Pantoja’s STARDOM Nighter in Korakuen Review 4.2.25

STARDOM Nighter in Korakuen

April 2^nd, 2025 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 1,458

I’ve fallen behind a bit on STARDOM, but it’s time to cover them again. This is kind of a special non-PPV in front of a bit crowd. It is also part of us saying goodbye to Mina Shirakawa and likely Tam Nakano.

HANAKO, Rian and Waka Tsukiyama vs. Konami, Rina and Thekla

We’ve got some undercard tag action, as is par for the course around these parts. As the ExV ladies were posing during their intro, the HATE girls jumped them. That sparked the brawl around ringside, we always have to get with them, including some very awkward exchanges between Thekla and Rian. The stuff in the ring wasn’t all that interesting, as this was mostly just a generic brawl. They left it down to Thekla and Rian, with the former hitting her DDT finisher to win in 4:50. Not good, but at least they kept it short. [*½]

Post-match, HATE continued the assault until Maika ran them off. She then got on the microphone and challenged Thekla, who agreed to the STARDOM US show coming up.

Akira Kurogane, Aya Sakura and Sayaka Kurara vs. wing*gori and Yuria Hime

Aya Sakura is the new Sendai Girls Junior Champion, which is welcome for someone who has impressed in recent months. Akira and Yuria went right after each other, likely in a case of a proving ground sort of thing since they are the newest batch of wrestlers around. This we helped by the fact that Aya and Sayaka are still relatively new and brought the effort because of it, while wing*gori is a team that kind of never takes a night off. That meant everyone was going pretty hard here. The Sayaka/Hanan exchanges were very good as Sayaka continues to grow into an impressive performer. I’d be down for Sayaka and Aya to face wing*gori at some point. In the end, Akira fell to a lariat from Saya Iida after 10:01, capping a fun and competitive little match. [***]

FWC, Mayu Iwatani and Momo Kohgo vs. Lady C, Ranna Yagami, Syuri and Tomoka Inaba

The idea here is to build to the upcoming Mayu/Syuri title match. Good back and forth to start here, which is expected as these are two very good stables. STARS are so good at their stereo offense where they all just hit the same move or apply the same submission at once. Of course, the highlight of the match was getting to see Syuri and Mayu go at it. Their title match in 2024 was spectacular, and we should expect more of the same on 4/27, especially given how well their exchanges came off in this one. I also really liked the teamwork that Tomoka showed with Syuri. It’s not a pairing I see often, but it worked, and Tomoka is one of the more impressive additions to the roster. Things started to look grim for Hazuki, but Lady C ate a double superkick from Mayu and Momo, allowing Hazuki to beat her with La Magistral in 10:12. I’ll give that enjoyable tag a boost because of Syuri/Mayu. [***¼]

Future of Stardom Championship: Hina [c] vs. Tabata

Tabata did not have the greatest of Cinderella Tournament runs. I’ll put it that way. Tabata did pin Hina during i,t though. As a wrestler in Mexico, it should come as no surprise that Tabata took to the air, kept the pace up, and did some quick exchanges. She was actually in control for a fair bit of this, hitting a few nice German suplexes. Some of her stuff came off a bit awkwardly, though, like when she came off the top and kind of did nothing as Hina avoided her and then slowly went into a roll. It’s the kind of thing that will probably look smoother over time. Shelly has only been wrestling for a short time, so I get it. Hina rallied and retained by hitting a Frog Splash in 9:02. That was a solid little match and nothing more. [**¾]

Post-match, Ranna Yagami stepped up as the next challenger for the Future of Stardom Title.

Maika vs. Mina Shirakawa

Mina is departing STARDOM, so this is her farewell. I really wish we would’ve gotten Mina/Saya for the World of Stardom Title. Their history would’ve made it a dope final program for Mina. Mina came out through the crowd and was very emotional before the bell. I was surprised this started with an exchange of forearms. That’s usually reserved for more heated matches rather than something based on respect like this. There was some fun to be had soon after, though, with spots like Maika grabbing a handful of Mina’s chest. That’s been a trend for them as teammates and opponents. Mina went to working the leg, which is her usual game plan. Plus, it works to cut down a larger opponent. Maika fought back with an apron suplex and a superplex. As the two traded shots in the middle of the ring, Mina began shedding tears. They both picked up close calls down the stretch. Mina survived several powerbombs and a Michinoku Driver but still didn’t have quite enough. Maika helped Mina up and hugged her before pulling her into another Michinoku Driver that ended this in 19:39. That turned out to be a pretty great match with some heavy emotion. [****]

After the match, Mina Shirakawa cut a heartfelt, tearful promo thanking everyone at STARDOM. Maika spoke after, saying ExV will continue to grow as a stable.

AZM, Mei Seira, Miyu Amasaki and Suzu Suzuki vs. Azusa Inaba, Natsuko Tora, Ruaka and Saya Kamitani

I love Neo Genesis. This opened with AZM against Saya, and it was rad. AZM is scary good. This broke down when HATE tripped up the faces and we got some brawling around the ring from everyone but Saya and AZM. That set up AZM as a face in peril for a bit, which worked because she can take a beating. They continued the tease of Suzu turning on Neo Genesis, and she finally did, hitting Mei with a chair (after accidentally getting superkicked by her). Natsuko offered Suzu a handshake, but she responded with a German Suplex. So Suzu is out of Neo Genesis and not with HATE, which is the more interesting route. From there, this turned into a big brawl that even saw Starlight Kid do a run-in, and the match got thrown out as a no contest in 11:57. What we got was pretty good, but it was more about the Suzu angle than anything else. [**¾]

Afterward, Suzu officially quit and slapped Mei, breaking up Crazy Star in sad fashion.

Saori Anou vs. Tam Nakano

Cosmic Angels explode. I really wish we were getting Tam vs. Natsupoi one more time. Very good back and forth action to start this one. You could tell both women had their working boots on. Tam had some fun with a spot, and Saori got annoyed, responding with a kick to the face. That helped kick this into next gear as they eventually moved into a pretty brutal forearm exchange. That’s right up Saori’s alley and sneakily something Tam does well. The last shot that saw them both fall was especially vicious, and they just amped it up by then sitting across from each other for more shots, including Tam laying the boots into Saori. I liked the little things like Tam desperately getting her feet on the ropes to block an apron German suplex. They did several cool bits like that. From there, Saori began throwing big bombs, racking up the near falls on some of her best offensive moves. At one point, Tam slapped her, and you’d think these were being dished out by a heavy-handed huge hitter, only for Saori to put her hands behind her back, opening up to take more and more of them. All for Saori to WRECK her with a slap of her own. One and it took Tam down. Tam came back, and while a Screwdriver wasn’t enough, Twilight Dream kept Saori down at the 18:35 mark. That was an awesome, violent encounter. [****¼]

Post-match, Tam thanked Saori, and then Unagi Sayaka showed up. Though she lost to Tam and agreed to never compete in STARDOM again, she asked to team with Tam and Saori at Tam’s homecoming show on 4/6. Well, that didn’t last long.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

They’re saving the best for the PPV but that was a good Korakuen show. Two great matches, including an excellent main event, and an important Suzu angle with some solid matches surrounding all that.