[1995-05-07-AJW-G*TOP] Manami Toyota vs Kyoko Inoue

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Ditch]

I kinda sorta grasp the whole "wow they sure put it all out there for a whole hour" mindset, but man this match is soooooo not MOTY. I wouldn't even call it 'good'. Is there really more action than, say, the August 2/3 falls tag? Significantly more than the 6/9/95 tag? This has tons of downtime, some botches, godawful transitions, no flow, no overarching story, and they don't really accomplish much for all that effort. I can vaguely understand Tiger Mask vs Dynamite April '83 wowing a small number of WON voters and winning, but by '95... ugh.

 

There are plenty of MOTYs that I disagree with but think the initial case made sense. This is not one of them. That it finished 15th in the DVDVR '90s joshi vote I think says a lot, considering it was one of two joshi bouts to win MOTY.

[Loss]

This may have been the toughest match to sit through on any yearbook. It was good at times, inoffensive at times, and bad at others. I'm impressed that anyone can wrestle at such a high speed for 60 minutes, and I guess if there's a positive, it's that it made both of them look good for wrestling that long at that level. It also had the epic, big match feel going for it. But I think they could have taken some of the best stuff that does admittedly work in the context of longer matches like moves being repeated out of desperation multiple times in an attempt to get a win and condensed this to 35 minutes or so and still accomplished the same result.

 

When Toyota got the table, I just completely checked out of this, especially when Kyoko's selling of the table spot is to have a "How could you do this to me, you bitch?" look on her face. The stretch of nearfalls and slow Kyoko dominance in the last 15-20 minutes is pretty nice and salvages this some. And there is more selling than I expected toward the end (it's more generalized fatigue selling than anything, but it's still selling).

 

If I had to explain the mentality behind this winning MOTY, it's probably the fairly strong opening and closing, with a bunch of cool spots spread out in the middle. I'd also say it's easy to tune out in the middle because there's not really a strong hook. But other than that, I don't get it either. All the Toyota/Inoue matches seem to fall into a "good, but not great" category for me. I'd love to hear from some defenders of this match, just because I think it would be interesting to get their perspective. Are there any left? If so, comment. I like it more than Ditch, but I don't think it's a classic.

[FLIK]

Been too many years since I last watched this to give a detailed opinion but I def remember liking it a lot though I wouldn't give it MOTY either.

 

Their best singles to me is no question the 8/94 match and I think the late 99 one is up thear too and probably the last legit great match Kyoko had. As a rivalry I always thought they brought out the best in each other though it probably did deliver more often in their tags then anything else.

[MJH]

Well of course it's not MOTY.

 

But I've never really watched this as a conventional match.

 

I read someone say a while ago how Meltzer rates matches "athletic feats" (or something to that effect). I'm not sure if that's entirely true, but it relates to his because I can never escape from the fact with this match that they tried to sprint for sixty minutes and nearly made it. I mean, that's just absurd.

 

This just embodies the old-timer cliche that "they left it all out there". I've never seen two wrestlers work harder (physically). Does that make it a great match by itself? No. Is it their best match together? No, I too prefer the 8/94 match. The 12/99 match is more nostalgic than anything to me, capping off the decade by doing all their old spots (and a few new ones). But, with perhaps a different and more literal nuance, this is still as "incredible" as anything I've seen.

 

I prefer it as a series to Toyota's matches with Yamada because Kyoko's charisma and the different dynamic athletically makes it easier for me. And, well, I just prefer her to Yamada. I mean, Kyoko/Toyota was, like Yamada/Toyota, just all about them doing their shit. And no two other wrestlers on the planet, I don't think, would have even tried to do this. Even the longest Toyota/Yamada match "only" went forty, was a lot slower than this early, and they still gassed out to fuck and it fell apart. There's really no direct comparison I can think of. Misawa/Kobashi did "long matches with lots of cool shit" far, far better, of course, and were 100lbs heavier let's not forget, but as a pace it was nothing on this. It falls apart, it's a mess by the end, it's overkill in the highest order, it's pure sprinting, but just the idea of what they were trying to do, how close they came, even with the overkill how much shit they had, etc, etc... I can't not be amazed by it.

[jdw]

I always felt embarassed that this won the award.

 

It's worth noting the the June Misawa & Kobashi vs Kawada & Taue only widely circulated in the JIP TV version. Neither Dave nor I saw the commercial version until August 1996... renting it from Champions while over there. I'm sure I had it #1 on my ballot anyway. Wish I chased it down in 1995 and did a pimping letter, especially as a comp to Toyota-Kyoko. Not that I had any influence, but there really wasn't a great deal of candidate discussion in the WON that year that I can recall.

 

Beats the crap out of me what I had at #2 and #3. Certainly not Toyota-Kyoko since I wasn't terribly fond of it. Probably some combo out of the March tag match, the July Misawa-Kawada, and the two Misawa-Taue Budokans. I loved Aja-Dynamite, but don't think it quite made my Top 3 back then.

 

John

[El-P]

I'm not sure if that's entirely true, but it relates to his because I can never escape from the fact with this match that they tried to sprint for sixty minutes and nearly made it. I mean, that's just absurd.

I haven't seen this is about 10 years, but that's about what I remember about it, and it this way, it's quite amazing.

[Tim Evans]

This was just awful. I respect them for going 60 minutes and trying to make it entertaining in the process. I guess that was the point? Most of this match was just utter dullness and the nearfalls were laughable towards the end.

[jdw]

How do you really feel, Tim?

 

John

[Phil Schneider]

I haven't seen this match in years, but I remember hating it.

[PeteF3]

You know what...I'm noping the fuck out of here. I love high-end joshi but I've had enough 60-minute draws on this Yearbook in a style I like even better. I'll take y'all's word for it that this was an amazing athletic endeavor. They go at it for 60, they don't settle anything, got it. Next.

[G. Badger]

This is one of the matches that made start to question the awesomeness of Joshi...this along with 3-26 Toyota vs Kong and the 8-30 tag showed that '95 AJW was not as stellar as some made it out to be.

 

The obvious problem is that it just went on for too long. Not sure if the decision was influenced by AJPW's multiple time limit draws in '95 but, it wasn't worked properly. I am glad I saw it but, just not worth watching again. A word to the wise, Kyoko vs Toyota is not a good thing. With other opponents, they can be great but, with each other it tends to be overwrought goofiness.

[ShittyLittleBoots]

Gotta respect them going 60 minutes, they truly left all they got in that ring - but sadly it wasn't any compelling to watch. The transitions between the segments in this match were done so poorly; at one point Inoue is dominating & the next thing you know Toyota got her on her shoulders ready to throw her around. The selling wasn't bad, but it definitely could've been better, as some legitimately great selling could've elevated this bore of a match to better levels, but oh well. I never go into long ass matches thinking they will, guaranteed be great, but I usually find at least SOMETHING to like about them, but here I found absolutely NOTHING that I liked. It was just a bunch of random spots & moves thrown into together w/ no story being told. Truly felt like it went long just for the sake of going long, which is the worst vibe a match like this can have. Absolutely on my shortlist of matches I won't watch again. Fuck this.

[Zenjo]

Having struggled through the two AJ broadways from January I wasn't particularly looking forward to this or expecting it to hold up. So against expectations I ended up really enjoying it, despite its undoubted flaws. Okay it's not MOTY, but it ended up being my favourite match of May.

 

They didn't attempt to sprint for an hour or anything like it. There was lots of exhaustion selling, which is always more effective when they're legit worn out. How could anyone not be after that? They could not have given more. They initially paced it like a 20m bout with some terrific action and execution early on. They could've ended it there. For better or worse they took it on and produced a true epic.

 

Kyoko had a clear strategy to ground Manami down. This was not only to soften her up, but also as a defensive measure to halt momentum. Some move repetition was inevitable, but never got bad. Neither could put the other away with the kitchen sink. It really wasn't until 45m that a draw felt inevitable. The final 15m was undoubtedly the weakest phase. The 45-50m period was tough before Toyota managed to bust out some unseen moves. Whilst the climax wasn't strong, there was much to appreciate before it. The fans were on board throughout with Kyoko drawing more of the support. Had it ended after 45m I'd have rated it higher. Yet being the hour made it more special. The sheer ambition and absence of fear was admirable. A match that certainly stood out from the crowd.

[NintendoLogic]

I had always avoided this match for obvious reasons, but I figured I owed it to myself to see a match with this degree of notoriety at least once, so I decided to give it a watch. And color me shocked, I thought it was legitimately great. The story of the match was about as straightforward as it gets, but it worked for me because they both had enough quality mid-range offense to keep things interesting before they started going for the big bombs. Also, the shifts in momentum felt earned for the most part. They had to hit big counters before they could mount any sustained offense because they'd get cut off otherwise. It probably helps to know that the quasi-Regal Stretch Kyoko kept going for was a legitimate finisher (it's called the Spider's Nest, and she beat Toshiyo Yamada with it to win the All Pacific title at Wrestling Queendom in 1994). By the time Toyota was worn down enough for her to get it in, Kyoko herself was too worn down to apply it properly, so she had to go back to throwing bombs. That's a nice psychological wrinkle I wasn't expecting. Toyota being too exhausted to get Kyoko up for the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex and having to settle for a straightjacket German near the end was another nice touch. Kyoko's selling down the stretch is what made really this match, but Toyota being able to fly around the way she was more than 50 minutes in was nothing short of astounding. Also, I could have sworn I heard the commentator say "Sabu desu ne" when Toyota hit the splash onto the table. I used to think it was a travesty that this match won the WON MOTY award for 1995, but now that I've seen it, I think it's as worthy a candidate as any non-All Japan match from that year.