[10.0] "The build up for this match is emotional, as Megumi was released by AJW in 1989 only to claw her way to the top of the joshi world through unconventional means (deathmatches in FMW). I came into this match expecting Aja to dominate throughout, so I was surprised to see Megumi pull off so much offense. Megumi's strategy is to work Aja's shoulder to lessen the impact of her deadly spinning backfist. There is a lot of mat wrestling but it is well paced. The match crescendos very well, particularly when Megumi hits an amazing suicide dive on Aja. The momentum continues to build from there, with Megumi continuing to survive Aja's brutal attacks and she mounts counteroffensive attacks of her own, with her German suplex being one of the nicer looking suplexes you'll ever see from a smaller wrestler to a much larger wrestler. You have to give credit to Aja for her selling. The match's emotional high occurs when the ref gets knocked out, something you rarely see in AJW. To think Megumi was that close to achieving her dream! Megumi continues to be a pesky David until Aja the Goliath gets frustrated and knocks Megumi out with repeated backfists. You rarely see Aja lose her cool like this with a smaller opponent. Anyways, the match outcome is as you would expect, but it makes you wish Megumi had more high quality opponents to work with in her short career. I loved this match, including Aja giving props to Megumi and Jaguar after winning, followed by an emotional Megumi crying backstage as she reflects on what could have been."
[8.0] "nice David and Goliath story here, felt like Kong could maul kudo at any point. Megumi Kudo is super easy to root for here. There is some sloppiness but for the most part its a damn good match that shows that Megumi Kudo could have made it in AJW."
[9.0] "I don't normally say stuff like this but I wanna go on record and say that Megumi Kudo is so damn pretty, god bless you ma'am. Aja Kong in the Gold & White is a powerful look, one of my favorite gear color combos. I didn't expect this one to be so grapple heavy, not saying it was slow or anything, this maintained a good pace and some of the holds & counters were really cool. It was fast & methodical to put it in that sense. Kudo works the arms of Aja because of course to weaken the Uraken if Aja were to swing it. I find it crazy that Kudo was doing finger joint manipulation spots in 1993, that feels like a more recent thing but here it is 30 years ago. Aja is Aja. She just kicks Kudo's ass come hell or high-water. Kudo also did a hammerlock arm trap Dragon Sleeper which looked awesome! The ref bump was weird, a very rare spot in this era, just to give Kudo the visual three, probably cause Onita told them to or something. I loved Aja doing the Uraken with her forearm multiple times before laying one with her backhand. The finish was so good, that last hope spot before Kong cleared her clock, fantastic. Very close to being an all timer, but the ref bump was unnecessary though I get why it was done. These two worked a fantastic match, and that can't be understated."
[8.0] "This is good but the last five minutes are outrageously good. Ref bumps are rare so when they did it here and Kudo got the visual pin, the crowd were furious and all heated up. Aja eventually murdered Kudo with about 5 spinning backfists. As the ref checks for a 10 count she gets on the mic and screams at her. Her over confidence nearly costs her with a top rope frankensteiner but one more backfist finally gets the win. Great stuff ****1/4"
[10.0] "One of my favorite things in a wrestling match is when one wrestler has a specific strategy and executes it well. And that's what Megumi Kudo came in with here. Her short but acclaimed career would be elevated by matches like these. There was no hope that she could overpower or out strike the monstrous Aja Kong, so what could she do' Use strategy, of course! Even as Kong brought her A game, Kudo was able to keep her head above water by targeting Kong's arm with laser focus. Over the course of the match Kudo was able to really bust up Kong's arm so badly that if she tried to strike with it, she would get hurt more than Kudo! And the match was elevated even further by Kong's reaction, furious at being put on the defense she fought twice as hard and ended up demolishing Kudo with repeated backfists from her good arm. But she almost made a crucial mistake, wanting to prove her dominance she refused to go for the pin and instead was trying to knock Kudo unconscious. This nearly backfired when Kong tried to throw Kudo off the top rope and instead Kudo flipped over with the last of her strength and hit a super powerbomb that had my jaw on the floor. Kong just barely survived, hit one more backfist, and then immediately went for the pin, taking no chances with Kudo. Fantastic execution, one of my favorite matches of 1993."
[8.0] "This is one of my favourite matches from Megumi Kudo's career. It was a measured and very methodical match with great comebacks from both wrestlers. The thing I like the most about this one is that Megumi wasn't portrayed as a clear underdog here, being equal in power with Aja and even controlling and working on her arm for quite a long portion of time. Good match that is worth watching. [4/5]"
[10.0] "What an insane match. Kudo is in God mode and kicks out from everything, she even takes the advantage on Kong and the image of Kudo sitting on Kong's back really marked me as it proves that she was at the same level, maybe even better. Kong plays the heel beast perfectly, like every time she steps foot in a ring in fact. The ref bump doesn't bother me. My favorite Kong defense. *****"
[9.0] "This was great. Kudo is outmatched from the start and therefore zeros in on Kong's hand to try and lessen the effect of the Uraken. She manages to do a good job of it before Kong's comeback in the latter parts of the match. The only big negative about this match was the ref bump, other than that it was great. (****1/2)"
[8.0] "Mein liebstes Kudo Singles Match bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt. Sie zerstört Kong hier die Arme, die Schultern, ja sie geht sogar auf die Finger los. Und sie genießt jede Sekunde davon. Ich glaube bisher hat noch keine Frau von Kudos Statur Aja so dominiert. Sie schafft dies mit gutem Submission Wrestling, flüssig aussehenden Kontern und auch ein paar High Risk Manövern. Sie hat Aja schon fertig zum Pin nach einem Top Rope Hurricanrana, aber der Ref war ausgeknockt und konnte nicht zählen. Aja kommt wieder zu sich und fängt aus Verzweiflung an Urakens zu spammen. Sie trifft Kudo mit fünf(! ) aufeinanderfolgenden Urakens ins Gesicht. Und zwar nicht, weil sie besonders sadistisch drauf war, sondern weil Kudo einfach nach jedem Uraken wieder hoch kommt. Aja setzt sie schließlich aufs Top Rope und will von dort aus etwas zeigen, aber Kudo kontert mit einer Sunset Bomb die ihr fast den Sieg einbringt, und versucht dann sogar noch einen Tiger Driver. Kong, der endlich klar wird, dass es vielleicht eine dumme Idee war dieser Verrückten zu erlauben wieder auf die Beine zu kommen, knockt sie schnell mit einem sechsten Uraken aus und covert sie sofort so fest wie sie kann. Wohl aus Angst, Kudo könnte hier tatsächlich nochmal auskicken. Mit einem knappen Sieg kann Kong hier ihren Titel gegen eine Frau verteidigen von der ich wünschte sie hätte zu diesem Zeitpunkt zum regulären AJW-roster gehört. ****"
