Monday, March 28, 2022

Stardom - STARDOM WORLD CLIMAX 2022 ~The Top~(3/27/2022)

 1. Future of Stardom Championship: Hanan (c) vs. Mai Sakurai

Good opening match with a solid amount of drama for its length. I actually enjoyed this quite a bit more than the Future match from the previous night. Diverse range of moves and each competitor showed a real drive to win. Mai was making timely counters right down to the finish and it felt like it could have gone either way. ***1/4

3. Utami Hayashishita vs. MIRAI

Utami's neck is still wounded from her title match the previous night so MIRAI zones in on the injury. MIRAI pulling out a Yurikamome shows how deep her grappling arsenal is. Utami's neck didn't allow her to bridge her German suplex so she had to dig in her drawer for another finish. Great back and forth struggle between two power fighters with judo backgrounds. ***1/2

4. Momo Watanabe vs. Hazuki

Putting these two together for this event was pure fan service. Momo still moves with the same vitality despite her ever-increasing weight, and her kicks feel like they have something more behind them. Hazuki was able to answer back with some vigor, but I almost feel she was sucked into Momo's pacing and didn't stand out as much. It was mostly a Momo show. Still, this packed a lot of high impact action. Momo, using all of her big moves short of the Peach Thunder, felt as if she was showing Hazuki how much she had grown since their last singles encounter. The Bea Trigger with an exposed knee was a nice tribute to her former ally. ***3/4

6. KAIRI vs. Starlight Kid

This was a methodical detail oriented type of deal instead of the spurt-style match Stardom fans may be accustomed to these days. All about maximizing the pause between the moves. KAIRI endured Kid's assault and gave everything back. ****

7. Giulia, Maika Himeka & Thekla vs. Suzu Suzuki, Risa Sera, Akane Fujita & Mochi Miyagi

It had been over 2 years since Giulia and Suzu last wrestled against each other in the ring and their chemistry was instant. They are natural opponents and their interactions created excitement for the future. It wasn't the proper full-scale battle between DDM and Prominence I would have liked to have seen, but it was an effective prelude match. ***3/4

8. Wonder of Stardom Championship: Saya Kamitani (c) vs. Tam Nakano

These two have such a catchy chemistry, everything flows seamlessly even when the technique isn't perfect. Exhilarating game of one upmanship with a couple of dangerous techniques thrown in. Namely an avalanche frankensteiner to the floor (!) and a balcony dive. Both willing to risk self-destruction to call themselves the Wonder of Stardom champion. ****1/2

9. World of Stardom Championship: Syuri (c) vs. Mayu Iwatani

This had its moments, but something about it felt off. I wasn't able to get a sense of what they were trying to convey. There was obviously the limb damage which came into play during key moments, with Mayu being unable to make the necessary follow through, and the finish. But a lot of it felt aimless, like they were throwing moves without meaning behind it. It lacked the focus and polish of recent red belt main events. ***1/4

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