MJH

Of course. But the only difference between Warrior/Sherri and Warrior/Heenan is that Bobby was male and Sherri female. Hell, Sherri was actually presented as a wrestler - as much as being a woman's wrestler means anything in the States. There's a big difference between hitting Sherri, who'd interfere constantly and kick guys when they were down, and beating up a woman for the sake of beating up a woman. You missed the Richard Dawkins inspired atheist, by the way.

Pah. Chivalry is sexist . Actually, isn't it about time wrestling had a serious man vs. woman feud based around the man being feminist/egalitarian and turned the whole "cooking, cleaning and making babies" sexism storyline on its head?

Pity. On paper, it looks like a card deserving of at least a small scale comm like the 3/90 (?) double-tag one...

To second/add to what Flik has: 1. 4/29/1991 (3WA Tag Titles - 2 out of 3 Falls) Aja Kong & Bison Kimura © vs Manami Toyota & Esther Moreno 2. 6/18/1991 (3WA Tag Titles - 2 out of 3 Falls) Aja Kong & Bison Kimura © vs Bull Nakano & Kyoko Inoue 3. 9/7/1991 (3WA Title) Bull Nakano © vs Kyoko Inoue 4. 1/4/1991 (3WA Title) Bull Nakano © vs Akira Hokuto 5. 1/11/1991 (Hair vs Hair) Bull Nakano & Kyoko Inoue vs Aja Kong & Bison Kimura 6. 4/29/1991 (All Pacific Title) Suzuka Minami © vs Akira Hokuto Definite yes to all. These are your six essential matches for the year without question. 7. 5/26/1991 Toshiyo Yamada vs Yumiko Hotta Maybe... I think this benefits from being such an improvement on their earlier match. Aja/Toyota 30:00 is a massive overachievement and should be nominated. I'd also put the Kyoko/Debbie vs. Moreno/Yoshida match on too, which was just so so much fun. 8. 8/18/1991 (JGP Finals) Kyoko Inoue vs Bison Kimura Leaning no. I prefered Aja/Bison which is worthy of some consideration... and Kyoko/Toyota makes an interesting time mark for what they'd do later. Neither are what I'd call essential, but both are certainly worthy of considering depending on how much of the set you want to dedicate to a company who - let's be honest - is interesting to watch them develop into their late '92-onward form rather than (those above half-a-dozen matches aside) a great consistent product. That said, and I think Flik will second this, watching the era through is essential for anyone with as much as a passing interest in the "golden" 92-94 era. The Bull/Aja feud was known about, stuff like the 1/11 Double Hair match was revered etc, Hokuto/Bull and Hokuto/Minami had taken plaudits, but the Jack vs. Toyota/Moreno tag blew me away watching it, and Bull vs. Kyoko in September was just so much fun. 9. 12/9/1991 (Tag League The Best 91 Semi Final) Bull Nakano & Akira Hokuta vs Aja Kong & Bison Kimura 10. 11/15/1991 (Elimination Cage) Bull Nakano & Monster Ripper vs Aja Kong & Bison Kimura Wasn't terribly keen on either of these. Solid/good for the time, but by no means essential. *** I'd throw Hokuto/Toyota vs. Kyoko/Yamada on (11/21). Messy in parts, but I definitely got the feeling as I watched the era through that this was one of the key matches in terms of seeing how they were developing. With the post-match celebrations, too, it really feels like a new generation coming to the fore... for me this is the seventh "must have" match on the set. Summarising: (I guess this would be my own "top 10" of sorts) Flik's Top Six + Kyoko/Debbie vs. Moreno/Yoshida 5/26 Aja vs. Toyota 5/26 Aja vs. Bison 8/18 Hokuto/Toyota vs. Kyoko/Yamada 11/21

Bull vs. Nishiwaki 1/4 has to go on. The tag match beneath it is quite fun for the time, too. I'd definitely cover Toyota/Hokuto 6/17 (aka the knee injury) in some form. Bull vs. Toyota should go on, too. They always worked really well together (their 1/3/94 sure looks like a lost classic from the clip-job on the 1/24/94 comm), and here it is in its earliest incarnation. Toyota's bump off the lariat is ungodly and it's just an all-around strong match all things considered. The Bull/Grizzly vs. Jungle Jack match absolutely has to go on, it's the company's MOTY for me easilly and just a super match. Time constraints considering, I'd put the Hokuto/Toyota match on as well. They'd obviously go on to do better, but I recall it being good and one of the earliest instances where Hokuto worked, at least at times, with the aggression and demonstration that she would as the Dangerous Queen. I'd maybe cover the Bull/Aja cage match from 9/1, but the rematch on 11/14 should definitely go on. I really like the tag match beneath it too (Toyota/Kyoko vs. Hokuto/Minami). I'm not sure how much of each aired but both Bull/Kyoko (who was already looking significantly better to all the '88 class, hence her push the following year) and Marine Wolves/Jungle Jack from 12/9 (New Classics #43?) should get checked out by someone.

I'd be more interested to know where the fuck did he come from and if he ever worked in the States... I thought he was perfectly fine, btw.

It's not a knock on Taue; the amount of workers who deserve to be mentioned in the same breadth as the other three is ridiculously short. And there's plenty of matches where Taue was pretty damn great. But... as you yourself admit, Ditch, you just can't put him on the same level as the other three. The fourth all-time great worker to come through All Japan was Jumbo.

Oh, add Kyoko vs. Bull, also 1/24. It doesn't reach the peaks that the Tag Title match did, and it isn't as memorably as Aja/Hotta, but it's more consistent than both throughout and probably their best match together (though, as I said on DVDVR, their 9/91 match will always be my own sentimental favourite). It's about five-minutes longer than it should've been, but it's a very good match nonetheless and, at least so far, the Joshi list is looking somewhat sparser so it's definitely worth a look. It betters their '95 matches, I think.

Well they're completely different experiences, really. Like I said, it was just an idea I threw out, and given the rep of the match, and it not being as though people buying the set haven't seen it before, it's a chance to make something a little more interesting because of it. I mean, there's really no discussion to be had on the match, it's like the Tag League Final in 1996, and the 6/9/95 tag, they're going to get the #1 spot and pretty much everything that's ever going to be said about them has already been said. At least by putting on two very different versions of the match it's something to compare and contrast and if it's ever going to be done, it might as well be on that match.

This might seem a strange request/nom... what about having both versions of Misawa/Kawada 6/3 on? AFAIK it's the only match of its level where we have both the pro-shot and the crowd-shot versions for. I know the HH isn't perfect, but I don't know, throwing it out there...

I better get on with my 94/95 stuff to watch... Manami Toyota/Toshiyo Yamada vs. Etsuko Mita/Mima Shimoda - 01/24 This is probably a borderline pick, but I'm leaning yes. The first fall is good, the third fall falls a cliff for the first five minutes, but the second fall is really fucking great. I wrote about what happened with it on DVDVR's Joshi thread, but I think this has more of a chance for interesting discussion than a lot of Joshi matches, too. The work seemed perfect leading to this big near fall early in the third, carrying over from the second, but the crowd just don't bite on it at all and it seems to through them off really badly for the next few minutes. Bull Nakano & Kyoko Inoue vs. Aja Kong & Manami Toyota - 03/03 This is just a super, effortless match that shows how talented all four were. It really feels casually knocked off and it's a great tag. Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue - 08/24 Yes, it's a "Toyota vs. Kyoko" match, but this has always been my favourite. There's a few Toyota moments, including the finish, but this is comfortably better than their '96 matches, and the 60:00 is more a "thing that must be seen" to me than a match, given how much it falls apart by the end. Manami Toyota/Toshiyo Yamada vs. Kyoko Inoue/Takako Inoue - 10/09 I need to re-watch this, I made the mistake of watching it before the day after watching the 8/30/95 version with Sakie replacing Yamada, but I recall it being really good. NB: I've always heard great praise for Toyota vs. Takako from 10/22 (airing 10/31). I haven't gotten to it yet (I actually mislabelled my order for it and wound up getting the 11/30 TV with stuff from Big Egg - doh) but it was often described to me as a slightly lesser version of the '95 JGP Shimoda/Toyota match in terms of being a much better match than you'd think. I also second the nominations for Aja/Hotta (has to be on), Queendom (classic), 8/24 main, Kong/Toyota in the dome (classic) and Kong/Kansai in the dome. I'll have to rewatch Kyoko/Kansai; they had a hard act to follow and I really need to watch it in isolation.

I think this was pretty much set before the 1993 one was actively being discussed, though? I did add some on the '80s AJW set over at DVDVR . And, yeah, I get that after decrying the lack of Joshi on the '93 set I'm calling this for not being too worthy... I'm missing maybe 3 comms combined for 94/95 (I'm pretty sure I have, or will have shortly, all the available TVs), so when those sets come around I'll even make a point of running through everything .

This is good, but I really don't understand how it made the set. It's not the worst match on the set by any means, but this is not what I'd call near the top of the Joshi list for 1992.

I need to re-watch this too (I'm sure it's online), but my impressions were far less favourable than Flik's.

God yes. I've been calling for the whole "Four Gods" thing to be knocked back to three (or replace him with Jumbo) for a while now.

Truth over Del Rio??

It's not a Dynamite/Sayama "vibe" in the sense of Benoit/Sasuke or anything... more of a spectacular juniors spot-fest for its time (though like I said the "spectacularity??" of it holds up more and the execution is better) but the lay-out and pacing are all over the place.

Obviously the lack of Joshi was something both I and Flik brought up over the course of discussing the set. Realistically, 1993 Joshi should probably have its own set, and there're more matches out there that would make that set that I'd nominate as being just behind the level of stuff that I'd think should definitely be on the set proper. Anyway... (someone else could help with more JWP I've only got 1/15, 4/18, 7/31 and 11/18) Plum Mariko vs. Commando Bolshoi - 01/15 JWP A rare submissions/matwork based match for Joshi, and a very well done one at that. All of these are Zenjo Kyoko Inoue vs. Takako Inoue - 01/24 A far better structured match than you'd assume it to be, almost Kobashi-esque in how Kyoko is dominant until two big bumps on the floor changes the momentum around. Probably Takako's best singles match to this point, probably within Kyoko's top handful too, and very good. Aja Kong/Bull Nakano vs. Manami Toyota/Toshiyo Yamada - 01/24 Another really, really good match, one of my post-title favourites from Bull and not far off the best Toyota/Yamada matches in a very different style than you'd associate with them. Akira Hokuto/Etsuko Mita/Mima Shimoda vs. Eagle Sawai/Harley Saito/Miki Handa - 01/24 Kicks the LCO vs. LLPW feud off with a bang, just a great, intense six-woman match that caps a really good show in style. Debbie Malenko vs. Terri Power - 02/28 A remarkable "carry-job" by Debbie, a great little hurrah for her before the injury. And, to be fair to her, Terri improved dramatically in the 6/8 months she was in the company and puts in by far her best performance here. Manami Toyota/Toshiyo Yamada vs. Debbie Malenko/Sakie Hasegawa - 03/11 More for a 1993 Joshi set, I suppose, but this should've been covered in some form. Aja Kong/Akira Hokuto vs. Eagle Sawai/Shinobu Kandori - 04/11 I don't like this as much as some, but it's certainly very good and a worthy follow up to the Hokuto/Kandori classic nine days earlier. Aja Kong/Kyoko Inoue vs. Manami Toyota/Yumiko Hotta - 04/24** This one I haven't watched in years - I'm going off the memory of a very old VHS version and had to check the date and workers - but it's in Toyota's hometown, in a pretty small venue, and they're going mad for her, and the match is really terrific fun as a result, kind of like a lesser version of the Kobashi/Kikuchi vs. Can-Ams tag. Takako Inoue vs. Harley Saito - 05/08 Harley badly injures her ribs and fights through it to the draw. I don't think the pre-injury stuff is that remarkable, but the post-injury part of the match is great. Kyoko inoue vs. Shinobu Kandori - 08/25 This is just great, the best singles match not to have been included, and probably a Top 10 contender for Joshi. They mesh together really well for being so disparate, the crowd are going crazy every time Kyoko gets caught, and both women are just great here. The actual finishing spot I'm not too sure on, but this is a great little contrast to Kandori's matches with Hokuto. One of the more shocking omissions. Captain's Fall Match: Manami Toyota ©/Toshiyo Yamada/Etsuko Mita/Mima Shimoda vs. Kyoko Inoue ©/Aja Kong/Sakie Hasegawa/Kaoru Ito - 09/05 The best multi-woman sprint Zenjo put on all year. All kinds of fun; they were just on. Akira Hokuto/Suzuka Minami vs. Yumiko Hotta/Takako Inoue - 09/05 Probably even better than Kandori/Kyoko, and maybe even a more glaring omission considering it involves Hokuto. I actually think this is her second best performance of the year and the second-best Zenjo tag behind the TLTB Final.

Taue > Kobashi until, what, the TC switch in '96? It probably wasn't Kobashi > Taue until the '98 TC defense, really.

Eh, I'd disagree, I think it's pretty much the '90s Dynamite/Sayama in a lot of ways. It's as spectacular as Havoc, but it's basically a spot-fest and not an altogether well laid out one; it's very up-and-down. They'd do a few great spots and then take it back down to the mat (and not in a good way). Even Rey when he makes his first comeback takes it back to the mat; he follows a rana off the apron and a springboard rana with a toehold, and then when Psicosis quickly comes back from that his first spot is a figure-four headscissors. Then you have Psicosis following up a top-rope senton to the floor with a camel clutch and a hammerlock to lead into Rey doing the hanging snapmare and go into his comeback. How that's in anyway different to Dynamite doing a few spots and going into the headscissors just to feed the comeback is beyond me. The last few minutes they stick with one big spot after another, but the match was all over the place for much of the way. It's far more spectacular (as it should be) than Dynamite/Sayama, and the work is smoother (everything looks great), but it's a poorly laid out spot fest to me.

Like I said earlier, Tim, "not wanting to hurt anyone" wasn't my recollection of them. I remember him working as he normally would, the same snap suplex and back suplex etc and they looked out of place in Mexico. He looked great, but it shot down any argument about his "versatility". Structurally, yes, he fell right in, but as far as working actual "lucha" sequences, no.

What does one gain/lose by trumping for the full AJ TV sets, as opposed to Will's "80's All Japan" set? I'm assuming he went for the Classics airings for better VQ, but how complete are the main matches in their original airings? With my VHSs stocked away and my VCR long gone, I can't recall how much of it was JIP, and being more of a completist than a "comp" guy, what're the differences?

Would anyone consider Jumbo Tsuruta from 1993 and afterward to be a fall from grace? The former top man, and one of the greatest of all time, regulated to the opening match comedy with Rusher Kimura, Haruka Eigen, etc.? I'd really like to think the answer for everyone would be "no" for obvious reasons... (edit: yes, I'm the same with Gordy). *** As far as Mutoh in All Japan goes, it's worked out in the end. I remember buying a tape, I believe called "Complete Collection 2001", basically a year-in-review, where Taiyo Kea did a promo at the start of the tape asking for the fans support. For the last few years, though, they've been doing fairly well. They're not doing great business, but they've got a sustainable, profitable model, with some good young talent. It's not setting the world on fire, and it's probably got the weakest week-to-week level of "work" of what were the big three companies, but it looks far more stable than NOAH and is a perfectly fine product in the current climate. I'm only upto last years RWTL, but this year's Carnival, for instance, has gotten strong reviews from those that have seen it.

I don't think Toyota was physically capable of pacing herself. And given her style, I'm not sure if she could've without it being far more obvious than if anyone else were to do it. Seriously, would any other wrestler even contemplate sprinting for an hour?! But, yeah, the 1/4 match actually has some decent matwork early on and like I said, I think it works to a point as an overall thing, because you'd expect them to gas and get sloppy after wrestling that way for that long. This certainly benefitted from only going 25, though.

He was there live.