wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s STARDOM Nagoya Golden Fight 2023 Review
Image Source: STARDOM
Loading...STARDOM Nagoya Golden Fight
October 9th, 2023 | Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya, Aichi | Attendance: 1,315
I wasn’t able to order this show live and this is a couple of days late after it goes on Stardom World because I actually got married on the 14th so I’ve been a bit busy this weekend.
Ami Sourei vs. Hanan vs. Lady C vs. Miyu Amasaki vs. Ruaka vs. Yuna Mizumori
This is technically a pre-show match and features some notable lower card names. They kind of rushed through the entrances here. The match itself was relatively fine and inoffensive but they tried to cram too many people into such a short bout. It’s hard for six people to get their shit in with success in just eight or so minutes. Just a lot of moving parts without much of note happening until the end when Ami Sourei beat Ruaka with a Blue Thunder Bomb at the 8:28 mark. I really don’t get what the company sees in Sourei though this was a harmless win after she lost to Giulia. [**]
High Speed Championship: Saki Kashima [c] vs. Mei Seira
Saki Kashima has been a change of pace for this title, which was treated to a long stint of the likes of AZM and Starlight Kid putting on great matches. While Saki isn’t doing that, I like the different style she brings and she’s always entertaining. She has been dodging Mei for a while. As usual, there was solid fun to be had here thanks to Saki’s character work and her sneaky, Toru Yano like style of trying to steal wins and trick opponents. There were some bits of miscommunication like when Saki got up too early on a double stomp spot and it looked awkward. The same went for a moment where Mei did a springboard and kind of just leapt into nothing because they weren’t in the right positions. Things picked up late and Mei won the title with La Magistral in 6:46. I liked bits of that and was entertained throughout. I liked Saki’s reign but Mei feels like the person poised to take over the way AZM did in this division. [**½]
AZM vs. Saori Anou
Oh, well this is exciting. Their 5STAR match was very good (***¾). AZM offered a handshake to start but then threw a kick and we were underway. Saori fit in with AZM’s high speed style well and this felt more like the title matches of AZM’s reign than what we’ve gotten from that belt recently. The back and forth here was great and moved along quickly. Everything from the submissions to the German Suplexes to the diving double stomps looked great, had snap, and came across as painful. The way Saori got free of an armbar was one of the coolest little spots I’ve seen all year. She’s such a great addition to this already loaded roster. I didn’t love some of the selling, especially of the Canadian Destroyer near the end. They also kind of flubbed the finishing rollup spot which was disappointing. Saori got the win in an action packed 8:38 that would’ve cracked four stars if it wasn’t for that final minute or so. [***¾]
UWF Rules: Mina Shirakawa vs. Syuri
UWF Rules mean that this can only end via knockout, ref stoppage, submission, or if a wrestler loses all of their points. They start with 5 points and lose them for using a rope break or getting knocked down. Syuri dominated the early stages and Mina looked out of her element. She quickly lost three points and was on the defensive for the first half or so of this contest. Mina realized that she wasn’t going to compete with Syuri in terms of strikes, so she opted to go after the leg and even the points out by forcing Syuri to use rope breaks, though a kick was how Syuri lost her first point. That made for a good story but then Syuri knocked her out with a kick, ending things in lackluster fashion after 10:45. This style isn’t for everyone and it’s not my favorite but they this was good despite a finish that I didn’t love. [***¼]
Artist of Stardom Championship: Giulia, Mai Sakurai and Thekla [c] vs. Maika, Megan Bayne and Suzu Suzuki
Given the slew of injuries that STARDOM is dealing with right now, you just knew that Maika, Suzu, and Giulia were gonna take most of this match off since they worked so hard during that grueling tournament. The champions attacked early, setting the tone for something short and sweet. The interesting thing for the challengers was watching the interactions between Maika and Suzu. Coming off of the Grand Prix Finals, they were uneasy, which included Maika not wanting to tag Suzu. I still like Megan in her role of the foreign powerhouse. That shit works often in Japan. Thekla continued her run as my undercard favorite in this company. There was also a moment late where Suzu accidentally kicked Maika but it came off awkwardly. They did it again and it led to Giulia rolling Maika up for the win in 5:37. Disappointingly short though I do get it. [**¼]
Post-match, Maika and Suzu went at it until Giulia kind of broke things up.
Wonder of Stardom Championship: MIRAI [c] vs. Momo Watanabe
Momo earned this shot by beating MIRAI on the opening night of the Grand Prix (***¾). What I liked about that match was that it was hard hitting and felt like something I’d get in the NEVER Openweight Title matches of the past. This was along those same lines and MIRAI and Momo beat the hell out of each other. Momo used a well-timed bat shot while MIRAI was trapped in the apron to gain the first true upper hand of the bout. MIRAI fought back and turned the tide by launching Momo into a sea of chairs as the fight spilled back outside. Once back inside, this was pretty even with MIRAI laying into Momo with stiff shots and Momo knocking her down with kicks, while both were throwing out some bigger offensive moves in between. The closing stretch was the highlight, as these two unloaded stuff like they weren’t just competing in a difficult tournament mere weeks prior. Momo came close a few times late though I never really bought that a title change would happen here. MIRAI countered her finisher by rolling out of it and hitting a lariat for two. She charged up and ANNIHILATED Momo with a second lariat to retain in 15:32. That was awesome and better than their tournament match. I’d be down to see this trilogy completed. [****]
Hazuki, Koguma and Saya Iida vs. KAIRI, Mayu Iwatani and Nanae Takahashi
It’s KAIRI’s final voyage. The emotion was clear on KAIRI’s face during her entrance. This was given a lot of time and I will say up front that I think that was a detriment to it. It’s not bad at all but it doesn’t need to be 24:25, which you feel pretty early on. The opening exchanges kind of give everyone a chance to shine, which I understand in a match like this but it didn’t always make for the most interesting bits of action. Things really improved when you got things like Saya fighting to prove herself against Nanae and KAIRI going back and forth with Hazuki. Throw in some Mayu Iwatani being her usual great self and Koguma being fun and this became something that was very enjoyable. What really worked here was the way KAIRI got the best out of Koguma and even brought out a more aggressive side of Hazuki that I don’t often see. The way Koguma got her boots up on the big elbow looked great and it set up a strong final few minutes. It was capped by KAIRI successfully hitting the elbow on Koguma, wrapping up an overly long but really good, really fun, emotional match. [***¾]
World of Stardom Championship: Tam Nakano [c] vs. Natsuko Tora
They’ve met in the Cinderella Tournament (**¼) and the Grand Prix (***¼), with Tora winning the latter to earn this title shot. Like the previous outing, this worked well enough because the story is tried and true. Natsuko plays the powerful bully while Tam is the underdog babyface who has to fight from beneath. Tam took a pretty rough neck bump early and it kind of hurt some of her performance going forward. She seemed to really be hampered by it. It didn’t help that Natsuko on offense was slow and plodding for a while. What did work about this was that it added a sense of danger to things. As if anything Natsuko did offensively could put Tam at risk. Tam did the expected comeback but where things got weird was with the finish. She went for the Violent Screwdriver a few times but clearly couldn’t lift Tora so they fell awkwardly and that nearly could’ve put either woman on the shelf. That eventually got her the win after 21:34. This was a solid match that could’ve been better had it not dragged so much. The story they told worked and it was fine for a one-off title defense. [***]
