[2000-03-04-AJW] Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa (Cage)

[soup23]

All of the LCO beatdowns have culminated in this. The beginning is more of the same with LCO giving a straight beatdown including bloodying up Tomoko. Mita escapes the cage but quickly realizes she is going to have to go back in because Mima is unable to beat up both Maekawa and Tomoko. Maekawa blades as well. I know the 1997 LCO cage match has differing opinion and I am interested to see if that plays out in this one as well. Much like that match, I really really liked this one. The cage is used effectively both in grinding the face on the actual structure and really conveying the concept that this is a torture chamber that has been constructed for these four to do battle. The visual of Maekawa taking her boot off and kicking LCO in the comeback was well done. The execution of those kicks….. you can’t win them all. Maekawa is able to make it out but Tomoko isn’t so lucky. This was really dramatic as LCO swarms on Tomoko but she uses her resourcefulness and willpower to push through them. Mita slams a chair on Shimoda giving Tomoko a glimmer of hope to escape. Mita is able to catch her with an electric chair from the top rope. Shimoda scales the top of the cage but accidently hits a missile dropkick on Mita this time. The execution in the final portion is spotty. Tomoko climbs to the top slowly given her damaged leg and misses a moonsault from the top of the cage. LCO immediately rush to escape but Maekawa cuts them off at the pass. Mima is able to escape this time and this match has done a great job of showing parables from the beginning when Mita was on the outside. Right as I type that we get another moment where Tomoko hits a chairshot on Maekawa like LCO did earlier. Mita avoids a kick, busts out the mist and is able to scurry away giving LCO the win but they were in a battle and war this time. ****1/4

[Loss]

Pretty great match. LCO are able to flip a lot of things I normally don't care for in wrestling matches on their head a little bit -- in this case, a cage match that's mostly garbage brawling. Of course, this doesn't resonate like Rage in the Cage did, but that's a pretty high standard. I think the reason is that they kept the violence quotient high instead of relying on the gimmicks as a crutch. After the late '90s, I'll admit I'm a bit sick of LCO matches like this, but I can't deny how great this was. ****

[Laney]

I thought this was very good. Tag team cage matches add an interesting dynamic where someone has to make a decision to sacrifice their partner to escape. In this case, the partner was allowed to re-enter the match. This made the match less dramatic, but was an interesting element. The thing hurting this match the most is that it sometimes breaks down into meandering brawling that is kind of dull. However, the bright spots outshine in this and this is a fun and violent match. ****1/4

[ohtani's jacket]

I was looking forward to this and it didn't disappoint. Regular LCO matches can be a chore to sit through but their big matches deliver in spades. I was reared on WWF cage matches so I don't have a problem with escape rules. The dramatic potential of escape rules is obvious even more so when you have a double escape stip. When you spin that around the classic Joshi trope of saving your partner you already have ready-made drama. Add to that the Death Match twist and you have a match that's as violent and bloody as the classic "pinfall or submission" cage matches. It really is the best of both worlds. Of course, there were weak spots here. Shimoda has never been the greatest brawler when she doesn't have a weapon in her hands and Maekawa's strikes showed plenty of daylight but it was overshadowed by the good. Watanabe showed a ton of heart and the comebacks were timed well throughout. Being trapped inside the cage meant that they weren't able to wander about the venue, which was a blessing, and the garbage elements felt more gritty even if they weren't quite on the level of the scummiest stuff you can imagine. They were a lot better than the rest of the garbage wave that was overtaking Joshi at this point. I wasn't thrilled with the finish after such a violent spectacle but Shimoda's gloating promo made up for it. Definitely a Joshi MOTYC. I think Aja vs. Kaoru still pips it but those are the two matches in the conversation thus far.

[cramerjason87]

Wild, sloppy, and highly entertaining match. The double climb out stipulation was used really well. LCO's sloppiness and no-selling worked as a positive in that it made the match feel more unpredictable. Maekawa and Watanabe were great babyfaces.

 

The finish was really bad which hurt the match. Not near the level of Kong/KAORU but a fun match that with more focus and a better finish could have been great.

[Mattsdmf]

I really enjoyed this. I actually haven't seen the Rage in the Cage so I can't compare it to this but I thought the sloppiness actually worked in the match's favor. You could tell right away that there was a burning hatred between the 2 teams. It felt like they weren't really concerned with percision really and more concerned about maiming each other. I love the use of the cage, chair and chain. I thought that this was also one of the best use of the escape rules in any cage matches. It actually added to the drama and sucked me in with how they used it. I really loved this spectacle.

[klhare]

This really turned up when Maekawa escaped and Watanabe was left alone with LCO. Tons of high drama that kind of reminded me of the best moments at the end of the more recent Dragon Gage Dead or Alive cagematch. I think some steam was lost when Maekawa came back into the ring, but still, this was a great match. 

 

****