Over the next eternity, I will be watching and reviewing all GAEA Japan events in order, starting with their debut show on April 15th, 1995. Visit the GAEA Japan Project page for a brief history of the promotion, the roster page, my favorite matches from the promotion, and the full list of all events reviewed. I will also be uploading my favorite match from each show so that everyone can enjoy it.

If you want to watch the GAEA Japan events I am reviewing, Mike Lorefice sells the complete seasons at a very reasonable price both via download and physical copy. Mike’s quebrada.net is one of the sites I’m using to write these reviews, its a great resource for learning more about GAEA Japan and wrestling in general.

Believe it or not, I have not forgotten about this Project! I have been having issues with ‘time’ lately but I will make a strong attempt to review one GAEA Japan event each week going forward. Since we have a long way to go. This is a smaller show for GAEA Japan and takes place outside of Korakuen Hall for the first time since September. Only two matches were shown on the one hour broadcast, here are the matches:

• Bad Nurse Nakamura and Miwa Sato vs. Bomber Hikari and Chikayo Nagashima
• Chigusa Nagayo and Toshie Uematsu vs. KAORU and Sonoko Kato

Even though this wasn’t a major event, we still have to watch it because 1. I am not skipping shows and 2. you never know where there may be a hidden gem that no one knew existed. All the wrestlers have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their names above to go straight to it.

Bad Nurse Nakamura and Miwa Sato vs. Bomber Hikari and Chikayo Nagashima

The GAEA Japan team attacks before the bell rings but the advantage lasts about two seconds until Team FMW gets Bomber isolated. Bomber hits a crossbody on both of them and Chikayo comes back to help as the double team Team FMW. Bomber and Sato stay in the ring as legal, scoop slam by Bomber and she covers Sato, but Sato bridges out of it. Another slam by Bomber and she hits another one, crab hold by Bomber but Nakamura breaks it up. Bodyblock by Bomber and she tags Chikayo, snapmare by Chikayo and she starts on Sato’s leg. Crab hold by Chikayo but Sato gets out of it, Sato avoids her dropkick and she tags in Nakamura. Scoop slam by Nakamura and she dropkicks Chikayo, another dropkick by Nakamura and she hits a vertical suplex for two. Chikayo is double teamed in the ropes, Nakamura steps on Chikayo’s hands and both she and Sato stomp on Chikayo. Sato stays in as legal and stomps on Chikayo while she is in the Tree of Woe, Sato sits down on Chikayo when she goes for a sunset flip as Team FMW stays in control, Nakamura is tagged back in and she is double teamed in the corner. Sato teases letting Chikayo tag out but twists her arm instead, cradle by Sato but it gets a two count. Sato tags in Nakamura and she hits a back elbow, scoop slam by Nakamura and she tags in Sato. Chikayo snaps off a Stunner and tags in Bomber, Bomber goes off the ropes but Nakamura hits her from the apron.

Sato gets a weighted cloth of some sort and beats Bomber with it, she tags in Nakamura and Nakamura cracks Bomber in the head with a soda can. Double Irish whip by Bomber and she gets hit with two cans, but Sato eventually hits Nakamura by accident, Bomber gets the can and hits Nakamura in the head repeatedly with it. Bomber takes Nakamura out of the ring and tosses her into the railing, they return to the ring and Chikayo hits a missile dropkick on Nakamura for a two count. Front roll into a headbutt by Chikayo followed by a headscissors, catapult missile dropkick by Chikayo but Nakamura bridges out of the pin. Chikayo tags Bomber but Sato chokes Bomber from behind, Sato stays in and tosses around Bomber by the neck. Bomber is double teamed in the corner, scoop slam by Sato and she hits a leg drop for two. Nakamura returns, jumping neck drop by Sato on Bomber so she hits a second one, cradle by Nakamura to Bomber but it gets a two count. Rolling cradle by Nakamura to Bomber, but that gets a two count as well. Nakamura puts Bomber in the STF but Chikayo breaks it up, scoop slam by Bomber but Nakamura kicks out. Over The Top by Bomber, she picks up Nakamura and goes for a backdrop suplex but Nakamura reverses it into a roll-up for two.

Spin-out powerbomb by Bomber, but Sato breaks up the cover. Bomber picks up Nakamura and slams her in front of the corner, she goes up top but Nakamura avoids the Reverse Splash. Diving knee strike by Nakamura, but Chikayo breaks up the pin attempt. Nakamura tags in Sato, she brings in a chair and DDTs Bomber onto it before putting the chair into the corner and driving Bomber’s head in it. Chikayo comes in and takes the chair, hitting both Nakamura and Sato with it. Chikayo tags in, scoop slam by Chikayo onto Sato but Sato shakes her off and boots Chikayo in the face. Sato goes for a suplex but Chikayo reverses it into a cradle, front roll into a headbutt by Chikayo but Nakamura trips her from the floor. Scoop slams by Sato to Chikayo and she hits a backdrop suplex hold for two. Sato goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Sato but Bomber breaks it up. Nakamura comes in with a chain and jokes Bomber, Sato suplexes Chikayo but Chikayo gets a shoulder up on the cover. Double arm suplex by Sato, she picks up Chikayo and hits another suplex but pulls up her head again on the cover. Backdrop suplex by Sato but she stops the pin as she taunts Bomber, powerbomb by Sato and she finally keeps her covered for the three count! Bad Nurse Nakamura and Miwa Sato win the match.

This match started too slow for me to get excited about but the end stretch was really good. I don’t mind long beatdown segments but in this case the beatdown wasn’t very interesting, as the offense stayed basic. They picked things up dramatically once Team FMW started using weapons and Chikayo was tagged back in for the last few minutes as she showed a lot of fire. I loved the ending with Sato just repeatedly dropping Chikayo while taunting Bomber and then pinning Chikayo anyway, as the normal wrestling thing to do would be to give Chikayo a hope spot while instead she just destroyed her. Slightly more good than bad, it just took a bit too long to get going.

Chigusa Nagayo and Toshie Uematsu vs. KAORU and Sonoko Kato

Sonoko and Toshie start the match, shoulderblock by Sonoko but Toshie comes back with a dropkick. They reach a stalemate and tag out, Nagayo and KAORU play to the crowd until KAORU hits an armdrag. Nagayo comes back with her own armdrag and they also reach a stalemate, Nagayo attacks KAORU from behind and Toshie runs in so they can double team her. Belly to belly suplex by Nagayo but KAORU bridges out of the pin, Toshie is tagged in but KAORU catches her with a powerslam and tags in Sonoko. Sonoko dropkicks Toshie in the corner, Toshie comes back with snapmares and she applies a headlock, but Sonoko rolls out of it. Toshie tags Nagayo, Nagayo locks knuckles with Sonoko and gets her to the mat, Sonoko tries to get Nagayo off of her but Nagayo kicks her hard in the back. Sonoko gets Nagayo’s arm but Nagayo gets into the ropes, dropkicks by Sonoko but Nagayo levels her with a clothesline and tags in Toshie. Dropkicks by Toshie to Sonoko but Sonoko sneaks in a cradle and makes the tag to KAORU. Toshie tries to elbow KAORU over and finally does so, but KAORU quickly gets back up and delivers a dropkick. Crab hold by KAORU but Toshie gets to the ropes for the break, KAORU grapevines Toshie’s leg and applies the Muta Lock, bridging fallaway slam by KAORU but Toshie kicks out at two. KAORU tags in Sonoko, Lou Thesz Presses by Sonoko, scoop slam by Sonoko and she covers Toshie for two.

Irish whip by Sonoko and she hits a dropkick, Sonoko tags in KAORU but Toshie dropkicks her as well. Toshie tags Nagayo, spinning heel kick by Nagayo and she hits a second one for a two count. Nagayo Irish whips KAORU but KAORU puts her in a sleeper, Nagayo rolls into the ropes and she manages to force the break. Nagayo manages to tag in Toshie, Toshie puts KAORU in a crab hold but KAORU quickly gets into the ropes. Toshie puts KAORU in a stretch hold but KAORU rolls out of it, she tags Sonoko and Sonoko delivers a dropkick. Another dropkick by Sonoko to Toshie and she covers her for two. Scoop slam by Sonoko but Toshie bridges out of the pin and hits a side headlock takedown. Sonoko picks up Toshie and KAORU comes off the top turnbuckle with a lariat, missile dropkick by KAORU but Toshie falls back into her own corner and tags Nagayo. Nagayo catches KAORU with a sit-down powerbomb but Sonoko breaks up the cover, KAORU hits a trio of German suplexes on Nagayo before hitting a moonsault on Nagayo for a two count cover. Sonoko goes up top and hits a missile dropkick but Toshie runs in and dropkicks her, Nagayo kicks KAORU out of the ring and goes out onto the top turnbuckle, diving out of the ring onto KAORU.

Nagayo rolls KAORU back into the ring and slams her to the mat, but Sonoko breaks up the cover. Nagayo picks up KAORU but KAORU rolls away and tags Sonoko, but Nagayo greets Sonoko with a lariat. Nagayo tags Toshie, diving crossbody by Toshie but Sonoko comes back with a bulldog. Another bulldog by Sonoko and she hits a leg drop, picking up a two count. Sonoko tries to throw Toshie in the corner but Toshie reverses it and runs up Sonoko, she goes off the ropes but Sonoko hits a Lou Thesz Press. Seated senton by KAORU, she puts Toshie on her shoulders while Sonoko goes to the top turnbuckle, and Sonoko hits a missile dropkick. Cover by Sonoko but Nagayo breaks up the cover. Nagayo hits a heel kick on Sonoko and hits a sidewalk slam, Toshie cover Sonoko but KAORU breaks up the cover. Nagayo kicks KAORU out of the ring, Toshie picks up Sonoko and applies the Japanese Rolling Clutch, but Sonoko rolls through it. Nagayo returns and gets Sonoko up in a powerbomb position, Toshie goes up top and hits a crossbody while Nagayo delivers the powerbomb, and Toshie picks up the three count pinfall! Chigusa Nagayo and Toshie Uematsu win!

The dynamic here was a common one in the early days of GAEA Japan – veteran wrestlers leading the rookies to a decent match by making them do the bulk of the work. It was a necessary step in their growth as the rookies weren’t going to grow unless they got these opportunities, however it does make the matches feel a bit same-y while they got in the experience. When KAORU and Nagayo were both legal at the same time the match was more diverse and fast paced, but that rarely happened as they wanted Sonoko and Toshie to do the work. Sonoko and Toshie both looked good and had some solid offense, but obviously not at the level of their tag partners. The ending stretch was fast paced and hectic and overall I thought the match was entertaining as it was really crisp with occasional moments of excitement, but in the grand scheme of life pretty forgettable even with the killer ending. Mildly Recommended

The post GAEA Japan “The World” on 12/2/95 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Over the next eternity, I will be watching and reviewing all GAEA Japan events in order, starting with their debut show on April 15th, 1995. Visit the GAEA Japan Project page for a brief history of the promotion, the roster page, my favorite matches from the promotion, and the full list of all events reviewed. I will also be uploading my favorite match from each show so that everyone can enjoy it.

If you want to watch the GAEA Japan events I am reviewing, Mike Lorefice sells the complete seasons at a very reasonable price both via download and physical copy. Mike’s quebrada.net is one of the sites I’m using extensively to write these reviews, its a great resource for learning more about GAEA Japan and wrestling in general.

After last week’s event crossed over onto two tapings, we are back to normal this week as this show was squeezed into a one hour recording. The FMW involvement really steps up here, as Chigusa Nagayo takes on Bad Nurse Nakamura in the main event of the show. A total of five matches aired so there will definitely be some clipping, here are the matches that made the broadcast:

• Chiharu Nakano vs. Meiko Satomura
• Chikayo Nagashima vs. Makie Numao
• Tomoko Miyaguchi and Tomori Kobayashi vs. Toshie Uematsu and Sonoko Kato
• Bomber Hikari vs. KAORU
• Bad Nurse Nakamura vs. Chigusa Nagayo

I have added profiles for all the wrestlers on the show, you can click on their names above to go directly to it. Let’s see how much of these matches actually aired.

Chiharu Nakano vs. Meiko Satomura

They tie-up to start, Meiko pushes Chiharu into the ropes but Chiharu pushes her back and hits a dropkick. More dropkicks by Chiharu but Meiko gets up and pushes her, they trade elbows until Meiko knocks Chiharu to the mat. Meiko starts on Chiharu’s arm and goes for the cross armbreaker, but Chiharu blocks it and applies a cross armbreaker of her own. Meiko quickly gets into the ropes, running knee by Chiharu and she hits a scoop slam. She goes for the cross armbreaker again but Meiko reverses it, they go back and forth with cross armbreaker attempts until Meiko gets into the ropes. Irish whip by Chiharu but Meiko elbows her, leg sweep by Chiharu but Meiko gets into the ropes again. Back up, jumping shoulderblocks by Meiko but Chiharu bridges out of the pin. Meiko elbows Chiharu and applies a cross armbreaker takedown in the middle of the ring, and Chiharu quickly submits! Meiko Satomura is your winner.

Very short, interesting that both kept going for cross armbreakers but neither really did anything to weaken it up first. Course the cross armbreaker is respected as an insta-death move but still some build-up would be nice. This match was more to put over Meiko Satomura and establish her as the top rookie.

Chikayo Nagashima vs. Makie Numao

Makie strikes first in the match as she kicks Chikayo repeatedly, she lets Chikayo get up and goes for another kick, but Chikayo blocks it and hits a fireman’s carry takeover. Chikayo works on Makie’s arm before booting her into the corner, stomps by Chikayo and she takes Makie to the mat again. Side headlock by Chikayo but Makie gets into the ropes, Makie rolls up Chikayo but it gets a two. Irish whip by Makie and she hits a dropkick, scoop slam by Makie and she yanks on Chikayo’s arm. Armdrags by Makie and she twists on Chikayo’s arm, but Chikayo gets a foot on the ropes. Makie elbows Chikayo in the arm and hits a scoop slam, Irish whip by Makie but Chikayo hits a jumping crossbody. Chikayo applies a kneelock, she picks up Makie but Makie applies an inside cradle for two. Big boot by Chikayo and she hits a scoop slam, rolling pushes by Chikayo and she slaps Makie in the face. Makie kicks Chikayo in the back and in the leg, more kicks by Makie but Chikayo boots her in the head. Chikayo goes for a monkey flip but Makie pushes her off, Chikayo cradles Makie and she gets the three count! Chikayo Nagashima wins.

This was clipped in half so hard to get a good feel for it, but I liked that Makie brings something a bit different to the table. That being lots of kicks. Chikayo looked solid too but this was mostly designed to show off the new rookie which I think they did a reasonably good job of doing. Too cut up to recommend but a good display by both.

Tomoko Miyaguchi and Tomori Kobayashi vs. Toshie Uematsu and Sonoko Kato

Toshie and Sonoko attack before the match starts as all four brawl in the ring, Tomoko and Tomori gain the advantage for a moment but GAEA Japan takes back over. Dropkicks by Tomori and Tomoko and Tomori hits two belly bumps on Toshie for a two count. Toshie stomps on Tomori and tags Sonoko, Sonoko works on Tomori’s leg but Tomori gets into the ropes. Tomori gets away and tags in Tomoko, shoulderblocks by Tomoko to Sonoko and she hits a scoop slam. Sonoko puts Tomoko in a leg lock but Tomoko inches to the ropes to force the break, Sonoko picks up Tomoko and she delivers a trio of dropkicks. Sonoko picks up Tomoko and hits a scoop slam but Tomoko hits a jumping crossbody, Tomori goes up top and hits an elbow onto Sonoko’s arm. Tomori hits two Bubba Bombs on Sonoko, Toshie comes in but Tomori fights off both of them. Sonoko dropkicks Tomori and makes the tag to Toshie, Toshie dropkicks everyone and hits a back elbow onto Tomori for a two count. Toshie tags Sonoko back in but Tomori boots Sonoko in the head, Tomoko tries to kick Sonoko also but Sonoko blocks it. Leg drop by Sonoko and she hits a springboard bulldog out of the corner., cover by Sonoko but Tomoko bridges out of it. Sonoko picks up Tomoko as Toshie goes up top and hits a diving crossbody onto Tomoko, Sonoko comes into help but she hits a missile dropkick on her own partner by accident. Missile dropkick by Tomoko to Toshie, Tomori then hits a diving body press and Tomoko covers Toshie for two. Tomoko hits a pair of jumping kicks to Toshie’s chest, she picks up Toshie and delivers the Airplane Spin Samoan Drop. Cover by Tomoko, and she gets the three count! Tomoko Miyaguchi and Tomori Kobayashi are the winners.

This one was clipped even further, as only 7 minutes of the 20 minutes was shown. I won’t be “that guy” and say I could tell that Tomoko would be a future star, as honestly it was Tomori that impressed more, at least with how they clipped it anyway. It was chaotic with no real selling, which either was because they were all excitable rookies or because they clipped out the slower parts. Anyway, solid fast paced rookie action but not enough was shown to really rate.

Bomber Hikari vs. KAORU

This match is joined in progress as Bomber stomps on KAORU, but KAORU rolls up Bomber and gives her some stomps of her own. KAORU puts Bomber in a single leg crab hold but Bomber crawls to the ropes and reaches them to force a break. KAORU tosses Bomber out of the ring and goes out with her, KAORU tosses Bomber into the guard rail and then into the chairs at ringside. KAORU returns to the ring and waits for Bomber, Bomber returns with a chair but KAORU hits Bomber with her own chair and hits a jumping double chop. Crossbody by KAORU, but it only gets a two count. KAORU puts Bomber in a surfboard before letting her go, Irish whip by KAORU but Bomber catches her with a powerslam. Bomber gets KAORU on her shoulders and gives her the Airplane Spin, which impacts both of the wrestlers equally. KAORU recovers first and headbutts Bomber, Bomber gets on the second turnbuckle but KAORU recovers and boots Bomber out of the ring. KAORU goes up top as Bomber gets back on the apron, KAORU dropkicks Bomber out of the ring but Bomber moves when KAORU goes to jump down onto her. Bomber gives off the ropes and dives out onto KAORU with a plancha suicida, Bomber charges KAORU again but KAORU gets back into the ring with a slingshot sunset flip. Bomber picks up KAORU but KAORU reverses the powerbomb attempt, Bomber goes for another one but KAORU rolls her up for two. Bomber goes up top but KAORU avoids the diving headbutt, KAORU gets on the apron and she delivers a swandive dropkick. Release backdrop suplex by KAORU, she picks up Bomber and hits a second one and covers her for two. KAORU picks up Bomber and hits a Tornado DDT, but Bomber barely kicks out of the pin. KAORU slaps Bomber but Bomber slaps her back, brainbuster by KAORU and she nails a springboard moonsault for the three count! KAORU wins the match.

It is a shame that less than half of this match was shown, as I really liked what I saw. KAORU was doing her usual crazy stuff but her just destroying Bomber at the end was certainly memorable. The suplexes were very rough, as was the DDT and brainbuster, and it was a very dominate and definitive ending. I have to give it a bit of a recommendation just for that, but more needed to be shown for it to be worth hunting down.  Mildly Recommended

Bad Nurse Nakamura vs. Chigusa Nagayo

Nagayo talks on the mic before the match while Nakamura plays with her wooden spike, which turned out to be a horrible idea on her part as Nakamura attacks Nagayo and knocks her out of the ring. Once on the floor, Nakamura and Shark both attack Nagayo, as Nakamura uses her spike to cut open Nagayo. Nakamura waits back in the ring while Nagayo bleeds, she finally recovers and gets back in the ring but is immediately hit again by Nakamura. Nakamura drives the spike into Nagayo’s head, Shark hands her a chain and Nakamura chokes Nagayo with it while biting her head. Shark helps with choking Nagayo but Nagayo finally gets away from their grasp and takes the chain. Nagayo whips the chain around while Nakamura avoids it, Nakamura manages to grab the other end of the chain and they get into a tug of war over it. Nakamura kicks Nagayo in the head until she lets go, Nakamura wraps the chain around Nagayo’s neck and leads her around ringside with it. Nagayo gets away from Nakamura, Nakamura returns to the ring and gets a giant pole and hits Nagayo with it as she goes through the ropes. Nagayo grabs the pole and delivers a high kick to Nakamura’s head, she chases Nakamura with the pole before chucking it deep into the crowd so that no one can use it again. Which seems incredibly dangerous. Nakamura gets another stick anyway and hits Nagayo with it as she gets into the ring, Shark comes in to help but the referee gets her out.

Nagayo takes away the stick and hits Shark with it, but Nakamura bails out of the ring and runs up into the bleachers. Nakamura chases her down and hits her with it repeatedly, but we clip ahead in the video to Nagayo outside the ring and talking to Nakamura on the microphone. The crowd is cheering, but I won’t pretend to understand what she is saying as she throws that stick into the crowd as well. Nagayo returns to the ring as Shark hands Nakamura another big stick, but Nakamura tosses it out of the ring. Shark argues with her (I will assume that on the microphone, Nagayo was challenging Nakamura to fight her without weapons), she tries to get Nakamura to take it back but she won’t. Nagayo gets on the mat in a wrestling position, Nakamura applies a headlock as Nagayo struggles. Side headlock takedown by Nakamura, Nagayo gets out of it but Nakamura hits a German suplex. Cradle by Nakamura, but Nagayo gets a shoulder up. Nakamura gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, but Nagayo fires back with a lariat. Face crusher by Nakamura, she goes up top but Nagayo kicks her in the head before she can jump off. Another high kick by Nagayo sends Nakamura back to the mat, Nagayo elbows Nakamura in the back of the head before kicking her in the head again. Headbutt by Nagayo, she picks up Nakamura and plants her with a Running Pirates (a Running Three variation). Cover by Nagayo, and she gets the three count! Chigusa Nagayo wins the match.

This was an odd little match. Shark and Nakamura continued to team after this show so there was no long-term animosity for Nakamura deciding to wrestle instead of using weapons. Whatever Nagayo said on the microphone was magic. No less than three times they hit audience members with weapons being thrown into the crowd, which was wild, and that helped the entire scenario be even more chaotic. I really liked the atmosphere, it was just a bit odd as it felt more like a storyline match than a standalone match as it was really just setting up Chigusa Nagayo vs Shark Tsuchiya down the road. I liked it, it was different and I liked the story told, it was just too disjointed and wasn’t a pure brawl with all the breaks and with Nakamura eventually basically giving up her chances to win. Mildly Recommended

The post GAEA Japan “Hearts on Fight” on 7/29/95 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Championships Held: FMW Independent Women’s and WWA Women’s Championship
Tournaments Won: None
Awards Won: None

Notable Matches:

• March 27th, 1994 with Megumi Kudo vs. Chikako Shiratori and Suzuka Minami
• March 30th, 1995 vs. Megumi Kudo
• May 5th, 1995 vs. Megumi Kudo
• April 29th, 1998 vs. Zero (Chigusa Nagayo)
• June 21st, 1998 vs. Mayumi Ozaki
• May 13th, 1999 with Yoshiko Tamura vs. Crusher Maedomari and Shark Tsuchiya

Signature Moves:

• Dragon Sleeper
• Fisherman Suplex
• Knee Drop
• Rolling Cradle

In Action:

Coming Soon 

Back to Retired Wrestlers

The post Bad Nurse Nakamura appeared first on Joshi City.