Victory Through Guts

In the 24th edition of Victory Through Guts, Dylan Murray and Alex Richards cover two AJW shows from April and May of 1992. The first is the ever-important Wrestlemarinepiad 1992 event, a show heralded as the Best Major Wrestling Show of the Year by Dave Meltzer and the WON faithful along with a 5-Star Match between Manami Toyota and Kyoko Inoue. While the VTG Boys are of the belief that the show didn't quite live up to those standards, the show did feature things to fawn over, namely the penultimate match in the Bull Nakano vs. Aja Kong series of matches.

The following month, AJW ran Korakuen Hall and presented an arguably better card, with Manami Toyota and Kyoko Inoue battling in tag team action and delivering incredible performances. And, in the main event, the re-debut of MITA and AKIRA takes place as LCO finally arrives in AJW after a Spring excursion to Mexico. The Rudo tandem proves to be a problem for Jungle Jack (Aja Kong & Bison Kimura), with who they battle to declare the new #1 Contender for the 3WA Tag Team Championships.

All that and more on Victory Through Guts Episode 24!

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@XXIchiban (Dylan)

@LWOSPRAlexR (Alex)

Victory Through Guts returns with two months of AJW action from February and March of 1992. Starting with tour shows in both Gunma and Kanagawa respectively, we see the beginning of a Junior Tournament that features future stars like Kumiko Maekawa and Numata. We also see two Bull Nakano singles matches, with Gunma bearing witness to a massive brawl between Aja Kong and Bull, whereas Akira Hokuto got her third shot against the Boss of the World in Kanagawa. Later on in March, Saint Battle Day returns and pits Bull Nakano against Kyoko Inoue, making Nakano's unique singles performances in 1992 a popular topic of discussion amongst the VTG Boys. Further, Alex's near-hatred for Kyoko Inoue rears its ugly head, and things end with a discussion over clipped vs. raw matches, prompted by a 40+ minute bout between 1987 Gold Tag Combo (Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota) and Jungle Jack (Bison Kimura & Aja Kong). All that and more on this episode of the VTG Podcast! 

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@VTGPod

@XXIchiban (Dylan)

@LWOSPRAlexR (Alex)

After a brief hiatus, Victory Through Guts is back with Episode 22, the beginning of the 3rd season. For this episode, we provide coverage of January 1992 in Joshi wrestling, which proved to be a pivotal month for the scene as it saw the official closure of the Original JWP organization. Our esteemed co-host Alex was willing to spend four whole dollars to purchase the final show of Original JWP, and we watched it, covered it, and pontificated on the death of JWP and what it meant in the second half of the show. Before that, though, we had two AJW shows to watch on January 4th & 5th of 1992. On January 4th we saw Toshiyo Yamada and Manami Toyota had perhaps their best singles match together ever, with a finish that we suspect was later imitated to create one of the greatest matches in modern joshi wrestling. On January 5th, the tag titles took center stage as both the Japanese Tag Titles and the 3WA World Tag Team Championships were on the line in the opener and main event. For in-depth coverage of all this and more (including a few bits and gags), check out Episode 22 of Victory Through Guts!

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@XXIchiban (Dylan)

@LWOSPRAlexR (Alex)

It may be a new year, but we still have some things to finish up from 1991 in the world of Joshi Puroresu. Along with a horrendous fancam of FMW that featured Svetlana Gounderenko, Megumi Kudo, and underdog WWA Women's Champion taking on Combat Army, The Boys get a chance to see Miss A wrestle under the name Dynamite Kansai for the time in tag team action before finishing the year off with the final day of Tag League, The Best 1991. Down to just the teams of Akira Hokuto & Bull Nakano, Jungle Jack, and Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada, it was a star-studded end to a great tournament at the end of the year. Afterward, the boys give out their Year-End Awards and finally say goodbye to 1991 and hello to 1992!

Please Enjoy!

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@XXIchiban (Dylan)

@LWOSPRAlexR (Alex)

Victory Through Guts is back for its 20th episode, this time talking about one of the biggest shows of the year for All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling, Wrestlemarinepiad 1991. Headlined by a Tag Team Texas Death Cagematch featuring Bull Nakano, Monster Ripper, Bison Kimura, and Aja Kong, the show only featured three separate matches but was loaded with action throughout. Afterward, we discuss how depressing most Joshi wrestling documentaries are, touching on Gaea Girls, The Wrestlers, and finally giving an in-depth review of a French Documentary all about AJW from late 1991. With in-depth looks at the personal lives of Bull Nakano, Manami Toyota, Aja Kong, we get a rare intimate view of AJW at this time in their storied history. All that and more in the 20th edition of the VTG Pod. Please Enjoy!

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@XXIchiban (Dylan)

@LWOSPRAlexR (Alex)

In the 19th episode of Victory Through Guts we are on the road to Wrestlemarinepiad 1991 but first must tackle the first half of AJW's Tag League the Best from October 1991. While some teams are comprised of duos you would expect like Bison Kimura and Aja Kong from Jungle Jack, there's a myriad of oddball teams such as rivals Kyoko Inoue and Toshiyo Yamada vying for the tournament win. While injuries and international tours sent the tournament into limbo until December, the matches we got to see via AJW Classics Episode 50 made it clear that there was still All Gas No Breaks for the women of AJW.

In our coverage from other places in the joshi wrestling world, we discuss the FMW 2nd Anniversary Show from late September 1991. On it, we saw Reggie Bennett battle Combat Toyoda for the WWA Womens Championship, as well as Russian Judo Champion and Alex's new favorite wrestler Svetlana Goundarenko taking on Megumi Kudo in a special singles match.

Hear about all that and more on this episode of Victory Through Guts!

Follow VTG on Twitter: @VTGPod @XXIchiban (Dylan) @LWOSPRAlexR (Alex)

In the 18th edition of Victory Through Guts, Dylan and Alex discuss a match between Medusa (aka Alundra Blayze) and Devil Masami from the Original JWP. They also briefly talk about Medusa's chemistry, or lack their of, with Joshi wrestlers over the years. Afterwards, the VTG Boys dive right into AJW's The Exciting Zone, which featured Bull Nakano's 9th 3WA Title Defense against Kyoko Inoue, a 30 minute clash between Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota, and a meeting between Class of 85 members Yumiko Hotta & Akira Hokuto over the All Pacific Championship. Please Enjoy! Follow VTG on Twitter: @VTGPod @XXIchiban (Dylan) @LWOSPRAlexR (Alex)

In the long-awaited return to AJW reviews, Dylan & Alex talk about matches from July & August in the juggernaut Joshi organization. Mainly focusing on the ascension of Kyoko Inoue through the Japan Grand Prix, AJW Classics episodes 47 & 48 also highlighted Aja Kong, Bison Kimura, Mariko Yoshida's respective runs throughout the tournament as well. Akira Hokuto also had a big couple of months defending the All-Pacific Title and even turning heel to align with longtime rival Bull Nakano. All that and more in the 17th edition of Victory Through Guts. Please Enjoy! Follow VTG on Twitter: @VTGPod @XXIchiban (Dylan) @LWOSPRAlexR (Alex)

In the second annual Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Special, the VTG boys take a look at what is available of the first 6 months of FMW in 1991. Topics of discussion include not only the formation of the Combat Army and Megumi Kudo's fast rise to Stardom, but also the importance of the earlier works of wrestlers like Shark Tsuchiya, Crusher Maedomari, and Reggie Bennett, all of which were just getting their start in FMW in 1991. Please Enjoy! Follow VTG on Twitter: @VTGPod @XXIchiban (Dylan) @LWOSPRAlexR (Alex)