Joshi Spotlight: GAEA Japan in May 1999

GAEA JAPAN IN MAY 1996:
* It’s time for more GAEA Japan! Last show, Lioness Asuka led Super Star Unit (SSU) into dominance, as she was able to book a show full of unfair things to punish Chigusa and her GAEA loyalists. But now it’s another month and GAEA has a chance to rebound! Also, Chigusa Nagayo defends the AAAW Title against SSU’s Aja Kong in a huge Dream Match!

GAEA Roster: Chigusa Nagayo, Akira Hokuto, Toshiyo Yamada, KAORU, (First Class) Meiko Satomura, Sonoko Kato, Toshie Uematsu, (Second Class) Sakura Hirota
Super Star Unit: Lioness Asuka, Mayumi Ozaki, Aja Kong, Sugar Sato, Chikayo Nagashima, Kaori Nakayama

SUPER STAR UNIT (Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima) vs. TOSHIE UEMATSU & RIE:
* More of RIE from FMW as she teams with Toshie to face the two SSU subordinates. Chikayo’s in mustard yellow, Sugar white, Uematsu black/green and RIE in red.

SSU teams up on Uematsu to start, then RIE flies in with the most hilariously-bad move ever, just kinda landing on her feet and “knocking SSU down”. Chikayo then wrecks a stungun (gently placing Toshie on the top rope instead) and they hit a double-facecrusher. Toshie & Sugar absolutely paintbrush the hell out of each other, putting over their feud, then RIE comes in and they try to do stuff with her- she powerbombs Chikayo out of a rana attempt and then snaps on an STF and actually gets a good reaction for it- Chikayo dragging herself along with her elbows is a good visual. Everyone kinda fucks around as Chikayo looks legit hurt after a double-arm powerbomb from RIE, and Toshie’s huge flying splash gets two on her. Sugar sets up a German to counter, but Toshie gest some REALLY good missile dropkicks and the crowd is into that. Sugar tries a powerbomb, but RIE’s flying knee sets up the Double-Wrist Northern Lights for two and Chikayo has to save. Sugar pops Toshie with her Uraken backfist, but Toshie SLICKLY rolls her over and nearly gets three off that, then counters a powerbomb to an O’Connor roll, only for Chikayo to just shove them forwards so Sugar executes the Byers bridge for three at (8:46 of 14:28 shown).

Good, hard-fought match, though has a lot of clusterfuck bits with everyone running around with no flow, and RIE barely looks trained at points. The never-ending Sugar/Toshie feud remains interesting, as they occasionally get into punch/uraken wars but it’s still pin-counters that win the day.

Rating: **1/4 (good almost in spite of itself, as they had no plan for parts of it and RIE is just actively hurting it)

CHIKAYO NAGASHIMA (SSU) vs. SONOKO KATO (GAEA):
* Kato, repping GAEA, now has her hair dyed partially blue for this one. Chikayo’s wrestling twice, I guess.

We’re JIP with Kato doing okay, but after catching Chikayo with a wheelbarrow German in mid-air, she cannonballs onto nothing and a flying stomp gets Chikayo two. Kato gets a sleeper for a while but gets caught up top trying her Super Fireman’s Roll, but gets a flying bulldog and completes the roll for two. Chikayo keeps trying counters, botching one but hitting a straightjacket German, gets powerbombed trying a rana, but pulls that into an armhold, then flying stomps THE ARM and slaps on another hold. Her technique sucks but the psychology is fine- Kato manages a sleeper and holds that for a while, then can’t get three off her finisher (Bull’s Poseidon), and in a great bit, Chikayo rolls her up trying another, Kato rolling through THAT to nearly get it only for Chikayo to snap on another armhold, then pulls a stunned Kato right into her Fisherman’s Buster for the three at (9:12 of 14:34 shown). More wins for SSU.

Kind of an ugly, scrappy fight, with botching and scrambly bits, but it kinda works for that as it looked like both were always fighting EVERYTHING. The sleepers and armholds were poorly-executed, but the timing and reversals were on point, as they just kept going for the same reliable moves, and the last move sequence was terrific. Kato having her pretty new finisher, but failing to get the pin, then trying for it too many times and getting pinned because of it.

Rating: **1/2 (another strong showing, albeit with sloppy execution)

AAAW WORLD TITLE:
CHIGUSA NAGAYO (GAEA) vs. AJA KONG (SSU, ARSION):
* Oh yeah! I forgot Chigusa was still the World Champion, haha. After losing GAEA to Lioness Asuka, I was focusing entirely on that. Aja Kong, in red & black, is both a top wrestler for ARSION and a big part of Super Star Unit. Not only is Chigusa defending her belt, but she’s got a chance to get even with those cheating bastards, too.

Both have so much charisma and timing they actually successfully pull off a “they shake hands and it turns into a dramatic battle of wills” spot, then Aja starts to dominate physically, headbutts Chigusa off the apron, and even HITS A TOPE- a lightning-fast one, too! Aja follows with a superplex & brainbuster for two-counts, then stuffs Chigusa’s reversal of her top-rope move, only to get headbutted to the floor in return and Chigusa follows with a dive. But Aja stuffs her powerbomb attempt and hits her flying back elbow for two. Chigusa attempts two straight GAEA No-Sells off of additional brainbusters, looking wobbly and managing a piss-poor lariat that Aja for some reason sells. She climbs but gets caught with a superplex as well, but does her own No-Sell and Chigusa ducks her Uraken & hits a DVD for two.

Aja counters Chigusa’s next move to another brainbuster and Chigusa blocks the Uraken, but sells enough off that for Aja to German her, Chigusa popping up AGAIN but finally eating the Uraken for two. Aja tries another, but gets caught in a long arm submission, so that when she hits another one, she sells the agony and collapses herself- she readies her oil can, but the ref’s protests and Chigusa’s defiance actually cause Aja to SHOW MERCY and she instead tosses it aside to a great reaction! Aja preps a proper Uraken, but Chigusa ducks and hits her own for a CLOSE two, leaving Aja totally stuck to the mat. Oh fuck but she was FAKING, and pops up and rushes Chigusa and Urakens her while she’s climbing the corner, and batters her again and again, even countering Chigusa’s next armhold and popping her for… two!? Man that was a lotta Urakens. Aja freaks at the kickout, rips off the gloves, screams “NAGAYO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O!” like a monster, and… misses an Uraken! But swings with another one, flattens Chigusa and scores the three at (10:54)- NEW AAAW CHAMPION! Aja Kong & Super Star Unit now control GAEA’s top belt as well! Chigusa, instead of looking heartbroken like I’d expect, is like “Hey, good job!” and smiles as she walks away.

A pretty remarkable example of how psychology and pre-existing reputations mean a lot- their timing on all these spots was TREMENDOUS even as Chigusa’s work itself could be quite sloppy, they were just doing a GAEA Sprint without much build, and it was full of GAEA No-Sells and Aja spamming all her big finishers to the point of killing all of them. But like, it was OVER! The crowd was going nuts, the seconds on the floor were adding to it by desperately hoping Chigusa survives, etc. The no-selling gets weird because Chigusa keeps fighting up, but is so messed-up by the move she’s immediately vulnerable to the next one, so it’s like her pride overwhelmed her sense of strategy- it’s smarter to just lie down and take a rest and make Aja pick her up for something rather than just standing there and eating more of her offense. ESPECIALLY with Aja Kong, who has the most credible offense in joshi.

Rating: ***1/2 (a very good example of the GAEA Sprint, building more or less an entire match around Aja’s two finishers- brainbuster & uraken- and Chigusa fighting from behid the entire time. Weird selling abounds but like… super dramatic and the crowd was into it)

SUPER STAR UNIT (Lioness Asuka, Etsuko Mita & Sugar Sato, w/ Chikayo Nagashima) vs. KAORU, TOSHIYO YAMADA & MEIKO SATOMURA:
* Hahah what a weird Dream Match combination- three random SSU members, including one half of LCO and one half of the First Class tag duo, and they’re up against Chigusa’s top loyalists.

We’re JIP and it’s already a mess, with Asuka flinging herself into a table, Mita missing a chair toss and eating KAORU’s springboard dropkick, Yamada backdrop driving Sugar in the ring and KAORU finishing with a moonsault to the floor to the other two. Diving Brain Kick gets two on Sugar- the others still manage to save. KAORU moonsaults onto her feet and gets dragon-screwed, uraken’d and hoisted for a powerbomb, but gets her rana counter. Brainbuster gets two and Asuka blocks her Springboard Moonsault, so GAEA blocks SSU and she goes for a corkscrew dive (Chikayo tosses a chair into her ass from the floor)- again the pin is broken. Michinoku Driver, same result. Chikayo dropkicks in to stop Meiko’s DVD and Mita dives into GAEA, setting up Meiko being smashed into a table a few times so Sugar’s uraken can get two. Table-assisted Asuka flying stomp- KAORU saves. Meiko counters out of a powerbomb but her Pele kick is blocked and a Blue Thudner bomb gets two on her. Another table-stomp sees Mita with a powerbomb, but now YAMADA bolts in, teleporting from off-screen. Mita gets a Super Electric Chair drop, and the most hilarious Grumpy Kickout Face when it gets two. Everyone scrambles and Meiko finally gets that Pele kick on Sugar, then puts her in the way of Mita’s chairshot and hits the Death Valley Driver for three at (7:36 of 24:10 shown)! SSU is hoist by their own petard! Man, that was a LONG one- nobody but Meiko looked tired enough for that to have been the match length. Mita’s actually in tears at the finish, bawling as Sugar sells death. Asuka just stares daggers at Team GAEA before taking her leave.

A very tradiational GAEA Sprint, though oddly not the manically paced one of the past- just a never-ending supply of big moves and potential finishers, but not done so quickly they all kinda blend together into one mash of MOVEZ. The match was so long it seemed like the crowd was fairly muted (especially compared to Chigusa/Aja), but to be fair it was mostly people doing their set-up & second biggest moves instead of their top-tier ones until the very end, so the fans were probably not gonna bite on the Meiko DVD, Mita super electric chair, Asuka ligerbomb, etc.- it needs to be Mita’s DVD, the Towerhacker Bomb, etc. for people to buy it.

Rating: **1/2 (another very solid GAEA Sprint-style storm of finishers- but we miss a LOT of it. It would probably have been more dull at the full length)

SUPER STAR UNIT (Lioness Asuka, Chikayo Nagashima & Kaori Nakayama, w/ Sugar Sato) vs. MEIKO SATOMURA, SONOKO KATO & SAKURA HIROTA:
(Feb. 23rd)
* From a different show comes another SSU/GAEA Trios Match. Asuka’s in black, Chikayo’s in mustard, Kaori’s in a black top & rose gold genie pants, Meiko’s in red, Kato’s in blue & Sakura’s in pink.

Sakura starts off with her goofy submission on Asuka, then Meiko is doing well with Asuka, but cheating turns the tide, then Kaori comes in and takes her lumps like a good rookie. Cheating turns the tide, but now Chikayo gets beaten up until getting her feet up in the corner- everyone scraps and nobody can maintain momentum (at one point, SSU cheats but Meiko ends up slingshotting onto Asuka on the apron), but Meiko frog splashes onto nothing and Sakura/Kaori end up trading offense. A German/Flying Stomp gets two for Kaori, then a t-bone suplex hold- big Asuka comes in to bully the kid, and gets some great “you DARE?!” reactions to backfists but gets slugged down for two, surprising her. Lioness lariats her, but Meiko reverses a powerbomb and it sets up a 2nd-rope uraken for two. Asuka gets triple-teamed into Kato’s Dragon Suplex, then a guillotine legdrop. Asuka clotheslines her over the top to clear the ring, then Meiko appears to literally have to drag Sakura over to make their cue for Asuka to lariat them both down (not much momentum there).

They do the old “table in the corner” routine common to all these SSU/GAEA matches, but this time Asuka just lariats Kato down for two, and Sakura accidentally nails her own ally by throwing the table down. That sets up the usual “flying stomp onto the table” spot, and a BT bomb gets two. Sato flies in to cheat, then there’s a unique spot where Chikayo flies down onto Asuka, who spins around and powerbombs her onto Kato- Meiko has to save the pin. Chikayo lands on her feet from Kato’s finisher attempt and Germans her for a close one, then she scraps with Meiko until Kaori comes in with a tornado DDT & Chikayo’s super rana gets two. Then we get the final flurry- Meiko & Chikayo keep countering each other, Meiko hitting a Pele kick but Chikayo blocking the second, then Lioness hits three straight chairshots, a defiant Meiko refusing to sell and finally catching a flying Chikayo and deadlifting her up (!) for a Death Valley Driver for three at (13:47 of 17:16 shown)! Team GAEA wins!

A pretty solid, scrappy fight with a “House Show Effort” in parts and “TV Show Effort” in others- there’s the expected stuff like Sakura & Kaori getting their reps in but disappearing once it’s time to REALLY put effort in, Lioness being her usual solid self but letting the kids do their pre-planned routine in the end, the table spots like we always get, and finally the big Meiko/Chikayo routine in the end where they keep countering and Meiko hits a big move to end it. That showed some serious strength to haul Chikayo from a swinging rana into a powerbomb position into a fireman’s carry. A lot of the match was kinda ugly and scrappy, but not necessarily in a bad way.

Rating: **1/2 (the usual “Good GAEA Effort” match)

So all this comes off like “The New Normal” in GAEA, with Super Star Unit & GAEA split up into faction battles, usually focusing on Trios bouts. Sugar Sato & Toshie Uematsu have a punch-based feud that won’t stop, and now there’s routine spots showing up regularly in matches, like “draping a table in the corner” and “someone does a flying stomp to a table while someone’s stuck under it”, with the exact moves and people taking them changing. Chigusa losing the AAAW Title is pretty huge and feels like it’s maybe political (ARSION sending its highest-ranked wrestler to another promotion, maybe?).