Review: Stardom – 2018.04.21

Ruaka vs. Leo Onozaki
This was fine but probably a couple of minutes too long. There were a couple of small botches but nothing major. Leo showed good strength to body slam Ruaka. Ruaka pinned Leo Onozaki with a bridged fisherman’s suplex. 2/5

Oedo Tai (Nao Yamaguchi & Natsu Sumire) vs. Shiki Shibusawa & Candy Floss
A fairly average match in terms of the wrestling but I enjoyed the storytelling with Nao as she refused to use the whip that Natsu repeatedly tried tried to hand her. Everybody looked fine there just was not really anything out of the ordinary or particularly impressive during the match. Natsu Sumire pinned Shiki Shibusawa for the win. 2.25/5

Chardonnay & Bea Priestley vs. Mari Apache & Natsumi
I thought Chardonnay & Bea both looked good when in the ring with Mari. Natsumi made quite a few mistakes and seemed quite nervous. She had Chardonnay in the corner, ran into her three times and I could not tell what she was trying to do. It did not look like either a forearm or a knee to the gut, it just looked like she ran and lightly collided. The rest of the match was okay. Bea Priestley submitted Natsumi with an arm lock. 2.25/5 

Oedo Tai (Kagetsu, Hana Kimura & Hazuki) vs. Team Jungle (Jungle Kyona, Natsuko Tora & Kaori Yoneyama)
This was great from both a storytelling and wrestling perspective. Hazuki and Hana continued to not get along throughout the match, but showed occasional glimpses that they have potential together. Jungle Kyona and Natsuko Tora were both excellent and delivered everything with real impact. The match was very back-and-forth throughout. Kagetsu eventually pinned Natsuko Tora after a Michinoku Driver. 3.75/5

Queen’s Quest (Momo Watanabe, Konami & AZM) vs. STARS (Mayu Iwatani, Saki Kashima & Starlight Kid)
Everyone looked very good in this, but yet again AZM & Starlight Kid shone brighter than their seniors. It is great to see Konami continue to be in better matches and she had some great exchanges with Mayu. This was also the best Saki has looked since her return, she was very smooth and confident. She looks like she will fill the hole left by Yoko Bito’s retirement very well. Both AZM and Starlight Kid had great moments not just with each other, but also with others which shows that they can adapt their styles to much more of the roster and still look great. Saki Kashima eventually got the pin after hitting AZM with a Kill Switch. 4/5

Session Moth Martina vs. Io Shirai (Wonder of Stardom Title)
This was… strange. I really like Martina and she is a much better wrestler than her character sometimes makes people think. However, a main event against Io Shirai after only a couple of shows in Japan is probably not the best use of her talents. That’s not to say Martina did bad, in fact it was a good performance that mixed her comedy skills with some solid wrestling including a suicide dive and taking a Frankensteiner from the top rope. It was just really weird to have this kind of match as a main event and for what is currently the biggest belt in the company with the red belt overseas. It never felt like a main event or a title match. Io Shirai pinned Session Moth Martina after a moonsault. 3/5