This was a 16-year-old Satomura stepping to the 10-year veteran KAORU. There can't have been many wrestlers who have ever been better than Satomura at 16 years of age, although I guess not that many are on TV having actual matches at 16 either. Meiko was full of fire and CHIRP here and was for taking nothing lying down. She was also a dog with a bone, determined to grab KAORU's arm and twist it every chance she got. KAORU gave her more than I would've expected as well. She didn't sell the arm like it was hanging off or anything, never REALLY looked in actual danger, but she let you know that Satomura was landing some hits and that maybe before long they would cause some problems. Satomura's wild flailing-arm running corner block is pretty goofy, but also quite charming as she looks like a baby deer trying to run. I've worked with plenty of teenagers who are all gangly limbs trying to sprint as fast as possible and I guess that's what you get before those rough edges are pared away. KAORU's moonsault is always a thing of beauty and I love that she gave Satomura the kick-out on the first one, a brief look of shock before composing herself with a smirk, making certain on the second moonsault that might've been even prettier than the first (this time a springboard version off the top rope).
Chigusa Nagayo & Toshie Sato vs. Michiko Ohmukai & Shinobu Kandori (GAEA, 4/29/96)
We miss a few minutes of this, which is a wee bit annoying because the rest of it ruled and really why would you not want every minute? Kandori v Chigusa feels like a Big Fuckin Deal and when they first get in there together the place goes ballistic. Of course these two are amazing at milking that interaction. The first lock-up was electric and then Kandori snapped into a heel hook, Chigusa scrambling for the ropes immediately. It put over the danger of Kandori from the jump. This wasn't Chigusa absorbing blows from her trainees before shutting them down whenever she felt like it. If nothing else her desperation showed that Kandori was an equal, and in the world of GAEA Chigusa didn't have many of those. It also made the crowd even more rabid for everything they did together, and everything they did together was amazing, but so was everything they did beyond that matchup. There were moments where one of those two would come in and help their partner by taking a shot at the other star, usually with a grin on their face. At one point that distracts Kandori long enough for Sato to jump on her and grab a flimsy choke, and Chigusa is a riot cheering her on like "yes, choke her like that!" Kandori is an all-timer in this kind of thing and she takes Sato to the mat and just about throttles her while laughing up at Chigusa. When Kandori tries to hit a running boot Sato catches her and turns it into a dragon screw to an amazing pop, then when Sato applies a kneebar Kandori lounges on an elbow and tries to talk her through the particulars of how to properly do the thing. "No no you need to apply pressure HERE. Look, let me show you." Ohmukai hit a sick jumping knee to the side of Chigusa's head and I thought for sure she'd die for it, but Chigusa only killed her a little bit in the end and even helped her up afterwards.
No comments:
Post a Comment