Pantoja’s STARDOM Nighter in Korakuen Review 7.23.24

STARDOM Nighter in Korakuen

July 23^rd, 2024 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 1,017

NOTE: For anyone following all of my reviews, my WrestleMania Series is still ongoing. It’s something I’m doing in my free time though so reviews from 2024 (like this one) take precedence. Also, I’m up to the Manias that are like, 7 hours long so it takes a while.

Trying to get this done in between G1 Climax nights but STARDOM put on a pretty noteworthy smaller show here. They have bigger PPVs lined up for the weekend with some exciting matches. We’ll get to that later though as we’re here to see the start of the tournament to qualify for the Grand Prix and there’s a Goddesses of Stardom Title match.

AZM, Starlight Kid and Suzu Suzuki vs. HANAKO, Mina Shirakawa and Xena

Pretty stoked to start with this young trio. I’m loving the idea of the AZM/SLK/Suzu/Mei stable and having Suzu back is rad. Suzu has new gear too. She had a solid opening against HANAKO though things picked up for Mina vs. AZM. Man, Suzu is only just back and she’s already showing off tandem offense with AZM, who isn’t even officially with her stable. Just give them the Artist of Stardom Titles already. Just seeing them do anything together is captivating and I know they’re going to be a highlight of the company going forward. HANAKO continues to improve and I liked Xena bringing her power as something different against these speedy wrestlers. Suzu got the win with a German Suplex on HANAKO in 9:18. That was a fun opener with a lot of energy and, as stated multiple times, I’m so happy to have Suzu back and in a team with two of my other favorites. [***¼]

Blue Stars Participation Tournament First Round: Aya Sakura vs. Miyu Amasaki

The picks for this tournament are interesting because a lot of the ladies are unproven. That said, I guess a run in a Grand Prix would do be big for them. They weren’t given a ton of time but had some decent little back and forth in there. With both girls still being pretty green, there wasn’t someone to lead the way, meaning this was kind of just there. Miyu feels a little ahead of Aya at this point and it showed when she took over and won with her jumping Facebuster in 4:22. Fine enough for what it was, though there wasn’t much to it. [**]

Blue Stars Participation Tournament First Round: Lady C vs. Momo Kohgo

We’ve got wrestlers with a bit more experience here so I’m expecting better. Lady C also has made some changes after the Queen’s Quest split and looks to make an impact. Momo looked to work a slow pace and wear down Lady C given her size disadvantage. That’s a smart strategy even if the exaction wasn’t anything special. Momo did use some decent submissions but Lady C was too tall so she reached the ropes easily on the armbar attempt. Lady C picked up the win after 6:52 with a Dominator. An improvement over the previous match but not enough to make me excited for anyone to join the Grand Prix. [**¼]

Red Stars Participation Tournament First Round: Sayaka Kurara vs. Waka Tsukiyama

The overstuffed Grand Prix field including the ladies in these matches doesn’t bode well. It feels a lot like the bad G1s we’ve dealt with the past couple of years. Waka has Honma syndrome to me in that when she was losing all the time, it made for a lovable underdog story but once she won, a lot of the shine wore off. She’s still good for her spot though I don’t think anybody is pumped for either person here to be in the tournament. The match itself was inoffensive but didn’t do anything to grab the audience. They also flubbed some spots like Waka mostly whiffing on a hip attack. Sayaka hit a Spear for two before having her next move countered into a pinning combination that gave Waka the win in 4:00. That wasn’t very good. [*]

 

Red Stars Participation Tournament First Round: Ruaka vs. Yuna Mizumori

Ruaka jumped Yuna during her introduction because, Oedo Tai. That led to a short brawl outside. Once they got inside, Yuna turned the tide a bit and was aggressive, throwing a bunch of clotheslines at Ruaka’s back. Ruaka brought her briefcase gimmick thing in and the two fought over it before Yuna gave up and let her have it. Like a dummy, Ruaka hit her with it and got disqualified in 4:28. Yeah, this also was very not good. [*]

FWC, Mayu Iwatani and Rian vs. Hina, Ranna Yagami, Saki Kashima and Tomoka Inaba

That has to be the first time I’ve given out scores that low twice in a row for a STARDOM event. Thankfully, this should be a palette cleanser with some good wrestlers in there and we get another look at Tomoka ahead of the Grand Prix. This was the usual lighthearted multi-woman tag for some fun tandem moves, Koguma doing her taunt, Saki being Saki, and no hard feelings on either side. That said, Hazuki puts so much into her facewash kicks that you’d think she hates people. Mayu and Tomoka had a short-lived exchange but it was probably the highlight of a good little match. Once it came down to Tomoka and Rian, you knew how this would go. Tomoka put her down with a Michinoku Driver of sorts at the 8:47 mark. As stated, a fine multi-woman tag that was pretty enjoyable throughout. [**¾]

New Blood Tag Team Championship: wing*gori [c] vs. Azusa Inaba and Rina

I’ve said several times that wing*gori and FWC have been the two best teams of 2024. FWC already dropped the tag titles and now I came into this show fully expecting wing*gori to follow suit because Oedo Tai seems to be the focal point these days. As soon as we got Azusa and Hanan throwing hands to start, I knew I’d be into this match. Azusa may be super young but she’s already impressing more than some older women who have been around for a while. I thought Saya brought a nice added power element to this tag, which is usually the case. I also have to praise Rina, who continues to get better even though she’s also just 17. Azusa was down to trade loud chops with Saya and when she started losing out there, she opted for kicks. Smart work. There was a SCARY moment when Saya went for a wild top rope powerslam only for her and Rina to land on the ropes instead of anywhere with an actual surface. Things broke down late, including Hanan and Saya being made to run into each other before the challengers busted out tandem offense. In the end, Azusa WRECKED Hanan with a pump knee and Rina hit the Gory Bomb to win the titles in 14:30. Easy match of the night. Not really digging the title change but the match was really good and I continue to be amazed at how advanced these workers are at their ages. [***¾]

Fukigen Death, Mei Seira, Natsuko Tora and Natsupoi vs. Maika, Saori Anou, Saya Kamitani and Tam Nakano

This is an…interesting match. We’ve got a weird mix of stables making for some odd groups. It’s like that Wild Card match at Survivor Series 1995, which I actually really like. I’m sad that meltear didn’t come out together. Anyway, it’s pretty clear that one team has the upper hand given Maika/Saori/Saya/Tam all rule and the other team has no champions and an undercard comedic wrestler. Poi and Saori, who meet on 7/27, started but tagged out to Saya/Mei (who meet on 7/28) for some high speed action. It seems like that match is gonna rule. I liked the strange bedfellows aspect here, leading to moments like Mei trying to whip Natsuko into Saya only to fall because of the size difference or Maika’s team all doing variations of Tam’s taunt after a four-way dropkick. Then we got some meltear action and those two make magic whether as partners or opponents. Things broke down late (a trend in these matches), including Natsupoi diving onto a big pile outside, as we got previews of the upcoming matches like Saori/Poi and Maika/Natsuko. I fully expected Fukigen Death to eat the pin but the finish actually saw Natsuko hit the Swanton and a DVD on Maika to win after 13:04. An entertaining tag that did what it needed to in building the weekend’s shows. [***]

Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Konami and Syuri [c] vs. Momo Watanabe and Thekla

Considering how good FWC’s short reign was, this match has big shoes to fill. Alas, this couldn’t pull that off. What we got wasn’t bad yet it also didn’t stand out as being very good either. They had a basic tag filled with the usual Oedo Tai antics of brawling around ringside. I like Thekla in this stable as she fits the style and adds a much-needed bit of personality to the affair. She and Momo worked well together, isolating Syuri after Konami was taken out away from the action. Konami eventually returned and got the hot tag but soon found herself in some trouble too. Syuri began leading a furious comeback but was accidentally kicked by Konami. A bit later, Konami stopped herself before hitting Syuri with the briefcase thing and kicked Momo instead. She hugged Syuri only to, SWERVE BRO, German Suplex her. That turn allowed Momo to beat Syuri with Peach Sunrise at the 15:22 mark. So that was a fine main event right up until that finish. I didn’t expect the turn and while I have issues with that, it also didn’t logically make sense. Why would Konami not turn earlier in the match instead of fighting hard just to give it up? Why give away a championship? It’s like the kind of thing Vince Russo would do. Like I said though, the match is fine enough. [**¾]

I’m concerned about STARDOM right now. The Grand Prix being so bloated could be G1 Climax 2022-2023 levels of bad and the focus on Oedo Tai isn’t a good move. It’s only slightly above a world where New Japan makes House of Torture the focal point. Plus, the Konami turn makes no sense. God’s Eye badly needed her as the #2 and now she joins an overstuffed Oedo Tai stable that handcuffed SLK for a few years.

5.0

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

A swing and a miss from STARDOM. The tournament matches were pretty useless and not a good sign for the Grand Prix while the main event and big turn were notable yet didn’t really work. Watch the wing*gori tag and the opener but you can kind of skip the rest.