Pantoja’s STARDOM All-Star Grand Queendom 2026 Review

STARDOM All-Star Grand Queendom

April 26^th, 2026 | Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Kanagawa | Attendance: 8,015

Okay, so I still haven’t completely gotten back into wrestling. I’m trying but it’s just not happening. It doesn’t have much to do with quality (well, NJPW and WWE are pretty bad right now but I like STARDOM and AEW), there are just other things going on that have been higher on my list of interests.

Anyway, there was no way I’d miss All-Star Grand Queendom, given this is usually a fantastic show. I gave the 2023 event 10/10 and it’s one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. 2024 got a 7/10 and 2025 was back to a 10/10.

We start with some pre-show matches.

Aya Sakura vs. Kikyo Furusawa

Two of STARDOM’s more promising young wrestlers. Kikyo has been working with Maki Itoh, while Aya’s partner, Sayaka, is in the main event. I was NOT expecting them to just wail on each other. They were throwing some vicious forearms as if this match had a ton of history or heat. Kikyo kept going after the leg, which makes sense since the Ankle Lock has become her signature move. Aya did a good job of selling and ultimately used a German Suplex to secure the win after 10:12. Where did that come from? I know both are good but they went hard here and had one of the better singles matches in the career of either woman. [***¼]

Akira Kurogane and Anne Kanaya vs. Kiyoka Kotatsu and Matoi Hamabe

Interesting of younger talent here. Kiyoka and Matoi are still relatively green, while Anne and Akira are good but very different. Anne is a lovable ball of energy, while Akira is a straight-laced, serious wrestler. For the most part, this was a standard tag. A few bits in there were awkward, as expected given the experience involved. Anne’s flash pin attempts were fun and full of hope but she was bested by an armbar from Matoi Hamabe in 6:06. Commentary noted that this was another in a string of losses for Kanaya. I liked Akira helping Anne to the back. [**¼]

Lady C vs. Momo Kohgo vs. Tabata vs. Tomoka Inaba vs. Xena vs. Yuna Mizumori

The pre-show main event is a “let’s get a bunch of you folks onto the card” situation. The High Speed Title was the focus here as even though the champion (Mizumori) was involved, the title wasn’t on the line but a win could vault you into contention. That’s especially true for Xena, who recently pinned Yuna. They worked this at a quick pace, yet it still felt kind of slow. Like, not in general but compared to the AZM/Starlight Kid/Hazuki/Mei Seira stuff I’m used to. The best parts were when Xena and Tomoka went at it. That’s an interesting clash of styles that I thought worked. Xena used an interesting pinning combination to beat Yuna once again at the 6:55 mark. A decent clusterfuck. [**½]

Onto the main card!

Maki Itoh vs. Natsupoi

Natsupoi wore gear that Kairi Sane gifted her. This was like a lot of Maki matches in that it was more interested in being fun and filled with character than being overly technical. And that’s fine with me because I like variety in my wrestling shows. Plus, Poi is good enough to keep things more interesting than when Maki works a undercard girl. Even though Poi is loved, the crowd was behind Maki. She’s really popular. Ultimately, Maki used a pinning combination to steal this at the 10:14 mark. Not too much to write home about, but still a fun way to spend 10 minutes. Surprising result, to be honest. That said, Poi can afford a loss like this and heat up quickly to another big title match in 2026. (Hopefully) [***]

Gauntlet Match: Ami Sohrei & Hina vs. Devil Princess vs. FWC vs. Gorilla Trigger vs. Mei Seira & Starlight Kid vs. Reckless Fantasy

This feels like another “let’s get people on the card” case. Matching masks for Mei and SLK was a cool touch. For those unaware, Devil Princess (Azusa Inaba and Rina), Reckless Fantasy (Waka Tsukiyama and Rian), and Gorilla Trigger (Bea Priestley and Saya Iida) are names those tames used during the Tag League. Reckless Fantasy opened against SLK and Mei for some fast paced action that saw a rollup from Mei beat Rian in 1:25. Next in were Devil Princess. Given how great Starlight Kid and Rina have been over the past year or so, it’s disappointing to see them in this random match on such a big show. That said, I get it since they have headlined some major shows as well. This was a fun segment of the match, yet one that didn’t truly get time to develop. At the 4:45 mark, a pin counter by SLK eliminated Azusa. Hina and Ami were next and I think they’d be a good pick to become a consistent duo for a while. Good action in this section as well, which saw Mei fall to a Hina frog splash at 9:37. Next, it was Gorilla Trigger. Decent stuff here, with Saya  hitting a big lariat on Hina to advance after 13:11. Last in were FWC, leading to another solid, yet unspectacular bit of action. Then FWC won after a total of 16:46. This was weird. Each interval felt rushed, yet it also seemed to take a while as a whole. And I love a Hazuki win but it felt odd to just have the most established team win here rather than a potential new title contender. [**¾]

Future of Stardom Championship: Ranna Yagami [c] vs. Ema Maishima

To me, it seems like being Future of Stardom Champion means you have to kind of lead the matches against your fellow rookies. Rina did it very well, while Hina improved as time went on. HANAKO didn’t do it as well but was alright. Ranna is next in line to try and she did well enough here. Ema came out with fire, firing off forearms and bringing a lot of energy to everything she did offensively. It helped the crowd get more behind her and after a while, they were chanting for her. She won them over in a big way. Ema also busted out a nice Slingblade. That said, nothing in here wowed me, so it peaked at just being good but that’s okay given their experience level. Ranna caught a fired up Ema and trapped her in a brutal looking ZSJ style submission to retain in 8:41. Good, solid pro wrestling here. [***]

Fuwa-chan vs. Saori Anou

These two fought to a draw in a very good Cinderella Tournament match (***½). In typical STARDOM form, they went at it right from the bell, setting the tone for an intense bout. Saori was kicking Fuwa-chan’s ass, yet Fuwa-chan kept coming back for more. That was the crux of the match and it’s something that worked. Fuwa-chan sold everything incredibly well and it has been said over and over, by myself included, but it’s remarkable that she’s so new to wrestling and gets so many of the little things right. Watching each comeback spot by Fuwa-chan was masterfully done too. Saori made sure that, as awesome as she came off herself, Fuwa-chan looked like a star. When Fuwa-chan hit the moonsault, I popped because it was such a good one. It looked like Saori was going to seal this as she hit a big German Suplex. However, Fuwa-chan escaped the next and used La Magistral to score a massive upset after 16:56. Awesome. Fuwa-chan is ridiculously good already and Saori is Saori. [****]

We took some time away from the action to celebrate the retirement of Saki Kashima. She cut a promo before her idol Tomohiro Ishii made a special appearance to present a crying Saki with flowers.

Drunkers Crash Hardcore Match: HANAKO and Maika vs. Rina Yamashita and Suzu Suzuki

That’s certainly an interesting name for a stipulation. It’s weird that Empress Nexus Venus were forced to split, yet they still just team together. The women all drank some beer before attacking and weapons were brought into play pretty early. We were just a few minutes in and Maika and HANAKO were bleeding and getting flowers stapled to their heads. Clearly, these women were going all out. HANAKO busted out the classic Terry Funk ladder spot and doing it with the crimson mask just added so much to it. We know how good Suzu and Maika are, so I was cool that this way a great showing for HANAKO and Yamashita. The superplex off the ladder was probably the biggest spot of the match, though Suzu was also part of a vicious powerbomb through a table outside. HANAKO survived a Tequila Shot and a German suplex but couldn’t get her shoulders up after a German onto chairs, ending this in 19:41. That was nuts and way better than expected. They went out and had a violent war. [****]

It looks like the Five Star Grand Prix will run from 7/18 through 8/23.

IWGP Women’s Championship: Syuri [c] vs. Megan Bayne

Honestly, my most anticipated match of the night. Syuri is one of the best in the world and Bayne is awesome. The idea early on was that Megan was simply too powerful for Syuri. Megan stands tall and has such a presence about her, which really sold it all. Syuri is also not a typical “David,” as she’s not exactly small. Though overmatched, she found ways to make an impact on Megan with her array of stiff kicks. To her credit, Bayne was taking those kicks like a champ and then doing stuff like a deadlift German from the apron before press slamming Syuri onto a bunch of people outside. They progressed into the big match close calls and near falls section, with Bayne looking like a legitimate threat to pull off a shocking win. In the end, Syuri used a brutal looking submission where she had an armbar and a head scissors applied to retain in 17:19. An excellent match and a great use of the David vs. Goliath story. Megan’s best solo outing. [****¼]

Goddesses of Stardom Championship: BMI2000 [c] vs. 02line

It’s the HATE part of the show as their three top champions all defend. BMI2000 matches tend to be a slog and follow the same pattern. However, that wasn’t the case here. They had their working boots on. Natsuko was a good bully, which works especially well against two very good underdogs in AZM and Miyu. Meanwhile, this was probably the best performance I’ve ever seen from Ruaka. There was one particular sequence where she was countering with AZM where she moved faster and with more crispness than I’d ever seen. The German Suplex at the end of the exchange was great too. It started to look like BMI2000 were on the verge of retaining their titles yet again, but 02line kept coming back for more and refused to give up. Miyu even survived the mist. Miyu threw everything she had at Natsuko and finally beat her with Tensei in 23:19. Never would I have believed I’d really enjoy a 20+ minute BMI2000 match but here we are. They told a great story and this had engaging drama with a feel good ending. [***¾]

Wonder of Stardom Championship: Konami [c] vs. Hanan

I wasn’t too big on Konami winning the title because her feud with Syuri was so lackluster but she’s put in some quality defenses. Alas, this match suffered from the HATE antics that can bog down their outings. There was plenty of interference and shenanigans. I don’t always like it and it wasn’t done super well here, but I will say that it made sense for the story. Hanan is a great valiant face, so she had to fight through all sorts of antics and the arm work done by Konami to make her rally. All of her hope spots received positive reactions from the crowd as she’s very over. Konami’s spray paint gimmick backfired, which set the stage for a closing stretch that saw Hanan finally win the title after several back suplexes at the 18:07 mark. This felt like it could’ve been great but it peaked at good. A bit too heavy on shenanigans and the closing stretch went a bit long. [***¼]

Post-match, Bea Priestley turned on Hanan and joined HATE. Weird call to join the stable AFTER your new teammate loses the title instead of helping her.

World of Stardom Championship: Saya Kamitani [c] vs. Sayaka Kurara

At this event last year, Saya Kamitani retired Tam Nakano in an incredible spectacle. Now, someone who looked up to Tam in Cosmic Angels is a fresh challenger and is a very young star who has only held the New Blood Tag Titles. Also, if Sayaka loses, Cosmic Angels are over. Sayaka came out sporting entrance gear that was inspired by Tam Nakano. This was physical from the start, with Saya bringing out a chain to choke Sayaka and call back to the Tam match from last year. Saya remained in control, nearly getting a countout win as Sayaka struggled to get back to the ring from an assault on the outside. Saya is typically a popular heel but the crowd was firmly behind Sayaka here. They popped for every hope spot that she showed off as she rallied. Sayaka was resilient, taking everything Saya threw at her and not backing down from strike exchanges. I thought it was cool that Sayaka had her rear naked choke locked in for so long. We often don’t see this kind of lengthy submission from the face with the heel having to get to the ropes out of desperation. Saya had to reach deep and bust out avalanche versions of her signature move to try and keep her challenger down. HATE jumped in the ring late, only for the Cosmic Angels girls to get involved. When Saya hit Twilight Dream, the pin got broken up during the brawl. When things settled, Sayaka hit a Spear that Saya barely kicked out of and then added a 450 splash to shockingly win the title in 27:05. A fantastic main event that told a hell of a story and culminated in an emotional result. They never overdid the near falls or close calls either. Do I wish a Natsupoi or a Hazuki was in this spot? Sure, but I still loved this moment and think it was a great move that freshens things up. [****½]

9.0

The final score: review Amazing

The 411

A tremendous show from STARDOM. Not only did we get several great matches but they also changed the landscape with some major title changes that should allow for a different look going forward.