Sadly, due to Stardom not having their entire back catalogue up on World, we’ve had to leap forward a couple of months in our trawl through their history. There were five shows in the period we’ve missed, with a few interesting results scattered throughout them. However, the biggest thing to happen was the debut of someone called Io Shirai? Can’t say I know much about her, but I guess we’ll see how she gets on.
Hiroyo Matsumoto defeated Mayu Iwatani
As Hiroyo Matsumoto sends another vicious slap into Mayu’s chest, a huge grin on her face, you begin to ponder whether she’s enjoying this a bit too much.
Poor Mayu is like a wee puppy out on its first walk that’s decided it wants to be friends with the biggest dog in the park. You can’t fault her bravery, but her attempt to rough house with someone who picked up the name Lady Destroyer when she supposedly broke a wall in Ichigaya is probably not going to go well.
Still, this is the kind of match I enjoy, particularly in an opening spot. It’s the simple story of a plucky rookie throwing herself at a wall. While she bounces horribly off, knocking herself out in the process, you can’t fault her determination.
Verdict: Bless You, Mayu
Ryo Mizunami defeated Sendai Sachiko
What a bizarre match-up. Neither Aniki nor Sachiko were Stardom wrestlers or about to start a run with the company. I thought it might be a Sendai Girls offer match, but Aniki spent more of the year in WAVE, so that doesn’t seem to answer the question either. I’m sure there was a reason for it, but it’s hard to say.
Whatever it was, the version on Stardom world has been cut down to the last couple of minutes, so it’s not something I can review. Ryo Mizunami is awesome, though, so check her out if you aren’t already a fan.
Verdict: Why Is This Here?
Yoko Bito and Ultimo Dragon defeated Yoshiko and Danshoku Dieno by disqualification
Talking of random, what the fuck are Dieno and Ultimo Dragon doing here? This is Stardom’s first time in Akita, so I’m not sure if they felt they needed more firepower or what, but fuck me, how weird.
Not to lean too much into my personal brand, but this felt a bit like a good Yoko vs Yoshiko match with two random blokes involved. Dieno was in full gay panic mode, which can do one. Meanwhile, Ultimo Dragon’s day was summed up by him not bothering to walk to the centre of the ring during the introductions. He kept refusing to wrestle Dieno because he was worried it would make him gay, but there is a good chance he also couldn’t be arsed.
I’m not sure why this was here, and it did very little for me. You’ve got to give Yoshiko some credit, though, as she fully committed to teaming with Dieno. It’s the first time we’ve seen her go more comedic and it’s a side of her game she rarely gets credit for. Anyway, it ended in a DQ when Dieno went into full sexual predator mode before Great Sasuke turned up because why the fuck not.
What the hell is going on?
Verdict: I Don’t Know Either
Yuzuki Aikawa defeated Saki Kashima
Saki Kashima may have been the rookiest of the Stardom rookies, but she was out there taking it to the Wonder of Stardom champ. She went after Aikawa’s leg, getting in a surprising amount of offence.
In the end, though, Yuzuki was able to get hold of things, finally putting Saki away with her Shining Wizard. There wasn’t a whole lot to this, and they had the occasional sloppy moment as they lost track of themselves, but for what it was, I had an alright time. The experienced wrestler in this match made her debut less than a year before, so I’m not going to hold a couple of mistakes against them.
Verdict: Fine For What It Was
Nanae Takahashi and Io Shirai defeated Natsuki Taiyo and Yuu Yamagata
If anyone is unaware, Io was no rookie when she came into Stardom. She’d been all over the Japanese scene working freelance, often with her sister, and had even nipped out to Mexico. She wasn’t quite Nanae or Taiyo, but she sat in-between them and the newbies.
She also looked right at home in there with Stardom’s two veterans and their most frequent outside visitor. Io spent a fair chunk of the match being worked over, Yuu particularly enjoying getting the chance to slap every inch of exposed flesh, but she grabbed her chances to shine well, pulling out that lovely Moonsault at the end too.
The highlight, though, as it tends to be, was Natsuki and Nanae going at it. Those two are solid fucking gold and, as I think I’ve made clear, I’d watch them beat each other up all day. We’re not too far off their first singles match in Stardom, but unfortunately, it’s not on World. If anyone knew where I could find it, I would thank you with some very kind words.
They’d take centre stage in the final act as this whole thing was a load of fun. Stardom very rarely misses with these main event tags, and this did nothing to buck that trend.
Verdict: Lot Of Fun
Overall Show
This show is mainly notable for that weird bit back at the start where a load of random people turn up. If anyone has any info on how that whole Ultimo Dragon, Dieno situation came about, I would love to hear it. I did a bit of looking but came up with fuck all. Anyway, outside of that nonsense, it was a solid show, but with nothing that you really need to see. I’d watch the main purely because it’s the first Io match we have easy access to at the mo and it is good, but I’m not sure I can call it essential.
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