[1997-08-20-AJW] Manami Toyota vs Aja Kong

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Very good match on a surface level, as these two have been working with each other for years by this time, but I was bored with it. There's not much that Toyota and Kong can add to the rivalry at this point and they both are very stale. I'm not sure why they needed to have any singles matches after 1995.

 

The match works on a visceral level, but once again with Toyota, I feel like I've been there and done that as a viewer. Both Toyota and Kong need a new setting and new opponents. Setting that aside (which is tough), they really do have their match pretty set at this point, and work very well together. All the readymade counters they both have for each other's stuff is a big highlight in this match.

[FLIK]

Both Toyota and Kong need a new setting and new opponents.

Heh, I guess you'll be happy to know this was Aja's farewell AJW match before leaving the company then

 

EDIT

 

And regarding the new opponents thing, they both worked plenty with new ppl as AJW was on a big kick of staring to push some of the younger stars up the card that year it's just that none of that made the yearbook.

[soup23]

I am not as burnt out on this match yet as Charles, therefore I dug it a good deal and thought it hit the sweet spot time wise. I also liked all of the counters they had to each other due to their familiarity with each other. The spinning back fist seqence and reversals was especially well done.

[ohtani's jacket]

I also liked this. Instead of trying to top what they've done before, they took a more minimalist approach and worked a great 20 minute bout. I wish more Joshi workers had adopted this approach. Then perhaps the style could have evolved in something different instead of rehashing the same match structure in the years since. It's true they didn't add anything to the matches they'd already had, but having not watched those matches in years the counters felt fresh. I am totally anti the use of tables in wrestling, but the way Toyota stopped on a dime for that springboard move was insanely impressive. Loved Aja throwing around Manami's dead weight on the suplexes and the final back fist was brutal.

[PeteF3]

In some way I think Loss is completely right about the staleness of this match-up and how a seasoned joshi viewer (or even a not-so-seasoned one like myself) could call out a lot of these spots and transitions before they happened. And the weird match coverage and announcing adds to the exhibitiony, traveling-match feel. And yet they pulled me in down the stretch, as they gave us a few good near-falls without overdoing it too much, and the final bell took me by surprise, which is about all I can ask for out of a draw. All in all a very good match, though I'm anxious to see what Aja does in new settings going forward.

[Zenjo]

Because of the clipping this felt a little disjointed at times and didn't always flow. Perhaps JIP would've been better than clip? About 18m of the draw was shown. It's surprising a comm of this show was never released. It was AJW's final ever visit to Da Budokan and it drew poorly with an announced attendance of 6,000.

 

Like others have mentioned Toyota vs Kong was a long running rivalry. The match was over familiar and felt post-prime. It was good action however with some fantastic moves on display. The layout was solid as well. Manami was hanging on at the end as Aja walked away from Zenjo with her head held high.