#57: Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki, AJW Dream Rush in Kawasaki (11/26/1992).
This is a 2 Out of 3 Falls Match for Toyota and Yamada's WWWA Tag Team Championships.
When many American wrestling fans are asked what they think the best era of wrestling is, many will quickly talk to you about the late 90s, which isnât surprising. The combination of WWEâs Attitude Era, WCWâs dominant nWo storyline, and ECWâs underground aura made for a hell of a time in North America. That said, all of those things happened from 1995 onward. What about the beginning of the 90s? Itâs hard to talk about those companies in the early 90s and smile. WWE was struggling, WCW had yet to finds it footing, and ECW was still in its early stages. When it comes to the early 90s, many American wrestling fans may not have fond memories. But the International Wrestling fans? Oh, they will sing the praises of the early 90s like there is no freaking tomorrow. The evolution of Lucha Libre in AAA and CMLL, the glory days of New Japan Pro Wrestling, and the Four Pillars of All Japan Pro Wrestling had the international fanbase salivating at the lips. At the height of âtape trading,â an era where you only heard of these promotions from someone who happened to have a VHS tape of some of their matches, was for wrestling fans what bootlegging live albums was for music fans in the 1970s. But in the early 90s, there was something going on that was more unique than all of those combined â Joshi. Meaning âWomenâs Wrestlingâ for Japanese fans, Joshi was a style of wrestling completely different from everything else going on in the world at the time â especially when viewed through the eyes of those who were only familiar with American wrestling. At the time in the United States, Womenâs wrestling wasnât exactly thriving. Much of that can be blamed on the selfish stranglehold that The Fabulous Moolah had on womenâs wrestlers dating back to the 1950s. Her selfishness put womenâs wrestling back decades in America. In Japan, however, Womenâs wrestling was not only at the highest quality, but was at least in contention with being better than what the male counterparts were putting out at the time. Their look was unique, with the different variety of costumes and visual effects. The one thing that stood out about Joshi was the style. It was a hard hitting, fast paced style that started at 10 and never let up. This particular match, taking place between two teams representing the biggest Joshi promotions at the time, is one of the best examples of that style, and itâs a match that to this day is still considering not only one of the best Joshi matches of all time, but one of the best tag team matches in the history of professional wrestling. On one side stood the champions, Manami Toyota and Toshiyo Yamada, who represented the best of what All Japan Womenâs, or AJW, had to offer â with Toyota in particular still considered one of the best, if not THE best, womenâs wrestlers of all time. Opposing them were Dynamite Kansai and Mayumi Ozaki, the two best in the rival promotion JWP Joshi Puroresu, or simply JWP. At the time, it was considered very rare for rival promotions to be competing against each other on the same show, and Dream Rush was one of the first Joshi shows to have dual competition on the same card. The importance of this match is emphasized by the fact that it was the main event of this show, going higher than the match between Aja Kong and Bull Nakano that culminated a multiyear rivalry between those two. JWP was a newer promotion that was looking to make a mark in the Joshi scene. Instead of crushing it under its heels, AJW welcomed the chance for some competition, as well as the possible big money ramifications of a rare match between two different promotions. A dream match scenario invaded Kawasaki, as fans got a chance to see a match thought to be impossible. All four shake hands, and go to their corners. The match begins with Kansai and Yamada. Yamada goes for heavy forearms right away, but Kansai counters with stiff kicks. Kansai immediately brings Yamada to her corner, and Ozaki tags in. Ozaki goes for a flying kick, but Yamada counters with a spinning back kick. She tags in Toyota, who goes for a shotgun drop kick right away on Ozaki. The crowd is already hot for this! Toyota with heavy kicks to Ozaki, and she follows with a powerslam. The pin is broken up by Kansai. Ozaki attempts a roll up, but Toyota kicks out and kicks her leg in. Ozaki with a clothesline, and she tags Kansai back in. Kansai hits a kick to Toyotaâs chest, and follows that with a Suplex with a 2 count. She brings Toyota down and locks in a Dragon Sleeper submission. Ozaki is in to attack Toyotaâs midsection, too. Kansai brings Toyota to the ropes and kicks her some more on the back. She tags Ozaki in, who locks in an STF submission hold. She transitions out of that to a Camel Clutch submission. Kansai is back in, kicking Toyota in the chest. It was very common in Japanese tag team wrestling for 2 on 1 situations like this to happen. Iâm not exactly sure why Yamada didnât intervene, but maybe itâs a Strong Style thing where sheâs giving Toyota a chance to show her grit. Yamada finally comes in and breaks the submission up. Ozaki tags Kansai back in, who slams Toyota face first on the mat, then follows with several leg drops to the back of the head. A cheap shot to Yamada, before a headbutt to Toyota, who hits her signature shotgun dropkick before tagging Yamada back in. She thrust kicks Kansai in the face, and then follows with some more kicks to the head. Yamada locks in a Half Camel Clutch, as Ozaki watches on and cheers her partner on. Yamada breaks the hold and hits a Side Walk Slam to Kansai, before going to a Dragon Sleeper submission. She breaks that hold and kicks Kansai, before tagging in Toyota. Kansai tags Ozaki back in the match, and her and Toyota go at it. They run off the ropes, and Toyota keeps her down with flying clotheslines and a shotgun drop kick. Ozaki is back in control, hitting a stiff fore arm and a suplex. Sheâs back on the Half Crab to Toyota, who certainly has had her fucking ass kicked so far. Ozaki puts Toyota in a stretch, before she breaks out of it and is brought back to the corner, where Kansai tags in and goes at it with more hard kicks and a clothesline. Another Half Crab to Toyota, and Kansai adds a hair pull to it this time. Kansai torques it back farther so that Toyota is bent in half. She breaks the hold and goes for strikes on the back. She tags Ozaki back in, who goes for the Camel Clutch. Sheâs pulling it back as far as she can, then releases it to punish Toyota more with strikes. Toyota counters a corner barrage with a roll up attempt, but scurring to her corner to tag Yamada in. She takes Ozaki into the corner with a furious clothesline, and some more kicks to the chest. Ozaki into the opposing corner and another clothesline, and a snap suplex into a pin attempt, which only gets 2. A side walk slam by Yamada also gets a 2 count, and Yamada brings Toyota in for a pair of drop kicks. Ozaki gets a side headlock takedown to Yamada, who counters with a back suplex. Kansai is in now, and her and Ozaki flapjack Yamada on the top rope. Kansai and Ozaki fly out of the ring onto Toyota and Yamada. Kansai brings Yamada back into the ring, hits a Tombstone. Her and Ozaki are on the top rope now, and they connect with a double flying headbutt. Ozaki goes for the pin, but Toyota breaks it up and hits the shotgun drop kick to Ozaki, who tags Kansai in and she pummels Yamada with kicks. She sets Yamada up for a move, but Toyota breaks it up, and that leads to German Suplexes from Yamada and Toyota, who is now legal. She powerslams Kansai and attempts a moonsault from the top rope, but she misses. Kansai hits a massive clothesline to Toyota! The count is broken up by Yamada. Toyota hits the DDT, but Ozaki takes her out with a flying dropkick. Kansai hits a crucifix powerbomb on Toyota for the pin, and the first fall! The crowd is losing their minds already, and thereâs potentially two more falls to go! A break in between falls takes place, as both parties hydrate and get ready for the next phase of the match. Poor Toyota looks like sheâs been in an accident. She has taken one hell of a beating so far. The second fall begins, and Kansai and Ozaki immediately charge after the champions, as Kansai continues her barrage of kicks to Toyota. She goes for the Crucifix again, but Toyota counters into a pinfall attempt. Yamada is in and she hits a series of German Suplexes and Back Suplexes to Kansai. Toyota hits a Shotgun Dropkick from the top rope into Kansai, who falls into Yamada and a German Suplex. Yamada scales the top rope, and hits Kansai with a spinning kick. She takes out Ozaki and sets Kansai up for the Vertebreaker, which gets her the win and the first fall for the champs! Weâre all tied up, and the next fall decides the match. Another break for the competitors, as the champs celebrate staying in the match and not getting shut out. Yamada goes right back on Kansai with kicks, but Kansai kicks her feet out from under her and attempts a pinfall. Ozaki tags in, and she goes for a Fujiwara armbar, but Yamada makes it to the rope. She locks it in again, as Toyota looks on. Ozaki zeroes in on the arm, and she runs her off the rope. Yamada hits a thrust kick and immediately tags Toyota into the match. She runs Ozaki off the ropes and hits the Shotgun again. She scales the top rope and hits several flying variants of it. If you couldnât tell, she loves those Shotgun drop kicks. A suplex follows, but Kansai breaks it up. Toyota traps the leg in her own, and puts Ozaki in the Muta Lock. She transitions from that into a stretch of the back, neck and legs. She lets go and locks Ozakiâs arms up, and hits a DDT that immediately goes into a headlock submission. I donât even know if I described that properly, but it was really cool. She lets go of the submission, and tags in Yamada, who locks in a Stretch Muffler on Ozaki, but that is broken up by Kansai, who kicks Yamada right in the face. She fights it off with kicks of her own, and prevents Ozaki from tagging out. Ozaki regains control with a German Suplex, and tags Kansai in, who runs Yamada into the corner with clothesline, and follows that with a Northern Lights suplex pin, which only gets a 2 count. Kansai locks in the Scorpion Deathlock, and Toyota tries to break it up, but is unsuccessful. Ozaki runs in and kicks Yamada in the face. Yamada crawls to the ropes, and in a cool moment you donât see, Ozaki actually slapped her hand away from the ropes. I liked that! Yamada is out of the ring now, and is sent into the barricade by Ozaki. Kansai then suplexes her on the mat. Toyota is here now, and she powerslams Ozaki to the concrete. Kansai and Yamada are back in the ring now, and Kansai is using the tried and true kicks once again. A stiff kick to the head follows. Ozaki is in, and she hits a Senton from the top, which only gets a 2 count. A nasty looking powerbomb pin is broken up by Toyota. Ozaki goes back to stretching Yamada, and locks in what looks like a variation of a Cloverleaf. She traps the arm in this as well, and is torquing her back. She tosses Yamada out, and Kansai tosses her into the barricade. She then picks up a chair and smashes it over her head and side! Toyota comes out and responds by throwing two chairs glued together at Kansai. That was hilarious. All we need is some space heaters and this could become a classic Big Japan Pro Wrestling Fire Stone Deathmatch! Back in the ring, and Ozaki has the Camel Clutch on Yamada. The back half of this match is seeing Yamada get her shit rocked. Her whole team has gotten fucked up. Kansai is in, and she hits a Shotgun of her own to Yamada, who tags out to Toyota. Kansai clotheslines Toyota, and then hits a nasty looking series of back suplexes. The pin attempt is broken up by Yamada. Kansai traps Toyota in the Scorpion Deathlock now. She lets go, and stomps on the back. Ozaki is back in, and she hits a flying splash. Toyota is back up, though and hits several flying crossbody splashes to her. Yamada is back in, and she hits a Suplex/Leg Drop combo to Ozaki. Kansai tags in and her and Yamada exchange heavy kicks to one another. With Yamada on the ground, Kansai just kicks her right in the fucking forehead. Yamada follows up with one of her own, as Kansai cowers in the corner. Yamada hits a spinning back kick off the ropes, and continues her barrage to keep her down. Ozaki breaks up a pin attempt, as Toyota tags in. She hits a German Suplex for a 2 count, and repeats it two more times. Kansai is back in control, and hits a Sidewalk Slam. Ozaki is back in, and she hits a Butterfly Suplex, but that also only gets a 2. A sit out power bomb by Ozaki gets another nearfall, as the crowd is on the edge of its seat. Ozaki and Toyota exchange flying kicks. Kansai tags back in, and kicks Toyotaâs legs from under her. She locks in the Figure Four Leglock on Toyota, and Ozaki comes in to lock in an armbar at the same time! Toyota is about to touch the ropes, but Ozaki comes in and stomps her hand down! I love that kind of tag team psychology. Ozaki has Toyota outside and throws her into the barricade. Yamada is out and just drags Ozaki far into the stands, away from the ring. They double team Kansai on the outside with kicks, until Ozaki returns and tosses Yamada into the barricade. Ozaki has a guillotine locked in on Toyota, but she breaks out of it and slaps the shit out of her! Yamada tags in and kicks Ozaki down. Kansai is back in, but Yamada side walk slams her right on her head! More kicks follow, and Kansai is down. She goes for the pin, but it only gets 2. Kansai attempts a back suplex, but Yamada counters with a pinfall attempt. She tags Toyota in, who jumps on Kansai, but she gets slammed down for her troubles. Toyota locks in an Octopus hold, and both women are rolling everywhere now. Toyota gets a 2 count. Kansai and Ozaki hit dueling German Suplexes to Yamada and Toyota, and Kansai only gets a 2 count off of that. Ozaki is in, and she hits a Back Suplex Pin, but that also only gets 2. Ozaki attempts a flying attack, but Yamada brings her down with a slam, but Kansai breaks up that pin attempt. Yamada slams Ozaki down, and her and Toyota hit dueling headbutts, which gets a narrow 2 count! Ozaki German Suplexes Toyota, and then flies to the outside on Yamada. She holds her up for Kansai to dive on, but Kansai accidentally hits her partner! Toyota is on top and hits a moonsault from the top rope to both! Back in the ring, Yamada slams Ozaki down, and Toyota hits the Moonsault, but it gets another close 2 count! The crowd is white hot for all of this action. Toyota hits a clothesline to Ozaki for another close 2 count. Ozaki takes Yamada off the apron, and then Kansai hits Toyota with a powerslam. Ozaki attempts a splash, but Toyota moves out of the way! Toyota hits a German Suplex, and as Yamada holds Kansai off, Toyota gets the win!! After the match, Yamada addresses the opposing team. Since I donât speak Japanese, Iâm going to assume she was showing respect to Kansai and Ozaki for absolutely bringing it tonight. I thought my eyes were about to pop out of my head from having to keep up with all of that! That was one of the fastest paced matches Iâve ever seen. Certainly, you could call this a revolutionary match for modern wrestling, seeing as how a lot of matches in 2023 attempt to match the kind of pace this match set. Thatâs the beauty of Joshi Wrestling in the 90s â it was like a blitz almost every time you saw it. The action present here was nonstop, and Iâm really not kidding when I say I had to pause or rewind this match just to make sure I didnât miss anything. So much was happening at once, it was impossible to catch your breath. I wouldnât recommend this match if your attention is being divided with other things like, say, writing a book about the 100 Greatest Matches of All Time. That said, if your attention is completely free, you have to see this! One thing that keeps a lot of people away from checking out Japanese wrestling is the language barrier. To them, if none of it is in English, thereâs just no way to connect with the action. I believe that is a bullshit excuse. In the same vein as checking out Foreign films, I say to you not to let the language keep you from seeing some top quality art! Iâll admit, I had no clue what the story was with this match until I did my research, but that didnât deter from what I saw. I was glued from start to finish, because the athleticism and intensity these women brought to the table more than made up for my lack of understanding of the Japanese language. The tags were so frequent between both teams, and the only real downtime in this match was the breaks in between the first two falls. If youâre looking for a breathless 40 minute match, look no further! In all fairness, this match does lack a ton of psychology and believability. There were moments where Toyota and Yamada were getting murdered in the ring, but after they tagged out, their energy and strength had seemingly returned, which was a little off. Plus, thereâs not much of a story going on here. Itâs a lot of moves. Like, a lot of moves. This is the hardest match Iâve written for this so far. Still, psychology and believability are just two of the many, many factors involved in the greatness of pro wrestling. If those are lacking, look at the positives! And the positive here is that the back and forth action between both teams made up for whatever it was missing. It was so damn fun and enthralling to watch that you didnât have time to complain about what it was missing. Itâs easy to look at a match like this and see where a lot of present day wrestling gets its stuff from, for better and for worse. If nothing else, this match set the future up on how to have an action packed tag team showcase. This is a great match to show someone to ease them into the Japanese scene. Itâs absolutely marvelous. Plus, those spots where Ozaki was slapping and stomping hands from touching the bottom rope was genius. More teams should do that!