Another day of Yumi Ikeshita!

Yumi Ikeshita & Mami Kumano v Tomi Aoyama & Lucy Kayama (AJW, 7/31/79)

So I guess the Black Pair - Ikeshita and Kumano - are one of the greatest teams ever that nobody talks about as being a great team? At the very least they're one of the most savage. This was awesome (other than the ref' being on the take) and it was an amazing Black Pair performance. It's bonkers that this was happening in 1979 as the pace and general STUFF that they're doing is way different than basically everywhere else in the world. The first fall starts out mostly even, pretty back and forth, similar to lots of 80s New Japan tags with nobody really sustaining an advantage but everything being quick and hectic. They capture the sense of struggle, which is maybe the most important thing in a match like that or else it's four wrestlers just doing some shit with no drama. Then Kumano jabs Kayama in the neck with a wrench and both her and Ikeshita zero in on Kayama's bandaged up leg. And from there it's pretty much madness. The Black Pair are relentless going after this thing and Kayama sells it all amazingly. She's frantic in trying to make it to her corner yet Ikeshita and Kumano constantly double up on her, and every time Aoyama comes in the ref' forces her back out, which gives the Black Pair even more rope to work with. There was one incredible spot where they unwrap some of the tape around Kayama's knee, wrap that around her throat, and because it's still partially attached to the knee it ends up being some makeshift torture device that chokes Kayama the more she extends her own leg. Kumano holds the leg up and Ikeshita does a middle rope headbutt to the knee, Ikeshita just boots Kayama right in the kneecap whenever she tries to stand up, Aoyama is going ballistic the whole time. The hot tag was pure desperation. It wasn't like a US hot tag where she created an opening, milked crawling to her corner and reached out just as one of the heels made a tag at the same time. This was Kayama repeatedly trying to jump or wriggle away from them and finally one lunge allowed her to slip Kumano's grasp. Kayama tags herself back in before long and I think Aoyama actually tries to stop her from throwing herself to the wolves again, which fucking ruled. And you see why she would try that because of course Kayama gets obliterated in short order. You'd think she was legitimately dead as people cart her away in between falls. The second fall is more Black Pair mauling and Aoyama being as scrappy as possible trying to come back. Ikeshita has incredible headbutts and I'm sort of in awe at how she carries herself, but Kumano is no slouch in bastardry, let me tell you. The part where they were taking turns murdering her with punches was straight out of the very best Memphis punch sequences and how the hell has this stuff gone under the radar for so long?! Aoyama's comeback rules as she does a fucking 1979 leaping top rope springboard that takes out both Ikeshita and Kumano, then tries to dive to the floor and Kumano fucking whomps her in the head with a chair! Twice! These AJW refs would earn the ire of every current NBA superstar because they let motherfucking eeeeverything go and after having a chair smashed off her skull (twice) this one is all but academic. These Black Pair matches are wild as fuck and I feel no less certain that I need to see every second of Yumi Ikeshita ever committed to tape.