Chigusa Nagayo vs Yukari Ohmori (AJW - 6/22/1986)

Second.

Just finished watching this as part of the Match of the Week project. The first two-thirds of this were worked rather quickly. This didn't have the big bombs the style would be known for in the 90's, but they didn't let up at all. Even the mat sequences were worked as quick bursts. The last ten minutes they slowed things down a tad which was some rather clever selling as most finishing stretches these days are faster. Very good match.

****1/4

Ok, top 50-75 all time is overselling it, but this is a great match nonetheless. It stands out in the context of watching a bunch of 80s AJW because theyre either working at 100mph or its a Dump Matsumoto spectacle. This is a slower, more traditionally paced match. So I would say it is a truly great match, but maybe not the knock down classic I initially thought.

However, theres a lot to love here. The opening mat work/feeling each other out section is good. Chigusa is still developing her borderline shoot style persona and brings out lots of UWF style submission attempts. Ohmori is very solid in a traditional sense using her size and leverage advantage to counter Chigusa's shooty leanings. The finishing stretch is awesome and you can imagine Misawa and Taue doing all of the same shit to each other.

Fantastic world title match and well worth your time.

Japan Grand Prix 1986 Final Match: Yukari Omori vs. Chigusa Nagayo - AJW 22/06/1986
Yukari Omori is awesome. She wallops the women right in the chest, she'll grab a waist hold and squeeze until her opponents are exhausted, she makes the simplest holds look dynamite. She's my type of wrestler. The match did a great job of de-escalating towards the final stretch, preferring to slow down the intense pace due to Chigusa’s excellent sell of Yukari’s backbreaker. Great bursts of energy through the match with great nearfall, helped by the insanely hot crowds. Chigusa’s selling complimented Yukari’s offence wonderfully. This is a big win for Yukari and she definitely earned it with her performance. ****1/4

I came away from my AJW Classics watch really impressed with Ohmori because of what Kadaveri and Bossrock have said in this thread. In some ways she's a great utility player. She's able to fit right into matches like this or vs Lioness 4/87 as well as the wild Dump classic. She's also good in tag matches. She's bigger than the Jaguar, Chigusa types so shes able to work more smothering big vs little style, but she's not limited as a wrestler like Dump. She also always puts her stamp on the match. Lioness or Chigusa can't just go 100mph because Ohmori won't let them. Theres more of a sense that you're earning something when you go on offense agianst Ohmori. She's the lost great Joshi worker of the golden golden eras of Joshi.

This was the finals of AJW's annual singles tournament. Chigusa was the top star at the time and a legitimate hero to the young girls in the audience. She had popular albums and would perform concerts at the shows. I've heard one of her songs is still a popular karaoke song. She was the biggest star of her era and one of the two biggest stars in the history of womens wrestling. This is right in the middle of her peak as a worker and star.

Yukari Ohmori is lesser known and discussed by english speaking fans, but she was a major star of her era. Obviously she won this tournament, but two months later she also won the main AJW singles title and would hold it for over a year before losing it to Chigusa.

So this is two relative peers in major tournament final squaring off at their peak. Think Misawa vs Taue from Champions Carnival.

When Dump Matsumoto is involved, AJW matches are insane brawls. When its anyone of the other big names in against each other (Chigusa, Lioness Asuka, Jaguar Yokota, Devil Masami, Yukari Ohmori and the Jumping Bomb Angels), you'll get classic traditional wrestling. Usually worked at a breakneck pace in front of insanely hot crowds.

Watched this last night. Really quality stuff. It did make me want to watch more Ohmori. She is pretty great here and given I have only seen two of her matches, I have already seen some .... range. Nagayo might be the best comeback wrestler ever. She brings so much heart and emotion. This isn't anywhere near the Nagayo/Devil match, but few things are in my mind. It is still a really quality match that people should check out. It doesn't quite get into consideration level for me at ****1/4, but it is still pretty awesome.