STARDOM
The Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League continued with two shows this past week. The first was in the Korakuen Hall, which had the weakest attendance since the Natsupoi vs Starlight Kid High-Speed Championship Match in February 2022. The show featured four Tag League Matches, including a huge Crazy Star vs. Mafia Bella main event match.
In the first match, Syuri & Kashima defeated HANAKO & Saya Iida in a solid match, where the God’s Eye duo had no problem defeating HANAKO & Iida in 7 minutes. After the match, HANANKO called out Rina and challenged her for the Future Of Stardom Championship at the next New Blood show.
Next, the Tag League had its biggest upset yet, when Hanan & Mayu Iwatani defeated Maika & Megan Bayne via count out, after Hanan made it into the ring before the 20 count. Eye Contact had close to zero offense throughout the match, with Divine Kingdom dominating the two, but the STARS duo found a way to outplay the tournament favorites and gained their first two points.
In the co-main event, MIRAI and Mai Sakurai defeated Koguma and Hazuki in a fun match. It featured a ton of action, with both sides having good performances and motivation to steal the show, especially the interactions between Hazuki & MIRAI were incredible, but it was Sakurai who got the victory with the Mai Pan Roll and secured the next two points for her team. After the match, Saori Anou came out and challenged MIRAI for the Wonder Of Stardom Championship, after she defeated MIRAI in the 5STAR GP. The Match will happen at Gold Rush. Same as the Moneyball Tournament that Sakurai proposed, where four teams will compete for 10 million yen.
The Main Event was between Crazy Star and Mafia Bella, which is a match with a ton of history especially between Suzu Suzuki & Giulia, it also features the High Speed Champion Mei Seira who clashes here with DDM’s High Speed Wrestler Thekla. All four had fantastic chemistry and delivered a great match, especially Seira & Thekla showed off with excellent high-speed wrestling, while Giulia & Suzu beat each other up throughout the whole match. Crazy Star picked up the victory, and Mei Seira called out Momoka Hanazono for the Gold Rush PPV next month.
The second show happened in Osaka with four Tag League matches, including FWC against AZM & Miyu Amasaki and Giulia & Thekla facing Natsuko Tora & Momo Watanabe in the main event of the show.
Crazy Star picked up another two points when Suzu & Seira defeated HANAKO & Saya Iida to continue their momentum as a Tag Team. They are still undefeated and at 5 Points after three matches, while HANAKO & Iida are still without any points and already suffered three losses.
In a huge upset, Miyu Amasaki & AZM picked up a shocking win over Hazuki & Koguma, when AZM rolled up Hazuki with the Azumi Sushi for the three count. This is the second loss in a row for the former Goddess of Stardom Champions, while the 02line picked up their biggest win as a tag team yet.
In the semi-main event, the undefeated team of Mai Sakurai & MIRAI lost their first match to Hanan & Mayu Iwatani. The second win in a row for the STARS duo, who seem to have built up momentum, and stopped the momentum of the Wonder Of Stardom & Artist Of Stardom Champion here. Both teams still are two favorites to win the entire block, especially with FWC losing two matches in a row.
The main event featured the second loss of Mafia Bella in the Tag League, here against Momo Watanabe & Natsuko Tora, who picked up their second win in their second match. With that, the Donna del Mondo duo is 0-2-0 with zero points on the bottom of their block, while Tora & Watanabe are undefeated with a 2-0-0 record and four points.
Official Goddess Of Stardom Tag League Standings:
RED STARS BLOCK –
5 – Mei Seira & Suzu Suzuki (2-0-1)
4 – Momo Watanabe & Natsuko Tora (2-0-0)
2 – Mina Shirakawa & Waka Tsukiyama (1-0-0)
2 – Saki Kashima & Syuri (1-1-0)
1 – Hiragi Kurumi & Risa Sera (0-0-1)
0 – Giulia & Thekla (0-2-0)
0 – HANAKO & Saya Iida (0-3-0)
BLUE STARS BLOCK –
4 -Hanan & Mayu Iwatani (2-1-0)
4 – Mai Sakurai & MIRAI (2-1-0)
2 – Maika & Megan Bayne (1-1-0)
2 – Hazuki & Koguma (1-2-0)
2 – AZM & Miyu Amasaki (1-0-0)
0 – Tam Nakano & Yuna Mizumori (0-1-0)
0 – Ami Sourei & Lady C (0-1-0)
Natsu Sumire Anniversary Show
Natsu Sumire held her 10th Anniversary show in Shinjuku FACE in front of 494 fans in a sold-out venue, which was a huge success for her. The show featured four matches, including a Y Shirt Battle Royal, VENY facing Natsuko Tora, and the anniversary match of Natsu Sumire in the main event.
The Y-Shirt Time Difference Battle Royal had special rules, everyone had a white shirt on and a Wrestler was eliminated if they were either pinned or lost their White shirt, and it was a ton of fun to watch. Fantastic comedy spots including Saya Iida & ZONES doing muscle poses, YAKO trying to stop the match, and Mina Shirakawa being Mina Shirakawa. In the end, it was Chi Chi from the Evolution Girls who won the match by taking off Waka’s shirt. It was the first win of her young career, and she was awarded with a crown.
VENY was scheduled to face Utami Hayashishita in a dream match, but it was changed to an “X” since Hayashishita couldn’t compete due to injury. The “X” was revealed to be Utami’s rival Natsuko Tora who stepped in to face the Regina di WAVE Champion. They had a violent brawl through the whole venue, destroying everything and everyone who came in their way. The match ended in a double countout but is still worth checking out.
In the main event, Natsu Sumire celebrated her 10th Anniversary by teaming with Kaho Kobayashi & Rina Yamashita against AZM, Saki Akai & Takumi Iroha. All six Wrestlers are celebrating their 10th Anniversary in 2023 and are part of the same generation. They had a really fun match, and it was a blast watching this from start to finish, and it was cool to see such a variety of women from different promotions together in the same ring, that we rarely see locking up. From great high-speed wrestling, stiff strikes & kicks, and a comedy element. Iroha picked up the win after 25 minutes over Natsu Sumire. A must-watch for any Joshi fan.
OZ Academy
OZ Academy held their biggest show of the year in the Yokohama Budokan in front of 1528 fans, which is a huge success for any Joshi Company not named STARDOM. The main selling point of the show was the rivalry between Marvelous and OZ Academy that went into the next round here with a Six Man Elimination Death Match and Iroha challenging for OZ Academy Openweight Title.
The story between OZ & Marvelous started when Mayumi Ozaki attacked Iroha during the Anniversary show of Marvelous, she was quickly able to win the AAAW Singles Championship, the top title in Marvelous, from Mio Momono. After that, the challenge was laid and both parties agreed to a Death Match Elimination match with the additional rule that if it comes down to the final two then both Wrestlers will be tied to a steel chain.
Kakeru, Mayumi Ozaki & Saori Anou represented Ozaki-gun while Chigusa Nagayo, Mio Momono & Tomoko Watanabe represented Marvelous in this match. The match went over 30 minutes and was full of crazy & brutal spots with the Wrestlers bleeding, especially Kakeru had a crimson mask. Team Marvelous eliminated Anou & Kakeru quickly, so it was Ozaki against three Wrestlers, but Ozaki was able to level it by eliminating Tomoko & Momono shortly after. The final minutes were between Nagayo & Ozaki with both being tied to a steel chain. It seemed like Nagayo was about to win, until the Police made a shocking comeback to a huge pop, and turned the match around. Mayumi Ozaki picked up the win, overcoming a 3 vs 1 disadvantage.
In the main event, Iroha challenged AKINO for the OZ Academy Openweight Title with the goal of bringing the Championship to Marvelous. They had a fine match, with leg work early in the match that continued throughout the 22 minutes. AKINO looked solid here, especially for her age, while Iroha did most of the work. AKINO stole the win with a roll-up to not only continue her 550+ day-long reign but also gain OZ the second win of the day against Marvelous.
Overall, the show was fun to watch, with solid action and a really hot crowd that especially went crazy for the Marvelous vs Ozaki-gun Deathmatch.
Kitsune Women’s Wrestling
Kitsune Women’s Wrestling is a new Joshi Promotion that held its first show on October 22nd in Los Angeles. The owner (TheJoshiPod) has various contacts with all kinds of Joshi Wrestlers and is flying them over to the United States to let them wrestle Indy Wrestlers from the United States. The card featured 10 matches including a three-way main event match for the Kitsune World Championship between Unagi Sayaka, Tae Honma & Dark Sheik.
Outside of production, problems, the show was fun, with many good matches, including Risa Sera vs. Billie Starks and Konami & Willow Nightingale vs. Janai Kai & Mercedes Martinez. It also featured an emotional moment when Kyoko Kimura talked about Hana Kimura in the middle of the ring, and all the fans showed their love for Hana.
In the main event, Unagi Sayaka crowned herself the first champion and won her first Title in 2 1/2 years when she defeated Mina Shirakawa for the Future Of Stardom Championship. It’s yet to be said when the next show will happen.
