STARDOM
STARDOM had its first PPV after the 5STAR Grand Prix with the Nagoya Golden Fight Show on the Japanese national holiday of Sports Day. The show featured KAIRI’s farewell match, Natsuko Tora challenging Tam Nakano for the World Of Stardom Championship, and much more.
Saki Kashima (c) vs. Mei Seira for the High-Speed Championship
In the opener, Saki Kashima is defending her High-Speed Championship against Mei Seira, who joined STARDOM in April. She tried to challenge Kashima on multiple occasions, but the champion said no every time, but now finally agreed to put her title on the line.
The match was a fun sprint as expected with many counters. Kashima led the pace of the match, but Mei was able to manage to out speed the God’s Eye Member and pin Kashima to win the High Speed Championship. Seira has been aiming for the High-Speed Championship for three years, with her first challenge being against AZM on the Stardom Osaka Dream Cinderella show in December 2020, and nearly three years later was able to win the title.
AZM vs. Saori Anou
In a rematch of a Blue Stars Block match in the 5STAR, AZM & Saori Anou are facing off in the second match of the night. The “Absolutely Indomitable Girlfriend” was scheduled to defend the Goddess Of Stardom Championship together with her partner Natsupoi against AZM & Utami Hayashishita, but due to the injuries of Utami and Natsupoi, the match got changed to a singles match.
Just like in the 5STAR match, AZM got a fast start over Anou and controlled the pace of the match. The two showed their great chemistry here and built up an exciting sprint with a fantastic finishing phase. AZM & Anou got close near falls with creative pinfall attempts that looked incredible. Anou defeats AZM with a bridging pin to stun the former High-Speed Champion.
Syuri vs. Mina Shirakawa in an UWF Rules Match
Mina Shirakawa faces Syuri in a UWF Rules match, which is a match that can only be won by KO, Submission, referee stoppage, or expending the points of your opponent via takedowns and rope breaks.
This is a match where Syuri has the clear advantage as a former MMA fighter who even made it to the UFC, but the former White Belt Champion trained hard for this match and showed that she has some qualities in her matches lately. The match went as expected, Syuri controlling the match, conducting three of Mina’s points quickly, but the Club Venus Leader found her groove and was able to steal two points from Syuri, but she had no chance in this match. The God’s Eye Leader finished her off with a high kick and a buzzsaw kick for a win by TKO.
After the match, a mysterious backstage video was played where Shirakawa got attacked by a masked woman, which was revealed as the legendary Joshi Wrestler Dump Matsumoto, who will team up with ZAP to face Shirakawa in a 2v1 match at the Halloween show.
Donna del Mondo (Giulia, Mai Sakurai & Thekla) (c) vs. Maika, Megan Bayne & Suzu Suzuki for the Artist Of Stardom Championship
The Bari Bari Bombers are defending their Artist Of Stardom Championships for a second time against Maika, Megan Bayne, and the 5STAR Winner Suzu Suzuki, who defeated her partner Maika just a week ago.
This was a rare occasion where STARDOM used a Championship match as an angle instead of focusing on the match itself. With a run-time of about 5 minutes, it was short. Maika & Suzuki had miscommunications from the very beginning by not tagging each other in or hitting each other with their moves, which led to Giulia rolling Maika up to retain the Artist of Stardom titles. After the match, Maika showed her frustration, beat Suzuki up, pushed away her DDM Members, and stormed backstage.
MIRAI (c) vs. Momo Watanabe for the Wonder Of Stardom Championship
The Wonder Of Stardom Championship is on the line when MIRAI defends against Momo Watanabe. This is the second time MIRAI is defending her White Belt, after successfully defending it against Konami last month. Watanabe tries to beat MIRAI again after defeating her on the opening night of the 5STAR Grand Prix.
This was the best match of the night and continued the great run of both MIRAI and Momo. The Oedo Tai Member controls the early part of the match and brings her vicious side to this match. The encounters between MIRAI’s Lariats and Momo Kicks were stiff and incredible to look at. The finish phase was incredible and made this match outstanding. Many counters, many suplexes, and close near falls made the fans believe that Momo might win the Wonder of Stardom Championship here. In the end, Watanabe attempts the Peach Thunder, but the champion barely escapes, hits two big lariats, and pins Watanabe to retain the White Belt.
KAIRI, Mayu Iwatani & Nanae Takahashi vs. STARS (Hazuki, Koguma & Saya Iida)
The co-main event featured the farewell match of KAIRI before she is going back to WWE. She teams with her former Threedom stablemate Mayu Iwatan and her long-time tag team partner Nanae Takahashi against the STARS trio of Hazuki, Koguma, and Saya Iida.
This was maybe the best performance of KAIRI since the Mercedes Mone match in February. All six had great chemistry, and built up a great Six Woman Tag team Match, with especially Koguma having a stand-out performance. They went hard, with the experienced team of Mayu, KAIRI, and Nanae dominating the STARS trio, who had a fantastic underdog performance and came close several times to upset and beat KAIRI in her last match. KAIRI wins the match for her team by pinning Koguma after the Insane Elbow. After the match, everyone was hugging and KAIRI said Thank You to the STARDOM fans.
Tam Nakano (c) vs. Natsuko Tora for the World Of Stardom Championship
In the main event, Natsuko Tora is challenging Tam Nakano for the World Of Stardom Championship. These two go way back, with Tora being Nakano’s first opponent in STARDOM. The leader of Oedo Tai earned this shot by defeating the Champion in the 5STAR Grand Prix, and is challenging for the World Of Stardom Championship for the second time, with the first one ending with an unfortunate injury that kept Tora shelved for a long time.
Tora & Tam brawled from the moment the bell rang, and the match went to the outside quickly, which shifted the match instantly into the direction of the challengers. Back in the ring, they had an exciting match that got better the longer the match went. Tora was build-up well for this match, which made the near falls believable for the crowd. Especially the DVD -Swanton Bomb – DVD combination that brought Tora a couple of wins in the 5STAR was a great near fall, but Nakano overcame all the pain and retained her championship by hitting two Violet Screwdrivers on Tora.
Following the match, the 5TAR GP Winner Suzu Suzuki confronts the champion and will challenge Nakano in November for the World of Stardom Championship.
Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling
TJPW held the 4th annual Wrestle Princess show in the Tama Mirai Messe in front of 868 fans, with the show featuring three exciting Championship matches including Miyu Yamashita trying to become a 4x Princess Of Princess Champion in the main event against Mizuki.
Free WiFi (Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta) vs. Toyo Mates (Mahiro Kiryu & Yuki Kamifuku) for the vacant Princess Tag Team Championships
The vacant Princess Tag Team Championships are on the line when Free WiFi and Toyo Mates face off. Both teams weren’t able to successfully win the Championships, so a new team will crown themselves champions.
A wonderful match between the two teams. Free Wifi and Toyo Mates had a great build-up to this match that made me believe that either team could win the belts here. It had non-stop action and all the performers got their time to shine, especially Mahiro had her best performance in this match. Free WiFi worked fantastic together as a team, hitting the 5G to set up Nao’s backpack stunner on Mahiro to win the Championships. It’s Kakuta’s first title in her career, and Noa’s first title since losing the International Princess Belt to Maki Itoh last year.
Rika Tatsumi (c) vs. Max The Impaler (c) for the International Princess Title & NWA World Women’s Television Title
The co-main event is a Double Title match between the International Princess Champion Rika Tatsumi and the NWA World Women’s Television Champion Max The Impaler. Tatsumi has held the title for 205 days, while Max won their Championship 44 days ago.
Tatsumi walks into this match as the underdog against Max, who has not been pinned inside a TJPW ring yet. The International Princess Champions attacks are ineffective, and Max shoves Rika away without any problems. Tatsumi struggles to get her offense in, and it never looked like she had an actual chance to beat Max The Impaler in this match. Max puts away White Dragon with a nasty lariat to win the International Princess Title.
Mizuki (c) vs Miyu Yamashita for the Princess Of Princess Championship
In the main event, Miyu Yamashita tries to reclaim her spot at the top of the promotion by challenging Mizuki for the Princess Of Princess Championship. Yamashita earned the shot by pinning the Tokyo Princess Cup earlier in the Summer. She and Mizuki faced off once before for the POP Title, with Yamashita emerging as the victor, and it wasn’t different here.
They had an epic match that ranks high as the best TJPW match of the year, with both having outstanding performances. They pulled out the best they have in them with creative spots, engaging sequences, and an exciting ending phase that ends with Miyu pinning Mizuki to crown herself a 4x Princess Of Princess Champion.
