[2000-11-23-GAEA] Akira Hokuto & Mayumi Ozaki vs Dynamite Kansai & Toshiyo Yamada

[soup23]

It still feels odd for me to see Oz and Kansai on opposite sides. They played this up right as a sprint that was full of action and big moves followed by saves. Yamada ends up missing the big kick from the top hitting Kansai by accident. Hokuto takes full advantage and quickly gains the victory setting up the finals of their tag tournament. ***1/4 (6.3)

 

[ohtani's jacket]

I've enjoyed the tag team of Ozaki and Hokuto in 2000. I wasn't sure they'd be able to co-exist but somehow they managed. To be fair, their personalities seemed dialed back compared to their 90s pomp but nonetheless, they found a way to complement each other instead of stepping on one another's toes. It's kind of weird how Ozaki is the only one who looks like the old version of herself but if there's one thing I've learned about 2000 Joshi it's that the broken down 90s stars weren't as bad as we made out at the time. Kansai did a number of cool spots in this including one awesome move where she broke up a pinfall or submission attempt by hurling Hokuto into Ozaki. She was fired up at the end as well despite the women being part of the same faction. I got a lot more out of watching this than I did other reinventions in 2000.