90s AJPW, WWE in the Attitude Era, and NJPW in the 2010s are some of the examples of what many fans call the best eras for promotions in wrestling, but one that some fans and even wrestlers forget is 90s AJW.
Last year, I wrote a great editorial, as usual, about AJW and why you fans should watch it, but this time around this editorial is for wrestlers to watch AJW and here’s why.
The Legacy of women’s wrestling is weird to talk about, especially regarding in the US and how women were treated during the longest time. While Trish Stratus and Lita changed the game in a way, and the same can be said with Gail Kim and Awesome Kong, we shouldn’t forget about AJW and how it was the peak of not only women’s wrestling, but of wrestling overall.
One of the most interesting stories to me is when Dave Meltzer mentioned that Terry Funk was one of the first persons in wrestling to realize that AJW and Joshi wrestling was ahead in many aspects of week at that period of time and it would be the template for many future wrestlers. Funk was right and AJW exploded not only on popularity, but also in terms of in-ring work and outworking a lot of promotions that called themselves the best.
Not only should fans watch AJW, but wrestlers too. AJW should be the template of what women’s wrestling could be, and unfortunately we were never able to see an evolution to it, bit if we did, uffff oett me let you it would’ve been awesome. AJW was not only cool as hell spots, but it had some of the best storytelling at the at the time and even in some occasions eclipsing AJPW and their King’s Road. I would especially recommend checking out the story and of Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada.
Learning from the past, especially in wrestling is always good but AJW should not be ignored. Woman’s wrestling in the US would be a lot better if AJW was the template and standard they wanted to achieve and to try to evolve it.
Modern day Joshi is really good but it doesn’t hit on the same level as AJW did at their peak. It’s not about the wrestlers but it’s the fact no one has tried to evolve what AJW did. Look at Lucha Libre as an example, it has evolved and changed but and we are seeing a lot of interesting talents like Hijo Del Vikingo trying to out do himself every match, or Rey Fénix and how he defies gravity.
Even as on the presentation level AJW was peak wrestling. Just look at Akira Hokuto’s awesome entrances. She also gets extra points with me for having Oro de Ley by Luis Miguel as her theme, but that’s not here or there.
AJPW and their King’s Road gets a lot of attention and deservingly so, the pillars are just fantastic but Hokuto, Toyota, Yokota, Nakano, and more deserve more attention and to be praised and studied at AJPW and King’s Road is.
Matches on today’s wrestling are awesome and we are seeing wrestlers trying new stuff but studying AJW would benefit a lot of wrestlers, in particular women’s wrestling nowadays would be so much better if AJW was the template.
