[2000-04-23-GAEA] Aja Kong & Kaoru vs Meiko Satomura & Toshiyo Yamada

[soup23]

A conflicting match for me in that I didn’t like the excessive use of the table but man was the final moments with Kong and Satomura one of the more dramatic things we have seen so far. The match is chaotic and fun with Yamada taking the blunt of the beat down in the beginning. The final moments see Aja and Meiko in the ring and their chemistry is astounding. The spinning back fist has been so protected so they do a neat variation of it here with Aja hitting Kaoru inadvertently before nailing Meiko. Meiko is able to withstand that which is astounding. This is when the match proper ends and it is just Aja and Meiko embattled in this ultimate battle for courage. Aja proceeds to give 4 more spinning back fists that looked brutal with each one. Aja is one tough person that I wouldn’t want to meet in the alley way. Meiko shows her toughness by withstanding the blows and standing back up until she is completely passed out. Aja even slaps an unresponsive Meiko before pinning her. Really gripping stuff and I can’t wait for their singles match. ***1/2

[Loss]

This was a good match with an all-time classic tacked on to the last few minutes with Aja repeatedly throwing the uraken at Satomura as she struggles to her feet. Kaoru and her table can go to hell, but I liked everything else about this. I want to go higher just because that ending was so out of this world, but blame Kaoru's goofiness. ***1/2

[ohtani's jacket]

This was a great appetizer for the Aja/Satomura rematch. Satomura was so babyfaced here and prone to shouting "bakayaro" and hurling herself at opponents but she rose to the challenge of facing Kong and remains one of Aja's best opponents. I thought Yamada did a bang-up job in the role she was called upon to play. She was almost unrecognizable with her Escape from New York look but took her lumps and dished out a few of her own in a perfect foil to the attrition that Aja and Satomura served up. Kaoru was a bit of an odd fit but it didn't really matter once Aja lashed out. This was good. On par with just about any match we saw in the lead-in to Villano/Atlantis or Satanico/Tarzan Boy.

[TheBean]

jip. This was some good stuff. Very neat spots that honestly looked very natural especially Yamada spin kicking the board back into KAORU's face. That was sick!! I watched this one a few weeks/months ago so this was all I had but, yeah I dug it. Re-watch: KAORU is wearing clothes more appropriate for a dance club than a wrestling match. Yamada has blonde hair and is wearing something more appropriate for a Master P music video circa 2000. But yeah this was pretty good stuff... the ending keeps it from being a great match as it devolves into Aja testing Satomura's mettle. Neither KAORU or Yamada intervene to either stop it or actually finish the match. It is definitely a helluva scene and a great lead in to their next encounter (May) but in all honesty they had a pretty great match going...much better this second time since I knew Meiko & KAORU better and such. I would have liked a more traditional end but this ending was probably better for business.