Carlos Amano

GAEA JAPAN- ENDLESS SUMMER!:
(July-August 1996)
* It’s time for more GAEA Japan! This week we have a variety of stuff from the summer! I guess I should have posted this before the Discover New Heroine show but it was released on a tape after the summer so I didn’t find it in my “Master List” until now. This one features a really fantastic GAEA Japan vs. OZ Academy bout, as JWP’s Mayumi Ozaki brings Reiko Amano and two GAEA traitors into an 8-Woman Tag against Chigusa Nagayo and her GAEA loyalists Kato, Uematsu & Hirota!

Also, we get Toshiyo Yamada show up in GAEA again as she & KAORU work a good match against each other, plus another GAEA/OZ match to start us off.

KAORU, CHIKAYO NAGASHIMA & TOSHIE UEMATSU vs. OZ ACADEMY (Mayumi Ozaki, Reiko Amano & Sugar Sato):
(July 17th 1996)
* It’s Ozaki’s OZ Academy vs. some of GAEA’s loyalists! Except OZ’s Chikayo is on the GAEA side, too. KAORU’s in white, Chikayo yellow, Toshie green, Ozaki red/black, Reiko blue/white & Sato white. The GAEA girls have now all “upgraded” their gear to be still monochromatic, but slightly more “advanced” to show they’re no longer jobbers.

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.

JWP IN APRIL 1996:
* We’re back to more JWP stuff! Their YouTube presence is a bit odd, as it’s mainly limited to one guy’s account- Rico Kasai is the name. None of it’s dated, so it took a hell of a lot of work to find out when all of this happened. Some in my “Can’t find” pile should just be mass-reviewed at some point too, I guess. We last left off with them in September 1996, but also had the Tag Title change in December, but the last stuff of Kasai’s was a ways before that, so I haven’t gotten to his in a while. In any case, we have SIX matches from April 1996! One is an absolute BANGER that I’ve reviewed before in a Takako Inoue vs. Mayumi Ozaki spotlight- it’s a fantastic Interpromotional Tag Match between Dynamite Kansai & Takako vs. Kyoko Inoue & Ozaki- and in it, they go all-out and very clearly attempt to replicate the success of the famous Toyota/Yamada vs. Kansai/Ozaki series from 1993.

COMMAND BOLSHOI vs. RIEKO AMANO:
* Miracle rookie Amano (who gets good FAST- I’ve seen a **** match from only a couple years after this, tops) goes up against Bolshoi, who’s on the low end of the pecking order for “name” wrestlers, and is thus a good gatekeeper and “test” against the kids. Amano’s in a white & blue jobber singlet, while Bolshoi’s in the rad blue & green gear.

JWP TV (Nov. 11th):
* Hey look! Some random JWP show from Nov. 11th! Slotted right after the huge AJW stuff, and including a random 3WA Title Defense by Dynamite Kansai against AJW’s Takako Inoue, and one of those “Okay, let’s go all-out and show off what we can do” amazing Joshi-Pace Trios matches!

KANAKO MOTOYA vs. TOMOKO MIYAGUCHI:
* Rookie Mayhem with AJW-tier Rookie Swimsuits! Motoya’s in black & pink, and Tomoko’s in one of those “Ellesse” suits in black & red. Motoya obviously quit early- she has no Cagematch profile- while Tomoko became supporting player “Ran Yu-Yu”.

Tomoko hits a good back elbow while Motoya does rookie bridge-outs and dropkicks, then adds some relish in various holds. They fight over a wristlock for a while, actually doing a good job of looking like they’re fighting to get their moves in. And then there’s this great bit where they both get hot and just start punching each other in the face, Motoya finally bringing Tomoko down with a 2nd-rope dropkick. But Tomoko tosses her off the top and spams running face kicks- “Fuck YOU!” bridge from Motoya! Tomoko does the “JB Angels” bridge out of a slam pin and backslides her for two, but Motoya spams running kicks of her own and hits a missile dropkick, only to fly off onto Tomoko’s knees, and shoulderblock spam & a flying splash gets a close two. Motoya gets a rollup, but ends up on Tomoko’s shoulders for an airplane spin into a Samoan drop… for the pin (12:22)!

Wow, actually very good for rookies! Neither had any experience yet they showed real emotion (screaming and getting aggressive), knew how to upgrade their spots over time, and even busted out a unique move for the ending. Great work for young kids.

Rating: **1/4 (a miracle for green rookies)