GWE watching: Shinobu Kandori

 

Jackie Sato & Miss A vs. Harley Saito & Shinobu Kandori, JWP ?/1987

Super cool find from the mysterious 80s JWP era. This was just a year into the company so everyone besides Jackie was green here, but they could all bring it. Saito was quite fiery here, lighting everyone up with stiff kicks and shoot submissions. I‘d love to see more Jackie Sato from this time period as she seems to have reinvented herself completely doing slick grappling sections against Kandori and Saito. Kandori wasn‘t quite herself yet, but engaged in some stiff exchanges with Miss A. A also looked green, but was already quite the crowbar having some brutal exchanges against both opponents. Her hot tag looked too easy but it lead to a heated Sato/Kandori exchange. The finish isn‘t what you want, but the action was good and most of all really interesting in this.

Shinobu Kandori & Harley Saito vs. Choi So Ra & Lee Hye Ran, LLPW 10/31/2004

Choi and Lee are a pair of Korean girls. I have no idea what their backstory is, did they come from the Korean wrestling scene or where they just a pair of Korean idols who ended up doing Japanese pro wrestling for a bit? Lee Hye Ran had really nice kicks and she had a really cool kick battle with Harley Saito. Choi So Ra didn‘t look bad either. She mostly just got ripped apart by Kandoris submissions but was able to lock in an impressively smooth Fujiwara armbar of her own. She also took some Tenryu level violent kicks to the face from Saito. Kandori was not really in top shape here anymore but she was still quite charismatic and produced some good moments. This was short and neat.

Harley Saito & Mizuki Endo vs. Shinobu Kandori & Noriyo Tateno, LLPW 6/21/1998

More Kandori being a charismatic badass grapppler. This was all about Endo trying to step up to big bad Kandori, and Saito trying to help her in the process. Kandori was trying to snap limbs and not taking shit. There were also some brief, good Saito/Kandori exchanges for old times sake (where is their big nostalgia singles?) including an awesome moment where Endo gets a nice nearfall after Saito landed an Ikeda esque kick to Kandoris face. Endo is a fun plucky grappler, and probably would‘ve been a minor legend if she had joined ARSION or something.

Shinobu Kandori vs. Noriyo Tateno, LLPW 10/30/1992

I can‘t decide whether or not Tateno sucks. Her moveset is so generic, she really has no charisma and she doesn‘t sell on a deeper level, but this ended up being solid due to Kandori being Kandori. Kandori is just a beast who will pummel you with open hands and throws and submissions that force anyone to the rope fast, and that makes for a an entertaining match against nearly anyone. Tateno just kind of barrages her with offense – I liked the two diving knees – and I gained a bit of respect for her when she gutted it tthrough Kandoris brutal subs and slams in the finishing run. She also took a pretty big bump. She was no Itsuki Yamazaki as a singles wrestler, but few are. And Kandori is Kandori.