So ... Joshi (As promised)

[Loss]

To the more avid fans who have seen more things, please note that I am trying to craft a path that will help people ease into the style more than I am coming up with a list of the best matches. Chances are your favorite matches will get some play at some point, but I think there is value in watching stuff in a certain order so that the excess that is sometimes there isn't a turn-off.

 

Please also note that while I've put a lot of thought into the match selections, in the interest of sharing stuff, I'm not really trying to make a well-written post. I'm just trying to hit on the key points. Anyway ...

 

I've been thinking about this for a few days and here's what I've come up with as what I think is a good starting point. When you guys have worked your way through this, I can come up with a new batch of things to watch.

 

I want to start with the 80s. While others are probably better qualified to give a history lesson, what I can tell you is that AJW was marketed to school girls. Dave Meltzer was really the first Western hardcore fan to appreciate what they were doing and praise their matches. As a result, he stood out like a sore thumb when he attended AJW shows when touring Japan in the 80s. Stan Hansen didn't even see what they were doing as wrestling.

 

Because they were being marketed to school girls, many of the wrestlers cut their hair short in an attempt to reduce their sex appeal to an older audience. AJW had three famous rules for their talent - no booze, no men and retirement at twenty-five. I know the retirement at 25 might be a sticking point with those of you like Matt, who prefer the nuance in wrestling that sometimes only comes from experience. The good news is that many wrestlers found a second career of sorts as the scene expanded, but we'll get into that later.

 

The top stars of the 80s were Lioness Asuka and Chigusa Nagayo, collectively known as the Crush Girls. Chigusa was the bigger star of the two. They were also pop stars at the time and would often sing during shows. This was modeled after the Beauty Pair, a successful duo who took on a similar role in the 1970s. Every year, the Crush Girls faced off in a battle of the Crush Girls, but they were primarily a team, usually taking on Dump Matsumoto and her cronies. Dump was the template for an AJW heel. She did things that would blow my mind the first time I saw her, like countering a side headlock by pulling a pair of scissors out of her kneepad and cutting her opponent's hair until she let go of the hold. Bull Nakano, who was later the ace of AJW, was one of her first standout proteges, and sometimes gave off the vibe of a second lieutenant who was a little too invested in the cause.

 

The dynamic they were going for was that the Crush Girls were fighting off the proverbial schoolyard bullies. There is probably an argument that Dump Matsumoto is the greatest heel of all time. The WWF did show interest in her at times in the 1980s, and Dave always thought she had potential to get over huge.

 

Here are the two biggest Chigusa-Dump matches worth checking out. Both are hair matches, with the 8/85 one possibly being the most emotionally exhausting match in wrestling history, to the point I've heard some people call it uncomfortable. I am a little conflicted over starting with these matches when I said I wanted to ease you guys into the style, but I'm less versed in 80s wrestling than 90s wrestling, where I'll have more lead-ins to recommend. Others may have some good stuff to suggest watching before these matches.

 

Know that not all Joshi is quite like this. This is in some ways the pinnacle of what makes the style unique, at least in the 80s. But I'll share some common mat-based matches, high-flying matches, grudge matches wrestled more "straight", etc. after I hear what you think of this.

 

I think there's something poetic about Dump getting her head shaved, in the sense that she has already rejected the social conventions related to how women are supposed to look, so it's not as devastating to her as it is to Chigusa. And I do think that's part of what they are trying to convey. Once you're able to pick yourselves up off the floor, let me know and we can transition to some much "calmer" matches.

 

Chigusa Nagayo vs Dump Matsumoto - 8/28/85 (This just links to Part 1 - follow links for the rest)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G-Cv_HjSmw&list=PL9963200B5922D4F8&index=1

 

Chigusa Nagayo vs Dump Matsumoto - 11/7/86 (Same as the previous match - Just Part 1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOp-KWG3fh8

[Loss]

I also wanted to make the point that if you care about referees enforcing rules, you'll have to set that aside when watching Joshi. They don't. It's rare that you see a DQ, and technically, everything is at the referee's discretion. So weapon shots and outside interference are sort of common.

[Loss]

If you need to calm yourself down immediately after watching that pair of matches, I'd recommend watching these two matches from a show six days prior to the first hair match. For years, only an edited version of Lioness Asuka vs Jaguar Yokota even existed on tape, but what we had of it made it look like a GOAT contender. The full match was released on Classics in 2003 and it was at best the second best match on the card, with Chigusa Nagayo vs Devil Masami being a MOTD contender. Both matches are worth watching though.

 

Jaguar had kind of a cold personality (I don't mean that in a bad way, that was just her gimmick) and was seen as the workrate queen of the 80s. Devil Masami is an interesting figure and is one of the 80s wrestlers who did the best job of staying relevant in the 90s when she jumped to JWP where there was no silly retirement at 25 rule. She may have become a better worker in the 90s than she was in the 80s, although she doesn't have a match in the 90s at this level.

 

Lioness Asuka vs Jaguar Yokota - 8/22/85

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfCUM3bUZIU

 

Chigusa Nagayo vs Devil Masami - 8/22/85

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuoBP8KcY_o

[Loss]

Here are some of the other heralded matches of the time period:

 

Crush Girls vs Jumping Bomb Angels - 3/20/86

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qOh0wKwX8w&index=1&list=PLC635042010AD1015

 

Jaguar Yokota vs La Galactica - 2/27/85

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnvjhOW_06c

 

Lioness Asuka vs Chigusa Nagayo - 2/26/87

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-LQAS64XvY

[Loss]

Here is a good primer for the more fast-paced, athletic style that resembles most of the more acclaimed matches in the 1990s.

 

Yumi Ogura vs Kazue Nagahori - 3/20/86

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKb5RRby9gI

[WingedEagle]

Thanks for posting these. I've seen a few of these after going hard at 90s joshi so am eager to check out the others. As an aside, I went into Chigusa/Dump pretty much cold other than vaguely recalling Meltzer writing about it in passing, and man, that is one of those matches and scenes you will not forget. I know some people can't get into joshi because they simply don't find women engaging at that level of violence appealing. I can't relate to it on this level but at the same time and would only encourage people who don't find Chiggy/Dump their cup of tea to try some pickings from the other end of the spectrum before passing on the style.

 

And to never forget that Bull Nakano wins.

[Goodear]

I also wanted to make the point that if you care about referees enforcing rules, you'll have to set that aside when watching Joshi. They don't. It's rare that you see a DQ, and technically, everything is at the referee's discretion. So weapon shots and outside interference are sort of common.

 

Thanks for that addendum, I was working on my 'to watch' list alphabetically which started with Aja Kong and I was wondering why she was allowed to grab things to hit people with the referee not doing anything. I don't think it helps the matches any to be honest since Kong is usually so physically dominate anyway and the weapons work isn't anything to write home about. It just seems like needless filler.

[ohtani's jacket]

I don't mean to nitpick, but sporty athletic girls almost always cut their hair short in Japan. I don't think it was done to desexualise them.

[pantherwagner]

FWIW short hair was also a popular and fashionable haircut among Japanese idol singers and actresses in the early to mid 80s.

[Loss]

I swear I have read many times that they didn't want to draw old men who were turned on by the whole thing, so they wanted them cutting their hair short.

[pantherwagner]

I have seen Dave Meltzer make that argument many times too, but hey, short hair didn't stop the guy who shot all the Ginnetty set handhelds.

[ohtani's jacket]

The majority of the girls had long hair. Japan is a very image conscious country with a lot of stock put in appearance. To put it bluntly, the pretty girls had long hair and the other types had short hair as would have been the case in every junior high school around the country. They did try to avoid sex scandals and were extremely careful about who they let into the locker rooms after the shows, which is similar to how idols are promoted even today, but the hair thing I don't think was a big deal and you had Mimi Hagiwara right here who was as sexualised a Joshi wrestler as it gets.

[JerryvonKramer]

Does that mean girls at school would make an active decision: "hmmm, I'm not that pretty, short hair for me then." Really?

[Ricky Jackson]

Thanks for putting this together, Charles

[ohtani's jacket]

Does that mean girls at school would make an active decision: "hmmm, I'm not that pretty, short hair for me then." Really?

 

Some girls cut their hair short because they play sports or because they can't be bothered looking after their hair, but in many cases it's decided when the girl is small what hair style they suit based on how cute they are. Attitudes towards appearance are different from what we're used to.

[Zenjo]

I have seen Dave Meltzer make that argument many times too, but hey, short hair didn't stop the guy who shot all the Ginnetty set handhelds.

It was the 80's after all.

[Loss]

Guys, please let me know when you are ready for more. I am holding off until I hear what you liked and didn't like before moving ahead.

[Ricky Jackson]

I'll try to get started on the first batch of matches this week and offer my comments

[MJH]

Random point but...

 

Joshi is so fucking dead now that Toyota's thread has no replies. Refreshing and depressing in equal measure, I guess.

 

(I'll get around to more serious points in the individual threads and probably throw a few recommendations in there too)

[anarchistxx]

Haven't got any YouTube's but good introductions to Joshi would probably be:

 

Devil Masami vs. Chigusa Nagayo 22/08/85
Yokota vs. La Galactica 01/05/85
Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki 26/11/92
Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori 02/04/93
Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki 11/04/93
Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota 11/20/94

The Toyota/Inoue time limit draw from 1995 might be worth checking out as a curiosity, it won the WOMOTY in 95.

 

Thunderqueen was my favorite Joshi match but certainly isn't the place to start. Fuck knows how it holds up either, haven't got an hour to find out.

[Loss]

Yeah, we'll get to those. I just want them to have a better understanding of the characters first. Like before Hokuto/Kandori, I'm hoping to guide them through previous matches that show Hokuto's injuries and how she evolved into the Dangerous Queen.

[dawho5]

Those two hair vs. hair matches are great. So much atmosphere and emotion. Dump as the bully heel who feels the need to cheat despite being able to overpower her opponents is such a great foil. Chigusa is really over as the face and puts over the beatings she takes while getting her hope spots in. And bleeds like a champ. Crowd is absolutely incredible reacting to everything. One of the reasons I've always liked joshi is the HATE that gets put out there during matches. And I have to say this is some pretty top-notch hate going on between these two.

[Matt D]

I know I said I wasn't going to start tackling these til January, but since Charles went to all the work, I wanted to give it a go. I made it through the first hair match. I'm going to need a bit of time before I tackle the second. It was quite possibly the most manipulative wrestling experience I've ever witnessed. It's sort of insane to think that right around this time Baby Doll was riding off on Dusty's horse. Is that a weird thought?

 

The audience is full of young girls. The violence is extreme, far more than was needed, and we all know this because we've seen so many wrestling matches where the violence wasn't there but the emotion was. That's not to say it wasn't effective. It was hugely effective. They go to extremes but they don't waste them at all. They led with the chain and they never looked back. There was escalation but they started already in the orange danger zone. They take deep shortcuts but that just means that they get further along the road sooner and quicker and once they get there they stay there. They make it their home.

 

Dump's entrance is amazing. I watched a lot of anime when i was younger, and I watch some with my kid now, so I picked up a familiar vibe from it. I thought Chigusa's entrance was somewhat underwhelming in comparison. It's unquestionably a good wrestling match with a mismatch, and heat, and hope spots, and build, the fight for the Scorpion Deathlock, so that when Chigusa puts it on, it's almost like a victory in itself, even if it doesn't win her the match. She's defying her opponent by putting it on, defying her opponent who hurt her leg by using it herself. It's a triumphant moment, with the blood running down her face, even if it's an ultimately futile one. It's actually hard to separate the non-wrestling stuff from the wrestling here. The entrances are part of this. Chigusa defiantly screaming on the house mic after the match is part of this.

 

Knowing all that I do about wrestling, AND Japan, AND the 80s, and today's twerking pop culture and everything, I still can't entirely wrap my head around the fact that something so manipulative and violent and targeted exactly how it was targeted could have existed. I'm not glad that it did. I'll move on to the next match but I don't think I'll revisit this one any time soon. It was well-structured, well-executed, primal wrestling, though. It definitely wasn't what I was expecting.

[TravJ1979]

I have a list of 80's matches to add to this thread when i get home. At one point I sat and watched a ton of 80's from commercial tapes/AJW Classics I got from Dan G. It should prove to be a good supplement to Loss' recommendations.

[dawho5]

That's what I liked about it Matt. It went to extremes to do what it intended to do, but that only made it all the more awful and incredible all at once. One of the reasons I watch wrestling (and movies) is for that emotional roller coaster that it can take you on. And that first hair vs. hair match is absolutely awesome for that. You watch this thing thinking that in the end, despite being dominated by Dump, Chigusa is going to get her victory. And she does, because she finally gets that deathlock on and it's huge and amazing and everything that spot could ever hope to be. But you're right in thinking it's futile because Dump goes nuts finding a way to cheat her way back in despite Chigusa being all but beaten anyway. She could do it any number of ways, but she chooses to cheat and work her ass off way harder to cheat than she would have had to in doing it legit. It's wrong on so many levels. And that's why it works so damn well, because there's absolutely no reason to go to that length to win that way other than to piss everyone watching off as much as possible. And Chigusa refusing to allow her hair to be cut afterwards along with the brawl it touches off over the hair cutting is absolutely the right choice after that finish. It's spectacle on a level you really don't see even in pro wrestling. A lot of it is wrong and insulting and pisses you off because deep down you know it appeals to the darkest side of human nature and you still love it. I think a lot of the great moments in artistic forms that involve interaction between people work that way. They present a situation in a way that you understand, but you don't want to. And you are conflicted about the way things go despite this understanding. I look at movies I consider great like Up In the Air in the same way. It's a movie I rewatch very occasionally, but I do it when I know I'm gonna have time to digest it because it doesn't go down easy. A few examples for me that correlate more to this are the Siege or the original Straw Dogs. They are unbelievably great movies for what they are intended to be. They hit you on such a primal level that it's impossible to ignore what's going on in them. And yes, they are both manipulative as fuck. I don't care to see either of them again for a long time, but I'm glad I watched them once. I can say the same for both of the Chigusa vs. Dump matches.