[1993-10-09-AJW-Wrestlemarinepiad] Manami Toyota vs Mayumi Ozaki

[ohtani's jacket]

This is naturally disappointing if you compare it with both women's best matches, their name value, or even the tag matches they had against each other; but once you get over the fact it's imperfect, it's actually a match with a lot going for it. The early going is mostly bitchiness and trash talking with Toyota applying submissions that Ozaki will never give into and Oz looking to cut down the height advantage by keeping Toyota grounded. Sticklers might argue that Ozaki's arm work doesn't lead anywhere, but it's not meant to. As with most Joshi matwork, it's needle, not a serious attempt at ending the match. Ozaki is focused on attack, which she needs to be with the height she's giving away, while Toyota is more dynamic. There's a really neat spot where Ozaki ducks a front dropkick and Toyota goes flying right through the ropes. It would have made a really good turning point in a more narrative driven match, but Toyota quickly takes back the momentum with her rolling cradle. The stretch run also has some cool spots. Toyota suplexing Ozaki on the outside looked great as Ozaki created that rag doll effect when she'd bump and the follow-up moonsault had a reckless edge to it. Toyota doesn't have to dig deep enough to put Ozaki away and Ozaki isn't really given any big nearfalls where it looks for a second like Toyota might lose, which is disappointing given what a tough cookie Oz was. But if you lower your expectations to *** from ****+, I thought this was eminently watchable.

[garretta]

What story there was revolved around Ozaki's injured lower back, and even that didn't last too long. This was basically a contest between Toyota and Ozaki to see who could execute the best cradles and moonsaults; once we got past the first few minutes that's all we seemed to see out of either one of them. What Ozaki was doing attempting so many moonsaults with a sore back escapes me. I know that AJW is a go-go-go at all times promotion, and JWP isn't that much slower, but it seems to me that there were other moves she could have used to show off her agility. This was watchable, but nothing earthshattering.

 

How is it that Ozaki got twice as long of a postmatch interview as Toyota did, even though Toyota was the winner? I've never seen anything like that in wrestling or any other sport I've followed.

[Zenjo]

Best match of the night here. Consistent G-VG quality, well worked and the right length. Toyota looked like a superstar throughout and went over strong. Surprising how enjoyable the stretch was when Oz didn't get that close to winning. Ozaki also produced a good showing, but I think that putting the golden girl over was the main objective.