If wrestling keeps being so great, I am going to have to ditch the top-ten element of this and make it even more rambling because there are at least another ten matches that I would like to have on this list. That doesn’t even take into account the Ice Ribbon that I need to catch up on! (I still haven’t seen Suzu vs Maya, hence its exclusion, I’m sure it’s great.) Gosh darn it, there is too much wrestling. Oh well, there are worse problems to have.
Continue readingQueen’s Quest
Stardom Is Again (21/6/20) Review
I don’t think a wrestling show has ever kicked off my anxiety as much as this one. A lot has happened since Stardom last ran, and while I was delighted to have them back, there is no denying that there is a large shadow over their return to the ring. Hana Kimura’s death is still being processed by many, and the thought of Stardom without her is going to take a long time to get used to.
Continue readingStardom No People Gate (8/3/20) Review
Insert joke about Stardom drawing an awful crowd for their latest Korkauen here. For yes, with coronavirus still causing chaos, Stardom chose to hold their monthly trip to the Hall without any fans. It’s not all bad news, though, as they also streamed it for free on YouTube, making it the rare Stardom show that can be watched straight away and has commentary, with a whole load of familiar faces (including Jushin Liger) popping up throughout the show. If we’re lucky, it might even become a regular thing. Anyway, on with the wrestling!
Continue readingStardom New Year Stars (16/2/20) Review
Just a few months after her debut, Saya Kamitani has earned her first singles main event, taking on Utami for the Future Of Stardom Title. Sadly, as one wrestler stepped up, another stepped away, with this show marking Leo Onozaki’s retirement. So, let’s celebrate her career and toast to Kamitani’s future with a good old-fashioned review. I’m sure it’s the present they both wanted.
Continue readingStardom New Year Stars (15/2/20) Review
I thought I was safe from Stardom making me emotional, but they’ve only gone and pulled Kagetsu back for one last match. The traditional retirement gauntlet headlined this show, and I wasn’t going to miss a chance to ramble about that.
Continue readingStardom The Way To Major League (8/2/20) Review
Stardom’s second Korakuen of the year was supposed to be headlined by the dream match of Mayu Iwatani vs Sareee. Unfortunately, Sareee got ill, which led to her having to pull out at the last minute. Now we can only cross our fingers and hope they find a way to reschedule before Sareee ruins her career by moving to Tampa. Still, Stardom did a great job of leaping into action and finding a suitable replacement in the form of Takumi Iroha of Marvelous. Could it live up to the expectations placed on that original match? Time to find out.
Continue readingStardom 9th Anniversary Show (19/1/20) Review
On their 9th birthday Stardom did something they’d never done before and packed Korkauen Hall right up to the balcony. That famous old venue was bursting at the seams, and it was a beautiful sight. Yes, you can point to the advertising power of Bushiroad, but a card headlined by Mayu vs Momo is one of the biggest Stardom can deliver, and it had the crowd it deserved. Now, it was down to the wrestlers to impress.
Continue readingStardom New Year Stars (3/1/20) Review
A quick note before I get started, I am going to be cutting down on the number of shows I review this year. I’ll still be doing a decent amount, but I want to write about some other things, and it’s hard to do that when you’re trying to keep up to date on multiple promotions. With companies like Stardom, I’ll pick and choose the exciting or noteworthy events while I wouldn’t expect in-depth reviews of every New Japan tournament (cheerio, Tag League). It’s a small change, but one I thought was worth mentioning.
Anyway, today I am going to have a look at Stardom’s second show of the year, which ended on an angle that saw them give the hornet’s nest a boot before 2020 had properly woken up.
Continue readingStardom New Years Stars (2/1/20) Review
January the second was Stardom time! Wrestle Kingdom may have been the initial inspiration for this trip, but let’s not beat around the bush, I was just as excited about watching Stardom. I’ve fallen in love with this company over the last year and having reviewed every show (I think, I certainly didn’t miss many) of 2019, being at their first of 2020 was a no-brainer. I was sober and fully with it, so I’ll be returning to the traditional structure. However, don’t expect any great analysis of the matches themselves because I was not taking notes.
Continue readingStardom Year End Climax (24/12/19) Review
Stardom’s final show of the year has taken on all kinds of meaning. In many ways, it is setting up a new era for the company as they move forward under the stewardship of Bushiroad. However, it is a new era tinged by sadness as they said goodbye to Hazuki and had another wrestler announce their retirement (more on that later). Change is coming one way or another.
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