Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada

[8.0] "interesting, to me, that this is pegged for sloppiness. it's a testament to the very high standard of ajw at the time. this is a banger, of course, even if it doesn't have the typical ajw discipline. part of that is by design, manami and toshiyo are clearly out for blood, so the pace starts hot and doesn't let up. keeping that level of fire tends to lead to a few sacrifices in pacing. but it was brutal and hard hitting and wore its big emotions on its sleeves. though this is one of uncle dave's more curious five-star picks. you know, before all his picks became curious."

[10.0] "This was absolutely incredible. Like a lot of ajw rivalries, they waste no time going right at each other. Toyota & yamada create what is one of my favorite clashes of style that ive seen in ajw, toyota throws a lot of big beautiful bombs and dropkicks while yamada goes for the striking and submissions but eventually matches her and starts throwing her own bombs in and higher risk moves. For obvious reasons the intensity and drama was turned up to 11 in this, its the culmination of a multi year feud with a stipulation that requires throwing everything you have at your opponent. This shit is the blueprint. *****"

[9.0] "A little sloppy in the beginning coming from Manami. She makes up for it with her drop kicks in the corner, her moonsault and high flying springboard to the outside. The crowd comes alive whenever Manami takes the offense. Toshiyo and Manami try to outdo eachothers suplexs'. Great round of applause, sportsmanship and respect between the 2 at the end of the match."

[8.0] "It has some big problems, such as some sloppiness and too many near falls but damn some of the action, especially the closing sequence, is great."

[10.0] "Perfect and great match, storytelling, level in ring that was perfect, AJW had great rhythm and speed for this kind of matches with psychology, great storytelling, technique and a final of Hair vs Hair that was interesting to see, 10/10 [*****]"

[10.0] "What I love about these two is how intense and fast every move is, yet nothing ever comes off as sloppy. Even when there may be a botch, they always adapt and turn it into a different move. Just incredible in-ring work. You add in the emotion at the end of the match and you get a very special world title match. 10 out of 10."

[9.0] "I think that this match didn't age well as others joshi 5* matches. Yes, there was some good action like the german suplexes and all the moves you can axpect from these two but simply not enough in terms of content to reach a full score. Surely the thing I 'll remember the most of this encounter is the post-match and it even doesn't influence my stars rating. ****1/2"

[7.0] "Not that it's a bad match, but it's far from the great AJW classics, the pace is good, the action like most Toyota matches is good too, solid match and pretty standard (which is great) for the time, in the end nothing breathtaking in the match, match ok (***1/2)"

[10.0] "*EXACT RATING: 10.0* WOW you can see so much of modern wrestling condensed into this match. From the fast pace to the high impact suplexes & high-risk aerial maneuvers to the multiple false finishes. In 1992 this must have been a damn revelation. I wouldn't call it "picture perfect", but that slight element of sloppiness lends itself to great matches to avoid looking choreographed. The post-match is just as good, with Yamada tearfully getting her head shaved, and Toyota snipping off some of her own locks out of respect for her opponent. Very cool match in front of a hot crowd. [HIGH SPOT: Either the multiple consecutive belly-back suplexes or the finishing sequence of reversals into the final move which I'm learning now is called the "Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex". Surprised no one uses that today.]"

[6.0] "while this was most certainly good, i feel like it never went into the second gear that it clearly tried to. the moves didn't feel very important when constant repetitions were continuously kicked out of (although i know at the time of writing that manami does that often with her missile dropkicks), and the unimportance of the several minutes of work on manami's leg was very irritating. action was still good, though, and the post match angle was phenomenal. however, i am rating the match, not the angle."

[8.0] "Manami was so good, even in her early days. Just a joy to watch perform. Yamada wasn't bad, either, but I've just never taken to her like I have Toyota. EWhen you take into account Yamada had just wrestled for 20 minutes before this match, pulling this one off is stupendous. It was never boring and seemed like a good back and forth encounter. The hair Vs. Hair stips helped sell the urgency of the match. There were so many German suplexes in this match that I'm surprised Toyota could walk after the match. These two women went all out."

[7.0] "This match took a long while to get going but the finishing stretch was great. It is interesting that I am only just starting my AJW watch and know most by reputation alone and so far Toyota would not be in my top 5 if I had to guess legends. The post match with the head shaving is an unbelievable pro wrestling angle though and even got me emotional."

[10.0] "This starts out a little sloppy, but man things really pick up by the end. Toyota hits a moonsault from the top rope to Yamada on the floor that also sends a TV monitor crashing down on Yamada's face. But nothing seemed to slow these two down as they go at a completely insane pace in the finishing sequence. They hit about every possible variant of the belly-to-back suplex but neither one would stay down for 3 until Toyota finally hit the Ocean Cyclone Suplex for the win. As good as the match was, the aftermath is one of the greatest moments I've ever seen in wrestling and one of the most emotional moments I've seen in wrestling. Toyota cuts her own hair in respect of her defeated opponent and tries to prevent them from carrying out the hair vs. hair stipulation. She literally has to be held back by a legion of seconds to allow Yamada to get her head shaved. The match might not hold up as well today, but the aftermath is something as legend. The sloppiness in the early going is the only thing keeping me from giving this the full 5. ****3/4"

[9.0] "They took their time getting going, which is fine because it built to an incredible crescendo in the match's second half. Once it hits that, it's a head banger. The head shaving, with both wrestlers crying as it was happening (and embracing afterward) was moving drama as well. Classic pro wrestling. Loved it."

[6.0] "Sloppy start, then a decent control seg on Toyota's back -- which she quickly demotes as filler by neglecting to reflect any damage received -- followed by a soulless, suplex-spamming sprint. Moves, especially suplexes, have to mean something, otherwise what's to differentiate professional wrestling from Cirque du Soleil? Personally, the total lack of psychology was very frustrating. Nevertheless, I suppose it's not all bad: the breakneck pace saves the action somewhat, and the post-match is truly, heartwrenchingly beautiful."

[10.0] "As others have pointed out, the first half of the match I was thinking to myself ''Yea this is pretty good but also a bit sloppy'' but when they got it right it was simply incredible, especially in the last 5-6 minutes. The ref's counts sucked. Match ended up amazing. Don't know if full ***** or ****3/4"

[7.0] "I'm not sure how to rate this. One the one hand it's a very enjoyable match with a lot of exciting moves towards the end. But it's also kinda soulless, which is a problem when this is a Hair vs. Hair match and yet it feels like just another match. Compare this to the huge intensity in the Chigusa vs. Dump or Jungle Jack vs. Gokumon-To Hair matches. All the emotion is in the post-match angle. ***1/2"

[9.0] "Awesome match from two joshi legends. The match started off in a fast pace, then Yamada take the lead in the match as she worked on the left leg of Toyota (which she dropped off later on for some reason), and when they neared the middle of the match, it went back to being a fast-paced, action-packed match, as they would destroy each other with nasty suplexes and some stellar aerial offense outside the ring. As Yamada was ready to finish Toyota in the end, Manami reversed with a roll-up and followed up with Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex. The emotional segment right after was just as amazing as the match itself. [* * * * œ]"

[9.0] "Great match, I can't quite see it as a 10 out of 10 because I didn't feel that extra pop to put it over the edge but the action was seriously great."

[10.0] "Just under 20 minutes of Toyota and Yamada doing one of the best performances of their lives, with suspense and story-telling like Hair vs Hair matches usually create in joshi. Another classic to add in the looooooooong list of classic matches in AJW, and in both of Toyota's and Yamada's list of bangers. ***** without any hesitation. The post-match is wonderful, the rookies (if they are, I didn't recognize any big names in the group) having to stop Toyota from cutting her own hair because she regrets that her win forces Yamada to shave her head is brilliant and ends the show on a highly emotional and "feel-good" moment."

[9.0] "I think the post match hair cutting is the more important aspect of the match rather than the match itself, which was great by the way. The culmination of the competitive rivalry that's been going on lightly for years. Toyota after finally losing, lost her temper and put up stakes that she definitely regretted when it came time to putting them to the test when Yamada is forced to sit down and have her head shaved while she is forced to witness in tears. Now the match. Considering Yamada wrestled two of the most physically exhausting wrestlers of her generation earlier in the day, she looked great and up for it, not dogging it or taking it easy. Toyota tried to end things fast before Yamada quickly put that attempt to the floor and slowed the match down, adapting to her body. But Toyota was too hard to deny for too long and eventually the match quickened back into a total counter-fest where they fought for every edge until they could lock on their respective finishers. Manami Toyota succeeded with the JOCS, but it's hard to say that she actually won because of what it cost. ****1/4"

[5.0] "This is my first AJW match and I must say that I'm puzzled, I frankly don't know what to think of it. There were some nice moves and intense near falls but everything seems to lack... a soul. My rating is a placeholder for now, as I need to watch more AJW matches to make up my mind about this promotion."

[9.0] "Incredibly unique match for it's time to say the least. Not to mention the historical significance of Yamada losing her hair, this match was crazy half way through. I liked the first half with Yamada working Toyota's leg, but they just went full third gear by the 10 minute mark just throwing as many suplexes as they could, and the crowd was super into it all the way. You can definitely see the influence these women left on modern pro wrestling as a whole, ****1/2."

[6.0] "I thought this match was fine. The stipulation was Hair vs Hair, so I understand the desire from both women to try and get a quick pinfall but it really just took a lot of tension out of the match when the formula becomes so fixed: hit a suplex, go for pin. This was honestly about 70% of the match, and I just lost a lot of interest from this lack of variety. At one point Yamada hits FIVE backdrop suplexes on Toyota, yet Toyota still manages to kick out of the following pin fall, which was just ridiculous. Toyota and Yamada's chemistry wasn't too great at times. They often came off looking awkward when they would fail to execute some of their sequences, and even some of their individual moves came off looking rather weak because of the mediocre and sometimes poor technique behind them. The ref was also another annoyance. He took way too long to go for the counts, which would remove a lot of tension, and he would also slap his hand on the mat right before going for the 1st actual count, so it would quite often appear that he had counted 3 when really it was only 2, confusing both myself and the live audience at times. Now, these criticisms mainly originate from the fact that this is a 5 star rated match, and I felt it was highly undeserving of such a rating. I still appreciated the story of the match and did feel that there were a few spots and sequences that were quite impressive. Overall, this was a fine match, but nowhere near 5 stars. ***"

[8.0] "This is a good match not a great one. I liked the little story in the beginning with both ladies working on the mat, and neither of them wanted to get their head shaved. But the second half of the match is just move, pinfall, kickout, repeat. And I hated that. ***1/2 Good match"

[8.0] "I gave this match *** 3/4. Well below ***** for me. The lack of variety in the moves and the number of attempted pin falls after every move bring this down"

[10.0] "My favorite women's match of all time. The story and the aftermath were incredible. And all those Suplexes. So. Many. Suplexes. 5 stars. All the stars. Couldn't love it more."