Joshi Spotlight: GAEA Ring on the Beat (Part Two- Meiko vs. Chikayo for the AAAW Belt!)

GAEA JAPAN- RING ON THE BEAT:
(June 2nd 2002- Evening Show)
* It’s time to finish the two-part show I started a week ago! Except since Meiko vs. Chikayo is the main event, I realize this is a perfect time to look up something I MISSED from last time. See, GAEA’s 2002 playlist is in some kinda whacky order, meaning I needed to search & find the dates manually, which meant I missed one here or there… including the main event of the April 14th show, which was ALSO Meiko Satomura defending the AAAW World Title against Chikayo Nagashima! So now’s a perfect time to post that, especially since it makes THIS show more complete! Hooray! Also this one has two mass clusterfuck matches with Aja Kong challenging the entire GAEA locker room, provoking them into a 5 on 5 tag match! And D-FIX defends the AAAW Tag Titles against Eccentric for the rare “get heat on Sakura Hirota” match!

AAAW WORLD TITLE:
MEIKO SATOMURA vs. CHIKAYO NAGASHIMA:
* So this is Meiko’s first defense of her belt, on 4/14, with Chikayo, who’s been built up as her challenger since last year (when she suddenly started going 50/50 with veterans and winning tag bouts frequently). They haven’t had her do the “beat every veteran one by one” that Meiko had (Meiko defeated Dynamite Kansai, Devil Masami and AKIRA HOKUTO to get to her title shot), however, meaning this one’s more of a foregone conclusion/learning experience- a very common trope in Japanese wrestling that American wrestling hasn’t quite pulled off yet. Notably, this is the first ever World Title match in GAEA between two wrestlers who debuted in the 1990s. Every other Champion has been Devil, Chigusa, Aja & Ozaki.

They circle and lock up to start, doing the “slow & steady” thing as Meiko gets a cool judo throw but can’t follow-up much- Chikayo escapes a front facelock and starts some stuff with the leg. Meiko escapes that and counters a headlock into a painful-looking double-arm thing as they keep it on the mat. I love little things like Meiko putting on a simple wristlock weardown hold and insisting “give up!”. Neither wants to go for an Irish whip, but Meiko drills Chikayo with a European uppercut into her wicked cartwheel kneedrop. Chikayo makes her pay for every bit of ground and the crowd pops appropriately when each Germans the other and faces off in defiance. Good shit! Each counters even little stuff and Chikayo uses an abdominal stretch in the ropes- Chikayo gets a missile kick but ends up thrown & kneedropped, and a fight up top puts them BOTH on the floor in an impressively-safe bump considering both are rolling to the apron and then the floor in unison! A brawl on the floor is pretty even, Meiko going into the guardrail so her back’s sore in the ring while Chikayo is trapped on the floor, but she trips Meiko & works the leg, finally spearing Meiko into a Boston crab. The back now injured, Chikayo further works it with a Flying Stomp- Meiko rolls to the floor to recover, but Chikayo just Flying Stomp Suicidas her front out there and throws her in for a REGULAR Flying Stomp, and goes up again. Meiko climbs after her and gets tossed off, but CATCHES HER in fireman’s position, wowing the crowd, but her back is too hurt and she collapses.

Chikayo scores her Fisherman’s Buster for two, but Meiko springs up with a Pele Kick to the head after being hauled up and tries to hit a DVD, but Chikayo actuallys turns it into her “hit an armbar on a stancing opponent” move… until Meiko actually spins her into the DVD for two! Meiko’s back is killing her so she’s slow, getting rana’d for two, but Meiko bridges out for another Pele Kick for two. She’s still too hurt to capitalize so gets windmilled into a flash-pin for two, then hauled into a nasty back-bending submission clutch. Meiko is REALLY suffering, and a tandem kick just has Chikayo bowling her over anways, hitting another Fisherman’s Buster for two. Chikayo tries a Cannonball Stomp from the top, but Meiko avoids it and DVDs her- two! Chikayo hangs onto Meiko to prevent her climbing, then tries to pull her off the top, but leaves herself vulnerable to an ax kick from there, and catches Chikayo with some kicks, leaving her stunned for Scorpio Rising (shining ax kick) and OH FUCK, Chikayo catches her mid-leap with a Fisherman’s Buster for two! INCREDIBLE accuracy on that spot. It’s gotta be over! Chikayo’s like “That’s IT!”, but a Cannonball Stomp only gets two. Meiko does the ol’ “pop up from being hoisted and hitting a finisher” trick, but sells too long and can’t get the pin off her DVD, then Chikayo does the same with her Buster. Both are just donezo on the mat after all that, so Chikayo defaults to a missile kick, so weak that Meiko isn’t even taken off her feet- she uses the momentum to hop up to the middle rope and spring off with a side kick, but Chikayo uses THAT to spin into her Shoulder-Mounted Armbar… but Meiko turns THAT into a Running DVD, which Chikayo bridges OUT of and poses to pop the fans big, but Meiko slides right in behind her and kicks a leg out, taunts her while she’s stuck with her leg bent and can’t get up- and runs for SCORPIO RISING, finally pinning her at (19:50).

A very smartly-wrestled, if not SUPER-exciting match for much of it. Meiko is on such a different level from Chikayo at this point that they wisely built Chikayo up to have the advantage during most of the match’s second half, having found a weak point with the back (Meiko going into the railing hurt it and submissions and stomps kept up the punishment). I liked how the first 5-10 minutes was such careful counter-wrestling on the mat, each girl fighting for every little bit of ground, and unable to score anything significant. It puts them over as “equals” and makes them look cerebral and skilled. And those last 4-5 minutes were INCREDIBLE, Chikayo pressing the lead with finisher after finisher. They really made use of her having probably the best overall technique in women’s wrestling at this point- when it comes to doing the moves, NOBODY has her accuracy and fluidity- Meiko going for Scorpio Rising and Chikayo catching her was so fluid it was like Meiko just stepped right into the move (which she DID, in real life, but it looked in-story like an accident and not choreography), which caught the fans off-guard with its suddenness. Going from that into a higher-tier finisher was great booking, yet also established that “Meiko Is Tough”- while pint-sized, she has more Fighting Spirit than anybody and can kick out of basically anything, especially as Chikayo isn’t on her level yet. Overall, it looks like the story is that Chikayo wrestled the PERFECT match, full of the best counters you can imagine… but it just isn’t enough. Not yet.

Rating: **** (it was slowly moving to ***1/4-12 territory, but the last 4-5 minutes was a remarkable bout of constant turnover)

AAAW TAG TEAM TITLES:
D-FIX (Mayumi Ozaki & KAORU, w/ Police) vs. ECCENTRIC (Sakura Hirota & Chigusa Nagayo):
* Eccentric won the tournament with a fluke (Sakura rolling up Mita to defeat LCO in a quick match) and a lucky strike (Chigusa faced BOTH Power Head members while Sakura was “injured” and won). But now they’re up against the top heels. Eccentric psyche each other up in a LONG pre-match bit that isn’t translated on YouTube so their comedic master-class is lost on me. Remember, their whole thing is “Comedy tag team with WWE moves, but Sakura is actually a giant load despite calling the shots”.

Sakura immediately gets buckle-bombed by Ozaki after pratfalling, but scores a miracle uraken & her Sheeh-Suplex, but Ozaki quickly no-sells- Chigusa spears KAORU but Sakura’s “619” just has her shotei’d. More comedy spots see D-FIX catch Sakura, but Chigusa knock them all down, then a fight in the stands where D-FIX are whipped into one another, but the Crush Gals sandwich lariat has Eccentric heat each other. This goes south enough that a chairshot busts SAKURA wide open, suddenly turning this comedy match into a dramatic ass-kicking with D-FIX gleefully torturing her and showing everyone her pain. They strap a dog collar to her & Oz powerbombs the shit out of her. Hilariously, Chigusa’s unable to help because she’s Rock/HHH slow-climbing down the stairs and all “oh me back” while Sakura’s being brutalized with weapons, haha. Three people, baton-shots, a chain-wrapped fist, etc., and they hit a Double-Assisted Powerbomb. Sakura is spattered with blood as it turns into more of a tag match again, with KAORU hanging her over the top rope. D-FIX lay her on a table on the floor, and when Chigusa gets involved, some babied shots with the chain send her flying off, putting Sakura through it! What an amazing near-final spot! Too bad I know there’s 20 minutes left in the video! KAORU brainbusters Sakura on a board and they take her handmade tag titles and tear them apart to boos. But Chigusa finally recovers from her lethal back injury and lariats them down, then beats the shit out of Police. But a board shot stuns her and now it’s her turn for a beating. D-FIX hammers away on Chigusa with the fake titles, but thankfully she doesn’t sell the dreaded CARDBOARD, not only fighting off both of them, but grabbing the REAL belts (the AAAW Tags) and smashing them with those.

KAORU eats a powerbomb and Chigusa powerbombs Sakura’s bleeding body ONTO her, then powerbombs KAORU onto Ozaki and holds Oz so Sakura can get a ton of free revenge hits in. Backdrop lift-to-backbreaker gets two, then a fireman’s toss onto Sakura’s knee does. Sakura gets a miracle rollup then Chigusa helps her hit the Sheeh-Suplex for a dramatic two-count as the fans are buying another fluke, but KAORU interferes and uses her board a bunch. Sakura gets a big pop for doing the Jaguard bridge-out from a shot, but KAORU spoils the moment for pulling her right into an inverted DDT. D-FIX with a powerbomb/neckbreaker, but Sakura kicks out! Brainbuster- two! KAORU nearly pins her by countering her counter to Excalibur (michinoku driver), then they hit a motherfucking SUPER SIT-OUT POWERBOMB and Chigusa has to shove Oz into the ref. Chigusa stops Excalibur and drags Sakura to their corner for a tag- a cool series of missed kicks leads to a trip & head-kick taking down KAORU, then Chigusa hits the Running Three (running razor’s edge). Oz keeps running in and tapping her to “break”. Chigusa slugs her but that lets KAORU recover with Excalibur- two. A board gets two & Ozaki spams Urakens for two, and she spams baton shots into a Tequila Sunrise (tiger/dragon suplex) for two. KAORU moonsaults her for two, but Chigusa catches Oz with her Superfreak (gutwrench spinning powerbomb)- KAORU board-smashes to stop it. Chigusa hits her backbreaker to both but now POLICE breaks up the pin to incredible heat, and Ozaki hits a sawft Shining Wizard Kick, Sakura breaking it up. Oz tries a Wizard off KAORU’s back again, but Chigusa catches her for Superfreak, Oz kick out on her OWN, provoking Chigusa to walk back and forth until she can try her OWN Shining Wizard, KAORU boarding her to stop it. A regular Wizard Kick gets two, then Oz hits one off KAORU’s back for three, breaking the fans’ hearts at (17:50).

Another long, frustrating D-FIX match. They have their moments- Sakura sold the ass-kicking and bloodbath very well, and her nearfalls and kickouts in the back half were great. But… they do this big, elaborate beatdown to make her bleed, then hit a HUGE move… 1/3 into the match, and then it’s more stuff. Then she pops the fans with her kickouts, but KAORU’s like “I HAD MORE SHIT TO GET IN~!” and immediately spoils her comeback with more movez. And all this huge, hard-hitting shit but there’s tons more time left- only in a D-FIX match do you get a SUPER SIT OUT POWERBOMB with five minutes left to go. It at least mostly finishes Sakura off and Chigusa has to go it alone. She does well, but D-FIX just spams in more and more cheating and is inevitable- even Ozaki’s terrible Shining Wizard Kicks do damage despite looking like shit (it’s more like a “running foot push” off the knee).

Rating: **1/2 (keeps getting “almost good” or even “actually good” and then it’s time for more stuff, and D-FIX’s sloppy offense carries the day yet again)

Weirdly, the next video in the list is the main event, and the one after that is a replay of the Tag Title match from the afternoon show, with Aja Kong’s promo airing after it.

Okay, turns out the promo was about Aja calling out Power Head (Kansai & Yamada) and wanting to fight all the losers of the tournament, as LCO and Devil/Uematsu also head out. “The format doesn’t matter”. But Aja warns them “But you can’t get away with the half-hearted stuff you did this afternoon, so be prepared when you step into that ring. You had a chance but now you’re being dragged out here. How embarrassing for you all.” To the singular Carlos Amano (freelancer apparently; failed in the singles tournament) she says “What did you even do?”. She taunts Sugar Sato for saying she has power, then jokes about Power Head (“You need power here and here” she says, pointing to her heart and to her head)

AJA KONG vs. EVERYONE (aka Sugar Sato, Carlos Amano, Dynamite Kansai, Toshiyo Yamada, Etsuko Mita, Mima Shimoda, Devil Masami, Toshie Uematsu, Ayako Hamada):

Aja shames them all for doing nothing, but Sugar Sato runs in and hits a belly bomb. But Aja barely shrinks back, absorbing it and knocking her down instead, then hitting a backdrop driver. Sugar defiantly no-sells and charges again, but Aja again takes it and just Urakens her and pins her in seconds (0:45). Carlos Amano flies in with a missile kick but her “sitting on their shoulder” armbar is shrugged off and a lariat drops her. Carlos roars back with headbutts, neither selling, but Aja flings her out of a tiger suplex attempt and SMOKES her with a kick to the forehead, but Carlos kicks out to a good reaction. Carlos blocks the Uraken, using the momentum to charge in, but clever Aja just lariats her anyways and the Uraken finishes at (0:50). Aja calls out Power Head, Yamada coming in ahead of Kansai and dropping Aja with an elbow. Aja hits some slaps but Yamada counters a whip via a takedown and slaps Aja around, then swats at her with kicks. Impressively, she learns from the others by ducking a lariat and leaning back to avoid the forehead-kick, then spinkicks Aja until a front kick to the head drops her. But she pulls Aja up and Aja tricks her by swinging with her off hand for an Uraken when the first is blocked, then hits a VERTICAL drop Brainbuster that kills Yamada dead- she doesn’t even cover as Yamada’s on her belly, and that draws in Kansai, who no-sells a lariat and lariats Aja, then Power Head tee off on her with kicks while she’s down and she’s barely able to block Kansai’s forehead-kick. LCO now attempts to come in… but turn on Power Head and kicks their asses.

Power Head fights back, but Aja brainbusters Yamada onto her oil can and she’s toast again, but now HAMADA flies in and missile kicks Aja, powerbombs Shimoda into Mita, then counters a corner whip from Aja with a spinning DDT, but moonsaults onto feet and now LCO get revenge. But she Lionsaults them and Kansai lariats both. Kansai kicks away a Blazing Chop but gets stunnered by Mita. Yamada kicks Shimoda a billion times and now it’s a TAG MATCH as everyone’s now waiting in the corners, six women pull each other’s hair in a long line, and Yamada nearly pins Aja with an elbow. Everyone bails to the floor as Yamada tries to finish, but she runs into an Uraken, FINALLY ending her night at (5:52 shown). This brings in Devil, who instead assaults Yamada’s dead body with her fake sword until she stops and stares down Aja, then gestures for Toshie to come with her and drags her reluctant kouhai back to the locker room. Aja gets on the mic and is like “Well this started halfway through…” apparently having won the match. The matchmaker dude in GAEA even gets on the mic after and is like “I don’t really get it… what was Uematsu trying to do?” and the fans laugh. He decides he wants a “Proper Match”- 5 vs. 5 is announced- Aja Kong, LCO, Devil & Uematsu vs. Ayako, Power Head, Sugar & Amano!

This was a wacky one- half “Aja kills lower-end wrestlers” with 7-year veterans getting slaughtered by her offense in less than a minute each, then a “Battle Royal” style match with the tag teams getting involved so Aja can take a breather. Then everyone fights some more and Yamada eats the pin since she’s one of the lowest of the rest.

Rating: **1/4 (kinda fun but mostly weird)

AJA KONG, DEVIL MASAMI, TOSHIE UEMATSU & LAS CACHORRAS ORIENTALES (Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda) vs. AYAKO HAMADA, CARLOS AMANO, SUGAR SATO & POWER HEAD (Dynamite Kansai & Toshiyo Yamada):
* LOL so this is following immediately after that. Everyone is staring each other down pretty intensely beforehand, pushing foreheads together and everything. Ayako doesn’t even do her pose before, just staring at the other team. As expected, Shimoda is the only one talking shit, but Kansai starts yelling and flexing. Listing their weights all one after the other is interesting- Shimoda/Amano/Uematsu are 135 lbs., Hamada/Yamada is 154, Mita 160, Sugar 170, Devil 180, Kansai 183, Aja 230. I’m not sure I’d have guessed Shimoda at the same weight as the two small 7th-years, Sugar heavier than Mita, or especially Hamada as big as Yamada and nearly where Mita is (though she’s definitely bigger than she was in ARSION). Though I’m told Japan works the weights just like the US does. Also that Japan uses pounds for weight in wrestling is weird given how they use the Metric system everywhere else I’ve seen.

While everyone’s gesturing and threatening to start, Toshie rushes in and nails Kansai, spraying water in her face to try and get an early lead, then does a running “hug and bite” of all things, but Kansai quickly beats her down and the others kick her ass until she tags out. Yamada, having eaten all of Aja’s finishers already, is up in her face- Aja beats on her until everyone charges the ring (except Shimoda & Sugar, who are like “fuck this” and just stand there while everyone else tears around). Kansai throws kicks to a seated Mita while Aja slams Amano in some chairs that still have FANS in them, then Sugar stands off with Mita and barrels her down with a belly-bash. LCO try to maul her, but she & Devil no-sell one another defiantly and even DEVIL sells the belly-bash! Ayako’s in and hits the Owen enzuigiri to interrupt Devil’s offense & Kansai throws elbows until the former JWP Aces do their “lariat each other” spot. Shimoda tags in but is quickly lariated & Ayako hits a Ligerbomb. Everyone rushes in to break & Shimoda neckbreaker-drops her and just walks away, Aja beating Ayako’s ass a while- her methodical beatdown leads to Devil’s surfboard and Ayako’s entire team tries to enter to stop it, causing Aja’s team to push them all into the corner (Shimoda hilariously starts poking Ayako’s head while she’s in the hold to be a bitch) until Devil finally has to let go cuz Ayako won’t tap. Uematsu flying splashes in for two and all five heels ANNIHILATE Ayako with running avalanches in the corner, 5 in a row.

Toshie hits the X-Factor but Ayako immediately DDTs out and escapes after 5 minutes of beating, but Yamada gets beat up by all the heels. Mita hits two stunners, but Yamada kicks her legs out and boots Shimoda down. Sugar works over Shimoda, but Devil & Aja hit a double-lariat on her. Aja no-sells Amano and DESTROYS her with a chop that has Amano in pieces on the mat while Aja poses, and Toshie hits a Northern Lights suplex for two. Amano DDTs Devil out of a powerbomb but they kinda mis-time a “Kansai flying stomps in” spot as she misses everyone after a delay and everyone gets into a HUGE clusterfuck spot on the floor, Aja throwing everything possible at the other team and everyone flying into guardrails. Back in the ring they just default back and Amano rolls up Shimoda for two, Sugar accidentally missile kicks Yamada, who spinkick counters Aja, who lariats down both Power Heads and Urakens Yamada- Sugar saves! Yamada springs up and hits two elbows for a VERY close nearfall, but ultimately Aja absorbs another one and Urakens her for the pin (15:57).

Mechanically an odd sort of match, as multi-tags can be weird in joshi puro. Like you’ll have five minutes of EVERYONE beating Ayako Hamada’s ass, her selling and doing little to stop it, but instead of trying for pins they just slowly work her over and then she randomly DDTs someone and immediately rolls away instead of doing a hot tag. The multiple tags keep turning into new matches, but rather than doing sequences with one another htey often just pull hair and pile into the corner for another clusterfuck spot, which at least keeps the match moving. Also everyone worked 1-2 times today already so I’d imagine nobody was in “build an entire 16-minute match around 10 people with intricate spots” mode. The whole two-match deal has some funny bits- bringing Sugar back from injury and giving her a push then squashing her in a minute to Aja is kinda funny, as is Amano getting the same deal. Yamada having to take all of Aja’s big moves is kind of odd, too, but Kansai seems like she was being “saved”- her and Devil are in the worst physical shape and felt like they were being hidden for much of it. LCO were also barely involved (sometimes noticeably just not playing along with multi-person brawls). Aja ends up pinning Yamada TWICE in one day and urakenning her a ton of times like she’s the designated jobber. Another funny thing is having 10 people go 16 minutes and only Aja hit her finishers- there was a time you’d have nearly EVERYONE getting their shit in. But it was still kinda fun since there was no time-wasting or laying around- all-out action the whole way through.

Rating: **3/4 (all-out action in a messy, scrappy match)

AAAW WORLD TITLE:
MEIKO SATOMURA vs. CHIKAYO NAGASHIMA:
* So on 4/14, Meiko beat Chikayo after a long match where Chikayo hit a ton of finishers and everything under the sun, including countering Scorpio Rising with her Fisherman’s Buster, Meiko just taking it all and powering up to win. But only a month and a half later, they wrestle again!

Chikayo again attacks before the bell, hitting some ranas amidst a horde of streamers. Meiko scores one of her own and beans Chikayo with some kicks after she no-sells the rana, and Chikayo is flat on her face after a kick to the back of the head. Meiko goes to pick her up, but is like “nah- count her down” and waits up top for Chikayo to rise at “7” and then missile kicks her in the back of the head, Chikayo doing the “Fuck YOU!” bridge, but Meiko’s ready and Pele Kicks her when Meiko blocks another normal kick. Chikayo has to roll to the floor and sell injury- interesting that the rematch has Meiko dominate so much at first. Meiko’s like “Enough of that” and dives in for a beating, but now CHIKAYO springs up and kicks her ass, throwing her into chairs and flinging them at her. Meiko fights back but takes a German Suplex in the stands, and Chikayo hits a Flying Stomp off the gateway! The same one Manami Toyota always used to use. She then pulls Meiko over to the OTHER gateway and Flying Stomps off of that! They Attitude-Era Walk back to ringside for a Flying Stomp- no reaction to the kickout. Meiko won’t go up for the Fisherman’s Buster so they kick it out, Chikayo having to jawjacker out of a Meiko sleeperhold and uses the Kick of Fear to get two. Meiko no-sells a missile kick and bashes Chikayo over, hits a European uppercut & cartwheel kneedrop, then kicks Chikayo in the face… but she’s up at “2” and Meiko has to kick her ass all over again, and a dazed Chikayo is up at “8” and gets Ax Kicked for two after Meiko’s like “It’s OVER!”. A slick bit sees Meiko aim for the DVD, Chikayo barely escape, but duck another face-kick for a quick Fisherman’s Buster, Meiko kicking out immediately and aiming for two kicks, Chikayo ducking both and catching her with an STF!

Chikayo actually releases right before Meiko can get the ropes, but is caught up there and Meiko fireman’s tosses her belly-first onto the top rope and Ax Kicks her- “Fuck YOU!” bridge! Meiko, in no hurry, fireman’s carries her to the ropes, but Chikayo rolls out for a Byers Bridge, only to get caught in a sleeperhold that leaves her thrashing! When she makes the ropes, Meiko is far less confident, and gets caught up top for a Fisherman’s Buster into a double-down. Meiko’s still up first, but this time Chikayo chases her for an attempt at a SUPER Buster, but Meiko flings her off, only for Chikayo to land on her feet and charge right up for a super frankensteiner into another Buster- two! Chikayo tries her Somersault Stomp but misses, settling for a rana that gets countered for two- they’re slow to rise, but Meiko cleverly turns a “take turns striking” to sneak in a Pele Kick, Chikayo ending up near the ropes so she makes them handily. Death Valley Driver in the middle of the ring gets two. Meiko boots her but gets rolled up from an Ax Kick, and they trade boots again but Chikayo’s ready for this Pele Kick and hits another Buster. Meiko no-sells after a second one, but easily gets caught in a third and both are down again. Meiko rises but collapses into the ropes in a GREAT sell-job, bouncing off each of them on her way down in a heap like that took all her energy just to stand. But she snaps off a DVD, catching Chikayo with another when she tries to no-sell. A third… and Chikayo bridges UP, but leans over in a fentanyl fold like THAT was all she had and Meiko pulls out the F5 and both are down again.

Both are struggling, but Meiko’s first to rise and scores the forehead-kick for two! Meiko builds herself up and tries for Scorpio Rising, but slips off Chikayo and nearly gets pinned, then is Bustered again and Chikayo goes up- Somersault Stomp! With a deep cover for two! On what looks like her last bit of energy, another Buster gets two and the crowd bites on all of these, thinking that was it. And that was indeed it for Chikayo, who keeps bouncing off the mat whenever she tries to get up… but wait! She rises! But Meiko counters her this time and Chikayo has to roll out of a submission, but a head-kick knocks her out again. Chikayo’s actually up first, but has to use Meiko to get up and hits a sloppy release German, then a Somersault Stomp (more like somersault ass slam, lol) & Buster combo for… another two. Quieter crowd that time, like they missed the peak. The 9 billionth Buster has Meiko bridging up this time, Chikayo pleading with the ref like “PLEEEEEEEEASE!” but Meiko goes up (… for what?), but gets hauled off- Somersault Stomp #3! And that GETS IT at (22:56)- NEW ALL ASIAN ATHLETE WOMEN’S CHAMPION!! Chikayo has done it!

An interesting one, as Meiko of course dominates a huge chunk of the match since now SHE’s doing the job. She’s merciless and cocky at first, writing Chikayo off to make her comeback more compelling, but Chikayo gets some big moves in the stands to finally take the lead. But they’re even-stevens for the whole back half and it’s finish attempt after finish attempt. In these cases it’s actually beneficial that both sorta killed their “finishes” in years past, having to hit a billion DVDs and Fisherman’s Busters to win matches, because it’s less egregious here when you can spam them out non-stop and not get pins- THREE DVDs is actually a legit nearfall. I liked how they would just flop lifelessly onto each other for most covers, as those are the easiest to break (Monsoon always said so!), and that makes the fans bite harder when Chikayo hits some BIG moves and hooks the leg for two! And booking the last five minutes to be “both are ded” was another smart one, as instead of Finisher Spam it was “hit as much as you can until you can’t stand anymore, then hope you can recover” as each would try that, wanting to be the first up. This keeps the finishers strong AND makes them look incredibly tough for persevering even though they’re “clearly” dying on their feet, fighting for every last bit of ground on their fourth and fifth winds during the end-run. It was a GREAT final bunch of minutes, yet I feel like “ah, let’s throw out more Busters/Stomps” in the last minute kind of missed the peak by juuuuuuuuuuust a bit and hurt it. Like, Chikayo couldn’t win with two of them and something like 900 Busters, but a third one just… does it? From Meiko climbing for some reason?

Rating: ***3/4 (I liked the first Title match a tad more, but this was still excellent pro wrestling with some great selling)

The booking of Meiko’s Title reign is… odd, to me. Like they spent YEARS building her up, pretty much deciding 7 years ago that Baby Meiko was gonna be “The One To Push” and keeping that going for a long, drawn-out push with three Aja Kong matches, wins over every veteran GAEA could get, and more, and then seven months later she jobs to the other girl from her class that’s still active and good. I can see it immediately juicing Chikayo as a “big deal” since obviously she wasn’t on Meiko’s level yet and wins like this can do that sort of thing. Meiko wins the belt and makes no defenses against veterans, one against a rival, then loses to her rival fairly quickly, and now the new belt-holder is Nagashima. HOWEVER, GAEA’s also added a handful of big new names to the roster over the past year, meaning Chikayo has her work cut out for her against some potential new contenders (ones they don’t want Meiko wrestling just yet, either, apparently).