[1992-03-20-AJW-St. Battle Day] Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Aja Kong & Bison Kimura (2/3 falls)

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[FLIK]

(3WA vs UWA Tag Titles - 2 out of 3 Falls) Aja Kong & Bison Kimura (3WA) vs Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada (UWA)

Funny moment as Aja makes fun of Toyota & Yamada's pink UWA belts in the pre match promo. 1st Fall follows your basic tag pattern, Yamada & Toyota in controll to start but get cut off by JJ. Long beat down on Yamada then hot tag Toyota who comes in and does a mini controll segment on Bison before kicking things up and finally pinning her with the JOCS. Nothing major stands out, just good solid work. 2nd Fall is awesome stuff as it's all mega pissed off Aja & Bison going for revenge and mega pissed off Aja & Bison is always fun. They turn it into a wild chair swinging, table throwing brawl and continue to dominate the whole way through. Toyota kicks out of a few things and manages to tag in Yamada but she fares no better and gets smashed as well for her efforts. Super Bomb off the top from Aja finishes her off. 3rd Fall is a longer, much better version of the 1st with JJ being more brutal in their continued beat down and Toyota (who now has a bandaged arm) & Yamada trying even more desperatly to fight back. Great near fall stretch as they isolate Aja and throw every suplex, dive, kick and double team they can think of at her but she keeps kicking out or being saved by Bison. They toss in the kitchen sink too and still can't win so they dig deep and result to attempted murder to finish her off. They put Aja up on the top rope and give her a double team back suplex, only instead of guiding her to land on her back they over rotate so she flips entirely over and lands vertically on top of her head like she was taking a pile driver....off the top rope and fuck, if that can't get the win nothing would have but Yamada covers and we've got new tag champs. Mega celebration time, crowd goes insane, Yamada looks like this is the happiest day of her life. Aja wakes up from her coma a few minutes later and goes batshit on all of them, she screams on the mic, grabs the 1 of the tag belts, attempts to smash it apart on the ring anouncers table then goes into the crowd, rips a piece off and tosses it down. Continues going on a rampage through out the building, tossing chairs and sending fans fleeing while Bison just kind of calmly follows suit all depressed over the loss. Aja gets back in and tries to take out Yamada & Toyota with a chair 1 last time but she's finally drug away by like 7 or 8 people still kicking & screaming. Great match.

[MJH]

I recall liking this a lot. This show needed a strong main event, Bull/Kyoko was disappointing to me and the "let's try lucha!" AJW Tag Title match was a disaster, and they delivered a worthy match for what was a pretty historic/important title change given the dominance Toyota/Yamada had over the next few years. Of course, they were still improving at this stage (and in that regard, I'd've put both Toyota/Yamada and Hokuto/Kyoko from the 1/4 show on the set to compare with their more deservedly lauded matches later in the year) but I'd have to watch the Moreno match from 4/91 back-to-back with this to see if they hadn't done better there.

[FLIK]

This show needed a strong main event

Tak/Hokuto was kinda fun for a squash and it started the LCO angle but yeah, pretty much a 1 match card.

 

the "let's try lucha!" AJW Tag Title match was a disaster

Mostly agree but wouldn't go quite that far. More like near disaster

 

The early stuff was abysmal but they saved the match nicely by the end once they gave up on trying to play luchadoras and went back to working what they were good at. Funny as Yoshida actually got pretty good at incorporating lucha style later on in the year.

 

but I'd have to watch the Moreno match from 4/91 back-to-back with this to see if they hadn't done better there.

Moreno tag easy, the above match is great but I thought 4/91 was legit one of the best matches i've ever seen.

[Loss]

Joshi! The first match on the yearbook.

 

Fall #1 - Solid stuff. Toyota is pretty amazing athletically and is doing stuff at a different level from anyone in the world, at least that I've been exposed to so far on this set. Her sunset flip roll through on Kimura was tremendous. I like the spot with Kong bringing in the garbage can and nailing Yamada with it the first time, but accidentally hitting her own partner when she tried a second time. Toyota ends up pinning Kimura to win the first fall for her team.

 

Fall #2 - Kong seems pissed about how the first fall went and starts throwing furniture on Toyota in the crowd while Kimura does the same to Yamada elsewhere in the building. Toyota and Yamada are wrestlers, so they are completely out of their element. Kong even grabs a huge MIRROR (I think that's what it is) and tries to create the demise of Toshiyo Yamada. Kong is wrestling more like Dump than Kong. I normally hate Toyota screaming, but the bridge kickout and high-pitched scream is awesome, considering the punishment she took to land her in that predicament. Yamada is the savior of the team after Toyota takes a hell of a beating, and puts up a good showing against both of these monsters, but it doesn't last long. Toyota attempts a save on a pin attempt and Kong gets up voluntarily and nails her. Kong wins the second fall for her team by pinning Yamada after a middle rope tiger driver.

 

Fall #3 - Yamada is in trouble to start the third fall. Actually, the better way to phrase that is that her team is in trouble. Even when Toyota tries to save her partner, it's futile. The other team is simply too good. Through sheer will, they start garnering some momentum, but it seems superficial -- sure, they have the upper hand on Kimura, but Aja seems fresh and is on the apron and both Toyota and Yamada seem like they have been slowed down a bit. Sure enough, when Kimura tags Kong, whatever momentum they may have appeared to have quickly falls apart and Kong zaps all the energy out of Toyota with an extended reverse chinlock. The moment when it looks like Kong may be vulnerable, Toyota and Yamada throw everything they have at her and things get exciting. Yamada pinning Kong to win the tag titles for her and Toyota is a legitimately great moment.

 

Overall: Great match. It's not perfect, but it's still a great match. Kong wasn't the great wrestler she'd become within a year, or at least she didn't show it here. She had good attributes, but less offense and sometimes would lock in a hold too long. She also let Toyota throw her around in the very beginning of the match and do the rolling cradle like she was anyone else. All the doubleteaming at the end adds to her monster aura, but that's a credit to Toyota and Yamada. Everyone else was outstanding. I don't think this is quite an elite AJW tag, but I just watched the 1993 yearbook, so time to come back to earth. This is excellent and hit the big picture points it needed to quite well (that includes the awesome post-match).

[FLIK]

Kong even grabs a huge MIRROR (I think that's what it is)

That would be the little metal barricade gate that's part of Korakuen Hall. It seperates the section between the ringside seats and stands at the bottom of the stairs. It's Aja's 2nd fav weapon after those little trash cans and she tends to chuck it at people's heads any time she gets in a big crowd brawl in the building.

[Tim Evans]

Not much I can say that hasn't been said. Pretty good match. Really liked the brawl in the 2nd fall and the finish looked brutal. Also Toyota seemed less spotty than she did on the 96 set.

[rainmakerrtv]

Was Bison Kimura always missing a front tooth and I failed to notice it, or did it get knocked out in this match?

[FLIK]

Knocked out in a previous match, forget which. She got a replacement put in but that would also ocasionally get knocked out too.

[MikeCampbell]

I really liked how each fall had its own identity. The first fall was pretty much a sprint, and showcased how necessary Aja was for her team's success. Aja most stayed out of things, and as a result her team lost the first fall. The second fall was Aja asserting her dominance in the match by bringing all kinds of pain and punishment to Toyota and Yamada. Aja pretty much wins the fall by herself, all Bison really has to do is keep Toyota at bay.

 

In the last fall, it seemed like everyone was starting to run out of gas (no surprise with the pace they were working), so it's quite a bit slower, but it features a hot finish run with Toyota and Yamada making their comeback and Aja being as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar. They throw everything they have at Aja but can't keep her down, it winds up taking a double backdrop off the top, by them both, to finally put her away.

[WingedEagle]

We finally get some joshi on the yearbook and what a way to kick things off. Yamada's facials and fire after the hot tag highlight the first fall which sees the challengers take the pin with an Ocean Cyclone Suplex. Kong goes nuts and opens the second fall with chairs & tables in a wild brawl all over the arena. She piledrivers Toyota on a chair and continues to destroy her from there, with Toyota escaping a bunch of near falls before going down to a power bomb off the ropes. The third fall is incredibly heated with the faces double teaming Kong for an extended period, culminating in an absolutely brutal double suplex off the top that sees Kong take the bump right on her head. Just a sick and awesome spectacle.

 

After the match Kong does her best Stan Hansen trying to destroy a belt and needing to be escorted out.

 

****1/4

[PeteF3]

RIP Aja Kong 1970-1992, you were my favorite joshi wrestler. Holy living shit that ending was sickening.

 

I think this going a little longer than it may have needed to will hold this back from true MOTY status but it was a hell of an epic match. Very grounded, with ebbs and flows to it and a big build to the second-fall brawling and the big closing stretch. With Toyota and Yamada working as underneath babyfaces their worst tendencies were reigned in greatly. Toyota got a few flurries to show her stuff and Yamada's kicks were established as being able to take the bigger opponents down, but they were mostly fighting to survive--especially in the second fall as Kong and Kimura went nuts with chairs and crowd brawling. I really liked how the big garbage brawl came off like a strategic decision on their part after dropping the first fall, rather than somebody just flipping the "Crazy Brawl" light switch. Jungle Jack dominates until Aja misses a shoulder off the second turnbuckle and all of a sudden Yamada and Toyota have an opening. They make the most of it, double-teaming Aja into oblivion and overwhelming her with the numbers advantage after taking Bison out.

 

And yeah, what DID happen to Bison's tooth? Either Yamada kicked it out or I just never noticed it before.

[xlynwoodx]

Aja Kong was the focal point of the entire match for me. From the badass dumping of the ceremonial pre-match flowers to the shitfit post-match, she was the star. The first fall was Kong underestimating her opponents and dropping the fall. She immediately changed plans, starting a wild brawl and bringing a chair into the ring. They dominated the second fall and evened the match. There is a spot shortly into the third fall that changed the entire match. Kimura goes to give Toyota a back suplex off the top rope, Toyota attempts to reverse and lands right on top of Kimura's face. The closeup of her with the missing tooth is shortly after this and Kimura never seems to fully recover from the blow. Kong is more or less left on her own. She puts up an incredible fight but eventually succumbs to a BRUTAL suplex off the top.

 

I loved watching Manami Toyota. Her dropkicks were amazing and I loved watching her bridge out of pin attempts. She really has something.

[Zenjo]

I'd agree with much of what has been said here. Not an elite WWWA TT bout, but it was really good. All four wrestlers performed well and brought something different to the party. The first two falls were strong. Toyota downed Bison with the JOCS to go 1-0. In the 2nd the challengers got beaten to a pulp. Unfortunately things did slow down and falter a bit in the final fall. Yet the finish brought it back to life as Aja gets dumped right on top of her head with the double team finisher. They used it in future matches, but it was never as brutal as that again.

 

As an aside I remember a GAEA match where Yamada's kicks knocked out Toyota's teeth as well. Nobody ever claimed pro wrestling was conductive to good dental health.

[garretta]

I really liked this one. Toyota and Yamada were game, taking one of the most brutal beatings I've ever seen in a women's bout. Aja's responsible for most of that, of course, but she's such a dominant presence that people forget Bison was just as vicious as she was.

 

The second fall was almost too out-of-control for its own good. How Aja wasn't disqualified for going that crazy with the chairs and endangering the crowd to boot is something I still can't fathom. I guess she really was allowed to get away short of outright murder. She got hers in the last fall, though, intentionally or not. Seriously, she's lucky that her neck wasn't snapped when she took that spike bump on her head. Bison took a hell of a shot too when her tooth was knocked out. One question, though: Why didn't she bleed from the mouth hardway? Was the tooth she lost already a replacement?

 

I like Toyota's bridges as much as anyone, but unless she's supposed to have a neck like Supergirl, she probably shouldn't be doing neck bridges after repeated piledrivers. I understand that that move's not as big a deal in Japan as it is here, but two or three of them in a row should still cause enough damage to make stuff like neck bridges impossible to do.

 

The postmatch wasn't nearly as wild as the hype led me to believe. Then again, why would it be when the person causing the mayhem had just been dropped directly on her head?

 

How did the UWA belts make it over to AJW? I thought that the UWA was primarily a Mexican organization.

[Zenjo]

The second fall was almost too out-of-control for its own good. How Aja wasn't disqualified for going that crazy with the chairs and endangering the crowd to boot is something I still can't fathom. I guess she really was allowed to get away short of outright murder.

To describe AJW officials as being lax with their enforcement of the rules would be a bit of an understatement. It was even more the case in the 80's with Dump's Army. My theory behind it is that they're presenting a mini world where women are in control. So male authority figures had to look foolish and ineffectual.

 

I like Toyota's bridges as much as anyone, but unless she's supposed to have a neck like Supergirl, she probably shouldn't be doing neck bridges after repeated piledrivers. I understand that that move's not as big a deal in Japan as it is here, but two or three of them in a row should still cause enough damage to make stuff like neck bridges impossible to do.

It is weird and seemingly illogical, but it's a standard spot in Joshi through the years. You'll see it fairly often. After taking a piledriver the wrestler would do a neck bridge out of the pin. I guess it's intended to show resilience and fighting spirit.

 

And Toyota is Supergirl!

 

How did the UWA belts make it over to AJW? I thought that the UWA was primarily a Mexican organization.

http://www.wrestling-titles.com/japan/zenjo/uwa-wt.html

 

It seems like the UWA belts actually started in Japan and never left there. AJW had a loose working relationship with them at the time, as well as with CMLL over the period. There'd be regular tours from Mexican wrestlers to Japan and vice versa.

[garretta]

Thanks for the info and insight, Zenjo!

[dawho5]

I'd say the officials in AJW are about the same level of ineffectual as the ones in the Toryumon and MPro I have seen.  I also had an objection to Aja letting herself get suplexed right at the opening bell.  Gotta assert yourself and be the monster heel early for sure.  Toyota is indeed athletic on a supreme level.  That being said, I hate her 5-7 dropkick rush.  Hate it.  Yamada had some great facial expressions when she was being pasted with a chair.  Aja was in full beast mode closing out the second fall.  That finish looked brutal and I am really glad Aja gave Toyota and Yamada time to celebrate a bit before going nuts.