It’s time for another Joshi Spotlight, this one a bit of a flashback, as I take a look again at Megumi Kudo’s final run. Here, it’s a pair of Shinobu Kandori matches I missed, as they have a regular one to set up a bloody No-Ropes Barbed Wire Deathmatch shortly before Kudo hangs it up! I also found a compilation of Kudo matches from FMW & LLPW, as she faces Yasha Kurenai and does a tag bout against Rumi Kazama & Utako Hozumi!
MEGUMI KUDO (FMW) vs. SHINOBU KANDORI (LLPW):
(FMW, 12/11/1996)
* Here’s a Battle of the Aces, as Kudo takes on LLPW’s Shinobu Kandori, whose super-shooter aura used to be uncontested- this could have real Hokuto/Kandori potential given how good Kudo is at psychology. Kandori’s got blonde hair and a purple singlet on, while Kudo’s in the black one-legged get-up.
Neither wrestler budges before the bell, immediately drawing fan interest, and Kandori holds her hand out… then does the “psyche!” thing and grabs Kudo’s resulting slap and hauls her down into a cross-armbreaker immediately! Kandori keeps late-breaking in the ropes as she tears away at the arm, countering Kudo’s comeback with a Fujiwara armbar. Kudo bails for a healing potion or whatever, but Kandori just rushes out to kick her ass again- a clothesline gets two and she keeps toying with her prey, taunting after each boot to the shoulder. Kudo defiantly roars back after each of them until she hits an ax kick and spams her knee into Kandori’s face to come back. Sounds better than it looked- she didn’t really put a lot of “oomph” into it, despite taking off the kneepad halfway through. The crowd can tell too, because they’re silent until she hits a ground & pound and then two ass attacks. Kudo stunners out of a sleeper, but tries the same move and gets caught in the Swinging Sleeperhold- alas, only a single revolution before Kandori drops her and throws punches. Kandori demands a count, and Kudo barely fights up at “9”, but counters another lariat to a Bridging German, but Kandori grabs the arm at “2” and nearly shreds it, then holds her down for two.
Yet another lariat and Kudo reverses to a grounded octopus stretch- Kandori bails after an armbreaker and Kudo just dives into her with some good distance. Kandori comes back on the floor, tossing Kudo around and hitting her with a chair, but they get into dueling chairs and Kandori clotheslines the post- still to silence! Kudo hits a neck-drop Tiger Driver on the FLOOR, then Germans Kandori off the top rope (like, the middle of the rope) for two, and adds a Fisherman’s buster. A Tiger Driver in the ring gets two, but she dives… into a Fujiwara armbar! Kudo gets caught in a sleeper from the apron, but counters a hangman’s sleeper with a Super Frankensteiner for two- see, she’s always good with counters like that. That’s a double-down, and then KUDO gets a sleeper, hanging on for dear life until Kandori just rolls over to the break. Kandori powers out of the Kudo Driver, but electric chairs Kudo, who just sunset flips from there for two. Kudo charges right into a powerslam and then gets lariated in the back of the head for two, and a Folding Powerbomb gets 2.7. Kudo lands on her feet from another one, but Kandori avoids her charge and snaps on a full Sleeperhold, and it’s lights out at (14:30)- Kandori wins! In the postmatch, a calm Kandori is attacked by a furious Kudo and they have to be separated.
Man, this crowd was DEAD. They weren’t miked that badly- they popped for SOME stuff, but they were just like “…” for the whole thing, even during dueling chair spots, big submissions, moves on the floor, etc. Just an off night for them- Kudo & Kandori were putting some work in, but clearly not a Main Event Effort and I think they could tell. Like, it’s FINE and has a solid ending and most of the psychology is sound, but it’s not mind-blowing and I feel like these two have ****1/2 in them in another era.
Rating: ***1/4 (just fine; not a Main Event Effort but it’s good stuff)
NO-ROPES BARBED WIRE DEATHMATCH:
MEGUMI KUDO vs. SHINOBU KANDORI:
(FMW, March 14th 1997)
* Time for a rematch! This was set up by their brawl from before. Kandori is now wearing a DRESS SHIRT AND TIE looking like a fucking fighting game character and I am HERE for it. Like that’s some “Fatal Fury” shit right there.
They charge each other to start, both doing the “NO NO NO” sell of avoiding getting shoved into the wire- Kandori’s armbar is countered to a facelock and they do the same routine from that and Kandori’s headlock. I always love the dramatic screeching halts in these, as they put over how frightening the wire actually is. Kandori starts acting like a brute with lockups and shoving kicks, but nearly gets whipped in herself- she finally grabs a circlet of barbed wire and just overhand strikes Kudo with it until she’s weakened enough, then just leans her right into the wire and sits on her in that position. Business has died so much you can here like 3 dudes chant “Ku-do-oh!” by themselves in an otherwise quiet arena. Kandori slowly works the cut over and actually gets a bigger reaction by demanding her own cheers, backdrop suplexes Kudo… then DODGES her ass attack comeback and Kudo goes into the wire again! eeeesh THAT spot again! At least there wasn’t an explosion this time. Swinging Sleeper into a two-count! Kandori wraps a belt around her arm and barbed wire around THAT and hits a clothesline for two! But she tries a sleeper and takes a stunner, then goes chest-first into the wire, Kudo dropkicking her in the ass to make it emphatic.
Kudo, finally in command, does the “hold sharp things against their head” thing for a couple minutes, then pushes Kandori’s forehead into the wire- Kandori’s face is a MESS as she bleeds everywhere, even getting it all over her teeth. After 3-4 solid minutes of this “lazy lean” kinda thing, Kudo uses tin-snips to cut some wire and wrap it around her forearm, then clotheslines Kandori with it and even puts on a sleeper for a while, Kandori finally sliding out… and Kudo does a dive over the wire onto her! Okay, THAT was dangerous. Perfect Plex in the ring gets two, as does a Northern Lights. Kandori blocks a Tiger suplex, but ends up in a grounded octopus, but manages a headbutt to fire back, and Kudo’s clotheslined into the wire. Ligerbomb gets two, but Kudo sits on her out of another for two- Kandori snaps on a lethal anklelock that has Kudo screaming, and she seems to collapse. Kudo reverses a backdrop for two, then hits her Vertical Drop Tiger Driver for two. A bad Fisherman’s buster gets two (they’re pretty wiped) and Kudo can’t get the Kudo Driver, so settles for an ass attack knocking Kandori into the wire, and THAT lets the Kudo Driver hit. Kudo actually releases too early and Kandori flops onto her neck, so they seem to correct it by having Kudo just charge in with a clothesline for the finish at (16:25).
This ends up being more of a “lay & bleed” match, but has some good bits with better wrestlers than the usual “Shark Tsuchiya” stuff. Just a lot of time-killing, like Kudo just leaning some wire into Kandori, or Kandori into the wire, for nearly four minutes of match-time. So the match kind of relies more on the carnage and bleeding than the story, with Kudo acting as more of a heel in the second half, using the wire and cutting up Kandori almost maliciously. It’s weird seeing Kandori in this time period, as her “Super Shooter” persona seems diminished and she can no longer just tap people out with the most random holds. Given how her old style relied so much on her credibility, it’s a bit unfortunate. Some of the work was good, and they kind of “earned” the “okay we’re fading and hurt” spots later, but I’m not enamored with this one.
Rating: ***1/4 (another “pretty good but not great” match, not helped by a very quiet, bored crowd)
WWA WORLD WOMEN’S & INDEPENDENT WORLD WOMEN’S TITLES:
MEGUMI KUDO (FMW) vs. YUMIKO HOTTA (AJW):
(FMW Right & Wrong Decisive Battle- Stadium Show, May 5th 1994)
* !!!!! I had no idea this was a thing! It’s Kudo, FMW’s darling Ace, up against AJW’s elite Kick Demon, Yumiko Hotta! Kudo’s in pink & white and Hotta’s in red & black, making a good contrast. Hotta in ’94 tended to be the “Designated Jobber” in a lot of big Interpromotional Matches, a “safe” big name to job to the Aces of the other companies- Kansai, Kandori, etc. beat her in big shows- I hadn’t realized Kudo also got a taste. FMW wasn’t known for being magnanimous with jobbing out their big stars, nor was this crowd that familiar with Hotta- they were “FMW Fans”.
Kudo disses Hotta’s pre-match handshake and attacks her to start, but gets her back pasted with a kick and Hotta DEMANDS that handshake now. Hotta kicks every square inch of her body (yes, I think even there) and they’re back to stalemate- Hotta catches a cross-body in a cool way (almost falling back) but gets her leg worked, but quickly returns to brutal kicking and restholds. This is complete domination, and Kudo’s comebacks are pretty well no-sold/botched in that weird way interpromotional matches do (are they teasing “they’re not cooperating” here?)- like Kudo just runs right into Hotta then tries a “rollup” from a front scoop? Who would do that except to make it look bad on purpose?
Tree of Woe punt-kick has Kudo dying, and her big comeback has Hotta straight-up TAUNTING her, like “Come at me, bro!” and the FMW dweebs in the crowd look SUPER concerned that their idol is going to get murdered out there. Hotta actually sells an elbow flurry in that “wow, that actually stunned me” Hotta way, but she smashes Kudo right back to take over again. Kudo wimpily kicks her off the top and does a dive, then an ass attack/flying clothesline combo gets two. A flying splash lands on Hotta’s feet, but Kudo gets a rollup for two, only to get piefaced out of a charge- Rolling Kick gets two. We’re clipped as Hotta is suddenly SUPER tired and hits a bad straightjacket German and gets caught with a Super Frankensteiner (stalling halfway in a scary bit) for two. Kudo climbs, but takes the Caribbean Splash (avalanche straightjacket German) for two! Kudo rolls out of a powerbomb but eats a backfist for two. Hotta tries the powerbomb again and Kudo rolls through with the Manami Roll for the pin at (8:34 of 16:48). Yup- the old “flash pin” lucky ending.
Very ugly match, not helped by skipping whatever Kudo did to actually take over and wear Hotta down a tad. Hotta’s “good” in the first portion of matches doing the old “No- MAKE me sell!” bit, but it can look a lot like she’s burying her opponent and just stubbornly refusing to sell by stuffing them. This wasn’t helped by them noticeably screwing up a couple spots and messing timing up. And then we’re clipped to Hotta badly doing her straightjacket German and doing the “omg I’m exhausted” climb to the top into a reversal, then a slow Manami Roll gets the pin in a pretty disappointing ending.
Rating: ** (meh, whatever- hard to even rate a match with the middle cut out like this)
MEGUMI KUDO & NURSE NAKAMURA (FMW) vs. RUMI KAZAMA & UTAKO HOZUMI (LLPW):
(LLPW, Feb. 7th 1994)
* A rare FMW/LLPW match, with LLPW’s booker & mid-level star Rumi (with her hair cut short owing to the Hair vs. Hair Match against Akira Hokuto) teaming with Idol wrestler Utako against Kudo & Nurse. Kudo’s in pink/white, Nurse in red/white, Kazama in purple & pink, and Utako in a paint-splatter singlet with cut-outs.
Team LLPW runs wild on Nurse to start, but Kudo one-ups Rumi and hits restholds- Rumi quickly reverses on Nurse and throws her martial arts kicks. Perfect Plex gets two, but Nurse spits in her face and gets fired up, leading to Rumi kicking her ass outside. Funny bit as Kudo keeps trying to throw Utako places, but Utako keeps coming back and smashes her into the ring apron with this big “you will not disrespect me!” flourish. Nice to see at least one of them isn’t in “House Show Mode” tonight. Rumi casually brings in Nurse and disrespects her with tons of kicks and tries to work on a cut or something, but we don’t get any blood that I can see, even though her & Utako keep biting and picking at it. Nurse gets smashed into a table a couple times but finally comes back with a sunset flip for two, and Kudo USES THE ASS to take over.
Cross-body gets two, and Kudo catches Rumi’s roundhouse kick and SPIKES her with a backdrop suplex- Utako runs in to help Rumi but gets slapped off the top to the floor and everyone fights out there, Kudo nailing her with the Kneeling Tiger Driver! Rumi comes back in the ring and Utako is FIRED UP again, hitting a high Thesz press & rana on Nurse for two. She reverses a backdrop on Kudo and manages a Northern Lights suplex off the second rope, Kudo saving, and Utako’s so tired and beaten up she just slides off and Kudo beats the hell out of her. Flying cross-body gets two, and Rumi stops the Tiger Driver, so Kudo taunts her with Utako’s outstretched arm and hits a Bridging German- Rumi saves. Kudo’s powerbomb is reversed to a backslide, and when Nurse saves Rumi launches a huge attack on the floor like a dumbass, leaving Utako completely alone, so Kudo hits the Stretch Plum (WTF? when does she use THAT?) for the submission at (12:18 of 20:07 shown).
Decent little House Show Match here, nobody but Hozumi really putting in any effort, but damn, check HER out all “Notice Me!” and going all-out with a bunch of moves. She even had good selling, doing a proper “oh god, I’m out of gas” thing where she just flops off of Nurse when her pin is broken up and stumbles over to Rumi too slow to make the tag. She gets a lot of showcases here, including offense against Nurse (who really isn’t very good- her comebacks are so weak that they don’t get over) and then eating most of Kudo’s offense, as the amused-looking Kudo is like “LOL this is easy” and not sympathetic at all.
Rating: **1/4 (mostly a “pretty decent house show” kind of thing, with only Utako really impressing)
MEGUMI KUDO (FMW) vs. YASHA KURENAI (LLPW):
(LLPW Madwoman Fight Legend, July 14th 1994)
* Kudo’s in a pink & black one-legged singlet, while Yasha has a red version of her banded top and white pants on.
Yasha attacks before the bell, but Kudo swiftly gets the best of her and does a hangman’s choke off the apron, but Yasha gets the best of a brawl outside and kicks Kudo’s ass. They take turns throwing each other around until Yasha copies Kudo’s ass attack and works the arm & hand. She grinds & stomps the fingers and even has a rookie assist the beatdown (using an eyepoke), but Kudo gets her corner cross-body for two and weakens Yasha with a sleeper. But Yasha gets her knees up on a flying splash and smashes Kudo with her stick and uses a hangman’s choke with it, but when she does a taunt with it, Kudo roars to life and clotheslines her, then jabs at her with the stick to the gut & throat. Yasha manages a chokeslam for two but gets butterfly superplexed- Kudo hits a belly-to-belly of sorts for two, then an ass attack. Yasha grabs the ropes to avoid another, but runs into Kudo’s Kneeling Tiger Driver for the pin at (7:13 of 17:25 shown).
Rating: **1/2 (We barely get a third of this one, but it was mostly fine- trading offense, giving each other comeuppance, etc., but it was pretty clearly a lower-grade show and the effort level showed that)
TEXAS DEATH MATCH:
MEGUMI KUDO, MIWA SATO & NURSE NAKAMURA vs. SHARK TSUCHIYA, CRUSHER MAEDOMARI & TSUPPARI MACK:
(Aug. 8th 1994)
* This is shot with some REALLY low-resolution Fancam so recaps will be minor. It’s an FMW Trios match with Shark leading her squad against Kudo & her babyface partners. Everyone’s in street clothes, so it’s presumably some kind of brawl. Quebrada says it’s a Texas Death Match but it’s just a standard match from what I can see. Most interesting thing here is “Tsuppari Mack”, who I have never so much as heard of, but is all over FMW tapes as a third-tier heel in the omnipresent heel stables. Why is she never there during the Interpromotional shows?
Kudo gets beaten on then tags out, then another person does- her stuff looks REALLY bad, like almost exposing the business trying a rollup on Crusher. Weapon shots abound and a belt is used, but Crusher nails her own partner on the apron. But the heels quickly come back with a mother of a weapon shot from the apron, and a flying weapon shot gets two and some applause. Shark eats a double-backdrop suplex right onto her head- everyone keeps running in to interfere, but Kudo gets some rollups and ass attacks going on Shark, then leads her team in some double-teams, but one dropkicks another and Crusher hits a double-arm Dominator for two. The early form of the Doomsday Device hits one girl, and a Folding Powerbomb gets two- it’s saved. Kudo manages a Northern Lights-ish suplex for two but gets divebombed. Someone misses a flying knee by a country mile and gets powerbombed by Shark at (17:31).
Rating: N/A (no point in giving this one a fair rating as I can’t even tell who’s in the ring of the three faces in particular- it seems *1/2-ish, with weak offense from the rookies and no big offense from Kudo, and the heels controlling like 80% of the match with basic nonsense and powerbomb stuff)
MEGUMI KUDO vs. BAD NURSE NAKAMURA:
* Okay, this is not only a shitty fancam, but the camera is pointed DIAGONALLY, so I ain’t recapping shit, lol. Like, who Dutch Angles a fancam? Did Alfred Hitchcock sneak in his camera for this one?
Kudo strangles Bad Nurse, who is of course now a heel (you can tell because of the “Bad” in front of her name, and also Shark Tsuchiya being her second), Bad Nurse comes back, then Kudo strangles her again, but Shark nails her with a chair. Shark accidentally nails Bad Nurse, who Kudo then smokes with the chair repeatedly. Kudo hits a bunch of stuff in a row for two-counts (Bad Nurse getting the “oh, she can kick out of NL & German suplexes” push now), but the ref gets bumped (in JOSHI?) and the heels double-team Kudo with some big moves- the ref is delayed waking up and so it gets two. Everyone fights, Kudo hits the Kneeling Tiger Driver, Shark breaks up the pin, then Kudo’s almost rolled up for two. Piledriver on a weapon gets two, and a Double Spike Piledriver gets the three at (9:02)- Bad Nurse steals one.
Rating: N/A (just a mess of interference and the “Heels are Unfair” stuff like it’s 1980s AJW all over again)