Arisu Nanase vs. Natsumi Maki (Stardom, 6/4/2016)

Stardom - Shining Stars 2016 (6/4/2016)

Arisu Nanase vs. Natsumi Maki

This was a decent rookie struggle. There's only so much you can do in a 3-minute wrestling match, but I thought they put on a good showcase, and they have rivaling finishers that involve bridges. Nanase hits a double hand chest chop, which I found interesting. Maki's Swinging Neck Tree looked wicked.

**

Arisu Nanase vs. Kris Wolf (Stardom, 6/11/2016)

Stardom - Shining Stars 2016 (6/11/2016)

Arisu Nanase vs. Kris Wolf

Kris Wolf puts the heat on, Arisu showed guts and rookie fire, the crowd was into it and really rallied behind her comebacks. I liked the way Arisu took Wolf's knees, fourth match in and she has a distinct selling style. Good amount of drama in this a six minute match.

***

Arisu Nanase & Momo Watanabe vs. Hiromi Mimura & Starlight Kid (Stardom, 6/5/2016)

Stardom - Premium Star Wars in Nagoya (6/5/2016)

Arisu Nanase & Momo Watanabe vs. Hiromi Mimura & Starlight Kid

Jesus Christ... what went wrong here. The match derails completely. Alice looks lost; this is only her third match, but man... the crowd is laughing at her awkwardness, and the official counts the fall when she clearly kicked out at 2!

DUD

Arisu Nanase vs. Azumi (Stardom, 1/8/2017)

Stardom - New Years Star 2017 (1/8/2017)

Arisu Nanase vs. Azumi

This was a short match where Azumi outclassed Alice with a bevy of pin combinations until she got the win. Before that, Alice got in nice a northern lights suplex. Not much to say about this one.

**

Arisu Nanase vs. Jungle Kyona vs. Kagetsu vs. Mayu Iwatani (Stardom, 9/3/2016)

Stardom - 5★STAR GP2016 (9/3/2016)

Arisu Nanase vs. Jungle Kyona vs. Kagetsu vs. Mayu Iwatani 

An immensely fun 'get your shit in' type of match, where they're just stringing together signature spots and quick-pins. The highlight is Arisu getting whacked over the head by Kagetsu's traffic sign and Mayu's reaction to it.

***

Arisu Nanase vs. Momo Watanabe (Stardom, 5/29/2016)

Stardom - Shining Stars (5/29/2016)

Arisu Nanase vs. Momo Watanabe

Solid debut for Alice, where she shows off her impactful Cuty Special not once, but twice! It was cool to see Momo in such a dominant position and she connected great, hard kicks.

**1/4

Stardom - Grow Up Stars 2017 (4/16/2017)

1. AZM vs. La Rosa Negra

**1/2

2. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona vs. Konami & Tora Natsuko

**3/4

3. High Speed Championship: Kris Wolf (c) vs. Hetzza vs. Kaori Yoneyama

***

4. Mayu Iwatani & Arisu Nanase vs. Oedo Tai (Kagetsu & Hana Kimura)

***1/2

5. Queen's Quest (Io Shirai & HZK) vs. Kairi Hojo & Hiromi Mimura vs. The Craft (Jessicka Havok & Tessa Blanchard)

***3/4

Stardom - Grow Up Stars 2017 (3/26/2017)

3. Mayu Iwatani vs. Tora Natsuko

Dickish Mayu is so much fun to watch squash rookies.

***1/2

4. Queen's Quest (Io Shirai, HZK & AZM) vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto, Jungle Kyona & Hiromi Mimura

The desire for an Io-Hiroyo singles intensifies.

***1/2

5. Wonder of Stardom Championship: Kairi Hojo (c) vs. Konami

This was such an amazing sequel to their match at WILD HERO 2. Konami picks apart Hojo's limbs with kicks and submission holds. Hojo was in shambles by the end, she sold everything wonderfully, and her comebacks were hard-fought. It's so nice to see that signing with WWE hasn't stopped her from taking crazy bumps like the neck-drop she takes on the German suplex.

****1/2

Stardom - The Highest 2017 (3/20/2017)

1. Ruaka & Arisu Nanase vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Tora Natsuko

Natsuko's use of the Goto Shiki was cool.

**

3. High Speed Championship: Kris Wolf (c) vs. Hiromi Mimura

This had its moments with counters and dramatic near-falls and the crowd was into it, believe it or not. Wolf is constantly showing growth while Hiromi unfortunately hasn't made much progress.

**1/4

4. Mayu Iwatani vs. Hana Kimura

Hana showcases her amazing ability to control the crowd. They are entranced. I enjoyed the character work here even though it was pretty standard match from an in-ring perspective. The crowd participation makes it feel special.

***1/2

5. SWA World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Jungle Kyona

This was a surprisingly good match. Some strong building towards the finish.

***1/4

6. World of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai (c) vs. Kairi Hojo

Great main event that played off of their previous matches via callbacks and counters. One of my favorite moments in the match is when Io's answer to Hojo's rapid-fire chops in the corner is simply walking out of the corner, that familiarity showed their growth as performers.

****1/4

Stardom - Champions Around the World in Nagoya (3/5/2017)

1. Arisu Nanase vs. AZM

Solid minis opener.

**1/2

5. World of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai (c) vs. Kagetsu

This actually felt more like a High Speed match than it did a Red Belt match, if that makes sense. Really enjoyable action and some Dragon Gate-style heel tactics from Kagetsu. A good semi-main.

***1/2

6. Goddesses of Stardom Championship: BY Ho (Kairi Hojo & Yoko Bito) (c) vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona

Kyona's the hometown hero so she got a lot of shine. I thought her offense looked soft until the third act where she started laying in her stuff against Hojo, who was egging her on. Hiroyo assisting Kyona with the finishing powerbomb was a great moment. Solid stuff.

***1/4

Stardom - Grows Up Stars 2017 (3/4/2017)

1. AZM vs. Hiromi Mimura vs. Natsuko Tora

I usually skip Stardom openers, but I didn't this time.

*1/2

2. Arisu Nanase vs. Konami

Arisu ambushes Konami before the bell and quickly realizes her mistake when Konami out-grapples her. Cool opening. Nanase's greeness showed in some of the transitions, but this was otherwise a cozy squash.

**1/4

3. Christi Jaynes & Zoe Lucas vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona

This was more or less a showcase for the Hiroyo & Kyona tag team. Dug Kyona's use of sumo palm strikes.

**1/2

5. Oedo Tai (Kagetsu & Kris Wolf) vs. Queen's Quest (HZK & Io Shirai)

This was a very fun match. Oedo Tai were bamboozling Io through and through and keeping HZK out of the action with cheap shots. Oedo Tai put on a really cunning and cohesive tag performance, and vulnerable Io is always great.

****

Stardom - Grow Up Stars 2017 (3/3/2017)

2. Konami vs. Zoe Lucas

One of Zoe's better showings, mostly thanks to Konami leading the way. Her strikes looked good and she worked well underneath, even though she dropped Konami on the top of her head King's Road style.

*3/4

3. Oedo Tai (Kagetsu & Kris Wolf) vs. Mayu Iwatani & Arisu Nanase

Tight Pants Wolf is an automatic *1/2 and I rate from there. Fun match. Arisu's selling is enthralling. Loved the outside brawl and the platform truck spot, and the never-ending high speed feud of Mayu and Kagetsu always yields greatness.

***3/4

4. Toni Storm & Yoko Bito vs. Shayna Baszler & Christi Jaynes

Toni's faults are hidden well in tags. She is best served in small segments. Christi takes kicks to the back and a hip attack to the face simultaneously! Kick! Hip attack! Kick! Hip attack! Kick! Hip attack! Kick! Hip attack! ...isn't that exciting!? 

**1/2

5. Kairi Hojo, Hiromi Mimura & Jungle Kyona vs. Queen’s Quest (Io Shirai, HZK & AZM)

Good trios match, as expected from Queen's Quest. I like the interactions between HZK and Hojo; their mini-feud is enjoyable with HZK always trying to get into Hojo's head. Hiromi has a heated exchange with HZK too! HZK brought the fire. Then there's AZM, who is a black leather-clad killer.

***1/4