*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.

 

Championships Held: SHIMMER Championship, Artist of Stardom Championship, PPW Pacific Women’s Championship, SHIMMER Tag Team Championship, and the PWWA Championship
Tournaments Won: Global Conflict Tournament (2015 and 2016)
Awards Won: None

Notable Matches in Japan:

• May 8th, 2011 vs. Aki Kambayashi
• January 14th, 2013 with Portia Perez and Tomoko Nakagawa vs. Act Yasukawa, Natsuki Taiyo, and Saki Kashima
• December 29th, 2013 vs. Act Yasukawa
• December 6th, 2015 with Hiroyo Matsumoto and Evie vs. Act Yasukawa, Kris Wolf, and Kyoko Kimura
• February 28th, 2016 with Hiroyo Matsumoto and Evie vs. Io Shirai, Kairi Hojo, and Mayu Iwatani

Signature Moves:

• Ankle Lock
• International Incident
• Skate and Destroy
• Skate or Die
• Superkick

In Action:

The post Kellie Skater appeared first on Joshi City.

Keep in mind of course this ranking is purely subjective because it is based 95% on the quality of their matches, not accomplishments won or how many tours they were on. Please note this is based solely on the wrestler’s matches in Stardom and is not a ranking of the wrestler considering their career as a whole. The following wrestlers are excluded from the list: Cat Power (only had one match), Kris Wolf (contracted Stardom wrestler), and Alex Lee (Freelancer used by many Joshi promotions). Without any further ado, here is my Official List of Best Gaijins in Stardom, 2016 Edition:

1. Kay Lee Ray Stardom Matches in 2016: 15 Titles Won in Stardom: None Best Matches in Stardom: vs. Iwatani on 1/17 and vs. Shirai on 9/22	2. Toni Storm Stardom Matches in 2016: 17 Titles Won in Stardom: SWA Undisputed World Women’s Championship Best Match in Stardom: vs. Shirai on 7/24	3. Evie Stardom Matches in 2016: 9 Titles Won in Stardom: Artist of Stardom Best Match in Stardom: vs. Iwatani on 2/21
4. Kellie Skater Stardom Matches in 2016: 9 Titles Won in Stardom: Artist of Stardom Best Match in Stardom: Hyper Destroyers vs. Three Daughters on 2/28	5. Alpha Female Stardom Matches in 2016: 12 Titles Won in Stardom: None Best Match in Stardom: vs. Shirai on 3/26	6. Leah Vaughan Stardom Matches in 2016: 12 Titles Won in Stardom: None Best Match in Stardom: with Wolf vs. Oedo Tai on 8/5
7. Viper Stardom Matches in 2016: 17 Titles Won in Stardom: None Best Match in Stardom: vs. Shirai on 2/21	8. Santana Garrett Stardom Matches in 2016: 8 Titles Won in Stardom: Wonder of Stardom Best Match in Stardom: vs. Hojo on 5/15	9. Chelsea Stardom Matches in 2016: 12 Titles Won in Stardom: None Best Match in Stardom: vs. Hojo on 8/5
10. Tessa Blanchard Stardom Matches in 2016: 9 Titles Won in Stardom: None Best Match in Stardom: vs. Shirai on 9/4	11. Diosa Atenea Stardom Matches in 2016: 14 Titles Won in Stardom: None Best Match in Stardom: Oedo Tai vs. Three Daughters on 6/11	12. Kaitlin Diemond Stardom Matches in 2016: 13 Titles Won in Stardom: None Best Match in Stardom: Oedo Tai vs. Thunder Rock on 2/21
13. Shanna Stardom Matches in 2016: 12 Titles Won in Stardom: None Best Match in Stardom: vs. Storm on 8/5	14. Blue Nikita Stardom Matches in 2016: 9 Titles Won in Stardom: None Best Match in Stardom: vs. KLR on 8/28	15. Courtney Stewart Stardom Matches in 2016: 5 Titles Won in Stardom: None Best Match in Stardom: vs. Hojo on 8/28
16. Chelsea Green Stardom Matches in 2016: 5 Titles Won in Stardom: None Best Match in Stardom: Elimination Tag on 2/7	17. Queen Maya Stardom Matches in 2016: 6 Titles Won in Stardom: None Best Match in Stardom: vs. Iwatani on 4/29	18. Lizzy Styles Stardom Matches in 2016: 3 Titles Won in Stardom: None Best Match in Stardom: n/a

And there we have it! I’ll have a more complete list with more details after the year has ended. By then, Stardom will have used over 20 different gaijin wrestlers, which is a lot of foreign talent for any promotion in the world, let alone a Joshi promotion. Some have worked out well, some have not, but either way it certainly adds something different to their cards. Hopefully in 2017 they will focus on the gaijins that performed well in the promotion as quality is better than quantity, but with new native wrestlers debuting soon they may not need to use as many gaijin talent in the future. I’ll check back in January to update a final list, since Chelsea Green has another tour coming up she in particular has an opportunity to move up the rankings if she has some bigger matches.

The post Stardom Gaijins in 2016 – A Complete Ranking appeared first on Joshi City.

This is a unique show as there are only two matches. The first is a six wrestler gauntlet match, which is a series of singles matches until one wrestler is left without being defeated or eliminated by Draw. Then in the main event, the Hyper Destroyers defend their titles against Shirai, Iwatani, and Hojo! Here is the full card:

• Gauntlet Match with Kaitlin Diemond, Momo Watanabe, Kaori Yoneyama, Viper, Hiromi Mimura, and Jungle Kyouna
• Artist of Stardom Championship: Evie, Hiroyo Matsumoto, and Kellie Skater vs. Io Shirai, Kairi Hojo, and Mayu Iwatani

Definitely a unusual event, but let’s see how it worked out. The order of the Gauntlet Match was decided by raffle and they will be wrestling in the order that I have listed above in the match list. So Diemond and Watanabe will start, then the winner will face Yoneyama, and so on. There is a ten minute time limit so if two wrestlers draw, both are eliminated and the next two wrestlers face off.

Kaitlin Diemond vs. Momo Watanabe

Kaitlin Diemond vs. Kaori Yoneyama

Hiromi Mimura vs. Viper

Viper vs. Jungle Kyouna

 

(c) Evie, Hiroyo Matsumoto, and Kellie Skater vs. Io Shirai, Kairi Hojo, and Mayu Iwatani

Shirai and Matsumoto kick things off, they trade holds until Matsomoto avoids Shirai’s dropkick and hits a double knee drop. Shirai knocks Matsumoto down and hits a quick standing moonsault, and they both tag out as Iwatani and Skater enter the ring. They go back and forth with armdrags and quick pin attempts with neither getting an advantage, Skater’s teammates run in and they triple team Iwatani. Hojo comes in too and they both chop Skater, dropkick by Iwatani and with Shirai they all pose on top of Skater. Iwatani puts Skater in a camel clutch and she tortures her a bit before tagging Shirai. Shirai blows a streamer toy into Skater’s mouth before tagging Hojo, chop by Hojo to Skater and she covers her for two. Iwatani comes into the match but Skater drops her with a springboard elbow and tags in Matsumoto. Matsumoto takes care of all three of her opponents, she stacks them on top of each other and puts them all in a triple crab hold with Skater’s help.

Matsumoto lays Iwatani across the ropes in the corner and hits a body avalanche, cover by Matsumoto but it gets two. Evie is tagged in, kicks by Evie and Skater is in next and she slams Iwatani before dropping a leg on her. Skater throws Iwatani into the corner but Iwatani avoids her charge and tags in Shirai. Matsumoto comes in too as does Evie and Hojo, but Iwatani missile dropkicks everyone over. Catapult elbow smash by Hojo to Skater in the corner, then Shirai hits a running double knee for a two count. Shirai goes for the double underhook but Skater gets out of it and hits a superkick. She tags Matsumoto, she trades elbows with Shirai before decking her with a sliding lariat. Matsumoto picks up Shirai, Shirai goes for a hurricanrana but Matsumoto catches her and applies a crab hold. Matsumoto goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a reverse double knee splash, but Iwatani breaks up the cover. Matsumoto goes for a backdrop suplex but Shirai lands on her feet, Matsumoto snaps Shirai’s neck over the top rope but Matsumoto is grabbed from the apron. Shirai goes for a baseball slide but hits Hojo by accident and the wrestlers tumble out of the ring. Iwatani goes up top and hits a diving crossbody to the floor onto Matsumoto and Skater, Shirai slides Matsumoto back in the ring and hits a swandive missile dropkick.

Another dropkick by Shirai and she covers Matsumoto for two. Shirai tags Hojo and she hits a diving elbow smash, but Skater breaks up the cover. Hojo chops Matsumoto but Matsumoto hits a shoulderblock. Big spear by Hojo and she hits a footstomp, she goes up top but Skater runs in and elbows her. Matsumoto goes up top with Hojo and hits a superplex, Matsumoto tags in Evie and Evie kicks Hojo in the back before covering her for two. She tags Skater and Skater throws Hojo into the corner before Evie hits a big boot. Buzzsaw kick by Skater and she hits a front flip neckbreaker on Hojo for a two count. Iwatani comes in and dropkicks Skater, Shirai comes in but Matsumoto crushes her with a lariat. Hojo and Skater trade strikes, high kick by Skater but she eats a triple dropkick. Spike Piledriver to Skater, but Matsumoto breaks up the pinfall. Hojo picks up Skater and goes for a Sliding D, but Skater reverses it into a crucifix pin for two. Matsumoto and Evie come in with streamer guns, but Hojo ducks and they all end up shooting each other. Spear Dropkick by Iwatani in the corner on Skater, Hojo then goes up top and she nails the Diving Elbow Drop. Cover by Hojo, and she gets the three count! Hojo, Iwatani, and Shirai are your new champions!

Probably the best Artist of Stardom Championship match I have ever seen. Usually, this championship has as much silliness as anything, and while there was still a bit of that here it was a much more serious match than I was expecting. Both teams work incredibly well together as they been either teams or enemies for a long time, everything was smooth and nothing seemed extra or wasted. The match style was more crazy six wrestler sprint than anything else, it was about which wrestler got isolated first and pinning them before their teammates could recover in time to break it up. While I still prefer a quality singles match to a wild six wrestler tag, this was a great match with six high caliber wrestlers, a must for fans of Stardom or really of wrestling in general. Highly Recommended

The post Stardom vs. World Selection #3 on 2/28/16 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Stardom records all their shows, even ones that are not scheduled to be televised, so even though this was shot from a ringside camera we still get the pleasure of watching it. This event did have a big title match, as Thunder Rock take on Kaitlin Diemond and Viper for the Goddesses of Stardom Championship. We also get Evie and Kellie Skater in singles matches as well.  Here is the complete card:

• Evie vs. Haruka Kato
• Kaori Yoneyama vs. Kellie Skater
• Chelsea Green and Santana Garrett vs. Hiromi Mimura and Kairi Hojo
• Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Jungle Kyouna
• Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani vs. Kaitlin Diemond and Viper

The good part of this being shot at ringside and not for TV is there is no clipping, every match will be shown in full.

Evie vs. Haruka Kato

Evie works a headlock to start, Kato turns it into a hammerlock but Evie reverses it. Evie rolls around the ring while Kato looks confused, they trade trips until Kato gets the cross armbreaker applied but Evie quickly got out of it. Evie and Kato trade elbows, kicks by Evie and she drills Kato in the back before covering her for two. Evie chokes Kato in the corner and kicks her some more, Kato goes for the armbreaker but Evie blocks it and slams Kato to the mat. Chinlock by Evie but Kato gets out of it and hits a face crusher. Evie comes back with a side slam onto her knee, she throws Kato in the corner but Kato avoids the big boot and applies an armbreaker over the top rope. Diving crossbody by Kato, she picks up Evie but Evie sneaks in an inside cradle. Facebuster by Evie, and she covers Kato for a two count. Satellite roll-up by Kato and she applies the cross armbreaker, but Evie gets a foot on the ropes. Evie throws Kato into the corner and hits a running big boot, Evie picks up Kato and she delivers the TTYL for a three count! Evie wins!

This was a decent and straight-forward opener. I like Kato, but she is limited, all of her matches are pretty similar. She really only has a handful of moves and tends to do them all in every match, so it is generally up to her opponent to make the match special. Evie was good here but there just wasn’t enough time for her to do too much before she quickly picked up the win after hitting two of her signature moves. Perfectly watchable but not much more than that.

Kaori Yoneyama vs. Kellie Skater

Yoneyama pushes Skater into the corner, she tosses her to the other side but Skater kicks her back. Armdrag by Skater but Yoneyama returns the favor and they return to their feet. Full nelson by Skater and she gets Yoneyama to the mat, but Yoneyama applies a leg lock. Muta Lock by Yoneyama but Skater gets into the ropes and forces a break. Yoneyama puts Skater in a bodyscissors  but Skater gets out of it, Yoneyama grabs Skater by the hair and flings her across the ring. She does it again before pounding on Skater near the ropes, Skater fires back with a boot but Yoneyama hits an elbow in the corner. They trade shots, kicks to the leg by Skater but Yoneyama chops her in the throat. Kick to the chest by Skater, Yoneyama bridges out of the pin and hits a jumping crossbody for two. Northern Lights Suplex by Yoneyama for another two count, back up Skater kicks Yoneyama and hits a PK for a two count of her own. Bodyslam by Skater and she hits an elbow drop, Skater puts Yoneyama in a cross armbreaker but Yoneyama, Yoneyama gets Skater in the ropes and hits a knee to the back of the head. Another knee by Yoneyama and she sneaks in a school boy for two. They trade quick pin attempts with no luck, DDT by Skater and she hits a Buzzsaw Kick for a two count. Skater throws Yoneyama in the corner, Yoneyama bounces off the ropes and she applies a reverse sunset flip for the three count! Yoneyama is your winner.

I wish the match had more substance but I enjoyed what they did. Skater is one of my guilty pleasures, she hasn’t put on many ‘classics’ but has so much energy and I love a good striker. Yoneyama has been around the block so everything she does is really fluid. A lot more basic than I was hoping and what they are capable of but a decent mid-card match anyway.

Chelsea Green and Santana Garrett vs. Hiromi Mimura and Kairi Hojo

Mimura and Green begin the match, Mimura stomps on Green’s foot and goes for a roll-up, but Green throws her to the mat and gets a quick cover. They tag out, Garrett and Hojo shove each other back and forth, elbows by Hojo but Garrett trips her and kicks Hojo in the chest. Garrett flips away from Hojo and hits a Space Rolling Elbow, she puts Hojo in the ropes and Green assists from the apron. Garrett rolls on Hojo and applies a Camel Clutch, but Mimura comes in and breaks it up. Garrett elbows Mimura before going for Hojo’s arm, she tags in Green  but Hojo avoids Green’s boot and delivers a spear. This gives her time to tag Mimura, Mimura attacks Green with elbows but Garrett comes in to help. Mimura knocks down Garrett and rolls up Green, but it only gets two. Mimura throws both opponents in the corner, Hojo returns and she hits a catapult elbow smash in the corner. Dropkick by Mimura to Green, but the cover gets two. Green has had enough and slams Mimura, heel kick by Green and she covers Mimura for a two count. Lariat by Green but Mimura lands by her corner and tags in Hojo.

Hojo chops Green into the corner an hits a running shoulder tackle followed by a front flip neckbreaker for two. Cross arm submission by Hojo but Garrett breaks it up, elbows by Green to Hojo and she hits a heel kick. Green goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick for a two count. Green tags Garrett, side Russian leg sweep by Garrett to Hojo and she applies a rolling Muta Lock. Mimura breaks it up, Hojo picks up Garrett and hits an elbow Final Cut, but Garrett blocks the Sliding D. Garrett goes for the Shining Star Press but Hojo grabs her leg and hits a spinning backhand slap.  Garrett comes back with a kick and both wrestlers fall to the mat, Hojo recovers first and tags Mimura, Mimura elbows Garrett as Hojo goes up top and hits a diving elbow smash. La Magistral by Mimura, but Green breaks up the cover. Elbows by Mimura but Garrett ducks a lariat and hits a fisherman suplex hold for two. Green comes in and they both kick Mimura, but Mimura barely gets a shoulder up. Hojo comes in but Garrett superkicks her, Mimura sneaks in a small package but it gets a two count. Garrett catches Mimura off the ropes and slams her to the mat, Shining Star Press by Garrett and she gets the three count! Green and Garrett win the match.

A fun match, I thought that both teams worked together well and the Stardom team in particular stood out. Green is still honing her craft so to speak, a few parts didn’t look smooth, but nothing terrible and the close camera isn’t doing them any favors in that regard as every little mistake is clear. Mimura is quickly becoming my favorite Stardom rookie, she has more of a ceiling than Kyouna but she has the personality to fit in well and if she sticks with it she may find the most success in the long run. Overall a solid effort by all four and worth a casual watch for sure.  Mildly Recommended

Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Jungle Kyouna

Kyouna goes on the attack immediately, she tries to shoulderblock the veteran down but is unable to do so. Headlock takedown by Matsumoto, they return to their feet and lock knuckles before trading wristlocks. Matsumoto bites Kyouna’s arm and stomps on her, elbows by Matsumoto and she dropkicks Kyouna for a two count. Matsumoto beats on Kyouna as Kyouna tries to fight back, backbreaker by Matsumoto and she covers Kyouna for two. Matsumoto puts Kyouna in the corner across the ropes and hits a body avalanche, she covers Kyouna again but the rookie kicks out. Matsumoto goes for a piledriver but Kyouna blocks it and hits a back bodydrop. Kyouna throws Matsumoto in the corner and hits a body avalanche, powerslam by Kyouna but the covers gets two. Kyouna goes up top and hits a diving body press, she picks up Matsumoto but Matsumoto catches her with a lariat. They trade lariats without going down until Matsumoto floors Kyouna first, she goes off the ropes and they go back and forth with slaps and elbows. Kyouna knocks down Matsumoto with a lariat, she goes to run off the ropes but Matsumoto grabs her. Backdrop suplex by Matsumoto, but Kyouna gets a shoulder up. Sliding lariat by Matsumoto and she puts Kyouna in an elevated crab hold. Kyouna crawls to the ropes and finally reaches them, Matsumoto gets on the second turnbuckle and she hits a Reverse Diving Double Knee Drop for the three count! Hiroyo Matsumoto wins.

There was a lot to like here, my only real complaint is the match started really slow. The part where Matsumoto was just stomping Kyouna went just a bit long, the match lagged for a few minutes prior to Kyouna’s comeback with the back bodydrop. From then on the match was really good, I thought that Matsumoto would give Kyouna a lot and I was right, with Kyouna even winning a few of the strike battles which is really rare in rookie matches. I liked Matsumoto immediately finishing Kyouna after the crab hold didn’t work, Kyouna was able to escape the way that rookies typically lose but was too hurt to do anything else afterwards. So often we see a ‘hope’ spot there that I liked them doing something different. This would have been an upper tier ‘rookie match’ if it hadn’t slowed down for a few minutes, but overall still a fun battle.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Thunder Rock (Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani) vs. Kaitlin Diemond and Viper

The first two in the match are Iwatani and Diemond, Iwatani pops Diemond in the head repeatedly before hitting an armdrag, but Diemond quickly rolls back to her feet. Shirai and Viper tag in, Viper tosses Shirai around the ring and drives her into the corner, but Shirai avoids her charge when she runs in. Dropkick by Shirai and she tags Iwatani, both attack Viper in the corner before applying armbars and posing. Viper has none of that and shoves them off, Diemond comes in and they hit a double elbow drop before throwing Iwatani onto Shirai. Shirai falls out of the ring but Viper goes out after her and slams her into the apron, while Diemond and Iwatani battle in the ring. Backbreaker by Diemond and she tags Viper, running body press by Viper to Iwatani and she gets two. Yasukawa gets on the apron and all three squish Iwatani in the ropes, in the ring Viper and Diemond charge Iwatani but Iwatani moves out of the way. Viper picks up Iwatani but Shirai dropkicks Iwatani to help tip over Viper, giving Iwatani time to tag Shirai. Diemond stays in but Shirai does a cartwheel and dropkicks both of them, Shirai drop toeholds Viper onto Diemond and covers Diemond for two. Shirai elbows Diemond but Diemond boots her in the face, Shirai hits the Tiger Feint Kick followed by the swandive missile dropkick for two. Iwatani is tagged in, she elbows Diemond and hits a Northern Lights Suplex for two. Iwatani jumps at Diemond but Diemond catches her and hits a back bodydrop.

Diemond tags Viper, Viper pounds on Iwatani but Iwatani sneaks in a school boy for two. Big shoulderblock by Viper and she hits a jumping crossbody to Iwatani’s head. Argentine Backbreaker by Viper, Shirai tries to help but fails, leaving Iwatani to get out of the hold herself. Footstomp by Iwatani and she tags Shirai, Shirai goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, she goes for a German suplex but Viper blocks it. Sleeper by Shirai but Viper gets into the ropes and throws Shirai off.  Running senton by Viper, she gets Shirai on her shoulders and hits an electric chair slam for a two count when Iwatani breaks it up. Diemond comes in too and they suplex their opponents, Viper gets on the second turnbuckle but Shirai avoids the Reverse Splash. Dropkick by Shirai and she kicks Viper in the head, running double knee by Shirai in the corner but she hurts her knee, giving Viper time to tag Diemond. Diemond hits a side slam on Shirai, she picks her up and hits a hard elbow for a two count. Double chokeslam to Shirai, Diemond holds Shirai for Viper but Viper hits Diemond on accident. Viper flattens Shirai, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Iwatani hits her from the apron. Shirai joins Viper and hits a Frankensteiner, Shirai and Iwatani get up on the same turnbuckle and hit a double missile dropkick. Diemond returns, Iwatani goes up top and with Shirai they nail the spike piledriver. Yasukawa tries to spit Sake into Shirai’s face, but Shirai ducks and she hits Diemond by accident. Package German Suplex by Shirai, and she gets the three count! Thunder Rock retain the championship.

I really liked this one, a quality championship match with lots of back and forth action. Stardom does sometimes have titles change hands on small events like this so it wasn’t a foregone confusion which team was winning, leading to the crowd staying into it throughout. Iwatani and Shirai are two of the best women wrestlers in the world as far as entertainment value goes, they are so high energy and Iwatani sells like a demon so everything done to her looks really painful. The ringside camera was fine, we didn’t miss any of the action and it made the moves feel even more impactful. A fun match and worth watching, it wasn’t an instant classic but a solid and entertaining match from bell to bell.  Recommended

The post Stardom 5th Anniversary Day 4 on 2/12/16 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

At the last televised event for Stardom, the “World” team defeated the Stardom team in the main event which led to another skirmish here today at Korakuen Hall. Multiple titles are on the line for this big event, including all three of Stardom’s singles titles. Here is the complete card:

• Azumi, Haruka Kato, and Kaori Yoneyama vs. Maki Natsumi, Saori Anou, and Starlight Kid
• Chelsea Green vs. Hiromi Mimura
• Cat Power vs. Momo Watanabe
• Jungle Kyouna vs. Kellie Skater
• Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Kaitlin Diamond
• High Speed Championship: Mayu Iwatani vs. Evie
• Wonder of Stardom Championship: Santana Garrett vs. Kairi Hojo
• World of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai vs. Viper

Some of these matches will be really clipped as eight matches is a ridiculous amount for a two hour televised show, but the main matches will likely all be shown in full or really close to it. Let’s get started.

Azumi, Haruka Kato, and Kaori Yoneyama vs. Maki Natsumi, Saori Anou, and Starlight Kid

Azumi and Starlight Kid kick things off, they bounce off the ropes a bunch and both go for dropkicks with no luck. Azumi dropkicks Starlight Kid from behind so she tags in Natsumi, Natsumi works the arm of Azumi, but Azumi reverses it. Yoneyama and Kato come into the ring and triple team Natsumi, Yoneyama stays in the ring but Natsumi flips her to the mat. Spinning headscissors by Natsumi and she tags in Starlight Kid, she tosses Yoneyama to the mat before tagging in Anou. Anou tries the same but Yoneyama blocks it, Anou gets Yoneyama to the mat and applies a bridging leg lock while Starlight Kid and Natsumi pose nearby. Kato and Azumi run in to help, we clip ahead in the match to Starlight Kid dropkicking Yoneyama. La Magistral by Azumi to Starlight Kid, she kicks out, but Azumi quickly applies a rolling foot cradle for the three count! Azumi, Kato, and Yoneyama win the match.

They actually showed a bit more of this match than I was expecting, but still not a lot was shown. It was fun seeing the Actress girl’Z wrestlers though, always enjoyable to see some new younger wrestlers. Not enough substance here to get a good feel of the match but what they showed was fine.

Chelsea Green vs. Hiromi Mimura

Mimura attacks Green with elbows but Green withstands them and takes her to the mat. Mimura stomps on Green’s foot and jumps on her back to apply a sleeper, but Green flings her off. Mimura tries a few quick pins with no luck, knee by Green and she stomps Mimura in the chest. Jumping double footstomp by Green and she covers Mimura for three! Chelsea Green wins!

Not a whole lot to this, it was a short match that was clipped even further. Mimura never had any chance of winning as her flash pins weren’t having any luck, and Green won the match really easily (or they clipped the build-up). The finish didn’t look great and overall it was pretty lackluster.

Cat Power vs. Momo Watanabe

Cat Power looks really different, I am just assuming it is her since that is what the match listing says. Watanabe tries working on Cat Power’s arm but Cat Power shrugs it off, Watanabe goes for a dropkick but Cat Power swats it away. Cat Power stomps on Watanabe’s head and hits a lariat, she puts Watanabe in a Texas Cloverleaf but Watanabe gets to the ropes. Anaconda Buster by Cat Power, she picks up Watanabe and hits a lariat in the corner. Cat Power throws Watanabe in the corner but Watanabe jumps up in the corner and hits a missile dropkick. Somato by Watanabe, but Cat Power kicks out of the cover. Knee by Cat Power and she throws Watanabe hard into the corner. Hurricane Driver by Cat Power, and she picks up the three count! Cat Power is your winner.

Like the last few (and probably the next few) this was a basic match, it only went six minutes but was clipped down further than that. If Watanabe has a new attitude she didn’t get a chance to display it here as Cat Power was simply too much for her. Cat Power being on a Stardom show surprised me as normally she Freelancers elsewhere, it will be interesting to see if this leads to a longer stay or they just needed a Gaijin to beat a young Stardom wrestler. I thought Cat Power looked impressive here but too small a sample size to get excited about.

Jungle Kyouna vs. Kellie Skater

We join this one in progress as Kyouna throws Skater into the corner before hitting a face crusher. Camel clutch by Kyouna but Skater gets out of it and applies an ankle hold. Skater stomps on Kyouna and kicks her repeatedly, knee by Skater in the corner and she covers Kyouna for two. Kyouna blocks a slam and hits a back bodydrop, powerslam by Kyouna but it gets two. Kyouna goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a diving body press, but Skater kicks out again. Kyouna goes all the way up this time but this time Skater is up and tosses her to the mat. Leg drop by Skater, she picks up Kyouna and nails a kick to the head. Skater picks up Kyouna but Kyouna pushes her off and hits a lariat. Kyouna goes off the ropes but Skater connects with a superkick, Cross Arm Russian Leg Sweep by Skater and she gets the three count! Kellie Skater is the winner.

Kyouna did get in a bit of offense here or there but it still never reached the point that it felt like she may win. Skater looked good as she always does, but the match was a bit clipped so it was a bit disjointed. I did like Kyouna hitting some of her moves, this was certainly not a squash as she got in quite a bit of offense, but Skater was always ready to kick her in the head when needed. The best match of the card so far and above average overall, but due to its length not something worth going out of your way to see.

Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Kaitlin Diamond

They start with a test of strength, Matsumoto gets the better of it and she shoulderblocks Diamond to the mat. Diamond comes back with a choke but Matsumoto elbows her and tosses her in the corner. Diamond throws the referee at Matsumoto and chokes her with a shirt, side Russian leg sweep by Diamond and Act helps her choke Matsumoto in the ropes. Matsumoto snaps Diamond’s neck on the to rope, Act pours sake on her but Matsumoto spits the sake back at Act. Matsumoto gets Diamond up in the Argentine Backbreaker before slamming her to the mat, cover by Matsumoto but it gets two. Matsumoto gets on the second turnbuckle but Diamond gets her knees up on the Reverse Splash attempt. Diamond picks up Matsumoto but Matsumoto elbows her off and hits a release German suplex. Diamond blocks the lariat and hits a side slam, she picks up Matsumoto but Matsumoto gets away and hits an elbow. Matsumoto gets Diamond up and powerbombs her into the corner, backdrop suplex by Matsumoto and she gets the three count! Hiroyo Matsumoto wins!

Clipping hurt this match too as the middle portion was missing, which is a shame as it looked it like had potential. Matsumoto is a solid veteran that very rarely has bad matches, and everything that we saw looked tight, especially the backdrop suplex at the end. Plus it is always a pleasure to see Act Yasukawa. I can’t with a clear conscious recommend a match that only six minutes was shown of but nothing bad here.

(c) Mayu Iwatani vs. Evie

After starting with wristlocks and rope running with neither getting the upper hand, they go back and forth until Evie flips Iwatani out to the apron and Iwatani does a split legged armdrag to return to the ring. Dropkick by Iwatani but Evie connects with a couple kicks and applies a stretch hold. Iwatani gets to the ropes but Evie slaps on a crab hold, Evie picks up Iwatani and Iwatani goes for a springboard move, but Evie kicks her in the head to block it. Evie gets on the apron and knees Iwatani in the head until Iwatani also falls onto the apron. Evie picks up Iwatani and slams her on the apron, sending Iwatani down to the floor. Evie slides Iwatani back into the ring and throws her into the corner, she sets up Iwatani across the ropes and hits a series of kicks before slamming Iwatani onto her knee for a two count. Evie charges Iwatani but Iwatani avoids the big boot and hits a high kick followed by a diving footstomp to the back.

Iwatani picks up Evie, Evie gets away but Iwatani still hits a Northern Lights Suplex. Iwatani goes off the ropes but Evie hits a side slam onto her knee, Evie goes up top but Iwatani recovers and joins her. Iwatani suplexes Evie back into the ring, she gets on the second turnbuckle and she hits a missile dropkick. Iwatani goes up top herself and delivers the diving footstomp, she picks up Evie but Evie blocks the dragon suplex. High kick by Evie and she hits a trio of big boots in the corner, cover by Evie but Iwatani gets a shoulder up. Evie picks up Iwatani but Iwatani slides away and sneaks in a sunset flip for two. They both miss high kicks but Iwatani connects with one and hits a hurricanrana for a two count. Superkick by Iwatani and she hits two more as Evie is on her knee. Buzzsaw Kick by Iwatani, she picks up Evie and nails the dragon suplex hold for a three count! Iwatani retains her High Speed Championship.

This was a condensed but very entertaining match. It was brutal (in a good way) without going over the top with it, there were some really stiff strikes from both but it never went into excess to make the viewer start to squirm. There was really no downtime here, it was just a fierce sprint, and Evie was really impressive as she held her own against Iwatani from start to finish. I wish it was a bit longer as they had great chemistry, a really fun back and forth match that is definitely worth a watch.  Highly Recommended

(c) Santana Garrett vs. Kairi Hojo

Hojo wastes no time as she attacks Garrett from behind, elbows by Hojo but Garrett elbows her back. We jump ahead just a little bit as Garrett goes for a sunset flip, but Hojo kicks out. Big spear by Hojo, Garrett falls out of the ring and Hojo hits a jumping forearm off the apron. Back in the ring Hojo jumps down on Garrett’s back, she goes up top and hits a diving forearm smash for a two count cover. Chops by Hojo in the corner and she heel drops Garrett in the back for another two. Stretch hold by Hojo and she throws Garrett in the corner, she goes for a forearm but Garrett slides to the apron and rams Hojo into the turnbuckles. Diving armdrag by Garrett and she hits a side Russian leg sweep for a two count. Space Rolling Elbow by Garrett and she thrust kicks Hojo out of the ring to the floor. Garrett goes off the ropes and dives out onto Hojo and others with a big tope suicida! Garrett boots Hojo after sliding her into the ring and applies an armbar over the second rope before finally returning to the ring herself. Garrett rolls onto Hojo and applies a stretch hold, Garrett releases he hold after a moment but stomping Hojo into the mat.

Garrett kicks Hojo in the arm but Hojo fights back with elbows, Hojo trips Garrett and she puts her in a crab hold, but Garrett makes it to the ropes. Hojo drags her to the middle of the ring but Garrett quickly rolls her up for a two count. Garrett snaps Hojo’s arm and hits a snap suplex, she goes for the Shining Star Press but Hojo rolls out of the way. Back up they go back and forth with elbows until Hojo hits a modified Final Cut. Hojo goes up top but Garrett recovers and goes for a headscissors. Hojo blocks that however, she knocks Garrett so she is hanging from the top rope before hitting a jumping double footstomp to her chest. Cover by Hojo, but Garrett gets a shoulder up. Hojo goes off the ropes and dropkicks Garrett in the back, Sliding D by Hojo but again Garrett kicks out. Hojo puts Garrett in the cross legged crab hold but releases it after a moment, she goes up top and she delivers a diving elbow drop to Garrett’s back. She goes up top again after turning Garrett over, but this time Garrett rolls out of the way. Hojo goes for a spinning back chop but Garrett ducks it and kicks Hojo in the head. Shining Star Press by Garrett, but Hojo barely kicks out before the three count. Garrett kicks Hojo, she gets Hojo in a sunset flip and applies a rolling cradle into a three count cover! Garrett wins the match and retains the Wonder of Stardom Championship.

A solid match with great effort shown by both. They weren’t as fluid as many Stardom pairings as Garrett doesn’t wrestle in Stardom as much, but they stayed focused on what their target areas were and there weren’t any noticeable miscues. It is interesting that both title matches Garrett has had in Stardom she has won with a roll-up or a cradle of sorts, not a bad thing but does give the impressive her normal ‘finishing’ moves aren’t effective against the top tier in Stardom. Poor Hojo, she put up a fight here and got everything in until missing the second diving elbow drop and it was over for her. I am not sure how much longer her losing streak will continue but the crowd is still behind her so no harm done yet. A step down from the last match but still quite good.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Io Shirai vs. Viper

Viper won’t shake Shirai’s hand before the match, once the match starts she tosses Shirai into the ropes before flinging her to the mat. Body press by Viper and Shirai rolls out of the ring to try to recover. She rolls back in and goes for a suplex, but Viper blocks it, Viper chases Shirai around the ring but Shirai moves and hits a drop toehold. Dropkick by Shirai, Viper falls out of the ring but she catches Shirai when she goes for an Asai Moonsault. Viper throws Shirai into the ring post, she takes Shirai up into the bleachers and puts her in a backbreaker. Viper brings Shirai back to the ringside and throws her into the ring post before sliding Shirai in the ring.  Viper, Diamond, and Yasukawa all attack Shirai on the apron, Viper picks up Shirai but Shirai cartwheels away from her and hits a dropkick. Shirai charges Viper but Viper hits a crossbody followed by a senton for a two count. Viper charges Shirai in the corner but Shirai slides out to the apron and hits a missile dropkick. Shirai goes for a sunset flip, Viper blocks it but Shirai slides away and hits another dropkick for two. Somato by Shirai and she puts Viper in an armtrap crossface, but Viper gets to the ropes.

Tiger Feint Kick by Shirai and she hits a swandive missile dropkick, she picks up Viper but Viper blocks the German suplex hold. Shirai goes for a backdrop suplex but Viper lands on top of her, she goes off the ropes and hits a bodypress for a two count cover. Viper charges Shirai but Shirai hits a hurricanrana for a two count. Buzzsaw Kick by Shirai, they slowly get up as they trade elbows, a battle which Viper easily wins. Michinoku Driver by Viper, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Shirai is up and hits a palm strike. Shirai joins Viper up top and hits a Frankensteiner, and Viper rolls out of the ring. Shirai sails out of the ring with a moonsault off the top turnbuckle, she slides Viper back in and delivers the Ryder Kick, but Viper doesn’t go down. Shirai elbows Viper and she slaps her repeatedly, Shirai goes up top but Viper grabs her from behind. Shirai slides away and kicks Viper, but Viper hits a big lariat. Viper picks up Shirai and hits an electric chair slam, cover by Viper but Shirai gets a shoulder up. Viper gets on the second turnbuckle and hits the Reverse Splash, but Shirai gets an arm in the ropes. Viper goes all the way up top but Shirai avoids the body press, uppercut by Shirai and she hits a German suplex hold for a two count. Shirai goes up top and hits a moonsault to Viper’s back, she goes up top again and hits another moonsault for the three count cover! Shirai wins and is still the World of Stardom Champion.

I liked this match more than I thought I would based on their past interactions, Viper has seemed solid in Stardom but I had not seen her in a longer singles match yet. Those fears were unnecessary as nothing lagged here and everything flowed well. This was pretty brutal as Viper was bleeding from the nose from Lord knows what, I didn’t re-watch it to find out but any of the hard strikes could have done it. It was what you’d expect along the smaller faster wrestler vs. bigger stronger wrestler theme, and even the moonsaults at the end were rougher than usual as Shirai landed both times with her knees onto Viper. A really solid defense by Shirai, the outside the ring action probably wasn’t needed and Shirai’s comebacks can be head tilting sometimes but overall I really enjoyed it.  Recommended

The post Stardom vs. World Selection #2 on February 21, 2016 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Another Stardom event has aired, which of course means I am going to review it promptly since they are one of my favorite promotions in the world. Even though this event has five matches, it is in essence a one match card. There are no titles on the line here, but the main event sees Stardom take on gaijins from everywhere in a big 5 vs. 5 elimination tag team match. This is “Survivor Series” style, not 1 vs. 1 style like what we saw in Sendai Girls’ back in October, but you can also eliminate your opponent by throwing them over the top rope. Here is the full card:

• Azumi vs. Kaori Yoneyama
• Haruka Kato vs. Starlight Kid
• Hiromi Mimura vs. Kaitlin Diamond
• Alex Lee vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto
• Stardom vs. World Elimination Tag: Team Stardom (Io Shirai, Jungle Kyouna, Kairi Hojo, Mayu Iwatani, and Momo Watanabe) vs. World Selection (Chelsea Green, Evie, Kellie Skater, Santana Garrett, and Viper)

To make the review complete of course I am going to review all the matches, but none of the first four matches even went more than eight minutes and are mostly rookie/basic style since all the main players are in the main event.

Azumi vs. Kaori Yoneyama

Azumi dropkicks Yoneyama before the match starts and stomps on her, but Yoneyama quickly turns the tide and tosses Azumi to the mat. Sleeper by Yoneyama, she picks up Azumi and hits a scoop slam. Yoneyama throws Azumi in the corner and hits a knee, she charges Azumi again but Azumi moves and hits a dropkick. Elbows by Azumi but Yoneyama blocks the crossbody. Dropkick by Azumi and she hits a satellite into a sunset flip for a two count. She goes for another one but Yoneyama blocks it and slams Azumi to the ground. Running senton by Yoneyama and she picks up the three count! Yoneyama wins the match.

There isn’t a hell of a lot to say about this match, it was under five minutes long and neither got much of a chance to do a whole lot. Yoneyama put Azumi away pretty easy even by opening match standards. Just filler, nothing more.

Haruka Kato vs. Starlight Kid

Starlight Kid charges Kato to start the match and hits a dropkick, another dropkick by Starlight Kid and she connects with a third. Kato has had enough and kicks Starlight Kid, she starts on the arm and gets an armbreaker applied, but Starlight Kid gets a foot on the ropes. Seated armbar by Kato and she hits a scoop slam, covering Starlight Kid for two. Kato works a headlock but Starlight Kid gets out of it and hits a standing moonsault. She picks up Kato and hits a scoop slam, Starlight Kid goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a diving body press for a two count. Shiranui by Starlight Kid, but again Kato kicks out. Starlight Kid applies a sunset flip but Kato reverses it, Kato and Starlight Kid trade elbows but Kato gets Starlight Kid to the mat and goes for the arm again. Cross armbreaker by Kato in the middle of the ring, and Starlight Kid taps out! Haruka Kato is your winner.

I liked this one better, as at least Starlight Kid did get in some legitimate offense, including the standing moonsault and the Shiranui. Everyone knew that Kato was winning with an armbreaker, no surprises there, but it wouldn’t have been near as fun to watch if Starlight Kid didn’t get a chance to do anything. Still nothing to get excited about, however it was at least somewhat satisfying and I think Starlight Kid has a bright future as a spunky undersized underdog.

Hiromi Mimura vs. Kaitlin Diamond

Diamond attacks Mimura while she is trying to be cute, she throws Mimura out of the ring and then dances with Mimura’s streamers. That is just cold. Act Yasukawa supervises while Diamond beats Mimura around the floor, they return to the ring and Mimura connects with a few elbows. Dropkick by Mimura and she goes for a bodyscissors, but Diamond slams her to the mat. Backbreaker by Diamond, she puts Mimura in the ropes and Yasukawa pours sake on her. Punches by Diamond but Mimura slides away and lariats her in the back of the head. Rolling leglock by Mimura and she slams Diamond’s knee into the mat, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Yasukawa runs in. Mimura hits a crossbody on Yasukawa instead, Diamond grabs her and hits a swinging backbreaker for a two count. Mimura sneaks in a roll-up for two followed by a La Magistral, she goes for another roll-up but Diamond catches her with a modified jawbreaker for a two count. Crossface by Diamond, and Mimura taps out! Diamond wins the match!

I wish that Mimura would have gotten a bit more of a chance here as I like her quite a bit, but when a match is under five minutes long it is hard to get much of a chance to shine. Diamond looked fine here and I liked seeing Yasukawa still mix it up, but just not enough here to get excited about.

 
Alex Lee vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto

Lee dropkicks Matsumoto to kick things off, for some reason Matsumoto poses on the apron and Lee kicks her in the back of the head. Matsumoto swats Lee away and his a double knee drop before choking Lee in the corner. Matsumoto catches Lee’s kick and pushes her to the mat before applying a crab hold, but Lee gets to the ropes to force the break. Matsumoto charges Lee but Lee moves, kicks by Lee and she hits a jumping knee in the corner. Suplex by Lee, she goes up top but Matsumoto rolls out to the apron. Matsumoto grabs Lee and walks her over to the ramp, but Lee slides off her back. Body avalanche by Matsumoto against the ropes, she goes for a powerbomb on the stage but Lee reverses it into a back bodydrop. Back in the ring, superkick by Lee and she picks up a two count. She goes for a piledriver but Matsumoto blocks it, Matsumoto goes for a backdrop suplex but Lee elbows out of it. Matsumoto blocks the chokebomb but Lee connects with the superkick, chokebomb by Lee and she goes up top, but Matsumoto avoids the diving footstomp. Spinning elbow by Matsumoto and she hits a German suplex, lariat by Matsumoto and she delivers the backdrop suplex for the three count! Your winner is Hiroyo Matsumoto.

This match was short but still felt like it dragged which is never a good thing. I don’t think Lee is a bad wrestler, she is clearly trained but a lot of what she does just doesn’t feel natural. While some wrestlers are quick to adapt, Lee at times looks like she is still feeling things out, if it ever really clicks is anyone’s guess. So a few sections didn’t look quite right, the one thing I did like about the match is the decisive ending. Lee had her chances to win but once Matsumoto took over, it was bang-bang-bang dead. I like matches that have a sense of finality to them. So that was a plus, but otherwise just an average match.

 
Team Stardom (Io Shirai, Jungle Kyouna, Kairi Hojo, Mayu Iwatani, and Momo Watanabe) vs. World Selection (Chelsea Green, Evie, Kellie Skater, Santana Garrett, and Viper)

Kyouna and Green begin the match for their teams but after trading quick pin attempts they tag out as Evie and Hojo enter the ring. Evie goes for roll-ups on Hojo with no luck so they next two come in, Garrett and Shirai. Shirai and Garrett trade elbows, hurricanrana by Garrett but Shirai throws her out to the apron. Garrett kicks Shirai back and returns to the ring with a bulldog but Shirai tosses her to the mat. Skater and Iwatani are tagged in, spinning headscissors by Iwatani but Skater hits a springboard armdrag. Viper and Watanabe then come in (noticing a pattern?), with Viper having little issue with the smaller Watanabe. Team Stardom all enter the ring and attack Viper in the corner and they do the ten wrestler suplex spot, with World Selection getting the better of it.

Viper goes back to pounding on Watanabe before tagging in Garrett, and Garrett hits a side Russian leg sweep. Green takes her turn next, then Skater as Watanabe continues to be attacked, until she manages to dropkick Skater and tags in Kyouna. Green comes in to help but Kyouna escapes them both and shoulderblocks Green. Kyouna picks up Skater and hits a back bodydrop, Skater tags in Viper but Kyouna manages to avoid Viper as she charges her around the ring. Viper finally catches Kyouna with a lariat, the rest of Team Stardom runs in but Viper body bumps them all to the mat. Team Stardom are all put lying on the mat, and Team Selection takes turns hitting jumping body presses on all of them. Viper picks up Kyouna and slams her to the mat, body press by Viper and she picks up the three count! Kyouna is eliminated, the match is now World Selection – 5, Team Stardom – 4.

Watanabe and Garrett enter the ring, kicks by Garrett and she applies La Magistral for a two count. Watanabe hits a diving crossbody off the second turnbuckle and hits a snap vertical suplex for two. DDT by Watanabe, she gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick. Watanabe picks up Garrett but Garrett kicks her twice in the face for a two count. Iwatani and Shirai go up top to try to help, but Viper comes in and throws them off. Viper smashes them in the corner, then Skater and Evie both kick Watanabe. Shining Star Press by Garrett to Watanabe, and she gets the three count! Watanabe is eliminated, and now it is World Selection – 5, Team Stardom – 3.

Hojo comes in and Garrett tags in Green, jumping lariat by Green and she delivers a high kick for a two count. Cross-arm submission by Green, she goes up top and hits a missile dropkick to Hojo’s stomach. Shirai and Iwatani break up the cover, Skater and Evie come in but Hojo moves when they all charge in. Missile dropkicks by Iwatani and Shirai, and they catapult Iwatani into Green with a dropkick. Hojo goes up top and nails the diving elbow drop to the head of Green, picking up the three count cover! Green is eliminated, and it is World Selection – 4, Team Stardom – 3.

Hojo and Garrett trade elbows, both end up on the mat and they crawl to the corners to tag in Shirai and Skater. Skater kicks Shirai and she hits a DDT. Back kick by Skater, she picks up Shirai and throws her into the corner. Sliding lariat by Skater, but the cover is broken up. Skater picks up Shirai but Shirai lands on her feet on the suplex attempt. Shirai dumps Skater onto the apron, Evie and Garrett run in but so does Hojo. Hojo spears Evie and Garrett, Viper comes in as Iwatani does but Viper is dropped by a triple dropkick. Spike Piledriver to Skater by Iwatani and Shirai, Shirai picks up Skater and hits a package German suplex hold for the three count! Skater is eliminated, and we are tied 3 – 3.

Iwatani and Evie trade kick attempts, Iwatani grabs Evie’s arm but Evie knocks her out to the apron. Viper comes in but Shirai jumps on her back with a sleeper while Garrett suplexes Hojo.  Garrett goes for the Shining Star Press but Iwatani stops her, Evie tries to dump Hojo over the top rope but Hojo hangs on. Hojo goes up top, Garrett goes for a headscissors but Hojo knocks her onto the apron. Diving elbow shrike by Hojo from the top turnbuckle on the apron but Garrett blocks the Sliding D. Spinning backfist by Hojo on the apron and Garrett falls off the apron. As Garrett is falling to the floor, she grabs Hojo’s leg and pulls her down with her, eliminating both of them! The score is now 2-2. Shirai and Iwatani are left on Team Stardom, while World Selection has Viper and Evie.

Shirai and Viper come in as the legal wrestlers, dropkick by Shirai and she covers Viper for two. Waistlock by Shirai but even with Iwatani’s help she can’t get Viper over, Evie comes in as Viper lariats Shirai over the top rope, but Shirai lands on the apron. Iwatani goes for a crossbody on Viper but Viper catches her and throws Iwatani to the mat. Shirai holds onto Iwatani so she won’t fall to the floor, Evie dropkicks both of them but they hang onto the top rope. They skin the cat to get back in the ring and go after Viper, Iwatani goes for a hurricanrana on Viper while Shirai goes for one on Evie, but both fail. High kick by Evie to Shirai, Viper puts Shirai in an Argentine Backbreaker while Evie hits Iwatani with the TTYL, picking up the three count! Iwatani is eliminated, leaving Shirai against both Viper and Evie.

Evie boots Shirai in the corner, Viper goes for a reverse splash but Shirai rolls out of the way. Viper collides into Evie on accident, Shirai hits Viper to the mat and all three wrestlers are down. They slowly get up as Viper hits lariats on Shirai, cover by Viper but it gets two. Viper gets Shirai on her shoulders but Shirai rolls out of it and covers Viper for two. Evie runs in but Shirai drops her with a double underhook facebuster, Shirai then drop toeholds Viper onto Evie. Shirai goes up top but they both avoid the Moonsault, TTYL by Evie to Shirai and Viper nails the Reverse Splash for the three count! Shirai is eliminated and Team World Selection wins!

It took a bit of time to get going, which is understandable since they had time to kill, but once they were rolling it was a fun match. I don’t really like the ‘over the top’ rule in matches that are supposed to be meaningful, it is almost too much of an easy cop-out and it kills some of the flow as no matter what is happening in the match the wrestlers have a quick and easy way to get a fluke win. I really did like the constant assistance from teammates, it made it seem more like two teams that really did know each other than a bunch of singles wrestlers thrown in together. The World team winning was necessary to set up new challenges for the Stardom titles, and the action itself was very solid, it was just a bit meandering to start and I didn’t love the match rules.  Mildly Recommended

The post Stardom vs. World Selection on February 7th, 2016 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Every January, Stardom has a big event to celebrate their anniversary, and this January continued that tradition with a big card at Korakuen Hall. The invading Gaijins are in full force here as they are involved in three of the matches, and in the main event it is Kairi Hojo trying to win back the Wonder of Stardom Championship against Stardom Ace Io Shirai. Here is the full card:

• Azumi vs. Starlight Kid
• Jungle Kyouna and Momo Watanabe vs. Hiromi Mimura and Saori Anou
• Chelsea Green vs. Haruka Kato
• #1 Contender of Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Evie and Kellie Skater vs. Kaitlin Diamond and Viper
• High Speed Championship: Mayu Iwatani vs. Kay Lee Ray
• World of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai vs. Kairi Hojo

This may be clipped in parts, at least early on, I’ll make a note if the match was not shown in full.

 
Azumi vs. Starlight Kid

They get right to it with waistlocks and headlocks, but neither gets an advantage. Azumi dropkicks Starlight Kid but Starlight Kid returns the favor. Dropkick by Azumi and she suplexes Starlight Kid, Azumi gets on the second turnbuckle but Starlight Kid throws her off. Starlight Kid hits a body press off the second turnbuckle, standing moonsault by Starlight Kid and she gets the three count! Starlight Kid wins the match.

This was clipped in half, but we did see the continued potential of Starlight Kid. Due to her size she won’t ever be main-event level but she already has shown a lot of promise for a wrestler so early in her career. Not the worst way to spend two minutes but not enough meat to get excited about.

   
Jungle Kyouna and Momo Watanabe vs. Hiromi Mimura and Saori Anou

Watanabe and Anou begin the match with elbows, crab hold by Watanabe but Mimura runs in and breaks it up (although not overly successfully). Kyouna is tagged in and Anou is double teamed in the corner, scoop slam by Kyouna and she puts Anou in a crab hold. Mimura runs in and lariats Kyouna, Anou hits a rolling Fisherman suplex hold on Watanabe which gets a two count. Anou tags Mimura, crossbody by Mimura to Watanabe but Watanabe drills Mimura into the mat with a reverse STO. Lariats by Kyouna on Mimura and Watanabe delivers the Somato, but Mimura barely kicks out. Anou runs in and suplexes Watanabe off the second turnbuckle, but Kyouna powerslams Anou. Mimura rolls up Watanabe with no success, slap by Watanabe and she dropkicks Mimura in the face. Missile dropkick by Watanabe and she delivers the F-Crush for the three count! Kyouna and Watanabe are your winners.

A really solid undercard tag match. It was clipped a bit but everything that we saw was really good. Watanabe is still a kid but has really grown in the ring over the last year, and the crowd is already taking to Kyouna. Stardom has a good batch of rookies, hopefully they will continue to develop.

 
Chelsea Green vs. Haruka Kato

Green gets the first move of the match with a low dropkick but Kato dropkicks her back and starts to work on Green’s arm. Green gets out of it and stomps Kato before hitting a flipping neckbreaker for two. Camel Clutch by Green but Kato inches to the ropes to get the break. Green goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, covering Kato for a two count. Kato jumps on Green’s back and applies a sleeper, she transitions it into a cross armbreaker but Green gets out of it. Satellite into a schoolboy by Kato and she gets the armbreaker back on, Green gets to the ropes and drops Kato with a DDT. Unprettier by Green, and she gets the three count! Green picks up the win.

The issue here is that there was really no effort to do anything special, which I guess isn’t completely their fault since they only got a little over six minutes. Kato did her usual arm work, and she did it well, but it didn’t mean anything as Green was never bothered by her arm so the offense wasn’t very effective. Green is a bit lanky and wasn’t smooth in everything she did, although its still too early to figure out what her ceiling is in Stardom. Not bad, just too short and lacking in substance.

     
Evie and Kellie Skater vs. Kaitlin Diamond and Viper

Evie and Diamond kick things off, they lock knuckles and trade armdrags but neither gets an advantage. Viper and Skater tag in and Viper knocks Skater to the mat several times before Skater takes over and hits a rope walk armdrag. Evie runs in to help clear the ring, they go up to different turnbuckles and dive out of the ring onto their opponents. Evie returns to the ring with Diamond and delivers a kick combination, but Diamond catches her with an Uranage for a two count cover. Viper comes in and helps Diamond hit a double chokeslam, but Skater breaks up the pin. Crossbody by Viper but Evie boots her in the face and tags in Skater. Skater elbows Viper but Viper hits a lariat. Ankle hold by Skater but Viper blocks the suplex and hits one of her own. Skater avoids Viper’s senton and hits a high kick, Evie takes care of Diamond but Yasukawa gets on the apron and spits Sake at both Skater and Evie. Electric Chair Drop by Viper to Skater and she covers her for two. Superkick by Skater to Viper but Viper hits a Michinoku Driver. Reverse Splash by Viper to Skater and she picks up the three count! Diamond and Viper are the new #1 Contenders to the Goddesses of Stardom Championship.

This was by far the best thing on this card so far, which admittedly isn’t saying much. It was also slightly clipped, which means the event is 4 for 4 on not showing matches in full, that is what happens when you have a 30 minute main event. All four looked good here, admittedly I love about everything that Skater does but everyone played their part well and no one looked out of place. A well paced match with good teamwork from both sides, an easy match to watch.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Mayu Iwatani vs. Kay Lee Ray

They start fast but neither can connect with anything of significance, Ray gets Iwatani on the mat but Iwatani quickly reverses it to her own advantage. Ray snaps off a pair of Northern Lights Suplexes and applies a bodyscissors, but Iwatani gets out of it and hits a springboard armdrag. Iwatani goes for her dropkick while Ray is against the ropes but Ray moves out of the ring, sending Iwatani crashing out of it. Ray hits a trio of tope suicidas, Ray dropkicks Iwatani as they return to the ring and covers her for two. Ray applies a guillotine but Iwatani gets into the ropes for the break, Ray gets Iwatani on her back and rams her into the turnbuckles. Ray grabs Iwatani and chops her in the corner, running elbow by Ray and she nails a springboard heel kick for another two count. Iwatani returns the favor with a springboard crossbody, Iwatani dropkicks Ray against the ropes and drills her hard with another one.

Iwatani gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving footstomp, she sets up Ray in the corner and chops her in the chest. Dropkick by Iwatani in the corner and she applies a stretch hold, Ray gets out of it and she drops Iwatani with a superkick. Ray gets on the second turnbuckle but Iwatani moves when she jumps off and they trade pin attempts. Ray slams Iwatani to the mat, she goes to the top turnbuckle and nails a diving senton. Iwatani gets back up and hits a release Dragon suplex, and both wrestlers are down on the mat. They slowly get up and trade elbows, hurricanrana by Iwatani but Ray kicks out at two. Ray kicks Iwatani back and goes up top, but Iwatani joins her and suplexes her down to the mat. Kicks to the head by Iwatani, she goes up top and delivers a diving footstomp. Waistlock by Iwatani, Ray gets out of it but Iwatani gets her up and nails the Dragon Suplex Hold for the three count! Iwatani retains her championship.

I no longer need other people to tell me Kay Lee Ray is awesome, I can confirm it myself. I really hope she sticks around in Stardom long term, she fit in very naturally with Iwatani and everything clicked. My only quibble is the random no-sell spot, I don’t mind Fighting Spirit sequences but this wasn’t that, it was just Iwatani no-selling a move with Ray never getting the chance to return the favor. Besides that, the match was structured really well, both wrestlers got a chance to shine and the transitions were smooth. A quality match, I wish it had lasted another 15 minutes, I could watch these two go at it all day.  Recommended

(c) Io Shirai vs. Kairi Hojo

They waste no time as they start trading ‘bows and slaps, Irish whip by Shirai but Hojo hits a big spear. The Sliding D misses however and they trade strikes again, with both women ending up on the mat holding their faces. They go to the mat and jockey for position but nothing comes of it, they trade quick pins and Hojo footstomps Shirai in the stomach. Cartwheel by Shirai and she dropkicks Hojo out of the ring, Shirai goes to the apron and she hits an Asai Moonsault down to the floor. They battle around the ring, Hojo goes for a spear while Shirai is against the post but Shirai moves, sending Hojo shoulder-first into the steel. Back up the apron, Shirai picks up Hojo and slams her onto it as she continues to focus on Hojo’s back. Shirai slides Hojo into the ring and pounds on Hojo’s back, but Hojo avoids the missile dropkick. Hojo goes for a crab hold but super flexible Shirai gets out of it and stomps on Hojo. Shirai charges Hojo but she falls out to the apron, she goes for a springboard move but Hojo slaps her and hits a footstomp while Shirai is hanging on the top rope. Hojo goes up top but Shirai kicks her right in the nose and hits a springboard dropkick, sending Hojo crashing to the floor.

Shirai goes up top and sails out of the ring with a crossbody, she then brings Hojo up into the stands, she gets up on the ledge but Hojo joins her and throws Shirai down the stairs. Hojo gets on the ledge and dives off with a diving forearm smash, she gets a running start and levels Shirai with a spear. Back in the ring, chops by Hojo and she hits a jumping neckbreaker for two. Hojo drops knees on Shirai’s back and chops her in the back, she goes up top but can’t pull the trigger on the moonsault, giving Shirai time to join her and hit a Frankensteiner. Dropkick to the head by Shirai and she applies a cross facelock, Tiger Feint Kick by Shirai and she hits a swandive dropkick for a two count cover. Hojo blocks the facebuster and hits a Sliding D, and both wrestlers are down. Shirai and Hojo trade elbows as they get back up, Hojo gets the better of the exchange and spears Shirai into the corner, but Shirai kicks her in the face. Another kick by Shirai and she hits four rolling Germans for a two count cover. Shirai goes up top and delivers a diving elbow drop, but Hojo barely kicks out. Double underhook facebuster by Shirai but Hojo grabs her before she can climb up top. Hojo powerbombs Shirai and hits some backfists, Sliding D by Hojo but Shirai gets a shoulder up on the cover. Hojo goes up top but Shirai rolls to the ropes before she can jump off, Shirai joins her but Hojo knocks her back to the mat and nails the Diving Elbow Drop. Cover, but Shirai kicks out. She goes for another one but Shirai gets her feet up, tombstone piledriver by Shirai and she nails a package German for two. Tiger suplex by Shirai, she goes up top and she nails the moonsault for the three count! Io Shirai is still the World of Stardom Champion.

In the past when these two battled, it generally felt like something was off. Here though I thought that they synced up really well, it was a perfectly paced and well executed match which is not easy when going almost 30 minutes. Some of the moves were just brutal (in a good way) as they were really laying it into each other, I have no idea how they manage to go this hard as often as they do without literally breaking. Hojo going for the moonsault was a callback to Shirai starting to use the Elbow Drop, which temporarily was her undoing and allowed Shirai to get back in control. Everything was on point, it is only the first month but this is the best Joshi match of the year so far and will likely stay in the Top 5 for the year. A must see match.  Highly Recommended

The post Stardom 5th Anniversary on January 17, 2016 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Welcome to the first review for Sendai Girls’ in 2016! This is a special event, not just for me but hopefully for the millions of other Joshi fans around the world as well.  The big match on this card is the final Jumonji Sisters match in Tokyo, Japan. Sachiko’s actual retirement match isn’t until next week but this will be one of their last matches together so we have to enjoy them while we can. We also get a rare Kellie Skater sighting in Sendai Girls’, plus Hashimoto taking on the monster Aja Kong. Here is the full card:

• Arisa Nakajima vs. Mika Iwata
• Alex Lee and Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Cassandra Miyagi and KAORU
• Chikayo Nagashima and Syuri vs. Kellie Skater and Meiko Satomura
• Aja Kong vs. Chihiro Hashimoto
• Command Bolshoi and Kyoko Kimura vs. DASH Chisako and Sendai Sachiko

Only one match I am not particularly looking forward to but everything here has potential, let’s get rolling.

Arisa Nakajima vs. Mika Iwata

Nakajima gets Iwata to the mat at the start and goes for her leg, headlock by Nakajima but Iwata gets out of it, kicks by Nakajima and she delivers a dropkick. Short armbar by Nakajima and she applies a sleeper and footstomps Iwata, but Iwata fires back with a dropkick and they trade elbows. Nakajima boots Iwata but Iwata ducks the next kick and rolls up Nakajima for two. Kicks by Iwata and she puts Nakajima in a cross-legged chinlock, but Nakajima gets to the ropes. Nakajima regains the advantage with a hard elbow before hitting a backdrop suplex, Nakajima gets on the top turnbuckle and she hits a missile dropkick for a two count. Nakajima goes for a suplex but Iwata gets out of it and they trade elbows, Iwata connects with a high kick and she covers Nakajima for two. Iwata goes off the ropes but Nakajima catches her with a bridging fallaway slam. Missile dropkick by Nakajima and she nails the German suplex hold for the three count! Arisa Nakajima wins!

This was a good way to start off the show. Nakajima was obviously going to win but she gave Iwata a certain level of respect as the rookie had a few nearfalls, even though Nakajima controlled much of the action. Usually in Joshi, veterans don’t hold back on rookies and only do basic moves like elbows and crab holds, which generally makes the matches more fun to watch. Nakajima’s bridging suplexes were fire as always and it felt like it went the right amount of time. Iwata continues to come along nicely, if she sticks with it she could be something special in the future.   Mildly Recommended

Alex Lee and Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Cassandra Miyagi and KAORU

Matsumoto and Miyagi begin for their teams, they try to knock each other with shoulderblocks and Matsumoto wins the battle before tagging in Lee. Miyagi stomps on Lee and throws her down by her hair, she tags in KAORU and KAORU works Lee over. Including biting her hand. KAORU tags Miyagi back in, Lee briefly gets in control but KAORU comes in to help her young teammate. KAORU suplexes Lee as she stays in the ring, but Lee hits a dropkick out of the corner and tags in Matsumoto. Matsomoto puts KAORU in a backbreaker but Miyagi breaks it up, Matsumoto slams before into the corner and she hits a body avalanche. KAORU boots Matsumoto and tags Miyagi, and Miyagi trades elbows with her foe. Miyagi elbows Matsumoto and hits a face crusher for two, but Matsumoto blocks the suplex and hits one of her own.

Reverse double knee by Matsumoto out of the corner, but Miyagi gets her shoulder up. She tags Lee and Lee hits a high kick in the corner followed by a double underhook suplex for a two count. Matsumoto comes in  but KAORU trips them both from the floor, Miyagi stomps on Lee’s foot and hits the Airplane Spin. She tags KAORU, KAORU comes in with a piece of table and whacks Matsumoto and Lee with it. Miyagi gets the piece of table and hits Lee also, brainbuster by KAORU onto the table piece but the referee won’t count due to all the cheating. Lee hits a superkick followed by a high kick, but KAORU kicks out of the cover. Michinoku Driver by KAORU, but Matsumoto breaks up the cover. Miyagi suplexes Lee, KAORU goes up top but Lee avoids the senton. Chokebomb by Lee, but Miyagi breaks it up. Miyagi hits KAORU with the piece of board by accident, Lee goes for a powerbomb on KAORU but KAORU reverses it into a hurricanrana for the three count! Miyagi and KAORU are your winners.

This wasn’t bad, it was just longer than it needed to be and was generally uneventful. There wasn’t much structure or flow to it, no one thing felt meaningful as it didn’t lead to anything, even Miyagi accidentally hitting KAORU with a piece of table immediately meant nothing as KAORU won the match 10 seconds after it. Inoffensive but just filler, I like Miyagi’s gimmick but it may take awhile for her skills to catch up to its potential.

Chikayo Nagashima and Syuri vs. Kellie Skater and Meiko Satomura

Satomura and Syuri start off, kicks to the leg by Syuri and she kicks Satomura in the chest. Satomura catches one and attacks Syuri in the corner, but Syuri hits a jumping knee followed by a suplex. They trade kicks, Syuri gets Satomura back to her corner and tags in Nagashima. A bridging suplex by Nagashima gets two, Satomura pushes Nagashima into her corner and tags Skater. Skater hits a springboard armdrag but Nagashima comes back with a headscissors. Nagashima throws down Skater by her hair but Skater flips Nagashima to the mat and applies a cross armbreaker. Syuri comes in and breaks it up, Skater slams Nagashima but Nagashima boots her when she charges in and hits a face crusher. Nagashima tags Syuri, Syuri trades elbows with Skater, release German suplex by Syuri but Skater comes back with a superkick. Skater tags Satomura, Satomura trips Syuri and nails her with a high kick. Satomura goes off the ropes but Syuri catches her with a high knee.

Cartwheel kneedrop by Satomura but Syuri blocks the backdrop suplex attempt. Nagashima runs in and trades shots with Satomura, Satomura goes back to Syuri and nails the backdrop suplex for a two count. Backstabber by Syuri, and she hits a running knee strike for two. Nagashima is tagged in, she goes up top and hits a missile dropkick but Satomura recovers and they trade kicks. Satomura kicks harder and wins the duel, Satomura goes off the ropes but Nagashima catches her with an uranage for a two count. She goes for another one but Satomura elbows out of it and hits the overhead kick. She tags Skater, kick to the chest by Skater but Nagashima kicks out of the cover. DDT by Skater, she goes up top but Syuri runs over and kicks her. Frankensteiner by Nagashima and she drops Skater on her with a suplex. Satomura saves Skater from a Fisherman Buster and hits a suplex, side Russian leg sweep by Skater but Syuri breaks the cover. High kick by Satomura, Skater goes for a PK but Nagashima catches her leg. Syuri kicks Skater, Nagashima then picks her up and nails the Fisherman Buster for the three count! Syuri and Nagashima win!

My main complaint here is that I just wish it was longer. I enjoyed about all of this, the strikes were hard, the suplexes were on point, and they kept the action up from bell to bell. The teams didn’t work great together but that is logical since neither are real tag teams, so mostly it was everyone for themselves aside from the occasional save. The only thing really lacking was a purpose, it was an entertaining mid-card match between four talented wrestlers, but it lacked some emotion since nothing was at stake since these wrestlers aren’t feuding with each other. A fun hard hitting match, and worth a watch for sure, but nothing that will be memorable long term.  Recommended

Aja Kong vs. Chihiro Hashimoto

Hashimoto gets Kong to the mat early on but Kong gets up without much issue, Kong ends up on the mat again but Hashimoto bounces around her as she isn’t able to hurt her. Chops by Kong, she puts Hashimoto in the ropes and chops her some more before hitting a lariat. Kong stays in control until Hashimoto avoids a lariat in the corner and hits a pair of body avalanches. Hashimoto goes for a hip attack but just bounces off of Kong. Hashimoto goes for a slam but Kong reverses that and hits a slam of her own. Kong takes Hashimoto out of the ring and throws her into the crowd before hitting her in the head with a chair. Kong beats Hashimoto around the ring before they return, lariat by Kong back in the ring and she covers Hashimoto for two. Hashimoto suddenly picks up Kong and slams her, before getting Kong up on her shoulder and slamming her again for a two count cover. Kong slaps Hashimoto and hits another lariat, Hashimoto ducks the Uraken but she can’t suplex Kong. Kong gets a metal box and whacks Hashimoto with it, brainbuster by Kong and she picks up the three count! Kong is the new #1 Contender!

An above average match, and Kong was pretty cooperative, but something with the transitions just felt off for most of the match. For example, Hashimoto was hit with chairs and hit with two lariats, but sprung back on offense and hit several moves like nothing happened. A few times literally nothing happened at all, it was as if they didn’t know the plan so they weren’t doing anything until someone made a move. The last few minutes were solid though, as Kong started giving Hashimoto some real offense and Hashimoto returned with some slams to show she wasn’t completely over-matched.  More good than bad, but not great either.

Command Bolshoi and Kyoko Kimura vs. DASH Chisako and Sendai Sachiko

Sachiko and Kimura are the first two in the ring but they come to a stalemate and both tag out. Sachiko immediately comes back in to help Chisako, and Bolshoi is double teamed. Chisako and Bolshoi trade elbows and Chisako tags Sachiko back in, but Bolshoi pushes her to the mat and applies a crab hold. Bolshoi tags Kimura and Kimura throws Sachiko around by her hair, Bolshoi comes back in and pinches Sachiko’s cheek. They are mostly just messing with Sachiko as Sachiko is the clear Face in Peril as her career winds down. Sachiko superkicks Bolshoi but Kimura runs in to help keep Sachiko down. Sachiko hits a double face crusher and tags in Chisako, and Chisako hits a missile dropkick on Bolshoi. Another dropkick by Chisako but Bolshoi avoids the double footstomp. The Jumonji Sisters double team Bolshoi and Kimura in the corner, Chisako slams Bolshoi and this time hits the diving footstomp. Cutter by Chisako but Kimura kicks her from the apron. Tiger Feint Kick by Bolshoi and she hits a tiger suplex hold for a two count. Bolshoi tags in Kimura and Kimura kicks Chisako around the ring. Slaps by Kimura to Chisako and she knees Chisako, but Chisako dropkicks her in the knee. Dropkick to the head by Chisako to Kimura and she tags in Sachiko.

Elevated DDT by Sachiko and she hits a somersault senton, but Kimura hits a quick backbreaker. Footstomps by Kimura, she puts Sachiko hanging on the top rope and hits a footstomp to her back. Kimura puts Sachiko in a crab hold but Sachiko gets to the ropes, Kimura drags Sachiko away and puts her in the hold again but Chisako breaks it up. Superkick by Sachiko and Chisako elbows Kimura, tornado DDT by Sachiko and Chisako hits a diving body press. Suplex hold by Sachiko, but Bolshoi breaks it up. Sachiko and Chisako both go for diving body presses, but Bolshoi and Kimura both roll out of the way. Chokebomb by Kimura to Sachiko, but Chisako breaks up the cover. Chisako hits a cutter on Bolshoi, and all four wrestlers are out on the ground. Kimura elbows Sachiko while Sachiko fights back, superkicks by Sachiko (lots of them) and Kimura covers her for two. Assisted Shiranui by the Jumonji Sisters, and both hit diving body presses. Sachiko goes up top again but Bolshoi joins her and hits an avalanche Uranage. Big boot by Kimura but Chisako breaks up the pin. Elbow by Kimura and she goes for a powerbomb, but Sachiko rolls down her back and hits a sunset flip for two. Big boot by Kimura but Sachiko rolls her up for two again. Chisako comes back in and gets on Kimura’s back, superkick by Sachiko while Chisako slams Kimura to the mat, and Sachiko jackknifes Kimura for the three count! The Jumonji Sisters are your winners.

This was just good wholesome fun. The Jumonji Sisters work so well together that they are just a pleasure to watch, they are always on the same page and everything they do is so fluid. Kimura and Bolshoi were both fine as well, and its rare to get a match this long that feels so natural. The match started a bit slow so you have to get through that, but the last ten minutes or so were really entertaining. A fitting match as one of the last of Sachiko’s career and certainly worthy of the main event slot.  Recommended

The post Sendai Girls’ on January 9, 2016 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Welcome to the first Joshi review for the new year! This is not one of Stardom’s bigger events, as it took place in Shin-Kiba 1st Ring instead of Korakuen, but it still has a lot to be excited about. Not only do we get our first look at the new gaijins that Stardom brought into the promotion, but we also get a Goddesses of Stardom Championship match! Here is the full card:

• Alex Lee vs. Azumi vs. Starlight Kid
• Haruka Kato vs. Hiromi Mimura
• Kaitlin Diamond and Viper vs. Kris Wolf and Kyoko Kimura
• Evie and Kellie Skater vs. Kairi Hojo and Kay Lee Ray
• Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani vs. Jungle Kyouna and Momo Watanabe

This is a two hour TV taping, but I don’t think it was clipped any, I’ll note if any of the matches are noticeably not shown in full.

  
Alex Lee vs. Azumi vs. Starlight Kid

Lee leaves the ring right off the bat, leaving just the little ones in the ring to trade quick wristlocks and trips. They invite Lee back in, they drop toehold her to the mat but Azumi boots Starlight Kid. Starlight Kid dropkicks Azumi in retaliation and Azumi is attacked by both in the corner. Azumi falls out of the ring, leaving Lee and Starlight Kid to trade elbows, which Lee easily wins, but Azumi rolls up Lee from behind for two. Lee and Azumi trade blows until Azumi hits a DDT, Starlight Kid returns and together they hit a vertical suplex on Lee. Starlight Kid hits a diving body press on Lee and gets into another disagreement with Azumi, giving Lee time to recover and lariat both of them. Lee is dropkicked out of the ring, Starlight Kid dropkicks Azumi and covers her for two. Azumi avoids Starlight Kid’s standing moonsault and quickly applies La Magistral, picking up the three count! Azumi wins.

This was about what I was expecting. Lee is pretty awkward, it probably doesn’t help when she is against two smaller opponents as she just didn’t look as smooth and natural as the younger wrestlers in this match. There were a few cute spots, and Azumi/Starlight Kid has potential as a fun opener-style feud, but most of this wasn’t particularly entertaining. Occasionally Stardom surprises me and has something special in the opener, this was not that day.

 
Haruka Kato vs. Hiromi Mimura

The great thing here is that Kato is on the level that she can give Mimura some offense without it looking silly, since they are close to the same size and Kato is just a midcard wrestler anyway. Kato gets the sleeper applied and then goes for the arm, but Mimura is too close to the ropes and forces the break. Kato dropkicks Mimura twice in the arm to continue weakening it, but Mimura fights back with elbows and delivers a dropkick. Rolling ankle hold by Mimura, but Kato gets into the ropes. Kato slams Mimura and puts her in the Muta Lock, but Mimura gets out of it and dropkicks Kato in the corner. Kato comes back with the hanging armbar, diving crossbody by Kato and it gets a two count. Cross armbreaker by Kato but Mimura covers Kato to get her to release the hold. Mimura tries a few quick pins that don’t work, headscissors into a roll-up by Kato and she applies the cross armbreaker! Mimura manages to roll out of it but Kato applies a short armbar instead, and Mimura has to submit.  Kato is your winner.

So there were a few awkward spots here, which isn’t surprising when a rookie is in a match but it is still worth noting in a short match such as this one. I was hoping Mimura would get a bit more than this, she did get her rolling ankle hold but besides that it was mostly the Kato Show. Kato is an average wrestler but she does a great job at targeting the arm throughout the match, so at least she does think things through. A few nice spots and ideas but overall pretty skippable.

     
Kaitlin Diamond and Viper vs. Kris Wolf and Kyoko Kimura

Kimura and Viper start off but Kimura bails, leaving Wolf with Viper instead. Kimura comes back and they both mess with Viper, but Viper isn’t amused and shoulderblocks both of them to a mat. Viper tags in Diamond, they clearly are the bad guys here as Diamond blatantly chokes Wolf on the mat. Viper returns and works over Wolf’s back before hitting a quick body press for two. Diamond is tagged back in as Wolf is beaten around the ring, Kimura finally comes in to help but she is also double teamed. Wolf and Kimura are thrown into the same corner, Kimura kicks Diamond back however and then moves when Viper charges in. Quick roll-up by Wolf that gets two, and she makes the tag to Kimura. Diamond is also tagged in and they trade chops before Kimura hits a shoulderblock.

Viper comes in but Kimura drops Viper on Diamond and covers her for two. Diamond regains control with a side Russian leg sweep and tags in Viper, Viper chases Kimura around the ring but Kimura keeps avoiding her. Wolf goes up top and goes for a diving crossbody, but Viper catches her and hits a backbreaker. Running body press by Viper and she then hits a senton for a two count cover. Kimura walks in and hits Viper and Diamond with a rod, Kimura kicks Viper in the head and then hits a diving senton. Wolf follows that with a diving double knee drop, cover by Wolf but Diamond breaks it up. Diamond DDTs both Kimura and Wolf, Act Yasukawa gets up on the apron and she spits Sake into Viper’s face, allowing Wolf to roll her up for a two count. Viper catches a Wolf kick and slams her to the mat, Reverse Splash by Viper and she gets the three count! Diamond and Viper win the match.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t a fan of this one, it was just too comedic. If you are debuting a ‘monster’ wrestler that has an offense based around squashing and slamming people, it hurts it a bit when that wrestler is doing comedy bits at the same time. Not saying Viper is on the level of a Nakano or a Vader, but that is the wrestler type she is, so it just felt strange to see her in this style of match. I couldn’t get my head around that which hurt my opinion of the match as a whole, just not what I was expecting, even though much of the match was solid wrestling-wise.

    
Evie and Kellie Skater vs. Kairi Hojo and Kay Lee Ray

Skater and Kay Lee Ray kick things off but they come to a stalemate and both tag out. Evie dropkicks Hojo in the face but Hojo does a little dance to distract Evie and hits an elbow smash. Hojo and Kay Lee Ray go back and forth on Evie as they focus on the arm, Kay Lee Ray hits a nice bridging suplex but Evie eventually gets the better of Hojo and tags in Skater. Skater slams Hojo to the mat, Evie runs in and kicks Hojo before Skater covers her for two. Evie comes back in and they double team Hojo, they then take turns chopping Hojo in the corner to see who can make the louder slap noise. Hojo elbows Skater and hits a headscissors off the ropes followed by a dropkick, giving her time to tag in Kay Lee Ray. Kay Lee Ray dives off the top with a double chop to the chest, step-up enzuigiri by Kay Lee Ray and she kicks Skater in the chest for a two count. Skater whips off a DDT and applies an ankle hold, but Kay Lee Ray manages to get out of it and makes the tag to Hojo. Running shoulder tackle by Hojo in the corner followed by a flipping neckbreaker, diving forearm smash by Hojo and she covers Skater for two.

Chops by Hojo but Skater catches her when she charges in and drops Hojo into the corner. Lariat by Skater, and she covers Hojo for two. Skater picks up Hojo and hits a vertical suplex before tagging in Evie, Evie picks up Hojo and with Skater they hit simultaneous kicks for a two count. More kicks by Evie, she goes up top but Hojo avoids the diving footstomp. Hojo goes up top but Evie recovers and joins her, Hojo pushes Evie into a tree of woe and stomps Evie right in the face as she jumps off. Hojo tags Kay Lee Ray, elbows by Kay Lee Ray in the corner and she kicks Evie in the jaw. Evie retorts with her own kick but Kay Lee Ray slams her to the mat. Kay Lee Ray goes up top, Evie moves as she jumps off but Kay Lee Ray hits a rebound elbow out of the corner. Kay Lee Ray tags Hojo and hit a running elbow/kick combination for two. Spinning backfist by Hojo to Skater but Skater hits a modified leg sweep. Canadian Destroyer by Kay Lee Ray to Skater, but Evie kicks Kay Lee Ray and hits the Benadryller. Spear by Hojo to Evie, Skater has recovered but Hojo kicks her out of the ring. Sliding D in the corner by Hojo to Evie and Hojo applies a cross-leg crab hold, she releases it after a moment and goes up top but Evie avoids the diving elbow drop. Evie goes for the cross armbreaker but the bell rings, signifying the match is a Draw.

This was good, borderline great, but was missing something to put it over that line. I am not a big fan of mid-card draws (I’ve said this before but I never know if this review is the first review of mine someone has read). If they did it to set up a future Artist of Stardom defense then I can deal with it, but otherwise it just leaves the match feeling incomplete. I thought both Kay Lee Ray and Evie looked really good, a few small things here and there didn’t hit quite right but nothing major. Skater was the most impressive here, everything she did was on point, between her strikes to her timing to her appearance she is the whole package. Definitely worth a watch, just don’t expect a classic as it never quite reached that level.  Recommended

   
(c) Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani vs. Jungle Kyouna and Momo Watanabe

Iwatani and Watanabe are the first two in, armdrags by Iwatani but they both tag out after neither does much damage. Kyouna tries to knock Shirai off her feet and eventually does, but Shirai hits a flapjack followed by a dropkick. She tags in Iwatani as Kyouna is double teamed in the corner, Watanabe comes in but Iwatani hits an armdrag out of the corner before sending Watanabe out of the ring. Iwatani gets on the top turnbuckle but Kyouna pushes her off and down onto Shirai. Back in the ring, Iwatani is double teamed in the corner but she counters a Watanabe Irish whip into a dropkick out of the corner. Iwatani tags Shirai, and Shirai slaps Watanabe in the face. Iwatani is tagged back and she slaps Watanabe too before kicking her in the back. Knee drop by Iwatani but it only gets a two count. Shirai puts Watanabe in an Octopus Hold into a roll-up, but that also gets two. Slingshot footstomp by Iwatani when she is tagged in but Watanabe dropkicks Iwatani in the corner and tags in Kyouna. Kyouna swings Iwatani around before applying a sleeper, but Shirai quickly breaks it up. Kyouna fights them both off and throws them in the corner before hitting a body avalanche.

Watanabe and Kyouna both put their opponents in a camel clutch before shaking around their head, crab hold by Kyouna to Iwatani but she gets to the ropes. Iwatani hits a crossbody off the ropes and tags in Shirai, dropkick by Shirai to Kyouna and she knocks her down with a palm strike. Kyouna quickly picks up Shirai and hits a back bodydrop, powerslam by Kyouna but Shirai kicks out. Kyouna tags in Watanabe, missile dropkick by Watanabe and she hits a series of vertical suplexes. Watanabe puts Shirai in the tree of woe but Shirai avoids the dropkick, Iwatani runs in and suplexes Watanabe before Shirai hits a knee drop for two. Watanabe fights back and hits a reverse STO, but Shirai gets her in the corner and delivers the running double knee. Shirai picks up Watanabe while Iwatani goes up top, but Kyouna runs in and powerslams Iwatani off the top turnbuckle. Lariat by Kyouna to Shirai and she hits two more, Somato by Watanabe but Iwatani barely breaks it up. Watanabe goes up top and hits a diving crossbody, but it gets two. Kyouna comes in to lariat Shirai but Iwatani catches her with a superkick, package suplex by Shirai to Watanabe and she nails a diving elbow drop for the three count! Shirai and Iwatani are still your champions.

The match started a bit slow but really picked up as they went along and I thought that the last few minutes were really entertaining. Even though the winner was clear, the nearfalls the challenging team got at the end were convincing anyway, they hit everything really well and it was structured excellently. I just wish the first half of the match had that sense of importance or urgency as up to a point it could have just been any old tag match, not the main event and for the tag team championships. Enjoyable, but mostly for the end stretch, Kyouna shows a lot of potential here if she can continue to put it all together. Mildly Recommended

The post Stardom New Years Stars #2 on January 10, 2016 Review appeared first on Joshi City.