[1993-11-09-LLPW] Shinobu Kandori & Utako Hozumi vs Bull Nakano & Takako Inoue

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Bring on the '94 yearbook so I can see the Nakano/Kandori chain match! This is a terrific tag. Nakano and Kandori are a bit of a poor man's Dynamite and Aja, but Nakano has so much charisma that she still comes across like a major star. Bull is obviously carrying things, but Kandori is keeping up. Takako and Hozumi seem to be there more to get the other two over as monsters, and it works well. The Kandori/Bull exchanges at times feel more like Tenryu/Hashimoto than Joshi. Kandori's cross armbreaker is incredibly over, which has to be at least partially due to the Hokuto match at Dreamslam. 14:38 feels like 3 minutes. Seriously.

[FLIK]

Kandori's cross armbreaker is incredibly over, which has to be at least partially due to the Hokuto match at Dreamslam

Not really. Kandori was a legit big Judo star before going into wrestling (and she'd been pro for like 7-8 years at this time) so she pretty much always had submission cred going for her in her matches.

[Kevin Ridge]

I liked the big tease for when Kandori and Nakano finally get into the ring against one another. But really enjoyed their teammates each taking shots and trying to create 2 on 1 advantages to help their partner.

[PeteF3]

Holy shit, this was incredible on every level. The build-up to Kandori vs. Bull is INSANE, and I love how as part of that they incorporate a mini-story with Kandori wanting to get Bull in the ring, and Inoue taking offense at this and kickstarting a hate-filled match-up in its own right. I've never heard of Hozumi but she's great in the plucky overmatched small-fry role, and Bull and Takako both do a fine job of giving her just enough offense to look credible while still looking dominant. Kandori continues to rule, and I love how seemingly every move done to her is just one more opening to lock on the Fujiwara armbar--and what a sick armbar it is, complete with variations and modifications as the situation warrants. Then we get some astonishing near-falls and transitions (Bull clobbering Kandori with the guillotine legdrop as she's about to clamp on the cross armbreaker). I'm not sure this shouldn't be in the running for MOTYC. I may have enjoyed this just as much as the Dreamslam tag and Hokuto vs. Kandori.

[Zenjo]

This was all about the Bull vs Kandori rivalry. Countless times I've seen this type of matchup with the two big stars on either side of a tag bout wanting to get at each other. They certainly did leave me wanting to see them face off in singles. The problem was that I wanted to be watching that instead of the tag, rather than in addition to. They didn't work in the Bull vs SK spots optimally to leave me satisfied with their interaction. Takako was above the role she had here. Hozumi was good in there against Takako but was a total jobber when facing off against Bull. Business picked up in the closing stages and it was a pretty good match overall. Just not quite what I was hoping for.

 

The Hair vs Hair main event from this show with Akira Hokuto vs Rumi Kazama was excellent. The best singles bout of Kazama's career. Having a great opponent on the form of her life always helps.

[ohtani's jacket]

#316

 

This was better than I remembered. It had a clear and simple throughline of Kandori wanting a piece of Bull and acting as though Takako was below her. That didn't sit well with the upwardly mobile Takako, who had inched her way up the card and clearly saw herself as an established wrestler. Mr. Joshi Puroresu was awesome in this. She didn't care one bit if the things she said and did upset the stars from the big promotion and her interactions with Bull were fantastic. I loved the part where Bull finally ripped into her after all the needling. Their interactions was some of the best stuff on this selection of matches (#350-301.) Bull's legdrop to save Takako from the armbar was brutal, and I thought Takako did a great job of favouring her arm before the finish. There are lead-in matches and then there are firestarters. This was as good as any of the firestarters in the WAR vs. NJPW feud, IMO. It's too bad there aren't more matches with the Bull vs. Kandori pairing.

[garretta]

As almost everyone else has said, this was an extended tease for the Bull-Shinobu rivalry. I was a bit like Zenjo in that I wanted to lose the partners and just have the singles match until Shinobu attacked Takako after the match, which gives the singles feud a concrete issue to build on.

 

You know a move is supposed to be instant death when even Bull sells it. I'm not sure even Fujiwara gets as much mileage out of the cross armbreaker as Shinobu did here. Bull sold the hold, and Takako was holding her arm as if she was trying to figure out how to reattach it. Not only that, it seemed like every wrestler on the card flooded into the ring to save her. Whether Bull can survive or counter the cross armbreaker should be far and away the main storyline in the upcoming feud.

 

Kudos to Bull for allowing Shinobu to get the best of her outside the ring as well. How often do you see her getting thrown around as Shinobu did here, especially into the chairs outside?

 

If I've seen LLPW before, I don't remember it, but after this match I definitely want to see more of it. Great job, ladies!

[soup23]

Awesome, awesome match. I loved Hozumi insulting the other team right away by fanning them in annoying fashion. Once the match starts proper, it is just a sprint of pure brutality. The Kandori and Bull segments are amazing and full of hatred. I have been relistening to my GWE pod and was surprised I had Bull at 22 thinking it might be a tad high. A match like this confirms that maybe I had her too low because she is just a monster that is directing traffic, unleashing hell and building up believably for her opponent. Kandori does her part too and every arm submission felt like life or death. I loved this match. ****1/4

[Kadaveri]

This is part of the inter-promotional war that had been going on all year now. But really this match is all about setting up the rivalry between Nakano and Kandori; it feels like the other two are only in the match to keep them apart.

 

And what a great match it is. Inoue and Kandori square off to start but Kandori just shouts at Nakano wanting a piece of her, and when Nakano doesn't come out Kandori goes to her corner and has Hozumi start the match instead. Inoue is pissed off that Kandori isn't treating her like a serious opponent and just totally demolishes Hozumi, tombstones her and throws her into Kandori's corner and shouts at her to come out and face her. Kandori gets in the ring, walks towards Inoue, slaps her away disinterestedly and starts trashing talking Bull Nakano again. That got a laugh out of me. Nakano still won't come out though so Kandori just tears apart Inoue instead, constantly giving glances at Nakano in the corner. She throws Inoue into the LLPW corner, kicks her in the head, turns around to Bull Nakano and gives her the finger and smirk haha, then tags in Hozumi.

 

Bull Nakano has done nothing but stand on the outside the whole match so far, and I can't wait to see what's gonna happen when her and Kandori face off.

 

Inoue and Hozumi do some standard Joshi wrestling for a bit and then Inoue tags in Nakano to a cheer. Hozumi throws a load of strikes at Nakano's chest which she wonderfully no sells like a beast and then hard lariats her into the ropes. And again off the ropes. Inoue + Hozumi were relatively competitive but the stage is set now that Nakano and Kandori are both way above them two. Nakano drags Hozumi upside down in the AJW, turns around and gives the finger to Kandori at the other side, then gives Hozumi a sick powerbomb and pins her but at the 2 count actually abandons the pin attempt to go lariat Kandori off the apron to the outside. The first contact between these two in the match and it gets a big crowd roar! Nakano goes back and tags in Inoue and she wrestles Hozumi for a bit more until Kandori gets tagged in. Kandori easily outwrestles Inoue and hits her with a sleeper into a powerbomb, pins her but abandons the pin at 2 to go attack Nakano on the apron in revenge for the previous attack.

 

How great is it that Nakano and Kandori both feasibly had the match won but decided against getting the 3 because they're not leaving this arena without having got to hit the other in the face. These two want to beat the hell out of each other more than they want to win the match!

 

And now Nakano is really pissed and challenges Kandori to come fight her on the outside. Kandori gladly obliges and an awesome hate-filled brawl just starts to break out but then they get separated by the ref as Nakano isn't legal and Hozumi gets involved too. Kandori gets back in the ring. What a let down!

 

Things cool down with Inoue and Hozumi in the ring for a few minutes. Nakano gets tagged in and predictably dominates Hozumi and is about to powerbomb her when Kandori runs in and trips Nakano over. Hozumi runs to her corner and tags in Kandori. The crowd roars, finally 10 minutes into the match it's Bull Nakano vs. Shinobu Kandori! They stiff the hell out of each other grabbing each other by the hair and fight in the ropes like this is a shoot (seriously, this isn't a shoot is it?) only for Hozumi to tag herself back in and the ref to pull Kandori out. Hozumi is grappling Nakano from behind but Nakano is giving Kandori death glares and seems to barely notice.

 

Kandori gets tagged back in and Nakano's too busy preparing to kill her she doesn't notice Hozumi is behind her, who grabs her foot and trips her up whereupon Kandori leaps on her and puts her in an armbar. The crowd gets loud but I'm not sure they bought this is as the finish like I nearly did, and Nakano is strong enough to drag herself to the ropes though she's selling an injury. She tags in Inoue. Go forward a minute and Kandori has got Inoue in an armbar on the floor in the middle of the ring, it looks like it's over but then out of a nowhere a flying Bull Nakano hits her with a legdrop to break the submission! Inoue pins Kandori but Hozumi makes the save at 2. Nakano tries to get rid of Hozumi and grapples with her on the outside but doesn't notice Kandori put Inoue in the armbar again! She charges to break the submission but Inoue taps a second before she makes it! Kandori wins.

 

Great excitement and very solid story telling in this match, almost everything here serves a purpose. Having watched this match the classic 27/03/94 tag is even greater.

 

****1/2