Day 3 of Yumi Ikeshita!

Yumi Ikeshita, Tenjin Masami & Hiroko Komine v Jackie Sato, Tomi Aoyama & Lucy Kayama (AJW, 8/79) 

This was amazing as well and might actually be my favourite thing so far. If nothing else it might be the most complete match, at least in that from start to finish it actually WAS a match and nobody had to get carted out halfway through and Yumi Ikeshita never caused a near riot in the middle (not that that's a bad thing, of course). I feel sort of ridiculous looking a gift horse in the mouth like this, but there are times during these matches where you maybe almost kind of perhaps wish the babyfaces wouldn't be so utterly destroyed for extended periods. A little babyface shine here and there might be cool. That said, it's hard to complain too loudly when the heels causing the destruction are doing it with such aplomb. For most of the first fall this was a total, wonderful mauling. There's a stretch where the heels actively work over Lucy Kayama's FACE and it was fucking amazing. Tenjin may not have been going by Devil yet but the devil was certainly in her already. She has these big eye rakes that are almost claw-like and Kayama would sell them like she'd been attacked by a mongoose. Ikeshita would slam her face-first into the mat and drag her face along the canvas by the hair. Komine was raking her eyes and nose across the top rope. The three of them were kneeing and headbutting her in the chops and it was gloriously vicious. All three babyfaces took a turn getting smashed to bits in that first fall and all three stints ruled, but Kayama's was something else altogether. Whenever the babyfaces built up some momentum the heels would also try immediately to squash it, often as nastily as possible. Ikeshita wraps something around her fist at one point and regains control for her team by punching the babyfaces in the throat. Later on her and Masami tie this thing around Aoyama's neck, grab an end each and start pulling like they're trying to rip her fucking head off! Also how did joshi crowd brawling become so crummy? Because if more of the wrestlers were aping these lot it wouldn't have. Masami repeatedly slams Aoyama's head into the announce desk and the commentator gets caught in the crossfire after a flying microphone smacks him in the mouth, Ikeshita indiscriminately throws Jackie Sato into groups of spectators and Komine is using that chair to hit someone whether a pensioner is sitting on it or not. I should mention how awesome the offence looks here as well. Ikeshita has a phenomenal fallaway slam and a phenomenal bulldog. Masami is just steamrolling people with Vader-ish body blocks. Sato does these proto-slingblade things that look like they'd give you whiplash. The babyfaces all do this cool headbutt to the sternum after whipping their opponent off the ropes. Tomi Aoyama has a 9/10 on the Koko Ware Dropkick Scale and will hit four in rapid succession and also has a fucking 11/10 on the giant swing scale. Seriously, this is the quickest giant swing you've ever seen and then she'll pass them over to Jackie Sato who'll do the quickest airplane spin you've ever seen and what the fuck is this match doing in 1979??? Even the less crisp or impactful stuff works just because it's done with such snap, like Kayama's short-arm elbows. And while those runs of babyface control are few and far between, they absolutely make the most of them and it feels like they've scaled a mountain just by stringing five moves together. That's sure what it felt like at the end, and Aoyama hitting the coolest splash ever made for an awesome finish. They pulled it out the bag with grit and skill. Man this was great stuff.