Pantoja’s STARDOM Supreme Fight 2023 Review

STARDOM Supreme Fight

February 4^th, 2023 | EDION Arena in Osaka, Japan | Attendance: 1,832

The Triangle Derby stuff has been fun but this feels like STARDOM’s first major event since Dream Queendom. Also, cheering is back in Japan so that adds to tonight.

Naniwa Roulette Match

There are a lot of participants in this match, including many of my STARDOM favorites like Natsupoi, Iwatani, Nakano, and Shirakawa. Apparently, the rules here were that it would run like the recent Giulia gauntlet, with the entrants coming in at random. Each match also had a five minute time limit and we started with Mayu Iwatani against Waka Tsukiyama. Waka attacked before the bell but Iwatani weathered the storm and beat her with a Dragon Suplex. Next in was Iwatani’s stablemate Momo Kohgo. You could also be eliminated by going over the top rope so these two starting with a fight on the apron was dangerous. Iwatani sent her packing with a Stretch Muffler. Miyu Amasaki fared well enough but fell to a pretty sick Dragon Sleeper variation. SANADA wishes. Tam Nakano arrived and it was time for me to get fully invested. Their interaction was easily the highlight of the match to this point with everything coming across really well. Even the Dragon Suplex only got a one count on Tam. A second one got two as their five minutes expired. With them out, we got Shirakawa vs. Natsupoi next. Again, I was hooked. They had some great hard hitting exchanges and close calls but time expired as Mina had the Figure Four applied. That moved us into Mariah May vs. Mai Sakurai. May had the chance to do her thing alone here and delivered, beating Sakurai with the Tombstone and battling Thekla to a draw when they both spilled outside. The May/Thekla section was another highlight of the match and the best May has looked. Next was Natsuko Toura going to a draw with Momoka Hanazono in a battle of two people with totally different personalities. Next was Yuna Mizumori against Billiken Desu (who is apparently a kind of clown who hilariously came out to Symphony No. 9). Billiken was ridiculous but did advance with a rollup. Last in was Saki Kashima who won the whole thing with a heart punch and pinning combination. I didn’t count each bell-to-bell time but from the opening bell to the final one, it was 53:50. Honestly, that went a bit long but it was engaging throughout and a lot of fun. Some interactions were better than others but it mostly worked and I hope they do it again. [***¼]

For her win, Kashima earned a title opportunity and chose to go after AZM’s High Speed Championship. That should be fun.

Haruka Umesaki, Ruaka and Starlight Kid [4] vs. Hazuki, Koguma and Saya Iida [2]

After watching so much Triangle Derby, it’s odd that this is the only tournament match on the card. Also, it’s so good to have commentary here as the smaller shows don’t have it and they really feel like house shows because of it. Neither trio has been lighting up the scoresheet in this tournament. Right off the bat, it was clear that a loud crowd was going to make a difference. They were into every bit of this and were vocal about it. The teams were evenly matched early before the STARS trio got going with some triple offense. Starlight Kid stood out for her team but Hazuki felt like the star of this one. Koguma found herself in trouble for a bit but her teammates saved her. The closing stretch with her and Starlight Kid was a lot of fun and she secured this with a pinning combination at the 9:03 mark. Another good match in this tournament and I feel like the loud crowds will do wonders for it going forward. [***¼]

Ami Sourei, Konami and Syuri vs. AZM, Lady C and Utami Hayashishita

A lot of people in here who I’ve really come to enjoy like all three Queen’s Quest ladies, and Syuri. Konami was making her return here as well, which is the most notable aspect. AZM continues to be a standout, as her exchange with Konami to start was great and I loved her agreeing to a kicking match with Syuri only to goad her in for a rollup. Pretty much every interaction here was strong and everything AZM did was captivating. Konami was the other highlight here, hitting everything well Whenever Lady C busts out the Big Swing, I pop for it. The same goes for her chokeslam. She has been very good in 2023. The final few minutes here were frantic and concluded when Konami made Lady C tap to a great looking armbar after 11:25. Another strong match here as this consistent promotion is putting on another consistently good show so far. [***¼]

Chihiro Hashimoto vs. MIRAI

So from what I can gather, Chihiro Hashimoto is a top star for Sendai Girls and has a match somewhere down the line with STARDOM’s Syuri, MIRAI’s teammate. MIRAI meant business and didn’t back down from Hashimoto once. They opened things with some crisp grappling that was engaging throughout. Hashimoto had the upper hand here, using her power advantage and simply tossing MIRAI aside from time to time. MIRAI did her best to trade blows with Hashimoto but she was clearly outmatched. And therein lied the beauty of this match. I love this kind of story as MIRAI refused to go away despite getting destroyed at points of this. MIRAI got in her shots but Hashimoto could just wallop her with one or two strikes. When MIRAI finally brought Hashimoto down with a lariat, the crowd erupted and it was earned. MIRAI came close a few times but Hashimoto destroyed her with some Germans and a lariat before winning with a bridging German in 15:18. That was spectacular. It told a thrilling story, featured stiff strikes, and had quality technical wrestling. Masterful pro wrestling. [****½]

Post-match, Hashimoto cut a promo talking trash. Syuri got in her face and Hashimoto said she wants to more fun so she wants another match with someone besides Syuri on the next big event before eventually facing her.

Goddess of Stardom Championship: Nanae Takahashi and Yuu [c] vs. Himeka and Maika

7UPP have been really good on Triangle Derby shows and their Dream Queendom match ruled. Himeka and Maika are former champions, having held the titles in 2021 for a short stretch. The challengers went right at the champions despite being undersized and they even knocked them down in the opening minutes. They ran into trouble when a Himeka dive off the apron led to her holding her leg in pain. The crowd went silent and though she kept fighting, that really put the team at an even bigger disadvantage. Maika had to go at it alone and she did just that, even suplexing Takahashi onto Yuu and using her speed to keep 7UPP on their heels. Maika picking up Yuu from the corner into a stalling vertical suplex was one of the most impressive things I’ve seen in a long time. Himeka was finally able to stand and get the tag though she couldn’t do too much with her damaged leg. She found herself trapped in various leg submissions but refused to submit. The closing stretch was strong with Himeka even managing to delivering a powerbomb. The underdog fight from Mika and Himeka was incredible as they kept getting up. In the end though, the champs were too much and retained after 18:54. They told a hell of a story in here and I’m intrigued at what a rematch would look like with Himeka not getting hurt. [****]

Wonder of Stardom Championship: Saya Kamitani [c] vs. Momo Watanabe

Kamitani is in the midst of a long, apparently record-breaking reign but her matches haven’t wowed me. They’ve been good and none have been even average or below, yet they never sniff greatness. This got off to a solid start with some good action and Kamitani getting worked over by Watanabe’s stablemates and a baseball bat. Kamitani feels like she works well having to defy the odds. The champ weathered the storm but had a chair thrown at her face to cut off a springboard attempt. Clearly, Watanabe was bringing the violence. However, this match ran into problems when a table got brought into play. Kamitani totally overshot a double stomp through it and that kind of sent the match off the rails of sorts. I’ve noticed that she tends to botch more than the rest of the runtime. Kamitani still sold well and Watanabe still had great moments like some of the suplexes she threw but it never really crossed over into that next level. The finish also looked weird as it seemed like Watanabe got her knees up on a 450 splash but Kamitani still won with it in 16:38. That was good yet was another disappointment for Kamitani. [***¼]

World of Stardom Championship: Giulia [c] vs. Suzu Suzuki

Oh, baby. It’s time for Giulia’s first title defense. She just screams megastar. It’s good to see her in big match gear as she’s mostly been in “take it easy” attire during the Triangle Derby. This opened with some pretty basic wrestling but it quickly got more aggressive as they came face to face and started trading forearms. Things really got taken to the next level when they fought outside and Giulia got thrown into rows of chairs several times in a row. That also included some big moves on the aisle itself. Suzuki got in a ton of offense and it set up Giulia as someone who had to fight from behind. I understand that route but I do think Giulia should’ve looked a bit more dominant at parts of her first defense. Giulia turned the tide and started working the arm a bit before we got another step up when Suzuki did an apron powerbomb. Their back and forth in the final act saw them dropping each other on their heads. Suzuki’s avalanche German was especially vicious. Giulia managed to rebound from it as they threw shots at each other again. Giulia hit a sickening that only earned a one count before she won with her finisher at the 25:04 mark. Given the somewhat up and down start, I do think this went a bit long but it picked up in a huge way and what we got was a great main event. [****¼]

8.5

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

The first major STARDOM show of the year delivered. We got some great matches in there and everything clocked in with at least ***¼ which is impressive and continues the company’s trend of consistently entertaining matches. I’ve really been enjoying them so far in 2023.