Stardom - Gold May 2017 (5/14/2017)

3. Hana Kimura vs. HZK vs. Rebel

**

4. Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona (c) vs. The Craft (Jessicka Havok & Tessa Blanchard)

**3/4

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

**3/4

6. World of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai (c) vs. Toni Storm

This was excellent; an intense high drama main event. Io puts a beating on the challenger in the first act, with a dropkick while Toni's neck is trapped in a chair, followed by stomps, and a double knee smash into the ring post. This is the most vulnerable Toni Storm has ever looked in Stardom. Storm has Io down for the count after she hits her deadly piledriver, the culmination of neck-work, but her pride won't allow her to win that way. Io sells the damage amazingly, lunging around on the mat with a stiff upper body as she fights to make the comeback; easily the best selling I have ever seen from her. Great match!

****

Stardom - Grows Up Stars 2017 (5/7/2017)

3. Hana Kimura vs. Hetzza vs. Rebel

**

4. The Craft (Jessicka Havok & Tessa Blanchard) vs. Natsuko Tora & Toni Storm

***

5. Threedom Final Tag: Threedom (Io Shirai, Kairi Hojo & Mayu Iwatani) vs. Hiromi Mimura, HZK & Jungle Kyona

***1/4

Stardom - Golden Week Stars 2017 (5/6/2017)

3. The Craft (Jessicka Havok & Tessa Blanchard) vs. Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora

***1/4

4. Mayu Iwatani & Toni Storm vs. Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura & Kris Wolf)

***

5. Artist of Stardom Championship: Queen's Quest (AZM, HZK & Io Shirai) (c) vs. Hiromi Mimura, Kairi Hojo & Konami

***3/4

Stardom - Cinderella Tournament 2017 (4/30/2017)

1. Cinderella Tournament 2017 First Round: HZK vs. Jungle Kyona

This match had a good urgency, selling, and HEAT! HZK impressed with the new moves she unveiled and how she applied them.

***3/4

3. Cinderella Tournament 2017 First Round: Kris Wolf vs. Tessa Blanchard

***

4. Cinderella Tournament 2017 First Round: Kagetsu vs. Konami

***

8. Cinderella Tournament 2017 First Round: Hana Kimura vs. Io Shirai

No sexy pose from Io Shirai. What a shame. The atmosphere of this match feels different from the previous matches, the crowd is hot with anticipation. Hana-chan gains a ton of momentum behind her dropkicks and boots, and Io bumped good as usual. The dragon screws from Io were sold as viciously as they looked, and she starts to devastate the limb. The close-calls were intense and the crowd was going bonkers at possibility of Hana eliminating Io.

****

10. Cinderella Tournament 2017 Quarter Final: HZK vs. Kairi Hojo

I'm not into Hojo's performance in this tournament. There's great heat from HZK during this clash; she's become one of my absolute favorites to watch.

***

13. Cinderella Tournament 2017 Final: Mayu Iwatani vs. Toni Storm

This didn't quite reach the hype levels of some of the previous matches with the crowd, and I probably wouldn't have liked this as much as I did if Toni was facing anyone else. Mayu was built to take these moves. her selling was superb, limbs flailing like spaghetti, and her facial expressions are great too. Storm was an absolute superwoman here and adsorbed everything that was thrown at her.

***3/4

Stardom - Kairi Hojo’s Homecoming (4/22/2017)

1. Hetzza vs. Kris Wolf vs. Natsuko Tora

BAD

2. Hiromi Mimura & Kaori Yoneyama vs. Oedo Tai (Kagetsu & La Rosa Negra)

***3/4

3. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyona vs. The Craft (Jessicka Havok & Tessa Blanchard)

***

4. Konami, Mayu Iwatani & Toni Storm vs. Queen's Quest (AZM, HZK & Io Shirai)

****

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

***

Queen's Quest (Io Shirai, HZK & AZM) vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto, Jungle Kyona & Tora Natsuko (Stardom, 4/15/2017)

2. Kaori Yoneyama vs. Kris Wolf

Hey, a rematch from the 5★STAR GP2016 FINALS, and there's some callbacks to that match here too. Wolf gets overly ambitious and does an extremely sloppy springboard headscissors takedown sequence that ruined the flow until the finish. She finds a counter to Yoneyama's rolling German that I liked.

**

3. Artist of Stardom Championship Tournament, Semi Final: Queen's Quest (Io Shirai, HZK & AZM) vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto, Jungle Kyona & Tora Natsuko

This was another really good Queen's Quest trio in a line of really good Queen's Quest trios. Jungle Friends were a very energetic team, and I thought Tora was fun. HZK's feud with Kyona is starting to heat up. Io is the ace, but she kind of let's her teammates get the spotlight.

***3/4

4. Artist of Stardom Championship Tournament, Semi Final: Oedo Tai (Kagetsu, Hana Kimura & La Rosa Negra) vs. Kairi Hojo, Hiromi Mimura & Konami

La Rosa Negra is wearing pink, which is not part of Oedo Tai's palette. But none of that even matters because Hana-chan gets a big win over Hojo.

**3/4

5. Mayu Iwatani & Hetzza vs. Jessicka Havok & Tessa Blanchard

**1/2

6. Artist of Stardom Championship Tournament, Final: Queen's Quest (Io Shirai, HZK & AZM) vs. Oedo Tai (Kagetsu, Hana Kimura & La Rosa Negra)

This felt all over the place.

**1/2

Stardom - 5★STAR GP2016 FINALS (9/22/2016)

3. Kairi Hojo vs. Hiromi Mimura

Hojo's return after getting eggplanted by Io. She cosplayed as Tessa Blanchard for some reason. Maybe she forgot her attire at home. Obviously Hiromi is no threat for the holder of the White Belt, but she managed a very believable near-fall.

**1/4

4. Momo Watanabe, Jungle Kyona, Mayu Iwatani vs. Oedo-Tai (Kyoko Kimura, Kagetsu & X)

Kyoko Kimura's daughter Hana is revealed as Oedo-Tai's mystery member. She wears a ninja-style jumpsuit. I like it. Kagetsu looked like a beast.

***

5. SWA World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Blue Nikita

"what a terrible match without selling moves." - Renown joshi journalist Dedy Silveria

no

6. World of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai (c) vs. Kay Lee Ray

KLR lost her final match in the GP, but gets a title opportunity anyway because Rossy booking. This was an enjoyable spotfest; they did some neat things and didn't insult my intelligence.

***

7. 5★STAR GP Finals: Yoko Bito vs. Tessa Blanchard

Tessa is main eventing in the legendary Koraken Hall. She has made it as a wrestler by all accounts, and she does a brilliant job heeling it up on Bito, sort of... the crowd is unfortunately not into it, but I was. There were some sloppy moments, but overall I thought this was solid.

**3/4