Kaoru Matsumoto

, better known by her ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler. She came to prominence as one of the leading female wrestlers in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) during the 1980s. The longtime leader of the Atrocious Alliance stable, which included Crane Yu, Condor Saito and Bull Nakano, she was one of the main rivals of the popular tag team the Crush Gals. Their long-running feud would become extremely popular in Japan during the 1980s, with their televised matches resulting in some of the highest rated in Japanese television as well as the promotion regularly selling out arenas.

Early life Matsumoto came from poverty; She was born to a regularly unemployed alcoholic father and mother who had irregular work in the city of Kumagaya in the Saitama Prefecture. The family, which also included Matsumoto's sister Hiromi, lived in a one-room apartment and depended on her father's family for support. His family ran a farm in nearby Higashimatsuyama. Matsumoto has recalled stealing food as a child to survive. At the age of 6 years old, Matsumoto discovered her father had a child with a mistress over in Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture.

Matsumoto has stated her desire to become a professional wrestler was born out of her desire to become strong enough to kill her father. Afterwards a determined Matsumoto attended High School and took up Archery as a sport in addition to the Basketball and swimming she was already participating in.

Professional wrestling career

All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (1980–1986) Matsumoto made her debut for AJW in December 1980. She was an unremarkable rookie for the promotion until late 1982 when she joined Devil Masami's Devil Corps faction and became a villain. As part of the Devil Corps Matsumoto defeated Lioness Asuka for the AJW Championship on January 8, 1983 and held the title for almost six months before losing the title back to Asuka on June 1, 1983.

It was in January 1984 that she took the name Dump Matsumoto, supposedly because she was stocky but powerful like a Dump Truck. On the same day, she adopted the name Dump, Matsumoto dyed her hair blonde (In the context of Japan at the time, this was a major break from social norms) and donned face paint and a black leather jacket inspired by the rock band KISS. Matsumoto has claimed that, upon adopting the Dump persona, she wrote the equivalent of a suicide note to her mother explaining that Kaoru was now "dead".

During her feud with the Crush Gals, she would often team with Bull Nakano and Crane Yu, known collectively as the "Atrocious Alliance". On February 25, 1985, Matsumoto teamed with Crane Yu to defeat the Crush Gals for the WWWA World Tag Team Championship, although the two were forced to vacate the title two months later following Yu's retirement. The Crush Gals vs Atrocious Alliance feud was ultra-successful for AJW and saw all involved throw in stardom. Matches between the Crush Gals and the Atrocious Alliance would regularly attract a 12.0 rating on Fuji TV, the station AJW broadcast on in Japan. This meant that 12% of the entire viewing audience in Japan that night were viewing the match.

Throughout 1985 and 1986, Matsumoto and Chigusa Nagayo had a feud with each other that included two highly acclaimed hair vs. hair matches. She later lost to rival Chigusa Nagayo for the All Pacific Championship in Tokyo, Japan on April 5, 1986.

World Wrestling Federation (1986) In early 1986, she and Nakano made a brief appearance in the World Wrestling Federation as The Devils of Japan, wrestling Velvet McIntyre in two separate tag team matches with Dawn Marie in Boston, Massachusetts on March 8, which they lost and with Linda Gonzales in New York City, New York on March 16, 1986, which they were victorious.

Return to AJW (1986–1988) Once back in Japan, Matsumoto resumed her feud with the Crush Gals teaming with Bull Nakano to defeat Lioness Asuka and Kazue Nagahori (substituting for an injured Chigusa Nagayo) for the WWWA Tag Team title on August 23, 1986, however, the two would eventually be forced to vacate the title the following year. Although Matsumoto officially announced her retirement on February 25, 1988, in which she wrestled the Crush Gals in a tag team match with Yukari Ohmori and then siding against her partner by switching with Nagayo against Asuka and Ohmori, she wrestled her final match against Bull Nakano and Condor Saito on February 28 and thereafter retired.

Occasional appearances (1998–present)

She has since appeared on several All Japan Women "legends reunions", and in August 1998, Matsumoto and Crane Yu came out of retirement wrestling in a ten-minute exhibition tag team match against Combat Toyoda and Hyper Cat. She also made several appearances for the now defunct GAEA promotion, and as recently as November 11, 2007, ran her own show under the banner of Gokuaku Domei Produce at Shinjuku FACE.

Wrestling style and persona Matsumoto, inspired by the Sukeban subculture and the rock band KISS, adopted the "Dump" persona in January 1984 which saw her become an intimidating villain clad in black leather jackets, wearing dyed blonde hair and gruesome face paint and wielding a kendo stick.

Writing in 1988, professional wrestling Journalist and historian Dave Meltzer stated Matsumoto actually pioneered the gimmick that the Road Warriors would later use to great fame in the United States, of being face-painted bikers with bizarre haircuts and monster heels who sold very little, if at all, for the smaller, under matched baby faces. Matsumoto's impact was so great that she often brought crowds literally to tears with her villainous tactics, and when she would merely walk down the street in any major city, people would scatter in fear. was released on Netflix. The five-part series, which began streaming on September 19, 2024, features renowned Japanese comedian Yuriyan Retriever portraying the character of Dump Matsumoto.

Championships and accomplishments All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling AJW Championship (1 time) WWWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Crane Yu (1) and Bull Nakano (1) Tag League the Best (1985) – with Bull Nakano AJW Hall of Fame (1998) Tokyo Sports Topic Award (2024) Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)

Luchas de Apuestas record

Winner (wager)Loser (wager)LocationEventDateNotes Dump Matsumoto (hair) Chigusa Nagayo (hair) Osaka-Jo Hall - Osaka, Japan AJW show Chigusa Nagayo (hair) Dump Matsumoto (hair) Osaka-Jo Hall - Osaka, Japan AJW show