STARDOM
STARDOM held a show at Korakuen Hall in front of 1,022 fans, which is a very impressive number, considering the main event was for the High Speed Championship. The promotion is slowly starting to regularly sell more tickets at Korakuen Hall again, and that is a good sign after being trapped around the 800 fans mark constantly.
Hazuki is the first challenger for Natsupoi as she won a Wonder Of STARDOM Title three-way number one contenders match against Hanan und Thekla. The match was fine as the sequences between Hazuki and Hanan were fun since they have great chemistry, but the wildcard in Thekla was the negative part here. The H.A.T.E. interferences were way too much, and it was a distraction to a match that was supposed to be really good.
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, but it’s sad considering she will probably lose another big championship match, which seems to be her role. She 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 she will for sure lose to Natsupoi here as well. From that standpoint, Thekla would have been the better solution since a Hazuki challenge would have been more interesting a few more months down the road when fans might expect her to win, but I won’t complain too much about a match like this as Hazuki and Natsupoi have shown in their 5STAR Grand Prix match how great they are together.
The Tam Nakano and Maika Promo segment was tremendous, it told the simple story well and made their match feel big. Maika said that she would take everything away from Nakano, while Tam immediately called Maika a transitional champion. They want to find out who the real champion of STARDOM is. It makes sense given what happened in the past 12 months as Maika never beat the official champion to win the title, but rather won it due to Nakano’s injury. The match between Tam Nakano and Maika has been brewing ever since Nakano came back, and two of STARDOM’s biggest stars are now colliding with the World of Stardom Championship on the line. This segment sold me as they delivered their points well, as Tam and Maika are excellent promos. It felt like a little ego-off in the best way possible – top star shit.
In the main event of the show, Xena and Mei Seira fought to a 15-minute time limit draw in a match for the High-Speed Championship. It was an action-packed and exciting main event that was based on whether Xena could keep up with Seira in a high-speed match, and she did! There was a part in the middle, where they wasted a bit of time as Xena had Seira in a submission for a minute or two, but aside from that, it was a great match and by far the best match on this Korakuen Hall show. Seira has been great in the high-speed division and continues to be so, but Xena was the star of this match. Xena’s output since coming back to STARDOM has been incredible as she ranks high on the list of 2024’s the most improved wrestlers with consistently great performances in every spot she’s in. The draw finish sets up a future rematch between them at a bigger show, and, until then, they can build up a good rivalry at the house shows.
Marigold
Marigold’s first-ever round-robin tournament, the Dream Star Grand Prix, kicked off on August 31st in Osaka. It’s set to last for a month and will end on September 28th in Nagoya. The first-ever line-up features 16 of the best female wrestlers in Marigold’s roster facing each other in a two-block system. In the tournament, there are many first-time-ever singles matches and some matches that fans haven’t seen in a long time.
It’s a major test for many wrestlers who get their first shot at competing in a round-robin tournament. With Rossy Ogawa’s tournament booking set to come into full effect, many interesting results could happen in the Dream Star that will shape the next couple of months in Marigold. It’s yet to be said what the winner of the Grand Prix will get, but, realistically, they could get a title shot of their choosing whenever they want – likely on January 3rd, 2025, at Ota Ward.
The second night of the tournament was this past weekend with a show in Toyama in the Bolfert Toyama 2F Multipurpose Hall with an attendance of 305 fans. The crowd was good on the show and was one of the better tour show crowds of the year. The show itself had four great matches that are worth checking out.
The first of the four was Utami Hayashishita against Victoria Yuzuki in a match that pitted a top star against a future ace. These match-ups always work so well as they are a great tease for a future championship match between the two. At the same time, it also helps giving the young wrestler a great opportunity to prove themselves against a star like Hayashishita. The match itself was great with no filler as Yuzuki came close multiple times to defeating Utami, but it wasn’t enough, which will be played up in their upcoming matches in the next years. Overall, it was a great sprint with a fantastic power vs speed dynamic.
After their great ‘Passion Injection’ match at the beginning of Marigold’s existence, Misa Matsui and Nanae Takahashi faced each other for a second time in the Dream Star and the match kicked ass. Takahashi has been a standout so far in Marigold, and it showed once again here with a tremendous performance against Matsui. The match layout was so simple, yet effective, with Takahashi playing the veteran that beats the hell out of Misa Matsui, who tries her best with flash pins and fast-paced action to overcome Takahashi. Misa came closer to beating Takahashi than she did in the Passion Injection match, which was a good way to show her growth since the beginning of Marigold, but is still not on the level yet to beat Nanae as the veteran won the match after 11 minutes to get her first two points. Their two matches have been some of the best outings on Marigold house shows and a third match will happen sooner rather than later with likely Matsui picking up the win, which would be an easy story to tell that we’ve seen countless times in wrestling and it works every single time.
In a rematch from Summer Destiny, Bozilla defeated Miku Aono with Aono’s Styles Clash in a bit under 10 minutes as Bozilla is the first wrestler to defeat Aono in a singles match in Marigold. The match story was told well as Bozilla wanted to neutralize her only blemish in a Marigold ring when Aono rolled her up to win the United National Championship. She destroyed a healthy Aono from the very beginning until the end, but Aono got more offense in than in her first match and went for the injury of Bozilla to get her openings in, but Bozilla didn’t underestimate Aono here and was fully locked in, which brought her the win in the end. The match shows that, while Aono beat her when it mattered the most, Bozilla still can beat her on any given night, which will lead to a third match down the line with the White Belt on the line.
In the main event, Sareee defeated Mai Sakurai with the Uranage in another great match to end the show. After their disappointing match in Nagoya a couple of months ago, Sakurai and Sareee turned it around and showed that they have great chemistry together as they beat the living hell out of each other for 10 minutes. The difference in the two matches against Sareee best highlights the improvement of Mai Sakurai as she has gotten way more comfortable in the ring and can hang with some of the best on the planet. It started hot with early crowd brawling after Mai ambushed Sareee during her entrance. From then on, it was a fight with Sareee having the advantage, but Sakurai was not far behind and getting some offense in. The finishing stretch was incredible, with Sareee throwing a disgusting headbutt and an elbow before she nearly got caught in the Mai Pan Roll. Sareee then finishes it off with the Uranage to get her first two points and stay undefeated in Marigold.
Official Dream Star Grand Prix Standings after Night 2:
Dream League –
4 – NØRI (2-0-1)
4 – Utami Hayashishita (2-1-0)
3 – MIRAI (1-0-1)
3 – Natsumi Showzuki (1-1-1)
2 – Kouki Amarei (1-1-0)
2 – Nagisa Nozaki (1-1-0)
1 – Victoria Yuzuki (0-1-1)
0 – Chika Goto (0-3-0)
Star League –
6 – Bozilla (3-0-0)
4 – Miku Aono (2-1-0)
2 – Mai Sakurai (1-1-0)
2 – Nanae Takahashi (1-1-0)
2 – Sareee (1-0-0)
0 – CHIAKI (0-1-0)
0 – Kizuna Tanak (0-1-0)
0 – Misa Matsui (0-3-0)
