Welcome back to the Dark Match Dungeon! As always, this is where we take a look back at mostly-forgotten footage of today’s wrestling stars. I usually try to stick with stuff that happens early in a wrestler’s career, before they make their claim to fame, but this edition’s a bit different. You might recall me saying in earlier installments of the Dungeon that I’ve been looking for women’s matches. Well, I’m happy to report that I’ve finally come through on that goal today with some Chyna footage you might not know about. We all know about her history with Eddie Guerrero and D-Generation X, but did you know that she was on the roster of New Japan Pro Wrestling for a few months? Check out the video of her taking on Masahiro By-God Chono if you don’t believe me.
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What To Look For:
- Chyna is wrestling Chono, for God’s sake. That’s impressive, no matter who you ask.
- On a brief cosmetic note, it’s weird to see Chyna in gear that isn’t black. I’d also forgotten that blonde Chyna was a thing that happened. All in all, not a bad look.
- Chyna only marginally selling the Kenka Kick, like she’s Tomohiro Ishii or something. Then again, I suppose the whole point of her NJPW run was to play up her physical prowess, so I get it.
- An STF that’s about a thousand times better than John Cena’s. Where was this Chyna during the Attitude Era?
Some quick Google work shows that this match took place inside the Tokyo Dome in October 2002. Chyna’s run with NJPW only lasted three short months, during which she and The Great Kabuki unsuccessfully challenged for the IWGP Tag Team championships. Makes you wonder about what might have been, doesn’t it? As wonderful as New Japan is, it’s definitely something of a boys’ club. But with Maria Kanellis and Amber O’Neal (representing Ring of Honor and Bullet Club, respectively) set to mix it up at Wrestling Dontaku in May, anything could happen.
