Bull Nakano
Aug 23, 2019 23:08:46 GMT -5
Post by elliott on Aug 23, 2019 23:08:46 GMT -5
I was going to write about how I felt Bull Nakano has become severely underrated and that there should be a rehab effort made. Then I looked at the GWE results and saw that she finished 61st overall right in between Volk Han & Kiyoshi Tamura and in terms of Joshi she was ranked behind only Aja Kong & Akira Hokuto. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by these results and don't think either is out of line.
Bull had a really great career playing a role in the two hottest eras in Joshi history and bridging the gap between them as the top star & worker. Bull stands out in the world of Joshi not just because of her look, which is one of the best in wrestling history, but because her selling and ability to work high end slow paced matches in addition to the more traditional fast paced Joshi style. She was also one of the more versatile wrestlers of her era excelling in crazy out of control brawls, traditional title matches, big epic spectacles and smaller detail oriented matches with more nuance. She didn't just have "great matches" in various styles, she had some top tier all time great level matches. It is also worth mentioning that her guillotine leg drop & somersault guillotine leg drop are two of the definitive "holy shit!" finishers of her generation.
In spite of her successful career and a clear top 100 GWE candidate, I think Bull could have had an even better career in terms of production of high end output. We don't have nearly as complete a picture of 80s AJW as we do the 90s, but Bull has some terrific singles matches as early as her 1983 debut year and the 10/10/85 Dump & Bull vs Crush Gals match is one of the all time great tag matches. But she was younger and never more than Dump's 2nd before Dump's retirement. She didn't have the opportunity to to have competitive matches with the best workers of 80s AJW like Chigusa, Jaguar, or Devil who were some of the best wrestlers of the decade. So while she got to work with all of them, she wasn't having long 20+ minute competitive matches with them.
Bull's run as the top star of Joshi wrestling was full of great matches with familiar wrestlers. Aja Kong, Akira Hokuto, Manami Toyota, and Kyoko Inoue are all recognizable names and it would be no surprise to see them in great matches. But during Bull's run as the top star, none of the future stars of AJW were finished products. Hokuto had a good reputation in the late 80s but was injury prone and had yet to become the Dangerous Queen. Toyota didn't get best in the world talk until 1992, which was Bull's passing the torch to Aja year. Aja was not considered to be even an average wrestler at the start of the Bull feud. She had the look but not the ring work. Bull had classics with her from the start and helped her grow into the Aja we know & love.
When Aja took the belt from Bull after almost 3 years at DreamRush 92, as was tradition with former champions, AJW began to phase Bull out so Aja & the next generation could officially become the centerpiece of the promotion. Just in time for the Joshi interpromotion era. She would still get the occasional big match opportunity and would definitely deliver, specifically the 93 Masami match, Queendom 94 & other 94 matches against Kyoko & Kandori. She even managed to carry Alundra Blayze to good matches. But she didn't really participate much in the interpromotional era. There's no big Bull vs Kansai match. We never got to see Mayumi Ozaki try and fight even with BUll. Nor did she get get to work singles matches with peak Hokuto, Hotta, Toyota, Yamada, or even peak Aja. She did get to work with fully formed peak Kyoko & had a great match with her. So its not like she had slowed down as a wrestler, she just didn't get the opportunities. Its kind of amazing. At one time she was the biggest women's wrestling star in the world & best worker and her career crossed paths 3 generations of great wrestlers and she really only has the Kandori match as an example of her working with a fellow all time great in a competitive match during her opponent's actual peak as a worker. Bull had to work Devil in 1993, not 1985. She had to work with 1990 Aja instead of 1995 Aja. 1991 Hokuto instead of 1993 Hokuto. If AJW hadn't been so weird about booking their former champions, Bull could have played a major role in the interpromotional era against outsiders and fellow AJW wrestlers. Stuff like 93 Devil or 94 Kandori clearly showed she was capable of having awesome matches.
Anyway, I'm glad she was ranked as a top 3 Joshi wrestler and top 60 overall during GWE. I think she deserves that sort of respect. Bull was one of the top tier of wrestlers from 1989-1992 when there were probably more all time great workers working at a high level than just about any 4 year stretch we have on film.
Bull had a really great career playing a role in the two hottest eras in Joshi history and bridging the gap between them as the top star & worker. Bull stands out in the world of Joshi not just because of her look, which is one of the best in wrestling history, but because her selling and ability to work high end slow paced matches in addition to the more traditional fast paced Joshi style. She was also one of the more versatile wrestlers of her era excelling in crazy out of control brawls, traditional title matches, big epic spectacles and smaller detail oriented matches with more nuance. She didn't just have "great matches" in various styles, she had some top tier all time great level matches. It is also worth mentioning that her guillotine leg drop & somersault guillotine leg drop are two of the definitive "holy shit!" finishers of her generation.
In spite of her successful career and a clear top 100 GWE candidate, I think Bull could have had an even better career in terms of production of high end output. We don't have nearly as complete a picture of 80s AJW as we do the 90s, but Bull has some terrific singles matches as early as her 1983 debut year and the 10/10/85 Dump & Bull vs Crush Gals match is one of the all time great tag matches. But she was younger and never more than Dump's 2nd before Dump's retirement. She didn't have the opportunity to to have competitive matches with the best workers of 80s AJW like Chigusa, Jaguar, or Devil who were some of the best wrestlers of the decade. So while she got to work with all of them, she wasn't having long 20+ minute competitive matches with them.
Bull's run as the top star of Joshi wrestling was full of great matches with familiar wrestlers. Aja Kong, Akira Hokuto, Manami Toyota, and Kyoko Inoue are all recognizable names and it would be no surprise to see them in great matches. But during Bull's run as the top star, none of the future stars of AJW were finished products. Hokuto had a good reputation in the late 80s but was injury prone and had yet to become the Dangerous Queen. Toyota didn't get best in the world talk until 1992, which was Bull's passing the torch to Aja year. Aja was not considered to be even an average wrestler at the start of the Bull feud. She had the look but not the ring work. Bull had classics with her from the start and helped her grow into the Aja we know & love.
When Aja took the belt from Bull after almost 3 years at DreamRush 92, as was tradition with former champions, AJW began to phase Bull out so Aja & the next generation could officially become the centerpiece of the promotion. Just in time for the Joshi interpromotion era. She would still get the occasional big match opportunity and would definitely deliver, specifically the 93 Masami match, Queendom 94 & other 94 matches against Kyoko & Kandori. She even managed to carry Alundra Blayze to good matches. But she didn't really participate much in the interpromotional era. There's no big Bull vs Kansai match. We never got to see Mayumi Ozaki try and fight even with BUll. Nor did she get get to work singles matches with peak Hokuto, Hotta, Toyota, Yamada, or even peak Aja. She did get to work with fully formed peak Kyoko & had a great match with her. So its not like she had slowed down as a wrestler, she just didn't get the opportunities. Its kind of amazing. At one time she was the biggest women's wrestling star in the world & best worker and her career crossed paths 3 generations of great wrestlers and she really only has the Kandori match as an example of her working with a fellow all time great in a competitive match during her opponent's actual peak as a worker. Bull had to work Devil in 1993, not 1985. She had to work with 1990 Aja instead of 1995 Aja. 1991 Hokuto instead of 1993 Hokuto. If AJW hadn't been so weird about booking their former champions, Bull could have played a major role in the interpromotional era against outsiders and fellow AJW wrestlers. Stuff like 93 Devil or 94 Kandori clearly showed she was capable of having awesome matches.
Anyway, I'm glad she was ranked as a top 3 Joshi wrestler and top 60 overall during GWE. I think she deserves that sort of respect. Bull was one of the top tier of wrestlers from 1989-1992 when there were probably more all time great workers working at a high level than just about any 4 year stretch we have on film.
