STARDOM continues its 2024 with a PPV in Nagoya on March 20 with eight matches. The show features the semi-finals and the final of the Cinderella Tournament, Giulia & Tam Nakano facing off in a Singles Match one more time and a World of Stardom Championship match. In the undercard, Yuzuki is getting her singles match against Mayu Iwatani which was scheduled for Yuzuki’s debut match, but Iwatani was injured at that time. The show is available on PPV, and the link to buy the show will be posted on the English STARDOM Twitter account.
E-neXus-V (Mina Shirakawa, Waka Tsukiyama, Xena & HANAKO) vs. God’s Eye (Syuri, MIRAI & Saki Kashima & Ranna Yagami)
EXV & God’s Eye are facing off in the opening match of the show and it has one purpose and that is setting up an Artist of Stardom Championship match between God’s Eye and EXV before MIRAI seemingly leaves the company at the end of the month. Mina or Xena will pin Ranna here and stare down Syuri & MIRAI to make it official for one of the next tour shows.
Prediction: Mina Shirakawa, Waka Tsukiyama, Xena & HANAKO
Cosmic Angels (Saori Anou, Sayaka Kurara, Aya Sakura, Natsupoi & Yuna Mizumori) vs. Odeo Tai (Natsuko Tora, Momo Watanabe, Starlight Kid, Rina, Fukigen Death)
A 10-woman Tag Team Match with Sakura & Kurara teaming up for the first time as both are now apprentices of Cosmic Angels and seemingly have a little rivalry over who is “graduating” first. Normally it’s all about who is winning, but it’s more about who or Sakura & Kurara is eating the pin. Odeo Tai is the clear favorite to win this here and will destroy Cosmic Angels with ease.
Prediction: Natsuko Tora, Momo Watanabe, Starlight Kid, Rina, Fukigen Death
Queen’s Quest (Saya Kamitani, Lady C & Miyu Amasaki) vs. STARS (Hazuki, Koguma & Saya Iida) vs. Crazy Star (Mei Seira & Suzu Suzuki) & Mai Sakurai
Stardom fell in love with the three-way tag team matches recently with this being the third one they are running on the past three shows. Crazy Star has been begging for a shot at the Goddess of Stardom Championship and it seems they might get this, so it’s a little preview match with Saya Kamitani being in this match. There are many different possible outcomes from this with Koguma potentially challenging Mei Seira for the High-Speed Championship, but I expect Crazy Star to get a win over Queen’s Quest to make the title match official.
Prediction: Mei Seira, Suzu Suzuki & Mai Sakurai
Mayu Iwatani vs. Yuzuki
In a special singles match, Yuzuki is facing Mayu Iwatani in her hometown of Nagoya. The STARS vs. STARS singles match was originally planned for Yuzuki’s debut match in November, but due to Iwatani’s pinky injury, Momo Watanabe replaced her. Four months later they are finally running this match and since it’s on a PPV, they will deliver a great match.
The “Moon Arrow” has been the stand-out Rookie so far in terms of performances and accomplishment with her winning the Rookie of Stardom Tournament in January of this year. She has no shot to beat the IWGP Women’s Champion, but it’s more about how good her performance will be. Mayu is known to be ruthless towards Rookies and loves to beat the hell out of them, which could elevate the match from a dramatic standpoint as well. Potentially the sleeper match of the night.
Prediction: Mayu Iwatani
Giulia vs. Tam Nakano
In the final singles match of Giulia’s Stardom career, she is facing off against her greatest rival Tam Nakano for one last time. Tam & Giulia faced off a handful of times for the World of Stardom, Wonder of Stardom, and 5STAR Final, and is the most influential rivalry of the Bushiroad era of Stardom, that brought a lot of eyeballs on Stardom, especially with their amazing Hair vs. Hair Match three years ago.
Walking into the match, Tam & Giulia have a 3-3 record in Singles Matches with Nakano winning the most recent one, where she defeated Giulia to win the World of Stardom Championship. Some of their matches have been called one of the best Matches of the Year in Stardom for the past few years, and if this match is only remotely close to their Championship matches, we are in for an absolute banger that potentially could steal the show.
The match has a 15-minute time limit draw, which makes many believe that this is going to be a draw, but Tam Nakano is Tam Nakano and she will be able to win the match and presumably challenge the winner of Maika & Utami for Buntai.
Prediction: Tam Nakano
Hanan vs. Ruaka in the Cinderella Tournament Semi-Final
Hanan is battling Ruaka in the first semi-final of the Cinderella Tournament. Ruaka is the surprise of the tournament after defeating Koguma, Hazuki, and Xena to advance to the biggest singles opportunity of her career against her biggest rival Hanan, who together had countless matches, especially as Rookies against each other.
This match is their biggest match so far, with the Cinderella Dress being so close. While the momentum is on the side of the “Young Lioness”, Ruaka has one advantage and that is the help of her fellow Oedo Tai Members who helped Ruaka to advance this far in the tournament. While Oedo Tai was her ticket to the semi-final, it is also potentially her downfall in this tournament, with Hanan overcoming her at the end to a huge pop. The way Stardom has booked Ruaka and her cheating in this tournament has been pulled off way better than the House of Torture run in the New Japan Cup.
This year’s Cinderella tournament is built around one person and that is Hanan and there is not a single chance that she’s not ending up in the final.
Prediction: Hanan
AZM vs. Ami Sohrei in the Cinderella Tournament Semi-Final
In the second semi-final, AZM is battling Ami Sohrei with the winner moving on to the final. It is a rare first-time-ever match-up with two different styles clashing in AZM’s Speed against Sohrei’s power. Ami has shown in the tournament that she can overcome this battle with her victory against Seira, but AZM is the master of her style and is always dangerous for surprise pin fall attempts and shocking upsets.
Deciding on a winner is easier than it looks on paper, with Sohrei being the clear favorite to go against Hanan in the final so it’s expected that she advance to face her rival
Prediction: Ami Sohrei
Winner of Semi-Final #1 vs. Winner of Semi-Final #2 in the Cinderella Tournament Final
In this scenario, Hanan is facing off against Ami Sohrei to decide who is winning the Cinderella Tournament. Sohrei & Hanan have a rivalry going since Sohrei joined Stardom with her dethroning Hanan’s record-breaking Future of Stardom Championship run and them having a match over the Artist of Stardom Championship at the beginning of the year, where they promised each other face off in a Singles Match and now it might be time for that.
As mentioned before, this is Hanan’s tournament to lose. The tournament is booked to put her over and elevate her to the next level. All of her opponents on the way to the final have been a rival of hers that she’s overcoming with HANAKO, who she is feuding with over the NEW BLOOD Tag Team Titles, in the first round. The two-time Cinderella Tournament winner MIRAI in the second round, who pinned Hanan in the Artist Title match in January, then she faced Starlight Kid in the Quarterfinals, who beat her in the Rumble Match in January to earn herself a White Belt Championship match. In the semi-finals Hanan is facing her career-rival in Ruaka and then presumably in the final against Ami Sohrei. Rarely a tournament was centered around a single person like this year’s Cinderella, and they needed to use it and give her the victory.
The match itself will be fine, but it’s Ami here who needs to step up. She has gotten a huge push after joining the promotion, which flatted down quickly with her disappointing performances in Singles Matches. Now, she’s getting another big chance and she needs to use it, especially to make Hanan’s victory feel special.
Prediction: Hanan
Maika (c) vs. Utami Hayashishita for the World of Stardom Championship
The Utami-Maika rivalry has been influencing the career of Maika like no other. Maika started to wrestle because she saw Utami in Stardom, who also transitioned from Judo to wrestling, so she quit Judo, trained in JTO, and came to Stardom to surpass Utami. While she was able to win against Utami in the 5STAR, Maika failed on multiple occasions to beat her in Singles Championship matches and wasn’t able to get the job done against her rival when it mattered the most – something that has been following Maika for a long time, until she won the World of Stardom Championship in December.
Since then, she has been on a different level and has much more confidence that can make her overcome even the toughest challenges. Her chances of beating Utami in a major singles title match have never been higher, and she knows it, which is why she straight-up called out Utami. On March 20th, she has once again the chance to prove that she has finally surpassed Utami, and can establish herself as the World of Stardom Champion. All she needs to do is beat Utami Hayashishita
Utami & Maika have fantastic chemistry with each other and know each other well. The expectations are high for this match, with Maika proving that she not only is the Champion but also belongs in this spot. They will go out there and try to have their best match together to end the show on a high note. The “Empress” is likely winning the match and overcoming Utami to then go on to face her biggest challenge yet in Tam Nakano.
Prediction: Maika
