THE ABSORBING MAN: CRUSH GALS vs. GOKUAKU DOMEI

Pro-Wrestling has traditionally been a male-dominated art form. Its most famous stars are men and everything from its tropes and storylines to its merchandising and marketing strategies have almost always been geared exclusively to men and teenaged boys. Women-only wrestling promotions have always been treated as, at best, a novelty in the United States. Until relatively recently, women's wrestling in mainstream WWE-style wrestling has been an excuse for the fans to ogle unathletic lingerie models as they participate in pudding matches and pillow fights. But that has not always been the case. Women's professional wrestling has enjoyed periods of relative popularity and fan interest, particularly in Japan. That trend appears to be on the rise again, as today's women wrestlers are generally treated as badass fighters and media superstars rather than eye candy.

Once upon a time in Japan, it was teenage girls rather than boys who drove fan interest. The golden age of women's professional wrestling (Joshi) in Japan started in the late 1980s with a long-standing feud in All-Japan Women's Pro Wrestling between two groups of women who could not be more different. It started with Crush Gals vs. Gokuaku Domei.

Imagine if, say, the Spice Girls were also serious martial artists who partcipated in live simulated combat on television every week. Or maybe imagine what it would look like if your typical Disney channel starlet was also presented as a serious athelete and fought cartoonish villains in a wrestling ring on a regular basis. That's something similar to what Crush Gals did, and it was a huge hit. AJW television events featuring Crush Gals regularly did 12.0 ratings on Japanese television. Their records sold hundreds of thousands of copies, and their live appearances often sold out.

Partners Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka began in storyline as rivals who joined together to form a wrestling tag team and pop band. (As an aside, this kind of thing is why I love the wild world of pro wrestling. I mean, just imagine the idea of rival boxers gaining mutal respect for one another after a hard fight and then just deciding "fuck it, I love you. Let's do songs together now.") Crush Gals were presented as cute, fun loving sporty girls who were also serious athletes and martial artists who posessed superior skill and a spunky never say die attitude. They were a bona-fide sensation. Chigusa Nagayo in particular is often referred to by serious fans as the greatest babyface (good guy) female professional wrestler of all time, and Lioness Asuka isn't terribly far behind. The AJW wrestling shows were soon packed with legions of adoring teenage girl fans screaming and chanting their names. Chigusa has often claimed in interviews that she had to move multiple times because fans kept finding her home and camping out in her yard. Crush Gals were EVERYWHERE in Japanese mainstream pop culture in the late 80s. That's something that modern day male wrestlers would love to achieve.

CRUSH GALS THEME SONG Are you ready for action? I assure you that you are not.

CRUSH GALS Ice Cream Commercial Wholesome!

CRUSH GALS LIVE! Performing their first single "Bible of Fire." YES I SAID BIBLE OF FIRE.

Ikki ni Rock 'n Roll Another Crush Gals song! And it's good!

Unfortunately, there's always some motherfucker who can't stand it when other people are happy. Some dirty rotten asshole always has to go out of their way to piss on the picnic. Put another way, some people just want to watch the world burn. Some people are like Dump "Motherfuckin' Matsumoto and her minions in Gokuaku Domei (The Atrocious Alliance).

GOKUAKU DOMEI. You are fucked.

Dump Matsumoto and her Atrocious Alliance were everything that the Crush Gals were not. They were presented more or less as a street gang of girl-bullies who just hated the Crush Gals and wandered into the building one day to fuck them up forever. I'm not sure about their actual motivations, but I like to think that there was a punks vs. preps element happening here. Gokuaku Domei may have just been the world's coolest and most violent hipsters. Membership was pretty fluid over the years, but the core trio consisted of Dump, Crane Yu, and Bull Nakano. (Bull went on to surpass everyone else, but we'll talk more about her later) They made the lives of the Crush Gals a living hell. All heroes need good villains, and the Atrocious Alliance were very good indeed. Their post-match attack on Chigusa that resulted in the leader of the Crush Gals getting her head forcibly shaved on live television while teenage girl fans went into hysterics and threw themselves against the barricades to try and save their hero was, well, a pretty big deal at the time (again, more on that later). Dump's antics were dispicable (and awesome). I mean, they look like Final Fight gang members and they hit pop stars with sticks. What's not to love? Gokuaku Domei forever.