[2001-09-16-AJW] Momoe Nakanishi vs Kaoru Ito

[ohtani's jacket]

Momoe gets the title shot she earned by winning the Japan Grand Prix. The most notable thing about this all these years later is how good her selling is. She does some amazing rag doll selling, really throwing her body about. Not only that, but she manages to make Joshi restholds look like the most excruciating pain ever. Realistically, she doesn't have much in her arsenal that can put Ito away, so she's pretty much relying on a flash pin. And boy does she sell each pin attempt like there's no tomorrow. I don't think I've seen another wrestler try as hard to hold someone down as Momoe does here. But she can't hold Ito down and eventually falls victim to the footstomps. The finish is a cool submission attempt followed by a footstomp from the top. She gets absolutely crushed as you can imagine. Of course, Momoe sells it like death. Not an all-time classic, or remotely close to it, but it was good and I'm struggling to think of anything as enjoyable in the Japanese men's leagues.