wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s STARDOM To The World 2025 Review
Image Credit: STARDOM
Loading...STARDOM To The World
September 6th, 2025 | Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama, Kanagawa | Attendance: 1,814
I’m skipping over the pre-show match and hopping right into this PPV.
Ema Maishima vs. Rina
Rina is hot off an outstanding run in the 5STAR Grand Prix while Ema is a relatively new piece of the undercard. A while back, Rina had to forfeit a match against Ema on a New Blood card, so this was mostly just here to give her the win she was going to get that night. In fact, a lot of this was a showcase for Rina. That said, Ema got in more than I expected and her fast paced style made for a fun opening contest. There was also solid drama in Ema trying to escape Rina’s grounded Octopus Stretch and when she got to the ropes, I was surprised. Ema also got some near falls on flash pins, including one after countering the Gory Bomb, before a successful Gory Bomb put her down in 8:38. A spirited opening contest with a hot crowd. [***]
Aya Sakura and Kikyo Furusawa vs. HANAKO and Waka Tsukiyama
It seemed like they were setting up Aya and Sayaka for a shot at HANAKO and Waka’s New Blood Titles but we’re getting this here, which is similar but not really. The early stages focused on Kikyo against Waka, since the former called her out before the bell. It was fine enough, while the highlight was HANAKO against Aya, though that wasn’t anything overly special either to be honest. I don’t have much to say here because this was your standard undercard tag on a show like this. I liked Aya countering HANAKO’s finisher into a guillotine choke. That got broken up and soon after, HANAKO successfully hit the move on Aya to win in 8:26. Like I said, really basic stuff here we’ve seen before. [**]
Dark Silueta and Mei Seira vs. Sayaka Kurara and Yuna Mizumori
I feel like you could’ve swapped Sayaka with Kikyo on this card and it would be improved. Yuna and Sayaka, despite both being Cosmic Angels girls, don’t have the chemistry that Sayaka and Aya do and it led to a couple of awkward moments. What did work here though was Mei and Yuna’s interactions. It acted as a preview of their High Speed Title match (which I covered in a recent review) and was filled with energy and excitement. When it wasn’t those two going at it, this wasn’t nearly as engaging. Dark Silueta did get to show off some offense which was nice to see since her match with Koguma that I reviewed was cut short by injury. We got one more solid Yuna/Mei battle before Mei actually scored a pinfall on her with Checkmate in 9:43. Was not expecting that result, especially since neither one got a pin over the other in their 2/3 falls match. [**½]
Azusa Inaba, Konami and Momo Watanabe vs. Bozilla, Itsuki Aoki and Rina Yamashita
On paper, I dig this because it’s heel vs. heel which doesn’t happen often in these undercard tags. I said it on a previous review but Bozilla was such a good addition to Mi Vida Loca. There were fun interactions here from the start, whether it was Bozilla slamming Azusa with ease or Konami stepping up to deliver kicks and strikes against larger opponents. Momo Watanabe is in such an interesting place as the Grand Prix winner who has a shot at the top star in her stable down the line. Both sides played up the hard hitting villain aspects, leading to a pretty stiff match at points. Bozilla was again the stand out. She’s just doing really consistently good work as a monster. Fittingly, Momo used the bat as a weapon before hitting Itsuki with Tequila Sunrise to win in 10:14. As I said, that was some good old fashioned hard hitting action from two heel factions. [***¼]
Hina, Kiyoka Kotatsu, Ranna Yagami and Saki Kashima vs. Momo Kohgo, wing*gori and Yuria Hime
It feels like there are more undercard tags on this show than usual. Some of the early focus was on Yuria against Hina. That makes sense since they went on to have a Future of Stardom Title match on 9/10. Yuria has officially joined Stars and she fit in quite well. She showed impressive chemistry with her teammates for a new member and looked way more comfortable here than in the Grand Prix. Maybe those lights were too bright for someone of her experience level. There wasn’t much to this match but I did think it was interesting that Ranna was also involved in the issues between Yuria and Hina. I think Hina and Ranna having a rivalry while being stablemates is rather fun. Hina beat Momo with her modified Jackhammer in 10:26. A pretty good little match here. Nothing more. [**¾]
Ami Sohrei and Lady C vs. AZM and Miyu Amasaki vs. FWC vs. Natsupoi and Saori Anou
Oh, there was some potential for something really good here. Ami has been on a roll since returning, Lady C looked pretty good in the Grand Prix, and the other three teams are pretty awesome. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the best of matches here. Instead, it was kept relatively short and focused more on infusing the bout with comedy bits than anything else. I get that there wasn’t much to build toward here but there’s a bit too much talent in here to just give us a throwaway bout. The final couple of minutes saw everyone get some offense in before Ami continued her momentum by beating Miyu with Like Thunder at the 6:25 mark. Ah, that could’ve been so much more. [**½]
Mayumi Ozaki vs. Natsuko Tora
I don’t know anything about Ozaki but these two were clearly ready to use weapons. Even without a No DQ stipulation, they immediately used weapons, including a chain. Apparently, I wasn’t alone in not knowing much about Ozaki because the crowd didn’t really react to her and they were kind of dead silent for this. Ozaki dominated more than you’d expect since Natsuko is a bully heel of her own. In fact, Ozaki even sent back the attacks of several HATE members. If only regular roster members could pull that off. This was a big brawl with weapons but it never really pulled me in. Ozaki got a visual win before Natsuko came back to win with a Death Valley Driver in 12:43. Yeah, that wasn’t for me. Just a generic brawl with run-ins, dull offense, and a flat crowd. [*]
IWGP Women’s Championship: Sareee [c] vs. Suzu Suzuki
The top three matches on this show are all rematches from the Grand Prix. This was one of the best (****¼) in the entire tournament. This hasn’t really been a PPV worthy show to this point but the last three matches are what really matters here. As you’d expect from these two, they were throwing forearms and trading big shots right from the start before the match spilled outside for more violence. They kept up a great pace and never stopped hitting each other with brutal strikes. I’ve made the comparison before but Suzu matches tend to feel like they’d fit in with the old NEVER Openweight Title and this was right along those lines since Sareee loves that style too. At one point, Sareee was on the top rope headbutting the back of Suzu’s head. They sounded pretty sickening. I again question Suzu’s apron piledriver spot. They shoot in a way where we clearly see that Sareee lands on Suzu’s thighs, taking away from the potential impact it has. I know it shouldn’t be done to hurt Sareee so just shoot it from a different angle like they used to do with the Tombstone. Watching them fight over suplex positioning outside was much more impactful. Things got taken up a notch when Suzu busted out an avalanche German Suplex. The closing stretch was filled with big offense and near falls. Sareee finally kept Suzu down by dropping her on head with a wrist clutch suplex in 22:33. The kind of great match this card needed. A hard hitting affair between two of the best with a red hot, split crowd. Sareee’s antagonistic nature has made her big matches in STARDOM feel special. [****¼]
Wonder of Stardom Championship: Starlight Kid [c] vs. Tomoka Inaba
Tomoka upset Starlight Kid in a very good match in the Grand Prix (***¾). What makes these two such interesting opponents are their similarities. Both are really good at targeting a body part and picking it apart. SLK often does it to the leg to set up her finisher but Tomoka used that strategy to beat her in the Grand Prix. She went to that well again this time around and Starlight Kid returned the favor, giving us the crux of this bout. The work both did on the leg was well done, from SLK slamming the knee from the apron to the floor to Tomoka catching a springboarding SLK with a kick to the leg. This felt like a genuine struggle in the best possible way. Two people who came in with similar game plans, making it something of a chess match. Tomoka got Starlight Kid trapped in the kneebar that beat her previously and they did a good job of selling the trouble that the champion was in. That said, I never really believed a title change would happen. Once Starlight Kid survived that hold, we entered the final few minutes, which saw her deliver a moonsault onto the leg and then use one of her best Black Tiger Leg Killers to date to retain in 21:15. Yeah, that was absolutely my kind of match. The only thing it lacked was drama as the outcome was never really in doubt but the story they told worked so well and it was technically sound. We need to have a serious talk about Starlight Kid being in the conversation for 2025 Wrestler of the Year. [****½]
World of Stardom Championship: Saya Kamitani [c] vs. Bea Priestley
Bea pinned Saya during the Grand Prix (**¾), ending her undefeated start. As is often the case, she earned a title shot because of this. Giving them more time after their underwhelming tournament match didn’t excite me. However, they went out and had a much better match. The first half or so didn’t fully click. Bea was playing the powerhouse bully and while her strikes looked good and some of her moves were indeed impactful, her heat segments don’t quite work for me. Saya was on her game though, as she threw herself into every bump and was smooth in every bit of offense she had. The last third or so of this match really picked things up and Saya got to kick out of Bea’s Queen’s Landing move. Saya has that prime Okada ability to turn up during a closing stretch and that’s just what she did here as they started throwing bombs. In the end, Saya won with a spinning Star Crusher in 22:34. A very good main event. [***½]
Post-match, AZM entered the ring to challenge Saya Kamitani. That’s a World of Stardom Title match I can get excited about. AZM/Saya was incredible in the Grand Prix (****¾) and it’s a huge opportunity for AZM. It also is apparently a double title match.
