Pantoja’s STARDOM Flashing Champions 2024 Review

STARDOM Flashing Champions

May 18^th, 2024 | Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama, Kanagawa | Attendance: 927

I attempted to watch some Best of the Super Juniors but that really isn’t a tournament that is going well so it’s back to STARDOM.

Hina vs. Ranna Yagami

Some pre-show action here between two of the younger members of the roster. Hina has been around longer but is just returning from an injury. Ranna continues to impress in small doses as she brings something different with her array of kicks, which she utilized here. They had some solid back and forth here with neither girl made to look too far ahead of the other. As this progressed, it got a bit better. You could see that Hina had some ring rust, so she certainly got a bit more comfortable over time. Nothing really stood out here and the end result was a 10:00 time limit draw. Ranna being newer and not jobbing here feels like a good sign for her. [**½]

Crazy Star vs. Team Mutual Love

Oh, this is a way to start the main card. Crazy Star is great and Team Mutual Love consists of two of my favorites, Starlight Kid and Natsupoi. Matching SLK and Natsupoi was all I needed to love this match. Obviously, the former champions had better chemistry but I was very impressed with Mutual Love. They busted out some planned tandem offense and worked together rather seamlessly. Every combination in this match worked, from Mei and SLK’s high speed action to Suzu and Natsupoi going at it. These four found intriguing ways for spots to work when they should’ve been very difficult, yet they made it look so smooth. The action picked up down the stretch, which is impressive since there was action from the start. People were throwing big moves and one barrage was capped by a great looking release German from Natsupoi. SLK vs. Suzu WENT OFF late, with SLK popping up on Germans and just when Natsupoi saved her from a near fall, the bell rang for a 15:00 time limit draw. An interesting result as I feel you only do this if we get more SLK/Poi. Regardless, that was a hell of a match with so much great stuff going on for the entire duration. [****]

HANAKO vs. Maika

A little inter-stable non-title match. I like the idea especially since HANAKO is a big, power based wrestler and Maika is basically at the top of the power-based food chain now. I will say, it’s weird to have Flashing Champions as a show and NOT put the top champion in a title defense. This was solid, yet unspectacular. Maika is going to get the best out of HANAKO but even so, there’s only so much she can do at this point. HANAKO gave it her all but she was never really a threat to the company’s top champion. There were a few spots where she got to kind of go toe-to-toe and hang with Maika, especially in terms of showing off her strength. Maika put her down with a powerbomb out of the corner followed by a Michinoku Driver in 9:41. Like I said, a solid match that was about as good as you were going to get. [**¾]

Azusa Inaba, Fukigen Death and Rina vs. Mina Shirakawa, Waka Tsukiyama and Xena

Back to back matches involving ExV. I miss Mariah May in STARDOM. She was the only one who did Mina’s dance with just as much energy as her. Xena did it but didn’t have much effort behind it and then Waka just walked out behind them. Anyway, Inaba is a nice addition to these matches because she’s not someone I’ve seen a lot of and Oedo Tai needs something different in there. Fukigen Death was her usual self but the star was Rina, who continues to impress and it felt like she was the most important aspect of this match. That said, the best exchange was between Mina and Azusa. They were given to really go at it in the middle of the ring and they did very well. Side note but Mina feels far less important in 2024 than she did throughout 2023, which is a shame. It came down to Rina against Waka, with Rina scoring a pretty notable win with the diving knees off the top in 13:12. I know Waka is a jobber but Rina typically tends to only beat the really lower card, young girls. This was decent but went on too long. [**½]

#1 Contender’s Gauntlet Match: Cosmic Angels vs. God’s Eye vs. Oedo Tai vs. Queen’s Quest vs. STARS

The winners get an Artist of Stardom Title shot. Cosmic Angels (Aya Sakura, Sayaka Kurara, and Yuna Mizumori) opened against Queen’s Quest (AZM, Lady C, and Miyu Amasaki). It was the usual fast paced multi-woman match where they did some fun spots and kept things moving along nicely. That’s one thing about this gauntlet. There weren’t any boring parts. It didn’t all work but it also never bored me. Lady C got the win with a Chokeslam and she did a good job of using her size. Next in was the STARS trio (FWC and Momo Kohgo). I don’t know if I mentioned it but I really like Lady C using the Big Swing. It’s a simple move that works for someone her size. This section didn’t last long before AZM beat Momo with a pinning combination. Oedo Tai entered next (Momo Watanabe, Natsuko Tora, and Thekla) and they felt like the favorites. We got some typical Oedo Tai action with underhanded tactics and such but again, Thekla was refreshing here and I’ve enjoyed her as an addition to the stable. After some brawling outside, Thekla beat Miyu with her modified Blade Runner and then the final trio entered, from God’s Eye (Konami, Saki Kashima, and Syuri). If anyone had a chance to beat Oedo Tai, it was those three, especially given Konami’s recent return. They had some solid back and forth before Momo beat Konami with what I believe is called the Inhuman Driver at the 19:43. That was good stuff with everything moving along nicely. [***]

High Speed Championship: Saya Kamitani [c] vs. Saya Iida

This really feels like a new era for this title even if it doesn’t last long. While I’m intrigued by someone like Iida adapting to this style, you could tell early on that it didn’t totally suit her. The typical opening exchanges you get in this setting weren’t up to what you’d want and it wans’t as crisp as it could be. This improved as it went on, with their chemistry coming together and them finding a decent way to blend some faster action with some of Iida’s power-based offense. When Iida was throwing suplexes and laying into the champion with lariats, this was at its best, though it really felt a bit odd calling it a High Speed Title match. It’s just not at all what I’ve become familiar with when it comes to this division. I was kind of surprised at the finish was from out of nowhere. Kamitani is a lot higher on the card than Iida, yet she had to pull out a surprise rana to secure the win in 11:10. I didn’t write much there but that was a very good title match, even if it was a lot different from what the division typically delivers. [***½]

Arisa Nakajima and Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Hanan and Mayu Iwatani

I know it’s not the main event but this is basically the selling point for this show. Nakajima is on the verge of retirement and it seems like they’re building toward Fujimoto vs. Iwatani. I haven’t seen much of Fujimoto but I hear that match sounds like money. It’s interesting to have Hanan in there since everyone else is a veteran and she’s still so young but she has had one hell of a 2024 so I dig it. After a bit of a feeling out process, which was very good, we got to the meat of the match. That saw both Nakajima and Fujimoto beat the hell out of Hanan. They delivered some stiff kicks (especially Fujimoto) and really made Hanan feel like a face in peril. Of course, Hanan has excelled in every role she’s had recently and this was one of them as she sold well and delivered with the hope spots. Best Friends (Nakajima and Fujimoto) worked so well together. Even simple moves like a double dropkick in the corner came off well because of their timing and precision. The main focus at times was on Mayu and Tsukasa, giving us a preview of what’s sure to be an upcoming bout. Mayu came across as pissed off at points and laid into Tsukasa with more aggression than I’m used to seeing from her. It felt like Mayu was a mother hen protecting/avenging Hanan. I did love how Hanan refused to back down despite the level of opposition she was facing here. It was Tsukasa who got the win, beating Hanan with what looked like a Code Red in 21:17. That lived up to the hype. Got me excited for Fujimoto/Iwatani (which was set up) and Hanan looked impressive again, adding another feather to her impressive 2024 cap. One of the better tag matches of the year. [****¼]

AEW TBS Championship: Willow Nightingale [c] vs. Tam Nakano

I must admit, I’m not on the Willow hype train like a lot of others. She’s fine and I have nothing against her but she also hasn’t connected with me like she has for many others. It is what it is. This was interesting on paper because Willow’s size and Tam’s natural underdog nature are a match made in heaven but that typically works when the bigger wrestler is a vicious heel. Willow is as plucky a babyface as you’ll find, so that gave this an interesting twist. It worked out well because Tam knows what she’s doing. Willow got to show off her power and looked good doing so, yet she never came across as a bully. Tam played the underdog fighting from beneath as well as she typically does. Down the stretch, Tam stepped up and leveled Willow, setting off a string of them just wailing on each other and it was way better than you might expect. Willow might be bigger but Tam was ready to throw the biggest shots she could at her and it made for some engaging pro wrestling. From that point on, you could tell we were nearing the climax as the moves got bigger and more impressive. Willow put her down with the powerbomb in 17:09. Tam made sure she looked good and that was a very good match, though it lacked some heat since a lot of the crowd didn’t seem to know Willow and we knew there would be no title change. [***½]

Wonder of Stardom Championship: Saori Anou [c] vs. Ami Sourei

This is not the match for me on the surface. Saori’s reign has been underwhelming due to overly long matches when her style seems to work best in shorter bursts and Ami is someone who just isn’t really clicking for me. However, Saori is coming off of her best defense against Hanan. That said, this one didn’t have what that one did. It lacked the energy and felt like it was misplaced as the main event. That’s not to say it wasn’t good. There were plenty of positives here, from Ami bringing more personality and fire than usual to Saori’s ability to throw stiff shots. It just would’ve been better had it been trimmed down a bit. A fair bit of this felt like it dragged and I don’t know if it was just the audio or what but the crowd was dead for it. They seemed to have checked out a bit after the Best Friends tag. Ami tried but this went 24:33 and she’s just not at a point in her career where she can make that work. The closing stretch was strong and Saori retained with the Japanese Ocean Suplex. A good match but not the main event they were likely hoping for and one that also lacked drama. [***¼]

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

This seems to be where STARDOM lives in 2024. A lot of very good shows with some great matches on them, still nothing bad, but also a handful of things that aren’t quite working at the level they did last year. That said, it’s an impressive place to be given the stars who left.