Stardom - Shining Stars 2018 (6/10/2018)

3. JAN (Jungle Kyona, Leo Onozaki & Natsuko Tora) vs. STARS (Mayu Iwatani, Starlight Kid & Tam Nakano)

Good trios. Interesting ideas on display, but the execution wasn't always the best. Aggressive Tamu was great, and the stereo standing moonsaults from Mayu and SLK was such an awesome spot.

***

4. Oedo Tai (Hazuki, Kagetsu & Sumire Natsu) vs. Queen's Quest (AZM, Konami & Momo Watanabe)

This was a fun and action-packed trios. It was nice to see the in-ring banter between Sumire and AZM translated.

***1/2

5. Gauntlet: Io Shirai vs. AZM, Deonna Purrazzo, Hanan, Hazuki, Jungle Kyona, Kagetsu, Kaori Yoneyama, Konami, Leo Onozaki, Mayu Iwatani, Momo Watanabe, Natsuko Tora, Sumire Natsu, Saki Kashima, Shiki Shibusawa, Starlight Kid, Takumi Iroha, Tam Nakano, Toni Storm & Zoe Lucas

Io's final Shinkiba performance; there were a lot of fun moments. Highlights include the SLK, Konami, Yoneyama, and Sumire segments.

***1/4

OZ Academy - Rude in June (6/3/2018)

4. OZ Academy Tag Team Champship: Sekigun (Maya Yukihi & Mayumi Ozaki) (c) vs. MK5 (Kakeru Sekiguchi & Sonoko Kato)

Highly entertaining Sekigun torture session. MK5 put in a good performance fighting underneath; the bloodshed added to their peril. I wasn't sure about Sekiguchi at first, but she's improving rapidly.

***1/2

5. OZ Academy Openweight Champship: Yoshiko (c) vs. Hikaru Shida

Great match. Shida is getting creative with those knee strikes lately, the lariat counters and the Kamigoye were awesome. There was stiffness and nice sequences, but the finishing run was lacking. Still, Shida winning the Openweight is one of my favorite moments of the year.

***3/4

Mitsuru Konno vs. Suruga Mei (Gatoh Move, 5/28/2018)

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour・358 (5/28/2018)

Mitsuru Konno vs. Suruga Mei

I liked the opening sequence where they went for a test of strength, but Mei is too short to grab Konno's hand, so she jumps off of the wall to grab the hand. Suruga gets the spotlight and her work was good. Dug the Full Nelson transition into a Cattle Mutilation. Konno is fairly new herself, but she did a swell job of holding things together against the rookie.

***3/4

Kairi Hojo & Mayu Iwatani vs. Io Shirai & Momo Watanabe (Stardom, 4/23/2016)

Stardom - Grows Up Stars 2016: Kairi Hojo Homecoming (4/23/2016)

Kairi Hojo & Mayu Iwatani vs. Io Shirai & Momo Watanabe

Kairi is the hometown girl so she got a lot of shine here. I liked Io's work over on her and their segment had some awesome physicality.

****

Stardom - Shining Stars 2018 (6/9/2018)

2. Hanan vs. Natsuko Tora

Great showing from Hanan in this match. I was surprised at how strong she looked here, locking in an arm bar and nailing a chain of judo slams, before Tora made her comeback. Tora's selling of the arm was a nice touch

***1/2

4. STARS (Mayu Iwatani, Saki Kashima, Starlight Kid & Tam Nakano) vs. Queen's Quest (AZM, Io Shirai, Konami & Momo Watanabe)

Great 8-man scramble. Konami accidentally hits Starlight Kid with a kick to the face, causing the latter to bleed from the nose and be unable to finish the match. I thought it worked well into the pacing and gave the match an organic heat.

***3/4

5. World of Stardom Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Kagetsu

Totally fine with Toni Storm defending the belt twice (in Japan) against high profile opponents. It isn't much different from Satomura's reign with the belt. This was an awesome match, both worked hard and pushed each other to the limit in what I feel is the best match of their respective careers. Intense, snug action throughout. Super Toni's second wind and Kagetsu channeling senpai with the Death Valley Bomb were such great moments.

****3/4

Tokyo Joshi Pro - The 5th Tokyo Princess Cup (6/17/2018)

5. Tokyo Princess Cup - Round 2: Miyu Yamashita vs. Nodoka-oneesan

Great climax with Nodoka coming back from the brink of death. Oneesan's on another level when it comes to creating drama and drawing the crowd in with her selling. Her ragdoll-bumping really did Miyu's hellish kicks justice.

****

7. Tokyo Princess Cup - Round 2: Rika Tatsumi vs. Shoko Nakajima

This was a pleasant surprise since I didn't have any interest going in. They were working hard and there were some amazing spots, such as Rika's running dropkick on the apron to Shoko's leg.

***1/2

Stardom - Queen's FES in Sapporo (6/3/2018)

2. Future of Stardom Championship: Starlight Kid (c) vs. AZM

Solid showcase of what these two can do together. Spotty execution, but they paced and built everything well into the time limit draw. I liked the heated moments where they traded slaps and AZM's little stomps to the head.

***

3. JAN (Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora) vs. Oedo Tai (Hazuki & Sumire Natsu)

Sumire's cheating and hijinks and Hazuki's surliness works well together. This made me psyched for their GoS title challenge. Also, nice to see Nao hit an axe bomber in her hometown!

***1/2

5. Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura & Kagetsu) (c) vs. STARS (Mayu Iwatani & Saki Kashima)

Good competitive tag match with exciting momentum shifts and near-falls. Hana had a strong performance here, hit some nice head-sweeping boots and sold the defeat really well after getting misted and Dragon Suplexed.

***3/4