Megumi Kudo

[8.0] "One of the best babyfaces in history and an expert in death matches, but when the match called for it, she wasn't an elite wrestler in terms of in-ring talent, not at the level of those considered goats within the joshi world (Jaguar Yokota, Iyo Sky, Mayu Iwatani, Chigusa, Akira Hokuto, Manami Toyota, Aja Kong). Even so, I think a 8 is a good rating considering how important her contribution was to the joshi world."

[10.0] "Megumi is mostly famous for her death matches, but she also had plenty of great non-deathmatches with the likes of Shinobu Kandori, Chigusa Nagayo, Mayumi Ozaki and Aja Kong amongst others. People often mention the lack of talent in FMW's women's division make her hard to rate, but it was clear that she was a solid worker when she matched up against top talents from AJW, JWP, and LLPW. Moreover, she was able to elevate talent in FMW's women's division as women like Shark Tsuchiya had their best matches working with Megumi. Although I would not put Megumi on the tier of wrestlers like Manami Toyota or Akira Hokuto based off workrate alone, I rate her a 10 because she took a big chance going to FMW and forging her own path to becoming a wrestling icon. She might have been lost in AJW's midcard/upper midcard if she only wrestled for AJW, but instead, she blazed her own path in FMW as a hardcore wrestler. She also gets points for being part of the invasion angle as a member of the "Outbreakers", which is an awesome angle that clearly inspired the NWO invasion angle, albeit indirectly."

[9.0] "One of the great Joshi babyfaces of her era and of all-time, Kudo could work conventional, no DQ and deathmatch styles to a pretty high degree. Kudo is brilliant at selling and bumping for her opponents, whilst taking an utter battering. Kudo also had really good comeback fire and was pretty good on offence. I feel she'd have been better remembered if she wasn't so associated with FMW, where, except for Combat Toyoda, the people she worked with weren't very good, but her matches against the best of AJW show off Kudo's conventional abilities. Overshadowed by her contemporaries like Aja Kong and Manami Toyota, Kudo was still great."

[10.0] "One of my favourite all-time joshis of 80s-90s (along with Manami Toyota) who made no less for joshi wrestling than many all-time favourites of AJW. The decision to go into FMW and then becoming a deathmatch joshi paid off as she showed all-time classics. Her comebacks are incredible, and the dedication is exceptional. She showed to people that women can also do deathmatches, and in a way Risa Sera 20 years later took that torch."

[10.0] "The Best in the world. Megumi Kudo she gave her best during match exploding. I really miss seeing her in action"

[8.0] "Megumi Kudo was a very good worker. She was not good from the start, but she eventually became very good because she worked hard to become better. She was very important to the FMW women's division and the FMW promotion in general. Her willingness to stay in FMW and work hardcore matches against bad wrestlers showed how dedicated she was to her craft. When she appeared on AJW shows and wrestled against top-level wrestlers, it became clear she was not quite a top-level wrestler herself. She did have the potential to become better, but she stayed in FMW, and that meant she could only become so good. Kudo is definitely one of the most inspirational wrestlers ever because of her hard work and unselfishness."

[10.0] "She opened the door of hardcore wrestling to women, created one of the most famous and best looking move ever, and was amazing in deathmatches of course, but also in classic matches like her Dream Slam main-event showed. One of the best babyfaces to ever wrestle. That's sad that she isn't the most well known joshi wrestler of this time, because she was in the top tier of these amazing wrestlers. However, now that I have watched a lot of Kudo's work, she has become one of my biggest "what if" in wrestling. She was brilliant in the ring, no doubt about that, but I feel like the simple fact that she was signed to FMW kind of ruined her potential, and it also works for Toyoda btw. When she was active, she always faced the same people, and as much as she seems nice irl, Shark Tsuchiya wasn't exactly good in the ring. Her AJW matches were mostly excellent, with absolute classics like the DS1 main event I mentioned earlier or her match against Kong in December 1993. I know AJW probably wouldn't have signed her, but I'm pretty sure her in JWP, LLPW, or even GAEA and other promotions created after everyone left Zenjo would have given countless bangers. For me she was not a deathmatch wrestler (even if we include street fights, it was 21 matches out of 873), just a fantastic wrestler that was at the wrong place at the right time."

[10.0] "Another tough woman brought to us by FMW's roster, She brought in the extra to the Deathmatches she was in and deserves all the attention."

[9.0] "To put it simply, Megumi Kudo was the originator of women participating primarily in hardcore matches. She was fearless in the ring, she could dish it and take it, and her career crescendoed with the greatest hardcore deathmatch of all time against Combat Toyoda, who's a legend in her own right. The only reason I won't give her a 10 right now is that I haven't seen enough of her matches across multiple years to do so."

[10.0] "I don't give out 10s often, but I don't believe Megumi Kudo deserves anything below that number. Didn't get the breaks she should have gotten in other Joshi promotions, so instead reinvented herself as a hardcore queen, whilst still putting on awesome and dramatic contests. Super athletic and innovative, but maybe didn't have a long of a career as she should have, but she achieved pretty much everything in FMW and went out on a high."

[10.0] "At worst, she's a top 5 women's wrestler of all-time. She has plenty of legendary matches - including the greatest deathmatch of all time against Combat Toyoda - and an undeniable charisma that made her one of the more popular Joshi wrestlers of the 90s."

[10.0] "The first woman to ever bleed in wrestling and fight in hardcore matches. She was excellent in FMW. Her was career ended prematurely."

[9.0] "At first, when I first knew her and went to her Cagematch page, I wondered why her career lasted only 10 years. Watching her matches gave me the answer, she literally destroyed every part of her body during those 10 years but it was absolutely awesome. She's better than Bull Nakano, Combat Toyoda, Shinobu Kandori and many others. She will be remembered as one of the best japanese female wrestlers of all time."

[7.0] "Megumi Kudo was, by far, the best female worker in FMW. But when she worked with any of the AJW women, it was very obvious that she was not in that top tier of worker, and maybe not even in that second tier."

[10.0] "Amongst the elite for female wrestlers in Japan along with the likes of Manami Toyota, Juguar Yakota, Bull Nakano, etc. This girl was one of the first females to do hardcore wrestling, and even though that usually isn't my cup of tea, that alone gets my respect. Plus she invented the kudome valentine/Kudo driver/Vertebreaker, etc. which is probably one of my favourite wrestling moves of all time."

[10.0] "I watched some of Megumi Kudo's matches and I can tell that this girl is not only gorgeous in looks but has an incredible heart. She was a superstar and is one of my favorites and I wish she was still active."

[10.0] "After my brother introduced me to Megumi Kudo, I was thrilled with her. I call Megumi Kudo the Japanese joshi Shawn Michaels because of her story telling and desire to work in the ring. She knows how to sell pitch perfect"

[9.0] "she is Queen of Japanese Hardcore, she is tough like a bitch! she is absolutely freaking Joshi Hardcore Machine"

[9.0] "Megumi Kudo carried an entire division of wrestlers by herself and you can't help but wish she was able to work in AJW more."

[10.0] "This was a ladies wrestler who overcame everything that was expected of her when she was in training. She wasn't seen as a talented wrestler, but she worked hard to become 1 of the most memorable workers in FMW. To go along with being a beautiful woman who had sympathy from the crowd, her in-ring storytelling was excellent, she backed it up with being very athletic, and when it came to working exploding barbed wire death matches, she came across as fearless, and took risks that would make many male wrestlers cringe. Her career was short, but explosive (no pun intended), and her Kudome Valentine finisher remains 1 of the most dangerous finishers ever."