International Women's Day Special: Hotta vs. Kandori 2

Shinobu Kandori vs. Yumiko Hotta LLPW 3/10/99 - EPIC

PAS: This is one of wrestlings great rivalries, two extra strength crowbars and hyper skilled grapplers going to war. In their previous match Kandori captured the big red belt and has been holding onto it since, and this Hotta coming in to take it back. Much like the first match this had some real killer grappling with both ladies working there way into slick triangle chokes. Hotta is all about finding ways to sneak in fierce little shots, they grapple for an arm, and Hotta knees her in the temple, Kandori tries for a scissors kick takedown but get stomped. Hotta is hellbent to not let her get to much into her grappling bag  Kandori in the guard is something I adored about their 98 match, and she is slick as fuck off her back here too, she is so good at making that guard look active, stymieing five Hotta attempts, but succumbing to the sixth. Finish is very cool with Hotta barely getting to the ropes on two nasty submission attempts, rolling to the floor,  only to nearly get caught with another standing armbar when both get back into the ring. Hotta is able to brain smush Kandori with a headbut which sends her to the floor, and when she tries to get back Hotta hits a 57 yard field goal with her head, causing Kandori to barely get counted out and lose the belt. It was a bit of a "Kandori doesn't job" finish, but a nasty one. This doesn't have the blood of the first match, but the actual work was right up there, another classic.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE KANDORI

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Kandori is Sick and Tired of Fights Starting Wars

Shinobu Kandori/Mizuki Endo vs. Yumiko Hotta/Kumiko Maekawa LLPW 8/15/97 - EPIC

PAS: I reviewed a great AJW tag between these two teams a week later, but this was at another level. Match starts out great with Endo going for a shoot and takedown on Hotta, unfortunately for her Hotta walks over after and gives her dental surgery with a kick to the face. Maekawa is great in this too, she lands these awesome hook kicks right to the head and face. Kandori and Hotta is an all time great rivalry and they have some cool interactions here. I loved the finish, Hotta comes in to make multiple violent saves, Kandori angrily gestures her to leave the ring and as Hotta turns her back Kandori back jumps her and chokes her out. We get a great run of near falls which ends with Kandori nearly ripping off Maekawas arm while she was waving and smirking at Hotta. Total asskicking and another chapter in the amazing Hotta vs. Kandori feud

ER: Really fun hate-filled tag, looked vaguely unprofessional and was nice and messy-in-a-good-way. Endo was a good Energizer bunny, getting her mouth bloodied early as a tough scrap with Hotta ends with Hotta kicking her in the mouth and targeting her for the match. I can't handle some of these boston crabs in joshi; Hotta looks like she's trying to make Endo feel heat whenever she twists for the rest of her life. It didn't scare Endo but I like how she was presented as Kandori's weak link. Hotta vs. Kandori felt like a crazy anime battle, both very expressive with body language and both come across as total badasses. Maekawa shows good energy and while everything throws out doesn't always land flush, her spirited delivery makes it work. Hotta was such a fun bully here, doing dickhead things like yanking Endo around by her top knot, and I loved all the various choke exchanges we got, everybody showing off their own personal method for choking out a human. Kandori's match ending armbar was great, mocking Hotta the whole time but then looking genuinely excited that she won. Loved all of this.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE KANDORI

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It's a Matter of Fact All of Kandori's Change Goes to Hell

Shinobu Kandori vs. Yumiko Hotta AJW 2/28/01 - GREAT

PAS: This is one of my favorite match ups in wrestling history and this was a nifty variation of that match up. This is a Vale Tudo rules match, and both women are wearing old school MMA gloves. It is a pretty straight worked shoot, and both ladies added some nifty variations to that match style. Match was mostly grappling which was a surprise considering how often both ladies work matches around sick shots. Kandori is great at working out of a guard, always has a ton of interesting attacks and counters. Finish run was dope with Kandori taking Hotta down with a guillotine choke, Hotta fights it and eventually breaks out and lands a gross headbut. Kandori is able to maneuver for an armbar, but before she can get it Hotta great an ankle for the tap. Just high level grappling with a little taste of horrid violence. Love it.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE SHINOBU KANDORI

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Kandori Mapped out Your Lie and You Aren't Good For Her

Shinobu Kandori vs. Desiree Peterson LPWA 2/23/92 - FUN

PAS: LPWA was a Joe Pedicino run GLOW competitor which ran the same Vegas casino which had dying day AWA tapings. They had some deal with LLPW and brought in Kandori to work ex WWF Womens tag champion Peterson. Kandori had some really nice moments in what was a short TV match. Opened with a pretty stiff dropkick, put on a nasty abdominal stretch and ended with a Tiger Driver. Peterson looked pretty bad though, she looked like a low end hair whip and stomach kick 80s WWF women's wrestler, I imagine this would have been better with Velvet McIntyre or Rockin Robin. Still not a lot of chance to watch Jim Cornette call a Kandori match.

Shinobu Kandori/Mizuki Endo vs. Yumiko Hotta/Kumiko Maekawa AJW 8/22/97 - GREAT

PAS: This is a classic Puro tag set up, with a veteran teaming with young boy (or girl in this case). The structure is pretty classic, the veteran will beat the shit out of the younger wrestler while taunting their rival. We start with the Kandori and Endo team nastily working over the knee of Maekawa. I hadn't seen Endo before, but she was pretty good, she had this great half lariat/half STO, and is willing to get kicked hard in the head by Hotta and Maekawa. Maekawa has this harrowing thrust kick and she looks like she loosened some teeth on both Kandori and Endo. Kandori is at her mugging, smirking best, at one point she drops Maekawa with a palm thrust and does this little palm thrust dance which was super dickish. Your big star showdown section was pretty awesome, Hotta hits Kandori with a couple of low kicks and Kandori taunts her to take off her kick pads, both ladies go to the corner and remove their boots and kick pads and get into some MMA style sprawling which looked awesome. Finish was great with Hotta just wheel kicking Endo unconscious and getting right in Kandori's face to stare her down. Two matches in, this feels like an all time great rivalry.

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1998 Match of the Year

Shinobu Kandori v. Yumiko Hotta LLPW 3/21/98

PAS: This was a KO or submission match for the WWWA title, and merciful fuck was this a war. Kandori opens up by tackling Hotta to the floor, after they get back into the ring, they scramble and it ends up with Hotta field goal kicking Kandori right in the head. Hell of a way to open a match and it really lets you know you are watching something special. This match has the greatest guard work I have ever seen in a pro-wrestling match, Kandori is basically a distaff worked Demien Maia. There is this great section early in the match where Kandori is in rubber guard and Hotta, frustrated with her inability to pass, just rains down headbutts splitting her own head open. For the rest of the match Hotta has blood streaming down her head which totally adds to the crazed aura. Of course with these two quasi unprofessional ladies everything is thrown with reckless abandon. Hotta is just unloading KO shots with every kick, Kandori is trying to crack jaws with every slap. Finish was great, Hotta lands two big bombs, a double underhook piledriver, and a nasty liger bomb, but clearly weak from blood loss, she forgets the rules and goes for a pin. This allows Kandori to catch her from the bottom with a great tight triangle choke for the tap out. It was basically a worked version of the Chael Sonnen v. Anderson Silva finish 12 years before that fight. Such a masterful piece of violence and a Segunda Caida match through and through

ER: There's nothing quite like a big wrestling title or stips match, the best ones just have an aura of something bigger. Hotta punts a prone Kandori in the head less than a minute into this, so you just knew what kind of scrap this was going to be from go. Hotta is a total savage here and Kandori leans into one of my favorite roles, underdog who is nasty herself and also resilient. Kandori can take a beating and keep her eye out for openings, like Fujiwara or Ishikawa. Hotta is mean and her face looks like she wants nothing more than to keep her title. She's the one going for less dignified attacks first, the one immediately trying to put Kandori away. She throws in that punt, locks in a quick sleeper choke, and starts jamming headbutts from mount, busting herself open immediately. Blood will always ramp things up, and Hotta's blood-covered face makes her look simultaneously more savage and more desperate. There's a moment where Kandori goes for a pin, looks up at the ref whwn she realizes the ref isn't counting (due to the KO/Submission stips) and while she's looking Hotta grabs her arm for a sub attempt. I loved that as it came into play on the finish, with Kandori getting that same benefit of Hotta waiting for a pin count, allowing her to lock on the finishing triangle. While Kandori is going for submissions as a way to victory, Hotta is going for knockouts. At one point Kandori is seated, and Hotta walks up behind her and just wraps a kick around her face. The callback finish was great, with Hotta hitting a nasty snap piledriver and then rolling through to deliver a vertically spiking tiger driver; she waits for a pin, and a loopy Kandori locks on a triangle that the exhausted Hotta can't escape. This will be a fun inaugural champ for a year with no obvious champs or challengers.


ALL TIME MOTY LIST

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