STARDOM is presenting its first PPV following the 5STAR Grand Prix, ‘Namba Grand Fight’, on September 14th in Osaka. This event marks the promotion’s next major PPV and will be a pivotal show, as its outcomes could shape the direction leading into the Sumo Hall event on December 29th. In addition to a strong undercard, Maika will cash in the title shot she earned by winning the 5STAR Grand Prix, challenging Tam Nakano for the World of Stardom Championship.
The card features several compelling matchups, making it a must-watch event. The eleven-match lineup offers a solid mix of intriguing undercard bouts and multiple championship bouts, with STARDOM’s biggest match of the year headlining the show.
Let’s dive into the show’s main card.
Saya Kamitani vs. Mina Shirakawa
After losing the 5STAR Grand Prix Final, Saya Kamitani tries to regain momentum by fighting Mina Shirakawa, who skipped the tournament to have an overseas tour, where she won the RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Championship. Shirakawa and Kamitani are long-term rivals that fought over the Wonder of Stardom Championship that ended with a fantastic match at All-Star Grand Queendom 2023, where Shirakawa ended the record-breaking run of Kamitani. This will be their first singles match ever since, and it will be for free on YouTube!
The match quality won’t be able to keep up with their match in April last year, but that won’t be the goal as it is continuing the rivalry between EXV and H.A.T.E. that has been going on for the majority of STARDOM’s year. Important is that they have a good enough match that Kamitani comes out looking good here and potentially prepares herself for a World of Stardom Championship match at Dream Queendom at the end of the year.
To predict a finish here is tough as Mina Shirakawa has been protected recently as she only took three pins the whole year in STARDOM, which ties for the least with Mayu Iwatani in the promotion. Shirakawa is heading back to the United States to continue her story with Mariah May to feud over the AEW Women’s Championship soon, and her last Singles Match on a major STARDOM show was against Natsuko Tora that ended with a No Contest. With that in mind, it’s tough to expect a clean finish in this match.
Prediction: Time Limit Draw
E-neXus-V (Waka Tsukiyama & HANAKO) vs. God’s Eye (Hina & Ranna Yagami)
The second match on the card is between Waka Tsukiyama & HANAKO and God’s Eye’s Hina & Ranna Yagami. A solid match with all four being in the NEW BLOOD Division as HANAKO & Waka try to challenge for New Blood Tag Team Championships, while Hina and Yagami still aim to go after the Future of Stardom Championship
HANAKO has been on a run in her first two matches back from her excursion in the United States as she first tapped out Yuna Mizumori and then Saya Iida in back-to-back matches. She will get the win here to continue the momentum that she has been building up
Prediction: Waka Tsukiyama & HANAKO
Cosmic Angels (Saori Anou, Yuna Mizumori, Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara) vs. H.A.T.E. (Natsuko Tora, Rina, Ruaka & Azusa Inaba)
A preview match for the Future of Stardom Championship as Aya Sakura teams up with Cosmic Angles to face Rina with H.A.T.E. including the newest member Azusa Inaba. The match will be a fine match with the main part being between Rina and Sakura, who have shown to have good chemistry in the ring.
Rina got the victory over Sakura back at the NEW BLOOD show, so one of the two will likely get another victory here to continue building up the match.
Prediction: Natsuko Tora, Rina, Ruaka & Azusa Inaba
Neo Genesis (Starlight Kid & Mei Seira) & Cohaku vs. STARS (Saya Iida, Koguma & Momo Kohgo)
Cohaku is making her first appearance in STARDOM in a long time to team with Starlight Kid and Mei Sera to face the STARS trios of Saya Iida, Koguma & Momo Kohgo. It will be a high-speed match that will have fun action for around 10 minutes with everyone getting their spots in. A perfect match-up for the midcard of a seemingly long show that will keep the fans engaged as it is a potential sleeper match of the night.
This seems to be a match to set up the next challenger for Mei Seira’s High-Speed Championship, and looking at the line-up it seems to be Cohaku. She and Seira have a lot of history with each other as they wrestled in Marvelous together for years before they left the promotion in 2021. They had a Singles Match in WAVE back in August that went to a 15-minute Time-Limit-Draw and with things not over between them, this is a good way to set up a Championship match between the former Marvelous trainees down the road.
Prediction: Starlight Kid, Mei Seira & Cohaku
God’s Eye (Syuri, Lady C & Saki Kashima) vs. H.A.T.E. (Momo Watanabe, Konami & Thekla)
The rivalry between H.A.T.E. and God’s Eye is in full force as Syuri and Konami collide in a Six-Woman Tag Team Match after Konami turned on God’s Eye earlier in the summer. While it hasn’t reached the interest that the other rivalries of H.A.T.E. have, things are getting more and more personal as the inevitable grudge match between Konami and Syuri is coming closer.
This screams like a Kishikaisei victory from Saki Kashima that sets up a Goddess of Stardom Championship match between Watanabe & Thekla against Kashima & Syuri likely for the Nagoya show in October.
Prediction: Syuri, Lady C & Saki Kashima
Suzu Suzuki vs. Tomoka Inaba
Suzu Suzuki and Tomoka Inaba will revive their rivalry from JTO, where they had two singles matches against each other, with both winning one match. Their last match was in December 2022 at the last TAKATaichi show in a match that was one of the best Joshi matches of the year. Nearly two years later a lot has changed for both, as Suzu Suzuki has been one of the biggest stars in STARDOM for the past year now, while Tomoka Inaba is slowly appearing more in STARDOM again.
It will be a great match with non-stop action, stiff strikes, and hard kicks. Suzuki didn’t have the best 5STAR Grand Prix considering the expectations fans have for her, but this will be her best outing since coming back from her injury. Similar to the opening match, the finish is open and could go either way. Tomoka Inaba has teased a Singles Match with Starlight Kid, while Suzu Suzuki could potentially challenge for the World of Stardom Championship match after this show. The second outcome seems more likely as Nakano vs. Suzuki was a match that STARDOM wanted to run last year for the Red Belt before Nakano injured her knee.
Prediction: Suzu Suzuki
STARS (Mayu Iwatani & Hanan) vs. Neo Genesis (Miyu Amasaki & AZM)
After defeating Mayu Iwatani in the 5STAR Grand Prix, AZM has set her eyes on the IWGP Women’s Championship. As a follow-up, both wrestlers took their Tag Team Partner and they will face each other in a big match on this PPV. Mayu Iwatani is coming off a fantastic August as she was the MVP of the tournament. She has been teasing to face Chihiro Hashimoto, Veny, and Sareee for the IWGP Women’s Championship, but AZM has something against it and wants her shot first.
Their chemistry in the Kobe Match was great, and mix in Hanan & Miyu Amasaki and it will be a great Tag Team match in a rematch from the Goddess of Stardom Tag League last year that Eye Contact was able to win. This time, it could go the other way around as 02Line seems likely to win the match to set up the IWGP Women’s Championship match between AZM and Mayu Iwatani.
Prediction: Miyu Amasaki & AZM
Natsupoi (c) vs. Hazuki – Wonder of Stardom Championship
Natsupoi will defend the Wonder of Stardom Championship for the first time against Hazuki in a highly anticipated rematch from the 5STAR Grand Prix, where the two fought to a Time Limit Draw. Hazuki earned a shot after winning a three-way number one contenders match against Hanan und Thekla.
The ‘Wild Heart’ as the first challenger is perfect for match quality, as Hazuki is at her absolute best in Wonder of Stardom Championship bouts, and that, mixed with Natsupoi being fantastic in major singles matches, it has the potential to be the best STARDOM match of the year. Natsupoi has been taking a different direction with her in-ring work recently as she included multiple arm submissions into her game during the 5STAR, which will be a big focal point of this match as well.
Hazuki mentioned to Tokyo Sports that the main reason she returned to STARDOM after previously retiring was to win the Wonder of Stardom Championship, as it’s the belt she has always wanted. She unsuccessfully challenged for the belt five times and holds the record for most White and Red Belt challenges without a title win in STARDOM history with a combined 0-8 in World and Wonder of STARDOM Championship matches and is potentially preparing for her final White Belt challenge in her career. That being said, Natsupoi is the clear favourite heading into the match and is expecting to retain her championship, as it’s unlikely that Natsupoi will be the third Wonder of Stardom Champion in a row who loses the belt during her first defence.
Prediction: Natsupoi
Tam Nakano (c) vs. Maika – World of Stardom Championship
Two weeks after winning the 5STAR Grand Prix, Maika cashes her shot in and challenges Tam Nakano for the World of Stardom Championship in the main event of the show. The match between Maika and Nakano has been teased a lot over the last 7 months ever since Nakano is back from her injury and has told the simple story: Who is the real champion of STARDOM? Tam Nakano called Maika a transitional champion since the Empress never beat the former champion to win the title, while Maika wants to take everything away from Nakano and claim her spot on the top of STARDOM again.
It was inevitable that they wouldn’t collide sooner than later, and it’s now happening. Nakano and Maika only faced twice in singles matches before, which Nakano both was able to win during the 5STAR Grand Prix in 2021 and 2022, but since their last match, a lot has changed. Maika has grown into a main event talent who was on top of STARDOM for the majority of the year. She finished the 5STAR Grand Prix without losing a single match, and her only blemish this year was her loss against Tora due to Kamitani screwing her over. Meanwhile, Nakano crowned herself the new World of Stardom Champion after going 0-6 in the 5STAR and then beating Natsuko Tora on the final night of the tournament after overcoming H.A.T.E.
The match will be great as the preview tags and the past singles matches have shown that they have the chemistry inside the ring, and both are two of the better wrestlers with the main event house style of STARDOM. It will be a fight with one only woman walking out as champion, and the likely winner will be Tam Nakano. She just won the belt in heroic babyface fashion, overcoming the evil stable built around Natsuko Tora, and just holds the belt for two weeks. Nakano is the top star of this company and will be the Red Belt Champion for the upcoming months.
Prediction: Tam Nakano
