Stardom Toda Boat Race (17/11/19) Review

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Credit: Stardom

Stardom recently turned up at Toda Boat Race Event Hall for a random little show featuring only four matches. This is the kind of thing that I probably could ignore, but I’m pretty sure I’ve reviewed every Stardom show this year, so why stop now? Plus, the venue looked cool. I like it when wrestling events take place in rooms that aren’t your standard arenas. Does that make sense? It does to me.

Saya Kamitani defeated Leo Onozaki, Hina and Rina

The four rookies went under four minutes, so there is only so much you can say about this match. It was fun while it lasted, as the limited time had them working at a decent pace, but there’s nothing you need to see. Kamitani getting the win with her Running Shooting Star Press to both Hina and Rina suggests she’s already at the top of the rookie class.

Verdict: Two Stars

Oedo Tai (Jamie Hayter and Andras Miyagi) defeated STARS (Starlight Kid and Saya Iida)

I was intrigued to see what Miyagi would have to say for herself pre-match as this is the first time we’ve seen her since she tried to bonk Kagetsu on the head with a wooden board. Sadly, Andras is not the most talkative person, so we’ll have to wait for another day to get our explanation.

My favourite part of this might have been Jamie running across the ring to knock Kid off the apron before returning to her corner while doing an evil little giggle to herself. That’s not intended as a dig to the rest of the match, which was decent, I just thought it was hilarious.

They went around seven minutes and, as mentioned, it was alright. Kid and Miyagi had a solid sequence while Jamie bullying the youngsters is always enjoyable. There was one dodgy spot where Iida took a weird bump off a Double Suplex, coming down almost on her knees, but she seemed okay. It won’t blow your mind, but you’re not going to complain either.

Verdict: Two And Three Quarter Stars

Oedo Tai (Kagetsu, Hazuki, Natsuko Tora and Session Moth Martina) and Queen’s Quest (Momo Watanabe, Utami Hayashishita, AZM and Bea Priestley) fought to a time limit draw

Everything on this card had a ten-minute time limit, so this was an accelerated version of the always reliable QQ vs Oedo Tai structure. They even smushed some of the usual spots together, Hazuki and AZM doing some High Speed action in the ring while everyone else brawled on the outside being the obvious example.

As you’d expect, that led to a very good match. These teams can do this shit in their sleep and, if anything, the shortened time limit played to their advantage. They were a constant blur of motion, no-one ever slowing down or stopping to lock on a hold. It was all stiff kicks, flying about and good wrestling.

The final seconds saw Martina come very close to taking the fall, as she became the target of a QQ onslaught, but a save from her teammates kept her alive long enough for the time to elapse. I enjoyed that.

Verdict: Three And A Half Stars

Tokyo Cyber Squad (Hana Kimura, Jungle Kyona, Konami and Zoe Lucas) and STARS (Mayu Iwatani, Arisa Hoshiki, Tam Nakano and Saki Kashima)

You know all that stuff I wrote above? Yea, it was like that.

I’m only partly joking. The Stardom roster is brilliant at these multi-women tags, and it doesn’t matter who you put in them, they’re going to produce an entertaining and hard-hitting sprint. This had more of a party atmosphere to it than the first, with TCS stealing the Taguchi Japan Forever Clothesline spot. Hana even included the bad dancing and Saki being thrown into her backside.

They had one of those matches where it feels like the wrestlers are having a lovely time, and it was incredibly easy to go along with them whether it was the aforementioned jig or Arisa and Konami kicking each other in the head. I can’t imagine watching it and not enjoying yourself.

Verdict: Three And Three Quarter Stars

Overall Show

There is nothing on this show that you need to watch either from a quality or storyline perspective. However, it’s short, easy to digest and a lot of fun, so it’s the perfect wrestling for shoving on in the background while you tidy up or do whatever it is normal people do.

Watch Stardom: http://www.stardom-world.com/

If you enjoyed this review, please consider contributing to my Ko-fi, even the smallest amount is appreciated.

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