New Japan’s insistence on having a million shows means I’ve fallen behind on Stardom, so it’s time to catch up beginning with Konami’s Homecoming. We opened the show with a video of Konami outside the venue, welcoming us and saying that she wanted to get the win with her Triangle Lancer. Makes sense.
After an incredible Best Of The Super Juniors, New Japan has thrown together one hell of a card for Dominion. It is stacked from top to bottom with little to no fat on show. The BOSJ Final was a show of the year contender, but it might be outclassed by the same company just a few days later.
After years in Korakuen Hall, New Japan rolled the dice and moved the Best Of The Super Junior final to Ryogoku. It was a massive statement of intent, and they backed it up by giving us the debut of Jon Moxley and Tanahashi’s return from injury underneath the tournament conclusion. Now, did they justify that move?
With A Block all wrapped up, it’s time to see who will be losing to Shingo in the final. The important match is Taguchi vs Ospreay as the Funky Weapon battles the Aerial Assassin, but there is a couple of ways in which someone else could sneak in. Thankfully, they are incredibly improbable, so let’s not spend time worrying about them. Onto the show!
After a short break post-Korakuen, Stardom made their way to Osaka for a double bill. With two new champions on top and Tokyo Cyber Squad continuing to make their impact, it’s an exciting time for the company. Let’s see if they can keep that momentum going.
While A Block’s future is simple, B’s is all over the place. Half the wrestlers involved can still win this thing, and nearly every match on this show has consequences. Will that still be the case come the end? No, the answer is no, it will not.
Dragon Lee flying through the air pictures are the best kind of pictures. Credit: NJPW
After a short break, Super Juniors returns and is into the home stretch. We’re back down to five tournament matches a night (although A Block will actually be four as Taka has pulled out with injury) which will make these reviews a hell of a lot shorter. I enjoyed those epic runs in Korakuen, but it’s nice not to have to dedicate most of my day to watching New Japan.
Before we get into my review of Stardom’s latest trip to Korakuen, I want to talk about My Hobby, a series on Stardom World detailing wrestler’s, well, hobbies. So far, it has followed Mayu Iwatani and Saki Kashima hanging out with Mayu’s dog Pochi at a doggy day care, and it is the greatest thing that has ever existed. I was having a miserable day when I watched it, and it put an almost painful smile on my face. More videos of wrestlers having a good time with their pets, please. In fact, if Stardom wishes to ditch the wrestling business and transition into the wrestlers hanging out with pets business, I would probably be okay with it. Pochi is my Ace.
Anyway, let’s get onto what we are actually here to talk about.
Ishimori looks like he’s enjoying himself. Credit: NJPW
After an electric run of shows at Korakuen Hall, it’s almost a shame that New Japan had to move on. However, it’s only fair that the rest of the country gets to appreciate some fantastic wrestling and they rocked up in Chiba for what was supposed to be a ten-match show, but thanks to an injury to Taka, was reduced to nine as Dragon Lee got an automatic victory. Now, onto the action.
So far Korakuen and New Japan have combined to give us two fantastic wrestling shows. It’s been well-booked and packed with exciting matches that have been an absolute breeze to watch even with ten of them on each card. If they can keep that up for the final day, then this run will go down as one of the best.