[1980-11-27-AJW] Jackie Sato vs Devil Masami

[dawho5]

I've seen a few Devil Masami matches and am becoming a pretty big fan. This match just cements that even more. Masami's facial expression early when they do a close-up and she's in a submission is this perfect mix of joy and pain. The matwork, which is the majority of the match, is really really good. Counters and escapes are earned, holds are really cranked on when they ought to be. I liked how even though it was very catch-as-catch-can with switched between body parts, it still feels like it means something and is building up. Sato frustrating Masami with a headscissors was really fun. I also liked that when they ran the ropes there was this feeling of "out of control" by both. Even the person who did the original whip was damn near colliding with the opponent when they would hit something like an elbow. It gives it a nice feeling of "other" to break up the matwork, as good as that matwork is. Sato countering a headbutt with an abdominal stretch is phenomenal. Msami's looks of glee as she's torturing Sato with leg submissions are so great. This match is, for the most part, a very gritty match with both really working hard to grind the other down. But then there are parts where it is absolutely cutting edge for 1980 with stuff that comes out of nowhere when you take the rest of the match into account. Some of it I haven't seen in any other matches I've watched. But they make it organic and work it into the story of the match as it unfolds really well. I'd put this up there with most of the really good to great 1980s matches I've seen from the territories easily. Probably better on rewatch. That finish looked pretty gnarly, was that for real?!?

 

This avoids a lot of my complaints with later joshi. Instead of trying too hard to go a million miles an hour and by extension not allowing things to breathe, these two go at each other in a way that allows for better storytelling.

[Alex]

Here's the match if anyone wants to watch:

 

Yeah, this match was really solid.  Lots of good matwork, lots of fire, really made Devil Masami look super super strong considering Jackie won the vacant strap again in a couple of weeks.  

[SAMS]

1980-11-27
AJW
Jackie Sato vs Devil Masami
Japan
★★★

This was more tightly worked than other matches in this promotion at the time. The execution, in terms of working through a sequence of holds and their general application, was probably better, but it lost the sense of chaos that the best women’s matches of this year had. Sort of like their version of AJW doing AJPW of the same era. Not a knock on it though, both Sato and Masami give good performances here. Sato was the early aggressor, took her turn to sell hard in the middle, rallied with some absolutely killer offense, including a suplex into a backbreaker that looked awesome, and then was dumped onto her gammy leg for the countout finish. For Masami it was all about her presence and her facial expressions. This lacked, to its benefit, the incessant screaming we usually get, which is a trend in Masami matches. Her offense was pretty decent too, but without the wow factor of what Sato was dishing out. Overall this was an extremely well worked affair that was lacking that decisive hook to reel me in fully.