In a cruel world, some miracles still exist. Take, for example, the footage to this 1983 red belt title match between Jaguar Yokota and Devil Masami. Long thought lost to history, gone the way of so much pro wrestling’s past, the footage just randomly appeared on YouTube in rather pristine condition. From what I can tell, this is most likely the most complete copy of the match we’re likely to get. Cagematch has this listed at 24:59, which roughly lines up with the footage we have on hand, but a few cuts in the video suggest clipping that might account for some lost moments here.
Either way, we get most of what we need, and what we get rules. This is a straight up great piece of 80s championship-style joshi with all the best trappings that come with it. From a pacing standpoint, one can feel the influence of lucha libre with these long sections of struggle on the mat that play out as battles of leverage all building up towards big bursts of quicker action. Towards the finishing stretch too, the match appears to enter classic AJW shoot pin rules, where each wrestler takes turns genuinely attempting to pin the other’s shoulders to the mat in order to determine the match result. Those wonderful struggle-filled pin escape attempts that have recently made waves this Mania weekend are a good indicator of the shoot rules coming into play.
And boy, do we get some great examples in this match. There’s fantastic attempt from Masami after a burst of control that really showcases the combined fire and technique that characterizes a lot of Yokota’s best work.
Long before those come into play though, this match is already a delight. In particular, the classic babyface champion against heel challenger dynamic unfolds so richly here. Yokota’s quick burst at the bell is a thrilling babyface shine, and Masami’s so great at contrasting Yokota’s clean work with her own meaner and harder edge. To that end, they do a great job here setting up something of a classic technique vs. power battle. Yokota’s attacks are all about running the ropes, building momentum, or these real classically-minded takedowns and pinning combinations. Masami’s more about pure raw strength. She notably initiates her first real advantage in the match by winning a test of strength. There’s that great military press slam at the start, those throwdown suplexes later on, and a lot of just shitty behavior in between. It’s not quite Masami busting out a lemon to go for the eyes as she had in the past but she grabs at the hair, sends Yokota into the ringpost, or initiating a crowd brawl to gain control. There’s so many great touches Devil brings to this bout including this fabulous escape where she deadlifts Jaguar up by the hair to powerbomb her into the top rope.
It actually takes a lot longer for Masami to maintain an extended control here than one might thing. Whenever she tries for one of her dirtier tactics, Jaguar’s often quick to dish out some retaliation. At multiple points too, we see Yokota regroup on the floor, taking her time before charging back in to try and make Masami pay for her sins. She strikes this wonderful balance on the floor of never seeming cowardly but rather just having a sportsmanlike moment to recuperate before heading back into the fray. As a whole too, it creates this vibe where Masami still does feel like the challenger with a mountain to climb here. Despite being larger and meaner, we never lose sight of the fact that Devil’s playing dirty because she has too–the champion has the belt for a reason and it’s no easy thing to overtake her.
As great as it its, there’s still this overall sense of sporting decorum that just keeps it from ever breaking out into a true next level of excellence. Even within their own rivalry, this feels like the kind of baseline quality one might expect from a red belt match of the time instead of tapping into the new levels of intensity that were to come later in the decade. You’re not quite getting the raw power of Devil vs. Chigusa or even the dazzling pace of Jaguar vs. Asuka, just to name some famous counterexamples from the very same night.
What’s here instead is a great match that offers a representative glimpse of the title scene of the time. Tightly worked, struggle filled, the kind of thing that used to be standard that now feels revelatory to modern eyes. If the reception to Aja/Senka is anything to go by, there’s a hunger for this kind of pro wrestling that isn’t being met. That’s such a big part of why discoveries like this are so valuable to pro wrestling as a whole. Not only do we uncover more great work that we didn’t think was accessible anymore, but we’re forced to retrospect upon the elements of pro wrestling that made the sport so beloved. It’s a reminder that what works has always worked, and the beyond just wild innovation, timelessness is a quality worth striving for.
Even as is, probably the most important thing you could end up watching this weekend.
Rating: ****+
