What a fitting way to celebrate International Women’s Day. Stardom was able to showcase how much talent there is in the company for the world to see.
Amidst concerns of the Coronavirus, World Wonder Ring Stardom held an empty-arena show called No People Gate which aired for free on YouTube.
Note: This is the first full Stardom Show I’ve seen. So the details won’t be very specific. Credits to TDE Wrestling for the GIFs I will be using for this article. If there’s any wrestling Twitter Account you should follow, it’s them.
Stardom follows a similar style to the likes of NJPW wherein they have lots of stables so everyone has something to fight for. The following are the stables in Stardom including a few of their members:
- Oedo-Tai: Natsuko Tora (Leader), Natsu Sumire, Saki Kashima, Jamie Hayter, Bea Priestley, Session Moth Martina
- Stars: Mayu Iwatani, Starlight Kid, Tam Nakano
- Queen’s Quest: Momo Watanabe, Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani
- Tokyo Cyber Squad: Hana Kimura, Junge Kyona, Konami, Death Yama-San, Leyla Hirscha
- Donna Del Mundo: Giulia, Maika, Syuri Kondo
All of the matches today involve the different factions. The match card is as follows:
- Stardom Battle Royal (Eliminations can occur from being tossed over the top rope, pinfall and submission)
- Tag Team Match-Tokyo Cyber Squad (Hana Kimura & Jungle Kyona) vs Donna Del Mundo (Giulia & Maika)
- Goddesses of Stardom Tag Team Title Match: Queen’s Quest (Momo Watanabe & Uyami Hayashishita) vs Oedo-Tai (Jamie Hayter & Bea Priestley)
- Wonder of Stardom Title Match: Natsuko Tora vs Arisia Hoshiki (C)
- Lumberjack Match: Saki Kashima vs Mayu Iwatani
There was a late change to the card when Arisa Hoshiki was announced, via social media, to have suffered a neck injury. That meant the Wonder of Stardom Title Match was cancelled and the winner of the Battle Royal will now face Natsuko Tora.
Stardom Battle Royal
A lot of things happened in the match so we’ll just mention the entrants and talk about a few highlights.
- Death Yama-San
- Saya Iida
- AZM
- AJW Legend Momoe Nakanishi (Wearing a Peach Mask. She wanted to keep her identity a secret until the announcer, Yurie Kozakai, said her name.)
- Ruaka
- Rina
- Hina
- Captain Stardom! (Dressed in an all-too familiar Green Costume.)
- Starlight Kid
- Leyla Hirsch
- Konami
- Tam Nakano
- Natsu Sumire with water and cold spray. (She was spraying everyone and pouring water on them.)
- Saya Kamitani (Now a member of Queen’s Quest, she comes out with her own mask too)
- Mima Shimoda from CMLL and Diana (She brought a steel chair with her)
- Super Strong Starlight Machine
Super Strong Starlight Machine won after eliminating AZM and Nakanishi. Machine called out Natsuko Tora for their match.
Super Strong Starlight Machine vs Natsuko Tora
Natsuko almost trips from all the fog at the entrance stage before we went to commercial break. Starlight Machine was easy pickings for the new leader of Oedo-Tai. It’s a shame that Hoshiki got injured but, we hope she gets well soon!
There’s not much to say for this match. Tora destroys Machine after just a few minutes.
Tokyo Cyber Squad: Hana Kimura & Jungle Kyona vs Donna Del Mundo: Giulia & Maika
For any Terrace House fans, we have Hana Kimura in a tag team match with her stable mate Jungle Kyona against Donna Del Mundo’s Giulia and Maika. This was a fun, physical match between the two teams. From dual submissions to strong lariats, this match had a lot of action and a bit of comedy in the mix.
This was a fun match with some very interesting highlights. The match started off with Hana and Giulia in a mexican stand-off where they used their respective opponent’s partners as bargaining chips. Hana would let go of Maika if Giulia let go of Kyona.
During Maika and Kyona’s part of the match, Maika did the unthinkable and pulled Kyona’s extension out. Both members of DDM paid for that with a Kyona Scoop Slam.
We had Maika applying a brutal submission on Jungle Kyona’s arm for a while and saw great teamwork from Hana & Kyona after that. Giuliua and Maika don’t seem to be on the same page yet but, they’re getting there. Another highlight of this match was the dual submission that Hana applied on Giulia and Maika at the same time. You have to see it to believe it.
The ending came in the form of a Jungle Buster by Kyona on Maika. After the match, Kyona challenged Giulia in what could be a physical brawl for a future date.
Goddesses of Stardom Tag Team Title Match-Queen’s Quest: Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita vs Oedo-Tai: Jamie Hayter & Bea Priestley (C)
Wow. This was a fun match. From the outside shenanigans of Bea & Jamie, to the crazy B-Driver that Momo used on Bea TWICE, this match for Stardom’s Tag Belts was insane. I wouldn’t call it a barn burner but, it was a lot of fun to watch.
There were moments when I thought Momo & Utami would regain their belts but, Bea & Jamie were just too good today. Bea pinned Momo with the Japanese Ocean Suplex.
What was even more interesting was what happened after the match. Saya Kamitani suddenly got on the mic and asked Utami if she can team up with her and challenge Bea & Jamie for the tag belts. Bea found it weird that Utami would lose and then challenge again but, she immediately accepts and we have another bout set for a future Stardom show.
Lumberjack Match: Saki Kashima (Oedo-Tai) vs Mayu Iwatani (Stars)
What I can say about this match is that the wrestlers took advantage of the empty arena set up. Saki even pushed Mayu down the stairs where she proceeds to tumble backwards all the way down from the bleachers of Korakuen Hall.
Critics may say that Kashima did not get to do much but, she brought the fight to Mayu here.
During the latter part of the match, Mayu even threw Saki out of the ring for a crucifix bomb. This match could be summed up with the phrase, “All hell broke loose.” The match ended with multiple kicks by Mayu on Saki before she hit a tombstone and a moonsault for the win.
After the match, Mayu did a speech greeting the fans online who were watching as we ended the show.
Down for The Count
This was my first time to watch a Stardom show in full and I must say that I loved it. I loved the fact that these wrestlers were able to showcase their skills on International Women’s Day and tell the world that there is an excellent women’s wrestling promotion in Stardom. People need to take note of how good these wrestlers are.
Having legends like Momoe Nakanishi, Yoko Bito and Jushin Liger on commentary helped add more credibiltiy to the broadcast team. I loved how enthusiastic Liger was as Mayu did her closing speech. If I had the ability, I would definitely purchase a subscription to Stardom World.
The Geeky Juans 