Pantoja’s STARDOM In Korakuen 2.28.26 Review

STARDOM in Korakuen

February 28^th, 2026 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 1,601

I’ve been pretty busy with life stuff and there hasn’t been a ton to cover anyway, but I’m back with a solid sounding STARDOM card.

Azusa Inaba, BMI2000 and Rina vs. Natsupoi, Sakurara, Saori Anou and Yuna Mizumori

It’s kind of odd that HATE, the main heel group in the company, is working a handicap match where the faces have the upper hand. For the most part, this was pretty standard tag wrestling. The focal point was on Natsuko Tora and Sayaka Kurara. They are hyping up Kurara as a major underdog, so she was fighting from beneath against one of the promotion’s ultimate bullies. Watching Sayaka try to take her down with rear naked chokes was really good. The stuff around it wasn’t anything special, though. Sayaka kind of had it won only to get the mist spit in her face and she was put down by a DVD from Tora in 10:49. A solid enough opener and another good showcase for Sayaka. [**¾]

Kikyo Furusawa and Maki Itoh vs. Kiyoka Kotatsu and Tomoka Inaba vs. Maika and Xena

A lot of these shows have had a match to showcase Maki Itoh and her shtick. The pairing with Kikyo has been pretty fun. As is often the case with Maki matches, there was fun to be had here. She got in the spots we all know from her, Tomoka was firing off kicks everywhere, and the Maika/Xena duo was there for the power spots. Maki and Kikyo’s dual Stunners are something I enjoy every time I see them. In the end, Maki rolled up Kiyoka to score another win at the 8:13 mark. I had a good time here. A simple, yet fun multi-woman tag. [***]

Anne Kanaya, Rian and Waka Tsukiyama vs. Itsuki Aoki, Rina Yamashita and Saki Kashima

An interesting setup here as Saki Kashima is teaming with Mi Vida Loca. That set up some comedy as Itsuki and Rina came out dressed as Saki’s bodyguards. They actually spent most of the match protecting her, which gave his a different feel from other matches on the card. I’d like to point out that Anne Kanaya is one of the more impressive rookies on the roster. She has a high ceiling and was the best part of her team. The finish saw the bodyguards put down Anne and Saki pinned to take the credit in 6:53. Decent fun and nothing more. [**]

Ami Sohrei, Lady C and Ranna Yagami vs. India Sioux, Kira and Tabata

It’s a trio of God’s Eye ladies against three women from CMLL. While I appreciate the CMLL partnership and that kind of thing across various promotions is fun, the CMLL girls haven’t clicked for the most part in STARDOM. This was another case of that. The action itself was solid, yet there were a handful of issues with communication that led to some awkward bits. I think this CMLL thing can get better with more time together, but so far there are too many of those communication problems that pop up too often. Kira got the win for her team with a very nice looking 450 splash after 10:36. There were obvious problems, yet it still worked well enough. [**¾]

Fuwa-chan and Hazuki vs. Spark Rush  

Spark Rush consists of Sareee and Takumi Iroha. There’s potential here for a great match because anything with Sareee is awesome, Hazuki is phenomenal, and Fuwa-chan is so good, especially for her experience level. Fuwa-chan shook hands but Hazuki chose not to. Despite her niceties, Fuwa-chan got her ass kicked early. Sareee held nothing back in her kicks and strikes. Hazuki got the tag and, as always, was great once she entered. It’s insane how she’s always so good and so overlooked when it comes to things like pushes. I respect how Fuwa-chan wasn’t backing down from Sareee. She had no chance at trading blows with her, yet gave it her all and took each shot. She’s the definition of a natural out there. The finish saw Takumi hit Fuwa-chan with a Swanton Bomb before Sareee added a diving double stomp to win in 12:21. Oh, that was a blast. Super fun match with a lot of action and another showcase for how special Fuwa-chan is. [***¾]

AZM, Mei Seira, Miyu Amasaki and Starlight Kid vs. Hanan, Momo Kohgo, Saya Iida and Yuria Hime

I can’t express enough how much I love Neo Genesis. My favorite stable in all of wrestling right now. The STARS opposition here is also quite good. This marked the return of Saya Iida and it was a welcome return. Her brand of power is unique in STARDOM and there’s always a great sense of energy in her work. While there was great talent in there, this wasn’t a case of them trying to steal the show or anything. It was very much an entertaining house show match. It was kept relatively short, allowed everyone a chance to do their thing, and moved along nicely. It was also cool to see wing*gori work together again. Saya Iida got the win in her return after taking out Miyu with a lariat in 8:50. Like I said, a fun match with a lot of action in a short time. [***¼]

Future of Stardom Championship: HANAKO [c] vs. Akira Kurogane

HANAKO has been much better over the past year or so since she started to really work like a big. Kind of like Raquel Rodriguez. Akira is someone who grew on me in the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League during her partnership with Bozilla. The thing about this division is that it’s always younger, inexperienced wrestlers against each other who typically need a veteran in there to lead the way. HANAKO and Akira are both still at that stage, so on their own, they had some struggles. The stuff they didn’t wasn’t offensive and there weren’t any major botches or anything like that, it just never really clicked. There was some relatively lifeless brawling at ringside and then the stuff in the ring was kind of just there. There was a lot of build for this but these just aren’t two wrestlers who can make this spot work. Things picked up well enough late and I liked a few of Akira’s close calls. HANAKO won with the JP Coaster in 14:51. A solid idea, it just wasn’t going to work with these two across 15 minutes. [**¼]

Wonder of Stardom Championship: Konami [c] vs. Hina

HATE continues to dominate STARDOM but there’s intrigue here. Hina could jump a lot of people, especially her sister who failed to win this title, if she dethrones Konami. This followed the formula we’ve come to know from Konami where she takes control and holds serve by targeting the arm. It’s not anything overly original, yet she usually makes it work because the arm work is good and if she has an opponent who sells it well, it clicks. Hina was on her game, making sure to sell and getting in her hope spots at just the right time. Hanan and Rina have set a high bar in this family and Hina is starting to live up to it. Konami made some key mistakes by not taking Hina too seriously. She threw in some arrogant pins that opened the door for those aforementioned Hina hope spots. After her disappointing feud with Syuri, I’ve come to enjoy Konami for the most part. That was especially true here, in a match that avoided the HATE interference antics. She still did underhanded things but it goes to show that you can do that without having the same dumb shenanigans in every outing. I bit on a few of Hina’s late near falls and when she survived the rear naked choke, I thought she had a chance. Alas, Konami hit a few kicks to the head and then won with an armbar after 18:38. A very good main event. Not on the level of Rina’s white belt breakout match but Hina looked great out there and Konami continues a very solid title reign. [***½]

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

Not one of the better Korakuen shows for STARDOM but the main event was very good and the Fuwa-chan tag rules. As usual, most of the show is an easy watch.