Azumi vs. Ruaka
Arisu Nanase & Hiromi Mimura & Saori Ano vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Konami & Natsuko Tora
Kagetsu vs. Momo Watanabe 15:00
Kay Lee Ray & Nicon Newell vs. Kris Wolf & Viper
Jungle Kyona & Mayu Iwatani & Shayna Baszler vs. Kagetsu & Kyoko Kimura & Sumie Sakai
Kairi Hojo & Yoko Bito vs. HZK & Io Shirai
Natsuko Tora vs. Azumi
Kris Wolf vs. Arisu Nanase
Saori Ano & Yoko Bito vs. Hiromi Mimura & Jungle Kyona
Kay Lee Ray & Nixon Newell & Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Hojo & Konami & Mayu Iwatani
Artist of Stardom Title Match: Kagetsu & Kyoko Kimura & Viper vs. HZK & Io Shirai & Momo Watanabe
1/7/17: Kay Lee Ray & Nicon Newell vs. Kris Wolf & Viper
1/15/17 World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Viper
1/29/17 ICW Womens Title Match: Kay Lee Ray vs. Jungle Kyona
2/4/17 SWA Womens Title Match: Toni Storm vs. Viper
2/23/17
SWA Undisputed Womens Title Match: Toni Storm vs. Deonna Purrazzo
High Speed Title: Mayu Iwatanai vs. Kagetsu vs. Kris Wolf
Wonder of Stardom Title Match: Kairi Hojo vs. Jungle Kyona
World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Shayna Baszler
3/5/17
SWA Undisputed Womens Title Match: Toni Storm vs. Shayna Baszler
World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Kagetsu
Goddesses of Stardom Title Match: Kairi Hojo & Yoko Bito vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona
3/9/17
KAI & Black Midnight Devil (Kaori Yoneyama) vs. Minoru Suzuki & Midnight Angel (Io Shirai)
Kari Hojo & Yoko Bito & Konami vs. Hiromi Mimura & Aoi Kizuki & Jungle Kyona
Io Shirai & Meiko Satomura vs. Mayu Iwatani & Chihiro Hashimoto
3/20/17
High Speed Title Match: Kris Wolf vs. Hiromi Mimura
SWA Undisputed Title Match: Toni Storm vs. Jungle Kyona
World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Kairi Hojo
4/9/17
Ruaka vs. Hanan
Kris Wolf & La Rosa Negra & Sumie Sakai vs. Hiromi Mimura & Kairi Hojo & Mayu Iwatani
Goddesses of Stardom Title Match: Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona vs. HZK & Io Shirai
4/15/17 Artist Of Stardom Title Decision: AZM & HZK & Io Shirai) vs. Hana Kimura & Kagetsu & La Rosa Negra
4/22/17 Wonder Of Stardom Title: Kairi Hojo vs. Hana Kimura
4/30/17 Cinderella Tournament 2017 Final: Toni Storm vs. Mayu Iwatani
5/3/17
Kairi Hojo vs. Toni Storm
Dr. Wagner Jr & El Hijo Dr Wagner Jr & Io Shirai vs. Black Tiger & Dragon Heat & Mayu Iwatani
5/6/17 Artist Of Stardom Title Match: AZM & HZK & Io Shirai vs. Hiromi Mimura & Kairi Hojo & Konami
5/7/17 Io Shirai & Kairi Hojo & Mayu Iwatani vs. Hiromi Mimura & HZK & Jungle Kyona
5/14/17
Goddesses of Stardom Title Match: Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona vs. Jessicka Havok & Tessa Blanchard
Wonder of Stardom Title Match: Kairi Hojo vs. Mayu Iwatani
World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Toni Storm
5/20/17
SWA Undisputed World Women's Title Match: Toni Storm vs. Jessicka Havok
Kairi Hojo & Konami vs. HZK & Io Shirai
5/21/17
Io Shirai vs. Rebel
Artist Of Stardom Title Match: Hiromi Mimura & Kairi Hojo & Konami vs. Jungle Kyona & Mayu Iwatani & Natsuko Tora
6/4/17
Artist Of Stardom Title Match: Hiromi Mimura & Kairi Hojo & Konami vs. AZM & HZK & Io Shirai
Gauntlet Match: Kairi Hojo vs. AZM & Hanan & Hiromi Mimura & HZK & Io Shirai & Jungle Kyona & Konami & Mayu Iwatani & Natsuko Tora & Ruaka
6/11/17
Wonder Of Stardom Title Match: Mayu Iwatani vs. Hana Kimura
Io Shirai vs. HZK
6/17/17 Artist Of Stardom Title Match: AZM & HZK & Io Shirai vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona & Kaori Yoneyama
6/21/17
Hiromi Mimura & Konami & Yoko Bito vs. Rebel & Kaori Yoneyama & Natsuko Tora
Goddesses Of Stardom Title Match: Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona vs. Hana Kimura & Kagetsu
World Of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani
Azumi vs. Arisu Nanase
Kris Wolf vs. Natsuko Tora
Viper vs. Hiromi Mimura vs. Shayna Baszler
Kay Lee Ray & Nixon Newell vs. Kairi Hojo & Konami
HZK & Io Shirai & Momo Watanabe vs. Jungle Kyona & Mayu Iwatani & Yoko Bito
Arisu Nanase & Azumi vs. Natsuko Tora & Ruaka
HZK vs. Konami vs. Kris Wolf
Saori Ano vs. Hiromi Mimura
Shanya Bazler vs. Jungle Kyona vs. Momo Watanabe
Goddesses of Stardom Title Match: Kairi Hojo & Yoko Bito vs. Kay Lee Ray & Nixon Newell
World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Viper 19:58
Arisu Nanase & Azumi vs. Natsuko Tora & Ruaka
HZK vs. Konami vs. Kris Wolf
Saori Ano vs. Hiromi Mimura
Shanya Bazler vs. Jungle Kyona vs. Momo Watanabe
Goddesses of Stardom Title Match: Kairi Hojo & Yoko Bito vs. Kay Lee Ray & Nixon Newell
World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Viper 19:58
12/23/15 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, World of Stardom Title Match: Meiko Satomura vs. Io Shirai 24:50. Stardom's final match of the year saw their ace trying to give the promotion a happy new year by taking the title back from the Sendai Girls founder, who has already beaten their other two top wrestlers, Kairi Hojo & Mayu Iwatani. Whenever these two get together, everyone wins because they are the top of the game, and put on a match that sets out to once again prove it. Satomura's previous title matches had limiting factors, a programmed opponent who reverts to forms in Hojo & no time & apparently not high enough ranking in Mayu, but tonight she could be the best version of herself. Each had an opponent they could trust & didn't have to carry, an opponent who could confidently & competently do every style, make every counter, take every bump, and the time to go in whatever direction(s) they chose, so they were free to do whatever they wanted. Shirai succeeded in defeating Satomura in the midst of her big World of Stardom run in 2014, but still played the underdog here against an ass kicking opponent who is actually somehow still at her peak despite just celebrating the 20th anniversary of her debut. Last year's match tried to work up to Io getting her flying in, but didn't have a clear vision of how to build the match in steps to make this work, & ultimately wound up going from hitting next to nothing spectacular to hitting everything that wasn't countered with something more or less equally as flashy. No one is watching Io to see the utmost believability, so it worked better that they opted for the less ambitious but more workable story of just having Satomura dominate from the outset, with Io able to make brief comebacks when she stunned Satomura with some kind of kick, even if only a dropkick. Satomura was at her brutal best here, delivering the same sort of monstrous beatdown she gave Hojo in the 6 vs 6 on 11/12/15, except for an extra 15 minutes, resulting in Shirai getting the Shinya Hashimoto bloody nose. Shirai was at her most charismatic, popping the crowd with each brief but spirited comeback, really seeming to have a home promotion advantage in this epic battle of the two best women in the sport. She got an imperfect moonsault off the Korakuen entrance in, but just as the momentum seemed to have finally shifted in her favor, Satomura countered her swandive missile kick attempt with a big Dory Funk Jr. elbow off the ropes to the floor. They should have played this up as a near KO & had the big Satomura run that came a few minutes later after the backdrop on the floor, but instead Io came right back catching a kick when she was on the apron & leaping to the floor, wrenching Satomura's knee in the middle rope. I did like that Io tied Satomura up in the ropes so Satomura couldn't counter the swandive missile kick this time. As with the 7/10/04 match, the 2nd half was throwing bombs, but it worked better this time because they did so much in the first half that they didn't feel they had to go for pure spectacle. They were able to take the time to set things up a little better & milk some drama, so it didn't just feel like an elongated finishing sequence. Satomura was also able to use her submissions. You figured it would come down to the Death Valley bomb though, and when Satomura got her legs up for a moonsault & hit 2 in a row the writing seemed to be on the wall, but this was a wild night, & Shirai slipped out of the third & hit a Dragon suplex, a diving elbow for Hojo, & a moonsault for the win. This was the match I hoped for with Mayu vs. Satomura & then some, one where they went all out from start to finish & threw out everything they could trying to have a match of the year. It was a bit goofy at times, mainly the comebacks, but the work was tremendous & these are the two aces, so it was going to take something over the top to get the job done here. The amazing thing about this match is although it was the longest of Io's Stardom notable matches of 2015, it still felt really short in a the best possible way, in that you wanted more & more because it was so good but this time it felt complete. ****1/4
1/17/16 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, World Of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Kairi Hojo 29:31
2/21/16 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Viper 16:20
3/26/16 Niigata Shibata Sun Village Arena, World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. The Alpha Female digest of 13:18
5/15/16 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani 21:54. Great match!
5/20/16 Frankreich Gymnase Du Four A Chaux in Beziers, World Of Stardom Title: Io Shirai vs. Kasey Owens digest of 11:43
9/22/16 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, World Of Stardom Title: Io Shirai vs. Kay Lee Ray 13:02
10/30/16 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, World Of Stardom Title: Io Shirai vs. Yoko Bito 19:25
11/23/16 Fukuoka Hakata Starlanes: World Of Stardom Title: Io Shirai vs. Taya digest of 17:11
12/22/16 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani 17:11. Great match
1/15/17 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Viper 19:58
Kaori Yoneyama vs. Arisu Nanase vs. Ruaka
Konami vs. Natsuko Tora
Christi Jaynes & Deonna Purrazzo & Shayna Baszler vs. Kagetsu & Kris Wolf & Viper
ICW Womens Title Match: Kay Lee Ray vs. Jungle Kyona
HZK & Io Shirai & Momo Watanabe vs. Hiromi Mimura & Mayu Iwatani & Yoko Bito
Wonder of Stardom Title Match: Kairi Hojo vs. Nixon Newell
Kris Wolf vs. Ruaka
Zoe Lucas vs. Hiromi Mimura
Christi James & Deonna Purrazzo & Shayna Baszler vs. Arisu Nanase & Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora
Io Shirai vs. Konami 9:55. The more shoot oriented opponents - Konami, Baszler & Satomura (unfortunately only in tag, and Mayu was really the one that was into doing the thing with her) - are bringing out a better, more dialed in version of Shirai this year. When left to her devices, Shirai is just kind of on autopilot, executing exceptionally and running through the flashy spots in between taking a bunch of the opponents offense, mostly in more of an exhibition manner, not really developing the match in an interesting manner or fighting with any urgency or intensity. Granted, she is still an incredibly reliable performer, who even managed to have something of a passable 26 minute match with one of the most athletically inept in shape performers to ever take part in combat sports in Yoko Bito after the endless disaster that was Bito vs. Iroha, but it feels like the uphill battle of trying to carry so many mediocre opponents in featured singles matches is breaking Shirai down both physically and mentally in 2017. Konami isn't an opponent that needs help, other than someone who is capable of doing something more realistic. Had Kana not abandoned her young protege when she joined the circus, Konami might have become one of the biggest stars in Japan, but without any real consolidation of former Mariko Yoshida trainees coalescing in 2017, she's kind of just a ronin floating around aimlessly. In any case, this Konami match was the first of the bunch against shooters, and arguably the best minute for minute. Certainly, it was much more riveting than what we are seeing from Io otherwise, particularly in the early portions, because there was more effort put into actually getting something to work. They were moving more realistically, and being cautious and apprehensive about what they were trying to do and how they were doing it in a good way that made it seem like there are actual stakes. The brevity of the contest still forced them to move to the more flashy Io stuff quicker than they should have, but Konami really kept Io on her toes, and that brought out the much better version of Io. It was mostly Konami's offense early on that was kicks and knees, but the key spot where Io broke cleanly on the ropes only to have Konami reverse her and land a cheap high kick really set the stage for Io to be more aggressive and bring some of the beatdown in between flying around. For the most part, Io was supplying the high quality work, but Konami was keeping it intense and somewhat credible, hanging in there by countering the fancy stuff with her shoot oriented offense. The element of surprise was key here, whether from the counters or the way they evolved the offense, for instance Konami using a schoolboy just to get Io down so she could transition right into an Achilles' tendon hold. Konami had a nice kneebar counter for the Tiger driver. Later, Konami kicked Io when she was on the top rope preparing for the moonsault, then pulled her into a rear naked choke. Io did a good job of making Konami seem to be a credible challenger with dangerous offense even though we knew there was zero chance Konami was winning. Shirai actually won this with a flash pin, which normally might seem cheesy, but worked in the context of this match, which was more about creating openings. This match would have benefitted from more time to develop, but at least they actually made good use of the time they had. Their 9/3/17 rematch in the 5Min Grand Prix failed to recapture the aura of this match by getting Konami over as a dangerous shooter. Shirai still sold a lot, as usual, but Konami just felt like any old opponent who just happened to be doing kicks and submissions. It was nonetheless one of the more energetic performances of the year by Shirai, but felt very rushed despite only being 43 seconds shorter and not particulary shoot oriented. It's well worth watching, and Konami's work there fits in much better with the junior style match Io is typically doing, but very much at the price of it never feeling like Konami was fighting in her usual credible manner. ***
SWA Womens Title Match: Toni Storm vs. Viper
Kairi Hojo & Yoko Bito vs. HZK & Io Shirai
Azumi vs. Ruaka
Kris Wolf vs. Arisu Nanase
Christi James vs. Natsuko Tora
Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona & Konami vs. Hiromi Mimura & Kairi Hojo & Yoko Bito
Deonna Purazzo & Shayna Baszler vs. HZK & Io Shirai vs. Toni Storm & Zoe Lucas
Azumi vs. Ruaka
Kris Wolf vs. Arisu Nanase
Christi James vs. Natsuko Tora
Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona & Konami vs. Hiromi Mimura & Kairi Hojo & Yoko Bito
Deonna Purazzo & Shayna Baszler vs. HZK & Io Shirai vs. Toni Storm & Zoe Lucas
Hiromi Mimura vs. Arisu Nanase vs. Ruaka
Toni Storm vs. Konami
Kagetsu & Kris Wolf vs. Mayu Iwatani & Zoe Lucas
Christi James & Deonna Purrazzo & Shayna Baszler vs. AZM & HZK & Io Shirai
Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona & Kaori Yoneyama vs. Kairi Hojo & Natsuko Tora & Yoko Bito
Elimination Tag Match: AZM & HZK vs. Arisu Nanase & Hiromi Mimura vs. Christi James & Zoe Lucas vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Natsuko Tora
Yoko Bito vs. Konami
SWA Undisputed Womens Title Match: Toni Storm vs. Deonna Purrazzo
High Speed Title: Mayu Iwatanai vs. Kagetsu vs. Kris Wolf
Wonder of Stardom Title Match: Kairi Hojo vs. Jungle Kyona
World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Shayna Baszler 16:45. Baszler was one of my favorites in early women's MMA, a fun and charismatic character who was the only fighter to carry or mimic playing the guitar that didn't just come off as a poser. Trained by Billy Robinson and Josh Barnett, she was a natural crossover to pro wrestling, as she already had incorporated many aspects into her MMA persona, in an interesting rather than jackass Colby Covington kind of manner. This was a much different match for Io, and that made it exciting, as she couldn't just do her usual high flying routine given she was facing a deadly shooter who was a couple weight classes above her. Shirai totally did Baszler's match, which was probably both necessary because Baszler is somewhat green, and certainly logical because Baszler's shooting background requires this to look different if it's to work properly. Shirai's greatness was displayed by finding all sorts of ways to adapt despite being so far out of her own comfort zone. Baszler was a lot of fun as the sadistic technical fighter who methodically picked Io apart, and the match had quite a bit of good arm work from Shayna, as well as a less than satisfying back storyline from Io, though that was as much due to Baszler's goofy overselling as Shirai's offensive choices. The early portion was really where the match was firing on all cylinders, especially some neat stuff with Baszler making Io pay for trying to use lucha libre against real fighting, countering the leapfrog with a big slam, and stopping Shirai's charge dead with a knee. Baszler's arm work was fairly credible, and certainly really nasty. The match began to fall apart when referee Daichi Murayama began interjecting himself, turning a serious encounter where they were getting over the major stakes into the sort of cornball shit we regularly get from clowns such as Red Shoes. First, Murayama was arguing with Baszler for hanging Shirai in the corner with a rear naked choke. Later, instead of stopping the match when Io went out from what now had to be a rear naked chinlock, he forced Baszler to release the hold and go for three count, which Io barely kicked out of, then of course he didn't just stop the match when she couldn't get back to her feet because no pro wrestling match can be complete without an unconscious fighter being allowed a minute to get ready to receive their next concussion. This ultimately would have been less lame if Murayama was a heel ref, and actively trying to stall for Io. Instead, it made less than no sense, especially with Baszler having just won the trios title with a choke. To make matters worse, you had the grand champion Shirai only being able to gain an advantage due to ref distraction in a match where she was looking to break her own record for title defenses. In any case, Shirai did some flying, and supposedly hurt Baszler's back whipping her into a crowd barrier, which would have come off much better if Baszler didn't clearly just leap over it, and then proceed to sell in a ridiculously over the top manner. Baszler came back with a gutwrench suplex off the second and then another one in the ring, but her selling of her back was so ridiculous that it was taking me way out of the moment. Baszler's offense was a great combination of technical precision and sadistic brutality though, and I was enjoying pretty much everything she was doing other than selling. I liked the focus on the arm and the back, but these spots were largely just leading to overdone selling, which was killing the flow of the match. Particularly, Baszler's offense felt a little clunky because she was killing so much time waiting for Io to recover rather than pressing her advantage and taking her out like a shooter is supposed to do. Shirai was able to finally hit her moonsalt because Baszler was arguing with the ref over a closed fist punch. Perhaps our biggest takeaway from this match is that pro wrestling is really great for promoting improper techniques! Baszler was rumored to have murmored, "If I'm going to participate in something this foolish, I might as well go to Stamford." Anyway, Baszler was able to get an armbar out of Shirai's pin attempt following the moonsault, but her back "failed her", and Io was able to counter back with a Texas cloverleaf variation to do in Baszler's back for good, allowing her to finish with the moonsault. This is one of those matches that's difficult to rate because, as is so often the case, so much excellent work by the wrestlers was done in by so many nonsensical interjections from the Vince Russo wannabe booker who is under the delusion that he's more important than the performers themselves. ***1/2
Elimination Tag Match: AZM & HZK vs. Arisu Nanase & Hiromi Mimura vs. Christi James & Zoe Lucas vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Natsuko Tora
Yoko Bito vs. Konami
SWA Undisputed Womens Title Match: Toni Storm vs. Deonna Purrazzo
High Speed Title 3 Way Match: Mayu Iwatanai vs. Kagetsu vs. Kris Wolf
Wonder of Stardom Title Match: Kairi Hojo vs. Jungle Kyona
World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Shayna Baszler
Kris Wolf vs. Christi James vs. Natsuko Tora
Deonna Purrazzo & Shayna Baszler vs. Arisu Nanase & Mayu Iwatani
Konami & Yoko Bito vs. Toni Storm & Zoe Lucas
Hiromi Mimura & Jungle Kyona & Kairi Hojo vs. AZM & HZK & Io Shirai
Natsuko Tora vs. Deonna Purrazzo
Konami vs. Zoe Lucas
Mayu Iwatani & Arisu Nanase vs. Kagetsu & Kris Wolf
Yoko Bito & Toni Storm vs. Shayna Baszler & Christi James
Io Shirai & HZK & AZK vs. Kairi Hojo & Jungle Kyona & Hiromi Mimura
Behind the scenes footages, interviews, & highlights of Io Shirai leading up to her 10th anniversary show on 3/14
Hiromi Mimura vs. AZM vs. Natsuko Tora
Konami vs. Arisu Nanase
Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona vs. Christi James & Zoe Lucas
Kairi Hojo & Mayu Iwatani & Yoko Bito vs. Deonna Purrazzo & Shayna Baszler & Toni Storm
Kagetsu & Kris Wolf vs. HZK & Io Shirai
AZM vs. Arisu Nanase
Konami & Mayu Iwatani & Natsuko Tora vs. Christi Jaynes & Deonna Purrazzo & Zoe Lucas
High Speed Title 3 Way Match: Kris Wolf vs. Hiromi Mimura vs. HZK
SWA Undisputed Womens Title Match: Toni Storm vs. Shayna Baszler
World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Kagetsu
Goddesses of Stardom Title Match: Kairi Hojo & Yoko Bito vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona
AZM vs & Natsuko Tora
Kris Wolf vs. HZK vs. Kagetsu
Minoru Suzuki & Midnight Angel vs. KAI & Black Midnight Devil (Kaori Yoneyama)
Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Toni Storm
Kari Hojo & Yoko Bito & Konami vs. Hiromi Mimura & Aoi Kizuki & Jungle Kyona
Io Shirai & Meiko Satomura vs. Mayu Iwatani & Chihiro Hashimoto 19:17. ***1/2
AZM vs & Natsuko Tora
Kris Wolf vs. HZK vs. Kagetsu
Minoru Suzuki & Midnight Angel vs. KAI & Black Midnight Devil (Kaori Yoneyama)
Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Toni Storm
Kari Hojo & Yoko Bito & Konami vs. Hiromi Mimura & Aoi Kizuki & Jungle Kyona
Io Shirai & Meiko Satomura vs. Mayu Iwatani & Chihiro Hashimoto 19:17. A year ago, Thunder Rock had one of the joshi matches of the century with the random tag team of Satomura and Kairi Hojo, the best match of Satomura & Hojo's careers because everyone took every moment seriously, and worked at full speed and intensity to have an urgent and brutal match that wound up being much more amazing than it had the right to be. This match actually sounded better on paper because Hashimoto is much more interesting and capable than Hohum, and you had actual rivalries here, with the young stars trying to take over for the established veterans rather than simply just Satomura looking for some revenge on Shirai for recapturing the title for STARDOM. Also, the pairings were better with Shirai & Satomura forming a dream team of sorts because now Shirai and Iwatani got to wrestle one another, and you had the generational rivalry. Unfortunately, this match was nowhere near the all-out Match of the Year effort of the 3/21/16 contest, in part because they didn't bother telling any sort of compelling story, but mostly because it was largely devoid of the intensity and ferocity that made last year's bout so electric and compelling. Iwatani was still at that level. Iwatani really got how the match still needed to be worked, taking it seriously as a rivalry match where something was actually at stake. She was still pushing herself in 2017, trying to grow, and was the only one who possibly gave a better performance this year. Satomura was fantastic in the brutal 3/21/16 match, a career performance, and once again gave one of her more interesting performances. Satomura's style, of course, naturally tends towards the sort of credibility a rivally match needs, but this time it was largely her not working as much as the others that allowed her to just stick to the hard hitting stuff she does well, and not have to fill in the showy and repetitive stuff around it, rather than a conscious effort to give the best sort of Yumiko Hotta badass performance. This was a less is more performance though, which was fine in the sense that, in theory, without Hojo she wasn't required to be the entire team. The match could have been as good or better despite Satomura not being as much of the big boss, but this time they didn't really bother to tell a story at all, or put the time into developing the roles of the workers. There was a different dynamic because whereas underdog Hojo initiated next to nothing and required Satomura to bail her out, Shirai can obviously handle herself as well as anyone, and for some reason Hashimoto was initiating constantly and sold for a ton, which was a tremendous liability since, as with Hojo, in these surroundings she's just miles out of her depth talent and skill wise. Satomura vs. Iwatani was not only the best pairing, but the only one that didn't really disappoint. Their segments were again brutal and intense exchanges, and it was more impressive that their work stood out so much this time given the heat was on Iwatani vs. Shirai, and those two were the ones who have had great matches together. Shirai was rather disappointing here. She did not seem dialed in at all against Hashimoto, who she mostly just reacted to without much interest. This match was meant to celebrate her 10th anniversary, so people were naturally going to root for her more than usual. She was supposed to be the heel here though, but only Mayu was able to put forth the notion that she cared a lot more about hurting the opposition, and thus displayed the aggression Shirai should have brought. Hashimoto didn't bring much to the match, and Shirai wasn't able to elevate Hashimoto's level because whereas Shirai was completely in charge when Hojo was in the ring, by default, she now allowed Hashimoto to take it to her the whole time, once in a while making a nice counter. Shirai seemed bored working with Hashimoto, who was just a basic second-year powerhouse at this point. Given Hashimoto had been Sendai Girls champ for a year, one would expect her to actually have something to offer at this level, but that was a lot of smoke and mirrors put forth by DASH Chisako, Aja Kong, and Satomura, and unfortunately Shirai didn't even attempt to maintain the illusion. This left us with a very green worker carrying much of the match, and while, Hashimoto can throw her body around, even Nanae can do that (although points to Hashimoto for not injuring the opponent in the process). I like Hashimoto a lot more, especially as time goes on and she gains the experience to improve and round out her game, but as much as it kills me to say it, Hojo was way more useful in this spot last year because Io was focused and working hard taking it to her, rather than breezing along with what little Hashimoto had to throw at her, and Hojo can be programmed to simply sell a ton and just hit hard when she's given the opportunity to do something. Tonight's match began on the wrong foot with Shirai against Hashimoto, who didn't set an intense or heated tone the way Satomura did last year. Iwatani and Satomura would try to correct this, but the match just wasn't consistent because they were short a worker who could hang with or engage Shirai. The first 10 minutes of this match were fine, if somewhat underachieving, then the match tried to take off when Satomura made the hot tag and had a big exchange with Iwatani. All the Satomura vs. Iwatani stuff was stiff and intense, but then we'd be right back to the inelegance of Hashimoto vs. the cutesiness of Shirai. There was some good stuff from them, but it was uneven, and the pairing certainly didn't bring out the best in Shirai despite Hashimoto definitely trying hard and being enthusiastic. On 3/21/16, they did everything they could to utilize the talent to the fullest, tonight they just got by on talent, and most of that talent wasn't even firing on all cylinders. Granted, that talent is still considerable, given all these women will make some hall of fames or other when they hang it up, but it takes everyone being on their A game to produce a classic such as we saw last March. Outside of Mayu vs. Meiko, this was certainly more of a fun match than an all-out war. ***1/2
Kaori Yoneyama & Natsuko Tora vs. Arisu Nanase & Ruaka
AZM & HZK vs. Christi Jaynes & Deonna Purrazzo
High Speed Title Match: Kris Wolf vs. Hiromi Mimura
Mayu Iwatani vs. Hana Kimura
SWA Undisputed Title Match: Toni Storm vs. Jungle Kyona
World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Kairi Hojo
Kaori Yoneyama & Natsuko Tora vs. Arisu Nanase & Ruaka
AZM & HZK vs. Christi Jaynes & Deonna Purrazzo
High Speed Title Match: Kris Wolf vs. Hiromi Mimura
Mayu Iwatani vs. Hana Kimura
SWA Undisputed Title Match: Toni Storm vs. Jungle Kyona
World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Kairi Hojo 22:38. Of anyone left in STARDOM, Hojo was the one who could be said to have Shirai's number, as she at least beat her in the World Of Stardom Title Tournament Final on 3/29/15, and was also the last woman to pin Io in a singles match on 9/3/16. The initial portion tonight was really good at making this seem like a big important title match. That was what was so lacking in Shirai's previous title match against Kagetsu, which seemed like a surefire hit except it wasn't the main event, and just never had any aura or atmosphere because despite Kagetsu being one of their most talent workers, they hadn't gotten her over to the point anyone could give her any chance to win. Shirai & Hojo were motivated for this match though, as they knew it would be their last in STARDOM, since Hojo was moving on from protending to be a real wrestler. Shirai & Hojo were tentative at the outset in a great way, as neither wanted to make the first mistake and get behind. Hojo slapped the canvas when she lost the test of strength, but was then able to counter back and forth in the second exchange to come out even. These exchanges were nothing exceptional in and of themselves, pretty much anyone in wrestling school can do them, but they were effective in laying the foundation for the importance of everything they were doing currently, and going forward. This both exemplified the strength and the weakness of this match in a nutshell though, as when it was on point, they were able to elevate somewhat mundane action into something that felt meaningful, but the lack of storytelling going forward resulted in a lot of it being rather underwhelming compared to the high standard Shirai has set. Mostly what they did was play off their previous encounters via callbacks and counters, which was good, but what else really could they do given Hojo never evolves her offense? Io was always a step ahead of Hojo, in good part because Hojo's offense is literally a handful of moves, to the point she pretty much only had one option for an actual move given the current setup and positioning of the wrestlers, and the rest of the time it was just the elbow or the breast slap. The highlight of Hojo being so predictable and easy to counter came when Io stopped her run of slaps in the corner by simply walking out of the corner! Some of the other counters were obviously more skillful and elaborate, but nothing was so hilarious! As they tried to pick up the action though, the problem of Hojo being so vanilla began to come to the fore. They basically just threw in some high flying, such as Io's entrance moonsault, then went back to more strikes or body work. Hojo eventually attacked Io's back, but when her idea of that was a standing Boston crab in the ropes, or in other words simply holding Io's legs, it was difficult to get too excited about or take it too seriously. Io was on the offensive the majority of the match since she actually has things she can do, and the best way to mask an unskilled robot is to just have them taking the whole time. They wisely set up Hojo for the big energetic babyface comeback, but it was too brief, as after Hojo hit a big diving footstomp to Io's back, they immediately killed the energy with a Boston crab, as if anyone believed Io was really going to submit to that nonsense. They did everything you would expect, for better and worse, and in the end, it felt like they were short on material due to Hojo's limited move set and capabilities, and were never able to take the match to a really exceptional level. Individual moves and counters by Shirai were, of course, impressive, and the match definitely worked, but if we are talking about the really great stuff, this falls very short of hitting an excellent level, even for moments here and there. It's just kind of rudimentary due to Hojo. That could still have worked if it had more urgency or intensity, but those aspects kind of flagged after the initial portion. While it's definitely not a bunch of stalling or meandering, it kind of settled in as a medium big match, never feeling like either had to really push themselves to find another level or even something above and beyond to leave with the belt. Hojo was able to kick out of the moonsault once before she was pinned in it, but that doesn't really qualify as taking it to the limit. Io definitely did a great job here in carrying this match, but even she can only take things so far. She did what she could, and definitely pulled one of the best singles matches of Hojo's career out of her. In a tag, you can spot Hojo and work around her a lot more to potentially manage something better, but she's kind of capped at about the ***1/2 level in a singles match, even against the best of the best. ***1/2
Arisu Nanase vs. Ruaka
Hana Kimura & Kris Wolf & La Rosa Negra vs. Christi Jaynes & Deonna Purrazzo & Zoe Lucas
Mayu Iwatani vs. Natsuko Tora
AZM & HZK & Io Shirai vs. Hiromi Mimura & Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona
Wonder of Stardom Title Match: Kairi Hojo vs. Konami
Ruaka vs. Hanan
Kris Wolf vs. AZM
Hetzza & Kaori Yoneyama vs. Arisu Nanase & Konami
Jessicka Havok vs. Natsuko Tora
Kris Wolf & La Rosa Negra & Sumie Sakai vs. Hiromi Mimura & Kairi Hojo & Mayu Iwatani
Goddesses of Stardom Title Match: Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona vs. HZK & Io Shirai
Kris Wolf vs. AZM vs. Kaori Yoneyama
Kagetsu vs. Natsuko Tora
HZK & Io Shirai vs. Hiromi Mimura & Kairi Hojo
SWA Undisputed Womens Title Match: Toni Storm vs. La Rosa Negra
Jungle Kyona & Konami & Mayu Iwatani vs. Hetzza & Jessicka Havok & Tessa Blanchard
Hanan vs. AZM vs. Kaori Yoneyama vs. Ruaka
1st RD: HZK vs. Jungle Kyona
1st RD: Jessicka Havok vs. Natsuko Tora
1st RD: Tessa Blanchard vs. Kris Wolf
1st RD: Kagetsu vs. Konami
1st RD: Mayu Iwatani vs. Hetzza
1st RD: Toni Storm vs. Rebel
1st RD: Kairi Hojo vs. Hiromi Mimura
1st RD: Io Shirai vs. Hana Kimura
QTR Final: Toni Storm vs. Tessa Blanchard
QTR Final: HZK vs. Kairi Hojo
QTR Final: Mayu Iwatani vs. Kagetsu
QTR Final: Io Shirai vs. Jessicka Havok
Cinderella Tournament 2017 Final: Toni Storm vs. Mayu Iwatani 13:01
Hanan vs. AZM vs. Kaori Yoneyama vs. Ruaka
1st RD: HZK vs. Jungle Kyona
1st RD: Jessicka Havok vs. Natsuko Tora
1st RD: Tessa Blanchard vs. Kris Wolf
1st RD: Kagetsu vs. Konami
1st RD: Mayu Iwatani vs. Hetzza
1st RD: Toni Storm vs. Rebel
1st RD: Kairi Hojo vs. Hiromi Mimura
1st RD: Io Shirai vs. Hana Kimura
QTR Final: Toni Storm vs. Tessa Blanchard
QTR Final: HZK vs. Kairi Hojo
QTR Final: Mayu Iwatani vs. Kagetsu
QTR Final: Io Shirai vs. Jessicka Havok
Finals: Toni Storm vs. Mayu Iwatani 13:01. This was their third match of the day, and even though their first two only amounted to about 7 minutes total, they were really putting over the toll of those matches. This resulted in a slower, and somewhat disappointing final given the talent involved. This wasn't exactly the best situation for Iwatani to shine, as Storm wasn't working a lot of sequences or generally giving her a ton of opportunities to show what a great worker she is, but Iwatani nonetheless totally made the match. She was very good, while Storm was fine but not particularly compelling, with her rather straightforward power game. I really liked the early matwork because it was a more MMA oriented version of the usual chain wrestling. It just seemed more credible and less throwaway, even though ultimately that's what it was. Also, this was when they were really working together, as the match progressed, it was mostly Mayu selling for Storm then briefly running/jumping at her. The slower pace was definitely an advantage for Storm, who was generally overwhelming Iwatani with her power. When Iwatani was able to use her quickness and athleticism, she could gain the advantage, but Storm's size was definitely a problem keeping her from sustaining it. Iwatani not surprisingly did a good job of playing the underdog, with strong selling and comebacks. Overall, the match could have benefited from more pace and more urgency. Storm was rather methodical, which is partially also because she doesn't have a ton to do in between her usual impressive power moves. I want to say that given the 3rd match of the day and the 15 minute time limit this worked but definitely didn't compel or excite the audience the way they are capable of, but it feels a bit of an excuse given this is the length that is actually best for what Storm has to offer, as once again shown by the dragging melodramatic faux epic 5/14/17 30:00 draw with Io Shirai that just crawled along throughout, with nothing particularly useful or interesting occuring during at least the first half, and then more of the silly Daichi nonsense we saw in the Baszler title challenge again just killing (what little) momentum they'd (finally) built up (through a few good minutes of action), though sadly Shirai was legitimately injured in that contest, so Murayama's improvising was more reasonable there. ***
Konami vs. Hanan
AZM & HZK vs. Hetzza & Hiromi Mimura vs. Hana Kimura & Kris Wolf
Jessicka Havok & Rebel & Tessa Blanchard vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora
Kairi Hojo vs. Toni Storm
Dr. Wagner Jr & El Hijo Dr Wagner Jr & Io Shirai vs. Black Tiger & Dragon Heat & Mayu Iwatani
Ruaka vs. Hanan 5:32
Hiroyo Matsumoto & Rebel vs. Hetzza & Kaori Yoneyama 7:42
Jessicka Havok & Tessa Blanchard vs. Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora 9:30
Mayu Iwatani & Toni Storm vs. Hana Kimura & Kris Wolf 10:02
Artist Of Stardom Title Match: AZM & HZK & Io Shirai vs. Hiromi Mimura & Kairi Hojo & Konami 14:52
Ruaka vs. Hanan 5:32
Hiroyo Matsumoto & Rebel vs. Hetzza & Kaori Yoneyama 7:42
Jessicka Havok & Tessa Blanchard vs. Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora 9:30
Mayu Iwatani & Toni Storm vs. Hana Kimura & Kris Wolf 10:02
Artist Of Stardom Title Match: AZM & HZK & Io Shirai vs. Hiromi Mimura & Kairi Hojo & Konami 14:52
AZM vs. Ruaka 5:07
Kaori Yoneyama & Konami vs. Hanan & Hiroyo Matsumoto 9:58
Three Way Match: Hana Kimura vs. Hetzza vs. Rebel 3:02
Jessicka Havok & Tessa Blanchard vs. Natsuko Tora & Toni Storm 7:11
Io Shirai & Kairi Hojo & Mayu Iwatani vs. Hiromi Mimura & HZK & Jungle Kyona 20:11
AZM vs. Hanan
Hetzza & Hiromi Mimura & Konami vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Natsuko Tora & Ruaka
HZK vs. Hana Kimura vs. Rebel
Goddesses of Stardom Title Match: Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona vs. Jessicka Havok & Tessa Blanchard 12:32
Wonder of Stardom Title Match: Kairi Hojo vs. Mayu Iwatani 19:44
World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Toni Storm 30:00
AZM vs. Hanan
Hetzza & Hiromi Mimura & Konami vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Natsuko Tora & Ruaka
HZK vs. Hana Kimura vs. Rebel
Goddesses of Stardom Title Match: Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona vs. Jessicka Havok & Tessa Blanchard 12:32
Wonder of Stardom Title Match: Kairi Hojo vs. Mayu Iwatani 19:44. This began as kind of the same match as Io Shirai had with Hojo on 3/20/17, with the same strengths and weaknesses, and not just because Hojo basically made a career of doing the same few things. I once again liked the anticipation they were able to build up in the early exchanges, but then the match jumped ahead to the action with the requisite brawling on the floor and entranceway dive, which was nice to get things moving, but also felt forced because again Hojo is always doing the same few things. Once they were back in the ring, the match was forced to take a different path than the Shirai match, as Hojo was the champion here, and thus the theoretical favorite this time, although in reality everyone knew she was losing because she was about to join the circus. Nonetheless, Iwatani worked as the underdog, and thus Hojo had to get a lot more offense in, including working the back, which definitely was less interesting than when Shirai was dominating in March. Iwatani is by far the most motivated of the three in 2017 though, and she is both a lot more interested in actually doing things, as well as willing to put forth the effort in the lesser sequences and smaller interactions in order to sell the match as something that actually feels important. Iwatani's attitude and hard work goes a long way toward making her marginally good matches feel interesting, whereas Shirai's are feeling more by the numbers. Tonight's match turned when Iwatani began working over Hojo's right arm, including a nasty diving footstomp. This certainly wasn't the fastest paced Iwatani match ever, but it was much more spirited and intense than the sluggish Shirai versus Storm match that followed. It felt like they were actually advancing the match with what they were doing, and putting up a good struggle, even if it was never going to be confused with a sprint. Iwatani did some things that genuinely felt exciting though, bursts of energy to change the pace, whereas Shirai just displayed cool and clinical precision. Hojo is also a much more dramatic persona than Storm, which in this case was an advantage. This match felt more dynamic than slow, as they often picked the pace up, just not for very long stretches. They were able to mix things up enough to make it more interesting though by doing this. It may never have been great, and even felt a bit off at times, but it also never felt like it was dragging. There was actually some payoff to the body work, for instance, Iwatani was unable to maintain her bridge in the German suplex due to the backwork Hojo had done. For me, this was a much more interesting end to focus that we know isn't going to result in a submission than going overboard trying to act like these random non finishers are actually going to work. There wasn't really a big climax to this match, Iwatani was able to maintain her bridge in the Dragon suplex, and that was good enough. This match definitely benefited from being 20 minutes rather than 30, as Hojo was much more effective here getting by through her desire and charisma, rather than having to repeat the same old moves just to stretch it out. Hojo leaving could easily have been addition by subtraction, but the combination of Japan no longer seeming like the place to be, Shirai & Iwatani suffering injuries, Storm never defending the belt she wasn't supposed to have won when she was actually even around, and the insufferable retirement push of the sluggish, inept, and uncoordinated Z grade athlete Yoko Bites resulted in a rough second half of the year for the promotion even in spite of the great aquisition of Kagetsu. ***
World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Toni Storm 30:00
Hetzza vs. AZM 5:17
Hiromi Mimura & Kaori Yoneyama vs. Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora 9:21
Hana Kimura vs. Mayu Iwatani and Rebel 8:09
SWA Undisputed World Women's Title Match: Toni Storm vs. Jessicka Havok 7:48
Kairi Hojo & Konami vs. HZK & Io Shirai 10:18
Io Shirai & Kairi Hojo vs. HZK & Konami 16:12
Kaori Yoneyama vs. Hetzza 5:29
Jessicka Havok vs. AZM 2:08
Toni Storm vs. HZK 9:28
Io Shirai vs. Rebel 9:23
Artist Of Stardom Title Match: Hiromi Mimura & Kairi Hojo & Konami vs. Jungle Kyona & Mayu Iwatani & Natsuko Tora 19:47
Hanan vs. Ruaka 5:04
Hana Kimura vds. Rebel 8:40
Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora vs. Hetzza & Mayu Iwatani 10:45
Artist Of Stardom Title Match: Hiromi Mimura & Kairi Hojo & Konami vs. AZM & HZK & Io Shirai 15:20
Ten On One Gauntlet Match: Kairi Hojo vs. AZM & Hanan & Hiromi Mimura & HZK & Io Shirai & Jungle Kyona & Konami & Mayu Iwatani & Natsuko Tora & Ruaka
Kairi Hojo vs. Hanan 0:56
Kairi Hojo vs. Ruaka 0:58
Kairi Hojo vs. AZM 1:00
Kairi Hojo vs. Natsuko Tora 1:00
Kairi Hojo vs. Konami 1:00
Kairi Hojo vs. Jungle Kyona 1:00
Kairi Hojo vs. Mayu Iwatani 1:00
Kairi Hojo vs. Io Shirai 1:00
Kairi Hojo vs. HZK 0:40
Kairi Hojo vs. Hiromi Mimura 1:00
Exhibition Two On One Handicap Match: Hanan vs. Hina vs. Rina 5:00
AZM & Ruaka vs. Hetzza & Starlight Kid 5:45
Rebel & Shanna vs. Hiromi Mimura & Konami 9:56
Hiroyo Matsumoto & Kaori Yoneyama vs. Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora 9:45
Wonder Of Stardom Title Match: Mayu Iwatani vs. Hana Kimura 13:53
Io Shirai vs. HZK 13:33
Exhibition Two On One Handicap Match: Hanan vs. Hina & Rina 5:00
Hiromi Mimura & Starlight Kid vs. Hetzza & Ruaka 7:29
Three Way Match: Hana Kimura vs. Natsuko Tora vs. Rebel 9:52
Konami & Mayu Iwatani vs. Gabby Ortiz & Shanna 9:31
Artist Of Stardom Title Match: AZM & HZK & Io Shirai vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona & Kaori Yoneyama 16:48
Hanan & Hina vs. Rina & Ruaka 5:00
Starlight Kid vs. Hetzza 4:25
Gabby Ortiz & Shanna vs. AZM & HZK 10:03
Hiromi Mimura & Konami & Yoko Bito vs. Rebel & Kaori Yoneyama & Natsuko Tora 11:04
Goddesses Of Stardom Title Match: Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona vs. Hana Kimura & Kagetsu 16:33
World Of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani 27:52
Hanan & Hina vs. Rina & Ruaka 5:00
Starlight Kid vs. Hetzza 4:25
Gabby Ortiz & Shanna vs. AZM & HZK 10:03
Hiromi Mimura & Konami & Yoko Bito vs. Rebel & Kaori Yoneyama & Natsuko Tora 11:04
Goddesses Of Stardom Title Match: Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona vs. Hana Kimura & Kagetsu 16:33
World Of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani 27:52. Mayu had been on her own for about seven months now, and was embracing the lone wolf mentality. Her confidence in herself was growing at the same time the aura of the indomitable Io Shirai was somewhat fading. Yes, it's difficult to say that someone who had now held the title for 576 days running, downing every name foreigner they could unearth from the talented Kay Lee Ray, Kasey Owens, Shayna Baszler, & Toni Storm to the talentless Viper, Alpha Female, & Taya Valkyrie, was on the decline, but her neck had payed the price throughout the long hard journey, and Mayu's main weapon was designed to destroy even the healthiest of necks. We seemed poised to finally get the competitive match I've been waiting for. Ironically, as great as the trilogy was, none of the matches were even, back and forth sort of matches. Instead, they all felt like the one fighter was clearly better on that day, and was only going to lose if they made a mistake and got caught by the one big shot they knew they had to do everything in their power to avoid. It took a little while for us to realize it, but Io was now Misawa with the creaky neck hoping to hold up to however many drops on the head it would take to eventually hit the one big finisher and escape. So in that sense, Iwatani now had options, while Shirai, after a good start, really just had to find her way to the moonsault. Mayu went all the way from needing the Dragon suplex to practically even gain a real advantage in their first title match, to dominating most of the time once this match got going. It showed both her own growth and Io's deterioration, as Mayu no longer felt desperate, while Io no longer felt like the teacher who always had every answer, and was thus a step or two ahead of her student. Io wasn't going to give up any time soon, but there was the growing sense that her will was much more sturdy than her body. So yes, this match was very different from the other two, but at the same time, while a little more competitive, it was largely just one-sided in the other direction, with Io now barely getting any near falls. Still, the outcome was arguably most in doubt because we needed to actually see Mayu win a real match over Io, and generally in Japan, if the bigger name is selling the whole time, they ultimately win. This was the longest of their championship trilogy by about 5 minutes, but also the slowest by a mile, feeling more like a stretched out wannabe epic men's match with all the extra time devoted to selling. Right from the outset, rather than the quick starts of their previous two matches, they were suddenly hesitant to even lock up. It's amazing that Io could still give this level a performance in the shape she was in, but at the same time, this match was a lot more smoke and mirrors than their 2016 matches. They did as many big spots as perhaps they could, but in between, they didn't do nearly as much wrestling wise, instead just trying to milk everything for drama. Io selling heavily was certainly more reasonable than Mayu doing it too. Mayu could arguably have sold her knee better in the 2nd match because that could have been an injury that was compromising her ability to perform if done differently, but here she had moved far more to the overselling camp than the underselling one, because now we were just stuck in the hurts/forgotten pattern of selling everything big to keep things slow because Io was struggling physically. This drawn out style works better for lesser wrestlers who lack material and options, but doesn't really suit what Shirai & Iwatani have to offer and do best. As strong as these matches all were, it was mostly because their skill and athleticism was just so far above what any other women currently wrestling were physically capable of, with a few exceptions such as Arisa Nakajima, DASH Chisako, & Tsukasa Fujimoto. None of the matches were truly satisfying in the sense of really exciting me with the sense of wonder of who was going to come out on top, and how it was going to happen. The second match was the closest to feeling complete, but it was the least original of the three. The first match was the most original of the three, but it was also the least competitive. In this third match, they did the most big moves, but it took the longest to get going, had the least tempo and flow with the more overdramatic American trappings in full effect, and generally just felt kind of drawn out with the standing/laying around between each spot accounting for the extra 5-10 minutes, and then some. Mayu was much nicer than in their first match when they were best friends, perhaps because Io's neck really was too bad to take anymore punishment than necessary. She started off trying to do other things, partially due to Io making her pay for trying the Dragon suplex on the floor and in the ring. One could argue that maybe Mayu didn't need to attack the neck. She was doing great comparatively speaking, having already nearly gotten a ring out after a plancha off the fan entrance, and generally had Shirai stumbling around and holding her neck even without specifically targeting it. Allowing Shirai to hang around was risky business though. It wasn't until Shirai stopped the avalanche style Dragon suplex that Mayu really took advantage, audibling into jumping off the top rope and jerking Io's neck (theoretically ramming it into the metal cable that attaches the turnbuckle and post). Mayu was now able to hit the killer Dragon suplex on the apron. The selling of these big spots would have seemed much better if they weren't already overselling everything that came before, which just made it feel as though there wasn't the same of urgency we saw in their earlier encounters. Right after this though, when you were thinking Shirai was close to dead, the match finally took off, with the explosion of mostly uninterrupted action that would have worked better when they were actually healthy. Mayu managed to kick out of the moonsault, which made Io's neck hurt even more! Shirai tried to use a tombstone to set up another moonsault, but Mayu countered with a tombstone of her own, and nearly won with a locomotion Dragon suplex. Mayu was then able to execute her modified Dragon Suplex for the first time in the trilogy to take the title. The title finally going to the best wrestler the STARDOM dojo has produced was obviously very well deserved. I mean, for heaven's sake, Yoshiko of all talentless stiffs and disgusting individuals managed to win STARDOM's top title 3 years after debuting on their first show with Iwatani, and Kairi Hohum, who was from the next year's rookie class, also somehow leaped over Iwatani and got it in 3 years compared to the 6 it somehow took Iwatani. It was time to change the title, and Iwatani was the right person for the job, even though bad luck ultimately kept her reign from panning out. ****
Hanan & Hiromi Mimura vs. Ruaka & Starlight Kid 8:20
Konami vs. Hetzza 5:21
Shanna vs. Gabby Ortiz 9:18
Hana Kimura & Kagetsu vs. AZM & HZK 12:19
Mayu Iwatani & Yoko Bito vs. Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora 16:16
HZK vs. Hetzza 5:01
Hana Kimura vs. Gabby Ortiz 8:29
Kagetsu vs. Shanna 15:00
Hiromi Mimura & Mayu Iwatani vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Natsuko Tora 16:03
Jungle Kyona & Kaori Yoneyama vs. Konami & Yoko Bito 16:11
Exhibition Two On One Handicap Match: Hina & Rina vs. Ruaka 5:00
Starlight Kid vs. Hanan 5:59
Hana Kimura & Kagetsu vs. Gabby Ortiz & Shanna 12:38
Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora vs. AZM & HZK 12:42
Konami & Yoko Bito vs. Hiromi Mimura & Mayu Iwatani 10:24
AZM vs. Hanan vs. Ruaka 6:49
Natsuko Tora vs. Shiki Shibusawa 8:29
Gabby Ortiz & Mary Apache & Xia Brookside vs. Hiromi Mimura & Konami & Starlight Kid 12:50
High Speed Title Match: Kris Wolf vs. Shanna 13:10
Goddesses Of Stardom Title Match: Hana Kimura & Kagetsu vs. HZK & Jungle Kyona 15:53
World Of Stardom Title Match: Mayu Iwatani vs. Yoko Bito 17:20
AZM vs. Hanan and Ruaka 6:49
Natsuko Tora vs. Shiki Shibusawa 8:29
Gabby Ortiz & Mary Apache & Xia Brookside vs. Hiromi Mimura & Konami & Starlight Kid 12:50
High Speed Title Match: Kris Wolf vs. Shanna 13:10
Goddesses Of Stardom Title Match: Hana Kimura & Kagetsu vs. HZK & Jungle Kyona 15:53
World Of Stardom Title Match: Mayu Iwatani vs. Yoko Bito 17:20
Shiki Shibusawa & Starlight Kid vs. Hanan & Ruaka 7:36
Gabby Ortiz & Xia Brookside vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Natsuko Tora 6:11
Hiromi Mimura vs. AZM 4:55
Mary Apache vs. Shanna 9:45
Jungle Kyona vs. HZK 11:18
Konami & Michiko Omukai & Yoko Bito vs. Oedo Tai Hana Kimura & Kagetsu & Kris Wolf 13:30
Wonder Of Stardom Title Match: Mayu Iwatani vs. Viper 12:35
Starlight Kid vs. Hanan and Ruaka 6:25
Hiromi Mimura vs. Shiki Shibusawa 7:42
Hana Kimura & Kris Wolf vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Natsuko Tora 10:14
Konami & Mary Apache & Yoko Bito vs. Gabby Ortiz & Shanna & Xia Brookside 10:09
Three Way Tag Team Match: Kagetsu & Viper vs. Jungle Kyona & Mayu Iwatani vs. AZM & HZK 11:14
Ruaka vs. Hanan vs. Shiki Shibusawa 5:22
Konami vs. Natsuko Tora 6:20
Jungle Kyona & Mary Apache vs. Shanna & Starlight Kid 8:35
AZM & HZK & Viper vs. Gabby Ortiz & Toni Storm & Xia Brookside 10:12
Hana Kimura & Kagetsu & Kris Wolf vs. Hiromi Mimura & Mayu Iwatani & Yoko Bito 15:07
Three Way Match: Hanan vs. AZM vs. Ruaka 4:26
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Qualifying Match: Tam Nakano vs. Natsuko Tora 10:50
Hana Kimura & Kris Wolf vs. Gabby Ortiz & Hiromi Mimura vs. Konami & Yoko Bito vs. Shiki Shibusawa & Starlight Kid 8:14
SWA Undisputed World Women's Title Match: Toni Storm vs. Xia Brookside 7:51
High Speed Title Match: Shanna vs. Mary Apache 8:44
Artist Of Stardom Title Match: Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona & Kaori Yoneyama vs. HZK & Io Shirai & Viper 16:12
World Of Stardom Title Match: Mayu Iwatani vs. Kagetsu 18:33
Three Way Match: Hanan vs. AZM vs. Ruaka 4:26
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Qualifying Match: Tam Nakano vs. Natsuko Tora 10:50
Hana Kimura & Kris Wolf vs. Gabby Ortiz & Hiromi Mimura vs. Konami & Yoko Bito vs. Shiki Shibusawa & Starlight Kid 8:14
SWA Undisputed World Women's Title Match: Toni Storm vs. Xia Brookside 7:51
High Speed Title Match: Shanna vs. Mary Apache 8:44
Artist Of Stardom Title Match: Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona & Kaori Yoneyama vs. HZK & Io Shirai & Viper 16:12
World Of Stardom Title Match: Mayu Iwatani vs. Kagetsu 18:33. A match between two of the most outstanding athletes and gifted workers in the sport that clearly had the potential to be STARDOM match of the year, except it wound up being all over the place, with the efforts to tell the tired and not conducive to a credible athletic contest story of the face overcoming insurmountable odds not really connecting with me even at the typical lame pro wrestling trope level. Granted, it was a massive improvement over the quasi handicap match we saw on 2/23/17 before Kagetsu was full time with the promotion, where the real handicap was Kris Wolf, who proved her value to in the range of -**. Tonight's match didn't build, it was simply divided into 5 portions. The opening high speed portion was really impressive, the best stuff here by far. The heel portion was typically stagnant, killing the momentum they had built up from the opening. The brawling on the outside was typically forced, but had two new savage bumps. The kicking portion didn't really work, not because it got off to an awkward start with Mayu accidentally missing, but because they were suddenly just spamming naked head kicks in the middle of a match with little striking elsewhere. Then they finally just went to the finishing portion, which revealed that the only real story of the match was that interference was keeping Iwatani from winning this easily, not the message they needed to send given their attempts to ascend Kagetsu to the ranks of top heel. Their athleticism and the general way they were able to perform the moves and sequences were more than a few cuts above though, and this was a rare chance for these two to actually improve and take things ot the next level. While the match clearly had a lot going for it in that regard, at the same time they were never fully able to harness their talents, so it didn't come together as something truly cohesive or compelling from a narrative perspective. It was nonetheless a strong effort, but while Kagetsu was working on the level of Io Shirai, I was very much wishing she would also just ignore that she's supposed to be a heel like Io, and get down to business more often. The opening was very energetic, and you could tell they were very excited to push their limits and develop these athletic counter sequences that they can't do with just anybody. Certainly, when I saw the quality of these early rope running sequences, I just wanted to see a Volador Jr. sort of match, as one of the reasons he one of the most exceptional rudos ever is precisely because he doesn't care about being a rudo in any traditional sense. Or in other words, almost anything that's causing him to break his stride isn't worth bothering with. Definitely none of the standing around was helping this match. When they were working at a fast pace though, the match was excellent, feeling a lot more organic and free-flowing than we get in STARDOM. Unfortunately, as much was slow and durdling, as was fast and flashy. The start of the match was an impressive progressive athletic contest, but it quickly fell into the same old tired face/heel patterns, before finishing in an impressive if not particularly dramatic fashion due to kind of meandering in between since they strayed from what they are really good at, and instead did things that are typical because mostly anyone can do them. The famous spot saw Iwatani's entranceway dive get thwarted by Oedo Tai interference, allowing Kagetsu to instead hang her off the entrance way, and actually just drop Mayu! Even though it wasn't that far and she was caught, this still felt kind of stupid given falling onto steps is an easy way to screw up an ankle or a knee. Iwatani also took a stuntwoman bump rolling backwards all the way down a flight of stairs as they took the match back into the ring. Sadly, this would be the highlight of Mayu's 1st World Of Stardom Title reign, as Yoko Bito is the sort of athlete that makes Ploddin' Sam Alvey seem like the second coming of Carl Lewis, and everything took a turn for the worse when Toni Storm accidentally injured Mayu a few minutes into their title match, which Storm then had to win. Storm winning would have been okay had she actually made herself available to defend the title in Japan rather than it being 7 months until she had a rematch with Mayu, which she inexplicably won, then only worked 3 more dates for the promotion the rest of the year. ***1/4
AZM & Mary Apache & Natsuko Tora vs. Hanan & Shiki Shibusawa & Starlight Kid 4:40
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Xia Brookside [2] vs. Kris Wolf [0] 4:58
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Kay Lee Ray [2] vs. Konami [0] 5:01
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: HZK [2] vs. Tam Nakano [0] 7:14
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Kagetsu [2] vs. Hiromi Mimura [0] 7:26
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Toni Storm [2] vs. Jungle Kyona [0] 6:56
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Hana Kimura [2] vs. Yoko Bito [0] 8:43
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Mandy Leon [2] vs. Io Shirai [0] 10:52
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Viper [2] vs. Mayu Iwatani [0] 8:39
8/19/17 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Xia Brookside [2] vs. Kris Wolf [0] 4:58
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Kay Lee Ray [2] vs. Konami [0] 5:01
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: HZK [2] vs. Tam Nakano [0] 7:14
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Kagetsu [2] vs. Hiromi Mimura [0] 7:26
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Toni Storm [2] vs. Jungle Kyona [0] 6:56
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Hana Kimura [2] vs. Yoko Bito [0] 8:43
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Mandy Leon [2] vs. Io Shirai [0] 10:52
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Viper [2] vs. Mayu Iwatani [0] 8:39
8/20/17 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Hiromi Mimura [2] vs. Kris Wolf [0] 6:40
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Kay Lee Ray [4] vs. Tam Nakano [0] 5:42
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: HZK [4] vs. Konami [0] 4:16
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Jungle Kyona [2] vs. Mandy Leon [2] 9:48
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Mayu Iwatani [2] vs. Hana Kimura [2] 9:10
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Yoko Bito [2] vs. Kagetsu [2] 7:54
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Io Shirai [1] vs. Toni Storm [3] 15:00
8/26/17 Osaka Minato Kumin Center
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Toni Storm [5] vs. HZK [4] 7:08
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Kris Wolf [2] vs. Viper [2] 5:14
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Hana Kimura [4] vs. Hiromi Mimura [2] 9:31
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Kagetsu [4] vs. Xia Brookside [2] 6:17
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Io Shirai [3] vs. Jungle Kyona [2] 11:30
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Mayu Iwatani [4] vs. Yoko Bito [2] 10:00
8/27/17 Act City Hamamatsu
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Hana Kimura [6] vs. Xia Brookside [2] 8:16
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Toni Storm [7] vs. Konami [0] 7:16
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: HZK [6] vs. Kay Lee Ray [4] 5:18
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Yoko Bito [4] vs. Hiromi Mimura [2] 5:34
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Viper [4] vs. Kagetsu [4] 9:38
9/2/17 Yokohama Radiant Hall
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Viper [6] vs. Xia Brookside [2] 5:52
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Tam Nakano [2] vs. Konami [0] 6:02
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Mayu Iwatani [6] vs. Hiromi Mimura [2] 7:49
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Mandy Leon [4] vs. Toni Storm [7] 9:28
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Io Shirai [5] vs. Kay Lee Ray [4] 11:54
9/3/17 Niigata City East Plaza
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Kay Lee Ray [6] vs. Jungle Kyona [2] 8:08
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Mandy Leon [6] vs. HZK [6] 4:34
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Toni Storm [9] vs. Tam Nakano [2] 6:51
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Yoko Bito [6] vs. Xia Brookside [2] 3:47
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Io Shirai [7] vs. Konami [0] 9:12
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Mayu Iwatani [8] vs. Kris Wolf [2] 7:51
9/10/17 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st Ring
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Viper [8] vs. Hiromi Mimura [2] 5:56
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Kay Lee Ray [8] vs. Mandy Leon [6] 8:18
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Yoko Bito [8] vs. Kris Wolf [2] 5:59
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Mayu Iwatani [10] vs. Xia Brookside [2] 7:48
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Io Shirai [9] vs. Tam Nakano [2] 9:54
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Jungle Kyona [4] vs. HZK [6] 8:45
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Kagetsu [6] vs. Hana Kimura [6] 11:48
9/16/17 Toyama Takaoka Ecoeur
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Jungle Kyona [6] vs. Konami [0] 6:28
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Mandy Leon [8] vs. Tam Nakano [2] 7:40
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Kagetsu [8] vs. Kris Wolf [2] 6:54
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Viper [10] vs. Hana Kimura [6] 9:36
9/18/17 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Hiromi Mimura [4] vs. Xia Brookside [2] 4:51
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Konami [2] vs. Mandy Leon [8] 5:00
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Hana Kimura [8] vs. Kris Wolf [2] 5:34
5STAR Grand Prix 207 Block A Match: Jungle Kyona [6] vs. Tam Nakano [2] 9:15
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Toni Storm [11] vs. Kay Lee Ray [8] 8:21
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: HZK [7] vs. Io Shirai [10] 15:00
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Yoko Bito [10] vs. Viper [10] 6:56
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Kagetsu [10] vs. Mayu Iwatani [10] 12:18
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Final Match: Toni Storm vs. Yoko Bito 8:17
9/23/17 Osaka Minato Ward Community Center
SWA Undisputed World Women's Title Match: Toni Storm vs. Mandy Leon 6:50
Goddesses Of Stardom Title Match: Hana Kimura & Kagetsu vs. Io Shirai & Viper 12:54
Wonder Of Stardom Title Match: Mayu Iwatani vs. Yoko Bito 14:45
9/24/17 Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall
High Speed Title Match: Mary Apache vs. Hiromi Mimura 6:59
Wonder Of Stardom Title Match: Yoko Bito vs. Jungle Kyona 9:56
Artist Of Stardom Title Match: HZK & Io Shirai & Viper vs. Kagetsu & Kris Wolf & Tam Nakano 14:34
World Of Stardom Title Match: Mayu Iwatani vs. Toni Storm 2:20
Four Way Tag Match: AZM & Viper vs. Mary Apache & Natsuko Tora vs. Ruaka & Xia Brookside vs. Shiki Shibusawa & Starlight Kid 3:43
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Hiromi Mimura [2] vs. Kris Wolf [0] 6:40
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Kay Lee Ray [4] vs. Tam Nakano [0] 5:42
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: HZK [4] vs. Konami [0] 4:16
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Jungle Kyona [2] vs. Mandy Leon [2] 9:48
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Mayu Iwatani [2] vs. Hana Kimura [2] 9:10
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Yoko Bito [2] vs. Kagetsu [2] 7:54
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Io Shirai [1] vs. Toni Storm [3] 15:00. Here's an example of less is more, or why a 15 minute draw is sometimes much better than a 30 minute draw. The BS Road style epic they did on 5/14/17 where nothing happened for the 1st 15 minutes, and then maybe something would have eventually happened, except poor Io injured her neck, prompting referee Daichi Murayama to join in the stalling, was one of the most disappointing and overrated STARDOM matches of 2017. They had to work much faster in tonight's rematch because once again doing nothing early on in a 5Min Grand Prix match would have made it obvious that they were going the distance again. This was a strong second tier Io match where she showed the sort of motivation we got much less consistently in 2017 than in the previous few years. I would have expected more effort in their title match, but at least they made up for it here. It started quickly, and was mostly fast and energetic throughout. There were certainly slow segments in between, but they kept them to a reasonable time, and alternated the fast sequences with the submissions, so it wasn't dragging. It also never felt like they were filler because all the resting took place during Storm's neck work, which had purpose and justification given Io's injury. Since they were consistent in the neck storyline, and it had some reason for existing and payoff, this wound up being one of the most purposeful and cohesive Shirai matches of the year. There's never a question of the quality of work or the execution in Io's matches, at least not from her. Storm was quite good here, and very motivated as well. It seemed like they had something to prove after the dull and botched title match, but then again, everybody supposedly loved that match for some reason, so who knows? Storm was largely in control tonight, but Shirai made brief, exciting comebacks, and certainly felt very much in the match. The neck work was more than an equalizer though, showing that Storm was out to win at all costs, and built up to a few big near finishes, such as the air raid crash neckbreaker. They did such a better job with the time they had in this match, it felt like it could reasonably have gone another 5 minutes without the effort and intensity flagging, which I suppose was a reasonable place to leave things. Storm finally hit the big piledriver at the bell, so they tried to leave us with the feeling that she was about to win. In the end, this was the highlight of Shirai's 2017 post neck injury comeback. ***1/4
AZM & Konami vs. Shiki Shibusawa & Starlight Kid 6:53
Kay Lee Ray & Mandy Leon vs. Mary Apache & Natsuko Tora 6:55
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Toni Storm [5] vs. HZK [4] 7:08
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Kris Wolf [2] vs. Viper [2] 5:14
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Hana Kimura [4] vs. Hiromi Mimura [2] 9:31
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Kagetsu [4] vs. Xia Brookside [2] 6:17
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Io Shirai [3] vs. Jungle Kyona [2] 11:30
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Mayu Iwatani [4] vs. Yoko Bito [2] 10:00
Four Way Match: Kris Wolf vs. Natsuko Tora vs. Shiki Shibusawa vs. Starlight Kid 5:58
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Hana Kimura [6] vs. Xia Brookside [2] 8:16
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Toni Storm [7] vs. Konami [0] 7:16
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: HZK [6] vs. Kay Lee Ray [4] 5:18
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Yoko Bito [4] vs. Hiromi Mimura [2] 5:34
Jungle Kyona & Mary Apache & Mayu Iwatani vs. Mandy Leon & AZM & Io Shirai 12:38
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Viper [4] vs. Kagetsu [4] 9:38
Three Way Match: Kris Wolf vs. Hanan vs. Ruaka 6:15
Four Way Tag Match: Mary Apache & Yoko Bito vs. AZM & HZK vs. Shiki Shibusawa & Starlight Kid vs. Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora 7:39
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Viper [6] vs. Xia Brookside [2] 5:52
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Tam Nakano [2] vs. Konami [0] 6:02
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Mayu Iwatani [6] vs. Hiromi Mimura [2] 7:49
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Mandy Leon [4] vs. Toni Storm [7] 9:28
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Io Shirai [5] vs. Kay Lee Ray [4] 11:54. Kay Lee Ray is unquestionably the most talented foreign woman that has worked in Japan in the past decade. That being said, even she hasn't managed to produce much of note there compared to in the UK. Her best match by far against a Japanese wrestler was the 3/30/18 DASH Chisako match in EVE, which was legitimately excellent, and among the highlights of both women's careers. In STARDOM, no one really seems up for her speed brawls, or even her general aggression, and it tends to wind up with her running around a lot trying to find a way to make something happen. Shirai is one of the best women at doing the opponent's match because she has the talent to do any style, and can still add a lot while keeping the opposition in their comfort zone. This should not be confused with what someone such as Kazuchika Okada does, as he is only capable of running the same few simple programs, so "his" match is just the opponent playing marionette and setting him up for the few tired old things he can actually sort of manage to do. Ultimately, when they do it well, he somehow gets all the glory for actually contributing nothing of value, and when they don't do it well, he still somehow gets all the glory and none of the blame because he at least came out on top. Tonight we finally got something that approached a KLR match, albeit kind of a half speed, watered and toned down version. Luckily, the combined talent in the ring was off the charts, so even doing something nowhere near their actual individual or collective capabilities was still worth slightly recommending. Ironically, while this had the stiffness and diversity of a KLR match, it was missing the speed and explosiveness, which are the aspects you'd probably think were a given against Shirai, but Shirai has rarely gone that hard or fast this year. The key spot was Ray missing a charging front kick against the ropes, so Shirai tied her leg in the rope and hit a missile kick to injure the knee. Shirai proceeded to do the Muto knee tropes, but couldn't hit her moonsault on two tries. Unfortunately for Ray, getting her leg up to stop the moonsault did as much damage to her knee as it did to Io's stomach, and by the time Ray was finally able to make it to the top for her senton atomico, Shirai easily avoided, and tapped her with a Texas clover hold. Both parts of the match were good, but it felt very rushed trying to tack the knee story onto the general KLR stuff, and condense this all into something that was completed inside 12 minutes. Their UK match in BEW on 5/22/16 remains their best match together, but this was at least less disappointing than their 9/22/16 World Of Stardom Title Match. ***
Natsuko Tora & AZM & Viper vs. Hiromi Mimura & Mary Apache & Shiki Shibusawa 11:17
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Kay Lee Ray [6] vs. Jungle Kyona [2] 8:08
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Mandy Leon [6] vs. HZK [6] 4:34
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Toni Storm [9] vs. Tam Nakano [2] 6:51
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Yoko Bito [6] vs. Xia Brookside [2] 3:47
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Io Shirai [7] vs. Konami [0] 9:12
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Mayu Iwatani [8] vs. Kris Wolf [2] 7:51
AZM & Konami & Natsuko Tora vs. Hanan & Mary Apache & Shiki Shibusawa 8:44
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Viper [8] vs. Hiromi Mimura [2] 5:56
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Kay Lee Ray [8] vs. Mandy Leon [6] 8:18
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Yoko Bito [8] vs. Kris Wolf [2] 5:59
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Mayu Iwatani [10] vs. Xia Brookside [2] 7:48
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Io Shirai [9] vs. Tam Nakano [2] 9:54
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Jungle Kyona [4] vs. HZK [6] 8:45
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Kagetsu [6] vs. Hana Kimura [6] 11:48
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Jungle Kyona [6] vs. Konami [0] 6:28
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Mandy Leon [8] vs. Tam Nakano [2] 7:40
Kay Lee Ray & Toni Storm & Xia Brookside vs. Mary Apache & Natsuko Tora & Shiki Shibusawa 9:05
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Kagetsu [8] vs. Kris Wolf [2] 6:54
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Viper [10] vs. Hana Kimura [6] 9:36
Hiromi Mimura & Mayu Iwatani & Yoko Bito vs. AZM & HZK & Io Shirai 12:31
AZM & Mary Apache & Shiki Shibusawa vs. Natsuko Tora & Ruaka & Starlight Kid 4:56
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Hiromi Mimura [4] vs. Xia Brookside [2] 4:51
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Konami [2] vs. Mandy Leon [8] 5:00
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Hana Kimura [8] vs. Kris Wolf [2] 5:34
5STAR Grand Prix 207 Block A Match: Jungle Kyona [6] vs. Tam Nakano [2] 9:15
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Toni Storm [11] vs. Kay Lee Ray [8] 8:21
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: HZK [7] vs. Io Shirai [10] 15:00
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Yoko Bito [10] vs. Viper [10] 6:56
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Kagetsu [10] vs. Mayu Iwatani [10] 12:18. My general opinion on the current wrestling scene can be summed up by my preference for this 12 minute match over the 28 minute 6/21/17 Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani title match as 2017 STARDOM match of the year. Actually going all out for the duration is much more memorable than all the inactivity and smoke and mirrors that make up the BS Road style epics, which when you get down to it, really only contain, at most, a few minutes of truly hard fought action. Even a better version of that style isn't better than Iwatani going all out, which is why that match wasn't as good as this, or especiallt the classic Iwatani/Shirai singles matches from 2016. There were a few spots here that could have turned out better, but Kagetsu & Iwatani really went above and beyond in terms of effort, pace, and level of difficulty. This was their chance to see what they could really do, and unlike in their 6 minutes longer 8/13/17 title match, tonight they really seized it and did their best to reach their utmost potential. The title match had good individual aspects, but just felt like a mess with several portions of a match pasted together. This was extremely energetic, which was a pleasant change, but it wasn't merely energetic, it was energetic with a purpose beyond just doing impressive looking things. They did many of the same things here, but in a more cohesive manner, as they structured the match in a way that the disperate aspects actually worked, partially because they still did a sprint throughout rather than doing long portions of varying paces for no particular reason. More importantly to the grand scheme of things, this match both got Kagetsu over as a top flight unhinged heel who would do anything it took to win, while at the same time brought out a much more confident and determined version of Iwatani. Even though Mayu ultimately lost due to shenanigans, she felt more mature and sure of herself as an actual ace here in this role as the highly driven babyface who had the desire to keep stepping up to battle through all the adversity. One of the reasons this match worked so much better than their previous one is they got the brawling out of the way at the outset, so it wasn't simply a diversionary trope. This opening was also some surprising and insane stuff from Kagetsu, who not only attacked Iwatani with the Oedo Tai sign as soon as Mayu came out of the entrance, she then tried to murder her by toppling the entrance gate itself, which bizarrely had a W-1 banner, on top of Iwatani, trapping her neck between the gate and the guardrail (with much assistance from Iwatani to make it come off). Definitely, an opening like this got my attention, and once they got back into the ring, they were able to hold it by backing it up with some fantastic, fast-paced athletic wrestling. As amazing an athlete as Mayu is, Kagetsu proved to be her match and then some, actually being the faster mover of the two. Her speed turning and spinning was particularly off the charts. Even compared to the best stuff STARDOM has produced in 2017, the action was so quick it almost seemed to be in fast forward, particularly from Kagetsu. Kagetsu missed her Oedo coaster (450 splash) upon reentering the ring, and what followed was a spectacular sprint with the sort of urgency I've been waiting for from a STARDOM match all year. Kagetsu couldn't advance to the 5Min GP Final, but a win here would at least provide the moral victory of keeping Iwatani out. Kagetsu worked as if the stakes were much grander than that though, and it just makes one wonder where this was in their actual title match? Kagetsu still worked in some general taunting and heel tactics now and then, but didn't get diverted from bringing fantastic action for long. The heel stuff wasn't annoying here because it didn't slow things down really, and was more for a big effect or turning point than the usual crap that's just trying to shave time by being annoying to everyone. Iwatani kept making hot comebacks, but Kagetsu always found a way to beat her back down, whether or not it was a legal one was a different story. The finish saw Kagetsu roll through Mayu's Dragon suplex, and push Iwatani into referee Murayama, then spew mist into Iwatani's face to set up hitting the Oedo coaster for the win. Just a really exciting sprint with lots of great sequences and counters. Sure, it's short, but there was seemingly 5 times as much action in this match as in any other match from the promotion this year. In the end, isn't that what we actually tune in to see? ****
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Final Match: Toni Storm vs. Yoko Bito 8:17
AZM & Mary Apache & Shiki Shibusawa vs. Natsuko Tora & Ruaka & Starlight Kid 4:56
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Hiromi Mimura [4] vs. Xia Brookside [2] 4:51
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Konami [2] vs. Mandy Leon [8] 5:00
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Hana Kimura [8] vs. Kris Wolf [2] 5:34
5STAR Grand Prix 207 Block A Match: Jungle Kyona [6] vs. Tam Nakano [2] 9:15
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: Toni Storm [11] vs. Kay Lee Ray [8] 8:21
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block A Match: HZK [7] vs. Io Shirai [10] 15:00
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Yoko Bito [10] vs. Viper [10] 6:56
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Block B Match: Kagetsu [10] vs. Mayu Iwatani [10] 12:18
5STAR Grand Prix 2017 Final Match: Toni Storm vs. Yoko Bito 8:17
Konami & Natsuko Tora vs. Shiki Shibusawa & Starlight Kid 7:37
Kris Wolf & Tam Nakano vs. AZM & HZK 9:04
Hiromi Mimura & Jungle Kyona vs. Mary Apache & Xia Brookside 7:19
SWA Undisputed World Women's Title Match: Toni Storm vs. Mandy Leon 6:50
Goddesses Of Stardom Title Match: Hana Kimura & Kagetsu vs. Io Shirai & Viper 12:54
Wonder Of Stardom Title Match: Mayu Iwatani vs. Yoko Bito 14:45
AZM vs. Natsuko Tora vs. Starlight Kid 5:13
Mandy Leon & Xia Brookside vs. Konami & Shiki Shibusawa 6:30
High Speed Title Match: Mary Apache vs. Hiromi Mimura 6:59
Wonder Of Stardom Title Match: Yoko Bito vs. Jungle Kyona 9:56
Artist Of Stardom Title Match: HZK & Io Shirai & Viper vs. Kagetsu & Kris Wolf & Tam Nakano 14:34
World Of Stardom Title Match: Mayu Iwatani vs. Toni Storm 2:20
Three Way Match: Starlight Kid vs. Hanan vs. Ruaka 5:48
Xia Brookside vs. Shiki Shibusawa 5:14
Konami & Yoko Bito vs. Hiromi Mimura & Mary Apache 10:19
Rin Kadokura & Takumi Iroha vs. Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora 14:35
Hana Kimura & Kagetsu & Tam Nakano vs. AZM & HZK & Io Shirai 15:19
Hanan vs. Ruaka 4:23
Kaori Yoneyama vs. Kris Wolf 9:59
Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2017 Block A Match: Bea Priestley & Kelly Klein [2] vs. AZM & Starlight Kid [0] 5:13
Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2017 Block B Match: Chardonnay & Scarlett [2] vs. Natsuko Tora & Shiki Shibusawa [0] 9:41
Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2017 Block B Match: Hana Kimura & Kagetsu [2] vs. Hiromi Mimura & Konami [0] 11:45
Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2017 Block A Match: HZK & Io Shirai [2] vs. Jungle Kyona & Yoko Bito [0] 13:02
Shiki Shibusawa & Starlight Kid vs. Hanan & Ruaka 6:25
Four Way Elimination Tag Match: Bea Priestley & Kelly Klein vs. Chardonnay & Scarlett vs. Hiromi Mimura & Konami vs. Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora 12:39
Kris Wolf vs. AZM 7:39
Io Shirai vs. Hana Kimura 12:32
Kagetsu vs. HZK 10:50
Wonder Of Stardom Title Match: Yoko Bito vs. Takumi Iroha 30:00
Shiki Shibusawa & Starlight Kid vs. Hanan & Ruaka 6:25
Four Way Elimination Tag Match: Bea Priestley & Kelly Klein vs. Chardonnay & Scarlett vs. Hiromi Mimura & Konami vs. Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora 12:39
Kris Wolf vs. AZM 7:39
Io Shirai vs. Hana Kimura 12:32
Kagetsu vs. HZK 10:50
Wonder Of Stardom Title Match: Yoko Bito vs. Takumi Iroha 30:00
Natsuko Tora vs. Shiki Shibusawa 7:23
Three Way Match: HZK vs. Chardonnay vs. Konami 6:21
Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona vs. Kelly Klein & Scarlett 11:35
SWA Undisputed World Women's Title & World Of Stardom Double Title Match: Toni Storm vs. Bea Priestley 10:15
Hiromi Mimura & Io Shirai & Yoko Bito vs. Hana Kimura & Kagetsu & Kris Wolf 13:33
Hana Kimura & Konami vs. Aoi Kizuki & Natsu Sumire 10:15
Three Way Match: Jungle Kyona vs. Dyna Mido vs. Yako Fujigasaki 4:50
Kris Wolf vs. Kaho Kobayashi 7:55
Hiroyo Matsumoto & HUB vs. Hikaru Shida & Kohei Sato 11:41
Io Shirai vs. Kagetsu 17:06. A definite improvement over their 3/5/17 title match because Kagetsu was a much bigger star in STARDOM now, so they had to do a lot more and Shirai had to take her as a lot more serious threat. This match still never really felt like it hit it stride though. Both women did a lot of nice moves, but their attempts at storytelling tended to fall flat in the dramatic camp, for instance Shirai being unable to capitalize on getting her knees up for the Oedo coaster because the counter somehow did too much damage to her knee, which hadn't otherwise really been damaged during the bout. Nonetheless, as with Shirai vs. KLR, the quality of the workers themselves was enough to push it into the level of mild recommendation. Kagetsu didn't play heel because it was her own show, she instead played the local territory favority, but that didn't work out as good as it sounds because Shirai just wound up playing the incoming invader heel. Kagetsu is better at playing heel, if someone must, because Kagetsu tends to use her heel work, at least in the important matches, for bigger effects rather than getting bogged down by it, whereas tonight Shirai was basically just playing heel to slow things down. In other words, Shirai's heel work mostly felt like padding that was simply there to minimize the amount of actual good sequences they had to do. It helped get Kagetsu over as the underdog, though one could think of more interesting ways to do that, and the fans were cheering for Kagetsu, so it served its purpose to an extent despite feeling rather random and meandering. They still struggled to get heat through Shirai's methodical tactics, as well as her doing an underdeveloped job at working over the neck (and back) that no one took seriously, partly because she was going to win with the moonsault again, as always. The fast sequences were impressive though, and there were quite a few of them. This had more showy feel to it when it was good than the Kagetsu vs. Iwatani matches, and those definitely felt much more urgent and important than this. ***
Three Way Match: Starlight Kid vs. Bear Cat (Hanan) vs. Kikimaru (Ruaka) 4:53
Bea Priestley & Kelly Klein vs. Chardonnay & Scarlett 10:00
Gakirou (Kris Wolf) & Gekkimaru (Kagetsu) & Kikahime (Hana Kimura) vs. Fairy God Jungle (Jungle Kyona) & Shiki Melody (Shiki Shibusawa) & Viola Tiger (Natsuko Tora) 11:19
Chupa Panda (HZK) & IOTICA (Io Shirai) & Mini IOTICA (AZM) vs. Aloha Bito (Yoko Bito) & Masked Wan-chan (Konami) & Shout Woman (Hiromi Mimura) 15:21
Kris Wolf vs. Hanan 4:28
Kaori Yoneyama vs. Ruaka 4:06
Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2017 Match: Hiromi Mimura & Konami [2] vs. AZM & Starlight Kid [0] 8:12
Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2017 Match: Jungle Kyona & Yoko Bito [2] vs. Natsuko Tora & Shiki Shibusawa [0] 8:26
Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2017 Match: Chardonnay & Scarlett [4] vs. Queen's Quest HZK & Io Shirai [2] 9:50
Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2017 Match: Bea Priestley & Kelly Klein [4] vs. Oedo Tai Hana Kimura & Kagetsu [2] 11:25
Kaori Yoneyama vs. Hanan and Ruaka 4:31
Kris Wolf vs. Momo Watanabe 7:39
Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2017 Block B Match: Hiromi Mimura & Konami [4] vs. Chardonnay & Scarlett [4] 9:57
Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2017 Block B Match: Oedo Tai Hana Kimura & Kagetsu [4] vs. Natsuko Tora & Shiki Shibusawa [0] 9:19
Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2017 Block A Match: Queen's Quest HZK & Io Shirai [4] vs. AZM & Starlight Kid [0] 7:22
Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2017 Block A Match: Bea Priestley & Kelly Klein [5] vs. Jungle Kyona & Yoko Bito [3] 15:00
Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Kris Wolf 7:47
Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2017 Match: Natsuko Tora & Shiki Shibusawa [2] vs. AZM & Starlight Kid [0] 5:17
Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2017 Match: Bea Priestley & Kelly Klein [7] vs. Chardonnay & Scarlett [4] 9:15
Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2017 Match: Jungle Kyona & Yoko Bito [5] vs. Hiromi Mimura & Konami [4] 4:05
Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2017 Match: Hana Kimura & Kagetsu [5] vs. Queen's Quest HZK & Io Shirai [5] 15:00
Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2017 Final Match: Bea Priestley & Kelly Klein vs. Jungle Kyona & Yoko Bito 12:19
Exhibition Four Way Match: Hanan vs. Hina vs. Rina vs. Ruaka 5:00
Starlight Kid vs. Shiki Shibusawa 5:16
Chardonnay vs. Scarlett 7:50
Hana Kimura & Kagetsu & Kris Wolf & Natsu Sumire vs. Hiromi Mimura & Konami & Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora 15:46
Four On Three Handicap Match: Bea Priestley & Kelly Klein & Yoko Bito vs. Queen's Quest AZM & HZK & Io Shirai & Momo Watanabe 15:01
Ruaka vs. Hanan 4:45
Jungle Kyona & Kaori Yoneyama & Natsuko Tora vs. Konami & Shiki Shibusawa & Starlight Kid 9:00
Momo Watanabe vs. Kris Wolf 8:32
Chardonnay & Scarlett vs. AZM & HZK 10:12
Natsu Sumire vs. Hiromi Mimura 8:35
Goddesses Of Stardom Title Match: Hana Kimura & Kagetsu vs. Bea Priestley & Kelly Klein 16:35
Wonder Of Stardom Title Match: Yoko Bito vs. Io Shirai 26:00
Ruaka vs. Hanan 4:45
Jungle Kyona & Kaori Yoneyama & Natsuko Tora vs. Konami & Shiki Shibusawa & Starlight Kid 9:00
Momo Watanabe vs. Kris Wolf 8:32
Chardonnay & Scarlett vs. AZM & HZK 10:12
Natsu Sumire vs. Hiromi Mimura 8:35
Goddesses Of Stardom Title Match: Hana Kimura & Kagetsu vs. Bea Priestley & Kelly Klein 16:35
Wonder Of Stardom Title Match: Yoko Bito vs. Io Shirai 26:00
Ruaka vs. Hanan 4:59
Chardonnay & Scarlett vs. Shiki Shibusawa & Starlight Kid 7:58
Bea Priestley & Kelly Klein vs. Mary Apache & Natsuko Tora 10:24
Konami & Yoko Bito vs. Hiromi Mimura & Jungle Kyona 11:59
AZM & HZK & Io Shirai & Momo Watanabe vs. Hana Kimura & Kagetsu & Kris Wolf & Natsu Sumire 17:30
Hanan vs. Ruaka 5:52
Natsu Sumire vs. Shiki Shibusawa 8:03
Hana Kimura & Kagetsu & Kris Wolf vs. Hiromi Mimura & Konami & Starlight Kid 12:48
Bea Priestley & Kelly Klein & Scarlett vs. AZM & HZK & Momo Watanabe 7:23
Mary Apache & Yoko Bito vs. Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora 8:45
Wonder Of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Chardonnay 15:45
Hiromi Mimura vs. Ruaka 5:49
Konami vs. Hanan 6:04
Three Way Match: Starlight Kid vs. Mary Apache vs. Shiki Shibusawa 5:34
Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora & Yoko Bito vs. Hana Kimura & Kagetsu & Natsu Sumire 16:33
Elimination Eight Man Tag Team Match: Bea Priestley & Chardonnay & Kelly Klein & Scarlett vs. AZM & HZK & Io Shirai & Momo Watanabe 20:39
Natsuko Tora & Starlight Kid vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Ruaka 5:54
Rookie Of Stardom 2017 Final Match: Shiki Shibusawa vs. Hanan 9:32
Hana Kimura & Kagetsu & Kris Wolf & Natsu Sumire vs. Hiromi Mimura & Jungle Kyona & Konami & Mary Apache 8:22
AZM & HZK & Momo Watanabe vs. Bea Priestley & Chardonnay & Scarlett 12:14
Wonder Of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Kelly Klein 12:44
Gauntlet Match: Yoko Bito vs. AZM & Hanan & Hiromi Mimura & Hiroyo Matsumoto & HZK & Io Shirai & Jungle Kyona & Kagetsu & Kaori Yoneyama & Konami & Kris Wolf & Mayu Iwatani & Momo Watanabe & Natsuko Tora & Ruaka & Shiki Shibusawa & Starlight Kid
Yoko Bito vs. Ruaka 0:59
Yoko Bito vs. Hanan 0:34
Yoko Bito vs. Shiki Shibusawa 0:43
Yoko Bito vs. Starlight Kid 1:00
Yoko Bito vs. Natsuko Tora 1:00
Yoko Bito vs. Kaori Yoneyama 1:00
Yoko Bito vs. Kris Wolf 1:00
Yoko Bito vs. AZM 1:00
Yoko Bito vs. HZK 1:00
Yoko Bito vs. Konami 1:00
Yoko Bito vs. Hiromi Mimura 1:00
Yoko Bito vs. Jungle Kyona 1:00
Yoko Bito vs. Kagetsu 1:00
Yoko Bito vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto 1:00
Momo Watanabe vs. Yoko Bito 0:38
Yoko Bito vs. Io Shirai 1:00
Yoko Bito vs. Mayu Iwatani 1:00
Konami vs. Shiki Shibusawa 6:04
Three Way Match: Hiromi Mimura vs. AZM vs. Mary Apache 6:32
Hana Kimura & Kagetsu & Natsu Sumire vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Kaori Yoneyama & Natsuko Tora 15:00
AWS Women's Title Match: Kris Wolf vs. Scarlett 9:20
Io Shirai & Yoko Bito vs. HZK & Jungle Kyona 19:46
Hanan & Shiki Shibusawa vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Ruaka 4:00
Rachael Ellering & Scarlett vs. AZM & Momo Watanabe 7:48
Hiromi Mimura & Konami vs. Kris Wolf & Natsu Sumire 11:29
High Speed Title Match: Mary Apache vs. Starlight Kid 7:56
Goddesses Of Stardom Title Match: Hana Kimura & Kagetsu vs. Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora 11:16
Wonder Of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. HZK 14:48
Meiko Satomura & Toni Storm vs. Takumi Iroha & Yoko Bito 13:06
Hanan & Shiki Shibusawa vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Ruaka 4:00
Rachael Ellering & Scarlett vs. AZM & Momo Watanabe 7:48
Hiromi Mimura & Konami vs. Kris Wolf & Natsu Sumire 11:29
High Speed Title Match: Mary Apache c vs. Starlight Kid 7:56
Goddesses Of Stardom Title Match: Hana Kimura & Kagetsu vs. Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora 11:16
Wonder Of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. HZK 14:48
Meiko Satomura & Toni Storm vs. Takumi Iroha & Yoko Bito 13:06