STARDOM
The annual Cinderella Tournament kicked off, where the winner will receive a “wish” that leads to them challenging for a championship of their choosing, which has been the Wonder of Stardom Championship in recent years. This year, 24 wrestlers are competing to win the second biggest annual tournament in Stardom’s schedule. After the underwhelming tournament last year, the 2024 edition of the Cinderella had some changes including the match layouts changed compared to the past few years, where the wrestlers now have more sprint matches, instead of a dozen of double-elimination finishes.
Yuzuki & Starlight Kid delivered a fun bout to open the tournament, with Starlight Kid having a tough match against the Rookie of Stardom 2023 winner, but walking out as the winner. The biggest upset of the first night was Sayaka Kurara picking up her first career victory after defeating Natsuko Tora via disqualification. Tora was so mad at Kurara’s fighting spirit that she pushed away the referee, who tried to stop her from beating up the Cosmic Angels rookie. HANAKO had what is likely her best performance in a singles match to date against Hanan but was not able to get the upset win, with Hanan continuing to move up the card. The other Cinderella Tournament matches have been fine as well and built up some interesting match-ups for the second round.
The second day of the Cinderella tournament featured four second-round matches that all delivered. In the more unspectacular bouts, Mei Seira advanced by defeating Saya Iida in a fun and quick match, and Ami Sohrei defeated Yuna Mizumori in a short hoss fight. The biggest upset of the tournament so far was Hanan defeating MIRAI, who has been undefeated in the Cinderella Tournament for two years, having won the last two editions, in a great match. Hanan showed a ton of underdog spirit and overcame the former Wonder of Stardom Champion to advance to the quarterfinals. Backstage, MIRAI stated that she doesn’t have much time left in Stardom and hinted at leaving the promotion at the end of the month together with Giulia.
The “Young Lioness” will face Starlight Kid in the next round, who defeated Suzu Suzuki by throwing her over the top rope in a really good 13-minute match. The two were able to work a straight-up singles match, with creative wrestling and great sequences. The finishing stretch especially has been great and one of the better usages of the over-the-top-rope rule in recent memory. SLK quickly outsmarted Suzu, and a simple slide was enough to eliminate the 5STAR GP 2023 winner from the tournament. Simple, but effective finish.
On the 16th, the second round will continue with the following match-ups:
- Xena vs. Waka Tsukiyama
- Hazuki vs. Ruaka
- Miyu Amasaki vs. Mai Sakurai
- AZM vs. Sayaka Kurara
Aside from the Cinderella Tournament matches, this weekend featured a couple of interesting matches, including a Future of Stardom Championship match, where Rina defended against Miran from Diana in a strong showing for both considering their level of experience. Rina is great at leading a match at such a young age, while Miran is a standout of the 2022-2023 Rookie Generation at the age of 14. Miran looked good and got her offence in, including multiple close near falls. In the end, Rina retained for the seventh time.
The highlight of the show was the return match of Natsupoi, who teamed together with Saori Anou to face Chihiro Hashimoto of Sendai Girls and the reigning SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Champion Sareee, who made her STARDOM debut in this match. Sareee & Natsupoi have been friends for a long time, and the match was built around them. Sareee & Hashimoto just destroyed the former Goddess of Stardom Champions with nasty suplexes and throws. Chihiro was a big truck that the Cosmic Angels duo had trouble with, while Sareee’s intensity made the team of her and Big Hash unbeatable. Anou & Natsupoi showed great underdog fire and were close to coming back from the ass beating that they were getting, but Sareee finished the job and defeated Natsupoi in an outstanding match.
In the main event of the show, Maika & Mina Shirakawa defeated Saya Kamitani & AZM and Mayu Iwatani & Tam Nakano in a really fun three-way tag team match, with Maika pinning AZM with the Michinoku Driver II. The match was just 15 minutes of all-out faction fun with all three teams having great performances. The match resembles the typical Triangle Gate matches in Dragon Gate, with fast action, many double team moves, and near falls, all of which worked well in the main event of this show.
After the match, Sareee came out and challenged Mayu Iwatani for the IWGP Women’s Championship at Yokohama Buntai on April 27th. It’s a dream match that Joshi fans have been waiting for for a long time. The match was originally set for February 2020, before Sareee got ill, and the match never got rescheduled again with Covid hitting and Sareee joining WWE. Now, four years later, it’s finally happening. On top, Maika called out her rival Utami Hayashishita, who missed this weekend’s shows due to an illness, and announced that she will defend her World of Stardom Championship against Hayashishita on the Cinderella Tournament Final show on March 20th. It’s been a match that has felt inevitable since Maika won the Red Belt in December and is now happening.
The second night kicked off with Aya Sakura’s return match after 8 months, where she and HANAKO lost their match to Mai Sakurai & Sayaka Kurara. Aya looked good in her return and showed some fire. After the match, she requested to join Cosmic Angels and wants to be a regular member before fellow 2023 rookie Sayaka Kurara.
In the main event of the show, Stephanie Vaquer defeated Giulia to win the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship and ended the 249-day reign of the second Champion. The pair had a great match, with a surprising roll-up finish that stunned the Korakuen Hall crowd. After the match, OEDo Tai attacked a crying Giulia, who wanted to cut a promo, before Mai Sakurai, Suzu Suzuki, Mei Seira, and Giulia’s biggest rival Tam Nakano made the save for her. Tam helped to carry out Giulia and challenged her backstage to one final singles match before Giulia leaves the company. The match will likely occur on the Nagoya show on the 20th, which is the last PPV before Giulia’s contract runs out at the end of the month.
Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling
TJPW revealed the full cards of its Grand Princess show at Sumo Hall on March 31st and the card of the Philly show at Wrestlemania weekend. The Grand Princess card features 11 matches, including three championship matches and the return of Yuka Sakazaki following her graduation from the promotion in December. She will team together with Mizuki against Chris Brookes & Emi Sakura.
The card for the US show is less stacked, but it’s still a really fun 6-match card, with the clear highlight being the match between Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh vs. Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi in the main event of the show. The fans making the trip to Penns Landing Caterers are likely to have a great time and get an authentic TJPW experience.
The Full Card for Grand Princess ‘24 on March 31st :
- Uta Takami, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo vs. Shino Suzuki, Chika Nanase & Kira Summer
- HIMAWARI & Mahiro Kiryu vs. Nao Kakuta & Ami Yumoto
- Kaya Toribami & Andreza Giant Panda vs. Pom Harajuku & Raku
- Wakana Uehara & Toga vs. Juria Nagano & Moka Miyamoto
- Rika Tatsumi vs. Masha Slamovich
- Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao vs. Aja Kong & Max The Impaler
- Minoru Suzuki vs. Maki Itoh
- Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki vs. Chris Brookes & Emi Sakura
- Yuki Arai (c) vs. Yuki Kamifuku – International Princess Championship
- Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino vs. Suzume & Arisu Endo – Princess Tag Team Championship
- Miyu Yamashita (c) vs. Miu Watanabe – Princess of Princess Championship
The Full Card for TJPW in Philly on April 5th
- Billie Starkz vs. Hyper Misao
- Shoko Nakajima vs. Rhio
- Yuki Aino & Raku vs. Viva Van & Yuki Kamifuku
- Zara Zakher & Nao Kakuta vs. Suzume & Arisu Endo
- Mizuki & Vertvixen vs. Pom Harajuku & Max The Impaler
- Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh vs. Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi
OZ Academy
A couple of weeks ago, it was decided that Mayumi Ozaki would face Mio Momono on the April 28th Korakuen Hall show for the OZ Academy Openweight Championship. On last night’s OZ show, Mio Momono made a surprising appearance to confront Ozaki and they agreed that their match will now be a double title match with Mio Momono’s OZ Academy Openweight Title and Mayumi Ozaki’s AAAW Title both being on the line.
Both Champions hold the top prize of their opponent’s company, and with this, the rivalry between OZ Academy and Marvelous, which has been going over the past year, will peak with the winner of the match being the Champion of both promotions. After her humiliating loss at the hands of Ozaki last August, where she dropped the AAAW Championship, Mio now has the chance to take revenge and bring back the AAAW Title to Marvelous.
