What's new, spectators of synthetic submissions?!
I won't waste any time at the start here, I've got a real ambitious edition of the Watchlist laid out for you guys here, so jump right in and get to it. One of the biggest wrestling cards out there makes for one of, if not, THE most ambitious and lengthy Watchlist to date.
Enjoy, friends.
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| AJW |
Weekly Roundup
Here's what I watched for the week;
Watched a couple matches this week. Light work
AJW Doumu Super Woman Great War ~ Big Egg Wrestling Universe
This week, I made an insane decision. Well, truth be told, I made this decision a week ago, but you get the point. I decided it would be fun to watch one of the most ambitious, one of the longest, most densely packed wrestling shows available. 10 hours, 23 matches, and a 7 match tournament in the back half of the card. It's one of the better wrestling shows I've watched, just about as solid as you could ask for from top to bottom. And yes, I watched all of it.
But I wasn't totally alone for it either! I decided it would be fun to stream the show on my Twitch, bringing people along for the ride as I marched through this juggernaut of a card. I plan on doing some more streaming this coming week (at the date of this post being released) on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 8am, EST. I've got some shows I want to get through for an upcoming project so thought it may be fun to bring you guys along for the ride, if that sounds like fun to you. Feel free to pop in and say hey!
Of course, with me being the insane person I am, I decided that I wouldn't just review the best match from the tournament, I'd review the entire tournament. That's right, all 7 matches, given the Weekly Watchlist treatment. Wait, wait! Don't click away! It's not 7 full length, full blown reviews, I don't have the time for that, are you insane!? Instead, it's gonna be 7 shorter, bite sized reviews. You'll get the feel and overall tone of the match in each review and my final verdict. This entire show is available on YouTube, so if you feel like checking the tournament out yourself, it starts at around 5:50:00 on the broadcast. Enjoy!
Here’s what we’re reviewing for the Watchlist;
• • • • •
Yumiko Hotta vs. Combat Toyoda
The tournament starts off strong with a surprisingly even bout between Combat Toyoda and Yumiko Hotta. I've seen Toyoda before and have got a pretty good idea what she's all about, but Hotta is an unknown to me, so I was looking forward to seeing how she'd fare against the dominant Toyoda. She gets rocked early on but doesn't stay down for very long, firing right back up and charging for Hotta, but Hotta is tough and fights back, laying into Toyoda with heavy strikes. The impact from most of these would put most people down, but Toyoda either blocks or absorbs, gutting through it to survive and come right back.
Toyoda grinds her down and takes her to the canvas, looking to break the striker down in submissions that focus on the proficient legs of Hotta. Despite the damage, Hotta is back on her feet and laying into Toyoda again, but Toyoda gets her in a modified calf crusher hold and swings her around in it, adding extra pressure with each rotation. They lock up in the middle in a figure four, with both women seemingly trash talking back and forth (I haven't started my Japanese duolingo yet) in the hold. Hotta is able to roll her way to the ropes and break the hold to survive, taking the fight back to Toyoda.
A bodyslam plants Hotta near the ropes as Toyoda ascends, but she gets caught on the top and sent tumbling off, getting her foot caught on the top rope in the process. She hangs there for a while, with Hotta going out to the apron to leather her with stiff kicks while she's upside down. Hotta looks content to take a count out win, but Toyoda gets back inside, only to get kneed in the face over and over again by Hotta. A powerslam and powerbomb from Toyoda turn the tides of the match in her favour, with each one looking to be enough to put Hotta away, but she gets out just before three each time. Even a top rope splash isn't enough to keep her down.
A Tiger Driver from Hotta nearly puts Toyoda away this time, with both women knowing the end is imminent. A Combat Driver nearly scores Toyoda the final three count, climbing to the top rope in shock when it's unsuccessful. A straight jacket suplex off the top from Hotta nearly kills Toyoda, but she survives at two! Hotta gets too confident and starts attacking Toyoda while she's down, with the referee repeatedly trying to separate the two. He succeeds, but this opening and momentary distraction gives Toyoda the opening she needs for a big bridging German suplex. The referee counts one, two, and then three! It's enough! Toyoda puts her away!
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| Gotcha! AJW |
Overview & Final Rating
🟢 - Highly recommended
A great match that swung more in the direction of Hotta than you may expect. Again, I'm more familiar with Toyoda than Hotta, so maybe she's a known shooter and as terrifying as they come, but her size and stature compared to that of Toyoda led me to believe that Toyoda may be getting the bulk of the offence in this match. She took a fantastic beating at the hands of Hotta but was still able to look strong when she was on top, taking it to Hotta with compelling strength spots and heavy bombs that nearly won her the match on a few occasions. The referee distraction into the finish kept both women looking dominant and strong, giving the heelish edge to Toyoda for needing to use the distraction to grant her the win. Great stuff from both ladies. A fun way to start the tournament.
• • • • •
Akira Hokuto vs. Eagle Sawai
Right from the word go, Sawai jumps Hokuto and drills her with a powerbomb, folding her in half for a cover but Hokuto survives, but barely. She uses her size and strength to overwhelm Hokuto in the early moments, sending her to the floor and forcing her to either stay outside and take the loss, or roll back in for more punishment. She returns to the ring and absorbs more from Sawai, at one point only able to get her foot on the bottom rope to save herself from eating an early pinfall loss.
Wrapping Hokuto up on the canvas, Sawai tries to squeeze the life out of her, pulling her back to her feet before crushing Hokuto with a double underhook backbreaker and a pin, but she escapes, only for Sawai to turn it around into a single leg crab. Hokuto refuses to give in, gutting through the pain and, finally, able to gain an advantage when Sawai misses a Vader bomb, letting her land flat out on the canvas. Catching her off a pair of rope rebounds with a pair of spinning heel kicks, a plancha to the floor puts Sawai on the backfoot for the first time in this match.
Back inside, Hokuto continues to fight out of pinfalls and avoid Sawai's biggest bombs, taking her up and over with a nasty German suplex and a shotgun dropkick off the top to score her her first pin attempt. It's unsuccessful, but she gets close. A single Northern Lights Bomb nearly does it, and her second is countered into a quick rollup by Sawai. Not wasting any time, Hokuto goes for a third and lands it, covering Sawai for the decisive three!
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| If one won't work, go for two. AJW |
Overview & Final Rating
🟢 - Highly recommended
While not an overly long match, the action we got was quick, compelling, and told a really tight little story that I really enjoyed. Sawai knew Hokuto was more than equal to the task of surviving her if she managed to get into gear, so Sawai tried to kill her right out of the gate. She steamrolled her from the opening hell, holding her in deep submissions and doing everything she could to keep Hokuto down. Hokuto, to her credit, survived everything and fought through the punishment, able to come back and get what could be considered an upset victory against Sawai in rather quick fashion, resorting to her heavy artillery the moment a window opened wide enough. Really fun and exciting work from both women. Bite sized and exciting.
• • • • •
Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota
Similar to Sawai vs. Hokuto, Toyota jumps Kong from the start and tries to get a quick pinfall in, landing a pair of sunset flip bombs on Kong, one of which came off the top rope. But Kong survives the attempts and comes back swinging, catching a diving Toyota and drilling her into the canvas for an early pinning attempt of her own. There's a real sense of panic from Toyota when Kong gets on offence, you can tell that she knows something bad is coming her way, and she paints that picture on her face beautifully with every whip rebound into a heinous attack or kick that Kong lands while Toyota is trying to pull herself to her feet.
More often than not, Toyota will be bridging her way out of Kong's biggest pin attempts, showing her resilience and refusal to be held down for anything even close to a final pinfall. To Kong's credit, she wastes little time after some of these falls, flipping Toyoya around into deep submission attempts. But Toyota is resilient, holding on and gutting it out, even when she's practically bent in half in the early moments.
Kong is methodical in her brutality, every movement either meant to hurt Toyota, or move her into a position to be hurt. Toyota gets a moment of hope, reversing a rope rebound by springboarding off the top rope and crushing Kong with a crossbody. She goes to the top rope to try and take Kong out for good, but Kong snipes her with a kick to the gut, dropping her out of the air like a stone before pulling her in for a piledriver.
Somehow, Toyota reverses a whip and pops herself up into a dropkick on Kong, dropping her to the canvas. Giving her a taste of her own medicine, Toyota begins landing heavy kicks on Kong as she rises to her feet. They have little effect, except to piss Kong off as she absorbs shot after shot. A single kick drops Toyota back to the canvas, but Toyota keeps getting up and going straight for Kong. Even a top rope powerslam can't keep her down, and neither can the crab Kong folds her into.
Taking Toyota up the ramp, Kong fucking drills her with a reverse running powerslam (reverse as in Toyota lands on her stomach as opposed to her back), crushing her into the ramp as she makes her way back to the ring. Draping Toyota against the ropes, Kong takes a running start and fucking spears her into the ropes, trying to cut her in half. A leaping piledriver inside the ring should be enough to put Toyota away, but she survives it, even kicking out of a second piledriver!
After Kong gets dumped off the top rope to the floor, Toyota lands a big springboard plancha to the floor. Sprinting back inside the ring and up the corner post, she takes off with a huge shotgun dropkick to the heart of Kong, if she even has one. A moonsault inside the ring nearly seals the deal for Toyota, and a dragon suplex gets her close too, but Kong survives and fights back with twice the drive to drive her opponent straight to hell itself.
Toyota attempts the setup for the Ocean Cyclone Suplex, but Kong is too big to budge. Another moonsault lands on Kong's knees, but a shotgun dropkick to the back of Kong's head nearly takes her out for the three. Setting Toyota up for the killing blow, a backfist nearly knocks her out of her boots, but Toyota fights her way to her feet and keeps trying to fight. Pulling Toyota up, Kong fucking drills her through the canvas with a brainbuster/driver combination, pinning her for the final three count.
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| The death nail/ AJW |
Overview & Final Rating
🟢⭐ - Very highly recommended
An exceptional match and, far and away, the best match of the tournament. Toyota came out of the gates swinging and refused to let up for a moment, taking it to Kong every chance she got and surviving her worst shots over and over again. Even for someone as resilient as Toyota, she was little match against the raw power of Aja Kong, who was able to weather the storm and fend off her quicker adversary with some of the nastiest, heaviest strikes you'll see. I loved this matchup a lot. It kept me engaged from the opening bell and refused to be in anything other than third gear the entire time. Exceptional work from both women.
• • • • •
Kyoko Inoue vs. Dynamite Kansai
The match opens with Dynamite sending Inoue out to the ramp, who catches Dynamite with a springboard back elbow off the ropes before taking her around and around with a giant swing on the ramp. Back between the ropes, it's Dynamite that gets control of the match, tieing Inoue up in the ropes and leathering her chest with kicks from the apron. Dynamite has Inoue held in a tight choke quick, trying to wear her down early. Inoue is able to fire up and get back out, but Dynamite keeps regaining control and locking Inoue in a hold.
Inoue is able to get an ounce of revenge, pulling Dynamite back into a surfboard stretch, holding her in the air before pulling her head back for an even deeper stretch. The hold is broken, but Inoue keeps hold of Dynamite's legs, tying them up and hitting a quick little jig in the centre of the ring. Pop. When she finally flips Dynamite over, she's got her in a real nasty spot, forcing all of her weight onto her crooked and bent legs as Dynamite is practically doing a headstand.
A scorpion is transitioned into a crossface after Inoue gets to the bottom rope, with Dynaite refusing to give her an inch to breathe. Once she's back on her feet, Inoue is able to fight and fend off Dynamite, even able to land a quick top rope elbow drop, running up the corner and falling back to crush her beneath. Ou ton the floor now, they fight back and forth for control, with Dynamite trying for a crucifix bomb only for Inoue to fight out and shoot her into the barricade. Dynamite fires out from the landing and lands a lariat. A top rope dropkick back inside the ring nearly puts Dynamite away, but she gets out and survives.
Back vertical, Dynamite lands stiff kicks that send Inoue to the canvas in a heap, quickly regaining her advantage. Landing a crucifix bomb, Dynamite holds her down for a pin, but Inoue manages to kick out! Positioning Inoue on the top rope, Dynamite looks for another crucifix, but Inoue fights her off, landing back elbows to stun her down. Trying to finish her off, Inoue goes for a quick powerbomb, but Dynamite survives, only to get tied up in a crossface!
Climbing to the top goes Inoue, only for Dynamite to follow her up shortly after, drilling her into the canvas with a huge crucifix bomb for the final three count.
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| Absolutely lethal. AJW |
Overview & Final Rating
🟢 - Highly recommended
A fun match that turned out to be a lot more competitive and close than you may anticipate. Now, this isn't to say that I'd peg either one of these women on levels higher or lower than each other, but this match was very close at numerous occasions. A win for Inoue would not have been even remotely shocking considering how she was able to get a few over on Dynamite. For as close as it was, Dynamite was able to land the heaviest strike and get the win in a very fun, very back and forth match. I really enjoyed this one a lot more than I was anticipating.
• • • • •
Akira Hokuto vs. Combat Toyoda
Much like Hokuto's match against Sawai, this match starts with her getting jumped right from the start. But this time, she's ready for it, taking the shot from Toyoda and standing firm. She drops her with a spinning heel kick off a rope rebound before ascending to the top and crushing her with a flipping senton on the floor. But when Toyoda gets back inside the ring, she swarms Hokuto, even hitting her with the Combat Driver quickly to put her away, but Hokuto survives.
Hokuto lands a sunset flip out of the corner onto Toyoda for a quick pin, but it's not quite enough to put her away. It is, however, enough to grant her a small window, but Toyoda quickly closes it with a military press to the floor. Bringing a table into the ring, Hokuto fights to her feet and returns to the ring, with Toyoda hucking the table at her head when she returns through the ropes. Laying Hokuto across the table, she goes for a diving leg drop but completely misses the table, and Hokuto, who was able to roll off of the table in time.
With Toyoda rolling aorund in pain, Hokuto goes for the Northern Lights Bomb and lays a knee across the chest of Toyoda, pinning her! At just over 5 minutes, the shortest match of the tournament by far ends with Hokuto picking up the win!
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| All it takes is one. AJW |
Overview & Final Rating
🟡 - Recommended
The only reason I give this a middle of the road recommendation is because of the length of the match. Far and away the fastest thing on the entire card, it's blisteringly quick, but not necessarily bad. There's a part of me that loves how this was booked and where it was put in the card. Walk with me here. Hokuto's first match had her hitting multiple NLB's to win, yeah? She did it, but it was a struggle. Toyoda was dominant but not invulnerable in her match, but got the win and presented a real threat to Hokuto. Now, we have this match, you'd expect Hokuto to get beaten pretty bad, have moments to shine, and maybe, maybe land a NLB or two to win. But no, Toyoda gets greedy and it ends up costing her, eating a pin after one NLB. It is a killshot if it's landed at the right time. Even against someone bigger than her. So now, knowing it's either Aja or Dynamite in the finals, two women bigger than Hokuto, we know she has a real fighting chance in the finals. It's subtle but really, really clever booking that helped bump Hokuto up a couple of notches. Good stuff.
• • • • •
Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai
Another hot start here as Aja fires out with a backfist to start the action off, and a double lariat takes both women down to the canvas. Dynamite ties her up in a scorpion after going for a pin, trying to wear Aja out on the canvas, keeping her off her feet with submission attempts. A piledriver to Kong as she tries to mount offence on Dynamite drops her on her head, with Dynamite going right back to a hold when the pinfall is unsuccessful. Kong fights out and is able to drop Dynamite in front of the corner and land a splash for a pin of her own, but she survives at two.
This match is really, really submission heavy. The opening minutes are almost exclusively holds. Kong does manage a reverse powerslam in the corner and a couple backdrop drivers, but both women are trying to wear the other down as best they can. This becomes really apparent when the striking sends one of them down to the canvas for a 10 count, with either Dynamite, or Kong, refusing to go for a pin, instead waiting to see if the other will respond before the count reaches 10.
Dynamite crushes Kong with the crucifix bomb, but she survives, sniping Dynamite with a backfist when she rises back to her feet again. A driver off the top rope, a falling elbow, and a double foot stomp, all come off the top from Aja for cover attempts, but Dynamite escapes them all, fighting back to her feet. She's able to fend off a brainbuster, but when Kong lands a second backfist immediately after the first, it's all over for her.
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| Head crusher. AJW |
Overview & Final Rating
🔴 - Do not recommend
This match was... fine. I'd consider this the weakest of the entire tournament, and it's a shame it went on so close to the end, but this just didn't really click, y'know? I liked the part where they were getting at each other to respond to the 10 count, but that was so short lived, I felt like it could have gone on for another few minutes or even led us to the finish. It turned into big move spamming and pinfall attempts which, happens pretty frequently on these old Japanese cards, but something about this one didn't feel the same. Sadly, not a big fan of this one.
• • • • •
Akira Hokuto vs. Aja Kong
Then tournament finals are upon us, it's Akira Hokuto and Aja Kong, the two survivors of the tournament in the main event. Both have been beaten, battered, and worn out from the tournament action, but that isn't about to stop them from putting in a solid effort to win this thing. They meet in the middle, exchanging heavy handed slaps, and then a handshake. Challenge, and respect. Mutual.
Hokuto is the first to mount any sort of offence, able to take Kong up and over with a dragon suplex, holding her arms tight for the pinfall attempt but Kong gets free. Catching Hokuto off a rebound, Kong drills her with a backdrop driver, tit for tat, as one may say. Overwhelming Hokuto early, Kong goes for pins, holds her in submissions, and does everything to wear her down to nothing as soon as she gets on offence. Hokuto is in a sleeper hold deep, but is able to fight out, only to get dropped on the ropes and kicked for her efforts.
Hokuto is able to get moments of control, trying to tie Kong up or out strike her, but all it takes is one piledriver and Kong is back on top, simple as that. She even goes as far as to sit out on the back of Hokuto with a single leg crab, transitioning into a crossface before going back to the lower half of Hokuto with kicks. Kong is doing everything she can to try and eliminate Hokuto's foundation, getting rid of any chance of her fighting back in a real considerable way.
Tossing Hokuto to the floor, Kong follows but ends up eating the floor, landing heavy and completely missing Hokuto, who springs to the top rope and flips onto Kong. Gripping her right leg, Kong is writhing around on the ground, with the referee and ringside attendants checking on her and her, seemingly, bad wheel. They bandage her up as best they can before she gets back in the ring, insisting she carry on with the match. She struggles to get in, and when she nearly makes it, Hokuto attacks the injury like a shark smelling blood. She tumbles back to the floor before fully re-entering, with Hokuto again latching onto the limb, trying to rip her knee apart.
Now, it's Hokuto's turn to wear on Kong, tying her up in tight holds that normally wouldn't bother Kong, but circumstances have changed. She screams and hollers in the holds, crawling for the ropes over and over again to break them. Hokuto lands a Northern Lights Bomb with Kong only on one leg, not bothering to pin on the first, but instead on the second. Pulling Kong to her feet, Hokuto isgets caught with a wild backfist, with both women dropping from the shot. Kong starts to mount some offence, even landing a NLB of her own, but she's struggling on a bad wheel and her time between moves and pinfalls gives Hokuto the time she needs to recover and survive.
Hokuto is firmly in the drivers seat now, landing a shotgun dropkick off the top rope once before going for a second attempt, with Kong trying to kick her out of the sky, but used her bad leg to do so, neutralizing her despite her best efforts. Kong seats Hokuto on the top, but Hokuto drills her with a chokeslam of sorts off the top, sitting for a close pinfall. A kneebar has Kong flailing for the ropes in seconds, with Hokuto on her feet and lying in wait for Kong to make the next move. She's able to land a backfist and a backdrop driver, but Hokuto survives, Kong's bad leg preventing her from capitalizing as quickly as she normally would.
Not one, not two, but three Northern Lights Bombs crush Kong, with Hokuto pinning for the win.
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| The hattrick takes it. AJW |
Overview & Final Rating
🟢 - Highly recommended
A really tight, great story told in this match. Kong was dominant until her body failed her and Hokuto was able to hone in on a weakness. Once she did, the match was pretty well over. Hokuto dismantled her into pieces, survived her best, and drilled her to win. Sure, it's not as action packed or as fast paced as others, but when you've been put through the ringer physically throughout the night, you can't expect a whole lot more. A main event that lived up to expectations and, I think, is better than a lot of people give it credit for.
• • • • •
Wow. My most ambitious Weekly Watchlist yet. I can hardly believe it's behind me.
No more notes, no colourful goodbye, I'm gonna go rest my wrists.
Until next week, friends. Stay safe, be well, love one another.
cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com
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