GAEA JAPAN- GOLD RUSH:
(July 16th 1996)
* Hey, it’s more GAEA! Since I wanted to do all the AJW Grand Prix stuff in a row, there’s some stuff to run back to. Some summer shows are showcased here. This show features a Battle of the Chigusa Clones, as Chigusa Nagayo teams up with newbie Makei Numao against the ’80s Chigusa Clone, Toshiyo Yamada, and the modern Chigusa Clone, Meiko Satomura! This pays off a prior match where Yamada beat Meiko after giving her a 15-minute match!
We also get AJW’s Mima Shimoda invading for a tag match, then a trios match featuring an invading Ladies Legend Pro Wrestling midcard squad! GAEA’s run of interesting “new Dream Matches” continues! A three-match review today, as I hit another short show later in the week.
WONDER FORTH:
MIMA SHIMODA (AJW) & TOSHIE UEMATSU (GAEA) vs. KAORU & SUGAR SATO (GAEA):
* An interesting mix-up, as AJW’s Mima Shimoda comes in to team with Uematsu against two other GAEA wrestlers. Shimoda’s in red & gold, Toshie’s in green, and the other two are in their usual white gear.
Shimoda/KAORU go early, Shimoda winning with a piledriver & LCO Pose, but KAORU soon mimics her pose and tosses her around outside. Shimoda gets her corner cross-body but eats the high Thesz press for two, and KAORU jackhammers her for the same. Then it’s a rookie fight with Toshie beating Sato handily with some humorous punch-flurries. Toshie does her backflip corner kick on KAORU, but the vet just flattens her anyways- she gets annoyed at Shimoda and forces a tag, but Shimoda just hits her falling clothesline then a German when KAORU resists the Tiger Suplex. Sato stops another Tiger, but Toshie flies in with a missile kick, knocking KAORU right into the full Tiger Suplex for two! Toshie throws some missile kicks (the second one is REALLY good) for two, then does a really cool wrist-clutch cradle for two, freaking out when it doesn’t get the pin. KAORU even has to check with the ref… then tags Toshie with a dropkick when she comes off the top again.
Sato kinda kills the vibe with some generic running stuff, but then KAORU lifts Toshie into Sato on the top for a Super Powerslam! Shimoda barely saves, but KAORU gets a weak springboard missile kick and puts Shimoda on the floor, then hits one mother of a Brainbuster on Toshie- Shimoda saves again, then hits her flying headscissors and dumps both girls, then dives onto them! Tiger Suplex in the ring gets two- Sato saves- and KAORU gets a rana & La Majistral for two-counts. A weird grounded Octopus stretch reversed from a whip has Toshie breaking it up, and KAORU tags out. Sato immediately gets thumped, and Shimoda cleverly swings her in the way when KAORU tries another springboard missile kick to interfere with a Tiger Suplex- this completes the move, but KAORU still pushes them over before three. KAORU yanks Shimoda out of the Death Lake Driver (Tiger superplex), setting up Sato’s flying elbow for two, but Toshie finally planchas out to deal with KAORU, allowing Shimoda to crush Sato with her new finisher the Fisherman’s Buster at (13:02 of 20:01 shown). Shimoda & Toshie win!
Pretty simple, basic match for the most part, with Sato looking pretty weak and limited with bad offense, but Toshie had good fire and Shimoda & KAORU brought their “***” effort to have a pretty good bout. Some of the move application was off (KAORU’s springboards were NOT on point), but there was some clever stuff and a lot of reversals from the vets. The Super Powerslam, “do a Tiger Suplex but turn the kid in front so KAORU’s interference move actually hits her own partner” trick and more were good bits of business.
Rating: *** (they didn’t swing for the fences, but they were still pretty good)
LLPW 6-WOMAN TAG LEAGUE:
BOMBER HIKARI, CHIKAYO NAGASHIMA & SUGAR SATO (GAEA Japan) vs. YASHA KURENAI, CAROL MIDORI & MIKIKO FUTAGAMI (LLPW):
* A pretty weird one, with 2 lower-ranked wrestlers on each side, backed up by midcard veterans. This is part of LLPW’s Trios Tag Title thing, I think. Bomber’s in blue, Chikayo’s in yellow, Sato’s in white, Yasha’s in black pants, Carol’s in grey & Gami’s in grey/black. This is clipped to less than half.
Yasha chokes out Chikayo when she jumps up on her in the corner, sending Carol in for some AWFUL kneedrops that are Baba-tier wimpy. Carol gets a rana & some rolling shoves but gets cross-bodied, and Yasha does a bunch of running kicks but is rolled up out of a chokeslam. She manages a bad one for two, then scores double-lariats with Futagami helping. Gami scores a lariat and some other stuff, holding Chikayo back, but a victory roll gets two- Gami rolling back but eating Sato’s dropkick to the head. Bomber beats up Gami and hits a powerslam for two, then a flying headbutt for a near-fall as everyone’s running around the ring and interfering.
Backdrop suplex to powerbomb gets two as Team LLPW keeps piling in to stop the pins- Gami gets a Northern Lights suplex thanks to Carol running in, getting two, and Yasha sets up a series of moves from her subordinates, having them fly off the top rope and set up her 2nd-rope legdrop for two. A triple-team is stopped by Sugar, and Bomber takes out to Chikayo, who runs in with a wheelbarrow stunner (Yasha let go of the “wheelbarrow” though, haha). Sato tries stuff but it’s REALLY bad, stumbling around, and she misses her flying back elbow… but catches Yasha’s running kick and dragon screws it! The rookies sandwich Carol with dropkicks, but LLPW stops their climbs and Carol hits a garbage missile kick and then a decent one for two- Bomber saves. Sugar hits another rollup for a close-call, but Carol does the rollthrough into a pin, but stops the pin and swings it through to a Bridging German for the three (8:16 of 20:35).
A lot of running about and hard work here, with Yasha being in for much of it to direct traffic, and some solid near-falls throughout, with nobody in particular coming off as selfish or no-selling. Sato seems to stand out again as mediocre once more, though- just stumbling around or being unable to lift people or string moves together. Carol Midori was also REALLY awful at points, too. Chikayo had a few issues, as well. Some of this could be LLPW issues, as these are unfamiliar workers and two are quite new as well, but Yasha was in there for most of the mistakes. To be fair, this was late in a VERY long match. At least they got the “character” stuff right, though- everyone interfering and running around to set things up.
Rating: **1/2 (solid from what we saw, and I liked the ending, but we’re obviously missing a BUNCH)
G’S BLOOD PERFORMER III:
CHIGUSA NAGAYO & MAKIE NUMAO (GAEA Japan) vs. TOSHIYO YAMADA (AJW) & MEIKO SATOMURA (GAEA):
* A fun mish-mash, as Chigusa takes on one of AJW’s first big Chigusa Clones (Yamada) and Chigusa’s OWN trained Chigusa Clone (Meiko), but has GAEA’s hottest new rookie alongside her. In a neat touch, Yamada’s in red alongside Chigusa & Meiko. Chigusa gifts an emotional Yamada some special kickpads before the match.
Fun bit as they tease Yamada kicks, but Meiko just runs in with a dropkick, then Yamada VICIOUSLY slaps Chigusa for grabbing the ropes on a whip attempt, which just amuses Chigusa with the ol’ fighting spirit. Chigusa hits a belly-to-belly, but Yamada does the same then her snap suplex, only for Chigusa to do THAT into the stand-off & applause! Meiko gets tripped up by the boss but stops a tag with an armbar attempt, and we’re clipped to Chigusa/Yamada again- Yamada scores a German after they both dodge kicks, then everyone runs in for a brawl, Chigusa getting up to clothesline Meiko for getting a bit too aggressive with her interference in a cute bit. Some backdrops get two for Chigusa, then she soccer-punts Yamada’s head off, a cocky pin getting two and Chigusa stalking her with the occasional taunting kick. Yamada is great at this “I’m dying” stuff and takes a huge powerbomb for two. Yamada even collapses on an Irish whip, but when Chigusa tries the GAEA MDK Sleeper, she reverses it! Then they do a fun thing where one snapmares the other to throw on a sleeper, doing this repeatedly.
Finally, Yamada tags out, Meiko hitting her windmill charge but trying again and getting WIPED OUT with a huge kick. Meiko & Makie do rookie-fu for a while, Meiko always going for her arm stuff, but Chigusa keeps walking in to truck her and let Numao have a chance. Chigusa comes in and starts the same “casually swiping kicks” thing with Meiko, but she springs to life with an arm-snap and some holds… only for Chigusa to easily thread one into the sleeper- but now Yamada pays back all that garbage Chigusa was doing by interfering and setting up Meiko’s Super Cross-Armbreaker move. Numao breaks that up and Chigusa hits a powerbomb, but Meiko no-sells and cross-armbreakers her- Chigusa easily gets out and hits an anklelock, Yamada boots her, and the rookies get into it… but Numao quickly stuns Meiko with a kick to the back and pins her with a victory roll at (9:15 of 17:32 shown)! Pretty sudden!
I liked the Chigusa/Yamada stuff, though we missed the “meat” of that it seemed like. The rivalry between the vets seemed fun, though Chigusa was so dominant I kinda wished we’d have seen Yamada score a big series of her usual stuff- this was almost entirely Chigusa kicking the snot out of her with ease and Yamada only barely escaping. Numao scoring the pin was another surprise to show how “advanced” the new kids were, as she’s already beating one of the hottest prospects of the previous class (who is sometimes such a hot prospect she does a ton of jobs because she can be “re-heated” and put over others).
Rating: **1/2 (another solid match, though it felt like they could have easily reached another few gears)