Phil Schneider Posted November 13, 2017 Report Share Posted November 13, 2017 This was a KO or submission match for the WWWA title, and merciful fuck was this a war. Kandori opens up by tackling Hotta to the floor, after they get back into the ring, they scramble and it ends up with Hotta field goal kicking Kandori right in the head. Hell of a way to open a match and it really lets you know you are watching something special. This match has the greatest guard work I have ever seen in a pro-wrestling match, Kandori is basically a distaff worked Demien Maia. There is this great section early in the match where Kandori is in rubber guard and Hotta, frustrated with her inability to pass, just rains down headbutts splitting her own head open. For the rest of the match Hotta has blood streaming down her head which totally adds to the crazed aura. Of course with these two quasi unprofessional ladies everything is thrown with reckless abandon. Hotta is just unloading KO shots with every kick, Kandori is trying to crack jaws with every slap. Finish was great, Hotta lands two big bombs, a double underhook piledriver, and a nasty liger bomb, but clearly weak from blood loss, she forgets the rules and goes for a pin. This allows Kandori to catch her from the bottom with a great tight triangle choke for the tap out. It was basically a worked version of the Chael Sonnen v. Anderson Silva finish 12 years before that fight. Such a masterful piece of violence and a Segunda Caida match through and through Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted December 11, 2017 Report Share Posted December 11, 2017 Loved this match. Just brutal as hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KB8 Posted March 14, 2018 Report Share Posted March 14, 2018 This is about as close to a joshi Ikeda/Ishikawa as you'll get, with the added wrinkle of the submission/KO only stip. It had Hotta playing crowbar Ikeda and Kandori playing tough as shoe leather Ishikawa; not quite pure sriker v pure grappler, but you knew what each woman's bread and butter was. They put across the uncooperative grittiness straight away with the rough scramble that lands them on the floor, then Hotta ratchets the violence all the way up by punting Kandori clean in the face. Many outrageous kicks to the face were thrown in this match and Hotta was responsible for basically every one of them. She also tried to break Kandori's guard by headbutting her a bunch of times and this led to her own forehead being split open. Kandori's selling was really tremendous at times, particularly when she was trying to beat the ten count after one of Hotta's kicks to the head or face or ear. She'd also yank Hotta into chokes and armbars, then reach that point where she got fed up being cracked in the face so she'd start throwing headbutts and palm thrusts in return. My favourite moment of the match might've been when she was repeatedly headbutting Hotta and her bleach blond hair wound up covered in Hotta's blood, which left her looking like Flair after he's had his face ground into a cage. Finish was pretty great as well. Hotta hits a mean high angle powerbomb, and maybe she's disoriented from the blood loss or whatever, but he tries to transition straight into a pin. Ref' tells her no, after a few seconds she comprehends, but Kandori snatches her and locks in a triangle for the stoppage. A supremely violent twelve minutes and a great find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetlag Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 Just a savage, savage fight. Hotta is certifiably insane, but her desperation selling for Kandori's submissions was on point. Of course Kandori also brings some great mugging and superstar charisma to the match. She was basically the world's best modernized Fujiwara here. Some of these kicks looked like legendary KOs in MMA fighting. I don't wanna tout all that violence too much, because this was a really well put together match. Agree about the greatness of Kandori's guard work and the build to the finish was excellent. Just an awesome slice of high end japanese pro wrestling, viscerally brutal and intelligent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup23 Posted June 9, 2019 Report Share Posted June 9, 2019 A brutal match that mixes in compelling gripping storytelling in 12 minutes. Joshi was certainly all but dead with their peak by 1998 but Kandori winning the Big Red In this manner was as satisfying closure to that era as any. ****3/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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