Review: Stardom – 2017.10.17

Starlight Kid & Shiki Shibusawa vs. Hanan & Ruaka
A fun opener for this show. Starlight Kid looked miles ahead of everyone else with her smooth offence but they all did fine. Shiki looked a little more confident and expressive today compared to recent shows. Starlight Kid pinned Ruaka after a splash. 2/5 

Kelly Klein & Bea Priestley vs. Scarlett & Chardonnay vs. Hiromi Mimura & Konami vs. Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora (Elimination Tag)
This was great. It had a good mix of solid, fast-paced wrestling and comedy spots. I loved Hiromi Mimura missing seven people at once with her dropkick. Chardonnay pinned Hiromi Mimura first. Then Jungle Kyona eliminated Scarlett over the top rope. Kelly Klein then eliminated Chardonnay over the top rope and Konami by pinfall. Finally Bea Priestley eliminated Jungle Kyona over the top rope and then pinned Natsuko Tora for the win. This was really chaotic fun. 4/5 

AZM vs. Kris Wolf
It is really hard to believe that AZM has only just turned 15. This was really good. After an early botched springboard by AZM they both recovered very well to have one of the best singles matches I’ve seen from AZM. She was fast, smooth and showed great emotion throughout. The match was well put together with lots of near falls and a couple of very nice exchanges. Oedo Tai interfered in the middle of the match but AZM fought them off well. Kris Wolf eventually pinned AZM for the win. After the match Oedo Tai attacked AZM but Momo Watanabe made the save and announced she would return in November in a match against Kris Wolf! 3.25/5

Io Shirai vs. Hana Kimura
Another good match on this show. Hana performed a great delayed vertical suplex early on. Io had a chance for a moonsault but Tam Nakano threw Oedo Tai’s wooden signboard into her head. Hana Kimura took advantage with a slightly weak superplex to the outside. Io Shirai just managed to beat the count but Hana still had control with two big missile dropkicks and a great running facewash. Io momentarily got back control with a great German Suplex but Hana caught her again as she went to the top rope and delivered a great superplex this time. They fought on but Io eventually got the momentum with a piledriver and a moonsault to get the pin. 4/5

HZK vs. Kagetsu
Incredible match and one of HZK’s best singles matches so far. The offence was great by both and Kagetsu’s selling really helped to make HZK look like a star.  Highlights included a double-knee facebreaker from the middle rope by HZK & Kagetsu countering Bombs Away by spitting water in HZK’s face. But really this entire match was great. Kagetsu pinned HZK after an Oedo Coaster. 4.25/5

Takumi Iroha vs. Yoko Bito (Wonder of Stardom Title)
2017 has been an incredible year for wrestling as a whole with promotions all over the world raising the bar for what a wrestling match can be. Stardom is one of those promotions and this was one of those matches.  It started slowly with a prolonged stare-down followed by a test of strength. Iroha took control for a couple of minutes until Bito managed to hit a clothesline and eventually a B-Driver but Iroha kicked out. The match moved to the outside and Iroha was thrown into the chairs. She eventually got some control back with a bodyslam to the floor. Back inside the ring both exchanged control of the match. Iroha hit a nice spinning heel kick and swung Bito around by her neck. Iroha was dominating and hit a frog splash and swanton bomb from the top rope but Bito kicked out. Bito eventually regained some momentum with a series of kicks and hit another B-Driver but again it wasn’t enough. Both women were exhausted at this point but fought to the apron and exchanged some more big kicks. Bito again hit a third unsuccessful B-Driver and as she was climbing the ropes Iroha grabbed her and performed an awesome running crucifix powerbomb. With both women still fighting hard the bell rang to end a certain contender for match of the year as a time-limit draw. An incredible display of athleticism, stamina, story-telling and passion. 4.5/5

After the match there was a great show of sportmanship between the two main-eventers and Io Shirai came out to challenge Yoko Bito for the White Belt at the next Korakuen Hall show.