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STARDOM RAINBOW FIGHT
OCTOBER 4, 2020
NAGOYA, JAPAN AT NAGOYA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE HALL
AIRED ON STARDOM WORLD
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Hanan said she hadn’t been to Nagoya in two years. Iida said she was supposed to face Konami in singles action but it was changed to Hanan. She pinned Natsu Sumire on yesterday’s show and wanted to keep that momentum going.
(1) SAYA IIDA vs. HANAN
Iida with a northern lights suplex.
WINNER: Saya Iida in 7:03.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Not sure whether it was a screw-up on one of their parts or simply an issue with Iida being so much shorter than Hanan but that suplex planted Hanan write on her face rather than the back of her shoulders like intended. She looked sore after but there’s been no report of any injuries since this show was filmed.
It looks like this is going to be a rough show to watch. One of the cameramen fell sick so there’s no hard cam, just a handheld on the main ring, which is already shaky, and that also means there’s no footage of the entrances.)
-Riho & Kid discussed Konami joining Oedo Tai. They decided she’s scarier now. Oedo Tai still won’t record promos. Konami has black hair and new black gear with purple accents and a black mask.
(2) OEDO TAI (Saki Kashima & Konami) vs. RIHO & STARLIGHT KID
Kid wanted a roll-up on Konami but Konami transitioned into a triangle arm lock for the tap out.
WINNERS: Oedo Tai in 8:20.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Pretty slow and boring. There was nothing new to heel Konami, which was the main thing to watch for here. She wrestled the same style and used the same moves, maybe with a couple extra mean faces thrown in. Nothing particularly dastardly. Natsu Sumire announced on her blog that she’s going to be taking some time off for a while to recuperate from recurring injuries so expect to see them lean even more heavily on this Oedo pair for the next while.
If DDM is a faction of women from different joshi promotions Oedo Tai has become the faction of women who have betrayed their groups. There’s Natsuko Tora from Jungle Assault Nation, Saki Kashima from Stars, Bea Priestley from Queen’s Quest, and now Konami from Tokyo Cyber Squad. All they need is to get Maika or Himeka to defect to complete the bingo.)
-Shirakawa introduced herself as the powerbomb to your heart. She’s been the cutest in the world but Nakano’s the cutest in the universe? Nakano showed off a bruise on her cheek from Yokohama and asked if she’s still cute. She said Shirakawa is the “Fighting Spirit H Cup gravure idol.” She felt her own breasts and said she had her interest.
(Pageot’s Perspective: And a million gifs were born.)
(3) TAM NAKANO vs. MINA SHIRAKAWA
Nakano won with a bridging German suplex.
WINNER: Tam Nakano in 10:01.
-“Nice guts!” Nakano complimented her. She asked why Shirakawa came to Stardom. Shirakawa said to become a real Fighting Spirit H Cup gravure idol wrestler. Nakano suggested they team together in the tag league. They shook on it, then hugged.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Looks like Nakano’s got a new crush. Normally she’d be first in line to try to be Iwatani’s tag partner. Shirakawa is obviously destined to join Stars sooner than later but, no, I don’t know what the Fighting Spirit H Cup is.)
-Iwatani stood next to Kyona and addressed their history. (After Kyona, Tora, and Kaori Yoneyama went unpicked in the 2018 Stardom draft Iwatani said they could join Stars as a consolation prize. The trio were so insulted by the pity invite that they they left to form Jungle Assault Nation instead.) Iwatani brought up Konami’s betrayal from yesterday. Kyona admitted that TCS has disbanded and wondered if it was fate that she team up with Iwatani here for her restart. Iwatani said she’s been betrayed two or three times. They’d show the strength of the betrayed.
(4) OEDO TAI (SWA World Champion Bea Priestley & Natsuko Tora) vs. WORLD OF STARDOM CHAMPION MAYU IWATANI & JUNGLE KYONA
Kyona vs. Tora dominated the match again with Kyona losing again, this time submitting to a stretch muffler.
WINNERS: Oedo Tai in 11:40.
-The referee had to pull Tora off of her after the match. Priestley took a mic and told Kyona she sucks. Konami showed up. She said they destroyed TCS and now they’ll destroy her. Oedo Tai left.
Iwatani gave Kyona the mic. Kyona said today was supposed to be a restart. She was crying as she apologized for looking so awkward. Iwatani didn’t think she was awkward. She’s been betrayed so she understood how she was feeling. She invited Kyona to join Stars. They shook hands. Iwatani asked if her knee was okay. (Kyona had been seated on the mat ever since the match ended.) She admitted her knee might be messed up but vowed to come back to Nagoya in the future revitalized. Iwatani announced that not just Kyona but all of the TCS members are joining Stars.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Oh god. This is pretty much the worst-case scenario and the strongest indicator that they have zero plans for the TCS members. It’s bad enough that Stars is now the only babyface faction on the roster with QQ as tweeners, DDM as soft heels, and Oedo Tai as full heels but they’re also the only stable with a losing record in multi-woman matches. DDM have a .789 record in unit matches this year with Oedo at .645 and QQ at .517. TCS were .516 at dissolution while Stars are way down at .171 with only 6 tag wins and 1 draw compared to their 31 losses in faction matches.
For more indications as to how terrible Stars are going to be going forward, let’s break down the new stables:
Donna Del Mondo – Giulia, Syuri, Maika, Himeka, Natsupoi
(5 members, 3 championships)
Queen’s Quest – Momo Watanabe, Utami Hayashishita, AZM, Saya Kamitani, Hina
(5 members, 2 championships)
Oedo Tai – Natsuko Tora, Natsu Sumire, Saki Kashima, Bea Priestley, Konami
(5 members, 1 championship)
Stars – Mayu Iwatani, Tam Nakano, Jungle Kyona, Starlight Kid, Death Yama-san, Saya Iida, Hanan, Rina, Ruaka
(9 members, 1 championship)
If they add Shirakawa Stars will have literally twice as many members as every other faction. As they currently stand, half their members never win matches. And on top of this, since this was filmed, Kyona announced that she’ll be out indefinitely with an ACL injury, dislocated shoulder, and torn ligaments. I was really hoping that they might have had Kyona, Death, and Riho form a new and improved JAN 2.0 instead of just lumping everybody together into one giant group. My only remaining shred of storyline is that this is a slow build to a 2021 Stardom draft where the roster gets shuffled and broken up into five factions again. But I’ve really learned the hard way not to put any hope into the idea that Ogawa will do anything with Kyona other than job her out and make her cry.)
-Watanabe said they had a draw last time they were in Nagoya so they wanted to win here. Giulia added that the draw last time in Nagoya was DDM vs. QQ so they needed to settle things. The only comment regarding Natsupoi joining DDM was Giulia saying that she’d show off her form here.
(5) DONNA DEL MONDO (Natsupoi, Himeka, & Artist Of Stardom Champions Future Of Stardom Champion Maika & Wonder Of Stardom Champion Giulia) vs. QUEEN’S QUEST (Momo Watanabe, High Speed Champion AZM, & Goddess Of Stardom Champions Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani) – ELIMINATION MATCH
Elimination could occur via pinfall, submission, or going over the top rope and having both feet hit the floor.
AZM and Natsupoi started. Hayashishita and Maika renewed their rivalry. Hayashishita put her in a torture rack and dropped her onto the apron. She charged, Maika low bridged, and they both wound up on the apron. Maika hit a Rock Bottom to Hayashishita on the apron which sent them both to the floor.
Utami Hayashishita and Maika were eliminated at 9:36.
Giulia went to the top rope but Kamitani cut her off. Giulia wanted Stealth Viper on the top rope but wound up on the apron instead. She clung onto the ring post to try to avoid Kamitani. As she looked to get back into the ring Kamitani kicked her and managed to dropkick her to the floor.
Giulia was eliminated at 13:39.
Himeka clotheslined Watanabe over the top rope.
Momo Watanabe was eliminated at 15:34.
AZM caught Himeka with AZM Sushi.
Himeka was eliminated at 17:04.
It was down to Natsupoi vs. AZM & Kamitani. The high speeders battled. Natsupoi wound up on the apron and AZM dropkicked her off but Maika caught her out of the air and rolled her back into the ring. AZM went for a springboard crossbody but Natsupoi shoved her off the top rope and to the floor.
AZM was eliminated at 18:38.
Kamitani and Natsupoi both wound up on the apron. Kamitani kicked her in the head and she fell to the floor.
WINNERS: Queen’s Quest in 21:06.
-Kamitani bragged about winning two nights in a row. She said they had all these strangers coming in but she’s the future of Stardom.
(Pageot’s Perspective: When they announced this, I was really intrigued to see who would win, knowing that one team had DDM and the other had this year’s Grand Prix winner and every member of your team had to be eliminated to lose. Of course I forgot about the over the top rope aspect of Stardom elimination matches. With that flukey “non-loss” in play it became a moot point with anyone able to be eliminated at any time while not being damaged in the process. That said, the Grand Prix really was the beginning of the nerfing of Giulia. Just two months ago it would have been unfathomable that she would be eliminated from a match by Kamitani, even in an over the top rope manner.)
“H Cup” in Fighting Spirit H Cup is referring to Mina’s breasts