Guest DragonflyKid Report post Posted November 20, 2002 I just got the following comps from Leighton but have only seen less than a dozen Joshi matches from the last 5 years or so. What matches stand out? What wrestlers stand out(Nakanishi maybe?)? Is there any backstory that is needed for any of the matches to help them be fully appreciated? BEST OF JOSHI 2001 VOL 1 Ito vs. Mita 1/3/01 Hamada vs. AKINO 1/27/01 The Bloody/Yabushita vs. Suzuki/Sakai 2/11/01 Shimoda vs. Tamura 2/11/01 Suzuki vs. Abe 2/24/01 Nakanishi/Takahashi/Ito/Watanabe vs. Shimoda/Mita/Maekawa/Toyota 2/28/01 Hokuto vs. Satomura 4/29/01 Nakanishi vs. Maekawa 5/4/01 Ito vs. Hotta 5/4/01 Tamura vs. Genki 5/13/01 Nagashima vs. KAORU 5/27/01 BEST OF JOSHI 2001 VOL 2 Ozaki/KAORU vs. Asuka/Hirota 6/17/01 Mita/Shimoda vs. Watanabe/Takahashi(2/3) 7/27/01 Toyota vs. Ito 8/17/01 Nakanishi vs. Maekawa 8/17/01 Tamura vs. Yu Yu 9/26/01 Nakanishi vs. Ito 9/16/01 Nakanishi vs. Maekawa 10/24/01 The Bloody vs. Sakai 11/23/01 Kong vs. Satomura 12/16/01 Ito vs. Hotta 12/15/01 I also have Gaea Double Destiny '99(For the Kong/Satomura match), Dreamslam 2 part 2(Mainly for Toyota/Yamada vs. Ozaki/Kansai) and AJW Riot in the Rising sun + Dump/Chigusa hair vs. hair on the way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jubuki Report post Posted November 20, 2002 Shimoda/Tamura, Hokuto/Satomura, Toyota/Ito, & Nakanishi/Ito are all really good. Hamada/AKINO, D-Fix v. Asuka/Hirota, LCO vs. Nabenana, & Tamura/Genki are good. The rest is forgettable or terrible. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DragonflyKid Report post Posted November 20, 2002 The rest is forgettable or terrible. Is that more because of the match choices or because 2001 in general lacked many quality matches? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest wolverine Report post Posted November 20, 2002 I made sure to do research on what the best Joshi stuff from last year was before buying anything, since all I had seen was footage from 1992-1995. Thankfully, I picked the right matches in Ito vs. Toyota 8/17 (****1/4) and Ito vs. Nakanishi 9/16 (****1/2), with the latter being one of my all-time favorites, male or female. I should also mention that the Ito vs. Nakanishi 30 minute draw from 7/8/01 (****1/4) is well worth tracking down as well. It basically sets the foundation for their title match, with the pacing and execution being superb. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jubuki Report post Posted November 20, 2002 A little of both. The Momoe/Maekawa matches are terrible, the Ito/Hotta matches are terrible...but no one was going out and consistently setting the world on fire. For every good match someone had, they'd have an abysmal performance to make you wonder what was happening. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TopSecretMan Report post Posted November 22, 2002 Here's my STAR RATINGS because I am bored. BEST OF JOSHI 2001 VOL 1 Ito vs. Mita 1/3/01 ***1/2 Hamada vs. AKINO 1/27/01 ***1/2 The Bloody/Yabushita vs. Suzuki/Sakai 2/11/01 *** , but it was fun, to me anyway. Shimoda vs. Tamura 2/11/01 **** Suzuki vs. Abe 2/24/01 **3/4, again, FUN. Nakanishi/Takahashi/Ito/Watanabe vs. Shimoda/Mita/Maekawa/Toyota 2/28/01 How is this forgettable or horrible Chris? You so crazy! **** Hokuto vs. Satomura 4/29/01 ****1/2 Nakanishi vs. Maekawa 5/4/01 ***1/2 Ito vs. Hotta 5/4/01 I cant really rate it, but *I* enjoyed it. Tamura vs. Genki 5/13/01 ***3/4 Nagashima vs. KAORU 5/27/01 **1/2, I just wanted Nagashima on there in some way shape or form, I admit. BEST OF JOSHI 2001 VOL 2 Ozaki/KAORU vs. Asuka/Hirota 6/17/01 ***1/2 Mita/Shimoda vs. Watanabe/Takahashi(2/3) 7/27/01 **** Toyota vs. Ito 8/17/01 ****1/4 Nakanishi vs. Maekawa 8/17/01 ***3/4 Tamura vs. Yu Yu 9/26/01 *** Nakanishi vs. Ito 9/16/01 ****1/2 Nakanishi vs. Maekawa 10/24/01 *** The Bloody vs. Sakai 11/23/01 ***1/2 Kong vs. Satomura 12/16/01 ***1/4 Ito vs. Hotta 12/15/01 * , and I cop to putting this on because like 5 people who did preorders asked me to. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jubuki Report post Posted November 22, 2002 I wrote about the match in # 27 or 28, I forget which. Just go to the AJW archives and find the review. I covered it more extensively there than I can in IM or here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DragonflyKid Report post Posted November 26, 2002 My thought on volume two. BEST OF JOSHI 2001 VOL 2 Ozaki/KAORU vs. Asuka/Hirota 6/17/01 *** -I would have liked it more if not for the Police interference, otherwise a good match. Mita/Shimoda vs. Watanabe/Takahashi(2/3) 7/27/01 **** -I really liked this match, good pacing and selling and plenty of good nearfalls without going overboard. Toyota vs. Ito 8/17/01 **** -I'll admit Toyota is a more complete all-around wrestler here than she was 5+ years ago but I do miss her goofiness and will have to adjust. I still need to watch more Ito to acclimate myself to her style. Ito's Diving Footstomps are sick and I like how they are teased and built up as being dangerous. Nakanishi vs. Maekawa 8/17/01 ***1/2 -Good fast-paced action, Momoe is definitel exciting(She reminds me of a female Taka.) and Maekawa may have the best array of kicks I've ever seen. Tamura vs. Yu Yu 9/26/01 **1/2 -The lack of atmosphere definitely hurt(Probably because it was an untelevised show with a small quiet crowd.), slow to start but picked up with alot of nice moves and near-falls in the 2nd half of the match. Nakanishi vs. Ito 9/16/01 ****1/4 -Very good match, yet another match that I might appreciate more after watching more of the two wrestlers involved. Nakanishi vs. Maekawa 10/24/01 *** -There was alot of good stuff and alot of bad stuff, I won't criticize the wrestlers for going overboard and losing focus, I would think that's the promoter's fault for having the match go an hour. Even great, veteran wrestlers would have trouble in such a long match let alone two young wrestlers. Momoe pulled of too many German and Dragon Suplex holds to the point where they meant nothing and even Maekawa's large array of kicks got repetitive. The Bloody vs. Sakai 11/23/01 (CL) *1/2+ -Pretty bad, it was a marathon match and neither woman impressed me. Sloppy, awkward at times and they looked tentative throughout. There were too many falls(11), the Momoe/Maekawa match would have been better served to be a marathon match rather then go to a 60:00 time limit draw, that way they could have gotten some falls with the credible moves they used without them getting kicked out of and made to look weak. Here they tried to create drama by The Bloody gaining a lead early so Sakai could come back but the # of pinfalls in a short period of time(Especially them coming from rollup variations and such.) made each seem less significant which hurt the little drama there was. Kong vs. Satomura 12/16/01 (CL) ***1/2+ -I really liked this match, close to **** IMO. I liked the Uraken vs. DVD pyche but they may have went just a tad overboard with the # they hit that were kicked out of. Satomura's Shining Axe Kick was very cool. I'll be watching their '99 GAEA Double Destiny match soon which I look forward to as I enjoyed the Kong/Ozaki vs. Kato/Satomura 4/4/99 match. Ito vs. Hotta 12/15/01 (CL) (Cage) *+ -Match was cut off at the end(After around 15:00) which would usually bother me but since I thought the acclaimed Kong/Nakano '90 Cage match was overrated so this cage match I could have done without. The tape did what a comp should do, it had it's share of good to very good matches and now I look forward to getting stuff from certain workers I enjoyed seeing that I had no experience beforehand. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
