Pantoja’s STARDOM Fukuoka Goddess Legend Review 5.4.23

STARDOM Fukuoka Goddess Legend

May 4^th, 2023 | Fukuoka Kokusai Center in Fukuoka, Japan | Attendance: 1,338

I’ve been looking forward to reviewing this for a bit but STARDOM World took forever to get this uploaded.

Fukuoka Rumble

Another STARDOM PPV, another opening rumble to get people on the card. I’ve got a lot to cover in the next few days so I won’t spend too much time here. If you’ve seen one of these, you’ve basically seen them all. Ladies enter, get 30 or so seconds to do something and then another person joins the fray. We also got appearances from the Super Strong STARDOM Machines. In the end, it came down to Suzu Suzuki and Mai Sakurai, with Suzuki winning by hitting Tequila Shot in 19:20. It accomplished what it needed to, didn’t drag all that much, and Suzuki winning is a good sign because she’s special. [**½]

Hanan and Mayu Iwatani vs. Jessie and Mariah May

I like that Mariah May has established herself as the #2 in Club Venus. Meanwhile, we get the IWGP Women’s Champion and the new look Hanan on the other side. The STARS duo worked well together from the start while Jessie and Mariah are still looking for some chemistry. That said, Mariah was especially impressive out there and continues to be a highlight of these undercard tags. Hanan got isolated for a bit but when Mayu was tagged, we got Mayu vs. Mariah and I wish we had more of it. What we got was enjoyable and I’d be down for a singles match between them. The finish saw Jessie eat a superkick as Mariah was knocked to the outside. That left Jessie alone to take a weird tandem DDT and a Mayu moonsault that she lost to in 8:55. Good tag team wrestling here that got better as it progressed. It also looks like we might get Mayu vs. Mariah evidenced by some post-match smack talk. [***]

Ruaka and Starlight Kid vs. Saori Anou and Tam Nakano

This felt like something of a night off for our World of STARDOM Champion. Not that she performed poorly or anything like that, it’s just that the focus was on Saori, who really made this work. There’s something about her that is immediately engaging and pulls me in to watch more. When Tam was in there she did her thing too but as I said, this was more about Saori. She took a bit of a beating at times, which worked because Ruaka and SLK have strong chemistry. Even their simple assisted Fisherman Buster looked cool. Saori had this won with a cool submission but SLK hit her with their briefcase gimmick or whatever it is. The axe kick/fisherman suplex combo by the Cosmic Angels was pretty cool but Ruaka survived only to lose to a German Suplex right after. This went 11:04 and was another good tag. It’s interesting that Saori isn’t totally into the Cosmic Angels dancing and such. They also seemed to tease her against Starlight Kid. [***¼]

Konami and Syuri vs. Momo Watanabe and Natsuko Tora

Before I started watching STARDOM, I heard great things about Momo Watanabe. She’s been good but Oedo Tai feels like a stable that’s kind of just there. However, I’d really like to see Momo and Natsuko get a run toward the tag titles. This got off to a simple start but then Momo broke up a hold by whacking both opponents with a baseball bat because that’s the kind of thing Oedo Tai does. On the other side, Konami and Syuri were really good together. Both teams had some really good exchanges and impressive tandem offense. Konami and Syuri made one crucial mistake as Syuri accidentally kicked her in the head. That led to Momo beating Konami with a half and half suplex after 7:02. Short, compact, and filled with action. I love that for my undercard tags. [***¼]

Giulia and Maika vs. Saya Kamitani and Utami Hayashishita

The pre-match video package seemed to focus completely on Maika. She came close to beating Saya in this city a year prior and is seemingly on the verge of a big push given her new look and how she’s been booked in 2023. Indeed, Maika stood out here and the focal point was that she had a more aggressive style here. This was easily the most vicious I’ve seen her wrestle and that could be part of what takes her to the next level. I love that Giulia was more than happy to be aggressive too, likely ready to lash out after losing her title. The action in the ring was obviously very good which is expected given who was involved. Saya got isolated and when Utami got the tag, it led to the eventual clash with Giulia, which was great. I feel like they might have a singles match or something coming up. The final few minutes saw Maika go toe-to-toe with Utami and she more than held her own, even no selling a lariat. That’s a former top champion she battled. Utami got her up for a Razor’s Edge style move but Giulia kicked her in the face. She then also saved Maika from a double team move and they hit their own German suplex/chokeslam combo. Maika rocked Utami with a punch and then scored a rare pin on her with the Michinoku Driver in 16:22. A huge tag match that mostly delivered in a big way and established some potential future stories for several people. [***¾]

High Speed Championship: AZM [c] vs. Mei Seira

AZM is closing in on 450 days as champion and feels like she’s ready to move on from the division. Meanwhile, Seira is a friend of hers who is having her first singles match in a long time. The pace was obviously fast from the beginning though it wasn’t long before they were trading forearms. AZM was the one to take it up a notch with her springboard dive to the outside which gave her the upper hand. However, her next aerial attempt saw her get knocked to the outside to set up a more even back and forth in the closing stretch. That section involved plenty of flash pins and close calls before AZM retained with a brutal looking submission at the 10:46 mark. I was surprised by this result because I thought Mei might be the one to beat AZM, who would then move on to something new. As for the match itself, it was very good though it didn’t quite reach the level of greatness that a lot of AZM matches have. [***¾]

Post-match, Saki Kashima issued a challenge to AZM for the High Speed Title.

Goddesses of Stardom Championship: The New Eras [c] vs. Hazuki and Koguma

Hazuki and Koguma are known as Fukuoka Double Crazy and are actually two time champions. They even won the belts in early May in Fukuoka last year, so they’re getting a hometown title shot again. It’s the first defense for Sourei and MIRAI also. Things were played pretty evenly in the early stages with neither team gaining a clear advantage. As it progressed, it only got better. Koguma is obviously popular for her fun character but Hazuki is wildly over and I’d love to see her do something more this year, especially after her match with Kamitani a few months back. The spot where Sourei press slams MIRAI onto their opponents off the apron is a cool idea but it looked kind of weak unfortunately. I chuckled at the champions trying to win via countout considering that’s how they captured the titles in the first place. As usual, it was in the final few minutes where things really got going and the fans bit on some close calls even if a title change was highly unlikely here. Koguma got saved after a MIRAI lariat but couldn’t survive a leaping one, falling in 17:36, which deflated the crowd. Another very good match that bordered on being great and a strong start for the title reign of the New Eras. [***¾]

As expected, Momo Watanabe and Natsuko Tora came out to challenge the champs afterward.

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

One of my most anticipated matches of the year given that both are among my favorites. Hell, I feel like Natsupoi is my STARDOM favorite. There’s also a fair bit of history here from Mina questioning Natsupoi’s addition to Cosmic Angels to Mina leaving the stable to form her own faction and more. Natsupoi rocked her old gear and was more aggressive than I’ve seen her since I went back to watch her cage match with Tam from last year. She opened with a slap, fired off a bunch more, and hit an apron German in the first few minutes. She overwhelmed Mina for a good chunk of this and even weathered comeback attempts. For example, after Mina used a springboard kick to get going a bit, Natsupoi LIT her up with forearms and some loud spin kicks. They sounded disgusting in the best way. Natsupoi had her well scouted and the only time Mina could do her signature attacking of the leg was in cases where it came from out of nowhere. Mina couldn’t hit a top rope DDT but she immediately pounced and shifted to a dragon screw off the top. That kind of stuff is so my shit in wrestling. They traded suplexes late and Natsupoi might’ve had it won with a straightjacket suplex but Mina’s legs landed in the ropes so the bridging pin using the last of Natsupoi’s leg strength was useless. That felt like her last hope as Natsupoi was soon bested by the Glorious Driver after 20:27. I might be the high man here but I loved that. It was hard hitting, brilliantly laid out, smartly worked, and had drama. A masterful start to Mina’s reign and Natsupoi delivered again on a big stage, looking like an absolute star. Slightly above Tam/Giulia as my STARDOM match of the year so far. [****¾]

Post-match, Mina smack talked Natsupoi who promised that she wouldn’t give up and would win the white belt. Then, they set up the wildly exciting Tam/Mina double title match.

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

Outside of the rumble, every match on this show got at least ***, three of them nearly hit four stars, and the main event is one of the best matches of the year. All in all, that makes for one hell of a show and I’m so pumped for the 5/27 event.