Akira Hokuto v Shinobu Kandori (AJW, 12/6/93)
Man, I don't know. Some of the matches I'm watching throughout this little project are ones I've seen before, matches that joshi fans often talk about as classics that I may not have liked in the past, where I can go back and look at them through eyes that find the style a little more palatable at this moment in time. That goes for things like Hokuto/Kandori from Dreamslam, the Dream Rush tag, individuals like Ozaki and Kansai, etc. This one I'd never seen before though, and watching it for the first time I thought it was unbelievable. Like, this is about as close to "cinema" as I think I've ever seen in a wrestling match (excluding stuff like the Boneyard match that has all the bells and whistles of actual cinema) and the more I think about it the more it feels like one of the greatest matches I've ever seen.
The story they told might be my favourite in any match ever and I thought both women were exceptional from start to finish. The double KO punch from Dreamslam being used at the very start here might be a touch on the nose, but I'm never likely to complain about anybody punching each other dead in the face so for me it was yet another perfect opening from them. This time Kandori coming out ahead while Hokuta is left spitting teeth and blood really set the table for the rest of the match. This was all about Kandori out to even the score, to prove she's the one and only unfuckwithable presence in joshi, and she wants to make Hokuto's life a misery as she does it. Hokuto probably has more pride than sense and like at Dreamslam you wonder if Kandori will need to kill her just to keep her down. You get the feeling Hokuto would rather go out that way as well. No matter what she keeps coming, no matter how much punishment, no matter what Kandori does to her she continually finds an answer from somewhere, and as determined as Kandori is to prove she's the baddest, Hokuto is equally determined to prove that title should be hers. She's the Dangerous Queen, fer cripes! Even after that first KO punch where her lights are out, she manages to get up and take Kandori's jaw off with a spin kick, and I loved her being super aggressive and going to the gutwrench powerbombs from there. Last time she took it to the floor early on and lost six gallons of blood, so why not go for the kill early? At points it feels like Kandori is almost fucking with Hokuto and I loved all the little fake-outs early on, drawing Hokuto into that slap exchange just so she could yank her into the Fujiwara armbar. Then of course she lets her up with a wag of the finger. "Not like that. I'm not finished yet." I don't know if there was some backstory with Kandori's knee being wrapped but Hokuto is obviously smart to go after it...then Kandori just demoralises her by reversing a kneebar into a half crab and Hokuto is left scrambling to the ropes (and nobody scrambles to the ropes like Hokuto).
The longer it goes the more Hokuto withstands, and in turn the more she dishes out in response. At a certain point you need to question whether Kandori's strategy is a viable one because Hokuto clearly isn't going away, and the longer she messes around the more chance there is of Hokuto beating her again. The northern lights bomb on the floor was insane and Kandori sold it like it about collapsed her lung. At that point it looks like Kandori might've made a mistake and maybe should've tapped Hokuto with the armbar when she had the chance, but then she comes back with the top rope tiger driver and that bit about needing to kill Hokuto to keep her down seems like it might've come true. Honestly, the selling from both of them for those two bombs was easily as good as anything in your lauded All Japan classics. Kandori realising she probably needs to stop pissing about and finally going to the kneebar felt like a huge moment, particularly as I'm assuming this was one of the many points in Hokuto's career where her knee(s) were battered to hell. Up until now Kandori never tried to exploit that taped up knee, nor did she bother going back to the armbar even though it nearly ripped Hokuto's arm out back in April. It wouldn't have been as easy as "go after the arm or knee and it's a win" because you knew Hokuto would never have allowed it to BE easy, but there were clearly bullseyes to be painted and Kandori ignored all of them until then. I suppose that in itself was a victory for Hokuto, that Kandori had to exploit an injury to prove her point. Not that it would've made Hokuto feel any better considering she wound up getting her nose punched through her brain. The most emphatic uppercut you ever did see.
Incredible match, totally unique in not just all of joshi but wrestling in general. The camera shots of the AJW women in tears as Hokuto faces down the inevitable felt like it captured some real emotion and didn't come across as forced at all. She gave everything she had, went toe-to-toe with the Terminator, threw gut shot for gut shot, punch for punch, but in the end beating Kandori twice is a mountain too high for her to climb. I don't want to be that guy who's giving it all "WELL, I think the less-talked about match is BETTER than the more famous one," because honestly I'm not sure I actually believe that, but I know I was captivated by this in a way I've never been by Dreamslam, as great as that one is. Fuck me this was so good. Best thing I've watched in ages.
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