On Episode #61 of Retro Wrestling w/Gene Jackson, Gene is joined once again by “Broadcast” Bob Anderson for Part Three of their ongoing All Japan Women’s Wrestling Watchalong series. Bob has been opening Gene’s eyes to a whole different world of wrestling, and this episode takes things from “wow, I can’t believe they were doing that in 1993” to “dear God, how are they still conscious?”
This time around, Bob brings two matches built less around pretty wrestling and more around survival. The first features Dynamite Kansai vs. Yumiko Hotta, and the second brings back Aja Kong for another war with Hotta. Gene and Bob keep the match audio up a little higher than usual so listeners can actually hear the impact of the kicks, slaps, headbutts, piledrivers, and general violence these women are throwing at each other.
Then the second match somehow gets even nastier.
Aja Kong vs. Yumiko Hotta turns into a bloody, violent, uncomfortable fight where Hotta’s hand gets sliced open and Aja immediately turns that injury into a target. She stomps it, twists it, bites it, and uses it like a heel who just found the biggest shortcut in the building. Gene and Bob are both amazed because working over someone’s hand in wrestling is one thing, but this is something else entirely.
Aja Kong is the standout of the episode. Gene compares her to the women’s version of Vader, and it fits. She looks terrifying, hits like a truck, and carries herself like someone you would not want to make eye contact with at the wrong time. Bob and Gene both come away from the match even more impressed with her presence and brutality.
What makes this episode work is that Gene is still discovering a lot of this world in real time. Bob knows the territory better, so he brings the background and match choices, while Gene reacts like a lifelong wrestling fan seeing something that feels both familiar and completely different. There are jokes, sure, but there’s also a lot of genuine respect. These women are not playing wrestling. They are beating the hell out of each other in a way that still feels shocking decades later.
For fans of All Japan Women’s Wrestling, joshi wrestling, Aja Kong, Dynamite Kansai, Yumiko Hotta, brutal strong style, hard kicks, scary piledrivers, and wrestling that makes you say “how are they still standing?”, this episode is absolutely worth watching along with.
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