There is not a ton of information online about THE WOMAN, however it was at least partially funded by All Japan Pro Wrestling with GAMI as the Producer/Booker for the shows. It came to life shortly after AtoZ announced they were closing their doors and the promotion shared many wrestlers with M’s Style as both promotions used mostly Freelancers. But they did use a lot of quality Freelancers as most of the wrestlers on the card are still active today or just recently retired. The promotion never had any titles nor much of a purpose, however not long after THE WOMAN stopped running shows, GAMI founded Pro Wrestling WAVE so in a way THE WOMAN was her practice promotion. The event was shrunk down to a one hour show on SamuraiTV, here is the card:

• Friday Battle Tag Tournament Round 2: Emi Sakura and Mai Ichii vs. Ran Yu-Yu and GAMI
• Friday Battle Tag Tournament Round 2: Kaoru Ito and Ayako Sato vs. Michiko Omukai and Cherry
• Policewoman vs. Sarubobo Mask
• Bullfighter Sora and Kyoko Kimura vs. Rebecca Knox and Yuri Urai
• Friday Battle Tag Tournament Final: Michiko Omukai and Cherry vs. Ran Yu-Yu and GAMI

This show has the conclusion of the Friday Battle Tag Tournament, some of the early matches in the tournament can be found in my last review of the promotion. Just to remind everyone, I don’t understand the rules of the tournament matches. The matches are clipped and each match was won in a different time with a different number of falls. Because the matches are clipped I can’t figure out when points are given as sometimes it isn’t shown. So I am just going to call the matches as they happen which is all I can do.

Emi Sakura and Mai Ichii vs. Ran Yu-Yu and GAMI
Friday Battle Tag Tournament Round 2

GAMI and Sakura start off, Sakura goes for a few quick pins but GAMI reverses one and picks up a pinfall for her team! GAMI and Yu-Yu are up 1-0. Sakura isn’t happy and clubs GAMI, armdrags by Sakura and she applies La Magistral for the three count! The teams are tied 1-1. Sakura tags in the very excited Ichii, she rolls up GAMI but GAMI kicks out. Crossbody out of the corner by Ichii but GAMI comes back with a lariat. Ichii dumps GAMI out of the ring, she runs to the corner and hits a triple jump plancha down to the floor. We jump ahead to Sakura and GAMI being in the ring, and GAMI is double teamed. GAMI comes back with a boot to the face and a STO before tagging in Yu-Yu, Yu-Yu goes up top but she only fakes attacking Sakura so that GAMI can hit a German suplex. GAMI hits both her opponents with her horn, knee by Yu-Yu to Sakura and she covers her for a two count. Sakura DDTs Yu-Yu and rams her head into the mat, GAMI tries to hit Sakura but she hits Yu-Yu by accident. Sakura slams Yu-Yu and tags in Ichii, dropkicks by Ichii but Yu-Yu kicks out of the pin. Yu-Yu knees Ichii and dropkicks her, Ichii fights back with elbows but Yu-Yu hits a high kick. Dropkick by Ichii and she hits a trio of jumping kicks, but Yu-Yu barely kicks out of the pin. Ichii picks up Yu-Yu but Yu-Yu ducks the kick, Sakura runs in but GAMI takes care of her. They try to double team Ichii but it backfires, Sakura dives out of the ring onto GAMI while Ichii hits the Triangle Kick on Yu-Yu. Victory roll by Ichii, but it gets a two count. Running knee by Yu-Yu, but Sakura breaks up the cover. Yu-Yu picks up Ichii and plants her with a cutter, but Ichii won’t stay down for the count. Ichii high kicks Yu-Yu repeatedly, she rolls up Yu-Yu but Yu-Yu kicks out. Running elbow smash by Yu-Yu, and she picks up the three count! GAMI and Ran Yu-Yu are the winners and reach the finals of the tournament.

Ignoring the fact they have some type of points system that doesn’t seem to make any sense, the action here was really solid. Ichii shows a lot of ability, shame she didn’t really continue her career in wrestling as it appears she had a lot of passion for it. I liked the match but there were just so many flash pin attempts which can kill the momentum, and while the running elbow is one of Yu-Yu’s finishing moves it wasn’t set up and came out of nowhere so it made the match end in an anti-climatic fashion. A good way to kick off the show as all four are fun to watch, although not without its flaws.  Mildly Recommended

Kaoru Ito and Ayako Sato vs. Michiko Omukai and Cherry
Friday Battle Tag Tournament Round 2

Sato and Cherry start as the legal wrestlers, quick dropkicks by Sato and she slams Cherry to the mat for a two count. Cherry comes back with her own dropkick but she eats another dropkick for her trouble, they trade elbows until Sato knocks Cherry to the mat with one. Sato goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, she goes up top again as Ito comes in the ring and hits a second missile dropkick for two. Sato tags in Ito, Cherry tries to slam her but Ito is having none of that and hits a scoop slam followed by a footstomp and an elbow drop for a two count cover. Omukai comes in and attacks Ito from behind but Ito lariats both of them, and she covers Cherry for a three count! Ito and Sato are up 1-0. We clip ahead a bit as Cherry hits a missile dropkick, but Ito roars back with a lariat. Powerbomb by Ito, and she gets a three count pinfall! Ito and Sato are up 2-0. Sato comes back in but Omukai kicks her from the apron, giving Cherry time to tag in Omukai. Knee by Omukai but Sato dropkicks her, she goes up top and tries to missile dropkick Omukai but hits Ito by accident. Omukai tags in Cherry, airplane spin by Sato to Cherry but Cherry avoids It’s diving footstomp. Omukai comes in but she kicks Cherry by accident, Sato picks up Cherry but Ito accidentally lariats Sato. German suplex hold by Cherry to Sato, but Ito breaks up the cover. Northern Lights Suplex by Cherry, but Ito breaks it up again. Cherry gets on the top turnbuckle and hit the Cherry Bomb, cover by Cherry and she gets the three count! Cherry and Omukai somehow win 5-2 and advance to the finals.

I really wish I understood their points system, that would be nice. This was another fun match, I liked Omukai letting the less experienced Cherry do most of the work and only coming in to help when needed. Similar on the other side, the veterans were letting their partners do the bulk of the work which seems logical, I’d do the same thing. For a newer wrestler, Cherry looked good here as she didn’t mess up anything, and the action was solid. Too short (about six minutes) to recommend but not a bad match to watch.

Policewoman vs. Sarubobo Mask

Sarubobo Mask pushes Policewoman into the ropes as the match starts but Policewoman applies a Cobra Twist which is reversed by Sarubobo Mask. Sarubobo Mask jumps up into the corner but Policewoman hits repeated Oil Checks, she tries to shoulderblock Sarubobo Mask off the apron but Sarubobo Mask avoids her charge and hits a sunset flip for two. Elbows by Sarubobo Mask and she hits a German suplex hold, but Policewoman gets a shoulder up. Sarubobo Mask goes up top but Policewoman gets her knees up on the diving body press attempt, Policewoman rolls to the floor to get a plastic bin and she hits a DDT onto it for a two count cover. Policewoman hits a release German suplex of her own, she goes up top but Sarubobo Mask avoids the moonsault goes for a few flash pins with no luck. Policewoman picks up Sarubobo Mask and hits a Samoan Driver, La Magistral by Policewoman and she gets the three count! Policewoman wins the match.

A short match that was slightly clipped further. These types of matches don’t do much for me, it wasn’t comedic enough to be a comedy match but neither were putting a lot of effort into putting on a cohesive and entertaining match. Both wrestlers are much better when they aren’t wrestling under a mask. Midcard filler at best, but definitely skippable.

Bullfighter Sora and Kyoko Kimura vs. Rebecca Knox and Yuri Urai

Sora and Knox are the first two in, Knox gets the early advantage but Sora rams her with her horns. Kyoko comes in and they hit a double atomic drop before both spank Knox until Urai comes in. She gets the same treatment, we clip ahead and Kyoko is in the ring with Knox. Knox avoids a headbutt and hits a headscissors, dropkick by Knox and she hits a monkey flip out of the corner. Kyoko rolls Knox to the mat and applies a Kimura, she gets to the ropes and hits a release fisherman suplex for a two count. Knox tags in Urai, Urai goes for a crossbody but Kyoko catches her. She tries again with the same luck, hard elbow by Kyoko but Urai keeps getting back up. Urai finally stays down and Kyoko tags in Sora, Sora charges Urai but Urai blocks her charge and hits a pair of dropkicks. Sora rams Urai and they take turns with strikes, Kyoko holds Urai but Sora hits Kyoko by accident. Shoulderblocks by Sora, she tags in Knox and Knox comes in with a diving crossbody. Fisherman suplex hold by Knox, but Sora gets a shoulder up. Knox picks up Sora but Sora gets into the ropes, backdrop suplex by Sora and she covers Knox for two. Kyoko comes in and they hit a double vertical suplex on Knox, Sora picks up Knox but Knox gets away and hits a hurricanrana. Kyoko runs in but Knox flips Sora over so that Kyoko kicks Sora by accident, Knox then flips Sora back so her shoulders are on the mat and she picks up the three count! Rebecca Knox and Yuri Urai win!

You can tell how low Sora was on the pecking order when she loses to a rookie and an unknown 19 year old gaijin. There were a few cute spots here and it was overall a well done match, considering the wrestlers lack of familiarity with each other. It was fun seeing Lynch so early in her career, she was too young to be able to say “she’ll be champion one day!” but generally everything she did looked crisp. A short match but not a bad one.

Michiko Omukai and Cherry vs. Ran Yu-Yu and GAMI
Friday Battle Tag Tournament Final

Yu-Yu immediately hits a German suplex hold and then La Magistral on Cherry, but both covers get a two count. Enzuigiri by Yu-Yu, she picks up Cherry but Cherry sneaks in a schoolboy which GAMI breaks up. GAMI and Cherry go at it as the legal wrestlers but Omukai comes in and kicks GAMI, double lariat to GAMI and Cherry tags in Omukai. Yu-Yu come in too but Omukai throws her down by the hair, she then grabs GAMI and slams her face-first into the mat. Cherry returns, Yu-Yu boots Cherry in the face and GAMI does as well. GAMI tags in Yu-Yu, kicks by Yu-Yu to Cherry and GAMI gets her shots in on Cherry as well. Omukai trips Yu-Yu and GAMI from ringside, she pulls them out of the ring as Cherry goes up top and hits a diving plancha onto both of them. Cherry and Yu-Yu return to the ring as does GAMI, Yu-Yu elbows GAMI by accident and Cherry hits a face crusher onto Yu-Yu. Omukai is tagged in, she boots Yu-Yu and then hits a double lariat on both of her opponents. GAMI grabs Omukai’s arm and walks the ropes before applying a hanging armbar. She releases it after a moment, lariat by GAMI and she tags in Yu-Yu. Yu-Yu knees Omukai in the stomach but Omukai elbows her off, package German by Yu-Yu but Omukai kicks out. Yu-Yu goes up top but Omukai avoids the diving kneedrop, spinning heel kick by Omukai and she covers Yu-Yu for two. Heel Drop by Omukai, but again Yu-Yu gets a shoulder up.

Omukai tags in Cherry, missile dropkick by Cherry and she hits two more, getting a two count cover. Yu-Yu elbows Cherry away, Omukai tries to help but Cherry elbows her by accident. Yu-Yu puts Cherry on the second turnbuckle but Cherry kicks her and hits a tornado DDT. GAMI hits Cherry with her horn, Yu-Yu tags in GAMI and GAMI goes for the pump-handle slam, but Cherry slides away. Yu-Yu comes in and kicks Cherry in the head, German suplex hold by GAMI but Omukai breaks it up. GAMI goes up top but Cherry avoids her dive, Cherry goes for a bodyscissors roll-up but GAMI blocks it and applies an armtrap crossface. Cherry gets into the ropes, GAMI puts Cherry on the second turnbuckle, Cherry goes for a tornado DDT but GAMI blocks it. Omukai grabs GAMI from behind and hits the Splash Mountain, Cherry Bomb by Cherry but Yu-Yu breaks up the cover. Cherry picks up GAMI but GAMI gets her back and with Yu-Yu’s help she hits a release German. GAMI and Cherry trade slaps, Cherry goes off the ropes but GAMI levels her with a lariat. Pump-handle sit-down slam by GAMI, but Cherry barely gets a shoulder up. Fisherman Buster by GAMI, but Omukai breaks up the cover. GAMI picks up Cherry but Cherry slides away and connects with a German suplex hold. Omukai boots GAMI, Yu-Yu fights off both Cherry and Omukai, she grabs Cherry but Omukai runs over and boots her in the face. Cherry elbows GAMI, then Omukai hits her with a Shining Wizard. Hurricanrana by Cherry to GAMI, and she picks up the three count! Omukai and Cherry win the match and the tournament!

Cherry with her winnings

The post THE WOMAN Volume 5: One Night in Heaven on 5/5/06 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

I think this is probably the most obscure Joshi promotion that existed that held more than five shows (eight, to be exact). There is not a lot of information on THE WOMAN, however it was at least partially funded by All Japan Pro Wrestling with GAMI as the Producer/Booker for the shows. It came to life shortly after AtoZ announced they were closing their doors and the promotion shared many wrestlers with M’s Style as both promotions used mostly Freelancers. But they did use a lot of quality Freelancers as most of the wrestlers on the card are still active today or just recently retired. The promotion never had any titles nor much of a purpose, however not long after THE WOMAN stopped running shows, GAMI founded Pro Wrestling WAVE so in a way THE WOMAN was her practice promotion. The event was shrunk down to a one hour show on SamuraiTV, here is the card:

• Bullfighter Sora vs. Kyoko Kimura
• Friday Battle Tag Tournament Round 1: AKINO and Ayumi Kurihara vs. Emi Sakura and Mai Ichii
• Friday Battle Tag Tournament Round 1: Kaoru Ito and Ayako Sato vs. Manami Toyota and Natsuki*Taiyo
• Friday Battle Tag Tournament Round 1: Michiko Omukai and Cherry vs. Aja Kong and Ayako Hamada

This will be a quick one but it still should be fun, lots of quality wrestlers here.

Bullfighter Sora vs. Kyoko Kimura

Sora charges Kyoko like a bull as the match starts (because why wouldn’t she) but Kyoko throws her down by the horns. Sleeper by Kyoko but Sora rams her back into the corner to get out of it and trips Kyoko before splitting her around the ring post. Sora gets a banana and peels it but Kyoko attacks her from behind, Irish whip by Kyoko but Sora hits a hard shoulderblock. More shoulderblocks by Sora and she hits a delayed vertical suplex, covering Kyoko for two. A small package gets the same result, Sora goes off the ropes but Kyoko boots her in the face. Kyoko charges Sora but she slips on the banana peel and Sora pins her for the three count! Bullfighter Sora wins!

I can’t say I am a big fan of matches being won via banana peel but when its a heavily clipped match involving a wrestler in a bull outfit, I can’t really complain either. Even for comedy lovers it was too clipped to get excited about as only a couple minutes were shown. Seems like a waste of Kyoko though.

AKINO and Ayumi Kurihara vs. Emi Sakura and Mai Ichii

Here is the thing with the tournament – I don’t understand the rules. The matches are clipped and each match was won in a different time with a different number of falls. Because the matches are clipped I can’t figure out when points are given as sometimes it isn’t shown. So I am just going to call the matches as they happen which is all I can do.

AKINO and Ichii start the match, hard dropkick by AKINO and she covers Ichii, picking up a quick three count! AKINO and Kurihara are up 1-0. Ichii gets up and tries to dropkick AKINO over but AKINO keeps brushing them off, AKINO dropkicks Ichii hard again and picks up another three count! AKINO and Kurihara are up 2-0. AKINO picks up Ichii and they trade leg kicks, which AKINO obviously gets the better of. More kicks by AKINO, she goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick for another three count, they are now up 4-0 (I assumed they clipped one fall out, or they can’t count). Kurihara wants a chance and comes in and she dropkicks Ichii as well, but Ichii rolls her up in a quick schoolboy. Sakura tags herself in and dropkicks Kurihara before throwing her down by the hair. Drop toehold by Sakura into the ropes, Ichii runs in and jumps down on Kurihara’s back. Crossface by Sakura, but AKINO comes in and beaks it up.

Kurihara comes back with a springboard crossbody on Sakura and tags in AKINO, neckbreaker by Sakura but AKINO hits a triple jump crossbody for a two count. Backdrop suplex by AKINO, Sakura lands in her corner and tags in Ichii. Kurihara comes in too (we have missed lots of falls, for the record) and Kurihara hits a missile dropkick for two. Big boots by Ichii and she hits a kick out of the corner, cover by Ichii but Kurihara kicks out. AKINO comes in and kicks Ichii in the head, Kurihara tries two inside cradles but both get two. Sakura comes in and clears out the ring, dropping Kurihara with a double underhook facebuster before Ichii covers her for a two count. Sakura picks up Kurihara but Kurihara slides away this time, AKINO goes for a missile dropkick but Sakura swats her out of the way. Diving senton by Sakura, Ichii goes up top and hits a diving crossbody onto AKINO before kicking her out of the ring. Nyan Nyan Press by Sakura, Ichii goes up top and hits an assisted senton onto Kurihara for the three count! That is the final fall as they win 5-4, Sakura and Ichii move on in the tournament.

Its really hard to give a match an honest review when its clipped and the rules are not clear, I’d say it is the first team to five falls but the next two don’t end that way so I have no idea. Maybe someone will email me and tell me. Anyway, I enjoyed the action itself, AKINO was in top form being the grumpy veteran and the younger wrestlers showed a lot of fire. All our worked well together and even if you didn’t know any background they told the story so well that anyone could pick it up watching. Aside from the clipping and unknown rules, I liked the match, solid action all the way around.  Mildly Recommended

Kaoru Ito and Ayako Sato vs. Manami Toyota and Natsuki*Taiyo

Sato and Natsuki start the match, but Natsuki quickly tags in Toyota as Toyota hits a missile dropkick on Sato. Cover by Toyota and she gets the three count! Toyota and Natsuki are up 1-0. Sato goes for a crossbody but Toyota catches her and flings her to the mat, Toyota dumps Sato out of the ring and Natsuki goes up to the top turnbuckle to dive out on both their opponents. Toyota then does the same, Sato is rolled back in the ring and Toyota hits a missile dropkick for another three count! They don’t even show the score as Toyota tags in Natsuki, but Sato avoids Natsuki’s charge and tags in Ito. Lariat by Ito to Natsuki, and she covers her for a three count. Ito and Sato get a point. Ito puts Natsuki in a crab hold, but Natsuki gets to the ropes to force a break. We clip ahead as Sato goes up top and hits a missile dropkick on Toyota, she goes up top again and hits a second one before delivering a third.

Sato goes up top a fourth time and hits another missile dropkick, but Toyota rolls to her feet and dropkicks Sato in the ropes. Spear by Natsuki to the back of Sato and she hits a diving headbutt for a two count. Ito and Natsuki both spear Ito before Toyota and Natsuki both hit dives out of the corner. Cover, but Ito breaks it up. Natsuki gets on the second turnbuckle before getting on Toyota’s shoulders, and Toyota spins Natsuki down onto Sato for another two count. Ito knocks Toyota and Natsuki out of the ring before hitting a baseball slide on both of them, Ito brings Natsuki back in the ring with her and hits a powerbomb, but Toyota breaks up the cover. Sato picks up Natsuki, Ito runs in but she lariats Sato by accident. Toyota goes for a missile dropkick but she hits Natsuki by accident, Sato covers Natsuki but it gets two. Fireman’s carry takeover into a cover by Sato, and she covers Natsuki for a three count! Ito and Sato are declared the winners by a score of 6-1.

Ignoring the whole “not knowing the rules” issue, this match was a step down from the last one. The teams had intentional miscues but also I think unintentional ones as the four didn’t seem too familar with each other, leading to little issues here and there. The clipping hurt the general flow of the match so it was hard to get invested, and much of it just felt a bit lackluster. A generally unexciting match, even though individually all four are minimally solid wrestlers.

Michiko Omukai and Cherry vs. Aja Kong and Ayako Hamada

Hamada and Kong both attack as the bell rings, Kong stays in the ring with Cherry and Cherry goes for a couple quick pins with no luck. Kong chops Cherry in the corner and hits a scoop slam, she puts her in a facelock while Hamada runs in and dropkicks her in the head. Another slam by Kong and she hits an elbow drop, she tags in Hamada and Hamada dropkicks Cherry to the mat. Another dropkick by Hamada and she puts Cherry in a leg submission, she then spins her over and puts Cherry in an elevated crab hold until she gets to the ropes. Headbutts by Hamada and she slams Cherry in front of the corner, Hamada goes for a moonsault but Cherry rolls out of the way and tags in Omukai. Hamada stomps Omukai and gets a steel chair, she hits Omukai with it but Hamada takes the chair and hits her back. They take turns hitting each other with the chair, Hamada sits Omukai down in it and she dropkicks Omukai into the corner. Kong is tagged in, Omukai kicks Kong in the head before Cherry runs in and they double team Kong. Kong doesn’t put up with that for long as she lariats both of them, backdrop suplex to Omukai and Kong covers her for two. Kong slams Omukai near the corner and gets on the second turnbuckle, but Omukai recovers and knocks Kong over the top rope to the floor. Omukai goes out after her while Cherry gets on the top turnbuckle, she tries to jump down on her opponents but she lands on Omukai instead.

Kong hits Cherry with a chair and nails a brainbuster on the entrance ramp, back in the ring Kong puts Omukai in the Tree of Woe and Hamada dropkicks a chair in her head. Hamada hits Omukai with the chair again, moonsault by Hamada but the referee won’t count due to all the chair shots. Powerbomb by Hamada, the referee counts this time but it only gets a two count. Hamada tags in Kong, scoop slam by Kong and she gets on the second turnbuckle, but Omukai suplexes her from behind. Heel Drop by Omukai and she covers Kong, but Hamada throws a chair at her to break it up. Kong hits Omukai with the chair, she gets on the top turnbuckle and hits a diving elbow drop but Cherry breaks up the cover. Hamada runs in but she kicks Kong by accident, dropkicks by Cherry to Kong and she hits a missile dropkick, but Kong picks her in the head. Kong slaps Cherry but the referee calls for the bell for reasons I do not know and won’t pretend to. But the match keeps going as Kong lariats Cherry, Kong tags in Hamada and trades elbows with Cherry. High kick by Hamada, she goes up top and she nails the moonsault for a two count cover. Hamada goes up top again and hits a missile dropkick, she goes up a third time and she hits another missile dropkick, but Cherry bridges out of the pin. Hamada goes for a powerbomb but Cherry reverses it into a hurricanrana. Cherry tags in Omukai, Kong runs in but Omukai swats her away and decimates Hamada with a Shining Wizard. Cover by Omukai, and she gets the three count! They win the match!

Action-wise this may have been the best match on the card, although I enjoyed the dynamic a bit more in the first tournament match. The main issue with the match is simply that Cherry was a step or two below everyone else in the match in terms of wrestling ability, I’d rather have had Omukai in the match more as she was still pretty great in 2007. Kong and Hamada did the bulk of the work and their offense looked crisp as always, the occasional clip in action just made it a bit hard to follow. A solid match with some quality stretches but nothing to get too excited about as it was presented. Mildly Recommended

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