Something I've Always Wondered About Hokuto

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Why didn't she ever get WWWA World Singles championship? It seemed that was one of (if not the biggest) stars in AJW for a prolonged period of time, and she had her share of meetings with both Bull and Aja when they each had it, so why didn't she ever get it?

 

As far as I can tell, she hadn't quite become the "Dangerous Queen" durring her feud with Bull, and by the time they were ready to take the belt off Aja, she was semi-retired. Still, it always struck me as a bit strange that she would never get a run with the bealt, especially considering that Hotta, Toyota, and Kyoko all enjoyed multiple reigns later on.

[Guest Jubuki]

Her first title shot was supposed to come after winning the 1990 Grand Prix. But, because it was a one-night tournament and Hokuto busted her leg up on that one night, Toyota won the tournament and the shot. Hokuto wouldn't have won that match anyway and didn't win the subsequent match on 1/4/91, but there were plans in the works.

 

She had some injury problems in '91 and '92, mostly with her arm, but she didn't hit her true stride as a character or as a worker until mid-92 anyway. By then, Aja had just picked up the belt, but Hokuto was probably as popular, so they were at something of a crossroads: do they cut off Aja's reign and give Hokuto a run on top, or does Hokuto go unrewarded? It was rendered a moot point when she tore her knee to pieces during the JGP, and she went out for surgery in September. As I mentioned before, she came into the 10/9 title match still on crutches, so she requested that it was a non-title match; she didn't want to disgrace the belt by wrestling for it at less than 100% (take that Mutoh). She lost that, and later lost the retirement match to Kandori, and she was well on her way out. Getting married to Mascara Magica probably had a lot to do with it at the time, but, like retirement, the marriage didn't last, and she did come back. The V*TOP tournament was AJW's way of saying, "We never gave you the title, but this is the one and only time we're having this tournament - we'll give you this instead as a retirement gift to let you know we appreciated you."

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Wait - Mascara Magina, the luchador with Eddy Guererro under the mask? I'm almost possitive that I remember Mike Tennay blabbing about that in a few of Eddy's matches.

 

Thanks for the mini-bio, there. Now I get the irony of the V*TOP final, too.

[Guest wolverine]

No, it's a different Mascara Magica.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Yeah, from what I gather, there have been several.