Joshi Spotlight: GAEA Japan & The Final Las Cachorras Orientales Match with Hokuto!

GAEA JAPAN IN 01.2002:
* It’s time for another Joshi Spotlight on GAEA Japan… and it’s a huge one as we get the FINAL MATCH starring Las Cachorras Orientales in their three-woman formation- Akira Hokuto is on her Retirement Countdown, and wants one last match with her former proteges, and their opponents are the super-trio of Mayumi Ozaki, Dynamite Kansai & Toshiyo Yamada! This is also the 10th Anniversary of LCO.

JAN. 26th:

MEIKO SATOMURA vs. AYA SAKURAI:
* And now it’s the new Champ’s turn to beat up the “Crush Jr.” super-rookie!

Sakurai does well to start with dropkicks (even knowing to switch positions quickly to keep Meiko on the defensive), but Meiko kicks her down from the apron and hits a brutal slingshot stomp to the chest. Sakurai spins out of a front facelock to hit her own and really crank on it, but Meiko finally pops out to crank on a headlock. Commentary discusses Sakurai’s flexibility and speed being way above most tall girls, emphasizing her weight loss since debut and volleyball training allowing her more explosiveness than most tall rookies, and as they finish she hits a backdrop suplex and then explodes out of a corner whip by leaping right to the top rope and hitting a cross-body! “I don’t think any Japanese wrestler- male or female- can do that!” (and indeed it’s been ages since Manami Toyota did that move)- Meiko still repositions quickly and hits various strikes as a reliable way to bring the kid down. Sakurai turns a trigangle choke into an anklelock, then fires off a missile kick right into her Chokeslam for two! Meiko escapes another and PLASTERS Sakurai with a head-kick for a very close two, but Sakurai bursts to live with an inside cradle and then locks Meiko in the rings of Saturn on the kickout- Meiko rolls backwards into a DVD lift, but Sakurai escapes THAT for a second Chokeslam, getting a nearfall! But Meiko’s experience is starting to show her the way, as Sakurai ducks another head-kick but Meiko repositions for a superkick, then frog splashes for two, and when Sakurai escapes another DVD, Meiko easily turns her careless charge into a jujigatame, and just as the crowd “oohs” at Sakurai bridging back to escape, Meiko locks her face-down with her arms pushed back and gets a submission win (10:42).

This match did a lot to showcase Sakurai’s skills even for being so new- instead of lying their uselessly in holds and screaming, she knows how to escape front facelocks by spinning in place, how to reposition to get a pin out of a headlock, and how to switch to a headscissors. This shows both in and out of kayfabe how light-years-ahead she is from another new kid. Part of the trick is that she’s only wrestling top of the line opposition- people who can easily carry the match’s story and well and bump well to make it look like Sakurai is AMAZING. Not that nearly every one of her good moves is a reversal, which to me suggests the other person is calling her comebacks and “getting caught” with them to show that the kid is soooooooooooo good. Like, they haven’t put her with a bad worker yet and I don’t think it’s a mistake that everyone just so happens to have this tremendous counter-based match with the newbie.

Rating: *** (another remarkable display with a new wrestler being carried into a very good reversal-based match)

AKIRA HOKUTO & CHIGUSA NAGAYO vs. D-FIX (Mayumi Ozaki & KAORU, w/ Police)
* The Countdown to Akira Hokuto’s Retirement begins! With this random but still sorta technically a “Dream Match”, as GAEA’s originator teams up with her against the top heels. Chigusa’s wearing a Hokuto t-shirt “sure to become a collector’s item”.

We’re JIP with KAORU grinding a hidden weapon into Chigusa’s back, then they sandwich her with a staff shot & piece of board. I love that this was their follow-up to hiding a weapon so the referee doesn’t see it. Chigusa’s repeatedly battered by stuff, then hit with a moonsault & cannonball, but Hokuto just waltzes in to hit her piledriver on Ozaki, so Chigusa can do some “haul her up and dump her” moves, using the size difference. Hokuto comes in but immediately gets tornado DDT’d, ignoring it but Ozaki flips her out of the DQ Bomb. Commentary discusses all the dumb stable-rearranging that GAEA did- I even forgot some of the Super Star Unit, Himiko & Nostradamus run. Ligerbomb gets two, but Chigusa just runs in and takes charge with a legdrop to the back of the head while Oz is bent over. Commentary actually namedrops “a wrestler in the WWF named Billy Gunn, his move is the Fameasser” which is not something I was ever expecting to see referenced in GAEA. Chigusa also uses a sorta kneeling jackhammer and another release backdrop, but gets uraken’d repeatedly for two. KAORU with Excalibur (michinoku driver) but she leaps into a Ligerbomb for two, but then smashes a board over Hokuto’s head and Excaliburs her for two. Brainbuster gets two. D-Fix eats backdrops (including Police), but a rocket launcher misses. Ozaki’s Uraken gets two, but KAORU gets knocked off the top onto her and Hokuto hits a DOOMSDAY DEVICE of all things to pin KAORU at (8:15 of 17:17).

Rating: *1/2 (this match was just a House Show Mess of Stuff- no flow, just people running in and doing moves until they got tired)

FEB. 8th:
* Back to Korakuen for another end of an era- the last of LCO as a trio!

HOME MADE TITLE:
SAKURA HIROTA (GAEA) vs. CARLOS AMANO (JWP):
* Sakura is now a CHAMPION CROSS-COUNTRY SKIER, with heroic sports music as our background as she moves slowly and desperately down the aisle with “skis” made of cardboard. She jaws with the fans in the arena as Amano chuckles.

Amano uses an Irish whip and Sakura IMMEDIATELY starts slowly skiing, then does her ‘Gina Punch when Carlos is distracted. She takes an armbar but counters and does Hakushi’s Praying Ropewalk, skis and all, but gets crotched there, then Carlos stands on the skis to trip her run and does her flyover jujigatame.

How to do fun spots involving skis? Well, swipe a HAKUSHI move! Now everyone can see them!

Sakura splats trying the same thing, but manages to do a ski-jump style leap off the 2nd rope for two. A loud uraken gets two, but Carlos escapes the Shii-Suplex and fights for a jujigatame, then gets a German for two. Things kinda break down with Carlos slugging away, but Sakura gets the Shii Suplex, punches her, then does her double-arm submission right into a flash-pin for a close two, but gets crushed by a Rolling Elbow, Carlos posing on her for three at (7:16). things naturally end with a makeshift podium with Amano standing at “1” while a sad Sakura sits at “2”- Amano gets a gold medal, kisses the awarder (ie. the ref) and gets the belt.

Rating: *1/2 (your typical Hirota match- full of spots that are actually funny, then some “we’re actually trying” bits, but there was an ugly sorta breakdown as they fought to fill some space, too)

CHIGUSA NAGAYO & AJA KONG vs. MEIKO SATOMURA & CHIKAYO NAGASHIMA:
* Quite the experience disparity here, as the top two of the Class of 1995 take on GAEA’s most senior wrestlers.

Meiko does well against Chigusa, who has to counter a pin with a headscissors to escape- Aja, “wanting a rematch” and thus a pin, works over Meiko but gets knocked down. Chikayo gets a rana & leglock, then figure-fours her, but Aja splats Meiko, who takes Chigusa’s Fameasser. Meiko fights back with the Pele Kick & a Northern Lights suplex for two, and a slingshot stomp sets up Chikayo’s flying double stomp for two. Commentary then discusses Meiko’s improvement but stating she doesn’t have to spam the DVD anymore (“the uses of that move per match have decreased”). Chikayo keeps getting ranas but Chigusa finally hits her backbreaker as comemntary talks about how even men rarely do that anymore. Chikayo ducks a Sandwich Lariat but Aja hits another right into a 2nd backbreaker. Chikayo counters the Uraken to her upside-down hold, interrupted by Chigusa, so Meiko grabs Aja up top so Chikayo can super rana her for two. Chikayo also catches her with a neckscissors upside-down hold & backslides her, then Meiko boots her in the neck, but Aja avoids the Ax Kick and bolts up with a desperation lariat for two. Aja avoids a DVD counter and brainbusters her for two, then hits the flying back elbow right to the back of Meiko’s neck. Meiko is fading, but blocks an Uraken and Aja has to avoid a DVD & Pele Kick, then Meiko Peles her ARM on the Uraken attempt and Ax Kicks her! But Aja kicks out at ONE, and when Meiko tries her Shining Ax Kick, Chigusa flies in with a dropkick to stop her! Chikayo/Chigusa go now, with Chikayo windmilling around but ending up backbroken, but when Chigusa tries a Ligerbomb, Chikayo tries a counter, gets pulled up again, but reverses around Chigusa’s shoulders and backwards ranas her into a pin… for three (9:15)!! Chikayo pins the boss!! A huge win for Chikayo, further establishing her. Nagayo sells this with a “Wait… wtf…” look of disbelief while Chikayo runs around to the ref to make sure she’s not imagining it. Chigusa pounds the mat in frustration, and when Chikayo gets in her face and does a muscle pose, Chigusa just does the full 90-degree bow before doing a cut-throat gesturing and pounds the mat again as she leaves.

They’re really selling the “kids pressing the veterans” bit, as Meiko & Chikayo are entering their eighth year (!!) and maaaaaybe shouldn’t be underdogs. This leads to Meiko scoring a lot of near-finishes on Aja, who desperately has to avoid all of them instead of trying to tank them. She kicks out of the Ax Kick at one, but Chigusa then immediately has to save her… and promptly gets pinned by Chikayo’s flash-pin, which is another indication stuff is happening with Nagashima now, too. But it’s important that nobody here had to look weak- Aja didn’t get pinned a second time so is still being kept strong.

Rating: *** (a fun, quickly-paced match)

Weirdly, the main event is done in three parts. This is just the introductions…

HOKUTO COUNTDOWN/LCO 10th ANNIVERSARY:
LAS CACHORRAS ORIENTALES (Akira Hokuto, Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda) vs. MAYUMI OZAKI, DYNAMITE KANSAI & TOSHIYO YAMADA (w/ KAORU & Police):
* A big Dream Match as Hokuto winds down her career- she realigns with her old stable LCO (the name was taken while she & Mita were in Mexico- Shimoda later begged to join), and they’re up against a mix of big stars… plus Yamada! Ozaki & Kansai were JWP’s top wrestlers for ages, but were also bloody rivals. Amazingly, before the match the fans through BLACK STREAMERS for Hokuto and LCO immediately charges through them to assault the other team.

Ozaki’s team, obviously set up as heels given what the event is, immediately pay back an old spot done to Kansai when LCO first met her & Ozaki as part of a Zenjo vs. JWP match.

LCO attacks early but the tide soon turns and Hokuto ends up eating a 3-way beating and THEY DO A LAS CACHORRAS POSE ON HER! The famous one LCO did to Kansai years ago! Which ended up one of Kula’s supers in King of Fighters! Hokuto, hoodie still on, is like “fuck that” and chomps Yamada’s leg, spinkicking her and tagging out. Mita blazing chops her ex-tag partner but gets kicked around, then Kansai comes in and is immediately bitten, sending in all of LCO to haul her to the ropes and LCO poses on her triumphantly, then triple-team her again and bend her over so Hokuto can climb on her back and clap like old times.

God’s in His Heaven; All’s right with the world.

The formalities out of the way, Kansai boots Shimoda & lariats Hokuto so Ozaki comes in. She no-sells Shimoda’s attempts at offense and dodges her crossbody, and Shimoda gets German’d before LCO repeatedly helps her- Mita’s stunner in the ropes sets up a pink chairshot and Oz won’t Moxley THAT. Oh wait she does and instead starts jabbing and choking with her giant red staff. Hokuto pops the fans by choking Oz with her bokken so Kansai sleepers HER, causing a mass-release and D-FIX now does the LCO pose to Shimoda to boos. Ozaki tries again so Shimoda germans her, but Ozaki fires off shotei palm strikes but an annoyed Shimoda just slugs her down for two. Kansai kicks her ass instead and a backdrop driver gets two. Shimoda hits ANOTHER German when Kansai tries to go up and ax kicks her down for two, then Mita tags in but they both get clotheslined down, only for her to hit a BIG Blazing Chop. Kansai knees out of an anticipated DVD but eats a Stunner when she spins around from a whiffed kick. She kicks free of another DVD and Shimoda’s chairshot hits Mita AND herself on the rebound so poor Mita takes a lariat into the Flying Stomp. Yamada enzuigiris Mita and escapes the Electric Chair Drop but tries another kick and THAT gets blazing chopped, but she kicks another chop and backdrop suplexes her for two. Mita screams bloody murder with two Stunners in a row and they set up a major flying double-choke bomb with Mita holding Yamada up… but Shimoda slips off before Hokuto’s ready, ruining the spot and drawing an “awwwww” from the fans, haha. Whoopsie. The other team rushes in and things break down until the set up three stereo surfboards (the wimpy “on the knees” variant), but LCO whip everyone into each other and do a weird thing tying their legs all together like a “rat king” (google it! I dare you!) and yank on their legs.

Yamada is slung between LCO so Hokuto can leapfrog onto her stomach and everyone bites her, but Ozaki helps her elbow smash Hokuto down. Hokuto takes another but pulls her in the way of Oz’s cannonball, so LCO can hit their classic dive combo. You can FEEL their age & injuries with this one, as Shimoda can barely be tossed up to the top for her tope and everyone takes forever getting up for Mita’s dive- Hokuto has to awkwardly stand there and clap to keep up anticipation. Thankfully Hokuto’s leap to the top and insane tope con hilo is as over as ever. Dangerous Queen Bomb to Ozaki gets two. Hokuto tries her Inverted Brainbuster but Ozaki uses the ropes to headscissor her down for two, then Urakens her for the same. Again Hokuto’s selling & “deathblow” bump makes that look awesome when Ozaki is a HORRIBLE striker, and Shimoda has to save. But Kansai tries Splash Mountain (sit-out crucifix bomb) and Mita chairs her to stop it- Hokuto superplexes Ozaki but accidentally takes that chair too and the Tequila Sunrise (tiger/dragon suplex) gets two. Hokuto avoids a Ligerbomb and hits a German for two, Ozaki avoids the Northern Lights Bomb twice but can’t get her finishers and Hokuto hits the Inverted Brainbuster- Yamada lightly pushes them over as the fans don’t bite on that fall. Ozaki hits an uraken & flash-pin for two and Yamada adds the Diving Brain Kick, but Mita pulls Oz over for Shimoda’s Flying Ax Kick to even it up, but Kansai sneaks in with a backdrop driver and everyone hits the mat to leave Oz & Hokuto alone and the fans SENSE IT- Ozaki swings a big uraken but Mita shoves her off the pin with a foot. Ozaki roars as she charges in with a punch that sends Hokuto into getting brained by KAORU’s damn board, but OH SHIT- Ozaki urakens the board and gets smooshed by it and Hokuto pounces- NORTHERN LIGHTS BOMB! Quick pin and that’s it at (17:32)

After the match, LCO take their bows, then go back out after leaving for a sec, then sit down and do a post-match interview by the merch tables.

This was kinda fun but also sad. It started out as an obvious “Greatest Hits” of rememebered spots, but was sure to A) save Hokuto’s stuff and B) avoid anyone’s finishers. The anti-LCO team mostly controlled to play up the finish. There was some breakdown of course, like people randomly moving about and kinda pushing each other around. Then they start doing their big spots and recognizable stuff but they’re all just so BROKEN DOWN that it ends up being kinda sad because you can see the effect on 15 years of bumping just KILLING all of them as they stumble around, slowly get into position and can barely lift one another in spots that used to go at 75 mph. And instead of doing a big Splash Mountain, DVD, Death Lake Driver, etc., they don’t do many nearfalls at all and Hokuto just hits a sudden Northern Lights Bomb and that’s it. I suppose I wanted non-stop mayhem and LCO just going on a huge tear, not taking most of the offense and pulling out a last-ditch surprise win. The relative quiet of the fans for much of it seems to indicate the match didn’t quite work as intended, either.

Rating: *** (fun and all, but I feel like this easily walks to ****-****1/2 if it’s 7-10 years prior and that’s always sad now that I’m into the deep end of the Joshi Spotlight run, haha)

La*Cachora.