AJW 2001 Tag League

[Guest Tim Cooke]

I have this laying around in a trade and want to know if there is anything really worth taking a look on the tape.  Here are the matchlistings in case you can't remember what stuff is any good from the top of your head:

 

Kiss No Sekai's "Kiss of the World" music video (done in a studio with special effects)

 

Fumiko Yamane vs. Ayako Sato (12/2 Korakuen Hall)

 

Miyuki Fujii & Saki Maemura vs. Chiemi Kitagami & Tomoko Morii (12/2 Korakuen)

 

Kaoru Ito & Momoe Nakanishi vs. Miho Wakizawa & Kayo Noumi (12/2 Korakuen - Tag League)

 

Genki Misae & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Yumiko Hotta & Manami Toyota (12/2 Korakuen - Tag League)

 

Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Nanae Takahashi & Tomoko Watanabe (12/2 Korakuen - Tag League)

 

Kaoru Ito & Momoe Nakanishi vs. Manami Toyota & Yumiko Hotta (12/2 Korakuen - Tag League Finals)

 

Tim, who just watched the Nakanishi v Maekawa 10/24/01 60 minute draw and is just lovin the current Joshi.

[Guest Jubuki]

I remember Rasmussen gushing over an LCO vs. NabeNana tag match that happened since last July, and it could be the one listed -- I've seen their match from 7/27 and it was good but not great.  Then again, if I trusted that group for Joshi recommendations...ehhhhhh.  I would bet it's worth seeing.  I'm the last person on my ring, so I won't know how good for a while, but eventually...

 

As for Momoe/Maekawa...another ehhhhh.  Neither one has the offense to go Broadway; Maekawa is all kicks with an occasional power bomb (the real case of limited moveset that the riff-raff...err, people here tried to pin on Kawada), and Momoe can only use dragon & German suplexes so long before they're meaningless.  I felt like it peaked around the time they teased the dragon superplex, so a 45-min. match would have been just as effective for me.

[Guest Tim Cooke]

"As for Momoe/Maekawa...another ehhhhh.  Neither one has the offense to go Broadway; Maekawa is all kicks with an occasional power bomb (the real case of limited moveset that the riff-raff...err, people here tried to pin on Kawada), and Momoe can only use dragon & German suplexes so long before they're meaningless.  I felt like it peaked around the time they teased the dragon superplex, so a 45-min. match would have been just as effective for me."

 

I understand what you are saying and Momoe really needs to do add some more basic moves to her arsenal for early parts of the match.  That said, the match blew by.  It felt like 30 minutes when the hour was done and it was only the second full Joshi match that I have seen....the first being the 9/16/01 Momoe v Ito title match.  So it worked on some level for me.  

 

Either way, I have had many more hours of my life wasted on WWF TV that this one hour, even with its flaws, was fun enough and made me want to seek out more of both wrestlers.

 

Tim

[Guest Jubuki]

Yeesh - I woulda thought you've seen a lot more Joshi than that...but Ito/Momoe is one of my favorite matches from last year.  2001 was an odd egg - the best matches of the year were better than 2000 and about as good as '99 (if not better) but the overall wrestling was lots of suck.  You'd probably like the 4x4 elim. match from 2/28, if you liked this one.  I guess I know what I'm sending you now...

[Guest Tim Cooke]

Yea, I am a Joshi Newbie.  I was thinking about getting the 8/15/92 and 11/26/92 shows from you as my intro to the old and working my way from there.  I got the newer AJW when I needed to pick some more tapes for a larger trade and read all the pimping of Momoe.  

 

As for the later stuff, I have been reading your site, DVDVR (for what it is worth), and some stuff at tOA to try to get a firm grasp on where to begin with Joshi and make the most out of it without spending the amount of money it took me to get the point where I am at today with the men's side of the sport.

 

Tim