Review: Stardom – 2017.12.22

Konami vs. Shiki Shibusawa
Shiki continues her recent improvement, looking comfortable in the ring for the vast majority of the match even with the much more varied offence that Konami brings compared to most of her other opponents. The match itself was nothing special, but it worked fine as opener. Konami submitted Shiki Shibusawa with a sleeper hold for the win. 2/5

AZM vs. Hiromi Mimura vs. Mari Apache
A really fun comedy match. Hiromi & AZM were great throughout in both their high-speed abilities and their character work. Mari Apache was as classy as always and her presence and threat led to some great comedy moments as Hiromi & AZM both tried to avoid her and find opportunities to fight each other.  Hiromi Mimura pinned AZM for the win. 3.25/5

Team Jungle (Natsuko Tora, Hiroyo Matsumoto & Kaori Yoneyama) vs. Oedo Tai (Kagetsu, Hana Kimura & Sumire Natsu)
An excellent match. So much action and everybody contributed a lot. It was particularly great to see Hiroyo Matsumoto and Kaori Yoneyama get a good length match against great opposition. The entire match was very back-and-forth with no side dominating at any point. I was initially worried that Hana would not be featured much as she continued to refuse to be in a position to be tagged early on but she did eventually get in. Matsumoto & Yoneyama provided a lot of power moves and Natsuko Tora did extremely well to look like she belonged on the same team as them. Kagetsu was as acrobatic and entertaining as usual and Sumire Natsu already looks comfortable in a Stardom ring. The match ended in a time-limit draw. 4/5 

Scarlett vs. Kris Wolf (AWS Championship)
Solid match. Scarlett isn’t the most athletic or strongest but she is entertaining and does some good character work. Kris Wolf was as energetic as ever. There were not too many noteworthy moments, though Kris Wolf did deliver a nice superplex to Scarlett. Kris Wolf eventually pinned Scarlett after a diving double knee drop. 3.25/5

Io Shirai & Yoko Bito vs. HZK & Jungle Kyona
A great match and I’m left a little disappointed that this was the only match with Io & Yoko tagging together. Fantastic work throughout by everyone as it switched between a celebration of Yoko Bito and a genuinely intense match. Io & Yoko worked well together with Io providing the speed and Yoko the power. They performed a great double delayed suplex together with Io eventually letting Yoko take all of HZK’s weight to slam her to the mat. HZK & Jungle Kyona played a great role with them providing a lot of intensity and power to the match. At the end Jungle Kyona kicked out of a B-Driver before receiving a moonsault by Io and a crucifix powerbomb (BY Bomb) and Yoko Bito pinned her for the win. 4/5