STARDOM
5STAR SPECIAL IN HIROSHIMA
SEPTEMBER 3, 2023
HIROSHIMA, JAPAN

The 5STAR Particular in Hiroshima is type of stacked, regardless of Saya Kamitani vs Hazuki being off to due Kamitani’s damage. Some accidents have brought about a shuffle of the undercard however truthfully that made it higher as we’ve a extremely attention-grabbing tag opener as a substitute of a trios match with a transparent loser. From there we get straight into the warmth of event motion and title matches so there’s completely no room to breathe with this one.

MEGAN BAYNE & MAIKA DEF. MARIAH MAY & MINA SHIRAKAWA

I had fun with this, and actually that’s all we will ask of an opener. This went fairly seamlessly from a enjoyable Mina/Maika opening to Rose Gold attempting, and failing, to take care of Megan Bayne being a brick shithouse. Out of everybody on the roster Mina and Might have been the most effective at working reverse Bayne’s monstrous presence and I’m on the level the place I would really like a Shirakawa vs Bayne match on PPV. Might taking the defeat for her group is attention-grabbing as she’s usually protected in tags however she received tossed and beat like everybody else right here. ***1/4

BLUE STARS
UTAMI HAYASHISHITA (8) DEF. MOMO WATANABE (6)

This felt like a condensed model of the title match they’d for Hayashishita’s V1 as World of STARDOM champ. With restricted time obtainable to them they didn’t totally discover the potential that they’ve however this was a reasonably good match. Utami exhibiting a little bit bit extra urgency was good as she’s normally so composed however Watanabe turned on QQ and that wound might by no means heal. Talking of heels, Watanabe was such a pr*ck when she had management it was a pleasure to see, she’s been mixing within the nice strikes with robust character work so effectively on this event we’re actually attending to see the most effective model of what she may be in Oedo Tai. ***3/4

RED STARS
TAM NAKANO (7) DEF. STARLIGHT KID (4)

There are occasions the place Starlight Child faces wrestlers from her previous and we see the antagonist heel take a again seat, Former stablemate Nakano is one such opponent, with regards to her we see Child act extra just like the MK Sister who as soon as stood facet by facet with Mayu Iwatani. I actually don’t know if she does it on goal and it’s an intentional reminder that the Oedo Tai factor is basically all an act as she finds her personal path again to Iwatani or if it’s only a coincidence however I certain discover it attention-grabbing.

The perfect factor about Child not taking part in the heel position is she may be at her finest in a match like this and struggle from beneath towards an onslaught from Nakano. Nakano strips away a whole lot of the emotional stuff with regards to event matches so in a contest like this she’s centered on the motion, which Child is all to glad to work with as a former Excessive Pace Champion. ***3/4

RED STARS
SYURI (7) DEF. MAYU IWATANI (7)

I’m operating out of the way to inform you about how nice these event matches are. Simply have a look at the 2 wrestlers and try to be bought on this one. Syuri and Iwatani have grow to be pure rivals simply resulting from their proximity on the very high of the cardboard, there’s an argument to be made that they’re nonetheless 1A and 1B as the top of the corporate so any match between them is a giant deal.

After a tit-for-tat match that additional clarified how even these two opponents are it was one deadly error from Iwatani that value her the match. Lacking her signature moonsault turned the tide in Syuri’s favour simply lengthy sufficient for the God’s Eye chief to come back away with an necessary win to maintain herself in rivalry for the block win.

Syuri made some belt motions after the match indicating she might problem for the IWGP Girls’s Championship however who is aware of if she’ll ever get a match as there’s been no less than 5 Iwatani protection teases that by no means receives a commission off (somebody remind Gedo that he’s alleged to be utilizing this belt). ****1/4

HIGH SPEED CHAMPIONSHIP
SAKI KASHIMA (C) DEF. MOMO KOHGO

I’m coming to the belief that AZM completely spoiled us together with her Excessive Pace run as a result of Saki hasn’t been in a position to hit the heights AZM did simply but. This was higher than the Koguma outing however nonetheless feels much more primary than the sorts of matches we have been getting for this title. ***1/4

GODDESS OF STARDOM CHAMPIONSHIP
NATSUPOI & SAORI ANOU (C) DEF. MEI SEIRA & SUZU SUZUKI

I knew I used to be going to love this one proper from the beginning and all 4 lived as much as my expectations. Suzuki and Seira have been attempting to get the leap on the champs and use their power to catch them off guard however they allowed time for the champions to develop into the match and so they by no means appeared again. This was frantic tag group motion that retains up the pattern of actually robust tag title defences.

Anou and Poi went proper from having wonderful trios matches as ReSTART to having wonderful tag matches collectively. Natsupoi’s potential to slot in with nearly anybody she groups with is unnatural, she appeared good with Himeka away again in DDM, she was good as a part of meltear, and now shes good subsequent to Anou. In the event that they wish to maintain these two atop the division for an prolonged interval then I can’t complain as a result of there’s few groups that really feel as large as this one. ****1/4

WONDER OF STARDOM CHAMPIONSHIP
MIRAI (C) DEF. KONAMI

I simply wish to say earlier than anything that I query the optics of the Marvel title getting missed for the NJPW Robust belt for the primary occasion spot. The Robust belt was made for a model that runs each 2 to three months as a result of they panicked and realised Mercedes Mone was sticking round after dropping the IWGP Girls’s title to Iwatani. It might be held by Giulia however that title has no actual status or that means to STARDOM’s viewers so it going final right here feels extra like a slight towards MIRAI than a giant win for the Robust belt.

Konami was *the second* from the second she walked out for her entrance. Her new appears to be like is unbelievable and he or she got here off like a reasonably large deal. In the event that they’d determined to provide the belt then and there I wouldn’t have complained all that a lot. The match was fairly firmly constructed round her as she received all of the room on the planet to work over MIRAI’s arm and dominate the match. Her ring work was most likely the most effective it’s ever been as she’s discovered a reasonably good mixture of her God’s Eye realism and the sadistic edge she confirmed in Oedo Tai.

MIRAI has at all times labored finest when combating from beneath so she put in a reasonably robust exhibiting because the underdog and had some actually explosive offence when it was time to fireside up. I do have a small problem together with her simply utilizing her dangerous arm for a number of lariats in direction of the end however I suppose it may be attributed to combating by the ache, and the lariats have been fairly sick so who am I to complain?

Nice reintroduction to Konami who genuinely appears to be like like she might make a full-time comeback as we speak if she needed to. I’d have an interest to see how she suits in to the present roster as GE is already fairly stacked and the title footage are all very crowded however she’s greater than able to being a strong presence within the higher card. ***3/4

NJPW STRONG WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
GIULIA (C) DEF. RISA SERA

This was match however nothing spectacular. It was like a lite model of the Giulia large matches we noticed earlier this 12 months when she was World of STARDOM champ. The entire “we wrestled in Ice Ribbon collectively” factor carried the load of the match because it allow them to get proper right down to the hard-hitting stuff with no need to construct issues up. I additionally need to credit score Sera and Giulia for doing one of many higher desk breaks I’ve seen lately they weren’t holding again in any respect.

Giulia beating Sera feels just like the closing of the guide on the earlier chapter of Giulia’s profession. With Prominence kicking in regards to the ghosts of Ice Ribbon have been nonetheless haunting her however now she’s confronted and crushed Suzuki and Sera, whereas additionally going to a draw with Maya Yukihi. Wanting Tsukasa Fujimoto exhibiting up she’s principally confronted each notable determine from her stint with Ice Ribbon. That sense of closure carried into the post-match the place she promised to take care of Suzu Suzuki, who we knew primarily because the second in command to Sera in Prominence. With Sera defeated and Suzuki warming as much as a DDM invitation it looks as if Giulia’s conflict on the Ribbon has come to a detailed. ***1/2

FINAL THOUGHTS

Cease me in case you’ve heard this earlier than however, one other nice present from STARDOM. Regardless that the present ended with a tamer effort from Giulia and Sera it had the good GP matches again to again and the Goddess of STARDOM protection to make it value seeing. I’d say even the opener is value watching simply to see Rose Gold play off Megan Bayne higher than anybody on the roster however in case you’re in search of simply the hits then Syuri/Iwatani and AnouPoi/SuzuMei are the large hits.

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