STARDOM Hiroshima PPV Delivers, Tag League Continues | Weekly Joshi Guide

STARDOM had their Hiroshima Goddess Festival PPV last Thursday. In a pre-show bout, AZM won a 5-way Match vs Waka Tsukiyama, Lady C, Miyu Amasaki and Saya Iida. In the first official match of the show, Koguma and Hazuki picked up a victory over Saki Kashima and Ruaka from Oedo Tai. Yuna Mizumori had another match in STARDOM after leaving Gatoh Move. This time she faced the Jumbo Princess in a singles match. It was the first good match of the show.

Himeka is having the month of her career in terms of match quality. She and Yunamon put on a little banger here with a lot of cool power moves. Himeka in the end was able to secure a hard-fought victory after pinning Mizumori with the running Powerbomb. Next up was the revenge Match between Natsuko Tora and Utami Hayashishita. Their story goes back to their Red Belt match in July last year, when Tora injured her knee during her match with Utami. The Red Queen of Stardom promised back then to hold the belt until Tora is back, so they can have another title match, but this didn’t happen. The Match itself was likely the best singles match from Tora since she joined Oedo Tai. A great worked and well-faced match between them. They even recreate the splash onto a table where Tora injured herself, but this time Utami showed the move. Something you rarely see from Utami. Tora threw everything in her move set at Utami and Oedo Tai rarely interfered in this match. Tora wanted revenge, but couldn’t get the job done. Hayashishita showed why she was the World Of Stardom Champion and hits the BT Bomb for the victory.

God’s Eye faced DDM in a special Six-Woman Tag Match after it, where Konami made her one-night return to the company in her hometown. It was a fun little tag match that showed how much chemistry Konami and Giulia have. A future Title Match would be awesome. Neither team was able to get the winning fall during the time limit, and the match ended in a draw. The card also had four title matches, with the first one being for the SWA Title. Mayu Iwatani defended her title against the former World Of Stardom Champion Alpha Female. Mayu played her underdog role well here and bumped godlike for Alpha Female’s offense. The match was fine and by far the worst title match on the show. Mayu retained after hitting four moonsaults. After the match, she announced to vacate her SWA Title to focus on the IWGP Women’s Title.

Tam Nakano and Natsupoi defended their Tag Belts next against Starlight Kid and Momo Watanabe. This match was great and another awesome tag match for Momo and Starlight Kid. It had a clear face/heel dynamic, with Natsupoi once again being the focal point of the match. Her comebacks and moves were really good. She was able to overcome the domination by the Oedo Tai duo and pins Starlight Kid to retain the titles for the second time. In the semi-main event, Saya Kamitani and Mina Shirakawa had a great but also tragic match. They worked really together. Mina worked over Saya’s legs while Saya tried to outface the challenger, and it worked well. She planted Mina and went for the Phoenix Splash and botched it. She went up again, lost her confidence and hit Mina with her knees in her face. Mina instantly started to bleed and lost a tooth. The best match of Mina Shirakawa’s career and, unfortunately, likely the most painful. We wish her a speedy recovery!

Syuri defended her World Of Stardom Title against Maika in the Main Event of the show. When the match got announced I was worried a bit about this one since their 5STAR Match this year was a step-down from their match last year and their work in the matches on the tour was just solid and got totally outshined by Mina/Saya K but they killed it. A great Match where Maika shows more and more that she is ready for the top spot. She hit multiple new moves that she never hit before. Syuri kicked out everything Maika used against her and finished the match to retain the title. It was the 4th Red Belt shot that Maika failed. Her moment will come sooner than later but it wasn’t today. After the Match, Utami Hayashishita appeared and challenged Syuri to a Red Belt title match on November 19th. They will once again face each other. Their rivalry brought a lot of new eyes to Stardom.

Full Results for the November 3rd Show
AZM defeats Lady C & Waka Tsukiyama & Miyu Amasaki & Saya Iida
STARS (Hazuki & Koguma) defeats Oedo Tai (Saki Kashima & Ruaka)
Himeka defeats Yuna Mizumori
Donna del Mondo (Giulia & Thekla & Mai Sakurai) vs God’s Eye (Konami & MIRAI & Ami Sourei) ends in a time-limit draw
Utami Hayashishita defeats Natsuko Tora
Mayu Iwatani (c) defeats Alpha Female to retain the SWA Undisputed World Women’s Title
Cosmic Angels (Tam Nakano & Natsupoi) (c) defeats Oedo Tai (Momo Watanabe & Starlight Kid) to retain the Goddesses Of STARDOM Title
Saya Kamitani (c) defeats Mina Shirakawa to retain the Wonder Of STARDOM Title
Syuri (c) defeats Maika to retain the World Of STARDOM Title

Next Week’s Goddesses Of STARDOM Tag League Matches:
Day 5 on November 5th in Nagoya:
Mayu Iwatani & Momo Kohgo vs Mai Sakurai & Lady C
Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani vs Starlight Kid & Momo Watanabe
Giulia & Thekla vs Saki Kashima & Fukigen Death
Maika & Himeka vs Saya Iida & Hanan
SAKI & Waka Tsukiyama (replacement for Mina Shirakawa) vs MIRAI & Ami Sourei
AZM & Miyu Amasaki vs Natsuko Tora & Ruaka

Day 6 on November 6th in Mie:
Tam Nakano & Natsupoi vs Starlight Kid & Momo Watanabe
Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani vs Mai Sakurai & Lady C
Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani vs Mayu Iwatani & Momo Kohgo
Maika & Himeka vs Ruaka & Natsuko Tora
Waka Tsukiyama & SAKI vs Saya Iida & Hanan

Official Goddesses Of STARDOM Tag League Standings following Day 4:

RED STARS BLOCK –
4 – Giulia & Thekla (2-1-0)
3 – Syuri & Tomoka Inaba (1-1-1)
2 – Saya Kamitani & Utami Hayashishita (1-0-0)
2 – Natsupoi & Tam Nakano (1-1-0)
2 – Fukigen Death & Saki Kashima (1-1-0)
1 – Momo Watanabe & Starlight Kid (0-0-1)
0 – Mayu Iwatani & Momo Kohgo (0-0-0)
0 – Lady C & Mai Sakurai (0-2-0)

BLUE STARS BLOCK –
4 – Hazuki & Koguma (2-2-0)
4 – Natsuko Tora & Ruaka (2-1-0)
3 – Nanae Takahashi & Yuu (1-0-1)
2 – Himeka & Maika (1-0-0)
2 – Waka Tsukiyama & SAKI (1-1-0)
2 – AZM & Miyu Amasaki (1-1-0)
1 – Ami Sourei & MIRAI (0-1-1)
0 – Hanan & Saya Iida (0-2-0)

Match Of the Week

The World Of Stardom Title yet again delivered a great match. Syuri and Maika had one of the best Stardom Matches of the year and exceeded everyone’s expectations. Syuri’s title reign is full of bangers and that was easily one of the best ones.

**** 1/2

Performer Of The Week

Syuri with her outstanding 9th title defense against Maika wins the Performer Of The Week. She feels like the end boss of Stardom and shows that in every title match. She feels unbeatable and was it here as well. Maika tried everything to beat her, hit multiple new moves, shoot headbutts and even a Michinoku Driver but Syuri kicked out of all of it and was able to finish Maika.