[1995-02-26-AJW] Manami Toyota, Sakie Hasegawa, Takako Inoue & Yumiko Hotta vs Aja Kong, Mariko Yoshida, Toshiyo Yamada & Kyoko Inoue

[Calvin]

Rules are if you're pinned, you're eliminated, and the winner also has to leave the match but will get an opportunity to represent AJW at the 4/2 Tokyo Dome show. This is an excellent match from front to back, but it really distinguishes itself in the final fall between Hasiegawa and Yoshida -- two lower-tier wrestlers going back-and-forth with palpable urgency and desperation to get that last spot on the Dome show. Takako doing her sisterly best to secure Kyoko's spot on 4/2 by backstabbing Toyota was maybe the wholesome moment of the year. I think part of the reason this was such an easy watch despite it being 34 minutes long was because this felt like four short stories seamlessly transitioning one after another rather than one long narrative, and that kept things fresh for its entire runtime.

****