Forever Forward Fridays

Crush Gals VS Jaguar Yokota/Devil Masami - AJW 9/26/1984

JJZ: Chris, this match was so good that it fully overcame truly terrible English commentary recorded on top of Japanese commentary. This was a two outta three falls fuck ing banger! Joshi is always just a ball of nonstop energy that is coming through your tv screen. Even with the sloppy jalopy announcers the crowd was still fully present in the mix the entire match. With a lot of Joshi I always appreciated that they hit moves out of timing and necessity. It feels very organic and not a spot they planned in the back. Totally not shitting on that style, I'm just saying that it makes Joshi feel very individualized. I thought the finishes were great and timed out excellently. Overall man. This match was awesome. Enjoy.

CJD: This match was awesome indeed, my friend! I think I've avoided this one because every time I hear these putsy AV club loafer wearing geeks on commentary I try to find another version. However reading through the YouTube comments makes me realize these guys might have actually recorded over these matches for US broadcast in the 80s?? That makes their forced, unintentionally hilarious, (but admittedly, open minded and enthusiastic), constantly cringe worthy audio at least a bit more palpable. Anyway, man this was a war of attrition. Jaguar and Devil looked individually superior, the Crush Gals stronger as a team for the majority of the match. Devil did work from under a good amount though and Chigusa looked every bit the emerging superstar she was. The selling was sporadic as you'd expect with this era but the structure, execution, and pace were so ahead of their time. Maybe even to the point they still haven't been topped. You said it to me behind the scenes, but we're truly on a tear of great matches right now man. The stuff that makes pro wrestling fandom special. Thank you for sharing this gem!

Forever Forward Fridays

Kanako Motoya VS Jaguar Yokota - JWP 10/11/1998

CJD: I wanted to see Motoya with a bit more seasoning, but I didn't expect this amount of a level up in a little over a year. God damn! It's a shame her career was cut short, because she was blasting the fuck off in JWP in the late '90s. Taking a legend to the limit here, and veteran Jaguar Yokota isn't going to take kindly to that. I have only seen a handful of Jaguar after she came back from early retirement (as so many of her generation of joshi stars were forced to do), so I was excited when this match popped up immediately when I searched. It didn't disappoint in the slightest. Slam dunk pick from a beautiful no-look layup from my main man JJZ. I love when our Fridays get lost in a labyrinth on a joshi journey, and dare I say we are spelunking into some interesting territory my friend.

JJZ: Holy VHS tape Batman! Is it terrible that I loved all the tracking issues? Old school tapes will always hold a special place in my heart. It's sad to think that the last time we watched a VHS tape we didn't realize it would probably be the last time ever. Chris, this is a banger! The hot start from the young lion, the veteran taking control and slowing the pace down with violent attacks. Those suplexes were executed so well man. The frantic pin falls really make you think the match could end at any moment. But the finish. Fuck. That sell job. Damn.

Forever Forward Fridays

Jaguar Yokota VS Lioness Asuka - JD' 4/14/1996

JJZ: Man oh man did I enjoy this jawn. This match reminded me so much of a 90s Kings Road style match minus one thing. Which I am going to challenge you to figure out. The hot start was extremely attention grabbing and just plain awesome. Then they slowed it down with some real nice tight mat work and submissions. For me this match was a very nice surprise. I loved the stalling piledrivers and big backdrops. I need some more of this joshi in my life. The finishing stretch sped up so much and had me on the edge of my seat. I popped hard on the finish. Didn't see it coming and thought it was perfect timing and execution.

CJD: Yeah this match slapped all the porpoises. Their 1985 five star classic gets all the attention but I think I've heard some praise for this one too. Even so it's not enough, because I thought this was every bit as good and maybe even better on first watch (I don't think the 1985 match is 5 stars fwiw). So my first reaction would be the finish wasn't exactly Kings Road with the escalating bombs. Was that what you were thinking? We talk a lot about matches that have a real sense of struggle and this was exhibit 1A. At no point did I feel like these two epic rivals were doing anything other than trying to defeat each other. Lioness has more of a bad ass aura about her than ever before and Jaguar is becoming an all-time favorite for me. I felt like there was a clear ebb and flow to this one, after the hot start Jaguar couldn't figure Lioness out early, but was able to take control in the middle and tried to wear her down, but Lioness had done too much damage and was too explosive to contain her late. Then at the end, as you said that finishing stretch felt do or die. Jaguar's final rally made you believe the finish was going to happen at any moment. But was it enough?? I urge everyone who ever checks in on PIF to make time for this match and see for yourself!

JJZ: You got it baby cakes. I loved the finish so much because I never would've guessed it and it made me love this match even more.

Forever Forward Fridays

Jaguar Yokota (c) VS La Galactica - AJW WWWA World Championship Hair VS Mask Match 5/7/1983

CJD: Nothing is more pro wrestling than a bait and switch. And guess what? The match I said I'd play forward this week... isn't up streaming anywhere I see online! Fuck!! But this match Jaguar and Pantera had in 1983 is, and it's a worthy consolation prize indeed. When we watched their 1984 title unification you said it felt like a grudge match, and watching this match in reverse order Tarantino style that all makes perfect sense. I will say Monster Ripper's interference got old fast and they go back to that well many times. But I did find myself really emotionally invested by the end. And wondering, we've gone from considering if Flair was the first wrestling antihero. To considering Piper. But was Jaguar also one of the first?? You said she was a bit heelish in previous matches and it's awesome seeing her pushed too far Falling Down style here. The 1984 match was better but this might have been more memorable. Even with the hijinx there's tons of great action and I think we've become a bit numb to this with all the great 80s women's wrestling we've watched lately but- this is 1983!! God damn!

JJZ: So one of my favorite things about our friendship it that we trade voicemails almost daily. And you know that I had many opportunities to tell you that I've seen this match before. While I was looking for a La Galactica match to play forward to you I watched this one. I thought it would've been a great time to have our first ever back to back champion. But I wasn't a fan of this match the first time I saw it. So I decided to rewatch it before sharing an opinion of it. Well, I'm still not a fan. I'm sorry baby cakes but the constant interfering just annoyed me. The match had so much good in it at the start, but for the love of god they couldn't complete a good series of moves. And what was the ref doing? He didn't even care. I was hoping it would've come around in the end but the finish followed suit with what they had been doing. I did enjoy the wildness of it at time. You know it's pretty rare when we are on totally different pages with wrestling so I was a little surprised by this pick. I will end on a positive note that coming out of these group of matches I am a fan of both these ladies and look forward to watching more of their stuff in the future.

CJD: I think that's a great take. I was on the fence about this one for sure. I thought the booking, the moments it created in both of their careers, and the performances overcame the shitty booking and broken up rhythm due to the BS. But I can totally see feeling opposite.

I just contradicted myself praising and criticizing the booking at the same time. It's tough because the stage these women had, a hair vs title match, the drama, the booking served them a beautiful 3 course meal. But then the booker (or just Ripper?) didn't know when to put down the spices and over seasoned this thing to death. I wasn't necessarily going to include these comments but now I'm too proud of that anology not to.

JJZ: It really did seem like they just keep adding and adding and adding. They just needed to stop at some point. The energy of the match hit you in the face at the start. It didn't need all the extra.

Forever Forward Fridays

Jaguar Yokota VS La Galactica - AJW WWWA World Championship & UWA World Women’s Championship 9/17/1984

CJD: I'll see your intensity and raise you this absolute war! Jaguar Yokota is one of the revelations of my #GWE26 viewing thus far. She's someone who I thought of as a footnote in joshi history with a few trailblazing matches to her name coming in. I'm quickly realizing she's actually an all-time great, especially considering her era and what she accomplished within it, and in particular is a force of nature as a fiery babyface. She burns white hot in this title unification match and La Galactica is one hell of a dance partner for her that I know nothing about coming in. Except that these two had a rematch in '85 that's regarded more highly than this bout that I am chomping at the bit to see after this! Side note I totally ignored the guys who recorded their commentary track over top of this. I've watched a few of their uploads and while they seem well intentioned enough, they really bring nothing to the table. Thankfully I watched this while multitasking and it all blended into background noise of the hot crowd and the awesome energy of the original commentary.

JJZ: I ain't multitasking so let's see how I feel about this commentary! The commentating jumps out at first but fades pretty quickly. I can tell that it drowned out the crowd some though. But that isn't stopping the energy screaming through my television screen! This feels like a grudge match before during and after the bell. Jaguar's emotional elation and Galactica's heartbreak were such a great scene to end this story. As for the body of the bout. It was gritty. Everything was earned and needed to win. And best of all. It was stiff! Great pick my dear friend.

Forever Forward Fridays

Jaguar Yokota VS Wendi Richter - AJW 8/10/1982

JJZ: This one was interesting. On paper there was a clear heel/babyface dynamic. But when watching both women did some heelish and babyish things. So I guess you can say it was a 50/50 match. The psychology of the match made both women look strong. Everything was hit with purpose and built momentum. I mean in 1982 for women to have such an intense match was new to me. I like the spirit they were going for. A real I can do better than you mindset. Wendi had an attitude about her that came through  screen. Like she was the main event no matter when her match went on. I've become a big fan of hers.

CJD: Intense is a great word for this match, and we're only scratching the surface of early 80s joshi. There's some wild stuff that is really mind blowing for the time period. I disagree that Jaguar is heelish in this match though, she comes off as a fiery babyface through and through to me. Was that our former FFF Champ Princess Victoria running interference?? Wendi was a freakin monster with all this offense she was busting out in 1982, I'm still amazed to learn more about what a high end performer she was. And Jaguar I'm starting to realize is one of the unsung greats so this was a nice little treat on my lunch break. Well played!

Forever Forward Fridays

 

Jaguar Yokota/Devil Masami VS Jumping Bomb Angels - AJW 12/10/1984

CJD: I watched this match a few months ago and decided to revisit it this week to see if I wanted to play it forward. You know I'm on the 5 year quest that is Greatest Wrestler Ever which I'm going to try to not let bleed over into our blog too too much, but is bound to overlap at times. And our current Joshi Journey on fridays has been great for that as I've gotten to watch two or more matches from some serious contenders who I need more exposure to. And this match is one I'm going to bring back to you because holy shit, talk about trailblazing. These women were tearing shit up in 1984, setting a pace for high impact tag team wrestling that would make current indy wrestlers jealous. At a glance this might look like a sprint, and on first watch I thought it was more of one. But there's too much substance and too strong fundamentals to consider it anything other than an all-time great tag by my standards on second watch. We've featured a lot of tag team wrestling on Tuesdays and Fridays lately but I hope this still stands out from the pack for you. I know it's a match that really stuck with me.

JJZ: This might be the most a match you've shared feels like our old days of watching wreslting together. Old, grainy, I have no clue who some of the talent is. But most importantly, I'm excited. I don't know why but the start of this gave me a flashback to the movie Body Slam with Piper and Tonga Tom. Anyway, this was a fucking blast. Non stop action with spots I wouldn't expect to see in 1984. The pace for that time was also a very nice surprise. My wrestling viewing has been down so much as of late that Play It Forward has been my central vein. Matches like this always raise my heartrate and remind me why I love this sport. Now let's talk about the finish. Jesus. I made sure I had my 1984 Wrestling Mind on and when I saw this I was shocked. I was expecting the typical 80s AJPW/NJPW double countout. I don't care about the spoiler because fuck it, that was awesome. Can't wait to kick something back after that.