Retirements...

[Bozo Yoroshiku]

Pheonix_Chi25 and Psikyo926 asked to get another thread started, so here it is:

On another board I frequent, the topic of retirements came up. With all the past retirements in the last year or so (Momoe, Tamada, Fujita, Baby M, Chigusa, Lioness, Sakura, MARU, Saitou, Akiyama, Ofune, Noumi, Sugar Sato), the untimely death of Mirai, the blackballing of Emi Tojyo, and the future retirements of Maekawa, Watanabe, The Bloody, and Fang Suzuki the roster of joshi is looking bleak with no one being trained to take their places.

So 2 questions:

1) despite the glut of recent retirements, who do you think is past time for theirs (ie. who do you think should retire next)?

2) without a new crop of youngsters to replace those who have already left, we have to keep a core group of veterans. Who do you hope holds off retirement for a good number of years?

For me the answer to (1) is, first and foremost, Kyoko Inoue. Dump, Devil, and Hotta should be on the list, too. Time for all 4 to go. And add Mita to the list, if only for her bad knees.

As for (2), I think Yoshida, Toyota, Hamada, Ozaki, Uematsu, Yabushita, Kana, Tamura, Hyuga, and (my off-the-wall choice) Kayoko Haruyama should put off retirement for a few more years at least (Kana, Yabushita and Haruyama should be years away anyways).

Anyone else's picks?

[Psikyo926]

Thank you Boz for making another thread. You may have just saved this board. Okay anyways, to the topic.

1) First off, I agree that Devil should retire already. I can understand loving your job, but c'mon already. Enough is enough. Don't get me wrong, I loved Devil's work back in 80's and early 90's (she looked good wrestling, and everything else, but thats beside the point ). Personally, my fave of hers had to be when she and Jag were feuding with the Crush Girls. That was GREAT STUFF! Her matches dont have as much....whats the word...flair to them anymore. She was a great worker and she should retire satisfied because she contributed alot for Joshi Puro itself. Thats how I feel anyways.

My friend thinks that Manami should give it up too, but I think he's crazy. He went to a show awhile back a saw Toyota at the show (forgot her opponent....I think it was Noumi though.) and he said that she's becoming "stagnant". I dont see how this is, but ah well....A lot of joshi fans would be devastated when Manami annouces her retirement, imo.

Now for the people who should stay...two words. Mariko Yoshida. Yoshida's stuff is DA BOMB lol. Even though pretty much all of her matches are good, I prefer her ARSION stuff. Dunno why, but it just appeals to me more.

Oh and another thing, yo Boz i didnt know you post at the SC forums. I post there but I havent lately becuase of exams.

[Bozo Yoroshiku]

My friend thinks that Manami should give it up too, but I think he's crazy.

Second that. Sure, Toyota's not doing the same stuff she was 15 years ago, but she's a more consistent worker these days, putting in solid performances rather than focussing on the flashy. She's still got a few more years left in her, barring injury.

The last time I saw her at a show, she was in with Kyoko, Dump, and SASORI, so there's only so much you can do with what you're given to work with.

Now for the people who should stay...two words. Mariko Yoshida.

I completely agree, which is why I was so upset to see her wasted in an opening match with Cherry at the last M's Style show.

i didnt know you post at the SC forums. I post there but I havent lately becuase of exams.

I just found the place not long before I left for Japan. Wish I had read the archives further back, so I wouldn't have been blind-sided by Mirai's death... didn't actually find out about it until Tamada told me at her Christmas Eve party.

[crowesharmony]

Yes it will be a sad day when Manami Toyota retires!! How is her current health? & Ozakis Health?
You mentioned Mita's knees, how are they?
I recently heard Shimoda is back, but only big shows? How is her health?
Emi Tojo, Ive never heard of her till I read this, Is she a proper wrestler? or a porn star acting as a wrestler? She shouldn't have done it!!
Best Wishes Pete

[Bozo Yoroshiku]

Toyota's okay health-wise, and since she doesn't go for the flashy stuff anymore, chances of her getting injured hinges on whom she is wrestling at the time.

Mita is just sad... I cringe when I see her in the ring nowadays. She hobbles around trying to work, but she's extremely limited in what she can do now.

Shimoda came back and worked fulltime for AtoZ, but now that they have gone pretty much under, joining with Flash 7/Dreamcatcher and J'd Star (forming KO Productions), Shimoda's dropped off the face of the joshi scene.

Ozaki's still putting in solid work, and her Oz Academy shows are usually pretty good cards. And with Yoshida's Ibuki shows for the rookies, I see some promise for the rookies they have, but there are not enough youngsters being trained in the wings, despite the open call auditions put out by M's Style, J'd, and Sendai Girls in the past few months. If Yoshida would put out a call and run Ibuki like an early GAEA, training a gaggle of rookies, there will be plenty of new girls to replace the old guard when they finally decide to hang up their boots.

As for Emi, she was part of J'd Star's continued failure with the whole Athtress idea (Emi is not and was not a wrestler, so the whole AV thing, to me, is a moot point on her blackballing). The wrestlers of J'd were good (The Bloody, KAZUKI, Yabushita, Ranmaru, plus Sachie Abe when she was with the group) and stopped J'd from being an embarrassment, but the continued focus on the whole Athtress idea is getting hard to ignore now that The Bloody is retired and Abe/KAZUKI/Yabushita have moved on. Ohka is the only Athtress left from the class of 2001, and she's still not very good. Compared to her, the other Athtresses are blackholes of suckage.


--boz

[Psikyo926]

I just found the place not long before I left for Japan. Wish I had read the archives further back, so I wouldn't have been blind-sided by Mirai's death... didn't actually find out about it until Tamada told me at her Christmas Eve party.

You went to Rie's Christmas party? Anyways, when did J'd Star start training athtresses? Are they still training them? Have they got it in their minds that fans actually want a WRESTLER? I have seen some of the J'd Star shows, and I must say, that I am really disappointed. The matches have all become fluff now. I sure hope OZ Academy starts getting more rookies, because if this athtress "trend" begins to grow, I'm afraid that Joshi Puro would be compared to...dare I say it...the WWE's "women's division"! Now dont get me wrong, I have nothing against the womens division or WWE for that matter, but think about it. If you had to bet your money on who'd win, would you pick Stacy Keibler or Mariko Yoshida?

[Bozo Yoroshiku]

You went to Rie's Christmas party?

Yeah, and guess who else was there? My favourite person. Ohmukai. She was actually pretty cool during the evening, and I thought maybe I judged her too harshly the last time I saw her. Then she brought out her t-shirts, lighters, and other merchandise and said "buy my stuff". I decided my last impression was right after all.

Anyways, when did J'd Star start training athtresses? Are they still training them? Have they got it in their minds that fans actually want a WRESTLER?

They've been doing the athtress idea from the start, and because they don't last very long, they are constantly having to train new ones, only to have them leave and the cycle starts again. I'm surprised Ohka is still there. As for fans wanting wrestlers... when J'd was going broke, they let the wrestlers go and kept the athtresses to save money.

I have nothing against the womens division or WWE for that matter, but think about it. If you had to bet your money on who'd win, would you pick Stacy Keibler or Mariko Yoshida?

I have LOTS against the women's division. It's a lot like J'd, they hire strippers and playboy models and train them to be mediocre-at-best wrestlers rather than hire good wrestlers and train them to be GREAT. Fire Molly and Gail, and put Ivory, Melina and Jillian Hall in non-wrestling roles, but give ring time to the Sables, Torries, Michelles, and the rest of the DD bimbos? They made a good move in Miki James, but how long will that last? They'll give her the belt, swap it off her quickly, then she'll be gone, too. At least Trish and Victoria have shown a desire to improve their work, unlike Lita who is still just awful.

As for your last question: I would pay $1000 straight up, without batting an eye, to see Keibler in the same ring as Yabushita for an L-1 shoot match. Gimme a hell yeah!


--boz

[Psikyo926]

I can understand saving money but c'mon. Maybe I'm too used to the older promotions (AJW, ARSION, GAEA, etc and their matches that, when I see the "new stuff" I just think....bleh...thats it??? 'Tis a shame how the joshi business is going. I really hope it comes out of the rut its in, for the fans sake, and the promotions sake.

The way Ohmukai was acting is just sad. I feel bad for her fans. They must feel as though they have been let down because, she's become "money hungry" to the highest degree.

[Bozo Yoroshiku]

Ibuki (and hopefully Sendai Girls) is doing it right, with the rookies. And Oz Academy always has good shows. It's too bad the comedy matches dominate NEO, and the egos dominate the other orgs (Hotta didn't win the recent tourney, but didn't job to anyone either)

I'm becoming very disillusioned with the current state of joshi. I've followed it almost exclusively since 98, just before the 4-way NJ-AJ-ZeroOne-Noah split, and I'm thinking it's time to go back and give the guy's another view. At least their main events and title matches blow the socks off anything joshi's put forth in a long time.

And screw Ohmukai... I'll support the Toyotas, Yoshidas, Kuriharas, Uematsus, Yoneyamas, et al. Their smiles light up when they see fans, and don't treat me like a walking wallet. Such kindness and genuine fan-friendliness only encourages me to spend my money on their merchandise. They know from where their bread is buttered, and treat us right. The egos can kiss my grits.


--boz