[1980-01-04-AJW] Rimi 'Jaguar' Yokota vs Chino Saito

[peachchaos]

Talk about it here.

[Jetlag]

This is a remarkable match. It feels different from the previous rookie-ish matches from the get go as they bitch slap eachother and the crowd gets really excited. Following that it's all over the place: brawling through the crowd, hitting the mat, impact moves and flying. It's distinct in the way it builds; they get more and more uncooperative, refusing the even get rolled on their backs for pinfalls. I wouldn't call it a great match but the intensity they created was outstanding. Chino may have been the better woman as I felt she was quite good at expressing the exhaustion and toll that the match was taking. At one point, Yokota keeps reversing Chino's attempt at a boston crab, so she simple hurls her all over the ring with a giant swing. One of the best uses of that move that I've seen.Yokota was less expressive but her ring work was razor sharp as usual.

[Kronos]

Intensity! There's a lot of hate happening here from moment one, especially when Jaguar gets slammed all to hell on the chairs outside the ring. It never lets up for 20 min.

 

Was the giant swing common in early 80's joshi? I have seen it used to great effect on this match and the Sato/Tomi match from the same date.

[drew wardlaw]

This was insane. Just wild, out of control action the entire match. Crowd brawling, unprotected chairshots, throwing buckets, sprinting around the ring, Yokota throwing like 8 double arm suplexes. Does anyone know the backstory here? This really felt like a blood feud. I thought Saito was the standout wrestler here. She had some vicious offense with the stiff kicks, weird leg locks and figure four, and at one point hits some powerbombs! I also loved the way Yokota would go for pinning combinations but Saito would roll to her stomach, I love getting a sense of real struggle for pinfall attempts. Im hesitant to criticize it due to my lack of familiarity with the style, especially for the time period, but Yokota really didnt sell the leg much, and there wwas some sloppiness that I couldnt tell what was happening. A definite spectacle and one that everyone should watch I think.

[soup23]

AJW is killing it so far. I was amazed at the level of complexity and hate this match had from Jaguar who was at the young age of 18. They were able to have a hate filled open be sustainable thorughout the entire match and the back and forth aspects of the match flowed wonderfully. Jaguar winning at the end felt like a big moment and her taking a big step towards the future. She earned every inch of this one. ***

[Clayton Jones]

Holy shit, this is 1980? Also I really appreciate the context that Jaguar is 18 here. She already has an all-time "oh no you fucking don't" face mastered. That also might be because Saito seems to think this is a shoot at times with how she smothers Yokota and then won't let her get an inch without absolutely taking it. This wasn't the most complete match but for the time period and the experience level it was remarkable. Very emotionally engaging, visceral, and ambitious. Great stuff overall.

[SAMS]

This kicked off with a bang as both made a beeline to the outside and Yokota took a nutty bump straight over into the front row seats. After this we settled in a bit with Sato mostly working from on top. Her offense was well targeted on Yokota’s leg and Yokota was doing a hell of a job selling it. There was a real sense of desperation from her to get out of the various holds and to the ropes. When she did get an opportunity to mount an attack it was lightning quick and her agility really popped off the screen. They lost their way a bit as they got into the second half of the match as it kind of felt like they were killing time waiting for the end and there was a little rally at the end as both tried to grab the win before the time limit expired. 
Overall I think I preferred Sato’s offense but Yokota displayed some awesome presence, athleticism, and absolute grade A selling during the first half especially. A key thing that stood out after having not watched much women’s wrestling recently, is how the manner in which women emote in contrast to the men lends itself to such an interesting dynamic. There’s a sense of disdain and even spitefulness in their actions which I think is absent from men’s wrestling in general which I really appreciated and was definitely present here.

★★★