Pantoja’s STARDOM Goddesses of Stardom Tag League Finals Review

STARDOM Goddesses of Stardom Tag League Finals

November 12^th, 2023 | Aore Nagaoka in Nagaoka, Niigata | Attendance:

I was too busy this past month to cover this tournament in full but I’m back for the finals. I also really missed this company and we are gearing up for their year-end show, so I have every reason to review this.

HANAKO vs. Ruaka vs. Syuri vs. Yuna Mizumori

Syuri feels way out of place here as a legitimate top star. This was basically the standard multi-woman opener in this company. Undercard ladies doing some decent stuff with the exception of Syuri, who was her usual good self even if you could tell she wasn’t bringing her big effort here. I do like her silver gear though. If anything could be considered a highlight, it would be how HANAKO attempted to go toe to toe with Syuri. Nothing to write home about overall as Syuri made HANAKO tap to win in 6:28. Ho-hum, let’s move on. [**]

Crazy Star vs. Hazuki and Saya Iida

So Crazy Star enters the night with 9 points. They need XL to lose later on to advance to the finals and for Prominence to lose or draw. They’re also a duo I really like. Meanwhile, Iida’s tournament partner HANAKO competed earlier and Hazuki’s, Koguma, is out injured. What we got here was some quality wrestling and a big jump from the previous match. They worked at a fast pace and the chemistry between Crazy Star is impressive given how they haven’t been a team for all that long. I could watch Hazuki vs. Suzuki all day. The teams went back and forth throughout, working at a quick pace fitting of Crazy Star’s style. Iida showed a lot of heart, kicking out of some big shots from Suzuki, which really got the crowd behind her. Alas, Suzuki put her down with a German Suplex in 9:53 as Crazy Star looks forward to a possible spot in the finals. Really good stuff here. [***¼]

02line vs. Divine Kingdom

This worked exactly the way you’d expect on paper. It was a battle of power against speed and that’s a combination that works most of the time. I feel like I’ve seen a decent improvement from Miyu over the course of the year. AZM stepping up to Bayne and slapping her was a nice touch and the tandem offense from 02line was better than you’d expect from a thrown together team. Megan’s Samoan Drop/Fallaway Slam combo is always impressive. She secured the win in the end by planting Miyu with the F5 at the 7:22 mark. Just some good tag team wrestling here and on par with their tournament match. [***]

Blue Goddesses Block: MiraiSaku [6] vs. Tokyo Reiwa Towers [6]

Tokyo Reiwa Towers is Lady C and Ami Sourei, while MIRAISaku is, fittingly, MIRAI and Mai Sakurai. We’re just doing bragging rights/pride here as I believe Divine Kingdom has wrapped up the block. I don’t really have much to say about this one. It’s hard to really get into tournament matches where nothing is on the line. I also just haven’t ever really c0nnected with anything Ami Sourei does, though I have a soft spot for Lady C. It was mostly fine back and forth but nothing that I’ll ever remember. I did like the Lady C/MIRAI exchange late and I’d be down for that as a low level title defense for MIRAI even if it won’t happen. MIRAI beat her with a lariat after 14:12. That was pretty average and way too long. [**¼]

Red Goddesses Block: Moonlight Venus [2] vs. XL [8]

Alright, we’ve got a match with stakes. If XL (Natsuko Tora and Momo Watanabe) wins, they’ll have 10 points which would move them above Crazy Star to win this block. Moonlight Venus (Mina Shirakawa and Waka Tsukiyama) can play spoiler. XL attacked before the bell because that’s what Oedo Tai does. Like the Divine Kingdom match earlier, this saw one team bring the power as bullies and the other team play the underdogs. Except instead of being the speed duo, Moonlight Venus were simply good babyfaces who you wanted to see overcome the odds. There’s always a sense of desperation when Waka is in there because you just really want to see her win and that gives things an emotional boost. This came down to a bit of miscommunication as Tora accidentally spit mist at Momo, who then got pulled into a pinning combination by Mina for the upset in 9:55. A simple, effective story was told here and Crazy Star’s hopes remain alive. [**¾]

Red Goddesses Block: Mafia Bella [6] vs. Prominence [7]

A win for Prominence ties them with Crazy Star and I don’t know what would happen there because they also went to a draw with Crazy Star. Not realizing how it failed for XL earlier, Prominence jumped Mafia Bella during their fun little entrance. That sparked a short brawl outside before we were back inside for some action. The Risa/Giulia title match a bit ago was fine but their work here was better to me. I appreciated the first mild tag going to Thekla, who remains among the most underrated wrestlers in the world. She came in hot but then the numbers got to her and she had to fight from beneath to set up the hot tag to the bigger star in Giulia. The sense of desperation late was felt as Prominence tried every possible way to win and Mafia Bella kept coming back with more, like a cool double superplex spot. Alas, time expired as Giulia and Kurumi were going at it, giving us a draw at 15:00 that sends Crazy Star to the finals. Very good stuff here. [***¼]

Goddesses of STARDOM Tag League Finals: Crazy Star vs. Divine Kingdom

It all comes down to this. Suzu Suzuki and Maika, who met in the Grand Prix Finals, back in another final on opposite sides. Of course, Maika and Suzu kicked this off and while not everyone loved their last match, I did and feel like it’s the start of a great rivalry. There’s also the added fun here of the interactions these four had on undercard tags a while back. Part of that fun comes from the absurd size difference between Mei and Megan. I wasn’t as into this when they mixed up the pairings but Mei vs. Megan and Maika vs. Suzu were the high points. I really liked how Mei would use her speed to make up for that lack of size, finding creative ways to get in offense and cut her opponents down to size. I also love that Divine Kingdom use the Authors of Pain powerbomb spot. It’s such a cool, simple idea and it works well. That kickstarted a run that included a Doomsday Device spot before Maika secured the win by planting Seira with a Michinoku driver in 15:47. Kind of a fitting finals for this tournament as it was very good but never fully engaged me or hit the level of greatness you’d probably want. They did go with the correct winners though. [***½]

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

Like with New Japan, it was hard to fully get into this tournament as it never felt must see and injuries played a part in it. This finals show was pretty good, with nothing I’d consider bad outside of a short, lame opener, and everything raning from solid to very good.