We watch Mariko Yoshida on days that end in 'Y'

Mariko Yoshida v Aja Kong (ARSION, 10/17/00)

This was a semi-final bout of a one-night tournament (the final of which I talked about a few days ago). It was also an ARSION tournament in Korakuen Hall and not a seven-hour All Japan Women Tournament in the Tokyo Dome, so it wasn't likely to be a lengthy affair. For 10 minutes of brute force against dexterity it'll be hard to go wrong with these two, and this was a badass 10 minutes. At some point in the year 2000 Yoshida started incorporating more striking into her arsenal, and by striking I mean absolutely walloping people in the face with her fists. It meant this had an extra layer to their usual dynamic, where Yoshida didn't have to rely on JUST the grappling and could throw hand grenades when she had openings. She had several openings and threw a goodly amount of hand grenades. Obviously Aja tagged her back and there was one incredible sequence where Yoshida was throwing lefts and rights to the head, Aja standing there out on her feet, then from nowhere she unleashed a back fist that about ripped Yoshida's face in two. In the end though, if Yoshida was going to win she'd need to do it with what she did better than anyone. It was just a question of whether she could do it to someone with as much BEEF as Aja. Or if she could do it before Aja caved her head in. 

Mariko Yoshida & Yumiko Hotta v Sumie Sakai & Megumi Yabushita (AJW, 11/3/02)

I initially came across this when trying to find the Yoshida/Hotta singles match from November 2003 (in a promotion called AtoZ, which I honestly had never heard of in my life). Yoshida and Hotta teaming together seemed interesting if nothing else, and that team against a couple girls who'd only been wrestling for about five years was an interesting spot for them to be in. I figured Hotta would do what she usually did against lower-ranked opponents and I've watched enough peak Yoshida against wrestlers like that to know it's probably going to be good. And this was decent enough, mostly for those reasons, but also for the infighting between Yoshida and Hotta. While it's probably a stretch to assume they used this to build to a singles match a whole year down the line, it must've at least whet the appetite. Hotta was in a sprightlier mood than usual here and I don't think she full force punted anybody in the face even once. She was more condescending than anything else, hooking Sakai in an armbar while grinning up at Yabushita on the apron. The young girls threw a few stiff shots and not once could you say Hotta flew off the handle in response. Yoshida wasn't in as jovial a mood, nor was she particularly interested in playing with her food. The first thing she did when entering the ring was kicking Yabushita in the head and she was very businesslike the whole way. There was one exchange in the middle between her and Yabushita that was excellent, really snappy grappling with Yabushita holding her own admirably. I knew Yabushita was a kickboxer but I didn't know she could bring the MATWORK~ like this. As the match goes on the more cracks between Hotta and Yoshida start to form. Yoshida held one of the youngsters for Hotta to smack, but the youngster moved and Yoshida took the shot instead. It didn't sit well with her and when the shoe was on the other foot later you almost wonder if she wasn't outright aiming for Hotta. They didn't come all the way to blows, but they were close and when Hotta told Yoshida to move so she could put a ribbon on things at the end you know Yoshida wanted to fucking kill her. Luckily I do not have to wait a year before seeing a singles match, although knowing me it'll be a decade before I actually get around to it.