There’s a lot of wrestling out there, so standing out is encouraged. Stardom stands out, or at least gets that you should try. The first night of their two-night March Sumo Hall show was called The Best and this second night The Top, where their top two champions went for back-to-back defenses.
1. Future of Stardom Title: Hanan [c] vs. vs. Mai Sakurai
Young Hanan went for back-to-back defenses too, and while each match didn’t last more than 5 minutes she appears to be a good young wrestler with a firm grasp of making people give a shit about her. She absorbed kicks before hitting a backdrop. **
2. Cinderella Rumble (Featuring: Unagi Sayaka, Mina Shirakawa, Lady C, Miyu Matsuda, Saki Kashima, Ruaka, Saya Iida, Momo Kohgo, Rina, Waka Tsukiyama, Tomoka Inaba, Aoi, Haruka Umesaki, Nanami, Maria, Ai Houzan, Mei Suruga, Yuna Mizumori & Miyu Amasaki)
You know… a Wrestling Rumble. There’s not much to add that the list of participants won’t get across, other than that Tomoka Inaba seemed important and the twisting Code Red that TJPW/AEW’s Mei Suruga used to win could have probably been a different move. *1/2
3. Golden Generation Singles Match: Utami Hayashishita vs. MIRAI
For a match that didn’t last very long this still felt pretty plenty of matwork that admirably kept it simple but occasionally could’ve used a jolt of life. MIRAI looks so bummed when she has to tap that it almost turned me around. **3/4
4. Generation of Destiny: Hazuki vs. Momo Watanabe
Feeling out process then interference then elbows and a frantic finish, this was a microcosm of a solid but unremarkable wrestling match. Like the last match, there wasn’t enough to overcome any holding back necessary for the second half of the card. **3/4
5. 3-Way Battle – High Speed Title: AZM [c] vs. Koguma vs. Natsupoi
The High Speed Title is cool until someone has to wrestle a 3-Way Battle over it. Then it’s somehow just like everything else. They kept it bumping for most of its’ 8 minutes, but that’s like the baseline. ***1/4
6. Pirate Princess Stardom Revival Special Singles Match: KAIRI vs. Starlight Kid
KAIRI returned to the ring in a tag match last night delivering the whole package of charisma and violence that already made her a star in two countries. Anything resembling ring rust simply refused to exist, though if it was lingering beneath the surface a tag was a good place to hide hit. Here she went one-on-one with a dynamic and athletically gifted wrestler who manages to stand out on a roster filled with them, and she did the whole thing again.
Most cool about this was that instead of the Pirate Princess and masked Starlight Kid having an exciting match filled with high-flying maneuvers, they mostly just beat the shit out of each other. The Kid was more interested in dragging Kairi all over ringside than hitting planchas, and Kairi threw at least three backfists that could’ve shattered face. No matter the capitalization of the first name or inclusion of a last one, Kairi is not just “back” but she might once again be among the best doing this overall. ****
7. DDM vs. Prominence: Giulia, Maika, Himeka & Thekla vs. Risa Sera, Suzu Suzuki, Akane Fujita & Mochi Miyagi
This can be seen as either a breezy and ideal bunch of wrestling to lead-in to the title matches, or a meandering disappointment given the talent and setup. I’m going down the middle. Wild heabdutts. ***1/4
8. Wonder of Stardom Title: Saya Kamitani [c] vs. Tam Nakano
Last night, Kamitani got the shit beat out of her by a former Stardom ace leading to a comeback that both stayed true to her roots (weird and death-defying high-flying) but also showed growth (kicking out and kicking ass). Here she… did the same, but last night was a blast and so was this one. Plus this one had Tam Nakano doing a stage dive. Nakano is one of the best in Stardom at bringing the heat as a match comes to a close while Kamitani is at least notable in how hard she tries to, and both skills collided as Kamitani went 2/2 on defenses and great semi-main events. ****1/4
9. World of Stardom Title: Syuri [c] vs. Mayu Iwatani
There were a lot of big matches over the weekend and several of them were great, but after so many in a row a formula reveals itself. Even so, no match felt as big or great than this last match of both nights. That could be a placebo effect, good card positioning, really good pro wrestling and maybe all three. Syuri was confident, Mayu was spirited — eventually they were throwing hands and dropping suplexes and somebody had to try and break something in order to win. ****1/4
Happy Thoughts: The undercard of The Top had a few more misses than the undercard of The Best, but KAIRI and both title matches rocked again. 4.0 / 5.0
