[1990-08-19-AJW-Survival Shout in Korakuen] Manami Toyota vs Akira Hokuto

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[FLIK]

- Manami Toyota vs Akira Hokuto

Even better version of the match they had a few months later. Actually this may be the best singles between them i've seen period. Starts off super hot and then switches gears as this time Hokuto, the imortal mummy goddess goes in with a bad leg that Toyota goes to town on and the selling & drama that results is just off the charts. There was such an awesome air of desperation to everything they did as well, with it feeling like it was a true war to get any move in on the other, no one wanting to get caught in any hold w/o a fight and every big move being treated like it could be the end. A true joy to watch. I made the comment on the Yamada/Toyota match that it never seemed like they were going to a draw because they'd often work a little bit of a slower paced, long matwork section in most all their matches, here it's the opposite, this never appeared like they were going the distance either but it was because it was just non stop action the whole way through with never a dull moment.

[Loss]

This is all centered around Toyota going after Hokuto's bad knee. Hokuto doesn't really sell the impact of what Toyota is doing to her as much as she should, which is a weird complaint to make about the performance of one of the best sellers in wrestling history. Doing the somersault dive from the apron to the floor took me out of this when I was really in the match before that. There were lots of good things about this match, but Hokuto made a terribly anti-climatic comeback by dragging a hold and sitting in it, and they didn't really exploit the emotion as much as they could have, and as a result, Hokuto never really seemed like she was in that much danger. It's interesting that FLIK saw this as non-stop action, because they laid on the mat quite a bit in the middle, although the final stretch was about as good of a spotfest as you'll ever see.

[PeteF3]

Toyota just tries to annihilate Hokuto's broken leg, busting out every leg submission in the book. In a way it's almost a mat-based version of her go-go-go style, if that makes the slightest bit of sense, with how she cycles through the holds. She doesn't lose focus, though. Then we get dives to the floor and that stupid, fucking, dueling-tombstones sequence. Nope, it's not any better here when they're actually hitting spots. Then Hokuto goes into some LOOONG dragon sleeper work that isn't particularly well-worked, inasmuch as you marvel at how far Toyota's body can get twisted around. It's especially noticeable in contrast to the awesome leg work that they were working in the beginning. This picks up with some great near-falls before the time limit expires.

 

Man, I was thinking I was in the midst of a MOTYC the way this started, but the middle portion and the ignoring of the leg will drag this down considerably. I get that joshi isn't really big on body-part-psychology but when the body part in question practically has a target painted on it and everyone knows that in advance, the blowing off of the legwork is an issue.

[soup23]

Most frustrating match of 1990. 15-20 minutes of amazing work and story blown off so they could get their shit in. I know that tombstones and piledrivers in joshi are not the same as in Memphis but Hokuto literally sold a tombstone on the floor for less than 3 seconds. Ending run was nice but didn't fit the theme of the majority of the match and therefore I had a huge disconnect.

[Kevin Ridge]

Hokuto’s knee is wrapped up. Doesn’t stop her from climbing to the top and hitting flying splashes. Toyota goes after the knee. Tombstone reversal on the floor but Hokuto gets up quickly and hits her own piledriver. Yuck. Toyota almost lost her balance on the top rope. Then she seemed to miss the follow up earlier move. Ouch, Toyota had her neck snapped in Boston crab. Time limit draw.

[Zenjo]

I went in wondering if this would live up to the rewatch. After all Toyota was a work in progress in 1990. But she's also a one woman snowflake machine and Hokuto is a goddess so I probably enjoyed it even more than the last time.

 

Very hot start and they've immediately got me hooked. They do a great job of playing off the JGP with Toyota working over the injured leg. She used some interesting offence, with nice variety and technique. From next year onwards she had a more recognisable moveset, but here was more unpredictable. It's interesting to see and no bad thing here. In the long term movesets are always better when they become familiar as this helps the wrestler establish an identity and rapport with the fans. If not you end up with bad indy workers who do loads of different moves every night and wonder why nobody gives a shit.

 

But anyway back onto the match and I was loving how Hokuto was modifying her offense to compensate for the leg injury. Excellent selling early. I would've preferred more later on but I'm probably more tolerant than most about this. Exciting 2.9ers down the stretch and it ends on a high note. Super match as they show the chemistry and abilities that would lead them to more MOTYC in future.

[ohtani's jacket]

I don't think Hokuto blew off her injury here. She was still favouring her knee in the stretch run, struggling to get back to her feet, and staggering about. It may not have been in proportion to the amount she sold while she was in Toyota's holds, but she was still selling the injury after the bout was over. They needed to get their shit in because there were only five minutes left. If submissions were more common in Joshi they could have worked toward one, but since they're not they had to go for falls. Considering most submission wrestling in Joshi is either time wasting or one wrestler rubbing it in another's face that they have dominant position, I thought the matwork was better than usual. The holds were nasty and Toyota was stretched even more than in previous matches where her flexibility has been noted. It's just that Joshi is a style where they struggle to transition from the mat to standing exchanges or running between the ropes, so it feels like there are distinct parts to the match -- the mat section, the outside the ring section, the submission section, the finishing stretch, etc. -- without Matt D's infamous connecting tissue. But it was an excellent effort for workers their age and better than the Hotta match. Toyota's style closely resembled her trainer Jaguar Yokota, which is not surprising given her level of experience. I often get the impression that people cultivate a "ditzy" image of her as someone who forgets to sell things, but it seems to me that the change in her wrestling style was calculated, deliberate and effective. The Toyota you see here would have ended up as Suzuka Minami with slightly more histrionics if she hadn't developed her action at all costs style. I see her as a worker who created her own stardom, and as a work in progress this gets a big tick.

[garretta]

This is the best women's match I've ever seen, regardless of promotion. Hokuto knows she has to keep Toyota off of her injured leg at any and all costs, so she tries for the quick win, but can't get it. Eventually, we get the leg work, and it's expertly done. I didn't get the sense that Toyota wanted to break Hokuto's leg, but she would if she had to in order to win the match. Eventually, Hokuto ignores the pain and starts to work on Toyota's neck in order to try to even things up, but can't get either the submission or knockout. Then it's desperation time for both women, as they bust out their entire arsenals in a futile effort to get the winning fall before time runs out.

 

I guess I'm not as hung up on selling as some of you; I didn't particularly mind Hokuto getting her stuff in in spite of the injury. It's the old Ric Flair principle: Regardless of the story each match tries to tell, there are certain spots that are expected by the average Joe (read: not someone who necessarily cares how artistic a match is), and failure to deliver those spots automatically ruins a performance for that fan, regardless of the quality of the rest of the work. If the schoolgirls in the audience want to see Hokuto practically no-sell a tombstone on the floor in order to get her own tombstone in, then it's her professional obligation to do just that. Remember, these matches aren't being staged for our benefit in 2015, gentlemen.

 

There are times when no-selling is so blatantly obvious even to a mark that it needs to be criticized, but that happens far less often than one who reads these comments might think. Complaining is fine if that's what you want to do, but sometimes we need to take a step back from our own opinions and realize that a match that we didn't care for may have done whatever the promotion wanted it to do, which means it shouldn't be criticized as harshly for not living up to a fan's personal taste. To cite one example, Hogan/Andre at Mania III was a terrible bell-to-bell match, but I call it the greatest match I've ever seen because it filled the Silverdome and provided an iconic moment that (at least in my eyes) will never be topped in wrestling history even if we see another huge boom.

 

At any rate, this just misses my yearlong Japan ballot; I'm still holding on to Hogan/Hansen as number three for reasons of overall spectacle and historic importance. This one is a better match, though.

[drew wardlaw]

Hmm, I'm really liking Toyota so far this year, and I've read complaints about her for future stuff, so I'll see when I get there what I think. As for Hokuto's selling, there's definitely times during the finishing stretch where she'll favor her knee or grab it when getting up or something, so I wouldn't say it was completely ignored, so really, it didn't bother me too much.

[G. Badger]

This has Toyota before she went completely insane, running around trying complex moves she should have no business trying 20 minutes into a match. Therefore, it was economical and, surprising for that matter! Its tough to go wrong with AJW from 88-90.

[dawho5]

Great legwork on Hokuto after the opening. The rest lost me.

[G. Badger]

Found my old review: Baby Toyota vs. Baby Hokuto! This is full of nice surprises especially from Toyota who doesn't have her 90's moveset just yet. So there are no moments where she bites off more than she can chew nor, times where you can call which one of her favorite tricks she is going to do. Here she has a solid match which is fought manly on the ground. This works because Joshi puroresu is still in the old style where singles matches are mat matches with nice highspots serving as points of action and transition. I like this because moves in this match and other great matches of its ilk are used to secure pinfalls or to shift momentum and then take control back on the mat with a hold. So, with that being my preference when all is said and done, I really enjoyed this match. I would call it a great match but, not tremendous in terms of moves or brutality as many of their 90s matches would be. Again, the style had not shifted at this point but, if you want to look at where it would be going-look to this match. It bridges the gap by pushing the speed, complexity, and accuracy of maneuvers, while working submissions aggressively and inserting classic pinning predicaments.