Pantoja’s STARDOM All-Star Grand Queendom 2023 Review

STARDOM All-Star Grand Queendom

April 23^rd, 2023 | Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Kanagawa | Attendance: 5,539

I’ve heard some people hype this as one of the biggest shows in STARDOM history, if not the biggest. With a loaded card and my growing emotional investment into the company, I decided to order my first PPV instead of waiting three or so days for it to hit the streaming service. I wasn’t able to see it live but I’m watching it just hours after (outside of a break to go to my nephew’s birthday).

Yokohama Rumble

For those familiar with NJPW, this is apparently kind of like the New Japan RAMBO we get in the Tokyo Dome. Waka Tsukiyama started against newcomer HANAKO and Waka felt like a pretty solid pick to win given her recent hot streak. Koguma was next but she kept trying to get involved only for them to ignore her and fight each other. I liked Lady C getting a solid run and doing a big swing on Momo Kohgo. There were some cool spots of people trying to avoid eliminations and several fun interactions between stablemates. We got the expected Rina vs. Hina interaction too. Down the stretch, the Super Strong Stardom Machines joined the fray, clearly portrayed by already eliminated women like Lady C and Saya Iida. It took all of them to stop the train that is WAKAMANIA and then they worked together against Mai Sakurai until some miscommunication led to them basically eliminating each other. Sakurai sent the Giant Machine out in the end to win in an enjoyable 26:40. It was basically exactly what I’d expect from this kind of match with solid interactions and a nice pace. [**¾]

Jessie, Mariah May, Thekla and Xena vs. Momo Watanabe, Natsuko Tora, Ruaka and Saki Kashima

One more “pre-show” match here as Club Venus (and Thekla) takes on Oedo Tai. I immediately loved Club Venus doing their dancing entrance to Thekla’s metal ass theme. It was so unfitting in the best possible way. Oedo Tai worked very well together as usual but the fun in this match came from Thekla being with Club Venus. They also showed off some solid teamwork but I kept loving Thekla trying not to break at their antics. From the butt slapping to posing while she was doing moves, it added another layer to this. Mariah May continued to show improvement and she was throwing way harder strikes than you’d expect. The finish played into the story as Thekla ultimately decided against trying to cheat despite Club Venus wanting her to. That allowed Oedo Tai to interrupt and for Saki to roll up Jessie and steal this in 9:54. Just a blast of a pre-show match thanks to the personalities involved. [***]

AZM and Mei Suruga vs. Mei Seira and Starlight Kid

Onto the main card. This was hyped as a high speed match, which is fitting given the involvement of the champ and Starlight Kid. AZM tailored her entrance to go with Suruga though that also involved her tripping on the giant wings. I liked that only Seira and Suruga shook hands. The action here was absurdly fast as advertised. AZM’s dive to the outside was a highlight and I dig Suruga’s ring post springboard. I love when people have spots that aren’t the same tired ones we see every week on TV. This got better as it progressed and the amount of close calls on flash pins was ridiculous in the best possible way. The finish saw a pinning combination by Seira score a win over the High Speed Champion AZM at the 9:49 mark. That likely sets her up as the next challenger for the gold. A hell of a way to start the official show as the teams worked incredibly well together and this was filled with fast paced action. [***¾]

Fuwa-Chan and Hazuki vs. Miyu Amasaki and Utami Hayashishita

Apparently, Fuwa-Chan is a celebrity and this is her second match. I hear that she did great in her debut though. She’s so popular that this match was broadcast nationally in Japan. This is also a test for Amasaki, who continues to try and prove herself. After the veterans opened this, Fuwa-Chan tagged in and quickly found herself in trouble due to double team offense from the Queens’s Quest duo. She took the heat before busting out a dropkick and getting the hot tag to Hazuki, who looked great out there. Fuwa-Chan traded blows with Hayashishita and more than held her own before nailing things like a German suplex. She truly looked like she belonged out there. Utami did basically decapitate her with a lariat though. Fuwa-Chan was ultimately put down by an Utami German in 14:19. This went a bit longer than expected but was really good. Between Fuwa-Chan, Logan Paul, and Bad Bunny, I love that celebs are really getting into the wrestling and aren’t just collecting paychecks. [***½]

Himeka vs. Maika

It’s the emotional retirement match of Himeka against her friend and tag partner, Maika. Mina Shirakawa handled the ring introductions for this one and both ladies had spectacular gear that added to the presentation of it all. They said they wouldn’t hold anything back and they didn’t. Right from the start they were charging at each other, delivering fierce strikes, and Maika hit a suplex on the outside. They kept that up throughout, throwing lariats and big offense at one another. Himeka got some big near falls on moves paying homage to Japanese legends and her own JP Coaster but Maika kept getting back up. Maika came back with the Michinoku Driver for two and a submission that Himeka survived before it was her turn to come close to winning again. Just back and forth from bell to bell. The emotion kept building until a tearful Maika reeled off Michinoku Drivers, with a headbutt thrown in between, to win in 14:17. A great match but this was all about the spectacle around it, which was pretty much perfect. [****]

Post-match, Maika cut a promo to say goodbye to Himeka but they kept it brief as Himeka still has an actual retirement ceremony coming on 5/14.

Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Nanae Takahashi and Yuu [c] vs. Ami Sourei and MIRAI

The New Eras (Sourei and MIRAI) just met in the Cinderella Tournament semis last week. MIRAI won the tournament for the second straight year, while Sourei is the Future of Stardom Champion. A jump start kicked this off and gave the champions the early upper hand. That worked to set the stage for the match because the champs are so good at being the overwhelming powerhouses and both Sourei and MIRAI have been pretty good wrestling from beneath from what I’ve seen. I actually really liked how MIRAI struggled to hit offense on the bigger girls. When she succeeded, it wasn’t pretty and it shouldn’t be. It needs to be a struggle. The big talking point is the finish. All four women fought outside, which included dives by the babyface challengers, and as the count reached 20, the champ were counted out at the 12:25 mark. It is hard to really feel like a title win is an accomplishment when it comes this way. The crowd kind of sat on their hands for it and it fell pretty flat. [***]

Artist of Stardom Championship: Hiragi Kurumi, Risa Sera & Suzu Suzuki [c] vs. KAIRI, Natsupoi & Saori Anou

KAIRI and Natsupoi teaming together is all I need in life. Anou is making her STARDOM return as well. Meanwhile, this PROMINENCE trio has been pretty dominant. Like the previous match, this started with a jump attack and things spilled outside quickly. It became a more traditional tag soon after and you really got to see how good Suzuki is. Whether it was laying stiff shots at KAIRI or Matrix dodging a Natsupoi cross body, she’s scary good. I dug the section of Natsupoi using her quickness to overcome the size disadvantage against Kurumi. While I really don’t like the Tower of Doom spot, I appreciated the twist on it here with Natsupoi tripping Kurumi into it. I also laughed at her celebrating it as if her partners didn’t just come crashing down. The section of Suzuki and Anou just slapping the shit out of each other was great. Their exchanges took a really good match and made it great. I was a little upset that the Tequila Shot didn’t end this. I’ve never been a big fan of finisher kickouts and that is such a cool move. Anou then beat Suzuki with a creative bridging backslide, giving us new champions in 16:55. I wasn’t loving this at the start but it just kept getting better and peaked with the Suzuki/Anou clash, meaning this ended at the perfect time. [****]

Wonder of Stardom Championship: Saya Kamitani [c] vs. Mina Shirakawa

Back on 11/3/22, Mina lost to Kamitani and got her face/jaw busted when she took a Phoenix Splash. Mina has fought back from injury and has another shot against Kamitani, who is on a record run with the Wonder of Stardom Title. Mina put a target on the knee in this one, using the ring post Figure Four that I’ll always pop for. Saya managed to do some aerial stuff before her knee damage got too bad and she threw some big shots of her own, seemingly bloodying Mina’s nose. Saya had the Phoenix Splash set up but stopped at the top and couldn’t bring herself to pull the trigger and possibly injure Mina once more. That bit of storytelling marked the turning point of the match as things got better afterward. Still, Saya has some selling issues, using her legs as if it nothing happened to them or doing things like bridging on it despite the issues. She managed to hit the Phoenix Splash on her second trip to the top but Mina kicked out. Saya survived a DDT off the top, so both got up from some of the best the other offered. The dragon screw into the Figure Four made for a great close call and Mina kept fighting before winning with a spinning Glamorous Driver in 17:56. A fitting epic to a long reign. There were parts I didn’t like but this was fantastic overall, had greats bit of storytelling, and the emotional capper. [****¼]

Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Syuri

This can only be won by knockout, submission, or ref stoppage. This was different from the rest of the card, which was welcome. At no point did this feel like a traditional wrestling contest. It was a fight with the ladies only trying to knock each other out or win via submission, which seems obvious given the stipulation but is the kind of thing too many matches overlook. The only time I was slightly taken out of the fight was when they battled outside and Syuri did a tornado DDT. It was out of place with the rest of the match. After that, they really kicked it up with Hashimoto eating some shots so she could bait Syuri in for a big one of her own, some firing up on big offensive moves, and a near double knockout spot. When they got up, they just kept waging war. The spot where Syuri had Hashimoto up on her shoulders before dropping her down was pretty damn impressive. She added a buzzsaw kick, adopted from her trainer Tajiri, and that was enough to barely keep Hashimoto down, ending this in 16:07. A hard hitting fight between two top stars that lived up to everything I wanted from it. Absolutely brutal. [****½]

After the match, Syuri cut a promo putting over Hashimoto and suggesting that she shouldn’t let this be her last match in STARDOM because she’s ready to face Sendai Girls anywhere.

IWGP Women’s Championship: Mercedes Moné [c] vs. Mayu Iwatani

I’ve been dying for Mayu to have something to sink her teeth into this year. Of course, I’m also a huge Mercedes fan as she’s my favorite wrestler of the past decade and possibly ever. Mercedes looked to bully Mayu at the opening bell as she had during the build-up but Mayu responded by taking her down and kicking her ass in and out of the ring. Mercedes took control soon after hitting Meteora but they mostly kept up a solid back and forth throughout. This felt like an evenly matched clash. Mercedes let her arrogance get her in some trouble, like when she called her shot with the Money Maker, allowing Mayu to find a counter and get some momentum going. I loved that Mayu survived a Money Maker variation by getting her foot on the ropes, not by kicking out. That’s so important. Mercedes talked some trash after hitting a Backstabber, opening the door for Mayu to pop up with a Dragon Suplex that changed the tide a bit. There were tremendous moments of desperation from each, whether it was Mercedes trying several pins in a row or grabbing Mayu’s ankle as she tried to go up top or Mayu nearly passing out before hitting a Tombstone. It added a lot to the match. Mayu won the title with a great looking Dragon Suplex after 12:56. I’ve seen people complain that this was short but I’ll continue to point out that a match can be great at 35, 15, 10, or even 5 minutes. This was action from start to finish and Mercedes’ over the top heel stuff made Mayu’s win even more satisfying. [****¼]

Post-match, Mayu asked Mercedes to come back out to the ring. When she said, Mayu thanked her and Mercedes did the same, also putting Mayu over as the true icon of STARDOM. She even threw in some Japanese before the two embraced.

World of Stardom Championship: Giulia [c] vs. Tam Nakano

There’s a long history here that I’m not fully up on but commentary helped lay some of it out. Not to get too ahead of myself but there are only two issues I had this with this match. The first is that for such a heated rivalry, it starting with headlocks and basic wrestling felt a bit off, especially since they progressed into big moves, tables, and fighting outside so soon after. That made the opening exchanges feel like a formality more than anything else. The other isn’t really a fault of the ladies but in the fact that Japanese audiences seem so conditioned to expect 20+ minute main events that they don’t react to some of the big moments that come before that, which happened a bit here. With that out of the way, I must praise every other aspect of the match. The intensity of the table spot leading to a Glorious Driver attempt on the stage only added to how violent this could be at points. The stiffness of each forearm and strike they threw at each other could be felt through the screen. At one point, the right hand from Giulia looked like it totally took out Tam and earned her a warning from the referee. From there, Giulia threw some of her best shots but Tam was too resilient to stay down. The closing stretch was the stuff of legend as both women came close to winning several times, kicked out at one at different points, and threw big bombs. The crowd hung on every single moment. When Tam hit her own Northern Lights Bomb and then Twilight Dream for two, I thought for sure that was her best shot. She delivered the Screwdriver right after and finally won the biggest title after 23:40. Incredible pro wrestling outside of my minor gripes, capped with the emotional unexpected win for Tam. I thought for sure Giulia would retain but I’m so happy with this result as I really like Tam and I’ve read up on how this was somewhere not a lot of people thought she’d ever get to reach. [****¾]

10.0

The final score: review Virtually Perfect

The 411

Legitimately one of the greatest wrestling shows I’ve ever witness. I’m so glad I paid to watch this asap as they delivered in a major way. Only three matches got under ***½ from me and six cracked four stars which is enough to consider it. Add in the emotional moments like the big title wins and Himeka’s retirement, as well as the landscape shifting title changes. Just outstanding.