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by Riki Fudo, October 12th, 1998 
A week away. That's all Kenshiro Matsumoto and his crew were, a week
away from the biggest show in the J.I.W.W.A's history, a super card at
the Tokyo Egg Dome. What led to this? Why did a federation that
had survived three false starts finally succumb just when it seemed things
would happen?"Poor organisation", says Rekka Sakura, one of the J.I.W.W.A.'s strongest backers despite not being on the roster. "My Uncle had trouble from the start. Back when he billed the business as Nippon Puroresu Association. He had trouble appeasing the talent base. I mean the roster was small to start but after Susan K'uang-yin and Idol Team Otonsahi left, it became impossible to work with just a five woman roster." Sakura also feels its partly her fault for not signing with her uncle's federation. Despite having two of the top draws in women's wrestling in Medusa Rage and Misae Suzuki, the ticket sales were poor. Only one show managed to sell out, "Farewell to Heroine '98" which featured a fantastic 8 woman elimination tag match and a defense of the World Women's Wrestling Independent championship by Baby Hotta against Terra. That card was well recieved but was the last for K'uang-yin and the Otonashi's. Matsumoto and his bookers were hoping the Otonashi's feuding with K'uang-yin and her partner Misae Suzuki would bring big box office success. But that plan was thrown out the window. "Could you operate a league with a roster of five?" argues Sakura, "They tried recruiting several times and only got one new person. They tried to cross promote with R*NGSTARS and the GDWA. But the money ran out." Even worse, Matsumoto was negotiating for a loan from the GDWA when Denmark Vessey announced that Grand Dragon was closing its doors. "The best women's organization is gone. I mean someone else is taking it up but the management isn't the same." Sakura notes, "I'm signed with the NPWA and I'm focusing there. I just hope they don't go the way of J.I.W.W.A. or Grand Dragon. This is a sad day for women's puroresu." Is it the funeral march for women's wrestling? The fans will have to wait and see. 
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