wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s STARDOM Itteyon Stardom Gate Review
Image Credit: STARDOM
Loading...STARDOM Ittenyon Stardom Gate
January 4th, 2024 | Tokyo Dome City Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 1,536
STARDOM’s big show ahead of New Japan’s Tokyo Dome event and I’m pumped to review it given the huge main event.
HANAKO, Ranna Yagami and Yuzuki vs. Hina, Lady C and Miyu Amasaki
A trio of rookies against ladies who a bit ahead of them in terms of experience. As usual, this was about what you’d expect from people of that experience level. There was potential shown and a few standout moments like Lady C’s big swing and Yuzuki bringing a ton of fire to everything she does but otherwise, it was all rather basic. The Yuzuki/Hina exchanges were the high point. I was surprised to see Yuzuki use her Rolling Arrow (I think that’s what it’s called) pinning combination to beat Hina in 8:11. Usually the new, lower card girls don’t win against more established people, even if they’re still relatively low on the card. A decent little pre-show match. [**]
Fukigen Death, Rina and Starlight Kid vs. Hanan, Hazuki and Saya Iida
The best wrestlers in this match, Hazuki and Starlight Kid, were good when they were in there but they really didn’t get much of a run here. It was kind of like a night off for them, which is understandable. Still, they were the highlight of the contest. I also liked Hanan going up against Rina because they always work well together. I guess being related will do that to people. Fukigen Death’s schtick didn’t work for me again and Saya Iida was kind of just there and it felt like they got the most time to lead this match. It came down to Rina and Hanan in the end, with Hanan securing the victory using a body slam turned into a suplex at the 9:21 mark. Decent enough but could’ve used more Hazuki and SLK. [**½]
Mai Sakurai and Thekla vs. Mei Seira and Mina Shirakawa
Based on their entrance alone, Mei and Mina are already a really fun duo. This also had Thekla, so I was invested. Mina took the bulk of the offense from the opposition early on, including getting trapped in the Paradise Lock. Mai Sakurai > SANADA. When Mei came in, she battled Thekla and we got a renewal of their fun High Speed Title match from last year. Mei is an MVP in these kinds of matches because she works so well with whoever her partner is. It’s best with Suzu Suzuki but she and Mina had impressive chemistry here. I’d be down for her joining Club Venus if the team with Suzu won’t be long term. Thekla went to the well one too many times on a cross body and accidentally took out Mai with it. Some tandem moves on Thekla led to a near fall but Mei turned one kickout into La Magistral to win in 8:42. A fun little tag made better by the Mei/Mina partnership. [***]
Momo Watanabe, Natsuko Tora and Ruaka vs. SAKI, Saori Anou and Yuna Mizumori
Surprisingly, there was no pre-match assault by Oedo Tai. Someone stop the presses. Alas, without the brawling around the arena, there wasn’t really much to this. SAKI and Yuna aren’t my favorites to watch and neither is Ruaka. Saori was her usual good self and I dig the trend of her playing everything straight while her teammates have fun and do things like dance. Momo and Natsuko did their usual bully stuff. Saori beat Ruaka with a flipping fisherman suplex of sorts in 8:22. It was fine but didn’t really do much for me. [**½]
Ami Sourei, MIRAI and Saki Kashima vs. AZM, Saya Kamitani and Utami Hayashishita
Okay, this looks like a step up for the show on paper. This got off to a fast start as Saki shook her partner’s hands, only to pull them into the action, which happened to be right into dropkicks by AphroditE. Given who was involved here, it makes sense that this was a strong multi-woman tag. MIRAI and Saya threw bombs like two former Wonder of Stardom Champions should. AZM had interesting exchanges with the woman who ended her High Speed Title reign, Saki Kashima. Utami was Utami. Ami Sourei has shown a few flashes, especially late in 2023 but is still lacking something to take that next step and it’s even clear in these tags. I loved that when MIRAI needed to make a late tag, Saki was the only person for her on the apron and she was telling MIRAI not to make the tag. Her character is such fun. She did her best but she was in there against Utami and that’s a tall task. She got beaten with a bridging German Suplex in 10:45, ending the best match of the night so far. [***¼]
Giulia and Suzu Suzuki vs. Maika and Megan Bayne
Two big matches from Dream Queendom put together. The Giulia/Suzu pairing is a really cool one. It also means that DDM are on opposite sides in Maika and Giulia. Maika and Megan did have a good run as Divine Kingdom late last year too. Giulia and Maika began with a respectful exchange but this got good when it was Megan against Suzu because the latter was not at all intimidated by the size of the former. Suzu threw everything she had at her and just kept coming back relentlessly. Both sides got to relive their great matches from Dream Queendom, which was good. Suzu’s running knee with a head of steam worked a lot better here than at the big PPV since running straight makes more sense than down a flight of stairs. The back and forth was consistently strong throughout and we got some fun spots like Megan catching a Suzu cross body outside that got us into the final stretch. They did a Tower of Doom spot which I typically don’t like but I don’t see it a lot in STARDOM so I didn’t mind it here. Megan delivered a big lariat afterward but time expired at the 20:00 mark. I kind of expected another time limit draw and I can totally see the argument that STARDOM does them too often. That said, this was a very good, hard hitting tag featuring four very talented ladies. [***½]
Post-match, Giulia cut a promo that has been shown all over Twitter, where she officially announced that Donna Del Mondo is disbanding. Thekla and Mai Sakurai joined her and Maika in the ring, Giulia put them over (especially Maika) and the group said their goodbyes. Giulia’s final roll call included all past DDM members like Natsupoi, Syuri, and Himeka.
IWGP Women’s Championship: Mayu Iwatani [c] vs. Syuri
Two of the best in the world in a big main event. I can’t ask for much more than that. Damn, Mayu has been champion since April and this is only her third defense? They met in the Grand Prix last year as well (****). This was hard hitting and fast paced right from the opening bell whether it was stiff kicks or Dragon Suplexes on the apron. It felt like two big stars throwing their best shots to overcome the other like a lot of big matches should be. Surprisingly, Mayu won a strike exchange so Syuri responded with some vicious sounding kicks. Mayu wasn’t going to be bested in any avenue though, hitting her own corner dropkick that looked and sounded brutal. The same went for some sickening headbutts that were traded. That’s the kind of back and forth affair this was. The final few minutes kept that trend up but with bigger offensive moves and you got the sense that Mayu wanted a definitive win, not one with a simple rollup. She was trying everything, especially since she hasn’t been able to beat Syuri in recent outings. Mayu seemed to make a big mistake, going for an extra Dragon Suplex that might not have been needed which saw Syuri’s legs hit the ropes, breaking up a pin. That opened the door for a Syuri comeback but it was short-lived as Mayu cut her off with a superkick and won with her ridiculous Poison Rana in 19:06. Outstanding pro wrestling and a match that was just as good if not better than everything in the Tokyo Dome later that day. Special stuff. [****½]
