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Aja Kong & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato From GAEA G-PANIC! #19 GAEA JAPAN SPECIAL 4/6/99 Hataage 4 Shunen Kinen Taikai (Debut 4th Anniversary Memorial Rally) taped 4/4 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan ("6,500" sellout) |
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This was very similar in story to the LCO vs. Hamada & AKINO match from later this year. Satomura & Kato were very much overmatched against the veteran team, but they weren't going to just accept that and give up. They were going to fight until the end no matter how much punishment they had to absorb. They were never really able to mount a sustained offensive, but they countered enough moves to hang in there. One advantage this match had over the LCO vs. Hamada & AKINO match was that they did a consistently great job of playing up the rivalry. Although the focus was on Aja vs. Satomura, wrestling wise everyone was on a high level, but no one really stood out above the other. Ozaki & Kato were better in a way because they went about business like you'd expect and didn't do anything questionable. Satomura & Aja were more toward the knew what they were doing, but what they were doing didn't always make the most sense in the grand scheme of things. They were intense though, and their interplay where they showed their resent and hatred was invaluable to the overall picture. As soon as the match started, Aja & Satomura were in each others faces, bumping, grabbing, and pushing each other. Aja & Ozaki dominated the match, but they did it in a way that you could tell they were taking exceptional pleasure in hurting Satomura & Kato. They'd put that little extra on their blows just to add insult to injury. They'd laugh or smirk or give their opponents the evil eye to let us know that they not only despised their opponents, but they thought they shouldn't even be in the ring with this GAEA trash. Aja & Ozaki didn't try that hard to win this match. They wanted to win eventually, but they mainly wanted to mock their opponents, to make an example out of the young punks that thought they were ready for the big time. In a way, Satomura & Kato's heart played into Aja & Ozaki's hands because it's hard to play around with an opponent that doesn't keep coming back for more and much more fun to punk them when they do. Kato came into the match with her left knee all bandaged up, so Aja went after the knee when she had the chance. This opportunity first presented itself when Aja caught Kato's leg to stop a kick. Aja could have hit the good knee because this was the one that was in her arm, but in a cold, calculating move, she kicked the plant leg out then dragged Kato over to her corner so Ozaki could come off the top with a footstomp to the bad knee. Kato tried to pull herself to the corner without using the bad knee, but to do this she'd have to get past Aja & Ozaki, who were standing in the middle of the ring. Aja & Ozaki had to be thinking that Kato was kidding. They let her get a lot closer to tagging than they needed to though, simply because stopping her almost as late as possible would break her down mentally as well as physically. When Kato was close enough to her corner they each picked a leg up and slammed her knee into the mat. Aja followed with a body press to the knee for a near fall. Satomura came in and kicked Aja to try to break up her backdrop, but Aja just ignored her, did the suplex, then kicked Satomura in the face. Aja & Ozaki destroyed Satomura & Kato on the ramp, but as soon as they reentered the ring Kato avoided Aja superplexing Ozaki onto her and tagged Satomura, who suddenly had a ton of energy even though she had been left laying on the ramp 30 seconds earlier. The veterans would have none of this goofiness though, as Satomura was quickly cut off when Aja lariated her out of her boots. Kato kicked Aja in the back when she ran the ropes, so Satomura was able to Death Valley bomb Aja. Even though this is Satomura's finisher, Aja didn't put it over at all. Granted she'd sustained virtually no damage during the match, but that doesn't mean she should kick out at one then crush Satomura with a lariat. Kato came to Satomura's aid again though, German suplexing Aja, which Satomura followed up with a second Death Valley bomb. Aja, once again, didn't sell it at all, popping right up and killing Satomura with her suichoku rakka shiki no brainbuster. Satomura & Kato finally gained the advantage at the 15-minute mark when Satomura held Aja in a sleeper hold for a long time. Satomura followed with her Death Valley bomb, and apparently Aja was too tired to no sell it, as Ozaki had to make the save. While it was good that Satomura finally did damage with her finisher, it wasn't consistent with anything that happened earlier, which really only shows that the previous no sells were damaging to the moves credibility and pointless because no one is going to by that the difference between two no sells and one sell is a glorified chinlock. I understand that the match was built around the Death Valley bomb, but I've seen plenty of matches built around one move, and it's hard to think of others where that one move was virtually killed off before it "took effect." Satomura tried for yet another Death Valley bomb, but just as she was lifting Aja up, Aja whacked her in the face with a shotei to knock her down. Aja set up the uraken, but Ozaki saw that Satomura was going to Death Valley bomb Aja again, so Ozaki tried to stop it with an uraken. Satomura avoided the uraken, but it only grazed the top of Aja's head. Since young wrestlers can't go over veterans clean as a sheet, this was Aja's out for doing the job, but everyone could see that it didn't hurt a bit, so they had to redo it. It looked so ridiculous seeing them reset this spot, but at least Ozaki got the uraken right this time. Satomura then gave Aja her bicycle kick and two Death Valley bombs in a row for the win. Even though it was a cheap win due to Ozaki's uraken leading directly to Aja's demise, it was the only way that Satomura & Kato could have won this match because they were never able to put together a series of moves. They actually could have won with a flash pin, but that really would have killed off Satomura's Death Valley bomb. I mean, what would it say for your finisher if it failed time after time, but then you were able to win with a schoolboy? It's bad enough that even when Aja sold it, she was fine a few seconds later. Luckily, the fans responded to the finish with a big pop, and Satomura got us to take her seriously by staring the fallen veteran down and yelling at her after the match. Satomura even went over and headbutted Aja then just stood there waiting for Aja to respond. Aja got up slowly, but didn't seem to be preparing an attack. All of a sudden, she did a fast uraken out of nowhere to KO Satomura. There was reason for a singles match, but in comparison to Aja, Satomura was portrayed as a serious Suckura, someone that could only beat her by getting lucky. Aja KO'ing Satomura was really stupid because it took away a lot of what Satomura had gained, and reminded us once again that Aja could beat her any time she wanted to. If Satomura had went over clean then Aja would have lost something, so the post match KO'd could have been somewhat justified. However, the way this match was worked only showed that Satomura was lucky once, while Aja was indestructible ass kicker always. In other words, even if Satomura could win, it really didn't matter. Aja throwing one of her infamous hissy fits after she lost didn't help things any because it's done in a comical way rather than a you got me once but it'll never happen again way. At least she went after Satomura after she was done pouting, resulting in a big GAEA vs. SSU brawl. GAEA had the right idea when it came to having Satomura score the big win on a major show and then challenge Aja for the singles title on the next two major shows. The problem is they didn't do much of anything in between to show that Satomura belonged in the title matches. She still hadn't beaten anyone of note in singles, and even in tag she was mainly getting her ass kicked by all the veterans. Without singles wins over veterans in between 4/4/99 and 9/15/99, and especially in between 9/15/99 and 5/14/00 since Satomura lost the first title match, not only did Satomura not belong, but the title was being devalued. How much can a title that's defended 2-3 times a year be worth if the defense are against wrestlers that don't get singles wins that matter. At least KAORU, as marginally important as she's always been (she was only truly a commodity when she was the only other veteran in the league), beat Ozaki & Toshiyo Yamada before her title match. Since Satomura continued to beat nobody but her classmates, and she lost to Aja 40% faster the second time, through no fault of her own she hardly meant anymore when her "big program" ended than she did when it started. Jerome's review: The main reason why this match was great was because it had what usually lacks in GAEA : psychology and build. I don't won't to downplay the merits of the other three, but it was basically Aja's match. She was excellent in her role, knowing how and when to no-sell and how and when to sell. Oz was more in a supportive role, and as she may have fallen a bit in the pure work aspect, she was extremely smart and actually brought a lot to the match with her attitude, her timing and general performance. Kato impressed me a lot and showed why she's the best youngster in GAEA with Chikayo Nagashima. While not as good, Satomura was intense as hell, playing her part perfectly and containing herself to give us one of her better performances that wasn't marred by her usual flaws. If looks could kill, both Aja and Meiko would be dead after the first eye contact. During the beginning of the match, Aja totally dominated both youngsters with really stiff offense, always looking down on the opposition with a brutal arrogance. Ozaki helped her cutting any kind of offensive attempt with cheap shots and timely interference. As always, she was an obnoxious and condescending bitch. During an exchange, Aja kicked the hell out of Kato's injured knee, and it became the theme of the next few minutes, as both SSU members worked on it. During that part Kato's selling was simply great. When she was about to counter Oz, Aja just smashed her metal can on her head. The torment continued for GAEA when Satomura, trying to make a save, landed right on the injured Sonoko Kato. When once again she was ready to make the tag, Oz dragged Satomura far from the ring apron, and the match then became a brawl outside the ring. Kato was pulverized by Aja as Oz prepared Satomura, suplexing her on the ramp. Aja then came to punish her young rival by herself. Back in the ring, Kato finally escaped the claws of SSU to make a tag. She forgot to sell her knee at this point, but she had some time to recuperate by then. When Meiko hit her DVB on Aja, the monster kicked out immediately, showing that her almighty finisher had zero effect. After this big blow to Meiko's spirit, the last part of the match saw her talking a brutal beating and trying to retaliate. The transition into the final moments was somewhat confused, with Oz missing her target and hitting her uraken on Aja, before Satomura finally dropped the monster two times in the DVB for the win. Oz's acting was excellent, screaming and trying to get out of the grasp of Kato to rescue her partner. The post-match was superb, all the GAEA girls being ecstatic before Aja came back to KO Satomura with a cheap uraken. Finally, Aja snapped and jumped on the girl who just defeated her and it took the whole SSU to take her backstage. Great match with an impressive performance from the four participants. Special thanks to: Jerome Denis 17:19
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