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.

Finally I have made it to 1996! Attendance is up a bit for this one, maybe fans were excited for a new year of Joshi to begin. This event had a one night tag tournament but we will only be seeing the finals, as the bulk of the one hour taping focuses on the big 12 woman Captain Falls Elimination Match. We still have no titles in GAEA Japan at this point, so gimmicks such as big elimination matches and promotional wars is how they are maintaining fan interest. Here is the full card:

• Original Captain Fall Match: Chigusa Nagayo, Dynamite Kansai, Bomber Hikaru, Bolshoi Kid, Saburo, and Hiromi Sugo vs. Devil Masami, Mayumi Ozaki, KAORU, Cuty Suzuki, Hikari Fukuoka, and Makie Numao
• Hiromi Yagi vs. Toshie Uematsu
• Fight To The Last Young Generation One Night Tag Tournament Final: Sonoko Kato and Yuki Miyazaki vs. Tomoko Kuzumi and Chikayo Nagashima 

I had to make some more profiles but now everyone wrestling on the show has one, you can click on their names above to go straight to it. There will definitely be some clipping here, lets see how it goes.

Chigusa Nagayo, Dynamite Kansai, Bomber Hikaru, Bolshoi Kid, Saburo, and Hiromi Sugo vs. Devil Masami, Mayumi Ozaki, KAORU, Cuty Suzuki, Hikari Fukuoka, and Makie Numao
Original Captain Fall Match

As soon as the bell rings all 12 wrestlers start brawling, Saburo catches Makie Numao with a chokeslam and she covers her for the three count! Makie Numao is eliminated. Poor rookie. The match resets while they roll Makie out of the ring, Saburo and Fukuoka stay in as the legal wrestlers and Saburo throws Fukuoka in he corner before tagging in Bolshoi. Bolshoi walks the ropes while holding Fukuoka’s wrist before hitting an armdrag, another armdrag by Bolshoi and she hits a dropkick. Fukuoka dropkicks her back and tags Suzuki, tombstone by Suzuki and she covers Bolshoi for two. Dragon Sleeper by Suzuki, she lets go as Ozaki comes in and Ozaki also puts Bolshoi in a sleeper. Nagayo eventually breaks it up, Ozaki tags in Kaoru and Kaoru hits a vertical suplex. Sleeper by Kaoru but she eventually lets go and tags Ozaki back in, Bolshoi hits a trio of crossbodies on Ozaki until Ozaki catches her and swings Bolshoi around by her neck. Irish whip by Ozaki and she hits a powerbomb, but Bolshoi kicks out of the cover. Tequila Sunrise by Ozaki, her team runs in to block the other team and Ozaki picks up the three count! Bolshoi Kid is eliminated.

Ozaki stays in and powerbombs Sugo, a second powerbomb by Ozaki and she covers her for the three count! Hiromi Sugo is eliminated as we get rid of the lower ranked wrestlers. Saburo comes in but Ozaki DDTs her, she tags in Kaoru but Saburo hits a Side Russian Leg Sweep. Everyone takes turns headbutting Kaoru, Saburo goes up top but Masami grabs her from the apron and pulls her out of the ring. Kaoru goes off the ropes but Bomber hits her from the apron and then dives out of the ring onto Masami. The other wrestlers see this as a challenge as they all take turns doing dives out of the ring, moonsault by Kaoru out of the ring and Nagayo is the final one as she dives out with a crossbody onto Kaoru. Nagayo slides both Kaoru and Saburo back in the ring, swandive missile dropkick by Kaoru and she nails a tombstone piledriver. Swandive moonsault by Kaoru, and she covers Saburo for the three count! Saburo is eliminated. Things are not going well for Chigusa Nagayo’s team. The teams huddle before Masami and Nagayo come in, Masami boots Nagayo in her already injured shoulder before tagging in Kaoru. Kaoru focuses on the shoulder as well but Nagayo avoids her legdrop, kicks to the leg by Nagayo but Kaoru tags in Ozaki. Ozaki applies a seated armbar and then a Fujiwara Armbar, but it gets broken up. Suzuki is tagged in and she also applies an armbar, she tags Fukuoka and Fukuoka elbows Nagayo in the arm. Nagayo gets away and applies a sleeper, but Fukuoka gets a foot on the ropes for the break.

Nagayo tags in Kansai, headscissors by Fukuoka to Kansai and she tags in Ozaki. Kansai quickly drops Ozaki with a backdrop suplex, she pulls Ozaki off the turnbuckles but is overwhelmed by Ozaki’s teammates. Kansai is stomped by all five of them, German suplex by Ozaki but it gets a two count. Ozaki tags Masami but Kansai avoids her senton attempt, she tags in Nagayo and Bomber comes in too as they all stomp on Masami. Nagayo puts Masami in a sleeper but lets go after a moment and hits a German suplex hold for a two count. Nagayo goes for a powerbomb but it gets interrupted, Kansai puts Masami on the top turnbuckle but Masami recovers and goes for a legdrop. Kansai moves out of the way, she goes for Splash Mountain and nails it, getting the three count! Devi Masami is eliminated. Kansai and Fukuoka are the next wrestlers in, piledriver by Kansai but it gets broken up. Kansai tags in Bomber, Bombs Away by Bomber and she hits the Reverse Splash, but her pin is broken up. Bomber picks up Fukuoka but Fukuoka slides away and they trade elbows. Fukuoka knocks Bomber off her feet and covers her for two, Fukuoka charges Bomber but Bomber hits a powerslam. Bomber goes up top, Kansai and Nagayo both come in and hit lariats on Fukuoka. Diving headbutt by Bomber, but her cover is broken up. Hard elbow by Bomber, she picks up Fukuoka as Nagayo and Kansai come in, but they elbow their own partner by accident. Ozaki and Suzuki run in to take care of Kansai and Nagayo, Rider Kick by Fukuoka to Bomber and she covers her for the three count! Bomber Hikaru is eliminated.

We are now at 4 vs. 2, Nagayo squares off with Fukuoka and hits a leg sweep. Fukuoka moonsaults over Nagayo and hits a headscissors, Kaoru comes in and hits a front dropkick on Nagayo but Nagayo fires back with a lariat on her. Backdrop suplex by Nagayo on Fukuoka but Kaoru tags in, Nagayo goes for a suplex on her as well but Kaoru blocks it and lands on top of her. Kaoru goes for a swandive move but Nagayo moves, leg sweep by Nagayo and she hits a powerbomb. She goes for another powerbomb but Kaoru reverses it into a hurricanrana for two. Kaoru tags in Suzuki but Nagayo catches her with a heel kick and tags in Kansai. Kansai picks up Suzuki but Suzuki applies a dragon sleeper, she lets go of it after a moment and hits a release German. Ozaki and Fukuoka both hit release Germans as well, dragon suplex by Suzuki to Kansai but Nagayo breaks it up. Suzuki goes up top but Kaoru kicks her as she jumps off, Ozaki comes in and powerbombs Kansai before Fukuoka hits a moonsault. Double footstomp by Suzuki and Ozaki, then Fukuoka goes back up top and nails the moonsault footstomp, but Nagayo breaks up Suzuki’s cover. Suzuki and Ozaki both go up top of one corner while Kaoru and Fukuoka go to a different corner and all four hit diving headbutts, but once again Nagayo breaks up the pin attempt. Suzuki and Ozaki go back up top again and hit a double jumping knee to the back but the cover is interrupted. They go up top AGAIN but this time accidentally hit their own partners, Kansai goes for Splash Mountain on Suzuki but Suzuki reverses into a cradle and picks up the three count! Dynamite Kansai is eliminated! And… the bell rings and the match is over! But who won?

Look, I don’t know what is going on. Once the bell rings, the referee raises Chigusa Nagayo’s hand as her team looks really happy, even though her partner just got pinned and she was the only one left on her team. My only theory, and its just a theory, is that there was a time limit and that at the end of the time if one team wasn’t completely eliminated, it defaulted to if the captain was eliminated, and if Devil Masami was the captain then that would mean her team lost (assuming Nagayo was also a captain). But I have no idea if that is true, they didn’t flash up a winner/match time after the match like they always do so I can’t say for sure, and I can’t understand Japanese to know if the commentators explained it.

Anyway. This was a really fun match, non-explainable ending aside. There were a few slower periods but generally the action was fast paced, especially at the end. They were just throwing bombs at each other, I’m not sure how Kansai survived everything being done to her. Obviously some of the wrestlers were focused on more than others, but that was generally based on rank and emphasizing the wrestlers that the fans came to see. The dive sequence was memorable and they kept the eliminations coming at a decent pace so it never felt like it was dragging. While I wish I had more details on the ending, still a really entertaining match with all the high flying chaos I was hoping for.  Recommended

Hiromi Yagi vs. Toshie Uematsu

Toshie dropkicks Hiromi from behind, she kicks off of her in the corner and hits an elbow. Another running elbow by Toshie but Hiromi applies a cradle and elbows Toshie in the head. Snapmares by Hiromi and she applies a headlock, Hiromi gets Toshie’s back and applies a bodyscissors. Hiromi switches it into a seated armbar and applies a cross armbreaker, but Toshie wiggles to the ropes before she can fully lock it in to get the break. Irish whip by Hiromi and she hits an armdrag, but Toshie switches positions with her and hits a snapmare before applying an armbar. Cross armbreaker by Toshie but Hiromi immediately rolls out of it, front necklock by Toshie but Hiromi slams out of it and covers Toshie for two. Irish whip by Hiromi but Toshie avoids her charge and rolls her up for two. Irish whip by Toshie and she hits a back elbow, another back elbow by Toshie and she covers Hiromi for two. Toshie applies a stretch submission before putting Hiromi in an Indian Deathlock, she goes back to a stretch hold but Hiromi gets out of it and hits a German suplex.

Hiromi picks up Toshie, Toshie throws Hiromi into the corner but Hiromi avoids her charge and applies a kneelock. Toshie gets in the ropes for the break, Irish whip by Hiromi but Toshie reverses it, she goes for a Leg Roll Clutch but Hiromi blocks it. Knee to the midsection by Hiromi but Toshie cradles her for a two count. Side headlock takedown by Toshie and she hits a dropkick, another dropkick by Toshie and she hits a scoop slam. Toshie goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, she quickly goes up top again but Hiromi catches her with a Fujiwara Armbar when she jump off. Armdrag by Hiromi but Toshie rolls her up for two, Hiromi quickly gets Toshie to the mat and applies a kneelock. Back up, Toshie gets another quick roll-up but it gets two. Judo toss by Hiromi, she picks up Toshie and drops her on her head with a backdrop suplex. Hiromi goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick, she goes up again but Toshie recovers and dropkicks her before she can jump off. Toshie joins Hiromi but Hiromi slides down her back and hits a sunset flip powerbomb for the three count! Hiromi Yagi wins!

This was a good match, but oddly structured which happens with younger wrestlers sometimes. It was basically just a random mesh of flash pins and submission holds, without a lot of transitions or method to get from one to another. The submissions never felt particularly deadly and didn’t play into the finish at all, even if it is clear from this match that Hiromi Yagi is a skilled submission machine. The backdrop suplex was very head drop-y so I am glad that Toshie was ok, not sure if they went to the end quicker because of it. Perfectly fine for a casual watch, nothing wrong with the action itself, it just didn’t have a clear direction so it was hard to get invested.

Sonoko Kato and Yuki Miyazaki and Tomoko Kuzumi and Chikayo Nagashima
Fight To The Last Young Generation One Night Tag Tournament Final

• Semi Final: Sonoko Kato and Yuki Miyazaki defeated Toshie Sato and Kanako Motoya
• Semi Final: Chikayo Nagashima and Tomoko Kuzumi defeated Chiharu Nakano and Reiko Amano

Which set up this match to end the event. All four of these wrestlers are basically rookies, with the JWP wrestlers being slightly more experienced as Miyazaki debuted in January 1995 and Kuzumi (better known today as Azumi Hyuga) debuted in December of 1994. The teams are mixed between promotions but that won’t matter here as they all are feisty and want to win the tournament. Not a lot of time is left on this broadcast so I assume this match will be very clipped.

We join this match in progress, with Sonoko being double teamed. Yuki comes in to help as Sonoko gets Tomoko up in an airplane spin, Chikayo cradles Sonoko from behind however and picks up a two count. Chikayo stomps on Sonoko and hits a cutter, scoop slam by Chikayo and she covers Sonoko for two. Irish whip by Chikayo but Sonoko reverses it and hits a bulldog. Tomoko runs in and dropkicks Sonoko, Chikayo tags Tomoko but Sonoko hits a hard elbow. Tomoko flips herself out to the apron and hits a swandive dropkick, cover by Tomoko but it gets two. Sonoko escapes Tomoko and hits a bulldog, giving her time to tag in Yuki. Hip attacks by Yuki to Tomoko, she picks her up but after a collision the advantage is regained by Tomoko. Swandive dropkick by Tomoko and she stomps at Yuki, Yuki goes for a leg clutch but Tomoko blocks it and tags Chikayo. Stunner by Chikayo and she hits a cutter for a two count. Chikayo picks up Yuki but Yuki hits a sunset flip for two. She tags in Sonoko but Chikayo catches Sonoko with the Corbata for two. Chikayo goes off the ropes but Sonoko pushes her off and hits four leg drops for a two count. Sonoko picks up Chikayo and hits a running bulldog, Acid Drop by Sonoko but Chikayo barely gets a shoulder up. Yuki goes up top and hits a missile dropkick on Chikayo, Sonoko then delivers a diving Lou Thesz Press but Tomoko breaks up the cover. Sonoko gets Chikayo on her shoulders but she wiggles off and rolls up Sonoko for the three count! Tomoko Kuzumi and Chikayo Nagashima win the match and the tournament.

This was too clipped to get a great feel of, only 5 of 17 minutes was shown, but what we did see was fine. Very fast paced, lots going on, no real downtime as these younger wrestlers haven’t really started working on “pacing” yet so its constant action. The fact three of these four are still active today is pretty cool (and rare), and its fun to see them back when they were still learning. Tomoko looked great as she always does but there were no real weak links here, everyone did their part well and it was the type of match you couldn’t look away or you’d miss something. I liked what I saw, just wish that I could have seen more.

The post GAEA Japan SPLASH J and RUNNING G II on 1/14/96 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.

For the first time, I am reviewing a GAEA Japan COMM release! GAEA Japan generally aired on GAORA TV, but they also put out commercial tapes as well. Most of their later commercial tapes are compilations, but in 1995 and 1996 they released several that showed entire events. This isn’t their first commercial tape of 1995, however I decided to just review the TV broadcast of the other shows. This event was never shown on TV, however, and since I didn’t want to miss any events I tracked down the commercial DVD (you can get it too at the link above). The show featured a one night six woman tag team tournament, here is the full card:

• Super Scramble Six Women Tag Tournament: Chigusa Nagayo, Chikayo Nagashima, and Kobayashi vs. Hikari Fukuoka, Sonoko Kato, and Kanako Motoya
• Super Scramble Six Women Tag Tournament: Dynamite Kansai, Makie Numao, and Yasuko Kuragaki vs. KAORU, Meiko Satomura, and Tomoko Kuzumi
• Battle Royal with Bolshoi Kid, Bomber Hikari, Chigusa Nagayo, Chihiro Nakano, Chikayo Nagashima, Cuty Suzuki, Devil Masami, Dynamite Kansai, Makie Numao, Mayumi Ozaki, Rieko Amano, Saburo, Tomoko Miyaguchi, Tomori Kobayashi, Toshie Sato, Toshie Uematsu, Yasuko Kuragaki, and Yuki Miyazaki
• Super Scramble Six Women Tag Final: Hikari Fukuoka, Sonoko Kato, and Kanako Motoya vs. KAORU, Meiko Satomura, and Tomoko Kuzumi

Since this was shown on tape and not on TV, nothing will be clipped. You can click on the names above to go directly to that wrestler’s profile here on Joshi City.

Chigusa Nagayo, Chikayo, and Tomori Kobayashi vs. Hikari Fukuoka, Sonoko, and Kanako Motoya
Super Scramble Six Women Tag Tournament Semi Final

Chikayo and Kanako start the match but Tomori quickly tags in and they double team Kanako in the corner. Kanako swats them away when they go for a double dropkick and tags in Sonoko, Fukuoka comes in too but Nagayo gets in the ring and clears house. She starts working over Sonoko and hits a suplex, but Fukuoka breaks up the cover. Nagayo casually slaps Kanako before tagging in Tomori, Tomori works a headlock on Sonoko but Sonoko suplexes her to the mat and throws her into the corner. She tags in Fukuoka, Kanako comes in too and they both dropkick Tomori. Fukuoka whips Tomori around the ring while kicking her, stretch hold by Fukuoka but Chikayo eventually comes in to break it up. Fukuoka tags in Kanako, dropkick by Kanako and she covers Tomori for two. Kanako goes for a sleeper but Tomori quickly gets out of it and tags in Chikayo. Dropkick by Chikayo and she hits Kanako with two more, she picks up Kanako and applies a crossface before tagging in Nagayo. Nagayo throws Kanako into the opposite corner so that Fukuoka can tag in, kicks by Nagayo and she drills Fukuoka with a heel kick. Fukuoka catches the next kick attempt and apples a cross kneelock, but Tomori and Chikayo both run in to break it up.

Kanako and Sonoko take care of them, Kanako goes to help Fukuoka but Tomori and Chikayo run in again. They still can’t free Nagayo as Fukuoka and Kanako won’t let go, finally Nagayo reaches the ropes and both Kanako and Fukuoka release the hold. Fukuoka tags Sonoko, Sonoko applies a kneelock but Nagayo laughs it off (literally) and slaps Sonoko to get out of it. Nagayo tags Tomori, body blocks by Tomori to Sonoko and she covers her for two. Tomori wants Fukuoka so she tags in, Fukuoka elbows Tomori to the mat but Tomori keeps firing back. Tomori tosses Fukuoka to the mat and tags in Nagayo, piledriver by Nagayo but Kanako breaks up the cover. Giant Swing by Nagayo, Tomori comes in and she gives Fukuoka the Giant Swing as well. Tomori tags Chikayo and she does the same, as Fukuoka is probably pretty dizzy by now. Cover by Chikayo, but Kanako and Sonoko break it up. Kanako and Sonoko both put Chikayo in the Giant Swing now, which is easier since Chikayo is an itty bitty wrestler, Fukuoka returns to the ring and gives Chikayo one final Giant Swing before Kanako tags in and covers Chikayo for two. Chikayo bridges out of the next pin attempt and hits the front roll push, but Fukuoka hits her from behind with a missile dropkick.

Chikayo stumbles to her corner and tags in Tomori, Bubba Bomb by Tomori and Chikayo hits an assisted crossbody onto Kanako before Tomori covers her for two. Running kick by Kanako and she tags in Sonoko, bulldog by Sonoko to Tomori but Tomori blocks the next one. Fukuoka attacks Tomori from behind, but Nagayo kicks Sonoko in the head from the apron. Tomori tags in Nagayo, heel kick by Nagayo to Sonoko but the cover is broken up. Kicks by Nagayo, Fukuoka tags in and goes for a suplex, but Nagayo blocks it. Spinning headscissors by Fukuoka, she goes for a hurricanrana but Nagayo catches her and hits a powerbomb. Nagayo tags Chikayo, roll-up by Chikayo but Fukuoka kicks out. Fukuoka goes for a Space Rolling Elbow but Chikayo moves, Tomori tries to help with a missile dropkick but she hits Chikayo by accident. Moonsault by Fukuoka to Chikayo, but Nagayo breaks it up. Fukuoka picks up Chikayo and gives her an airplane spin, but again the cover is broken up by Chikayo’s friends. Powerbomb by Fukuoka to Chikayo, she goes up top and nails the Rider Kick to Chikayo’s chest for the three count! Hikari Fukuoka, Sonoko Kato, and Kanako Motoya win!

This was an incredibly fun match and a great way to kick things off. Everything clicked so well, the rookies were going 100% from bell to bell and Fukuoka/Nagayo did their bits when needed to support them. Nagayo was a bit of a dick but only towards her own trainees, as she generally respected Fukuoka’s offense and sold her injured leg for as long as one could expect. Everyone got a chance to shine and they kept up the pace to keep it interesting. Really solid six woman match to open the show.  Recommended

Dynamite Kansai, Makie Numao, and Yasuko Kuragaki vs. KAORU, Satomura, and Tomoko Kuzumi
Super Scramble Six Women Tag Tournament Semi Final

Kansai throws her rookie teammates at their opponents before the bell rings to give them an early advantage, they stack their opponents in the corner but KAORU quickly gains the advantage and hits a moonsault on Kansai for a two count. Kansai quickly gets back to her feet and hits a Northern Lights Suplex, KAORU and Kansai trade strikes until Makie and Yasuko come into the ring to help. Yasuko stays in as legal but KAORU quickly takes over and tags in Tomoko. Yasuko snapmares Tomoko around and tags in Makie, dropkicks by Makie and she covers Tomoko for two. Tomoko tags in Meiko, jumping shoulderblocks by Meiko and she covers Makie for a two count. Meiko applies a bodyscissors, she then puts Makie in a camel clutch but Yasuko breaks it up. Meiko tags in Tomoko, dropkicks by Tomoko but Makie slides around her and applies a schoolboy for two. Makie tags in Yasuko, Yasuko tosses Tomoko around the ring and hits a scoop slam. Headscissors by Yasuko and she drives Tomoko’s head into the mat, Kansai returns and she kicks Tomoko around the ring. Sleeper by Kansai, she throws Tomoko into the corner and tells KAORU to tag in. KAORU does, backdrop suplex by Kansai and she covers KAORU for two. Kansai puts KAORU in a Scorpion Deathlock, KAORU’s teammates try to break it up but Kansai doesn’t budge.

They finally get Kansai off, Kansai tags in Makie and Makie delivers a diving crossbody. KAORU slaps Makie and kicks her repeatedly before tagging in Meiko, Meiko applies a cross armbreaker, KAORU comes in and applies a cross armbreaker on the other arm too, but it gets broken up. Yasuko tags in while Meiko tags in KAORU, dropkick by KAORU and she covers Yasuko for two. KAORU applies a crab hold but Yasuko eventually gets to the ropes, KAORU tags in Tomoko and hits a jumping crossbody for a two count. Yasuko hits a dropkick and tags in Kansai, sunset flip by Tomoko to Kansai and she tags in KAORU. Lariat by Kansai in the corner but KAORU ducks the next one, KAORU tries to rebound out of the corner but can’t complete the move so she applies an ankle hold instead. Kansai gets to the ropes for the break, KAORU tags in Tomoko and Tomoko dropkicks Kansai repeatedly in the leg. Meiko comes in and they both dropkick Kansai, but Kansai falls in her own corner and tags in Makie. Tomoko elbows Makie but Makie puts her in a Dragon Sleeper, Meiko tries to break up the second one but Yasuko dropkicks her. Missile dropkick by Yasuko to Tomoko, and with Makie they slam Tomoko to the mat. Yasuko kicks Tomoko into the corner but Tomoko sneaks in a sunset flip for two.

Meiko is tagged in and she hits jumping shoulderblocks to Yasuko, Meiko goes up top but Yasuko avoids her dive and dropkicks her in the back of the head. Yasuko goes up top but KAORU grabs her from the apron, giving Meiko time to pull Yasuko off the top turnbuckle and apply a cross armbreaker. Short armbar by Meiko but Kansai breaks it up, things break down a bit with some of the action spilling to the floor. Yasuko and Meiko stay in the ring, Yasuko slams Meiko but KAORU breaks up the cover. Yasuko picks up Meiko but Meiko applies a short armbar, she lets go and charges Yasuko but Yasuko slaps her and tags in Makie. Irish whip by Makie and she hits a back bodydrop, cover by Makie but Meiko bridges out of it. KAORU hits Makie from the apron and Meiko tags in Tomoko, Tomoko stomps on Makie and she hits a swandive missile dropkick. Swandive crossbody by Tomoko, but her cover is broken up by both her other opponents. Meiko comes in and cradles Makie, but she isn’t legal so the referee just looks at her funny. Tomoko recovers, she goes out to the apron and hits a swandive sunset flip, picking up the three count! KAORU, Meiko Satomura, and Tomoko Kuzumi are the winners and continue to the finals.

This wasn’t as smooth as the opening match, pretty clunky in parts. It wasn’t bad, but it went a bit too long and not enough really happened to justify its length. Tomoko looked really good and Meiko showed her usual fire, so the issue wasn’t with the wrestlers themselves, it just really didn’t tell a story and didn’t have the same exciting feeling that the opener had. Decent enough, and the rookies are really coming along nicely, but just too back-and-forth with not enough substance to really hold my attention.

18 Women Battle Royal

The match starts with Bolshoi Kid, Bomber Hikari, Chigusa Nagayo, Chihiro Nakano, Chikayo Nagashima, Cuty Suzuki, Devil Masami, Dynamite Kansai, Makie Numao, Mayumi Ozaki, Rieko Amano, Saburo, Tomoko Miyaguchi, Tomomi Kobayashi, Toshie Sato, Toshie Uematsu, Yasuko Kuragaki, and Yuki Miyazaki all in the ring. I am not going to do normal play by play for this since its chaotic, but the first part of the match is mostly ganging up on the veterans since that is the only way to pin someone like Nagayo or Devil Masami. Let’s jump ahead to the final three, which are Bolshoi Kid, Bomber Hikari, and Saburo. Bolshoi Kid is double teamed by Saburo and Bomber, Bomber goes up top but Bolshoi pushes her from behind. Bomber thinks that Saburo did it and fusses at her, Saburo charges Bolshoi but Bolshoi pushes Saburo into Bomber. This makes Bomber mad again, giving Bolshoi a chance to hit a missile dropkick to the back of Bomber’s head.

Bomber and Bolshoi end up double teaming Saburo, Bomber goes up top but she has to keep directing Bolshoi where to slam Saburo so she can dive onto her. Bolshoi finally does it right, diving double jump bodypress by Bomber, but Saburo kicks out. Saburo goes up top but Bomber slams her off, Bolshoi breaks up the pin for reasons unknown but Bomber drops Saburo with the Bombs Away. Bomber goes up top while Bolshoi positions Saburo, diving headbutt by Bomber but Bolshoi quickly covers Saburo for the three count behind Bomber’s back. Saburo is eliminated, leaving just Bolshoi and Bomber. Bolshoi wants to part of Bomber so she bails out of the ring, she finally gets back in and Bomber drops Bolshoi with the Bombs Away for a two count. Bomber goes for it again but Bolshoi reverses it into a cradle for two. Bolshoi goes off the ropes but Bomber catches her with a powerslam, rebound crossbody by Bolshoi out of the corner but Bomber kicks out of the cover. Scoop slam by Bomber but Bolshoi avoids her stomps, rebound elbow by Bolshoi and she covers Bomber for two. Bolshoi goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, but that gets a two count as well. Bolshoi tries to slam Bomber but Bomber blocks it and puts Bolshoi in an airplane spin, but Bolshoi quickly recovers. Misteriorana by Bolshoi, and she picks up the three count! Bolshoi Kid wins the Battle Royal!

As I mentioned above, this type of match isn’t something you’d have high expectations for. The veterans had fun, allowing the young wrestlers to do well but it was all with a smile on their face as losing in these matches means nothing. Bolshoi Kid back in the mid-90s was mostly comedy, she could wrestle but stayed within her gimmick most of the time. Mindless fun but nothing more than that.

Hikari Fukuoka, Sonoko Kato, and Kanako vs. KAORU, Meiko Satomura, and Tomoko Kuzumi
Super Scramble Six Women Tag Tournament Final

KAORU and Fukuoka start the match and waste no time getting right to it, as Fukuoka hits a lariat but KAORU follows with a dropkick. Fukuoka cartwheels away from KAORU and hits another dropkick, and both wrestlers return to their feet to face off again. Fukuoka tags in Sonoko while Meiko also tags in, and both wrestlers kick each other. Dropkicks by Sonoko and she hits a scoop slam, crab hold by Sonoko but Meiko gets to the ropes for the break. Kanako tags in and she bounces Meiko off the ropes, dropkick by Kanako and she covers Meiko for two. Meiko comes back with a hard elbow and tags in Tomoko, dropkicks by Tomoko and she slams Kanako. Sleeper by Tomoko and she then applies a bodyscissors, but Kanako gets to the ropes. Tomoko tags in KAORU, suplex by KAORU and she covers Kanako for two. Another suplex by KAORU and she applies a camel clutch until Sonoko breaks it up, Fukuoka comes in too and she puts KAORU in a figure four leglock. Meiko tries to break it up but Fukuoka keeps the hold on anyway, KAORU eventually gets out of it but Fukuoka slams her to the mat and tags in Sonoko. Kneelock by Sonoko and Kanako puts KAORU in a kneelock as well, then Fukuoka puts KAORU in a headscissors. Kanako stays in as legal, KAORU finally gets a move in and makes the tag to Tomoko. Crossbody by Tomoko, but Kanako bridges out of the pin. Tomoko grabs her to stop the bridge and puts Kanako in a crab hold, Kanako gets out of it and she boots Tomoko in the chest. Another boot by Kanako and she slams Tomoko in front of the corner before tagging in Fukuoka. Fukuoka comes in the ring with a missile dropkick, but Tomoko falls in her corner and tags in Meiko.

Meiko eats a dropkick too, cover by Fukuoka but it gets two. Double wrist-clutch armsault by Fukuoka, but the cover is broken up. Side headlock by Fukuoka, she picks up Meiko and chokes her before slamming Meiko to the mat. Fukuoka tags Sonoko and they both shoulderblock Meiko, Sonoko snapmares Meiko and puts her in a headscissors. Meiko fires back with elbows and hits a running elbow smash in the corner before tagging in KAORU. Scoop slam by KAORU and she puts Sonoko in a Mexican Surfboard until Fukuoka pushes them over, Irish whip by Meiko to Sonoko and she hits a jumping shoulderblock. Another one by Meiko and she hits a third, one final shoulderblock by Meiko and she covers Sonoko for two. Double swandive missile dropkick to Sonoko, but Sonoko bridges out of the pin. Cross armbreaker by Meiko, but Kanako breaks it up. Space Rolling Elbow by Fukuoka to Meiko but Meiko avoids the second one, cross armbreaker takedown by Meiko but Fukuoka gets a foot on the ropes. Meiko tags KAORU, KAORU goes up top but Fukuoka rolls out of the way of the moonsault. Sonoko comes up from behind and hits a bulldog, missile dropkick by Kanako to KAORU and she covers her for two. KAORU is put into the Tree of Woe and triple teamed, Kanako goes to pick up KAORU but KAORU blocks her and hits a piledriver.

Elbows by KAORU to Kanako but Kanako applies a wheelbarrow roll-up for a two count. Kanako tags in Sonoko, bulldog by Sonoko and she hits the Acid Drop out of the corner. Sonoko picks up KAORU and goes for a second one, but KAORU pushes her off and boots Sonoko in the face. She goes for another boot but Sonoko catches her leg, hard slap by KAORU but Sonoko rolls her up from behind. Sonoko tags Fukuoka, and Fukuoka comes in the ring with a diving crossbody. KAORU rolls through it and tags in Tomoko, Fukuoka gets Tomoko on her shoulders but Tomoko slides off and rolls her up for two. KAORU flies into the ring with a missile dropkick, Meiko goes up top and hits a diving bodypress before Tomoko hits one of her own. Moonsault by KAORU, but Fukuoka bridges out of the pin. KAORU picks up Fukuoka but Fukuoka avoids the brainbuster and hits an Aztec Suplex Hold for a two count. Sonoko and Kanako both hit diving bodypresses onto KAORU, moonsault by Fukuoka and she quickly hits two more moonsaults, but Meiko breaks up the cover. Sonoko and Kanako put KAORU on the top turnbuckle, Fukuoka then charges her and DDTs KAORU from the top turnbuckle to the mat. Rider Kick by Fukuoka, but again the cover is broken up. Fukuoka goes back up top and dives out of the ring onto Meiko and Tomoko, she returns to the ring and goes to the top turnbuckle, but KAORU avoids the moonsault footstomp and hits a hurricanrana for a two count. Fukuoka tries to go up top but is grabbed by Meiko and Tomoko, avalanche armdrag by KAORU to Fukuoka and she puts her in La Magistral, but they end up in the ropes. While all of this is happening there is constantly interference and action around the ring, Fukuoka goes up top but KAORU dropkicks her in the middle of her moonsault attempt. Brainbuster by KAORU to Fukuoka and she nails the swandive moonsault for the three count! KAORU, Meiko Satomura, and Tomoko Kuzumi win the tournament!

This match took a bit to get going, but the last five minutes were crazy. It should be noted that even though they all had wrestled earlier, they still were going 100% full tilt the entire match, without any signs of being tired. Their cardio is insane. KAORU and Fukuoka provided the ‘veteran base’ really well and hit all their high spots, both were flying all over the place to keep the match excitement up. The double and triple team spots looked good and while I think the tag rules were pretty loose it didn’t hurt the match any since both sides were doing it. The ending stretch was just constantly something happening, and they hardly gave the viewer a chance to catch their breath with all the action going on. Maybe a smidge too long as it was almost 25 minutes, and we had already seen two similarly structured six woman tag matches, but still a fun match overall.  Mildly Recommended

The post GAEA Japan “Splash J & Running G” on 9/23/95 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.

For their first event outside of Korakuen Hall, GAEA Japan kept it pretty simple as they opted to showcase their top rookies in the main event instead of having a big Chigusa Nagayo singles match. For this broadcast, they are showing less of the matches that took place on the show, but with far less clipping of the matches so we will get to see more of the action. Of the six matches on the event, only three made air. Here are the matches we will be watching:

• Bomber Hikari vs. Toshie Uematsu
• Candy Okutsu vs. KAORU
• Chigusa Nagayo, Meiko Satomura, and Sonoko Kato vs. Devil Masami, Tomoko Kuzumi, and Tomoko Miyaguchi

You can click on the wrestler’s names above to go straight to their profile on Joshi City. Hopefully since the matches will be less clipped they will have more of an impact than what we saw last week.

Bomber Hikari vs. Toshie Uematsu

Toshie dropkicks Bomber in the back before the match starts, another dropkick by Toshie but Bomber doesn’t go down. Bomber tries to sit on Toshie but Toshie moves, she goes for a crossbody but Bomber catches her and tosses Toshie to the mat. Bomber goes for a running body press but Toshie avoids it, side headlock takedowns by Toshie and she covers Bomber for two. Dropkick by Toshie, she goes off the ropes but Bomber hits a body block for a two count cover.Bomber charges Toshie in the corner but Toshie jumps over her and applies a cradle for two. Another cradle by Toshie gets a two count, she hits a Japanese Rolling Clutch but Bomber gets a shoulder up. Headscissors by Toshie and she hits a long series of dropkicks, maybe a dozen of them before covering Bomber for two. Toshie charges Bomber but Bomber catches her and puts Toshie on the top turnbuckle. Toshie goes for a missile dropkick but Bomber swats her away, military press slam by Bomber and she hits a top rope Reverse Splash for the three count! Bomber Hikari wins the match.

This was a good little sprint, it gave Toshie a chance to get some moves in while also putting over that Bomber is strong and can crush anyone at any point. GAEA Japan had no issues doing really short matches when the situation warranted it, its a rather common theme we have seen so far but I like it as not every pairing needs to go 10+ minutes. Not long enough to really get excited about but a fun watch.

Candy Okutsu vs. KAORU

We join this one in progress, as Candy has KAORU in a Scorpion Deathlock, but KAORU gets into the ropes. KAORU quickly rolls out of the ring but Candy goes out after her and stomps her, Candy throws KAORU into the guard rail a few times and scoop slams KAORU onto the floor. Candy slides KAORU back in and dropkicks her in the back, scoop slam by Candy and she puts KAORU in a crab hold. Candy then applies a Camel Clutch followed by a bodyscissors but KAORU manages to get out of it with a tummy claw, kicks by KAORU and she hits a vertical suplex. KAORU puts Candy in a Mexican Surfboard, she releases it after a moment and stomps on Candy’s back before covering her for two. Irish whip by KAORU to the corner but Candy springboards out of it with a triple jump crossbody. KAORU rolls through the crossbody, she goes up top as Candy tries to join her, but KAORU pushes her back to the mat. She goes for a diving body press but Candy rolls out of the way, cradle by Candy but it gets two. Candy connects with a series of running boots but KAORU blocks one and slaps Candy in the face. KAORU hits her own boots, scoop slam by KAORU and she goes up top, but Candy avoids the moonsault.

KAORU lands on her feet but Candy quickly hits a release German, roll-up by Candy but it gets two. Candy goes up top but KAORU joins her and armdrags Candy back down to the mat. La Magistral by KAORU, but Candy gets a shoulder up. Sidewalk Slam by KAORU and she hits a bridging fallaway slam, but Candy kicks out at two. KAORU picks up Candy but Candy slides away from her and hits a German suplex hold for a two count. Rolling Germans by Candy, but that gets a two count as well. Candy goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, she goes up again and hits a diving crossbody, but KAORU again kicks out. Candy runs up the corner but KAORU kicks her in the chest, KAORU goes up top but Candy quickly joins her and suplexes KAORU to the mat. Big boot by Candy as KAORU falls out of the ring, Candy charges the corner and hits a triple jump plancha down onto KAORU on the floor. Candy rolls KAORU back into the ring and goes up top, but KAORU dropkicks her in the stomach on her way down and Candy rolls out of the ring. KAORU goes out after her with a springboard plancha, she slides Candy back into the ring and hits a swandive missile dropkick to her back. Brainbuster by KAORU, she goes to the ropes and nails the swandive moonsault for the three count! KAORU is your winner.

We saw less than half of the match, but they showed enough of it that it was still enjoyable. Candy is just a ball of energy, she runs up the turnbuckles more than any wrestler I’ve ever seen and has great Germans. I love that KAORU so far in GAEA Japan is just finishing people emphatically, not just pinning people but giving them a series of moves that you know means they aren’t kicking out. A fun match between the two, wish we could have seen the whole thing but at least what they showed was really good.  Mildly Recommended

Chigusa Nagayo, Meiko Satomura, and Sonoko Kato vs. Devil Masami, Kuzumi, and Tomoko Miyaguchi

Miyaguchi and Kato start the match, they don’t get far before Masami and Nagayo get into the ring as things already seem to go off the rails, but the referee calms them down and everyone leaves except the legal wrestlers. We try again, stomps by Kato to Miyaguchi but Kuzumi grabs Kato from the apron and Miyaguchi dropkicks her. Miyaguchi stomps Kato and tags in Kuzumi, dropkick by Kuzumi and she hits another one before scoop slamming Kato for a two count. Kuzumi applies a headscissors but Kato gets out of it, Kato yanks on Kuzumi’s arm as Meiko comes into the ring to help too. Kato tags in Meiko and she keeps on Kuzumi’s arm, stomps by Meiko and she hits a dropkick. Another dropkick by Meiko, she picks up Kuzumi and applies a headlock, but Kuzumi quickly gets into the ropes. Kuzumi gets to her corner and tags in Masami, Meiko tries to dropkick her but Masami shrugs her off and knocks her into the corner. Meiko avoids Masami’s lariat and tries to dropkick Masami over, but Masami absorbs the blows. Cross armbreaker takedown by Meiko, but Masami lifts Meiko by the head and slams her to get out of it. Dropkick by Meiko and she applies an armlock, Masami rolls out of it but Nagayo comes in and kicks her from behind. Vertical suplex by Masami to Meiko, and she tags in Miyaguchi. Miyaguchi throws Meiko into the corner so that Nagayo can tag in, Miyaguchi connects with running kicks but Nagayo shrugs them off.

Samoan Drop by Miyaguchi, she goes for a kick but Nagayo catches it and slaps her. Nagayo tags in Kato, dropkicks by Kato and she hits a scoop slam for two. Miyaguchi tags in Kuzumi, who comes in the ring with a top rope ax handle to Kato’s arm. Masami kicks Kato’s arm from the apron, stomps by Kuzumi and she applies a short armbar. Kato quickly gets into the ropes, Kuzumi goes for an armbreaker but Kato mostly blocks it. Kuzumi tags in Masami, Masami continues on Kato’s arm while staring at Nagayo, but Meiko runs in to dropkick Masami, which allows Kato to get close enough to her corner to tag in Nagayo. Kicks by Nagayo to Masami, but Masami blocks one and puts Nagayo in the surfboard. Masami tags in Miyaguchi, Miyaguchi comes in the ring with a diving body press, picking up a two count. Miyaguchi stomps on Nagayo but Nagayo puts her in the sleeper, Kuzumi comes in to break it up but Nagayo flings her to the mat. Missile dropkick by Kato to Miyaguchi, Meiko then hits a diving shoulderblock before Nagayo covers Miyaguchi for two. Uppercut by Nagayo and she tags in Meiko, Meiko stomps on Miyaguchi’s leg before hitting a trio of jumping shoulderblocks for two. Cross armbreaker by Meiko, but Masami breaks it up with a leg drop. Nagayo runs in and kicks Miyaguchi as payback, but Miyaguchi manages to make the tag to Kuzumi. Meiko elbows Kuzumi in both corners before tagging in Kato, dropkicks by Kato to Kuzumi but Kuzumi rebounds out of the corner with a dropkick of her own for two.

Kuzumi tags in Masami, Masami tosses Kato over her head but its close enough to her corner that she tags in Nagayo. Masami promptly powerbombs Nagayo, she tags in Kuzumi but Kuzumi missile dropkicks Masami by accident. Kuzumi connects with a swandive dropkick attempt but trips on the ropes when she goes for a second one, Nagayo stomps on Kuzumi and kicks her in the head. Nagayo knocks Masami and Miyaguchi off the apron before throws Kuzumi into the corner, Masami comes in but Nagayo kicks her in the head. She goes for the Running Three but Masami gets away and puts her in the sleeper. Nagayo gets out of it and both wrestlers lariat each other, sending them to the mat. Kato runs in and dropkicks Masami, Masami tags in Miyaguchi and Miyaguchi is dropkicked by all three of her opponents. Diving shoulderblock by Meiko, Kato goes up top and hits a diving crossbody onto Miyaguchi for a two count. Kato hits a bulldog, she goes for a tornado version but Masami grabs her from the apron to prevent it. Airplane Spin by Miyaguchi into a Samoan Drop, but the cover is broken up. Miyaguchi tags Kuzumi, diving body press by Miyaguchi but Kato bridges out of the pin. Miyaguchi gets to his corner and tags in Meiko, Masami comes in and lariats both Meiko and Kato, Masami then picks up Meiko and hits an assisted powerbomb with Kuzumi. Masami then picks up Kuzumi and tosses her onto Meiko, cover by Kuzumi but Nagayo breaks it up. Miyaguchi and Kuzumi stomp on Meiko until Nagayo runs in to help them out, Kuzumi goes to the apron and she hits a swandive sunset flip, but Nagayo breaks it up. Nagayo grabs both Miyaguchi and Masami, Meiko quickly cradles Kuzumi and she gets the three count! Chigusa Nagayo, Meiko Satomura, and Sonoko Kato win!

I really loved this match, both for the action itself and because I think it accomplished what they were going for. Masami has a reputation in some circles as ‘selfish’ but she is just old school, she was very giving to Meiko here and really put over a 15 year old rookie when she certainly didn’t have to. Nagayo did the same briefly for Miyaguchi as well as both veterans did their best to help out both their opponents and their own teammates. The brief sections with Masami vs. Nagayo were well done and the crowd got into it, so there was enough of the “main event” wrestlers to make up for the rookies. The action itself was fast paced, a few hiccups with the rookies but they always recovered well since Masami and Nagayo weren’t going to let the match go off the rails. A really entertaining match that set up more battles between the two rookie sides while putting on an entertaining show.  Recommended

The post GAEA Japan “Miracle Night” on 8/5/95 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.

Since for the moment I am reviewing what was broadcast on TV and not what was released on commercial tapes, this airing only showed half of the event. The TV show that GAEA aired on, called Champ Forum, was only one hour long so some condensing was necessary. This event features an LLPW invasion, as four wrestlers from the promotion participate in the top two matches. Here are the matches from the event that made air:

• Meiko Satomura, Tomoko Kuzumi, and Toshie Sato vs. Toshie Uematsu, Yasuko Kuragaki, and Sonoko Kato
• Chigusa Nagayo and Meiko Satomura vs. Eagle Sawai and Keiko Aono
• KAORU and Sonoko Kato vs. Miki Handa and Michiko Nagashima

I have added profiles for all the wrestlers above, you can click on their names to go straight to it. Some wrestlers had double duty on this event as GAEA Japan was still in the process of fleshing out their roster.

Satomura, Tomoko Kuzumi, and Toshie Sato vs. Toshie Uematsu, Yasuko Kuragaki, and Kato

We join this in progress, with Meiko taking it to Uematsu with shoulderblocks. Snapmares by Meiko and she applies the cross armbreaker, but Kato quickly breaks it up. Meiko tags in Sato while Kuragaki also tags in, Sato repeatedly shoulderblocks Kuragaki to the mat before tagging Meiko back in. Dropkicks by Meiko and she twists Kuragaki’s arm, but Kuragaki reverses it and tags in Kato. Slap by Kato and she goes for a cross armbreaker, but Sato breaks it up. Kato goes for an armdrag but Meiko reverses it into a cross armbreaker, Kato gets to the ropes but Meiko hits mounted punches before tagging in Sato. Face crusher by Sato to Kato and she hits a second one, covering her for two. Kato manages to hit a pair of bulldogs and tags in Uematsu, diving crossbody by Uematsu but Kuzumi breaks it up. Sato hits a neckbreaker and tags in Kuzumi, schoolboy by Uematsu and she dropkicks Kuzumi to the mat. Kuzumi gets the schoolboy applied the next time, she gets on the second rope but is knocked back into the mat. She tags in Meiko, Meiko clubs everyone but is tripped from the floor. Kato comes in but so does Sato and Kuzumi, evening things up. Kuragaki knees Meiko from the apron, she clears their opponents off the apron while Uematsu connects with a diving crossbody onto Meiko for the three count! Toshie Uematsu, Yasuko Kuragaki, and Sonoko Kato win!

Only about a third of the match was shown, but it wasn’t bad for a rookie match. Some miscommunications, but remember that for four of them this was their second ever match and first tag team match, so some issues were bound to creep up. Interesting to watch just knowing how big of stars they would later become, but not a very good match.

Chigusa Nagayo and Meiko Satomura vs. Eagle Sawai and Keiko Aono

After the pre-match handshake, Keiko nicely goes out to the apron while Eagle attacks both of her opponents from behind. Eagle grabs Nagayo and bits a bodyblock, but Nagayo doesn’t go down. Nagayo’s heel kick has the same effect, both wrestlers go for lariats and they knock each other to the mat. The rookies come into the ring to help, Meiko stays in with Eagle and goes for dropkicks, but she can’t knock Eagle over. Eagle slaps Meiko in the chest and hits a bodyblock, she picks up Meiko and hits a scoop slam before tagging in Keiko. Back elbow by Keiko and she hits a bodyslam, she covers Meiko but it gets two. Irish whip by Keiko but Meiko hits a few shoulderblocks, she throws down Keiko by the hair and hits an elbow in the corner. More elbows by Meiko while Nagayo cheers her on, but Keiko switches positions with her and hits her own elbows. Keiko asks for a tag but Eagle isn’t interested, Meiko Irish whips Keiko and hits a few more jumping shoulderblocks. She asks for a tag but Nagayo wants her to stay in too, she shoulderblocks Keiko again and tries to tag Nagayo again, but Nagayo refuses. Note the crowd is cheering this, it is not Nagayo being mean but rather wanting the rookie to get experience and fight.

Keiko comes back with her own shoulderblock and finally Nagayo allows Meiko to tag her, Keiko elbows Nagayo into the corner and dropkicks her to the mat. Dropkick by Keiko and a hard shoulderblock, she covers Nagayo but it only gets two. Nagayo finally plants Keiko with a high kick, more kicks by Nagayo and she covers Keiko for two. Irish whip by Nagayo and she delivers a spinning heel kick, she picks up Keiko and tosses her into her own corner so Eagle can come in. Nagayo goes for a sleeper but Eagle drives her back into the corner, Eagle then goes for a powerbomb but Nagayo reverses it with a back bodydrop. Nagayo tags in Meiko, dropkicks by Meiko and she goes for the cross armbreaker, but Eagle grabs the ropes to block it. Meiko tries to knock Eagle over and eventually half succeeds, but Eagle knocks her back to the mat. The crowd is really getting behind Meiko as she tries to knock over Eagle, but she can’t get Eagle completely off her feet. Meiko is pretty gassed at this point as Eagle scoop slams her in front of the corner and tags in Keiko, scoop slam by Keiko and she covers Meiko for two. Dropkicks by Keiko and she coop slams Meiko, but Meiko bridges out of the pin. Meiko goes off the ropes and hits a couple shoulderblocks, she applies the cross armbreaker and Keiko quickly submits! Chigusa Nagayo and Meiko Satomura are the winners.

This is one of those matches that to appreciate, you have to look at it as it was presented in 1995. Chigusa Nagayo and Eagle Sawai were the mentors here for their rookie tag team partners – it wasn’t about them. That’s why it wasn’t the main event. Nagayo thought very highly of Meiko and was coaching her from the apron, but she wanted her to do it herself so she could learn and grow. Eagle was doing the same thing. The crowd was very supportive of this and was cheering young Meiko on, it was a very effective tactic by Chigusa Nagayo to give Meiko a bit of a rub in this manner. Now in a vacuum, it was still two rookies with very minimal move sets and experience doing the bulk of the work so it wasn’t particularly creative, but they definitely accomplished their goal and with so many rookies on the roster, this type of match was needed to try to start elevating them in the eyes of the crowd. I enjoyed it, nothing that would compare to a match with more veterans in it but still fun to watch.  Mildly Recommended

KAORU and Sonoko Kato vs. Miki Handa and Michiko Nagashima

Nagashima and Handa attack before the match starts and they immediately take the match out to the floor. Kato is tosses into various objects before Nagashima brings her back into the ring and tags in Handa. Handa tosses around Kato while preventing her from tagging in KAORU, Nagashima returns and they double team Kato in the ropes. Kato is beaten around the ring and generally treated like a low ranked rookie for several minutes, until she finally gets close enough to her corner and tags in KAORU. KAORU tosses Nagashima around the ring and stomps her down in the corner, Handa runs in to help her partner but KAORU dispatches her and gets back to Nagashima. Vertical suplex by KAORU, but the cover gets two. KAORU applies a chinlock and then a bodyscissors, but Nagashima gets out of it. KAORU slaps Nagashima and tags in Kato, dropkicks by Kato but Nagashima kicks her and tags in Handa. Handa tosses Kato in her corner so that KAORU can tag in, jumping neck drop by Handa and she tosses KAORU to the mat. Handa goes for KAORU’s leg but KAORU gets into the mat, Handa tags in Nagashima and Nagashima stays on the offense, as now KAORU is the Face in Peril. Handa returns and hits a diving crossbody on KAORU, but KAORU finally manages to roll up Handa and tags in Kato. Double dropkick to Handa and Kato hits a scoop slam, swandive body press by KAORU and Kato tosses around Handa by the hair. Dropkicks by Kato but Handa punches her and hits an elbow to the back of the head.

Vertical suplex by Handa, but the cover to Kato gets two. Handa tags in Nagashima, who dropkicks Kato in the face. Kato rolls out of the ring but KAORU hits Nagashima with a missile dropkick, she tosses Nagashima out of the ring but Handa sails in with a missile dropkick of her own. KAORU dumps Handa out of the ring and goes off the ropes, but Nagashima trips her from the floor and pulls KAORU out with her. KAORU is hit with chairs by both of her opponents, KAORU and Handa go up into the stands while Nagashima kicks Kato in the ring. Handa returns first and helps Nagashima double team Kato, who by this point is busted open. KAORU finally returns and tries to help Kato, but is kicked in the back of the head for her trouble and hit with a double neck drop. Nagashima goes up top but misses the missile dropkick on Kato, bulldog by Kato and she hits a second one for a two count. Kato slams Nagashima in front of the corner and tags in KAORU, who hits a moonsault onto Nagashima for two. She goes up top again but Nagashima rolls out of the way of the second moonsault attempt, KAORU lands on he feet but is hit from behind by Handa. Nagashima gets a kendo stick and hits KAORU with it, but KAORU knocks it away from her.

Handa distracts KAORU while allows Nagashima to hit a backdrop suplex, Nagashima tags Handa but KAORU avoids Handa’s dive and rolls her up for two. Scoop slam by KAORU in front of the corner, she goes up top but Nagashima hits her with the kendo stick before she can jump off. Nagashima hits KAORU a few more times, KAORU tags in Kato so Nagashima starts hitting her with it instead. Kato finally gets the stick from it, KAORU takes it and hits Nagashima with it repeatedly. Handa runs in with a chair as things break down again, and all four end up on the floor with Nagashima and Handa in control. Nagashima throws chairs at KAORU while Handa takes Kato up into the bleachers to beat on her. Meanwhile, Nagashima puts KAORU on a table, she gets on up the smaller stage and dives down onto her with a body press, breaking the table. Handa returns to the ring with Kato with Nagashima joining her, and both hit Kato with missile dropkicks. Nagashima pins Kato but pulls her up so that she can drop Kato with a backdrop suplex. Again she pulls up Kato instead of pinning her, scoop slam by Nagashima in front of the corner and she delivers a diving senton. She finally covers the not-moving Kato, and she picks up the three count. The winners are Miki Handa and Michiko Nagashima

A very interesting match, I am not quite sure how to describe it. Nagashima and Handa were both great in their roles as evil invaders, not just using weapons but bloodying the rookie and refusing to pin her until putting in maximum damage. I think Kato was legitimately knocked a bit loopy as she didn’t budge on the diving senton, when normally wrestlers at least brace for the impact a bit. It was probably a bit longer than it needed to be as parts did drag, but since it was the main event they probably felt an obligation to reach a certain time mark. But I thought for her second match, Kato looked really good and took a hell of a beating, and both teams worked together really well. It was chaotic without much of a structure, but overall I’d say it was pretty enjoyable and probably the best match on the card. Mildly Recommended

The post GAEA Japan “Second Battle Story” on 5/14/95 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

The last classic event that I reviewed, Jd’ Stir The Blood 1997, saw Lioness Asuka in the main event against Jaguar Yokota. While Asuka was tearing it up in Jd’, her old partner Chigusa Nagayo was still putting on high quality matches as well since returning from retirement in 1993. Here she invades JWP at their biggest event of the year at the famous Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Joshi was still booming in 1995, and even though AJW had the lion’s share of the market, JWP was still a well respected promotion that had many big stars including Dynamite Kansai, Devil Masami, Candy Okutsu, Cutie Suzuki, and many others. Interestingly there was only one title match on the show, however it is still an event with lots of potential. Here is the full card:

• Sonoko Kato, Chikayo Nagashima, and Maiko Narita vs. Tomoko Kuzumi, Tomomi Kobayashi, and Yuki Miyazaki
• Fusayo Nouchi and Kumiko Maekawa vs. Rie Tamada and Kanako Motoya
• Rookie of the Year Tournament Final: Rieko Amano vs. Tomoko Miyaguchi
• Bomber Hikari and Sumiya Toyama vs. Toshie Sato and Yasuko Kuragaki
• Bolshoi Kid vs. Cutie Suzuki
• JWP Jr. Championship Gauntlet Match: Candy Okutsu vs. Hiromi Yagi vs. Hiromi Sugo
• Devil Masami and Mayumi Ozaki vs. Hikari Fukuoka and KAORU
• Chigusa Nagayo vs. Dynamite Kansai

A long show, however for the release it was condensed to two hour so some matches will be clipped. But it still will take me forever to do this review as I have a lot of research to do, so I hope the 20 or so people that will read it will enjoy it. There are a handful of inter-promotional matches, which I’ll be sure to point out when they take place. Also this is the worst quality video-wise I have ever reviewed for the site, so apologies in advance.

Sonoko Kato, Chikayo Nagashima, and Maiko Narita vs. Kuzumi, Kobayashi, and Yuki Miyazaki

We join this one in progress, with Kuzumi dropkicking Narita and putting her in a crab hold. Narita is triple teamed until she gets away and tags in Kato, Kato goes after Kuzumi’s arm but Kuzumi’s teammates run in and break it up. Kato is isolated for several minutes as Kobayashi works her over with various submission holds until Narita comes in to assist. This gives Kato time to tag in Nagashima, Kuzumi is tagged in too and Nagashima hits front rolls into headbutts until Kuzumi sneaks in a backslide for two She tags Kobayashi back in, and Kobayashi hits a series of body blocks until Nagashima tags in Kato. A lot is happening but not a lot is happening, if that makes sense. Kato’s team runs in and everyone dropkicks Kobayashi in the corner, bulldog by Kato and she covers Kobayashi for two.

Kato goes up top and hits a diving body press, but that cover is broken up as well. Kobayashi hits a Butt Bomb and tags in Miyazaki, hip attacks by Miyazaki to Kato and she covers her for two. Narita blind tags in and hits a couple one legged monkey flips until Kuzumi comes in to help. Narita gets dropkicked by everyone then eats a triple big boot, but she gets away and drops Miyazaki with a running powerslam for a two count. Missile dropkick by Miyazaki and both teams trade missile dropkicks (well, Narita fell off when she went for hers, but what can ya do). More dropkicks! The time limit expires but they fight on! All six brawl in the ring, things settle back down with Kobayashi hitting body blocks on Nagashima. All three hit diving body presses on Nagashima, but the cover is broken up. Nagashima and Kobayashi stay in the ring while everyone else fights outside of it, Irish whip by Kobayashi but Nagashima quickly rolls her up and she gets the three count! Sonoko Kato, Chikayo Nagashima, and Maiko Narita win!

Just your typical fast paced rookie opener. No one got too much of a chance to shine but all looked solid, Narita had the only slip up of the match but they recovered well and kept on moving. Kato looked the best here so no surprise she ended up being so good down the road, but no one looked bad either. Not a bad way to start a show, giving young wrestlers a chance to wrestle at Sumo Hall is never a bad thing.

The next tag match wasn’t included on the release I have, so we will move right onto the Rookie of the Year Final.

Rieko Amano vs. Tomoko Miyaguchi

We join this in one in progress as Amano has Miyaguchi in a leg hold, but Miyaguchi gets to the ropes. Jumping crossbody by Miyaguchi and she puts Amano in a stretch hold, they return to their feet and Miyaguchi hits a dropkick. Amano avoids the next dropkick and goes up top but Miyaguchi knocks her off the top to the floor. Miyaguchi goes out after her and slams Amano into the apron before they return to the ring, sunset flip by Amano but she gets a two count. They trade slaps, Amano mounts Miyaguchi and rains down elbows onto her chest. Diving crossbody by Amano, but it gets two. Amano goes up top but Miyaguchi flings her back to the mat. Miyaguchi goes for a running boot but Amano catches her leg and takes her down, Miyaguchi lands in the ropes however and gets her own leglock applied. Both wrestlers trade quick pin attempts, mounted slaps by Amano but Miyaguchi sneaks in a backslide. Miyaguchi goes to run off the ropes but Amano grabs her from behind and rolls her up for the three count! Amano wins the Tournament!

Clipped down but I liked what I saw. Amano in particular seemed really on point, the submissions were smooth and she showed a lot of fire with her strikes. Miyaguchi looked fine but was a bit upstaged in what they showed, but still was pretty crisp with her offense and neither looked out of place. Only a few minutes was missing, one of the better rookie vs. rookie matches I have seen in awhile and both would go on to have great careers.  Mildly Recommended

Bomber Hikari and Sumiya Toyama vs. Toshie Sato and Yasuko Kuragaki

This match is only slightly joined in progress, with Hikari in the ring with Kuragaki. Kuragaki tags in Sato but Sato has no luck with Hikari as she eats a headbutt. Sato tags Kuragaki and Kuragaki connects with a dropkick, Sato returns and they both dropkick Hikari to the mat. Kuragaki applies a single leg crab hold but Hikari gets out of it and tags in Toyama. Hard shoulderblock by Toyama and she hits a scoop slam, covering Kuragaki for a two count. Kuragaki fires back with an elbow and tags in Sato, dropkick by Sato and she covers Toyama for two. Shoulderblocks by Sato and she hits a neckbreaker, but Toyama kicks out of the cover. Kuragaki and Hikari end up in the ring too with Sato and Kuragaki maintaining control, Toyama hits a judo throw on Sato and she tags in Hikari. Sato tags in Kuragaki, Hikari powerslams Kuragaki and Toyama comes in so they can drop Kuragaki with a double military press. Kuragaki dropkicks Hikari three times, and she covers Hikari for two. Fireman’s carry slams by Kuragaki and Sato hits a missile dropkick. Hikari lands by her corner and tags in Toyama, and Toyama boots Kuragaki in the chest for two. Side Russian Leg Sweeps by Toyama and she tags Hikari back in, missile dropkick by Toyama and both Hikari and Toyama slam Kuragaki and Sato. Diving headbutt by Hikari, and she covers Sato for the three count! Hikari and Toyama are the winners.

While all four wrestlers looked good here, the match structure was all over the place. To say that the transitions were iffy would be a compliment, at any given moment the winning team could shift to the other team for really no reason. So there wasn’t much of a flow, the carnage was good but I prefer carnage that has a bit more of a purpose. Solid action but just a bit meandering.

Bolshoi Kid vs. Cutie Suzuki

Suzuki is mad as hell at Bolshoi and I have no idea why, as she attacks her before the match starts and knocks her out of the ring. Suzuki dives out onto her with a jumping knee before sitting Bolshoi on the apron and pulling at her goofy hat. Back in the ring, Bolshoi finally gets away from Suzuki and she hits a quick hurricanrana for two. Bolshoi goes up top and hits a diving chop to the head, but Suzuki dropkicks Bolshoi out of the ring and hits a jumping knee from the apron down to the floor. Suzuki returns to the ring and waits for Bolshoi, German suplex hold by Suzuki but it gets two. Package German by Suzuki, but that gets a two count as well. Suzuki puts Bolshoi up top and hits an avalanche backdrop suplex, she goes up top again and hits a diving footstomp. Bolshoi hits a headscissors takedown and snaps off a quick suplex, she dropkicks Suzuki out of the ring and sails out after her with a plancha suicida. In the ring, Bolshoi hits a missile dropkick but Suzuki rolls out of the way of the moonsault. Avalanche Uranage by Bolshoi Kid, but Suzuki bridges out of the pin. German suplex hold by Bolshoi, but it gets two. Bolshoi goes up top but again she misses the moonsault, missile dropkick by Suzuki and she hits a second one before dropping Bolshoi with a dragon suplex hold for the three count! Cutie Suzuki is the winner.

I liked this match quite a bit. Really fast paced, hard hitting, high flying… about all you could ask for. Suzuki was more vicious here than I remember, although I haven’t seen a ton of her matches. So either this is normal for her and I didn’t know, or she just really hates clowns. It felt like it got the right amount of time and was a really good showcase for someone that they really wanted the crowd to take seriously as a wrestler even though she was an idol as well. Quality midcard match and worth a watch.  Recommended

Candy Okutsu vs. Hiromi Yagi vs. Hiromi Sugo

Hiromi Yagi and Hiromi Sugo are the first two in the match. Yagi quickly puts Sugo in a short armbar and stomps on her, jumping knee by Sugo in the corner but Yagi comes back with a rebound crossbody. Judo throws by Yagi and she goes for Sugo’s arm, but Sugo dropkicks her and hits a series of stomps. Sugo rams Yagi into the turnbuckles, Yagi goes for a quick roll-up but Sugo blocks it and holds down Yagi for the three count! Sugo wins the pairing and goes on to face Okutsu.

Sugo attacks Okutsu before their match starts but Okutsu kicks Sugo in the head and hits a missile dropkick. Okutsu runs up the corner and goes for another one, but Sugo swats her away. Sugo goes up top but Okutsu quickly joins her and hits a suplex to the mat for the three count! Okutsu wins the pairing and goes on to face Yagi.

Yagi quickly armdrags Okutsu as their match starts and applies a cross kneelock, but Okutsu gets a hand onto the ropes. Wing Clutch Hold by Okutsu, she picks up Yagi and she hits a backdrop suplex. Yagi blocks the next attempt and gets the kneelock re-applied, but again Okutsu gets to the ropes for a break. Missile dropkick by Okutsu and she hits a rebound crossbody out of the corner for two. Okutsu goes off the ropes but Yagi catches her arm with a short armbar, Okutsu inches to the ropes and gets a toe on the bottom one to get a break. Jumping elbow by Yagi but Okutsu hits a missile dropkick for a two count. Running kicks by Okutsu and she hits a snap German suplex, Irish whip by Okutsu but Yagi rolls her up for a two count. German suplex by Yagi, she goes up top but Okutsu gets her knees up on the diving body press. Irish whip by Okutsu, she springs out to the apron and goes up top but Yagi armdrags her off the top turnbuckle to the mat. Yagi goes up top but Okutsu quickly joins her and hits a big suplex to the mat, but Yagi bridges out of the pin. Okutsu goes for a suplex but Yagi slides away and hits a pair of suplexes. Okutsu grabs Yagi’s leg a however and applies a kneelock, and Yagi submits! Your winner and new champion is Candy Okutsu!

I love the speed and smoothness of the match, I just wish it lasted longer as the whole thing clocked in at well under ten minutes. Okutsu’s method of getting to the top turnbuckle was flawlessly done, perhaps overdone, but it is still a neat trick she does apparently on command. I also really liked Yagi’s throws and submissions, she looked polished for someone so inexperienced. The ending was sudden and didn’t make a ton of sense as Okutsu hadn’t done any work to the leg at all, but this was during the age where armbreakers/leglocks were getting more respect as instant finishers. Overall I liked it, it just deserved more time for such a big occasion on a massive card for JWP.  Mildly Recommended

Devil Masami and Mayumi Ozaki vs. Hikari Fukuoka and KAORU

Fukuoka and KAORU immediately hit stereo hurricanranas as the match starts, they go to double team Masami but she headbutts both of them. Ozaki comes in and powerbombs KAORU, then Masami slams Fukuoka on top of KAORU for extra measure. Masami and KAORU stay in, but they reach a stalemate and tag in their partners. Fukuoka suplexes Ozaki but Ozaki comes back with a jumping lariat, powerbomb by Ozaki and she covers Fukuoka for a two count. Headscissors by Fukuoka to Masami and she hits a hurricanrana for two, but Masami avoids the moonsault out of the corner and KAORU knocks her down with a missile dropkick. Moonsault by KAORU, Fukuoka goes up top but Ozaki hits her and Fukuoka suplexes Fukuoka to the mat for a two count. Masami tags in Ozaki, Fukuoka slides away from Ozaki and throws her to the mat before tagging in KAORU. KAORU flips out to the apron and hits a missile dropkick on Ozaki, but Ozaki bridges out of the pin. Spinning backbreaker by KAORU, but Masami breaks up the cover. Double diving attack to Ozaki, KAORU covers her but again it gets two. KAORU goes for a quebrada but Ozaki gets her knees up, she quickly tags in Fukuoka while Masami runs in and they hit suplexes on Masami and Ozaki. Masami and Ozaki roll out of the ring to re-group but Fukuoka and KAORU dive out of the ring onto them, KAORU and Ozaki return to the ring and KAORU hits a Northern Lights Suplex for two. Brainbuster by KAORU, but Masami breaks up the cover.

Fukuoka picks up Ozaki but KAORU hits her with a moonsault by accident, Masami then goes up top and hit a diving leg drop onto KAORU. Masami picks up Fukuoka but hits a sit-down powerbomb, getting a two count cover. She quickly hits three more powerbombs on Fukuoka, but the pin attempt is broken up. KAORU comes in and drags Masami but Fukuoka elbows KAORU by accident. Masami goes for another powerbomb but KAORU knocks her over before she can hit the move, Fukuoka slams Masami and KAORU hits a moonsault. Fukuoka then goes up top too and nails the moonsault footstomp, but Ozaki breaks up the cover. Fukuoka goes up top again and is fed Masami but Masami suplexes her to the mat. Masami tags Ozaki, somersault senton by Ozaki to Fukuoka but KAORU breaks up the pin. Running boots by Ozaki and she hits a stunner. Elbow by Ozaki and she drops Fukuoka with a sit-down powerbomb, she goes up top but KAORU grabs her from the apron. Fukuoka joins her but Ozaki slams her down to the mat for a two count cover. Masami is in the ring but KAORU hits a hurricanrana on her, Ozaki knocks KAORU out of the ring and then sails out onto her with a springboard somersault senton. Masami then picks up Fukuoka and tosses her out of the ring onto KAORU, Ozaki rolls Fukuoka back into the ring and hits the Tequila Sunrise for a two count. Tiger suplex hold by Ozaki, but KAORU breaks it up. Masami takes care of KAORU, she picks up Fukuoka and Ozaki hits her with an assisted lariat, but again the cover is broken up. Masami throws KAORU out of the ring again, she sits on the top turnbuckle and Ozaki stands on her shoulders. Diving footstomp by Ozaki and Masami following with a diving legdrop, Tequila Sunrise by Ozaki on Fukuoka and she gets the three count! Ozaki and Masami are the winners.

Another really solid match, JWP is going all out to deliver on their big Sumo Hall show. What this match lacked in time (it went about 13 minutes) it made up for by being constant motion. Masami looked great with her power moves, she hits a mean powerbomb, and the rest were all on point with their aerial assaults. They hit all their big moves much to the crowd’s delight and certainly nothing was held back, just an exciting and hard hitting match from bell to bell. A really fun match.  Recommended

Chigusa Nagayo vs. Dynamite Kansai

They cautiously shake hands before the match starts but the pleasantries don’t last long as Nagayo kicks Kansai to the mat. Head kick by Nagayo and she goes for a powerbomb, but Kansai slides away and kicks Nagayo’s leg out from under her. Mounted elbows by Kansai and she kicks Nagayo in the head but Nagayo whips off a belly to belly suplex. They lock knuckles as they get to their feet, Kansai goes for Nagayo’s arm and applies an armbreaker, but Nagayo gets a foot on the ropes for the break. Kicks by Kansai, which Nagayo tries with little luck to block, Nagayo finally manages to catch one and she applies a leglock. Kansai reaches the ropes, Nagayo goes for a heel kick but Kansai catches it. Hard kick to the ribs/lower back area by Nagayo, which sends Nagayo crumbling to the mat in pain. Kansai takes full advantage and she continues kicking Nagayo in the lower back, but Nagayo fires back with a high kick, more kicks by Nagayo to the head and she waits for Kansai to get back up. Nagayo gets Kansai to the mat and applies a sleeper but Kansai gets out of it and hits mounted elbows. Nagayo recovers and gets the sleeper re-applied, kick to the head by Nagayo and she drills Kansai with another one. Kansai comes back with a backdrop suplex and she hits a jumping knee, high angle backdrop suplex by Kansai and she covers Nagayo for two.

Kansai goes up top but Nagayo kicks her in the head, sending Kansai out to the floor. Nagayo goes outside as well but Kansai nails her with a lariat. Kick to the head by Nagayo, Nagayo gets in the ring as Kansai gets on the apron and both wrestlers lariat each other. Nagayo applies an armbar but Kansai gets to the ropes, Nagayo applies a sleeper before planting Kansai with a piledriver. Nagayo comes up top but Kansai kicks her from behind, Kansai joins her and goes for Splash Mountain but Nagayo blocks it. Nagayo dives off the top and drives Kansai’s face into the mat, elbow drop by Nagayo and she covers Kansai for two. Nagayo goes up top again but again Kansai kicks her, she goes for Splash Mountain again but Nagayo blocks it and knees Kansai back down to the mat. Nagayo picks up Kansai but Kansai gets out of the Running Three attempt, Kansai goes for Splash Mountain but Nagayo wiggles away. Kansai kicks her in the head for her trouble, she goes for a powerbomb but Nagayo blocks it and hits a high kick. Kansai sweeps out Nagayo’s legs, she picks up Nagayo and she delivers a backdrop suplex for a two count. Nagayo fires back with her own backdrop suplex, she picks up Kansai and she nails the Running Three, but Kansai kicks out of the cover. Kansai gets a second wind and elbows Nagayo repeatedly in the corner, Kansai picks up Nagayo and she delivers the Splash Mountain, but Nagayo gets a shoulder up. Head kick by Kansai, she drags Nagayo to her feet and hits another Splash Mountain for the three count! Dynamite Kansai is the winner!

Well this was certainly a hell of a match, doubt either one were feeling 100% in the morning. Lots and lots of hard strikes, so if hard kicks are your thing then this match is for you. It wasn’t perfect but it was what it needed to be, this is both wrestler’s styles so they were going to put on the best version of their style that they could. Kansai working on the lower back/ribs area of Nagayo was logical since that is the area that Splash Mountain hits, and Nagayo’s kicks to the head were on point. My main squabble would be basically Kansai’s ‘fighting spirit’ spot leading directly to the end after Nagayo hit her big signature move, but since it is the main event of JWP’s biggest event of the year with their hometown star, those types of things are a bit more forgivable. It didn’t reach that ‘epic’ level but it was incredibly stiff and full of action, a perfect way to cap off the show. A solid “four star” match for sure.  Highly Recommended

The post JWP Thunder Queen Ryogoku Wonderland on 6/16/95 Review appeared first on Joshi City.