wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s STARDOM Sapporo Wonder Rendezvous Review 7.27.24
Image Credit: STARDOM
Loading...STARDOM Sapporo Wonder Rendezvous
July 27th, 2024 | Chateraise Gateaux Kingdom in Hokkaido, Sapporo | Attendance: 701
It’s finally time to get to these new STARDOM shows. I know the results and it’s, let’s say an interesting period for the company but let’s see how this turns out.
Hina and Lady C vs. Rian and Xena
We’ve got some pre-show action here. Lady C and Hina represent God’s Eye while Xena is from ExV and Rian has no affiliation currently. This was standard tag team stuff with each woman getting a chance to hit some signature stuff. The standout was Xena and that doesn’t surprise me given her performance against Maika recently. That was a breakout for her and she is seemingly ready to build on it come the Grand Prix. Her trading shots with Lady C was the high point of the match and the spinning side slam spot still rules. The finish came down to the unproven ladies as Hina beat Rian with a modified Fisherman Buster that looked really good at 8:28. Solid little match. [**½]
HANAKO vs. Mayu Iwatani
Our official opener is a goodbye for HANAKO who is about to head out on excursion and she faces the STARDOM ace. Mayu is always one to have fun in little matches like this and she did just that, playing around with the idea of HANAKO being so tall and struggling on a test of strength because of it. She was also game to bump like crazy on body slams as if she was being thrown off the top rope. Mayu basically got her ass kicked for a few minutes and set herself up to fight from beneath while making sure HANAKO looked as good as she possibly could. Mayu is a great underdog so it was the best route for this match, which I think is the best work of HANAKO’s young career. Seriously, Mayu is so good at the little things. Like after hitting a sick German, the way she landed and sold HANAKO’s efforts throughout were so good. HANAKO threw her best shots but fell to a moonsault (where Mayu’s feet mostly hit her) in 12:16. Yeah, there’s a reason Mayu is the Ace. Homegirl carried this and made the young wrestler look better than ever. [***¼]
Aya Sakura vs. Saki Kashima
Poor Aya Sakura. She came out firing, getting the early jump on Saki, only to get pulled into a pinning combination that ended this in a mere 0:26. I appreciate that because it shows that matches can end at any moment. [NR]
Red Stars Participation Tournament Finals: Waka Tsukiyama vs. Yuna Mizumori
Winner gets a spot in the 5STAR Grand Prix. This is where the New Japanification of STARDOM is evident. The Grand Prix doesn’t need to be four blocks and because of it, we’ve got some fluff in there like the winners of these tournaments. It’s kind of the battle of two undercard losers (though Yuna wins much more than Waka). Waka was on her game more than usual here, which meant we didn’t get treated to her poor looking hip attacks. Yuna also seemed better than usual, so maybe giving them this kind of opportunity was a good thing. What do I know? That doesn’t mean this rocked or anything like that but it did what it had to. Waka got going but couldn’t hit her finisher and Yuna put her away with a series of moves capped by a lariat after 9:30. Can’t ask for much more than that from these two and Yuna is the better option for the tournament. [**¾]
Sayaka Kurara vs. Tam Nakano
Like HANAKO/Mayu earlier, we’ve got a young STARDOM girl against a great veteran. However, Tam wasn’t working quite as hard to make Sayaka look like a star the way Mayu did for HANAKO. Sayaka did get in some solid stuff like a missile dropkick but the main idea here was that Tam kept putting her in her place. Sayaka showed heart, yet Tam was always there to ground her or cut off her momentum. It’s a simple formula that works well enough. Sayaka managed to take Tam down and laid into her with forearm smashes that had a bit more behind them than I was expecting. When Tam got up though, she laid her out with a spin kick. She used that to set up a win with a tiger suplex at the 11:44 mark. Another solid match on this card, though nothing that stood out. [**¾]
02line, Crazy Star and Starlight Kid vs. FWC, Momo Kohgo and wing*gori
We now have a name for the Miyu/AZM/Suzu/Mei/SLK stable and it’s Neo Genesis. They all have slightly new looks or attire too. This was filled with action from start to finish. The Neo Genesis girls all got a chance to shine and hit their signature stuff as this felt like a special showcase for them. Of course, I was way into the interactions between Hazuki and Hanan against basically any combo on the other side. Starlight Kid was on fire here. She looks so motivated with the new push. She’s one of the girls absolutely benefitting from the new regime. The AZM/Hanan section near the end was cooking and it made me sad that they aren’t in the same Grand Prix block. Yet another reason why four blocks is a bad move. Neo Genesis got going with a slew of big tandem moves capped by AZM beating Hanan with a Destroyer in 15:50. One hell of a way to start for Neo Genesis and they got a win over someone notable and not Momo Kohgo as expected. We could be in for some consistently dope multi-woman tags. [***¾]
Konami, Momo Watanabe, Ruaka and Thekla vs. Maika, Mina Shirakawa, Saya Kamitani and Syuri
It’s our first look at Konami with Oedo Tai and Syuri’s first shot at actual revenge against her. This felt like the opposite of the previous bout in terms of pace. There wasn’t a lot of rapid in and out tags, instead opting for longer one-on-one interactions at a slower pace and some brawling outside which is customary for Oedo Tai action. They didn’t wait to give us Syuri vs. Konami, though the new heel made sure to have help from her buddies to keep the upper hand on the former top champion. Mina was the one to really get the hot tag which was welcome since I thought it would be Maika. They had some decent back and forth down the stretch until Maika put down Ruaka with the Michinoku Driver after 13:55. As usual, a good multi-woman tag though nothing I’ll really remember. [***]
Future of Stardom Championship: Rina [c] vs. Ranna Yagami
An interesting matchup on paper. Rina has been pushed in a major way as champion but is now a double champion with the New Blood Tag Titles so I could see her dropping it here to Ranna, who is one of the more impressive young wrestlers on the roster. The thing that Ranna brings to the table is her combination of kicks and submissions. It’s not anything brand new to the roster but she does well enough with them that it feels like she could master the style and make it a specialty down the line. Rina would get going and she responded by delivering a vicious kick or trapping her in an armbar. It’s a simple formula yet it works well, especially when the champion has been kind of dominant. Ranna came close with a handful of flash pins that I wish the crowd was more into. She was working out there. Alas, Rina regained control and retained after hitting the double knees off the top and the Gory Bomb in 12:16. Rina has now tied Hanan’s record of 10 defenses and has been champion for over 440 days. That was a good semi-main event and both are going to be really good in a few years. [***¼]
Wonder of Stardom Championship: Saori Anou [c] vs. Natsupoi
I loved these two as a team but their Strap Match last year was missing something to be great (***¾). Add in the recent (short) redemption arc for Saori boosted by Natsupoi and the possibility of Poi finally getting this title and I came in pumped for this. Natsupoi was extra aggressive, staring with a German Suplex and not giving Saori time to safely enter the ring after a breather, pouncing immediately. Saori looked to slow the pace whenever she could as that suits her style and takes away Natsupoi’s momentum. It’s not always the most exciting way to work but Saori rocks the Okada formula in that things tend to pick up late. Here, it was helped by an extra level of intensity. Their history was evident in every look, strike, and bump. In fact, Saori took a ROUGH bump when Natsupoi threw her from the top onto the apron. When Saori hit a missile dropkick, Natsupoi took it like she got a blast from a shotgun. They were doing whatever they could to make this feel special. As they went into the bigger spots down the stretch, the emotion got ramped up. Then, instead of a big move ending things, Poi turned a backslide into La Magistral and rolled around with Saori until she kept her down for a three count, winning the title in 19:16. That was great. Not a MOTYC or anything like that but a great, fitting main event with the result I was hoping for. It’s incredible to see Natsupoi finally getting her moment. [****]
