[1997-02-23-GAEA] Chigusa Nagayo vs Mayumi Ozaki

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I found myself drifting in and out of this match, so I took a break before watching it again. I enjoyed it much more the second time around, once again for Ozaki's performance. This doesn't touch Kudo vs Kandori, but it's very similar to many of Ozaki's better brawls with Dynamite Kansai in previous years. Ozaki has that Dump Matsumoto vibe where there's not really much her opponents can do to her to make her feel their pain because she is already such a sociopath. There is a lot of downtime in this match, specifically in a spot when Ozaki is on the floor selling and Chigusa just stands in the ring. Because everyone's reaction to it was so cavalier, it was almost like Ozaki asked for a timeout so she could tie her shoes. While Chigusa really, really seems like yesterday's news in 1997, I give her a ton of credit for working overtime to get Ozaki over as a threat. Ozaki is really impressing me so far in 1997, but Chigusa just seems along for the ride.

[FLIK]

No comment on the post match angle or was it not included?

 

it was almost like Ozaki asked for a timeout so she could tie her shoes.

Heh, surprised you didn't notice this. OZ' shorts split so they had to do a timeout while someone fetched some pants for her from the back

 

Anyways, even though they feud on & off for another 8 years, with plenty of awesome tags & angles along the way this is the last really great singles match they ever managed to pull out.

[Childs]

Ozaki had more in the tank, but I wouldn't say Chigusa was along for the ride. She was certainly believable as a sadistic hoss. It still felt like a big deal when Ozaki beat her. Ozaki always brought a ton of passion and expressiveness to the table. She's definitely one of my three or four favorite joshi wrestlers of the decade. I enjoyed this.

[goodhelmet]

I am just proud of you for watching the joshi matches. I know it takes a lot of mental preparation.

[soup23]

Post match angle didn't make it Flik, wanna fill us in?

 

I made a big discovery during this match, Ozaki is a crazy, psychotic bitch. Her shear delight at biting the cut of Chigusa was harrowing. She had great facial expressions throughout this match. I liked this match overall as everything had a gravity to what they were doing. Still I felt that they really went out to have a crazy, great brawl and match and just barely missed the mark. The wadrobe malfunction happened at the worst possible time and took me out of the match a little bit for the finishing stretch. Glad that Ozaki got the win as she gave a much better performance in this match to me.

[FLIK]

Post match angle didn't make it Flik, wanna fill us in?

After Ozaki wins, GAEA rookies Sakura Hirota & Hiromi Kato get in the ring and ask Oz to let them join her crew, turning their back on their trainer Chigusa.

 

Basicly continuing the theme from last year with Ozaki turning Nagashima & Sato to her side and generally causing chaos & stirring shit up in the promotion.

[PeteF3]

This starts off as a crazy garbage brawl then sort of gradually moves into a wrestling match--and they make it work. The brawling isn't as good as the high-end Ozaki-Kansai brawls, but it does feel gritty and intense in a way that some of the early-'90s weapons-filled AJW matches didn't. Ozaki's facials continue to amaze, especially her sick grin *after* Nagayo has done everything in her power to beat the shit out of her. Oz Academy feels very NWO-esque in more ways than one, particularly the way crowds are turning on Nagayo--to an even greater degree than WCW crowds ever did, to the point where she's actively heeling it up and flipping the fans off. Some good back-and-forth psychology surrounding urakens down the stretch, before Ozaki hits one with a chain wrapped around her first to set up the Tequila Sunrise and win. There are better Ozaki brawls but this was a good match--Nagayo does feel dated but she still works hard and keeps up with her fresher younger opponent.

[Zenjo]

Chigusa did a minor blade job early on. There was also weapon usage, yet the focus wasn't primarily on the hardcore element. The wrestling was consistently good and they both had whopping personalities. Ozaki's facials were ridiculously great. The way they were going it should've finished a couple of tiers higher as a match than it eventually did. Unfortunately Oz suffered a wardrobe malfunction at an important juncture. The subsequent period of stalling hurt it bad. Still a comfortably good match and nice to see the upset result.

[KB8]

I watched this a few months ago and thought I'd noted down some thoughts. Clearly I didn't and I've mostly forgotten specifics at this point, but I remember enjoying it more than I'd have expected given the length. I'm also about as high on Ozaki now as I've ever been. A pretty big swing from practically dreading any time she'd show up on the '96 yearbook.