch her, backdrop suplex hold by Yokota but Ripper breaks it up. Ripper slams Yokota and pulls her out of the ring, and she begins cutting her hair. Yokota gets away and takes the scissors as she begins to cut at Galactica’s mask, they get back in the ring and Yokota hits a bridging suplex for two. Yokota gets a steel chair and starts hitting anyone with it that walks within range, jumping forearm and a dropkick by Yokota but when she goes for the plancha suicida she completely misses. Ripper gets back in the ring as Galactica gets on the top turnbuckle, Ripper slams Yokota in the ring and Galactica hits a diving senton. Diving body press by Ripper, Galactica covers Yokota and she gets the three count! La Galactica wins the title and Yokota loses her hair!

The next five minutes are intense, as Yokota is incredibly not happy about losing her hair. After fighting Galactica and Ripper she finally sits down and allows her hair to be cut, while glaring at anyone that walks by. This was a big deal at the time, as Yokota very rarely lost and she was one Japan’s most popular female wrestlers. So seeing her hair being cut while she struggled really was a powerful image, leading to a few fans throwing things into the ring. The main issue with this match is that La Galactica is simply not anywhere close to Yokota’s level, so when Yokota was on offense it was great but all Galactica brought to the table with Ripper. It worked in this case for the most part, it kept the atmosphere electric and when Yokota snapped it really put over how out of control the match was. More of a spectacle than a wrestling match, but it was a hell of a spectacle and Yokota was perfect both during the match and in the post-match activities.  Recommended

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