[1996-11-24-Jd'-Beauty Athlete] Jaguar Yokota & Mima Shimoda vs Cooga & Chikako Shiratori

[PeteF3]

I watched this because I'm trying to hit everything on Loss' Rewatching & First Time Viewing list that I can easily find, but man oh man, this is about as joshi-paint-by-numbers as it gets. Jaguar can be compelling to watch because she's so smooth, but this is little more than an extended squash for her and Shimoda. There's nothing bad here, but nothing that really stands out as really good until the end when Shimoda busts out the Death Lake Driver (a tiger superplex), which is a pretty nutty spot.

[Zenjo]

There's a whole load of backstory here. After her first retirement Jaguar was one of the trainers at AJW, passing on her great wisdom to all the star names that you'll see in the golden era. She was teaming up for the first time with former student Shimoda, having previously only been on opposing sides. On the other team were two more of Jaguar's disciples. Cooga (Miori Kamiya) had retired from AJW in 92 before returning to competition with the launch of Jd' 11 months before this. She was a familiar foe to Shimoda in her first career, yet they hadn't fought in years. Finally 'The Goddess' Chikako Shiratori was a 4th Zenjo Trueborn. Since her 1991 debut she had been Shimoda's second and clearly idolised her. It was cute the way she'd try and copy her mannerisms and demeanour. She'd never made it in AJW but had improved a lot since showing up in Jd'. Earlier this summer she'd teamed up with Mima in interpromotional tag competition.

 

So what made this most fun were the interpersonal dynamics and the way Cooga and Shiratori were fighting to prove themselves. The opposition represented the #1 company in women's wrestling, a place where neither of them had really made it. So there was an inferiority complex they were fighting to overcome. The match was all I hoped it would be. Quality action with Shiratori working far above her usual level and the three veterans all on form. Shimoda showed typically sadistic delight in punishing her former ring girl. For once the crowd brawling segment wasn't for the hell of it. The underdogs were getting their asses kicked in the ring so they mixed things up by making it more of a fight. They put up strong resistance and displayed growth in a highly satisfying main event.