Event: Stardom 10th Anniversary ~Hinamatsuri All-Star Dream Cinderella~
Date: March 3rd, 2021
Location: Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 3,318
Broadcast Information: Streamed Live on PPV and Samurai TV!

It is time for what will likely be the biggest Joshi event of the year! Since Bushiroad purchased Stardom, one of their goals was to have Stardom run in bigger buildings when the time was right, which leads them to Nippon Budokan for All-Star Dream Cinderella. They went all-out for the show, as SEAdLINNNG invades with big singles matches involving Nanae Takahashi and Yoshiko. Also, there is a Rumble with former wrestlers returning, and a total of five title matches. This review will be long so strap in, here is the full card:

• High Speed Championship: AZM vs. Natsupoi
• Goddesses Of Stardom Championship: Himeka and Maika vs. Natsuko Tora and Saki Kashima
• All-Star Rumble with Momoe Nakanishi, Mima Shimoda, Chigusa Nagayo, Kyoko Inoue, Kikutaro, Gokigen Death, Emi Sakura, Hiroyo Matsumoto, Miho Wakizawa, Yuzuki Aikawa, Yoko Bito, Yuuri Haruka, Koguma, Yuna Manase, Hiromi Mimura, Starlight Kid, Rin Kadokura, Bea Priestley, Ruaka, Mei Hoshizuki, Mina Shirakawa, Unagi Sayaka, Saya Iida, and Lady C
• Nanae Takahashi vs. Momo Watanabe
• SWA Undisputed World Women’s Championship: Syuri vs. Konami
• Mayu Iwatani vs. Yoshiko
• World Of Stardom Championship: Utami Hayashishita vs. Saya Kamitani
• Wonder Of Stardom Championship, Hair Vs. Hair Match: Giulia vs. Tam Nakano

I will be watching the live broadcast, so matches will be shown in full. All Joshi wrestlers on the event have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their name above to go straight to it.

(c) AZM vs. Natsupoi
High Speed Championship

They charge each other and get right into a fast exchange, they avoid each others dropkicks and after some flash pins attempts they end up back on their feet. Kick by Natsupoi and she throws AZM into the corner, dropkicking her down to the floor. She goes up top but AZM quickly recovers and gets onto the apron before kicking Natsupoi in the head. Natsupoi falls to the floor, AZM gets on the second turnbuckle and dives out of the ring with a double footstomp. AZM rolls Natsupoi back in and hits a swandive dropkick, cover by AZM but it gets two. She applies the Fujiwara Armbar but Natsupoi quickly gets to the ropes, Natsupoi throws AZM into the corner but AZM avoids her charge. Kick to the chest by Natsupoi, she goes off the ropes and delivers a dropkick. Natsupoi goes up top and hits a diving crossbody, but AZM rolls through it and applies a submission.

Natsupoi quickly gets to the ropes again, AZM goes up top and nails a diving double footstomp for two. AZM goes off the ropes and hits La Mistica, but Natsupoi rolls out of it. Head kick by AZM, she goes off the ropes but AZM hits La Mistica again. Natsupoi gets to the ropes, AZM runs to the corner but when she goes for the triple jump attack, she is greeted by a dropkick from Natsupoi. AZM and Natsupoi trade elbows as they return to their feet, AZM goes off the ropes but Natsupoi catches her with a kick. Backlash by Natsupoi, but AZM kicks out. Waistlock by Natsupoi and she nails a German suplex hold, but that gets a two as well. Natsupoi goes up top and delivers the twisting body press, but the cover gets a two count. Natsupoi picks up AZM but AZM elbows her off, rolling inside cradle by AZM but it gets a two count. They trade flash pins with neither having any luck, so Natsupoi superkicks AZM in the face. Natsupoi drags up AZM and hits rolling German suplexes, but the third only gets a two count. Natsupoi picks up AZM and nails a Cross-Arm German Suplex, and she picks up the three count! Natsupoi wins and is the new champion!

A really fun way to kick off the show. Not everything was super smooth but the energy helped make up for that as it was just go-go-go from the opening bell. Fans that only watch Stardom may not been as familar with what Natsumi has been up to in recent years but she is fantastic, and she got a pretty dominating win here as by the end of the match she was firmly in control. AZM hit some killer footstomps and stayed in the match, but it almost felt like a coming-out party for Natsumi and I assume she’ll hold the title for awhile. A quality match to begin the big event.  Recommended

(c) Himeka and Maika vs. Natsuko Tora and Saki Kashima
Goddesses of Stardom Championship

Oedo Tai jump DDM before the match starts and isolate Maika, double teaming her. Saki stays in as the legal wrestler and kicks Himeka before tagging in Natsuko, bootscrapes by Natsuko but Himeka kicks her from the apron. This gives Maika time to recover and she tags Himeka, Himeka and Natsuko trade shoulderblocks with Himeka winning the battle. Saki runs in but Himeka stacks them both in the corner and hits a lariat. She puts both up on the turnbuckle and places them in an Argentine Backbreaker together before dropping them to the mat. Himeka picks up Natsuko and delivers a Jumping Knee, but Natsuko kicks out of the cover. Himeka tags Maika, Maika tosses Natsuko around the mat before hitting a STO for a two count. Stomps by Maika and she hits a lariat, but she didn’t notice that Saki blind tagged herself in. Saki jumps in the ring with a bulldog to Maika, Maika is thrown into the corner and Saki hits a running knee. Saki gets on the top turnbuckle and hits a headscissors into a cradle, picking up a two count.

Natsuko is tagged back in, she stacks both opponents in the corner and delivers a cannonball. Samoan Drop by Natsuko, she tags Saki and Saki hits a diving footstomp. She quickly tags Natsuko back in, diving body press by Natsuko but Maika kicks out of the cover. Swinging side slam by Natsuko, but that gets a two count as well. Natsuko picks up Maika but Himeka runs in to help, Saki kicks Himeka however and she falls out of the ring. Natsuko tags Saki, flying headscissors by Saki to Maika but Himeka cuts her off with a knee. Himeka and Maika charge Saki but accidentally lariat each other, scoop slam by Saki to Maika and she goes up top but Maika recovers and joins her. Superplex by Maika to Saki, she picks her back up and hits a STO but Natsuko breaks up the cover. Himeka comes in and with Maika they hit a lariat on Saki followed by a sliding lariat for a two count. Maika picks up Saki but Saki slides away and pins her down for a two count. Natsuko has found her way back in but she eats a double chokeslam, Maika picks up Saki and nails a Michinoku Driver II for the three count! Donna del Mondo win and retain the championship.

Normally I like title matches to be a little longer than this, but considering the participants and the fact this was a pre-show match, I don’t mind it as much here. This was pretty well-worked, nothing mind blowing but a good match within their limitations. Maika and Himeka are a bundle of fun, I could watch them all day as they bring something fresh and interesting to Stardom’s matches. Saki really brought her A game today which helped elevate the match, and Natsuko didn’t do much which is for the best. Oedo Tai wrestled the match oddly straight besides from the pre-bell jumping, with no cheating which surprised me. A solid match to keep the show rolling along, even if it was nothing special.

Stardom All-Star Rumble

Starlight Kid and Mei Hoshizuki are the first two in the match. They start pretty traditionally as they trade holds, armdrag by Starlight Kid, Mei catches her crossbody attempt but Starlight Kid spins it around into a cradle for two. Dropkick by Mei as Gokigen Death comes down, but she just poses while the other two keep fighting. They get tired of this and jump her, but Starlight Kid and Death end up double teaming Mei. Momoe Nakanishi is the next wrestler to enter the match, she goes up top but Death and Starlight Kid shake the ropes to knock her off. Irish whip to Momoe but she runs over all three opponents and poses on the mat with Death. The veterans stay in control and pose on Starlight Kid and Mei, as Koguma enters the match! First time we have seen Koguma wrestling in almost six years. Koguma hits a falling body press on Death and Starlight Kid before they all get into a fast exchange. Meanwhile the next wrestler is already on their way to the ring, Unagi Sayaka! Starlight Kid is attacked by everyone in the corner but is able to knock back Unagi, Unagi is stomped on by everyone while Saya Iida enters the match. Saya chops everyone, and while she is doing that Mina Shirakawa comes down as the next wrestler in the match.

By now there are too many people in the ring, a common issue in Battle Royal style matches. The Stardom wrestlers get into an exchange while Yuna Manase enters the match. Yuna and Saya exchange shots, Starlight Kid comes over to help but Yuna lariats both of them. Suddenly all of Gatoh Move appear on the ramp as Emi Sakura is the next wrestler down, Emi immediately goes after Momoe and hits a crossbody in the corner. Everyone watches as Emi and Momoe trade dropkick attempts before they hug, but we take a break as Lady C is wrestler #11 to join the match. Lady C snapmares Emi and puts her in a headscissors, and you know what is coming as this starts a giant headscissors chain with all the wrestlers (except Momoe, who runs over all of them instead of joining them). яндекс As it is broken up, Kyoko Inoue enters the ring but she is immediately attacked by everyone. She fights back but Lady C drops her with a chokeslam, everyone covers Kyoko but she kicks out. Lariat by Kyoko to Lady C, and she covers her for the three count! Lady C is eliminated.

Ruaka is the next wrestler, she shoulderblocks Kyoko to the mat and boots her, but Kyoko fires back with a lariat for the three count! Ruaka is eliminated. Rina Kadokura enters the match while Emi tricks Kyoko and gets everyone to cover her again, this time getting the three count! Kyoko Inoue is eliminated. We get some Random Chaos in the ring a Hiroyo Matsumoto is the next entry, she is in no rush to enter but eventually makes it into the ring. Miho Wakizawa is wrestler #16, while in the ring Hiroyo is beating everyone with a giant tawashi. Or something like one. Momoe is set up in the ropes to get a rubber band snapped in her face, but it accidentally gets sent back into Miho by mistake. Mima Shimoda comes into the match and dumps Yuna Manase over the top rope! Yuna Manase is eliminated. The legend Bea Priestley enters but Emi chops her in the chest and everyone tries to throw her out of the ring. She hangs on as Yuuri Haruka makes her entrance, meanwhile Mima is thrown over the top rope along with Bea in quick succession. Mima Shimoda and Bea Priestley are eliminated!

Yuuri applies an armbar to Death but it gets broken up, the camera pans to the stage and we see Hiromi Mimura is on her way down. Before she gets in the ring, Emi helps dump Yuuri over the top rope to the floor! Yuuri Haruka is eliminated. Hiromi winds up for an attack but is kicked by Miho, but Starlight Kid comes to the rescue. Hiroyo whacks Hiromi with a backpack, Miho puts Hiromi in the Backslide and she gets the three count! Hiromi Mimura is eliminated. Yoko Bito is the 21st entry, while Hiroyo dumps a box full of tawashis in the ring. Miho hits a Frankensteiner on Emi onto all the tawashis, and Emi is covered by multiple wrestlers for the three count. Emi Sakura is eliminated. Miho is slow to recover so everyone covers her as well, picking up another three count! Miho Wakizawa is eliminated. Not done yet, the mob rolls up Hiroyo, keeping her down for the three count! Hiroyo Matsumoto is eliminated. That clears the ring a little bit. Yuzuki Aikawa enters as the next wrestler, and she still looks the same as she did when she retired eight years ago. As she slowly walks down, Saya and Starlight Kid work together to throw Rin over the top rope. Rin Kadokura is eliminated. Not wasting time, Chigusa Nagayo quickly follows as she enters the match, Saya Iida greets her and the two trade blows. While they duke it out, the final wrestler enters the match – Kikutaro! 

Back in the ring (which most wrestlers aren’t even in anymore as they stand on the apron) Chigusa drops Saya with a Death Valley Bomb but Saya kicks out of the cover. Chigusa picks up Saya and drops her with a heel kick, but again Saya gets a shoulder up. Saya hulks up and knocks over Chigusa with a double chop, but her cover gets two as Chigusa puts Saya in an armlock. No one helps her and Saya submits! Saya Iida is eliminated. Yuzuki comes in the ring finally and challenges Chigusa, kicks by Yuzuki but Chigusa blocks the heel drop and punches her in the stomach. Yuzuki throws Chigusa into the corner and hits a body avalanche, as everyone else joins in attacking Chigusa in the corner. Yuzuki and Yoko both kick Chigusa, cover by Yuzuki but it gets a two count. She tries again with everyone else helping her, but that gets a two count as well. Chigusa gets back up but is schoolboyed from behind, and finally she is held down for the three count! Chigusa Nagayo is eliminated.

Kikutaro still hasn’t entered the ring but finally does so, he’s in full creeper mode as everyone runs away from him. He grabs Unagi but Mina attacks him, Kikutaro covers both of them but Starlight Kid breaks it up. Starlight Kid attacks at Kikutaro, he gets away but Chigusa jaws at him from the apron. Chigusa takes one for the team as Kikutaro grabs her… intimately, she gets back in the ring and hits him with an elbow. Everyone else joins in stomping down Kikutaro, Momo☆Latch by Momoe and she holds down Kikutaro for the three count! Kikutaro is eliminated. Moonsault by Momoe to Death, and she holds her down for the three count as well! Gokigen Death is eliminated. Starlight Kid and Momoe go after each other, Momoe jumps up to the top turnbuckle but Starlight Kid pushes her off before she can hit a move. She keeps hitting Momoe as she dangles on the top rope, dropkick by Starlight Kid and Momoe crashes to the floor. Momoe Nakanishi is eliminated. Snapmare by Yoko to Koguma, she picks her up but Koguma snaps off a DDT. Starlight Kid grabs Koguma and holds her for Yoko, but Koguma ducks and Yoko kicks Starlight Kid by accident. Yoko charges Kid but Kid holds down the top rope, sending Yoko to the apron. Koguma runs over and kicks Yoko, sending her to the floor! Yoko Bito is eliminated. 

We are down to five wrestlers! Cutter by Koguma on Starlight Kid and she nails a German Suplex Hold for the three count! Starlight Kid is eliminated. Koguma and Unagi trade flash pins, but Unagi gets help from Mina and Yuzuki as they hold down Koguma for the three count! Koguma is eliminated. We are down to three – Mina Shirakawa, Yuzuki Aikawa, and Unagi Sayaka. Yuzuki fights off both Cosmic Angels before getting into an elbow exchange with Mina, slap by Mina but Yuzuki slaps her back. Mina elbows Yuzuki against the ropes and charges her, but Yuzuki avoids the dropkick and hits a heel drop. Yuzuki goes for a tiger suplex but Unagi saves Mina, Mina then returns the favor but Yuzuki nails Mina with a heel kick and delivers the Tiger Suplex Hold for the three count! Mina Shirakawa is eliminated. Yuzuki charges Unagi but Unagi dumps her onto the apron, she goes for a kick but Yuzuki gets her out onto the apron with her. Kicks by Yuzuki as they both stand on the apron but Unagi catches one, heel drop to the back by Unagi and she hits another one to send Yuzuki to the floor. Yuzuki Aikawa is eliminated.  Unagi Sayaka is the last wrestler standing and is the winner!

Its always hard to ‘rate’ Battle Royals, and ones that take place in Japan tend to be even more difficult due to the more lighthearted atmosphere. There was a lot of wrestlers standing out of the way while the planned spots were going on, with some wrestlers such as Koguma disappearing for long periods of time. Some of the exchanges were really enjoyable though, such as Chigusa Nagayo/Saya Iida and the final threesome, and it was really nice of Chigusa Nagayo to “take one for the team” with Kikutaro as I can only imagine the Internet’s reaction if he had done that to Starlight Kid. It was great seeing Yuzuki again in particular, and none of the returning wrestlers looked too out of place. Its a long match with stretches of nothing, but still enough fun moments that long time Joshi fans will likely find something to enjoy.

Nanae Takahashi vs. Momo Watanabe

Momo and Nanae face off and trade slaps, Nanae pushes Momo into the corner and hits a series of elbows. Momo avoids one and kicks Nanae in the head, she hits her own elbows but Nanae gets her back and hits a German suplex. Nanae elbows Momo while she is against the ropes, snapmare by Nanae and she kicks Momo in the back. Momo returns the favor but Nanae catches the PK attempt and hits a dragon screw. Lariat by Nanae but Momo fires back with a dropkick, she dropkicks Nanae down in the corner and delivers a hard dropkick to the chest. More dropkicks by Momo and she kicks Nanae repeatedly in the chest. Nanae eventually catches one but Momo slaps her, headbutts by Nanae and she kicks Momo onto the apron. Nanae picks up Momo and hits a short range lariat, elbows by Nanae and she slams Momo to the mat for a two count cover. Nanae goes off the ropes but Momo nails a head kick, elbows by Momo and she kicks Nanae in the head. Momo goes off the ropes and hits the Somato, but Nanae kicks out of the cover.

Momo gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers the diving Somato, but again Nanae kicks out. Momo applies the crossface chickenwing but Nanae gets to the ropes for the break, Momo picks up Nanae and hits the B Driver, but Nanae rolls through it and hits one of her own for a two count. Both wrestlers slowly get up, jumping kick by Nanae and she goes to the top turnbuckle, but Momo avoids the Refrigerator Bomb and hits a knee to the back of the head. Momo goes to the top turnbuckle and delivers the diving Somato, but it gets two. Momo goes back up again but Nanae joins her and hits a superplex. Nanae goes to the top turnbuckle and this time nails the Refrigerator Bomb, but the cover only gets a two. Nanae picks up Momo but Momo slides away and delivers a Tequila Sunrise for two. Momo drags up Nanae but Nanae gets away and hits an elbow. Head kick by Momo, she goes off the ropes but Nanae catches her with a lariat. Nanae picks up Momo and drops her with the Nana☆Racka but Momo barely kicks out. Nanae picks Momo back up and nails the One Second EX, and she picks up the three count! Nanae Takahashi is the winner.

While this match was “good,” something felt like it was missing. Maybe due to the length or placement on the card, it didn’t have that pop I was expecting and never really felt like it elevated itself. If not for the history between Nanae and Stardom, it would have felt like a pretty standard veteran vs. young star match. Which probably isn’t fair, there was nothing “wrong” with the match at all, it just didn’t feel special either. Even with their limited time they seemed to run of out ideas, with lots of Somatos and elbows, and it makes you wonder if they just aren’t too familar with each other and decided to keep it simple. Hard hitting for sure, and Momo held her own, it just felt more like an introduction than an all out war. A decent enough match, but ultimately nothing that will leave a lasting impression once the show ends.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Syuri vs. Konami
SWA Undisputed World Women’s Championship

They circle each other to start before grappling for position on the mat, Syuri goes for the armbreaker but Konami easily blocks it and goes for one of her own. Syuri gets to the ropes to break the hold, sliding kick by Konami and Syuri falls out to the floor. Natsuko comes over but Konami pushes her away and slides Syuri back in, stomps by Konami and she delivers a dropkick for a two count. Konami quickly transitions to the Fujiwara Armbar, Syuri rolls out of it but Konami keeps a hold on the arm. Syuri rolls out again and gets a hold of Konami’s ankle, but Konami reverses it and applies her own ankle hold. Konami gets Syuri’s back in a crucifix before driving her to the mat, she gets a stretch hold locked in but Syuri gets to the ropes. Strike combination by Konami and she delivers a head kick, but Syuri fires back with a release German. Konami hits a suplex of her own and applies a sleeper, Syuri gets up but Konami plants her with a Sleeper Suplex for two. Konami goes for a Buzzsaw Kick but Syuri catches her leg and hits a double knee gutbuster.

Konami quickly connects with a head kick but is too hurt to capitalize, they slowly get to their knees and trade elbows. They trade kicks as they return to their feet, running knee by Syuri and she covers Konami for two. Syuri applies a guillotine before putting Konami’s feet on the top rope and dropping her with a DDT for a two count. Syuri picks up Konami but Konami slides away and applies a cross armbreaker. Syuri quickly gets out of it and applies a Stretch Muffler, but Konami gets to the ropes for the break. Syuri gets Konami on her shoulders and hits a modified Emerald Frosion, but Konami kicks out of the cover and quickly applies a modified armbar. Syuri muscles out of it and gets the Stretch Muffler re-applied, but modifies it to also tie up Konami’s arm (Stardom called this move the “White Tiger”). Konami struggles for a moment but is forced to submit! Syuri wins the match and retains the championship.

Konami shook Syuri’s hand after the match and gave her a hug, showing a level of post-match respect that is rare for a member of Oedo Tai. This definitely had a different feel than most matches in Stardom, as it was a very ground-based and submission focused match. It really did feel like a match these two would have had against each other in 2016, obviously Konami is more polished now than she was back then but the structure reminded me of the older days of Konami. As far as mat-based matches go, this was pretty fun to watch and very fluid, and you could tell they are very comfortable with each other as nothing looked forced. I wouldn’t have minded a little more excitement in the closing stretch as it ended with little warning, but still an enjoyable match that probably meant more to the wrestlers than it meant to anyone else.  Recommended

Mayu Iwatani vs. Yoshiko

They tie-up to start, Yoshiko pushes Mayu into the ropes and gives a clean break. Kick by Mayu but Yoshiko blocks the armdrag, hitting one of her own. Hard shoulderblock by Yoshiko, she picks up Mayu and throws her down by the hair. Bootscrapes by Yoshiko in the corner and she delivers a running boot, cover by Yoshiko but it gets two. Yoshiko quickly applies a headlock but Mayu gets into the ropes, Yoshiko picks up Mayu and kicks her in the back. Yoshiko keeps stomping on Mayu’s back before picking her up and applying a stretch hold. Mayu gets into the ropes for the break, Irish whip by Yoshiko but Mayu reverses it and hits a headscissors. Mayu goes off the ropes and drills Yoshiko with a dropkick, sending the SEAdLINNNG wrestler out of the ring. Mayu gets a running start and sails out onto Yoshiko (mostly missing) with a plancha suicida, she slowly recovers and slides Yoshiko back in the ring. Mayu goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Mayu but it gets a two count. Mayu picks up Yoshiko but Yoshiko blocks the suplex attempt, low kick by Mayu but Yoshiko catches her with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Crab hold by Yoshiko but Mayu crawls to the ropes and makes it for the break. Yoshiko quickly gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving senton onto Mayu’s back, she goes back up to the second turnbuckle and connects with a regular diving senton for a two count cover.

Yoshiko picks up Mayu but Mayu gets her to the mat with a reverse hurricanrana. Dodonpa by Mayu, but it gets a two count. Mayu picks up Yoshiko but Yoshiko gets to the ropes to block the dragon suplex, Mayu pulls her off the ropes but Yoshiko elbows her off. Mayu ducks a lariat and drops Yoshiko with a release German, Yoshiko gets back up but Mayu delivers the dragon suplex hold for a two count. Mayu goes up top and goes for a moonsault, but Yoshiko gets her feet up to block the move. Both wrestlers are slow to recover, they trade strikes when they return to their feet until Yoshiko knocks Mayu back to the mat. Mayu gets back up but eats another hard elbow for her trouble, Mayu returns to her feet and temporarily knocks Yoshiko to her knees before eating two hard lariats. Yoshiko picks up Mayu and slams her to the mat from a fireman’s carry, but Mayu kicks out of the cover. Yoshiko positions Mayu and goes to the top turnbuckle, she nails the diving senton but Mayu barely kicks out of the cover. Yoshiko drags up Mayu but Mayu gets her back and applies a schoolboy for two. Superkick by Mayu and she kicks Yoshiko in the head, another superkick by Mayu and she covers Yoshiko for two. Mayu picks up Yoshiko and delivers the Two Stage Dragon Suplex Hold, but Yoshiko barely gets a shoulder up. Mayu quickly goes up to the top turnbuckle and nails the moonsault, cover by Mayu and she gets the three count! Mayu Iwatani is the winner.

There was a lot to enjoy here, a really entertaining match. Its kinda amazing these two still have such great chemistry after all these years, and everything they did here clicked. Yoshiko’s work on Mayu’s back was top notch, probably good enough it could have used a little more long term selling by Mayu but Mayu constantly looks in pain so it still worked out. I really loved the ending, with Mayu not wasting a second before going to the moonsault. No slow dramatic climb up the turnbuckles and pointing to the crowd, just quickly taking advantage of a hurt Yoshiko who is not the easiest wrestler to pin. The time just flew by and I wouldn’t have minded if it was a few more minutes, but they told their story and told it well. I don’t know where Stardom and SEAdLINNNG’s relationship is going from here, but this was a great hard hitting match that delivered on the expectations.  Highly Recommended

(c) Utami Hayashishita vs. Saya Kamitani
World of Stardom Championship

They tie-up to start, Utami pushes Saya into the ropes but she gives a clean break. Saya quickly kicks her and they lock-up before trading holds, they go through an exchange off the ropes ending with Utami dropkicking Saya in the chest. Utami picks up Saya and hits a scoop slam, another slam by Utami and she covers Saya for two. Utami puts Saya in the ropes and delivers a sliding kick to the back, double kneedrop to the back by Utami and she covers Saya for two. Utami applies a Camel Clutch but Saya inches to the ropes for the break. Utami stomps at Saya and boots her in the corner, Utami picks her up and hits a scoop slam for a two count. Saya fights back but Utami avoids her dropkick and kicks Saya in the back. Saya fires back with a dropkick of her own, hurricanrana by Saya and Utami falls out of the ring. Saya goes off the ropes and dives out onto Utami with a tope con hilo, she picks up Utami and tosses her back into the ring. Saya goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Saya but it gets a two count. Saya picks up Utami but Utami elbows her and the two trade shots. Utami wins the battle, she picks up Saya and goes off the ropes but Saya catches her with a dropkick. Another dropkick by Saya and she covers Utami for a two count. Saya picks up Utami but Utami slides away and delivers a sliding kick.

Utami picks up Saya but Saya snaps off a Canadian Destroyer, scoop slam by Saya and she goes up top but Utami hits her from behind and knocks her onto the apron. Saya comes back into the ring with a swandive hurricanrana, she picks up Utami and hits a Northern Lights Suplex Hold for two. Saya picks up Utami but Utami slides away and hits a release German. Utami gets Saya on her shoulders but Saya spins off and delivers a heel kick. Saya picks up Utami and drops her with a fisherman sitout slam, cover by Saya but it gets a two count. Saya picks up Utami and slams her in front of the corner, she goes to the top turnbuckle but Utami avoids the Phoenix Splash. Utami applies a sleeper but Saya drives her back into the corner to break it up, Saya charges Utami but Utami gets her on her shoulders and nails the Air Raid Crash. Utami gets the sleeper on but Saya gets a toe on the ropes for the break. Utami picks up Saya and gets her onto her shoulders, she spins Saya around and slams her to the mat for a two count. Utami picks up Saya and gets her up in a crucifix, but Saya hits a hurricanrana for a two count. Utami recovers first and picks up Saya, rocking her with a hard lariat. Another lariat by Utami, she picks up Saya and nails the Hijack Bomb (Spinning BT Bomb) for the three count! Utami Hayashishita wins and retains the championship.

While the last match was great, this one was even better. Even though Saya wasn’t an A+ challenger, she still brought everything she had and she has never looked better than she did here. Everything she hit was smooth as butter and her selling was top-notch, as she made everything Utami did look like death. She did so well in the match, I actually was buying into the nearfalls which is the biggest compliment I can give to a match that on paper had a clear winner. The dynamic between Utami’s power and Saya’s finesse created constantly entertaining back and forths, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire match as there was no telling what they were going to do. The ending was definitive as Utami threw Saya right through the ring, a fitting ending to an evenly contested match. These two are the future of Stardom if they stick with wrestling, easily the best match of Saya Kamitani’s career and a great showing from Utami as well.  Highly Recommended

(c) Giulia vs. Tam Nakano
Wonder of Stardom Championship

After circling each other they start tracking strikes, waistlock by Giulia and they trade holds. Tam gets Giulia to the mat but Giulia applies a headscissors, Tam slaps Giulia before returning to her feet. Tam goes for a cutter but Giulia applies a sleeper, snapmare by Tam and she kicks Giulia in the back. Giulia goes for a dropkick but Tam moves and applies a sleeper, Giulia tries to get out of it with a backdrop suplex but Tam lands on top of her. They trade elbows until Tam knocks Giulia to the mat, Giulia rolls out of the ring to recover while Tam waits for her in the ring. Giulia returns after a moment and picks up Tam, but Tam wiggles away. Release German by Giulia with Tam ending up on the apron, Giulia goes out to the apron as well and kicks Tam in the head. Giulia goes for a suplex but Tam blocks it, big boot by Giulia and she hits a cutter onto the apron. Tam falls out of the ring with Giulia going out after her, Giulia twists Tam in the guardrail and chokes her. Giulia stops choking her long enough to throw Tam into the railing, big boot by Giulia and she throws Tam into the rail again. Giulia gets a table and sets it up at ringside, she grabs Tam and pulls her up onto the table with her. Giulia gets Tam up and drops her onto the table with a piledriver, she returns to the ring while Tam slowly follows behind her. Giulia plants a sliding kick on Tam, cover by Giulia but it gets a two count.

Giulia gets on the top turnbuckle but Tam slowly gets up and joins her, Giulia grabs her head however and applies a guillotine choke while still on the turnbuckles. She lets go after a moment and Tam flops back to the mat, she goes for a missile dropkick but Tam avoids it. Tam goes for a knee but Giulia catches it, she gets Tam up in a Glorious position but Tam reverses it with Reverse DDT. Giulia recovers first and mounts Tam, slapping her in the face. Hard elbow by Giulia and she goes off the ropes, but Tam catches her with a heel kick. Giulia falls out of the ring, Tam goes up to the top turnbuckle and dives out onto her with a plancha. Tam slides Giulia back in, Tiger Suplex Hold by Tam but Giulia gets a shoulder up. Tam picks up Giulia but Giulia blocks her suplex attempt, getting to the ropes. Tam pulls her away and hits Giulia’s Glorious Driver, but it gets a two count. Tam drags up Giulia and kicks her repeatedly in the head, but Giulia ducks a kick and drops her with a backdrop suplex. Giulia picks up Tam but Tam pushes her away, headbutt by Giulia and she delivers a Glorious Driver for a two count cover. They both slowly get up and trade slaps, Tam connects with a series of slaps before knocking Giulia to the mat. Giulia gets back up and returns the favor, heel kick by Tam and she hits a second one. Giulia comes at Tam but Tam picks her up and drills Giulia with a Sitout Tam Screwdriver for a two count. Tam drags Giulia back up and nails the Twilight Dream, and she keeps Giulia down for the three count! Tam Nakano wins and is the new Wonder of Stardom Champion!

There is a lot to digest here. First, the emotion was certainly there and it just had a more urgent feeling than the last few matches. They weren’t really focused on trading bombs but having a real struggle, full of one-upmanship and emotion that was tangible. They still had a couple big moves but honestly they weren’t needed, the table spot was neat but added little to the match as that wasn’t what the match was about. Its harder to rate matches that are more about story and heart than smooth wrestling and big moments, but when considering all things this was a very captivating and memorable match. They didn’t fall into the ‘trading 2.999 nearfalls’ trap that many “epic” matches fall into, so each pinfall felt meaningful. Tam killed Giulia at the end, which was needed as a non-definitive ending just wouldn’t have worked to end this match and feud. A fitting way to end one of the best Joshi events in years, a very entertaining match that will be talked about in Stardom circles for years to come.  Highly Recommended

The post Stardom All-Star Dream Cinderella on 3/3/21 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

And we are back to Stardom, as I still plan on reviewing all their Korakuen Hall events in 2018. This is a really big show that got a fair amount of buzz online, as the promotion has hit onto a few hot storylines. The split we saw last month with Oedo Tai comes to a head as Tam tags with Mayu to go for the tag team titles, and we also get Meiko Satomura vs. Toni Storm in a mini dream match. In the main event, Momo Watanabe has her first Korakuen Hall main event singles match as she goes for Io Shirai’s Wonder of Stardom Championship! Here is the card:

• Hanan, Ruaka, and Shiki Shibusawa vs. Kaori Yoneyama and Konami
• Elimination Match: AZM and HZK vs. Jungle Kyona and Natsuko Tora vs. Miranda and Nicole Savoy vs. Starlight Kid and Xia Brookside
• Hiromi Mimura vs. Natsu Sumire
• Goddesses Of Stardom Championship: Hana Kimura and Kagetsu vs. Mayu Iwatani and Tam Nakano
• Meiko Satomura vs. Toni Storm
• Wonder Of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai vs. Momo Watanabe

All the Joshi wrestlers above have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their names above to go straight to it. I am watching the Stardom World version of the show for the first three matches so I can see the matches unclipped, then for the bigger matches I’ll switch to the Samurai TV airing for the better camera angles. Here we go.

Hanan, Ruaka, and Shiki Shibusawa vs. Kaori Yoneyama and Konami

Ruaka and Konami start the match but Yoneyama immediately attacks Ruaka from behind, Shiki and Hanan run in and hit dropkicks, giving them a chance to triple team Konami. The extras leave as Ruaka elbows Konami, but Konami kicks her back and delivers a dropkick before making the tag to Yoneyama. Yoneyama tosses down Ruaka by her hair, chops by Yoneyama and she punches Ruaka in the gut. Ruaka comes back with a big boot and tags Shiki, dropkicks by Shiki and she covers Yoneyama for two. Knee by Yoneyama but Shiki blocks the Irish whip and hits a face crusher, scoop slam by Shiki but Yoneyama bridges out of the cover and boots Shiki in the face. Yoneyama tags in Konami, kicks to the chest by Konami but Shiki catches one. Konami quickly applies a short armbar things break down as all five wrestlers end up in the ring. With the odds in their favor, the rookies take over as Shiki tags in Hanan and everyone attacks Konami in the corner. Missile dropkick by Shiki, Ruaka picks up Konami and hits the fisherman suplex before Hanan delivers the STO for a two count. Hanan goes for a suplex on Konami but Konami blocks it, Ruaka comes in to help but Yoneyama and Shiki come in too and they end up in a stalemate. Yoneyama and Konami dropkick all three of their opponents, fisherman suplex by Konami to Hanan and she nails the Buzzsaw Kick for the three count! Kaori Yoneyama and Konami are the winners!

This was good enough mindless fun. And at least it was structured differently so it wasn’t the same literal match we have been watching in the opening of Stardom for the last six months. While not all the rookies are great, they kept the match short (about five minutes) so each got a little bit of a chance to shine without being asked to do too much. Nothing special but at least it was watchable.

AZM and HZK vs. Miranda and Nicole Savoy vs. Jungle Kyona and Natsuko Tora vs. Starlight Kid and Xia Brookside
Elimination Tag Team Match

The rules of the match are that each team still in the match has one wrestler active, so it starts with four legal wrestlers in the ring. Natsuko is triple teamed to start but quickly turns the tide as she stacks all her opponents in the corner. Natsuko goes for a body avalanche but everyone moves so she just hits the turnbuckle, Kyona tries to do the same but she accidentally hits Natsuko. Miranda hits a spear on both Starlight Kid and AZM, Miranda dropkicks Starlight Kid in the knee and delivers a DDT for two. Elbows by Starlight Kid but Miranda shrugs them off, Nicole comes in to help but is quickly sent back out of the ring as things quickly (and predictably) break down. Starlight Kid and Xia isolate AZM in the ring, Codebreaker by Xia and Starlight Kid hits a standing moonsault for two. HZK breaks up the next cover attempt, AZM rebounds out of the corner with a crossbody and holds down Starlight Kid for the three count! Starlight Kid and Xia Brookside are eliminated.

AZM tags in HZK as Kyona comes in the ring, they trade elbows until HZK DDTs Kyona for a two count. Nicole comes in and suplexes both HZK and Kyona, she then puts them both in a stretch hold but after she lets go both her opponents toss her to the mat. We end up with HZK and Kyona alone again, hard headbutt by HZK and both wrestlers are down. AZM and Natsuko replace them, HZK boots Natsuko and AZM applies the Wing Clutch Hold for two. Natsuko goes for a suplex but AZM reverses it, AZM picks up Natsuko and goes off the ropes, but Kyona runs in and lariats her. Spear by Natsuko and she nails the swinging side slam for the three count! AZM and HZK are eliminated.

We are down to the final pair, Team Jungle dropkick Nicole and Miranda and Kyona goes for the powerbomb on Miranda, but Miranda slides away and hits a cutter. Tilt-a-whirl something by Miranda gets a two count and she tags in Nicole, sliding knee by Nicole and she covers Kyona for two. Nicole goes for the suplex but HZK blocks it, cradle by Nicole and she puts Kyona in a single leg crab hold. Natsuko breaks it up, Nicole goes off the ropes but Kyona hits a lariat. Nicole stays up and goes off the ropes but finally is sent off her feet with another lariat, Natsuko comes in and they both hit body blocks. Diving bodypress by Kyona and then Natsuko, cover by Natsuko but it gets two. Fallaway Slam by Nicole, she picks up Natsuko and goes off the ropes, but Kyona cuts her off with a lariat. Miranda runs in and spears Natsuko, she then kicks Kyona in the head before Nicole goes back to Natsuko and delivers a backdrop suplex for a two count. Nicole picks up Natsuko and delivers a fisherman suplex hold, and she picks up the three count! Nicole Savoy and Miranda win the match.

I have to give credit where it is due, this match was more entertaining than I was expecting. The vast majority of this was solid, they worked together really well and it stayed fast paced and interesting. Miranda was the only one that lagged behind as she isn’t quite as skilled as everyone else on the match, but aside from a few of her segments, everything else was gravy. About as good as a Stardom undercard match can get, it kept me amused which is all I can ask for.  Mildly Recommended

Hiromi Mimura vs. Natsu Sumire

After some mic work, Natsu manages to trick Hiromi into thinking she is emotional and sad about this match but quickly suplexes Hiromi and knees her in the head. Natsu stomps Hiromi and elbows her in the corner, running elbow by Natsu and she puts Hiromi in a camel clutch. Headscissors by Natsu and she slams Hiromi’s head into the mat, Natsu lets go after a moment and gets her whip, but Hiromi avoids the whip blows. Natsu pulls the referee in front of her to stop Hiromi’s charge and hits a lariat, she then drinks some water to try to spit it onto Hiromi but Hiromi kicks her back and hits a scoop slam. Now it is Hiromi that get some water and spits it onto Natsu, stomps by Hiromi and she goes for the Acid Drop, but Natsu shoves her off. Natsu picks up Hiromi but Hiromi gets away, she goes off the ropes and hits a low crossbody followed by a dropkick. Hiromi goes up top and delivers a diving crossbody and she delivers a… modified Acid Drop to Natsu, Hiromi charges Natsu but Natsu whips her in the face. Natsu keeps whipping Hiromi as the referee tries to get her to stop, Natsu pushes the referee away as she continues her assault, but Hiromi dropkicks Natsu back into the referee. Hiromi charges Natsu but Natsu drop toeholds her into the referee in the corner. Bronco Buster by Natsu and she chokes Hiromi with the whip, the referee gets her to stop but Natsu whips the referee. The referee has finally seen enough and calls for the bell, giving Hiromi the victory by DQ.

Well this match certainly had lots of “style” to it. For what it was, it was decent enough and was kept short, but neither of these two will ever win any awards for their in-ring ability. Still, variety on  a card isn’t a bad thing and it certainly is different than the other matches on the card. Oedo Tai to me sometimes walks the line too close between being a goofy stable and being an ass-kicking one but at least Natsu has her character pretty down-pat so love it or not she is consistent. In a vacuum, not a good match, but a bit of a perhaps necessary breather before the big matches on the card get going.

(c) Hana Kimura and Kagetsu vs. Mayu Iwatani and Tam Nakano
Goddesses of Stardom Championship

Mayu and Tam try to shake hands before the match, their efforts are rejected so they jump Oedo Tai from behind instead. Hana is double teamed in the corner and gets kicked both both opponents in the stomach, Tam kicks Hana into the corner but Hana blocks the suplex attempt. Leg sweep by Tam and she stomps on Hana’s back before hitting a running senton. Fisherman suplex hold by Tam, but Hana gets a shoulder up. Tam hits a backdrop suplex, but that gets a two count as well. Mayu comes in and they hit a double vertical suplex, superkick by Mayu and Tam hits a high kick. Kagetsu runs in but she eats a double superkick, as does Hana, before Tam delivers a heel kick to Hana for a nearfall. Tam gets on the second turnbuckle but Hana avoid the diving senton and makes the hot tag to Kagetsu. Kagetsu throws Tam into the corner so that Mayu can tag in, Mayu does and they go through a quick exchange with neither getting the advantage. Strike combination by Kagetsu but Mayu kicks her in the leg, dragon suplex hold by Kagetsu but it gets a two count. Mayu picks up Kagetsu and hits an Ebisu Drop, but Kagetsu fires back with elbows. Superkick by Mayu and she nails a Buzzsaw Kick, German suplex by Mayu but it only gets a two count.

Mayu gets on the top turnbuckle but Kagetsu elbows her and chokeslams Mayu to the mat. Both wrestlers roll to their corners to tag out, Kris gets on the apron and spits water at Tam before Hana hits a dropkick. Running boot by Hana and she hits a vertical suplex, she applies a seated armbar but Mayu breaks it up. Hana goes for a boot but Tam moves and hits a high kick, Hana returns with a big boot before booting Tam in the head again for a two count cover. Tam avoids the next boot attempt and hits a heel kick, Tam goes up top but Kris hits her from the apron with a board. Big boot by Hana and she flings Tam back to the mat, cover by Hana but she pulls up Tam’s head before the three count. She then tags in Kagetsu, high kick by Kagetsu but Tam kicks her back. More kicks by Tam but Kagetsu doesn’t go down until she is hit by about a dozen of them. Kagetsu still recovers first as Tam is feeling the effects from previous damage, strike combination by Kagetsu and she nails a Buzzsaw Kick. Kagetsu goes for the Ebisu Drop but Tam rolls away, kick to the stomach by Tam but Kagetsu catches her with a chokeslam. Ebisu Drop by Kagetsu, she goes up top and she delivers the Oedo Coaster for the three count! Oedo Tai retain the titles.

As a general rule, matches start slow and build to a climax, but I thought in this match they did the opposite. The match started super hot and I loved the frantic pace and urgency shown by Mayu and Tam as they dominated the first portion of the match, but it did slow down once Oedo Tai took over. Not that the match got bad but I wish they had gone ahead and just maintained that pace since it wasn’t a very long title match anyway (about 12 minutes). The story here of Tam trying her damndest but not being good enough yet was well done and Hana was really great both in her move execution and expressions. For a short midcard title defense, they really delivered an exciting match, hats off to all of them.  Recommended

Meiko Satomura vs. Toni Storm

They start with a grappling session and end up on the mat trading holds, but they reach a stalemate and shake hands back on their feet. Meiko kicks Toni in the face but lets Toni recover, Toni applies a wristlock on the mat but Meiko reverses it. Kicks by Meiko and she hits a double kneedrop, but Toni kicks out of the cover. Meiko charges Toni but Toni ducks behind her and drops Meiko with a release German. Hip attack by Toni and she hits a reverse neckbreaker, armbar by Toni but Meiko gets to the ropes. Toni picks up Meiko but Meiko blocks the piledriver, elbow by Meiko but Toni returns fire. Kick to the gut by Meiko and she hits a series of uppercuts which sends Toni to the mat. Meiko goes up top but Toni headbutts her down to the floor, she goes off the ropes and sails out onto Meiko with a tope suicida. Toni gets Meiko back into the ring but still can’t hit the piledriver, Meiko goes for the Death Valley Bomb but Toni slides down her back and hits a Backstabber. Toni goes up top but Meiko joins her, Toni slides under her legs however and hits a Buckle Bomb. Meiko comes back with a Pele Kick, kicks to the chest by Meiko and she drops Toni with a DDT. Meiko goes for the cartwheel kneedrop but Toni moves and applies the armbar. Meiko gets out of it and goes back to kicking Toni, slingshot footstomp by Meiko and she finally hits the cartwheel kneedrop. Meiko picks up Toni but Toni blocks the Death Valley Bomb attempt, snap piledriver by Toni but Meiko kicks out of the cover. Toni goes for a kick but Meiko swats her away and applies a sleeper, but Toni gets to the ropes. Death Valley Bomb by Meiko, but it only gets a two count. Meiko goes for another one but Toni hits the Strong Zero, she goes for another one but Meiko reverses it into a Death Valley Bomb. They slowly get up and Meiko delivers another one, but Toni rolls out of the ring before Meiko can make the cover. The bell rings as Toni reaches the floor, as time has expired. The match is a Draw.

Somewhere, hiding within this match, was a great match just waiting to come out. But it never really did. Part of the issue, as I mentioned above, is that everyone and their mother knew this match would be a draw. Now matches can overcome that, being predictable doesn’t automatically equal not entertaining, it just makes it harder. The beginning mat work dragged a bit wasn’t a big deal, but it felt like it went from the feeling out process straight to trading finishers without much ‘meat’ to the match. That isn’t to say it was bad, I’m just explaining why it wasn’t the epic I think these two could have based on their talent. They are both super smooth wrestlers with killer strikes, and I loved Toni’s suplex to Meiko. Plus her snap piledrivers are some of the best in the business. Certainly a good match but it never really did anything to go beyond that.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Io Shirai vs. Momo Watanabe
Wonder of Stardom Championship

Momo immediately starts elbowing Io and throws her into the corner before hitting a dropkick, she goes to charge Io again but Io catches her in the face with a dropkick. Kicks by Io and she hits a scoop slam, footstomp by Io and she kicks Momo in the leg. Io keeps on Momo’s leg, Momo gets back to her feet and hits an elbow but Io elbows her back. More strikes by Io in the corner, Irish whip by Io but Momo springboards out of the corner and hits a dropkick. Double backflip into a dropkick by Io, Momo rolls out of the ring and Io goes off the ropes to do a dive, but Momo rolls back in and kicks Io in the chest. Momo gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a tornado DDT, kicks by Momo and Io bails out of the ring to regroup. The Stardom referee seems overly concerned as he continues being biased towards Io (which is a common theme in Stardom title matches), Momo finally goes out to the apron and kicks Io in the chest as she stands on the floor. Momo slides Io onto the apron, she gets Io on her shoulders and nails the B Driver. Back in the ring, dropkick by Momo in the corner and she hits a second dropkick, hard kick to the back by Momo and she covers Io for two. Momo picks up Io but Io elbows her off, dragon screw leg whip by Io and Momo rolls out to the floor.

Io goes to the apron and sails out of the ring with an Asai Moonsault, Io slides Momo back in and hits a swandive dropkick. Running double knee by Io in the corner followed by a double underhook facebuster, and she covers Momo for a two count. Io goes up top but Momo kicks her leg out before she can jump off, Momo joins Io and slaps her before hitting a superplex. Momo picks up Io and hits a side slam, another side slam by Momo and she delivers the Somato for a two count. Momo puts Io in a modified chickenwing choke but Io gets a foot on the bottom rope for the break. Momo picks up Io and goes for the B Driver but Io blocks it, cradle by Momo and she hits another Somato for two. B Driver by Momo, she goes up top and nails the avalanche Somato before putting Io back in the submission hold. Io gets to the ropes again but Momo keeps a hold of her arm and hits a dragon suplex hold for a two count. High kick by Momo, she puts Io on the top turnbuckle and goes for an avalanche B Driver, but Io reverses it into a powerbomb. Io grabs Momo from behind but Momo elbows her off, she goes for a kick but Io catches her leg and applies an ankle hold. She reverts it into a pair of German suplexes, Io then hits the package German but Momo kicks out at two. Io picks up Momo and nails a palm strike, busting open Momo’s lip in the process. Tombstone Piledriver by Io, she goes up top and she nails a moonsault for the three count! Io Shirai is still the Wonder of Stardom Champion.

First of all, its a good thing the match was already ending because Momo’s lip was cut open something fierce. This was a great match and honestly I didn’t know that Momo had this in her. By far the best match in her career and it isn’t even close. Io Shirai gets a lot of credit for that but Momo was on point from start to finish, hitting everything under the sun to try to keep Io down. Io did her usual superwoman act at times but I’ve never had an issue with that, she’s the Ace and that is what Ace’s do, they are supposed to be incredibly difficult to keep down for the three count. But they still wrestled with a purpose, as Io kept after Momo’s leg and Momo kept throwing every bomb she has in her arsenal. A must see match and my favorite Stardom match of 2018 so far, I’d recommend going out of your way to see it.  Highly Recommended

The post Stardom Queen’s Fes on 2/18/18 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Now this should be a better event than the Stardom show I reviewed from the week before. There are a lot of possibilities for goodness here, as we get the amazing Kay Lee Ray in a title match plus the return of The Icon Mayu Iwatani! The main event is a big ten woman elimination match, with the last wrestler to be pinned for her team being kicked out of their faction. High stakes indeed. Here is the full card:

• Hanan, Shiki Shibusawa, and Starlight Kid vs. Hiromi Mimura, Konami, and Ruaka
• Jungle Kyona, Kaori Yoneyama, and Natsuko Tora vs. Miranda, Nicole Savoy, and Xia Brookside
• High Speed Championship: Mary Apache vs. Kay Lee Ray
• Mayu Iwatani vs. Rachael Ellering
• Elimination Tag Team Gauntlet Match: AZM, HZK, Io Shirai, Watanabe, and Viper vs. Hana Kimura, Kagetsu, Kris Wolf, Natsu Sumire, and Tam Nakano

I am watching the Samurai TV version of this match, as if I watch another full Stardom rookie match I will literally die. Plus I like the replays. All the wrestlers above have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their names to go straight to it. Onto the fun!

Hanan, Shiki Shibusawa, and Starlight Kid vs. Hiromi Mimura, Konami, and Ruaka

Shiki and Hiromi start the match, dropkick by Shiki but Hiromi hits an armdrag and puts Shiki in a stretch hold. Shiki’s friends run in to help and triple team Shiki in the corner, they put Hiromi into the ropes to attack her some more but she manages to tag in Konami. Shiki teams in Hanan and Hanan gets all three of her opponents to the mat, standing moonsault by Starlight Kid and she hits Konami with a Tiger Feint Kick. Konami gets Hanan to the mat and goes for a triangle choke, but it is quickly broken up. Hanan tags in Starlight Kid but Konami kicks her in the head, cover by Konami but it gets two. Konami hits a vertical suplex and tags in Ruaka, Ruaka boots Starlight Kid in the corner and boots her in the chest for a two count. Ruaka picks up Starlight Kid but the fisherman suplex is blocked and Ruaka hits a reverse STO. Hiromi comes in and dropkicks Starlight Kid, Ruaka comes in and she hits a fisherman suplex hold onto Starlight Kid for two. Ruaka picks up Starlight Kid but Starlight Kid rolls her up for two, dropkick by Starlight Kid and Shiki hits a missile dropkick. Standing moonsault by Starlight Kid on Ruaka, but Ruaka barely gets a shoulder up. Cyclone suplex by Starlight Kid, Konami and Hiromi come in but they quickly get cleared out. Starlight Kid goes up top and nails the Frog Splash on Ruaka, and she picks up the three count! Hanan, Shiki Shibusawa, and Starlight Kid win!

They did as well as could be expected, as they kept the speed up with very limited downtime/silliness (except when Hiromi Mimura was around). Not as much was clipped as I was expecting but what they showed was perfectly fine. I’ll give Konami much of the credit since she by far was the best person in this match, but everyone played their roles well. Not bad for an opener.

Jungle Kyona, Yoneyama, and Natsuko Tora vs. Miranda, Savoy, and Xia Brookside

Team Jungle attacks before the bell rings, Xia is isolated in the ring until Savoy runs in to help even the odds. Savoy slams Natsuko before suplexing Kaori onto her, she then grabs Miranda and tosses her onto Natsuko for extra measure. Xia and Kaori stay in as the legal wrestlers, chop to the throat by Kaori and she connects with the running senton. Kaori tags in Natsuko but Xia drops her with a headscissors, knee by Xia in the corner and she slams Natsuko’s face into the mat. Dropkick by Xia, and she covers Natsuko for two. Xia tags in Savoy, butterfly suplex by Savoy and she hits a gutwrench suplex onto Natsuko. Natsuko quickly rolls up Savoy but it only gets a two, Savoy boots Natsuko but Natsuko hits a running shoulder tackle in the corner. She goes for the spear but Savoy catches her and hits a suplex, Savoy picks up Natsuko but Natsuko hits a back bodydrop. Spear by Natsuko and she makes the hot tag to Kyona, Kyona shoulderblocks Savoy and goes up to the second turnbuckle, but Savoy avoids the bodypress. Sliding Kick by Savoy, but Kyona kicks out of the cover. Knees by Savoy to the midsection and she delivers a backdrop suplex, Savoy tags in Miranda while Xia comes in as well. Kyona is triple teamed, ending with a satellite roll-up by Miranda of sorts for a two count. Miranda picks up Kyona and hits an enzuigiri, cutter by Miranda but Kyona barely kicks out of the cover. Miranda picks up Kyona but Kyona levels her with a lariat, Savoy and Xia come in but so does Natsuko and she spears both of them. Kaori comes in as Miranda is now isolated, Hammerthrow Powerbomb by Kyona on Miranda and she picks up the three count! Team Jungle are the winners.

Just a short fun midcard match. I will say that Xia was really fired up and Savoy looked good with her suplexes. No surprise that Team Jungle won, no reason for them not to since Miranda is basically in Stardom for this tour to eat pins. Not long enough to get excited about but fine for what it was.

(c) Mary Apache vs. Kay Lee Ray
High Speed Championship

They get right into it, as KLR springboards off the ropes, but Apache moves and knocks her to the mat. Camel Clutch by Apache, she picks up KLR and swings her around in the Gory Special but KLR gets away and rolls her up for two. KLR rolls Apache to the mat and kicks her in the chest, KLR elbows Apache but Apache elbows her back and they trade blows. Heel Kick by Apache, they trade elbows again until Apache slams KLR to the mat with a spinebuster. Mexican Surfboard by Apache but KLR spins out of it and applies a choke. Apache goes off the ropes but KLR trips her and slides out of the ring, she pulls Apache up on the apron but Apache knocks her down and puts KLR in a Surfboard while still on the apron. Apache picks up KLR but KLR superkicks her down to the floor, KLR gets a running start in the ring and sails out onto Apache with a tope suicida. Apache stands up but KLR dives out onto her again, KLR goes up top and dives onto Apache a third time with a cannonball. KLR slides Apache back into the ring, she goes off the ropes and dropkicks Apache in the chest for a two count. Gory Bomb by KLR, but Apache kicks out of the cover. KLR puts Apache in a submission, but Apache wiggles to the ropes and forces the break. KLR chops Apache and goes off the ropes, but Apache catches her with a sit-down powerbomb for two. Apache gets on the top turnbuckle and delivers a diving heel kick, Apache picks up KLR and drops her with a Michinoku Driver II for the three count! Mary Apache retains the championship.

While I wouldn’t have minded if the match was a bit longer, it was still entertaining. KLR is a pleasure to watch, she’s such a firecracker and flies around the ring like few other female wrestlers can. Apache is more old school but really solid as well, her submissions are always on point and she doesn’t mind dropping people on their heads if necessary to pick up victories. I loved KLR going the reckless route since Apache was stronger, and even though it didn’t work out she came out of the match looking strong. A really solid midcard championship match.  Recommended

Mayu Iwatani vs. Rachael Ellering

They lock-up to start, Rachael pushes Mayu into the ropes and she gives a clean break. They trade shoves, wristlock by Rachael but Mayu rolls out of it and reverses the hold. Snapmare by Rachael and she puts Mayu in a headlock, Mayu elbows out of it and she delivers a dropkick. Elbows by Mayu and she dropkicks Rachael again, she goes off the ropes but Rachael boots Mayu in the face. Rachael stomps on Mayu’s still wrapped up arm, she pulls Mayu’s arm while it is in the ropes and continues to focus on it with kicks. Rachael picks up Mayu, superkick by Mayu and she dropkicks Rachael while she is against the ropes. Rachael falls out of the ring, Mayu goes up top and she dives out onto Rachael with a plancha suicida. Mayu slides Rachael back into the ring, she goes up top again and delivers a missile dropkick for a two count. Mayu picks up Rachael and goes for the dragon suplex, but Rachael blocks it and boots Mayu in the head. Spinebuster by Rachael, she charges Mayu and hits a jumping elbow. Another elbow by Rachael and she hits a scoop slam, slingshot leg drop out of the corner and Rachael covers Mayu for two. Rachael picks up Mayu but Mayu hits a crucifix slam, she charges Rachael but Rachael takes off her head with a lariat. Swinging Side Slam by Rachael, but Mayu barely kicks out. Rachael picks up Mayu but Mayu gets away and hits a German suplex, she goes up top and delivers the diving footstomp. Mayu kicks Rachael in the head, another high kick by Mayu and she nails her dragon suplex hold for the three count! Mayu Iwatani wins!

It is so nice to have Mayu Iwatani back, she is such an important part of Stardom now and cards have been noticeably lacking something during her time away. Mayu makes matches exciting just by being her natural self, such as bumping like a crazy person and showing so much emotion. For her part, Rachael was pretty great here too and executed her moves in such a way that I almost was sold on the idea she could win the match. Just almost of course, but it was a very back and forth match with both getting a chance to show off. I am not sure if this match was super great or if I just missed Mayu, but either way I was really entertained by this one. Definitely worth a watch.  Recommended

Queen’s Quest (Io, AZM, HZK, Viper, and Momo) vs. Oedo Tai (Kris, Sumire, Kagetsu, Hana, and Tam)
Elimination Tag Team Gauntlet Match

AZM vs. Kris Wolf – We start with the recently injured Kris against the youngest wrestler in the match, Kris charges AZM and hits a knee, but AZM rolls her up for the three count! Kris Wolf is eliminated and Queen’s Quest is up 5-4.

AZM vs. Natsu Sumire – Natsu quickly runs into the match and starts beating on AZM, she put AZM in the ropes and all the members of Oedo Tai attack her. The cheating continues as the referee has already lost control, Natsu gets some water in her mouth and spits it down onto AZM. AZM slides behind Natsu and tries to throw her over the top rope to the floor, but Natsu lands on the apron. AZM tries to kick Natsu off but Natsu slides back into the ring and lariats AZM to the mat. Knees by Natsu but AZM fights back with an elbow as they trade blows, they both go off the ropes until Natsu boots AZM in the face for two. A Cutie Special gets a two count for Natsu as well, she picks up AZM but AZM cradles her for a two count. AZM charges Natsu but Natsu catches her and nails the Yoran (cradle DDT) for the three count! AZM is eliminated and the teams are tied 4-4.

Natsu Sumire vs. Io Shirai – Hard elbow by Io, she goes after Natsu but Natsu grabs the top rope to get a break. Natsu wastes some time and lays down on the mat, Io covers her but Natsu quickly rolls up Io for two. Natsu goes for the Yoran but Io blocks it and applies an armtrap crossface, Natsu rolls out of it but Io knees her in the head. Io drags up Natsu and slams her on front of the corner, she goes for the moonsault but Natsu recovers and tries to push Io from the top to the floor, which would eliminate her. Io holds onto the top rope as Natsu tries to pry her fingers off, Natsu goes to charge at Io but Io skins the cat before Natsu reaches her. Dragon screw by Io and she puts Natsu in the Texas Cloverleaf. Natsu struggles for a quick moment but has to tap out! Natsu is eliminated and Queen’s Quest is up 4-3.

Io Shirai vs. Kagetsu – They feel each other out and end up grappling on the mat, but neither gets a clear advantage. Irish whip by Io but Kagetsu shoulderblocks her down, she goes off the ropes but Io avoids her charge and does a backflip into a dropkick. Io goes to pick up Kagetsu but Kagetsu slams her into the corner, running elbow by Kagetsu and she hits a vertical suplex for two. Kagetsu picks up Io and goes off the ropes, but Io catches her with a hurricanrana for a two count. Kick attempts by Kagetsu but Io blocks them, palm strike by Io but Kagetsu blocks the double underhook facebuster. Io flips away from Kagetsu and hits a German suplex hold, but Kagetsu gets a shoulder up. Io goes for the Texas Cloverleaf but Kagetsu quickly gets to the ropes for the break, running double knee by Io in the corner and she hits the double underhook facebuster. Io goes up top but Tam Nakano hits her with a sign before she can jump off, Kagetsu then dropkicks Io off the top turnbuckle down onto the apron. Io gets up on the apron but Kagetsu dropkicks her as she tries to return to the ring, Kagetsu picks up Io while still in the ring but Io hits a palm strike. Tiger Feint Kick by Io while she is still on the apron, she goes to springboard back into the ring, but Kagetsu spits blue mist at her face. Kagetsu then slides out to the apron and chokeslams Io off the apron down onto the floor (and a mob of wrestlers), giving her the win! Io Shirai is eliminated and the match is tied 3-3.

Kagetsu vs. Viper – Kagetsu immediately goes for the chokeslam but it doesn’t work, Viper throws Kagetsu into the corner but Kagetsu avoids her charge and applies a few flash pins for two counts. Viper returns the favor but also gets a two, kick by Kagetsu but Viper catches the next one and hits a backdrop suplex. Viper goes off the ropes but Kagetsu avoids the senton, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Viper catches her hurricanrana attempt and powerbombs Kagetsu to the mat for a two count. Natsu gets on the apron to distract the referee while the rest of Oedo Tai sneaks into the ring to attack Viper. It doesn’t help for long as Viper is quickly back in control, she goes off the ropes but Kagetsu spits water in her face. Kagetsu jumps up to the top turnbuckle but Viper runs into the ropes to send Kagetsu out onto the apron. Kagetsu tries to springboard back in the ring but Viper knocks her back to the apron, Kagetsu almost falls out but Oedo Tai catches her and pushes her back to safety. Viper also almost tumbles out but she catches herself, and both wrestlers end up safely back in the ring. Viper picks up Kagetsu but she gets away, running crossbody by Viper and she delivers the senton followed by a low crossbody for a two count cover. Viper picks up Kagetsu but Kagetsu gets away and kicks Viper in the head. Ebisu Drop by Kagetsu, but Viper gets a shoulder up on the cover. Kagetsu positions Viper and goes up top, but Viper avoids the Oedo Coaster. Viper picks up Kagetsu and headbutts her repeatedly, Viper Driver by Viper but the bell rings before she can make the cover, as time has expired. Both wrestlers are eliminated, and the match is tied at 2-2.

Hana Kimura vs. HZK – Hana and HZK trade elbows as soon as the bell rings, HZK goes off the ropes but Hana catches her with a dropkick. Hana picks up HZK and they pull each other’s hair, Hana goes off the ropes and she pulls HZK down to the mat. Stomps by Hana and she knees HZK against the ropes before connecting with a running boot. Cover by Hana, but it gets a two. Hana picks up HZK and hits a delayed vertical suplex, she goes to the second turnbuckle but HZK recovers and hits a Codebreaker. Now HZK gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers the diving senton, HZK slams Hana to the mat and covers her for a two count. HZK charges Hana but Hana avoids the pump kick and pushes HZK onto the apron. Hana tries to boot HZK to the floor but HZK moves and she pulls Hana out onto the apron with her. Hana and HZK trade elbows on the apron, Hana goes for a suplex but HZK blocks it. Hana puts HZK on the second turnbuckle but HZK kicks her back and nails a sunset flip powerbomb down to the floor! Hana is hurt and both wrestlers are eliminated, as we are down to the last members of each team.

Momo Watanabe vs. Tam Nakano – The loser of this pairing must leave their respective faction. After a stare down they trade strikes, snapmare by Tam and she kicks Momo in the back. Momo returns the favor, more kicks by Momo and she covers Tam for two. Momo kicks Tam into the corner and delivers a dropkick, she goes for a second one but Tam moves out of the way and hits a dropkick of her own. Irish whip by Tam and she hits the Space Rolling Elbow followed by a running cutter, kicks by Tam and she dropkicks Momo in the chest. Senton by Tam, and she covers Momo for a two count. Elbows by Tam but Momo dropkicks her, vertical suplex by Momo and she holds down Tam for two. Momo gets Tam on her back but Tam rolls out of the hold, high kicks by Tam and she finishes Momo with a spinning head kick. Another spinning kick by Tam, but Momo kicks out of the cover. Kicks to the chest by Tam, she goes for another high kick but Momo ducks this time and delivers two high kicks of her own. Somato by Momo, but when she goes for the cover, Tam reverses it into her own pin attempt for two. Momo picks up Tam and slaps her, she goes up to the second turnbuckle and nails the diving Somato for the three count! Queen’s Quest wins the match and Tam Nakano must leave Oedo Tai!

That was a hell of a match, and there is a lot to digest. First, I should note that since I watched the Samurai TV version, some parts were clipped with Viper/Kagetsu’s portion being the most notable. But top to bottom this was an enjoyable match with the Kagetsu/Io pairing being the highlight. Both are just so good and I loved the ending with Io getting the mist (I’m a sucker for mist in matches, its one of my weaknesses). I can’t say I loved the Hana/HZK ending, not because it was dangerous since I enjoy dangerous spots, but it didn’t make a lot of sense for HZK to intentionally eliminate herself. That was the only real logic fail of the match though, as everyone else acted as one would expect in a match with such high stakes. Momo/Tam wasn’t quite as good as I was hoping, Tam is a great character but is a bit hit-and-miss in the ring while Momo is still working off some rust, but the emotion was there anyway. Top to bottom a really entertaining match, not without its flaws but as a package deal a quality effort by all involved.  Recommended

The post Stardom 7th Anniversary on 1/21/18 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

On to 2018! I know that I missed a lot of events from late 2017 but I don’t want to get even further behind so we are just moving on to the new year. I’ll have another Stardom review very shortly but I wanted to watch one event leading up to their big Korakuen Hall show. This show has a big main event, as Io Shirai accepts a challenge from Rachael Ellering! Here is the full card:

• Hanan vs. Miranda vs. Ruaka
• Hiromi Mimura and Mary Apache vs. Kaori Yoneyama and Natsuko Tora
• Hana Kimura, Kagetsu, and Natsu Sumire vs. Kay Lee Ray, Nicole Savoy, and Xia Brookside
• AZM, HZK, Momo Watanabe, and Viper vs. Jungle Kyona, Konami, Shiki Shibusawa, and Starlight Kid
• Wonder Of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai vs. Rachael Ellering

All the wrestlers above have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their name to go straight to it. As this was shown on Stardom World, all matches will be shown in full.

Hanan vs. Miranda vs. Ruaka

Hanan and Ruaka double team Miranda to start, they get her into the corner and Hanan delivers a dropkick. Hanan tricks Ruaka and rolls her up for a two count, she tries again but Miranda gets her from behind and all three trade flash pins with no luck. Miranda and Ruaka stomp on Hanan, but Hanan slams Ruaka to the mat and Ruaka gets double teamed instead. Hanan puts Ruaka in a crab hold before Miranda kicks her in the head, they switch positions but Hanan dropkicks Miranda instead. Hanan is not one to trust in this match. Miranda rocks Hanan with a hard elbow, Ruaka attacks Miranda but Miranda elbows her to the mat as well. Hanan and Ruaka Irish whip Miranda but Miranda hits a spear on both of them, Miranda covers Hanan but it gets two. Miranda chops Hanan into the corner before hitting a running elbow, Miranda throws Hanan to the mat and delivers a sliding kick for another two count. Miranda elbows Hanan against the ropes but Hanan hits a hip toss, Ruaka finally returns and they both slam Miranda, but Hanan schoolboys Ruaka for two. Reverse STO by Ruaka to Hanan, she picks up Hanan and delivers the fisherman suplex hold for a two count when Miranda breaks it up. Miranda kicks Ruaka into the corner, dropkick by Miranda and she hits a second one on Ruaka for a quick cover. Cutter by Miranda, but Hanan breaks up the cover. Hanan and Ruaka both grab Miranda and hit a double fisherman suplex hold, but Miranda kicks out. Big boot by Ruaka in the corner, superkick by Hanan and she hits a STO on Ruaka. Another STO by Hanan, but Ruaka barely gets a shoulder up. Hanan gets on the second turnbuckle but Ruaka recovers, she hits a fisherman suplex back to the mat before delivering a second fisherman suplex hold for the three count! Ruaka is your winner.

I will say this – I expected this match to be really disjointed and awkward but it was pretty smooth overall. A minor hiccup here and there but Miranda didn’t seem out of place in the ring with two wrestlers that have faced off on a very regular basis in the last year. Nothing to get excited about of course, but all three got a bit of a chance to shine and it was a respectable way to start off the show.

Hiromi Mimura and Mary Apache vs. Kaori Yoneyama and Natsuko Tora

Yoneyama and Apache start off trading armdrags and trips before reaching a stalemate, Apache tags in Hiromi while Natsuko also tags in. They do a pose-off before trading elbows, hard shoulderblock by Natsuko and Yoneyama comes in to help double team Hiromi. Yoneyama stays in and throws Hiromi by the hair into the corner, chops by Yoneyama and she chops Hiromi in the throat. Hiromi fights back with a dropkick, she kicks Natsuko off the apron but goofs around too much and doesn’t capitalize. Yoneyama charges Hiromi in the corner but Hiromi hits a tornado DDT, giving her time to tag in Apache. Apache puts Yoneyama in a Mexican Surfboard, Hiromi returns and she helps Apache jump down on Yoneyama against the ropes. Natsuko runs in and helps Yoneyama turn the tide on Apache, Yoneyama tags in Natsuko and she hits a running shoulder tackle on Apache in the corner. Apache recovers but Natsuko delivers a spear, Yoneyama comes in and hits a diving senton onto Apache. Tora follows with a diving senton of her own, Natsuko picks up Apache but Apache nails Natsuko with a jumping heel kick, cover by Apache but Yoneyama breaks it up. Apache lariats both of them, Hiromi comes in and she dropkicks Natsuko in the face. Lariat by Apache, and she covers Natsuko for two. Ligerbomb by Apache, and she picks up the three count! Hiromi Mimura and Mary Apace win!

Almost literally a nothing match, with very little substance. Natsuko and Yoneyama work well together but nothing else can really be pulled out of this match, aside from Hiromi being goofy and Mary Apache not really being given a chance to add anything of note. Skippable match.

Hana Kimura, Kagetsu, and Natsu Sumire vs. Kay Lee Ray, Nicole Savoy, and Xia Brookside

Oedo Tai attacks before the match starts, Kagetsu stays in with KLR but Savoy runs in and drops Kagetsu with a gutwrench suplex. Xia comes in too to help, neckbreaker by KLR to Kagetsu and she puts her in a quick submission. Hana and Natsu come in but the Gaijin Team stays in control, KLR elbows Kagetsu in the corner and tags in Savoy. Xia is tagged in but Tam pulls her out of the ring and beats down Xia at ringside. Natsu helps Tam before Xia is rolled back into the ring as all the members of Oedo Tai pose around her. Kagetsu kicks Xia before tagging in Hana, Hana kicks at Xia and tags in Natsu, as Xia plays the Face in Peril, Natsu gets her bottle water and spits water down onto Xia. Natsu suplexes Xia into the corner and hits the Bronco Buster, but Xia comes back with a jumping knee and a face crusher for a two count. Xia tags in Savoy, butterfly suplex by Savoy and she drops Natsu with a German suplex. Kagetsu runs in but she gets suplexed as well, she then hits a Fallaway Slam on Hana before booting Natsu. Natsu schoolboys Savoy which gives her time to tag in Hana, drop toehold by Hana and she boots Savoy in the head. Fisherman Buster by Savoy to Hana and she tags in KLR, KLR slaps Hana in the chest and delivers a high kick for a two count. Dropkick by Hana to KLR and she puts her in the Ground Manjikatame, but KLR quickly gets to the ropes. Hana elbows KLR but KLR nails her with a superkick, she tags in Xia while Kagetsu is also tagged in. Spinning headscissors by Xia and she kicks Kagetsu in the head for a two count. Xia gets Kagetsu on her shoulders but Kagetsu slides off, Codebreaker by Xia and she covers Kagetsu for another two. Xia picks up Kagetsu and puts her on the top turnbuckle before flinging her to the mat, but Hana breaks up the cover. Elbows by Xia but Kagetsu tosses P-chan at her and kicks Xia in the head. Hana runs in and boots Xia, Ebisu Drop by Kagetsu but KLR breaks up the pin. Kagetsu picks up Xia and hits a vertical suplex, chokeslam by Kagetsu and she covers Xia for the three count! Oedo Tai are the winners!

A fun midcard match. The wrestlers are capable of more than that of course but with the match length and placement on the card, this was about all we could hope for. All the gaijin team members looked great in limited action, with Savoy and KLR being particularly impressive. Natsu on a skill-level is below everyone else but was well protected here, and everyone played their part well. Solid, but nothing overly memorable long term.  Mildly Recommended

AZM, HZK, Momo, and Viper vs. Jungle Kyona, Konami, Shibusawa, and Starlight Kid

Momo and Kyona kick things off, Kyona boots Momo in the stomach and hits a hard shoulderblock. Armdrag by Momo and she rolls up Kyona for two, but Kyona gets her to the mat and they end up in a stalemate. Kyona tags in Starlight Kid while Viper is also tagged in, Starlight Kid stomps on Viper’s foot and hits a few dropkicks, but Viper catches her on the crossbody attempt. Viper tries to sit on Starlight Kid but Starlight Kid moves, dropkick by Starlight Kid and she covers Viper for a quick two count. Starlight Kid goes for a tilt-a-whirl headscissors but Viper catches her, she goes off the ropes but Shiki runs in and stops her from hitting a bodypress. Queen’s Quest stacks up all their opponents in the corner before Viper hits a cannonball, Viper then picks up Starlight Kid and headbutts her. She tags in AZM, scoop slam by AZM and she kicks Starlight Kid in the back. AZM tags Momo, Momo dropkicks Starlight Kid in the corner and hits another scoop slam for two. Starlight Kid elbows Momo but Momo knocks her to the mat and tags in HZK. HZK picks up Starlight Kid and elbows her against the ropes, but Shiki runs in and dropkicks HZK. Tiger Feint Kick by Starlight Kid and Shiki hits a face crusher, double dropkick to HZK and Starlight Kid makes the hot tag to Konami.

Konami applies a seated armbar to HZK but it gets broken up by Momo, Viper tries to break it up too but Konami puts all three in an armbar. Knees by Konami to HZK and she delivers a dropkick, back kick by Konami and she hits a fisherman suplex hold for two. Konami tags Kyona, Kyona and HZK trade elbows until Kyona swings HZK to the mat with a sleeper. Momo breaks it up and with HZK they suplex Kyona, double knee to the back to Kyona and Momo delivers the Somato. Pump Kick by HZK and she hits Michinoku Driver on Kyona for two. HZK gets on the second turnbuckle but Kyona avoids the senton, lariat to the back by Kyona but HZK avoids the next lariat and hits a headbutt. Kyona comes back with a hard shot but HZK sneaks in a DDT and both wrestlers are down. Shiki and AZM are tagged in, dropkicks by Shiki and she scoop slams AZM. Standing Moonsault by Starlight Kid and Konami delivers a sliding kick to AZM, Shiki follows with a missile dropkick and she covers AZM for two. AZM gets away from Shiki and hits a triple jump crossbody out of the corner, giving her time to tag in Viper. Elbow by Viper and she hits a low crossbody, but the cover is broken up. All of Queen’s Quest stay in the ring, triple dropkick to Shiki and Viper follows with a running senton for the three count! Queen’s Quest win the match.

A small step down from the last match but still decent enough, even though it wasn’t an ideal match for a semi-main event. They kept the pace up, as you’d expect in a pretty short eight wrestler tag match, but it lacked anything resembling a structure as it was mostly just random carnage. Perfectly fine for a casual watch, but nothing more than that here.

(c) Io Shirai vs. Rachael Ellering
Wonder of Stardom Championship

They tie-up to start, wristlock by Rachael but Io applies a headlock. Rachael gets out of it but Io drops her into the ropes, she goes for a Tiger Feint Kick but Rachael slides out of the way. Irish whip by Rachael and she hits a shoulderblock, Io kips up but Rachael elbows her back down to the mat. Chops by Rachael but Io avoids a senton, Io goes for a dropkick but Rachael moves out of the way. Io blocks a piledriver but Rachael snaps off a cutter for two. Rachael grabs Io around the waist and flings her to the mat, kicks by Rachael and she shoulder tackles Io in the corner. Rachael scoops up Io and hits a shoulder breaker to the gut, cover by Rachael but Io kicks out. Elbow by Rachael and she hits a scoop slam, senton by Rachael and she covers Io for two. Rachael kicks at Io and connects with a few elbows, she goes for a kick to the back but Io catches it and dropkicks Rachael in the knee. Io charges Rachael in the corner, Rachael drops her onto the apron however and boots Io down to the floor. Io quickly gets back into the ring and hits a scoop slam, she goes up top and hits a flying body press for two. Rachael rolls out of the ring, but Io goes off the ropes and sails out onto her with a plancha suicida. Io slides Rachael back in and hits a missile dropkick, running double knee by Io in the corner and she covers Rachael for two. Io goes up top but Rachael hits her from behind, Rachael pulls Io off the top and hits a STO. Leg drop out of the corner by Rachael, but Io kicks out of the cover. Io lands on the apron, Rachael goes for a boot but Io catches it and snaps Rachael’s leg on the top rope. Io goes up top but Rachael joins her and delivers an Avalanche Falcon Arrow for a two count cover. Rachael picks up Io and elbows her, but Io elbows her back and they trade blows. Palm strike by Io but Rachael boots her in the face, spinebuster by Rachael, but Io gets a shoulder up on the cover. Rachael picks up Io but Io gets away on the powerbomb attempt and delivers a German suplex hold for two. Io picks up Rachael and hits a dragon screw, Io picks up Rachael and delivers a tombstone piledriver. Io goes up top and she nails the moonsault, cover by Io and she picks up the three count! Io Shirai is still the Wonder of Stardom Champion!

While obviously I adore Io and think she is one of the best wrestlers in the world, this match was a bit disappointing. I am not faulting Rachael either, she was on point, but at times they just didn’t mesh well and it didn’t feel near as fluid as I expect from Io’s matches. The biggest slip-up was all Io but other times I couldn’t fault one or the other, it just didn’t always feel natural. I did love Rachael’s dangerous looking Falcon Arrow and the big spots were executed well, it just didn’t get enough time (about 13 minutes) for them to overcome the issues early in the match. It was still “good” overall because current day Io isn’t capable of not having a good match, but for a title match it didn’t fully deliver.  Mildly Recommended

The post Stardom “New Years Stars 2018” on 1/13/18 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

It is that time of the month again that Stardom has aired on Samurai TV and we catch up on what they are up to. While I don’t currently have the time/desire to watch all of Stardom’s smaller events, they really do their best to stack their Korakuen Hall shows. This one is a bit more iffy because the current crop of Gaijins are a bit more iffy, but there are still some big matches. Plus, this will be my first time seeing Sumire Natsu since she started in Stardom, I wasn’t ever really impressed with her in WAVE but in a new promotion and with a new attitude anything can happen. Here is the full card:

• Hanan vs. Ruaka
• Jungle Kyona, Kaori Yoneyama, and Natsuko Tora vs. Konami, Shiki Shibusawa, and Starlight Kid
• Kris Wolf vs. Momo Watanabe
• AZM and HZK vs. Chardonnay and Scarlett
• Hiromi Mimura vs. Sumire Natsu
• Goddesses Of Stardom Championship: Hana Kimura and Kagetsu vs. Bea Priestley and Kelly Klein
• Wonder Of Stardom Championship: Yoko Bito vs. Io Shirai

Since I am watching the Samurai TV version, I assume the undercard will be mercifully clipped. Per usual, all wrestlers above have a profile on Joshi City, you can click on their names above to go straight to it.

Hanan vs. Ruaka

They lock right up to start, trading holds and elbows until Ruaka hits a reverse STO. Ruaka goes off the ropes but Hanan does too and cradles her for a two count, charging STO by Hanan but that gets a two count as well. Big Boot by Ruaka and a second one, she hits the Fisherman Suplex Hold and picks up the three count! Ruaka wins!

This was only a four minute or so match but was clipped in half from that, probably just highlighting the bigger moves in the match. Sometimes these two can have some awkward moments but none here, so either they were clipped out or they are improving. Just a standard Stardom rookie match, nothing particularly memorable was shown.

Kyona, Yoneyama, and Natsuko Tora vs. Konami, Shiki Shibusawa, and Starlight Kid

We join the match very much in progress, with Natsuko and Shiki getting hot tags to become the legal wrestler. Natsuko and Shiki trade elbows, face crusher by Shiki and she puts Natsuko in a headscissors armbar. It quickly gets broken up but all six wrestlers end up in the ring, Team Jungle throws their opponents into each other before hitting body avalanches. Kyona, Kaori, and Natsuko go up top but all three are knocked off before they can jump, leaving Natsuko isolated in the ring. Natsuko is triple teamed in the corner, cover by Shiki but it gets a two count. Shiki gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, she goes all the way up the next time but Natsuko avoids the second missile dropkick. Running knee by Natsuko, but Shiki gets her shoulder up on the cover. Natsuko picks up Shiki but Shiki sneaks in an inside cradle for two, Konami comes in to help and Shiki cradles Natsuko for another two count. Kaori and Kyona come in and clear the ring, Kaori hits a diving senton with Kyona following with a diving body press off the second turnbuckle. Natsuko then hits a diving body press off the top turnbuckle, and she covers Shiki for the three count. Team Jungle is victorious.

Even in heavily clipped form, they had some minor communication issues. Shiki isn’t very smooth and probably never will be, I see her more likely going the Hiromi Mimura route than ever elevating all the way up the card. Not enough shown to really give an opinion on, but I did like how Team Jungle worked together.

Kris Wolf vs. Momo Watanabe

Momo dropkicks Kris right as the match starts, Momo stomps on Kris and whips her down by the arm. Irish whip by Momo but Kris springboards away and avoids her dropkick. They trade armdrags before reaching a stalemate, Momo asks for a handshake but Kris won’t return the gesture so they go back to trading holds. Snapmare by Momo and she kicks Kris repeatedly in the back, Tam gets on the apron but Kris knocks her back to the floor by accident. Momo kicks Kris in the back but Kris avoids her next kick and hits a dragon screw. Crab hold by Kris but Momo gets out of it and kicks her in the chest, more kicks by Momo but Kris gets back in control. Kris puts Momo against the ropes but Momo avoids her charge, Momo runs at Kris but Kris catches her leg on the second rope and kicks it. Kris goes for a running kick but Momo ducks it, vertical suplex by Momo but it gets a two count. Enzuigiri by Kris and she hits a suplex, but Momo kicks out of the cover. Kris goes up top but Momo dropkicks the top rope to send her back to the mat, Somato by Momo but Kris rolls through it for a two count. Kris goes off the ropes but Momo dropkicks her, Mom charges Kris in the corner but Kris moves out of the way. Momo jumps up to the second turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, diving Somato by Momo and she picks up the three count! Momo Watanabe is your winner.

Momo’s injury last January came at the worst time for her, as she was finally hitting her stride and putting everything together. She looked a little rusty here, some shaky transitions, but I’m sure she’ll get back into it once she gets a few more matches in. The “high speed” sections Kris does so well weren’t too high speed in this case, but they worked together well and have good chemistry. Kris is fun to watch and it was an important win for Momo so she can continue moving up the card like she was late last year. A good match with solid action, but I expect to see more from Momo shortly.  Mildly Recommended

AZM and HZK vs. Chardonnay and Scarlett

Scarlett and HZK start the match but AZM comes in to take HZK’s place, AZM kicks Scarlett while she is dancing and goes off the ropes before hitting a hurricanrana. AZM poses to the crowd but Scarlett attacks her from behind, hip toss by Scarlett and she hits a scoop slam followed by a senton for a two count. Scarlett goes off the ropes but AZM trips her, HZK runs in and she dropkicks Scarlett in the head. AZM tags in HZK, bootscrapes by HZK but Scarlett recovers and the two trade elbows. Scarlett gets the better of the exchange and she hits HZK some hip attacks, cover by Scarlett but it gets two. Snapmare by Scarlett and she knees HZK in the back of the head, but that gets a two count as well. Scarlett finally tags in Chardonnay, Chardonnay rams HZK into Scarlett’s and hits a lariat followed by a dropkick. Body avalanche by Scarlett in the corner and Chardonnay hits one as well, hip attack by Scarlett and they both suplex HZK. Chardonnay goes off the ropes and boots HZK, but HZK responds with a pump kick and makes the hot tag to AZM. AZM dropkicks Chardonnay and Scarlett, hanging armbar by AZM and she schoolboys Chardonnay for a two count. AZM goes off the ropes and applies a tilt-a-whirl schoolboy, but she gets another two. Chardonnay catches AZM and hits a backbreaker, double underhook suplex by Chardonnay and she covers AZM, but HZK breaks it up. Scarlett comes in and hits a modified brainbuster onto HZK, scissors kick by Chardonnay to AZM but AZM gets a shoulder up. Chardonnay picks up AZM and puts her on the top turnbuckle, London Tower by Chardonnay and she picks up the three count! Chardonnay and Scarlett win!

I will say that this was better than I was expecting. That’s not to say it was great, the wrestler quality was going to be a bit of a blockade, but they worked well within their limitations and there weren’t any noticeable miscommunications. Chardonnay and Scarlett have a fair amount of ass-based offense and controlled the action, but HZK and AZM’s comebacks were well done and the match flowed along without any hiccups. I wouldn’t say it was a good match necessarily, but it was definitely watchable.

Hiromi Mimura vs. Sumire Natsu

Sumire beats down Hiromi to start but Hiromi dropkicks her back, sending her out of the ring. Hiromi goes out after her and gets up on the stage, but Sumire elbows her as she comes back to the floor. Sumire throws Hiromi back on the stage but she talks too much, giving Hiromi a chance to recover and hit a diving crossbody. Back to the ring, Sumire takes back over and even gets a chance to drink some water in the ring before drooling it onto Hiromi’s face. Bronco Buster by Sumire and she elbows Hiromi, but Hiromi keeps getting back up. Knee by Sumire and she boots Hiromi in the head, but Hiromi delivers a DDT. Acid Drop by Hiromi and she dropkicks Sumire, covering her for a two count. A La Magistral by Hiromi also gets two, she goes up top but Sumire avoids her diving crossbody. Hiromi cradles Sumire and they trade flash pins, with Tam providing some assistance from ringside. Tam elbows Hiromi, cover by Sumire with her feet on the ropes, but the referee notices. Bodyscissors roll-up by Hiromi for two, boot by Sumire and she hits a bridging suplex. Shining Wizard by Sumire, she picks up Hiromi and delivers a capture DDT for the three count! Sumire Natsu is the winner.

This wasn’t totally bad which is about as positive as I can be. The beginning of the match was weird and didn’t get them off to the best start, and Sumire is far from convincing in the dominate heel role which was the middle portion of the match. Hiromi certainly tried her best in the underdog role and she is pretty good at it, it just would have worked better against a true “monster” and not a wrestler just trying to be one. The ending helped put over Sumire as a wrestler to be reckoned with, which was the true point of the match anyway. About as good as it could have been but still not a particularly well structured match.

(c) Hana Kimura and Kagetsu vs. Bea Priestley and Kelly Klein
Goddesses of Stardom Championship

Kelly and Bea attack before the bell rings but they both eat a dropkick for their trouble, Kelly and Bea throw their opponents into each other before Kelly press slams Hana out of the ring (well on the apron). Kelly then tosses Kagetsu out of the ring as well, Bea manages to get herself to the apron and hits a cannonball down to the floor. Back in the ring, Kagetsu is double teamed, Bea stays in as the legal wrestler and she covers Kagetsu for two. She tags in Kelly but Hana blind tags herself in, which Kelly doesn’t see as she hits a Northern Lights Suplex on Kagetsu. Hana sneaks in and schoolboys Kelly for two, Hana and Kelly go back and forth until Hana rolls up Kelly and tags in Kagetsu. Kagetsu comes in the ring with a diving footstomp, punches by Kagetsu in the corner and Hana comes in to distract the referee while Kris and Tam help by kicking Kelly. Kagetsu wraps up Kelly in a submission but Kelly gets a foot on the ropes, Kelly is put between the ropes and all of Oedo Tai pose around her. Kagetsu tags Hana back in, vertical suplex by Hana and she covers Kelly for a two count. Hana gets on the second turnbuckle but Kelly avoids her dive and hits a Samoan Drop for two. Hana spits I assume water into Kelly’s face, although she drank no water so many she just blew on her, and she knees Hana in the corner.

Kelly quickly regains the advantage and with Bea they kick Hana in the corner, slingshot splash by Kelly and she makes the tag to Bea while Kagetsu is tagged in as well. Bea goes for a suplex but Kagetsu blocks it, Hana runs in but she dropkicks Kagetsu by mistake. Kelly elbows Kagetsu, cyclone suplex by Bea but Hana breaks up the cover. Kelly returns and hits a fallaway slam, PK by Bea to Kagetsu but Kagetsu barely kicks out. Kagetsu fights back and trades elbows with Bea, side suplex by Kagetsu but Kagetsu springs up and hits a kick combination. Ebisu Drop by Kagetsu but Bea reverses the cover into a pin attempt of her own for two. Sunset flip with a jackknife by Kagetsu, but Kelly breaks it up. Kelly elbows Kagetsu but Tam hits her from the apron and Hana boots her in the face. Hana picks up Bea and feeds her to Kagetsu on the second turnbuckle, and Kagetsu hits an avalanche powerbomb for two. Kagetsu and Hana both hit running boots to Bea, Ebisu Drop by Kagetsu and she nails the Oedo Coaster for the three count! Hana Kimura and Kagetsu are still the champions!

I saw some love for this match online, and maybe the Samurai TV clipping didn’t do it any favors but this never went past just “good” for me. Kelly and Bea have some ability for sure but some sections of this match didn’t look very smooth. I also really didn’t like Kagetsu randomly no-selling the suplex, which Bea had been building up to, with really no return to the no-sell. In the ‘old days’, two wrestlers would no-sell each others moves and then collapse to the mat, I like that type of thing but when a wrestler just no-sells a move and stays in control it just comes across to me as a really lazy transition. On the plus side, Kagetsu was otherwise fantastic and helped tie the match together, and Bea was impressive on the Gaijin team. More good than bad as the match was generally exciting, it just wasn’t without its faults.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Yoko Bito vs. Io Shirai
Wonder of Stardom Championship

They take it to the mat after a brief feeling out process, Bito gets Io up while locking in a headlock before snapping her to the mat and kicking Io in the back. Io returns to her feet but Bito does it again, PK by Bito and she covers Io for two. Bito kicks at Io but Io backflips away from her and hits a dropkick, sending Bito out of the ring. Io dives out onto her with a plancha suicida, she briefly returns to the ring before sliding back out to kick Bito and toss her into the crowd. Io removes the mat off the floor and goes for a suplex, but Bito blocks it and kicks her in the head. Bito grabs Io and delivers the B Driver on the bare floor, the referee tends to Io while Bito gets back into the ring. Io manages to beat the 20 count, Bito puts her in the ropes and chops Io repeatedly in the chest before dropkicking her in the upper leg for a two count. Bito throws Io into the corner and kicks her in the chest, running knee by Bito but Io dropkicks Bito in the knee in return. Io picks up Bito but Bito elbows her in the head, she goes off the ropes but Io elbows her back and dropkicks her in the head for a two count. Io charges Bito but Bito boots her in the chest, she goes for the B Driver but Io blocks it and puts her in a stretch submission hold. Bito gets out of the hold after a moment, Tiger Feint Kick by Io and she delivers the swandive dropkick for a two count. Bito comes back with a big boot to the chest, she then goes up top and hits the missile dropkick.

Bito nails a brainbuster, cover by Bito but Io gets a shoulder up. Bito goes for the B Driver again but Io wiggles away and hits a palm strike, Io charges Bito in the corner but Bito gets Io on her back and finally hits the B Driver for two. Bito picks up Io but Io slides away from her and hits a dragon screw leg whip. Double knee strike by Io, she goes up top but Bito hits her from behind before she can jump off with a moonsault. Bito pulls Io back to the mat, Io gets Bito’s ankle and puts her in an ankle hold. Io snaps down onto Bito’s leg before putting her in a Texas Cloverleaf, but Bito gets to the ropes. Io kicks Bito in the head as she gets up, she goes to the top turnbuckle and goes for a moonsault, but Bito gets her knees up. Both wrestlers slowly get up, elbows by Io but Bito elbows her back to send the Ace to the mat. Head kick by Bito and she delivers a killer German suplex, Buzzsaw Kick by Bito but Io barely kicks out of the cover. Doll B by Bito, she gets Io on her shoulders and hits the Splash Mountain, but again Io gets a shoulder up on the pin. Bito picks up Io and puts her on the top turnbuckle, she joins her as she gets Io on her shoulders, but Io reverses the avalanche Splash Mountain attempt into a Frankensteiner. Io waits for Bito to get to her knees and hits a running double knee strike to her back, rolling German suplexes by Io and she hits a final package German for a two count. Both wrestlers get up, tiger suplex hold by Io but that gets a two as well. Io goes up top and nails the moonsault, cover by Io and she gets the three count! Io Shirai is the new champion!

After the match, Yoko Bito announces that she will be retiring in December, which helps explain the result. This was an entertaining match with a lot of memorable moments, as is generally the case in Io title matches. Bito has always been less smooth than the other wrestlers at the top of Stardom this year and in-ring I wouldn’t consider her a Top 5 in the promotion, however her kicks were on point here. There were a couple awkward moments where the moves didn’t look quite right, but they overcame that in the final stretch as the last five minutes or so were very exciting. Io pulled out everything she had and looked great as usual, while Io doesn’t “need” a belt I am glad she has one again as it means more big singles matches like this one. A fitting main event and a quality title match, it wouldn’t make my MOTYC list but an enjoyable match nonetheless.  Recommended

The post Stardom Best Of The Goddesses on 11/19/17 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Even though Stardom has way too many events for me to watch them all, I do try to catch their Korakuen Hall events since they tend to deliver. This is an odd show and probably the least star-powered one they have had in awhile. Kairi Hojo is gone, Mayu Iwatani is hurt, Hiroyo Matsumoto isn’t used as much anymore, and Toni Storm isn’t on the tour so Stardom looked outside the promotion for a bit of help. In her first singles match in Stardom since leaving the promotion in 2015, Takumi Iroha from Marvelous takes on Yoko Bito for the Wonder of Stardom Championship. We also get a ‘match series’ between Queen’s Quest and Oedo Tai, plus this is my first look at Chardonnay and Scarlett. Here is the full card:

• Ruaka and Hanan vs. Starlight Kid and Shiki Shibusawa
• Elimination Tag Match: Chardonnay and Scarlett vs. Jungle Kyona and Natsuko Tora vs. Mimura and Konami vs. Kelly Klein and Bea Priestley
• AZM vs. Kris Wolf
• Hana Kimura vs. Io Shirai
• HZK vs. Kagetsu
• Wonder of Stardom Championship: Yoko Bito vs. Takumi Iroha

I added profiles for the Gaijin wrestlers, so everyone above has a profile on Joshi City. You can click on their names to go straight to it. As I am watching the Samurai TV version, some matches may be clipped, which I am putting up with in the interest of saving time. Plus its prettier on Samurai TV and I like replays.

Ruaka and Hanan vs. Starlight Kid and Shiki Shibusawa

Hanan and Starlight Kid start the match, they do a fast paced exchange but neither gets a clear advantage. Shiki and Ruaka tag in but Ruaka tags right back out for reasons unknown, elbows by Hanan to Shiki but Shiki strikes her back. Ruaka runs in to try to help but Shiki dropkicks them both in the corner before tagging in Starlight Kid. Hanan avoids Starlight Kid’s dropkick and throws her down by the mask, leading to Shiki tagging back in. Shiki elbows Hanan but Hanan kips up, dropkick by Shiki and she puts Hanan in a crab hold. Hanan eventually gets to the ropes for the break, Hanan tags in Ruaka while Starlight Kid is also tagged in. Ruaka and Starlight Kid trade elbows before Ruaka hits a reverse STO, cradle by Ruaka but Starlight Kid reverses it and they trade flash pins. Starlight Kid goes off the ropes but Ruaka catches the crossbody and they trade pins again. Jumping crossbody by Ruaka, but Starlight Kid kicks out at two. Hanan comes in and they hit dual fisherman suplexes onto Starlight Kid, but that gets a two count as well. Ruaka goes off the ropes but Starlight Kid ducks the boot, Shiki comes in and she drops Ruaka with a face crusher. Standing moonsault by Starlight Kid, she picks up Ruaka but Ruaka blocks the Shiranui. Hanan comes in and hits a STO onto Starlight Kid, Shiki comes in and with Hanan they roll out of the ring as they elbow each other. Back in the ring, schoolboy by Starlight Kid to Ruaka, Shiki returns and they both dropkick her. Shiki gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, Frog Splash by Starlight Kid to Ruaka and she picks up the three count! Starlight Kid and Shiki Shibusawa win!

This was a bit awkward. Shiki isn’t good yet, doesn’t mean she can’t be good but she isn’t a natural and it will just take time and practice if she is going to get it (I don’t have high hopes). Ruaka and Starlight Kid got a bit confused too, and when a match is this simple those little mistakes really stick out. A very skippable opener.

Chardonnay and Scarlett vs. Kyona and Natsuko Tora vs. Mimura and Konami vs. Kelly Klein and Bea Priestley

Scarlett not having red hair is throwing me off and likely will the entire match. She and Jungle start the match, running elbow by Scarlett in the corner and with Chardonnay they double team Jungle by pushing their asses into her face. Kelly isn’t amused by this and comes in to clear the ring, she offers Jungle a handshake but elbows her in the chest and throws her from the ring as well. Natsuko comes in but Kelly elbows her also, Natsuko comes in and dropkicks Kelly but Kelly doesn’t go down. Kelly puts Hiromi on her back but Konami saves her, double Irish whip to Kelly but she lariats them both to the mat. They finally get Kelly hurt in the corner, dropkick by Konami but Kelly boots Hiromi when she goes for one as well. Kelly tosses Konami out of the ring before going back to Hiromi, she covers Hiromi but for whatever reason all the other wrestlers break up the pin. Kelly stacks them all in the corner but Hiromi then dropkicks Kelly and Bea into the same cover, Hiromi charges them all but everyone moves when she goes for a dropkick. Hiromi lands on the apron but she moves when everyone tries to knock her to the floor, Chardonnay ends up in the ring with Hiromi and Chardonnay hits a butterfly suplex for a two count. Final Cut by Chardonnay, but Konami breaks up the pin. Chardonnay and Hiromi trade flash pins, until Scarlett boots Hiromi in the head and Chardonnay holds her down for the three count! Hiromi Mimura is eliminated.

Jungle comes in the ring and has some success until Scarlett catches her with a Codebreaker, they botch a spinning headscissors before Scarlett hits a side Russian Leg Sweep for a two count. Jungle smacks Scarlett and they trade lariats, Jungle lariats Scarlett onto the apron before knocking her down to the floor. Scarlett is eliminated.

Chardonnay comes into the ring but Kelly promptly press slams her to the floor. Chardonnay is eliminated.

Konami comes in the ring but  Bea and Kelly double team Konami, hitting a spinning slam to the mat. Kelly boots Bea by accident however, schoolboy by Konami but Kelly kicks out at two. Konami gets Kelly’s back and goes for a sleeper, but Kelly throws her off. Kicks by Konami and she delivers the sliding kick, but Bea breaks up the cover. Kelly and Bea both boot Konami, fallaway slam by Kelly and she picks up the three count! Konami is eliminated.

Jungle and Natsuko come into the ring and apply small packages to both opponents, but they both get a two count. Double dropkick to Kelly and a double shoulderblock to Bea, and Jungle slams Bea in front of the corner. Natsuko goes up top but Kelly elbows her from the apron and pulls her out with her. Jungle tries to pull Natsuko back into the ring but Bea dumps Jungle over the top rope onto the apron as well, Bea then goes off the ropes and dropkicks Jungle, and Jungle falls to the floor. Jungle Kyona is eliminated.

Spear by Natsuko to Bea, and she covers her for two. Natsuko picks up Bea but Kelly returns and they both suplex Natsuko for a two count. Bea picks up Natsuko but Natsuko fights back as she elbows both her opponents, high kick by Bea and she delivers a modified cyclone suplex for the three count! Natsuko is eliminated, and the winners of the match are Kelly Klein and Bea Priestley!

I didn’t see any website that had the match structure of this correctly laid out, so I was a bit confused at first. I think some of the wrestlers were confused too but in an eight wrestler match that tends to happen anyway. We need to get Kelly Klein in training with Mari Apache stat, she wrestles too soft for someone that does the “I destroy everyone” gimmick. She has the size and attitude, she just doesn’t bring the pain. Hiromi still did her comedy spots which isn’t a big deal on lower matches, but is a reason why I don’t take her seriously. Too chaotic and random to get excited about, however some wrestlers (mainly Jungle, Konami, and Bea) did look pretty good.

AZM vs. Kris Wolf

They start the match quick, as expected, although not necessarily as smoothly as one may hope. Kris stomps down AZM in the corner but AZM goes off the ropes and delivers a dropkick. AZM charges Kris in the corner, Kris tosses her out to the apron but AZM quickly gets back in the ring and goes for a dropkick. Kris avoids it but AZM returns the favor, and they both end up trading flash pins on the mat with neither having any luck. Takedown by AZM but Kris gets away and they return to their feet again. Kris twists at AZM’s ankle but AZM gets out of it and hits a dropkick, she goes off the ropes but Kagetsu trips her from the floor. All of Oedo Tai get in the ring and stomp on AZM while the referee is distracted by Tam Nakano, but AZM fights them off and applies the hanging armbar. AZM lets go and hits the satellite schoolboy, but it gets a two count. AZM goes for the hurricanrana but Kris blocks it and powerbombs her into the turnbuckles, running knee by Kris and she kicks AZM in the back for two. Kris gets on the second turnbuckle but AZM avoids the diving double kneedrop, AZM goes for a leg sweep but Kris jumps and kicks AZM in the head. Kris picks up AZM and goes for a suplex, but AZM reverses it into a roll-up for two. La Magistral by AZM, but Kris gets a foot on the ropes. AZM goes for a backslide but Kris reverses it for two, kick to the head by Kris but AZM reverses her cover attempt. AZM goes off the ropes but Kris avoids her dropkick and applies a modified Japanese Rolling Clutch for the three count! Kris Wolf wins and Oedo Tai is up 1-0 in the series.

Oedo Tai beats down AZM after the match, until Momo Watanabe returns and clears the ring! Queen’s Quest fifth member has finally healed up and will be returning to action soon.

I can’t say that AZM’s style is really one I like, as she still basically wrestles in a similar style as she has for the last few years. Which is lots of flash pins and simple offense. And I get she is 15 but they have put her higher on the card so I expect more from someone in this match than I would from Hanan or Ruaka in the opener, I still am not sure she was ready for the elevation. I also don’t love any faction openly cheating in the middle of the ring, referees are pretty lax in Japan on what happens on the floor but having a beat down in the ring is pushing it a bit. So while I love Kris, and she looked good here, not really a match I’d recommend as it is basically every AZM match with not a lot interesting going on.

Hana Kimura vs. Io Shirai

Hana asks Io for a handshake to start but obviously doesn’t mean it so they pull each other’s hair instead, armdrags by Hana but Io hits a flapjack and puts Hana in an armtrap crossface. Hana gets a foot on the ropes for the break, Io goes for the Tiger Feint Kick but Hana blocks it. Both wrestlers end up on the apron but on opposite sides of the ring post, Hana goes for a suplex to the floor but Io doesn’t budge. Hana rams her into the post instead, she goes for another suplex but Io pushes her back into the ring. Hana returns to the ring also and dropkicks Io, stomps by Hana and she elbows Io against the ropes. Irish whip by Hana but Io hits a backflip dropkick, Hana falls out of the ring and Io goes to the top turnbuckle, but Tam throws a board at her before she can jump off. Io falls to the apron, Hana goes to the other side and superplexes Io over the top rope down onto the floor (and onto a blob of wrestlers). Back in the ring, Hana gets on the second turnbuckle and she hits a missile dropkick. She goes back up top and hits another missile dropkick, cover by Hana but Io kicks out at two. Stomps by Hana and she hits a big boot, she picks up Io but Io gets away and hits a series of palm strikes. German suplex hold by Io, but it gets a two count. Tiger Feint Kick by Io, swandive missile dropkick by Io and she hits the running double knee in the corner. Io picks up Hana and hits the double underhook facebuster, she goes up top but Hana catches her from behind and joins her. Superplex by Hana, but Io kicks out of the cover. Hana goes off the ropes but Io snaps off a hurricanrana, palm strike by Io and she hits a tombstone piledriver. Moonsault by Io, and she picks up the three count! The Queen’s Quest vs. Oedo Tai Series is tied 1-1.

A bit disjointed in some places, but overall entertaining. Io and Hana don’t usually run in the same circles as this is just their second ever singles match, and Hana has become so popular that it is easy to forget she is just in her second year. But Io is good enough to overcome these type of issues for the most part, so while the chemistry wasn’t there I still enjoyed it. I was glad they delivered on the suplex spot to the floor since it was teased twice, and Hana had a few convincing nearfalls so it was far from a squash. Solid mid-card match, not much more than that but it had some good spots and was a fun watch.  Mildly Recommended

HZK vs. Kagetsu

HZK throws her sucker at Kagetsu before the match, Kagetsu goes to give it back to her but HZK greets her with a slap. HZK goes for a full nelson bomb but Kagetsu blocks it, HZK flings Kagetsu to the mat before stepping on her throat. Back up, Kagetsu pushes HZK against the ropes and chokes her, but Kagetsu gains control of the match and stomps at HZK. HZK tries to fight back with elbows but Kagetsu returns fire, jumping elbow by Kagetsu in the corner and she hits a vertical suplex for a two count cover. Kagetsu quickly applies a cross-arm submission, she then puts HZK in the ropes and with the other members of Oedo Tai they attack/tickle HZK. Kagetsu dumps water on HZK’s head and goes off the ropes, but HZK hits a springboard dropkick. HZK sends Kagetsu out of the ring, she then gets on the second turnbuckle and dives out onto her. Back in the ring, HZK picks up Kagetsu but Kagetsu blocks the slam. Knee to the stomach by HZK and she hits a running elbow in the corner, she then straddles Kagetsu over the second ropes and drops her with a Codebreaker. Bombs Away to the back by HZK and she puts Kagetsu in an armtrap crossface, but with Tam’s help she makes it to the ropes for the break. Kagetsu pushes HZK back and delivers a strike combination, Ebisu Drop by Kagetsu but HZK kicks out of the cover. Both wrestlers are slow to get up and they trade elbows, HZK goes off the ropes but Kagetsu kicks her in the head and nails a chokeslam. Buzzsaw Kick by Kagetsu, but HZK bridges out of the pin. She goes for another chokeslam but HZK gets out of it and hits a Pump Kick, more Pump Kicks by HZK and she covers Kagetsu for two. Full nelson bomb by HZK, but that gets a two count as well. HZK picks up Kagetsu but Kagetsu gets away and throws HZK into the referee, HZK slams Kagetsu in front of the corner and nails the Bombs Away, but Kagetsu spits water in her face as she is on the way down. Ebisu Drop by Kagetsu, she goes up top and delivers the Oedo Coaster for the three count! Your winner is Kagetsu, and Oedo Tai wins the match series 2-1.

To be a wrestling fan, you have to accept that wrestling does things that aren’t logical. But sometimes they do things that are so illogical that even in the context of wrestling, its just too much. When Kagetsu spit the water on HZK, HZK still completed the move and hit the Bombs Away, but Kagetsu basically no-sold the finisher and went straight to the end like nothing happened. It was just a poorly thought-out spot, have Kagetsu jump up and do the mist so she can avoid the move, not take the move in its entirety and ignore it. Beyond that it was a good enough match, although I find it odd that in a match series only one faction was helping their teammates (Oedo Tai) while the other (Queen’s Quest) was just politely watching. On the plus side, Kagetsu is great and HZK has really come along this year, so when they were just focused on wrestling it was fast paced and captivating. Far from a must see match and I didn’t like the structure of the ending, but the nine minutes of action before that were well done.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Yoko Bito vs. Takumi Iroha
Wonder of Stardom Championship

After a long star down they finally lock-up, Takumi gets Bito in the corner but she gives a mostly clean break. Scoop slam by Takumi but Bito shoulderblocks her to the mat, Bito kicks Takumi into the corner but Takumi avoids her scissors kick and kicks Bito in the leg. Takumi applies a kneelock, but Bito gets back to her feet and delivers a lariat. Knees by Bito and she hits a vertical suplex, Takumi charges her in the corner but Bito ducks and hits a B Driver for a two count. Takumi rolls out of the ring holding her head but Bito goes out after her, hitting an ax handle from the apron. Bito throws Takumi into the chairs at ringside and then into the ring post, Bito charges Takumi but Takumi catches her with a powerslam on the floor. Back in the ring both wrestlers slowly recover and trade elbows, snapmare by Bito and she kicks Takumi in the shoulder. Takumi tries to bail out of the ring but Bito grabs her and puts Takumi across the second rope before kicking her in the back. Takumi delivers a kick combination and hits a butterfly suplex hold, but Bito kicks out at two. Takumi goes up top but Bito joins her, Takumi knocks her back down but Bito kicks her in the head and delivers the superplex. Bito goes back up top and hits a missile dropkick, she goes off the ropes but Takumi catches her with a heel kick. Knees by Bito and she hits a running elbow in the corner, but Takumi hits an elbow of her own before delivering a half hatch suplex. Swinging guillotine by Takumi and she puts Bito in a sleeper, but Bito gets to the ropes for the break. Takumi quickly hits a backdrop suplex and kicks Bito twice in the head, cover by Takumi but Bito barely gets a shoulder up.

Another kick by Takumi, she goes up top and delivers the diving body press before going right back up top again to hit the Swanton Bomb, but again Bito kicks out. Takumi stays on the offense and tries to get Bito up for the powerbomb, but Bito blocks it. Release German by Bito and she hits a scissors kick before delivering a second release German Suplex. Buzzsaw Kick by Bito and she hits a heel drop, but her cover only gets a two count. Bito goes for the B Driver, Takumi reverses it and goes for a powerbomb, but Bito reverses that into a hurricanrana. Bito manages to hit the B Driver on the second try, but Takumi kicks out. Both wrestlers connect with high kicks before hitting simultaneous shoulderblocks, and both wrestlers are down on the mat. They recover and trade mid-kicks, dragon screw by Takumi and she puts Bito in a figure four leglock. Takumi drags Bito to the apron and kicks her in the head, Bito kicks her back and they trade blows. They return to the ring and continue going back and forth, Bito wins the battle and she hits another B Driver. Doll B by Bito, she is slow to make it to Takumi for the cover, and Takumi manages to get a shoulder up. Takumi gets Bito in the corner and nails the Running Three, cover by Takumi but Bito barely kicks out. Takumi picks up Bito but Bito hits a high kick, Takumi strikes her back and they both fall to the mat. Before either can budge, the bell rings, as time has expired. The match is a Draw, and Yoko Bito retains the championship!

About five minutes or so was missing from the Samurai TV broadcast but not a big deal with a match of this length. They tried to do more a power/striking match than you usually see in Stardom, and I think they did a good job of it. Their styles are similar enough that they had some natural chemistry as they both are kickers with some suplexes and power moves tossed in. Unless it was clipped out, there weren’t really miscommunications, even though not everything was hit smoothly since Bito in general can be a bit awkward sometimes. The Draw was predictable and I don’t mind it here since it was an inter-promotional match, hopefully it leads to more cooperation in the future. A bit slow at times but I liked the drama and both were giving if their all. A different style than you’d expect to see in a Stardom main event, and overall I think it was pretty entertaining.  Recommended

The post Stardom “True Fight 2017” on 10/17/17 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

*I am slowing bringing my Joshi Reviews from Puroresu Central over to Joshi City so I can have all my Joshi reviews in one place. Some features of my current reviews on this site may be missing as my style has changed over the years, however I will have it match the Joshi City review format as closely as I can. The original review date can be found at the bottom of the review, I will try not to make any major changes to the text unless I see something that needs clarifying or correcting.*

I am a bit behind in my Stardom reviewing, so we are going to catch up really quick. This is a big show for Stardom on several different levels. First, Act Yasukawa has a big singles match against Kairi Hojo to find the #1 Contender for the World of Stardom Championship. Also, Iwatani challenges La Rosa Negra for the High Speed Championship and Dark Angel challenges Io Shirai for the Wonder of Stardom Championship! This was billed as Dark Angel’s last match in Japan before going to WWE. Here is the full card:

• Hiromi Mimura vs. Kris Wolf
• Haruka Kato vs. Saori Anou
• Kaori Yoneyama vs. Momo Watanabe vs. Starlight Kid
• Act Yasukawa vs. Kairi Hojo
• High Speed Championship: La Rosa Negra vs. Mayu Iwatani
• Wonder of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai vs. Dark Angel

As is a normal feature on Joshi City, you can click on the wrestler names above to go directly to the wrestler’s profile.

Hiromi Mimura vs. Kris Wolf

This is Hiromi Mimura’s debut. I can’t find a lot of information on her, but she is 29 years old and was set to debut several times but it was delayed due to injury. But here she finally has her first match and it is against the energetic Wolf. This will no doubt be basic but I am sure that Mimura and Wolf have interacted quite a bit in the dojo so hopefully it will at least be smooth.

Wolf toys with Mimura to start but Mimura kicks her from behind and they go to the mat trading holds. Wolf bites Mimura in the arm but Mimura applies a wristlock. Wolf quickly gets out of it, snapmare by Wolf and she kicks Mimura in the back. Mimura gets back up and elbows Wolf, but Wolf kicks her in the leg as they go back and forth trading strikes. Mimura surprisingly gets the better of it, dropkick by Mimura and she covers Wolf for two. Back up, Mimura rolls Wolf to the mat and applies a leg submission, but Wolf gets out of it and gives Mimura a hard knee to the head. Running kneelift by Wolf, she goes up to the second turnbuckle but Mimura rolls out of the way of her dive and hits a quick crossbody for two. Wolf elbows Mimura away and they trade shots until Wolf pulls down Mimura by her hair and hits a double kneedrop for a two count. Jumping knee by Wolf in the corner and she kicks Mimura in the back for another two. Wolf suplexes Mimura, she goes to the top turnbuckle and nails a diving double kneedrop for a three count! Kris Wolf wins the match.

This was not your typical wrestler debut, for a few reasons. First, Mimura is not a child so she can physically hang with Wolf as their sizes/strength are similar. Second, Mimura started training a year ago, so she has some decent experience. And finally, Wolf just debuted in August 2014 herself, so while she does have more experience it is not a significant amount. I thought this was pretty solid for a debut, I am sure there are some nerves but it was pretty smooth and Mimura showed off some really solid moves. If she sticks with it and continues improving, Mimura will likely have success in Stardom down the road, the match was too short to get excited about but not a bad way to start the event.

Haruka Kato vs. Saori Anou

This is random as hell. If you don’t know who Anou is, don’t feel bad. Anou wrestles for a small promotion called Actress girl’Z (now Actwres girl’Z). They are a beginners level promotion (their twitter handle is actually “Beginning Pro”) that puts on small events that never make television. So I have never seen Anou before and I am not sure why she is wrestling on a Stardom card. Kato is a solid midcard wrestler that likes doing cross armbreakers, which is the primary reason I like her and not because she is stunningly cute.

They tie-up to kick things off, shoulderblock by Anou and she hits another one. Anou picks up Kato but Kato elbows her away and they trade shots. Scoop slam by Kato and she applies a cross armbreaker, but Anou rolls it into a cover for two. They both go off the ropes, Anou hits a shoulderblock and hits a nice fisherman suplex hold for a two count. Backslide with a bridge by Anou, but that gets a two as well. Anou goes for another fisherman suplex but Kato gets out of it and hits a tilt-a-whirl schoolboy for two. Kato goes back to the arm, she gets the cross armbreaker locked in and Anou has to submit! Kato is your winner.

I thought this was a step down from the last match, as these two did not have the chemistry that Mimura and Wolf had. When Anou had a chance to show a few things she can do it worked fine, she is very bendy, but the match itself was disjointed. Kato isn’t known for her high-end matches so the bar was low for Anou’s Stardom debut, and while it may have worked to introduce her to the crowd it wasn’t the best situation to put Anou in to succeed. Watchable, but nothing more than that.

Kaori Yoneyama vs. Momo Watanabe vs. Starlight Kid

Another debut, as this is Starlight Kid’s first match. I can’t find much information on her, the fact she wears a mask and has a gimmick name obviously doesn’t make it any easier. But this is a pretty low key situation to debut, as it is a short triple threat match against a seasoned veteran in Yoneyama and a literal child that debuted late last year.

Watanabe is teamed up on first but Starlight Kid rolls up Yoneyama for a quick two count. Handstand into a spinning headscissors by Starlight Kid to Yoneyama and she hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors on Watanabe. Watanabe falls out of the ring but returns after a moment, and Starlight Kid hits a dropkick for a two count. Yoneyama comes back in and throws Watanabe and Starlight Kid in the same corner, but they avoid her when she charges in. Watanabe and Starlight Kid both attack Yoneyama in the corner, Watanabe dropkicks Starlight Kid in the opposite corner and take turns dropkicking both of them. Reverse STO by Watanabe to Starlight Kid and she hits rolling vertical suplexes for a two count. Shiranui by Starlight Kid to Watanabe, but Yoneyama breaks up the cover. Starlight Kid falls out of the ring, Yoneyama goes up top and she hits a diving senton on Watanabe for the three count! Yoneyama wins the match.

I gotta say, for a debut I thought this was about as good as you can get. Starlight Kid showed a lot of ability in this short match, obviously it wasn’t long enough to see much of her but she showed a lot of quickness. Beyond that this was nothing special, as these triple threat Stardom matches generally aren’t, but it was fun to watch the rookie go.

Act Yasukawa vs. Kairi Hojo

This match is for the #1 Contendership for the World of Stardom Championship held my Meiko Satomura. These two need no introduction. Hojo is the former champion and just won the FIVE STAR GP, while Yasukawa just recently returned after being injured in a match earlier this year against Yoshiko. Really Hojo should not have had to wrestle anyone for the #1 Contendership since she won the tournament, but she is never one to back down from a fight, and since Yasukawa was unable to be in the tournament it only seemed fair.

They start with tie-ups and wristlocks, but neither gets a clear advantage. Next they trade elbows, Hojo knocks Yasukawa into the corner and starts marching but Yasukawa pulls her down from behind by her hair. Yasukawa picks up Hojo but Hojo slides away and they trade elbows. Hojo gets the better of it and goes up top, hitting a diving elbow strike. Hojo applies a crab hold but Yasukawa gets a hand on the ropes to force a break. Hojo goes for the Sliding D but Yasukawa kicks her arm and dropkicks Hojo in the knee. Yasukawa and Hojo go back and forth with elbows, powerslam by Yasukawa and she covers Hojo for a two count. Yasukawa goes up top but Hojo rolls out of the way of the somersault senton and hits a Sliding D to Yasukawa’s back. Cross legged crab hold by Hojo, she lets go of the hold but Yasukawa ducks the spinning backfist and rolls up Hojo for two. Stretch Muffler by Yasukawa, she picks up Hojo but Hojo slides away and rolls up Yasukawa for a two count. Cross-legged crab hold by Hojo but Yasukawa won’t give up, Hojo goes to the second turnbuckle but falls as she goes to jump off. She gets on the second turnbuckle again and hits a diving elbow drop to Yasukawa’s back, but Yasukawa barely gets a shoulder up. Hojo goes up top again, she nails the diving elbow drop and she picks up the three count! Hojo wins the match and is the new #1 Contender.

No one can ever say I am too biased, as while I love both Yasukawa and Hojo I thought this wasn’t a great match. First of all it was clipped which I am sure hurt it a bit, but it was probably clipped for a reason. This was Yasukawa’s first big match since last February so I have no doubt she was rusty, there were a few good sections and I liked Yasukawa’s attitude but it wasn’t cohesive. Also, and I always complain about this, if a move is botched it annoys me when wrestlers just repeat the spot. Poor Yasukawa had to lay on the mat way too long since Hojo slipped off the turnbuckle, I have no issue with her slipping as that happens but she should have gone over and slammed or kicked Yasukawa then gone back up top. So between the clipping, lack of focus, and messed up ending I can’t recommend this match, even though I think both are great wrestlers that on a normal day are two of the best in Stardom.

(c) La Rosa Negra vs. Mayu Iwatani
High Speed Championship

La Rosa Negra won the High Speed Championship last month from Starfire in an upset, in a match that also saw Starfire injure her knee which may have led to that ending. Iwatani on the other hand is one of Stardom’s rising stars and already has the tag team championship with Io Shirai. Of course, Shirai has her own singles title so Iwatani wants one too, and all she has to do is beat La Rosa Negra to get one.

La Rosa Negra and Iwatani do the usual wristlocks trading to begin, La Rosa Negra goes for a wheelbarrow facebuster but Iwatani gets out of it. Dropkick by La Rosa Negra and she chops Iwatani into the corner, she goes for a suplex but Iwatani lands on her feet and hits a Northern Lights Suplex for a two count. Iwatani grabs La Rosa Negra’s wrist and flips off the ropes with an armdrag, La Rosa Negra falls out of the ring and Iwatani goes to the top turnbuckle. La Rosa Negra recovers, she jumps on the apron and throws Iwatani down to the floor. La Rosa Negra then gets in the ring and dives out onto Iwatani with a tope suicida. Back in the ring, Iwatani kicks La Rosa Negra in the gut and she delivers a spinning headscissors. Dropkick by Iwatani in the corner and she kicks La Rosa Negra in the back, La Rosa Negra throws Iwatani into another corner but La Rosa Negra rebounds out of the corner with a crossbody. Back up they trade elbows until La Rosa Negra snaps off a reverse neckbreaker, La Rosa Negra charges Iwatani in the corner and hits an elbow drop. Cover by La Rosa Negra but Iwatani kicks out at two. La Rosa Negra picks up Iwatani and applies the airplane spin before slamming Iwatani to the mat. La Rosa Negra goes up top but Iwatani avoids the Rose Splash, schoolboy by Iwatani but it gets two. Iwatani kicks La Rosa Negra back, she gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers a missile dropkick. Diving footstomp by Iwatani, she goes up top again and she hits a diving body press for a two count. Iwatani picks up La Rosa Negra and she hits a crucifix slam for another two. Buzzsaw Kick by Iwatani, she picks up La Rosa Negra but La Rosa Negra sneaks in a schoolboy for two. Back up, backslide with a bridge by Iwatani but it gets two as well. Iwatani charges La Rosa Negra but La Rosa Negra catches her with a powerslam, La Rosa Negra goes up top but Iwatani gets up and joins her. Superplex by Iwatani, she goes up top and nails the diving footstomp. Iwatani drags La Rosa Negra up and she delivers the dragon suplex hold, getting the three count pinfall! Your winner and new champion is Mayu Iwatani!

This was really solid, the best I have seen of La Rosa Negra so far. There was no time filler, no meandering limb work that didn’t go anywhere, and it lasted the perfect length. The moves were hit crisply and they were on the same page, which was my primary fear since they don’t have a lot of experience wrestling against each other. About as good as I could have hoped for and entertaining from start to finish, even if you aren’t familiar with La Rosa Negra it is definitely worth a watch.  Recommended

(c) Io Shirai vs. Dark Angel
World of Stardom Championship

This is a special match, as it is also billed as Dark Angel’s last match in Japan. Dark Angel, also known as Sarah Stock, was already signed to WWE before this match took place as she was headed there to become a trainer in NXT. While I am sure she will have another match down the road, at the time of this review this was her last match period as she did not wrestle again after this one before joining NXT. She of course is going out on a high note, challenging Stardom superstar Io Shirai for her World of Stardom Championship.

Dark Angel immediately gets a double underhook applied but Shirai gets away, they lock knuckles and Dark Angel flips Shirai to the mat. Back up they trade elbows, armdrag by Dark Angel and they trade quick pin attempts. Hard dropkick by Dark Angel but Shirai cartwheels away from Dark Angel and dropkicks her out of the ring. Shirai goes up top to do a moonsault but Dark Angel knocks her down and powerbombs Shirai right on the apron. Dark Angel returns to the ring while Shirai gets the magic spray, back in the ring Dark Angel grabs Shirai and she hits a neckbreaker. Dark Angel stretches Shirai’s back and covers her for a two count. Rolling senton by Dark Angel and she hits a backbreaker, another cover but it gets another two. Dark Angel gets Shirai on her shoulders and applies a backbreaker before flinging her to the mat. Dark Angel goes off the ropes but Shirai drop toeholds her into the ropes, Shirai charges Dark Angel to hit a tiger feint kick but Dark Angel reverses it with an armdrag. Jumping knee by Dark Angel in the corner and she hits another one, Dark Angel throws Shirai into the corner but Shirai springs up to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick. Dark Angel falls out of the ring, Shirai gets a running start and sails out onto Dark Angel with a tope suicida. Shirai slides Dark Angel back in and hits a springboard missile dropkick, tiger feint kick by Shirai but Dark Angel avoids the next missile dropkick and puts Shirai in an elevated crab hold.

Shirai eventually gets to the ropes, Dark Angel picks up Shirai and hits a few knees to the back before dropping her in the corner and rolling Shirai up for two. Dark Angel picks up Shirai but Shirai avoids the jumping knee and hits a running double knee in the corner. Dropkick by Shirai, she picks up Dark Angel and hits a few elbows, but Dark Angel comes back with a dropkick. Shirai falls out of the ring, Dark Angel goes up top and dives out onto Shirai with a plancha suicida. Back in the ring, Dark Angel goes up top and she hits a diving crossbody for a two count. Dark Angel picks up Shirai but Shirai slides away and hits the double underhook facebuster. German suplex hold by Shirai, she picks up Dark Angel and plants her with a tombstone piledriver. Shirai goes up top but Dark Angel gets both feet up when Shirai goes for the moonsault. Both wrestlers are slow to get up and trade elbows, Dark Angel kicks Shirai against the ropes and hits the Tiger Driver, but Shirai barely gets a shoulder up. Dark Angel gets Shirai on her back in La Reienera but Shirai gets out of it and applies a choke. Dark Angel elbows out of that and goes for another Tiger Driver, but Shirai reverses it and hits an Air Raid Crash. Shirai kicks Dark Angel in the head, she goes up to the top turnbuckle and nails the moonsault for the three count! Shirai is still the World of Stardom Champion.

This was a great match for a lot of reasons, most of which in this case I will credit to Dark Angel. Dark Angel is a seasoned veteran that knows what she is doing, there is a reason she is going to be a trainer at NXT. Her focus on the back was on point, almost all of her offense focused on Shirai’s back area which directly lead to her finisher which targets… the back. It is so simple but so few wrestlers take the time to tell a logical story from start to finish that I appreciate it when it happens. It helped that her offense was all interesting, between backbreakers and powerbombs on the apron she was mixing up how she was hurting Shirai. Shirai was fine here, she sold the back pretty well and only forget about it when she had to do her spots. Which I understand the crowd came to see her do her spots but when she was on offense it became the standard Shirai match we’ve all seen before. Which is still entertaining, just a bit predictable. Dark Angel is the one that made this one, probably by design since it was her farewell match, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Highly Recommended

event reviewed on 10/28/15

The post Stardom “Appeal The Heart” on 10/11/15 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Welcome to the final show of the Stardom FIVE STAR GP! I realize I didn’t review any of the events leading up to the finale but it was just way too much to watch so we are skipping right to the good stuff. Here are the standings going into the show:

This event has all the wrestlers’ last matches in the tournament, then the Finals will immediately take place. Here is the full card:

• AZM, Mari Apache, and Shiki Shibusawa vs. Natsuko Tora, Ruaka, and Starlight Kid
• FIVE STAR GP 2017 Block B: Hiromi Mimura vs. Xia Brookside
• FIVE STAR GP 2017 Block A: Konami vs. Mandy Leon
• FIVE STAR GP 2017 Block B: Hana Kimura vs. Kris Wolf
• FIVE STAR GP 2017 Block A: Jungle Kyona vs. Tam Nakano
• FIVE STAR GP 2017 Block A: Kay Lee Ray vs. Toni Storm
• FIVE STAR GP 2017 Block A: HZK vs. Io Shirai
• FIVE STAR GP 2017 Block B: Viper vs. Yoko Bito
• FIVE STAR GP 2017 Block B: Kagetsu vs. Mayu Iwatani
• FIVE STAR GP 2017 Final

A long event, and since it was shown on Stardom World, all matches are unedited. The hard cam is slightly elevated which may annoy me, but a ten match card like this will be too clipped on Samurai TV to enjoy so I am going to push through it. As always, you can click on the wrestler’s name above to go straight to their profile on Joshi City.

AZM, Mari Apache, and Shiki Shibusawa vs. Natsuko Tora, Ruaka, and Starlight Kid

AZM (in new gear) starts the match with Natsuko, Natsuko attacks her from behind and AZM is triple teamed in the corner. Natsuko goes off the ropes and hits a hard shoulderblock, she picks her up but AZM whips off a hurricanrana. AZM tags in Mari, who promptly boots everyone in the face. Shiki and AZM get in the ring and all three put their opponents in submission holds, Mari cradles Natsuko but it gets a two count. Kicks by Mari but Natsuko elbows her back and hits a spear, she tags in Ruaka (also in new gear) while AZM is tagged back in. AZM throws down Ruaka by the hair but Ruaka comes back with a boot, another boot by Ruaka and she covers AZM for two. Shiki hops in and hits a missile dropkick, suplex by AZM and she covers Ruaka, but the pin is broken up. Ruaka tags in Starlight Kid but Mari is also tagged in and she quickly puts Starlight Kid in a submission hold. Starlight Kid gets out of it and hits a hurricanrana, dropkick by Starlight Kid and she hits the Shiranui. Body Press from the second turnbuckle by Starlight Kid, but Mari kicks out of the cover. Things break down as everyone runs in the ring, but Mari lariats both Natsuko and Ruaka. Mari puts Starlight Kid in the Atlantida (spinning backbreaker rack) and Starlight Kid submits! AZM, Mari Apache, and Shiki Shibusawa win!

This was simple, and at times a bit sloppy. Mari was the star as she should be, hitting her strikes soundly while also giving Starlight Kid quite a bit of offense as well so it wasn’t too one-sided. Ruaka hasn’t improved since I last saw her and Shiki didn’t do enough to get a feel of. Just a short opener with nothing particularly memorable.

Hiromi Mimura vs. Xia Brookside

After they confirm that Xia is taller than Hiromi, Xia picks up Hiromi but Hiromi wiggles away and applies a sunset flip for two. They trade flash pins with neither having success, Hiromi stomps down on Xia near the ropes before hitting a scoop slam. Camel Clutch by Hiromi, she picks up Xia but Xia puts her in the Tree of Woe and hits a dropkick to her face. Irish whip attempt by Xia, Hiromi reverses it but Xia hits a high knee in the corner. Face crusher by Xia and she dropkicks Hiromi for a two count. Xia picks up Hiromi and hits the Codebreaker, but again Hiromi kicks out of the cover. Xia picks up Hiromi again but this time Hiromi slides away and hits a jumping crossbody, dropkick by Hiromi and she dropkicks Xia again for a two count. Hiromi goes off the ropes but Xia delivers a high kick, sunset flip by Xia but Hiromi reverses it and they go back and forth with quick pins. La Magistral attempt by Hiromi, Xia blocks it but Hiromi puts her in the Endless Waltz for the three count! Hiromi Mimura wins the match and ends the tournament with four points.

They might have put on an even more basic match than the last match. No one will ever accuse Hiromi of being a high-end wrestler but in the right situations she can be entertaining as she is cute and has good comedic timing. But this was more a ‘dropkicks and flash pins’ style of match that didn’t do a whole lot for me. Technically sound, just not particularly interesting.

Konami vs. Mandy Leon

Lock-up to start, they end up on the mat but Mandy pulls Konami to her feet and hits a shoulderblock. Dropkick by Konami but Mandy quickly gets back up and they lock knuckles, monkey flip by Mandy and she keeps their knuckles locked so she can fling Konami to the mat again. Konami gets out of it and applies a short armbar, but Mandy rolls away and covers her for two. Cross armbreaker by Konami but Mandy gets a foot in the ropes, lariat by Mandy in the corner and she hits a running elbow. She goes for another one but Konami kicks her away and applies a hanging armbar, missile dropkick by Konami and she covers Mandy for two. Seated armbar by Konami but Mandy gets to the ropes, Konami goes off the ropes but Mandy catches her with a lariat. Elbow drop by Mandy, but her cover gets a two count. Mandy picks up Konami and throws her to the mat, DDT of sorts by Mandy but Konami kicks out of the pin. Mandy goes for a wrist-clutch slam but Konami reverses it with a cradle for the three count! Konami wins the match and ends the tournament with two points.

We have reached the part of the event that I regret not just watching the clipped up Samurai TV version. Like the last two matches, it wasn’t actively bad, it just wasn’t interesting or memorable or good either and was the least fluid match so far. Mandy’s offense is rough, and while I love Konami she isn’t really at the stage of her career where she is going to be able to elevate a wrestler much past where they already are. A watchable match in execution, but a skippable match in regards to entertainment value.

Hana Kimura vs. Kris Wolf

Hana has meat with her to taunt Kris with, I guess her sexy dancing wouldn’t work on her friend so she had to go in a different direction. Hana kicks Kris when she goes for the corn dog she is holding, stomps by Hana and she pulls back on Kris after twisting her in the ropes. Hana puts Kris in a Camel Clutch while waving some meat in her face, Irish whip by Hana but Kris ducks the lariat and hits a spinning headscissors. Jumping knee by Kris in the corner followed by a face crusher for a two count cover. Kris picks up Hana but Hana gets the meat out, Kris grabs it which gives Hana time to elbow her in the chest. Kris elbows her back and they trade blows on the mat, Kris gets the better of it but Hana blocks the suplex attempt. Eye poke by Kris and she applies a small package for two. Suplex by Kris, she gets on the top turnbuckle but Hana joins her and hits a superplex. Running boot by Hana, but the cover gets a two count. Hana picks up Kris but Kris applies a cradle and they go back and forth with flash pins. Kris goes off the ropes but Hana catches her with a dropkick, but boot by Hana and she nails the missile dropkick for the three count! Hana Kimura wins and ends the tournament with eight points.

I love both of these wrestlers. I was the first person on the Kris Wolf Bandwagon (I have documented proof), and I think Hana brings a lot to the table. They certainly weren’t trying to put on an epic match here as it barely went five minutes, and like every other match so far it was mostly strikes and flash pins. The meat thing was a bit too silly for me, I am not sure where the line is but Oedo Tai in general has been more “vicious” lately so I’d rather not it be a long term thing that Kris forgets to wrestle if she gets meat waved in her face. Its always a pleasure to see Hana and Kris, but not much of a match.

Jungle Kyona vs. Tam Nakano

They start the match trying to knock each other over with Kyona having success, cover by Kyona but Tam bridges out of it and hits a dropkick. Snapmare by Tam and she kicks Kyona in the back, Kyona returns to her feet and blocks Tam’s kick. Backbreaker by Kyona and she drapes Tam over the top rope before delivering a body avalanche. Single leg crab hold by Kyona, but Tam eventually makes it to the ropes for the break. Kyona goes off the ropes and hits a lariat, but Tam blocks the next one and applies an abdominal stretch. Sunset flip by Tam, but it only gets a two count. Stomps by Tam to Kyona’s already wrapped up arm but Kyona hits a body avalanche in the corner followed by a dropkick. Sliding lariat by Kyona, and she covers Tam for two. Kyona goes up top but Tam elbows her from behind, kicks by Tam and she suplexes Kyona back to the mat. Cover by Kyona, but it gets a two count. Tam picks up Kyona but Kyona blocks her kick and clubs her in the face, she goes off the ropes but Tam delivers a head kick for two. Tam picks up Kyona but Kyona elbows her off, Tam returns fire and nails another head kick, but Kyona is too close to the ropes and grabs the bottom one to break the pin. Elbows by Tam but Kyona hits a hard lariat, Kyona picks up Tam and drops her with a short range lariat. Hammerthrow Powerbomb by Kyona and she hits another short range lariat, she goes up top and delivers the diving body press for the three count! Jungle Kyona wins the match and picks up two points in the tournament.

Now we are getting somewhere, this was a really good match. Tam really looks better each time I see her, hanging around Stardom wrestlers and training with them seems to be helping. Easily the longest match on the show so far, they had a chance to tell a bit of a story so it wasn’t just strikes and pins. Tam’s kicks were on point and Kyona showed a lot of fire throughout, an exciting match from bell to bell. Really enjoyable and worth the watch.  Recommended

Kay Lee Ray vs. Toni Storm

Lock-up to start, Irish whip by KLR but Toni shoulderblocks her to the mat. Toni goes off the ropes but KLR trips her with a pancake, Toni trips KLR and she rolls her up for two. KLR gets Toni on her back but Toni cradles her before both wrestlers return to their feet. KLR fakes a handshake but kicks Toni in the head instead, KLR throws Toni into the corner and chops her in the chest. KLR rolls Toni to the mat and applies a front necklock, Toni muscles out of it however and hits a vertical suplex. Northern Lights Suplex by KLR, she rolls through it to hit another one but Toni reverses it with a DDT. They slowly get up and trade elbows, snap German by Toni and she hits a running hip attack in the corner. Suplex by Toni, she gets on the top turnbuckle but KLR kicks her before she can jump off, sending Toni to the floor. KLR quickly jumps on the top turnbuckle and sails out of the ring with a Swanton, she slides Toni back in the ring but Toni blocks the Gory Bomb. Toni goes for a kick but KLR catches it and hits the Gory Bomb anyway, cover by KLR but Toni gets a shoulder up. KLR gets on the top turnbuckle but Toni hits her before she can jump off, Toni grabs her but KLR wiggles away. KLR goes for a springboard off the ropes but Toni catches her with a German Suplex, piledriver by Toni but KLR barely kicks out of the cover. Toni picks up KLR and goes off the ropes, but KLR dropkicks her in the knee and hits a neckbreaker. KLR applies a choke but Toni gets a hand on the ropes, KLR gets on the top turnbuckle but Toni recovers and joins her. KLR goes for an elbow but Toni blocks it, and she nails the Strong Zero from the second turnbuckle. Cover by Toni, and she gets the three count! Toni Storm wins and now has 11 points in the tournament.

For a short tournament-style match (meaning more flash pins), I thought this was pretty damn good. KLR and Toni Storm are two of my favorite wrestlers period, and this was really smooth as they have great chemistry. Since it mattered for who won the Blue Block, they went a bit further with big moves and kicking out of finishers than we had seen thus far, raising the drama and excitement. The piledriver off the second turnbuckle was sick but a very definitive way to end the match while keeping KLR strong in the process. Fast paced and entertaining, wish it was longer but I can’t find any fault with the action itself.  Recommended

HZK vs. Io Shirai

They trade holds to start, they go off the ropes until HZK throws down Io by her hair. Bootscrapes by HZK, she goes off the ropes but Io dropkicks her in the face. Io returns the favor and boots HZK in the head, cover by Io but HZK kicks out. Stretch hold by Io, she lets go after a moment and stomps down on HZK’s stomach. Scoop slam by Io, and she covers HZK for a two count. Io picks up HZK and Irish whips her, but HZK slides out to the apron and snaps Io’s neck over the top rope. Dropkick by HZK into the corner and she finally hits the running kick that Io had prevented earlier, choke by HZK and she drives Io’s head into her knee. HZK picks up Io and hits a full nelson slam, cover by HZK but it gets a two count. She goes for the crossface but Io blocks it and applies her own armtrap crossface, she lets go after a moment and delivers a Tiger Feint Kick. Swandive dropkick by Io, she picks up HZK and elbows her in the face. They trade shots, Io gets the better of it and goes for a suplex, but HZK reverses it and hits a double stomp to Io’s stomach. HZK knocks Io into the corner and hits a running elbow, cover by HZK but it gets a two count. HZK goes up top but Io knocks her to the apron, Io joins HZK but HZK slides back in to avoid her palm thrust and knocks Io to the floor. HZK goes to the second turnbuckle and dives out onto Io with a diving lariat. HZK slides Io back into the ring, she gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving senton to Io’s back. Armtrap crossface by HZK but Io gets a foot on the ropes to force a break. Boot by HZK and she headbutts Io, scoop slam by HZK and she nails the Bombs Away, but Io barely gets a shoulder up. Armtrap crossface by HZK but again Io gets to the ropes. Io recovers and hits a German suplex hold, running double knee by Io and she hits the double underhook facebuster. Moonsault to the back by Io, she covers HZK but HZK kicks out of the cover. Quick roll-up by HZK but Io kicks out and boots HZK in the head. Texas Cloverleaf by Io but the bell rings, as the time limit has expired. The match is a Draw.

And Io is officially eliminated from winning the tournament. Another really good match, we had to get through some fluff but once the meaningful matches started this show has really delivered. HZK has improved tenfold since returning last December and looked like a legitimate challenger to Io here. Io did kick out of the Bombs Away, but HZK kicked out of the moonsault so they were even. Maybe too many armtrap crossfaces since neither ever win with the move so it felt a bit excessive that both kept using it, but otherwise everything made sense and it was an entertaining match. Keep an eye on HZK, if she sticks around this time she may be a future main event star.  Recommended

Viper vs. Yoko Bito

Viper dropkicks Yoko Bito while her streamers are flying in the ring, getting an early advantage in the match. Viper picks up Bito and clubs on her, sit-out slam by Viper but Bito rolls out of the ring to try to recover. Viper immediately goes out after her however and slams Bito into the apron, lariat against the post by Viper and she gets on the apron before hitting a cannonball down to the floor. Viper returns to the ring to wait for Bito, Bito slowly gets back in but Viper quickly puts her in a cobra clutch. Viper clubs on Bito some more, but Bito goes off the ropes and hits a jumping lariat. Running elbow by Bito and she hits a vertical suplex, Viper gets back up but Bito delivers a head kick for a two count cover. Viper and Bito trade elbows as they return to their feet, Bito goes off the ropes but Viper knocks her back with a headbutt. More headbutts by Viper and she hits a low running crossbody for a two count. Running senton by Viper, but that gets a two count as well. Viper throws Bito into the turnbuckles, cannonball by Viper and she goes for the Reverse Splash, but Bito rolls out of the way. High kick by Bito and she hits a second one, a third head kick by Bito and she nails the B Driver for the three count! Yoko Bito wins and gets two points in the tournament.

A step down from the last few matches. It was a simple story but told well, my main issue is that due to the time length, Bito’s comeback was really short in comparison to the amount of offense she took. I mean Viper threw everything at her but Bito won with a few head kicks and the B Driver with very little beforehand to weaken Viper. But that happens sometimes in tournament matches, these two could have a better longer match but as presented a bit disappointing.

Kagetsu vs. Mayu Iwatani

Kagetsu attacks Mayu as soon as she gets through the curtain, and with Oedo Tai’s help she beats her down on the stage. In an insane spot that has to be seen, Kagetsu tosses Mayu near the railing and then pushes over the entrance rigging on top of her, trapping her neck between the rigging and the guard rail. Mayu miraculously survives this and they finally make it back into the ring to officially start the match, Mayu immediately goes up top but Mayu manages to roll out of the way of the Oedo Coaster. Mayu grabs Kagetsu but Kagetsu gets away and hits a dragon suplex hold, picking up a two count. Mayu snaps off a quick Ebisu Drop for her own two count, as the wrestlers both steal each other’s signature moves. Both wrestler kip-up, they go off the ropes until Mayu hits a jumping elbow. Triple jump dropkick by Kagetsu and she hits a running elbow, vertical suplex by Kagetsu and she puts Mayu in a cross-arm submission hold. Mayu gets to the ropes for the break, the rest of Oedo Tai get on the apron as they all attack Mayu as she is in the ropes.

Kagetsu gets a bottle of water and dumps it onto Mayu, but Mayu regains the advantage with a dropkick. Elbows by Mayu and she kicks Kagetsu in the stomach before hitting a Sling Blade. Cover by Mayu, but it gets two. Mayu picks up Kagetsu, they both block each other’s strikes until Kagetsu delivers a high kick. Another high kick by Kagetsu and a third, Buzzsaw Kick by Kagetsu but she doesn’t go for the cover. Kagetsu goes off the ropes but Mayu hits a superkick, another superkick by Mayu and she hits several more until Kagetsu finally ends on her knees. Buzzsaw Kick by Mayu, and she covers Kagetsu for a two count. Iwatani goes off the ropes and gives Kagetsu a hard dropkick, she goes up top and nails the diving footstomp. Mayu drags up Kagetsu and goes for the Sakauchi but Kagetsu blocks it, kick combination by Kagetsu and she drops Mayu with a chokeslam. Kagetsu goes for the Ebisu Drop but Mayu reverses it with the Sakauchi, but Kagetsu barely kicks out of the cover. Kagetsu pushes Mayu into the referee, knocking him off his feet, allowing Kagetsu to spit blue mist into Mayu’s face. Kagetsu slams Mayu in front of the corner, she quickly goes up top and she nails the Oedo Coaster for the three count! Kagetsu wins the match and ends the tournament with ten points.

After the hot start the match dipped a bit in excitement, but still a great match. The stage spot looked incredibly dangerous and painful, which almost made the fact Mayu was fine a minute later doing a fast paced exchange difficult to believe. It was certainly a memorable moment though. The rest of the match was really fluid, they have great chemistry and every match they have they just ramp up the things they do to each other. Lots of hard strikes and snug suplexes, which is all one can ask for in life. I wouldn’t have minded if it was longer or if the opening killer move felt a bit more important to the match overall, but still a high end match between two of the best in Stardom.  Recommended

I don’t know what convoluted method Stardom used to determine who won the Red Block, but it is Yoko Bito! The finals of the FIVE STAR GP will now immediately take place!

Toni Storm vs. Yoko Bito
FIVE STAR GP 2017 Final

They shake hands but Bito immediately hits a pump kick afterwards, running elbow by Bito in the corner and she delivers a series of kicks. Bito puts Toni in the ropes and chops her in the chest from the apron, she charges Toni but Toni moves and Bito ends up stuck in the ropes. Toni kicks Bito out of the ring, she goes off the ropes and sails out onto her with a tope suicida. Toni chops Bito down onto a chair, she gets a running start and hits Bito with a jumping knee. Toni goes for a piledriver but Bito blocks it and hits a B Driver on the floor. Bito and Toni slowly return to the ring and they trade elbows, Bito goes off the ropes but Toni boots her in the chest. Neck crank by Toni and she hits a series of hip attacks, cover by Toni but it gets two. Toni goes back to the neck to help set up Bito for the Strong Zero, she picks her up but Bito ducks the lariat attempt and hits one of her own. Bito goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick, cover by Bito but it gets two. STF by Bito but Toni crawls to the ropes and forces the break. Bito picks up Toni and delivers a high kick, elbows by Bito but Toni headbutts her and hits a quick Strong Zero. Cover by Toni, but Bito barely kicks out. They both slowly get up and Bito drops Toni with a B Driver, he picks Toni up but Toni ducks her kicks and hits another Strong Zero. Toni rolls through it and hits a second Strong Zero, she then hits a third Strong Zero and covers Bito for the three count! Toni Storm is the new FIVE STAR GP Champion!

Its rough having the finals on the same event as nine other matches, as the show is already long so you know the main event is going to be a bit condensed. I liked what they did during the match though, I didn’t mind Toni hitting her finisher three times for the win as it wasn’t like Bito was kicking out between them, Toni was just being extra thorough. Toni is just so much fun to watch, between the dives and the hip attacks and her piledriver its hard for me not to get into her matches. Bito was mostly along for the ride in this one but she held her own as well, I never really got the sense she was winning as the match wasn’t long enough to have an epic end run. A solid match overall, I just wish the match was on a future event so they could have had more time.  Mildly Recommended

The post Stardom FIVE STAR GP Finale on 9/18/17 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

*Over the next few months, I will be slowly bringing my Joshi Reviews from Puroresu Central over to Joshi City so I can have all my Joshi reviews in one place. Some features of my current reviews on this site may be missing as my style has changed over the years, however I will have it match the Joshi City review format as closely as I can. The original review date can be found at the bottom of the review, I will try not to make any major changes to the text unless I see something that needs clarifying.*

As far as Joshi events go, this one is pretty massive. The attendance for the show is one of the higher attendances for a Joshi event so far this year, with a very respectable crowd for Korakuen Hall. Sendai Girls and Stardom have had an unofficial feud for the last six months but this is their first official promotion vs. promotion clash, which is something you rarely see these days. Invading wrestlers are normal, but a full blown six vs. six elimination match is another story. Here is the full card:

– Kyoko Kimura and Sareee vs. Alex Lee and Chikayo Nagashima
– Ray and Sakura Hirota vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto and Santana Garrett
– Sendai vs. Stardom 6 x 6 Elimination: Cassandra Miyagi, Chihiro Hashimoto, DASH Chisako, Meiko Satomura, Mika Iwata, and Sendai Sachiko vs. Hiromi Mimura, Io Shirai, Kairi Hojo, Kris Wolf, Mayu Iwatani, and Momo Watanabe

All the wrestlers above have profiles on Joshi City, you can click their names to go straight to it.

Kyoko Kimura and Sareee vs. Alex Lee and Chikayo Nagashima

The entire card is not Sendai vs. Stardom, as this is more of a normal opener. Kimura is a Freelancer that frequently wrestles in Stardom, while Sareee hails from Diana. Alex Lee is a Freelancer but wrestles in Stardom a lot, while Nagashima is a Freelancer as well that bounces around to different promotions. So no real storyline going on here, just a match to warm up the crowd.

Looks like this match is joined in progress, which I am perfectly ok with. I know I complain about it sometimes but only if it is an important match, openers being clipped isn’t a big deal. We pick things up with Sareee and Lee in the ring, Lee tags in Nagashima but Sareee gets away and tags Kimura. Nagashima and Kimura trade boots, Lee comes back in to help but Kimura pokes them both in the eyes and hits a double facecrusher. Lee schoolboys Kimura from behind for two (is she legal?), Kimura is double teamed again while Sareee watches, as Lee hits a jumping knee. Tilt-a-whirl DDT by Nagashima, then Lee hits a tornado DDT. Chokebomb by Lee, but Sareee breaks up the cover. Sareee hits a German suplex on Lee, big boot by Kimura and she hits another one on Lee for the three count! Kimura and Sareee win the match.

There wasn’t much to this one, between it being clipped and most of the action being meddling. Some of these wrestlers are good but none really got a chance to shine, which is a bit of a shame but this show is about the big main event and I have my doubts that any other match will be memorable on this card.

Ray and Sakura Hirota vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto and Santana Garrett

Another random wrestlers type of match, at least on one side. Ray and Hirota are certainly not a regular team, as Ray is a serious talented wrestler while Hirota mostly does comedy shtick. Matsumoto and Garrett were not a regular team until a few weeks ago, but have been teaming recently in Stardom.  This is going to be a major styles clash and I am not sure exactly what to expect.

We join this one as Matsumoto is beating on Hirota (thank goodness it is clipped), and Matsumoto applies a crab hold. Hirota eventually gets to the ropes to force a break, but Garrett comes in the ring and puts Hirota in the Muta Lock. Ray breaks that up, and we jump ahead in the match to Ray and Matsumoto being in the ring together. German suplex by Ray and she tags in Hirota. Hirota grabs Matsumoto’s arm and runs up the corner, she walks the ropes but Matsumoto crotches her to knock her back to the ring. Hirota drops Matsumoto into the ropes and gives her the Oil Check, tiger feint kick by Ray and Hirota hits the half hatch suplex for a two count. Garrett comes in to help and hits a superkick on Hirota, backdrop suplex by Matsumoto and she picks up the three count! Your winners are Garrett and Matsumoto.

I said that I was glad it was clipped because Hirota comedy gets old to me pretty quick, so the shorter the match the better. Nothing against the other wrestlers but any match with Hirota in it just kinda becomes her style of match. But this was too short to even get an opinion on, I enjoy both Ray and Matsumoto quite a bit but they did very little here. Safe to skip, although that Oil Check was vicious.

Team Sendai Girls (Miyagi, Chihiro Hashimoto, DASH Chisako, Satomura, Iwata, and Sachiko)
vs. Team Stardom (Mimura, Io Shirai, Hojo, Kris Wolf, Mayu Iwatani, and Watanabe)

This is a 6 vs. 6 Elimination Match. Each team starts with one wrestler in the ring, when a wrestler is pinned the next wrestler from that team comes in. This is repeated until a team is out of wrestlers. There is a ten minute time limit for each pairing, so if the time expires then both wrestlers are eliminated and the next two come in. There is no time limit if the contest comes down to just two wrestlers. Now that I got the rules out of the way, this is a big match as it is rare to have any promotion or factions battle that feel this important. The teams are pretty even, as both teams range from the best in the promotion to a couple less experienced wrestlers, so it balances out. I’m excited about it, let’s see how it plays out.

Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Momo Watanabe

Hashimoto immediately picks up Watanabe and puts her in the corner, Irish whip by Hashimoto and she hits a body avalanche. Watanabe comes back with a dropkick and hits another one, cover by Watanabe but it gets a two count. Hashimoto gets Watanabe to the mat and puts her in a leg submission, but Watanabe inches to the ropes to force a break. Watanabe goes off the ropes and hits a few dropkicks, but Hashimoto picks her up and hits a scoop slam. Another slam by Hashimoto and she covers Watanabe for two. Watanabe elbows Hashimoto but Hashimoto elbows her back and they trade blows.  Reverse STO by Watanabe and she hits a vertical suplex for a two count cover. Watanabe nails the Somato, but Hashimoto barely gets a shoulder up. Watanabe goes for a crossbody off the second turnbuckle but Hashimoto catches her and slams Watanabe to the mat.  Hashimoto deadlifts Watanabe back up and slams her again, and this time she gets the three count cover! Momo Watanabe is eliminated and Sendai Girls’ is winning the series 6-5.

Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Hiromi Mimura

Mimura comes in next for Stardom, she takes it to Hashimoto as soon as the bell rings, finally knocking her down with a series of dropkicks. Back up, spear by Hashimoto and she applies an armtrap headlock, Hashimoto picks up Mimura and applies a backbreaker before dropping Mimura to the mat. Fireman’s carry rolling slam by Hashimoto, she picks up Mimura and she hits a second one, but Mimura sneaks in a crucifix pin for a two count. The La Magistral gets the same result, dropkicks by Mimura but Hashimoto hits a judo throw and slaps on the cross armbreaker, forcing Mimura to tap! Mimura is eliminated, and Sendai Girls’ is up 6-4.

Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Kris Wolf

Wolf is the next wrestler down for Stardom. Wolf snapmares Hashimoto and kicks her in the back, but Hashimoto blocks her kick and applies a headlock on the mat. Wolf gets out of it but Hashimoto applies a full nelson, Wolf reverses it but Hashimoto quickly gets out of it. Kick by Wolf and she knees Hashimoto into the corner, kick to the back by Wolf and she covers Hashimoto for two. Wolf goes to the second turnbuckle but Hashimoto grabs her from behind, Wolf wiggles away however and hits a dropkick.  Wolf goes up top but Hashimoto avoids the dive and she delivers a Waterwheel Drop for the three count! Wolf is eliminated, and Sendai Girls’ is now up 6-3.

Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Io Shirai

Shirai is the next Stardom wrestler to try to beat the dominating rookie. Hip attack by Hashimoto but Shirai kicks her when she goes for a second one, Hashimoto fires back with a series of hip attacks and covers she covers Shirai for two. Irish whip by Hashimoto but Shirai hits a dropkick out of the corner, she gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers a missile dropkick. She hits another missile dropkick, cover by Shirai but it gets a two count. Shirai applies a double underhook, Hashimoto gets out of it and hits a rolling shoulder powerslam for two. Hashimoto picks up Shirai but Shirai gets away and kicks Hashimoto twice in the head.  Double underhook facebuster by Shirai, she tries to go up top but Hashimoto grabs her leg. Hashimoto charges Shirai but Shirai flips out to the apron and hits a missile dropkick off the top turnbuckle. Double knee by Shirai in the corner, she goes up top and she nails the moonsault for the three count! Hashimoto is eliminated, Sendai Girls’ is up 5-3.

Io Shirai vs. Mika Iwata

Shirai draws another Sendai Girls rookie, the young Iwata. Iwata is fired up but Shirai absorbs her blows, Shirai returns fire with elbows but Iwata hasn’t given up and elbows her back. A dropkick by Iwata finally sends Shirai to the mat, she picks up Shirai but Shirai blocks the dropkick, kicks by Iwata but Iwata pushes her to the mat and applies a crab hold. Double knee to the back by Shirai and she hits a standing moonsault before applying a sleeper, camel clutch by Shirai but she releases the hold after a moment. Shirai kicks Iwata into the corner but Iwata moves when she charges in and kicks Shirai in the chest.  Dropkick by Iwata and she puts Shirai in a leg trap chinlock, but Shirai makes it to the ropes. Scoop slams by Iwata, she picks up Shirai and she hits a vertical suplex for a two count. Iwata tries to kick Shirai in the back but Shirai catches it, Iwata gets away from Shirai and she hits a bodyscissors roll-up for two. Kick to the back by Iwata and she kicks Shirai in the head for another two. This is fantastically fun by the way, I’d love to see them wrestle a longer match at some point. Iwata picks up Shirai but Shirai grabs her and hits an Air Raid Crash. Dropkick to the head by Shirai, she picks up Iwata and hits the package German suplex for the three count! Iwata is eliminated and Sendai Girls’ is up 4-3.

Io Shirai vs. Sendai Sachiko

They trade strikes to start their pairing, Sachiko knocks Shirai out of the ring and goes after her, but Shirai throws Sachiko into the crowd. Vertical suplex by Sachiko on the floor, and back in the ring Sachiko starts working on Shirai’s back. DDT by Sachiko and she hits another one, German suplex hold by Sachiko but it gets two. Sachiko goes up top but Shirai gets her knees up on the diving body press attempt, Sachiko stays in control at first but Shirai front flips away and hits a dropkick. Sachiko falls out of the ring, Shirai goes to the apron and hits an Asai Moonsault down to the floor. Back in, swandive dropkick by Shirai followed by the tiger feint kick, she goes for another swandive move but she falls off and crashes to the floor. Sachiko goes out to get her and brings Shirai back in the ring, but Shirai hits a scoop slam and this time connects with the swandive bodypress. Shirai goes up top but Sachiko headscissors her back to the mat and hits a jumping DDT. Superkicks by Sachiko and she hits a German suplex hold for two. Sachiko goes up top and she delivers the diving body press, but Shirai kicks out of the cover. Mounted elbows by Sachiko and she applies the sleeper, cover by Sachiko but it gets a two count. Palm thrust by Shirai and she kicks Sachiko in the head, tombstone by Shirai but Sachiko gets a shoulder up on the cover. A German suplex hold by Sachiko gets the same result, superkick by Sachiko and she hits a suplex hold of her own. They quickly trade pins and submissions as the time is getting close, but neither can get the win before the bell rings. The match is a draw, and both wrestlers are eliminated. Sendai Girls’ is leading Stardom 3-2.

Meiko Satomura vs. Kairi Hojo

The two rivals are the next two wrestlers in for their teams, they roughly feel each other out until Satomura kicks Hojo into the corner. Spinning chop by Hojo and she charges Satomura, hitting a spear and then a rolling neckbreaker for two. Hojo goes for another spear but Satomura catches her and applies a front necklock. Spinning kick by Satomura and she covers Hojo for a two count. Satomura goes for the Death Valley Bomb, Hojo slides away and she hits the Sliding D to Satomura. A Wing Clutch pin by Hojo gets two, she goes up top and hits a diving elbow strike. Sliding D by Hojo in the corner, she goes up top again but Satomura recovers and joins her. Hojo knocks Satomura to the mat but Satomura delivers a high kick and re-joins Hojo, but Hojo knocks Satomura to the floor. Satomura gets back on the apron and kicks Hojo in the head, Satomura gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a superplex back into the ring for two. Kicks by Satomura, and she levels Hojo with a high kick. Cartwheel Kneedrop by Satomura and she applies the sleeper, but Hojo gets to the ropes. Satomura goes up top but Hojo gets her feet up on the diving body press attempt.  Jumping footstomp by Hojo, she gets Satomura up and hits the Alabama Slam. Hojo goes up top and nails the beautiful diving elbow drop, cover by Hojo but Satomura gets a shoulder up. Hojo goes up top again but Satomura rolls out of the way this time, death valley bomb by Satomura but the pin attempt gets a two. She hits a second one, she tries to do a third but Hojo grabs her leg. While they struggle, the bell rings and the match is a draw. Both Hojo and Satomura are eliminated, leaving Sendai Girls with two wrestlers remaining and Stardom with one.

DASH Chisako vs. Mayu Iwatani

The next two representatives come in, Chisako dropkicks Iwatani but Iwatani blocks the hurricanrana attempt and applies a crab hold. Snapmare by Iwatani and she kicks Chisako hard in the back, but Chisako slaps her and they trade blows. Chisako wins the battle and dropkicks Iwatani in the face, Chisako clubs on Iwatani and dropkicks her again before attempting a pin. Iwatani regains the advantage and dropkicks Chisako out of the ring, she goes up top and dives out after her but Chisako moves and she lands on Shirai instead. Opps.  Chisako stomps on both of them before sliding Iwatani back in, dropkick by Chisako and she hits a missile dropkick for a two count. Another dropkick by Chisako and she hits a cutter, but Iwatani kicks out of the pin. Diving footstomp by Chisako, she goes up top and hits another one, but Iwatani bridges out of the cover.  Superkick by Iwatani and she snaps off a release Dragon suplex, they both slowly get up and Iwatani applies a crucifix pin for two. Kick to the head by Iwatani, she goes up top but Chisako recovers and joins her. Iwatani knocks Chisako off but Chisako climbs back and hits a Frankensteiner. Diving footstomp by Chisako, cover, but it gets two. She goes up top again but Iwatani avoids the diving body press, cradle by Iwatani but it gets two. They trade quick pin attempts as the time is running low, but neither gets a successful pinfall. Back up they trade elbows, Northern Lights Suplex by Chisako but it also gets two. Back up, superkick by Iwatani, and she quickly hits the Fubukirana to get the three count! Chisako is eliminated, leaving the last two wrestlers.

Mayu Iwatani vs. Cassandra Miyagi

There is no time limit for the final pairing, the winner wins the main for their team.  Due to Iwatani just having wrestled for almost ten minutes, Miyagi controls the early potion of the match, throwing Iwatani around the ring. Iwatani fights back and hits a split legged armdrag off the ropes, but Miyagi avoids the dropkick and she knocks Iwatani to the floor. Miyagi takes Iwatani into the stands and tosses her around the bleachers, Miyagi brings Iwatani back to ringside and slams her onto the floor. Miyagi gets a stick but the referee stops her, then Satomura takes the stick from her as she doesn’t want Miyagi to get DQed. Back in the ring, dropkicks by Miyagi and she hits a front suplex before applying a stretch submission hold.  She picks up Miyagi but Iwatani hits two quick dropkicks, Miyagi throws Iwatani into the corner and she hits a jumping elbow. Face crusher by Miyagi and she kicks Iwatani in the head for two.  Elbow drops by Miyagi and she hits a backdrop suplex, delayed vertical suplex and she covers Iwatani for another two count.  Miyagi goes off the ropes but Iwatani catches her with a superkick, diving footstomp by Iwatani and she covers Miyagi for two. Iwatani goes up top but Miyagi avoids the bodypress, Miyagi now goes up top but Iwatani joins her and suplexes her to the mat. Crucifix slam by Iwatani, she picks up Miyagi but Miyagi blocks the dragon suplex and hits the ‘ol airplane spin. Miyagi goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, backdrop suplex by Miyagi but Iwatani kicks out of the pin. Miyagi hits three more but Iwatani fires back with the Sling Blade and they trade elbows as they slowly get up.  Superkicks by Iwatani, she goes up top and she delivers a diving footstomp for a two count.  Iwatani picks up Miyagi and she nails her version of the dragon suplex hold, picking up the three count pinfall! Team Stardom wins the match!

I am not even sure how to fairly evaluate a match like this, but I can say that it was a lot of fun to watch. Some of the pairings worked better than others. The rookies all looked good, especially Hashimoto, so even though those segments were short they were still solid and worth watching. The highlight was Shirai vs. Sachiko as I thought they had great chemistry, but I thought that Satomura/Hojo was the worst of the three times they have met in singles matches this year (but still good). The biggest issue is that while I really enjoy Miyagi’s character, she isn’t ready yet for a 15 minute singles match of this much importance. Iwatani was great, but Miyagi was clearly a few steps below and she is still a bit awkward in her wrestling. Which is normal for rookies, but rookies aren’t usually put in this type of situation. So while I though the match started strong, and peaked in the middle, the ending was a bit lackluster and predictable. Course that could also just be general exhaustion after watching an hour long match. One thing I loved is that while the teams stayed at ringside, there was no cheating. If this match happened in WWE there would have been run-ins, ref bumps, and all kinds of shenanigans. This was just two teams seeing which team was better, no extra craziness needed. I should also point out that it either wasn’t clipped at all or very very slightly, I didn’t time it but it was really long and there was no noticeable clippings. Entertaining and it had an epic feel to it, but certainly not without its fault.  Recommended
event reviewed on 12/1/15

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And we are back with Stardom! This event is their last before the big tournament starts, and features four championship matches. Io Shirai has returned after a brief absence due to a neck issue, and Kagetsu challenges for the World of Stardom Championship! Here is the full card:

• AZM vs. Hanan vs. Ruaka
• FIVE STAR Grand Prix 2017 Qualifying Match: Natsuko Tora vs. Tam Nakano
• Gabby Ortiz and Hiromi Mimura vs. Hana Kimura and Kris Wolf vs. Konami and Yoko Bito vs. Shiki Shibusawa and Starlight Kid
• SWA Undisputed Women’s Championship: Toni Storm vs. Xia Brookside
• High Speed Championship: Shanna vs. Mari Apache
• Artist Of Stardom Championship: Hiroyo Matsumoto, Jungle Kyona, and Kaori Yoneyama vs. HZK, Io Shirai, and Viper
• World Of Stardom Championship: Mayu Iwatani vs. Kagetsu

All wrestlers above have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their name to go straight to it. I start off watching the Stardom World version of this event, but by the end I’ll be reviewing the Samurai TV version, I’ll explain why when I get there.

AZM vs. Hanan vs. Ruaka

Hanan and Ruaka tie-up while AZM watches, elbows by Hanan but Ruaka elbows her back. AZM gets involved, Hanan elbows her in the corner but Ruaka rolls up Hanan for two. AZM tosses Hanan by her hair, AZM grabs Hanan’s arm and applies a wristlock. Hanan kicks AZM but AZM trips her and hits a dropkick. Ruaka kicks AZM from behind but AZM drops Hanan, AZM avoids Ruaka’s big boot the first time but Ruaka connects the second time for a two count. Dropkick by AZM, she throws Ruaka into the corner and delivers another dropkick. Crab hold by AZM but Hanan breaks it up, AZM and Hanan trade elbows until AZM kicks Hanan out of the ring. AZM goes for a crossbody on Ruaka but Ruaka catches her and tosses AZM to the mat, big boot by Ruaka in the corner and she hits a fisherman suplex hold for two. Hanan returns and helps Ruaka on AZM, judo toss by Hanan to Ruaka and she hits a STO. Cover by Hanan, but Ruaka kicks out. Hanan picks up Ruaka and elbows her into the corner, vertical suplex by AZM to Ruaka but Hanan quickly covers AZM for two. STO by Hanan to AZM, Ruaka comes back and they double team AZM. Hanan dropkicks AZM but Ruaka rolls up Hanan for two, she goes off the ropes but Hanan rolls Ruaka to the mat and cradles her for the three count! Hanan wins!

Short and to the point, I will say that there were no issues of miscommunications here which is no small feat when dealing with a fast paced match with three really young wrestlers. I still see Hanan as the best of the bunch, but too early to really tell for any of them. At least AZM is back where she belongs on the card, so that’s one plus.

Natsuko Tora vs. Tam Nakano

Tam and Natsuko run into each other as the match starts but neither wrestler goes down, they trade elbows until Natsuko puts Tam in a headlock. Tam Irish whips out of it and hits a hard shoulderblock, but Natsuko returns the favor. Snapmare by Natsuko and she hits a dropkick, leglock by Natsuko but Tam gets into the ropes for the break. Natsuko charges Tam and dropkicks her into the corner, cover by Natsuko but it gets a two count. Tam comes back with her own dropkick, kick to the back by Tam and she applies a Dragon Sleeper. She lets go after a moment and goes off the ropes, but Natsuko hits a shoulderblock. Jumping elbow by Natsuko but Tam dropkicks her, running shoulder tackle by Natsuko and she levels Tam with a spear. Natsuko applies an armbar with a headscissors, cradle by Natsuko but it gets two. A backslide by Natsuko gets the same result, Natsuko goes off the ropes but Tam ducks the PK and kicks Natsuko in the head. Kicks to the chest by Tam and she kicks Natsuko in the head for a two count. Tam throws Natsuko into the corner and hits the Space Rolling Elbow, she follows with a Stunner and running footstomps. Senton by Tam, but Natsuko gets a shoulder up on the cover. Kick to the chest by Tam, she gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers a diving senton for another two count. Tam goes up top but Natsuko joins her, Natsuko gets Tam on her shoulders and hits a Samoan Drop. Natsuko goes off the ropes and knees Tam in the stomach, running knee by Natsuko but Tam kicks out. Natsuko picks up Tam but Tam blocks the slam and kicks Natsuko in the head. More kicks by Tam but Natsuko mostly blocks them and slaps her, two more kicks by Tam but Natsuko gets a shoulder up. Spinning Back Kick by Tam, and she picks up the three count! Tam Nakano wins and is in the FIVE STAR GP.

For two inexperienced wrestlers, this was a really solid match. Natsuko looks really smooth already in her career and showed some fire, she’s really progressed a lot since joining Team Jungle. Tam for most of the match looked really good as well, a few kicks at the end had too much hesitation but its their first ever match together so I can excuse some minor communications issues. A well done match, excited to see what Tam Nakano can do in the tournament.  Mildly Recommended

So I started this show watching the Stardom World version, which is why those two matches I saw in full, but I’m switching over to the Samurai TV version now because there is something wrong with Stardom’s hard cam. Everything looks tinted and weird, which is distracting. It normally isn’t like that so I’ll assume it was just a one-time issue.

Gabby Ortiz and Hiromi Mimura vs. Hana Kimura and Kris Wolf vs. Konami and Yoko Bito vs. Shiki Shibusawa and Starlight Kid

The match begins with Hana, Hiromi, Bito, and Shiki in the ring so naturally they have a pose off. Which Samurai TV did not clip. After everyone gets a turn they start fighting, with Hana being triple teamed in the corner. Everyone runs in to attack Hana, with them all having success except for Hiromi. Konami stays in the ring and helps Bito attack Shiki, but Starlight Kid re-enters and both deliver dropkicks to Konami and Bito. Gabby and Hiromi enter and both hit DDTs on Starlight Kid and Shiki, but Hana and Kris attack them from behind. We clip ahead to Bito hitting a double lariat on Gabby and Hiromi, Bito drops Hiromi on Gabby and covers her for two. Bito goes off the ropes but Kris trips her from the floor, Konami goes outside the ring and kicks both Hana and Kris while Gabby drops Bito with a Cyclone Neckbreaker. Small package by Gabby, she goes off the ropes but Bito kicks her in the head. Bito picks up Gabby and delivers the B Driver, but Hana boots Bito when she goes for the pin. Kris runs in and quickly covers Gabby, and she picks up the three count! Kris Wolf and Hana Kimura win!

Samurai TV kindly clipped this one quite a bit. The pose off is cute and fine for a midcard thing, and I laughed pretty good when Hana booted Hiromi in the face, but nothing else here was really memorable. I am glad Oedo Tai got the win though, it may not seem like much but every pinfall counts when trying to get a faction over. Quite skippable but harmless.

(c) Toni Storm vs. Xia Brookside
SWA Undisputed Women’s Championship

This match is joined very in progress, as Xia drops Toni with a spinning headscissors. Running knee by Xia and she hits a face crusher, cover by Xia but it gets a two count. Xia goes for a kick but Toni ducks it and hits a release German, running hip attack by Toni in the corner and she hits a snap vertical suplex. Toni goes up to the top turnbuckle but Xia elbows her before she jumps off, Xia tosses Toni to the mat and covers her for two. Crucifix slam by Xia, she picks up Toni and elbows her in the chest, but Toni throws her into the corner. Buckle Bomb by Toni, and she nails the piledriver for the three count! Toni Storm is still the champion.

Since the match was clipped down to under three minutes its hard to give a real opinion on it, but everything they showed was fine. Toni Storm is one of the best, she hits everything so crisp and I love watching her. Obviously too short to really recommend not a bad way to spend a couple minutes.

(c) Shanna vs. Mari Apache
High Speed Championship

Apache quickly armdrags Shanna around to start the match, but Shanna hits a spinning bodyscissors and dumps Apache out of the ring. Apache returns after a moment, Shanna elbows her into the corner before snapmaring Apache and kicking her in the back. Sleeper by Shanna, she lets go after a moment and knocks Apache into the corner. Irish whip by Shanna but Apache kicks her when she charges in, kick to the back by Apache and she puts Shanna in an armlock. She lets go of the hold after a moment, she tosses Shanna towards the corner but Shanna reverses it and hits a running elbow. Elbow smash by Shanna, and she covers Apache for two. Back up they trade elbows, drop toehold by Apache and she puts Shanna in the rolling Mexican Surfboard. Apache ties up Shanna’s legs, she then picks up Shanna and stretches her over her back. Shanna spins out of it and hits a hurricanrana, cover by Shanna but it gets a two count. Superkick by Shanna, Apache rolls out of the ring but Shanna quickly goes to the top turnbuckle and dives down onto her with a plancha suicida. Shanna and Apache return to the ring, elbow by Shanna but Apache blocks the suplex attempt. Enzuigiri by Shanna, she goes up top but Apache avoids her dive and delivers a heel drop. Shanna temporarily regains the advantage but Apache knocks her down with a lariat, sit-down powerbomb by Apache but Shanna barely gets a shoulder up on the cover. Apache picks up Shanna but Shanna reverses the slam attempt into a DDT. Shanna goes up top and hits a diving crossbody, but Apache rolls out of the pin and covers Shanna for two. Tiger Suplex Hold by Shanna, but Apache kicks out at two. Shanna goes off the ropes but Apache catches her with a Michinoku Driver, she goes up top and nails the Swanton Bomb for the three count! Mari Apache is the new champion!

For whatever reason, this match never really clicked. I think part of the reason the match wasn’t gripping is there was just no clear structure to it, I never was sure what either wrestler’s plan to win was as the offense was so random. Apache knows what she is doing but her offense here had no rhyme or reason to it, and Shanna wasn’t very crisp as several moves didn’t connect as she intended. I think I actually liked their match on July 23rd better, something just felt off here. No lack of effort, it just never hooked me and didn’t have that title match feel.

(c) Hiroyo Matsumoto, Jungle Kyona, and Kaori Yoneyama vs. HZK, Io Shirai, and Viper
Artist of Stardom Championship

Io and Kaori begin the match, they quickly get into a fast exchange with Io being Io, as she shows that she hasn’t lost anything in her month off. She tags in Viper while Hiroyo also tags in, Hiroyo works a headlock but Viper takes Hiroyo to the mat. Hiroyo quickly gets out of it, HZK and Kyona tag in next and Kyona hits a body avalanche in the corner. Scoop slam by Kyona but HZK avoids the body press, Viper comes in but Kyona avoids her body press as well. Io kicks Kyona from the apron and comes in the ring, and  Kyona is triple teamed. Kaori and Hiroyo come in to help but they all end up being cannonballed by Viper in the corner, dropkick by HZK to Kyona and she covers her for two. Bootscrapes by HZK in the corner and she hits a running boot, she tags in Io and Io hits a running boot as well. Cover by Io, but it gets a two count. Io kicks Kyona and hits a double knee in the corner, she goes for another one but Kyona meets her with a hard shoulderblock. Kyona tags in Kaori but Io avoids her running senton, HZK comes in but Kaori fights them both off. Kaori picks up Io and hits Mongolian Chops, throat trust by Kaori but Io trips her and hits a slingshot dropkick. Io hits a running knee on Kaori in the corner and tags in Viper, bodyblock by Viper on Kaori but Kaori hops on her back and applies a sleeper. Viper drives Kaori into the corner to get her off, Viper charges Kaori but Kaori moves and goes for a suplex. Viper blocks it, Kaori goes off the ropes and she drops Viper with a DDT. She tags in Hiroyo, Hiroyo throws Viper into the corner and hits a body avalanche. Viper and Hiroyo trade lariats, Hiroyo crushes Viper against the ropes and goes for a suplex, but Io dives in the ring with a sunset flip onto Hiroyo.

Crossbody by Viper and she hits a running senton onto Hiroyo for a two count. Viper picks up Hiroyo but Hiroyo hits a German suplex, sliding lariat by Hiroyo and she covers Viper for two. Hiroyo tags in Kyona but Viper also tags in HZK, Kaori goes up top and hits a missile dropkick onto HZK. Pump Kick by HZK and she applies a rolling cradle, but Kyona kicks out at two. Kyona sneaks in a pin on her own two count, lariat by Kyona and she gets another two count cover. Kyona goes for the powerbomb but Io flies in the ring with a swandive missile dropkick, Io dropkicks Kaori and Hiroyo but Hiroyo fires back with a lariat. Double lariat by Kyona and Hiroyo to HZK, Kyona goes for the cover but Viper comes in to break it up. Viper lands on top of HZK by accident, diving attacks by Kaori and Kyona but Kyona’s cover gets broken up. Kyona picks up HZK for the Hammerthrow Bomb but HZK gets out of it, Viper comes in and hits a jumping crossbody on all three Team Jungle members. Pump Kick by HZK to Kyona, but Kyona barely gets a shoulder up. HZK picks up Kyona but Kyona hits a lariat, Io runs in and kicks Kyona before dives out of the ring onto Hiroyo. In the ring, Viper knocks Kyona into the corner and hits the Michinoku Driver, then Io goes up top and nails a moonsault. Bombs Away by HZK to Kyona, and she covers her for the three count! Queen’s Quest are the new champions!

Trios matches generally aren’t my favorite, but I do enjoy them a lot more if they are just pure chaos like this match. There was always something going on, it wasn’t a match about limb work or submissions, it was about playing the odds game and seeing which team could hit the winning combination of moves first long enough for the pinfall. Which I think they did a great job of, I have no idea how they do what they do so smoothly but everything flowed really well. Kyona got legit knocked hard in the face and started bleeding but it had no impact on the match as she kept on trucking as if nothing was wrong. An exciting match, I’m glad Queen’s Quest upgraded their third member for trios and it really helped here as all six wrestlers looked fantastic. I still prefer a quality singles match, but this was pretty damn entertaining.  Recommended

(c) Mayu Iwatani vs. Kagetsu
World of Stardom Championship

They start in the traditional fashion, with a tie-up, Kagetsu pushes Mayu into the ropes but she surprisingly gives a clean break. Kagetsu gets Mayu to the mat but Mayu springs up, hard shoulderblock by Kagetsu and they run off the ropes until Mayu hits an armdrag. Dropkick by Mayu but Kagetsu hits a back bodydrop, another dropkick by Mayu and both wrestlers kip-up. Snap German by Mayu but Kagetsu moves when Mayu goes for her dropkick and Mayu falls out of the ring. Kris and Hana beat on Mayu at ringside before sliding her back in, Mayu throws Kagetsu into the corner but Kagetsu avoids her charge and dropkicks Mayu in the knee. Kagetsu picks up Mayu and slaps at her, running knee by Kagetsu and she goes for a swandive dropkick, but Mayu dropkicks her mid-air which sends Kagetsu out of the ring. Mayu dives from the top turnbuckle down to the floor but Oedo Tai jumps her, Natsuko and Jungle come over to help though and Mayu gets free and chops Kagetsu into the crowd. Mayu pulls Kagetsu up near the balconies and they trade elbows, vertical suplex on the floor by Mayu and she goes up to the balcony. She goes to do a dive but Kris grabs her leg, Kagetsu joins Mayu up at the top of the balcony and Kagetsu hangs Mayu off the balcony.

She drops her after a moment and Mayu falls down onto the steps below, Kagetsu brings Mayu to the steps and kicks her down them. Literally, Mayu tumbled down the stairs end over end like a bag of potatoes. Kagetsu slides Mayu back into the ring, she picks her up but Mayu slides away. Kagetsu kicks Mayu in the head, she goes up top but Mayu recovers and joins her. Frankensteiner by Mayu, she goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick. Cover by Mayu, but it gets a two count. High kick by Mayu and she delivers a German suplex hold, but Kagetsu kicks out. Mayu goes back up top and hits the diving body press, but that also only gets a two. A dragon suplex hold also doesn’t get a three count. Mayu drags up Mayu but Kagetsu gets away and Hana hits a missile dropkick while Kris has the referee distracted. Chokeslam by Kagetsu, and she covers Mayu for a two count. Ebisu Drop by Kagetsu, she goes up top but Mayu gets her knees up on the Oedo Coaster attempt. Mayu picks up Kagetsu but Kagetsu lands on her feet on the dragon suplex attempt, Sakauchi by Mayu and she drops Kagetsu on her head with a dragon suplex. Mayu nails her version of a dragon suplex hold, and she finally picks up the three count! Mayu Iwatani is still the champion!

The main takeaway from this match is that Mayu Iwatani is insane. Kagetsu isn’t much better but some of the things Mayu did in this match aren’t really things I’d recommend any wrestler doing. I mean it was entertaining and exciting, so I am not complaining, but she is certainly risking her health for my amusement. Them doing crazy bumps was the highlight of the match, whether it was Mayu tumbling down the stairs or Kagetsu landing on her head on a dragon suplex, but there wasn’t a lot connecting those moves. A few minutes was clipped which may explain some of the issues, but at times it was mostly a match about big spots. Certainly no lack of effort, both were going all out, and since they have long time feud they have great chemistry. It felt like it was lacking something to really be a ‘must see’ match but it was still very enjoyable.  Recommended

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