Aja Kong Overshadows Akira Hokuto in the Big Egg
Aja Kong Overshadows Akira Hokuto in the Big Egg
In what was meant to be the last match of her career, Akira Hokuto fades into the background against the shining star of Aja Kong.
This match doesn’t have the best reputation.
Of all the matches from the massive Big Egg Universe show, the one that often gets the most acclaim would be the Manami Toyota vs. Aja Kong semi-final match of the V*Top Tournament. That’s a rather telling failure given that, at its core, the whole show really is about Akira Hokuto.
In 1993, Akira Hokuto put together a year that many fans describe as the greatest peak in pro wrestling history. With her historic matches against Shinobu Kandori coinciding with the height of the interpromotional joshi wars, Akira Hokuto cemented a legacy of quality that fans still discuss with reverence to this day. That kind of year doesn’t come free for any human though, and Hokuto paid a severe physical price for it.
Hokuto basically made her name in the industry by scoffing in the face of injury. A broken neck here, a shattered knee there, all of it adds up eventually. By the time 1994 came along, it seemed like the Dangerous Queen was finally set to wrap things up. AJW announced her for three major shows that year, all in large and prestigious venues—Yokohama Arena, Budokan Hall, and the Tokyo Dome. Outside of an unnotable tour of Mexico, these would be Hokuto’s only major appearances for the year.
The three AJW shows were termed the Dangerous Queen Final Countdown, all leading to what would presumably be Akira Hokuto’s retirement. This is pro wrestling, so it wouldn’t actually be that but that’s what the fans in the Tokyo Dome on November 20, 1994 were led to believe at least.
Hokuto’s part of the central attraction of Big Egg Universe: the eight-woman V*Top Tournament meant to determine the best women’s wrestler in Japan. Hokuto’s first two matches in the show are very much nothing to write home about. Neither the Eagle Sawai match in the first round nor the Combat Toyoda match in the semis do anything of note.
Meanwhile, Aja Kong’s having a belter of a tournament.
The aforementioned match against Manami Toyota is easily the best match on the entire card, and a perfect entryway to the 90s joshi style. Equal parts brutal striking, grotesque bumps, and stunning high flying. The Dynamite Kansai match in the semis doesn’t reach quite as high but is filled with some truly grotesque kicks from both women that leave a massive impact on the viewer.
Honestly, none of this should be a surprise either. Aja Kong enters the tournament as the reigning red belt champion, a title she’s held for two years at this point. Beloved as Hokuto may be, it’s Aja who’s the ace of the company in every practical way. Having great matches on a big AJW is second nature to her at this point.
The main event isn’t great.
As I mentioned earlier, its generally considered a disappointment. That being said, even coming in knowing that reputation, this wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected. In fact, I’d say it’s still a good match. One with a lot of interesting ideas for how it fits into the night’s narrative, and that’s decently executed for the most part.
Aja has spent the night battering her opponents into defeat. She does this to the feisty and high-flying Toyota, then wins a fire fight with a similar-styled striker in Kansai. But she’s given so much in the first two rounds, that she’s coming into the finals a little more spent. As such, she takes a more cerebral approach by going after Hokuto’s leg. This was the key to victory in their last match at the tail end of 1993, and Hokuto’s knee remains bandaged up beneath her pad.
When Aja strays from this strategy by going for a tope to the outside, fortunes change. Aja blows her knee on the failed dive and Hokuto goes after it. Left basically hobbled for the rest of the match, Hokuto’s able to stay in control and nail three Northern Lights Bombs to win the night.
Aja Kong’s performance in this is really delightful. It’s an entirely different one from everything else she’d done on this night. Instead of the heavy hitting ace, a twist of fate suddenly makes her an incredibly sympathetic babyface trying to get a win with just one leg. It’s a really great selling performance, present and believable the entire way through.
In that sense, Aja really does steal the show.
Hokuto kind of fades into the background, sticking around just to hit her finish and get the win. It doesn’t help that neither woman’s leg work isn’t all that compelling. For both women, it’s mostly just interminable half crabs. Hokuto throws in some mean stomps on the floor, but there’s not much meat behind her attack after that. The finish doesn’t do much for me either as Hokuto spams three Northern Lights Bombs in a row just to beat an already hobbled woman. It feels like a cheap compromise to protect the woman who’s meant to be staying while still giving the (supposed) retiree her big win.
To their credit, both Hokuto and Aja are climbing uphill here. This match comes at the end of a ten-hour show. Even the most ardent wrestling fan would struggle to maintain energy through that kind of marathon. Reportedly, several thousand fans had already left the Dome at this point to get home at a godly hour. And so, Aja and Hokuto are playing to an exhausted, diminished crowd.
Nothing they do really overcomes that particular hurdle. It’s a real shame too because something so dramatic as Aja trying to overcome her leg injury would really benefit from an invested crowd.
I like these two workers, they’re two of the best in history regardless of gender. That’s why I know that they can—and have—done much better than this. In its own way, it’s a blessing that Hokuto doesn’t call it quits here as originally planned. By some miracle, her body holds up for more, and she even has another all-time classic in her that we’ll see many years after the fact.
Going out this way would have been much more whimper than bang.
IS IT BETTER THAN 6/3/94? No.
Rating: ***1/4