wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s STARDOM Nighter in Korakuen Review 7.4.24
Image Credit: STARDOM
Loading...STARDOM Nighter in Korakuen
July 4th, 2024 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 796
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.
I can finally get around to this now that the MITB/Heatwave stuff is over. This doesn’t seem like the most important show overall but it does have our 5 STAR Grand Prix announcements, so I’m in.
Rian vs. Tam Nakano
Opening match Tam is something you never get. Given who she is and who Rian is, this match went exactly as you’d expect. The veteran put the rookie in her place but allowed her to get just enough offense in so that it wouldn’t be a squash. When Tam is doing goofy wind-up punches, the outcome isn’t really in doubt. I did like Rian doing a series of inside cradles to try and steal a win. You know flash pins are coming in a match like this but it was well done here. Tam put her down with a running knee at the 8:25 mark. Enjoyable little opener. [**¼]
Azusa Inaba and Rina vs. HANAKO and Waka Tsukiyama
An interesting match on paper because the HANAKO/Waka duo has been a decent undercard duo but Rina has been protected and Inaba has impressed in short stints. They mostly did that again here, with HANAKO and Waka showing more chemistry than in the past as they continue to grow as a unit. Inaba got a run against Waka down the stretch, with the plucky Waka coming close a few times. That’s kind of her story always, isn’t it? Close but no cigar. After HANAKO and Waka missed on a tandem move, Inaba used a tight pinning combination to get the win in 7:42. Another fine little match and nothing more. [**¼]
Time for the Grand Prix announcements!
Red Stars A: Maika, Hazuki, Natsuko Tora, Natsupoi, Konami, Manami (Sendai Girls), and the winner of a tournament gets the last slot.
Red Stars B: Mayu Iwatani, Tam Nakano, Momo Watanabe, AZM, Mei Seira, Saya Iida, and Tomoka Inaba (Just Tap Out)
Blue Stars A: Saori Anou, Syuri, Starlight Kid, Xena, Koguma, a mystery entrant, and a tournament winner.
Blue Stars B: Suzu Suzuki, Saya Kamitani, Hanan, Ami Sourei, Saki Kashima, Thekla, and another mystery entrant.
We’re going with four blocks of seven. Not sure how I feel about that because it failed miserably for New Japan but STARDOM’s roster is a lot stronger top to bottom. Mina Shirakawa is notably absent so maybe she gets one of the mystery spots. I can see an AEW wrestler or two being the other. There are some seriously exciting matchups here and I’m really happy to see Mei and Thekla get in.
We’ve also got some match announcements for the first show!
8/10 – Maika/Natsupoi, Hanan/Manami, Konami/Tora, Mayu/Tam, AZM/Momo, Mei/Inaba, Saori/X, Syuri/Starlight Kid, Xena/Tournament winner, Suzu/Hanan, Ami/Saya, Saki/XX.
Aya Sakura, Sayaka Kurara and Yuna Mizumori vs. Hanan, Hazuki and Momo Kohgo
Really happy whenever I see Hanan and Hazuki on the same team. This got off to a hot start with everyone involved in the action. Things calmed down to a more traditional tag but there were still some quick paced, impressive moments. Hazuki sending Yuna into the ropes for a perfectly timed Kohgo 619 was cool, as we Hanan’s springboard cross body. It wasn’t anything overly special but it came off smoothly to the point where it stood out more. The STARS trio got going late, though Sayaka busted out a Spear to get a near fall. That was her last real shot though as Hanan caught her with her bridging fallaway slam or whatever that move is called to win in 8:10. A step up in quality and a very solid multi-woman match with a lot of action. [***]
AZM and Mei Seira vs. Mina Shirakawa and Xena
Oh, hello. I love Mina, Xena impressed in her big main event recently, and I’m all for AZM officially joining the new stable with Mei. The “We Want Mina” chants have come over to Japan. Mina’s interactions with Mei early on were good but I really liked Xena getting involved. She played the powerhouse well, aggressively throwing Mei around with ease. She and Mina used quick tags to isolate Mei and Mina targeted the leg as she tends to do. When AZM came in, she was on fire. I swear, it feels like she’s in for one hell of a Grand Prix run. Xena lit her up with some loud chops so AZM had to use her speed to gain the upper hand. The closing stretch was very good and had a surprise result as a series of AZM/Mei tandem stuff led to Mei rolling up Xena to win in 8:48. I really liked that. Entertaining from start to finish and I didn’t see Xena losing, so that made for a good ending. [***½]
Fukigen Death, Momo Watanabe, Natsuko Tora, Ruaka & Thekla vs. Hina, Konami, Ranna Yagami, Saki Kashima & Syuri
Here we have a relatively simple match as Oedo Tai takes on God’s Eye (well Hina isn’t an official member yet but still). There was a solid mix of comedy and regular action in here, with Fukigen Death using a newspaper to batter Ranna and Saki Kashima not being able to join in on a giant God’s Eye submission team spot. I also found it interesting that Oedo Tai didn’t do a bunch of cheating as they typically do, opting to save that for later in the match, which was a nice change of pace. Thekla, as always, was entertaining, and I enjoyed her back and forth with Ranna, who has impressed in her small role. The real kicker came in the end as Konami accidentally kicked Syuri, leaving her alone to eat some Oedo Tai offense that included a shot with a bat. Thekla then hit her finisher and got a rare pin over the former unstoppable champion after 11:06. That was good and did the job of setting up the expected Tag Title match. [***]
Koguma and Mayu Iwatani vs. Miyu Amasaki and Starlight Kid
Another look at our expected faction if Miyu and AZM officially join SLK, Suzu, and Mei. In the past, we’ve seen issues where Miyu can get sloppy but this was one of her better performances. She hung in there with some of STARDOM’s top names and didn’t look out of place. The highlight was Starlight Kid going up against Mayu Iwatani, though it was unfortunately kept short. Mayu was doing what a good veteran ace does, bumping her ass off for young Miyu and trying to make her look great. The best thing here is that Starlight Kid is being treated like a top star in 2024 after kind of falling by the wayside in 2023. Miyu did get one relatively convincing near fall on Mayu but Mayu beat her with a vicious looking standing submission in 11:03. Another quality tag here. This show has been very consistent after those first two matches. [***]
Manami and Mika Iwata vs. Natsupoi and Saori Anou
The return of the Natsupoi/Saori tandem that was a blast as Tag Champs last year. Mika is the one who took the white belt from Saori, while Manami was announced for the Grand Prix earlier. While the focus of this was Saori against Mika given their current rivalry, it also doubled as a Grand Prix preview. Manami and Natsupoi are in the same block so we’re getting a singles match with them. You could tell that losing the title continues to bother Saori, as she was extra vicious and aggressive, even when it was just Manami in there. Mika was more than happy to give it right back to her, taunting as she kicked her in the head. When they traded blows, it looked like the stuff of two people who absolutely hate each other. Her obsession with Mika led to Saori getting isolated for a bit, which I loved because I will always appreciate a Natsupoi hot tag. Saori basically being broken but Natsupoi fighting to get her back to where she needs to be was such a great underlying story that gave this a boost. It’s like she saw Natsupoi stand up to Mika and that helped snap her out of it. Saori and Mika wailed on each other until the time limit expired at 20:00. I know a lot of people don’t like draws and I get that but this ruled, especially with the added boost of that story. [****]
Ami Sourei, Lady C and Tomoka Inaba vs. Maika, Saya Iida and Saya Kamitani
Inaba is another who will be in the Grand Prix and she has a match lined up with Saya Iida that this previewed. Ami Sourei vs. Saya Kamitani is also previewed here. However, the main focus was Inaba against Maika. This was something of a come down from the previous match but it’s not like this was bad or anything like that. It just lacked some of that intensity. There was still plenty of action from bell to bell that set the tone for what’s coming up for STARDOM. Lady C going up against Saya had some added emotion to it given their old Queen’s Quest ties . The Inaba/Maika interactions were really good and I feel like their match will rock when it happens. Despite her injury last year, Saya isn’t afraid to take chances, hitting a nice plancha to the outside. It came down to Lady C and Saya in the end and given Lady C is the only one in this match with nothing really coming up, it makes sense that she fell to Saya’s sitout Fisherman Buster in 17:52. A hell of a fun main event that did exactly what it needed to. [***½]
Post-match, Lady C officially cut ties with QQ in an emotional goodbye of sorts with Saya.
