My Joshi Journey #2: Rest Of January 1985

In the last issue of My Joshi Journey, I introduced this project and reviewed a show from 1/9/85. Today, we will be reviewing the show from 1/10 and finishing off the month with a standalone match from 1/12. With that being said, let’s get into it.

Crush Gals/Yumi Ogura vs. Jaguar Yokota/Mika Komatsu/Yukari Omori (1/10/85)

This match was contested under best two out of three falls rules. Well, this was an incredible match. It was everything you expect from a non-Dump AJW tag with a fast pace and some absolutely mean and nasty looking moves. During the last issue, I pointed out how when I was watching 1984 AJW, Jaguar was one of my biggest disconnects between the public opinion and mine. This match was a great way to start the turnaround on that opinion. She essentially plays the heel here since she is going up against the biggest faces in the company (Crush Gals) and does so to perfection. One stretch that stands out is a sequence with Ogura where she is being an absolute bully in the best way. Jaguar is by far the standout for her team and probably the whole match. On the other side of the ring, the Crush Gals are great as always. They wrestle with such a passion that you can’t help but fall in love with them. In the end, they reign supreme in the first match of the project that I would recommend seeking out. 3.5/5.

Crane Yu vs. Noriyo Tateno (1/10/85)

This match was joined in progress seemingly very early on. Some matches during this project won’t have longer writeups due to me not having much to say and this is probably going to be one of them. The in-ring quality for this is fine. Only one spot stood out during the entire thing and that was Crane using an orange as a weapon. Most of my talking points about this match relate to the decisions surrounding it. For one, this ended in a draw. I could not even begin to understand why a midcard singles match between two people who aren’t getting big singles pushes needed to end in a draw but it did. On top of that, the pacing was way too slow once the shenanigans ended. This should’ve been a short sprint where 99% of it was the typical Dump’s Army mayhem but they decided against that and it hurt the match in the process. 2.5/5.

Bull Nakano/Dump Matsumoto vs. Itsuki Yamazaki/Jumbo Hori + Devil Masami vs. La Galactica (1/10/85)

I am grouping these matches together because my thoughts on them are basically the same. While I gave the tag a 2.5 and the Devil/Galactica match a 2.75, they have a lot of similarities. A big problem AJW has at this point in time is that when a match involves someone from Dump’s crew, they can feel very samey. While this can have some benefits in terms of constant action, it can get way too predictable. By having almost every single heel in the company either be associates of Dump or being Dump herself, there is no heel/face match that doesn’t have some aspects of this formula. Thankfully for AJW, the upcoming Grand Prix will help things become fresh again but until then, it might be a slog for the matches with low stakes such as the two being talked about here.

Dump Matsumoto/La Galactica/Rossy Moreno vs. Itsuki Yamazaki/Mika Komatsu/Yukari Omori (1/12/85)

For all the talk in the previous two sections about the Dump formula feeling samey, this match hits that formula really well. Dump has her working boots on for this one and all of the faces look anywhere from good to great. One of the fun things in watching Dump plunder matches is finding some unique weapons used by the heels. In the Crane Yu match above, it was an orange. This time, it is a can of Coke being used pretty viciously by Dump. While there wasn’t anything incredible in this one, it was still a good time and can be used as a baseline for a new viewer on what a Dump tag looks like. ⅗ for me on the final match of this installment of My Joshi Journey.