Pantoja’s STARDOM at Korakuen Hall Review 6.2.24

STARDOM in Korakuen

June 2^nd, 2024 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 771

Shows in Korakuen are typically notable for STARDOM and that seems to be the case here with a major title match headlining things.

Quickly, I made time to watch the main event from the 5/31 STARDOM show and really liked it.

Hanan, Hazuki and Mayu Iwatani vs. meltear and Saori Anou – ***¾

Mei Seira vs. Rian vs. Saki Kashima

Saki came out with a paper title but I couldn’t tell which belt it was. Maybe the High Speed. These matches all kind of go the same way. Three women out there doing some fun, goofy spots. That’s especially the case when Saki is out there with her personality. Mei kept things going with her speedy offense and Rian was kind of just there. You expect that from her given how new she is to things. Mei basically had Rian beaten in the end but Saki being Saki, she came in and stole the pin after 5:42. Just some simple fun from the opening contest. [**]

Ami Sourei and Ranna Yagami vs. Fukigen Death and Rina

While Ami and Fukigen Death are toward the bottom of my list of people I enjoy watching in STARDOM, I have been pleasantly surprised by both Rina and Ranna in 2024, so this had potential. Thankfully, a lot of the focus was on Ranna vs. Rina, which feels like a Future of Stardom Title match I want to see. Say what I will about Fukigen Death but her shtick is way over with the crowd. Meanwhile, Ami used her strength to her advantage and again, that’s when I like her the most. Using her power in shorter matches is where it’s at. She picked up the win with the Blue Thunder Bomb at the 8:18 mark. A pretty decent little tag here that made me interested in Ranna/Rina whenever that happens. [**¼]

FWC and Mayu Iwatani vs. Momo Kohgo and wing*gori

I said in my last review that Crazy Star and wing*gori were the two best teams of the year. Well now we get wing*gori in there with FWC, who is possibly the third best team of 2024. Also of note, this is a STARS vs. STARS matchup. Hanan started this by going head to head with Mayu and that’s the kind of action I could watch all day and the same goes for Mayu and Hazuki doing dueling running boots. Koguma and Saya threw big strikes at each other, playing the powerhouses of their teams. However, the true highlight was Hazuki battling with Saya. She may have been overmatched in terms of power but she stood up to her and their interactions ruled. The biggest issue here was the finish. Hazuki whiffed on a big boot to Momo and covered her. It looked like Momo kicked out but the referee said the three count happened and that was it after 12:38. That was really getting going up until that ending. Still, a blast of a tag. Afterward, the tease was on for wing*gori vs. FWC. [***¼]

HANAKO and Waka Tsukiyama vs. Konami and Syuri

It feels to have this going on after the previous match, which felt more important or at least bigger. We knew HANAKO and Waka would become a team after they joined ExV but the Syuri/Konami pairing is becoming pretty consistent. It’ll be interesting to see if Syuri actually becomes a part of the tag division given her top star status in a company that lost some big pieces. HANAKO really impressed here, going toe-to-toe with Syuri at points and using her size to her advantage. Syuri and Konami work very well together and Waka took the brunt of the attack to the point where she ended up with a cut by her eye. In the end, she was trapped in an armbar by Konami and made to submit in 10:55. Another good, solid match here and I’m really feeling the Konami/Syuri pairing. [***]

Aya Sakura, meltear, Saori Anou, Sayaka Kurara & Yuna Mizumori vs. AZM, Hina, Lady C, Miyu Amasaki, Saya Kamitani & Starlight Kid

Whenever I can get AZM and SLK on the same team, I’m going to take it. As you’d expect, there were a lot of moving parts here and I like a lot of the people involved, so I was all in for this. AZM and Miyu worked well together and their team is doing well but I was, again, more interested in AZM and SLK. Their history is too great for me to ignore. We got some bits of meltear doing tandem stuff. I miss their Goddesses of Stardom Title run. Throwing in Saori with them was a nice boost too. SLK looks so energized these days. She seems to be loving her current run as she’s bringing so much to every match, no matter how small it is. I even thought her exchanges with Saori here were mostly better than their singles match from earlier in the year. I really liked her against Tam and it had more animosity than you’d think given SLK teamed with Cosmic Angels recently. That’s when the match got taken up a notch because I got SLK & AZM against meltear, which is basically a dream match for me. Sayaka had a shockingly great outing against AZM late, including a sweet Azumi Sushi counter. The crowd totally bit on the near fall from the counter. It was her best outing for sure. SLK and AZM wrapped this with a flurry of offense on Sayaka capped by a fisherman suplex and diving double stomp in 21:18. That was a very good, very fun tag. I might be the high man on it but that was awesome. [***¾]

Artist of Stardom Championship: Maika, Mina Shirakawa and Xena [c] vs. Momo Watanabe, Natsuko Tora and Thekla

I’m all for Xena, who has been good lately, getting a title run alongside two top stars. Meanwhile, Thekla is the kind of addition to Oedo Tai that I like and it’s one that makes sense. I popped for Xena starting this, looking to step up in a main event spot. She got to bust out her spinning side slam, which was impressive given that it was on Momo. Interestingly, Xena seemed to brush off a tag attempt by Maika though it felt more like wanting to prove herself than for anything related to dissension. It’s Oedo Tai, so of course things spilled outside for some brawling. Natsuko and Maika threw some big bombs in the crowd while Thekla choked Mina with her belt. That section of the match gave the challengers the upper hand for a while. Mina and Thekla had a strong back and forth, which is par for the course with these two against almost anyone. As is often the case in these tags, the intensity picked up late, with each trio busting out some tandem offense (some of it came off much better than others). In the end, Oedo Tai made a mistake as Xena avoided the Natsuko mist which Momo. Xena then took them out with clotheslines and beat Momo with her gutbuster in 18:17. Very good main event and a huge win for Xena over an established star. Just entertaining from bell to bell. [***½]

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Another good show from STARDOM. It started slow as most of their shows do but got better as it went on and the whole thing was barely 2.5 hours. I can go for that any day.