This week's edition of #JosheSaturdays features a look at LLPW-X, or Ladies Legend Pro Wrestling- X. 

Entire LLPW roster out to start - YouTube ©

Ignoring the lengthy name, the promotion is the only one still standing past the boom period in the 1990s. The promotion came about due to a brand split, no really, I'm serious. Japanese Women Pro-Wrestling split into two promotions, with the "shooters" going with Shinobu Kandori to LLPW and the "entertainers" going with the likes of Dynamite Kansai and Mayumi Ozaki to form JWP Project, renamed JWP Joshi Puroresu. The company had ongoing conflicts due to internal politics - formed in 1986 as the rival to All Japan Women's Pro, which was currently experiencing a thunderous run with the Crush Gals. AJW had strict rules that forbid the women on their roster from drinking, smoking, and entertaining the opposite sex and also forced everyone to retire at 25 years of age. Japanese Women's Pro was able to counter those rules and become the company's competition - one of their biggest stars and one-half of the "Beauty Pair," Jackie Sato forged a relationship with Nancy Kumi, of the "Golden Pair" and Rumi Kazama to form the new company. The formation brought about Sato ending her retirement and working the debut show in August of 1986 against Shinobu Kandori. Sato, like many of her peers, was forced into early retirement due to the rule in place, and as a result, she did want a "mandatory" policy for the wrestlers and opted for their decision to retire on their terms.

So the brand split - there was "beef" between good ol' Sato and Kandori. To make a long story short, they had two clashes in July of 1987- Sato had struck Kandori in her already injured eye in the previous encounter, causing their latter to turn into a "shoot." The incident led to Jackie retiring for a second time, and by October of that year, Kandori was a free agent. Kandori had ridden into the world of professional wrestling, banking on her background in judo - Kandori had won the bronze medal in the November 1984 World Judo Championships in Austria. She attempted to use her connections with Chigusa Nagayo to join AJW after cleaning Sato's palette, but contractually she could not. 

Japanese Women's Pro split into two in January of 1992, with LLPW-X and JWP Joshi going forward as rivals to the old guard, AJW, but also came together on several occasions for inter-promotional events that brought to life "dream matches" that could only be seen by attending these events or awaiting a VHS release. There were some differences between the products - "shooters" for those from previous backgrounds in mixed martial arts followed behind co-owner, Kandori and president, Rumi Kazama to LLPW-X, which held a smaller roster in comparison to any of the companies. JWP Joshi managed to be seen as a close second behind AJW. However, they were unable to unseat them as the top promotion despite having a roster that consisted of Dynamite Kansai, Cutie Suzuki, and so many others. 

LLPW - YouTube ©

Today's event takes place inside Korakuen Hall, pulling in at least twelve hundred in attendance. We begin the show with the entire roster out in their LLPW-X gear and white t's because gang, gang. Yasha Kurenai is the only one wearing sunglasses - never change. 

GAMI, working under her full name, Mikiko Futagami at the time, kicks off the show by taking on Kandori in the opener - a couple of slaps to Kandori, and it's broken down immediately. The referee tried to separate the two but realized that Kandori was who he would have to fight and backed off. If there's anything from this matchup to take away, it's more appreciation for Mikiko Futagami's earlier work as a Serious Jones in the ring before the comedic stuff years later.

Mizuki Endo (zebra print) takes on Michiko Omukai (turquoise) next - please refrain from turning your audio up too loud because Omukai is screaming throughout the entirety. 

Omukai went through the training dojo at AJW to begin her career in 1991. Her official in-ring debut got delayed due to multiple injuries that year. She was scheduled to start again in 1992 but was again out with injuries. She tried to debut for a third time - working for LLPW in 1993. Omukai eventually left the promotion and joined ARSION as part of the debuting roster in 1998. Before the jump, she and Carol Midori captured the AJW Tag Team Championship from Yasha Kurenai and Miki Handa, unseating them in their second defense in the main event of an LLPW-X show in September 1994. 

Mizuki Endo might best be recognized by her other moniker, "Eiger" (Aiger) whom she's wrestled under for several years. Trained by the staff of the promotion, Endo debuted in 1991 and had a career that spanned three decades, retiring last September. While with LLPW, she won the Six Man Tag Team Titles with Keiko Aono and Reiko Amano and the Tag Team Titles on two occasions with Sayuri Okino - their second reign is the longest in the title's lineage at 555 days. The "Eiger" character became her thing at some point in her career in 2003 - it's a mysterious creature with unknown everything, even age, believed to be six years old. Despite that, Eiger is a former Triangle Ribbon Champion, which she won in February of 2012, beating then-titleholder Miyako Matsumoto and Neko Nitta in a short matchup. 

Miki Handa vs Carol Midori - YouTube ©

Miki Handa (floral pattern) battles Carol Midori (pink) in the next matchup, with Rumi Kazama and Harley Saito in the semi-main event of the show. 

Handa and Midori are babies of the JWP Dojo, debuting in 1989 and 1991, respectively. Though they ended up in LLPW, they also experienced success elsewhere. Handa made a couple of appearances for WCW in 1991- she appeared on WrestleWar '91 as the tag team partner to Dynamite Kansai (Miss A) to take on Itsuki Yamazaki and Mami Kitamura. Midori competed in LPWA's Japanese Title tournament in 1992, where she lost to Eagle Sawai in the first round. Handa would also appear for LPWA, short for Ladies Pro Wrestling Association (owned by Tor Berg), here in the States that year. The promotion began a working relationship with LLPW and brought in several competitors for their tapings - Sawai and Harley Saito are the most notable. Miki Handa would wrap things up in 1995, only wrestling for four years and capturing one championship her entire career - winning the AJW Tag Team Titles with Yasha Kurenai in December of 1993. Carol Midori would finish her career in 2002 after winning the Six Man Tag Team Titles on three occasions and becoming LLPW Champion twice during her tenure. 

Harley Saito is another one of my favorites that never gets a mention. Perhaps it's possible that Saito's style was too prevalent during that era and was unable to stand out amongst her peers.

Raised under the tutelage of Nancy Kumi, she graduated from the JWP Dojo in the summer of 1986. Saito dubbed her first stage name after Halley's Comet before rebranding - her first big booking came in 1987 in Osaka on a show for New Japan. She competed against Dynamite Kansai in a losing effort in front of 13, 850 in attendance. A stateside excursion in 1992 would see Saito compete in the aforementioned LPWA Japanese Title tournament and win the whole thing by beating Denise Storm in the finals of the promotion's only pay-per-view. 

The championship marked Saito's second singles win of her career - it was also her first belt overseas and it was deactivated upon the promotion's closure in the same year. Saito's eventual return to Japan would follow the defection to LLPW - she made it to the semi-finals round of AJW's Japan Grand Prix in 1993, where she lost to Yumiko Hotta, who would then go on to face Akira Hokuto in the tournament final. Saito began working under a mask as "Karula" and won the LLPW Championship for the first time in November of 1995, besting Eagle Sawai. Sawai would regain the belt the following October before dropping it to Kandori. Saito would hold the belt once more - she ended the ongoing 683-day reign of Kandori, which was the longest in the title's lineage at the time. She remained closely affiliated with the promotion through to her retirement in 2012 while working for ARSION, OZ Academy, in addition to other promotions. 

Rumi Kazama's hair is grown out - YouTube ©

Rumi Kazama is best known for her matchup against Akira Hokuto where she lost out on taking the All-Pacific Championship home - 1993 is considered the best of Hokuto's work, and her ongoing squabbles with LLPW, which began with her infamous run-in with Shinobu Kandori in April is apart of that year's legendary run. Kazama, as seen here, is sporting a shorter look after losing her lengthy locks in a hair vs hair match to Hokuto. 

Coming from a background in boxing, Kazama's foray into professional wrestling came with success in singles and tag team competitions. Holding the Six Man Titles on three different occasions and usurping Kandori's record as the longest titleholder in the LLPW belt's history - holding on to that sucker for two years, over 700 days in total. Kazama also holds the record for the shortest reign as AJW Champion, as she relinquished the belt immediately after beating Miho Wakizawa in 2001. Due to the ongoing financial issues with All Japan Women's Pro around that time, eventually losing their television deal, there's no official reason for Kazama's decision. 

It's simply one of the "things" that occurred during Zenjo's demise and nothing more. 

The reality behind this matchup is the hardest - both women are no longer physically here. Saito had endured multiple health problems in her later years - she was diagnosed with uterine fibroids in 2010 and ended up taking two years off to recover, returning for her retirement match in December 2012. Another diagnosis would come four years later, with esophageal cancer and passing that same year. Rumi Kazama would cease duties as president of LLPW in 2002 and turn the reigns over to Kandori before retiring the following year. 

Kazama made sporadic appearances throughout the years even coming out of retirement in 2006 WAR's farewell event and popped up in DDT in 2012. Her partnership with Kandori continued outside of Joshi - she was the secretary to "Mr. Joshi Puroresu" during her campaign to join the House of Councillors in 2006. The exact cause of Kazama's death in 2021 is still unknown and was discovered via a welfare check from a friend, where she found her unconscious in her home. In the weeks prior, Kazama had complained about having severe pain due to endometriosis via her Twitter. 

Endometriosis comes with a multitude of symptoms that can mimic other diagnoses such as a UTI (urinary tract infection) as it causes pain during urination, Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). It has led to misdiagnoses by doctors - the disease can start between your 20's and 30's, but in most cases, many women have the disease for several years and suffer through the symptoms without proper information. Abnormal pain in the lower abdomen, pelvic area, and lower back that's borderline unbearable to walk, stand, or simply sit, are a few things that check off the boxes for early detection. It can also cause anemia, and lead to depression - more information is available here. To this day, there has not been confirmation on Kazama's symptoms and if anything led to her untimely death. 

The show closes out with Eagle Sawai (black and multi-colors), Jen Yukari (red and green), and Yamashita (blue) besting the team of Michiko Nagashima (white pants), Noriyo Tateno (black and purple), and Yasha Kurenai (blue pants). 

Yasha Kurenai confronting Sawai - YouTube ©

Eagle Sawai deserves a deeper dive in regards to her career - a fiercely talented woman that could rival Kyoko Inoue in the ring attire department. Sawai is quite decorated as a singles star and as a tag team partner. The playing field in Japan at the time featured more than two handfuls of women who resembled Sawai in stature. Bull Nakano, gaijin Reggie Bennett, Aja Kong, and Inoue are some of the few that come to mind - the "big" and opposing role was already filled in other promotions and despite Sawai working for most of them, she didn't quite catch her footing. Everyone in this matchup deserves a deeper look, especially Nori-chan - one-half of the inaugural WWF Women's Tag Team Champions with Itsuki Yamazaki, as the infamous, "Jumping Bomb Angels." 

-@SeiyaMyName on Twitter

-Information gathered from but not limited to Cagematch, YouTube, JoshiCity, ProwrestlingDataBase, PWInsider