#106: Aja Kong, Kyoko Inoue, Sakie Hasegawa & Takako Inoue vs. Cutie Suzuki, Dynamite Kansai, Hikari Fukuoka & Mayumi Ozaki, JWP Thunder Queen Battle in Yokohama (7/31/1993).
Hello readers!
This week, we are taking a look at the Iron Man match, one of the most divisive match concepts in all of pro wrestling. Some people love it - like me - while others find it to be either a waste of time or a tough match to pull off.
Truthfully, not everyone can do this kind of match. This is an area where the audience already knows how long the match will be, so the challenge becomes how to keep them entertained and attentive for that duration? A lot of times, wrestlers will fail at this. It's not their fault. This is simply a gimmick match not suited for everyone.
However, when done properly, the Iron Man concept can be one of the most exciting and thrilling storytelling devices in the game.
Up first is a unique spin on the Iron Man match before the gimmick became famous at WrestleMania 12 in 1996. This is a 60 Minute Iron Woman First Attack Eight Person Tag. In simple terms, it's an Iron Man match, but done as as a multi person tag team match. What makes this match different is that the initial 20 minutes are split up into 5 minute intervals, where one lady from each team faces off, and in the next 5, new members switch in. Once they hit the 40 minute mark, it's a normal tag team match under Iron Man rules.
Quite simply, this is one of the most perfect matches I've ever seen. I had seen the praise for this before I watched it for the first time, and admittedly, I was skeptical. But holy fucking shit! This match works. Somehow, it doesn't break down into a massive clusterfuck. These eight women pull it off so well, that to my knowledge this particular spin on the Iron Man match hasn't been done since.
This takes place during the interpromotional Joshi wars that dominated the 90s scene in Japan. All Japan Women's, led by Aja Kong's team, battle Team JWP, led by Dynamite Kansai, for supremacy and superiority. This era made a shit ton of money in Japan, and at times, the Joshi were outselling even New Japan and All Japan. These women fucking rule for a reason.
The 90s Joshi Style. 8 Women. For 60 minutes. This should be super easy to keep up with. Each team gets their proper introductions. Aja Kong stares down Dynamite Kansai immediately. I think they have some beef! The first five minute period starts with Hikari Fukuoka against Sakie Hasegawa. They lock up, and Hasegawa gets Fukuoka into the ropes. She fights back and goes for a shotgun dropkick. Hasegawa takes control of the leg, kicking at it and dropping all of her weight on it.
Sakie gets a leg lock in on Hikari, who rolls through to escape. Sakie transitions into a half Crab submission. Both are up, and Sakie gets a spin kick in on Hikari. In a flash, Hikari catches Sakie in a pinfall and gets the first fall of the match for JWP!
Team JWP (1), Team AJW (0).
Hikari locks in a rear naked choke on Sakie, and grapevines the legs around her midsection. Shotgun dropkick connects, and she gets in a guard position. She pushes down on Sakie’s knees, and lifts her up from the mat. Sakie with a drop toe hold now. Hard kicks to the chest, and Sakie hits a nice dropkick for a 2 count. Both go for a shotgun dropkick and sort of connect. Sakie goes for a pin and Hikari kicks out. Hikari with a leg lock in on Sakie now.
Sakie kicks at Hikari to break the hold. The next five minute period is up, and now it’s Kyoko Inoue against Mayumi Ozaki. Kyoko goes for a powerbomb and it’s counter into a hurricanrana for a 2 count. Kyoko tosses Ozaki half way across the ring, then hits a dropkick. Mongolian chops to the neck follow, and Kyoko lifts Ozaki up for a torture rack. She carries her around the ring, torquing on her body. She then drops her right on her back.
Boston crab next from Kyoko and she pulls back super hard. Ozaki crawls and makes it to the ropes. Kyoko traps the legs in her legs, and lifts Ozaki up in the air, pulling on her neck in the process. Ozaki escapes and hits a nice roll up for a 2 count. Back suplex follows into another nearfall. Ozaki goes to the top rope, and Kyoko meets her there and brings her down on the mat. She goes for a Boston Crab, but Ozaki counters and slaps the shit out of her. Kyoko flies off the ropes with a back elbow.
Kyoko grabs Ozaki by the legs and swings her around with ease! The third five minute period begins, and Takako Inoue is in for AJW. Cutie Suzuki – who may have the most menacing name in pro wrestling – is in for JWP. They shake hands, and lock up. Takako slaps Cutie, who responds with a brutal looking German Suplex. Huge kick to the face, followed by a dropkick. Back suplex gets a 2 count. Cutie locks in a camel clutch to Takako. She’s up and hits a high double arm suplex, followed by a Tombstone. And then, one more Tombstone that Cutie kicks out of.
Takako slams Cutie’s face into the mat, then gets her in a chin lock. Cutie comes off the ropes with a knee to the chest. Takako catches her in a fisherman’s suplex for a 2 count. Cutie counters out of a back suplex into a roll up, which gets 2. She misses a dropkick from the top, but quickly recovers with a high German Suplex, and then with another that also gets 2. Double stomp to the face by Cutie is next. Takako counters a Dragon Suplex into a cover, and her and Cutie exchange nearfalls. Cutie quickly locks in a Dragon Sleeper, then transitions into a Guillotine choke. Time for the final five minute period, as Aja Kong and Dynamite Kansai enter the ring. Takako gets in one more nearfall on Cutie, and Kong hits a spinning back fist on Kansai, and knocks her out immediately! Holy shit.
Team AJW (1), Team JWP (1).
The score is tied, and Aja Kong is not fucking around! Hard kicks to the back follow, and a side suplex drops Kansai for a 2 count. More kicks to the chest, until Kansai brings Kong down and goes for a Boston Crab. They exchange slaps on the mat, and Kansai goes for the STF submission hold. Kong is able to crawl and get to the ropes. Kansai with kicks to the legs now, and Kong responds with a headbutt. Huge thrust shot to the face by Kong, and both women are unloading bombs on each other!
Kansai with a side headlock on Kong. She’s able to escape and lock Kansai in a neck crank. She then kicks her in the back, and run her off the ropes. Huge punch by Kansai, and she gets Kong in the Octopus Stretch. Kong brings Kansai to the ropes and tosses her on the apron. Back in the ring, Kong hits a huge piledriver for a 2 count. Kong hits one more and gets another nearfall. She follows that with a side suplex for yet another 2 count.
Kansai is back up with spinning kicks to the head. Kansai lifts Kong up for a back suplex that gets 2. All the women are back up on the apron now, as Kong takes Kansai to the corner. She places her on the top rope, and JWP comes in to pull her down. All hell breaks loose as both teams engage in a brawl all around the ring. Kong tosses Ozaki into the barricade, and Sakie tosses Kansai into the other barricade. Kong stands alone in the ring. Takako gets thrown into some chairs in the audience.
Back in the ring, Kong powerslams Kansai, then comes off the top with a back elbow that misses. Cutie tags in and goes for a crossbody, but Kong just catches her. The rest of JWP try to dropkick Kong down. Sakie with a splash to Cutie. AJW is in to attack the rest of JWP, as Kong comes down from the top with a flying back elbow onto Cutie, and that nabs AJW their second fall!
Team AJW (2), Team JWP (1).
Kong hits a suplex, and tags Kyoko back in. He taunts Cutie, preventing her from tagging out. She lifts her up for the torture rack, then throws her on her back. Now she locks in a Boston Crab. She tags Sakie back, who goes for a shotgun dropkick, but misses and hits Kyoko. Cutie tags in Hikari, and Sakie hits a spin kick to the face for a 2 count. Takako tags in, and Hikari hits a shotgun dropkick on her. Kansai is back in with roundhouse kicks to the back and chest.
Huge suplex gets a 2 count for JWP. Ozaki tags in and hits a senton from the top for a 2 count. She unloads with hard punches on the ground next. Ozaki with a nice DDT for a 2 count. She traps Takako in a Dragon Sleeper next. Hikari tags in now, and she sends Takako into the ropes, then traps her in a rear naked choke. It’s amazing how submissions were only used as a small attack instead of a finisher around this time in Japan.
Kansai tags back in, and she goes for a Dominator, but Kyoko comes in to break it up. Sakie tags in and gets her shit kicked in, followed by a piledriver by Kansai for a 2 count. Ozaki tags in, and eats a knee and a bulldog for her trouble. Kyoko tags in, and gets hit with a flying clothesline twice. Kyoko tosses her aside, and hits a nice dropkick. Kong is back in, and she kicks at Ozaki’s leg. She lifts Ozaki up and sends her chest first into the turnbuckle. Kong whips all of her teammates into Ozaki, then finishes with a splash of her own.
Kong hits a delayed suplex to Ozaki and gets a 2 count off of it when Hikari comes it to break it up. Package Piledriver to Ozaki, and Kansai breaks up the pin. Kong traps Ozaki in the Surfboard, with added pressure by locking her arm around Ozaki’s neck. Cutie comes in to break the hold, followed by Kansai and Hikari. Kong just gets up and wails Hikari out of the ring. Kyoko tags in, and lifts Ozaki up by her head and swings her around. Camel clutch locked in, and AJW take turns kicking Ozaki in the chest. Ozaki barely tags Kansai in, who unloads with kicks to Kyoko. In return, Kyoko unloads with chops and kicks of her own. Kansai with a huge clothesline, followed by a back suplex for 2. Kansai with the Sharpshooter on Kyoko! She gets to the ropes to break the hold, and Kansai kicks the shit out of her and slams her face first on the mat.
Cutie is in now, with a double stomp to the back, before going right into the Half Crab. Kyoko is quickly back up, and Cutie kicks her in the midsection. Kyoko decks her, and then tags in Sakie. Her and Kong hit a double clothesline to Cutie, followed by a nice series of double arm suplexes. Those get a 2 count, as Kyoko holds off JWP. Sakie catapults Cutie into a Kong clothesline. Takako is in now, and she goes for the Camel Clutch. Kong comes back in and kicks her in the chest. Now Takako pulls the arms behind her, and tags in Kyoko. A German Suplex is reversed, as Cutie tags in Kansai now. She kicks Kyoko in the chest, as Cutie holds her up.
Now Hikari holds Kyoko up for a Kansai kick, which gets a nearfall. Northern Lights suplex, and Kyoko gets her foot on the rope. A powerslam by Kansai, and Ozaki is back in with a splash. Kyoko barely gets to tag Sakie in, only for Ozaki to knock her down for a nearfall. Back suplex into a pin attempt gets another nearfall. Hikari is back in with a shotgun dropkick, and Kong tags in with is a house of fire with furious punches and a body tackle twice! Nasty Saito suplex pin is broken up by all of JWP.
Hikari tries to fight off Kong, who just stands there and takes it. Kong headbutts the shit out of her, and goes for a pin with one foot. Takako is back in, and she whips Hikari into the corner. Fast kicks to the midsection keep her down. Double arm suplex follows, and Hikari kicks out. Kong tags in, and she drops Hikari with a sick looking piledriver. Then, she does it again. And wouldn’t you know? She does it again. Kong drops a splash, and JWP breaks up the pin.
Kyoko tags in and avoids a moonsault from Hikari, but barely avoids a roll up attempt. Ozaki is in and she powerbombs Kyoko, and Takako breaks up the pin. The crowd is not liking AJW tonight! Another powerbomb, and this time Kong breaks up the pin. What heels! Kyoko tags in Takako, and Ozaki immediately takes her back to the JWP corner, and tags in Kansai. Huge slaps from Takako, and a series of big ones from Kansai now. Takako with a huge German Suplex gets a close 2 count. Sakie is back in, and she unloads with heavy chops to the chest. Kansai with a hard forearm, and Sakie responds with some of her own. Kansai drops Sakie with a piledriver for a 2 count.
Kyoko, at some point, got busted open. Just what this match needed – blood. Cutie tags in and hits a fisherman’s suplex for 2. She locks in a nasty Dragon Sleeper. Next, she grapevines the body of Sakie and digs her elbows into her shoulders. She drags her back to the JWP corner, and Hikari tosses her aside. Kyoko tags in and Hikari hits a nice hurricanrana. All of JWP attack Kyoko in the corner now. Hikari and Kyoko roll around the mat attempting to pin the other, until Hikari gets a nearfall on Kyoko. Ozaki tags in, and hits a scoop slam. Sakie knocks Hikari off the top rope. Kansai is in now, and she hits a powerslam. JWP all come off the top rope with double stomps, and Hikari hits a beautiful moonsault! I guess Hikari tagged back in immediately after tagging Ozaki out, but I think I missed it.
That moonsault only got a two count, despite JWP thinking it was three. The crowd is not happy about that. Kyoko comes off the middle rope with a dive onto Ozaki and Cutie. A powerslam follows, and Kyoko goes to the top rope and dives onto JWP! Sakie is in and she gets clubbed by Ozaki. She and Hikari kick Kong off the apron, and now all hell breaks loose again! Hikari dives to Kong on the outside, and Ozaki gets her shit kicked in by Sakie and Takako. Takako misses a dive to the outside onto Ozaki, and Kansai hits a suplex to Kong on the floor. Cutie pulls at the neck of Sakie. In the ring, Kyoko gets a nearfall on Ozaki. Seriously, whoever covered Joshi the 1990s should get paid more money. This is fucking insane!
Kyoko goes for a powerbomb and Ozaki catches her in a slide pin attempt. Sakie is in, and Ozaki hits a back suplex pin attempt for 2. A powerslam, and then a splash from the top that she misses. She’s up first though and hits a German Suplex for a very close 2 count. Kansai tags in and hits a nasty back suplex, followed by one more for 2. Kansai goes to lift Sakie up, and Takako just pushes her over. Hikari tags in, and hits a DDT to Sakie. She places her on the top rope now. She hits what looks like a Jackhammer, and the pin is broken up by Kong. This crowd is not giving AJW anything tonight! Hikari is up for a moonsault now, and Sakie gets her knees up to block it. A back suplex by Sakie, and then Kyoko tags in. Her powerbomb is reversed by Hikari into a pin attempt.
Ozaki comes in and kicks Kyoko down, and Kansai tags in. Hard kicks to the body of the bloody Kyoko, who comes off the middle rope with a dropkick. Cutie comes in to kick Kyoko, and Kong comes into kick Kansai. Welp, hell breaks loose again, as both teams go fucking wild. In the ring, Kyoko gets kicked right in the face. Kansai clotheslines Takako, then sends her into the corner. Kansai hits a huge Niagara Driver, as Kong is held back by Cutie and Hikari! Kansai makes the cover, and JWP has tied things up, with less than ten minutes to go!
Team JWP (2), Team AJW (2).
Kansai forearms and kicks Kyoko, as the crowd goes crazy. She goes for the Niagara Driver again, and Kong comes in and clotheslines the fuck out of her. Cutie tags in, and kicks Kyoko right in the face. Ozaki tags in, and hits a nice kick to the face. Huge sit out powerbomb gets a close 2 count. Hikari tags back in, and hits a DDT. Cutie tags in and hits a Dragon Suplex, and Takako breaks up the count. Sakie tags in and kicks Cutie into the ropes, then follows with a spinning back kick to the face. Cutie avoids the next one and brings her to the JWP corner, where Ozaki tags in and hits a fisherman’s suplex for 2.
Sleeper hold is locked in on Sakie, who drops Ozaki right on her back. Sakie tags out, and Takako is in. She and Kong double team Ozaki with a double clothesline. Double arm suplex to Ozaki, and Takako locks in a Camel Clutch, right in front of the JWP team. She tags in Kong, and she and Kyoko hit a double shoulder tackle to Ozaki. Then, Kyoko knocks down all of JWP from the apron. Kong hits two nasty Urinagis, and Cutie breaks up the pin. Kong places Ozaki on the top rope and hits a suplex to the mat below. Ozaki kicks out, as AJW holds off JWP.
Back on top, Kong drops Ozaki with a back suplex, and Cutie breaks through the AJW wall to stop the pin. Kong places her on top again, and hits a Jackhammer, and Kansai just barely breaks it up. Ozaki tries a sunset flip, and Kong falls on her for a 2 count. Kansai tags in and unloads on Kong. She sends her into the corners and hits clotheslines each time, followed by a lariat to the back of the head. Kong kicks out of that. Spinning back fist to Kansai! Sakie is in and she hits a Urinagi. Spinning kick to the head twice, and the third drops Kansai.
A fourth keeps her down, but she kicks out at the last second! Takako tags in, and she hits a back suplex into a pin for 2. Sakie is back in, and she whips Kansai into the corner, who responds with a kick to the face. Hikari is in, and she hits a German Suplex pin, and Takako breaks it up. Cutie tags in, and misses a shotgun dropkick. Kyoko tags in and hits a powerslam. She comes off the rope and misses a back elbow drop. Cutie hits a nasty Dragon Suplex, and Takako again breaks it up! One more from Cutie, and Kyoko kicks out.
Kyoko flips Cutie inside out and drops her on her back. Kong tags in and hits a German Suplex, and Kansai breaks up the pin! Kong attacks all of JWP, then tags Takako in. Back suplex to Cutie, and she kicks out! Ozaki tags in, and gets decked by Takako, who dead lifts her up into a back suplex, and Ozaki kicks out of that! She goes for it again, as AJW attacks JWP off the apron! Ozaki still kicks out! Ozaki catches Takako in a Dragon Suplex, and she gets the 3! JWP breaks the tie, and with five fucking seconds left on the clock, JWP takes the win, and the crowd absolutely explodes with elation!
Team JWP (3), Team AJW (2).
I pray to God that I never have to write about that match again. That was the single hardest match I’ve written about, and probably will write about. The action was so fast and furious, I could barely keep up. I’m surprised the only thing I missed was that Hikari tag earlier in the match.
Anyway, holy fucking shit. That really was one of the wildest and most insane wrestling matches I’ve ever seen. Without a doubt, the greatest non-standard tag team match of all time. If you ever need to know how to do an eight person tag, and have it be a clusterfuck that actually makes sense, study this match with everything you got. You’ll learn a lot. There’s a reason why people call this the magnum opus of 1990s Joshi. It’s that damn good.
JWP, on their home turf, were the underdogs from the start, yet they let AJW know immediately that they weren’t there to play around. Getting the first fall so early in the match set the tone, as did Aja Kong’s shocking quick KO of Dynamite Kansai later on. Afterwards, Kong scored the next fall, and the next near half hour was JWP fighting from underneath to tie things up. They more than earned that fall, too. What I truly love about this match is that every single person involved got to shine. No one was left behind.
On the AJW side, Kong and Kyoko Inoue were the obvious standouts, given their credentials. Takako Inoue played spoiler for most of the match, and Sakie Hasegawa was a great buffer from the main action. On Team JWP, Dynamite Kansai and Mayumi Ozaki did the heavy lifting, taking a lot of damage and dishing it out. As did Hikari Fukuoka, who sold like hell and dished out a lot of punishment. On my first watch of this match, the one who surprised me the most was Cutie Suzuki. Don’t let her odd name fool you – she was an absolute badass in this match. I wouldn’t be surprised if the women of STARDOM and Tokyo Joshi Pro take inspiration from the in ring work of Cutie.
Not one second of this 60 minute match was wasted. Everybody got their shit in, and it never slowed down. I probably have carpal tunnel from writing about this damn match. But, that’s not a negative. The action was amazing to watch, and the flow of the match was perfect. The sequences and frequent tags just worked! And when things broke down in the match, it was pure chaos.
I cannot recommend this match enough to you, the reader. Women’s wrestling is pretty awesome right now, but in 1990s Japan? These women were fucking Gods. The quality they brought to the ring every night cannot be understated. They often outworked the men of rival companies. And with a marathon like this, it’s not hard to see why.