She still is in that “win some/lose some” area. That and a squash loss to Aja Kong are honest to god the only singles matches by Handa I can even find on YouTube! If that’s not the indication that she’s a minor-level star that isn’t focused on, I don’t know what is. In 1994, she starts beating some minor LLPW stars (Midori, Omukai, Utako Hozumi, Mizuki Endo), and even wrestles Mima Shimoda in a pretty great match (***1/2) for the AJW Title, which she loses despite some German Suplex-based hope spots. Near as I can tell, they only defended the belts once, against Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe. They would hold the belts nearly a year (295 days), dropping them to Carol Midori & Michiko Omukai, also LLPW wrestlers, in Sept. In mid-1993, she won her only belt ever- the Japanese Tag Team Titles of rival AJW, teaming with Yasha Kurenai to defeat Sakie Hasegawa & Kaoru Ito. That September, Handa & Harley team up to lose to Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada in a pretty one-sided match. They win this match, but lose on next week’s show to Terri Powers & Bat Yoshinaga. I remember little of her in the bout, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as all I remember of Kazama here was her repeatedly botching moves because she was so much shorter than her 5’8″ opponents. She is part of a LLPW team that loses to AJW’s Las Cachorras Orientales in the early part of the Interpromotional Era, too.Īt the Dream Slam show, she wrestles in one of her best matches ever, teaming with Rumi Kazama against Etsuko Mita & Suzuka Minami- a “filler” entrant into a **** tag team match. The only time she wins a solo match according to CageMatch is against Mima Shimoda. For example, 1993 has her losing to Shinobu Kandori, Harley Saito & Eagle Sawai of LLPW, and Aja Kong of AJW. I find that she’s often in “filler” matches- either as part of a tag team match with random opponents, or as the LLPW equivalent of a Jobber To The Stars. Handa debuted for the original Joshi Women’s Pro Wrestling in 1987, splitting off with LLPW circa 1992. Which makes me wonder what on Earth was holding Miki back from becoming a bigger name! Which is kind of shocking, as I realize from some pictures that she looks almost exactly like Cutie Suzuki, who was a major star and an Idol Wrestler. Handa was mostly part of LLPW, but was a midcard star there, often getting trotted out as a “filler” wrestler on most shows I’ve seen. They also gave several counterattacking opportunities to the fast and physical Canadians that could have proven costly against more ruthless opposition.Īfter kicking off their campaign against Germany, Japan will also face Costa Rica and Spain in a difficult Group E in Qatar.Her move application was very solid, her selling was fine, and she had no issue going up for anyone’s moves- effectively the perfect wrestler to be carried, even if her own offense was pretty plain (her one big move seems to be a German Suplex, one of the most universal parts of Joshi offense). Japan created only a handful of solid chances, including a solo effort from Kubo that skidded just wide with Japan leading 1-0. Meanwhile, manager John Herdman's 41st-ranked Canadian side, who are returning to the World Cup after a 36-year absence, were missing star wide player Alphonso Davies, who was still rehabbing a hamstring strain suffered while playing for Bayern Munich. Several regular starters, including captain Maya Yoshida and attacking sparkplug Daichi Kamada, only entered as late substitutes. 24 Japan were without winger Kaoru Mitoma, whose arrival in Qatar has been delayed by illness, while the recently concussed Wataru Endo and regular midfield partner Hidemasa Morita, who has been dealing with a calf issue, remained at camp in Doha. Takuma Asano made his competitive return after nearly two months out with a knee injury, starting as lone striker in front of an attacking trio of Soma, Takumi Minamino and Takefuso Kubo. "I think it was a blow for the players, but the preparations we need to make for our next game won't change." "It's disappointing we couldn't win," Moriyasu said. The Japanese side's lackluster showing offered limited clues about team selections for the tournament, with manager Hajime Moriyasu seemingly opting to give as many players as possible a run, rather than tip his hand ahead of their Group E opener against Germany on Wednesday. Japan's suspect set-piece defense came under the spotlight on a corner 13 minutes later, with Junior Hoilett's out-swinging kick taking a touch from Atiba Hutchinson before Steven Vitoria poked home the equalizer from directly in front. Nagoya Grampus winger Yuki Soma gave the Samurai Blue the lead with his athletic effort in the eighth minute, leaping through air to volley home a ball over the top from Gaku Shibasaki. 17, 2022, ahead of the World Cup in Qatar. Japan's Yuki Soma (24) opens the scoring during the first half of a friendly match against Canada in Dubai on Nov.
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