Pantoja’s STARDOM in Ishikawa Review 3.2.24

STARDOM in Ishikawa

March 2^nd, 2024 | Kanazawa Ryutsu Kaikan in Kanazawa, Ishikawa | Attendance: 367

In between major shows across companies and my WrestleMania Series, I figured I’d take a bit of time to cover one of these smaller STARDOM events. The main reason I wanted to tackle this one was due to an exciting sounding main event.

Ranna Yagami vs. Saki Kashima

Oh, Ranna. The young lady accepted a handshake at the bell and saw it backfire. Growing pains and such. She brings fire to every match though and used that style to turn the tide quickly, bringing the fight to Saki. Just as she was really getting going though, Saki pulled her into a pinning combination for a quick win in 4:55. I like that even against someone new at the bottom of the card, Saki still wins with flash pins. It’s so fitting for her. This was fine. [**]

Miyu Amasaki and Saya Kamitani vs. Sayaka Kurara and Yuna Mizumori

I remember seeing a clip of Sayaka before her debut where she spoke about Saya being someone she admires so this is pretty cool. Similar to the opener, this was largely fine and nothing more. The focus was on Sayaka and Miyu which makes sense given their level of experience. A few spots came off awkwardly, like Sayaka just standing there waiting for a double team dropkick to hit her instead of even remotely looking like she wanted to avoid it. Can’t be too harsh though given how new she is. Miyu and Sayaka went hard at each other  and in the end, it was Miyu who won with Tensei (her really cool jumping sitout Pedigree) in 10:38. A solid little match. [**¼]

Hanan, Hazuki, Koguma & Saya Iida vs. Momo Watanabe, Natsuko Tora, Ruaka & Starlight Kid

This is basically the ultimate babyface stable against the ultimate heel unit. That in itself is enough to make for a quality match but this was boosted by some of the individual exchanges. For example, staring with the always great SLK and the rising star that is Hanan was a good choice. I thought Hazuki also was a  great underdog face (as usual) against Natsuko. They were the high point of the match. Throw in the typical Oedo Tai antics against the plucky efforts of the STARS girls and this just worked. Hanan found herself in trouble against Oedo Tai until her New Blood Tag Title partner helped make the save, leading to a few big spots down the stretch. That included SLK diving into a big pile outside but back inside, Hanan fell to a series of moves capped by Momo’s Hitodenashi Driver in 13:43. Just good stuff all around and a notable step up in quality for the show. [***¼]

AZM and Utami Hayashishita vs. Mai Sakurai and Mei Seira

Mai and Mei is an interesting tandem we haven’t seen much of, while Utami and AZM aren’t exactly a regular team but they have partnered up a ton in QQ matches. Their chemistry is strong and they’re two of the best out there, so they’re great to watch. Utami kind of dominated when she was in there, especially against Mai. So this was at its best when it was AZM and Mei busting out some high speed offense. AZM may be done with the division but she certainly still has the style mastered. Mei’s work there helped turn the tide and allowed Mai to wear down AZM with submissions. The closing stretch saw things even out a bit before AZM got the win on Mai with a diving double stomp in 11:42. I like the AZM/Utami pairing and would like to see more of them, though I do like AphroditE. [***]

Ami Sourei, Giulia, MIRAI, Suzu Suzuki & Syuri vs. HANAKO, Maika, Mina Shirakawa, Waka Tsukiyama & Xena

Another look at the ExV stable but more importantly, we get Giulia and Suzu together. They’ve been having a blast tagging on these final shows for Giulia. Considering the number of standout wrestlers in this match, it comes as no surprise that it was very good. While HANAKO and Ami still need work, they were fine here and everyone else really did their thing. Whether it was underdog Waka, hard hitting MIRAI, or the top ladies like Giulia and Syuri just being themselves, it worked. I really liked Suzu in this one. She felt more aggressive than any other 2024 performance. It’s like she saw Maika across from her and was triggered after coming up short against her at Dream Queendom. I also want to note that Xena looked good out there. She only recently returned to the company and isn’t on a Mariah May trajectory but she did her thing out there. We got some Giulia/Maika interactions which were fun. Their 5STAR match last year was great and now Maika is a stable leader of her own (well, I guess co-lead with Mina, right?). Waka found herself in an unfortunate situation late, taking a beating from Suzu and Giulia before getting hit with offense involving all five opponents. That culminated with her falling to Suzu’s Tequila Shot in 18:06. A really fun match here with lots of moving parts. Plus, it feels like Suzu is regaining some of her 2023 momentum. [***½]

Mayu Iwatani and Yuzuki vs. Saori Anou and Tam Nakano

Yuzuki getting to mix it up with three of the best, a rare Saori/Tam tandem, AND the great Mayu Iwatani? Sign me up. Yuzuki opened this by competing with Tam and that’s just the kind of thing you want to see. An impressive rookie against one of the best and she more than held her own. We were also treated to Mayu against Saori which is honestly something I didn’t realize I wanted until I saw it here. Then, of course, there was the Tam/Mayu battle which brought me back to their excellent 5STAR match last year. Tam was extra aggressive here but Mayu gave it right back to her, including trading German suplexes. It ended up going back to Yuzuki vs. Saori down the stretch and Saori put the rookie down with Temps Tendre in 9:49. Shorter than you might expect from a main event but I enjoyed so much of that as everyone played their part and the exchanges were top notch. [***½]

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

As usual, even the house shows for STARDOM are entertaining. There’s nothing here that is must see but you get a solid show throughout, a few very good matches, and it all moves along briskly.