Last Wednesday afternoon at Stardom’s Kawasaki Wars, Saya Kamitani did something spectacular. A lot of people did, but nobody except her jumped from the apron to the top ring rope, kept balance, and leapt forward with a dropkick on one opponent that turned into a crossbody on the other.
It was the highlight of a decent match on the midcard with her two opponents that she didn’t win, which felt like an appropriate enough theme for this quiet but occasionally tremendous show.
0. Mai Sakurai vs. Waka Tsukiyama
Hey! I saw this same match on the 5-Star Grand Prix Finals, and here was more of it: each has a unique and earnest approach to young wrestling charisma, with Mai putting extra ferocity into everything opposite Waka’s general apprehension. After the match, a masked Grim Reaper type runs in and attacks both ladies. **
1. Future of Stardom Title: Ruaka [c] vs. Lady C
Joshi puroresu’s approach to its’ up-and-comers is a lot more interesting than the black boots and tights, more opportunity upfront to get your thing across (even if this match in particular is 5 minutes long). Lady C is a year into wrestling, Ruaka is a 17-year-old 5-year veteran, and the Future of Stardom Championship is at stake.
Ruaka’s mean girl act and long-legged Lady C’s Inoki and Giant Baba-inspired offense are appreciated if not totally plausible, then before this could really “go anywhere” it ended. Enter both pre-show gals for a championship challenge. **1/2
2. Goddess of Stardom Tag League – Red Goddess: Hanan & Rina vs. Saki Kashima & Fukigen Death★
Saki Kashima and Fukigen Death are in the Oedo Tai heel group, and so are one of their opponents. Rina teamed with her actual sister for the ongoing Tag League, and versus her stablemates the forgettable hijinks ensued. Rina and Fukigen beginning the match by flipping each other off was nice, otherwise just a nice quick bit of confusion. *1/2
3. 3-Way Battle: Maika vs. Saya Kamitani vs. Mina Shirakawa
Springboard crossbody caught in mid-air and turned into fallaway slam. Romero Special applied by two people at once. Springboard dropkick into crossbody so good it was used in introduction. The powers of these three flashy artistes did not take the 3-Way Battle to any new heights, but in between some slapstick that wasn’t very fun there were a lot of wrestling maneuvers that were. ***
4. Tag League Special: Himeka & Natsupoi vs. Mayu Iwatani & Koguma
The task at hand was 15 minute draw and they delivered using all of puroresu’s most reliable plays like the dropkick, German suplex, and crab hold. Iwatani was the all-star, always involved in some complex sequence of moves while showing big charisma.
There was a downright jaw-dropper of a spot where Himeka and Natsupoi setup a crossbody Doomsday Device, but Iwatani countered at the last scary millisecond with a rana on Himeka that sent Natsupoi crashing to the mat. What it lacked in an actual 3-count finish it made up for with plenty of action, big near falls, and Himeka’s absolute outrage at the conclusion. ***1/2
5. High Speed Title: Starlight Kid [c] vs. Momo Watanabe
Starlight Kid is both Stardom’s rising speedster and a dastardly heel, but opposite Momo Watanabe there wasn’t much time for the latter. This was like a painting or Some Thing, 12 minutes of counter after counter mixed with relentless (but flashy!) attempts to win the match before it broke down into a double countout caused by a pull-apart brawl that was either really well-done or legitimate uncooperation. ***1/4
7. Wonder of Stardom Title: Tam Nakano [c] vs. Unagi Sayaka
Unagi Sayaka has always been doing something or another since I began watching Stardom, which is of course when Stardom’s history began. She held the Future of Stardom Championship for a little this year, and if she wasn’t she was trying to. She brought a ball of happy energy to any match she was in too, which helped because some of them were not very good. Not outright stinkers, just usually in the middle of the card and a little lesser than.
Here she goes 20 minutes in a semi-main event with THE Tam Nakano, and in that pursuit emerges a real badass of a wrestler. She takes a beating — including some of the most pitch perfect standing spin kicks you will ever see — but even deep into the match she is kicking the shit out of the champ and smiling before throwing a gosh-dang headbutt. Her finisher is some kind of more dangerous-looking ShellShock, and before hitting that she did some kind of even more unforsaken version off the apron. It’s one of the many pandemic matches that could’ve used a more audible crowd, but this is still a heckuva match. ****
8. World of Stardom Title: Utami Hayashishita [c] vs. Hazuki
Hazuki retired two years ago, returned two months ago, and now she’s here in the main event. Even with The Backstory it’s a bit of a tough sell, and the finish wasn’t very suspenseful — an early boss fight in Hayashishita’s story, almost ten defenses in. Hazuki puts the work in, looking properly pissed off all match and delivering a decent run of offense (as well as a mind-bending Code Red counter of the Hijack Bomb). They just struggled to maintain a drama. Hayashishita has had a near impeccable title reign, and here was this very good match to ruin it. ***1/2
Happy Thoughts: Kawasaki Super Wars probably won’t go down as Stardom’s best PPV of the year, but even with pandemic restrictions they continue to deliver the most spirited wrestling shows from open to close. 3.0 / 5.0
