Pantoja’s STARDOM New Year Unit Competition Night 2 Review 1.18.25

STARDOM New Year Unit Competition

January 18^th 2025 | EDION Arena in Osaka, Japan | Attendance: 506

I enjoyed night one of this new tournament and format but night two has HATE on the schedule, so wish me luck.

Red Block: God’s Eye [0] vs. STARS [2]

To start, it’s FWC and Hanan against Ranna Yagami, Saki Kashima, and Tomoka Inaba. Typical Koguma antics opened this, which Saki took as an opening to roll her up. I love that Saki does that so often that fans bite into every pin she does as a potential match ender. They kept this section relatively lighthearted and just had a solid little encounter. I love the likes of Ranna and Tomoka in cases like this because they get time to shine against established wrestlers and that can only help their progression. The Hazuki/Ranna strike exchange was great and my favorite bit of this. Koguma ended up getting the two points by pinning Saki Kashima in 10:34. That got more time than I expected and it worked better than I thought.

Full substitutes on both sides as the newcomer Kiyoka Kotatsu joined Lady C and Syuri against Mayu Iwatani, Momo Kohgo, and Saya Iida. Anytime I get to see Syuri and Mayu go at it, it’s a win. They had a great little back and forth to start this and came face to face with more intensity than you might think. Poor Kiyoka got isolated for a bit which included getting lit up by Saya and her vicious chops. Momo found herself in similar trouble, getting kicked from just about every angle at one point. Surprisingly, the finish wasn’t some rollup but Lady C planting Momo with a Dominator of sorts in 10:48. Another relatively long section. Not quite as good as the previous one.

Last up, it’s Ranna, Syuri, and Tomoka against FWC and Saya Iida. This time around, Koguma’s early antics didn’t work as Ranna was ready and that put STARS on the defensive. They turned the tide quickly enough and we got pretty evenly matched action. Syuri against Hazuki made for a really good section between two of the best out there. Saya and Tomoka also had a good back and forth but just when Saya seemed to have it won, the bell rang as the overarching 30:00 time limit expired, resulting in a draw. So overall, both teams leave with 3 points in what was a good time. [***¼]

Blue Block: HATE vs. Neo Genesis [3]

Like ExV, Neo Genesis only has five participants while HATE has a whopping seven. For the first match, it was Miyu Amasaki, Starlight Kid and Suzu Suzuki against Fukigen Death, Momo Watanabe, and Rina. Like Koguma, Fukigen Death is someone who opens matches with her same old brand of antics and this was more of the same. She didn’t do much of note but Momo fared better until Suzu hit the ring. There was a prolonged Starlight Kid/Rina interaction that was welcome. Rina in the Grand Prix would be pretty cool given how much she grew over the past year. Suzu eventually got a Tequila Shot style pin on Rina in 6:13 to give them two points in relatively short fashion.

Next up was Miyu again with Mei Seira and AZM against Azusa Inaba, Ruaka, and Natsuko Tora. Miyu saw Azusa across from her and wanted to start, given their current feud, but that was a bad move since she just competed. Azusa took it right to her. Miyu was in big trouble quickly, especially when her larger opponents entered the fray. She managed to make the tag, leading to Mei and AZM kind of cleaning house with their quickness. It was entertaining to watch them find clever ways to combat the size of Ruaka and Natsuko. Then HATE members from outside got involved, causing shenanigans and allowing a series of splashes to keep AZM down in 9:08. All tied up.

Despite just getting squashed, AZM was in for the last outing alongside Starlight Kid and Suzu Suzuki. They battled Momo Watanabe, Rina, and World of Stardom Champion Saya Kamitani. That meant a preview of Saya/Suzu and their upcoming title match. This was pure chaos, with barely any tags and just people going in and out of the ring. A lot of the focus went on Momo against Starlight Kid, making me wonder if that’s also in the plans going forward. Momo does have some kind of title shot in her pocket. Saya and Suzu went at it until Suzu got outnumbered. Things broke down late until Suzu caught Saya with the Tequila Shot for a big win in 6:57. The whole thing went 22:18 and wasn’t anything special but Neo Genesis kind of makes everything work. [***]

Blue Block	Points	Red Block	Points
Neo Genesis	7 (3-2-1)	STARS	5 (2-3-1)
Cosmic Angels	3 (1-1-1)	ExV	4 (2-1)
HATE	2 (1-2)	God’s Eye	3 (1-1-1)

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

I can’t imagine these shows getting poor ratings. They move along quickly, have a lot of action in them, and are entertaining. I preferred night one but still liked this.