wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s STARDOM New Year Stars Review 1.6.24
Image Credit: STARDOM
Loading...STARDOM New Year Stars
January 6th, 2024 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 800
I’m back with another STARDOM review. This might not be a PPV or anything like that but it is in Korakuen Hall and does feature two major matches to set up future championship matches.
HANAKO and Sayaka Kurara vs. Ranna Yagami and Yuzuki
It really feels like STARDOM has found something with this crop of rookies. They’re always going hard and putting on quality matches, especially given their limited experience. There seems to be a rivalry brewing between Yuzuki and HANAKO after the Rookie Tournament. Here, they started things and Yuzuki continued to bring it right to her larger counterpart. HANAKO held serve until a well-timed kick from Yagami on the apron changed that. Sayaka looked better than ever, trading shots with Yuzuki and hitting an impressive Spear that earned a pop from the crowd. She and Yuzuki had a spirited run down the stretch that saw Yuzuki win a pinning combination exchange to score the three in 11:17. They got more time than usual and made the most of it, putting on a fun opening contest. It’s pretty amazing to think that a company with so many talented women under 25 can keep finding gems. [**¾]
Giulia and Mayu Iwatani vs. Maika and Saori Anou
It’s the “Champions Tag” as the four top singles champions in the company are here. IWGP Women’s Champion Mayu and NJPW Strong Champion Giulia against World of Stardom Champion Maika and Wonder of Stardom Champion Saori. The start of this was likely as you’d expect, with the great wrestlers pairing off for some really good back and forth action. Then it all got really fun thanks to the antics of Mayu Iwatani. From her trying to tag out with her foot instead of her hand to being trapped in a submission and having Giulia enter the ring to shout encouragement instead of breaking it up, this was filled with enjoyable little moments. Of course, given who these women are, they knew how to balance the comedy out with tremendous wrestling as the action itself was top notch here. The Mayu/Saori interactions especially really made me want a singles match between them. The closing minutes saw one of the best Tower of Doom spots I can remember and then just spots where they were throwing big moves at one another. Of course, it all ended in a 20:00 time limit draw which I’m sure irked some folks but there’s no way I’m going to complain about watching four of the best for 20 minutes. Plus, none of them should really eat a fall anyway. Great wrestling with fun personalities mixed in making for a blast of a match. [****]
New Year Wonder Rumble
Alright, so the final two matches are Rumbles. They’re done like the Royal Rumble with the winner getting shots at specific titles. Here, the winner is next in line for Saori Anou’s Wonder of Stardom Championship. Hanan and Mei Seira were #1 and #2 and I’d be totally down for that as a High Speed Title match, especially with how much Hanan improved throughout 2023. AZM and Starlight Kid were out next and that basically turned this into the New Year High Speed Rumble. The action was fast, fierce, and we got more AZM/SLK which I’ll always love. The pace slowed a bit when some of the more powerful women entered like Saya Iida and Lady C. I do think pacing was actually the biggest issue with this match. Hazuki joined the fray and man, I REALLY want her to win the Wonder of Stardom Title by the time 2024 concludes (though I want Natsupoi over Saori for it first). Part of this turned into a Stars vs. Oedo Tai battle just as Saki Kashima arrived to try and take advantage of it. It took about 15 minutes before we got an elimination, which was Yuna Mizumori. Ruaka went next via submission. I’m not going to cover all of the eliminations just like I didn’t cover every entrant. That said, I think there were some pacing issues here. It takes a while to get two eliminations but then a bunch came in rapid fire succession down the stretch. A surprise elimination saw Rina knock AZM to the floor. A bit later, Hazuki pinned Fukigen Death, leaving it down to the final four: Hazuki, Starlight Kid, Mei Seira, and Hanan. Honestly, that’s a strong final four. The Hazuki/SLK forearm exchange was awesome but it was Mei who Hazuki was eliminated with as SLK knocked them both off the top. SLK and Hanan proceeded to have a very strong closing stretch and Hanan kept surviving everything thrown at her. When she pulled out La Magistral, I believed she secured the upset. SLK responded with a beautiful Tiger Suplex to win after 36:47. A really fun roller coaster of a match with some ups and downs. Like I said, there were some pacing issues but those final few minutes rocked. [***½]
Saori Anou vs. Starlight Kid sounds awesome. She called Saori into the ring for a face to face and they set up the match for the White Belt on the anniversary show on 2/4.
New Year World Rumble
Now, it’s time to see who gets a shot at the World of Stardom Title. I didn’t list everyone in the previous match but I’ll do it here. We’ve got Syuri, Utami Hayashishita, Momo Watanabe, Natsuko Tora, Ami Sourei, Mina Shirakawa, Saya Kamitani, Megan Bayne, Nanae Takahashi, Suzu Suzuki, and MIRAI. Interestingly, the two women I chose to list first were actually the two who started this. Megan Bayne was next and played up the powerhouse role, with both women trying to take her down and failing. Though they failed, I loved that Suzu Suzuki went after Bayne alone. She seriously shows no fear when it comes to Bayne. Like the last match, it took a while to get an elimination and every woman who entered got a chance to strut their stuff immediately. Bayne really shined here, staving off elimination with her size several times and dominating offensively at other points. She eliminated Sourei, Suzuki, and Tora in various ways, giving us the first few eliminations of the match. It finally took AphroditE working together to wear Megan down enough to send her packing. A fantastic showing by Bayne though. There was also the Nanae/Mina budding rivalry to showcase as they continued to go at it until Mina used a dragon screw on the apron to get rid of her. We were down to Saya, Mina, Utami, and Syuri. As Syuri and Utami battled it out on the apron, Mina hit them, sending them out of the match. The final few minutes of Mina against Saya were very good, especially given their history over the Wonder of Stardom Title. Saya survived the Figure Four twice and won with her new finisher at the 32:21 mark. Another really good rumble. It moved along nicely and while I think the action in the other rumble was better, this was paced out better. [***½]
Saya and Maika came face to face after and also set their match for 2/4.
