Joshi Spotlight: GAEA Japan in March 1999

GAEA JAPAN (March 1999):
* It’s finally time for more GAEA Japan! When we last left off, the newly formed Super Star Unit raised hell over Korakuen Hall, with Aja Kong, Mayumi Ozaki, Lioness Asuka, and their goons beating on the entire GAEA roster alongside Las Cachorras Orientales (who joined in to get in on the mayhem), spreading powder everywhere, and generally being shits. So now GAEA has a major central angle- Chigusa Nagayo leading her loyalists against the invading heel stable, which includes her former best friend and partner (Asuka). And this sets up a REALLY big match for the April shows!

SUPER STAR UNIT (Aja Kong & Chikayo Nagashima) vs. MEIKO SATOMURA & SONOKO KATO:
(March 20th)
* So Chigusa’s two most loyal students take on an SSU leader and her own subordinate, Chikayo (part of the same class as Meiko/Sonoko, but a longtime traitor who joined with Ozaki early). Aja’s in that black/dark brown version of her gear, Chikayo’s in neon yellow, Kato’s in blue & Meiko’s in red.

If you’ve any familiarity with GAEA, you know the deal- Meiko/Kato can beat on Chikayo, but Aja will methodically take them apart. Aja’s like “lol I don’t respect you” and Meiko’s like “YOU WILL RESPECT ME!” but the interesting bits quickly take a house show cadence as they do an arena brawl. 12 minutes in Aja uses her oil can to smash Kato after she dodges Chikayo’s flying stomp, setting up a German for our first near-fall. Aja comes in to mop up, but misses her flying elbow and Kato Germans HER with Meiko’s help, and a flying forearm/guillotine legdrop combo gets two. Kato tries BULL’S POSEIDON of all things on Aja and gets powerbombed for it, but dodges the can shot so Chikayo takes it, doing the move to her instead for two. Chikayo eats a splash & Pele kick as Aja keeps saving her, but Chikayo gets a slingshot rana for two on Meiko. Kato saves after a Fisherman’s Buster and after Aja assists in some Chikayo double-stomps. Meiko gets a good reaction for “Fuck YOU!” bridging out of a vicious Aja lariat, then another, and gets a desperation sleeper while Kato holds back Chikayo on the floor to put it over, but no dice. Aja gets a desperation Backdrop Driver when Meiko goes to tag out, but ends up in the Death Valley Driver for a dramatic two-count after missing her Uraken. haha two girls on the right side of the hard cam were marking out hard for that one- Meiko’s persistence got ’em. Meiko tries again, Aja tries and fails the brainbuster & uraken again, but finally gets the Brainbuster… and Kato saves while those fans mark out again. An angry Aja just bludgeons Meiko to death and Urakens her at (21:15 of 22:13 shown).

See this was like twelve minutes of lazy bullshit I didn’t even bother recapping and then the back half of the match is awesome, haha. Like they were going 20+ in some small-ass arena so I GET IT, but hoo boy. But of course all that still manages to set up the remainder, as Aja’s lack of respect and her ability to easy stop the kids finally starts to fade as they make more and more comebacks on her, and finally it’s just 5 minutes of Meiko/Aja stuff, with Kato allowing her partner some saves. Aja’s finishers being over really helps this out.

Rating: ***1/4 (like this totally lazy nothing bout with a fantastic final 10 minutes or so)

SUPER STAR UNIT (Lioness Asuka & Sugar Sato) vs. KAORU & TOSHIE UEMATSU:
(March 20th)
* More SSU/GAEA, with Lioness leading the other rookie against loyalist KAORU and Sato’s classmate Toshie.

We’re clipped to Sugar hitting dragon screws on both women, then Asuka piledrives KAORU through a table. She’s cut open, so Asuka smashes her with a table piece and grinds it against her, piledrives her, and more, while Sugar gets a chain and works the cut. The beating goes on, even after Toshie turns up alive, and Sugar’s powerbomb sets up a giant swing (God DAMN check out Asuka’s footwork on that). Lioness again shows her raw power in holding KAORU’s rana reversal attempt and just Ligerbombing her anyways, but we’re clipped to KAORU getting the chain and giving the heels some chainy justice, and they hang Lioness in the corner while KAORU hits two straight Michinoku Drivers on Sugar… but Ozaki whips a chair at her face to break it up from the floor! Sugar gets her Ligerbomb but KAORU immediately pops up with the GAEA No-Sell to very little reaction, and SSU beats on the both of them and Sugar pins KAORU with another Ligerbomb at (6:43 shown).

This actually got a bit good despite the shorter version we got (like, where was Toshie for most of that?)- it would have been better if KAORU could sell and thus we’d get more into her comebacks. Sugar getting to be the one who pins her is helpful, though- it establishes that you don’t just need the vets to play mop-up.

Rating: ** (mostly clipped but looked pretty solid in the end)

We’re immediately led to Lioness Asuka cutting up a white sheet dramatically, infuriating Chigusa and setting up a big challenge. Some guy in the stands (a GAEA backer?) talks to them and hashes it out- thankfully I know where this is leading- a singles match to determine who’s in charge of GAEA.

A match signing about that very thing, with the English notes below explaining what the match is about. Oh, well I guess I didn’t need to learn beforehand what Chigusa & Asuka were talking about, haha. For whatever reason, what the guy is saying in the announcements is HILARIOUS to the crowd and to Super Star Unit, though Chigusa is blank-faced as ever.

TOSHIE UEMATSU vs. KAORI NAKAYAMA:
(March 22nd)
* ummm… who the hell is this? Oh, Kaori’s from FMW and is a fifth-year, about as long as Toshie has been wrestling. She’s in big red genie pants and a black tank-top, while Toshie’s in the usual green. And she’s a Super Star Unit subordinate.

They do some clunky stuff, Kaori being an FMW girl meaning she’s probably not very good, but she gets a forearm off the top for two. They keep trying to give each other stun-guns and charge into each other with weird timing at odd angles- the marks of a scrub. Kaori hits a tornado DDT into a Super Rana, Toshie getting an ovation for kicking out. Kaori telegraphs a move and gets German’d off the middle rope, and Toshie gets her typical big reaction from using GOO PUNCHES~~ to wipe out Kaori. Toshie triumphantly does three big missile dropkicks in a row (which is both crowd-pleasing AND time-filling), then a turning splash, but tries for two Northern Lights suplexes and gets DDT’d and La Majistral’d for a big near-fall. A second Goo Punch is actually ignored and she’s rolled up for another close call, sits on Kaori after another Majistral, and finally counters an Exploder with a Goo Punch/NL Suplex for three at (6:48).

Turned into a decent scrap in the end- Kaori came off like a scrub but Toshie eventually threaded a good match around her, focusing on crowd-pleasing spots, time-filling big moves (three missile kicks in a row take a WHILE and build anticipation with each one, and even get some appreciation for the kickout), countering and more.

Rating: **1/4 (not nearly as bad as an FMW/GAEA clash could be)

SUGAR SATO vs. SAKURA HIROTA:
(March 22nd)
* The SSU loyalist in white takes on the Chigusa loyalist comedy wrestler, in pink.

Sakura actually catches Sugar early with leg stuff and talks shit, then catches her with a bunch of strikes for two. The FLYING ASS gets two, but Sugar keeps avoiding a half-nelson suplex, hits a missile kick & dragon screw off the top, then works the leg. Sakura is hurt by a powerbomb, then screws up her comeback (hitting the corner and collapsing into them) so Sugar has to cover for her and take the leaping forearm for two. Sakura gets a big reaction for FINALLY clocking her and hitting that Half-Nelson Suplex for two, then hits an uraken- Sugar hits her own and nearly pins her, then another, Sakura getting good reactions for all her kickouts. For all her flaws, her “flail”-selling is great. Sakura avoids a powerbomb by tangling herself up in the ropes, but Sugar finally urakens her there and hauls her in for a bad Ligerbomb (Sakura comes down perpendicular to her) for the pin at (7:16).

Sakura has another “terribly executed, but sells well enough than the fans are into her” performance, as she annoys me by being sloppy all match long yet popular with the fans, haha. Like poor Sugar Sato is working overtime to save a few spots in the match and thread Sakura’s 2-3 moves into a good match, and it’s working well enough that Sakura is getting big pops for kicking out of midcard urakens and the like. Just the way Sakura lolls her head on strikes and looks like she’s about to pass out is great, even as all her moves are garbage and her stuff is often mistimed.

Rating: ** (actually got good at points, but not a terribly compelling TV match)

SUPER STAR UNIT (Lioness Asuka & Aja Kong) vs. MEIKO SATOMURA & SONOKO KATO:
* NOW we come to a big one, as the GAEA Cheer Squad take on an ultra-superteam of Aja/Asuka. The kids are FUCKED, but it’ll be interesting to see just HOW fucked they are, and how they can nearly succeed and capture the crowd’s belief.

We’re joined with the vets bullying and battering Kato, Asuka hitting her giant swing for two, and Kato just flat-faces off a simple Irish whip and Aja sarcastically cheers her on. Aja toys with her and of course gets cranked with a German, but weathers Meiko’s screaming flurry and just rips her with a lariat. Aja easily escapes their flying moves, but Asuka keeps getting tagged by Meiko and has to dodge another leap and powerbombs her for two. Meiko goes for that sleeper reversal again, but Aja’s wise to it, only to get cocky and be caught next time, making the ropes after a LONG fight. But Lioness takes out Kato so Meiko has no one to tag, and she gets backdrop drivered… but Aja again gets sleeper’d! This actually gets OVER, and Aja can only weakly touch the ropes with her fingers as Lioness is being held off. This lets the kids work over a nearly-unconscious Aja with double-teams- a guillotine legdrop from Kato gets two. But the momentum is halted once the heels start tossing weapons around. Aja is beat, so Lioness has to take over on Kato, smashing her into a table then doing a FLYING STOMP onto it and a Ligerbomb gets two. Kato rolls her up out of the Towerhacker Bomb and Meiko sets up the Dragon Suplex for a nearfall. Lioness soon fights them off and Aja sets up a blue thunder bomb for two, then a superplex on Meiko, but Lioness misses a moonsault, recovering with two spinkicks. Ligerbomb gets two, but the heels troll people with a Crush Gals Sandwich Lariat, only clobbering each other, and Meiko DVDs Aja for two, then ducks her Uraken and Pele kicks her for two! Aja crushes her with a lariat after cheating, but the Brainbuster only gets two for our big nearfall and the Uraken has to finish at (14:46 shown).

This one started really good, but kinda devolved into a “people just throwing stuff” scrap with no real story beyond “people interrupting stuff”, so it kept up the energy throughout with no resting, but it didn’t have peaks and valleys and so the crowd was just kinda “generally shouting” throughout instead of going nuts. Aja putting over Meiko’s sleeperhold was a good bit, and made for some early drama at least.

Rating: **1/2 (same-old same-old for this kind of match)

SUPER STAR UNIT (Mayumi Ozaki & Mima Shimoda) vs. CHIGUSA NAGAYO & TOSHIYO YAMADA:
* The real scraps begin, with Chigusa leading one of the top Chigusa Clones against SSU’s founder plus the hellraiser Shimoda. I feel like Ozaki & Shimoda, the two biggest “Bitch With A Captital C” women in joshi, were a lost team we didn’t see enough of. Ozaki’s in red & black, Shimoda’s in red & white, Chigusa’s in blue/yellow/black & Yamada’s in purple/white.

We’re clipped to Chigusa already bleeding and being bitten by both satantic psychos, and when the ref gives them a disgusted look, Shimoda makes sure to wipe the blood on her, haha. Shimoda goes for a weak pin off her tiger suplex/ax kick and it’s weird seeing her finishes being used so casually. They do some ugly reversals and we’re clipped to SSU using chairs and Yamada does a MASSIVE bladejob, and she gets drilled with a double-flying knee into a Ligerbomb for two. Shimoda makes a big show out of trying Yamada’s finisher, but her execution immediately fails and Chigusa laughs and kicks her right in the ass. Yamada of course counters a whip with her spinkick, and a flying one gets two, and Ozaki has to push her over after the Reverse Gory Bomb hits. Both Shimoda & Yamada are now COVERED with her blood as Oz fires off her Tequila Sunrise to stop the offense, and Chigusa has to superplex Shimoda to set up another pin attempt. But Chigusa cross-bodies Yamada by mistake, allowing Shimoda to hit the Death Lake Driver (tiger superplex) for the pin at (5:16 shown). SSU celebrates with victory wine after the match, Oz hilariously being too weak to pop the cork so she has to get Lioness to do it, amusing the fans. KAORU talks some shit on the mic after, so SSU just shake up the wine and spray her with it while Mita marks out on the floor. KAORU gets into it with her and everyone talks shit in promos, and KAORU is then seen crying in the back.

Just a bloodbath of a match, Yamada doing good as the “dazed & bloodied” warrior getting her ass kicked We obviously only got the tail end of it but it seemed fine. VERY ugly throughout, though- Shimoda & Ozaki have some of the worst move execution at the top of the card at this point, being very loose, sloppy and “meh, whatever- it almost hit”, and the match didn’t flow so much as it had people wandering around doing all sorts of stuff with no story aside from blood.

Rating: **1/4 (one of those fine, forgettable things save for the bloodbath)

That’s it for another month of GAEA! Next up we’ll have Chigusa vs. Lioness- the Crush Gals EXPLODE for the rights to run GAEA Japan! aka the most “late-90s American promotion” thing ever.