This match was requested by Tim Dawg. Request a match at ko-fi.com/suitwilliams!
In another steep departure from the scenes that I am used to watching, I go from 80’s lucha to All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling with Tim Dawg’s request of Chigusa Nagayo vs. Leilani Kai.
Leilani Kai was a notable name in the US for her multiple stints in the WWF. She, alongside the Fabulous Moolah, were the foils for Wendi Richter and Cyndi Lauper, peaking with Richter beating Kai for the Women’s Title at Wrestlemania 1. She later went on to be one-half of the Glamour Girls, the foils of the Jumping Bomb Angels in the short-lived women’s tag team division in the late 80’s. She would have short stints in both WWF and WCW, most notably losing to Alundra Blayze at Wrestlemania X almost nine years to the day after the Wendi Richter match in the same building. Kai’s career would dwindle after that, both due to the women’s wrestling scene in the US vanishing in the late 90’s and due to having worked for almost 20 years at that point.
My assumption is that this was to spotlight a notable match in the career of Nagayo, who recently retired at a West Coast Pro show. Nagayo is a name that I’ve only heard, along with her Crush Gals tag team with Lioness Asuka. They had a very short stint in the WWF, having three house show matches in a week before going back to Japan. Nagayo also had a short run in WCW, working as Zero in the inaugural WCW Women’s Title Tournament. She lost to Madusa in the semi-finals. Funnily enough, she would get a chance to win the title long after WCW had abandoned the idea of women’s wrestling in the company. In September of 1997, three months after inaugural and only champion Akira Hokuto vacated the title, Zero and Super Heel Devil Masami fought for Zero’s AAAW Title and the vacant WCW Women’s Title at GAEA Double Destiny. Masami won both titles but never defended the WCW Title, with the title being listed as inactive in January of 1998.
This is April 27th, 1987, for All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling. AJW is seen by many smart wrestling historians as not only the best women’s wrestling in history, but some of the best wrestling of all time, regardless of gender. Dave Meltzer awarded 19 AJW matches five stars, a number that promotions like WCW, ROH, Pro Wrestling NOAH, and PWG never reached, and a number that WWE didn’t reach until 2022. Think about that, an all-women’s promotion that peaked in the early 90’s that’s been dead since 2005 having that many 5-star matches in an era where Meltzer was a much harsher grader than he is today. That was the level of wrestling we’re looking at when it comes to AJW. Suffice it to say, my expectations are pretty high for this one.
It took an army of ring attendants to get Nagayo to the ring, as she was swarmed by fans and showered with rose petals. It looked like a Von Erich entrance in the Sportatorium, especially in contrast to the All-Pacific Champion Kai, who gets to the ring with comparatively little fanfare. This match is all action from the word go. The two shook hands, but Kai made the mistake of turning her back to return to her corner. The bell rang, and Nagayo dumped Kai on her head with a German. There’s no time to warm up or get ready. This is a title match; you have to stay ready.
One thing I noticed throughout this match is how little space these two give each other. There’s rarely a point where the two aren’t within arm’s reach of each other. Once Kai got back in the ring after the German, Nagayo fired off with kicks before Kai took her down with a leg kick of her own and started working on her legs on the mat. Nagayo fired back out with big kicks and a suplex for a quick nearfall before the two reset.
The two traded strikes, with Nagayo winning the exchange with kicks before transitioning into a cross-arm breaker. Kai fought out, punching Nagayo in the thigh before clobbering her with punches on the mat. Nagayo got right back on offense, working a headlock before Kai dumped her with a back suplex. Nagayo hooked a Sharpshooter in and made Kai tap after about seven minutes. Wait a minute, Ken Shamrock hadn’t made tapping out a thing yet. Match goes on.
Kai got to the ropes, but Nagayo went back to the headlock. Nagoya hit a spin kick in the corner before Kai fired back out with a lariat. Nagayo came back with a lariat and a leg lock, but Kai clubbered her way out again. One of Kai’s cornerwomen handed her some type of can or bottle, letting Kai go wild with it behind the ref’s back and opening up a cut on Nagayo’s forehead. Nagayo fired up with strikes, clearly hurting but fighting through the pain. Kai hit a missile dropkick for a nearfall, but Nagayo came back with a spin kick and kicks to the head that opened up Kai.
Kai immediately covered up, in heavy contrast to Nagayo’s fiery comeback, allowing Nagayo to hit a high crossbody for a nearfall. Kai had one last gasp, hitting a desperation Northern Lights Suplex for a nearfall. Nagayo came right back with a piledriver and a spin kick off the top before hitting an Exploder for the win to a big pop. This was more akin to a JCP crowd, with the audience of young kids and teenagers behind Nagayo the whole way through. The two shook hands and hugged like this was the fifth match on a Wrestlemania Weekend show. I think I used that joke in the last review but it still fits. Nagayo stood tall as the crowd showered her with cheers and streamers.
Was this one of the AJW classics that I’ve read about? I would assume it isn’t, but that’s not to say that it wasn’t a fun time. The intensity that these two showed here was impressive, and the crowd was with them the whole time. The fighting spirit from Nagayo was great, rising to the challenge and firing up after getting bloodied up. It stood out in contrast to Kai, who immediately shrunk and got overwhelmed once she started bleeding. Simple stuff done well with an engaged crowd. This was well worth a watch. ***1/2
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