Joshi Spotlight: GAEA Japan- Full Bloom

GAEA JAPAN- FULL BLOOM:
(April 24th 1998)
* It’s time for more GAEA- this time from April, as I kind of go back & forth in the first half of 1998. Joshi’s kind of a mess at this point, so I guess it’s fitting that I keep finding pre-May stuff after I’ve reviewed May shows, lol. The name of the game- ROOKIE-SLAYING!! Chigusa Nagayo, Aja Kong and even AJW’s MANAMI TOYOTA come in for some beatdowns of GAEA’s First Class, which is always fun, as much as I assume it doesn’t help the late-90s narrative that the veterans were “burying” the younger generation. In reality, third years have no business being competitive with veterans so these kids doing as well as they are is semi-unprecedented, but the “Rookies Held Down” narrative holds strong in wrestling commentary.

CHIGUSA NAGAYO vs. SONOKO KATO:
* Chigusa, in a blue/yellow/black outfit, takes on Kato in a clipped (edit: NOPE) match. NEW GEAR ALERT- not only for Chigusa, but Kato now has yellow outlines on her blue gear!

Kato attacks the boss before the match, backdrop suplexing her on the floor, then climbing to the middle rope and cannonballing her off there! She kicks Chigusa down in the ring and legdrops her, but Chigusa reverses to a monster backdrop. Chigusa hits a powerbomb, but Kato NO-SELLS… but as Chigusa backs up Kato collapses to the mat, losing her energy. hah. Kato reverses another powerbomb to a sleeper, but refuses to break in the ropes, climbing OVER them and using them for leverage to choke out Chigusa! The ref has to actually pry her off, and Kato follows up with a flying cannonball for two. Chigusa elbows free from a German, but Kato just KIPS UP and completes the bridging one for two! Guillotine legdrop gets two, but she climbs for whatever and Chigusa superplexes her off. Kato tries the “no-sell to choke” thing but is so loopy and weakened that Chigusa casually swats her off- Chigusa Germans her right onto her head but Kato AGAIN no-sells, but has her armbar countered and the Razor’s Edge finishes at (3:28)- LESS THAN FOUR MINUTES!

A shockingly packed “GAEA Sprint”- they’ve obviously kind of figured out how these work. While I’m not really a fan of the “No-Sell to Charge” thing joshi was doing for a while there, it seemed they’d stopped (as I barely recall seeing it in 1997), but now it’s here with a vengeance. At least with only a 3:28 run-time, I can buy Kato not being worn down enough to be selling all these big moves. They also told a bit of a story with them, as Kato kept TRYING the “No-Sell”, but oftentimes was just too beaten up or hurt to follow-up, and ended up collapsing, putting on a weak hold, etc.

Rating: **1/2 (way better than a match under 4 minutes should ever be, but not necessarily what I want GAEA to become)

MANAMI TOYOTA (AJW) vs. TOSHIE UEMATSU (GAEA):
* MANAMI IN GAEA!! Now that’s a treat! Manami’s in her red gear and we’re JIP to a terrified-looking Uematsu, in a green two-piece more akin to Kato’s gear, recoiling away. Toshie, at 5’2″, is about what most modern joshi look like, size-wise, which makes it pretty clear that 5’6″ Manami would stick out like crazy today.

Manami immediately begins her RookieSlayer act, torturing Toshie and hooking her nostrils to the delight of the fans. Toshie manages to toss her by the hair to Manami’s amusement, but the comparatively giant Toyota easily no-sells shoulderblock charges and then boots her down and hits missile kicks all slow & steady-like. Toshie finally knocks her off the top with some effort and planchas her, then hits her Northern Lights suplex on the floor, and when Manami fights out of one in the ring, deftly ties her up for two. Manami completely no-sells a missile dropkick with a taunt, but of course walks right into the Norther Lights for two- Toshie climbs but takes a NASTY German suplex off the second rope, but they each counter Germans and Toshie rolls her up again for two. Manami finally backdrops her to the floor and hits a running springboard plancha, but misses a Moonsault and gets German’d for two. Manami gets whipped off the ropes but gets her own Bridging German for two, lands the Moonsault, but has the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex (straightjacket electric chair w/ bridge) countered with a Japanese leg roll clutch for two. Manami just tries again with no moves in between and gets victory rolled for it, but Toshie tries a splash for some reason and ends up hitting knees and getting missile kicked in the back for two. Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex finishes at (8:07 of 16:14 shown).

This was a funny match, as Manami just takes her tiny opponent lightly the entire time, but lacks the brutality of Aja or another monster so it’s just like “lol you suck!” but keeps getting caught with things, but acts amused at the same time, like she’s paying for her lack of focus repeatedly but never learns her lesson or goes “Okay, now it’s serious”. There was a bit of hesitancy here and there, Manami often having to just stand there to eat Toshie’s moves, which looked weird. Manami is also clearly in “House Show Mode”, just SLOWLY walking from place to place while talking shit- it shows good Veteran Disprespect but makes it look like Toshie never once pushes her despite all the stuff she does- her only big stuff is rollups. Though the LONG match length might be part of why- you book someone to go 16 minutes in a house show environment you know what you’re getting. Mike Lorefice I think got the full version and rated it ***1/4 but is even harsher on Toyota.

Rating: ** (fine and some classic rookie-bullying by Manami, but slow-paced and never hit a second tier, either- just Toyota struggling to finally catch the rookie and finally just beating her down for three)

AJA KONG (ARSION) vs. MEIKO SATOMURA (GAEA):
* Aja, in blue, now takes on Meiko, in red. Aja’s the best at “carrying” and putting over anybody of the trio so far, so this should be the best one.

Meiko actually catches Aja’s first shot and hauls her down for a pummeling and her windmill charge… but Aja just sits there blank-faced, having absorbed it. The crowd “ooooh”s at that one and she follows Meiko to the other corner to splatter her, then uses a body attack and just sits on her to throw slaps. Meiko loses a kick war, takes a further beating, and eats the piledriver for two. Meiko finally catches her with a forearm out of the corner and rains them down, but Aja just taunts her, completely no-selling and swatting her down. Aja now brings in the oil can (now with her facepaint logo on all sides!) and absolutely SMASHES Meiko with it, milking each shot. But now Aja gets careless and climbs up, being knocked to the floor and taking the windmill elbow off the apron! But Aja no-sells a flying elbow smash and just drills Meiko with a knee, and Meiko messes up catching her with an armbar off a leaping attack and has to try for a cross-armbreaker.

Meiko tries for a DVD like an idiot, but manages to catch Aja with the Super Cross-Armbreaker (albeit failing her grip and having to reconnect). They milk a body slam to the point it actually gets a pop (this is why Aja rules), but Aja gets her feet up on a splash and backdrop drivers Meiko for two. Meiko manages another super armbar move, Aja doing her best to scream in it. Aja counters the DVD to an Uraken, but Meiko ducks and hits the Death Valley Driver- 2.9! Meiko really sells the desperation and “OH COME ON!”, almost pleading with the ref because that was everything she had. Aja is up first and hits a release German, only barely selling Meiko’s elbows before catching her with her own DVD, then ends her hopes and dreams with the Uraken (backfist) at (10:11).

Very fun to compare this to the Toyota match, where this one has more distinct no-selling and taunting (replacing “laughing it off” with “stoic staredowns”), but Meiko’s able to pressure Aja a lot more with better offense, even if some of it gets sloppy. And Aja really sells the impact of the DVD and such, and the moves are built better because Meiko had kept trying them before succeeding. And the DVD was SO close you can see Meiko’s heart breaking, and Aja just finishes her with Meiko’s own move and the emphatic Uraken.

Rating: *** (Aja is SO GOOD at the slow build, move anticipation and making someone miserable with sheer power)

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