Forever Forward Fridays

Cuty Suzuki/Devil Masami VS Dynamite Kansai/Hikari Fukuoka - JWP 5/14/1995

CJD: I have a real soft spot for performers in front of an audience that is out of their element and seeing how they react. These 4 ladies wrestled in different tag team combinations a ton in this time period and this basic format of a world class ass-kicker paired with a high energy powder keg was a recipe for success. Put them in front of a crowd of young men (soldiers?) in Beijing China where pro wrestling I have to imagine is a fairly foreign concept and let's see what we get! I'm not going to lie, I watched better Fukuoka matches I considered playing instead, but something about this performance felt like it especially deserved a watch. There are stretches that are a little dull where they get a lot out of a little, but in front of this crowd it makes perfect sense. There's also some absolutely wild holy shit moments where they feel the energy of the room perfectly and take them on some real peaks and valleys. I wish they didn't clip a few minutes out of the broadcast but we both know all too well how often that would happen on a Best Of, in this case Cuty Mania (vol 2!). But I was happy with what we got and would love to know more of the backstory of this tour. If anyone reading wants to fill us in please shoot us an email at pifprowrestling@gmail.com! It's amazing to me as we dive deeper into this Friday joshi run how many of these shows are undocumented on Cagematch and such.

JJZ: Felt weird watching these women walking into a building with a portrait of Mao proudly hanging in the front. But that has nothing to do with the actual wrestling. This crowd was very excited and into this match. So with it being such a foreign crowd I think these ladies did a great job of focusing more on the entertainment side of wrestling. Really big expressions, simple psychology with a lot of drama in the moves. If I was trying to show women's wrestling to someone for the first time it would be a match like this. I was shocked they went into the crowd to be perfectly honest. I'd think that be a no no with all those soldiers. Real talk baby cakes, that ring was stiff as fuck! No give. At all. Really enjoyed this match. Loved all the ambiance surrounding it. Phil, you want to join us on another Forever Joshi Friday?

PB: Admittedly, I'm not much of an aficionado of the mid-90s wrestling scene in China. I couldn't tell you if a Joshi tour was at all commonplace or if this was a special occurrence. Regardless, the setting adds a considerable "charm factor" made all the more endearing by the fact that despite a relatively pedestrian start to the match, it's obvious that all four participants were not just going through the motions. Things really pick up by the half-way point (which also seems to be when someone finally knocks it off with that goddamn bell), and whether out of pure novelty or actual fandom, the crowd is engaged the entire time. The stature and charisma of Kansai appeared to make her the crowd favorite, but that could be said about most Kansai matches (at least in my opinion). Being out of their element, the crowd brawling was somewhat unexpected but that also brings home the point that they were not there to just "play the hits". All in all this was a welcome break in scenery for the era and genre. Very nice find, gentlemen.

Forever Forward Fridays

Hikari Fukuoka VS Tomoko Kuzumi - JWP 10/11/1998

JJZ: Well. I'm going to put this out there right away. I loved this match. it isn't perfect but aside from a few timing issues this really blew me away. You know Joshi is a weak point in my wrestling knowledge so this was all new to me. You and our friends have shared matches with Azumi in them to me before but I'm still very green with her. To start I'm used to Joshi matches starting with a shotgun blast so when Azumi tried to take the match to that level and Hikari kept grounding her I was smitten right away. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen from that first headlock takeover. Within 15 minutes they told a complete story that lead to some fucking sick high spots. One of which I yelled out holy fucking shit and my wife came running into the room because she thought one of our kids got hurt. I was biting so hard on those falsies I think I chipped a tooth. Loved the finish. Now I think this was a title match but I'm not even sure who the champ was going in because they didn't show either wrestler with the title. I really hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

CJD: Well you've thrown me a curveball with this one but one I'm excited to size up. So after doing some research Hikari Fukuoka has been wrestling 5 years longer than Hyuga who has been wrestling for 4 years as of this match, still under her real name. Hikari is the JWP Openweight Champion coming into this non-title match and this is actually the last years of her career. It's not surprising that even though she was a high flyer in her younger years (innovator of the moonsault double stomp!) that she's trying to ground the ball of energy that is a young Azumi Hyuga in this match. If I had to use one word to describe this match it would be endearing. We both listen to the ThROH The Years podcast a bit and something they talk about from time to time is when a match has such a strong work ethic that it basically wills itself to greatness even when things aren't going its way. That's what I was thinking of here. There's quite a bit that wasn't perfect, some of it I think worked with the cat and mouse psychology, some of it not so much. But damn the work these ladies put in and the smart approach to the match overall made this into something great no matter how rough some of the edges were. I agree completely that I just enjoyed the hell out of this match. Maybe how little joshi we've featured comes into play but I think you found a legitimate great one here. And man do I love Hyuga more and more with each match of hers I watch.