Dropping some old school Joshi Puroresu recommendations, son. Git with it, boy! (cringe) Sorry...got caught up there for a sec. Here's another set from the graveyard...

On to the wrestling!

Mima Shimoda/Manami Toyota vs Double Inoue (05/11/96 AJW): Man, the team of Shimoda and Toyota is really a great one. I believe they were a team in the late 80s as well.Tokyo Sweethearts. That sounds right. It's certainly a better name than Double Inoue. The double Inoue team is a gimmick in the sense that Takako is really a good stomper-stretcher-slapper type wrestler and Kyoko is a superball fancy holds and running around workrate type of gal. Together, I suppose, they are a super team. I don't really think so but, eh they have the title belts so that's what we're led to believe. Toyota-Shimoda is a super team in my view. They don't have a gimmick as they are both all around fast paced athletic wrestlers. Takako just isn't so, that comes into play at times during this match- sometimes in a positive manner and other times in a negative one. Overall, she does well as does Kyoko. The match is a longer one at nearly an hour but, with 4 ladies giving it there all it, the time is well spent. What is most impressive is that there seems to be different acts or stages that the match progresses to. These are not in the traditional order as 'injuries,' heel moves, dives etc. seem to come into play at odd times. This helps keep the match interesting. There is an overkill stretch run at the end, and don't get me wrong I love a little bit of overkill but, it didn't hit the perfect note. Doing a match this long really wears on the wrestlers and execution and the *umph* we want as a viewer aren't quite there. Nonetheless, I recommend this match to any Joshi fan since it doesn't get a ton of praise. It is praiseworthy for sure and really quite a very good match - just a little long when you're depending on Takako.

Mima Shimoda/ Manami Toyota vs Double Inoue (06/22/96) - This is the rematch and is much more to my liking. It's a 2 out of 3 falls match and has a better pace to the action because of it. I can't say it has the interesting niches like the 5-11-96 match had though. So in that regard, I would put them about neck and neck. I liked this one better in the long run probably because it is not as long and I could see myself re-watching it. It also helped that I firmly dislike Double Inoue as a tag team. I'm not sure if this is the intended roles they are supposed to play but, man, I wanted Shimoda to destroy that smirk of Takako's face. She is really good at making herself hated. Kyoko isn't as offensive but, after seeing the lion share of her great matches, she is a totally wanting to 'get her offense in' type of gal. She was much better in the earlier part of her career if I remember correctly. I will have to re-vist the matches from '91-'94 that I have of hers...hmmm. So, this is a recommended match for fans of Toyota and Mima Shimoda. They make a great team and I liked seeing them kick Takako in the head and stuff.  

Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue (WWWA Title 12/08/96) After the 4/11/93 tag match this was the second Joshi match I ever saw & it blew me away. Well, I probably shouldn't have watched it now, after seeing so many great matches. I will say Kyoko & Toyota still come up with the most complex & innovative spots but here, there wasn't much else to get me excited. It was like they were following the recipe for big single match psychology. You could predict what was going to happen next. I've been watching too much Joshi though. I just finished watching the entire 09/02/95 show so maybe I'm unfair because I haven't gone the appropriate amount of time without Joshi. As it stands, it's ****1/4 but, after some time off from wrestling, & some time on a different style, I might be more generous.

Re-Watch: Yeah I was just overloaded on this style & watched it too late at night. This time I watched it with my Dad who usually cuts to the chase on a match and indicated that they just started trading finishers back and forth at the end.  He's totally right and along with a ho-hum start, it held this bout back from being a downright classic. However, it was a very good ending though and every big spot was especially brutal. It's certainly a great match but, maybe not a classic. Still probably my favorite match of theirs though...

OK now to an editorial remark:

One of the main purposes or drives for this blog is stir up interest in wrestlers, feuds, promotions, and styles that may have gotten lost/forgotten in the WWE/NJPW whirlwind of the last 3-4 years. There is a ton of talk on these companies contemporary product but, something I've noticed in the match discussion archive here on the PWO forums is, people really don't go back and re-watch & discuss anything anymore. So, things get watched, a review is popped out & up ASAP, then people move on. I suppose that's the low attention span stuff people talk about. Shoot, I'm guilty of it! It takes me forever to finish a long term DVD project (fuck I shouldn't have brought that up to myself...30 disc AJ Classics set...2 discs in...). However, it bums me a little that people who post regularly in the NEW stuff never seem to go back and comment on anyone elses remarks, let along go back into the classic 90's yearbook (or earlier) to leave a thought or review.

So to that second concern, I get the impression that they haven't seen this (old) stuff out of disinterest OR a sense of being overwhelmed. I sincerely hope that it's that they feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start (and may not want to ask). Hopefully, this post & others of mine give them (you?) a jumping off point or at least a little diversion between events. I try to mix up the current & old wrestling to provide a chronologically consistent set of recommendations. If you see a classic match from 1979 and a classic match from 2018, that shit is equal to me. That 'rating' is irrespective of workrate, flips, kickouts and all that jazz. It is just fantastic professional wrestling for one reason or another. AND if folks aren't going back because they are disinterested then, I hope I can offer a bit of insight to puroresu history and maybe create that curiosity...you really are missing out folks Just wanted to say that tonight.

Thanks for reading!