[1993-04-02-AJW-Dream Slam I] Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Megumi Kudo & Combat Toyoda

[PeteF3]

This had a slow beginning and Team FMW simply wasn't very interesting, and outside of her big fat plancha Toyoda still isn't. Other than that she contributes very little to this. I should be a fan of a team slowing the pace of a joshi match down, as they did here, but it didn't really work. This turns into a good to very good match, but it strikes me as a Toyota/Yamada carryjob--it's amazing how Toyota has been carrying herself as a grizzled veteran in these bouts, having a real knack for timing and building up to the big spots. The whole layout really seems to be dictated by the AJW team. On top of that Toyota decides she's going to murder herself getting the FMW ladies over, most notably including a HOLY SHIT backflip off a Combat lariat. Just an array of one sick bump after the other before she starts her comeback, leading to a fun stretch run with Kudo finally deciding to pull her weight. We get an incredibly clever finish--Combat saves Kudo from one Japanese ocean cyclone suplex, so Yamada stands in front when Toyota goes for a second attempt and then ducks away when Combat tries for a second save, suckering her into clobbering her partner. Toyota then hits the JOCS cleanly for the win. Even in a match with probably one too many miscommunication spots down the stretch, that stood out. The result of this, despite the loss, was sort of a coming-out party for the FMW ladies. But it came off more like a selfless performance from the AJW team to get them over, rather than Combat & Kudo doing a ton to get themselves over. This was a good match but an overall fantastic performance from Toyota & Yamada, saving this from a dull start.

[garretta]

YouTube this, please!

[Mr JMML]

It’s time for another Megumi Kudo match this time against Manami Toyota and Toshiyo Yamada with her usual partner Combat Toyoda, last time I reviewed a tag team bout with those two teaming up against Akira Hokuto and Bull Nakano in FMW. This one is very different from the last one, let’s get the obvious out of the way first, the quality of the footage is way better but what makes this match so different is the match structure, the last one was a spotfest full of big moves and very little in the way of in-ring psychology while this match is particularly good in that department, surprisingly good considering the participants especially Manami Toyota who usually worked without a match narrative with few exceptions luckily this is one of them. This match flies by in part thanks to that match narrative that is followed throughout the entirety of this contest, every move is meaningful and purposeful which is something I didn’t expect going into it when I first watched it a few years ago. It’s overshadowed by the legendary main event of the show, Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori the greatest wrestling match in the history of the business that I reviewed in spanish two months ago, if you know spanish feel free to read that one first and read this later, if you haven’t watched it yet watch it, it’ll make your day.

Now, the match was great the AJW team especially Toyota sold the FMW girls like a legitimate threat, sometimes it felt a bit sloppy but I think that sloppiness added a profound sense of struggle that worked well to put over Combat Toyoda as a powerhouse, Toyota and Yamada were always ahead, I felt like they always knew what they were doing thanks to that they were able to beat them, they weren’t as superior as Bull and Hokuto were though.

I recommend you to watch the entire event not just this match, there’s two matches that are better than this one but this isn’t a criticism just a testament to the event’s quality.