80s Joshi on Wednesday: Jaguar! Jumbo! Masami! Tarantula!

Volume 4  

5. Devil Masami & Tarantula vs. Jaguar Yokota & Jumbo Hori - 11/4/82

K: Tag champs Devil Masami & Tarantula in a non-title match here. It's still 2/3 falls because AJW TV just did that regularly for main event tags whether it was for the titles or not. 

They flip the script a bit here by having the heels jump the babyfaces right at the start, rather than later into the match as a reaction to the momentum swings against them. The announcers are very alarmed that Jaguar & Jumbo were still in their entrance gowns while being accosted. 

The 1st fall feels more like a heel showcase with the occasional comeback spots. Tarantula inherits Yumi Ikeshita's plant opponent onto sticking up toes move, but follows this up by savagely biting Jaguar's neck like she's a vampire or something. Later Tarantula has Jaguar in a headlock, but with the other hand she's pulling her hair just out of sight of the referee. It's delightfully villainous how the ref can see she's doing something untoward, and Tarantula isn't really trying to pretend she isn't doing something illegal, but is just about managing to stop the referee from directly seeing it, like that's what really matters. I thought the finish to this fall was a bit odd. Jaguar Irish Whips Devil into Jumbo Hori, presumably to set up some double team move, but Devil just spins around her, hits Jumbo with a side suplex as Tarantula prevents Jaguar from breaking it up. It made sense in conception, other than the move to actually pin Jumbo didn't look that strong.

But that slight complaint about the 1st fall goes out the window with the finish of the 2nd fall! Jumbo hits a slam, and then Jaguar does a missile dropkick from the top rope to take out Devil, but lands into a pinning position on top of Tarantula and gets the win! Surely someone else has done a finish like that before but I don't remember it. I've only mentioned the finish, but more generally the 2nd fall had a nice pickup in pace and Tarantula in particular was showing out.

The 3rd fall is almost an inversion of the 1st in that its the babyfaces who almost ambush the heels at the start, there's a big double figure four spot that they like to do. But before long the heels take control and methodically grind them down without many big spots to specifically point out, but it's all good stuff. Devil & Tarantula are very good at coming across like they really are just an excellent tag team (whether they fight dirty or not) and it’s just really difficult for anyone to sustain any momentum against them. I liked when Devil was using the big hanging choke on the turnbuckle while Tarantula got her chops in. Devil goes wild with her cane while the referee gets distracted and this sets up Devil getting a rare pinfall win with her leaping senton (usually used for a nearfall). I like how although wrestlers have signature moves, nobody really has a finisher here, so what will win a match is far less predictable.

Jumbo punishes the referee for his poor eyesight by throwing him into the crowd. A strong AJW babyface tradition.

***1/2

MD: Masami and Tarantula had become a pretty effective team by this point. They ambushed to start. Tarantula would sneak in a choke or just bite you in the face. Masami was relentless. There was a real sense that if you got breathing room by going one way, they’d be the other ready to get you. Still, the big difference I’ve noted in 82 relative to 79 or 80 was just how much the babyfaces could fight back. The Devil Army made them really, really work for it though. One second of lapse and Tarantula’s hand would be right in your face. Hori came back only for Devil to stop short on a whip and nail her in the back. Yokota fought back only for Masami to get a foot up from a prone position. When they did mount a comeback at the end of the first fall with a series of press up seated sentons by Jaguar, all it took was one duck by Devil and she hit a belly to back on Hori for the fall.

Second fall had Jaguar winning a test of strength against Jumbo which seems a bit silly and then laying in headbutts. Tarantula hit her roll-into-a-dropkick which is one of the few good rolls in wrestling history, then a missile front dropkick. Again, they made Jaguar work for it as she hit her forward vault to start her comeback but Devil caught her on the apron and she had to side step. I won’t use the word “evolutionary” but I do think that they were building on things so fans did not grow accustomed to the same match over and over. Jumbo came in with a massive power bomb, leading to a sort of bridging exploder and a great finish where Jaguar hit a missile dropkick on a charging Devil and then landed with a top rope splash on Tarantula. Great end to the fall.

In the third fall, Devil tried to hit some of her big offense (like the press slam) but Jaguar kept escaping. She and Tarantula had more luck choking with an outside bit of rope/wire. She also did a dangling choke from the top while Tarantula hit some chops which is not something you see every day. When she was firmly in control she hit all that offense she wanted before like the press slam, which felt perfectly petty in the best way. She followed that up by being even more petty and vindictive with the stick and won it with a flip senton, which is not something I think I’ve seen her do chronologically up until now. This was a good distilled version of the style at the time. We’ve seen a few tags like this now and you can tell where they were developing different aspects over time. I’m curious if that survives into the next generation’s tag matches. Post match, Jumbo goes after the ref again. We know that’s not going to do them much good over time.

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80s Joshi on Wednesday: Mimi! Yukari! Masami! Tarantula!

Volume 4 

2. Devil Masami & Tarantula vs. Mimi Hagiwara & Yukari Omori (WWWA Tag Team Titles) - 8/10/82

K: This is a rematch of the 1/4/82 main event, since Tarantula is Wild Kazuki in a mask.

This has a very measured start. Tarantula doesn’t actually do anything other than start the match, stalls a bit and just tags in Devil. I was reminded a bit of Randy Savage’s heel stalling tactics, but it didn’t actually turn into that. Rather we had Devil methodically grinding Mimi Hagiwara down, she does a cool little sidewards half crab sticking her knee into Mimi’s back. When she’s in Tarantula is actually the more aggressive one this time. 

There aren’t many big moments here other than a well worked match typical of the style. People following these write-ups won’t be surprised to learn that the first transition came after Mimi got thrown into the chairs on the outside before getting a good comeback getting back in. After that the momentum never really swings back to the heels like it was in the opening minutes.

2nd fall is where things get more intense. Mimi starts things off by unloading her boxing skills on Tarantula with a load of skinny-armed bodyshots. This sets up Devil a bit later on getting her hands on Mimi, and first thing she does is start savagely biting Mimi’s hand and working over her that way. That’s her way of working a limb basically. The babyface team are protected a bit by only losing this fall by countout due to the heels throwing them out and attacking them with weapons. Mimi does some really great selling on the outside as she’s being helped out, looking like she might vomit into a bucket. Not very glamorous of her I know.

When the 3rd fall starts, Devil and Tarantula stand in front and behind of Mimi holding her in place, and take turns to headbutt her? Like, Devil will headbutt her and send her head backwards a bit, but then Tarantula headbutts her from behind like a human pendulum system. Made them look very creative as well as a bit nuts.

More brilliant selling from Mimi throughout all of this. She looks like she’s just struggling to move any part of her body and is not fully conscious as she crawls over to her corner to try and tag in Omori. The longer this goes on the more it feels like the babyfaces just aren’t going to turn this around. They’re being outgunned constantly. And just at moments where you think this would be the natural time to start a big comeback, it just doesn’t happen, and when it nearly happens it gets cut off pretty quickly before any real damage was done. To add to the relatively humiliation. The finish is Omori tapping out to Devil Masami’s Romero Special, which rarely ever won matches.

Mimi adds to her stellar performance tonight by going absolutely berzerk at the result. Looking like she’s going to try and beat up the AJW officials for not intervening to stop the heels cheating. It’s quite the scene as she has to be physically restrained and carried out by her fellow wrestlers. 

This felt like a lesser version of the 1/4/82 match. I wouldn’t normally review a match as good as this with what seems like a negative comment, I just wish they added some extra element to it other than getting the opposite result (Mimi’s tantrum not really being part of the match). Still this was very good and effective at furthering the feud.

***3/4

MD: Most interesting thing from the pre-match commentary is that they outright note that Tarantula is Wild Kazumi who has donned a mask. Look, I’m working off of the youtube translation here so it’s dubious, but I think the commentators start to get on her case for choosing a creepy name like Tarantula instead of the name of a flower. So that’s 1982 AJW for you? I guess? 

Devil and Tarantula controlled this to start when Devil nailed Mimi off the ropes. Lots of stretching her, hairpulling, etc. Devil did a sort of side crab at one point. Tarantula came in with dramatic claws and chokes. Things spilled to the outside and both of the champs got stacked on the announce table. Tarantula had some nice knees in the ropes in here. She was working quite big. Mimi and Omori got a bit of hope but were cut off until Tarantula accidentally hit Devil with a missile dropkick and knocked her from the ring. That let Omori and Hagiwara fight fair and Mimi soon had Tarantula down and out with her bodyslam suplex variation and one shoulder electric chair finisher to end the fall.

Second fall had Omori and Hagiwara pressing the advantage. Tarantula hit an explosive dropkick (she feels a little more explosive than most of the heels, more like the faces, maybe, at least in this guise), but they couldn’t control things until they reversed a whip and hit simultaneous tombstones (with Devil’s a really nasty front one). After that Mimi was in really bad shape and they were able to take things outside and whack them with objects until the countout to win the fall.

Third fall had Mimi as basically a walking corpse. She has some of the best body language I’ve ever seen. I don’t think that’s hyperbole or wanting to rediscover someone. She really was that good in this specific area of her selling. They hit her with so many headbutts including pingponging ones back and forth. Omori tried to assert herself but the ref kept taking her out. Finally, she did make it in and was able to turn the cane attempts back on the Army. The numbers game was too much and when she had an abdominal stretch on Tarantula, Devil grabbed her hair from outside. Things spilled to the outside and Mimi tried to help but she was just too worn down. Inside the ring, Tarantula did a splash off Devil’s shoulders and then Devil locked in a Tapatia as Tarantula held back Mimi for the win and the title change. Post match, Mimi lost it on the ref, looking like a woman possessed. I thought this was good and very complete (even though I swear some of it was clipped). I liked the ending of the second fall especially. They could have finished it after the tombstones but it was more to the heel’s style to force the countout with chaos and violence. It was gratuitous but that was the point. Tarantula looked good and added something different (even from what I remember of her as Kazumi) on the heel side and it was another legitimately great performance from Hagiwara.
 

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80s Joshi on Wednesday: Masami! Kazuki! Mimi! Yukari!

Disc 2 

14. Devil Masami, Wild Kazuki, Mimi Hagiwara & Yukari Omori Interviews 1/4/82

MD: The interviewer has a Stan Hansen moment when she tries to go see Masami and Kazuki (still called Ito here) in their locker room. Masami almost kills her. It’s great. Then we get a decent amount of insight from Hagiwara and Omori. They just won the belts. Omori would try to follow Mimi’s lead. Hagiwara would hope to win with her special move, the backdrop, and they thought they had a real chance if the Black Army didn’t cheat on them.

15. Devil Masami & Wild Kazuki vs. Mimi Hagiwara & Yukari Omori (WWWA Tag Team Titles) 1/4/82

K: Mimi Hagiwari and Yukari Omori won the WWWA Tag Titles from Jumbo Hori and Nancy Kumi on 11/9/81. That match isn’t on the set though it is available in clipped/joined in process form. The finish of the 3rd fall was Mimi hitting the massive Jumbo Hori with her Mimi Special, which is a backdrop where she hoists her opponent up sitting on her shoulder before dropping them backwards. Impressive feat of strength for someone so nimble, Mimi talks up her move in the pre-match interview. This match is their first defense. This is also our first look at Yukari Omori, who is part of the class of 1980.

Afaik, this is the first time Devil Masami came out to her ‘Black Soldier’ theme, which she’d keep up until 1986. Back when I was watching the full TVs, hearing that theme always cheered me up as I’d so rarely have to watch a bad match after hearing it.  A set like this won’t capture this, but I’d say Devil Masami was the most consistent AJW wrestler from 1982 to her retirement.

Omori gets beaten down pretty bad at the start and doesn’t look like a champion at all. She gets trapped in the ropes by Wild Kazuki who then digs her elbows into her to torture her and she seemingly can do nothing to resist. When Mimi tags in we get a bit more of a fight and at least Kazuki tags in Devil for some help and they do some double teaming in the corner. There’s a blatant clip to Devil using a weapon on Mimi and then denying it to the ref. The clip messes up the flow a bit but it’s enjoyable to see how indignant Mimi is about this. She has a good angry face and starts shouting to the announcer’s table (where the commission also sits) complaining about what’s happening while Devil continues to protest her innocence. 

I have to laugh at how useless Omori is. She tags in, gets punched in the throat by Kazuki, goes down clutching her throat and Mimi has to tag back in she’s already so done. This fall is turning into a prolonged beatdown on Mimi, but mainly because Omori is so incapable of taking a beating for more than 10 seconds that Mimi has to heroically sacrifice herself to save her. But no! We get a miracle. Miscommunication at the junction when Kazuki inadvertently dropkicks her own partner when Mimi moves out of the way. Omori rushes in for a quick double team on Kazuki, which Mimi follows up on with a big Mimi Special and Omori does something useful and keeps Masami pinned down on the outside. 1, 2, 3, and the babyfaces have stolen the fall with a flash good bit of teamwork.

The 2nd fall is a lot shorter and descends into chaos pretty quickly. We get delightful scenes of Masami running around with a wooden pole trying to injure with it. This ends up in the ring where the heels both hold Mimi down while Masami whacks her with that pole and jabs it into her back until eventually she starts to go limp like she’s losing consciousness. There’s a very cold moment where Devil lifts her up for a military press, but just drops her onto the top rope where she falls out of the ring, and then Wild Kazuki does a running jump over the top rope to the floor footstomp on her! But it gets better! Mimi is tossed into the ring, Devil holds up, give her a HEART PUNCH and then pins her with one foot on her chest. Awesome finish for the 2nd fall.

After the finish seconds run in to give Mimi medical treatment and she’s carried out of the ring. It appears she cannot continue. The commission announces that Mimi has been taken out of the match, but Omori wants to keep fighting so he’ll allow the match to continue.

The previously-established as useless Yukari Omori now has to fight the scary heel team on her own! Here comes some drama. Right from the off, Omori appears to have received an upgrade. She doesn’t have any moves, she just fights with shoulder tackles to knock both Masami and Kazuki down, but she has a fierce determined will about her this time that wasn’t there before. She can’t let Mimi down. Masami has a great look on her face when the camera cuts to her on the floor, she’s actually smirking, like she didn’t know Omori had this in her and is kinda impressed. 

Outside of kayfabe, I also think this is the first time in her career Omori shows signs of talent. She’s balancing very well between fighting off two pushed heels by herself, while still coming across as an ill-equipped rookie who is only just about managing to survive out there. She looks super strong when she shoves Wild Kazuki away and sends her flying halfway across the ring, but still it’s only a shove, it’s not a demonstration of ‘wrestling skill’. 

We get the big climax when, just as Omori’s miracle is starting to die as the heels successfully take her down and start tearing her apart, a still-selling Mimi Hagiwara staggers into the ring and begins her rescue. Her hair is strangely wet it looks like she had a shower while she was out getting treated. Her fightback is like she had all the fighting spirit Omori showed just before but actually has some skill as well. We get almost a repeat of the 1st fall where she counters an Irish Whip from Devil Masami into the Mimi Special, then a double suplex and Mimi takes out Kazuki as Omori is still the legal woman, so Omori gets the win by pinning Devil Masami. Probably not what anyone was expecting. 

This was a really great match. Great performances, good narrative, everyone had their role and stayed within the lines. Both Omori and Mimi felt like they came out of this as more credible ‘tough’ wrestlers than they were at the start.

****1/4

MD: We’re into 1982. 81 went quick. We’ve seen so many go now, Maki, the Queen Angels, Jackie, Kumano. Yokota was pushed above Hagiwara and Kumi though they are still formidable stars. I’m not actually super sure what’s going on with Jumbo Hori though she was tag champ. I would have expected us to see her more. This will be our first look in the project at Omori though. 

Masami and Kazuki look pretty stylish coming out with purple and red outfits, jackets, and hats. Masami has a bat of sorts and she’s quite happy slamming it on anything in her path. The first fall is mostly controlled by the heels. They try for an ambush but Hagiwara and Omori are ready for them, but they get swept under due to an object that Yokota hides for a lot of this. You do have to love the combination of power bombs and memphis heeling. I also love Kazuki’s use of her elbow digging it into Hagiwara’s eye and stomach. It’s pretty unique to be honest and the second time we’ve seen her do it, and it’s the sort of thing that will make me gravitate towards a heel. They run the hidden object about as far as they can before some heel miscommunication allows for the babyfaces to come back. After a double team press slam, Mimi hits her “backdrop” which in this case is a straight back drop with an opponent sitting on her shoulder (like Savage and Liz). 

Second fall starts well for the babyfaces, but once Hagiwara tosses Masami out, everything goes very wrong. Masami grabs a stick (maybe the same bat she came out with; I couldn’t tell) and chases her around the ring screaming bloody murder. They get back in but before long it gets introduced and after that it’s an absolute mauling. Just a brutal massacre leaving Hagiwara all but dead in the ring. After a press slam to the floor, Masami picks her back up and clocks her with a punch and then pins her with a foot on the stomach. They carry her out leaving young Omori to fight alone for the final fall.

For the first two minutes, she holds her own, keeping her back to the ropes so they can’t ambush her, taking on one at a time, and using miscommunication. But then Masami pulls her out and she gets swept under. Two minutes after that, however, Mimi drags herself back out. This is Mimi Hagiwara, actress, idol. She sang earlier in the night. She is disheveled, a wreck. She gets a much needed tag but can barely stand. Then they bring the piece of wood back in and start to use it as a weapon. 

Things spill to the floor. Kazumi is such a natural already as she demolishes Omori on a table. But Omori turns it around. Hagiawara somehow picks up a row of chairs and slams it onto Masami. Mimi rolls back in and it seems like they might win by countout. But Masami rolls back in at the last second and begins to thrash Mimi once again. But when all seems lost, Mimi is able to sidestep her, hit her special backdrop, and pull out what felt like an absolutely impossible win. Everything breaks down post-match but this was great, rousing stuff with absolutely top tier selling by Mimi after she made it back. 

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