Stardom’s Cinderella Summer Tour (cooler name than The Great American Bash) made a 2-night stop at a small spot in Sapporo for a pair of title defenses and other assorted wrestling.
Day 1 (7/21/21)
1. Unagi Sayaka vs. Lady C
The opening match of both nights was from rookie Lady C, who kind of wrestles with the approach of a young lion but the grace of Billie Kay. They basic it up, hit some moves, get some claps. The Lady does use her tallness to hit a cool kneelift, and Unagi remains a charismatic all-star. **
2. 3-Way Battle: AZM vs. Konami vs. Mina Shirakawa
What’s occasionally OK wrestling never actually gets moving — these are the stories of the 3-Way Battle. AZM does a few neat things and goes so quick with Shirakawa on an early criss-cross that you’d think they were celebrating Masato Yoshino. *3/4
3. STARS vs. Oedo Tai: Mayu Iwatani & Koguma vs. Saki Kashima & Ruaka
I dig Ruaka if only because of the CM Punk NXT season 2 rookie vibe she gives off… she isn’t even necessarily annoyed, more confused at how everyone isn’t as cool as she is in her hooded sweatshirt only half-trying. There’s nothing of much note outside of a cool double armdrag that Iwatani does but it’s an OK undercard affair. **1/4
4. Queen’s Quest vs. DDM 2/3 Falls Match: Utami Hayashishita, Momo Watanabe & Saya Kamitani vs. Giulia, Syuri & Maika
Like any good wrestling match in a tiny arena in Japan during a pandemic, this struggled to move anywhere beyond solid work in a wide-open gymnasium with extra-loud clapping and screaming. The babyfaces are all very good but Syuri was the MVP, most notably taking a German suplex right on her head and delivering a guillotine legdrop that made me shout. Also, Giulia and Syuri wear clown wigs to the ring now. When did this start? ***
5. Wonder of Stardom Title: Tam Nakano [c] vs. Starlight Kid
This is a mid-range title match for Tam Nakano, not because she took a night off or Starlight Kid was a weak challenger but the setting and space just didn’t call for anything major and they wrestled accordingly.
I haven’t seen enough Starlight Kid to know if she’s any different or improved as a heel, but she does a fine job stalling and cheating and eventually controlling the offense. She drops some especially nasty stomps and a spectacular running knee too before Nakano just slices her with a spin kick out of nowhere. Solid work, amazing suplex bridges, and the occasional really mean kick… but not enough to hook me. ***1/4
Day 2 (7/22/21)
1. AZM vs. Lady C
The Lady was at it again here with another opening contest, this evening against AZM who based on the undercard of basically every show I’ve seen is a tremendously good hand — and she’s only 18 years old! She withstands a single-leg crab hold and chokeslam but mostly just beats Lady around before tapping her. **
2. 3-Way Battle: Momo Watanabe vs. Maika vs. Tam Nakano
A talented lineup and occasional quality exchange can’t overcome the obstacles of this being a triple threat match on second that goes to a 15-minute draw. The draw part felt especially problematic, but I’m still new here. **1/2
3. Cosmic Angels vs. Oedo Tai: Mina Shirakawa & Unagi Sayaka vs. Saki Kashima & Ruaka
Instead of stretching for time this got right to the point, and I respect it for that. Shirakawa and Sayaka, who on charm alone create one of the ultimate babyface duos, fire up the crowd with a quick run of spots before Ruaka grabs a head of hair and says you’re DONE. I liked the heel beatdown here too, more ugly and rugged than a boring series of stomps. Hair was pulled and Kashima has no issue booting an opponent in the face. The good guys do a sweet double team Gory bomb but ultimately it’s a blue plastic box that leads to 3. ***
4. STARS vs. Oedo Tai: Mayu Iwatani & Koguma vs. Starlight Kid & Konami
Even with these tags I’m still not all there on which faces are aligned with what stables in Stardom, but Oedo Tai doesn’t lie: clear, nefarious intentions since day one. The match isn’t much different from the one before it, though the heels get to the beating even quicker and Iwatani absolutely lights them up when it’s time for the comeback. Good action, fun double teams, and everybody knew their role… just never emerged from *** territory.
5. Goddesses of Stardom Title: Giulia & Syuri [c] vs. Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani
This was a little disappointing, considering it was a Tag Team Title main event between the four gals at Stardom who have stood out the most in my early viewing as “awesome.” There’s good and occasionally awesome stuf found within, but it only goes a little longer than the 3-Way Battle and is really cooking for maybe half that time.
They begin the match hitting each other and taking it to the mat with an intensity that got me all fired up, then quickly dropped the tag shtick to move into a stream of consciousness of dives and double-downs in an effort to kind of win and kind of show off. They do strike the right balance, not as much as the bigger shows but this hit enough notes of good wrestling and something that was just wild to look at. There’s passion, there’s pain… there is a Tower of Doom. Giulia’s reaction to a kickout at the end is phenomenal, and despite this not being an epic the star power still carried the current. ***1/4
Happy Thoughts: HEY! Stardom does smaller shows that aren’t on pay-per-view too. The title matches were pretty good, but nothing really made the case that a Stardom B-show is must-see TV. 2.0 / 5.0
