Reviews Stardom Top Stories

Review: Stardom – 2018.01.21 – 7th Anniversary Show

Hanan, Starlight Kid & Shiki Shibusawa vs. Hiromi Mimura, Konami & Ruaka
A fun, high-energy opener. Konami hit a couple of great kicks and everyone else worked well. Starlight Kid pinned Ruaka for the win. 2.25/5

Jungle Kyona, Natsuko Tora & Kaori Yoneyama vs. Nicole Savoy, Miranda & Xia Brookside
This was also fast-paced and fun, though very short. Natsuko Tora hit a couple of great spears, Miranda hit a nice enziguri and Nicole Savoy continued to impress with her strength as she lifted Miranda above her head and dropped her for a body splash. Jungle Kyona pinned Miranda after the Hammer Throw Powerbomb. 3.25/5

Kay Lee Ray vs. Mari Apache
A fantastic match. It started with some great technical grappling and mat work before becoming a high-flying fest. Kay Lee Ray hit two suicide dives and a flying cannonball from the top rope to the outside. Mari Apache used the Mexican Surfboard twice, the first Kay Lee Ray managed to counter and the second was on the apron. Mari Apache pinned Kay Lee Ray after a spinning heel kick from the top rope and a Michinoku Driver. In a nice touch after the match, Mari Apache celebrated her win with her daughter Natsumi, who herself is a Stardom trainee and is due to debut soon. 4/5

Any worries that Mayu Iwatani would be cautious are gone.
Any worries that Mayu Iwatani would be cautious are gone.

Mayu Iwatani vs. Rachael Ellering
It was Mayu’s first real match back after her awful injury back in October and it was also the final match of Rachael Ellering’s tour. This was by far Ellering’s best match of her tour and any worries that Mayu would not be the same after her injury are gone as she took some crazy bumps and had a performance like she had never been away. Ellering targeted Mayu’s elbow throughout the match and it was a little uncomfortable to watch having seen the injury only a little over three months ago. It is a very good sign that Mayu seems so comfortable putting strain on it though. Mayu hit some of her best moves including a crossbody from the top rope to the outside and finally a bridged dragon suplex for the win. 4/5

Oedo Tai (Kagetsu, Hana Kimura, Kris Wolf, Tam Nakano & Sumire Natsu) vs. Queen’s Quest (Io Shirai, HZK, AZM, Momo Watanabe & Viper)
This was an elimination gauntlet match with the last person eliminated (Tam Nakano or Momo Watanabe) forced to leave their group. AZM & Kris Wolf started things off and almost instantly AZM rolled Kris Wolf up and got the pin. Kris Wolf is currently injured so it is not too surprising to see that she was unable to wrestle in this match. Next in was Sumire Natsu. AZM put on a great performance here with a lot of passion but Sumire pinned her. Io Shirai entered next. Sumire faked that she didn’t want to fight Io and that Oedo Tai had enough left to beat her. She laid down in the middle of the ring but as Io attempted to pin she rolled her up for a near fall. There was a really great spot where Io was climbing the ropes and Sumire pushed her over the top and Io just managed to hang on. As Sumire tried to take advantage Io pulled herself back over the ropes and into the ring and then managed to submit Sumire.

Kagetsu eliminates Io Shirai.
Kagetsu eliminates Io Shirai.

We then got Kagetsu vs. Io Shirai. Whilst this wasn’t quite the lengthy one-on-one that people want to see between these two, it was a great preview for a future match. Io hit a lot of her power moves before attempting a springboard at which point Kagetsu spat blue mist in her face then chokeslammed her to the outside to eliminate her (over-the-top-rope was one of the elimination conditions). Viper was next in and put in an excellent performance as she matched some of the agility of Kagetsu and countered an attempted hurricanrana off the turnbuckle into a powerbomb. Sumire just pulled Kagetsu out of the pin attempt. They then had a tremendous spot where after Kagetsu had gone over the top rope to the apron Viper repeatedly tried to knock her off but the other Oedo Tai members repeatedly catched her. After surviving a Viper onslaught Kagetsu hit a very impressive standing fireman’s carry takeover but Viper just managed to kick out. Oedo Tai tried to assault Viper while the referee was distracted but she survived and hit a wicked clothesline on Kagetsu. Kagetsu kicked out and Viper hit a power slam but the bell rang just before she could cover to signal a time-limit draw and both were eliminated.

HZK sacrifices herself to eliminate Hana Kimura.
HZK sacrifices herself to eliminate Hana Kimura.

HZK and Hana Kimura were next in. HZK took a lot of punishment from Hana before eventually catching Hana as she was attempting to climb the ropes with a brutal codebreaker. Both women ended up on the apron and after both nearly falling HZK climbed the ropes and delivered an awesome sunset flip powerbomb to the floor resulting in a double elimination. Hana seemed to have some difficulty breathing after the bump but fortunately recovered quickly.

And so it came down to Tam Nakano and Momo Watanabe. It was great to see Tam back in the ring after several months out while she recovered from injury. This was really a very stiff striking battle and both women looked so passionate. There were no huge spots like most of the other matchups but there was a lot of tension and near falls. Eventually Momo Watanabe hit the double knees off the top rope to pin Tam Nakano and remove her from Oedo Tai. This is an easy early contender for match of the year and showed great spectacle, passion and ability from everyone. 4.5/5

Review

Hanan, Starlight Kid & Shiki Shibusawa vs. Hiromi Mimura, Konami & Ruaka
Jungle Kyona, Natsuko Tora & Kaori Yoneyama vs. Nicole Savoy, Miranda & Xia Brookside
Kay Lee Ray vs. Mari Apache
Mayu Iwatani vs. Rachael Ellering
Oedo Tai (Kagetsu, Hana Kimura, Kris Wolf, Tam Nakano & Sumire Natsu) vs. Queen’s Quest (Io Shirai, HZK, AZM, Momo Watanabe & Viper)

Awesome

The 7th Anniversary Show was one of the best shows Stardom has put on in recent memory.

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