Major meltdown at A To Z-Yoshida quits, Ito arrives

[frankp316]

Merry Xmas, everyone. There were major developments at the Xmas
day A To Z show at Budokan Hall in Tokyo. I'm getting this from a fan
site. This person was there and this is what happened. At the start
of the show, Mariko Yoshida came out and announced that she is
leaving A To Z effective immediately. She appears to be doing this in
support of AKINO. It doesn't seem to be clear if she is freelancing
or retiring. It seems that she will decide in the new year. Yoshida
said that though she is happy with the in ring product, she is not
happy with the way the company is being run. In other words, she's
not getting along with Hotta. Yumiko Hotta then comes to the ring
accompanied by Kaoru Ito and basically calls out Yoshida for leaving.
She says that if that's what everyone wants, she will leave too.
Yukari Kitao says she will leave with Hotta. Then Mima Shimoda says
that if the wrestlers want to stay, they should enter the ring now.
Then baby-A grabs the mike and announces that she is leaving
immediately. Once again, it is not clear if she is freelancing or
not. It appears that the others agreed to stay on the condition that
Hotta would turn the running of A To Z over to Shimoda. Hotta, Kitao
& Ito were all on the show that followed. In fact, Hotta & Ito teamed
up and after dispatching of Mirai (I think) in less then a minute,
they beat the crap out of Momoe too. It's hard to tell if this is an angle or not. I suspect that Yoshida & baby-A leaving is real and the rest of it is an angle designed to turn Hotta & Ito into major heels. Either way, this
doesn't look good for A To Z.

[Daishikaze]

Merry Xmas, everyone. There were major developments at the Xmas
day A To Z show at Budokan Hall in Tokyo. I'm getting this from a fan
site. This person was there and this is what happened. At the start
of the show, Mariko Yoshida came out and announced that she is
leaving A To Z effective immediately. She appears to be doing this in
support of AKINO. It doesn't seem to be clear if she is freelancing
or retiring. It seems that she will decide in the new year. Yoshida
said that though she is happy with the in ring product, she is not
happy with the way the company is being run. In other words, she's
not getting along with Hotta. Yumiko Hotta then comes to the ring
accompanied by Kaoru Ito and basically calls out Yoshida for leaving.
She says that if that's what everyone wants, she will leave too.
Yukari Kitao says she will leave with Hotta. Then Mima Shimoda says
that if the wrestlers want to stay, they should enter the ring now.
Then baby-A grabs the mike and announces that she is leaving
immediately. Once again, it is not clear if she is freelancing or
not. It appears that the others agreed to stay on the condition that
Hotta would turn the running of A To Z over to Shimoda. Hotta, Kitao
& Ito were all on the show that followed. In fact, Hotta & Ito teamed
up and after dispatching of Mirai (I think) in less then a minute,
they beat the crap out of Momoe too. It's hard to tell if this is an angle or not. I suspect that Yoshida & baby-A leaving is real and the rest of it is an angle designed to turn Hotta & Ito into major heels. Either way, this
doesn't look good for A To Z.

Holy Crow! that is huge news! I hope Yoshida doesn't retire, she is too good to lose

[kkeller]

This really wasn't much of a surprise once Akino left. Yoshida is married and doesn't have to wrestle. It really is a shame there is a lot of freelance talent that could be signed if someone was in a position to take advantage of the situation but I don't see anyone that can. It just sad for me personally I was really into Arsion those first two years and Yoshida was a big part of that. It's a shame to see them go out like this.

[Troika]

WOW.

I only ordered two A-Z tapes two days ago and this happens.

Sounds like a mix of shoot/work to Me, either way it didn't sound good.

[Pheonix_Chi25]

Holy Crow! that is huge news! I hope Yoshida doesn't retire, she is too good to lose

This is not good. This is seriously not good.

A To Z losing two of their most respected stars and trainers. Oh Boy, now what?

[kkeller]

I guess Mika Nishio can pick up the slack don't you? I'd love to see her train somebody.

[Troika]

What happened with AKINO?.

[frankp316]

AKINO left A To Z last month and will freelance. She is booked for JD Star's Jan. 18 Korakuen Hall show.

[Troika]

Ah I see, thanks.

Sure seems to be a lot of free lancers in Joshi, not sure if thats a good thing?.

[Ringmistress]

Wow. That IS big. Having seen some of Yoshida's early AJW and ARSION matches, she has made huge waves. It's a major shame she has to go (if this isn't an angle), but having proven her worth in ARSION and A To Z after being near dismissed as a perennial midcarder in AJW, she has nothing to be shamed of. And personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Shimoda run things. After all, she can roll with the punches with the best of them.

[frankp316]

Yoshida & baby-A leaving A To Z is real. Shimoda running A To Z is an angle. Hotta & Ogawa are still in charge. baby-A & AKINO are going to be on JD Star's Jan. 18 show and AKINO will be on the Feb. 8 Smackgirl show. I posted the following on my joshi Yahoo group so this is getting very interesting.


It was announced yesterday that freelance wrestlers Momoe Nakanishi,
Mariko Yoshida, AKINO & Michiko Ohmukai are forming a new alliance. I
guess there's power in numbers. It's not clear yet if the group has a
name or if they are planning to start their own joshi company.
Initially I would guess that central booking is the aim of these four
but this could also lead to them being the basis of the proposed New
Japan joshi fed. It's not clear how this will affect Momoe as A To Z
champ. The other three aren't welcome there. These are four of the
biggest stars in joshi so it's sure to cause a ripple effect at all
the joshi feds.

[Troika]

This could work out good or bad depending on how they act, I hear Omukai has a massive ego does anyone know if that is true?.

[Pheonix_Chi25]

I'd like to see Chono add them to the New Japan show. Just for the crowd reaction.

[Spunkwhy]

Its sad to see what happened with AtoZ.. The first few shows were freaking fun... But, it seems like Hotta's ego kinda edges out everything else. And like, the women that made AtoZ shine, like Nakanishi, AKINO and Yoshida leaving just leaves AtoZ in a bad way.