|
|
Post by kas on Jan 9, 2022 16:05:11 GMT -5
You take the best parts of their awesome '91 match with Toyota absolutely ripping Hokuto's limb apart (this time it's the leg rather than the arm), mix that with the best parts of their '95 match with the absolutely outstanding finishing stretch, and you get what is quite possibly their best match together, which is a very high bar to clear.
|
|
|
|
Post by Grimmas on Jan 9, 2022 16:08:57 GMT -5
BIG TIME SECOND!!!
This match is SO GREAT! Toyota is a mad woman working the leg! Hokuto fights back like a hero. The dives to the floor were ridiculous! The bult to the finish was intense. LOVED THIS!
|
|
|
|
Post by elliott on Jan 9, 2022 16:47:39 GMT -5
3rd. Classic match.
|
|
|
|
Post by tetsujin on Jan 11, 2022 11:58:57 GMT -5
My god what a match. These two had excellent chemistry. This isn't their best match to me (Destiny 1995, a match that made my list this last year), but it has to be quite comfortably their second best one. Both women go for the leg, specially Toyota, who makes Hokuto pay for her disrespect early on leaving her trapped on the ropes in a tree of woe position. Both women displayed their wonderful characters perfectly, as usual, and while I didn't like that much the "toyotaness" here, because both of her comebacks came with little to no effort and she didn't sold any weakening, Hokuto did sold her leg well enough to add some drama. And man, I gotta say, I was having FUN with the nearfalls like a little kid. I was counting with the crowd, cheering Toyota's name with them, cheering Hokuto's name with them after that huge win, you know. Just absorbed by the match. Even with some Toyota selling issues (and not precisely little), this is an almost excellent match that should be considered by everybody. Another gem for these two's 1993, specially Hokuto. What a year she had.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cap on Jan 17, 2022 17:12:00 GMT -5
Akira Hokuto never has trouble getting the hatred across in her matches, but does she really legit hate Toyota. She is really trying to bend that poor woman in half. I'll still take the 1995 match over this one, but this is pretty phenomenal. Nothing wasted, lots of urgency, a lot of malice... this is pretty great. This is something everyone should check out. There is a lot to love here, but watch this for, if nothing else, Hokuto nearly decapitating Toyota with a top rope drop kick.
|
|
|
|
Post by silverwidow on Feb 15, 2022 14:05:01 GMT -5
This is a top 5 Joshi singles match for me. Absolutely sublime stretch run of near-falls. Just loads of fun and something I'd recommend to anybody who's looking to get into 90s AJW.
Btw, outstanding forum, you guys! Recently discovered it through PWO.
|
|
|
|
Post by elliott on Feb 15, 2022 16:26:30 GMT -5
Welcome!
|
|
|
|
Post by kas on May 2, 2023 13:21:13 GMT -5
Bumping for nomination
|
|
|
|
Post by KB8 on Jul 7, 2023 13:58:54 GMT -5
This was really good. It had some similarities to the '95 match, with Hokuto working super aggressive in the opening stretch while Toyota would often need to use bursts of offence whenever a ring rope was within touching distance. Early on Toyota gets hung up in the ropes with her leg caught and Hokuto just about bends her in half. She showed zero remorse then or at any point in the match and a couple times that manifested in her taking the mount position and slapping Toyota about the head. The real hook here was Toyota going after Hokuto's knee. Everyone knew Hokuto's knee was a bullseye anyway, but I like how there was an element of payback from Toyota after that spill into the ropes earlier. She even hung Hokuto up in the same tree of woe later and started punching at the kneecap. Some of Toyota's submissions weren't the least bit slick but they all looked mean, and once or twice it meant just grabbing Hokuta's leg and twisting it at ugly angles. I thought Hokuto's selling was great. You expect it to be as Toyota is actively working it over, but even after Toyota stopped properly targeting it Hokuto never let you forget she was pain (I mean, she almost certainly was for real anyway). It wasn't in your face like Randy Savage hobbling around on one leg, it was much more understated, but she's exceptional at emoting and projecting and even a slight limp here and there was enough to do it. We can argue until we're blue in the face about which method is best, or if aiming for "realism" in pro wrestling is even the way to go or whatever, but I thought it was incredibly realistic and about as close to a real sport injury as you could get within the fake nonsense world that we choose to immerse ourselves in. On the flipside of that, Toyota getting stuffed on her head twice on the floor with sick piledrivers and brushing it off completely was a wee bit...questionable? Like I get that piledrivers in Japan are not piledrivers in America or Mexico, but this felt egregious even with that in mind. Still, it didn't kill the match for me or anything, maybe because this is about as high on Toyota as I've been in 15 years. Or ever, probably. I was into the finishing run and a couple of those nearfalls were molten. I can see why people would go to bat for Hokuto being the best in the world that year. There are some people I prefer for stylistic reasons, but she really was exceptional.
|
|
