Pantoja’s STARDOM Dream Queendom 2024 Review

STARDOM Dream Queendom

December 29^th, 2024 | Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 4,023

It’s time for the biggest show of the year from STARDOM. It hasn’t been my favorite year for the promotion but the top two matches on this card are very exciting so I’m stoked for the show overall.

Due to time reasons, I won’t be covering the pre-show stuff.

Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Momo Watanabe and Thekla [c] vs. wing*gori

Their match in the Tag League was forgettable (**¼) but if they avoid the overdone HATE shenanigans, this had potential. The challengers jumped the champs before the bell, turning the tables on the usual HATE antics. Thekla and Momo weathered that storm and took control, isolating Hanan and talking trash as they beat on her. That formula worked because Hanan is a great sympathetic babyface and Saya’s powerhouse offense makes her perfect for the hot tag, which the crowd ate up. I popped for Thekla’s spider suplex as it always looks cool. The Thekla/Hanan interactions were good but it was Momo and Saya who stole the show here with some really intense exchanges. Thekla kicked out of the Hanan Special and I don’t like finisher kickouts in openers. Then we got a ref bump and it became a worrisome situation knowing who HATE is. However, their attempts at cheating backfired and Hanan was able to hit a second Hanan Special to win the titles in 18:05. A very good way to start the show and an emotional win for the best tag team of 2024. Also, the push of Iida has been a high point of the Okada era in STARDOM. [***½]

Devil Princess, Fukigen Death & Ruaka vs. HANAKO, Mina Shirakawa, Rian & Waka Tsukiyama vs. Hina, Lady C, Saki Kashima & Tomoka Inaba

One of those classic matches designed to get a lot of people onto a major card. This time, HATE did get the jump on their opponents and signaled a brawl. For the most part, this was standard STARDOM fare and just the kind of thing you’d see on any house show from the company. That said, there were a few things that stood out, with the most notable being the stuff between Azusa and Tomoka. The siblings (I somehow only just learned that recently) have that natural chemistry together that makes them a joy to watch. In the end, ExV won with the Glorious Driver Mina on Fukigen Death at the 7:04 mark. Just a fine little filler bout on this card. [**½]

AZM, Mei Seira, Miyu Amasaki and Suzu Suzuki vs. FWC, Mayu Iwatani and Momo Kohgo

Kind of wild to see Mayu in a tag on a show like this but she does have a big title defense coming up against AZM in the Tokyo Dome, so this worked as a preview. This is also the two best factions in STARDOM colliding. AZM and Mayu had a short exchange to start this before we got some classic Koguma taunt antics. From there, it was just good pro wrestling among the eight wrestlers. This is a talented group of women so I enjoyed watching basically everything combination. Whenever I watch Hazuki, I think about how she badly needs a singles title soon. If she doesn’t have one by the end of 2025, STARDOM has miserably failed her. Getting a peek at FWC/Suzu and Mei is kind of all I need in life. AZM gained momentum ahead of her title match, beating Momo with the Azumi Sushi in 10:19. I liked this as I expected to and I cannot wait for AZM/Mayu. [***¼]

Mika Iwata vs. Saori Anou  

These two are looking to conclude a series here. I saw Mika dethrone Saori of the Wonder of Stardom Title at The Conversion (****) but I didn’t see Saori regain it. Considering this is their fourth meeting of 2024, you can understand why there was some skepticism because it’s hard to keep delivering something fresh that often. While what they did here wasn’t totally new, it was welcome to see that they made sure it was intense. Lots of hard strikes and even things like submissions felt like a true struggle with something extra behind every yank or twist. They also just looked at each other with disdain. Saori looked to take a countout victory and as Mika beat the count, she looked down at her with hate. As this progressed, the violence picked up, complete with them just trading forearms in the center of the ring. Saori wore her down with headbutts only for Mika to power through and respond with her own headbutt barrage. On commentary, Xena simply said, “Goddamn.” Mika had a few close calls late but Saori beat her with a tight pinning combination in 15:29. That was kind of a war and I really dug it. I wish the finish was a bit better and it lacked drama since I never bought into Mika winning but it was the best thing on the show so far. [***¾]

Konami vs. Syuri

I’ve been open about how disappointing the booking of Syuri has been in 2024. She’s kind of just been hanging around. This feud had potential but has been bogged down by HATE shenanigans. I wasn’t interested in the match until they ditched that nonsense for harder hitting stuff in the tags leading up to this. I wanted more of that. Unfortunately, we didn’t get that. Syuri hit three kicks (nothing new for these two) and Konami was down for a count of 10 (which would’ve ended it with these rules), only for HATE to run in and jump Syuri, resulting in a DQ at 0:33. This is the biggest problem with the booking of STARDOM/NJPW. HATE is House of Torture where they just have bad, interference riddled matches that disappoint and commentary points out how bad it is. Just because you say it sucks doesn’t make it okay to do. Garbage. [NR]

Kiyoka Kotatsu jumped in to help Syuri and they cleaned house. Kiyoka isn’t someone I’m familiar with but she’s a freelancer who was formerly GLEAT’s Maya Fukuda. She apparently said she looked up to Syuri and asked to join God’s Eye, which was granted.

No Disqualifications Match: Maika vs. Natsuko Tora

Two former World of Stardom Champions in a No DQ match. I knew we were in for something when Maika made her entrance carrying a board covered in cut open cans. Yeah, that’s violent. They were slammed into her in the opening minutes, setting the tone for what kind of match this would be. Natsuko then used a barbed wire bat to cut Maika open, which isn’t something you see often in STARDOM. Natsuko kept up the punishment, feeling like a true threat as Maika was just battered. Of course, the valiant babyface rallied and the fact that she was an absolute mess added to it. I know not everyone likes blood in wrestling but in a case like this, it boosted the match. Maika’s superplex onto the board with the cut cans was one of the sickest things I’ve seen in a long time. Your move, Darby Allin. Both women survived bit blows from the other and the shots of Maika covered in both blood and the mist Natsuko spat at her were great. Natsuko blocked a suplex off a ladder onto a pile of weapons and hit a powerbomb instead but that and another move still weren’t enough. She finally won after a Swanton Bomb while wrapped in barbed wire after 18:31. I was not expecting that result or for this to basically be a deathmatch. Just a hell of a war here that far exceeded my expectations. [****]

Wonder of Stardom Championship: Natsupoi [c] vs. Starlight Kid

There weren’t many matches in 2024 that I was more excited for than this one. Two of my favorites in the semi-main event of the biggest show of STARDOM’s year. They opened with limb work, which was expected given the Xmas Eve tag. It felt like Starlight Kid was out to prove that she’s more than the high flyer and High Speed Champion of the past. Poi responded by working the arm as they both hoped to set up signature submissions. Limb work can be tedious but these two knew how to make it work. Things took a turn when Poi did a middle rope German Suplex and they both took a nasty landing. That put Poi in the driver’s seat and she pounced with a string of moves trying to put SLK away. Regardless, neither advantage lasted too long because they were so evenly matched. From there we got some absurd spots, including a ridiculous near fall on SLK’s moonsault and a great looking powerbomb. SLK used the Black Tiger Leg Killer submission and Poi used an armbar but neither woman would give up. They moved on to throw big bombs at each other and when that didn’t do it, they tried flash pins. The desperation late was palpable. SLK resorted to an avalanche Spanish Fly like her old days and Poi kicking out at one was an effective use of that spot. They’re done so often but rarely work this well. A massive Star Suplex was finally able to get SLK the title in 23:15, capping one of the best matches of the year. That delivered in spades and was everything I could want from two of the best on the planet. Magnificent. [****¾]

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

Another match where the competitors have a long history. I don’t know the full details (I only got into STARDOM about two years ago) but I do know that the one shot I had to see them wrestle ended when Saya injured her elbow on night one of the 5STAR Grand Prix last year. The wind machines were working, making Saya look extra cool during her entrance. I was very unsure when she turned heel but she has honed that part of her game throughout 2024 and was in top form here, knowing when to be at her most intense, when to do something to draw heat, and when to get in a cheap shot. Tam was the resilient babyface that she excels at. The match was wilder than expected, with the fight spilling into the crowd and Saya using a chain to LITERALLY hang Tam from the rafters. That’s some crazy shit to see. She then dove from up there onto a pile of people, calling back to how she injured her elbow against Tam last year. Tam again rallied but almost looked sad as she tried to bring back the old Saya. When Saya kicked out of the Screwdriver, you got the feeling she wouldn’t be denied on this night but then Tam got a shoulder up on the Star Crusher and maybe she’d retain. Tam hit a middle rope Tiger Suplex and Saya looked hurt, causing Tam to second guess her next move. Alas, it was all a ploy so she could get in a cheap shot, leading to a rally capped by Star Crusher to give us a new champion in 21:29. Different from the other two great matches on this show. It told a fantastic story while hitting on the emotions between the two and included some wild spots. [****]

As Saya celebrated, a tearful Tam put the title around her waist. Then, in a great heel moment, Saya responded by slapping her and continuing to celebrate.

8.5

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

That reminded me of a Wrestle Kingdom from my first few years watching New Japan. You get a couple of standout matches on the undercard alongside some tags and then the final few matches deliver in a big way. This also had tremendous moments like the wins for Saya and Starlight Kid, though stuff like the booking of Syuri/Konami sour it a bit. Still, this feels like the new era of STARDOM officially kicking off with new top champions heading into 2025.