[2001-01-04-AJW] Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi

[ohtani's jacket]

I was kind of dreading this when I saw that the file length was 48 minutes. The last thing I want to do at this stage of my life is to watch a 50-minute LCO match. Needless to say, this didn't break any new ground. It was energetic but choppy. It didn't seem to flow very well and I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd see everything a million times before. The finish saw Maekawa and Hotta interfere, which was incredibly lame. LCO won in straight falls to reclaim their titles but it was a cheap and hollow victory. Hotta vs Ito was set up as the next big thing but it was piss poor stuff. Recommendation to avoid unless you like title matches that end with a whimper. 

[soup23]

I am more tolerant of LCO so I enjoyed this although I certainly do see the flaws that OJ described. The finish was really lame as Hotta/Maekawa just come in and use the chair and that is that.  LCO feel really proud of themselves and Hotta looks like a bad ass bitch but otherwise, this felt cheap and negated a ton of goodwill the match had built up. My best compliment for the match is the pace.  Bothe falls went around 17 minutes and the pace was relentless as there wasn’t any rest holds or breaks in the action.  I did think LCO felt a bit too dominant especially with how the finish played out but overall as a standalone 35 minutes of wrestling, I was rarely bored even if some of it felt aimless. ***1/2 (7)