Joshi Spotlight: GAEA Japan in December 1999

GAEA JAPAN IN DECEMBER 1999:
* oh thank christ- only nine more GAEA Japan videos to get through and I’m done for the year! DON’T SUCK, GAEA! OR IF YOU DO, AT LEAST CLIP THE MATCHES TO A FEW MINUTES!

TOSHIYO YAMADA, MEIKO SATOMURA & TOSHIE UEMATSU vs. NOSTRADAMUS (Mayumi Ozaki, Sugar Sato & Kaori Nakayama):
(Dec. 5th)
* Well that’s a unique assortment, at least- new MAD MAX FLINTSTONES Yamada with two of the Class of 1995 against Ozaki and a mid-tier goon and her lowest-tier goon.

Ozaki backfists Yamada, but all three GAEA loyalists hit their signature strikes on her for two. Of course after all these head-shots she’s fine and using an umbrella and her red bo staff on Yamada, knocking her around. They trade headstrikes in an annoying manner (these are supposed to be big moves and they’re easily recovering). Ozaki wins that but Sugar soon gets beaten up with a backdrop driver- Meiko ends up getting dragon screwed but dodges Kaori being powerbombed onto her, but Sugar blocks the Pele kick and flying elbows her. Rocket Launcher gets two. Yamada Flying Enzuigiris Meiko by accident and a Ligerbomb gets two- Toshie saves. Sugar gets delayed trying again and eats the Pele Kick/DVD combo… for two! She tries again and Sugar h its her with a RUNNING Ligerbomb, but on the kickout she snags her in a deadly armbar and wins by submission at (6:14 shown)!

Rating: **1/4 (Looks like your everyday “everyone does stuff” GAEA trios match, but Sugar looks really good with her very solid, semi-ordinary offense)

SAKURA HIROTA vs. KAORI NAKAYAMA:
(Dec. 5th)
* It’s SAKURABUSA!! Sakura comes down in Hayabusa’s gear and using his GOAT puro theme. And she’s taking on someone she can actually beat for once.

Stalling, stalling, Sakura doing goofy extraneous flips that look kinda like someone making fun of the current AEW style, stalling, lucha submissions, USING THE ASS- lots of clipping, too. Her “senton” is pretty great, though- jumping off the top rope, landing on her feet, standing there, then doing a slow forward roll over the opponent. Kaori finally comes back with two Germans, eats some stuff, then counters a half-nelson suplex to a Bridging Exploder for the pin at (6:27 shown). Huh, I would have guessed Sakura was winning this.

Rating: DUD (cut up a fair bit and mostly comedy & stalling)

CHIGUSA NAGAYO & KAORU vs. NOSTRADAMUS (Mayumi Ozaki & Akira Hokuto):
(Dec. 12th)
* The two founders of GAEA vs. the two leaders of Nostradamus! Except it’s super-cut down!

The heels take turns beating on KAORU with a staff as we’re JIP, but Chigusa comes in and lays out every single member of Nostradamus at ringside with it. Ligerbomb gets two on Hokuto, and Chigusa no-sells Ozaki’s backfists until she’s back in the corner- KAORU eats one but ducks a Hokuto lariat to Ozaki takes it, then mimics the spot with Chigusa lariating Ozaki and a Michinoku Driver gets two- Nostradamus mass-hits the ring to stop the pin. KAORU gets a pop for using backfists of her own on Ozaki, but nails Chigusa by mistake and takes Oz’s for two. KAORU messes up a rollup and improvises for two, but tries another Michinoku Driver and Ozaki hops up onto her shoulder and stretches her arm until KAORU finally taps at (4:54 of 8:27 shown).

Rating: *1/2 (another “random moves” match and it’s cut to only 5 minutes, but at least it showed psychology and repeating spots with a bit of a theme going- lots of backfists thrown and the staffs kept getting used)

SAKURA HIROTA vs. TOSHIE UEMATSU:
(Dec. 12th)
* Sakura is now dressed as Santa Claus! … in reverse, as she’s actually bent over and her face is sticking out of the bag instead.

Toshie dominates to start, but Sakura comes back… and slips and gets hung up on the top rope to laughter. She USES THE ASS and does some Tiger Feints, but keeps posing and gets merked. Toshie beats on her some more but Sakura sneaks in some backfists for two, only for Toshie to GOO PUNCH~~ her out of mid-air on her Flying Backfist attempt. Sakura turtles to avoid a German, but Toshie “deadlifts” her (look close and you can see Sakura doing a one-footed kick-off) into it for two. Toshie finally lands the Goo Punch into the Northern Lights Suplex for three (6:25).

Rating: * (a slightly more tolerable Sakura match, though mostly pedestrian beating from Toshie and a couple Sakura comebacks)

LIONESS ASUKA & SONOKO KATO vs. NOSTRADAMUS (Aja Kong & Chikayo Nagashima):
(Dec. 12th)
* Another odd Nostradamus combination, against Asuka and her loyalist.

JIP with Aja working over Kato, but ends up in a Bridging German. Kato tries Kowloon’s Gate like a total dumbass and gets stuffed, but Asuka helps out. Some kinda uncoordinated stuff leads to Kato bonking Aja with a table, but Aja uses her oil can to nail both opponents and Brainbusters Asuka for two. Aja gets a weak Uraken (more of a counter) for two, then Rocket Launchers Chikayo onto Asuka for the same. Lioness quickly comes back and backdrop suplexes her on the BACK of her table (OUCH) and Kato flying stomps it onto her. Lioness hits a huge powerbomb for two- Nostradamus charges. Blue Thunder Bomb- same result. They keep scrapping (Asuka powerbombing Chikayo into the ropes after kinda losing her) but Kato accidentally hits Asuka with the oil can & Chikayo Germans her for two. But Chikayo tries a slingshot rana and Lioness stops her mid-swing and hauls her into a Ligerbomb. Another Nostro-charge breaks it up. Ligerbomb #3 gets the same as the numbers are too overwhelming. But then Aja accidentally Urakens Chikayo and Lioness hits the Towerhacker Bomb (inverted fireman’s to swinging ligerbomb) and GAEA’s loyalists FINALLY manage to head Nostradamus’s goon squad off on a 1-to-1 defense and Lioness gets the win at (6:24 of 8:43 shown).

Okay that was kinda interesting- tiresome, but interesting- using the cheating itself as psychology and payoff, with the goons breaking up identical moves like five or six times until GAEA finally plays a football defense and stifles them. Moreso because Lioness & Kato are a different faction entirely, so this means GAEA is helping the enemy of their enemy. Interestingly Aja was barely in the match at all.

Rating: ** (Lioness mostly had great stuff and the psychology is interesting, even as the match’s identical spots got tiresome)

TOSHIE UEMATSU & SAKURA HIROTA vs. NOSTRADAMUS (Chikayo Nagashima & Kaori Nakayama):
(Dec. 27th)
* The lowest ranked on each side teams up with a Class of 1995 partner in a pretty low-tier tag match. Sakura comes out with goofy-ass gigantic wings ten feet long on each side, getting into all the fans’ personal space. The song in the video’s description reveals Sachiko Kobayashi, who a quick Googling reveals definitely wore big, elaborate golden uniforms with big-ass wings.

We’re JIP with Sakura doing goofy spots and beating beaten on, but she comes back on Kaori and hits the Flying Ass for two. Toshie & Kaori do a lot of half-hearted stuff (even the cheating feels half-assed), but Chikayo manages an anklelock. Toshie dodges a flying stomp and knees her in the nose, but the Northern Lights gets stuffed and the heels do a bad double-team (two different moves at once, lol). Sakura gets involved and they hit a double missile kick for two. Toshie fights for her NL suplex over and over again, finally landing it after avoiding Chikayo’s fisherman’s buster, and Sakura gets the Flying Backfist for two. She actually tries her Half-Nelson Suplex off the TOP, but Kaori catches her with a German from there. Flying Stomp for two. Toshie tries to come in but gets rocket launchered, and Kaori hits a rana for two. Toshie keeps trying to help, and finally hits the GOO PUNCH~~ on Kaori… who trips over Sakura, who is like “wait, what? OH WAIT!” and leaps on to stack her up and gets the pin at (11:39 shown)! Big pop for that one!

Meh- this was fine. Not terribly interesting but adequately wrestled, not overly obsessed with comedy, and Sakura’s lucky win was a proper fluke with some great body language by her as she’s “surprised” by what just went down.

Rating: ** (the classic “not too good, not to bad” match)

TOSHIE UEMATSU & SAKURA HIROTA vs. NOSTRADAMUS (Akira Hokuto & Mayumi Ozaki):
(Dec. 27th)
* The two heels leads take on the lowest end of the GAEA loyalists.

The GAEA kids get a good double-team on Hokuto for two, but she nails Toshie with a Dangerous Backdrop, and Ozaki gets an assisted powerbomb and Double Fisherman’s Buster- Sakura saves both times. The heels just make her tag in (amusing the fans) and everyone takes turns pulling each other down by the hair, but Oz dodges stereo missile kicks. Double-team backfists put the kids on the floor and they hit their signature dives- the cannonball & flying tope con hilo. A LONG beatdown in the stands occurs, but GAEA’s roster soon comes in to create a mass brawl in the upper level, and the ref ACTUALLY STARTS A COUNT, which almost never happens in these situations… and Sakura slinks back to ringside and wins by count-out at (5:04 of 8:41 shown)! Ozaki, bleeding from a barbed-wire stick (pretty sure the ref bladed her on-camera) looks especially annoyed.

Rating: *1/2 (your typical “whatever” match, pretty short, but a funny ending)

TOSHIYO YAMADA, KAORU & SAIKA TAKEUCHI vs. NOSTRADAMUS (Aja Kong, Sugar Sato & RIE):
* Okay, THAT’s a bizarre mish-mash of talent. Yamada & KAORU bring in the brand-new rookie from GAEA Girls (in her bright lime-green rookie swimsuit), and they’re up against ARSION’s Aja (in a rare navy blue look), Sugar the tag champ, and RIE.

We’re JIP with Saika begging to be tagged in, and she shows that trademark ROOKIE FIRE with shrieking and forearm shots, and when Aja breaks up her attack on RIE, Saika starts firing them into HER. Aja thankfully doesn’t sell them, taunting her until RIE wraps a chain around the kid’s neck. RIE pulls the barbed-wire stick into her forehead and the camera zooms RIGHT in on the ref openly blading Saika. But it doesn’t take, so after gnawing on her head a while they have to do it AGAIN, this time in the ropes. This leads to the heat sequence as they take turns beating on the kid and taunting the veterans on the apron. Aja is extra methodical with it, relishing the abuse, and Saika makes a rookie mistake with a sunset flip, getting squashed. Second-rope splash- the vets save. Sugar also takes her time, laughing and smiling along, but when RIE pulls out the stick again Yamada jumps in the way to save Saika, and KAORU springboards in and drags Saika to safety. Aja quickly hits KAORU with a Brainbuster, and Sugar gets a Ligerbomb for two. RIE adds a Tiger Driver and big powerbomb for two-counts, but readies the stick and accidentally nails Sugar & Aja. KAORU uses it on everyone and hits a Michinoku Driver, pulling RIE up like a dumbass. Yamada gets the Diving Brain Kick and the heels save. Everyone fights and breaks up pins in a huge clusterfuck, but RIE reverses the Reverse Gory Bomb… and SAIKA saves! She’d been lying on the apron for like six minutes, so that’s a great spot, haha. Yamada hits the Reverse Gory Bomb, and then they pay everything off by tagging in Saika and literally THROWING her onto RIE from the top rope, and that scores the pin at (11:21 of 14:05 shown)! Saika Takeuchi scores a pin!

Actually a fun match- mostly a mess in parts, but the fun kind where it’s just bodies flinging themselves around. The heel relishing beating on the poor innocent rookie was great heeling and built up not only her heroic saving of one fall, but her scoring the final pin thanks to KAORU rocket-launching her.

Rating: **1/2 (kept pretty simple but told a good little story)

CHIGUSA NAGAYO & MEIKO SATOMURA vs. LIONESS ASUKA & SONOKO KATO:
(Dec. 27th)
* Uh-oh! Chigusa & Lioness have been having issues all year, and despite Asuka trying to get Chigusa to buck up after the loss to Aja, there’s still issues, never mind her taking Kato away to be a subordinate! And Meiko is especially angry at her former tag partner abandoning her like that, so there’s tons of issues here.

Things start fast immediately, with Kato attacking Chigusa before the bell, but then everyone starts trading off on each other and constantly interfering to break up spots- the former Crush Gals beat on each other but the kids take them down and it’s Stereo Scorpion Deathlocks to the veterans! It’s funny cuz that’s a Crush spot but they’re on opposite teams. Extra points for yelling at each other and doing the holds extra-hard out of spite. On release, Meiko stuns Lioness with a DVD for two, but Lioness quickly sets up Kato’s Kamikaze Bomb for two. A kickfight leads to Kato smoking Meiko with the rolling kick, but Chigusa’s distraction leads her to take the Pele Kick, but Chigusa herself eats a Dragon Suplex with Asuka’s distraction. Lioness hits Chigusa with an uranage, but takes a DVD, kicking out at one and hitting a powerbomb. Chigusa counters a kick with a German and… Nostradamus hits the ring! And in a big signature moment they crush all four women with weapons and choking, standing triumphant while the match is called off at (7:20)! But then… the former Gals slowly rise! They start no-selling and begin ripping heads off with lariats! And then… they hit a double-whip and the crowd EXPLODES because they know it’s coming- the Double Crush Karate Punch! Like an absolute high-pitched shriek of the 30-something Crush fans as they immediately recognize the signature spot, and commentary shits its pants, too. It’s all the better because it was so sudden and out of nowhere- like nobody even had the chance to anticipate it- suddenly it was there.

This was actually looking fun until the ending, which is probably the point- we get only a bit of Chigusa/Lioness (TBF this is like the 10th time they’ve fought this year) and some fun gamesmanship spots until the heel army attacks. And it seems we’re leaning towards the reunion of the Crush Gals.

Rating: **1/4 (going somewhere until the mass beatdown- which went from a typical “nWo beatdown” into this sudden huge spot with perfect timing, haha)

And then we get the rest of it!! Not only do the Crush Gals hit that double-punch, but then everyone squares off, and Aja Kong hits ringside and whips off her Nostradamus shirt and seems to turn on her old stable, talking smack at them. Then Chigusa holds out her hand to Asuka and it’s a MEGA POWERS HANDSHAKE! Pretty much the perfect end to their feud, and in the next mass-brawl, Aja starts throwing Nostradamus goons around.

The rest of the set for the year is recaps:

Here’s one of Sakura Hirota’s various outfits, narrated by her and the commentators.

Finally, a summation of the year’s angles! Culminating in the Crush Gals reunion!