Tag: All Japan Women

Pacific Rim: Wrestling Queendom 1995 Victory in Yokohama

Posted on by Jim Valley

Thirty years ago, All Japan Women’s Wrestling was on a roll.

Today’s new episode of Pacific Rim features Fumi Saito and I talking about the significance of the show and AJW’s run in the mid-90s.

On March 26, 1995, 9000 fans at the Yokohama Arena witnessed history at AJW Wrestling Queendom 1995 Victory as Manami Toyota defeated Aja Kong for the WWWA World Title. Also on the card were stars like Bull Nakano, Kyoko Inoue, Lioness Asuka, Toshiyo Yamada, Reggie Bennett, and Mima Shimota.

Plus, we talk John Cena, WrestleMania 41, Shota Umino, Mina Shirakawa, and more.

Check it out.

Click Here to Listen (sub needed)

Pacific Rim: Fumi Saito’s thoughts on NJPW G1, Asuka’s Stardom comments

Posted on by Jim Valley

The Pacific Rim Pro Wrestling Podcast is back.

I get Fumi Saito’s thoughts on this year’s NJPW G1 Climax like the 32-man format, Naito as the winner, SANADA, Kiyomiya’s performance and who he thought stood out.

So much of what we hear and read is from an English-speaking perspective so Fumi offers a perspective different than you’re going to get anywhere else.

From there, he also explains what he thinks Asuka’s recent social media posts about Stardom and the Japanese wrestling scene mean. What’s a work and what’s a shoot?

Plus, we talk the historic Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada hair match, Yamada’s career and an update on her today, Koichi Yoshizawa and more.

Click Here to Listen (sub needed)

April 4, 2005 Observer Newsletter: WrestleMania 21 preview, All Japan Women shuts down

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

All the hype is over, and all that is left is the finished product for Wrestlemania XXI.

The year’s biggest show takes place on 4/3 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Overall, the hype job this year does not rank among the tops in Wrestlemania history, and the show, scheduled from 7 to 10:50 p.m. Eastern time, goes in with three major selling points.

Selling point No. 1 is the Wrestlemania name. Two years ago, we found that the name only meant 560,000 buys, and that was during a time period when the overall PPV business was stronger than it is now. Last year’s show, with far more depth, as well as the historical nature of being the 20th Wrestlemania, did 885,000 buys, the second most in history. Linda McMahon, at the company’s last investors conference, made the bold prediction of 1 million buys, although some of that would be because the show would air as a PPV event in the United Kingdom for the first time.

Subscribers can read this issue here.