70s Joshi on Wednesday: Ripper! Nancy! Victoria!

42. 1979.08.XX1 - 02 Monster Ripper vs. Nancy Kumi & Victoria Fujimi

K: We’ve seen Fujimi face Monster Ripper in a handicap match before teaming with Masumi Tsumaki, Nancy Kumi should be an upgrade in kayfabe as these two are former tag team champions. The booking here is a bit peculiar because you could read it as Monster Ripper being unfairly softened up being put into these difficult handicap matches when Jackie Sato is due a title rematch, but I don’t think anyone watching is seeing it that way. More like everyone on the roster who isn’t Jackie doesn’t even stand a chance against her so let’s give them a fighting chance.

Nancy & Victoria seem to be playing different roles. Nancy’s being more of a straight wrestler just taking the fight to Monster, which isn’t going to work, but she’s got Victoria running around being a little trickster helping to balance the scales. For example there’s a couple of spots where Victoria just repeatedly rushes between Monster’s legs, apparently confusing her. What I’m paying attention to when I watch these matches is any kind of clue for what Monster’s weakness is. Is someone - by trial and error - going to expose the flaw that someone can build a working gameplan around to beat her?

This isn’t the best match for that though, as the only times the babyfaces get any real advantage is when they double team, and that’s not going to help anyone beat her for the WWWA Singles Title (well, assuming nobody’s going to just outright cheat). I did enjoy the comeback moment where the Golden Pair look like they’re trying to get Monster up for a double vertical suplex, but she’s too heavy to rotate over, but they do get her up most of the way, so they just drop her back on her face. That seems effective enough so they do it again! Maybe forsaking regular moves for just dropping Monster on her face is part of the path to victory.

**

MD: To be fair this was Ripper against a set tag team, being the Golden Pair, but this probably went around the loop one or even two too many times. Past one time that Fujimi went through her legs, Ripper dominated any time it was one on one and half the time that it was one on two, but she did get swept under quite a bit. The most definitive time had them hit two double gourdbusters in a row on her followed up by a figure-four/splash off the top combo. By the time it spilled outside, there was a chaotic sense of Ripper swiping at fiery small creatures that just wouldn’t quit. It actually took some miscommunication and a double team backfiring after they hit a double suplex on her for Ripper to really take them out. At one point, I thought she was going to grab an arm and a leg and do a giant swing like that but it didn’t quite work. I do like Ripper (Who I think they said was 17) still trying to figure it all out and being creative as a monster, learning on the fly, but as the champ, she probably should have mowed through these too with a little less effort.