Just over a week after a Pay-Per-View and in the middle of both the IWGP Women’s Title and Goddess of Stardom Tag Team Tournaments – both of which began a mere month after the 5-Star GP Tournament – Stardom was back on Pay-Per-View.
To be fair, it was with a card that felt more… proper than the recent tournament-heavy ones, with stakes and stables and four titles on the line at Hiroshima Sun Plaza. Even the 5-Way Battle dark match felt a comforting sort of familiar. What’s happening to me?
0. 5-Way Battle: AZM vs. Saya Iida vs. Miyu Amasaki vs. Lady C vs. Waka Tsukiyama
Five clocked in and had a match: Iida fought off multiple people, Waka did a double Flatliner, and Lady C helped lift Waka up for something but we’ll never know what for because they both got knocked down during it, and it led to the finish. **
1. STARS vs. Oedo Tai: Hazuki & Koguma vs. Saki Kashima & Ruaka
Koguma overcame something resembling an offensive blitz by Kashima in this match so ordinary it must’ve been scientifically designed to not exceed anything after. **3/4
2. Himeka vs. Yuna Mizumori
Yuna Mizumori last worked Stardom’s 10/22 Korakuen show tagging with Giulia and here she was in front of the same amount of fans but something about the Plaza and PPV bully pulpit had her singing to the ring. She wrestled Stardom’s steady hand Himeka, who brought a credibility if not distinctive energy as Mizumori got in all her spots that were either super silly or super interesting but rarely felt, like, real. The match peaked when she dropped the charm and refused to back down on an elbow exchange until Himeka cracked her with a really, really hard one. ***
3. The Revenge Match: Utami Hayashishita vs. Natsuko Tora
Natsuko Tora was back in Stardom, a year-and-a-half after she challenged for Utami Hayashishita’s World of Stardom Title only to obliterate her knee ten minutes into the match. The World of Stardom Champion might be different but the grudge remained, so they started with headlocks. Awkward…
Then Utami started tightening hers and then started throwing elbows and this Revenge Match really did get cooking. Utami’s good at getting all fired up and it was nice to see Tora again even if she was mostly using chinlocks and box shots. They used a table again too but this time there was no injury; instead Utami put a red rose in her mouth before jumping through it which I thought was SO awesome. ***1/2
4. MIRAI, Ami Sohrei & Konami vs. Giulia, Thekla & Mai Sakura
Syuri’s friends brought the powerlifter wrestling while DDM relied on Thekla’s creepy crawler offense and Giulia’s general presence. It resulted in some fun though just like the last time it happened (10 days ago!), I wonder about the wisdom in another time limit draw tag match in the middle of a card and era with no crowd reactions. Can people even get out of their seat as the clock winds down??? ***1/4
5. SWA World Title: Mayu Iwatani [c] vs. Alpha Female
After she was brought back to Japan to put over KAIRI in the IWGP Women’s Title Tournament Alpha Female extended her stay a couple more weeks so she could put over Mayu Iwatani, who was wrestling KAIRI later this month in the tournament Finals. Like, sometimes wrestling booking just feels so satisfyingly convenient.
The Alpha had a great second match considering her limited wrestling schedule over the last few years, though KAIRI and now Mayu put in some work: she ragdolled or bounced around the ring like a crazy person and was a big factor in the MMA-influenced offense that was a dud in the KAIRI match blending in naturally and looking more effective. The interesting thing about that offense is that while it was occasionally painful to watch, when Mayu made a late-match rally by overwhelming her on a strike exchange it felt like both a cathartic comeback and something that could’ve reasonably happened. So very basic and so very good. ***3/4
6. Goddesses of Stardom Title: Tam Nakano & Natsupoi [c] vs. Momo Watanabe & Starlight Kid
Some companies get overwhelmed by too many talents on their roster; Stardom simply created a great tag team division from it. Momo and The Kid are great wrestlers playing lazy heels while Nakano and Natsupoi’s great mentor/student dynamic was amplified when Nat spent most of the match in peril after Kid smashed her leg with a chair. That led to some Leg Work as Tam tried to help her girl rally back. Nat trying to keep up with SLK on the ropes ended up a bad move that left her in agonizing pain on the mat, though she fought on — she had too, the boss was watching!
As Momo and SLK tried to isolate Nat for the kill the match lost momentum for a minute before a double plancha and SLK’s brilliant reversal of a wheelbarrow with a leg whip to stretch muffler brought it back. Tam made the save then Nat visibly accepted the fate that she’d have to power through all their double teams because god damnit the boss was watching. ****1/4
7. Wonder of Stardom Title: Saya Kamitani [c] vs. Mina Shirakawa
Saya Kamitani’s 10th defense of the white belt was a leg work masterpiece. What do I mean? Let me explain.
At last month’s Stardom in Showcase during a beach and boob-themed “End of Summer” match, Mina Shirakawa was sprayed with a Super Soaker then seductively stared at the camera as she unbuttoned her shirt. Six days later at the last night of the 5-Star GP, she worked over Natsupoi’s leg until Nat tapped to a figure-four leglock.
Mina Shirakawa is attractive, but only on the new and infrequent Showcase shows is she actually stripping. In her hundreds of other matches she’s neutralized any inaccurate judgments on a lack of skill or toughness by deciding to shoulder the responsibility of becoming Stardom’s reigning leg work queen.
In her biggest match to date Mina pieced it all together, I mean she was practically salivating eyeing Kamitani’s knee when the bell ring. Early on she kept it mostly to submissions but Big Match Mina meant Big Match Leg Work: when Kamitani tried to rally with a springboard Mina countered with a dropkick to the knee, and she followed with a plancha pretty much directly on the knees.
Kamitani has proven at least nine times she is good at making a comeback but Mina consistently kept either attacking the leg or avoiding a move before attacking the leg. When a Kamitani poison rana finally turned the tide and it looked like they were headed for the close, there were still like five twists waiting including Mina managing to apply last-second figure-four and kick out of the Star Crusher at 1.
Despite her best effort (really, incredible effort), one too many Big Match Kamitani moves did Mina in. Sadly the last two were Phoenix Splashes that injured her face, which after 20 minutes of great wrestling felt kind of dramatic and cool and gross and shitty but shouldn’t devalue how much of a leg work masterpiece this was. ****1/2
8. World of Stardom Title: Syuri [c] vs. Maika
The best thing about watching so many Stardom matches in the 5-Star GP was learning about the wrestlers rarely emphasized on Stardom’s PPVs, like Maika who I’ve seen wrestle a lot but rarely SEEN – you know?
Syuri’s 10th defense of the red belt wasn’t a leg work masterpiece like Kamitani/Shirakawa but it was just as great a wrestling match and it didn’t end with someone’s face getting broken.
I’m not sure I was ever convinced Syuri would actually lose but they worked tremendously hard to make the case, with Syuri having to take a breather after Maika’s first two moves (a shoulderblock and powerslam) then unable to find an opening or do much damage as the match continued. Maika no-sold a Codebreaker, clotheslined through a kick and when Syuri tried to choke out of her suplex she powered through and hit the suplex anyways — just a monstrous performance.
Though in trouble most of the time Syuri still worked like The Champion, wrestling the match but also plotting and selling and using body language to ensure the message got across. When Maika began to slow down then got caught with a running knee in the face the match felt headed for a familiar Syuri victory, a familiar place, only for Maika to quickly flip the script with a Michinoku Driver when Syuri ran the ropes. A big lariat after got a great near fall, then a couple slams got a couple more before no less than a straight-up Ganso bomb.
Syuri survived all that and a sleeper, then Maika endlessly clotheslined her and they both just started throwing headbutts and I mean they really wanted that Red Belt. A few more nasty moves that felt like natural endpoints delighted when they weren’t until one of them finally was, and I won’t spoil it because it was that exciting finding out. ****1/2
Happy Thoughts: It’s not like Stardom had fallen off but this was a return to form for the Stardom big event, with the quality of each match increasing as the night went on before a double main event featuring two of the best matches of the year. 4.5 / 5.0
