Event: Stardom World Climax 2022 ~ The Best
Date: March 26th, 2022
Location: Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan (Sumo Hall) in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 2,712
Broadcast: Streamed Live on PPV, later added to Stardom World

There are big events, and there are massive holy shit big events, and this show is the latter. Stardom really went all-out for their two day stint in Sumo Hall. There is a lot going on here to be excited about – Prominence continues their invasion, Syuri and Giulia collide, and we also have the return of Kairi Hojo! Wrestling now as KAIRI, this is her first match since leaving WWE back in 2020. There are three other title matches as well, with Kamitani vs. Hayashishita having a chance of stealing the whole show. Here is the full card:

• Future of Stardom Championship: Hanan vs. Rina
• MIRAI vs. Saya Iida
• Gauntlet Match: AZM, Lady C, and Miyu Amasaki vs. Himeka, Natsupoi, and Mai Sakurai vs. Mina Shirakawa, Waka Tsukiyama, and Momo Kohgo vs. Saki Kashima, Fukigen Death, and Ruaka
• Maika and Thekla vs. Risa Sera and Suzu Suzuki
• Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Hazuki and Koguma vs. Momo Watanabe and Starlight Kid
• Mayu Iwatani and KAIRI vs. Tam Nakano and Unagi Sayaka
• Wonder of Stardom Championship: Saya Kamitani vs. Utami Hayashishita
• World of Stardom Championship: Syuri vs. Giulia

What a show. As this aired live on PPV, all matches will be shown in full. Every wrestler on the event has a profile on Joshi City, you can click on their name above to go straight to it. This is going to be a long one so let’s hop to it.

(c) Hanan vs. Rina
Future of Stardom Championship

They immediately trade elbows to start, with Rina getting the better of her older sister. Scoop slam by Rina and she covers Hanan for barely a two count. She quickly applies an armbar but Hanan inches to the ropes and makes it for the break. Stomps by Rina, she picks up Hanan and twists her arm in the ropes. More stomps by Rina but Hanan tosses her with a judo throw, Rina rolls Hanan to the mat however and kicks her in the face. Rina charges Hanan but Hanan trips her and applies a kneelock. Rina gets to the ropes for the break, Hanan puts Rina’s leg in the ropes and dropkicks her in the knee. Double wrist-clutch armsault by Hanan, but it gets a two count. Hanan picks her up and elbows Rina into the corner, her Irish whip is reversed however and Rina kicks Hanan in the stomach when she goes for a crossbody.

Rina picks up Hanan and they trade elbows, with again Rina winning the dual. She goes off the ropes but Hanan catches her with a dropkick, Stretch Muffler by Hanan but Rina reaches the ropes. Hanan picks up Rina but Rina slips away and applies the Octopus Hold. She gets Hanan to the mat with the Ground Manjikatame but Hanan gets a foot on the ropes for the break. Rina throws Hanan into the corner and hits a running double knee, she goes to the top turnbuckle and nails a diving double kneedrop for a two count. Rina tries to get Hanan on her back but Hanan spins away and delivers a STO. Blockbuster by Hanan but Rina rolls through it, she gets Hanan on her back and slams her to the mat for a two count cover. Rina picks up Hanan but Hanan nails a jumping knee, Fameasser by Hanan and she covers Rina for a two count. Hanan picks up Rina and hits a backdrop suplex, she keeps the hold on and hits a second backdrop suplex, keeping Rina down for the three count! Hanan wins and retains the championship.

For an opener with two underage wrestlers, this was pretty decent. The match started a little slow as Rina on offense isn’t overly interesting (lots of stomps) but once her more talented sister took over it got more interesting. Hanan has had an off-and-on career due to injuries and taking time off, plus her schedule is limited due to still being in school, but if she decides to fully commit to wrestling once she graduates I think they may have something special with her. Good for what it was, Rina still has a bit of a ways to go to move up from being just the “other” wrestler in any match she is in, but she didn’t drag the match down and overall this was perfectly watchable wrestling.

MIRAI vs. Saya Iida

They lock-up to start but break cleanly, they lock knuckles as MIRAI gets Saya to her knees but Saya recovers and gets the advantage on MIRAI. MIRAI gets out of the hold and elbows Saya, Saya chops her back and the two trade shots for a solid minute. Saya chops MIRAI against the ropes but MIRAI ducks one, she goes off the ropes but Saya clubs her to the mat. Saya elbows MIRAI against the ropes but MIRAI elbows her back, she goes for a slam but Saya blocks it and hits one of her own. Saya picks up MIRAI and chops her in the chest some more, but MIRAI avoids one and puts Saya in a stretch hold. She lets go after a moment, MIRAI goes off the ropes and hits a lariat, but Saya stays on her feet. Saya hits a lariat with the same result as they go back and forth until MIRAI finally knocks Saya off her feet. Saya springs back up however and lariats MIRAI over, but MIRAI is back up as well as they keep at it. Eventually they lariat each other at the same time, and both collapse exhausted to the mat. MIRAI applies a sleeper but Saya slams MIRAI into the corner to get out of it, lariat by Saya and she goes to the top turnbuckle to hit a diving shoulderblock. Saya picks up MIRAI but MIRAI blocks the Northern Lights Suplex, slamming Saya face-first into the mat. Both wrestlers slowly get up and hit lariats, they both block each other from hitting one until Saya levels MIRAI and covers her for two. Saya picks up MIRAI but MIRAI rolls her to the mat and applies the Miramare. Saya almost makes it to the ropes but MIRAI gets her back to the middle of the ring, and Saya has no choice but to tap out! MIRAI is the winner.

I understand what they were going for here, and I respect it even though I’m still not convinced on Saya Iida. Saya has a lot of Western fans and its easy to understand why, as she has the type of fighting spirit energy that pops off the screen. Its not her fault, but for me its a little hard to totally buy into her offense just because she is tiny. There is nothing wrong with being a smaller wrestler of course, but its tough to be both a powerhouse and 4’9″. MIRAI certainly gave her equal ground to put the idea over and like I said I respect what they are doing with her character, I’m just not sure it has long term potential. The fact MIRAI had to “escape” with a flash submission that wasn’t foreshadowed shows the effort to protect Saya even in defeat. I would say it was a pretty good hoss-style match, even if part of me is having trouble seeing Saya Iida as a true hoss.

AZM, Lady C, and Miyu Amasaki vs. Himeka, Natsupoi, and Mai Sakurai vs. Mina Shirakawa, Waka Tsukiyama, and Momo Kohgo vs. Saki Kashima, Fukigen Death, and Ruaka

Cosmic Angels and Oedo Tai are the first two teams in. Cosmic Angels charge before the match starts but it epically fails as Oedo Tai immediately takes control and triple teams Momo in the ring. Death stays in as the legal wrestler and throws down Momo by the hair before choking her in the corner with her boot. She tags in Ruaka, Irish whip by Ruaka to the corner but Momo slides out to the apron before springboarding back into the ring with a crossbody off the second rope. She tags in Mina, Mina elbows Rina and hits a dropkick. Mina goes off the ropes and does a tilt-a-whirl, Ruaka blocks the leg sweep but Momo helps out with a swandive dropkick. Mina picks up Ruaka but Ruaka pushes her into the ropes, Irish whip by Ruaka but Mina blocks it and hits an elbow. Hard shoulderblock by Ruaka and she tags Saki, but Mina dropkicks her in the knee. Mina puts Saki in a Mexican Surfboard, she lets her go after a moment and tags in Waka. Double Irish whip to Saki, Saki briefly gets the better of it but Momo runs in and hits a 619. Waka goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Waka but Ruaka breaks it up. Uppercut by Saki to Waka and Death runs in with a senton. Body press by Ruaka, Saki picks up Waka and hits a double underhook suplex hold for two. Head kick by Saki, she picks up Waka and delivers the My Emblem for the three count! Oedo Tai wins.

The next team in is Queen’s Quest to take on Oedo Tai. Oedo Tai attacks as QQ gets in the ring, they isolate Miyu and boot her to the mat. Death stays in and throws Miyu into the corner, but Miyu boots her when she charges in. It happens two more times, Miyu goes off the ropes and delivers a jumping DDT. She tags AZM, dropkick by AZM but Ruaka grabs her from behind. AZM fights them both off as she hits an armdrag/headscissors combination. Double dropkick by AZM and she covers Death for two. AZM goes off the ropes but Death drop toeholds her and tags Saki. Saki goes off the ropes but Miyu dropkicks her, knee drop by Lady C and AZM drops Saki with a vertical suplex. Head kick by AZM, she goes to the top turnbuckle but Saki avoids the diving footstomp. Kishikaisei by Saki, but the cover is broken up. AZM goes for a kick but Saki ducks it, AZM quickly applies a Leg Roll Clutch Hold and she gets the three count! Queen’s Quest wins.

For the final pairing, DDM enters to face Queen’s Quest. AZM and Natsupoi start the match and immediately get into a fast paced exchange, they end up rolling around on the mat with AZM applying a cradle for a two count. They trade kick attempts and flash pins after with no success, sliding kick by AZM and she tags Lady C. Lady C boots Natsupoi against the ropes but Natsupoi avoids the next boot attempt and hits a dropkick. Cover by Natsupoi, but it gets two. Natsupoi tags Himeka, shoulderblock by Himeka and she throws Lady C into the corner. Lariat by Himeka but Lady C avoids her next charge, Miyu runs in and hits a Space Rolling Elbow and Lady C hits a jumping neck drop on Himeka. Lady C goes to the second turnbuckle and delivers a brain chop, cover by Lady C but it is broken up. Lady C picks up Himeka but Himeka spins away from her and hits a lariat. Himeka picks up Lady C and gets her on her shoulders, but AZM hits a missile dropkick off the second rope to knock Himeka over. Natsupoi suplexes AZM but Miyu dropkicks Natsupoi, cutter by Mai to Miyu and the ring is cleared aside from the legal wrestlers. Lariat by Himeka to Lady C, but Lady C gets a shoulder up. Himeka picks up Lady C and gets her on her shoulders, JP Coaster by Himeka and she covers Lady C for the three count! DDM win the match!

They really ran through this match quick, as all three pairings combined lasted under ten minutes. Needless to say, this wasn’t really enough time for them to really get things going, and some wrestlers did virtually nothing at all (look at you, Mai). There was a ton of talent in this match so its not a knock on the wrestlers, AZM and Himeka are really enjoyable to watch and looked good here, but obviously they couldn’t really get anything cohesive going. Pretty good for a filler match, but ultimately forgettable the minute it was over.

Maika and Thekla vs. Risa Sera and Suzu Suzuki

The DDM team attacks before the bell rings and the action quickly spills out to the floor, with Prominence soon regaining the advantage. Risa and Maika return to the ring as the legal wrestlers, crab hold by Risa and she puts Maika in the Rocking Horse. Risa lets go after a moment and picks up Maika, putting her into the ropes before tagging Suzu. Suzu hits a sliding kick from the floor to Maika, she enters the ring and kicks at Maika. Suzu goes off the ropes but Maika catches her with a slam and tags in Thekla. Risa comes in too however, double Irish whip attempt to Thekla but Thekla fights them both off. Double spear by Thekla and she hits a running elbow on Suzu in the corner, monkey flip by Thekla but Suzu lands on her feet and knocks Thekla to the mat. She tags Risa, elbow by Risa in the corner but Thekla hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors and tags Maika. She tags in as both she and Maika hit running strikes on Risa in the corner, boot by Thekla and Maika hits a lariat. Shoulderblock by Maika but Risa doesn’t go down, but she does on the second attempt. Maika picks up Risa but Risa blocks the slam, she picks up Maika and drops her with a Schwein.

Running double knee by Risa in the corner, she picks up Maika but Maika quickly hits a vertical suplex. Back up, Maika goes off the ropes but Risa catches her with a TKO. They trade elbows in the middle of the ring, Risa goes off the ropes but Maika catches her with a lariat. A second lariat by Maika, but her cover gets two. Maika picks up Risa but Risa hits another Schwein, both wrestlers crawl to their corners and tag in their partners. Elbows by Thekla to Suzu, Suzu goes off the ropes but Thekla kicks her. She goes for a dropkick but Suzu swipes her aside, Thekla gets Suzu to the mat and puts her in a Sickle Hold. Risa breaks it up, Maika gets rid of her and picks up Suzu, hitting a suplex while Thekla also delivers a superkick. Double sliding attack by DDM to Suzu, but Suzu barely kicks out of the cover. Thekla picks up Suzu, Irish whip to the corner but its reversed. Suzu spins Thekla so she is sitting on the second rope and slides under her, while suplexing Thekla back into the ring. Risa jumps on the second turnbuckle, Suzu hops on her back and Risa comes down with a double kneedrop onto Thekla. Suzu picks up Thekla but Thekla elbows her, chops by Suzu and she delivers a jumping kick. Suzu tries to climb the turnbuckles but Thekla stops her, Suzu kicks Thekla in the head and proceeds to the top anyway. Thekla recovers and joins her but Suzu maintains the advantage and slams Thekla to the mat for a two count. Suzu drags up Thekla and nails a deadlift German suplex hold, picking up the three count! Prominence are the winners.

This was an interesting little match. Generally speaking I thought the action was really good, wide variety of violence was used and there was very little downtime so there was never a dull moment. Maybe too little downtime, as some of the selling (by all involved) was incredibly suspect, even more so than usual, meaning that even the bigger moves didn’t have a ton of impact. Suzu was my favorite wrestler in Ice Ribbon and the main reason I kept up with the promotion at all, so I am excited to see her in Stardom and where this storyline goes. The right team won, as they need Prominence to pick up some wins in front of a new audience if they are to be taken seriously. A good match with fresh pairings, I wouldn’t have minded if the match was a little longer and given some time to breath but still pretty solid.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Hazuki and Koguma vs. Momo Watanabe and Starlight Kid
Goddesses of Stardom Championship

Hazuki and Momo start the match, they jockey for position before Momo snapmares Hazuki to the mat. Hazuki blocks the kick attempt and dropkicks Momo against the bottom rope, bootscrapes by Hazuki and she hits a running boot. Hazuki tags Koguma and runs on Momo’s back, she picks up Momo but Starlight Kid runs in the ring and trips her. Starlight Kid pulls Koguma out of the ring while Momo goes after Hazuki as they battle around the floor. Starlight Kid slams Koguma to the floor and Momo slams Hazuki on top of her, as Oedo Tai pose on their opponents. Momo and Koguma return to the ring, stomp by Momo but Koguma elbows her to knock her back. Koguma hits more elbows while Momo shrugs them off, kick to the chest by Momo and she covers Koguma for two. Momo tags Starlight Kid, Starlight Kid stomps on Koguma and kicks her repeatedly in the head. Starlight Kid goes off the ropes but Koguma hits a drop toehold followed by a dropkick. This gives her time to tag Hazuki, elbow by Hazuki to Starlight Kid and she puts her in an armtrap crossface. Momo quickly breaks it up, double Irish whip by Oedo Tai but Hazuki hits a double springboard armdrag followed by a double dropkick.

Momo and Starlight Kid fall out of the ring, Hazuki gets a running start in it and sails out onto both with a tope suicida. Hazuki slides Starlight Kid back in and gets on the apron, hitting a swandive dropkick. Cover by Hazuki, but Starlight Kid kicks out. Starlight Kid throws Hazuki into the corner but Hazuki drops her onto the apron, Starlight Kid slams Hazuki’s head into the turnbuckles and goes to the top turnbuckle, hitting a diving crossbody. Starlight Kid picks up Hazuki but Hazuki elbows her and the two trade strikes. Hazuki goes off the ropes but Momo cuts her off with a dropkick, Tiger Feint Kick by Starlight Kid and she hits a standing moonsault for two. Starlight Kid picks up Hazuki but Hazuki blocks the suplex attempt, cradle by Starlight Kid but Hazuki reverses it before hitting a Codebreaker. Hazuki goes off the ropes but Starlight Kid hits a jumping kick, Hazuki quickly fires back with a boot and both wrestlers are down on the mat. Both wrestlers tag out, elbows by Koguma to Momo but Momo avoids her charge in the corner and hits a dropkick. Kick to the chest by Momo, she picks up Koguma and snaps off a uranage for two. Momo gets on the second turnbuckle but Koguma elbows her before she can jump off, Koguma joins her and hits a cutter down to the mat. Koguma goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Koguma but it gets two. Koguma goes for a suplex but Momo elbows out of it, snap half nelson suplex by Momo but Koguma ducks a head kick and drops Momo with a release German.

Both wrestlers slowly get up, DDT by Koguma but she is too hurt to take advantage. Starlight Kid slides in to attack Koguma but Hazuki quickly comes in too, both teams trade double team attempts until STARS win the exchange. Hazuki and Koguma deliver a slam/cutter combination to Momo, diving body press by Koguma but Starlight Kid breaks up the cover. Koguma picks up Momo but Momo gets her back with a crossface chickenwing. Starlight Kid goes to the top turnbuckle as Momo lets go and hits a swivel body press, Momo picks up Koguma and drops her with the B Driver but Hazuki breaks up the cover. Momo and Starlight Kid pick up Koguma but Hazuki cuts them off, high kick by Momo to Koguma but Hazuki breaks up the cover. Double Irish whip to Hazuki but Hazuki fights them both off until Momo whacks her in the head with a chair. Momo goes back to Koguma and hits a modified tombstone, she picks Koguma back up but Koguma rolls away from her. Starlight Kid tosses the chair to Koguma and dropkicks it in her face, they pick up Koguma and deliver an assisted side slam. Momo picks up Koguma and nails the Peach Thunder, cover by Momo and she gets the three count. Momo Watanabe and Starlight Kid are the new champions!

Really enjoyable match, about everything one could ask for in this spot. Starlight Kid and Momo are just so good and have already built great chemistry as a team, really loved their constant cooperation and everything they did was fluid. I wouldn’t put Koguma on the level as the other three but she held her own here, and mostly let the others control the action. Very fast paced with something constantly happening to hold your attention, but it never felt excessive either as they’d slow down enough to let you catch your breath. They kept the big spots to a minimum due to their card placement but they sprinkled in enough, and the weapon violence was well done. I’m looking forward to seeing more Momo and Starlight Kid matches in the future, they are a great team. A fun match as we ramp up to the big matches on the event.  Recommended

Mayu Iwatani and KAIRI vs. Tam Nakano and Unagi Sayaka

Mayu and Tam start the match, they do some introductory trading of holds before trading armdrags. They end up in a stalemate after some missed kicks, Tam tags Unagi and Unagi calls for KAIRI to be tagged in. Mayu obliges, Unagi asks for a knuckle lock but KAIRI sweeps out her leg instead. They tie-up, KAIRI pushes Unagi into the ropes and gives a clean break after teasing a backfist. Elbows by Unagi and she slaps KAIRI, KAIRI get angry and rolls up Unagi before putting her in a stretch muffler. KAIRI tags in Mayu, dropkick by Mayu and with KAIRI they double team Unagi. Mayu picks up Unagi, snapmare by Mayu and she kicks Unagi in the back. Another kick by Mayu and she covers Unagi for two. Mayu tags KAIRI back in, KAIRI puts Unagi in the ropes and chops her in the chest. Sliding elbow by KAIRI, Unagi falls out of the ring and KAIRI hits a footstomp while Unagi is bridged over the apron. KAIRI returns to the ring and waits for Unagi, Unagi eventually rolls back in and KAIRI covers her for two.

Dropkick by KAIRI and she tags Mayu, dropkick by Mayu and she stomps on Unagi. Mayu applies a Camel Clutch but Tam quickly breaks it up, Mayu throws Tam out of the ring and tosses Unagi in the corner. Chop by Mayu and she tags KAIRI, Unagi elbows KAIRI but KAIRI blocks the scoop slam and applies an ankle hold. She lets go after a moment to knock Tam off the apron, KAIRI picks up Unagi but Unagi hits a Codebreaker. Unagi finally makes the hot tag to Tam, Tam goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving crossbody. Tam picks up KAIRI but Mayu hits her from behind, double Irish whip to Tam but Tam cartwheels past them and dropkicks them. Tam get on the mat and poses towards KAIRI, KAIRI poses back at her but the happy moment doesn’t last long as they grab each other by the hair and return to their feet. KAIRI and Tam trade elbows, they go at it for a minute until Tam floors KAIRI with a spinning head kick. KAIRI tags Mayu while Tam tags Unagi, Unagi and Mayu avoid each other’s kicks until Mayu kicks Unagi in the chest. Dropkick by Mayu, she goes to the top turnbuckle and delivers a diving body press for two. She goes back up to attempt a moonsault but Tam grabs her from the apron, knocking her off.

Unagi grabs Mayu from inside the ring and drags her over the top rope, dropping her head-first into the mat for a two count. KAIRI comes in but so does Tam and they both slam KAIRI to the mat, kick by Tam to Mayu and Unagi hits a leg drop for two. Unagi picks up Mayu and hits a fisherman driver, but KAIRI breaks up the cover. Tam comes in but KAIRI spears her, spinning backfist by KAIRI to Unagi and both Cosmic Angels fall out of the ring. Mayu and KAIRI go to different corners and dive down onto Unagi and Tam, Mayu gets Unagi back into the ring and kicks her in the head. Mayu goes for a dragon suplex but Unagi gets out of it, superkick by Mayu and she drags Unagi near the corner. KAIRI goes to the top turnbuckle and nails the Diving Elbow Drop, Mayu then goes up top and delivers a moonsault for the three count! Mayu Iwatani and KAIRI are the winners!

I don’t think I would have ever correctly guessed the structure of this match. Its interesting as while KAIRI was the draw, she wasn’t the focus. The first third of the match had Unagi playing the “face in peril,” with Tam getting the big hot tag to take on Mayu and KAIRI. Its not that I expected KAIRI to have that role in her re-debut but this was almost structured like a Southern Tag match with the focus being on the Cosmic Angels. In fact if I didn’t know this was KAIRI’s return match I wouldn’t have known from the action as she really was presented on the same level (at best) as Mayu and Tam. I assume this was by design to slowly integrate her back into the promotion, but if she is going to be a “special attraction” wrestler I think they missed the mark. The match was fairly entertaining and KAIRI looked good, but the weakest link (Unagi) being such a focus took it down a notch from what it could have been. It was great to see KAIRI again but as a match it was a little disappointing as far as general excitement goes, even if it still was a solid tag match.  Mildly Recommended

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

They tie-up to start, Utami pushes Saya into the ropes but gives her a clean break. They tie-up again and Utami pushes Saya again in the ropes but she lets her free. Side headlock by Utami, Saya Irish whips out of it but Utami hits a shoulderblock. Saya kips up, they go through an exchange off the ropes until Saya hits a hurricanrana which sends Utami out of the ring. Saya goes off the ropes but Utami charges back in the ring and shoulderblocks Saya to the mat. Stomps by Utami and she hits a scoop slam, Utami picks up Saya and slams her again, crab hold by Utami but Saya gets to the ropes for the break. Utami throws Saya into the corner, Irish whip by Utami and she whips Saya hard into the corner multiple times. Utami stomps at Saya and hits a double kneedrop to her back, camel clutch by Utami but she releases the hold to cover Saya for a two count. Saya fights back with elbows, Utami goes off the ropes but Saya catches her with a dropkick. Saya picks up Utami, snapmare by Saya and she applies a facelock. Saya puts Utami in a headscissors but Utami gets a foot on the ropes. Saya pulls Utami’s head so its hanging over the ropes and kicks her in the head, heel drop by Saya and she dropkicks Utami. Back in the ring, Saya picks up Utami and delivers a jumping heel kick. Neckbreaker by Saya and she covers Utami for two.

Saya picks up Utami and the two trade elbows, which Utami gets the better of. Dropkick to the back by Utami, she charges Saya in the corner but Saya moves. Utami tosses Saya out to the apron, elbow by Saya but Utami blocks it when Saya goes for a swandive move and back bodydrops her into the ring. Sliding elbow by Utami and she covers Saya for two. Irish whip by Utami, but Saya flips herself out to the apron and nails a swandive hurricanrana. Utami falls out of the ring, Saya gets a running start and sails out onto her with a no hands tope con hilo. Saya slides Utami back in the ring, she goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick for two. Saya picks up Utami but Utami blocks the hook attempt, elbows by Saya but Utami snaps off a dropkick. Saya dropkicks her back but Utami throws her against the ropes and tosses her to the mat. Both wrestlers slowly get up and exchange elbows until Utami elbows Saya hard to the mat. Utami tries to go off the ropes but Saya grabs her and hits an elbow, Utami elbows Saya in the back in response and puts her in an Argentine Backbreaker before dropping Saya to the mat. Cover by Utami, but Saya kicks out. Utami picks up Saya but Saya grabs the ropes to block a suplex attempt, elbow to the back by Utami but Saya gets free and goes off the ropes. Utami gets Saya on her shoulders but Saya wiggles free, release German attempt by Utami but Saya lands on her feet and hits a moonsault side slam for two.

Saya goes to the top turnbuckle but Utami clubs her before she can jump off, sending Saya to the apron. Utami then lariats Saya, sending her crashing to the floor. Utami slides Saya onto the apron, she joins her and gets Saya on her shoulders, but Saya escapes and nails a hurricanrana down to the floor. Saya gets back into the ring with Utami slowly following, Saya goes for a pump kick but Utami catches it and hits an Air Raid Crash. Utami goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, she picks up Saya and hits a German suplex hold for a two count. Utami drags Saya to her feet and gets her on her shoulders, but Saya gets away and delivers a reverse hurricanrana. Heel kick by Saya and she quickly hits a fisherman suplex hold for two. Saya positions Utami and goes to the top turnbuckle, but Utami recovers and elbows her in the back. Utami goes for a crucifix powerbomb but Saya reverses it into a hurricanrana, Saya charges Utami but Utami hits a sidewalk slam. Big lariat by Utami, she picks up Saya and goes for the Hijack Bomb, but again Saya reverses it with a hurricanrana. Pump kick by Saya, she cradles Utami before scooping her up with a suplex. Jumping heel kick by Saya, she picks up Utami and delivers a fisherman driver for a two count. Saya positions Utami and goes to the top turnbuckle, nailing a Phoenix Splash for the three count cover! Saya Kamitani wins and retains the championship!

Even though the match wasn’t perfect, any claims that it was reckless or sloppy are very greatly exaggerated. Both wrestlers showed off their strengths here, as Utami was a beast and Saya stayed in the match with her quick moves and high flying expertise. With how many high risk moves Saya does, not every one is going to be hit perfectly, but she is still the most exciting wrestler in Stardom right now and just brings that unpredictability that is hard to find. While I really loved the bulk of the match as they meshed together well their two styles, I do think the end stretch was probably a couple minutes too long. There can be a point of excess and they may have crossed it, which isn’t really uncommon with big title matches and at least they didn’t let it go on for more than a few minutes. A really great match between two wrestlers that are only getting better, the fact they can do a match like this so early in their careers says so much about their potential down the road.  Highly Recommended

(c) Syuri vs. Giulia
World of Stardom Championship

Giulia and Syuri quickly end up on the mat and trade holds, but they end up in a stalemate and back on their feet. Syuri works a headlock but Giulia Irish whips out of it, Giulia kicks Syuri in the leg but Syuri tackles her when she goes off the ropes and both wrestlers spill out of the ring. They jockey for position down on the floor and Syuri goes for an armbreaker, but Giulia blocks it so Syuri applies a seated armbar instead. The referee gets her to stop but Giulia grabs Syuri from behind and tries to suplex her into the ring post. Syuri blocks it and goes for a high kick, but Giulia ducks and she kicks the post by accident. Giulia throws Syuri into the post before sliding her back into the ring, Giulia picks up Syuri but Syuri elbows her and they trade shots. Giulia trips Syuri and puts her in a STF, but Syuri gets to the ropes for the break. Giulia hits a running elbow in the corner, she sits Syuri on the top turnbuckle before picking her up and suplexes her to the mat. Giulia picks up Syuri but Syuri swats her away and hits a Backstabber. Syuri throws Giulia into the corner, knees by Syuri and she hits a suplex. Sleeper by Syuri but Giulia is too close to the ropes and quickly gets the break. Snapmare by Syuri and she kicks Giulia in the back a few times. Giulia crawls to the corner, Syuri charges her but Giulia slides out to the apron and dumps Syuri out of the ring. Kick from the apron by Giulia, she goes out after Syuri and puts her in a stretch submission hold on the floor.

The referee again has to tell them to knock it off, Giulia lets go and throws the referee into Syuri. Giulia then catapults off the referee’s back and dropkicks Syuri, she picks her up and drags Syuri up onto a table with her. Giulia grabs Syuri while standing on the table and nails a piledriver, breaking the table in the process. Giulia gets back in the ring while Syuri holds her head on the floor, the referee by now has recovered and he starts the count. Giulia goes back out after Syuri and brings her back to the ring, Giulia goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick for a two count. Syuri falls back out of the ring so Giulia has to go after her, snapmare by Giulia and she kicks Syuri in the back. Another kick by Giulia, she gets a running start but Syuri hits her with a piece of plexiglass that the commentary table was using. Syuri picks up Giulia and hits a single arm suplex, she gets up on the apron and hits a dropkick down to the floor. Syuri gets Giulia back to the ring, she goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving Fameasser, but Giulia reverses her cover into a submission, but Syuri gets to the ropes. Giulia picks up Syuri, Syuri gets away and hits a release German. Giulia fires back with her own release German, Codebreaker by Syuri but Giulia catches her kick and delivers a capture suplex. Both wrestlers slowly get up and face off from opposite corners, they charge each other and Giulia kicks Syuri in the head. Syuri fires back with a jumping knee, she picks up Giulia and hits a double knee gutbuster for two. Syuri goes for Giulia’s arm and applies an armbar, Giulia reaches for the ropes so Syuri traps that arm as well.

Giulia eventually manages to get a boot on the bottom rope, running knee by Syuri and she goes to the top turnbuckle. Giulia recovers and joins her, but Syuri knocks her back to the mat. Giulia slaps Syuri to the apron but Syuri kicks her in the head over the top rope, kick to the chest by Syuri and she returns to the turnbuckles. Giulia gets back up again and climbs the turnbuckles with her, hitting a double underhook suplex down to the mat. Giulia charges Syuri but Syuri spears her into the turnbuckles, Syuri gets Giulia on her shoulders but Giulia wiggles away and the two trade cradles. Backdrop suplex by Giulia, she picks up Syuri but Syuri avoids the Glorious Driver and slams Giulia to the mat. Syuri picks up Giulia again but Giulia slides off and nails an Emerald Flowsion for a two count. Both wrestlers are slow to cover and trade slaps while still on their knees, Syuri kicks Giulia when they return to their feet which sends Giulia crashing back to the mat. More kicks by Syuri, but Giulia eventually ducks one and suplexes Syuri. Knee to the face by Giulia, but Syuri kicks out of the cover. Giulia picks up Syuri and nails the Glorious Driver II, but again Syuri gets a shoulder up. Giulia immediately gets Syuri to her feet and drops her with a Northern Lights Bomb, but they are too close to the ropes and Syuri grabs the bottom one to stop the count. Giulia drags Syuri up but Syuri blocks it when Giulia goes for another one, Giulia goes off the ropes but Syuri kicks her in the head. Another high kick by Syuri, she picks up Giulia and hits a modified Emerald Flowsion of her own for two. Syuri gets Giulia on her shoulders but Giulia spins off and covers Syuri. Syuri gets out of it and hits a Buzzsaw Kick. Spinning backfist by Syuri and she hits a few more, Syuri gets Giulia on her shoulders and nails the Red World for the three count! Syuri wins and retains the championship.

This match was great for a few different reasons. First, after a long show they put on a match that played out differently than everything we’ve seen so far. It was more grounded and strike-oriented, but with enough big spots spread around to keep the excitement up and make the match feel special. These two are both so fluid, everything was snug but not to the point of feeling reckless or dangerous, they just have really good chemistry for two wrestlers that don’t face off often. Its quite a contrast to the last match, as here the ending stretch felt just right (even though the matches had the same run time) and it felt like it ended at the precise right time within the match flow which is easier said than done. Syuri is one of the best strikers in wrestling but Giulia looked great as well, it felt like a real war between the two with both having convincing near falls. A well structured match with two of the best wrestlers in Joshi wrestling, a must-see match that delivers on every level.  Highly Recommended

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Full Details

Title: Ho-Show Tennyo Photobook
Release: 2013
Size: A4
Original Cost: ¥2,500
Where to Buy: Third Party Vendors (Buyee, eBay, etc.)

Before Kairi Hojo was an international superstar, she was slowly working her way up the Stardom ranks mostly in the tag team division. After spending much of 2012 pulling rookie duties, in 2013 she found her first title success teaming with Natsumi Showzuki as the team known as Ho-Show Tennyo. The success would be short-lived however as Natsumi left wrestling in May of 2013, cutting their title reign incredibly short. While Natsumi’s career was over soon after it started, Kairi would go on to became a superstar in Stardom before wrestling in WWE for three years to gain fans around the globe.

Even though this was not Kairi’s first appearance in a photobook, it was her first being one of the featured wrestlers. In traditional Stardom fashion, the photobook mostly features Kairi and Natsumi in swimwear, but does have some casualwear shots as well. While many of the pictures are of them together, there are also solo shots of both wrestlers in a variety of locations. Kairi would go on to be featured in many Stardom photobooks but it is a more rare look at Natsumi Showzuki, who showed a lot of potential during her short wrestling career. With plenty of length, this photobook is sure to be enjoyed by fans of Kairi Hojo, as long as they don’t mind the general theme of the book. Here is a sample of pictures from the photobook:

The post Ho-Show Tennyo Stardom Photobook Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Weekly Pro EXTRA: Women’s Wrestling Erokawa Vol. 3 Details:

Official Title: Weekly Pro Wrestling Magazine EXTRA: Women’s Wrestling Erokawa Vol. 3
Release: January 30th, 2013
Pages: ~80
Cost: ¥1,200
Where to Buy: Third Party Vendors (eBay, Mercari, Buyee, etc.)

The third volume of Weekly Pro EXTRA: Women’s Wrestling Erokawa featured the following wrestlers:

• Yuzuki Aikawa
• Kana
• Makoto
• Bambi
• Kairi Hojo
• Nagisa Nozaki

Volume 3 of the series brings back Aikawa from Volume 2, with the other five wrestlers being different from the previous magazine. This would be Aikawa’s last year as the feature as she retired just a few months after this magazine came out, which would open things up for new wrestlers to appear on the cover. Like in past years, we get a good mixture here of stars (at the time) and newer wrestlers, with the most interesting addition to current fans being Kairi Hojo, later known in the WWE as Kairi Sane.

The pictures themselves are as you’d imagine as this is a gravure photoshoot after all. As in past years, Aikawa from Stardom has the most pictures as she is the star. Makoto and Nagisa Nozaki both wrestled in WNC at the time so this was good publicity for the smaller promotion, although Nagisa would leave wrestling soon after this magazine came out (she returned years later and still wrestles today). Bambi still wrestles as well, currently with 2AW but then out of K-DOJO. Kana of course needs no introduction as one of the most popular female wrestlers in the world, and in 2013 she was fairly popular as well. All and all a quality group of wrestlers as all are still active today except for Aikawa (giving Kairi a pass since her career is a bit in flux), which is impressive considering the magazine is seven years old and Joshi wrestlers tend to have short careers. Here is a sample of pictures from the magazine:

The post Weekly Pro EXTRA: Women’s Wrestling Erokawa Vol. 3 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Full Details

Title: Bikiniing Stardom Visual Book
Release: July 2012
Pages: 58
Cost: ¥2,750
Where to Buy: Currently Unavailable

As is the tradition for the Bikiniing series, this photobook features the Stardom wrestlers in bikinis or something similar. Nothing in this first edition is overly scandalous and many of the photos aren’t actually taken on a beach/outside but rather in a professional studio. Not all the outfits are revealing, as wrestlers mostly stayed in gimmick if they aren’t the “bikini” type (such as Yoshiko). The following wrestlers were featured:

• Io Shirai
• Nanae Takahashi
• Miho Wakizawa
• Hiroyo Matsumoto
• Yuzuki Aikawa
• Yoko Bito
• Kairi Hojo (Kairi Sane)
• Natsumi Showzuki
• Natsuki Taiyo
• Mayu Iwatani
• Eri Susa
• Haruka Kato
• Act Yasukawa (also as Yuka Yasukawa)
• Yoshiko

As for the pictures, the ‘special’ aspect of this particular photobook is as far as I know this was the only photobook that pictured and labeled Act Yasukawa by her real name. She has pictures in the photobook both as herself and as Act Yasukawa. Otherwise, the pictures are pretty standard for the photobook series, as they include both individual pictures of the wrestlers and some group shots as well. Also to note – Hiroyo Matsumoto only has one picture in the photobook, so if you are a big fan of hers, I wouldn’t recommend buying this photobook just for her even though she rarely participates in these types of photoshoots. Here are some sample pictures from the photobook:

The post Bikiniing Stardom Visual Photobook Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Full Photobook Details

Title: Kairi Hojo Re:Wrestler
Release: December 23rd, 2014
Pages: 32
Cost: ¥1,500
Where to Buy: No longer available

Today, Kairi Hojo is an Internationally known star and one of the top wrestlers in WWE NXT as she wrestles under the name Kairi Sane, but back in 2014 she was a popular but overshadowed tag team specialist in the Joshi promotion Stardom. At the time the photobook was released, she had been a multi-time champion with the tag team or trios titles but she still was out-ranked by Io Shirai, Act Yasukawa, Nanae Takahashi, and Yoshiko in the overall pecking order. Nonetheless, she was a fan favorite and due to that she got her first solo photobook at the end of 2014 after previously only taking part in tag team or promotion-wide photobooks. This photobook is not full sized or full paged (the size of the photobook is B4), but Kairi did not have to share pages with any other wrestlers so it was still a sign that Stardom recognized her popularity.

For a Kairi Hojo/Kairi Sane fan, this photobook should certainly be seen as a success. A lot of time was put into making it as it contains a wide variety of photos, ranging from casual, “model” attire, in-ring attire, and some pictures with her under her mask. Even though I wish it was longer and full-paged, since it was sold by Stardom as a “discount” photobook and not part of a main series, it is hard to complain. Here is a sample of the photos that can be found in the photobook:

The post Kairi Hojo Re:Wrestler Photobook 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.*

Stardom is another promotion that I am introducing myself to as I broaden my wrestling viewing a bit. I have heard good things about the promotion as they have some skilled wrestlers, so hopefully their first event to be taped for 2014 leaves a positive first impression. This is a big event for Stardom as three of their titles are being defended. Here is the full card:

• Koguma vs. Yuna Manase
• Kaori Yoneyama, Kellie Skater, and Yuhi vs. Manami Toyota, Hiroyo Matsumoto, and Mayu Iwatani
• Takumi Iroha 10 Match Series 4th: Takumi Iroha vs. Yoshiko
• Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Nanae Takahashi and Miho Wakizawa vs. Kyoko Kimura and Alpha Female
• Wonder of Stardom Championship: Act Yasukawa vs. Kairi Hojo
• World of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai vs. Natsuki*Taiyo

All the Joshi wrestlers above have profiles on the website, you can click on their names to go straight to it. Let’s hop to it.

Koguma vs. Yuna Manase

A rookie match, although I am glad that Manase is over 18 with that outfit that she wears.  It was easy to tell these two are still learning, as they still haven’t mastered the staple of Puroresu – strike exchanges.  But besides the awkwardness of those it was not a bad match, just basic which is understandable.  Manase hit her kicks well (the Heel Drop was nice) and it wasn’t long enough to be offensive or anything.  Rookies need experience so while not a great match it wasn’t a bad way to start out the event.

Kaori Yoneyama, Kellie Skater, and Yuhi vs. Manami Toyota, Matsumoto, and Iwatani

I don’t care what all the results say on various websites, it was Matsumoto that got the pin, not Toyota… I know who Toyota is.   Only half of the match was shown but I assume we got the gist of it, I am not 100% sure what the significance of the brown bag is but in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t really matter.  We didn’t really see enough of this to get a great feel for it, but what we saw was fine.  Compared to the last match you could tell these were more seasoned wrestlers as the moves were all hit smoothly and they kept the pace going.  Solid match, just not a lot of it was shown.

Takumi Iroha vs. Yoshiko

Looks like we only saw about half the match.  Yoshiko needs a new killer move, I am generally not a big fan of repeating big moves in a match unless its a big title match or something, especially if the move is just a set-up for the finisher.  Iroha is a rookie going through her ‘trial series’ so it is more about her learning than it is about her actually winning matches.  Maybe here she learned that trading strikes with someone twice your size is not a great idea.  Seemed fine for what we saw but I would have liked to have seen the first half of the match.

(c) Nanae Takahashi and Miho Wakizawa vs. Kyoko Kimura and Alpha Female
Goddesses of Stardom Championship

Takahashi goes off the ropes but Kimura catches her with a big boot, Kimura goes off the ropes now but Takahashi hits a lariat.  Waistlock by Takahashi but Kimura elbows out of it.  Elbows by Takahashi and she applies another waistlock, Wakizawa comes in the ring to help and Takahashi is finally able to hit the backdrop suplex.  Cover, but Kimura gets a foot on the bottom rope.  We clip ahead as Alpha Female is in the ring and she lariats Wakizawa.  She and Takahashi both go off the ropes but Takahashi’s lariat hits the mark.  Takahashi goes up to the second turnbuckle, Wakizawa then runs in the ring and Wakizawa hurricanranas Takahashi onto Alpha Female.  German suplex hold by Wakizawa to Alpha Female but it gets a two count.  Wakizawa picks up Alpha Female but Alpha Female hits a short-arm lariat.  Alpha Female goes up to the top turnbuckle but Takahashi is back in the ring and hits Alpha Female.  Wakizawa then gets up, she joins Alpha Female on the top turnbuckle and hits a superplex.  Cover, but Alpha Female kicks out at two.  Wakizawa stomps Alpha Female, she goes up to the top turnbuckle but Kimura runs up on the apron and stops her.  Takahashi knocks Kimura out of the ring, while Alpha Female joins Wakizawa on the top turnbuckle.  Wakizawa quickly jumps down and sits Alpha Female on the top turnbuckle, Wakizawa then climbs back up and goes for a Frankensteiner, but Alpha Female catches her.  Kimura comes in the ring and holds Wakizawa, and Alpha Female comes off the top turnbuckle, slamming Wakizawa into the mat.  Cover, but Takahashi breaks it up.  Alpha Female picks up Wakizawa and hits a shoulder drop slam, cover, but again Takahashi breaks it up.  Alpha Female picks up Wakizawa and puts her on her shoulders, but Wakizawa gets off and hits a backslide for a two count.  Wakizawa and Takahashi put their opponents lying in the ring, they both go up to the top turnbuckle and go for diving body presses, but both Kimura and Alpha Female get their knees up.  Alpha Female hits a lariat onto Wakizawa, cover, but Wakizawa barely kicks out.  Alpha Female picks up Wakizawa and nails the Alpha Plex, and she picks up the three count.  Your winners and new champions:  Kyoko Kimura and Alpha Female

A solid match, but the clips in the action made it hard for the wrestlers to really get a good flow going as it was disjointed in parts.  Not that it is their fault, it is just the way the match was presented which is disappointing for a title match.  The wrestling was generally solid although a bit silly at times (such as the ketchup usage and Wakizawa doing a Frankensteiner on her own partner).  There wasn’t anything noticeably wrong with the match, the skipping just hurt the structure.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Act Yasukawa vs. Kairi Hojo
Wonder of Stardom Championship

Hojo crosses Yasukawa’s legs and goes for a crab hold but Yasukawa quickly gets a hand on the ropes.  Stomps to the back by Hojo, she puts Yasukawa on her shoulders but Yasukawa hops off and elbows Hojo in the chest.  Hojo elbows her back and they trade strikes, which Yasukawa gets the better of.  Hojo gets back up and elbows Yasukawa against the ropes, double chop by Hojo and she goes off the ropes, but Yasukawa catches her and slams Hojo to the mat.  Cover, but it gets a two.  Yasukawa goes up to the top turnbuckle but Hojo recovers in time and throws her off the top turnbuckle to the mat.  Hojo then goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving elbow drop to Yasukawa’s back.  Cover, but Yasukawa gets a shoulder up.  Hojo crosses Yasukawa’s legs and cranks down, twisting Yasukawa’s back.  Yasukawa rakes Hojo in the face to break up the hold and hits Hojo in the head.  Hojo recovers first and elbows Yasukawa while they are still on their knees, and Hojo delivers a headbutt.  Cover, but  it only gets two.  Hojo picks up Yasukawa and elbows her in the head, she goes for another one but Yasukawa catches her with an STO.  Yasukawa goes up to the second turnbuckle and hits a rolling senton, cover, but Hojo gets a shoulder up.  Yasukawa picks up Hojo and puts her on her shoulder, but Hojo lands on her feet and elbows Yasukawa in the back of the head.  Jackknife hold by Hojo, but Yasukawa gets a foot on the ropes.  Hojo picks up Yasukawa, snapmare, she goes off the ropes but Yasukawa ducks the elbow and rolls her up for a two count.  Yasukawa quickly applies the Stretch Muffler, adding in a leg hook to apply more pressure.  Hojo fights it for several moments but she is stuck, and the referee calls for the bell! Your winner and still champion:  Act Yasukawa

This was a really good and well worked match.  The focus by Hojo on Yasukawa’s back was done really well as she never lost focus the entire match.  Yasukawa on her part also sold it the entire match and even failed to be able to apply her finishing move the first time because of it, something that I always enjoy seeing as it just shows that both wrestlers understand the psychology being used and won’t sacrifice that just to get a spot in.  Also the referee calling for the bell without Hojo submitting keeps her strong, as even though it was the right call she protested after the match and stayed crying in the ring while Yasukawa celebrated.  Just overall a really entertaining back and forth battle between these two.   Recommended

(c) Io Shirai vs. Natsuki*Taiyo
World of Stardom Championship

Taiyo goes back to the arm and goes for a jackknife hold, but Shirai pushes her way out of it.  Sit-down powerbomb by Taiyo, cover, but it gets two.  Taiyo goes off the ropes but Shirai catches her with a dropkick.  Taiyo falls out of the ring, she tries to skin the cat but Shirai dropkicks her in the back.  Shirai bounces off the far ropes and sails out onto Taiyo with a plancha through the ropes.  Shirai goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a moonsault down onto Taiyo as she was starting to get up.  Shirai throws Taiyo into the ring, she then goes on the apron and hits a swandive dropkick.  Tiger feint kick by Shirai and she hits another swandive dropkick, cover, but it gets a two count.  Shirai waits for Taiyo to get up and goes for a kick, Taiyo blocks the first one but not the second one.  Kick to the side of the head by Shirai but Taiyo finally catches one and hits a powerbomb.  Shirai deflects Taiyo’s next attack and delivers another kick to the side of the head.  Shirai positions Taiyo in front of the corner and hits a standing moonsault, she then goes up to the second turnbuckle and hits a moonsault, and finally she hits one off the top turnbuckle.  Cover, but Taiyo kicks out at two.  Shirai goes up top again but Taiyo is up in plenty of time and jumps on top as well.  Taiyo goes for a German suplex off the top but Shirai lands on her feet and delivers a sliding kick to Taiyo.  Cover, but Taiyo gets a shoulder up.  Shirai picks up Taiyo and goes for a suplex but Taiyo slides between her legs.  They trade move attempts before getting into a strike battle, Taiyo grabs Shirai and hits the leg capture suplex hold for a two count.  Taiyo goes up to the top turnbuckle and nails the diving double stomp, cover, but Shirai gets a shoulder up.  Taiyo picks up Shirai, she goes off the ropes and delivers the Taiyo☆Chan Bomb for a two count.  Taiyo picks up Shirai, she goes off the ropes but Shirai catches her with a hurricanrana for a two count.  Shirai picks up Taiyo and hits a hard elbow, but Taiyo returns fire as they trade shots.  Headbutt by Shirai and a slap sends Taiyo to her knees.  Sliding kick by Shirai, cover, but Taiyo kicks out at two.  Shirai positions Taiyo in front of the corner, she goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits the moonsault doublestomp .  Shirai goes up top again and this time she hits a second incredibly accurate moonsault doublestomp.  Suplex de Io by Shirai and she picks up the three count.  Your winner and still champion:  Io Shirai

Well this was a match.  To get straight to the point I thought it was pretty amazing.  There were some little things here and there that didn’t work as they tried to get too cute, but considering the speed in which they go and having very little downtime some missteps here and there are expected.  It may stop the match from becoming an all-time classic but it doesn’t take away from all that they did right.  I have to admit any match with a perfect moonsault doublestomp automatically is good in my book, it is such an awesome looking move when hit properly like the second one was in this match.  I hadn’t seen either of these women before and Shirai is great fun to watch as she was just flying around everywhere.  They didn’t spend a lot of time with submission holds, just a few general ‘weaken your opponent’ ones and seemed content to just drop bombs and big moves on each other.  It felt like a big match, and it was as this was a big anniversary show for the promotion, so they were sure to end the event with a bang.  Overall just a great match, I can look past a few of the hiccups when a match is as exciting as this one, definitely a must-see.  Highly Recommended

review completed on 3/25/14

The post Stardom “Third Anniversary” on 1/26/14 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.*

A flashback to 2015, and the event that had perhaps the best match of Kairi Hojo’s career up to this point. Here is the full card:

• Haruka Kato vs. Hatsuhinode Kamen
• Kaori Yoneyama vs. Kris Wolf vs. Momo Watanabe
• Reo Hazuki vs. Thunder Rosa
• Chelsea vs. Melissa
• Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani vs. Nikki Storm and Starfire
• World of Stardom Championship: Kairi Hojo vs. Meiko Satomura

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

Haruka Kato vs. Hatsuhinode Kamen

Kato dropkicks Kamen from behind to start the match and hits a few more dropkicks to Kamen’s arm, but Kamen hits a double chop to the chest. Kato footstomps Kamen’s arm and applies a cross armbreaker, seated armbar by Kato but Kamen gets to the ropes. Irish whip by Kato but Kamen hits a shoulderblock, slap by Kato but Kamen blocks the scoop slam. Kamen hits a scoop slam of her own followed by an elbow drop for two. Kamen picks up Kato but Kato sneaks in a backslide for two. Kato goes off the ropes but Kamen hits a big boot followed by another kick for a two count. Kamen goes for a delayed vertical suplex but Kato gets out of it and hits a tilt-a-whirl into a schoolboy for two. Cross armbreaker takedown by Kato and Kamen quickly taps out! Haruka Kato wins the match.

I liked the arm work by Kato in this match but not much else. Kamen is just really tentative at times so her strikes lack impact, and while Kato is great to look at she isn’t at the skill level to get a good match out of Kamen. A typical Stardom opener but skippable nonetheless.

Kaori Yoneyama vs. Kris Wolf vs. Momo Watanabe

Yoneyama kicks Watanabe as they all give each other side headlocks, shoulderblock by Yoneyama but Wolf hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Wolf knees Watanabe in the corner and hits a diving crossbody, they grab Yoneyama and hit a double vertical suplex. Double kneedrop by both Wolf and Watanabe to Yoneyama, Watanabe puts Yoneyama in the tree of woe and Watanabe hits a dropkick. Wolf grabs Watanabe and applies a choke before covering her for the three count! The winner is Kris Wolf.

Besides the awkward ending (which Wolf made up for by doing a well balanced dance on the top turnbuckle afterwards) this was just way too clipped up. Very little of the match was shown. But just skim to Wolf’s top rope dance and you’ll be fine.

Reo Hazuki vs. Thunder Rosa

They tie-up to start, wristlock by Hazuki but Rosa reverses it. Hazuki gets the hold re-applied as they trade the hold back and forth, takedown by Rosa but Hazuki gets out of it and they return to their feet. Hazuki kicks Rosa and throws her down by her hair, facewashes by Hazuki in the corner and she nails the running kick. Hazuki goes for an elbow in the corner but Rosa moves and hits a dropkick. Double knee by Rosa in the corner and Rosa elbows Hazuki in the midsection. Leg drop by Rosa and a cover, but it gets two. Rosa picks up Hazuki but Hazuki slides away and applies a sleeper. Elbows by Hazuki in the corner, Irish whip, and Hazuki hits a running elbow. Hazuki goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a diving senton, but the cover only gets two. Hazuki goes all the way up top but Rosa slaps her and tosses her off. Rosa picks up Hazuki and she applies a hammerlock before dropping Hazuki to the mat. Back up, Rosa hits a wrist-clutch overhead suplex, cover by Rosa but Hazuki barely gets a shoulder up. Rosa looks annoyed, which gives Hazuki time to sneak in a schoolboy for the three count! Reo wins!

This was too clipped to recommend (about 40% was missing) but I liked what I saw. Rosa is fun to watch and Hazuki is coming along nicely, though its possible that any awkward parts were simply edited out. What was shown was perfectly fine wrestling though.

Chelsea vs. Melissa

Chelsea continues wrestling veterans, no better way to learn I guess. Armdrag by Chelsea to start but Melissa returns the favor. Chelsea kicks Melissa back and they face off again, waistlock by Chelsea but Melissa gets her back. Melissa picks up Chelsea and applies a front facelock and they trade holds until Melissa starts snapping Chelsea’s leg. Knees to the back by Melissa and she applies a bodyscissors but Chelsea gets out of it and applies a stretch hold. Side headlock by Chelsea but Melissa shoulderblocks her down and hits a scoop slam, Irish whip by Melissa but Chelsea hits a big boot. Roll-up by Chelsea but Melissa gets out of it and wraps up Chelsea’s legs into a modified crab hold. Chelsea gets to the ropes, Melissa picks her up and they trade elbows. Melissa goes off the ropes but Chelsea catches her with a heel kick for a two count. Lariat by Chelsea and she hits a back elbow, Chelsea charges Melissa and she gives her the monkey flip. Cover by Chelsea but it gets two. Chelsea goes up top but Melissa joins her. Chelsea pushes Melissa off but Melissa puts Chelsea on her shoulders, Chelsea slides off and goes for a sunset flip but Melissa sits on her for a two count. Irish whip by Chelsea, reversed, but Chelsea hits a hurricanrana for a two count. Chelsea goes off the ropes but Melissa hits a Samoan Drop for a two count. Kondo Clutch by Melissa but Chelsea rolls close enough to the ropes to force the break. Curbstomp by Melissa, another cover, but Chelsea gets a hand on the ropes. Melissa grabs Chelsea but Chelsea gets away, Melissa goes off the ropes but Chelsea hits a full nelson slam. Cover by Chelsea but Melissa kicks out at two. Chelsea goes up top and goes for a diving crossbody, but Melissa ducks it. Melissa gets her up, spins around a few times and nails the Air Raid Crash for the three count! Melissa is the winner.

Let’s be honest, Chelsea isn’t a great wrestler. She may become one as she is young and training in Stardom, but currently she knows the basics and that’s about it. But she is cute as hell, is photogenic, and the crowd loves her so she has something going for her. Anyway this match was watchable but it never had any moment that stuck out or anything. It was a bit basic but it didn’t have any awkwardness which is a plus. I dunno, it wasn’t really a good match but it wasn’t bad either, just forgettable.

(c) Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani vs. Nikki Storm and Starfire

This match is for the Goddesses of Stardom Championship. Shirai and Starfire start off, Starfire armdrags Shirai into the corner but Shirai avoids her charge and elbows her in the chest. Starfire grabs Shirai’s arm and springboards off the ropes with a takedown, schoolboy by Shirai but it gets two. Iwatani runs in to help and Starfire is double teamed in the corner. Iwatani dropkicks Starfire in the corner and with Shirai they both apply armbars until the referee gets them to stop. Storm emerges in the ring but Shirai dropkicks them both back out of it. Shirai goes off the far ropes and sails out onto both of them with a plancha suicida. Shirai slides Storm back in the ring and she hits a double knee in the corner. Cover by Shirai, but it gets two. Irish whip by Shirai and she applies an Octopus Hold, Starfire runs in but Iwatani comes in too and she puts Starfire in a stretch hold as well. Shirai rolls up Storm from the hold but it gets two, she then applies an armtrap crossface but Storm gets to the ropes. Shirai goes for the tiger feint kick but Starfire kicks Shirai from the apron. Storm then grabs Shirai from inside the ring and hits the Cyclone Neckbreaker, but Iwatani breaks up the pin. Double Irish whip to Storm but she throws Iwatani into Shirai and hits a double neck breaker. Cyclone Neckbreaker by Storm to Shirai, cover, but it gets two. Storm tags in Starfire and Starfire hits a spinning DDT on Shirai, she picks her up and hits a wrist clutch suplex hold for a two count. Starfire drags Shirai up and elbows her but Shirai snaps off a hurricanrana. Head kick by Shirai, she goes up top but Starfire grabs her and shoves Shirai back to the mat. Now Starfire goes up to the second turnbuckle but Iwatani grabs her from the apron. Frankensteiner by Shirai, her and Iwatani go up to the same corner and hit a double missile dropkick. Cover, but Starfire kicks out. Shirai picks up Starfire but Starfire hits a wheelbarrow suplex. Back up they trade elbows, palm strike by Shirai but Starfire reverses the tombstone piledriver and hits a reverse DDT.

Package Piledriver by Starfire but she can’t make the cover, instead rolling to her corner and tagging in Storm. Iwatani is tagged in too, Iwatani trades elbows with Storm and Iwatani hits a crucifix hold for a two count. Wrist clutch Northern Lights Suplex by Iwatani, but Storm gets a shoulder up. Iwatani picks up Storm, she goes off the ropes but Storm levels her with a lariat. Storm picks up Iwatani and she hits a neckbreaker, she drags up Iwatani and she delivers the Cyclone Neckbreaker but Iwatani barely kicks out. Back up, Iwatani kicks Storm back but Storm uses the referee as a shield. Starfire comes in but Iwatani avoids her dropkick, Storm puts Iwatani’s legs on the top rope and nails the Cyclone Neckbreaker. Package Piledriver by Starfire, Storm grabs Iwatani and with Starfire they hit an assisted Cyclone Neckbreaker. Cover, but Iwatani again kicks out. Storm holds Iwatani but Starfire lariats Storm by accident, then Iwatani hits a reverse hurricanrana on Storm for a two count. Storm picks up Iwatani and hits the Perfect Storm, cover, but Iwatani still won’t stay down. Storm picks up Iwatani, they trade waistlocks as Shirai gets on the apron and hits a swandive missile dropkick. Iwatani throws in a dropkick of her own and they also throw Starfire out of the ring. Iwatani and Shirai then spring up onto different corners and dive out of the ring onto Storm and Starfire. Iwatani slides Storm back in but Storm blocks the dragon suplex. Iwatani picks up Storm in a piledriver position, Shirai goes up top and they nail the spike piledriver. Dragon suplex hold by Iwatani, and she picks up the three count! Shirai and Iwatani are still your champions.

This one… I’m a bit torn. I enjoyed it, no doubt there. But I think the random clipping hurt the flow (about five minutes or so was cut total), the clips were rather obvious and it was almost like hitting reset on the match. That being said the match was fast paced and they both had some great moves without going into overkill. Iwatani was a beast here, just kicking out of everything, they are really building her up. It also felt like an important match, which I always appreciate in a title match. I still recommend to watch it, just don’t go in expecting a MOTYC, it fell quite a bit short of that due to the clipping and a few mistakes here and there.  Recommended

(c) Kairi Hojo vs. Meiko Satomura

This match is for the World of Stardom Championship. They jockey around to start, Hojo gets Satomura in the ropes and hits a spinning backfist before backing off. They lock knuckles, Satomura throws Hojo to the mat and she hits a scoop slam. Elbows by Satomura but Hojo hits a shoulder tackle. More shoulder tackles in the corner by Hojo, snapmare, and she dropkicks Satomura in the back. Hojo gets Satomura’s leg and applies a crab hold, but Satomura makes it to the ropes. Satomura slams Hojo to the mat and she goes for a crab hold, but Hojo slaps her. Kicks by Satomura as Hojo returns with elbows, but Satomura catches an elbow and applies a single leg crab hold. Hojo crawls to the ropes to force a break but Satomura quickly applies a stretch hold. Hojo rolls out of it but Satomura kicks Hojo in the back before hitting a hard knee to the chin. Satomura goes for a backdrop suplex but Hojo blocks it and applies a side headlock. Irish whip by Satomura but Hojo hits a really violent spear, she goes off the ropes again but Satomura nails a high kick. Hojo falls out of the ring to have her neck sprayed with the magic healing stuff only Japan has discovered before she rolls back in, but Satomura promptly kicks her in the chest. Irish whip by Satomura but Hojo reverses it, armdrag by Satomura and she applies a STF with a chinlock. Satomura picks up Hojo and hits a backdrop suplex. Kicks by Satomura in the corner, Irish whip, but Hojo collapses. Hard elbow by Satomura and she hits a jumping elbow in the corner. Satomura goes up top but Hojo avoids the body press, she picks up Satomura and chops her in the chest. Satomura fires back with elbows but Hojo holds down the rope when she charges, sending Satomura out to the apron. Hojo shoulder tackles her down to the floor, Hojo goes up top and she delivers a plancha suicida down to the floor. Hojo waits for Satomura to get up and from the apron hits a diving elbow smash, she slides Satomura back in the ring and goes up top, hitting another diving elbow smash.

Hojo charges Satomura and hits a shoulder tackle in the corner followed by a neckbreaker for a two count. Cross-armed submission hold by Hojo but Satomura wiggles to the ropes to force the break. Hojo hits a few footstomps to Satomura’s back and she stretches Satomura some more, but Satomura kicks her off. Satomura gets up and they trade elbows, back kick by Satomura and she nails the spinning kick to the head. Cartwheel knee drop by Satomura, she positions Hojo before going up top, but Hojo gets her feet up on the diving body press. Hojo puts Satomura in the tree of woe, she goes up top but Satomura goes up with her and goes for a death valley bomb. Hojo blocks it and pushes Satomura back into the tree of woe, hitting the diving footstomp. Cover by Hojo, but Satomura kicks out. Hojo stomps on Satomura in the stomach but Satomura gets back up and elbows her. Hojo elbows her back, she goes off the ropes but Satomura kicks her hard in the face. Cross armbreaker by Satomura but Hojo manages to wiggle to the ropes. Satomura drags Hojo out and re-applies it, but again Hojo gets a toe on the ropes. Satomura kicks Hojo out of the ring, where Hojo gets more magic healing spray. Satomura goes out after her, she drags Hojo up to the entrance stage and drills her with a Death Valley Bomb! Satomura brings Hojo back to the ring, she picks up Hojo and drops her with a backdrop suplex. Cover, but it gets a two. Satomura applies a sleeper hold, cover by Satomura but Hojo kicks out. Satomura positions Hojo, she goes up top and she finally hits the frog splash, but Hojo barely gets a shoulder up. Satomura picks up Hojo but Hojo avoids the Death Valley Bomb by grabbing the top rope. Satomura shakes her free and nails it anyway, but she can’t keep Hojo down. Satomura goes for another one but Hojo slides down her back, elbow by Satomura but Hojo blocks the overhead kick.

Backfist by Hojo and she hits a series of elbows, but Satomura levels her with a high kick. Hojo ducks Satomura’s heel kick and finally knocks her down with a backfist, Hojo picks up Satomura and hits an Alabama Slam. Hojo goes up top and nails her beautiful diving elbow drop, she covers Satomura but it gets two. Hojo goes up top again but Satomura is up and she nails a Pele Kick. Satomura goes up with Hojo but Hojo elbows her off, she goes for another diving elbow drop but Satomura gets her legs up and quickly applies a cross armbreaker. Seated armbar by Satomura but Hojo rolls to the ropes to force a break. Satomura picks up Hojo and kicks her in the chest repeatedly, she picks up Hojo but Hojo rolls up Satomura for a two count. Satomura gets on the sleeper but Hojo is too close to the ropes and gets a foot on them. Satomura goes up top but Hojo punches her and joins her, hitting a superplex. Cover, but it gets a two count. Hojo goes up top but Satomura avoids the diving elbow drop, Satomura picks up Hojo and hits a Death Valley Bomb before applying the cross armbreaker. Satomura traps her leg too, she then rolls over Hojo and applies an elevated single leg crab hold before rolling it back over, but Hojo gets free. Satomura kicks Hojo in the chest a few times and then drills her with a kick to the head. Satomura picks up Hojo but Hojo gets away and applies a guillotine choke. Satomura slams out of it and applies the cross armbreaker but Hojo gets her hands linked and gets out of it. Satomura picks up Hojo and hits another Death Valley Bomb, she covers Hojo but the bell rings signifying the match is a Draw. Kairi Hojo is still your champion!

Man what a match. To call this hard hitting would be an understatement, everything they did was brutal. Even something simple like a kick breakout or a spear was made to look extra violent, there was no holding back here at all. The time went quickly for a 30 minute match as they did a good job mixing in strikes, submissions, and big moves to pop the crowd. I didn’t mind the slight overkill since it was a title match, overall it was just great stuff. MOTYC right here.  Highly Recommended

event reviewed on 6/21/15

The post Stardom “Galaxy Stars 2015” on 6/14/15 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.*

As a fan of just about anything, you tend to get sad when someone you enjoy retires. That is true for actors, sports players, and of course in this case wrestlers. Generally you are happy for them as usually people retire to move on to something else they want to do, but we still miss them. This event is for the retirement of Natsuki*Taiyo, who had been wrestling for ten years. It is not uncommon in Joshi for wrestlers to retire when still in their 20s (Taiyo had just turned 30), a lot of them start young but burn out early, leaving either to pursue their career or to start a family. So we are happy to have had her, and sad to see her go. Here is the full card for the event:

• Stardom vs. Enemy Army Elimination Match: Yoshiko, Act Yasukawa, Kairi Hojo, and Koguma vs. Danshoku Dino, Kyoko Kimura, Alpha Female, and Nakagawa
• Artist of Stardom Championship: Miho Wakizawa, Hiroyo Matsumoto, and Mayu Iwatani vs. Kaori Yoneyama, Hatsuhinode Kamen, and Sayaka Obihiro
• World of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai vs. Takumi Iroha
• Natsuki*Taiyo Retirement Match ~ Forever High Speed: Natsuki*Taiyo  vs. Nanae Takahashi

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

Yoshiko, Act Yasukawa, Kairi Hojo, and Koguma vs. Danshoku Dino, Kyoko Kimura, Alpha Female, and Nakagawa

This is an elimination tag team match, but you can also be eliminated by being thrown over the top rope. Dino and Yoshiko start things off. Yoshiko pushes Dino but Dino pushes her back. Another push by Dino but Yoshiko pushes him in return and they trade pushes. Dino goes off the ropes but he can’t shoulderblock Yoshiko down. Yoshiko goes off the ropes but she also has no luck. Dino goes off the ropes but Yoshiko stays on her feet, Yoshiko does the same but finally Dino shoulderblocks her down. Yasukawa comes in the ring but Dino punches her back out of it. Hojo comes in, she gets punched as well. Koguma comes in next, punches by Dino but she ducks one and hits a series of elbows. Dino blocks one however and hits a series of headbutts, Dino goes off the ropes but Koguma delivers a dropkick. Yoshiko returns and she hits a big boot onto Dino. Facewashes in the corner by Yoshiko followed by a running kick. Yoshiko picks up Dino but Dino punches her off, he goes for the Testicular Claw but he has nothing to grab. Punches by Dino as his teammates come in the ring, and everyone hits running strikes in the corner. Snap vertical suplex by Dino and he pulls down his pants, Hojo comes in the ring and she slaps Dino, forcing Dino to sit on Yoshiko for a two count. Punch by Dino and he kicks Yoshiko into the corner. She rebounds out of it and almost falls into Dino’s tights, but stops herself. Dino and Yoshiko trade punches, Dino goes to go off the ropes but Hojo is standing in the way. She snaps his neck over the top rope, Dino goes to yell at Hojo outside the ring, allowing Yoshiko to send Dino crashing out of it. Danshoku Dino is eliminated.

Nakagawa comes in the ring next as does Koguma, and Nakagawa avoids Koguma’s dropkick. Nakagawa throws Koguma in the corner but Koguma avoids the charge and hits a monkey flip. Sunset flip by Koguma, but Nakagawa is in the ropes. Tornado DDT attempt by Koguma but Nakagawa shrugs her off as everyone comes in the ring to beat up Koguma. Kimura holds Koguma for Nakagawa but Koguma moves out of the way, she covers both Kimura and Nakagawa but it gets a two count. Face crusher/dropkick combination to Koguma, cover, but it gets a two count. Nakagawa hits a Fisherman Suplex on Koguma and then locks in the CRB, and Koguma has no choice but to submit. Koguma is eliminated.

Nakagawa stomps on Hojo, she picks her up and throws her in the corner before tagging in Alpha Female. Snapmare by Alpha Female and she clubs Hojo repeatedly in the chest. Alpha Female tags in Kimura, Kimura puts Hojo in the ropes and all three wrestlers press their boots into her face. Kimura goes off the ropes and jumps down onto Hojo, cover by Kimura but it gets a two count. Hojo gets back up and clubs Kimura in the chest, but Kimura absorbs the blow. She does it again and a third time, but still with no luck. Repeated clubs by Hojo, she goes off the ropes and goes for a spear but Kimura catches her and applies a grounded facelock. Hojo eventually gets a foot on the ropes to force a break, cover by Kimura but it gets a two count. Hojo tags in Nakagawa, Nakagawa picks up Hojo but Hojo applies an inside cradle for a two count. Waistlock by Nakagawa, reversed, and Yasukawa runs in the ring to attack everyone. Yoshiko hits a senton onto Nakagawa, and she tosses Hojo onto Nakagawa. Cover, but it gets a two count. Hojo goes up to the top turnbuckle but Nakagawa has recovered and elbows her. Nakagawa goes for a high kick, but she misses and goes over the top rope and onto the apron. Hojo hops back down into the ring and kicks Nakagawa off the apron to the floor. Tomoka Nakagawa is eliminated.

Alpha Female comes in and knocks Hojo to the mat, she picks her up and hits a scoop slam. Alpha Female picks up Hojo, Irish whip, Alpha Female tosses Hojo out to the apron but Hojo ducks when she charges in and jumps off the top turnbuckle to get back in the ring. Alpha Female gets Hojo on her shoulders but Hojo hits an armdrag, then Yoshiko runs in with a senton. Hojo goes up to the top turnbuckle and she nails the diving elbow drop. Cover, but Kimura breaks it up. Yoshiko knocks Kimura out of the ring, Hojo goes off the ropes but Kimura kicks her from the apron and Alpha Female hits a lariat. Cover, but Hojo gets a shoulder up. Alpha Female picks up Hojo and nails the Alpha Plex Hold, picking up the three count. Kairi Hojo is eliminated.

Yoshiko and Yasukawa both run into the ring, and Kimura puts Yasukawa in a sleeper hold. Yoshiko eventually runs in to break it up, Alpha Female comes in as well and Alpha Female elbows Yoshiko. Yoshiko elbows her back but Kimura kicks Yoshiko from behind. They pick up Yoshiko, double Irish whip but Yoshiko hits a double lariat. Yoshiko positions Alpha Female in front of the corner, she goes up to the second turnbuckle and hits the reverse splash. Cover, but Alpha Female kicks out at two. Yoshiko goes up to the second turnbuckle but Alpha Female rolls out of the way of the senton and Kimura kicks her in the head. Double Irish whip to Yoshiko into the corner, Alpha Female hits a lariat and Kimura follows with an elbow. Lariat by Alpha Female, cover, but Yoshiko gets a shoulder up. Kimura picks up Yoshiko while Alpha Female goes up to the second turnbuckle, but Yoshiko gets away and punches Kimura into Alpha Female. Yoshiko joins Alpha Female on the top turnbuckle, and Alpha Female dumps Yoshiko out to the apron. Yoshiko quickly gets up and pulls Alpha Female onto the apron with her, and both wrestlers hit lariats. They do it again, but Yoshiko ducks one and she knocks Alpha Female off the apron. Alpha Female is eliminated.

Dino gets on the apron and holds Yoshiko for Kimura, Kimura goes off the ropes but Yasukawa trips her from the floor. Yasukawa gets on the apron and holds Kimura for Yoshiko, Yoshiko charges in but Kimura moves. Yoshiko almost knocks Yasukawa off the apron but she stops in time, Kimura gets a running start and goes for a big boot but both Yasukawa and Yoshiko move out of the way and Kimura tumbles out of the ring. Kyoko Kimura is eliminated. Your winners of the match: Yoshiko, Act Yasukawa, Kairi Hojo, and Koguma

For a 15 minute eight wrestler elimination tag match this was fine. My main complaint would simply be that this match had some of my favorite Stardom wrestlers (Hojo, Yasukawa, Kimura, and Alpha Female) but obviously in this style of match they really didn’t get much of a chance to shine. I’d rather have seen them get more time to do something. Having Dino in the match was fun since 80% of his offense is normally gay-based which doesn’t really work on women. But he was the first one eliminated and after that it was just your standard action in these types of matches. It was nothing bad since the wrestlers in the match were quality, it is just a limiting match stipulation that gave them more restrictions than I’d have preferred.

(c) Miho Wakizawa, Matsumoto, and Mayu Iwatani vs. Kaori Yoneyama, Hatsuhinode Kamen, and Obihiro
Artist of Stardom Championship

Yoneyama and company attack their opponents to start the match and they all attack Iwatani together before making a little pyramid with her. Matsumoto is having none of that and pelts all three with tawashis (see below for what the hell a tawashis is, y’all about to get educated), then they hit Kamen and Yoneyama with ribbons. Obihiro is put into the ropes so they can wrap the ribbons around her before running into the crowd to I assume try to kill her, but the ribbon snaps which sends everyone flying. This never works. Back in the ring Obihiro and Kamen hit running strikes on Iwatani in the corner, Obihiro goes up to the top turnbuckle and she hits a diving double chop. Cover, but it gets a two count. Obihiro chops Iwatani against the ropes, Irish whip, blocked, and Iwatani flips Obihiro to the mat. She applies a submission but it is quickly broken up, Iwatani goes off the ropes but Obihiro hits a sunset flip for a two count. Yoneyama grabs Iwatani and applies a leg submission but Wakizawa uses a rope to try to help Iwatani to the ropes. This doesn’t work of course, Irish whip by Yoneyama to Iwatani but Iwatani hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Kamen comes in the ring but Iwatani hits a springboard armdrag on both of them before tagging in Matsumoto. Matsumoto shoulderblocks all three of her opponents, Irish whip by Matsumoto to Yoneyama and she slams Yoneyama to the mat. Cover, but Yoneyama quickly gets out of it. Backdrop suplex by Matsumoto, but it only gets a two count. Matsumoto tags in Wakizawa, Matsumoto holds Yoneyama for Wakizawa but Yoneyama ducks and Wakizawa puts The Claw on Matsumoto.

Yoneyama rolls up Wakizawa from behind but it gets a two count. Yoneyama tags in Kamen, Wakizawa goes for The Claw on Kamen but it is blocked. Obihiro comes in the ring but Wakizawa bites her in the hand, Kamen kicks Wakizawa in the head but she only gets a two count. Kamen goes up to the top turnbuckle but Wakizawa recovers and joins her up top while Matsumoto dumps a box full of tawashis in the ring. Wakizawa hits a Frankensteiner into the pile, then Iwatani gets a big one and holds it against Kamen. Matsumoto charges in with a body avalanche, which hurts her just as much. Dropkick by Iwatani to Kamen, and Matsumoto puts the mega tawashi on her chest. Wakizawa and Iwatani get onto Matsumoto’s back and they all fall onto Kamen. Wakizawa goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving body press onto Kamen, cover, but Obihiro breaks it up. Wakizawa picks up Kamen and she goes for a Fisherman Buster but Kamen blocks it. Kamen goes for a vertical suplex onto the mega tawashi, but Iwatani slides in and moves it so that Kamen actually lands on it and not Wakizawa. Wakizawa picks it up but Yoneyama grabs the tawashi from behind. Obihiro runs in and chops Wakizawa in the throat, inside cradle by Kamen but it gets a two count. Yoneyama throws the tawashi out of the ring, while in the ring Kamen puts Wakizawa on her shoulders. Yoneyama goes up top but Matsumoto hits her from the apron with a different tawashi, Backslide with Venom by Wakizawa to Kamen and she picks up the three count. Your winners and still champions: Wakizawa, Matsumoto, and Iwatani!

True story – I have been wondering for the last year what those little brown balls they use in these matches were, but I looked online and no one seemed to reference what they were. I mean its not like there are tons of Stardom reviews in English on the Internet. So I finally figured I’d just ask one of the wrestlers and hope for a reply. I tweeted Kellie Skater, and within a few hours she advised that they are tawashis. A tawashi is a hard, rough scrubbing brush, so when they are rubbed against someone’s skin, as you can imagine that would hurt. So thanks to Kellie for answering this question that has been bothering Stardom fans for a long time. Anyway, as far as the match, it was pretty much the same as it always is, except at least now I know what is going on. I am glad these matches aren’t too long since they are generally comedy matches, and they did get a few chuckles out of me such as when Kamen accidentally landed on the tawashi when going for the vertical suplex. I think a few of these wrestlers actually are good but its so hard to tell in short comedy matches, all the action was crisp anyway. Exactly what you’d expect, I can’t score it low since it does what it is trying to do and it is funny at times, but it isn’t what I would consider high quality wrestling.

(c) Io Shirai vs. Takumi Iroha
World of Stardom Championship

Shirai slaps Iroha to start the match but Iroha slaps her back, she goes off the ropes and hits a heel kick. German suplex by Iroha and she hits a second one, she picks up Shirai but Shirai gets away. Kick by Iroha and she hits a vertical suplex, cover, but it gets a two count. Iroha picks up Shirai but Shirai elbows her and they trade shots. Shirai goes off the ropes but Iroha hits a lariat, Iroha goes off the ropes but Shirai snaps off a hurricanrana for a two count. Kick to the head by Shirai, she picks up Iroha and hits a series of elbows. Iroha elbows Shirai as well and both wrestlers fall to their knees. Waistlock by Shirai, reversed by Iroha and Iroha applies a side headlock. Shirai eventually punches out of it and applies a side headlock of her own, Iroha gets out of it but Shirai hits a cartwheel dropkick. Iroha falls out of the ring, Shirai goes off the far ropes and sails between the ropes onto Iroha with a plancha suicida. Shirai slides Iroha back into the ring and applies a stretch hold before throwing Iroha to the mat. Kicks to the face by Shirai and she chokes Iroha with her boot. Shirai goes up to the top turnbuckle but Iroha runs over and dropkicks her off, sending Shirai to the apron. Iroha goes out to the apron as well and chops Shirai repeatedly in the chest. Waistlock by Iroha but Shirai slides through her legs and hits a reverse DDT on the apron. Shirai goes up to the top turnbuckle and dives out to the floor with a plancha onto Iroha. Iroha recovers as she is pulled back to the ring and elbows Shirai before hitting a vertical suplex on the floor. Iroha slides Shirai back into the ring and applies a crab hold, but Shirai makes it to the ropes to force the break. Iroha stomps Shirai and charges her in the corner, but Shirai slides out to the apron and kicks her back. Shirai goes for a swandive move but Iroha uppercuts her mid-move and then hits a doublestomp to her back while Shirai is lying over the ropes. Cover, but it gets two. Iroha picks up Shirai and applies the Gory Special, she then releases the hold and goes for Shirai’s leg but Shirai kicks her back.

Spinning kick to the head by Shirai and she hits the Shinkansen Attack. Cover by Shirai but it gets a two count. Arm trap crossface by Shirai but Iroha inches to the ropes and gets there to get the break. Shirai picks up Iroha, she puts Iroha on the second rope and hits the Tiger Feint Kick. Swandive missile dropkick by Shirai, cover, but it gets a two count. Shirai positions Iroha in front of the corner, she goes up to the second turnbuckle but Iroha has recovered and hits her from behind. Slingshot suplex by Iroha and she holds on to Shirai to hit a second suplex, cover, but it gets a two count. Iroha picks up Shirai around the waist but Shirai elbows free, Shirai goes off the ropes and goes for a hurricanrana but Iroha blocks it and applies a crab hold. Shirai slowly inches to the ropes and eventually makes it there to force a break. Iroha positions Shirai, she goes up to the top turnbuckle but Shirai has slid out to the apron. Shirai climbs up top with Iroha and they trade punches and elbows. High kick by Shirai, she slides back out to the apron and then springboards back up to the top to hit a Frankensteiner. Standing moonsault by Shirai, then she hits a moonsault off the second turnbuckle and finally one off the top turnbuckle. Cover, but Iroha gets a shoulder up. Shirai picks up Iroha and hits the Shining Wizard. Cover, but it gets a two count. Shirai goes for a swinging kick but Iroha ducks it and hits a German suplex hold for a two count. Heel kick to the back of the head by Iroha, she picks up Shirai and she nails the powerbomb. Cover, but Shirai kicks out at two. Iroha goes for a Scorpion Deathlock but Shirai rolls through it and kicked Iroha in the face. La Magistral by Shirai, but Iroha kicks out at two. Elbow by Shirai but Iroha elbows her back and they trade shots back on their feet. Uppercut by Shirai but Iroha slaps her, but Shirai turns around and hits a running headbutt. Package German Suplex Hold by Shirai, and she picks up the three count. Your winner and still champion: Io Shirai

There must be some backstory on how Iroha got a title shot considering how young and inexperienced she is, but looking over the results I couldn’t get any clues. But it made for a good superstar vs. underdog dynamic, even if you knew that Iroha had no chance of winning. That hurt the crowd reactions a bit but it was still a really good match. From watching it you’d know that Iroha was an underdog but she didn’t act over-matched at all, she was exchanging strikes and getting nearfalls the same as any other challenger. Shirai didn’t take it easy either, which she could have done since this event already had a major attraction, as she was doing dives and spring boarding off of things just like she always does. Even with Iroha’s more limited experience the match was really crisp, I didn’t notice any awkward moments, and the match flowed really well with no real downtime. A predictable ending but a fun journey to get there for sure.  Recommended

Natsuki*Taiyo vs. Nanae Takahashi

This is Natsuki*Taiyo’s Retirement Match. They lock knuckles to start, side headlock by Taiyo but Takahashi gets out of it. Wristlock by Taiyo, Takahashi gets Taiyo to the mat but Taiyo wiggles away as they trade submission attempts. Both wrestlers return to their feet, tie-up, side headlock by Taiyo, Takahashi Irish whips out of it and hits a shoulderblock. Takahashi goes off the ropes and hits an armdrag, springboard by Taiyo and she hits an armdrag of her own. Takahashi falls out of the ring, Taiyo fakes a dive but ends up swinging herself back into the ring. Takahashi returns after a moment, elbows by Taiyo and she clubs Takahashi in the back. Taiyo and Takahashi trade elbows, armbar by Taiyo but Takahashi reverses it. Armdrag by Taiyo and she dropkicks Takahashi in the knee. Taiyo goes up to the top turnbuckle and kicks Takahashi in the arm. Knee to the arm by Taiyo and she yanks on Takahashi’s arm. Kicks to the arm by Taiyo and she twists it around her knee. Takahashi gets out of it and gets Taiyo’s ankle, applying an ankle hold. Taiyo flips out of the hold, elbow by Takahashi but Taiyo elbows her back. Taiyo throws Takahashi into the corner and elbows her some more, Irish whip by Taiyo, reversed, Taiyo moves when Takahashi charges in and hits a palm thrust. Two more by Taiyo but Takahashi grabs her by the hair and tosses her to the mat. Dropkick to the knee by Takahashi and she applies a knee lock. Takahashi applies a stretch hold before going back to the leg, and she eventually applies a figure four leg lock. Taiyo gets into the ropes to force a break, Takahashi grabs her leg and hops down on it while it is propped on the bottom rope. Kicks to the head by Takahashi, Taiyo fights back but Takahashi knocks her back to the mat. Taiyo gets back up and they trade elbows, an exchange that Takahashi gets the better of. Takahashi throws Taiyo into the corner and chops her in the chest before hitting a lariat. Takahashi goes up to the top turnbuckle but Taiyo quickly joins her, Takahashi catches Taiyo with a sleeper and tosses her back to the mat. Missile dropkick by Takahashi, cover, but it gets a two count. Takahashi goes up to the top again but Taiyo jumps up with her and hits an armdrag. Springboard moonsault by Taiyo, cover, but it gets a two count. Waistlock by Taiyo but Takahashi elbows out of it. They trade elbows, Takahashi charges Taiyo in the corner but Taiyo kicks her back and flips out to the apron. Trip by Taiyo and she hits a slingshot double stomp before kicking Takahashi out of the ring.

Taiyo gets a running start and hits a triple jump springboard plancha out of the ring onto Takahashi. Irish whip by Taiyo, reversed, and Taiyo goes flying into a row of chairs. Takahashi throws her into some more chairs and a third time. Takahashi takes Taiyo to a different part of the arena and does the same thing, she then takes Taiyo up the aisle into the bleachers, but Taiyo starts fighting back. They trade elbows up in the crowd for a bit before Takahashi knocks Taiyo back down towards ringside, but Taiyo slaps Takahashi until she falls to the floor. Takahashi gets back up and they trade elbows again until both fall to ground. Takahashi gets back in the ring with Taiyo slowly following, Takahashi picks up Taiyo and elbows her, leading to another elbow exchange. Taiyo kicks Takahashi in the leg and then hits a dropkick, Taiyo goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits the missile dropkick. Dropkick in the corner by Taiyo, cover, but it gets a two count. Taiyo goes up to the top turnbuckle but Takahashi rolls out of the way of the double stomp and hits a backdrop suplex. Cover, but it gets a two count. Ankle hold by Takahashi but Taiyo is able to make it to the ropes. Takahashi picks up Taiyo and chops her in the corner, Irish whip, but Taiyo rebounds out of the corner with a crossbody. Tilt-a-whirl headscissors by Taiyo and she applies an armbar to Takahashi. Takahashi makes it into the ropes for a break, Taiyo picks her up and goes for a powerbomb, but Takahashi blocks it. Taiyo goes off the ropes, leapfrog, she kicks Takahashi and hits the Iguchi Bomb. Kick to the head by Taiyo, cover, but it gets a two count. Taiyo goes off the ropes but Takahashi catches her with a powerbomb and hits a sliding kick. Cover, but it only gets a two. Takahashi picks up Taiyo but Taiyo gets into the ropes. Takahashi pulls her back and hits a backdrop suplex and then hits a second one. Lariat by Takahashi, cover, but it gets a two count. Takahashi picks up Taiyo, Taiyo fights her off and she goes for the sunset flip powerbomb but Takahashi blocks it. Taiyo hits an armdrag before applying the Triple Taiyo☆Chan La Magistral for a two count.

Taiyo goes off the ropes and goes for a hurricanrana, but Takahashi catches her and sits down for a two count. Takahashi picks up Taiyo and hits the Nana☆Racka, cover, but Taiyo rolls through it for her own two count. Takahashi picks up Taiyo but Takahashi gets away and slams Takahashi to the mat. Taiyo goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits the diving doublestomp, cover, but it gets a two count. Taiyo picks up Takahashi and hits the leg trap German suplex hold for a two count. Taiyo goes off the ropes but Takahashi catches her and hits a second Nana☆Racka for a two count cover. Takahashi drags Taiyo to her feet, Taiyo gets away and kicks Takahashi in the stomach, back kick by Taiyo and she hits another one. Taiyo goes off the ropes but Takahashi hits a jumping kick to the face. Takahashi goes up to the top turnbuckle but Taiyo rolls out of the way of the body press. Taiyo goes for the Taiyo☆Chan Bomb but Takahashi sits down for a two count. Takahashi picks up Taiyo but Taiyo gets away from her, knees by Taiyo and she hits a back kick. Taiyo☆Chan Bomb by Taiyo, but Takahashi barely gets a shoulder up. Momo☆Latch by Taiyo, but Takahashi kicks out again at two. Taiyo clubs Takahashi in the back and puts her up on the top turnbuckle, she joins her but Takahashi clubs her off. Diving body press by Takahashi, cover, but it gets a two count. Takahashi picks up Taiyo and hits the Nana☆Racka, cover, but it gets a two count. Takahashi slowly goes up to the top turnbuckle but Taiyo is up and knocks her to a seated position. Taiyo tries to join her, Takahashi knocks her back to the mat but Taiyo gets back up and jumps up to the top turnbuckle. Takahashi slides off however, Taiyo jumps off the top turnbuckle and hits the Momo☆Latch, but it gets a two count. Taiyo picks up Takahashi, slaps by Taiyo, and she kicks Takahashi in the ribs. Headbutt by Takahashi and they trade elbows, Takahashi goes off the ropes and she hits a lariat. Cover, but it gets a two count. Takahashi picks up Taiyo and she nails the One Second EX. Cover, but Taiyo gets a shoulder up. Takahashi charges Taiyo but Taiyo knocks her back, Taiyo gets up on the top turnbuckle but Takahashi grabs her and hits the Nanaracka☆100. Cover, and she picks up the three count. Your winner: Nanae Takahashi

The match was probably a little bit longer than it needed to be as some parts of the match did drag (such as the battling up in the crowd section), but overall it was still a really good match. I have no idea how Taiyo can even concentrate as retirement matches can be so emotional, but for the most part the action was very crisp and fluid. The early limb work was ultimately blown off, but the limbs weren’t really targeted long enough to expect them to sell it for the rest of the match, so I won’t hold it against them. Taiyo has so much energy, even after a 30 minute match she was still springboarding around, things like that is why everyone loved her… she just has more gears than most humans do. Even though she lost, Taiyo didn’t go down easy as she took most of Takahashi’s big moves, some of them twice. Overall it was a fitting ending, shame she couldn’t get the win but generally in Japan wrestlers lose in their official retirement matches, that is just the way it goes. An emotional and exciting ending to the career of the original High Speed Champion.  Recommended

Natsuki*Taiyo’s Retirement Ceremony

I am not going to do a play by play of a Retirement Ceremony, but if you’ve never watched a Joshi Retirement Ceremony you really should sometime. First of all, from start to finish it was over 40 minutes long. It had a bit of everything, first Taiyo talked for a bit, they did some dancing, then all the Stardom wrestlers came down and gave Taiyo flowers one by one. It is pretty emotional as everyone is crying, so if you are an emotional person like me, don’t watch this with anyone else in the room as it will be really hard to explain. Along with the Stardom wrestlers, many legends came down to wish her well also, including Bull Nakano and Momoe Nakanishi. Some just gave flowers, some playfully attacked her, it likely depended on her personal relationships with them. Animal Hamaguchi came out last which got Taiyo the most emotional as he helped train her, and he talked a bit before leading the crowd in a cheer. It ends with everyone leaving the ring as the lights go down, and Taiyo gets her final farewell. Its a much more… personal retirement than most wrestlers get but its normal for long-time (and well liked) Joshi wrestlers. Probably too long for the common fan to sit through, especially if you don’t speak Japanese, but it does show that they know how to send people out the right way. I can’t imagine trying to do a wrestling match knowing all of this is coming, but that is why they are professionals and I just watch them while politely judging everything they do. But it was a really nice ceremony and you could tell from the emotions how much people will miss Taiyo, she was the life of Stardom at times and she will be hard to replace.

event originally reviewed on 1/5/15

The post Stardom “Natsuki Taiyo Retirement ~ High Speed Forever” on 6/1/14 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.

*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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