Stardom
Stardom presented Supreme Fight 2023 on Saturday in the Osaka EDION #1 with fans finally being able to cheer for the first time in nearly 3 years. On the show, four titles were defended, and new challengers were found.
The opening Match was the Naniwa Roulette Match. The Gauntlet had a 5-min time limit per match and over-the-top rope rules. Mayu Iwatani started the match to get the first cheers in front of the fans. She eliminated Waka, Kohgo and Amasaki back to back to back until she draws against Tam Nakano. The two CA Stable Partners Poi and Mina were the next two and also drew. Mariah May was able to eliminate Mai Sakura and then had a double elimination with Thekla. Momoka and Tora were the next two and had a funny sequence until both eliminated each other. Yuna Mizumori got eliminated by “Billy Ken Death” (Fukigen Death) who came out to WALTER’s Indy Theme. In the end, Saki Kashima was able to win the whole Roulette by pinning Death and announced that she will challenge AZM for the High-Speed Title down the line.
In a Triangle Derby Action, Hazuki, Koguma and Saya Iida defeated Umesaki, Ruaka and Starlight Kid in a fun contest. Koguma and Starlight Kid had a fun finishing sequence with a shocking ending when the Bear pinned SLK with the Kuma Roll. The Queen’s Quest vs God’s Eye Trios match featured the one-night return of Konami, and she looked as awesome as ever. It was the first Match of Ami Sourei’s and Lady C’s careers with cheering fans, and they went crazy for them. In the end, Lady C tapped out to Konami in a good match.
When Chihiro Hashimoto appeared in Stardom, everyone went crazy. The Ace of Sendai Girls is one of the most dominant Wrestlers in the entire world, and her first Stardom Match against MIRAI showed what she can do. From the first moment on, the Cinderella 2022 Winner had it hard against the former Sendai Girls World Champion, and she struggled to get in any offense at all. The Big Hash gave MIRAI the biggest challenge of her career, but the God’s Eye Member did well. She fought back and got the crowd fully behind her to stop the unbeatable monster, but for not a single second it seemed like she had any chance. Hashimoto destroyed MIRAI in the final minutes and put her away with a sick looking German Suplex Bridge for the victory.
The Goddesses of Stardom Title match, which stole the show, was centered around Maika and Himeka’s quest to reclaim the Tag Titles. The crowd was vocal in their support of MaiHime, especially after Himeka’s early knee injury. With Himeka sidelined for the first half, the Empress Maika put on a fantastic performance fighting against Nanae and Yuu in a 2-on-1 disadvantage and was able to hold her own against the dominant Champions. The momentum shifted to DDM’s side when the Jumbo Princess was back in the action. From then on the match ended up being an emotional rollercoaster. Himeka sold her injury amazingly and showed the passion and the will to overcome all the odds and win the prestigious Tag Team Titles. Despite all the pain, the Jumbo Princess fought MaiHime back into winning contention with some close near falls, but 7Upp was just too good on this day and crushed the efforts of MaiHime. When it seemed like MaiHime were about to win the title, 7Upp used their experience and freshness to turn the match in their favor, crushing the hopes of the MaiHime fans and retaining their championships. Despite the loss, MaiHime came out looking like bigger stars and proved that they are ready for another run with the belts. Natsuko Tora & Ruaka came out after the match to challenge the Champions for the Korakuen Hall Show on March 10th.
The Wonder Of Stardom Title Match was a history-making Match for Saya Kamitani even though the match quality didn’t keep up with it. The former Stable Mates facing each other not only for the Wonder Of Stardom Championship but also with the defense record of Momo Watanabe being on the line. Coming into the match, Saya defended her belt 13x, which equals Momo’s defenses in her title run four years ago.
The Match wasn’t on the level it should have been, and it continues the latest trend of the Wonder Of Stardom Championship Matches. “The Golden Phoenix” was hitting consistently for the better part of 2022 with having some of the best matches of the year against the likes of Natsupoi, Tam Nakano, Maika and more but since the botched Phoenix Splash against Mina, something is wrong. The confidence and smoothness Saya had are gone, and a lot of the spots feel strange and not clean anymore. Momo didn’t have the best performance either and once again has an underwhelming title defense with her “Black Peach” Gimmick. The chemistry between the two just wasn’t there, and it was seen. The anti-climatic finish with Saya hitting her Firebird Splash for the win while Momo had her knees-up was only the cherry on the cake for this disappointing match. This was nowhere near the worst defense of Saya, but it ranks as one of the lower-rated Title defenses. She now holds the title for over 400 days with a record-breaking 14 defenses.
Giulia faced Suzu Suzuki in the Main Event of the show for the World Of Stardom Championship. The last time the Leader of DDM and the promising young Wrestler from Prominence the match ended in a Time Limit Draw, so both wanted to make sure that won’t happen again. The Match started the way Giulia prefers to structure her matches. A short grappling sequence in the ring leads to a brawl outside the ring. The pace picked up quickly and Suzu led the match and forced Giulia to get away from her preferable technical style to a “dropping on the head” fest. Suzu hit a beautiful German Suplex from the top rope into a bridge. Her efforts and performance were remarkable, but it wasn’t enough. Giulia’s big match experience made the difference and she was able to win the Match with the Nothern Lights Bomb. The Match was great, even though many expected more due to the high standards both Wrestlers have and shown against each other in their 5STAR Match. Suzu feels like a lock to win the Red Belt in her career, while Giulia’s legendary reign just started now.
