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JWA July 1985 - JWA Japanese Championship Tournament


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JWA Press Release: JWA Japanese Championship Tournament, July 1-28, 1985

Japan Wrestling Alliance is pleased to announce the 16 first-round match-ups for our July Tournament:

 

Antonio Inoki vs Shiro Koshinaka

 

Riki Choshu vs Blade Runner Sting

 

Tiger Mask Sayama vs Kazuo Yamazaki

 

Umanosuke Ueda vs Samson Fuyuki

 

Tatsumi Fujinami vs Anoaro Atisanoe

 

Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Siva Afi

 

Adrian Adonis vs Isamu “Carpenter” Teranishi

 

Ashura Hara vs Phil Hickerson

 

Jumbo Tsuruta vs Toshiaki Kawada

 

Shinya Hashimoto vs Tastustoshi Goto

 

Akira Maeda vs Masakatsu Funaki

 

Osamu Kido vs Yoji Anjo

 

Bruiser Brody vs Tiger Mask Misawa

 

Seiji Sakaguch vs Keiji Mutoh

 

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Nobuhiko Takada

 

Kengo Kimura vs Rusher Kimura

 

 

So: Who do you think will make the Final Four? What do you think will be the best matches of the first round?

 

We look forward to your feedback!

 

 

Respectfully,

JWA President and Founder, Shohei Baba

JWA Vice President, Motoko Baba

JWA Managing Director, Hisashi Shinma

JWA Booker, gordi

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Assuming the matchups are in the order of the bracket ...

 

Final Four:

 

Choshu

Fujinami

Tsuruta

Fujiwara

 

My four most-anticipated first round matches

 

1. Choshu vs Sting - quite the task here for both men, can Choshu elevate Sting's game this early in his career? Sting's got the raw talent to put on something good with a guy like Riki.

2. Hara vs Hickerson - this has slobberknocker written all over it. Can Py Chu Hi Hickerson hang here?

3. Jumbo vs Kawada - We know that a few years later this pairing has classic tattooed on it, so let's see what happens in 1985

4. Brody vs Misawa - great contrast, though Fujiwara vs Takada and Sakaguchi-Mutoh are both interesting as well - this bottom group has some intrigue.

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One of you is exactly right with the final four prediction. The other two got three out of four correct. Nicely done!

 

The match-ups are indeed in bracket order. So, the winner of Antonio Inoki vs Shiro Koshinaka will face the winner of Riki Choshu vs Blade Runner Sting, and so on.

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  • 3 weeks later...

JWA Japanese Championship Tournament Round 1, Day 1

July 1, Niigata City Gym

 

Ashura Hara vs Phil Hickerson

A hard-hitting heavyweight match to start off the tournament. Hickerson used every cheap trick in the book to try and gain the advantage, but that mainly just served to make Hara mad. The powerful former rugby star put the 300-pound American away with a Superplex that shook the Gymnasium.

 

Umanosuke Ueda vs Samson Fuyuki

A short but intense brawl that ended with Fuyuki winning by DQ. Fuyuki was wearing the blonde heel down with a Boston Crab when Choshu’s Army members Tatsutoshi Goto and Yoji Anjo rushed the ring to interfere. When Joe Higuchi ordered them to leave he ring, Goto and Anjo attacked the ref, costing their stable-mate the match.

 

Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Siva Afi

Another heavyweight slobber-knocker. Ueda remained at ringside for the match. He didn’t actually interfere, but his presence provided enough of a distraction to give Afi the advantage at a few key moments. Eventually, a distracted Yatsu got caught with a Diving Cross Body, and Afi advanced to the second round in a bit of an upset.

 

Adrian Adonis vs Isamu “Carpenter” Teranishi

Afi and Ueda stayed by the ring for this one, but their presence didn’t directly influence the outcome of the match. This was a fast-paced technical match with both wrestlers bumping and selling and flying around the ring. Teranishi got a near-fall off of a Waterwheel Drop, but Adonis kicked out and eventually took the match with a DDT followed up by a Flying Elbow Drop.

 

Tiger Mask Sayama vs Kazuo Yamazaki

Sayama and Yamazaki followed up that fine display of technical wrestling with an intense demonstration of the art of technical striking. I’m pretty sure that every kind of kick that has ever been invented got thrown at least once in this match. Yamazaki fought valiantly from underneath for most of the match, but when Sayama caught him in the temple with a Jumping Back Spin Kick, the match was over.

 

***BREAK***

 

JWA Tag Team Champions The Giants vs Mighty Animals

A semi-comedy title match, as the 5’9” Mighty Inoue and 5’7” Animal Hamaguchi ran circles around Andre and Baba before finally getting caught and squashed.

 

Riki Choshu vs Blade Runner Sting

The young American powerhouse gave it all he had, but the experienced Choshu had an answer for everything Sting threw at him. A Reverse DDT earned Sting a solid 2-count, but that was as close as he got to victory. A Riki Lariat followed by a Sasorigatame Sharpshooter ended things at the 15 minute mark.

 

Tatsumi Fujinami vs Anoaro Atisanoe

Atisanoe used his size and power to gain an early advantage, but Fujinami was able to use his superior speed and athleticism to turn the tide. After that, it was mostly a matter of wearing the big man down before finishing him with a Dragon Sleeper in the middle of the ring.

 

Antonio Inoki vs Shiro Koshinaka

An exciting and athletic battle. Inoki gave Koshinaka a fair amount of shine before dominating the last five minutes of the match and taking the victory with a clean Bridging Fallaway Slam in the middle of the ring.

 

Second Round Match-Ups:

 

Inoki vs Choshu

Sayama vs Fuyuki

Fujinami vs Afi

Adonis vs Hara

 

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A nice card as the fans got exactly what they want in the beginning and the end. An American goes done in Phil Hickerson and a great last match. Not to say that the mid card was not great but I always think you have to get the fans attention right off the bat and finish well. You did that here. I just wish I was more familiar with the names in your promotion. I have some homework to do.

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Going to guess none of those opening matches were exactly classics, but they did what they needed to do.


Adonis/Teranishi and Sayama/Yamazaki were probably both great matches. I wonder if Sayama had fattened - er, bulked up enough to be a viable heavyweight by this point though.


No fair giving Sting his proto-Flair coming out match before Flair can do it.


Again, the last two matches probably weren't MOTY contenders, but the Japanese crowd were probably fully into them.


For the second round, I'm going with Inoki, Sayama, Fujinami, and Adonis.

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JWA Japanese Championship Tournament Round 1, Day 2

July 4, Nagaoka Welfare Hall

 

Jumbo Tsuruta vs Toshiaki Kawada

Maybe it’s just me, but I have a feeling that this could develop into an excellent match-up once Kawada gets a little more seasoning. Tsuruta gave the younger wrestler a ton of shine before putting him away with a Bridging Belly-to-Back Suplex.

 

Shinya Hashimoto vs Tastustoshi Goto

Goto went after Hashimoto’s eyes early in this one, which proved to be a mistake as it made the young Shogun very angry. Hashimoto kicked Goto’s sorry butt all around the ring and finished him off with a Vertical Drop Brainbuster.

 

Akira Maeda vs Masakatsu Funaki

This turned out to be an excellent match, as the young Fujiwara disciple refused to back down and kept bringing the fight to Maeda. The two men traded witheringly stiff strikes, exchanged painful-looking holds on the ground, and got back to their feet for another exchange of kicks. Maeda caught Funaki’s leg, and pinned him with a Bridging Capture Suplex.

 

Osamu Kido vs Yoji Anjo

This was not as slick as Funaki vs Maeda, but it was almost as nasty. They went back and forth for a solid twelve minutes before Kido caught Anjo with a Wakigatame Armbreaker.

 

UWF Continental Heavyweight Champion Bam Bam Bigelow vs Hirokazu Hata

A showcase for our young gaijin monster heel, as he defends the title he won during the festival of champions. Hata bounced around the ring for the big man, and Bigelow finished him off with a Powerslam followed by a Nuclear Splash.

 

 

JWA Tag Champs The Giants vs Shunji Takano and Shinichi Nakano

Essentially a seven-minute squash, this match gave the fans in Nagaoka a chance to enjoy seeing Andre the Giant in person.

 

***BREAK***

 

Bruiser Brody vs Tiger Mask Misawa

This match was almost brutal, with Brody holding nothing back and Misawa bouncing around the ring but refusing to stay down… until Brody caught him with a Running Big Boot and followed that up with a Top Rope King Kong Knee Drop.

 

Seiji Sakaguchi vs Keiji Mutoh

The tall powerful judoka pretty much dominated the muscular and athletic youngster, but Sakaguchi gave Mutoh just enough to keep the crowd into it. Mutoh had a nice moment near the end where he caught Sakaguchi in the corner and used some flashy moves to dole out a little punishment… but Sakaguchi fought his way out of trouble with an Atomic Drop, then finished off the young lion with a Chokebomb.

 

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Nobuhiko Takada

Another excellent match pitting a seasoned Shoot Style veteran against a young master of the form. Takada won the striking battle, but once they hit the mat Fujiwara took charge. Takada fought like a future champion, but Fujiwara caught him in a Heel Hook in the middle of the ring and there was simply no way to escape.

 

Kengo Kimura vs Rusher Kimura

A nasty brawl. Kengo Kimura came into this match with his shoulder taped up, and Rusher went after it right from the opening bell, eventually tearing off the tape and choking Kengo with it while stable-mates Phil Hickerson and Adrian Adonis distracted the ref. With his arm out of commission, Kengo Kimura used a Jumping Leg Lariat and a series of stiff knees and kicks to make a comeback and pump up the crowd, but a little outside interference, a Rusher Lariat, and a big Double Arm Suplex finished things at the fifteen minute mark.

 

Complete Second Round Match-Ups:

 

Jumbo Tsuruta vs Shinya Hashimoto

Akira Maeda vs Osamu Kido

Bruiser Brody vs Seiji Sakaguchi

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Rusher Kimura

Inoki vs Choshu

Sayama vs Fuyuki

Fujinami vs Afi

Adonis vs Hara

 

 

JWA is also pleased to announce the foreign participants in our Super Juniors Tournament:

 

From MACW: Owen Hart

From the USWA/UWF: Wild Pegasus

From Mexico: El Hijo del Santo and El Dandy

 

The Super Juniors Tournament will be held August 8 – 15th.

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Oh man, Inoki vs Choshu could already be the finals of that tournament! Very solid!

 

Yep, it's important to me to give that match the attention it deserves. Hopefully the reason for it being booked so early in the tournament will become clear very soon.

 

A nice card as the fans got exactly what they want in the beginning and the end. An American goes done in Phil Hickerson and a great last match. Not to say that the mid card was not great but I always think you have to get the fans attention right off the bat and finish well. You did that here. I just wish I was more familiar with the names in your promotion. I have some homework to do.

 

Yep. I generally try to start strong and finish stronger.

 

There are a lot of very good, under-appreciated pro wrestlers to discover in Japan in the 1980s. I keep saying it, because it's true: Pushing me to diiscover and learn about this stuff is a huge side benefit of participating in this project. If I watch, say, a Mighty Inoue or Isamu Teranishi match now, I always get a feeling like, "That's MY guy!"

 

Tough loss for Phil Hickerson, I was pulling for him! Seriously, I was. Maybe not for the whole thing, but at least the first match. lol

 

Adonis with a flying elbow? Now there's a sight to see!

 

Agree with Kevin that you got the fans attention early, you certainly got mine.

 

adonis%20elbow.png

 

adonis222.png

 

Adonis' work in NJPW in the 80s is pretty mind-blowing. He was a very agile big man.

 

Hickerson may be out of the tournament... but he still has a role to play ;)

 

 

Going to guess none of those opening matches were exactly classics, but they did what they needed to do.
Adonis/Teranishi and Sayama/Yamazaki were probably both great matches. I wonder if Sayama had fattened - er, bulked up enough to be a viable heavyweight by this point though.
No fair giving Sting his proto-Flair coming out match before Flair can do it.
Again, the last two matches probably weren't MOTY contenders, but the Japanese crowd were probably fully into them.
For the second round, I'm going with Inoki, Sayama, Fujinami, and Adonis.

 

 

Classic matches and MOTYCs are coming, later in the tournament... hopefully...

 

You are exactly right that I'm booking these first round matches to "do what they need to do."

 

Talk about opposites... Tiger Mask vs Brody. That would have been awesome to watch. Like seeing a UWF Title in Japan. GO BAM BAM

 

As far as I can tell, Misawa and Brody never had a singles match in real life. They had four tags that I could find, all while Misawa was working as Tiger Mask. I love that I can give them a singles match here.

 

Looks like Andre will be a busy man this summer with 2 titles to defend!

 

He should be busy! He's one of the greatest of all time. :) I love being able to book Andre in Japan. I always have a blast with that.

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JWA Japanese Championship Tournament Round 2, Day 1

July 8, Kobe World Hall

 

Koshinaka, Hamada, and Yamada vs Kobayashi, Inoue, and Hamaguchi

A fast-paced, smooth, and exciting 6-man middleweight tag match to start things off. Their mandate was to do enough to get the crowd hyped up, but not to do so much that they burned the crowd out. They hit that target exactly. Kobayshi pinned Yamada with a Fisherman’s Suplex Hold.

 

UWF Continental Heavyweight Champion Bam Bam Bigelow vs Blade Runner Sting

A fast-paced power match with Sting coming very close to victory before falling victim to outside interference from Phil Hickerson and Adrian Adonis. Sting was awarded the victory by DQ, but he took quite a beating, and Bigelow retained his belt.

 

JWA Tournament Match: Akira Maeda vs Osamu Kido

Kido fought valiantly, but Maeda simply overpowered him. Much as he did with Funaki, Maeda caught Kido’s leg during an exchange of stiff kicks, and pinned him with a Bridging Capture Suplex.

 

JWA Tournament Match: Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Rusher Kimura

Kimura took it to Fujiwara early with brawling and power moves, but Fujiwara fought back with nasty head-butts and (as he almost always does) took over as soon as the action hit the ground. An Arm Bar earned the victory after twelve minutes of intense action.

 

***BREAK***

 

JWA Tournament Match: Bruiser Brody vs Seiji Sakaguchi

The two big men went back and forth for almost twenty minutes, busting each other open and bleeding and sweating all over the ring and ringside area. Sakaguchi’s Stomach Claw had Brody in real trouble, but he used an Eye Poke to get free and then hit a Running Big Boot and a Kong Knee Drop to advance to the quarter-finals.

 

JWA Tournament Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs Shinya Hashimoto

Once again Tsuruta proved himself to be one of the most generous competitors on the JWA roster. He took a dozen minutes of hellacious punishment from the tough young lion, and ate two very close near-falls before making his comeback. Once Jumbo took control, he wasted no time. Hashimoto ate a High Knee, a Lariat, and a Powerbomb before a Bridging Belly-to-Back Suplex gave Tsuruta the clean victory.

 

JWA Tournament Match: Antonio Inoki vs Riki Choshu

This was an absolutely epic Main Event. An announcement was made that anyone interfering in this match would be banned from competing in the rest of the JWA Tournament. This effectively kept Choshu’s Army members Akira Maeda and Adrian Adonis away from the ring… but Phil Hickerson and Umanosuke Ueda had already been eliminated in the first round. Eventually, inevitably, they made their way to ringside and got involved with the finish of the match. Before that, however, Inoki and Choshu went back and forth for almost twenty minutes with neither man able to gain a clear advantage. The momentum made a big swing in Choshu’s favour once his cohorts made their way to ringside… but Inoki’s long time tag partner Seiji Sakaguchi quickly charged in to even the odds a little. As the referee was trying to restore order, Rusher Kimura joined in the chaos and nailed Inoki with a Piledriver on the arena floor. Bloody and injured, Sakaguchi and Inoki continued to battle Choshu, Kimura, Ueda, and Hickerson, but the numbers game proved to be too much to overcome. A Riki Lariat ended things at the 29-minute mark.

Giant Baba came down to ringside to help chase the Choshu’s Army members away… and then he offered Inoki and Sakaguchi the opportunity to fight for the JWA Tag Team Titles on the 11th in Osaka.

 

 

Card for Osaka on July 11th:

Koshinaka, Mutoh, and Yamada vs The Cobra, Kawada, and Ogawa

Yoshiaki Yatsu and Nobuhiko Takada vs Phil Hickerson and Yoji Anjo

JWA Tournament Match: Tiger Mask Sayama vs Samson Fuyuki

JWA Tournament Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs Siva Afi

JWA Tournament Match: Adrian Adonis vs Ashura Hara

JWA Middleweight Champion Dos Caras vs Black Tiger

JWA Tag Champions The Giants vs Antonio Inoki and Seiji Sakaguchi

 

 

 

 

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Another solid card coming up on July 11....Especially looking forward to the Young Lions match!

Thanks! I'm having fun writing that one up.

Japan must be loving all these big names in one place and so am I as I am finally getting familiar with this new style of wrestling shows. Thanks for helping me out here.

Very much my pleasure. I'm enjoying learning about these wrestlers as well.

JWA Middleweight Champion Dos Caras vs Black Tiger

 

 

Yessssssss

Well... It's Black Tiger Rocco, not Black Tiger Eddie... hope that's still at least a "Yesssss".

So many great match ups here but I can't help but think Jumbo vs. Hashimoto did a LOT to help build Hashimoto for the future.

Thanks! I've got young Hashimoto, young Misawa, young Kawada, futureLiger, and a whole lot more of my all-time favourite pro wrestlers on this roster. I feel like the most "important" thing I have to do in this project is bring them along in their development at the right pace. Hopefully I'll still be doing this in four years, when they are ready to start moving up the cards.

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JWA Japanese Championship Tournament Round 2, Day 2

July 11, Osaka Prefectural Gym

 

Koshinaka, Mutoh, and Yamada vs The Cobra, Kawada, and Ogawa

We started out with Mutoh’s athleticism and flash vs Kawada’s toughness, transitioned into Koshinaka beating on Ogawa until he used his trickiness to get the tag, then The Cobra beating on Yamada until he used his quickness to escape… Then The Cobra and Koshinaka battling to a stalemate, then Kawada and Yamada doing the same… then finally Mutoh taking Ogawa out at the knees with a Low Angle Dropkick, doing more damage with a Dragon Screw, and finishing the match with a Figure Four.

 

Yoshiaki Yatsu and Nobuhiko Takada vs Phil Hickerson and Yoji Anjo

Takada and Anjo exchanged precision strikes, and Hickerson and Yatsu exchanged clubbering blows. How much more do you need out of a wrestling match? Some heel work and a bit of grappling? OK! Hickerson hit Takada with a low blow while the ref wasn’t looking and Anjo tried to sink in a Cross Armbreaker, but Takada reversed it and forced Anjo to submit.

 

JWA Tournament Match: Tiger Mask Sayama vs Samson Fuyuki

This was pretty close to a squash match, as Sayama ran through his extended move-set and gave Fuyuki next to nothing on offense. Baba didn’t seem too happy about that, and I’m hoping we don’t have another ‘Antonio Inoki’ type situation on our hands.

 

JWA Tournament Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs Siva Afi

In sharp contrast to Sayama, Fujinami gave Afi a ton of shine by bumping and selling for his chops, kicks, and head-butts. After a good seven minutes of that, Afi went for the Big Diving Splash but Fujinami moved out of the way and took over the match. Even with all the momentum on Fujinami’s side, Afi got a near-fall after a Cross Body. After kicking out, Fujinami redoubled his efforts on offense and knocked Siva Afi all around the ring. A Dragon Backbreaker followed by a Dragon Suplex ended things at the 19 minute mark.

 

***BREAK***

 

JWA Tournament Match: Adrian Adonis vs Ashura Hara

This was high-speed, back-and-forth big man brawling. Hara got a 2.5 count after a Lariat and a 2.99 after a Superplex, but in the end Goodnight Irene put the big former rugby star to sleep, giving us a second gaijin heel in the quarter-finals.

 

JWA Middleweight Champion Dos Caras vs Black Tiger

With Kengo Kimura, Blade Runner Sting, and Shinya Hashimoto all standing guard for their Fujinami’s Family stable-mate, Choshu’s Army were unable to interfere in this match and Black Tiger was forced to rely on his own ability in trying to regain the Middleweight Title. He came very close, battering the new champion with European Uppercuts, and getting a very close near-fall after a nasty looking Neckbreaker. Dos Caras, however, managed to reverse Black Tiger’s subsequent Tombstone Piledriver attempt. Once he gained control of the match, Dos Caras kept the pressure on, battering Black Tiger with Flying Cross Chops, twisting his limbs on the mat, and finally putting him away with a Sit-out Powerbomb to earn his first successful title defense.

 

JWA Tag Champions The Giants vs Antonio Inoki and Seiji Sakaguchi

Having flown all the way from Canada, where he had been defending the NWA Canadian International Heavyweight Championship while dealing with sneak attacks from The Creatchman Family, The Machines, *and* The Bolshevik Revolution, Andre was in pretty rough shape when he arrived in Osaka. “I’m sorry boss,” he told Baba. “You are going to have to carry the weight in this one.”

Baba gave it his all, and even a diminished Andre is still a force to be reckoned with… but Inoki and Sakaguchi brought their “A” games to this one and wore The Giants down with precision strikes and well-timed double team manoeuvres. Every chance they got, they sunk in a Chin Lock or Sleeper Hold to wear the big men down further. After more than 20 minutes of action, Inoki Drop-Kicked Andre off of the ring apron while Sakaguchi leapt on Baba’s back and sunk in yet another punishing Sleeper Hold. Baba fell to one knee but continued to struggle… then eventually he toppled face-first into the mat with Sakaguchi relentlessly applying the hold.

Referee Joe Higuchi checked on Giant Baba, raising his arm three times with no response. He signalled for the bell. Inoki and Sakaguchi celebrated in the ring briefly, but stopped to check on Baba and Andre. All four men shook hands and bowed, then Andre and Baba made their way to the back and let Inoki and Sakaguchi soak in the cheers of the crowd and enjoy their victory.

 

 

JWA Tournament 3rd Round Match-ups:

Choshu vs Sayama

Fujinami vs Adonis

Tsuruta vs Maeda

Brody vs Fujiwara

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JWA Press Release: JWA Japanese Championship Tournament Round 3

July 17, Okayama Budokan. To be aired live on Asahi TV as a special presentation of JWA World Pro Wrestling

 

Please note: Due to extenuating circumstances, the match-ups for round three of the tournament have been changed, as below:

 

Keiichi Yamada vs Naoki Sano

 

Shinya Hashimoto, Keiji Mutoh, and Masa Chono vs Takashi Ishikawa, Nobuhiko Takada, and Masa Fuchi

Antonio Inoki, Seiji Sakaguchi, The Cobra, and Toshiaki Kawada vs Umanosuke Ueda, Anoaro Atisanoe, Siva Afi, and Tatsutoshi Goto

 

JWA Champion Tenryu, Yoshiaki Yatsu, and Ashura Hara vs Kengo Kimura, Blade Runner Sting, and Osamu Kido

 

***BREAK***

 

JWA Tournament Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs Adrian Adonis

 

JWA Tournament Match: Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Akira Maeda

 

JWA Tournament Match: Bruiser Brody vs Tiger Mask Sayama

 

JWA Tournament Match: Riki Choshu vs Jumbo Tsuruta

 

Respectfully,

JWA President and Founder, Shohei Baba

JWA Vice President, Motoko Baba

JWA Managing Director, Hisashi Shinma

JWA Booker, gordi

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