WWWA World Title Steel Cage Match
Bull Nakano vs. Aja Kong
November 14, 1990
Wrestlemarinepiad 1990

Have you ever watched a match so good it made you ponder your mortality? 

Every now and then I think about how when I’m dead, I’m going to leave behind stacks of books that were unread. There will be dozens of Blu-ray’s, DVD’s, and video games that I left wrapped in their protective foil because I’d get to them someday. For whatever reason though, I never really think about wresting in that context, but just the same, I’ll have a huge playlist of wrestling to watch later that at some point, I just won’t be able to get to. 

I say this because I assume that whoever gifted this match knows that a majority of 90’s puro is a blind spot for me. My guess is that it was Liam Jones because I know we’ve spoken about this before. There are so many classic matches from that era that I’ve never seen. Growing up, I had plenty of wrestling tapes to choose from, but the only puro I was really able to watch from my family’s selection was FMW. I’ve wanted to go back and watch more older puro over the years, but it all comes down to a time issue. It’s hard enough to keep up with current wrestling as it is and then you pile old stuff on top of that. It’s too much wrestling! I’ve got other hobbies I want to give time to. Sometimes you’ve had enough of people fighting and you want to go read a book where people fight or you want to play a video game where you fight people or you want to build a model of a giant fighting robot. Wait a minute… 

That all being said, the match that I’m here to talk about today is something that I’ve actually seen already. That’s perfectly fine with me though because this is one of my favorite matches of all time. This cage match between Aja Kong and Bull Nakano is a five star classic. It’s pure, beautiful violence. If you haven’t seen the match, please take my word for it and go watch it right now (then come back and finish my review!). If you need more convincing, read on. 

Few matches in the history of the business get across a feeling of hate between the combatants like this one does. Before they even make it to the ring Aja is stabbing Bull in the head with a fucking scissors. Kong is trying to commit a murder before the match even starts! That’s the level of violence we’re starting off with and it only goes up from there. 

Once they make it into the ring, Kong spams backfists like it’s the only button that works on her controller. Sometimes you just want to smash your opponent in the face over and over and over. The tide turns in Nakano’s favor after her friends toss nunchucks in the ring and Kong gets the absolute tar beaten out of her with them. Bull clearly knows what she’s doing and looks cool as hell as she’s whipping the weapons around. Nakano’s friends on the outside come in handy again when they pass her the scissors we saw earlier through the cage. Bull immediately puts the scissors to work, stabbing the shit out of Aja’s arm. It’s some of the most upsettingly violent stuff I’ve ever seen in wrestling and it’s incredible. It doesn’t feel like wrestling, it feels like a crime. While all this goes on the seconds of both wrestlers are brawling outside of the cage, really making this all feel like a life and death struggle. So much of the match feels mean in a way I don’t think I’ve ever seen replicated since. At one point Aja starts beating the hell out of Nakano with a big wooden stick. Maybe it’s a bo staff, but it seems a bit too big. She keeps whacking Bull in the thigh with it and damn it has to hurt. It’s the kind of thing that really makes you wince when you’re watching. More like seeing someone stub their toe really hard rather than a wrestler taking a rough powerbomb. 

The finish of this match is one of the craziest things you’ll ever see. Bull makes it to the top of the cage and looks poised to escape. But then she turns around, says a quick prayer, and jumps off the top to crush Kong with a leg drop. The impact is so hard that Bull is shot up into the air and is back on her feet almost effortlessly. 

With adrenaline coursing through her veins, Nakano races up the side of the cage and escapes. While I typically don’t care for cage matches where the winner escapes rather than scores the pin, this completely worked here. It didn’t feel like Bull was running away, she had beaten Kong bad enough to where she could escape without any interference. This victory doesn’t come with an asterisk, Bull Nakano defeated Aja Kong in decisive fashion. 

So yeah, like I said earlier, this is a perfect match. If you’ve never seen it, go watch it. If you have seen it, go watch it again. The highest compliment I can pay this match is that it made me want to go watch more wrestling. Maybe next week I can skip that show I’m not too excited about and watch some 90s puro instead. If it turns out the show I skipped was any good, I can always add it to my watch later pile. ***** 

Thanks Santa!