(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Akira Hokuto vs. Meiko Satomura – GAEA Limit Break 2001

I’ve heard nothing but good things about this match. It’s something of a lost classic, known only to the small handful of people dedicated enough to scour the interwebs for obscure matches that took place during the tail end of joshi’s post-peak downward spiral. And with news that Meiko Satomura will be retiring within the next five months it’s fitting that we take a look at what is considered one of the best matches of her career…as well as another feather in Hokuto’s cap as well.

The Story

Akira Hokuto, a women’s wrestler so skilled and talented that she could be considered for the Mount Rushmore of women’s wrestling, teased and announced her retirement many times before. But like 99% of professional wrestlers, those retirements don’t last and she ended up back in the squared circle before long. After doing everything there was to do in AJW, Hokuto joined GAEA where, by most accounts, she coasted on her reputation and didn’t always give it her 100% (then again, when you’re so firmly entrenched as a “legend” do you really have to give each 110%? Probably not, unless your name is Kenta Kobashi or Will Ospreay). So Hokuto became this mountain for rookies to climb, and even as the entire joshi scene began floundering post-1997, she still managed to get consistent work. Then, as one women after another tried and failed to beat her soundly, along came Satomura, who wanted to make a name for herself at Hokuto’s experience.

But this was much easier said than done: Hokuto was a certified legend with a reputation for toughness unlike most anyone else, male or female. After all, how many others would continue wrestling while holding their heads in place safter suffering a broken neck from a second-rope Tombstone Piledriver?

The Match

This took place on April 29, 2001.

Satomura asks for a handshake and Hokuto reluctantly obliges…which leads to STIFF slaps from both women. Satomura follows with a calf kick flurry and then a back kick to Hokuto’s head. Satomura continues going after the legs but Hokuto slaps her hard once more. Then Hokuto hits one of the nastiest Death Valley Drivers you’ll ever see and starts working over Satomura’s hand. Hokuto follows with knees to the head but when she goes to capitalize Satomura drops her with a German suplex followed by a stiff roundhouse kick.

Satomura goes for an Irish whip but Hokuto counters with another bitchslap. That’s followed by a few more but then Satomura lands another back kick out of nowhere. Satomura lands more head kicks and goes for a Samoan drop. Hokuto counters this with a head scissor hold but then Satomura fires back with uppercuts. Both women take turns pulling each other from the top turnbuckle unti Satomura lands another back kick to apparently knock Hokuto loopy.

Satomura goes for a diving attack but Hokuto counters with a Fujiwara armbar. Satomura gets a ropebreak so Hokuto launches her across the ring arm-first. The ringside rookies help Satomura by giving her cold spray for her arm but still Satomura’s forced to rely on kicks upon re-entering the ring. Hokuto slaps back until Satomura smacks her extra hard to get her off her feet. The two women trade impressive hold counters until Hokuto locks Satomura in a heel hook/ankle lock of sorts.

Satomura breaks free of Hokuto’s hold and then counters a sharpshooter attempt with her own. But that’s quickly countered by Hokuto who locks in an STF/armlock combo. Satomura breaks free and blocks a Dangerous Queen Bomb with a back kick. Hokuto hits back with kicks of her own and lands two diving shotgun dropkicks for a near-fall. Dangerous Queen Bomb connects. Satomura kicks out. Hokuto locks in her husband’s move the strangle hold alpha submission hold. Satomura writhes about and struggles immensely until she gets a ropebreak. Hokuto goes for a Northern Lights Bomb. Satomura counters with a DVD and then applies a cross armbar of her own. Hokuto tries escaping but Satomura counters over and over to maintain her submission hold. This goes on for a long time until Hokuto gets a ropebreak and bails to ringside.

Hokuto recovers ringside but when she returns she immediately eats a bridging northern lights suplex. Satomura only gets a two-count so she drops Hokuto with another German. She goes for a diving splash but Hokuto kicks her out of the air. Then Hokuto plants Satomura with her Witchcraft spiking Back suplex but only gets two. Another Witchcraft. Another two-count. Spinkick. Two-count. Hokuto signals another kick. Satomura cuts her off and kicks her face in. the referee checks on Hokuto but she continues to fight. Hokuto blocks a back kick and drops Satomura with a slap. A few more stiff slaps lead to a one-count for Hokuto. Another face kick gets Satomura the same. Yet another merciless slap from Hokuto. Two-count. A face kick gives Satomura some breathing room. After a short break the women trade head-butts. Satomura rolls to ringside. Hokuto dives off the top rope with a somersault senton…and hits everyone but Satomura. Hokuto bravely re-enters the ring whereby a fired-up Satomura plants her with another DVD for a 2.8-count. Another face punt. Another two-count. Another DVD. Hokuto kicks out again. Satomura applies a Dis-Arm-Her as one of Hokuto’s seconds has to be held back by other women at ringside. Hokuto struggles and struggles but manages a ropebreak. Satomura follows with yet another head/face kick for a two-count. Hokuto and Satomura continue charging at and colliding into each other. Hokuto lands another big slap for a near-fall. Northern Lights Bomb connects but Hokuto can’t capitalize. Both women collapse. The ref begins her count. both women struggle to their feet. Hokuto pulls herself up using the ropes while Satomura makes it up only using her own power. At the count of nine Satomura is standing while Hokuto sinks into the ropes. Then Hokuto, who was in control moments ago, collapses again. Hokuto has run out of gas which gives Satomura the win.

Winner by KNOCK-OUT after 21:30: Meito Satomura

Review

The more I watch Akira Hokuto wrestle the more I wish more women copied her. She was the embodiment of ‘Fuck Around and Find Out’, a wrestler that hit brutally hard and just DARED people to mess with her. She let Satomura have it from the opening bell and didn’t let up until the very end. Hokuto’s status as this ornery veteran meshed well with Satomura’s unrelenting babyface fire. Though Satomura was already a six-year veteran when this match took place she was still very much an inexperienced rookie by comparison. Yet she didn’t let that gulf in experience and reputation get to her head. She brought the fight to Hokuto better than I thought she would and stayed in lockstep with the women’s legend. The result is one of the most fiercely competitive women’s matches of this century, though still something of a far cry from joshi’s two peaks in the 1980s and 1990s peaks.

With no ringside commentary and a relatively quiet crowd, the audience was able to hear all the violent sounds coming from the ring. The women slapped each other as hard as possible, threw each other around with great force, groaned and screamed on impact, and screamed like they were in genuine pain. The small things they did between big spots made this look less like a worked match and more like a genuine struggle: from pulling each other off the top turnbuckle violently, to struggling as they attempted random submission holds, to a general sense of “free-flowing movement” from move to move, it came across as a performative shoot with neither side having a clear advantage. This made the match come across as truly wild and hard to predict, which is always a good thing in wrestling, especially when it’s a match between two relative unknowns who’ve made their reputations on their in-ring work and not their gimmicks or personalities.

Though Hokuto was the main draw in this match I’d say Satomura more than did her fair share to make this match compelling. She looked as nondescript as possible; if you were to line her up with a dozen joshi rookies she’d barely stand out by her attire alone. Instead, she got herself over by showing an unyielding spirit and a willingness to go the distance against a genuine legend. She took a relentless beating composed of stiff slaps, nasty kicks all over her body, Hokuto’s signature head-spiky finishers, and tons more, and still kept going. This tenacity led to one of the most unique finishes you’ll ever see: a double-down on a finisher in which the user of said finishing move fails to get up before the count of ten. Hokuto blasted Satomura with everything she had and even tried to best her at her own game by constantly going to the mat with submission holds.

And yet Satomura had more left in the tank after those 21 exhausting minutes. Technically she didn’t beat Hokuto; she survived Hokuto. She held on by a single thread and managed to pull herself up to her feet while Hokuto could not. It’s an unconventional yet weirdly effective way of getting someone over: when your opponent survives everything you throw at them and you yourself are completely drained to the point of being unable to continue then your opponent looks stronger by default. This protected both combatants yet made the younger Satomura look much stronger without Hokuto having to eat a pin. Though some might consider this a cop-out compared to the usually more traditional pin-fall victory, it does get the same message across: that Satomura has at least as much tenacity as Hokuto and is someone worthy of your time and money to see.

Final Rating: ****1/2

Though I don’t see the all-time classic quality in this match as some others, this is still a fairly strong match. It was competitive, intense, and had a fairly unique finish which, at the end of the day, is what most people remember about wrestling matches in the first place. And this finish didn’t come out of nowhere or come across as detached from the match that preceded it in any way.

The only reason Satomura won this match is because she pushed her own body long enough for the referee to call for the bell and award her the victory while Hokuto’s body, long worn down from years of incredibly taxing wrestling, was too worn down to match Satomura. It was a matter of survival, and sometimes going in that direction makes a match more compelling than your typical pinfall decision.

Thanks for reading.