STARDOM
STARDOM presented STARDOM THE CONVERSION on June 22nd in Yoyogi in front of 1.654 fans, which is the first great number for a B-Level PPV in a long time. The show was the next big test for STARDOM under Taro Okada, who has been struggling lately as the head of creative. The show featured a World of Stardom and a Wonder of Stardom Championship match with both Champions having surprising challengers and the “Final Chapter” between OEDo Tai and Queen’s Quest.
Surprisingly, the opener of the show was the Goddess of Stardom Championship match as FWC, who won the titles in May from Crazy Star, have been on one hell of a run as they cement themselves as the best tag team in the history of STARDOM. The three-time Goddess of Stardom Champions face the current New Blood Tag Team Champions as both Hanan & Iida compete for the Goddess of Stardom Championship for the first time in their careers.
This match was fantastic as both teams are on a great run this year. While it was always certain that the Champions would retain, the four created a fantastic atmosphere and excitement in the finishing stretch. It established wing*gori as one of the top teams of the tag division with Saya Iida continuing to move up the card. Koguma was able to win the match for FWC as she pinned Saya Iida. After the match, FWC called out Syuri & Konami for the Korakuen Hall show on June 29th
Starlight Kid defeated Mei Seira in a good match as they delivered a great high-speed wrestling match, but the most interesting part was what was happening after the match as SLK whispered something to Seira, who instantly told her Crazy Star partner Suzu Suzuki and both seemed to like what STARDOM’s Sky Tiger said to them.
One year after the highly praised Cage Match, Oedo Tai & Queen’s Quest collided with the biggest stakes imaginable as four wrestlers will be forced to leave their faction leaving the final loser alone in the respective stable to either rebuild the unit. This was the most important match of the STARDOM era under Taro Okada as regardless of what happens, a bold decision is being made and well it was a very bold decision to say at least.
It came down to Saya Kamitani and Natsuko Tora as Momo Watanabe turned on Tora and hit her with the baseball bat, seemingly helping Queen’s Quest to win the match, but that was just a trick as Watanabe hit Kamitani with a chair and allowed Tora to defeat Kamitani with the Swanton Bomb. With that, AZM, Miyu Amasaki, Hina & Lady C are FORCED to leave Queen’s Quest with Kamitani as the sole member of the faction. The Golden Phoenix gambled to get Momo back on the good side and it cost her all including her friends as she is alone in QQ now.
After the match, God’s Eye came out as Syuri delivered an open invite to all formerly members of Queen’s Quest. Then Starlight Kid & Crazy Star came out as well and invited Miyu Amasaki & AZM to join them and team up with the three in the future. AZM & Amasaki seemingly are interested, but couldn’t give a final answer to the three yet.
The biggest shock of the night came during the Wonder of Stardom Championship match as Mika Iwata defeated Saori Anou to win the White Belt in a good match. Iwata, who is now a double champion as the Wonder of Stardom and the Sendai Girls World Champion, won the belt in her first match in STARDOM after eight years, and that was noticeable with the crowd. The otherwise hot Yoyogi crowd was quiet during this match, and it took them nearly the entire time to get into it.
The post-match angle of the White Belt was done so well. Iwata challenged Saori Anou to a rematch for the Sendai Girls show on the 13th, but Anou hasn’t responded yet and slowly broke out of her stoic character. Natuspoi was not having it that the promise was broken between her & Anou and begged Saori to challenge again because otherwise she would. Mika Iwata looked badass in the segment and felt like the biggest star she has been in a long time. There is fantastic story potential right there between all three that I hope STARDOM is able to continue in the upcoming weeks.
Maika retained her World of Stardom Championship against Xena. It was the biggest test so far for Xena, who has shown in recent months how far she has come. The match was great as it delivered in terms of intensity, with Maika’s hard strikes and Xena’s loud chops, which are one of the best in the wrestling business. The crowd was white hot for it, begging for Maika to overcome Xena, and she did after the Hammerlock Michinoku Driver II.
Xena deserves so much praise for her improvement! She has gotten better and better since coming back and proved in her first World of Stardom Championship match that she belongs. On the other side, Maika once again had a great performance in the main event and continued her great run as Red Belt Champion.
Post-match, Tomoka Inaba announced that she wants her match against Maika in JTO on July 15th to be for the World of Stardom Championship. The winner will face Natsuko Tora in Sapporo on July 28th.
Marigold
Marigold continued their Grand Opening Wars tour with another Shin-Kiba 1st Ring show in front of 289 fans. The show had a cool Passion Injection match between Nanae Takahashi & Nao Ishikawa. After the match, Nanae Takahashi & Nao Ishikawa challenged Takako Inoue & Shinobu Kandori in a tag team match at Summer Destiny on July 13th in Sumo Hall.
The main event of the show was the rematch between MIRAI & Miku Aono in the United National Championship tournament after their draw in Nagoya the week before. The match once again went to a time limit draw, including an overtime draw. The two will face again on June 29th in Sendai. Once again, a 15-minute time limit with a 5-minute overtime with the winner advancing to Sumo Hall to face Bozilla for the United National Championship.
Ice Ribbon
Ice Ribbon held a show at Korakuen Hall in front of 1,088 fans that saw Mayu Iwatani defend the IWGP Women’s Title against Tsukasa Fujimoto. It was up 547 from the Korakuen show in March and was the highest attendance at Korakuen since Ribbonmania 2019, which makes this a fantastic number for Ice Ribbon.
The match was built up after Fujimoto appeared following Iwatani’s match against Sareee at All Star Grand Queendom. After a tag team match, where Tsukasa teamed up with her retiring tag team partner Arisa Nakajima to face Mayu Iwatani and Hanan at Flashing Champions, where the Best Friends emerged victorious, the match was made official.
It was a dream match for Joshi fans and it was delivering on that dream, but sadly it took a turn for the worst as Tsukasa Fujimoto injured her elbow during the match and the referee needed to call a stop to the contest. Barb Sasaki did a tremendous job here. The second he saw Tsukka just wildly swing with her left arm instead of throwing an actual forearm with the right one, he immediately ended the match and made a tough decision that was correct for the safety of Tsukasa, who still wanted to continue and even screamed that she can continue, while she clearly couldn’t.
