wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s STARDOM New Year Stars 15th Anniversary Review 1.10.26
Image Credit: STARDOM
Loading...STARDOM New Year Stars (15th Anniversary)
January 10th, 2025 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 1,346
I initially planned on reviewing STARDOM’s day/night double-header from 1/3 but the cards didn’t seem all that important so I’ll start the year with this Korakuen card. There’s another one on 1/11 as well that I’ll cover.
Anne Kanaya and Koguma vs. Fuwa-chan and Hazuki
FWC on opposite sides since Hazuki has a new friend. When Koguma tried to do her taunt gimmick, Fuwa-chan leveled her to the disappointment of the fans. Hazuki was having fun as well, cutting off Koguma and playing to the crowd too. Fuwa-chan once again looked very good out there. It’s wild that she’s only had three matches before this and that they were so spaced out. She’s be a fun addition to the roster. Hazuki took joy in laying the shots into Anne. She always likes beating up the rookies. I popped for Fuwa-chan hitting a stalling vertical on Koguma. Anne got a good near fall on an inside cradle before Hazuki made her tap to a crossface in 12:29. A fun way to start the show and Fuwa-chan is, again, a welcome addition to the roster. [***]
Bea Priestley and Yuria Hime vs. Sakurara
I know STARDOM is high on the “HATE dominates” angle right now but I really wanted Sakurara to win the tag titles. They’re a breath of fresh air in the division. They work so smoothly together, which was the case here. When it came to one-on-one encounters with Bea, they were rather outmatched but once they got to work together against her, they turned the tide, Meanwhile, Yuria brought the energy but as a lower card lady, she was there to take a bit of a beating as she was getting lit up with kicks. She was also there to eat the pin as Sayaka beat her with a Spear in 12:39. Solid little tag though I don’t think it needed to be 12 minutes. [**½]
A video package aired that led to the arrival of Maki Itoh, who announced that she had officially signed a STARDOM contract.
Alex Windsor, Momo Kohgo, Olympia and Saya Iida vs. Kiyoka Kotatsu, Ranna Yagami, Saki Kashima and Syuri
I am all for double champion Syuri. They kept a quick pace to this as they clearly weren’t going long. Everyone got a chance to do their thing, which kept things moving along. They threw in some fun spots like Olympia and Saya Iida working together for a press slam, complete with squats. Even Kiyoka got some shine and she’s the lowest on the totem pole in this match. Alex Windsor has looked good in her few appearances so far and that was the same here. She got to have a good exchange with Syuri that stood out. Saki Kashima went for one of her flash wins only for Saya to turn the pin around on her and get the three count at 6:30. Great pace and a fair bit of action. [**¾]
Post-match, Saki Kashima cut a short promo and announced that she was retiring at All-Star Grand Queendom in April.
Atsuki Ioki and Bozilla vs. Kikyo Furusawa and Waka Tsukiyama
It was pretty evident from the start that this was going to basically be a prolonged squash. Kikyo is still new and Waka almost never wins, while their opposition are two big and tough women. Indeed, Atsuki and Bozilla threw Kikyo and Waka around, sending them into steel chairs and just basically dominating them. The faces got a few hope spots but it never felt like they had any chance to threaten the outcome. Atsuki put down Waka with a frog splash in 6:56. Ho-hum. What it needed to be and Bozilla continues to get good reactions for everything she does. [**]
Mei Seira, Starlight Kid and Yuuki Mashiro vs. Natsupoi, Saori Anou and Yuna Mizumori
I don’t know much about Yuuki but she opened this against Yuna and they gave us the action you’d expect from a High Speed Champion. I like Yuna in that spot because it feels different and is a nice chance for her to step up beyond her normal place on the card. She’s earned it. Also, any match that gives me Natsupoi vs. Starlight Kid is going to be something I like. There was a cool tandem spot that really made me want a SaoriPoi vs. Mei & Starlight Kid tag at some point down the line. As fun as that was, a fair bit of focus went on Yuna vs. Yuuki, which was quite good. If we’re getting that as a High Speed Title match, I’m pumped. That might be the case as Yuuki pulled her into a creative pinning combination for the win in 9:24. That was a blast. [***½]
Ami Sohrei, Hina, Lady C and Tomoka Inaba vs. Azusa Inaba, Fukigen Death, Konami and Rina
This is here as a preview for the Artist of Stardom Title match on the next night’s show as Hina, Lady C, and Tomoka Inaba have a shot at Fukigen Death, Konami, and Rina. Watching Tomoka vs. Rina at the start reminded me again of how good STARDOM’s young talent is. There are so many fantastic wrestlers under 30…hell, under 25, on this roster. It’s nuts. This broke down into the usual HATE antics with brawling outside, throwing people into chairs, and stuff like that. At times, this felt like something of a showcase for Hina. She seems to be next in line for a solid push as she moves up from the Future of Stardom Title picture, so she got some shine here. In the end, Fukigen Death fell to the Inaba Otoshi in 8:35. Pretty fun match though a step back from the previous one, as expected. [***]
Akira Kurogane and Rina Yamashita vs. Maika and Rian
That Goddesses of Stardom Tag League run with Bozilla has made me a bigger fan of Akira Kurogane. Maika and Yamashita ran into each other at the start, just trying to overpower the other. HOSS FIGHT. Akira handled herself relatively well against Maika too. The issue became when Rian got the tag as she was basically just getting her ass kicked. She still showed fire and got in some decent spots but she was still there to take bumps and set up the hot tag to Maika. Once that happened, things leveled out. The finish saw Akira try to fire up against Maika only to take a Michinoku Driver that ended this in 8:06. Another relatively solid tag on a show filled with them. [**¾]
HANAKO vs. Risa Sera
Our lone singles match on the card. I believe Risa is nearing retirement so this is a chance for her to work with a younger girl on the way out. HANAKO has been pretty damn good as of late as she’s gotten better at working more of a powerhouse style. I don’t know if it’s because Risa is wrapping things up but the pace of this was rather slow. That kind of worked for HANAKO, who has a similar style. That said, I just couldn’t fully engage with this as much as I wanted to. The stuff they did was fine, like Risa chopping HANAKO down to size and HANAKO having to dig deep and respond. HANAKO firing up led to a series of lariats before she won with her standing choke submission in 11:59. A good but not great match. [***]
Goddesses of Stardom Championship: BMI2000 [c] vs. 02line
AZM and Miyu Amasaki were booked to have very few points in the Tag League so them earning this title shot so soon after was odd. The setup of this match was obvious from the start. Ruaka and Natsuko Tora are the big bully champions while Miyu and AZM are the smaller, speedy challengers. So it was a David vs. Goliath setup where the challengers used their quickness to combat the size of the champions. Simple, yet effective. BMI2000’s style doesn’t really work for me but thankfully, 02line were on their game here. They threw themselves into every bump and helped make the champs look even more imposing. When it came time for their bursts of offense, they were filled with energy and fire. AZM really is one of the best in the world and I need her to get a Starlight Kid like push soon. That said, I wouldn’t hate seeing her and Miyu become a staple of the tag division for a while. Down the stretch, there was solid drama as the crowd seemed to believe a title change could happen. When BMI2000 missed their stereo splashes, I believed in the near fall that followed as well. Alas, the mist and a Swanton Bomb on Miyu wrapped this up in 17:05. A very good main event. That said, I’m ready for this reign to be over. [***¼]
