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Holy salkow, Batman, Miki’s back! Yes, Japan’s very own Babe on Ice, Miki Ando, roared back to form in the opening event of the Grand Prix figure skating series, not only winning October’s Skate America competition in Connecticut, but overshadowing younger teen star Mao Asada, everybody’s current tip for greatness. Ando, of course, was panned after finishing a disappointing 15th at the Turin Olympics, but she’s lost a bit of chunkiness and taken her skating to a higher level; maybe now she will start to fulfill her promise. Next up on the calendar is the NHK Trophy from November 30 to December 3 in Nagano. Japan’s women skaters are hot right now. Catch them while you can. FV See sports listings for details.
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By
Maki Nibayashi and Jamie Shea
The Final Crush
The retirement of two female pro wrestlers brings into
doubt the future of the sport itself
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The
Crush Gals: Lioness Asuka (left) and Chigusa Nagayo
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Tears will shed both in and out of the ring when Chigusa
Nagayo and Lioness Asuka hear their final count this month.
For the pair, better known as the Crush Gals, it’s the
end of 24 years as icons of Japan’s female pro-wrestling
world. For loyal fans, some now grown women, it’ll be
a moment for nostalgia. But the bell will toll most resonantly
for the sport itself.
When the Crush Gals formed back in 1982, they were a unique
combination that quickly caught the imagination of fans. “We
were both young, starting off on our own and doing fairly
well,” says 42-year-old Asuka. “We wanted to do
something different—take a break from the norm. There
were other female tag teams before us but we really wanted
to break the barriers of the regular wrestling mentality that
everyone had back then. And I think it worked.”
Soon after the girls leave the ring, GAEA Japan, the sport’s
top promotion company that Chigusa co-founded, will pack up
for good. The golden years of female wrestling are long gone,
as fans migrate to PRIDE, K-1, and other sports that rely
less blatantly on theatrics, even if the hype remains the
same.
“We always talk about what we can do to make women’s
wrestling in Japan better,” says Asuka, “but recently
we feel that time is not on our side anymore. We have had
our share of injuries, so that’s why we decided to leave
the mat for good.”
The pair split once before, in the early ‘90s, only to
reform years later as the Crush Gals 2000. “I think we
were destined to meet again,” says Asuka. At the time,
Chisuga was the figurehead fighter at GAEA, while Asuka was
freelancing as a baddie, known as the “heel” in
wrestling lingo. As a marketing gimmick, GAEA enlisted Asuka
to make a surprise appearance at a 1998 match in which Chisuga,
always the heroine, was being attacked by two famous heels,
Aja Kong and Ozaki Mayumi. “I’m sure the crowd was
really surprised and thinking, ‘There’s Asuka coming
to save Chigusa!’ But, I didn’t come to save her—I
teamed up with the bad girls!”
That encounter convinced the girls to pair up again. “It’s
hard to put into words,” recalls Asuka. “I felt
that there could be no other partner for me but her. I’m
sure we both felt that way.” This time, though, there
will be no third round.
“In Japanese there is a saying, Sandome no shojiki, which
means that the truth comes the third time around,” says
Chigusa, 41. “I think that’s fitting for us. The
third time is when we call it quits.”
For Asuka, that means saying goodbye to wrestling for good:
“We’ve spent all our lives in this world, and we
are getting ready to put a lid on that forever. We don’t
know who our last opponents are going to be yet, but we want
to show the fans the best fight ever. Our early fans are now
already in their thirties, with their own families and kids.
I’m sure there will be a lot of memories flowing through
their minds.”
Parents may squirm at the idea of their daughters aspiring
to be wrestlers, but Asuka challenges that view. “If
you want fans to look up to you and dream of you winning a
title, you have to become the kind of person who can provide
that dream. No matter how strong you are or how technically
good your wrestling is, unless you have a good heart and a
good outlook, the fans just won’t follow. To become a
first-class wrestler you must also become a first-class human
being.”
Asuka will retire on April 3, the last time the girls will
be in the ring together. But Chigusa will fight one last time,
on April 10, for GAEA’s closing match. “Sometimes,
at night, I think about it and try and imagine what Chigusa
is going to look like up on the mat,” Asuka says. “I
see myself crying. Last time we split I think I was smiling.
This time I want it to end it in tears.”
Apr 3, 5pm, Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka
Gym. Apr 10, 6:30pm, Tokyo Korakuen Hall. See sports listings
for details.
Would you like to comment on this article? Send a letter
to the editor at letters@metropolis.co.jp.
Discuss sports
with METROPOLIS readers at http://forum.japantoday.com
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