[2000-11-23-AJW-Fusion] Manami Toyota & Yumiko Hotta vs Shinobu Kandori & Noriyo Tateno

[ohtani's jacket]

This looked like an interesting match on paper and was entertaining in patches. I really like the dynamic between Toyota and Kandori. They're a complete contrast from each other stylistically and in just about every other aspect as well. Kandori is constantly trying to intimidate Toyota but Toyota won't back down and that leads to some fabulous chemistry between the pair. Some of that was played as comedy here but there were also exchanges that reminded me of their awesome singles match from '98. The rest of the match was a bit of a trainwreck. Tateno's best days were well behind her and she pretty much served as a punching bag for Toyota to get all her shit in, and I don't think I'll ever become a Yumiko Hotta fan. When Kandori wasn't involved the match was straight Joshi. Toyota did her big dive off the balcony. I still haven't gotten used to Toyota doing 'extreme' spots like that. She messed up the finish 2 or 3 times as well. Hotta had to hastily improvise which was awkward since she was meant to be holding Kandori back in the corner. Toyota was trying to hit her Japanese Ocean Suplex on Tateno but seemed to be struggling with Tateno's weight. She got the pin in the end and the Kandori theatrics came to a close. Worth watching if you're interested in Kandori.

[soup23]

Looking at Wikipedia, Kandori beat Hotta in a shoot fight the day before so tensions were still running high from that. I liked how they squared off right away and it was Toyota with the dropkick to the back of the head that was seen as dastardly and the first bout of advantage within the matchup. A few minutes later, Hotta has Tateno in a figure four and again Toyota comes flying off the top rope with a splash. She is definitely not above taking an advantage using her aerial moves tonight. Kandori and Toyota face off proper then and it’s a matchup it doesn’t feel like we have gotten an abundant amount of throughout the years. Tateno is someone I haven’t watched much of but whereas its clear that someone like Kansai or Masami or not at their peak level, Tateno is even below that and really the main detractor from me proclaiming this one of my favorite matches of the entire year. The effort is there but the athletic ability had escaped which was unfortunate. The match breaks down halfway through and Toyota does a huge balcony dive riling up the crowd. I got to say that 2000 Toyota has been pretty endearing overall. Finish has Toyota neutralizing Tateno and pulling out the arsenal against her. Toyota struggles to get Tateno up for the Ocean Cyclone at the very ends up having to use the turnbuckle for assistance. Overall, I thought this was a great match with three dynamic personalities especially Kandori and Toyota who really compliment each other well in how drastically different they are. **** (7.9)