Badlittlekitten Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 Has anybody on here put together a comprehensive list of the best joshi matches from its heyday up until now (and not just joshi for those that dislike it)? I'm new to it (and Japan in general) and it's my current obsession as I guess decent female wrestling is still a novelty to me. I'm all over youtube at the moment but could do with some kind of chronological guide to classic matches to form some kinda narrative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIK Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 I reviewed every AJW show I could find from 1990 through the middle of 1993 on my blog (link in sig) as well as a lot of JWP & other random joshi. rzombie1988 aka Joshi Rob has a lot of good reviews on his blog too. You can try looking up PUNQ's ratings list or go to Quebrada.net. With both i'd say take their opinions with a grain of salt (which you should do with anyones, mine included) as they can be a tad overly negative on a lot of things other ppl enjoy so don't let that necesarilly be a turn off but they're both great sources for recomendations. The forumn can be a headache inducing mess at times but there's good stuff to be had if you look closely enough on joshifans.com, mainly in the matches section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajsmith_7 Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 I've recently got really into Joshi myself and have been scouring these forums as well as YouTube, Google etc and these are the top matches that I've found so far, however these are only my favourite matches and by no means 'the best' although a lot of them are quite universally loved from what I've seen: Note: I haven't watched anything post 1999, I'm just really into 80's and 90's wrestling at the moment 1984-10-06 Jaguar Yokota vs Dump Matsumoto (AJW) 1985-08-22 Jaguar Yokota vs Lioness Asuka (WWWA Title) (AJW) 1985-08-28 Chigusa Nagayo vs Dump Matsumoto (Hair vs Hair) (AJW) 1986-03-20 The Jumping Bomb Angels vs The Crush Girls (WWWA Tag Team Titles – 2/3 Falls) (AJW) 1987-02-26 Chigusa Nagayo vs Lioness Asuka (WWWA Title) (AJW) 1990-11-14 Bull Nakano vs Aja Kong (WWWA Title - Steel Cage Match) (AJW) 1991-01-11 Bull Nakano & Kyoko Inoue vs Aja Kong & Bison Kimura (Hair vs Hair) (AJW) 1992-07-30 Bull Nakano vs Akira Hokuto (Steel CageMatch) (AJW) 1992-08-15 Manami Toyota vs Toshiyo Yamada (Hair vs Hair) (AJW) 1992-11-26 Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki (WWWA Tag Team Titles – 2/3 Falls) (AJW) 1993-04-02 Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori (AJW) 1993-04-18 Bull Nakano vs Devil Masami (JWP) 1993-12-06 Aja Kong vs Megumi Kudo (WWWA Title) (AJW) 1994-01-24 Aja Kong vs Yumiko Hotta (WWWA Title) (AJW) 1994-03-27 Aja Kong & Bull Nakano vs Akira Hokuto & Shinobu Kandori (AJW) 1994-07-14 Shinobu Kandori vs Bull Nakano (Chain Match) (LLPW) 1994-11-06 Cutie Suzuki vs Candy Okutsu (JWP) 1994-11-20 Aja Kong vs Manami Toyota (Five Star Tournament First Round) (AJW) 1994-11-20 Aja Kong vs Akira Hokuto (Five Star Tournament Finals) (AJW) 1995-05-07 Manami Toyota vs Kyoko Inoue (WWWA Title) (AJW) 1995-12-25 Manami Toyota 30 Woman Gauntlet Match (AJW) 1996-05-05 Megumi Kudo vs Combat Toyoda (Exploding No-Rope Barbed Wire Death Match) (FMW) 1997-09-21 LCO (Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita) vs Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe (Steel Cage Match) (AJW) 1999-12-08 Manami Toyota vs Kyoko Inoue (AJW) Hope this is helpful but I am by no means a Joshi expert, just got into it lately and its all I've watched for the past month or so, I'd love to know about any more great matches and I'm sure that there are some glaring omissions from my list that people can add. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted December 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 Check the yearbooks subforum at this board. There are some matches I've liked quite a bit that haven't really gotten tons of play, even if a few people liked them. I saw Bull Nakano vs Devil Masami from JWP (04/18/93) listed, which is awesome. I think I underrated that match the first time around. It's incredible that they built a 35-minute match and really got the crowd going the way they did without the fast-paced action that was typical of the time period. There were very few highspots, if any at all. One of the smartest wrestling matches ever. THAT match is the epitome of Joshi For People Who Don't Like Joshi to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajsmith_7 Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 I saw Bull Nakano vs Devil Masami from JWP (04/18/93) listed, which is awesome. I think I underrated that match the first time around. It's incredible that they built a 35-minute match and really got the crowd going the way they did without the fast-paced action that was typical of the time period. There were very few highspots, if any at all. One of the smartest wrestling matches ever. THAT match is the epitome of Joshi For People Who Don't Like Joshi to me. It's such a smartly wrestled match, I loved the opening sequence and just the little things like Masami shaking out her arm whilst having Bull in a single leg boston crab because shes just escaped the armbar, just such simple touches that a lot of people don't do. The outside brawling was great too, Bull took a hell of a powerbomb on the outside and her double stomp from the apron onto Masami looked equally painful. Just a great match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badlittlekitten Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 Alright chaps thanks. I've started to put together some playlists to devour in. I've started with all the noteworthy matches from 84 - 86 which contains 40+ matches alone! I know what i'll be doing over Christmas. I'm only really familiar with 93 AJW and the Dreamslams so pretty much all these girls are new to me. My word these crowds were amazing. Living and dying through every near fall. Different atmospheres work for different reasons but these 80's joshi crowds are up there with the old JCP tbs studio crowds as my favourites. The more kids the better basically. I'm going to be sick of them in a couple of matches aren't I? How the hell did the business go from this to barely being able to draw a few hundred in 2012? Actually don't answer that cos I'm sure it's very complex and boring. But still it makes me a wee bit sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 Since this thread was bumped, I'll mention a couple of matches I came across a while back that I dug. Jaguar Yokota vs. Devil Masami (7/19/82)-I don't know if this is better than the 8/22/85 match with Chigusa, but I think it's a better Devil performance. She's more clearly heelish, with an emphasis on brawling and roughhouse tactics. The finish sucks, but that's par for the course for the early 80s. Takako Inoue vs. Mariko Yoshida (8/18/91)-Takako starts the match by destroying Yoshida's leg. Yoshida manages to come back, but she re-injures her leg during a tope, and Takako gets the submission. You don't see body part work paid off like that too often in joshi. At least, I haven't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 That '82 Devil/Jaguar match is clipped so it's a tough comparison, but by '85 she had began a face turn after being phased out as the top native heel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajsmith_7 Posted December 11, 2012 Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 A couple of real bloodbaths... 1995-03-17 Mayumi Ozaki vs Dynamite Kansai (Street Fight) (JWP) 1999-02-28 Mayumi Ozaki vs Mima Shimoda (Oz Academy) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 Are there any stellar Joshi comps out there folks would recommend? I'll probably settle on what's in the yearbooks as I was looking to start there with '92 or so but thought I'd see if there were any more focused comps available on that front. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIK Posted December 20, 2012 Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 Are there any stellar Joshi comps out there folks would recommend? What kind are you looking for? Something that's just a random collection of great matches or something focusing more on a specific company/wrestler/feud/etc? I've made 3 diffrent ones (link in sig) but dunno if any would be your style or not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted December 20, 2012 Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 Yes, wasn't looking for something quite as focused as those comps. Ideally something organized on a bit broader basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIK Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 Dan Ginnety put together some really good sets covering late 70's through 80's AJW. PUNQ used to do yearly best of the year sets during the early to mid 2000's. He's not around much anymore but a bunch of other vendors like IVP & Highspots picked up his comps and are still selling copies of them. For the 90's there's a few diffrent sets I know of that the above are also selling but they're more limited in scope and really only cover the cliff note/highlights of joshi most of which you'll have seen anyways if you're getting the year book sets. Jeff Lynch has also put together a couple of exstensive sets over the years, namely best of's for ARSION & the joshi matches from Hamada's UWF. Most of the other major comps I know of off the top of my head tend to focus more on specific wrestlers like Manami Toyota or Megumi Kudo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rzombie1988 Posted December 25, 2012 Report Share Posted December 25, 2012 I recommended these to someone on F4W: Kansai/Ozaki vs Yamada/Toyota 2/3 Falls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60WqXqu07kg...446&index=1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Meh7VQOn25s Yamada vs Toyota Hair vs Hair Kana vs Ayumi Kurihara https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FReJZC1ynvo Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWr16fGegiQ P2 Megumi Kudo vs Combat Toyota Explosion match: Bull Nakano vs Shinobu Kandori Chain Match https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADQFHm-H_VU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFy9UD80QN8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmgdyALLFuY Dump Matsumoto vs Chigusa Nagayo Hair vs Hair https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G-Cv_HjSmw Natsuki Taiyo vs Kyoko Kimura - Good fast paced an high flying match https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS4lcef__IU Aja Kong vs Michiko Omukai There's a little bit of everything here. Lots of stiffness, heated matches and some hardcore stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted December 25, 2012 Report Share Posted December 25, 2012 Dan Ginnety put together some really good sets covering late 70's through 80's AJW. PUNQ used to do yearly best of the year sets during the early to mid 2000's. He's not around much anymore but a bunch of other vendors like IVP & Highspots picked up his comps and are still selling copies of them. For the 90's there's a few diffrent sets I know of that the above are also selling but they're more limited in scope and really only cover the cliff note/highlights of joshi most of which you'll have seen anyways if you're getting the year book sets. Jeff Lynch has also put together a couple of exstensive sets over the years, namely best of's for ARSION & the joshi matches from Hamada's UWF. Most of the other major comps I know of off the top of my head tend to focus more on specific wrestlers like Manami Toyota or Megumi Kudo. Thanks, definitely gives me some stuff to work with. Will probably check out IVP's comps once I'm ready to hit the 2000s. I recommended these to someone on F4W: Kansai/Ozaki vs Yamada/Toyota 2/3 Falls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60WqXqu07kg...446&index=1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Meh7VQOn25s Yamada vs Toyota Hair vs Hair Kana vs Ayumi Kurihara https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FReJZC1ynvo Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWr16fGegiQ P2 Megumi Kudo vs Combat Toyota Explosion match: Bull Nakano vs Shinobu Kandori Chain Match https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADQFHm-H_VU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFy9UD80QN8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmgdyALLFuY Dump Matsumoto vs Chigusa Nagayo Hair vs Hair https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G-Cv_HjSmw Natsuki Taiyo vs Kyoko Kimura - Good fast paced an high flying match https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS4lcef__IU Aja Kong vs Michiko Omukai There's a little bit of everything here. Lots of stiffness, heated matches and some hardcore stuff. Thanks, definitely looking forward to working through these. Looks like a great mix. Appreciate all the suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIK Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 GAEA 10 Year Anniversary Music Video The anniversary show music vids were always a big highlight for me each year. This one mixes in clips of all the previous anniversary shows with a few other major highlights from company history..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 GAEA 10 Year Anniversary Music Video The anniversary show music vids were always a big highlight for me each year. This one mixes in clips of all the previous anniversary shows with a few other major highlights from company history..... Damn, blocked domestically due to the music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIK Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 Funny since it's a song used in 8 billion other youtube vids, oh well alt link http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xx1s1y_ga...ersary-mv_sport Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 Thanks, that was really awesome. I could watch a 4 hour version of that without any problem. Just an absolute sucker for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 If the Dump/Chigusa hair match isn't Austin/Hart from the 80s I don't know what is. Just brutal, emotional and an outright fantastic spectacle. I'd heard about all of the crying in the audience during the post-match but it was something else to actually see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badlittlekitten Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 The most harrowing wrestling match I've ever seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchistxx Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 The most harrowing wrestling match I've ever seen. Hokuto/Kandori gives it a run for its money with the massive blade job. Dump/Chigusa is more downright vicious though, and the crowd makes it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIK Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 If the Dump/Chigusa hair match isn't Austin/Hart from the 80s I don't know what is. Just brutal, emotional and an outright fantastic spectacle. I'd heard about all of the crying in the audience during the post-match but it was something else to actually see it. The most harrowing wrestling match I've ever seen. I'm going to assume you guys are talking about the 85 one but if you didn't know they had a 2nd hair match a year later in 86 that's just as good... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 I'll definitely have to check that out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchistxx Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 I'm going to assume you guys are talking about the 85 one but if you didn't know they had a 2nd hair match a year later in 86 that's just as good... Is this the one where Dump gets her head shaved at the end? Great match I recall. Is it on AJW Classics? I have the full set somewhere and wouldn't mind revisiting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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