Stardom NewYear Stars 2020
Evening Show
Event Date: January 11, 2020 (17:00 JST)
matches published individually on Stardom World
City: Minato, Osaka, Osaka, Japan
Venue: Osaka World Pavilion (Osaka Sekaikan)
Attendance: 206
Series: NEWYEAR STARS 2020
Commentary: none
Ring Announcer: Yurie Kozakai
Match 1
Itsuki Hoshino vs Konami (Goddess Champ)
(referee: Duke Sado)
Result: Konami wins via pinfall with a bridging northern lights suplex
Time: 6:48
Match Thoughts
Good match. Hoshino did very well, though she didn’t always make great decisions when fighting someone like Konami. Hoshino tried standing up and trading strikes with Konami for a while, but Konami’s kicks can quickly change the complexion of a match. Hoshino did her best when she was agile and persistent. No single move from Hoshino was going to beat Konami, but a series of moves felt like the might do the trick. This was a very good opener for the show.
Match 2
High Speed Grand Prix Round Robin Match
DEATH Yama-san (0 – 0:0:0) vs AZM (0 – 0:0:0) (Artist Champ)
(referee: Daichi Murayama)
Result: AZM wins via pinfall with Azumi Sushi
Time: 0:44
Match Thoughts
This was fun, and it definitely lived up to its “high speed” name. The match was extremely short, and both women were basically just looking for a quick pinfall. One of them got one, and I liked it very much.
Match 3
Saya Kamitani vs Kagetsu
(referee: Daichi Murayama)
Result: Kagetsu wins via submission with a Boston crab
Time: 9:44
Match Thoughts
Good match. It was nice to see Kagetsu battle a rookie on her retirement road. Kagetsu let Kamitani start the attack, but Kagetsu quickly took the fight out to the floor once Kamitani started to tire herself out with dropkicks. Back in the ring, Kamitani started to put together some nice sequences of pin attempts, but Kagetsu always just seemed to be biding her time. I like the finish a lot too. It really showed the difference in experience between Kagetsu and Kamitani, since both women attempted similar submissions throughout the match, but Kagetsu knew how to properly apply leverage and balance while Kamitani struggled a bit.
Match 4
Saya Iida & Starlight Kid vs Andras Miyagi & Giulia
(referee: Duke Sado)
Result: Giulia wins via submission with Stealth Viper
Time: 10:31
Match Thoughts
Pretty good match. Giulia and Miyagi were about as dominant as you might expect. Starlight Kid did okay for a while, but she got isolated and double-teamed for a long time. Saya Iida also had some moments, but her inexperience showed through late in the match when she went one on one with Giulia for an extended amount of time. Giulia stretched Iida quite a lot while she was setting up for her Stealth Viper finisher. This was an easy night for Miyagi and Giulia.
Match 5
Zoey Skye & Jamie Hayter & Saki Kashima vs Leyla Hirsch & Jungle Kyona (Goddess Champ) & Hana Kimura
(referee: Duke Sado)
Result: Leyla Hirsch pins Zoey Skye after a double-jump moonsault press
Time: 11:24
Match Thoughts
Very good match. Jamie Hayter really wanted to get her hands on Jungle Kyona, but they were mostly kept apart during the match. Instead, Saki Kashima spent a good amount of time in the ring (and on the outside). Kashima did well to start, but she tried to get cute with some outside shenanigans, and that led to the Tokyo Cyber Squad taking over. The match had a little bit of a back-and-forth rhythm up until Zoey Skye and Leyla Hirsch got tagged in for their respective teams. With each woman kind of a wildcard for their team, it left the end of the match pretty uncertain about who might get the victory. I liked it.
Match 6
Leo Onozaki & Utami Hayashishita (Future, SWA, & Artist Champ) & Momo Watanabe (Artist Champ) & Bea Priestley vs Riho (High Speed Champ, AEW Women’s Champ) & Tam Nakano & Arisa Hoshiki (Wonder Champ) & Mayu Iwatani (World Champ)
(referee: Daichi Murayama)
Result: Tam Nakano pins Leo Onozaki after Dodon.tam
Time: 13:43
Match Thoughts
Very good match. This match had some very clear pairings. Hayashishita and Hoshiki have an upcoming title match, as do Watanabe and Iwatani, so those parings were easily set. Riho paired off with Priestley a fair amount of the time, and Onozaki and Nakano also spent a lot of time in the ring against each other. Everyone would of course get involved with everyone as the match descended into chaos a few times, but for the most part the pairings stuck. I think that did a good job of highlighting the upcoming title matches without giving too much away. This was a fine main event on an entertaining show.
Ring Area
After the match, Arisa Hoshiki wonders how long Utami Hayashishita is going to be able to remain calm as their title match gets closer. Hayashishita simply says she’s going to take the Wonder of Stardom title at Korakuen Hall.
Momo Watanabe then says that for her coming of age celebration (which is in two days), she’d love to take the World of Stardom title from Mayu Iwatani. Iwatani congratulates Watanabe on her coming of age, but Iwatani is older and more experienced. Watanabe is going to have to fight for the title.
Tam Nakano starts to speak next, but Kagetsu enters the ring and takes the mic. Osaka is her hometown, and she has an announcement to make. The next Stardom show in Osaka will be her last, and she wants to team with Mayu Iwatani in a tag match against Jungle Kyona and Momo Watanabe. Everyone agrees, so the match is made.
After than, Stars close the show.
Show Impressions
I enjoyed this show, but I think the daytime show was a little better overall. The matches were just consistently more entertaining for me then.
Match of the Night
Queen’s Quest vs Stars (main event)
I think the final two matches of the night were pretty even, but the main event felt a little more energetic throughout the entire duration of the match.
Official Results (Japanese): https://wwr-stardom.com/news/2020%e5%b9%b41%e6%9c%8811%e6%97%a5%e3%80%80newyear-stars2020%ef%bc%88%e5%a4%9c%ef%bc%89/