wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s STARDOM New Year Stars In Sendai Review 1.27.24
Image Credit: STARDOM
Loading...STARDOM New Year Stars in Sendai
January 27th, 2024 | Sendai PIT in Sendai, Miyagi | Attendance: 331
Although this isn’t a major show for STARDOM, I have time to cover it and we have some interesting things going on while preparing for the bigger events so I figured this is worth a look.
Mei Seira vs. Miyu Amasaki
I like this as a preview of sorts to what could likely be a future High Speed Title match. Surprisingly though, they didn’t go the fast paced route, working more of a subdued start before picking things up afterward. The problem with Miyu was evident here as she still has a tendency to botch or mistime things from time to time. It’s understandable since she’s still so new but it’s something you notice with her. Mei was clearly a step ahead both in terms of her ring work and her strategy. Miyu battled her in a series of pinning combinations late before Mei got the three on one of them, winning in 6:07. A fine enough opener. I do think that Miyu has to right the ship soon with the likes of Yuzuki around and already shining. [**½]
Mai Sakurai vs. Sayaka Kurara
On paper, not as interesting as the previous match but I actually think that helped it. I had zero expectations so the fact that they had a solid outing here was a nice surprise. Mai wasn’t going as hard as Mei but Sayaka was smoother than Miyu and their exchanges came off better. Sayaka delivered her Spear which was impressive again. She has a very good one, especially given that she’s not a particularly big woman. Bobby Lashley wishes his looked like this. Mai did the veteran thing here, controlling the match but letting Sayaka get some shine and then won with the Escargot submission in 5:30. Quality little match here. [**½]
Momo Watanabe and Starlight Kid vs. Saori Anou and Yuna Mizumori
Some Oedo Tai vs. Cosmic Angels action here. This also acts as a preview for the upcoming Supreme Fight Wonder of Stardom Title match between Anou and SLK. As usual, Oedo Tai attacked before the bell but Saori turned the tables and got a bit of one on one time against her challenger. Of course, Yuna had to play the face in peril as Oedo Tai isolated her and kept doing things like knocking Saori off the apron to keep her at bay. They didn’t play that too long though and Saori came in with some impressive offense. The Saori/SLK exchanges were as great as I wanted and really got me even more excited for their title match. It’s among my most anticipated match of this young year. Everyone got involved in some good late back and forth before the finish saw Starlight Kid continue her momentum with the Star Suplex Hold on Yuna in 10:27. That was a really good undercard tag that accomplished the goal of hyping the SLK/Saori match. [***¼]
Giulia and Suzu Suzuki vs. Natsuko Tora and Ruaka
More Oedo Tai. This time though, the focus is more on Giulia and Suzu, who have wanted to team for a while and are getting to do that before Giulia leaves. As a match, this wasn’t quite as good as the previous bout but it had the added boost of simply seeing Giulia and Suzu Suzuki as a unit. That was enough to add a bit here and make this worth checking out. They had some cool tandem ideas but didn’t execute them all smoothly, likely since they aren’t a regular team. Suzu handled the bulk of the action before making the big tag to Giulia, who came in hot. Ruaka took an ugly, slow bump on a top rope rana by Suzu and then she tapped to Giulia’s Bianca submission at the 8:15 mark. Forgettable outside of just seeing two great wrestlers team up. [**¾]
Ami Sourei, MIRAI, Ranna Yagami, Saki Kashima & Syuri vs. Hanan, Hazuki, Mayu Iwatani, Saya Iida & Yuzuki
The choice to put Yuzuki with STARS is a tremendous one. This got off to a fast paced start and the STARS offense as a unit came off well. Yuzuki had a couple of awkward moments in terms of timing but that’ll clearly come as they work more frequently together. I love that Saki Kashima hasn’t changed her personality/gimmick despite joining God’s Eye. She always injects her personality into things and it makes it more fun. The spot where Hazuki catapults Mayu into a big dropkick is really cool and seeing the entire STARS team do her running boot always warms my heart. There was a Saya/MIRAI exchange that was just two hard hitting, strong women colliding that I enjoyed. Yuzuki and Yagami got a moment to go at it and they feel like they could be on the verge of a longstanding rivalry. They were involved in the finish too as Yuzuki beat her with a pinning combination that ended up coming off sloppily at the 12:32 mark. The expected quality match from these units. [***¼]
AphroditE, AZM and Lady C vs. HANAKO, Maika, Mina Shirakawa and Waka Tsukiyama
Our first look at the newest faction in STARDOM as they battle a pretty loaded Queen’s Quest quartet. Mina still does the fancy intro for her teammates. Also, this is meant to preview Maika/Saya, and they kicked off the action here. It wasn’t a long interaction but yeah, that feels like it’s gonna be a banger of a match. Waka got isolated and her as the face in peril always works but I will say that it might’ve gone on just a bit too long here. We had a lot of women who could’ve seen action with a shorter heat segment here. That’s especially true since it was HANAKO who got the shine after and she doesn’t have excitement that a Mina or Maika delivers when they get tagged in. When things got back to Maika/Saya, it picked up in a big way. That went right into a strong closing stretch that saw everybody get involved, capped by Maika beating Lady C with what looked like a new finisher in 14:54. Like a lot of this show, this was very good but there were moments of greatness in there. [***¼]
