[1997-02-09-JWP] Devil Masami & Hikari Fukuoka vs Mayumi Ozaki & Rieko Amano

[Ma Stump Puller]

Incredible action-packed tag that had some standout performances from the Ozaki duo and Devil. Fukuoka isn't bad here per-se, but she definitely felt like the Jannetty of the four compared to everyone else; she's good, everyone else here just had way more work in the tank compared to her. This was a really great rush of action that came and went like it was barely 5 minutes despite going nearly 20 as everyone just hits big impactful stuff alongside really well done spots built around the dynamics of the tag itself.

Amano for me stood out heavily in this match for her experience level; the bit right at the start where she gets pissed because Fukuoka and co are too busy staring daggers into Oz instead of paying attention to her and instantly goes into pitbull mode with headbutts and all sorts of scrappy shit was great aggression and really something many people with double her years couldn't really do authentically. Amano is a great emoter as well so she can flip on a dime and go into wounded rookie building a hot tag real easily despite all of the above still holding true. She takes some incredible bumps (especially one German suplex where she hurls herself so violently that she basically bangs off the middle rope in the process) and works her role as the weak link tremendously well, taking some absolutely disgusting bombs from the pair to get that over. Oz was the opposite: she could keep things under control and of course could throw out her usual crazy work when needed. She does noticeably hold back a bit both in-match and out to let Amano's terrific selling and struggle be extenuated more, only emerging to get hot tags or to stop a pin at the very last moment. Her apron work is stellar and she does a good job at getting convincingly close to outsmarting the opposing duo at points despite having to typically do so by herself.

Devil was REALLY the star of the show here though. She's so economic when it comes to condensing her work down to get the maximum amount of impact; typically only needing to loom over people and do her crazy face to get good reactions. She also gets some insanely awesome power spots where she just gets to throw people around all over the place (and I do mean all over, even some far away rows of Korakuen chairs aren't safe from bodies flying at them) really seeming like a unstoppable threat that can just turn the match at any point if she gets her hands on someone. She's got some solid understated "big deal" selling as well where she sparingly takes huge bumps and instead focuses on conveying a lot through little subtle moments instead where it's more about wearing her down more than anything else. It makes the batshit crazy finish all the better of which I won't spoil because it's just that nuts. Solid match that has a lot about it to enjoy; my only real issues were the dodgy selling at points that got a bit much near the end with some questionable moments. I won't hammer that issue down too much though because it wasn't that much of a tangible issue and they were self-aware enough to finish well before it got too much.