Joshi Spotlight — page 13

JOSHI SPOTLIGHT- MIKIKO FUTAGAMI:
Other Names: GAMI
Billed Height & Weight: 5’5″ 161 lbs.
Career Length: 1990-2013

-One of the more long-running minor stars in the 1990s & 2000s joshi scene, Mikiko “GAMI” Futagami actually made the Dream Slam card, but is such a minor star throughout the Golden Age that I’ve barely seen any of her stuff! She mostly did stuff in LLPW as a minor-league wrestler for the first couple years of her career, then moved on to ARSION, becoming a regular star there. The vast majority of her career is made up of tag team matches, where she acts as a comedy wrestler- she’s never won a single solo title in 23 years as a pro! Her push is solidly in the midcard, then- scores of Tag Title reigns in every promotion but AJW, but never becoming a giant star on her own. Asking joshi-learned BOD poster MoskowDiskow, he said “she was a decent junior/midcarder for years, then went to ARSION and was amazing for like 1 year, then became a comedy reject for the rest of eternity”, something more or less admitted by others I asked- like she found a niche in comedy wrestling and stuck with it.

So this is a bio I was almost gonna hold off on, as while she was a minor LLPW star like others I’d done, I learned she had a MUCH longer career than the others, and changed as a worker considerably, all in stuff I haven’t seen. But the hell with it, haha- I got a solid playlist! Her 1998 ARSION stuff reveals a very “complete” worker- not a standout megastar but someone with solid kicks and good suplexes- a 6-7/10 worker, maybe? A bit of a “Generic Puro Worker Moveset”, if anything- where everything looks nice even if the ****+ matches aren’t flying. Nothing looks outstanding but nothing looks BAD, either- it’s just the basic “Communal Joshi Offense”, complete with a fancy powerbomb (a sit-out pumphandle version). She’s fine, but if that was her peak they I can see why she “Bushwhackered” the rest of her career- probably got a lot more longevity out of goofy stuff than being “pretty good”.

BUDOKAN MIDSUMMER NIGHT- DISCOVER NEW HEROINE (Day Two):
(Aug. 13th 1996):
* It’s the next day of the “Discover New Heroine” show! This time we get three straight rounds of the tournament, ending with a final match in this Rookie/Veteran Team tournament concept!

Tonight’s show is INFAMOUS for injuries, with two particularly brutal, violent-looking ones absolutely flattening some of the “New Heroines”. And, of course, those are the VERY TWO women going all the way to the final match!

In addition, we get the worked-shoot U*Top Tournament, where 3/4 of the fighters in it are of course big joshi stars who beat no-name European girls to move on. So come see rookies with potential teaming up with veterans giving mostly half-hearted efforts in matches half as long as the usual joshi contests… which actually kinda suits the style a bit more as the bouts have less padding than joshi typically does.

DISCOVER NEW HEROINE TAG TOURNAMENT ROUND TWO:

MEGUMI KUDO & KAORI NAKAYAMA (FMW) vs. BISON KIMURA & YUKI LEE (JD’):
* Most interpromotional stuff typically involves “Someone vs. GAEA” or “Someone vs. AJW”, so FMW & JD’ mixing it up is interesting for the time period. Both teams are the only representative of their company left, so it’s kinda anyone’s ballgame. Bison & Kudo notably were part of the same AJW training class in 1986. Bison & Yuki are in blue & white again, Kudo’s in black and Kaori’s in red & white.

BUDOKAN MIDSUMMER NIGHT- DISCOVER NEW HEROINE (Day One):
(Aug. 12th 1996):
* Welcome back to AJW, as they release this MONSTER interpromotional show in mid-1996, at the Budokan Hall! It’s just like the old days- AJW! FMW! JWP! JD’! GAEA Japan! Holy crap! It sounds like the biggest show in Joshi history… except it’s this weirdo “Veteran + Rookie” Tag Team Tournament so every match has amateurs in it, AND there’s also the U*Top Shoot Fight tournament on the same show, lol. MoskowDiskow, who regularly posts here, says this is one of those “the Matsunagas were losing their shirts so they let Rossy Ogawa book a show, and he did some weird Gimmick Show” situations.

Cagematch says this drew 4,500 to the Budokan, which is pretty crazy, but might be a lie… and also 4,500 is like 1/3 full, so if that’s papered/lying then HOLY CRAP. So this show is largely seen as a disaster. This show is also apparently quite infamous for injuries, but only on Day Two. So come see future stars and washouts give some decidedly iffy performances and take easy falls to veterans! And the “Joshi Style” wrestled in 5-8 minute matches instead of 16-minute wars!

DISCOVER NEW HEROINE TAG TOURNAMENT ROUND ONE:

AJA KONG & YOSHIKO TAMURA (AJW) vs. CHIGUSA NAGAYO & SAKURA HIROTA (GAEA Japan):
* Okay, so Aja/Chigusa is a huge “get” for a match, as their eras only barely overlap, and Aja was very young when Chigusa retired. I’m like “who the frig is Sakura Hirota?” but it turns out she’s making her DEBUT here, and is a new GAEA trainee to join the other recent ones this year. She’s actually still wrestling, making this a NON-washout GAEA hire! She’s a long-haired rookie in a pink Arena swimsuit (which was worn by Mariko Narita before her, but Narita vanished from the biz). Aja’s still a big, pushed star, and Yoshiko is a rookie getting a very sudden lot of emphasis. Aja is giving Chigusa the death glare to end all death glares, here- like I’m watching this on YouTube and even I’m kinda scared.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfIkfOkmPrI

JD’ BEAUTY ATHLETE:
(July 1996)
* Hooray! More JD’ stuff! This one features AJW’s Mima Shimoda popping in to make a team with Chikako Shiratori (her partner in the upcoming Discover New Heroine veteran/rookie tournament), some focus on “the rookie we want to push” Yuki Lee, and a bunch of JD’s rookies making their debuts. And finally a “REAL DOG FIGHT” between Bison Kimura and Jaguar Yokota (under a mask).

MIMA SHIMODA (AJW) & CHIKAKO SHIRATORI (JD’) vs. JAGUAR YOKOTA & YUKO KOSUGI (JD’):
* An interpromotional match of sorts, as AJW’s Shimoda arrives to team with Chikako in a prelude to their team in the tournament coming up in a month at the Budokan show. Their opponents are JD’s most credible star (Jaguar) and brand-new rookie Yuko Kosugi. Shimoda’s in black & yellow, Chikako’s in pink & white, Jaguar’s in purple & Kosugi’s in a white jobber two-piece.

GAEA JAPAN- RING ON THE BEAT:
(July 20th, 1996)
* Back to Korakuen Hall for more GAEA! More mix & match stuff as we get a GAEA trios match, featuring the first actual heel turn of the promotion, as Mayumi Ozaki of JWP comes recruiting for her heel stable! And holy crap would THAT group stick around- Manjiimortal notes that this may be the most influential/important show in GAEA history, just for that! Then it’s a very interesting solo match, as AJW’s Toshiyo Yamada takes on the #2-3 rookie in GAEA, Sonoko Kato, in a long singles match!

CHIGUSA NAGAYO, KAORU & TOSHIE UEMATSU vs. BOMBER HIKARU, CHIKAYO NAGASHIMA & SUGAR SATO:
* A basic GAEA trios match, albeit with the two leaders of the promotion on one side, making this a total uneven contest. Chigusa’s in red/yellow/black, KAORU’s in silver, Toshie’s in green, Bomber’s in blue, Chikayo’s in yellow & Sato’s in white.

GAEA JAPAN- GOLD RUSH:
(July 16th 1996)
* Hey, it’s more GAEA! Since I wanted to do all the AJW Grand Prix stuff in a row, there’s some stuff to run back to. Some summer shows are showcased here. This show features a Battle of the Chigusa Clones, as Chigusa Nagayo teams up with newbie Makei Numao against the ’80s Chigusa Clone, Toshiyo Yamada, and the modern Chigusa Clone, Meiko Satomura! This pays off a prior match where Yamada beat Meiko after giving her a 15-minute match!

We also get AJW’s Mima Shimoda invading for a tag match, then a trios match featuring an invading Ladies Legend Pro Wrestling midcard squad! GAEA’s run of interesting “new Dream Matches” continues! A three-match review today, as I hit another short show later in the week.

WONDER FORTH:
MIMA SHIMODA (AJW) & TOSHIE UEMATSU (GAEA) vs. KAORU & SUGAR SATO (GAEA):
* An interesting mix-up, as AJW’s Mima Shimoda comes in to team with Uematsu against two other GAEA wrestlers. Shimoda’s in red & gold, Toshie’s in green, and the other two are in their usual white gear.

AJW JAPAN GRAND PRIX 1996 (Part Three):
(Aug. 16th & 23rd, 1996)
* And we finally finish the Japan Grand Prix 1996! This one has a handful more clipped matches, but this time we get full clips of the Semi-Finals and Finals, plus a bunch of other bouts! Reggie Bennett vs. Yumiko Hotta and Aja Kong vs. Kyoko Inoue! Also, Etsuko Mita vs. Mima Shimoda in the battle of Las Cachorras Orientales! Plus the legendary rivalry of Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada in a tag match, with each paired up with a rookie the company is desperate to focus on. We get the token “flukes can totally happen in round robins” stuff and end with a truly great match- sadly the only one in the tournament.

THE FINAL JGP RESULTS:
Aja Kong—————16
Reggie Bennett——–14
Yumiko Hotta———14
Kyoko Inoue———-14
Mima Shimoda——-12
Toshiyo Yamada——12
Takako Inoue———10
Kaoru Ito————–10
Etsuko Mita———–8
Tomoko Watanabe—8
Mariko Yoshida——-8
Chaparita Asari——-4

-So… more or less what I expected, especially the top four. The big surprises to me are Yamada being above Takako (even by 2 points), and Shimoda rising up that high (even though I figured she SHOULD be, AJW has been half-assed about her singles stuff). Tomoko & Yoshida also did quite poorly… but looking at the tournament, they’re both way lower in the pecking order than almost everyone else, so it’s probably inevitable. But just kind of a shame, and shows a lack of foresight, especially with Yoshida. Poor Mita being in the BOTTOM FOUR seems to sign her death knell as a performer (she even JOBS TO ASARI, looking at the tournament record), so it’s a wonder she’s a main event tag wrestler by 1997- the return of LCO seems to save her career. ASARI’s two wins are over Mita & Yoshida, actually.

AJW JAPAN GRAND PRIX 1996 (Part Two):
(July 28th & Aug. 4th, 1996)
* Another set of mostly-clipped matches! This time we get full clips of TWO Chaparrita ASARI matches, as the company focuses on her more and more- we see her take on Kyoko Inoue and Mariko Yoshida in separate “come from behind” matches! Also come see just how serious AJW was about pushing Reggie Bennett in 1996, as she gets some of the biggest matches of her entire career! Also a full-length “Class of 1987 Reunion” match between Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Las Cachorras Orientales!

Crazy upsets abound as AJW’s booking combines the “Flukes can happen in round robins” puro trope with panicked booking!

MIHO WAKIZAWA vs. YACHIYO KAWAMOTO:
* Good heavens, who are THESE two? I’ve never heard of them. Expecting rookies who retired early (common to AJW at this time) I was surprised to find Miho had an 18-year career, moving on to Stardom, mostly in tag success. Yachiyo lasted… two? I think? One match in ’94 and a bunch in ’96? Miho’s in yellow (and is quite tall) & Yachiyo’s in black.

AJW GRAND PRIX 1996 (Part One):
(July 14th 1996)
* It’s time for another Grand Prix show! Though sadly, this one is 90% clipped matches- AJW was really cheaping out on tapes as profits fell by this point, I think. We do get a full Yumiko Hotta/Aja Kong match and they’ve had some REAL bangers, and a Manami Toyota/rookie vs. Kyoko Inoue & Chaparrita ASARI match, as AJW gets serious about pushing ASARI, though!

The opening clip shows Manami Toyota’s two 1995 Title wins- against Aja Kong and against Dynamite Kansai, then clips of other women’s faces beside the 3WA World Title and a Manami promo. Finally, the entrants enter the ring wearing sashes to denote their entry- we have exclusively AJW wrestlers this time around, meaning there’s no fun Interpromotional stuff, sadly. This one drops the concept of “Blocks” and is now a single 12-woman round robin tournament.

Our Participants:
* Kyoko Inoue: the heir apparent to the 3WA World Title and Manami’s longest rival. Probably gonna win, if AJW’s typical way of doing things holds true.
* Aja Kong: The dethroned champion. Was maybe gonna be pushed down the ranks like past champs, but is now just there again.
* Yumiko Hotta: Has now been training for shootfights for a while, but AJW wants to keep using her as a great “threat” to any top wrestler, despite never beating them.
* Takako Inoue: Amazing, underrated wrestler, but never QUITE pushed to the next level. Is All Pacific-level now, and if they’re smart, this should be a big run.
* Kaoru Ito: Now the highest ranked of the Class of ’89. Clearly meant for big things. Will probably earn middle ranks.
* Tomoko Watanabe: A rising star who is just now picking up some wins in tag matches. Has a bright future, and will probably score some suprise wins and earn middle ranks.
* Mariko Yoshida: Has been back from injury for a year, occupying an uncomfortable “middle ground” between pushed stars and midcarders. If they’re gonna push her, now’s the time (she’s easily better than either Ito or Tomoko at this point).
* Mima Shimoda: Now the current Tag Champion and has been in successful teams for a year now, but never quite does well in singles. They seem to see a future in her, so she should HOPEFULLY do well.
* Etsuko Mita: Now without Shimoda for most of a year, she’s floundered in the midcard, and has likely entered the “Suzuka Minami” role of being a gatekeeper. Probably won’t do well.
* Reggie Bennett: Foreigner powerhouse with some big title runs last year- again, a strong contender to do more, especially as she’s not as “tired” as the other stars yet. Her introductory interview, in English, was clearly not planned out ahead of time (“with the, uh, opposite belt and won the uh, six-man championship…”.
* Toshiyo Yamada: Gone are her All Pacific runs and now she’s just kinda ambling about the company. Injuries and motivation seem to have done a number on her.
* Chaparrita ASARI: No chance, but a stupendous acrobat they still wanna do things with. She has super-long hair now and no longer looks 13. Obviously gonna be in last place.

JOSHI SPOTLIGHT- KAORU:
Real Name: Kaoru Maeda (aka Infernal KAORU, Dara)
Billed Height & Weight: 5’5/12″ 139 lbs.
Trained By: Jaguar Yokota
Career Length: 1986-2021

-One of those joshi whose career just lasted FOREVER (eclipsing Manami Toyota’s by quite a few years, and going well beyond Etsuko Mita, Akira Hokuto and others), Kaoru Maeda (usually called KAORU, Because Japan) was never a top star, but was a great utility player who was also an elite trainer judging by GAEA Japan’s first class (you can thank her in part for Meiko Satomura, for example), and is virtually the “Terry Funk” of Japan- constantly reinventing herself to match a new “thing”. She was a generic acrobatic wrestler, a luchadora, then a kinda lazy midcarder when she returned to AJW… then suddenly shows up in GAEA and got VERY good, then modified that into a career as a trashy hot girl brawler in OZ Academy and other places. Billed as the “Original Hardcore Queen” in one era, what kind of match you’re gonna get with her really depends on the year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eBEzHWMht4&t=1069s&ab_channel=GAEAISM%E5%85%AC%E5%BC%8F%E3%83%81%E3%83%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%8D%E3%83%AB

Proof Joshi didn’t suck after 1996! Mostly because LCO remained awesome for years!

MONEYBALL MATCH:
D-FIX (Mayumi Ozaki & KAORU, w/ Police) vs. LAS CACHORRAS ORIENTALES (Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita)
(GAEA Japan, Dec. 15th 2001)
* So here we look all the way into the future, when GAEA was the biggest joshi promotion on Earth (in a scorched industry, to be fair) and the other companies kept losing talent there- at one point in the 2000s, almost all of the big stars were there (if as freelancers). And Ozaki’s formed an evil stable with a weird  cheating asshole named Police as their minion, with her & KAORU looking like a pair of trailer park MILFs, and they’re such a pair of b*tchpies that MITA AND SHIMODA now come off like lovable babyfaces, and they’ve come to kick some Japanese Peg Bundy tail. The match stipulation is effectively a Ladder Match (but I guess there’s also pins), but the winning object is just this big ball full of money, and it’s only a little bit off the mat, so you could stand on a chair and get it. Shimoda humorously implies in the pre-match that Ozaki’s too short to get it. The gear here has to be seen to be believed- LCO in their wild technicolor geisha & cowgirl outfits, and D-FIX in denim skirts & boots and lacy shiny tops (TOO lacy, as it turns out).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE1A6f2lU_8

JD’ BEAUTY ATHLETE:
(May 5th 1996)
* May 5th sees another JD’ show, this one only an hour long. This was apparently taped MUCH earlier, in Dec. 1995, as Bull Nakano is wrestling, teaming with Lola Gonzalez against Jaguar Yokota & Flor Metallica! The show looks to be taking place in a REALLY smoky hall- the kind of place Vince McMahon thought wrestling existed in before 1985. There’s some oddly-tight camera angles as a result throughout the show, and the whole thing comes off like a house show they just happened to film.

JAGUAR YOKOTA vs. LOLA GONZALEZ:
* JD’s founder takes on Lola, the first champion. This looks like it takes place in a smoky bingo hall, with Jaguar in silver & Lola in a hideous floral-print singlet. Christ, are those legwarmers?

Jaguar hits her Straightjacket German IMMEDIATELY, Lola getting the ropes. Jaguar commands “shi ne!” (“DIE!”), but is whipped to the ropes, but slingshots off with a great headscissors, putting Lola on the floor. Some half-hearted brawling on the floor leads to Lola taking over with brawling (the huge close-ups are, um, NOT advantageous), and tosses Jaguar off the top, but she bridges out and hits a rana for two. Another try sees her powerbombed, Lola hauling her up for a spinning/giant swing variation of it for two. Senton off the 2nd rope misses and Jaguar hits an enzuigiri & the Vertical Drop Pedigree for two, but misses a flying thing and Lola ties her up in the “Rock the Cradle” submission & surfboard into a powerbomb & senton for two. She hits another powerbomb, but goes up and takes a butterfly superplex for two. She tries her “lockup to Straightjacket”, but Lola takes a swing at her, ending up in a Leg-Trap Backdrop Hold for the three (5:32 of 19:19) shown.

AJW IN JUNE 1996:
* Now we finally hit the mid-point of the year (though I really haven’t seen a lot of AJW stuff on YouTube from earlier in the year), and we have the big World Tag Title match- Manami & Shimoda vs. Kyoko & Takako! I’ll also run notes on what happened at Wrestlemarinepiad 1996 (spoiler alert: Not Much!).

AJW actually ran an interpromotional “All Rookies” show May 1996, which is the most promotion-packed show I’ve seen in ages! Nothing appears online, the show was mainly clipped on the VHS release, and the results are mostly “Rookie A beats Rookie B”, but there’s a few notes:

A “Woman’s Graduation Tournament” has Semi-Finals & Finals here- Sugar Sato d. Aki Kambayashi (7:54), Misae Genki d. Kiyoko Ichiki (9:38), then Genki wins the tournament, beating Sato at (6:56). JWP’s Hiromi Yagi & Kaori Nakayama defeat JWP’s Kanako Motoya & AJW’s Yumi Fukawa (11:18). Yoshiko Tamura defends her AJW Title, beating JWP’s Tomoko Kuzumi (11:15). GAEA’s Chikayo Nagashima & Sonoko Kato fight AJW’s Kumiko Maekawa & Tanny Mouse to a (20:00) Time Limit Draw (OH GOD A TWENTY MINUTE TANNY MOUSE MATCH!). In the biggest bout, Chaparrita ASARI wins a vanity-belt, the WWWA Super Lightweight Title, in a match against GAEA’s Toshie Uematsu (14:35). Finally, a 4-way interpromotional match, as Chikako Shiratori (JD’) & Michiko Omukai (LLPW) beat Rie Tamada (AJW) & Meiko Satomura (GAEA) in (20:50).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHPVEqNHNAI

Remember: JD’ is pronounced “jay-DEE-star”!

JD’ BEAUTY ATHLETE- COMING TO TOKYO:
(April 14th 1996)
* Oh hey, look! The OTHER joshi splinter promotion of 1996 shows up in my Spotlights! Mostly because MoskowDiskow was like “Hey if you’re in 1996 you should have JD! There’s 4-5 videos on YouTube!” and I was like “huh? There is?” and he linked me one person’s poorly-labeled channel. I mean, typing in “JD” into a search engine ain’t gonna net you a lot, right? But here’s an April ’96 show!

So the deal with JD’ is that some company had a TV contract and were able to lure away Jaguar Yokota, wonder-trainer of AJW’s ’80s wrestlers and a big star in her own right, along with two forcibly-retired buddies in Bison Kimura (billed as a top star) and Lioness Asuka (a huge ’80s star). Like some Ted Turner dude was like “I wanna get into the wrasslin’ business! I remember Jaguar & Lioness- get ’em for my company!” because he was old and those were the stars he remembered. And they threw together a weirdo promotion of bizarre gimmicks, terrible rookies (Chikako Shiratori) and freelancers. And now I got all these damn people to look up because I have no idea who most of these people are, lol.

We start off with a highlight reel, mostly made up of big flying moves, plus a Bison Kimura/Manami Toyota match that headlines this show. Then the CGI opening, looking like a first generation PlayStation game to a hilariously nostalgic degree, leads to mini-bios of the wrestlers. For some reason there’s super-quiet commentary AND a voiceover, like they recorded both channels and played them over each other.

GAEA IN SPRING 1996:
* Here’s a pair of GAEA shows featuring the usual assortment of rookies and bigger stars, complete with the goofiest battle royal you’ll EVER see (you think Chain Sleepers and other comedy bits are new? Check GAEA doing it in 1996), and the GAEA Junior Star Tournament to crown the best rookie! Come see the best friggin’ match two one-year veterans could possibly have!

NEO QUEEN HISTORY ’95:
SONOKA KATO vs. TOSHIE UEMATSU:
* Two of the most elite rookies go at it in the rookie tournament. Kato’s in blue & Toshie’s in green, as always.

They do the typical GAEA start with a ton of running attacks, Toshie using her “backflip off their chest” move and rollups, but Kato uses her bulldogs when Toshie tries to many running headlocks. Toshie dodges a legdrop and hits a victory roll & dropkicks, then a missile kick for two, but a flying splash hits knees. Kato gets a sleeper and they spam running attacks back & forth as this is frenetic, but quite sloppy- most things have very poor execution, but that kind of “they’re fighting for it like it was real” scrappy thing that joshi sometimes has. Toshie’s offense is like 60% flash pins. Kato finally catches her with the Tornado Bulldog, but Time Expires at (6:01 shown).

FMW MEGA-SHOW:
(Kawasaki Stadium, May 5th 1996)
* And here’s one of the biggest joshi shows in FMW history, as we get not only Chigusa Nagayo vs. Shark Tsuchiya in a rematch of their miscarriage of justice from late ’95 (when Shark won only because it was basically a 3-on-1 handicap match thanks to her subordinates), but it’s MEGUMI KUDO vs. COMBAT TOYODA, the top two women in FMW history, in Combat’s retirement match! And it’s one of the best women’s singles matches ever, to boot! And probably the best Barbed Wire Deathmatch there ever was, making maximum use of the gimmick!

Here’s a random one-off review, as Evito-X has been uploading old-school joshi among the great rarities on his YouTube channel, and I wanted to check it out.

WWWA WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES:
BEST TWO OF THREE FALLS:
THE QUEEN ANGELS (Lucy Kayama & Tomi Aoyama) vs. THE BLACK PAIR (Mami Kumano & Yumi Ikeshita):
(7/31/1979)
* It’s time for some 1970s joshi! The Black Pair were set up as heels in opposition to the Beauty Pair- this is a latter incarnation, with Mami Kumano replacing Shinobu Aso. Yumi’s in black boots and Mami has red boots (both have black swimsuits and ‘fros, so that’s how I can tell them apart, haha). The Queen Angels appear to be babyfaces, with matching swimsuits with white polka-dots on them- Lucy (in red) is one I’ve seen before in a variety of old matches, usually featuring Jackie Sato. I’ve never seen Tomi (in blue) before, but she’s a hell of a high-flier, apparently: https://www.reddit.com/r/stardomjoshi/comments/87xj1c/tomi_aoyamas_springboard/.

GAEA JAPAN- GAEAISM GRAND OPENING 1ST ANNIVERSARY:
(April 29th 1996)
* GAEA Japan is now one full year old! With the greatest inaugural rookie class ever but shows still dependent on other companies to fill out the card, it’s maturing quickly. This set of matches is all clipped, but it’s got the final ten minutes of a BIG one- LLPW’s most credible wrestler, SHINOBU KANDORI (aka the woman who fought two classics with Akira Hokuto) comes calling, bringing rookie (and future terror) Michiko Omukai up against the biggest women’s star in history- Chigusa Nagayo and her own rookie, Sugar Sato. The match proves fun mostly for Kandori’s antics as an elitist shooter- she’s a truly underrated character.

The GAEAISM channel is missing a few matches:
HIKARU FUKUOKA (JWP) d. BOMBER HIKARU (GAEA) (15:45): this seems oddly padded and kinda long for Bomber to last, but that’s the style of both companies at this point.
WONDERFUL FREE: KAORU d. Carol Midori (10:52)

GAEA NEO SOUL BATTLE NEW FACES:
RINA ISHII vs. MAIKO MATSUMOTO:
* Holy shit, NEW wrestlers! This is the first I’ve seen of either one, and is Rina’s debut. She lasts two years and Maiko three, so they’re not GREAT successes but at least stuck around a bit. They have to pick unique colors, as enough of the early crew are still around in their Arena swimsuits- Maiko’s in an ugly brown one, and Rina’s in a light… puce? Salmon? Google says that’s “coral”, I guess. It’s pink, I dunno. Rina is TINY and super-thin, probably around 5 feet tall, and Maiko is comparatively bigger and thicker.

JWP IN MID-1996:
* Hey look! More JWP! Because… okay I forgot to post the one below, and then I had an undated match I figured I’d find a place for! So it’s only a two-match review! The first one is really good, though! Eventually!

CUTIE SUZUKI & HIKARI FUKUOKA vs. ESTHER MORENO & HIROMI YAGI:
* The two top idols in JWP take on rising star Yagi and Mexican talent Moreno, who was also in AJW around this time- maybe doing a full tour of Japan? The latter are in black gear, Hikari’s in her leopard-print & Cutie’s in white.

JWP IN APRIL 1996 (Part Two):
* I split these up because some matches are IMMENSELY long. This one features the retirement of Hiromi Sugo, Candy Okutsu vs. comedy wrestler Saburo, Mayumi Ozaki vs. Hiromi Yagi, and a rematch between Chigusa Nagayo, Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato of GAEA and Devil Masami, Tomoko Kuzumi & Tomoko Miyaguchi of JWP! So comes see what JWP was doing in early 1996 (the answer: Lots of excessively-drawn out matches with aimless stretching! But some are okay!).

RETIREMENT MATCH:
FUSAYO NOUCHI vs. HIROMI SUGO:
(Thunder Queen Light up the Night, 07.04.1996)
* Here’s a match between two lower-level wrestlers, with Sugo calling it quits after only two years in the business, retiring to become a referee. Nouchi has really long hair here, while Sugo has the ugliest suit this side of Kaoru Ito- bright yellow with green designs… but with shorts for the legs.