Review: Stardom – 2018.04.22

Ruaka vs. Nao Yamaguchi vs. AZM
This was a little messy, but fun. Nao is already really excelling in her character work and this was probably her best showing of her wrestling skills, even if she is currently very green. Nao left the ring early and sat on a member of the crowd as AZM and Ruaka fought. She eventually reentered and clotheslined both AZM and Ruaka but couldn’t get the pin. Kagetsu was at ringside and tried to help Nao but as she spat water at Ruaka and AZM they both moved and the water hit Nao. Ruaka attacked Kagetsu outside the ring leaving AZM to pin Nao Yamaguchi for the win. 2.25/5

Mari Apache, Natsumi & Starlight Kid vs. Kaori Yoneyama, Leo Onozaki & Candy Floss
Another really fun match. This time it was Natsumi who had her best showing so far. She looked smooth and fairly confident throughout as she delivered some impressive offence including a beautiful Frankensteiner. I also really enjoyed the Kaori and Mari exchanges as two legends really worked well together. Everyone played a part in this match though and nobody disappointed. Starlight Kid eventually got the win with a spinning frog splash. 3/5

Team Jungle (Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora) vs. Oedo Tai (Hazuki & Session Moth Martina)
This match had really high workrate, especially from Team Jungle. I really liked a spot early in the match where Kyona stole some of Martina’s beer and “Hulked-up” to finally knock Martina down. The rest of the match was fast-paced and smooth, if a little aimless being that there was nothing at stake. Hazuki eventually got the win by pinning Natsuko Tora after a Bombs Away 3.25/5

Queen’s Quest (Momo Watanabe, Konami & Io Shirai) vs. STARS (Mayu Iwatani, Saki Kashima & Shiki Shibusawa)
An enjoyable match, but again it all felt a little aimless. Momo and Mayu were probably the standouts, both looked great. Everybody else did fine and it’s really impressive how quickly Saki has settled into Stardom since her return. There were a couple of neat spots; Mayu delivering a nice superplex to Io and Saki hitting a double bulldog combined with a dropkick to take out all of QQ. Konami eventually got the win by submitting Shiki Shibusawa. 3.5/5

Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura & Kagetsu) vs. Queen’s Quest (Bea Priestley & Chardonnay) (Goddesses of Stardom Titles)
Fantastic match. I was really impressed with Chardonnay, she seems to be improving at a very rapid pace and looked smooth and dangerous throughout. Bea is now establishing herself as a major player in Stardom and had another impressive performance. It seems she has really started to adapt to Stardom well now. Hana had a typical Hana performance, lots of personality and a few impressive moves, including managing to get Chardonnay in a hold while already performing an octopus hold on Bea which looked great. However, it was Kagetsu who stole the show. She was incredible throughout and had great exchanges with both opponents, a highlight being Bea reversing a chokeslam attmept into an armbar only for Kagetsu to reverse that back into a one-handed deadlift chokeslam. Her selling was great throughout too. Kagetsu pinned Chardonnay after an Oedo Coaster to retain the Goddesses of Stardom titles. 4.25/5