[2000-08-18-ARSION] Aja Kong vs Ayako Hamada

[soup23]

Oh, this was more like it in showing something from Ayako. She takes a big ol Aja signature ass kicking here. Aja is brutal with punches, kicks, lariats and everything else. The main thing that made this match for me was how Ayako came back by either taking things to the mat as well as being stiff when given the openings. Ayako’s jump moonsault into Aja’s boots looked like it hurt a lot on the stomach of Hamada but she is still able to propel Aja to the outside and hit a beautiful moonsault. Another jumping moonsault inside and suddenly Hamada may have a chance here. She powers Aja up to the top rope and looks for the finisher that Starr blew in the Jd’ match but Aja is able to crank on a sleeper. Aja tries an Iconoclasm herself but Ayako gets one last feat of strength in her and slaps her up to the top rope and then hits a brutal palm strike before delivering a beautiful Iconoslam that I thought could be it. This mainly just served to piss Aja right off as she ends the offensive arsenal with a stiff right hand and then waits for Ayako to power up before going for the spinning back fist. This gets blocked! Ayako is rolling again but her strikes get blocked this time and she gets hit with a missile dropkick from Aja. Aja is ready to go back to the spinning back fist and it is a nasty one to get a close two count. That is a big nearfall for Ayako. One more follows and that is the end of the match. This felt like a war and was a blast to watch. Compact and brutal. **** (8)

[Jetlag]

Aw lil puppy Ayako tries to get on Aja's grill. No Aja don't do that she's just a kid! Structurally this was barely different from their 1998 match as it's Ayako going at Aja and Aja just CRUSHING her. Seriously Aja puts a deeply brutal beating on Ayako here even for her standards, just bruising her with kicks and slaps and just impaling her when she tried a moonsault. However, NOW Hamada was little more well-rounded offensively, and more importantly she had all the fire in the world to keep her going. Hamada tried her darndest, even taking the fight to the mat in some neat moments, and most importantly really, really laying it into Aja, throwing hands and kicks that were almost reckless. Seriously, I don't recall many „flyer vs. Powerhouse“ matches where the „flyer“ throws flurries as savage as this. Still not quite there, but she was getting there! This was compact, highly violent, and pretty great.

[ohtani's jacket]

This was an interesting match. Instead of drawing things out and trying to create an epic they went hard and fast. I was impressed with Aja's early matwork, which traditionally isn't a strength of hers. From there it was punch-counter punch with Ayako not letting up. The transitions could have been better but Ayako rolled the dice here and went all-in. She almost pulled it off and you could feel her frustration at the end. She definitely made a statement here which was positive but Aja remained insurmountable.