Pantoja’s STARDOM Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2024 Night 1 Review

STARDOM Goddesses of Stardom Tag League Night 1

October 26^th, 2024 | Shinjuku Sumitomo Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 499

As much as I like round-robin tournaments, I’ve avoided things like the World Tag League in recent years because the tag divisions are so bad. However, I watched STARDOM’s version last year, which was good, and they’ve had the best tag division around this year so it’s worth checking out again. As always, I’ll only be covering tournament matches (or the occasional title match).

Blue Goddesses Block: REStart [0] vs. STAR FOX [0]

REStart is Natsupoi and Saori Anou, former champions in STARDOM. STAR FOX is Mei Seira, the reigning High Speed Champion, and Kohaku, someone I’ve only seen in a handful of tags. This was filled with fast paced action right from the start, fitting of the four wrestlers involved. Kohaku may not be a consistent presence in STARDOM but she wasn’t out of place against some of their best names. She kept up with everyone and had some impressive exchanges with Saori, not backing down once. From stiff kicks to German suplexes, the two of them delivered. They were going at it like they had an existing rivalry. Saori escaped a double team move, got help from a well-placed Poi superkick, and then beat Kohaku with a somersault DDT in 9:22. See, this is why I watch this tournament. It opened with a bang that was better than what you get from most tag divisions these days. [***¾]

Blue Goddesses Block: Hina and Lady C [0] vs. Rian and Waka Tsukiyama [0]

This one really was going to be troublesome from the start. Waka and Lady C aren’t among the best workers in the company, Hina is improving but still young, and Rian is a clear-cut rookie. That means what they did here was rather limited though I will give props for Rian getting the crowd into it. They seem to really like her. Lady C used her size to beat on Rian for  bit before Waka came in with the save. She got hit with a 3D style move but survived and managed to counter Hina into a pinning combination that ended this in 11:09. That probably should’ve been closer to five minutes as this felt way longer than it was because of the limitations of the people involved. [**]

Red Goddesses Block: Anecon [0] vs. PsyQueen [0]

Anecon is Saki Kashima and Syuri while PsyQueen consists of HATE members Saya Kamitani and Konami. There’s the added storyline here of Konami turning on Syuri earlier this year. Another story developed throughout this though. Syuri’s arm became a target and she sold it pretty well but it also took her out of being an offensive force. So that meant she had to rely on Saki to carry the team a bit which is big for someone known for being a coward. I like the way that they’re allowing Saki to develop into someone who can be counted on as a babyface and someone who is getting braver through her association with Syuri and God’s Eye. Saya and Konami did well in their heel roles and they are better there in cases like this than when the matches are overbooked and riddled with interference. They kept focusing on Syuri’s arm whenever she was legal but she fought valiantly and got revenge on Konami, making her tap to a modified Stretch Muffler in 12:17. Good stuff with the story I discussed adding something to it. [***¼]

Red Goddesses Block: 02line [0] vs. Peach*Rock [0]

02line is AZM and Miyu Amasaki while Peach*Rock is Mayu Iwatani and Momo Kohgo. I came in fully expecting the AZM/Mayu sections to be awesome. They have phenomenal chemistry whenever they mix it up and that was the case again here. However, what really stood out was how Momo and Miyu worked together. I wasn’t expecting much there since Miyu is still green (but getting better) and Momo is an undercard girl but their exchanges came off well. They let them go at it for a while too. As good as it was though, it’s hard to top what AZM and Mayu can do together. Momo went into her bag to bust out a springboard dive to the outside, so she was truly feeling it on this night. I was surprised at the finish, fully expecting Miyu or Momo to eat the pin but instead it was AZM who fell to Mayu’s Two Step Dragon Suplex after 13:40. Another high quality match in a tournament that is off to a strong start. [***¼]

In a noteworthy moment, Momo Watanabe showed up and challenged Mayu Iwatani for the IWGP Women’s Title that included attacking her.

Red Goddesses Block: BMI2000 [0] vs. FWC [0]

Momo’s HATE buddies Ruaka and Natsuko Tora form BMI2000 while FWC is the established great duo of Hazuki and Koguma. The HATE ladies jumped FWC from behind during their entrance, giving themselves the upper hand. They beat on the former champions outside for a while and once things got back to the ring, they fell into a familiar formula. I don’t mean that in a bad way because it’s exactly the way the match should’ve gone. BMI2000 played the bullies in control while FWC were the fiery babyfaces who had to fight from beneath. It’s an established formula because it works. Their energy is contagious and the crowd was into everything they did. Their rally included well-timed stereo dives to the outside. HATE turned things around again though and looked to be on the verge of a win with dual splashes. However, FWC avoided them and rolled both opponents into La Magistral cradles to win in 14:52. It’s hard to ask for much more out of that main event. This was about the best we could get out of this combo and FWC is just so good together that they can make even the most uninteresting opponents work. [***]

Red Block	Points	Blue Block	Points
FWC	2 (1-0)	Rian & Waka	2 (1-0)
Peach*Rock	2 (1-0)	REStart	2 (1-0)
Anecon	2 (1-0)	Devil Princess	0 (0-0)
HANAKO & Maika	0 (0-0)	SLK & Suzu Suzuki	0 (0-0)
Sayaka & Tam	0 (0-0)	Sakuradamon	0 (0-0)
Ranna & Tomoka	0 (0-0)	Momo & Thekla	0 (0-0)
BMI2000	0 (0-1)	wing*gori	0 (0-0)
02line	0 (0-1)	Kohaku & Mei Seira	0 (0-1)
PsyQueen	0 (0-1)	Hina & Lady C	0 (0-1)

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

A solid start to the tournament. We got one match that I’d recommend checking out and two others that I thought were very good. The main event is solid and only the second match misses the mark.