[2002-02-24-AJW] Kaoru Ito vs Manami Toyota

[ohtani's jacket]

This was an excellent match. Honestly, it's night and day between this and their return match, I guess that boils down to the circumstances. Toyota was going over here so she was happy to let Ito shine whereas in the return match was dropping the title on her way out. The return match is odd because they usually have excellent matches together. One thing I've noticed about Ito recently is that although she put on weight over the years, she wasn't very tall and not really that big in the traditional sense. She just wrestled big. I swear her footstomp is one of the most brutally effective moves in the history of professional wrestling. It doesn't matter how many times I see her do it, it always leaves me in awe. Toyota brought her usual bag of tricks. Don't expect a leopard to change its' spots this far into its career. If you can appreciate the totality of a Manami Toyota match and don't get caught up in the details then you'll enjoy this. Coupled with the great Momoe/Maekawa match from the same show, this show makes the highpoint of the 2000-2001 AJW revival with things going downhill from here. Great pair of matches to go out on.