Event: Stardom Cinderella Tournament 2020
Date: March 24th, 2020
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 538

It is time to watch the Stardom Cinderella Tournament! This is the sixth year Stardom has run the tournament, with the winner of the tournament being granted one wish (and gets to wear a pretty Cinderella dress). Last year’s winner, Arisa Hoshiki, used her wish to challenge Momo Watanabe for the Wonder of Stardom Championship, so the assumption is that the winner will challenge for one of Stardom’s top titles. The Cinderella Tournament is a one-night tournament and has 16 participants. Every match in the tournament is a singles match with the following stipulations:

• Tournament is Single Elimination
• All matches up to the final have a 10 Minute Time Limit
• If the time limit expires, the match is a Draw and both wrestlers are eliminated from the tournament
• If both wrestlers are eliminated by Draw, their opponent in the next round gets a Bye
• Wrestlers can win by pinfall, submission, or throwing their opponent over the top rope to the floor

Here is the full list of participants:

And here are the first round matches in the order they take place on the show:

First Round

• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Momo Watanabe vs. Starlight Kid
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Jungle Kyona vs. Giulia
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: AZM vs. Konami
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Syuri vs. Jamie Hayter
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Saki Kashima vs. Tam Nakano
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Natsuko Tora vs. Saya Kamitani
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Utami Hayashishita vs. Maika
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Mayu Iwatani vs. Hana Kimura

All wrestlers in the tournament have a profile on Joshi City, you can click their names to go straight to it. I’m watching Samurai TV’s version of the show, so some matches will likely be clipped.

Momo Watanabe vs. Starlight Kid

Starlight Kid charges Momo to start the match and dropkicks her, Irish whip by Starlight Kid but Momo reverses it. They go through a quick exchange, armdrag by Momo but Starlight Kid fires back with an armdrag of her own and dropkicks Momo. Starlight Kid goes off the ropes but Momo drills her with her own dropkick, elbows by Momo but Starlight Kid hits a crossbody off the ropes. Starlight Kid goes off the ropes but Momo avoids the Tiger Feint Kick, tilt-a-whirl headscissors and she delivers the Tiger Feint Kick on the second try. Standing moonsault by Starlight Kid, but it gets a two count cover. Starlight Kid goes for a slam but Momo blocks it, schoolboy by Starlight Kid but Momo catches her crossbody attempt and hits a side slam. Somato by Momo, but it only gets two. Momo goes to the second turnbuckle but Starlight Kid dropkicks her out to the apron, she tries to kick Momo to the floor but Momo hangs on and kicks Starlight Kid over the top rope. Momo goes on top again and hits a diving Somato, but Starlight Kid reverses the cover into one of her own. Momo goes for the B Driver but Starlight Kid reverses it into a sunset flip. Momo reverses the roll-up and the two trade flash pins, Starlight Kid goes for the Ki-chan Bomb but Momo blocks it and hits a B Driver. Head kick by Momo, she picks up Starlight Kid and drops her with a running B Driver for the three count! Momo Watanabe wins and advances in the tournament.

Its hard to recommend a sub-five minute match but this was just about perfect. It had everything you could ask for. It was fast paced and interesting from bell to bell, it smartly teased the ‘over the top’ rules, and Starlight Kid had her hope spots. About as perfectly done as a match can be in the Cinderella Tournament, both of them have a very bright future in Stardom if they stick to it.  Recommended

Jungle Kyona vs. Giulia

They tie-up to start, Kyona pushes Giulia into the ropes but Giulia escapes. They trade submissions, hard shoulderblock by Kyona and she applies a headscissors. Giulia gets to the ropes for the break, elbows by Kyona and she hits a powerslam. Dropkick to the back by Kyona and she hits a sliding lariat, cover by Kyona but it gets two. Kyona goes off the ropes but Giulia kicks her, Kyona fires back with a lariat but Giulia kicks her again. Giulia applies a standing armbar but Kyona gets into the ropes, boot by Giulia and she goes to the top turnbuckle, hitting a missile dropkick. Cover by Giulia, but it gets two. Giulia picks up Kyona but Kyona elbows her, Giulia elbows her back however and kicks Kyona to the mat. Giulia goes off the ropes but Kyona hits her with a hard elbow, scoop slam by Kyona and she hits a diving body press for two. Kyona gets Giulia around the waist and plants her with a powerbomb, she keeps hold of Giulia and picks her back up, tossing her over her head into the turnbuckles. Lariat by Kyona in the corner, she goes for the Muscle Buster but Giulia gets away. Giulia blocks Kyona’s lariat and hits a series of knees followed by a DDT, cover by Giulia but it gets two. Giulia applies a STF and chokes Kyona with her own arm, she switches the hold to the Stealth Viper and Kyona goes unconscious! Giulia wins the match and advances.

This actually felt like a normal midcard match as they didn’t really adapt much to the Cinderella Tournament rules. There was no sense of urgency to win in under ten minutes, and neither attempted to toss the other over the top rope. Its interesting though that instead of protecting Kyona in any way, they had her get choked into oblivion. As a Giulia fan, I enjoyed it, but it never felt like Kyona had a chance of winning. The action was pretty solid, nothing really wrong with it, I just wish they had done something that recognized the Cinderella Tournament aspect. Certainly watchable, just hard to recommend as it didn’t really fit into the event and didn’t have that exciting feel you’d hope to see on a show known for lots of short and high energy matches.

AZM vs. Konami

AZM attacks Konami from behind before the match starts, knocking her off the turnbuckles and out of the ring. The bell rings as AZM dives off the top turnbuckle to the floor onto Konami, before returning to the ring to wait for Konami to recover (AZM went under the bottom rope to then climb up to the top turnbuckle, so she didn’t go “Over The Top” to accidentally eliminate herself). AZM kicks her in the head as Konami gets in the ring, AZM goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving footstomp, but Konami kicks out of the cover. Fujiwara Armbar by AZM but Konami rolls through it as the two trade submission attempts. Konami gets into the ropes, AZM goes out to the apron but Konami kicks her as she goes for a swandive move. Konami goes for another kick but AZM grabs her foot and pulls her over the top and onto the apron. AZM quickly gets back in the ring and tries to push Konami off the apron, but Konami applies a hanging armbar over the top rope. She lets go and returns to the ring, dropkick to the head by Konami and she delivers a sliding kick. Fisherman suplex hold by Konami, but AZM kicks out. Konami picks up AZM but AZM blocks the Triangle Lancer attempt and kicks her in the head. Konami kicks AZM back but AZM trips her, AZM goes for a roll-up but Konami blocks it and slaps on the Triangle Lancer. Konami really sinks in the hold and AZM quickly taps out! Konami wins and continues in the tournament.

This match was more like the first one and was really well done. Very short but literal non-stop action, as AZM took it to Konami early and often, trying to win by any method as she took full advantage of the modified rules. This felt like Konami just trying to catch AZM before AZM could sneak out a lucky win, and once she finally caught her the match was over. Somehow AZM comes out looking strong as she loses in under three minutes, which I think says a lot for both of them and how the match was structured. A really fun match that highlights what this tournament should be all about.  Recommended

Syuri vs. Jamie Hayter

Syuri gets the first advantage as she strikes Jamie into the corner, running knee by Syuri but Jamie reverses the Irish whip and hits a running elbow. Lariat by Jamie and she hits a neckbreaker, cover by Jamie but it gets two. Snap vertical suplex by Jamie, she elbows Syuri against the ropes and hits a running knee for a two count cover. Jamie charges Syuri but Syuri avoids her strike, kick by Syuri and she applies a cross armbreaker. She switches it to a seated armbar and then into a hammerlock/armbar combination, and Jamie submits! Syuri wins and advances in the tournament.

This was a short match clipped even shorter. What they showed (about two minutes) was fine, Jamie got in a few spots but she wasn’t much of a threat to Syuri. The special rules never really came into play with what they showed, but not sure if they teased any spots with what was cut. Nothing wrong with it but nothing special either.

Saki Kashima vs. Tam Nakano

Saki avoids locking up with Tam which just infuriates Tam, Tam gets sloppy and Saki knees her to the mat. They finally lock up, Irish whip by Tam but Saki hits a hurricanrana. Tam bridges out of the pin attempt and hits a neckbreaker, snapmare by Tam and she kicks Saki in the back. Tam goes for a PK but Saki catches her leg and hits a dragon screw, Saki chokes Tam into the corner and stomps her down to a seated position. Saki twists on Tam’s leg back in the middle of the ring, but Tam inches to the ropes and makes it there for the break. Back up, Tam slaps Saki but Saki slaps her back, Saki goes off the ropes but Tam bridges down to avoid her strike and rolls up Saki for two. Tam goes off the ropes but Saki avoids her and cradles Tam for two. Saki puts Tam on the ropes and kicks her out to the apron, she tries to knock her off but Tam snaps her neck on the top rope. Tam goes up top and delivers a jumping kick, head kick by Tam and she covers Saki for two. Tam picks up Saki but Saki blocks the suplex attempt, she goes for a flash pin but Tam reverses it for a two count. Running knee by Tam, she picks up Saki and nails the Tiger Suplex Hold for the three count! Tam Nakano advances in the tournament.

Just judging from this match, these two still lack chemistry when against each other. More clunky than you’d expect and they just didn’t feel to be on the same page, which is more noticeable when a match is only five minutes long. At least they teased an “over the top rope” spot, so there is that. Not terrible but definitely skippable.

Natsuko Tora vs. Saya Kamitani

We join this one slightly in progress as Natsuko throws Saya into the corner, Natsuko chokes Saya with her boot and rakes her face over the ropes. Bootscrapes by Natsuko and she hits a running boot to Saya, Natsuko brings Saya to the middle of the ring and kicks her in the head some more. Saya fights back with elbows and goes for a dropkick, but Natsuko avoids it and hits a senton. Camel Clutch by Natsuko but she lets go after a moment, she goes off the ropes but Saya does as well and does a flip before delivering a dropkick. She goes for a slam but Natsuko blocks it, Saya gets Natsuko to the mat and puts her in the Sickle Hold. Crab hold by Saya but Natsuko inches to the ropes to force the break. Saya gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a footstomp to Natsuko’s back, she gets on the turnbuckles again but Natsuko recovers and grabs her. Saya wiggles away and the two trade elbows, Saya goes off the ropes but Natsuko lariats her to the mat for two. Natsuko picks up Saya and slams her in front of the corner, she goes up top and delivers the diving body press for the three count! Natsuko Tora wins and advances in the tournament.

This was better than I was expecting. That’s not to say it was great, but Natsuko didn’t look as out of place as she does sometimes and she led the rookie pretty well. Saya didn’t do a lot of her flashy offense (or it was cut out) which is a shame since she can be exciting to watch, so the focus was on Natsuko’s more plodding offense. The right wrestler won as Natsuko needs to do well in this tournament if she is going to be seen as a leader of her faction, but I wouldn’t call it a high end match.

Utami Hayashishita vs. Maika

We join this one in progress as Maika is in control, Maika goes off the ropes and kicks Utami in the arm. Maika picks up Utami but Utami drops her with a dropkick, she picks up Maika and hits a scoop slam. Utami applies a crab hold but Maika gets to the ropes for the break, stomps to the back by Utami but Maika rolls her to the mat and applies a double armbar. Utami gets to the ropes to get Maika to release the hold, armdrag by Maika and she monkey flips Utami to the mat. Utami fires back with a couple tosses, she charges Maika in the corner and hits a back elbow. Maika returns with a big boot and the two trade elbows until Maika hits a side slam, STO by Maika and she covers Utami for two. Maika goes for the cross armbreaker and gets it locked in, but Utami quickly gets to the ropes for the break. Maika picks up Utami but Utami armdrags her to the mat and puts Maika in a sleeper hold. Maika almost goes to sleep but gets to the ropes first, Utami picks up Maika and plants her with a German suplex hold for two. Utami drags Maika to her feet and puts her on the top rope, but Maika elbows her off. She lands on the apron but she elbows Utami when she charges in and returns to the ring. Maika clubs on Utami but the bell rings as time as expired. The match is a Draw and both wrestlers are eliminated from the tournament.

I wish they had shown more of this as I really liked what I saw. This is the best I have seen from Maika, of course she is still early in her career but here her strikes all looked on point and her submissions were well-timed. Utami looked great too, as they have already started developing some chemistry. Its hard to give a high recommendation to a match clipped in half, but still very well done and entertaining.  Mildly Recommended

Mayu Iwatani vs. Hana Kimura

Hana asks for a handshake to start but shockingly its a ruse as she smacks Mayu. She goes for a package piledriver but Mayu gets out of it, running boot by Hana but Mayu kicks her in the gut when she goes off the ropes. They trade elbows until Hana hits a front dropkick, Octopus Hold by Hana but Mayu quickly gets out of it and kicks Hana in the back. Armdrag by Mayu and she applies a stretch hold, she lets go after a moment and dropkicks Hana into the ropes. She goes off the ropes again but this time Hana catches her and tries to powerbomb her out of the ring. Mayu manages to land on the apron, Hana tries to kick Mayu down to the floor but Mayu hangs on. Mayu pulls Hana out to the apron with her, they both try to knock the other off the apron but neither falls to the floor. Hana rolls back into the ring, Mayu goes up top but Hana grabs her before she can jump off.

Hana joins Mayu but Mayu slides back to the mat, she goes for the Running Three but Hana gets away. Hana goes for a suplex but Mayu reverses it into a guillotine choke, but Hana muscles back to her feet and hits the suplex for a two count. Hana goes off the ropes and boots Mayu in the head, heel drop by Hana and she covers Mayu for two. Hana picks up Mayu and applies the Ground Manjikatame, but Mayu gets to the ropes for the break. Hana charges Mayu but Mayu avoids her boot and kicks Hana in the face. Mayu hits a German suplex hold, but Hana gets a shoulder up. Mayu goes up top and delivers a Frog Splash, but again Hana kicks out. Mayu goes to the top turnbuckle but Hana recovers and joins her, she tries to apply the armbreaker but she loses her balance and tumbles out of the ring, taking Mayu with her. The referee declares they both hit the floor at the same time, and the match is a Draw. Both wrestlers are eliminated from the tournament.

A fun match, as you’d expect these two have great chemistry. They don’t seem to mind actually kicking each other in the head as snugly as possible, which is a plus, and they both were wrestling with a sense of urgency which is important with the ten minute time limit. The double elimination is a bit of a cop out but they did a good job with it and it didn’t look like the most fun tumble so it didn’t come across as too silly. A pretty solid way to end the first round.  Mildly Recommended

Onto Round 2! Due to the Draws in the last two matches, there are only three Round 2 matches, which are:

• Cinderella Tournament 2020 Round 2: Momo Watanabe vs. Giulia
• Cinderella Tournament 2020 Round 2: Konami vs. Syuri
• Cinderella Tournament 2020 Round 2/Semi Final: Tam Nakano vs. Natsuko Tora

Lets get to it!

Momo Watanabe vs. Giulia

Giulia quickly boots Momo as the match starts, Momo kicks her back and the two trade strikes. Giulia goes for the Glorious Buster but Momo slides away, missile dropkick out of the corner by Momo and she connects with another dropkick. A third dropkick by Momo while Giulia is down in the corner, vertical suplex by Momo and she covers Giulia for two. Momo goes for the crossface chickenwing but Giulia blocks it, Momo gets Giulia on her back and hits the B Driver, but it only gets two. Momo charges Giulia but Giulia holds down the top rope and Momo ends up on the apron. Giulia tries to knock off Momo but goes over the top and lands on the apron herself, and the two trade elbows. High kick by Momo and she goes for the B Driver, but Giulia gets out of it and kicks Momo in the head. Giulia then grabs Momo and plants her with the Glorious Driver on the apron, causing Momo to flop down to the floor! Giulia wins by Over The Top and advances in the tournament.

By design, this was just a really condensed version of a match these two would have with more time. They went straight from strikes to signature move attempts to apron hilarity in four minutes, without much downtime between. Even though Giulia won by Over The Top, it was still an emphatic victory as she dropped Momo with one of her finishers in the process so that it didn’t seem fluky. Overall, not a bad match but it wasn’t as fun as some of the other short matches we’ve seen on the card.

Konami vs. Syuri

They circle each other to start as they begin cautiously, they trade holds but eventually reach a stalemate. Konami kicks Syuri in the leg but Syuri catches one and pushes her to the mat, Syuri applies a side headlock but Konami struggles back to her feet. Konami applies a side headlock of her own but Syuri gets out of it, both go for kicks until Syuri sends Konami to the mat with a kick to the chest. Syuri picks up Konami but Konami kicks her in the leg, they trade kicks with Konami eventually knocking Syuri off her feet. Sliding kick by Konami, she picks up Syuri and puts her in a Fujiwara Armbar. Konami goes for the cross armbreaker but Syuri blocks it, Konami goes for the Triangle Lancer and gets it locked in, but Syuri gets a foot on the ropes to force the break. Konami picks up Syuri and goes for it again, but Syuri spins out of it and kicks Konami in the head. Syuri puts Konami in the Scorpion Deathlock, and Konami has no choice but to submit! Syuri wins and advances in the tournament.

All this match did is show me that these two could have a great match in a normal situation. Sadly this was not a normal situation as it felt like they were going at their normal pace as if it was a fifteen minute match before suddenly ending it with a random hold. Konami wasn’t really hurt bad enough to think she’d lose to the Scorpion Deathlock, which isn’t even one of Syuri’s primary submissions so it just felt quickly planned. Their exchanges on their feet were solid, it was just not structured very well and overall disappointing due to that.

Tam Nakano vs. Natsuko Tora

They face off and grab each other’s hair to start, both wrestlers go off the ropes in an attempt to knock each other over but neither has success. Natsuko pulls down Tam by the hair and hits a trio of running sentons, she tries to throw Tam over the top rope but Tam gets away. They trade elbows, Tam elbows Natsuko into the corner and Irish whips her, but Natsuko reverses it. Tam kicks Natsuko as she charges in and applies a dragon sleeper while sitting on the top turnbuckle, but Saki Kashima hits her from the apron. Natsuko joins Tam but Tam headbutts her off, she goes for a diving knee but Natsuko moves. Tam avoids Natsuko’s lariat and hits a cutter, Tam charges Natsuko but Natsuko moves and lariats Tam over the top rope to the apron. Natsuko goes for a spear but Tam moves out of the way, with Natsuko getting caught up between the second and third ropes. Tam kicks Natsuko out to the apron and delivers a German suplex, Natsuko falls down to the floor but she is not eliminated as she did not go over the top rope. Natsuko rolls back into the ring and lariats Tam off the apron to the floor, picking up the win! Natsuko Tora wins via Over The Top, advancing to the Finals.

I’ve been thinking about how I feel about the end of the match and I decided I don’t like it. Its somewhat creative for the Cinderella Tournament, with Tam not realizing Natsuko had not gone over the top and thus wasn’t eliminated, but it annoyed me that Natsuko basically didn’t sell a German suplex on the apron which should be a killer spot. They should have just had Tam push Natsuko off the apron, as then it would have made more sense that she quickly recovered. Beyond that, the match was ok but obviously short. A unique ending so maybe memorable, but I didn’t love the execution of it.

We move on the third round of the tournament, the Semi Finals! As explained above, Natsuko Tora goes straight to the Finals as the other matches in her bracket went to a Draw, so she gets a Bye. Here is the lone legitimate Semi Final match:

• Cinderella Tournament 2020 Semi Final: Giulia vs. Syuri

Giulia vs. Syuri

They shake hands before the match but Syuri kicks Giulia in the stomach, Syuri works a headlock but Giulia gets out of it. Shoulderblock by Syuri but Giulia gets back up and elbows her as the two trade blows. Big boot by Giulia but Syuri avoids the next one, waistlock by Syuri but Giulia reverses it and hits a backdrop suplex. Giulia picks up Syuri and throws her into the corner, running boot by Giulia and she hits a neckbreaker. Cover by Giulia, but it gets two. Giulia goes for a suplex but Syuri blocks it and knees Giulia into the corner, running knee by Syuri and she hits a double underhook suplex. Syuri goes for a cross armbreaker and gets it locked on, but Giulia gets a foot on the ropes for the break. Syuri picks up Giulia and throws her into the corner, but Giulia avoids her charge. Syuri gets on the second turnbuckle and applies a hanging armbar, she lets go after a moment while sliding out to the apron and holds down the rope when Giulia charges her. Giulia ends up on the apron with Syuri, Giulia goes for the Glorious Driver again but Syuri blocks it and attempts to suplex Giulia off the apron. Giulia won’t let go of the ropes so Syuri gives up, high kick by Syuri but Giulia boots her off the apron down to the floor! Giulia wins and advances to the Finals!

Besides this match having two of my favorite wrestlers in Stardom in it, there wasn’t a lot going on here. The way they got onto the apron was a bit convoluted as Syuri had no real reason to jump out to it in the first place, since swandive moves aren’t really her thing. The callback to how Giulia won her last match was nice though, and they kept the pace up as you’d expect from a four minute match. This was more about getting to the right conclusion as quickly as possible, good for what it was but not incredibly creative.

Time for the Cinderella Tournament 2020 Finals!

Giulia vs. Natsuko Tora
Cinderella Tournament 2020 Finals

Natsuko attacks Giulia from behind before the match starts and knocks her out of the ring, she follows her out and tosses Giulia around the ringside area. She takes her up into the bleachers and slams her head into a column a few times, they return to ringside and Natsuko throws her into a row of chairs. Natsuko finally rolls Giulia back into the ring and returns herself with a chain, she drops the chain on the mat and scoop slams Giulia onto it. The referee gets rid of the chain, Natsuko throws to throw Giulia into the corner but Giulia reverses it and hits a hanging neckbreaker. Giulia gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Giulia but it gets two. The chain returns as Giulia has it now, she goes to hit Natsuko with it but changes her mind and throws it on the mat. Natsuko picks it up but tosses it aside as well as the two decide to trade elbows instead. Natsuko elbows Giulia into the corner, the referee tries to stop her but Natsuko throws him down. He tries again but this time Giulia pushes him down and elbows Natsuko repeatedly, he has learned his lesson and is now just watching as Giulia stomps Natsuko to the mat. He finally tries to intervene again but gets shoved away for his trouble, Giulia brings Natsuko back to the middle of the ring but Natsuko blocks the suplex attempt. Big boot by Giulia but Natsuko follows with a running elbow, another boot by Giulia but Natsuko levels her with a spear.

Both wrestlers slowly get up and trade elbows, knee by Giulia and she hits a DDT. Cover by Giulia, but it gets a two count. STF by Giulia but Natsuko crawls to the ropes and forces the break. Natsuko gets the chain as she gets up and lariats Giulia with it, she picks up Giulia and goes for a side slam but Giulia blocks it and applies a standing armbar. Natsuko gets out of it by falling back onto Giulia, she goes up top but Giulia rolls out of the way of her body press and boots her in the back of the head. Giulia picks up Natsuko but Natsuko blocks the Glorious Buster, Giulia goes off the ropes but Natsuko catches her with a swinging side slam for two. Natsuko goes up top and nails the diving body press, she picks up Giulia and slams her in front of the corner before going up top again. Diving Leg Drop by Natsuko, she covers Giulia but Giulia barely kicks out. Natsuko picks up Giulia and smacks her around but Giulia fires up and returns fire. Samoan Driver by Giulia, but it only gets two. Giulia picks up Natsuko and drops her with a Glorious Driver, but Natsuko barely gets a shoulder up on the cover. Natsuko tries to sneak in a flash pin but it only gets a two count, Giulia goes off the ropes and boots Natsuko in the face. Giulia puts Natsuko in a Stealth Viper, and Natsuko taps out! Giulia wins the match and the Cinderella Tournament!

For a match on the shorter side, I think these two delivered. Natsuko doesn’t always click with me but this is the best version of her, just no-nonsense and focusing on big strikes (and cheating when necessary) and being tough. The outside-the-ring portion was short enough that it didn’t detract from the match, and the action was pretty even. The pacing felt right and I am glad it ended when it did as if they tried to stretch it five more minutes they probably would have lost their way as Natsuko is still limited. I also think Giulia was the right person to win, it gives her the further push she needs and Natsuko looked good in defeat. A solid way to end the Cinderella Tournament, which overall I’d consider a success this year.  Recommended

The post Stardom Cinderella Tournament 2020 on 3/24/20 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: Stardom Cinderella Tournament 2019
Date: April 29th, 2019
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 1,050

It is time to watch the Stardom Cinderella Tournament! This is the fifth year Stardom has run the tournament, with the winner of the tournament being granted one wish (and gets to wear a pretty Cinderella dress). Last year’s winner, Momo Watanabe, used her wish to challenge Io Shirai for the World of Stardom Championship, so the assumption is that the winner will challenge for one of Stardom’s top titles. The Cinderella Tournament is a one-night tournament and has 16 participants. Every match in the tournament is a singles match with the following stipulations:

• Tournament is Single Elimination
• All matches up to the final have a 10 Minute Time Limit
• If the time limit expires, the match is a Draw and both wrestlers are eliminated from the tournament
• If both wrestlers are eliminated by Draw, their opponent in the next round gets a Bye
• Wrestlers can win by pinfall, submission, or throwing their opponent over the top rope to the floor

I previewed the event as well, where I predicted (mostly incorrectly) the outcome of the tournament. Here is the full bracket:

These are the first round matches in the order they take place on the show:

First Round

• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: AZM vs. Rebel Kel
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Starlight Kid vs. Natsu Sumire
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Bea Priestley vs. Hazuki
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Arisa Hoshiki vs. Saki Kashima
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Hana Kimura vs. Andras Miyagi
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Kagetsu vs. Tam Nakano
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Natsuko Tora vs. Jungle Kyona
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Konami vs. Momo Watanabe

All wrestlers have a profile on Joshi City, you can click their names to go straight to it. I’m switching back and forth between Stardom’s version and Samurai TV’s version of the show, which I realize is a bit obnoxious but the end result is the same anyway.

AZM vs. Rebel Kel

Rebel Kel flaunts her height advantage to start and tosses the much smaller AZM round the ring, AZM tries to dropkick Rebel Kel over but Rebel Kel stays standing tall. Rebel Kel hits a dropkick of her own, Irish whip by Rebel Kel but AZM pushes her to the mat and kicks her in the chest. AZM goes for an Irish whip but Rebel Kel reverses it, AZM avoids her charge in the corner and flips out to the apron. AZM trips Rebel Kel under the bottom rope, footstomp by AZM but Rebel Kel blocks the suplex attempt. Irish whip by Rebel Kel to the corner, AZM jumps up to the turnbuckles but Rebel Kel boots her in the chest. Rebel Kel flings AZM in the middle of the ring, cocky cover by Rebel Kel but it gets two. She tosses AZM around by her hair, kick by Rebel Kel and she gets on the second turnbuckle, but AZM recovers and joins her. Rebel Kel goes for an avalanche chokeslam but AZM blocks it and throws her back into the ring, high kick by AZM and she hits a vertical suplex. Elbows by AZM but Rebel Kel boots her when she goes off the ropes, she goes for a suplex but AZM lands on her feet. Rebel Kel blocks the cradle attempt, Falcon Arrow by Rebel Kel but AZM kicks out of the cover. Press slam attempt by Rebel Kel but AZM reverses it into a hurricanrana for the three count! AZM wins and advances in the tournament.

This was better than it had any right to be but its because they kept it simple. Big Person vs. Little Person is an old story but its a story that works if done well, and the structuring here was on point as they kept the match interesting bell to bell. The flash pin/upset was a nice way to kick of the tournament, and Rebel Kel looked better than she has in any match I’ve seen her up to this point. For a first tournament match, about all you could ask for.  Mildly Recommended

Starlight Kid vs. Natsu Sumire

Wristlock by Starlight Kid to start and she tosses Natsu down near the corner, dropkick by Starlight Kid and she hits a jumping lariat for two. She goes for a cradle but Natsu blocks it, stomps by Natsu and she stretches Starlight Kid in the ropes. Natsu gets a bottle of water and spits it into the crowd, big boot by Natsu to the back of the head and she covers Starlight Kid for barely two. Natsu kick Starlight Kids into the corner but Starlight Kid avoids the bronco buster and positions Natsu in front of the corner. Diving body press off the second turnbuckle by Starlight Kid, she picks up Natsu but Natsu gets away. Starlight Kid goes off the ropes but Natsu blocks the Tiger Feint Kick, she puts Starlight Kid across the ropes in the corner and hits a double knee drop. Natsu goes for the Bronco Buster again and this time succeeds, she goes for the DDT but Starlight Kid pushes her off and hits a swinging neckbreaker followed by a standing moonsault for two. Starlight Kid goes off the ropes but Natsu grabs her for a small package, but Starlight Kid reverses it and hits a dropkick. Small package by Starlight Kid and she picks up the three count! Starlight Kid wins and advances in the tournament.

A pretty simple match, not much to it. Starlight Kid looked smooth as usual and Natsu continued to serve her role well. There was no other outcome that would work here, more of a formality than anything else and generally skippable.

Bea Priestley vs. Hazuki

Hazuki and Bea circle each other, they go through a high speed exchange until Bea hits a hurricanrana. Bea can’t capitalize as Hazuki quickly takes over, she facewashes Bea against the ropes before hitting a running boot. Scoop slam by Hazuki, and she covers Bea for two. Back up they trade elbows, Hazuki throws Bea into the corner and charges her, but Bea flips Hazuki out onto the apron. Swandive dropkick by Hazuki and she puts Bea in an armtrap crossface, but Bea gets into the ropes for the break. Hazuki goes off the ropes but Bea avoids the boot and knees her, backdrop suplex by Bea and she delivers a curbstomp for two. Bea picks up Hazuki and goes for the Queen’s Landing, but Hazuki elbows out of it and headscissors Bea over the top rope, sending Bea to the floor! Hazuki wins by Over The Top Rope and advances in the tournament.

Even before I read it officially, it was clear that this was not the planned ending. Bea lost her grip and ended up on the floor, even as Hazuki tried to hold her up. The music played was Bea’s and initially Bea was announced as the winner, before they changed it since Hazuki clearly won. Before the botched ending the match was fine, both are smooth and everything was hit flush. A perfectly watchable first round match, just with an accidental winner.

Arisa Hoshiki vs. Saki Kashima

They trade strike attempts to start with neither connecting until Saki hits a quick footstomp. Saki starts on Arisa’s leg and kicks her against the ropes, she goes off the ropes but Arisa kicks her in the chest. Arisa chops Saki in the corner and hits a jumping double knee, double kneedrop by Arisa and she covers Saki for two. She goes off the ropes but Saki ducks the kick and hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors into an Indian Deathlock. Arisa gets to the ropes for a break, Saki dropkicks her in the knee and hits a kneedrop to Arisa’s leg from the second turnbuckle. More kicks by Saki and she hits a dragon screw, she picks up Arisa and hits a double underhook facebuster for a two count. Saki goes up top but Arisa avoids the diving footstomp, kicks by Arisa but Saki avoids the Brazilian Kick. Saki goes for a roll-up but Arisa rolls through, jumping knee by Arisa and she covers Saki for a two count. Arisa picks up Saki and slams her to the mat, she goes up top and nails a twisting body press for the three count! Arisa Hoshiki is the winner!

While these five minute (or shorter) matches are hard to recommend on an individual basis, a common issue with “rating” tournaments like this, the match was an easy watch and both looked fine. Arisa is the crisper of the two and Saki’s leg work seemed weird since you can win by throwing your opponent over the top rope, but maybe making strategies just isn’t Saki’s strong suit. A good tournament match.

Hana Kimura vs. Andras Miyagi

They are slow to lock-up, Andras starts headbanging so Hana schoolboys her from behind for a two count. Now Hana starts to headbang so Andras joins her, Hana goes off the ropes and she boots Andras in the head. Hana celebrates in the ropes but Andras knocks her from behind onto the apron, Andras charges her but Hana slides back in the ring and hits a dropkick. Running boot by Hana and she hits a second one, cover by Hana but it gets two. Hana gets Andras’ back and goes for a sleeper, but Andras gets out of it with a jawbreaker. Hana quickly applies the Ground Manjikatame but Andras quickly gets a foot on the ropes for the break, Andras gets back up and the pair trade elbows until Hana hits a sidewalk slam for two. Andras throws Hana into the corner but Hana tosses her out onto the apron, Hana goes to elbow Andras off the apron but Andras snaps her neck on the top rope. Andras returns to the ring and boots Hana, backdrop suplex by Andras and she goes to the top turnbuckle, hitting a missile dropkick for a two count. Elbow by Andras but Hana boots her back and gets on the second turnbuckle, Andras boots her off of it however and Hana lands on the apron. Andras charges Hana but Hana holds the rope down and Andras ends up on the apron as well. They trade elbows while on the apron, Andras goes for a piledriver but Hana blocks it and goes for a vertical suplex. Andras blocks that too, boot by Andras but Hana dropkicks her off the apron and down to the floor! Hana Kimura wins via Over The Top Rope and advances into the tournament.

I’m not sure how these factions are going to work out but I will admit that I am afraid of Hana Kimura getting lost in the shuffle. She is a good wrestler but not as good as many of the other Stardom wrestlers, and her current gimmick is hard to take seriously. Andras is in a similar boat but doesn’t come across as goofy as Hana can so I’m not as concerned with her, I don’t think she’ll ever have the top title but she’ll find her place. Anyway the match was decent enough but they didn’t click as well as we’ve seen in the last few matches and it felt more like trading spots until the ending stretch than anything else. Not bad, but nothing special either.

Kagetsu vs. Tam Nakano

They jockey for position to start, they end up on the mat but they roll into the ropes for a break. They soon land on the mat again, Tam gets Kagetsu’s ankle but Kagetsu gets out of it and applies an ankle hold of her own. Tam wiggles to the ropes and gets to them to force a break, Kagetsu picks her up and tosses Tam towards the corner, but Tam collapses before she gets there. Kagetsu kicks Tam’s leg in the ropes before dropkicking it, Kagetsu puts Tam on the top turnbuckle but Tam jumps off with a neckbreaker. Cartwheel kneedrop by Tam, and she covers Kagetsu for a two count. Tam goes for a backdrop suplex but Kagetsu lands on her feet, grounded necklock by Tam but Kagetsu muscles out of it and hits a vertical suplex. Kagetsu charges Tam but Tam kicks her and applies a guillotine on the top turnbuckle, Takako Panic by Tam but Kagetsu blocks her knee attempt. Sleeper by Tam but Kagetsu gets out of it with a jawbreaker and applies an ankle hold. Again Tam gets to the ropes to get a break, Kagetsu picks her up and hits an Ebisu Drop in front of the corner. Kagetsu goes up top but Tam recovers and joins her, superplex by Tam but Kagetsu quickly hits a sliding knee. Death Valley Bomb by Tam and both wrestlers are on the mat trying to recover. They both get back to their knees and trade elbows, Kagetsu elbows Tam into the ropes but Kagetsu blocks one and goes for a chokeslam. Tam blocks it but Kagetsu delivers a high kick, Ebisu Drop by Kagetsu and she goes up top, but Tam avoids the Oedo Coaster. High kick by Tam and she nails a Tiger Suplex Hold, but Kagetsu barely gets a shoulder up. Tam applies a dragon sleeper but the time expires before Kagetsu submits, and the match is a Draw! Both wrestlers are eliminated.

Even though they telegraphed a bit that they were going long with the slow start, once it kicked into gear I really enjoyed this. Tam needed a good showing as she just hasn’t been able to break out of the midcard since joining Stardom, and Kagetsu doesn’t really need the win since she already has a belt anyway. Both wrestlers kicked out of a fair amount of offense but neither hit their big death move, so it never felt excessive or like they were blowing too much for a first round match. Tam has more skill than Stardom has let her show and I hope taking Kagetsu to the limit (and having perhaps the winning move applied when the bell rang) will be the start of her getting bigger spots in the promotion. Overall a fun match that told a solid story while helping putting over Tam as a force to be reckoned with even if she ran out of time.  Recommended

Natsuko Tora vs. Jungle Kyona

They waste no time as they quickly get into an elbow battle, Kyona tries to shoulderblock Natsuko over but Natsuko doesn’t budge. She tries again with no luck, quick spear by Natsuko and she throws down Kyona by the hair. Natsuko kicks at Kyona in the corner and puts her in the ropes to hit a series of chops, she gets a bottle of water and pours it over Kyona’s head. Kneelift by Natsuko and she covers Kyona, but it gets a two count. Natsuko slaps at Kyona but Kyona responds with a hard elbow, Natsuko elbows her back but Kyona absorbs the blows and slaps her. Lariat by Kyona, and she covers Natsuko for two. Another lariat by Kyona and she hits a couple more, but Natsuko gets a shoulder up on the cover. Kyona elbows Natsuko into the corner and hits a running lariat, another lariat by Kyona and she puts Natsuko on the top turnbuckle. She goes for a Muscle Buster but Natsuko gets out of it, Natsuko goes for a spear but Kyona blocks it and hits a gutbuster. Kyona goes up top but Natsuko gets her knees up on the body press attempt and knees Kyona in the head. Natsuko then goes up top and delivers a diving body press of her own, but Kyona gets a shoulder up on the pin attempt. Natsuko picks up Kyona but Kyona hits a lariat, Natsuko fires back with an elbow but Kyona connects with a sliding lariat for two. Kyona goes off the ropes but so does Natsuko and she delivers the spear. Swinging side slam by Natsuko, but her cover gets two. Natsuko goes back up top and nails a diving guillotine legdrop, cover by Natsuko and she picks up the three count! Natsuko Tora wins and advances in the tournament.

While I am not surprised that Natsuko won, I thought they’d do it by Over The Top Rope and not have Natsuko get a clean pinfall. This was probably necessary to really put Natsuko over as she begins her new journey, but Jungle Kyona fans will continue to be dismayed as she continues to slip down the totem pole to the point she is almost underground now. They had a lot of slick reversals as they know each other well, but some of Natsuko’s parts were clunky as she is not the smoothest wrestler on the roster. A good match but this was more about the end result then the action that came before it, as Natsuko asserts herself as someone to keep an eye on going forward.  Mildly Recommended

Konami vs. Momo Watanabe

They jump right into it as Konami swats a Momo dropkick attempt and kicks her against the ropes. Snapmare by Konami, she flips her off but Momo responds with a dropkick and some kicks of her own. Back in the middle of the ring they trade chest kicks, Konami slides away and puts Momo in an armbar, but Momo is too close to the ropes and gets the break. Konami goes off the ropes and delivers a sliding kick, fisherman suplex by Konami but Momo kicks out. Back on their feet Konami kicks Momo some more, Irish whip by Konami to the corner but Momo avoids her charge and hits a dropkick. Another dropkick by Momo and she delivers a uranage followed by a Somato for two. Momo goes up top and hits the diving Somato, but again Konami gets a shoulder up. Konami gets a way from Momo and hits a high kick, but Momo retorts with her own high kick. She goes for the Tequila Sunrise but Konami blocks it and applies an armbar, she reverts it into a seated armbar but Momo gets a foot on the ropes for the break. Konami gets on the second turnbuckle but Momo kicks her in the head and tosses Konami out to the apron. Konami grabs Momo and applies a hanging armbar over the top rope, she lets go after a moment and Momo kicks her in the head when she does so. Momo charges Konami but Konami holds down the top rope, Momo tumbles over the top rope and down to the floor, eliminating her from the match! Konami is the winner and advances in the tournament.

This was really just a tease on things to come between these two, but for a five minute match it was well done. These two will likely be at odds for awhile and they did the match as they were equals, trading kicks and everything else until it was very suddenly over. Konami winning will help if they do keep feuding as now she has one-up on the champion, but losing by Over The Top Rope won’t hurt Momo any either. The right winner and a fun sprint.  Mildly Recommended

Quarter Finals

• Cinderella Tournament Quarter Final: Starlight Kid vs. Hazuki
• Cinderella Tournament Quarter Final: AZM vs. Konami
• Cinderella Tournament Quarter Final: Natsuko Tora vs. Hana Kimura
• Cinderella Tournament Quarter Final:: Arisa Hoshiki receives a Bye into the Semi Finals

Starlight Kid vs. Hazuki

Starlight Kid charges Hazuki and dropkicks her into the corner, she hits a few more dropkicks followed by a tilt-a-whirl DDT. Starlight Kid cradles Hazuki but it only gets two, she dropkicks Hazuki against the ropes and hits the Tiger Feint Kick. Standing moonsault by Starlight Kid, but Hazuki kicks out of the cover. Starlight Kid picks up Hazuki but Hazuki blocks the swinging neckbreaker and hits the Code Breaker. Running elbow by Hazuki, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Starlight Kid dropkicks her out to the apron. Hazuki goes to do a swandive move but Starlight Kid pushes her as she gets to the top rope, sending Hazuki crashing to the floor! Starlight Kid wins by Over The Top Rope, advancing to the Semi Finals.

Between the fact this is a long show and this wasn’t the planned match, it makes sense they’d just make it a really quick affair before continuing on the tournament. Starlight Kid looked impressive as she tends to so I have no issues with her winning, once she graduates high school I expect her to get a pretty good push. Good enough match for what it was.

AZM vs. Konami

Konami flips off AZM the same she did to Momo, but AZM dropkicks her for her trouble. Tilt-a-whirl into a schoolboy by AZM and she dropkicks Konami again, but Konami rebounds back with a springboard kick. AZM jumps on the second turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, another dropkick by AZM and she applies an armbar. She lets the hold go after a moment and they trade elbows back on their feet, slap by AZM and she hits a hurricanrana for a two count. AZM cradles Konami for another two as they trade flash pins with neither having any luck. Head kick by AZM, she goes up top and nails a diving footstomp, but the cover gets two. AZM goes off the ropes and hits a tilt-a-whirl into an armbar, but Konami rolls through it and applies the Triangle Lancer. AZM struggles for a second but quickly taps out! Konami is the winner and advances in the tournament.

This match had a clear outcome but they made it a pretty fun journey anyway. The Cinderella Tournament is going to have matches like this – fast paced and very short as they are attempting to have 14 matches on one show. So its an easy watch for sure but more of a tease for future battles than anything else due to the time constraints.

Natsuko Tora vs. Hana Kimura

Hana goes for a knucklelock but Natsuko kicks her in the stomach, Natsuko knocks Hana against the ropes before tossing her into the corner and kicking her some more. Hana is attacked by the entire Oedo Tai team while she is against the ropes, Natsuko goes to toss Hana down by the hair but Hana blocks it and takes Natsuko out of the ring (under the top rope) to beat her in the crowd. Hana tosses Natsuko into chairs at ringside before returning to the ring, Natsuko slowly follows her and Hana tosses her around by the hair once she gets back in. Mounted elbows by Hana and she boots Natsuko before putting her in a camel clutch. Hana goes off the ropes but Natsuko catches her with a spear, cover by Natsuko but it gets two. Elbows by Natsuko but Hana boots her, spinning backfist by Natsuko but Hana dropkicks her. Vertical suplex by Hana, but her cover gets a two count. Hana applies the Ground Manjikatame but Natsuko is too close to the ropes and reaches them to break the hold. Hana goes off the ropes and goes for a boot, but Natsuko holds down the top rope and Hana lands out on the apron. Natsuko is slid the Oedo Tai sign, she hits Hana in the head with it before spearing her off the apron to the floor! Natsuko Tora wins by Over The Top Rope and advances to the semi finals.

Up to this point, this was to me the most surprising result of the tournament. Natsuko Tora has generally just been a midcarder in the last year, with occasional tag team success but never doing anything as a singles wrestler. She isn’t the best in-ring wrestler as she isn’t as smooth as most of the roster in her movements and execution, so while I understand them wanting to re-invent her after switching to Oedo Tai I am surprised they are doing it at the expense of Hana Kimura, who also needs some wins now that she is the leader of a new faction. The match itself was ok but nothing memorable as it wasn’t as captivating as most of the matches we’ve seen up to this point. In-ring probably one of the worst matches in the tournament so far, it still wasn’t bad but it never clicked for me before the unexpected ending.

Semi Finals

• Cinderella Tournament Quarter Final: Arisa Hoshiki vs. Natsuko Tora
• Cinderella Tournament Quarter Final: Konami vs. Starlight Kid

Arisa Hoshiki vs. Natsuko Tora

They tie-up to start, Natsuko pushes Arisa into the ropes and hits rapid-fire punches to her stomach. Natsuko knocks Arisa down in the corner and starts working on her knee, kicks by Natsuko and she covers Arisa for a two count. Kicks to the knee by Natsuko, she goes off the ropes but Arisa catches her with a kick to the chest. Diving double knee by Arisa to Natsuko’s midsection, she picks her up and goes off the ropes, but Natsuko elbows her in the chest. Another running back elbow by Natsuko and she pounds on Arisa’s chest, she tosses by Arisa by the hair and hits bootscrapes in the corner. Irish whip by Natsuko and she hits a running elbow, spear by Natsuko and she covers Arisa for two. Natsuko slams Arisa in front of the corner and goes up top, delivering a diving body press for another two count. Natsuko picks up Arisa but Arisa gets away, backfist by Natsuko and she hits a rolling fireman’s carry slam. She goes to the top turnbuckle but Arisa avoids the diving guillotine legdrop. Head kick by Arisa, she picks up Natsuko and slams her to the mat. Arisa positions Natsuko and goes to the top turnbuckle, twisting body press by Arisa and she picks up the three count! Arisa Hoshiki wins and advances to the Finals.

While this wasn’t the most exciting match, it was pretty effective. Natsuko looked a bit better than she has thus far in the tournament, although I think Arisa held everything together. Arisa timed her spurts well and Natsuko was pretty on-point with her offense. Not a long match but it accomplished its goal, it wasn’t really designed to be memorable but to get Arisa Hoshiki into the Finals were she belongs. Mildly Recommended

Konami vs. Starlight Kid

They start with wristlocks until Konami gets Starlight Kid to the mat and kicks her in the back, she goes for the PK but Starlight Kid ducks it and schoolboys her for a two count. Starlight Kid tries a few more flash pins with no luck, swinging neckbreaker by Starlight Kid but Konami blocks the cross-legged suplex. Konami goes for the Triangle Lancer but Starlight Kid blocks it, Starlight Kid goes for a dropkick but Konami grabs her leg and applies an ankle hold. Starlight Kid reverses that into a roll-up for two, cross-legged suplex hold by Starlight Kid but Konami gets a shoulder up. Shiranui by Starlight Kid, she goes to the second turnbuckle but Konami avoids the moonsault attempt. Triangle Lancer by Konami, and Starlight Kid quickly taps out! Konami wins and advances to the Finals of the Cinderella Tournament.

Short, so disappointing in that regard, but really not a surprise considering we are towards the end of a 16 wrestler one night tournament. Starlight Kid continues to (and will continue to) impress with her spots and Konami went straight for the kill, which is logical considering the winner still has another match to go. A simple match but nothing wrong with it under the circumstances.

Finals

• Cinderella Tournament Quarter Final: Arisa Hoshiki vs. Konami

Arisa Hoshiki vs. Konami

They start slowly as they trade kicks, but Konami grabs Arisa’s leg and takes her down to the mat. Konami goes for a sleeper but Arisa snapmares out of it and kicks Konami in the back, Konami gets up and returns fire and the two trade kicks to the chest. Arisa gets the better of the initial exchange but hits the mat after a hard kick from Konami, Konami sets up Arisa’s leg across the second rope in the corner before dropkicking it. Cover by Konami, but it gets two. Konami applies an ankle hold but Arisa is too close to the ropes and reaches them for the break. Konami goes back to the leg but Arisa reaches the ropes again, Arisa elbows Konami, Konami elbows her back but Arisa plants Konami with a dropkick. Rapid-fire kicks by Arisa and she chops Konami in the corner, jumping double knee strike by Arisa and she hits a reverse double kneedrop to Konami’s back for a two count. Arisa gets Konami on her shoulders but Konami quickly slides off and puts Arisa in an ankle hold.

Arisa gets a hand on the ropes, Konami charges her and hits a sliding kick. Fisherman Suplex Hold by Konami but Arisa gets a shoulder up, Arisa fights back and the two exchange strikes. High kick by Arisa, she picks up Konami and hits an over-the-shoulder slam. Arisa goes up to the top turnbuckle but Konami recovers and crawls up with her, applying an ankle hold while Arisa’s leg is tied up in the ropes. She lets go after a moment and hits a superplex, Konami applies a Stretch Muffler but Arisa gets to the ropes to force a break. Konami goes for a high kick but Arisa ducks it and hits one of her own, she slams Konami in front of the corner and she delivers the twisting diving body press, but Konami barely gets a shoulder up. Arisa picks up Konami but Konami ducks the Brazilian Kick and applies an armbar, but Arisa is in the ropes. Konami picks up Arisa and goes for the Triangle Lancer, but Arisa rolls through it and nails Konami with a jumping knee. A second jumping knee by Arisa, she picks up Konami and hits a third over-the-shoulder powerslam. A second twisting body press by Arisa, but like before Konami kicks out at two. Arisa drags up Konami and hits a kick combination ending with the Brazilian Kick, cover by Arisa and she picks up the three count! Arisa Hoshiki wins the match and the Cinderella Tournament!

I would have been happy with either Arisa Hoshiki or Konami winning, as even though I am not sure if Arisa’s current spot in the promotion means she will be a good title defense for Momo Watanabe, at least it is something different and someone new is being elevated. In some ways the match felt flat as Konami’s real journey in the tournament was over – she had taken down Queen’s Quest and she had no real beef with Arisa Hoshiki. Some of Arisa’s weaknesses were on display here as even though it was a ten minute match she repeated a lot of the same moves (three shoulder powerslams, two twisting bodypresses, etc.) and it felt like they ran out of ideas eight minutes into it which is really too soon to have those types of issues. I did enjoy Konami’s leg work and all the strikes were on point, I just wish it had a bit more urgency and felt more important. A good match but it didn’t really feel like as big of a match that they were trying to build up to.  Mildly Recommended

The post Stardom Cinderella Tournament 2019 on 4/29/19 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: Stardom Cinderella Tournament 2019
Date: April 29th, 2019
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan

It is time for the Stardom Cinderella Tournament! This is the fifth year Stardom has run the tournament, with the winner of the tournament being granted one wish (and gets to wear a pretty Cinderella dress). Last year’s winner, Momo Watanabe, used her wish to challenge Io Shirai for the World of Stardom Championship, so the assumption is that the winner will challenge for one of Stardom’s top titles. The Cinderella Tournament is a one-night tournament and has 16 participants. Every match in the tournament is a singles match with the following stipulations:

• Tournament is Single Elimination
• All matches up to the final have a 10 Minute Time Limit
• If the time limit expires, the match is a Draw and both wrestlers are eliminated from the tournament
• If both wrestlers are eliminated by Draw, their opponent in the next round gets a Bye
• Wrestlers can win by pinfall, submission, or throwing their opponent over the top rope to the floor

The entire tournament takes place on April 29th, so there will be a maximum of 15 matches in one night (there will likely be less, since at least a match or two will end in a draw which will eliminate both wrestlers). Here is the bracket:

And to make it slightly easier to read, here are all the pairings. You can click on the wrestler’s name under the First Round heading to go to their wrestler profiles on Joshi City.

First Round

• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Hana Kimura vs. Andras Miyagi
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Natsuko Tora vs. Jungle Kyona
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Arisa Hoshiki vs. Saki Kashima
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Kagetsu vs. Tam Nakano
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Starlight Kid vs. Natsu Sumire
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Bea Priestley vs. Hazuki
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: AZM vs. Rebel Kel
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Konami vs. Momo Watanabe

Second Round

• Cinderella Tournament Round 2: Hana or Andras vs. Natsuko or Jungle
• Cinderella Tournament Round 2: Arisa or Saki vs. Kagetsu or Tam
• Cinderella Tournament Round 2: Starlight Kid or Natsu vs. Bea or Hazuki
• Cinderella Tournament Round 2: AZM or Rebel Kel vs. Konami or Momo

Semifinals

• Cinderella Tournament Semi Finals: One of Hana/Andras/Natsuko/Jungle vs. One of Arisa/Saki/Kagetsu/Tam
• Cinderella Tournament Semi Finals: One of Starlight Kid/Natsu/Bea/Hazuki vs. One of AZM/Rebel Kel/Konami/Momo

Cinderella Tournament Finals

Tournament Predictions

And now I will try to predict who will win this unpredictable tournament. For the sake of coming up with “odds,” 16:1 will be the base since mathematically, that is everyone’s odds of winning the tournament. Any wrestler I think has a “better than average” chance of winning will be below that, and any wrestler I think has a “worse than average” chance will be higher. Sometimes much, much higher. The odds are mostly numbers I pick at random so don’t take them too seriously, however I did make sure the odds ranked the wrestlers in the order I think they could win. Taking all things into consideration, here are my odds of each wrestler winning, going in the order they are wrestling using the match list on Stardom’s website:

AZM (100:1) – AZM is really close to getting to the level that she can have a shot of winning the tournament, but she isn’t there yet. She doesn’t have an active storyline right now that would hint that she is up next for a major title shot, and since she is under 18 she isn’t ready for a push that would get her to the main title picture. There is a possibility she will get an upset win in the first round (or an upset Draw) but that is her ceiling this year.

Rebel Kel (80:1) – Even though Rebel Kel was formally drafted into a Stardom faction, I still struggle to see her having a long career at this time in Stardom as she still needs more in-ring development to fit in with Stardom’s better wrestlers. She will likely get a win over AZM just based on the age and height difference but I don’t foresee her path going any further than that.

Starlight Kid (50:1) – The wildest of wild cards, Starlight Kid has a lot working against her – particularly her age, her height, and her experience. On the flip side, she was the first wrestler selected in the draft and she gets an easy first round opponent. One year I suspect someone will win that doesn’t challenge for a top title, could Starlight Kid win and go for the High Speed? Its doubtful, but Stardom likes her a lot so I could see her at least making it a round or two before elimination.

Natsu Sumire (250:1) – If I had to pick the least likely wrestler to win, it would be Natsu Sumire. Since joining Stardom she has been mostly treated as a funny gimmick and beater of children, two roles that I agree she is great at, but there’s never been any sign of her getting a push beyond that. The mid-card is her ceiling, she won’t be a serious challenger for a singles title. I fully expect her to lose to Starlight Kid and regardless she isn’t winning the tournament.

Hazuki (16:1) – The first wrestler so far that I think does have a chance of winning, even though it is just even odds. Hazuki has some things working for her as she has really improved in-ring over the last year and is frequently the focus on cards. Working against her is the “Cinderella” look may be a stretch and there are other wrestlers that I just think it makes more sense for. Don’t write her off, but I think 2020 will more likely be her year if she continues to grow.

Bea Priestley (35:1) -On paper Bea would be a good contender to win this, as she is frequently protected in her matches and is overdue for a big title match in Stardom. But since she reached the Finals last year I don’t think she will this year, there are just too many other storylines going on in Stardom right now that don’t directly involve her and I see them going in a different direction. The skill and card placement level are there for Bea, but this doesn’t feel like her year.

Arisa Hoshiki (14:1) – Arisa is to me the most intriguing wrestler in this tournament. She checks a lot of the boxes – she is a good wrestler, will soon be able to concentrate on wrestling full time, is overdue for a big title match, and is attractive (yes. that matters for a Cinderella Tournament). But the issue with Arisa is she hasn’t really been put over on the events as a threat, she has always been Mayu’s lackey that has good matches but isn’t usually the focus. Could they use this to jump-start to Arisa being a feared singles wrestler? Its possible, but there hasn’t been a lot of foreshadowing in that direction so I’d still be a bit surprised if she took home the tiara.

Saki Kashima (70:1) – Everyone was excited when Saki returned to Stardom last year, but I think the return of Arisa really took the wind out of her sails and she has not found her place in the promotion. She isn’t anywhere close to being ready to main event Korakuen, as she has mostly just been a faction wrestler for the last six months. I don’t foresee her even getting out of the first round, and her chances of winning are pretty slim.

Hana Kimura (2:1) – The favorite to win the tournament. Allow me to list the reasons – faction leader ready for a bigger push, young, talented, popular, newly signed, and attractive. The only reason I could see her not winning is by shenanigans, some faction-related issue causing her to lose which would set her down a different path. A heel-ish native has never won the tournament as usually it goes to a happy babyface, but I don’t see that as a blockade for her. While in a tournament like this there are no sure things, if I had to bet on someone it would be Hana.

Andras Miyagi (25:1) – Another interesting wrestler in the tournament. Andras Miyagi has the skill and push level to win the tournament for sure. The main reason I don’t see her winning is simply a “character” one as she doesn’t scream “Cinderella.” That doesn’t mean she can’t win, it would just break from tradition. She also recently had a shot at Momo and wouldn’t challenge Kagetsu, another mark against her. She may upset someone or even reach the finals, but I don’t think she’ll win.

Tam Nakano (10:1) – Tam is a lot of fans’ favorite to win the tournament. She hasn’t had a lot of championship success outside of the Trios title up to this point but has generally had a prominent role on their shows to keep her over. She has had a few big matches so it wouldn’t be totally out of left field, and Tam is overdue for a real push. Another thing working for her is she has the Cinderella “look” and is popular – I wouldn’t put her with the best odds but she’s definitely one to consider winning it all.

Kagetsu (20:1) – Kagetsu comes into the tournament one of the top champions already in Stardom, lessening her chances of winning. She also doesn’t really fit the mold for who Stardom typically has winning these, as I can’t see Kagetsu putting on a pretty blue dress. It would be cool to have someone win that refuses to be a “Cinderella” and Kagetsu would be a good pick to do that, but until it happens I consider it unlikely. Kagetsu will likely go far but lose via over the top rope or DQ along the way.

Jungle Kyona (45:1) – Poor Jungle Kyona. So much heartbreak for her recently. Losing her faction. Losing her friends. Being passed over by everybody. Add one more reason for sadness for Kyona – she may win a round or two but she isn’t winning this tournament.

Natsuko Tora (150:1) – Even with a new “attitude,” its still too early for Natsuko. I think she has a decent chance at upsetting Jungle Kyona to continue their feud but she’ll lose soon after. Really I think a Draw between them is likely as it would get Kyona out of the tournament while keeping her strong. Virtually no chance for Natsuko here, she’s at least a year away from being in a big singles title match at Korakuen.

Momo Watanabe (12:1) – Momo is the Ace of Stardom and the defending Cinderella Tournament winner, meaning you can’t write her off. However, she does already have one of the top titles in the promotion. She could win and challenge Kagetsu as they have faced off before title vs. title, so I’m not taking her off the board, but typically Stardom doesn’t have a current top champion win this tournament. I still have to give her better than even odds since she is so dominant, but she isn’t my top pick.

Konami (40:1) – Finally, we have Konami. Konami has done virtually nothing in Stardom in the last year. She had some midcard title challenges, but she lost them all. In Queen’s Quest she was overshadowed by Momo and Utami, never finding her place. Now that she is with Tokyo Cyber Squad maybe a push is coming, but its too soon for her now and they won’t start the push with a Cinderella Tournament win. I hope and expect Konami has a good showing, but she has a ways to go before she is ready to wear the Cinderella dress.

The post Stardom Cinderella Tournament 2019 Preview and Predictions appeared first on Joshi City.

I have to give Stardom credit, as they added this event really fast to Stardom World. The annual Cinderella Tournament is one of Stardom’s biggest events of the year, as it takes place during Golden Week (a major holiday in Japan). 16 wrestlers battle in a one night tournament, with the winner getting one “wish” granted (generally assumed to be a title shot). Below is the full card:

• 4 Way Match: AZM vs. Hanan vs. Kaori Yoneyama vs. Ruaka
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: HZK vs. Jungle Kyona
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Jessicka Havok vs. Natsuko Tora
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Kris Wolf vs. Tessa Blanchard
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Kagetsu vs. Konami
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Hetzza vs. Mayu Iwatani
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Rebel vs. Toni Storm
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Hiromi Mimura vs. Kairi Hojo
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Hana Kimura vs. Io Shirai
• Cinderella Tournament Round 2: Tessa Blanchard vs. Toni Storm
• Cinderella Tournament Round 2: HZK vs. Kairi Hojo
• Cinderella Tournament Round 2: Kagetsu vs. Mayu Iwatani
• Cinderella Tournament Round 2: Io Shirai vs. Jessicka Havok
• Cinderella Tournament Finals: Mayu Iwatani vs. Toni Storm

Quick reminder of the rules for the Cinderella Tournament – it is single elimination, each match has a ten minute time limit, and a wrestler can also win by throwing their opponent over the top rope. If a match ends in a Draw, both wrestlers are eliminated from the tournament.

Now that I have finished all the profiles, every wrestler above has one on the website, you can click on their names above for more information on the wrestler. As I am (obviously) watching this on Stardom World, all matches will be shown in full. Lets get to it!

AZM vs. Hanan vs. Kaori Yoneyama vs. Ruaka

AZM acts at first like she is on Kaori’s side against the rookies, but instead attacks her as the veteran is triple teamed. She hits a jumping crossbody on all of them for their trouble, AZM grabs Kaori but they are both dropkicked over by Hanan and Ruaka. This leaves the two 12 year olds alone in the ring, judo throw by Hanan and they trade holds on the mat until Ruaka throws Hanan off of her. Kaori and AZM return, AZM dropkicks Kaori but Kaori bridges out of the pin. AZM returns the favor but Kaori catches her crossbody attempt and drops AZM on the ground. Ruaka and Hanan trip Kaori and all three dropkick her while she is in the ropes before the rookies pose on her. AZM takes advantage of this and attacks both rookies, Hanan dropkicks Ruaka and then AZM dropkicks Hanan, all four wrestlers trade schoolboys but no one gets the three count as they return to their feet. AZM has had enough and sits on the top turnbuckle to watch, STO by Hanan to Ruaka but Kaori dropkicks her while hitting a senton on Ruaka at the same time.

AZM jumps down to break up the cover but soon returns to the turnbuckle, Kaori wraps up Hanan’s legs but AZM comes down again and puts Kaori in a hanging armbar. AZM yells for Ruaka and they double team Kaori, AZM gets on the second turnbuckle but Ruaka hits a Fisherman Suplex Hold on Kaori before AZM can jump off. Hanan sneaks in a cover on Kaori which AZM also breaks up, AZM and Hanan trade elbows until Hanan hits another STO. Hanan goes for a toss on Kaori but Kaori blocks it, she lays all three of her opponents next to each other and goes for a diving senton, but all three roll out of the way. Satellite schoolboy by AZM to Kaori but it gets a two count, Ruaka boots AZM in the corner as Hanan recovers, but Kaori drop toeholds Hanan on Ruaka. Kaori goes for a senton on both of them but Hanan rolls out of the way, so Kaori only hits Ruaka. Hanan quickly schoolboys Ruaka, and she picks up the three count! Hanan is the winner!

This is the first win of Hanan’s career.  A pretty well structured match, rookie matches can be all over the place but clearly they planned this match well and no one ever looked lost. There were some minor things here and there but nothing match-breaking, and all four wrestlers got a chance to shine a bit since it was a decent length opener. Not a bad way to kick things off.

HZK vs. Jungle Kyona

They immediately charge each other to start and HZK connects with a few kicks, but Kyona shrugs them off and the two trade elbows. Kyona applies a sleeper and swings HZK around, she tries to throw HZK over the top rope but HZK lands on the apron. HZK goes off the ropes but HZK avoids her shoulder tackle and kicks Kyona back into the ring. HZK goes up top but Kyona joins her, she tries to push HZK out of the ring but HZK hangs on. Kyona powerslams HZK back into the ring, she returns to the top turnbuckle and delivers a diving body press for a two count. She goes for a gutwrench but HZK quickly gets out of it, elbows by Kyona but HZK pulls her down by the hair and hits a series of mounted elbows. HZK picks up Kyona but Kyona palm thrusts her, Codebreaker by HZK and she slams Kyona in front of the corner. HZK goes up top but Kyona recovers and slaps her, Kyona grabs HZK and she goes for a powerbomb, but HZK pushes off of her and kicks Kyona in the head. She goes for the Full Nelson Slam but Kyona blocks it and hits a lariat, both wrestlers go for quick pins but neither gets the three. Kyona is up first and goes off the ropes, but HZK knees her. Lariat by Kyona but HZK connects with the jumping front kick, HZK slams Kyona in front of the corner and she nails the Bombs Away for the three count! HZK wins and advances in the tournament.

Generally speaking, the short time limit doesn’t do the matches in the Cinderella Tournament any favors (which we will see in a minute), but HZK and Kyona used the time really well. There was a constant sense of urgency from both wrestlers, and I liked that Kyona tried to toss HZK over the top rope the first chance she got. They threw in so much offense that it didn’t feel like a cheap win even though the match wasn’t very long, and it shouldn’t be slept on that HZK beat Kyona cleanly in the middle of the ring instead of by throwing her over the top. A big win for HZK and well-earned.  About all that you hope for from a 1st Round match.  Recommended

Jessicka Havok vs. Natsuko Tora

Natsuko attacks Havok before the bell rings, but Havok absorbs her punches and knocks Natsuko to the mat. Clubbing blows by Havok, she goes for a lariat but Natsuko blocks it and applies a guillotine. Havok tosses her off and charges Natsuko, Natsuko ducks and tries to toss Havok over the top rope, but Havok easily blocks it. Havok chokes Natsuko but Natsuko gets away, she goes off the ropes but Havok boots her in the face. Havok gets Natsuko on her shoulders but Natsuko slides down her back, Havok tries to sit on Natsuko but Natsuko moves and rolls up Havok for two. Havok tosses Natsuko in the corner but Natsuko avoids her charge and schoolboys her again for a two count. Elbows by Natsuko and a dropkick, she goes off the ropes but Havok knees her in the stomach. Lariat by Havok, she picks up Natsuko and drops her with a tombstone piledriver for the three count! Jessicka Havok advances in the tournament.

As odd as it may sound, I think Natsuko got too much “offense” in this match. Havok was made to look like a fool for most of it, as the rookie over and over was getting out of her moves or avoiding them, as if she had done weeks of scouting even though she just was put in the match the day before. I’d rather have had Havok just crush her, instead 75% of the match was Natsuko successfully avoiding Havok. The right person won, but I don’t think the structure of it did anyone any favors.

Kris Wolf vs. Tessa Blanchard

After some Fast Paced Action, Kris hits a Backstabber before hitting a jumping knee in the corner. Wolf chokes Tessa with her tail before straddling Tessa in the corner and dropkicking her in the… lower stomach area. Very low. Tessa is annoyed by this and elbows Kris repeatedly, she gets Kris in the corner and delivers a modified Codebreaker. Irish whip by Tessa but Kris hits a tilt-a-whirl slam, Kris gets on the second turnbuckle but Tessa recovers and throws her off. Tessa now goes up top and nails a Diving Codebreaker, picking up the three count! Tessa Blanchard advances in the tournament.

Here is where things go off the rails a bit, not only due to the time limit but due to the fact Stardom has so many matches on the card that some have to be super short. Since Kris is a champion in Stardom, she deserved a bit better than losing in two minutes, which is shorter than your average veteran vs. rookie match. Not only is it not enough time to do much, but having Tessa pin a champion so easily (and with no interference/cheating/etc.) doesn’t do Kris any favors, at least have her win by tossing Kris over the top since that protects the losing wrestler a bit. I liked some of the spots and the action was fine, just not anywhere near long enough.

Kagetsu vs. Konami

They circle each other to start, seemingly in no rush to engage, Konami kicks Kagetsu to a seated position before kicking her in the back. Konami sits down to let Kagetsu kick her back, but instead Kagetsu elbows her in the head and rakes Konami’s eyes. Dropkick by Kagetsu and she kicks Konami into the ropes, she gets a quick drink of water before spitting it into Konami’s face. Kagetsu picks up Konami but Konami kicks her repeatedly in the chest, Konami goes for a dropkick but Kagetsu slides out to the apron. Kagetsu goes for a swandive move but Konami kicks her as she enters the ring, running kick by Konami and she covers Kagetsu for two. Konami goes for the cross armbreaker but Kagetsu muscles out of it, short armbar by Konami and she then puts Kagetsu in a seated armbar. Kagetsu gets to the ropes for the break, kicks by Konami and she delivers the Fisherman Suplex Hold for two. Konami goes for a kick but Kagetsu ducks it and applies a Wing Clutch Hold for two. Kagetsu gets the piece of luggage but puts it down when the referee sees her, Konami goes for a kick to the chest but Kagetsu holds up the luggage and Konami kicks it by accident. Schoolboy by Kagetsu, and she picks up the three count! Kagetsu wins and advances in the tournament.

Unlike Kris, unless Konami lost quickly via shenanigans and wasn’t cleanly pinned, giving her a bit of a break even if she did lose in under five minutes. Lots of kicks here, which can be expected, but it didn’t really have time to get going before it was over. Overall just a forgettable match.

Hetzza vs. Mayu Iwatani

After a polite handshake, Mayu kicks Hetzza but Hetzza quickly rolls her up for two. They trade flash pins with neither having any luck, dropkick by Hetzza and she puts Mayu in a stretch hold. Mayu gets to the ropes to force the break, Hetzza starts working on Mayu’s arm in the ropes but Mayu dropkicks her. Hetzza gets Mayu in a sunset flip for two, kick by Mayu and she kicks Hetzza again in the head for a two count cover. Mayu goes up top and she nails the frog splash, picking up the three count! Mayu Iwatani advances in the tournament.

This result was never in doubt, although it was even shorter than expected. Not much to say about a two minute match, however Mayu sold the hell out of that sunset flip.

Rebel vs. Toni Storm

Storm quickly gets Rebel to the mat with a headlock, Rebel gets out of it however and they return to their feet. Storm takes Rebel down again but Rebel struggles back up, wristlock by Rebel but Storm gets out of it and goes back to the headlock. Riveting offensive display for a four minute match. Now it is Rebel with the headlock, Storm Irish whips out of it but Rebel shoulderblocks her to the mat. Storm trips Rebel and hits an uppercut, snapmare by Storm and she hits a few hip attacks for a two count cover. Rebel knees Storm and throws her down by the hair, Space Rolling Elbow by Rebel and she rides Storm in the ropes. Rebel chokes Storm in the corner but Storm avoids the second Space Rolling Elbow attempt and hits a Backstabber. Storm goes for the piledriver but Rebel blocks it, high kick by Rebel and she hits a scoop slam. Rebel goes to the second turnbuckle but Storm avoids the moonsault, Gedo Clutch by Storm and she gets the three count! Toni Storm wins and advances in the tournament.

You’d think a four minute match would be action packed, but this certainly was not. They kept Rebel protected, which is good I guess if she hangs around, but the first half of the match had the same buildup as it would if they were going 20 minutes. Just no heat/sense of urgency/etc. from either wrestler, and not overly eventful. It wasn’t necessarily bad, just really dry and not worth watching.

Hiromi Mimura vs. Kairi Hojo

Hiromi tries to attack Kairi before the bell rings but she misses, as Kairi avoids several of her opening dropkicks. Hiromi manages to roll up Kairi a few times but only gets two counts, elbows by Hiromi and she hits Kairi with more of them as Kairi lands in the corner. Kairi charges Hiromi but Hiromi avoids her charge and sneaks in a sunset flip for two, dropkick by Hiromi and she applies the rolling leglock. Kairi inches to the ropes and forces a break, Hiromi charges Kairi but Kairi tosses her out onto the apron. Kairi joins Hiromi and hits a Sliding D while still on the apron, but Hiromi doesn’t fall to the floor. Kairi picks up Hiromi and chops her while she is in the ropes, which eventually sends Hiromi back into the ring. Kairi goes up top and hits the diving elbow smash, cover by Kairi but it gets a two count. Crab hold by Kairi but Hiromi gets to the ropes, Kairi jumps on Hiromi’s back and scoop slams her to the mat. She goes for another Sliding D but Hiromi avoids it and quickly rolls up Kairi for two. Jumping DDT by Hiromi, she goes up top and hits a diving crossbody before quickly putting Kairi in La Magistral, but Kairi gets a shoulder up. Hiromi for another DDT but Kairi pushes her off and nails a spinning chop to the face. Kairi picks up Hiromi but Hiromi gets out of the Alabama Slam and rolls up Kairi for two. Elbows by Hiromi but Kairi hits a spear, Alabama Slam by Kairi in front of the corner and she nails the Diving Elbow Drop for the three count! Kairi Hojo wins and advances in the tournament.

I thought this match was better than it had any right to be, as they told a solid story. Hiromi knew like we all did that she doesn’t have Kairi’s skill, so instead she went for flash pins throughout the match when Kairi wasn’t beating her around the ring. Unlike the Havok/Natsuko match, it felt more natural here since that is Hiromi’s general style anyway, and Kairi slowly changed as the match progressed from playing around with Hiromi to taking it more seriously. While still a bit limited by the tournament setting, they worked within those limits well and put on a fun match.  Mildly Recommended

Hana Kimura vs. Io Shirai

Hana does her normal dance before the match starts, but when she gets towards the ropes, Io comes up from behind and tries to throw her out of the ring for a quick win. Hana manages to hang on, backflip by Io and she dropkicks Hana to the mat. Io does her handstand walk kneedrop, cover by Io but it gets a two count. Hana takes off her belt and chokes Io with it, she sets up Io and puts her in the Muta Lock. She releases the hold after a moment, Hana charges Io in the corner and hits a double knee strike followed by a dropkick for two. Hana picks up Io but Io blocks the suplex and gets back to her feet. Hana and Io trade running strikes, Hana finally hits the vertical suplex before covering Io for two count. Hana boots Io in the face while she is against the ropes, but Io barely kicks out of the cover. Hana goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick, but Io again gets a shoulder up on the pin attempt. Hana goes off the ropes but Io catches her boot attempt and hits a dragon screw, Io charges Hana in the corner but Hana avoids her charge and tosses Io onto the apron. Io almost falls to the floor but hangs on, Hana tries to boot her off but Io hits a dragon screw in the ropes. Io hops up and hits a swandive missile dropkick, cover by Io but it gets two. Double underhook facebuster by Io, she goes up top and she nails the moonsault for the three count! Io Shirai advances in the tournament.

Another fun match, the first round ended on a high note. Io is just so good its virtually impossible for her to have a bad match (well more on that in about 30 minutes), but I thought that Hana kept up with her reasonable well and as I assumed she did get in a fair amount of offense and even a couple close falls. I loved the dragon screws to counter the big boot, that isn’t one of Io’s regular moves so it shows she did some research and figured out some counters. Always a plus to see wrestlers adapt to their opponent instead of just always doing their usual stuff. Not overly long but they kept the action up, an enjoyable match. Recommended

Tessa Blanchard vs. Toni Storm

Short, but they packed in a fair amount of offense. Tessa has looked a lot better on this tour than the one with Stardom last summer, either she has gotten better in general or has just adapted better to wrestling in the promotion but I’ve been impressed. Storm is a great young wrestler, everything she does is so smooth and she has very limited wasted motion. Not long enough to recommend, but a fine watch.

HZK vs. Kairi Hojo

I am glad that a match finally got plenty of time, even though some parts of it were a bit headscratchy. I understand that HZK is a young wrestler, but knowing time was almost out it didn’t make a lot of sense for her to not even try to cover Kairi after the Diving Senton since a moment earlier she was going for quick pins. The Draw made sense here so no issue there, it was just an odd disconnected moment at the end of the match. Otherwise, this was pretty solid as HZK was made to look like Kairi’s equal, which is a good thing since Kairi is rumored to be leaving soon and they need to make new stars. It didn’t have the creativity or high paced offense of Kyona/HZK or Hana/Io, but still enjoyable overall.  Mildly Recommended

Kagetsu vs. Mayu Iwatani

A small step down from the last few matches, but not a big one. Its hard for a sub-five minute match to be bad since most of it was high speed offense, my only quibble is that Hana stopping Kagetsu from hitting the floor was a cute spot that they did nothing with. Mayu just kicked her out anyway. I’d have liked for that to have temporarily saved Kagetsu at least long enough for her to get back on the apron, leading to Mayu doing something with more impact to finally send Kagetsu down to the floor. A good idea by them that was wasted. But I loved the action, Kagetsu is a lot of gimmick in Stardom but she showed here she is a great wrestler as well as she hit everything perfectly. Nothing bad here, just a bit too short and I didn’t love the end sequence.

Io Shirai vs. Jessicka Havok

While I do think that Io and Havok could have a good match, this wasn’t it. It started fine, but the last minute or so was garbage. I am not a fan of the “heel stupidly chases the face around the ring” spot, and here it lasted way longer than usual which only made it worse. The idea that Havok would fall for that and then tumble out of the ring is insulting even by normal wrestling standards. Than Io applying the sleeper while hanging off of Havok, while a neat visual, wasn’t very logical. Then they both tumble out to the floor anyway. Sure it helps protected Io, but it just didn’t make for a very good match. Definitely skippable.

Since two of the second round matches ended in a Draw, we are going straight to the finals with Mayu Iwatani vs. Toni Storm.

Mayu Iwatani vs. Toni Storm

Mayu takes Storm to the mat off the bat, but Storm gets away and they return to their feet. Mayu gets Storm down again and they trade holds for a few minutes until Mayu gets into the ropes, Mayu Irish whips Storm and she hits a jumping elbow smash. Slaps by Storm and she hits a snap vertical suplex, she kicks at Mayu’s head before covering her for two. Storm chops Mayu in the corner and hits an uppercut, Irish whip by Storm but Mayu drop toeholds her into the second rope. Mayu goes for a dropkick but Storm moves, sending Mayu crashing out of the ring. Storm quickly goes off the far ropes and sails out onto Mayu with a plancha suicida, she slides Mayu back in and covers her for two. Storm kicks Mayu in the corner and chops her, snapmare by Storm and she gets a two count cover. Storm headbutts Mayu into the corner before hitting a knee, Storm charges Mayu but Mayu avoids her and hits a high kick. Dropkick by Mayu, she goes off the ropes and dropkicks Mayu while she is against the ropes. Mayu goes up top and dives out onto Storm with a diving plancha, she slides Storm back in and hits a missile dropkick followed by a diving footstomp. Mayu goes up top again and delivers the Frog Splash, but Storm reverses the pin into one of her own for a two count. Superkick by Mayu and she hits a Buzzsaw Kick, another superkick by Mayu but Storm blocks the suplex attempt and hits a Stunner. Storm picks up Mayu but Mayu elbows her off and they trade shots, Mayu kicks Storm in the chest but Storm blocks the next kick attempt and delivers a snap German. Running hip attack by Storm in the corner and she nails a reverse neckbreaker, but Mayu springs up and hits a release dragon suplex. Mayu goes up top but Storm avoids the diving footstomp, headbutt by Storm and she nails a snap piledriver, but Mayu gets a corner up. Storm goes up to the top turnbuckle and connects with the Diving Guillotine Legdrop, cover by Storm and she gets the three count! Toni Storm wins the match and the Cinderella Tournament!

I enjoyed the bulk of this one, aside from one hiccup. I absolutely love Toni Storm’s offense, she has so many “snap” moves that all look great and I’m always a fun of hip attacks. Mayu is a hell of a bumper so everything Storm did looked great, and the action stayed fast paced throughout. I actively disliked, however, the random no-sell spot in the middle. I don’t mind “Fighting Spirit” spots, in fact I like it, but this wasn’t that as Mayu took two of Storm’s bigger moves and then hopped up on offense like nothing happened. So it came across more as a really lazy transition than “Fighting Spirit,” its a fine line that I don’t think they walked well. But even with that, it was a high end match and showed why Toni Storm was the right person to win as she is one of the best 21 year old or younger wrestlers in the world.  Recommended

The post Stardom “Cinderella Tournament” on 4/30/17 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Current Champions:

• World of Stardom Championship – Io Shirai (495 days)
• Wonder of Stardom Championship – Kairi Hojo (351 days)
• SWA World Championship – Toni Storm (281 days)
• High Speed Championship – Kris Wolf (67 days)
• Goddesses of Stardom Championship – Hiroyo Matsumoto and Jungle Kyona (57 days)
• Artist of Stardom Championship – HZK, Io Shirai, and AZM (16 days)

Recent Results:

Stardom Cinderella Tournament on April 30th, 2017
Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
1,105 fans

• 4 Way Dark Match: Hanan defeated AZM, Kaori Yoneyama, and (L) Ruaka with a Small Package (6:35)
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: HZK defeated Jungle Kyona with the Bombs Away (5:41)
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Jessicka Havok defeated Natsuko Tora with the Tombstone Piledriver (3:35)
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Tessa Blanchard defeated Kris Wolf with the Diving Codebreaker (2:24)
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Kagetsu defeated Konami with a Schoolboy (4:36)
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Mayu Iwatani defeated Hetzza with the Frog Splash (2:08)
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Toni Storm defeated Rebel with the Gedo Clutch (4:38)
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Kairi Hojo defeated Hiromi Mimura with the Diving Elbow Drop (7:21)
• Cinderella Tournament Round 1: Io Shirai defeated Hana Kimura with the Moonsault (6:24)
• Cinderella Tournament Round 2: Toni Storm defeated Tessa Blanchard with the Drill-A-Hole Piledriver (3:01)
• Cinderella Tournament Round 2: Kairi Hojo vs. HZK – DRAW (10:00)
• Cinderella Tournament Round 2: Mayu Iwatani defeated Kagetsu via Over The Top Rope Elimination (4:48)
• Cinderella Tournament Round 2: Jessicka Havok vs. Io Shirai – DRAW via Double Over The Top Rope Elimination (4:41)
• Cinderella Tournament Finals: Toni Storm defeated Mayu Iwatani with the Diving Guillotine Drop (13:01)
  • Toni Storm used her “wish” to challenge Io Shirai for the World of Stardom Championship
  • Mayu Iwatani challenged Kairi Hojo for the Wonder of Stardom Championship

Rossy Ogawa 60th Birthday Celebration on May 1st, 2017
Still awaiting more details

• Io Shirai, HZK, and Hiromi Mimura vs. Kairi Hojo, Jungle Kyona, and Mayu Iwatani – DRAW
• El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. and Dr. Wagner Jr defeated Double Black Tiger

Upcoming Events:
– cards are subject to change

May 6th, 2017 – 

• Artist of Stardom Championship: (c) HZK, AZM, and Io Shirai vs. Konami, Hiromi Mimura, and Kairi Hojo
• Toni Storm and Mayu Iwatani vs. Hana Kimura and TBA
• Jungle Kyona and Natsuko Tora vs. Jessicka Havok and Tessa Blanchard
• Hiroyo Matsumoto and Rebel vs. Kaori Yoneyama and Hetzza

The post This Week in Stardom: May 1st, 2017 Edition appeared first on Joshi City.