The match began like the typical annoying veterans dominate the current generation to prevent them from ever being taken seriously or becoming stars match, but, for once, it was a better match because of this. What made it better is that Sato, and to a greater extent Nagashima, were first able to show resilience by withstanding a lot of punishment. They slowly gained momentum, setting up a section where both teams got near falls that looked like the finish. This made Sato & Nagashima credible, although at this point I don't know how far that goes because we know the new generation still can't beat the 80's and early 90's stars. However, for once, a promotion delivered the highly improbable upset that allows not just fans of the newer wrestlers, but fans of the genre in general, to maintain that shred of hope and stay interested in what otherwise has become a pointless and dramaless series of one-sided matches where the outcome was never truly in doubt.

This match was similar to the Aja & Ozaki vs. Satomura & Kato match from 4/4/99, but it lacked the focused storyline as well as the intensity that Aja vs. Satomura had. The dynamics were different because there wasn't so much an issue as there was a friendly rivalry between Ozaki and her understudies. Well, as friendly as you get from a bunch of heels. However, although I have no problem with Aja & Ozaki being gracious after the match since they are all on the same side, they were remiss in not really playing a rivalry up during the match. While Chikayo is a better worker than Satomura, she wasn't as good in this match as Satomura was in the 4/4 match because she was a bit sloppy and Satomura is the one that has the intensity to help make up for her shortcomings. Ozaki was better here than she was in the 4/4 match because she played a bigger role, but this was closer to one of Aja's typical solid but unspectacular (in the sense of nothing special for her) performances. That said, due to a weaker supporting cast than most of her ARSION matches that we see, she still wound up being the best in the match, slightly better than Ozaki. Aside from a few blown spots, the main reason the match as a whole was not as good is that Sugar is not in the same stratosphere as Sonoko. This was one of her better performances of '99 because they didn't give her too much opportunity to detract from the match, but she certainly didn't add anything to it.

Sato was given a few moments of offense in the first 5 minutes because she's the leader of her team, but this didn't help the match in the sense that she has so few moves, and more importantly doesn't perform the ones she does have nearly as well as the other three wrestlers in this match do. To make things worse, Chikayo blew the one spot they gave her, a corbata off the middle rope.

Although it was still rather one-sided, everything started to fall into place by the five minute mark. Sato & Nagashima were doing what it took to finally start making some damage to the opposition mount. They used their heads to create advantages for themselves. The odds 2-2 were as bad as they were 1-1, but if their illegal wrestler could get in and out quickly, before the opposing team's wrestler could get in and even things out, then they had an advantage. One example of this was Sato missile kicking Aja off the 2nd then Chikayo giving Aja a diving footstomp then leaving the ring. Ozaki came in when Sato had Aja set up for the Ligerbomb, but Sato saw her coming and pulled Aja's head up into the way when Ozaki threw an uraken, thus using Ozaki's favorite move against her. The finish of the match made this point ironic. Anyway, Sato then did three typically lame urakens of her own, but Ozaki got by Chikayo in time to make the save. Still, they had their first near fall, and theoretically Aja wouldn't even have kicked out. Unfortunately, much of this momentum was lost when Chikayo didn't reach Aja on the Oz flip (not really Chikayo's fault because she wasn't the one that set Aja up too far away), as people laughed while Sato covered Aja right after the missed spot.

Aja came back quickly, lariating Chikayo when she ran at her. Chikayo may have been shaken up legitimately from this. She was somewhere in between jumping up and getting knocked back and taking a flip bump, and the result was landing on her head. They gave her a little time, and then proceeded with Chikayo ducking to of Ozaki's lariats. The idea seemed to be that Aja would hold Chikayo for the third, but Chikayo would duck it anyway. However, Chikayo was long gone by the time Ozaki did the final uraken, so they all looked foolish. Chikayo tried to follow with a plancha, but wound up taking her partner out with it.

Aja was in too much considering she didn't try to do any story. Ozaki should have been the story teller, but seemed to only be in for short periods of time before the finishing sequence. Still, most of the problem is the GAEA style has made her lazy. Her decline isn't so much that she's lost a step, but that she hardly bothers with telling stories and acting, which used to be two things she did better than almost anyone else. Instead, Aja's execution is stiffer and crisper, so over the course of the match Aja is likely to seem more impressive. Of course, her level of difficulty being much lower plays a big part in that.

As the match reached the later stages, Ozaki & Chikayo turned it up. Ozaki let Chikayo kick out of some big moves, and Chikayo was also turning some of Ozaki's moves into flash pins. For instance, she turned the Ligerbomb into a 2 kaiten ebigatame for a 2 3/4. She nearly pinned Ozaki with her fisherman buster even though she hadn't done that much damage to Ozaki prior to this. She was about to pin Ozaki in her own tequila sunrise, but Aja came up from behind and hit her with the oil can. This lead directly to Ozaki successfully executing her Ligerbomb, but Sato broke up the pin. An interesting sequence followed where Aja tried to eliminate Sato with the can, but Sato stopped the can with an uraken then urakened Aja once and Ozaki twice. Chikayo immediately fisherman bustered Ozaki, but Aja just made the save.

Even though there wasn't a more personalized story to the match, the basic underdog has a chance storyline was in full effect by this point, with the fans reacting to and believing in Sato & Nagashima. Aja had a chance to put an end to this, but it backfired big time. She took Sato out with her uraken and went after Nagashima with one. Although Ozaki was in a bit of trouble, with Sato out and Chikayo at least groggy, Ozaki probably finishes the job here unless Chikayo can hang in long enough for Sato to recover. In any case, as Chikayo was setting up another fisherman buster, she saw Aja coming and, as Sato had done to her earlier, pulled Ozaki's head up into the way of the uraken. Nagashima then fisherman bustered Ozaki. This looked like the finish, except nothing had happened to Aja and Sato wasn't around to take care of her, so Aja dove on top of Chikayo at 2 3/4 to break the count. Sato was suddenly back to life now, and she held Aja against the ropes. Ozaki was also rejuvenated though, and she came back with an uraken. Ozaki was going to use Chikayo's own fisherman buster on her, but Chikayo turned it into a kaiten ebigatame for the 3 count. The fans chanted Nagashima's name. Since Aja didn't get pinned, she wasn't a sore loser here, actually clapping for the opposition. Ozaki put her hands on each of their heads, proud of what her students had accomplished even though it was at her own expense. Ozaki even took a picture of Sato & Nagashima with the belts and trophies. Aja & Ozaki had won the titles from Sato & Nagashima 11 months earlier. It took almost a year for GAEA to have them make their first defense, but it certainly turned out to be a worthwhile trade for Sato & Nagashima.

Jerome's review:

Once again, Aja had a strong performance leading a tag match in GAEA with the ever clever assistance of Mayumi Ozaki. Much like on 4/4, the opposition was not on their level, but the champions made them look credible enough for the audience the get behind them. Since there wasn't any big rivalry, the match was less focused than the 4/4 match. Sugar had a good day. You have to expect a few slow and unconvincing urakens from her, but she showed more fire and intensity than usual. Her execution and bumping were also good this time. However, it was her partner who did the most, and really shined in the process. The little devil Chikayo Nagashima looked awesome overall, with her and Aja really making the match. Ozaki was helpful, but once again took a back seat to Aja, before really coming back at the end of the match to work a great finishing sequence with her Oz Academy student.

The structuring of the match was really well thought out. After a quick start from the hungry young challengers, the veterans took advantage and showed little respect to their opposition. Sato and Nagashima were then allowed by Aja to make their comebacks, with more and more efficiency each time, before being cut short by a wise or powerful move from the champions. Aja sold as much as Ozaki, but she also maintained her monster status (as she also was the AAAW champion) by not allowing herself to be in danger for too long. It gave the match a sense of urgency that really got the crowd behind the challengers. The last sequence, courtesy of Nagashima, is one of the most beautiful and fluid pinning combinations I've seen in a long time. I can't say enough how deserved the chants she received from the crowd after the match were. She has become an incredible worker, and this match is a perfect example of her talent.

Special thanks to: Jerome Denis

16:34

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