Review: Stardom – 2018.05.05 – The Queens Quest Produced Show

Kaori Yoneyama vs. Hanan vs. Leo Onozaki
Another standard opener. Leo looked confident and fairly smooth. Kaori Yoneyama got the win with a double pin. 2/5

STARS (Mari Apache, Natsumi & Ruaka) vs. Oedo Tai (Sumire Natsu, Nao Yamaguchi & Session Moth Martina)
This was fun but fairly basic. I liked Mari stealing Martina’s beer and Nao reversed a Michinoku Driver attempt by Mari into a pin attempt which was surprisingly nice. Mari Apache pinned Nao Yamaguchi after a lariat. 2.5/5

STARS (Jungle Kyona, Shiki Shibusawa & Natsuko Tora) vs. Oedo Tai (Hazuki, Hana Kimura & Brandi Rhodes)
I’ve enjoyed the storyline of Team Jungle since the draft. Natsuko has been excellent in her storytelling as she feels it is embarrassing to not be drafted then to just tag along with STARS. This match was fine but nothing more. Kyona, Natsuko, Hazuki & Hana all did well but didn’t really do anything outside of their standard movesets. Brandi was hardly involved at all. Hazuki pinned Shiki Shibusawa after Bombs Away. 2.75/5

Queens Quest (AZM, Bea Priestley, Konami, Momo Watanabe & Chardonnay) vs. STARS (Mayu Iwatani, Saki Kasima, Tam Nakano, Candy Floss & Starlight Kid)
This was fun but a few of the larger spots involving all ten women looked very forced. We did get to see AZM vs. Starlight and Momo vs. Mayu though which were both awesome for the short time they lasted. Everyone else did well enough but with so many people there just really wasn’t enough time for any of them to really shine. Momo Watanabe pinned Candy Floss after a B-Driver. 3.25/5

Battle Royal (Everyone Dresses as Another Stardom Member)
I’m not even going to try and make sense of what happened during this match but it was all great fun and a must-see for any long time Stardom fans. My highlights included Konami doing a brilliant Hiromi Mimura impersonation, Hana Kimura being clumsy Mayu, Chardonnay getting disqualified as Session Moth Martina and of course Mayu Iwatani being an incredible Kagetsu (I really hope we get a full-time heel Mayu at some point). The match was chaotic and there wasn’t much wrestling but was incredibly fun. Mayu Iwatani (as Kagetsu) chokeslammed Momo Watanabe (as Io Shirai) off the apron to win. 4.25/5

Io Shirai vs. Kagetsu (Wonder of Stardom Title)
Incredible. It is very sad that this is likely to be the last time we ever see this matchup. It had a slow build, with Kagetsu targeting Io’s right knee with multiple attacks including a brilliant springboard dropkick. She also blocked an attempt at a suicide dive by Io and then performed one of her own. Io took a while to move freely but when she did the match hit top gear. The ending of the match worked beautifully with Kagetsu’s tactic of pushing the referee infront of a charging Io backfiring after the referee was out of action when Kagetsu got the upperhand. She managed to hit an Oedo Coaster and Io didn’t move but there was no referee to count. Eventually another referee came into the ring and counted but it was too late and Io kicked out. There was a fantastic exchange, a chokeslam reversal into a Frankensteiner by Io finally followed by two moonsaults to get the pin and retain the Wonder of Stardom Title. 4.5/5