[2004-04-04-GAEA-Limit Break N1] Chigusa Nagayo vs. Lioness Asuka

[josephweirdness]

Somehow never heard this one talked up despite it being the last ever Chigusa/Asuka singles match, certainly of historic importance at the very least. And guess what, it rocks too. In fact, it might be my favorite match they ever did in GAEA. I suppose an important distinction here is that I came away from the match charmed by it, more than anything else but there's a lot in here to enjoy. The first half of the match is basically a send up to their 80s series, with a lot more emphasis on the grappling and mat exchanges than we typically get from GAEA-era Chigusa. At some points in those first few minutes too, you wouldn't be crazy to assume that they might have been playing with or at the very least emulating the old shoot pin rules of AJW. That all takes a drastic shift in the second half when suddenly Asuka brings out her signature table and Chigusa brings out a BARBED WIRE BOARD. Is the shift disjointed and inorganic? Yes. Does it still fucking rock that suddenly they're working bumps into the board and anticipation spots building to those bumps? Absolutely. Tonally, I think it fits too of the sisterly rivalry here escalating and paying homage to the various eras of their work. Worth noting too that the escalation here from mat to weapons is in the correct order, unlike their 1999 matches which had a weird progression from gimmickry to mat to brawling again. They build the closing moments around a few big bumps into the introduced weapons and then share a big hug at the end. I loved it, Crush Gals Forever.

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