Utami Hayashishita vs. Maika (JTO, 1/14/2020)

JTO - Hatsu (1/14/2020)

Future of Stardom Championship: Utami Hayashishita (c) vs. Maika

First time watching a Maika match at full-length. She seemed very good for someone with less than 15 matches. She had a clear and focused gameplan, showing little signs of inexperience. These two are similar in that they're both tall, chunky power fighters with judo backgrounds and red costumes, but the wrestling was surprisingly not samey. It was intense, with some great physicality in the strikes, slams and submission holds.

***1/4

BEST OF THE SUPER JOSHI 2019 - Top 50 Best Bouts

These are my top 50 favorite joshi puroresu bouts of 2019.

Tokyo Joshi Pro - Tokyo Joshi Pro '20 (1/4/2020)

5. Sareee vs. Natsumi Maki

Natsumi's return from injury. A reunion with best friend and former training partner Sareee. The opening sequence alleviated any doubt about Natsumi's condition. Sareee, whose abilities were noticed by WWE last year, had the presence of a star and her strikes and slams had tremendous power behind them. Natsumi gave a gutsy performance, showing a new arm bar and getting some close near-falls. This was a great match with hard hits and brilliant technique shown by both wrestlers.

****1/4

9. Princess of Princess Championship: Yuka Sakazaki (c) vs. Miyu Yamashita

The outside brawling felt shoehorned at first, but it created a memorable moment in the table sleight and led to some violent table and apron attacks. There were some other cool moments such as Miyu stopping Yuka's swan dive with high kicks to the head, and Yuka turning the Magical Merry-Go-Round into a Northern Lights slam. It wasn't the "best bout" I was hoping for, but it was a great match.

****

Hagane Shinnou & Mitsuru Konno vs. Mei Suruga & Yuna Mizumori (Gatoh Move, 12/14/2019)

Gatoh Move - Gtmv #22 (12/14/2019)

Hagane Shinnou & Mitsuru Konno vs. Mei Suruga & Yuna Mizumori

This was a densely packed 12-minutes with a lot of exciting sequences, counters and some close near-falls. Yuna and Hagane exchanged hard hitting blows similar to their match from the previous month, while Mei and Konno prepared for their upcoming singles match in heated sessions.

****1/4

Stardom - Year-End Climax 2019 (12/24/2019)

2. Artist of Stardom Championship: Queen's Quest (AZM, Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita) (c) vs. STARS (Saki Kashima, Starlight Kid & Tam Nakano)

The usual fun Stardom style trios match, fast paced action with well paced shifts in momentum and tandem sequences. AZM and Starlight’s eternal rivalry always produces good results, and the finishing stretch between Momo and Kashima was hot.

***3/4

4. Giulia vs. Hana Kimura

A brutal match in the best possible way. This totally delivered on the hype. They worked a frenetic pacing, going at each other with blistering offense. Ground struggles, wild outside brawling, boots and stomps, headbutts, violent submissions, brutal head drops. This was a mesmerizing display of violence.

****1/2

5. Wonder of Stardom Championship: Arisa Hoshiki (c) vs. Konami

An excellent match, with simple and effective storytelling. This was a big improvement over their previous Korakuen match during the Cinderella tournament, both have made notable improvements in certain areas of their performance and the match composition overall was stronger. Konami was beaming confidence even during the closing segments as she continued to work the neck, looking for the Final Lancer. Arisa was bouncing back from adversity with compelling charisma and energy behind her counterattacks.

****1/4

6. World of Stardom Championship: Mayu Iwatani (c) vs. Kagetsu

The final chapter of the Mayu-Kagetsu feud, my personal favorite match between them. Even though this is the longest match of the rivalry at 22-minutes, they cut back on some of the excess that brought down the previous matches and wrestled a well paced epic with some very dramatic counters.

****

Stardom - Goddess of Stars 2019 (12/15/2019)

2. Hina & Rina vs. Itsuki Hoshino & Saya Kamitani

These rookie matches generally never rise above the level of “functionally solid”, but this one was surprisingly great. A back and forth with heated near-falls. Rina & Hina's double teams, and Kamitani’s dropkicks and running shooting star were highlights.

***1/4

4. Andras Miyagi vs. Giulia

A solid match, both performers were good and showed off their personalities and exchanged some heavy offense. Miyagi looks like she’s having fun in the ring again and had a stronger presence compared to the latter end of her run in Oedo Tai.

Stardom - Goddess of Stars 2019 (12/14/2019)

6. Hazuki vs. Kagetsu

The ground and grappling exchanges were technical and intense, and the offense from both looked good. But somewhere in the middle it lost its pacing, and the brief comeback sequence from Kagetsu made for a flat finish.

7. Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Tokyo Cyber Squad (Jungle Kyona & Konami) vs. Riho & Starlight Kid

This was more methodical and deliberately paced than the Shinkiba match, with a focus on Starlight Kid, who showed lots of fighting spirit in a strong performance. Riho was finding her mark with those jumping knee strikes, and the champions were dominant with their ring control and constant pressure.

***3/4