AJW Wrestle Marinepiad (11.21.91) review 

 

November 21, 1991 

 

We’re in Kawasaki, Japan. This was taped and later aired on TV and released in tape form. This version is the tape version, which is 30 minutes longer. Big shout out to Roy Lucier, once again, for bringing incredible archive footage to the world on his various YouTube channels. Go and check his channels out, you’re bound to find some cool shit to watch.  

 

Bat Yoshinaga & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Kaoru Ito & Miori Kamiya 

Watanabe and Ito are still active now (2026). The dynamic is supposed to be Jungle Jack being more vicious, but Tomoko isn’t, so Bat carries that side of things. When Watanabe is in there, it’s just a standard, basic opener. Bat gets her leg worked over, and the spots involved leave a lot to be desired. Watanabe does light it up after the hot tag with some JUDO THROWS. I love it when something basic like a hip toss looks that violent. That’s doing wrestling right, brrrrrrother. Bat finishes Kamiya off with a back suplex, turned into a chokeslam in mid air. This improved after a sluggish start but didn’t need to go over 10:00 and it did. *¾ 

 

Suzuka Minami, Sakie Hasegawa & Etsuko Mita vs. Yumiko Hotta, Mima Shimoda & Mariko Yoshida 

Lots of top talent in this. Minami is the only one on her team with long hair and Shimoda on the other, also breaking up the run of standard AJW hair cuts. Maybe it’s the addition of two extra bodies, but this moves notably quicker than the opener. Yoshida does a fine job of testing Hasegawa’s flexibility. Hasegawa is great at taking a beating. The contrast in intensity when it comes to the limb work here and in the opener is really something. Minami does two powerbombs on Yoshida here, and both of them involve her grabbing a handful of crotch to get her up. If taking a powerbomb isn’t bad enough, you’ve got Minami sticking her finger up your arse for good measure. Hotta misses a back elbow off the ropes, landing square on her neck and Minami puts her away with a German suplex. This was proper tasty. Everything felt energised and driven. Badass. *** 

 

AJW Championship 

Takako Inoue (c) vs. Debbie Malenko 

I always wondered if Malenko was under consideration for the “Alundra Blayze” role in the fed. Certainly had the required skills for the job. Maybe Vince didn’t like her because she was Southern and her promos were probably not on the level. Now that I think about it, the gimmick kicked in after Debbie broke her leg in ’93, so it was probably never under consideration. Debbie is a cracking little wrestler if you’ve never seen her though. Her time in the business was sadly cut short by that leg break in 1993.  

 

Malenko had a good mind for wrestling. You can see the thought process behind her technique and approach. They have Debbie control with her submission skills and slight size advantage. Takako fights fire with fire and tries her own limb work but finds Debbie can get into the ropes with her height and strength advantages. When they aren’t in close contact, the match is significantly worse. The missed clotheslines, for example, are horrible. Debbie can’t duck low enough, and Takako’s missing swipes are way off target.  

 

As per usual the previous limb work is totally disregarded in this ‘break down’ sequence too, which makes me sad. Inoue then wins with an Electric Chair drop out of nowhere. Huh. Ok. Two good wrestlers having a less than great undercard match here. The submission stuff was genuinely tidy though. **½  

 

Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto 

Right, no more messing around. Three matches left and we start with this fine assemblage of talents. Inoue & Yamada are representing Mexico. They’ve just come off a series of matches with the Moreno sisters in CMLL and have decided they dig the country. Toyota is starting to look really sharp now and hits a whole level above this in 1992. The other team get their kicks from putting her in various submission holds that test the very limits of her flexibility. If I’d been put in half these holds, I would have herniated discs in my back and a double ACL tear.  

 

Keeping in mind this is 1991 and most big stars were barely leaving their feet; Toyota throws Hokuto over her head off the buckles and then hits a middle rope moonsault to the floor. Joshi was just on another level in the 1990s. The quality of spots from Toyota & Hokuto is excellent. It’s a real shame that Yamada just isn’t on it today. A prime example is her German suplex where she loses her grip on Hokuto, who ends up awkwardly falling on top of her.  

 

They botch something else into the corner and again its Yamada at fault, leaving Inoue to shrug at her. Maybe she’s got an arm problem as the moves seem to involve a lack of strength. They have a lot of ambition here, and the last third of the match is the stretch with dramatic near falls. It lacks the classic All Japan vibe that the match could end on any spot, but it is very exciting. Yamada whiffs on a shoulderblock in her latest muff up. She’s really not having a good day at the office. I hate the finish too. An electric chair enzuigiri, off the ropes, which feels hugely convoluted. And Hokuto kicks out just before three to really fuck it up.  

 

This is tough one to rate because huge chunks of this match are great. Toyota is especially good. But it’s far too long and they lose their way repeatedly in the last 5-8 minutes. I’ll go ***½ but I think that’s probably on the generous side. Everyone here will do better on another day.  

 

Incredible promo work from Monster Ripper between matches here. The former Rhonda Singh, and future Bertha Faye, plays the part of EVIL GAIJIN complete with over the top laugh while Nakano just stands there straightfaced, completely no selling the evil promo.  

 

Texas Death Cage Match 

Aja Kong & Bison Kimura vs. Bull Nakano & Monster Ripper 

Ripper is an interesting case study because she was so big, it was natural to make her a monster heel*. She’s throwing Bison around in this match like she’s nothing. Despite being “Texas death” this match has tags in it. When it’s Bull vs. Aja, it’s really good and it made me think “why didn’t they just do Bull vs. Aja in a cage?” Only to realise that’s exactly what the main event was of this show last year. It was MOTYC tbf, so I am correct. 

 

*no, I cannot explain “Bertha Faye” either brrrrother.  

 

Aja has a great firing up sequence, where she goes nuts on Ripper with a steel box and then proceeds to kick Bull’s ass for good measure. Nakano won the cage last year by coming off the top. It’s a surprise that Bison comes off the top here, with a swandive, and it’s not the finish. Aja then follows up! SWANDIVE HEADBUTT….MISSES. Oh, she’s dead. Taking a front bump off a cage must SUCCCCCKKKKK. I’m sure this is worked, but they have Aja Kong suffering internal bleeding. The others give her a kicking, and the heroic Bison jumps on top to save her.  

 

Aja ends up being dragged out by the help, and Bison is left all alone. What follows is a protracted beating, which feels like them killing time until a triumphant Aja return. Instead Bull pancakes her with a leg jam and then Ripper splashes her off the ropes and the referee determines Bison is too dead to continue. Well, that’s certainly underwhelming. ***.  

 

An interesting idea. The initial cage war is very solid. Aja Kong’s injury angle is really well done. But then…just a long, long squash at the end which really served no purpose. After the referee has rendered his decision, Monster Ripper, who caught friendly fire during the match via a fork to the head, turns on Bull Nakano.  

 

Monster Ripper vs. Bull Nakano 

They just casually announce this is a match now, and the crowd realise the intention to turn Bull babyface. It is a little strange to use Ripper this way, but she never wrestled there again, so I assume they had to throw all their eggs in one basket tonight. Both of them are fucked after a long cage match beforehand. The action is extremely limited because of this. It’s mostly resting and choking.  

They just about manage a German suplex and then Bull straight up murders Ripper with a leg jam off the cage for the win. This was really flat, but the leg drop was SICK. ** 

 

The sight of a bloodied, blue hair sweat soaked in her face, Bull Nakano limping out of the building is something else.  

This is what a star looks like, ladies and gents. Despite my low ratings on the main event(s), it was a good storyline. Nakano overcoming a rival, but it wasn’t Aja Kong. Kong effectively knocking herself out of the match allows the feud to continue. It gave Bison Kimura a bit of a rub, and they used Monster Ripper well considering she never came back afterwards. They got the tag out of her and the big heel turn and the blow off in one night. 

 

The 411: 

Not one of my favourite AJW shows. The faults in the workrate main event were unfortunate. That should have stolen the show, given who was involved, but they just gave them too much freedom, and they weren’t ready for it. Main event was fairly untidy, but character driven. Both should be considered minor successes when compared to some of the other matches and shows they put out in 1991. This isn’t the pinnacle of the year’s work for AJW, which is what it should be.