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Post by elliott on Dec 10, 2017 22:15:43 GMT -5
Bull Nakano vs Aja Kong (Cage Match - AJW - 11/14/1990)
Weird that it took me this long to nominate this. It is a legendary match that I've always loved, but somehow always forget about it. Everytime I watch it I think "yep, this is one of the best cage matches ever." Incredible monster vs monster fight that is just an epic spectacle. The outside the ring shenanigans are fantastic and absolutely add to the overall quality of this match. It goes without saying the finish is one of the most spectacular and memorable spots in history. This wasn't on my pre list rough draft, but thinking about it now, that's insane. I've got to find a place for this on my list.
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Post by Cap on Dec 11, 2017 9:14:53 GMT -5
Second
Ohhhh yeah.... I love this stuff. Two of my absolute favorite wrestlers to watch going in and having a fight. This one has the brutality and it also has tons of room to breath, room to digest what is happening in there. I think this match really shows just how good and versatile both these women are.
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Post by gordi on Jan 7, 2018 11:23:45 GMT -5
It can't be the easiest thing in the world to combine out of control violence from the very beginning with a sense of steady escalation... And on top of that, to combine utter chaos with telling a clear story. Basically, this is the cage match version of Mad Max Fury Road. It pulls off the seemingly impossible with grace and alacrity
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Post by tetsujin on Feb 16, 2018 19:25:08 GMT -5
Just watched this for the first time ever. What a motherfucking insane total war. Aja-sama and Bull-sama, the GOAT. Don't feel like I have something more to say about this right now, just WOW.
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Post by stunninggrover on Mar 18, 2018 18:28:13 GMT -5
This match between Bull Nakano and Aja Kong took place in Yokohama, Japan. It's one of the greatest cage matches ever. It’s a violent and dramatic cage match featuring weapons and a cool finish. Several other joshi puroresu workers are outside of the cage supporting either Bull or Aja.
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Post by elliott on Jul 16, 2018 23:07:46 GMT -5
Having just watched this again, I honestly view it as a borderline top 5 contender and I strongly encourage folks to watch it for the first time or rewatch it if they haven't in years. I love spectacles in wrestling and my overall list will reflect that, in particular my top half. This is one of the great spectacles ever and would almost certainly be my pick for the best cage match ever. A match like this seems easy on paper, but actually might be more difficult than we might realize. Monster vs Monster in a cage with all sorts of weapons an easily fall off the rails and the "escape the cage" rules also stand out as a potential red flag. But they handle the escape the cage rules well. Neither tries to escape for the first 15 minutes of the match and instead spend the first portion of the match trying to murder each other. Also you get the feeling that a 3rd person in there trying to "referee" would just end up getting killed.
Bull is the more established veteran monster and Aja is on the rise so the early parts of this has Aja just destroying Bull. Bull gets in the occasional hope spot in the way of lariats, kicks and weapons shots. But it really doesn't seem like anything she can do will overcome Aja until Bull gets the scissors and goes after Aja's arm with them. The look of sheer terror on Aja's face that Bull would go to such lengths would be the obvious highlight of a less extraordinary match.
But obviously the finish. Bull standing on top of the cage and then crushing Aja to death isn't just the highlight of the match it stands as one of the all time great spots in wrestling history. The ultimate move of death.
This is so fucking bananas great I can't believe it doesn't get talked up more as one of the all time greats.
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Post by Kadaveri on Sept 8, 2019 20:33:31 GMT -5
Does anyone know if there exists a version of this match which doesn't have about 12 commentators all speaking at once at an annoyingly high volume. It's killing my enjoyment of it.
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Post by elliott on Sept 8, 2019 21:19:12 GMT -5
Joshi commentary was the worst. Especially the later Samurai TV stuff that had the crowd at a super low volume like a lucha match and the commentators in a studio laughing & giggling the whole time.
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Post by KB8 on Sept 15, 2020 11:11:33 GMT -5
Part of me enjoyed this a lot more than I'd have expected. The other part recognises that it'll probably never really be my thing, but I thought there was lots to like. There was a whole lot going on outside the ring and it led to a bunch of weapons getting tossed into the mix, but surprisingly it never felt overly hokey to me. Something like Jimmy Jacobs v BJ Whitmer was one of the best blood feuds of the 00s and it was at its best when they kept the trappings to a minimum (or minimum for 2007 US indie wrestling). When they got in the cage they started adding in all sorts of props and even had ring staff bring them into the cage while the match was going on. The stunts sort of became a bigger focus than the hatred and flat out attempted murder and you wish they stuck to just stabbing each other in the head with a railway spike. Everything with the weapons in this actually felt pretty organic and added to the desperation and chaos of it all, though they subbed in some scissors for the railway spike and sure enough that was still the best of the weapons stuff, so maybe that tells us something. Bull resorting to stabbing Aja in the arm was borderline disturbing, especially with Aja being horrified at it all. It's Aja Kong and she herself has stooped to deplorable levels in this match alone. Yet here she is, this wrecking ball of a woman, appalled at what her opponent is trying to do to her. I guess it went a bit longer than my attention span was willing to hold for (though probably not long by most peoples' standards) and I wish Bull made a little more of Aja going after the leg, but the finish is one of those moments that can fire a match to legendary status and make you forget about those other quibbles. I'm glad I finally checked it out after all these years.
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Post by mvz on Mar 3, 2021 22:28:52 GMT -5
I did love the finish but some of the weapons and interference don’t hit the mark for me. I watched the previous cage match which helped my appreciation of the details here, but this wasn’t my taste. I will definitely watch again before submitting a list, I know I am an outlier here, but it didn’t measure up to som e of the other things I’ve been watching the past week or so.
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Post by puropotsy on Jun 10, 2023 20:35:14 GMT -5
From my first watching of this a couple years ago I thought of it as something that could contend for # 1. Watching this with that in mind, the brawling wasn’t as cohesive as I remembered and I was thinking it was great but more for the back half of my list. But then Bull did a legdrop off the top of the cage and it call came together as a really great match that won’t top my list but will stick with me and will finish well.
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Post by elliott on Jun 10, 2023 21:37:04 GMT -5
I just rewatched this the other day and it has me rethinking things & I might just put Bull over Hokuto. Bull is incredible in this match.
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