Forever Forward Fridays

Bull Nakano VS Yumiko Hotta - AJW July 1987

JJZ: Baby cakes! Dude, I'm loving the 80s Bull Nakano. You can totally see her rawness and potential for greatness. Really reminds me of young Foley. Which might be a insulting to Bull since she started before Foley. Anyway. Super aggressive, fun, wild, scary. All words to describe this match CJD. Now I have no clue who Hotta is, but I like her a lot. I wasn't expecting anything close to what I got from her in this match. She seemed like an Arn Anderson workrate type of wrestler. Can't wait to see what you kick back over to me baybay! Happy viewing!

CJD: My knowledge of Hotta is one or two noteworthy matches with Aja Kong in the 90s, so right off the bat I am so excited to get more familiar with her. I loved the styles clash in this one. The struggle to keep shoulders off the mat. Bridges are hard, my friend! There was a rawness to this match like you said, that was a welcome change of pace from a lot of wrestling. I also have so much love for this half shaved, flop hawk look for Bull. This match isn't one to spend a lot of time overthinking or analyzing. It's a good struggle that flies by between two women blazing an awesome path in pro wrestling. And that's all you need!

Forever Forward Fridays

Chigusa Nagayo VS Bull Nakano - AJW June 1986

CJD: Once upon a time we played forward a Bull Nakano match from 1989 VS Lioness Asuka and you said it was the youngest you ever saw Bull. Well now I'm playing forward an even younger Baby Bull (the earliest I've watched from her) VS Lioness' fellow Crush Gal, Chigusa!! And while Bull is maybe a little green here, fuck if she doesn't even hesitate to go toe to toe with Chigusa. Which is a tall order of business. This match is grimey, you want holds worked with bad intentions, this one is for you. But don't you worry, they still kick it into high gear by the end. I'm no joshi historian, but I have to imagine matches like this helped put Bull on the map, even as an emerging heel to a red hot top babyface here in Chiggy. This is such a breakout performance for someone who has been wrestling for 3 years, but then again 80s joshi is full of those meteoric peaks.

JJZ: When I start thinking about what I'm going to write about our matches I usually base it around the first impression I get. And at about the six minute mark I thought this match took place in 1986. Back then most people still thought wrestling was real and if I wanted to convince someone that indeed it is I would show them this match. The grit and rawness of this match made it feel like a real fight between two women who fucking hated each other. The selling was impressive because I genuinely believe that was pain they were feeling. I feel like I need to watch this again because so much was going on that I know I didn't pick up on some shit. This match was insane CJD. And that one German Bull took was heart stopping. One of the best finishes if its kind I've ever seen. I'd need to rewatch to say for sure but I think you pulled an ace out of the deck with this one.

Forever Forward Fridays

Bull Nakano VS Shinobu Kandori - LLPW Chain Match 7/24/1994

JJZ: I honestly didn't know what to expect when I started this match. I was looking for Bull matches and when I saw this I was like, WHAT. I never recalled seeing a chain match from Japan before. I fucking love Nakano but I'm still pretty green on Kandori. The best word to describe this contest is violent. I mean Chris, this is brutal. These ladies go at each other with bad intentions. If I didn't know any better I'd think this was a legit fight. It slightly reminds me of Valentine VS Piper in that there ain't too many holds or even moves. If I was in my twenties with no kids I'd rewatch this a few times. Hope you enjoy.

CJD: It was so cool seeing Bull go from a baby monster to a legit Ace last week to this week. Her realizing her full potential right before our eyes. I have this match, I think on a Schneider comp, and I've watched it a few times before. I'm more than happy to rewatch it again as even if you include the very different Touch The Corners strap matches, I still think you can count on one hand how many great matches of this style stip ever happened. And this is one of them. These are two masterful big match wrestlers having, as you said, a grizzly violent straight up fight. The momentum shifts are abrupt, the pace is deliberate, and the blood perfectly accents the hatred. This match never drags but it never changes gears, and I like that about it. So many little great moments outside the action too, the ref getting smacked with the chain, the fight to throw in the towel. This match really has it all and I would say is mandatory viewing for anyone with a passing interest in joshi or anyone that just loves a brutal gimmick match done to perfection.

Forever Forward Fridays

Lioness Asuka VS Bull Nakano - AJW 5/14/1989

CJD: So I'm clearly doing something different with this match, closer to what you did way back with Takayama/Shibata than even your 5 minute Odyssey Jones match. This reminds me of what a lot of the Cena/Wyatt feud was trying to accomplish only more effective in 25% of the time. Established Warrior VS Young Monster and definitely a match that's building to something greater but I loved it for what it was. This was a fight for survival and an exercise in how to reconstruct expectations in pro wrestling but still deliver something satisfying. I also thought this was a nice payoff after the constant hijinks in my Yokota/Galactica match going unchecked... this is out of control but there are checks and balances.

JJZ: I haven't even started the match yet but I want more already. For fucks sake. The crowd is about to boil over. This might be the smallest I've ever seen Bull. Fuck man. I literally am getting chills just with the intros. There are so many little things that Bull does that I love. Like why did she elbow Asuka in the lower back when she couldn't get her up when everyone else just punches. Lioness is showing great heart in this match. I would love to see the rematch man. This was wild. In a lot of ways it reminded me of the Stan Hansen Terry Funk match you showed me before. I know you've shown me a lot Hansen/Funk stuff but I'm sure you know the one I'm talking about. I love this. I love you. I love wrestling.