Pantoja’s STARDOM x STARDOM 2023 Review

August 13^th, 2023 | EDION Arena in Osaka, Japan | Attendance: 1,796

Oh, baby. It’s time for another STARDOM pay-per-view. We’ve got a very interesting card with a new top challenger in the main event, a potential all-timer of a semi-main, an exciting tag title match, and a Grand Prix bout.

10-Team Gauntlet Match

The teams involved are AZM and Miyu Amasaki, Hanan and Hina, Hazuki and Saya Iida, Maika and Thekla, Mei Seira and Suzu Suzuki, Ami Sourei and MIRAI, Momo Watanabe and Rina, HANAKO and Syuri, Momoka Hanazano and Yuna Mizumori, and Fukigen Death and Waka Tsukiyama. We started with Momo and Rina against Hanan and Hina. They love putting Rina in there against Hina. I’m not going to cover every interval here because that’d be wild. They were all kind of similar and they basically all ran for about three minutes of solid action. I’ll take three minute sprints of decent work any day. Momo and Rina won the first fight before getting sent packing by AZM and Miyu. The New Eras (Ami and MIRAI) were next and they looked good getting past AZM and Miyu. However, they went to a draw with Hazuki and Iida via both teams going over the top. That led us to Yuna and Momoka vs. HANAKO and Syuri. Man, HANAKO lucked out with a partner but their team lost. Waka and Fukigen Death was a weird pairing. They won and then shit got real when Mei and Suzu entered. They felt like true threats to win it, especially with how good Suzu has been lately. They handled things quickly before facing the final tandem of Thekla and Maika. I expected a longer fight here but this was also just about three minutes. I enjoyed this interaction the most though. The Tequila Shot actually won a match (!), as Suzu put down Thekla in a match that went 22:30 in total. A fun little gauntlet that was entertaining enough. [**¾]

They ran a video hyping what I believe is the Dream Tag Festival and those matches look FUN.

Red Stars: Natsuko Tora [6] vs. Starlight Kid [0]

As strong as Tora has started this tournament, I can’t imagine SLK starting so poorly so I kind of knew the outcome here. Though they’re stablemates, there was no way they would take it easy on each other. SLK dove out onto her at the start and we had a brawl through the crowd. It’s the Oedo Tai way. That was a tone setter as they kept things pretty hard hitting throughout in a battle of Tora’s size and strength against Starlight Kid’s speed. I liked how they included their penchant for cheating in the match, as if they were trying to one up each other since it’s what the stable is known for. That meant a lot of distracting the referee and trying to use weapons, so I can see why feelings on this match could vary drastically. Thankfully, it’s not too overdone in this company so I was fine with it here and it made sense. In the end, SLK cheated a bit better and Tora’s own weapon was able to chop her down to size a bit before SLK won with Momoe Latch in 7:31. A good, quality tournament match. [***]

High Speed Championship: Saki Kashima [c] vs. Koguma

This wasn’t a match to be taken too seriously. Koguma is a fun undercard girl and Saki Kashima has been playing the cowardly champion even after being kicked out of Oedo Tai and joining God’s Eye. That was kind of the idea here as Koguma mostly dominated when actual action was happening and Saki was basically trying to win as quickly as possible with all sorts of flash pins and such. That’s how it ended too with Saki pulling Koguma into a pinning combination to retain in a quick 4:53. Not the most exciting match but it told the story it was going for well enough. [**¼]

Post-match, Mei Seira again challenged Saki Kashima for the High Speed Title. Saki seemed to be on the verge of accepting only to decline and say she’ll face Momo Kohgo next instead.

Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Rose Gold [c] vs. Natsupoi and Saori Anou

Oh, baby. Now we’re getting into the stuff I was really looking forward to. This started with Natsupoi against Mina, which rehashes one of my favorite matches of the year. The chemistry displayed by each team was a highlight of the early stages from tandem moves to smooth in and out transitions. There were a couple of spots that looked a bit clunky like a Natsupoi running Blockbuster and a few bumps but this was mostly well executed throughout. Mina went after the knee of Saori which is a trademark of her matches and helps to slow down an explosive competitor. Alas, that wasn’t a throughline here and once Natsupoi got the tag, the pace quickened and we got some great spots. This made me want Natsupoi/Mariah in a singles match. The same goes for Mina vs. Saori though that is coming up soon in the Grand Prix. Down the stretch, all four women were down as you could sense we were nearing the conclusion. I liked the struggle of Natsupoi escaping Rose Gold’s Doomsday Face Crusher only to end up getting with it seconds later. It’s one of those little things that I like. It makes sense she might get out of it but was outnumbered and got right back into trouble. After disposing of Mina, Natsupoi and Saori hit a tandem Fairy-ing Ring on Mariah, which was followed by a Fairystrain to give us new champions in 13:24. I’m sad to see Rose Gold’s reign end as they have quickly become a great team that I love but I’ll never be mad at more accolades for Natsupoi and Saori has been a star this year. Great tag team wrestling filled with action and it didn’t overstay its welcome. [****]

Post-match, we got our first challengers as Mei Seira and Suzu Suzuki stepped up. I’m pumped for that match and shoutout to Mei for getting at least one title shot out of tonight.

NJPW Strong Women’s Championship: Giulia [c] vs. Yuu

This title is kind of a joke because that’s the case with all of New Japan’s STRONG belts. That said, Giulia is legit and I won’t say a bad word about her. On paper, this was a simple match. Giulia is usually in firm control regardless of her opponent because she’s so good but here she had to find a way to work around her size disadvantage. She struggled early to get anything going against Yuu, leading to a slow burn David vs. Goliath type match. That’s fine in theory but this had two issues. 1) We knew we’re likely getting something similar later and 2) the much bigger problem which is that this was too long. At 19:01, it took a bit too long to get to Giulia’s comeback. By the time it happened, I was kind of past the point of caring. That’s not to say this is bad because it really isn’t. Yuu on offense was very good as the monster and Giulia fighting from beneath was a nice change that I liked. This just gets the Gedo Special Award for being something that would likely be much better if you shaved five or so minutes off. That kept something very good from being great. The final few minutes where Giulia really got going and either traded shots with Yuu or came close to winning were strong. I also like that Giulia couldn’t win with the Glorious Driver and instead resorted to a fantastic looking arm submission which got her the victory. Like I said, this was very good but the length held it back from being great. [***½]

After the bell, Deonna Purrazzo appeared on the screen to challenge Giulia for the New Japan Title gimmick. Gisele Shaw stepped into the frame to also issue a challenge. On Twitter, it was revealed that Momo Kohgo will also be in this match. Nothing against Momo and Gisele but Giulia/Deonna was the way to go.

IWGP Women’s Championship: Mayu Iwatani [c] vs. Utami Hayashishita

Easily the most exciting and intriguing match on this card. And it felt like a clash of the titans. We got the feeling out process to start before Utami took control by being the aggressor. Mayu was in clear trouble but this is a resilient woman who can take a beating and here, that included a prolonged Boston Crab spot. Mayu turned it around with a missile dropkick (though she took a bit and Utami had to awkwardly stand there and wait for the spot) but she missed a dive outside and was again in trouble only to hit a Dragon Suplex on the apron. That’s just a small example of the fantastic back and forth that this match featured. You got the sense they were evenly matched. There was a top rope spot where they took a tumble and it nearly ended badly but thankfully both seemed fine. Mayu did find success in the skies and kept to it, going up for several big spots and getting near falls with them. It was a smart way to combat Utami’s aggressive nature. Once they started trading Germans, this got taken to the next level. Like, they were WRECKING each other with those suplexes. Then, we got to the finish which was spectacular. Mayu hit a PERFECT springboard Poison Rana to retain at the 21:32 mark. A fantastically laid out match that peaked at the right moment and gave us a breathtaking ending. Two of the best doing what they do best. [****½]

World of Stardom Championship: Tam Nakano [c] vs. Megan Bayne

I haven’t had time to check out the undercard tags on recent shows so all I’ve seen of Bayne are some AEW Dark matches. I have heard that she has been booked as an unstoppable monster for our champion to try and overcome. This was a better handling of the David vs. Goliath trope than Giulia/Yuu. Everything Bayne did felt like a major problem for Tam to overcome and whenever she gained any momentum, Bayne had a way to thwart her. It was interesting to see Tam get creative in finding hope spots from avoiding a charging Bayne in the corner to hitting dives off the top on the outside. It also helped that Tam works well as a sympathetic babyface. The size difference was especially good here as it really sold the story of the match. Tam got her ass kicked at points but the resilient champion kept finding ways to get a shoulder up. In a short time, I’ve heard they built up Megan’s F5 as a big deal so I was surprised to see Tam kick out of it. However, it was a great near fall and it could be chalked up to Megan doing a nonchalant cover and taking a while to get there. Tam avoided a second F5, hit an impressive German, and retained with Twilight Dream in 16:23. Like I said, a great rendition of the David vs. Goliath story. Tam was her usual fantastic self and Bayne delivered in her first test. [***¾]

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

This company really isn’t missing right now. This wasn’t even a high level PPV, yet they still produced a very good show with almost everything delivering and being good, as well as setting up some intriguing things going forward.