Toshiyo Yamada

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[PeteF3]

I have nothing substantial to say but looking at the 2006 poll, which had input from a number of joshi fans, I'm stunned that she didn't make the list at all. She was good enough in the early part of the '90s, and in a not-insignificant role as Manami's partner, to draw at least a token vote, I would have thought. That said, unless she had a late-'90s resurgence she seemed to best fit as a tag specialist. A good one, but one who seemed exposed when I watched her in singles.

[Tim Cooke]

Probably won't make my top 100 but she was a vital part of the Dream Rush tag, which as a single match is a lot better than a lot of wrestlers four or five best matches.

[ohtani's jacket]

Yamada is a strange one. I like her in various matches, but I would never go out of my way to see her. Still, it's odd that a worker with as many great matches as she had on her resume would get so criminally overlooked. My guess is she lacks a punch outside of the Toyota feud and her famous tags w/ Manami. If her interpromotional singles matches had been a bit better she'd have a far better rep. I know in 2006 I wouldn't have taken her over the Takako Inoues or Cutie Suzukis of the world because of the roles they played. Too often Yamada's role was poor woman's Chigusa. The post-exodus GAEA stuff interests me a bit, but not that much if you know what I mean.

[MJH]

Yamada is a weird one. She was really good but after a while she just kinda... blends in. That era in AJW was full of attention-grabbing workers and she just wasn't one when compared to the girls around her. "A poor girl's Chigusa" is both a tad harsh and very true. I actually think Kyoko was Toyota's best opponent (she could match her move for move and there was a greater discrepancy between their offence and characters). I recall her having a better match with Hotta than anyone else did in '91-ish but aside from that, I'm struggling to think of a stand-out singles match other than what you're already very familiar with.

[Timbo Slice]

I want to find a spot on my list for her because of the Ozaki/Kansai tag series and the awesome IWA Title match with Toyota, but I don't think she has enough. I think she's definitely overlooked during the time period, but she won't be on my list.

[Jimmy Redman]

I want to find a spot on my list for her because of the Ozaki/Kansai tag series and the awesome IWA Title match with Toyota, but I don't think she has enough. I think she's definitely overlooked during the time period, but she won't be on my list.

 

This is basically me too. It's not just that she was in the Dream Rush tag and rematch, but she was essential to them - her and Kansai's thing was the driving force in those matches.

 

I actually really like her stuff with Toyota too. The hair match and aftermath is so emotionally overwhelming to me in a way that even the Chiggy/Dump version couldn't match. I think a key thing about women's wrestling to me is the opportunity to ratchet the emotional intensity up to 1000, and no more so is that demonstrated than there.

 

I'm considering her. If I do it will be at the bottom, but I'm actually more likely to put her on than Chiggy at this stage. I know she kind of comes off as a Chiggy imitator so that sounds weird, but again, her heightened emotional stuff resonates more with me than when Chiggy did it.

[El McKell]

I could see myself maybe just maybe ranking Yamada. I think she's often working with people better than her, which maybe could make her appear better than her talent warrants, but she does bring a lot to the table herself, her aggression definitely adds to the great matches she's a part of. 

I don't agree with Jimmy Redman from a decade ago saying she's a Chigusa imitator, I find her to be a lot more like Lioness Asuka if we're comparing her to the AJW 80s crew. She's not as good as either of the Crush Gals though.