(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Bull Nakano & Aja Kong vs. Akira Hokuto & Shinobu Kandori – AJW Wrestling Queendom 1994

A few days ago my colleague JABRONIVILLE did a write-up on the 6-9-95 AJPW tag match that, to this day, has stood the test of time as the greatest tag team match to ever take place. With such high praise, readers commented on what they saw as other matches worthy of the title of ‘greatest tag match of all time’. That brings us to this AJW match here, courtesy of user PeteF3.

This has to be one of the most star-heavy tag matches of the 1990s interpromotional era. You’ve one of the few women to be honored with a WWE Hall of Fame induction, the women’s version of Big Van Vader, one of the toughest women to ever lace up a pair of boots, and an Olympic bronze medalist with an ax to grind against pro-wrestling in general, all fighting in a company notorious for pushing the envelope and revolutionizing pro-wrestling in general. Much has already been said about the in-ring quality of joshi wrestling in the 1990s, so how does this particular tag match hold up?

The Story

Here’s a quick rundown on the four women involved in this match.

Bull Nakano was the leader of AJW’s main heel stable and the spiritual successor to Dump Matsumoto. Though she wasn’t as outwardly violent as Dump, Bull was still notorious for using weapons, brawling like a savage, and having this aura of sheer menace. She’s also responsible for one of the greatest match finishes ever when she landed a diving guillotine leg drop OFF THE TOP OF A FUCKING CAGE and bounced right up seconds later. How she avoided instantaneous spine compression in that moment is beyond me; maybe she secretly prayed to some Shinto god and they answered by granting her an ass that just wouldn’t break.

Then there’s her disciple Aja Kong, a.k.a. one of the four people deserving of being on the Mount Rushmore of women’s wrestling and, going into this match, the WWWA World Single Champion. Kong is to women what Vader is to men: a genuine beast with hard-hitting offense and deceptive agility for someone that size. She has been wrestling since 1986 and hasn’t formally retired yet. She had a no nonsense in-ring style filled with big power moves, weapons shots (usually to the head), and a backfist finisher that made her opponents tremble. Both Kong and Nakano had a complicated relationship, having been junior and senior in their stable, respectively, which dissolved earlier in the decade and the two women went to war with each other. But they put their difference aside long ago to work cohesively against the two women in front of them.

First there was Shinobu Kandori, an Olympic bronze medalist in Judo who joined the Japan Women’s Wrestling promotion when that fledging promotion tried to challenge AJW’s monopoly. Kandori’s gimmick was that of an arrogant martial artist with no respect for the wrestling profession, and she carried this gimmick from JPW to LLPW, a shootstyle offshoot that started in the early 1990s when an internal schism split JPW in two. And apparently, this gimmick rubbed at least one person the wrong way.

Akira Hokuto is on many fans’ shortlist of greatest women’s wrestler of all time. She was something of a complete package: look, skill, charisma, and tenacity. She know how to work the cameras with her entrances, which usually had her come down in long kimonos and an onibaba mask while carrying a sword. She was adept in pretty much every style of wrestling, never shoehorned or limited to one style. And she was legendary for her toughness: she’s the woman who once took a second-rope Tombstone piledriver, broke her neck, and finished the match while holding her head in place with her hand.

Anyways, a year earlier almost to the day, Hokuto and Kandori had a singles match on AJW’s 25^th anniversary show, aptly named “Dream Slam I”, and it was, to put it lightly, the single greatest women’s professional wrestling match of all time. Much of the hate they brought in that match stemmed from Kandori’s gimmick which Hokuto (sold as though she) took personally. Hokuto wanted to prove that she, a pro wrestler, was better than Kandori, a fake judo wannabee. Hokuto won but at a serious cost, leaving the match looking like Ric Flair, her platinum blonde hair caked in blood.

Months later Kandori beat Hokuto in a rematch to even the odds, but before they could have their rubber match another challenge was put before them: teaming together against two of the biggest monsters women’s wrestling had ever seen.

The hostility between Hokuto and Kandori was palpable and it coated every single word that came out of their mouths. And yet here were these two bitter rivals being forced to work together against a common goal. Could they put their differences aside, or would they implode as a team and give Kong and Nakano the easiest win of their careers?

The Match

This took place on March 27, 1994. It was rated ****1/2 out of five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.

Hokuto starts walking towards Kandori but Kong sneaks up behind her and plants her with a nasty Backdrop suplex to start the match. An Irish whip from Kong sends Hokuto into a lariat from Nakano. Kong pummels Hokuto with corner lariats, stiff kicks, and Vader-style corner shots. She ragdolls Hokuto around the ring and tags Nakano, who drops her with another lariat. But this fires Hokuto up and Hokuto stiffs Nakano with slaps. Slaps turn into forearms, then to standing clotheslines as both women hit each other hard until Hokuto goes back down. Nakano tries another lariat but this time Hokuto ducks and lands a bridging German suplex for two.

The ref gets in the way of the camera shot so we see Hokuto bag Kandori by either slapping her shoulder or her face. Either way it’s not the friendliest of tags. The commentators all shout “Sugoi!” (‘amazing’) and Kandori lands a few mocking kicks to Nakano, who stiffens into that typical ‘angry stare-down’ posture. Kandori lands some head-butts but then Nakano drops her with another sick lariat to the side of the head and then plants her top-rope draping DDT. One, two, Kandori struggles but manages to kick out. We’re only like two minutes in and this has been nonstop crazy action so far.

Kong tags in and lands a single kick that may have knocked Kandori out cold. Kong dumps Kandori’s corpse ringside and demands Hokuto come in as the only woman left on her team. But Kandori starts moving so Kong tags Nakano who clearly wants to finish the judoka off. Nakano pulls Kandori in for a piledriver but Kandori wrestles out into a fujiwara armbar. Kandori goes to “tag” Hokuto but she returns fire for earlier and bitchslaps her. Those two have a short tussle as Kong and Nakano attack them both. Nakano smashes Kandori into a ringpost as Kong sends Hokuto into the stands. Kong throws Hokuto around and over the announce table, dismantles the ringside barricade, and smashes a piece of said barricade over Hokuto’s body. Then she suplexes Hokuto on THE JAPANESE TABLE which, of course, doesn’t break.

As Hokuto lies on the floor unmoving, Kandori tosses Nakano against what’s left of the commentary area. Back in the ring Kong piledrives Hokuto five times in a row but Hokuto’s some kind of demoness and keeps moving so Kong punts her. Nakano tags in and lands some kind of back suplex that drops Hokuto on her tailbone and then locks in a dragon sleeper. Hokuto resists so Nakano drops a leg across her throat for a two-count.

Nakano applies a camel clutch for a while and then goes for a powerbomb but Hokuto escapes, hits a lariat, and then follows with a Dangerous Queen Bomb out of nowhere. Then another DQ Bomb. One, two, Nakano kicks out. Kandori kicks Hokuto to tag in (lol), then kicks Nakano, DDTs her for a two-count, and applies another armbar. Nakano gets to the ropes s Kandori kicks her again but Nakano remains standing thanks to all of her padding. Nakano absorbs a few more clotheslines, fires up, and drills Kandori with her own that has so much impact it looks like one of those intentionally clumsy spots to emphasize violence over flawless technique.

Kong tags in and bitchslaps Kandori so hard Kandori goes down like she’s out cold again. Kong follows with a vertical suplex and more spine punts. She mocks Kandori, piledrives her, locks in a Boston crab, and then switches to an STF. Kandori starts crawling to the ropes but Kong pulls her back and reapplies the STF. Then, either out of impatience or boredom, Kong throws Kandori into her own corner for Hokuto to tag in. Hokuto does so but Kandori’s unhappy with this.

Kong and Hokuto have a test of strength but Kong cheats and lands a flurry of head-butts. These piss Hokuto right the hell off and she hits back with clotheslines and kicks to the face. Hokuto applies an overhead armlock but Kong trips her to escape quite quickly. The two women then trade stiff slaps and it looks like Kong has the upper hand when one big slap drops Kong hard. Hokuto follows with yet another forearm for two and then piledrives Kong through one of the ringside announce tables. Meanwhile, Kandori goes after Nakano, runs all the way up the entrance ramp with her, and drives her head into the reflective metal entrance door. This angers Nakano who hits back with a big wind-up enzui lariat.

Back in the ring Kong dominator presses Hokuto into a corner and hits a running body press into her, as does Nakano. A package piledriver gets Kong another two-count. Nakano tags in and locks in her Bull’s Poseidon submission hold. Nakano switches to a bow-and-arrow hold and as Hokuto escapes she tries a leglock. Hokuto gets a ropebreak so Nakano tries a modified Figure-4 and then locks in a sharpshooter. Nakano almost casually switches from one submission to another, unaffected by Hokuto’s blocking or resistance. But then Hokuto slaps her from a sitting position which leads to Nakano hitting an off-the-ropes facecrusher. Nakano tries that move a second time but Hokuto blocks and then stomps on Nakano’s face as Nakano hangs upside down by the apron.

Hokuto makes it through Kong’s attempts at interference and goes for a tag. This time Kandori doesn’t hit back and actually gets in somewhat peacefully. Nakano reverses a corner whip but misses a clothesline which allows Kandori to hit a strike combo. Kandori peppers Nakano with gut punches and face kicks followed by a lariat for two and a DDT for two once again. Hokuto lands a sudden kick and tries another lariat but Kandori ducks and tries another armbar, only for Nakano to rush to her corner and tag Kong.

Kong and Kandori trade forearms and both bounce off the ropes until Kandori lands a drop toehold into what looks like a shoot heel hook. Kong gets a ropebreak so Kandori tries a suplex but Kong overpowers her. Kandori lands behind Kong and tries an enzuigiri but Kong ducks and tries an Uraken. Kandori ducks that and locks in a cross armbreaker. Nakano tries to interfere with a guillotine leg drop onto a supine Kandori. But Kandori sits up to avoid the leg drop and Hokuto locks Nakano in an octopus hold to keep her in place.

Kong gets a ropebreak and throws a mean clothesline to stop Kandori’s momentum. That clothesline sends Kandori towards Hokuto who tags in and locks in an inverted cross armbreaker to capitalize on what Kandori did earlier. But this time Nakano’s leg drop connects and stops Hokuto dead in her tracks. Nakano tags in and lands a kneeling powerbomb for two followed by a sitting version of Hangman Page’s Dead Eye for another two-count. Another successful guillotine leg drop. Hokuto kicks out at 2.8. Kong tags in and lands a second-rope splash for another near-fall. She sends Hokuto across the ring and Hokuto barely has enough energy to put one foot forward. Still, she barely bounces off the ropes and walks into a powerslam but still kicks out. Kong goes for her corner waterwheel suplex. Hokuto counters with a sunset flip for two and crawls to her corner. And now Kandori enters the ring without protest to fight Kong.

But Kong doesn’t fight fair and has Nakano help her out. The two bigger women hit a combo lariat on Kandori followed by a long chain of elbow drops and leg drops. Then they hit a sandwich lariat but Kandori kicks out. Kong teases another waterwheel suplex, this time on Kandori, but Hokuto interferes. Kong dispatches her with an Uraken but this distraction allows Kandori to jump onto Kong’s back and lock in a sleeper. She locks it in tight and Kong starts fading until Nakano kicks Kandori to break it up.

Hokuto tags in but walks right into an Uraken. Kong starts spamming these and even hits Kandori with one as Kandori tries to help Hokuto tag out. Nakano tries getting rid of Kandori with a suicide plancha through the ropes but she misses. Meanwhile Kong lands the waterwheel suplex. One, two, Kandori makes the save! Kandori actually saves Hokuto! Kandori puts another sleeper on Kong. Nakano puts Kandori in a dragon sleeper and then lands a scorpion death drop.

Nakano tags in and attempts a standing moonsault block but Hokuto avoids it. Undeterred, Nakano hits clotheslines on both of her opponents and then double Irish whips both of them at the same time. Wow, that actually works. Nakano tries double lariats. Both women duck. Kandori applies an armbar while Hokuto locks in an STF. Kong breaks it up and actually manages to make the crowd boo her. Kong dumps Hokuto to the floor, tags in, and plants Kandori with a two Dangerous Backdrops. The referee counts one, two, and – Kandori kicks out. Kong tries a sleeper of her own but Kandori gets a ropebreak. She reapplies it but Kandori dropkicks her from the top rope.

Hokuto spinkicks Kong and teases a finish but Nakano holds her from the apron. Kandori puts Kong in a sleeper as Hokuto lands a top-rope somersault senton to the floor onto Nakano. Kandori directs traffic and is now actively working with Hokuto. Hokuto plants Kong with a Northern Lights Bomb. One, two, Nakano breaks it up. Kandori drags Nakano into another corner and holds her in place as Hokuto lands a second NLB for a 2.9-count. Hokuto tries a third. Kong counters with a nasty German for a near-fall of her own. Nakano escapes Kandori and holds her in place for Kong. But Kandori ducks Kong’s Uraken and it hits Nakano instead. Hokuto capitalizes with Witchcraft/her own take on a Dangerous Backdrop. Then Hokuto drills Kong with a third NLB. One, two, and three! There’s the match!

Winners after 35:13: Akira Hokuto & Shinobu Kandori

Post-match, a nearly catatonic Hokuto offers a hand to Kandori and Kandori…smacks her hand. It’s not quite a handshake but it’s enough of a show of respect to actually mean something.

Review

That match was outstanding. I can see why some people call it one of the best tag matches ever, if not the best. That had to be the best execution of the ‘tag partners who hate each other but eventually work together for a common goal’ storyline I’ve ever seen. Even if the match was slow at times and had inconsistent selling of moves, it made up for these drawbacks with an airtight, exciting, and compelling match-long narrative. They pulled the audience in and kept them captivated for the entire match. They told their story brilliantly and with enough clarity to overcome language barrier and any perceived lack of knowledge of the people involved. So even though this match featured four people that might not be that well known, they still put on an entertaining match that more than made the time investment worth it.

Each woman had her own strength: Hokuto was the company’s top singles star, Kandori was a legitimate judo superstar with genuine sports credentials, and both Kong and Nakano were physically bigger and hit harder. In other words, the strengths each woman had made this into a genuine battle of equals. This, coupled with the fact that Hokuto and Kandori started the match hostile and physical with each other, made it next to impossible to turn away or skip ahead by even five seconds. Even though it went over thirty-five minutes and featured plenty of repetition, the match still had that edge-of-your-seat quality to it because the dynamic between these four women made every interaction nail-biting and exciting.

While the action was largely chaotic and rudderless, that lack of structure worked to the match’s benefit. The match felt tense with each interaction being next to impossible to predict. The three wrestlers in the match threw everything they had at each other: high-angle suplexes, piledrivers, stiff shots to the head, and when outside the ring, some of the most vicious weapons shots ever seen. Aja Kong in particular was exceptionally brutal: only she could get away with ripping off a piece of the metal barricade and throwing it at Hokuto.

As for Kandori, she stuck to what she knew best which was judo takedowns, martial arts strikes, and submission holds. But this didn’t limit or pigeonhole her; if anything it added to the match since she had much more credibility than the others when doing these moves. So even if they looked basic or boring she packed enough power and legitimacy behind them to make them compelling for the sake of the story.

But while the wrestling action was typical of 1990s joshi – full of high-impact bombs, inconsistent selling of moves, inconsistent officiating, and a lack of adherence to tag team rules – it was the story that pushed this match forward and overshadowed these drawbacks. Kong and Nakano were monstrous forces as individuals, but when paired together they were one of the most unstoppable forces in the history of women’s wrestling. And they worked together as a cohesive unit while Hokuto and Kandori hated each other. Both Hokuto and Kandori might as well have been facing Kong and Nakano in handicap situations, and in some cases that was the case as Kong and Nakano hit tandem moves on one woman or the other.

Given how unstoppable their challengers were, Hokuto and Kandori were forced by their circumstances to work together. But this wasn’t one of those cartoonish immediate team-ups; it was a gradual cooperation that was built to slowly and paid off with an exciting finish. They started off as individuals who couldn’t so much as tag each other without exuding malice, yet by the end they were helping each other out and cooperating with each other. Not only did this dynamic have its own rich story but it also put over their opponents: when Hokuto and Kandori wrestled asindividuals they couldn’t make any progress; it was only when they started wrestling as a team that they were able to overcome the odds and win.

Final Rating: ****3/4

The only reason I’m not going the full five here is because I know there are some stylistic attributes of 1990s joshi that were at times hard to ignore here and might be off-putting to first-time viewers. If you’re someone who is a stickler for officiating, want rules to be followed to the letter, don’t like repetition in matches, don’t like matches going long, and don’t like senseless action that meanders at times, then you might find something to point out here that might make it harder to enjoy this style of wrestling. Personally I enjoyed it because I’ve seen these women before and I know what comes with the territory. But I know some people unfamiliar with these women might see this match and wonder what all the fuss is about.

And to that I say that it’s the storytelling which transcends language barriers. Even with some repetitive and inconsequential wrestling moves the story between these four women was exceptional. It was an example of substance over style: sure there were submission holds that weren’t sold and piledrivers that had no lasting impact, but what really mattered here was the tension that these four women managed to build among themselves that led to an exciting crescendo of a finish. Casual viewers or those outside of the IWC bubble might stumble upon this match and not know a thing about any of the four people involved, but after watching it it’s fair to say most would definitely find something to enjoy here.

Thanks for reading.