STARDOM
It has been some quiet weeks on the road to Dream Queendom for STARDOM but in a press conference, the promotion announced that on the NEW BLOOD show on December 25th two new Rookies will debut. The first is Sayaka Kurara, who will debut against Saya Kamitani on the show. She stated that she joined STARDOM because she admires Kamitani, so Kurara facing the Golden Phoenix in her debut match is a perfect match. The second is Rana Yagami who is facing the former World Of Stardom Champion Syuri in her debut match, whom she admires as well. Rana seems to be confident on the mic already and had a great presence during the press conference. From the first impression, Kurara & Yagami are total opposites, and it will be interesting to see how they will perform in their debut match.
Full STARDOM New Blood Card:
- Hina vs. Mei Seira
- Chanyota & Mai Sakurai vs. Oedo Tai (Rina & Ruaka)
- Haruka Umesaki & Miyu Amasaki vs. HANAKO & Yuzuki
- Rana Yagami vs. Syuri
- Sayaka Kurara vs. Saya Kamitani
- Saya Iida & Hanan (c) vs Ami Sohrei & Lady C – New Blood Tag Team Championship
At the same press conference, the full card for the Sumo Hall show on December 29th was announced. The show will feature eight matches including four Championship matches, that were previously announced, and on top four undercard matches. The biggest undercard match is Mayu Iwatani’s return match on the show after her pinky injury, she will team together with Hazuki, Hanan, and Saya Iida against Oedo Tai’s Rina, Ruaka, Fukigen Death, and Starlight Kid. Interesting here is, that just five days later Iwatani will defend her IWGP Women’s Championship in the Tokyo Dome City Hall show, and STARDOM seemingly teased that her opponent will be Starlight Kid. They were the only two of the Wrestlers in the match to appear at the press conferences and they talked about their match in the 5STAR that didn’t happen due to SLK’s injury. It would be a fantastic main event for the City Hall show on Ittenyon.
Full STARDOM Dream Queendom Card:
- Miyu Amasaki, Yuzuki & Azusa Inaba vs. HANAKO, Sayaka Kurara & Rana Yagami
- Queen’s Quest (Lady C & Hina) vs. Donna del Mondo (Thekla & Mai Sakurai) vs. Cosmic Angels (SAKI & Yuna Mizumori) vs. God’s Eye (Saki Kashima & Ami Sohrei)
- 7Upp (Yuu & Nanae Takahashi) & AZM vs. Mei Seira, Syuri & Mina Shirakawa
- STARS (Hazuki, Hanan, Saya Iida & Mayu Iwatani) vs. Oedo Tai (Rina, Ruaka, Fukigen Death & Starlight Kid)
- Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani (c) vs Momo Watanabe & Natsuko Tora – Goddess Of Stardom Title
- Giulia (c) vs Megan Bayne – NJPW Strong Women’s Title
- MIRAI (c) vs Saori Anou – Wonder Of Stardom Title
- Maika vs. Suzu Suzuki – World Of Stardom Title (Vacant)
The Triangle Derby is back on January 3rd, but unlike last year the tournament won’t be a round-robin tournament. This year it will be a one-night tournament with the winner likely challenging the Artist Of Stardom Champions at an unknown date. STARDOM also announced that the “Rookie of the Year” tournament will be back on the Yokohama Budokan show. It is the first since 2018 when Saya Kamitani won the one-night tournament. The four rookies, excluding Aya Sakura who is still injured, will compete in a one-night tournament to decide who is the strongest out of the 2023 STARDOM Rookie generation.
First Round Matches Triangle Derby:
- Thekla, Giulia & Mai Sakurai vs. Lady C, Hina & Miyu Amasaki
- AZM, Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani vs. Megan Bayne, Suzu Suzuki & Mei Seira
- Mayu Iwatani, Hanan & Saya Iida vs. Starlight Kid, Natsuko Tora & Momo Watanabe
- Syuri, MIRAI & Ami Sohrei vs. Fukigen Death, Rina & Ruaka
First Round Matches Rookie of the Year:
- Yuzuki vs Rana Yagami
- HANAKO vs Sayaka Kurara
PURE-J
PURE-J held their final Korakuen Hall show of the year on December 17th in front of 556 fans, which is their highest number in the Korakuen Hall this year. The show featured two Championship matches for the two top belts in the promotion.
In the Daily Sports Tag Team Title match, Hiragi Kurumi & Mochi Natsumi from Prominence defeated Cherry & KAZUKI to retain the Championships for a second time. The Prominence duo won the titles at the end of November, and are starting to have a dominant reign. After the match, a #1 Contendership Battle Royal for the Tag Team Titles happened, that KAZUKI won. She decided that she and Cherry are once again challenging for the Tag Championships on January 28th.
In the main event, Risa Sera challenged the Ace of PURE-J Hanako Nakamori for the PURE-J Openweight Championship. Sera tried to make a statement here by winning the top Championship of the promotion and continuing the dominance of Prominence since appearing in the Promotion, but Nakamori had something against it and retained her Championship for the 5th time after 19:47 minutes.
