World Wonder Ring Stardom ran their Wrestlemania week show from NYC Arena on April 5th. This wasn’t Stardom’s first foray into the American market, but it represented a new wave of overseas expansion by the company this year. 650 people made their way to Queens to watch a show including a Wonder of Stardom title match between Momo Watanabe and Utami Hayashishita. To kick the show off the Stardom roster were brought out to the ring to be introduced to the crowd.
Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora vs. Sonya Strong & Violette – This was a decent opening match, which saw Jungle Assault Nation take on two of House of Glory’s top stars. Kyona and Natusko are two of the best wrestlers in Stardom and they were able to get the crowd well invested in this match. There were a few botches here and there, but that was probably due to a general lack of chemistry between the two teams, and it didn’t hurt the match too much. Natsuko in particular looked good in this match, helping out Kyona after an extended heat sequence. Kyona and Natsuko hit stereo splashes from the top on their opponents, and then Kyona hit a Hammer Throw Powerbomb for the win. Winners: Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora
Britt Baker & Brittany Blake vs. Bea Priestley & Konami vs. Hana Kimura & Bobbi Tyler – First thing to take away from this match is that Hana is massively over, and Stardom made a smart move signing her to a full time contract. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this match but it ended up being better than I expected, although Konami and Hana were the standout performers. The commentary constantly referred to Bea Priestley as “controversial” but thankfully she didn’t attempt to breakout a Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex in this match. Not too much to say about this match, but when Hana picked up the win with a big missile dropkick on Brittany Blake they played the Queen’s Quest music, which really pissed her off and caused her to yell at the tech table until they played her own music. Winners: Hana Kimura & Bobbi Tyler
High Speed Title – Dust vs. Hazuki (c) – The first of two singles title matches on the card, which featured the impressive Hazuki taking on Dust, who did a tour of Stardom last summer with Rise. Hazuki has lowkey become one of the best wrestlers on the roster since joining Oedo Tai last year, and this match was another good defence for her. For her part Dust was mostly impressive, although there was one quite slow flip over the turnbuckle that didn’t look amazing (although it ended up in a pretty wicked looking DDT on the apron). Still, that wasn’t enough to detract from what was a good showing for both women, and ended with a flash pin by Hazuki using her Ha Zukistral. I never expected the title to change hands here, but it was another fun High Speed defence, albeit it on the short side. Winner: Hazuki
Wonder of Stardom Title – Utami Hayashishita vs. Momo Watanabe (c) – Momo challenged Utami after she beat Andras Miyagi at Korakuen Hall last month. I have to preface this review by saying that the Fite stream died two thirds of the way through this match when we were watching live, which really ruined the moment. Thankfully Stardom got the full match up very quickly, which was a positive mark in their book. This is Stardom’s most protected matchup right now, so I was surprised that the match was booked for New York and I assumed that it would go to a draw here and allow them to run it again in Japan. The match itself was good, but it felt like both women were holding something back from their usual matches. The opening was slow, although things picked up after Utami extended her hand to shake with Momo, then slapped her in the face. Utami came close to pinning Momo after a big German suplex, but Momo kicked out, hit a Tequila Sunrise, then a Peach Sunrise for the win. I’m surprised that they had a clean finish here, and it feels like they held something back for when they have a rematch in Japan. Winner: Momo Watanabe
Elimination Tag Match – Kagetsu & Andras Miyagi & Jamie Hayter & Session Moth Martina vs. Mayu Iwatani & Saki Kashima & Arisa Hoshiki & Tam Nakano – This was a really fun elimination tag match between Oedo Tai and Stars, showcasing two of the most exciting factions of Stardom. The Oedo Tai dance was hugely over with the crowd, and Kagetsu revelled in the cheers from the crowd before the match started. This match style was perfect for the brawling style of Oedo Tai, since the factions could fight outside the ring while two wrestlers stayed in the ring. Elimination occurred by pinfall, submission, or being thrown over the top rope. Saki was the first wrestler eliminated by Miyagi after a Tombstone Piledriver, then Hoshiki levelled things for Stars by eliminating Martina with a Brazilian kick. Kagetsu eliminated Tam with a Death Valley Bomb, then Mayu threw Andras over the top rope with a cool headscissors move. Kagetsu and Arisa were eliminated at the same time by both going over the top rope, which left Mayu and Jamie Hayter as the last two competitors. Kagetsu tried to spit poison mist in Mayu’s face, but missed and hit Jamie by accident, which led to Mayu hitting a moonsault for the win. This was the result I expected since Mayu was competing at MSG in the Women of Honor title match the next day. Overall this was a very fun match and a good way to close out the show after two more serious title matches. Winners: Mayu Iwatani, Saki Kashima, Arisa Hoshiki, Tam Nakano
Verdict
Overall, I think that this was a mostly successful show for Stardom. First I have to get the negative points out of the way. The card wasn’t announced until two days before the show, which was somewhat worrying (although the final card ended up being strong). The show was scheduled to start at 4pm EST, but the previous show had broken the bottom ring rope, so the show was postponed by half an hour as they tried to fix the ropes. Apparently the ropes were too broken to be fixed, so the whole show proceeded with a broken bottom rope. The wrestlers did a good job of dealing with it, but it wasn’t a good look. It also seemed like they ran out of time to change the interior of the venue, so they started the show with House of Glory curtains and ring apron, which didn’t look great. The Fite stream died right in the middle of the most anticipated title match (not Stardom’s fault to be fair, but it definitely soured the live watching experience). Also the crowd sounded pretty quiet on the live stream, although apparently this wasn’t the case for the people actually at the venue.
On the other hand, the wrestling itself was good, and it was clear that all the Stardom talent were trying hard and enjoying themselves. From what I heard, the people there live had a great time, and the word of mouth coming out of the show was positive. Ticket sales were also strong given the very late announcement of the card. From that respect, Stardom had a successful New York show. Hopefully if they plan to come back for Wrestlemania week next year they learn from some of the teething issues with the stream and overall presentation and can improve on those apsects. If you watched this show and enjoyed it you should definitely consider signing up for Stardom World at https://www.stardom-world.com. The presentation of their Japanese shows is mostly top quality, and everything is subtitled in English, a very easy way to get into the world of joshi wrestling.
