SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
STARDOM GODDESSES OF STARDOM
OCTOBER 18, 2020
TOKYO, JAPAN AT KORAKUEN HALL
AIRED ON STARDOM WORLD
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Rina said Death was doing well in the tag league and they wanted to keep that momentum up. Her sister, Queen’s Quest’s Hina, said nothing. Riho was scared to wrestle her tag league partner Death. Kid wondered how Hina wound up mixed in with five Stars members.
(1) RIHO & STARS (Starlight Kid & Hanan) vs. HINA & STARS (Gokigen Death & Rina)
Death caught Hanan with an O’Connor roll.
WINNERS: Gokigen Death, Rina, & Hina in 6:31.
(Pageot’s Perspective: The streak lives on. Gokigen Death for red belt champion.)
-Iida said this was her first singles match against Nakano and first time facing her since back in her Jungle Assault Nation days. Nakano wondered what kind of cosmic gorilla power they would find.
(2) TAM NAKANO vs. SAYA IIDA
German suplex for the win.
WINNER: Tam Nakano in 10:21.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Fine little undercard match. With nearly half the roster in Stars at this point we’ll probably see a lot of Stars vs. Stars matches going forward.)
-Shirakawa said she wanted to meet Himeka ever since she debuted. Himeka questioned Shirakawa’s experience level.
(3) HIMEKA vs. MINA SHIRAKAWA
Torture rack slam for the pin.
WINNER: Himeka in 7:58.
(Pageot’s Perspective: As Korakuen shows go, this one’s quite house show. Only one tag league match and only the title match in the main event giving any real reason to tune in.)
-Giulia knew Oedo Tai would have all kinds of weapons but didn’t care. Maika said they’d win firmly. Syuri mentioned getting love calls from Konami. Natsupoi was meeting them for the first time.
(4) DONNA DEL MONDO (Natsupoi & Artist Of Stardom Champions Syuri, Future Of Stardom Champion Maika, & Wonder Of Stardom Champion Giulia) vs. OEDO TAI (SWA World Champion Bea Priestley, Natsuko Tora, Saki Kashima, & Konami)
Syuri hit a German suplex. Priestley kicked out. Priestley hit a jumping knee and the bell rang.
DECISION: Time limit draw in 20:00.
-Tora suggested DDM put their trios titles on the line next time. Priestley said they suck, which enraged Syuri for some reason. The teams brawled at ringside. Syuri chased Priestley to the back. Tora punched Natsupoi with her chain. Giulia asked if “you suck” is the only Japanese Priestley knows. She accepted the title challenge on behalf of Syuri and Maika for an undetermined date. She then told Himeka she looked forward to fighting her for the white belt on October 29.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Kashima taking a pin was of course a strong possibility but evidently, when forced to choose between Priestley and DDM, Ogawa could not decide so our 12th draw of the year is the solution. The Oedo Tai trio of Tora, Kashima, & Natsu Sumire have the third-best record of any act in Stardom this year (7-2) behind only Bea Priestley (4-1) and the trios champs at 7-0.)
-AZM wanted to win convincingly after going to a time limit draw against Hayashishita & Kamitani back in June. Hayashishita said they would definitely win today.
(5) GODDESS OF STARDOM CHAMPIONS APHRODITE (Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani) vs. MOMOAZ (High Speed Champion AZM & Momo Watanabe) – TAG LEAGUE
Watanabe pinned Kamitani with a Peach Sunrise.
WINNERS: MomoAz in 15:02.
(Pageot’s Perspective: The Blue Goddesses teams continue to flatten the Red Goddesses teams. MomoAz also move into first place in the league at six points. They have of course also earned themselves a future match for the titles since they just beat the champions.)
-Iroha said there wasn’t much needed to be said about this match. The only thing that would be different from their February match is that she would get the red belt when she won this time. There were no pre-match comments from the champ.
(6) MAYU IWATANI vs. TAKUMI IROHA – WORLD OF STARDOM CHAMPIONSHIP
Fast-paced start with Iwatani hitting a back kick and dropkick in succession. Iroha put any hope at catching her off guard to rest, though, as she hacked away at Iwatani’s legs with kicks. Ankle lock from Iroha but Iwatani made the rope break. Figure four as Iroha continued to target the legs. Another rope break. Stretch muffler this time. Another rope break. Iwatani escaped to the floor for a breather. Iroha ran the apron but Iwatani caught her leg and pulled her to the floor with a dragonscrew leg whip. Iroha whipped into the guard rail. They rolled back in the ring at the refere’s count of 16. A hurricanrana sent Iroha back to the floor. Suicide dive from Iwatani. High crossbody. Iwatani threw Iroha back in the ring and went up top but Iroha cut her off for a vertical superplex at 10:00.
Iwatani no-sold it and put her in a guillotine choke. Iroha made the rope break. Enziguiri from Iwatani and the first cover of the match. Iroha kicked out at two. Iroha fought off a dragon suplex attempt and hit a facebuster on Iwatani. Crucifix bomb from Iwatani. Bridging German suplex from Iroha for her first two-count at 15:00.
Iroha sat crosslegged in front of Iwatani and encouraged her to slap her. They got to their feet and Iroha blasted her with a forearm, which Iwatani no-sold. Another, which Iwatani laughed off. She staggered Iroha with a forearm of her own and followed up with a tombstone piledriver. Iroha blasted her with some kicks. Iwatant leapt off the second turnbuckle backwards and into a poisonrana. She set Iroha up for a Running Three and landed it. The challenger kicked out. Last Ride powerbomb from Iroha but Iwatani kicked out. (Undertaker getting all the shout outs tonight.) Iroha went up top but Iwatani cut her off. She went for a top rope Frankensteiner but Iroha blocked and powerbombed her off the top rope instead for a near-fall at 20:00.
Top rope swanton from Iroha for another two-count. Iroha looked for a Running Three of her own but Iwatani countered halfway across the ring into a roll-up for two. The #1 conteder, Utami Hayashishita, was shown watching from the crowd. Spinning powerbomb from Iroha. She set up for another Last Ride but Iwatani again countered with a Frankensteiner into a roll-up for two. More kicks from Iroha. Another Running Three was called for and Iroha landed it. She looked to follow up but Iwatani again no-sold and again used a Frankensteiner to pull her into a roll-up. The referee counted three despite Iroha’s foot being on the bottom rope.
WINNER: Mayu Iwatani in 22:22 to retain the red belt.
-Iwatani thanked Iroha. She said they have one win, one loss, and one draw between them. Next time they’re in the same ring she hoped they’d be on the same team. Iroha had no grudges. She said Iwatani was her favorite opponent but admitted defeat. She hoped to challenge for the red belt again someday. She was on board with teaming together and wondered if anyone would step up to face them.
Hayashishita walked down through the stands to ringside. She reiterated that she has next and suggested November 15 in Sendai. Iwatani accepted but implied that she doesn’t have what it takes to handle the pressure of being the world champion.
Stars closed the show with Mina Shirakawa notably joining them in a Stars sweatshirt. Guess it’s official?
(Pageot’s Perspective: Very good match but one that probably won’t make my year-end top 10. If Iwatani sold some of the big moves and I had an emotional investment in the match it might be a different story. The outcome was never in doubt but the action was still solid. Iwatani always seems refreshed when she gets to wrestle a lengthy singles match against someone new and Iroha was great here, arguably better than Iwatani. It was clear that her game plan going in was to take away Iwatani’s legs but once Iwatani took her to ringside she scrapped that plan and instead decided to try just bludgeoning the champ with big power moves. Unfortunately Iwatani’s lankiness and seemingly innate ability to Frankensteiner her way out of anything proved too much. I’m surprised Hayashishita’s title match is coming so soon. It raises a lot of questions of what the main event for the huge 10th anniversary show in January will be. It seems highly unlikely Iwatani wouldn’t be in that match so either Hayashishita wins on Nov.12 and they rematch in January or Iwatani retains and someone else has the month of December to step up.)
Red Goddesses standings after day 4:
Crazy Bloom (Giulia & Maika) – 2
AphroditE (Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani) – 1
Devil Duo (Natsuko Tora & Saki Kashima) – 0
MK☆Sisters (Mayu Iwatani & Starlight Kid) – 0
wing★gori (Saya Iida & Hanan) – 0
Blue Goddesses standings after day 4:
MomoAz (Momo Watanabe & AZM) – 6
Color Me Pop (Gokigen Death & Riho) – 4
Black Widows (Konami & Bea Priestley) – 3
Dream H (Tam Nakano & Mina Shirakawa) – 2
Grab The Top (Syuri & Himeka) – 2
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