Mariko Yoshida & Yumiko Hotta v Bison Kimura & Madusa Miceli (AJW, 11/14/90)
This might be the earliest Yoshida I've ever seen. She'd been wrestling all of one year at this point and most of the offence she gets is set up by Hotta, though Hotta herself is far from the fully-formed sadistic crowbar she would become. That was evident from the punch exchange between her and Madusa where it was Madusa who was throwing the potatoes; big windmill shots like the Ultimate Warrior, but pretty stiff with one connecting especially hard. Yoshida has her arm worked over briefly and it was decent stuff, particularly from Kimura who would keylock the arm and swing her around, snapmare her with the arm still keylocked, etc. Madusa acted like a real shit head and it was pretty amusing, if a bit hammy. She never had NATURAL shit head down yet so some of it came off a little try hard. It bit her a couple times as she celebrated nothing of note and left herself open to getting dropkicked or hit by one of the very many running clotheslines that were thrown. A bit of wimpy finish, but no matter. For about 13 minutes this was more than fine.
Here's a revelation for you - Yoshida was very different in 2001 than she was in 1990. This was peak Yoshida, oozing confidence and working at a ridiculously high level, really just one of the best wrestlers ever. Her silver Spider-Man 2099 getup was also A+. I'm sorry but I do not have a clue who Yuu Yamagata is. Apparently she's a rookie. I can believe that because Yoshida smashed her to bits. Yoshida stretching a rookie with submissions is something you expect and she really tortured the poor girl. What's unexpected is the way she was also throwing hand grenades, backing Yuu into the corner and unloading with a huge punch flurry, these big sweeping haymakers right on the button. You maybe don't think of Yoshida as a great striker, or at least that's not the first thing you think of with her, but she sure had some great strikes here. I liked how she sold for Yuu as well. There was dismissiveness when Yuu tried a feeble backslide, annoyance when she tried it again and got a two count, frustration when she refused to be hooked in some preposterous hold, then even a pinch of concern when Yuu managed to hook something of her own. In the end the kid had to submit, but she gave an okay account of herself all told. If it turns out to be my only Yuu Yamagata singles match I will cherish it dearly.
No comments:
Post a Comment