Stardom New Year Stars 2018
Event Date: January 6, 2018 (17:00 JST)
matches published individually on Stardom World
City: Konohana, Osaka, Osaka, Japan
Venue: Konohana Kumin Hall
Attendance: 265
Series: New Year Stars 2018
Commentary: none
Ring Announcer: Fuka
Match 1
Shiki Shibusawa & Mari Apache (High Speed Champ) vs Konami & Hiromi Mimura
(referee: Barb Sasaki)
Result: Konami forces Shiki Shibusawa to submit to a crossface chicken wing
Time: 8:28
Match Thoughts
An okay match. I liked it, but there were a couple of very obvious miscommunications late in the match. Other than that, Mari Apache tended to dominate as usual. Shibusawa took a bit of a beating, mostly from Konami, but Shiki had some offense and even put together a nice sequence of pin attempts that seemed like they could have worked. I think the finish was good.
Match 2
Xia Brookside (IPW:UK Women’s Champ) & Kay Lee Ray vs Momo Watanabe & HZK (Artist of Stardom Champ)
(referee: Barb Sasaki)
Result: Momo Watanbe pins Xia Brookside after a running double knee strike
Time: 9:42
Match Thoughts
Good match. This was fairly even throughout, though Queen’s Quest did start to emerge as the dominant team after a while. It really did feel like a match between a team that’s just starting to work together and one that’s been together for a while. Momo Watanabe stood out in this one. She had some nicely sustained offense and created some unique situations during her time in the ring.
Match 3
Miranda & Rachael Ellering & Nicole Savoy (Shimmer Champ) vs Natsuko Tora & Jungle Kyona & Kaori Yoneyama
(referee: Daichi Murayama)
Result: Rachael Ellering pins Natsuko Tora after a Bosswoman Slam
Time: 11:30
Match Thoughts
Good match. Team Jungle seemed completely outmatched at first against a much bigger team. Yoneyama started for her team, and after a funny start, she started to get destroyed. Jungle Kyona helped turn things around, but it felt like Team Jungle was just fighting to catch up after the first few minutes. Team Jungle did have some good teamwork that helped them control parts of the match, and it was fun seeing them believably take down someone like Rachael Ellering who is probably twice the size of Yoneyama.
Match 4
Kagetsu (Goddess of Stardom Champ) w/ Tam Nakano vs AZM w/ Momo Watanabe, HZK
(referee: Barb Sasaki)
Result: Kagetsu wins via submission with a cross arm breaker
Time: 9:42
Match Thoughts
Very good match. Kagetsu didn’t take AZM seriously, and it cost her. Kagetsu easily controlled the first part of the match, but AZM was able to mount a comeback which surprised Kagetsu. The final segments of the match were very fast paced with many attacks and pin attempts flowing into each other. I really enjoyed this one. It was better than I thought it might be.
Match 5
Sumire Natsu w/ Kagetsu, Tam Nakano vs Io Shirai (Artist of Stardom, Wonder of Stardom Champ) w/ HZK, Momo Watanabe
(referee: Daichi Murayama)
Result: Io Shirai wins via pinfall after a diving moonsault
Time: 12:37
Match Thoughts
Good match. Sumire Natsu and the rest of Oedo Tai tried humiliating Io Shirai to start the match. They triple teamed her and even beat Io with her own photo book at one point. Humiliating Io isn’t a good idea though, and even though Oedo Tai did well early in the match, Io took control about halfway through and dominated Natsu. The result of this match wasn’t surprising, but it did help build even more interest in the upcoming Queen’s Quest versus Oedo Tai match.
Show Impressions
This was another good show. The undercard was alright, but the last two matches really made this show worth watching. Queen’s Quest versus Oedo Tai is a great story that can make every show interesting, though I wounder how the rest of the Korakuen Hall show will come together since so much time is being spent promoting one big match.
Match of the Night
Kagetsu vs AZM
The main event was good as well, but Kagetsu versus AZM surprised me. I really enjoyed the story of it, and the action was great.
Official Results (Japanese): http://wwr-stardom.com/?result=2018%E5%B9%B41%E6%9C%886%E6%97%A5%E3%80%80new-year-stars2018