6/29/2025

After watching Sareee defeat Syuri for the IWGP Women’s Championship in yet another improbably brilliant match of the year contender at Stardom’s “The Conversion”, you could be forgiven for concluding that Syuri and Sareee are two peas in a wrestling pod. They are both, it is fair to say, hyper-realistic, pseudo-shooters who blend ultra-stiff strikes with gruesome submissions and a stone-faced fighting façade that exudes a sense of calm control, while barely concealing a primal rage that they let slip only when the drama of the fight reaches its apex. They should be soulmates – and they are certainly perfectly matched dance partners in the squared circle – but look beyond the ring and their similarities end. The two most believable bad-arses in women’s wrestling might feel like mirror images of one another, but they could not have more differing ethoses on life and personal presentation.

So, in the hopes of better understanding two of the greatest and most important wrestlers of the 21st century, let’s delve into their personalities, their philosophies, and let’s track where their paths have intertwined and where they have diverged. After all, both Syuri and Sareee, for all their credibility and undeniable ability, have both had to journey back from the darkest of abysses to reclaim their rightful place at wrestling’s top table.

The Fake Tough Guy and The Tearful Scaredy Cat

It’s easy to think of Sareee and Syuri as the irresistible force and the immovable object. Both women project such powerfully dominant auras as the Sun God and the leader of God’s Eye, respectively, but to truly understand their approaches to pro wrestling, it’s instructive to look at how each woman chose to present herself in the run-up to their instant classic at “The Conversion”.

Sareee went to the press and social media to let it be known that she wasn’t impressed with Stardom’s new class of rookies, but she carefully selected her words. She did not bemoan Ranna Yagami and Aya Sakura’s technical skills (both are accomplished and impressive for their relative experience), but instead noted: “Stardom is overwhelmingly lacking in the fundamental essence of women’s wrestling – the fight.” This is the spirit of Inoki-ism that Sareee best embodies: not the crispness of the execution or the ability to bump dramatically (although she possesses both), but sheer force of violent willpower that expresses itself in the bulging of veins, the tensing of muscles and, most importantly, in the ferocity of your strikes. In a sense, it is the very joy of being hit hard and hitting back ten times harder (although I note, Sareee may not actually approve of the concept of joy).

It was somewhat ironic timing for Sareee to make this point, as it followed hot on the heels of the worked-shoot feud between Hanan and the former Stardom trainer and ferocious embodiment of fighting spirit itself, Hazuki. Hanan had tearfully ambushed the John Cena and Kelly Kelly superfan Hazuki at the All Star Grand Queendom press conference earlier this year, where Hanan revealed that Hazuki trained the rookies too aggressively, bullying newcomer Matoi, and had been removed from her position of authority due to bad behaviour. Perhaps from Sareee’s perspective, the rookies were not being treated harshly enough.

Sareee wouldn’t stop there. Her “it’s still real to me” shtick extended to World of Stardom Champion Saya Kamitani, whom Sareee accused of looking down on women’s pro wrestling and turning it into a farce. Saya, of course, gleefully took the opportunity to get under Sareee’s skin and has been trolling her repeatedly on social media in the build-up to their upcoming clash at “Sareee-ism VIII” on 14 July. Of course, it’s important to recognise that Sareee is playing a character, but she is wholly consistent in her actions, presenting herself as the steely and uncompromising defender of the traditional values of Japanese wrestling. So much so, that upon winning the IWGP Women’s Championship, she went to pay her respects at Antonio Inoki’s graveside.

Funnily enough, were Inoki alive and still booking, he’d no doubt have foolishly put Sareee into a shoot fight with the former undefeated Pancrase Champion and UFC fighter, Syuri. The result of that fight would not be in question, because while Sareee is undoubtedly tough and seems to relish head trauma and hard strikes, she is not a real fighter. She did not come from a fighting or even a sporting background; she’s a dyed-in-the-wool wrestling fan from her early childhood (even watching WWE). You might find this hard to believe when watching her work, but she is a performer and not a fighter (although please do not tell her that I said that).

© Sareee ISM

The Syuri School of Emotional Vulnerability

So how did the MMA fighter build up this dream match? Well firstly, she cried.

To be fair, it is very easy to make Syuri cry. She cries when she has a great match. She cried while dancing her way to the ring with Giulia as Ali Kaba to face MaiHime as part of Himeka’s retirement road. In fact, she cries whenever anyone leaves Stardom. She cries when someone achieves their dreams. No doubt she cries watching Pixar movies, and I wouldn’t be shocked if she cries out of sympathy for the rain itself.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that, after fighting Sareee to a stunning 30-minute draw at “Sareee-ism VII”, she burst into tears. Sareee immediately responded by shoot-slapping Syuri in the face and saying, “Syuri… stop crying! It’s so lame.” Syuri slapped Sareee hard in the face and replied with a remarkably endearing candour that perfectly captured the essence of Syuri the human being:

Syuri might be a killer, but she’s also a silly, self-deprecating, wilfully wacky fashion lover and a proud crier.

So how did she follow up on this fundamental assertion of self and continue the build to their rematch at “The Conversion”? Well, she and her protégé Ranna Yagami filmed a series of wacky mini-movies for Stardom’s YouTube channel, where Syuri was absolutely terrified by flashing lights, mannequins, and a mildly spooky low-light environment in a pretty ropey haunted house. Seriously, Syuri clung onto Ranna’s arm for dear life and jumped out of her skin at each and every pitiful jumpscare.

It’s easy to laugh and smile along with Syuri’s antics (she’d no doubt approve), but it’s worth noting that Syuri didn’t flinch – and she certainly didn’t cry – when she ate 150 strikes in 15 minutes from Yan Xiaonan in the middle of the Octagon. Syuri can play the fool, because at the end of the day, she is the real deal.

Sareee unquestionably understands this fact, but she is committed to an austere and unflappable aesthetic. She wants to project the image of severity and seriousness at all times. Like a hybrid between Gunther and Antonio Inoki, she wants wrestling to be treated as a sport to be respected, and carries herself as a champion who leads – not so much by example, but by making an example of her opponents.

However, there is one exception – one glimpse we’re afforded behind Sareee’s fearsome façade – and that can be found on TikTok, where her friend Natsupoi has her giggling as she rides Sareee like a bike. (Poi’s have that effect on people – just ask Saori Anou – but trust me, you’ll never see this Sareee anywhere near a wrestling ring.)

© WWE

Enter The Abyss: Racist Gimmicks vs Bears, Sloths and Spray Paint

Despite being two of the best and most respected wrestlers in the world, both Syuri and Sareee have spent recent years struggling for anything resembling relevancy and a sense of direction.

Syuri’s descent into the mire was both more pleasant and more understandable than Sareee’s. After her legendary five-and-a-half-star war with Utami Hayashishita at Stardom “Tokyo Dream 2021” set her on course to eventually become the World of Stardom Champion, Syuri would reign supreme for a full calendar year. Her run as champion was both technically excellent and, at times, a little uninspired, as she never really had the challengers or heated rivalries that make a title run truly memorable. Her reign was blighted by this uneasy sense that, while she had earned her place on merit, she was simply keeping the title warm for the promotion’s next great centrepiece star, Giulia (although in hindsight, that didn’t exactly go to plan either).

Nevertheless, Syuri had done it. She had reached the pinnacle, defeated everyone in her path and, like many long-reigning champions, found herself stuck in a strange limbo: too credible to return to the midcard, too young and too talented to be used as a stepping stone for the next generation, and, crucially, too damn funny for her own good. She would still sporadically feature in phenomenal matches, but as the leader of the, at times, hapless God’s Eye faction, she became embroiled in comedy.

© STARDOM

The Former Champion In Flux: Syuri’s Funny But Frustrating False Starts

Firstly, there was Saki Kashima, the cowardly sloth-style wrestler who hides behind ringposts, sleeps backstage, and does everything in her power to avoid physical violence. She had been a long time comedy rival of Syuri’s. Being the ying to each other’s yang, it was somewhat natural that when Saki was cruelly kicked out of the heel faction Odeo Tai, she ran to protection of “this monster called Syuri” (as Saki would describe her). This was an inspired choice and led to some fantastic video features, as Saki was forced to participate in God’s Eye intensive training regime and did everything in her power to avoid putting in the hard work. Saki and Syuri soon formed a great “opposites attract” tag team where their pre-match pose saw Saki hugging Syuri’s leg like a frightened koala bear. The scene seemed to be set for the pair to win the Goddess of Stardom Tag League in 2024, but like any well-built tournament there were multiple worthy winners and Syuri and Saki languished in mid-table.

This feeling of stories starting, but never quite reaching their natural climax, continued to dog Syuri throughout 2024. In one of the year’s best and most surprising angles, God’s Eye member Konami turned on Syuri, costing her the Goddess of Stardom titles when she joined Saya Kamitani’s H.A.T.E. faction. For months, Konami would get the heat on Syuri: humiliating her, spray painting her face, and laying waste to her faction members. At the same time, Momo Watanabe would bully Saki Kashima, with the cowardly Saki slowly getting braver and braver, becoming the one member of God’s Eye who’d stand up for her protector Syuri in her moment of need. It was a great premise, but it never really went anywhere. Saki put up a good fight against Momo but was swiftly defeated and humiliated for heat when they faced off. As of June 2025, Saki has yet to get revenge, while Syuri’s story is perhaps even less satisfying. Her feud with Konami dragged on and on and on until “Dream Queendom” in December 2024, where… Syuri accidentally shoot-KOed Konami just seconds into their long awaited grudge match. H.A.T.E. members would flood into the ring for an improvised DQ finish. When Konami did return, the feud was briefly reignited, but with little enthusiasm it simply petered out as both women moved on.

Finally, Syuri completed her strange post-championship hiatus (where she appeared to make it her mission to complete every zany side quest available in Stardom) by feuding with Koguma. Syuri, as leader of God’s Eye, set down an edict that no member of her faction should ever do the “kuma dance”. To the uninitiated, Koguma is a fantastic tag team wrestler whose name means “little brown bear,” and on house shows she gets the crowd to chant along with her before offering her opponent the chance to do a kawaii bear pose alongside her. If you accept, she’ll smile happily before trying to catch you off guard with a kick to the gut; if you decline, she’ll force you to bear pose by trapping you in a camel clutch. Syuri’s protégé Ranna Yagami seemed to be hypnotised by Koguma’s dance, and this would result in Syuri showing off her wacky comedic abilities by having her eyes bulge out of her head as she held up an X and screamed dementedly, like James T. Kirk swearing vengeance against the nefarious Khan.

As silly as this all may sound, it is worth remembering that Syuri is a fantastic comic performer, who loves pulling crazy faces, distorting her voice and takes pleasure in making her stablemates break character. Sareee, on the other hand, was deadly serious, seeing herself as the stately successor to Meiko Satomura as Joshi wrestling royalty; so her spell in the wilderness would prove more painful and dispiriting to her fans and admirers.

© WWE

Failing in the Thunderdome: Sareee Shunned By NXT Fans

Back in 2020, fresh from a 515-day reign as both the Pro Wrestling Diana and Sendai Girls World Champion, Sareee caught the eye of NXT talent scouts. Following a delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she would finally debut in WWE by March the following year. It started promisingly enough. Video packages presented the newly renamed Sarray (a reasonable adjustment, all things considered) as the most legitimate fighting champion in Japan—a credible and serious heir to Asuka, Kairi Sane and the then Io Shirai.

Truth be told, Sarray’s ascent in WWE both started and ended with those video packages—the decline set in almost immediately.

Sarray and WWE never really clicked, and even under Triple H’s stewardship, she floundered as a character. She debuted against Zoey Stark, wrestling a good, hard-hitting style, but her presentation lacked panache. Despite a pleasant setting sun graphical display, Sarray didn’t possess the kind of stunning Sun God robes she wears to the ring today. Instead, she simply walked to the ring with a stern and slightly nervous expression to wrestle a solid but unremarkable match, which she won with an uranage.

Other than hitting hard and impressively landing on her feet when countering a suplex, Sarray didn’t do any of the things that make a wrestler stand out in a five-minute TV match. Unfortunately, she lacked the international renown of Kazuchika Okada and didn’t have the over-the-top charisma of someone like Asuka to fall back on. Worse still, her debut took place in the lifeless confines of the Thunderdome (the video screens that projected sterile images of fans watching at home in social isolation).

It was a bad start, and it only got worse from there. Sarray would bump along, struggling to get over—and then, in an otherwise innocuous match against Gigi Dolin on 13 July 2021, her career completely went off the rails.

At the 2:15 mark of the match, Sarray hit her signature heavy low dropkick to a seated opponent resting against the ropes—a classic spot in joshi wrestling. To any fan of Japanese wrestling, the move looks completely routine. Gigi took a fair old blow, but it was the classic wrestling trick: make a connection, then push through with your legs, rather than actually following through the point of impact as you would in a real fight.

Suffice to say, NXT fans were shocked and appalled. Sarray had finally got the fans’ attention—but she was going to wish she hadn’t. If you want to get a sense of the social media reaction at the time, read the top comment on YouTube under the match. The first reply captures the overwhelming sentiment: “…Sarray needs to go back to training because almost every move she did was dangerous or hard to watch.”
With previously indifferent fans now vocally against her, Sarray’s push disintegrated. She was used to put over rising talent and even found herself relegated to 205 Live, of all places.

© WWE

The Secret to Looking 10 Years Younger: Ceding Control of Your Image to a Sleazy 70-Year-Old

But don’t worry—it gets far, far worse. What I’ve described above were the glory days for Sarray. While she had failed in Triple H’s NXT, she had at least failed on her own terms: presented more or less how she had always presented herself, albeit in a distinctly American context.

However, in September 2021, a sea change took place within WWE. Triple H was out, and Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn were in—and they had big, brash, colourful ideas. NXT 2.0 was born. So wave goodbye to the black, the gold and the super-indie concept, and say hello to gimmicks ripped straight out of 1992: think sex pots, Daddy’s girls and evil businesswomen plastered onto green-as-grass athletes with little or no training. It’s a story for another day, but while Vince’s macro concept did eventually pan out—NXT finally became focused on pushing acts with actual long-term main roster potential—the short-term damage was immense, and the show became nigh on unwatchable.

So, being a deadly serious veteran from Japan, surely Sarray was promptly released back to the indies, right? If only Vince and Kevin Dunn had been so kind. No—rather than putting Sarray out of her misery, they flung her headlong into the torture chamber, as new videos began to air teasing her re-debut.

You see, after struggling to find herself in America, Sarray had returned to Japan (so far, so good) to get in touch with her roots (this actually sounds great). The second she stepped foot in Tokyo, she rediscovered her true self (excellent)—as a pigtail-sporting, glasses-wearing, dorky schoolgirl in a short skirt (wait, what?), who had been rummaging through her grandma’s belongings (…okay) to find an ancestral magical amulet that let her connect with the power of the Sun God (fuck my life).
In all honesty, in the campy world of NXT 2.0, I could get on board with half of this idea. The notion that Sarray has magic powers—similar to a Bray Wyatt—and can use her amulet to transform into the Sun God is absolutely not what I want to see in pro wrestling, but I could see a world in which it catches on. People like Sailor Moon and anime; it’s crass, but perhaps acceptable.

The real problem is the transparently racist, literal infantilisation of turning a woman in her mid-twenties into a quivering, nervous, fetishised schoolgirl. There is a bizarre belief among some men of a certain age that, upon seeing a Japanese woman, the mind must immediately jump to the schoolgirl stereotype (see Jim Cornette’s commentary on Iyo Sky, for example). This suggests such men are only capable of viewing adult Japanese women through the prism of 1970s racist stereotypes or pornography (and let’s be honest—it’s probably both).

Sarray’s new quick-change, camera-cut entrance did give her presentation a little flair, but a series of pitiful backstage segments soon cut the legs out from under the concept. She was portrayed as a helpless child, bullied by mean girls like Tiffany Stratton and Mandy Rose. Sarray was a pathetic dweeb in backstage skits, and her Sun God superhero character was a loser in the ring, used to put over Elektra Lopez, Ivy Nile and, finally, Mandy Rose—before finishing up with the company in March 2023.

© STARDOM / @MATSURICON666

Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before

In May 2023, a young woman was struggling with her identity and found herself at a crossroads in her career. So, she decided to hop on a flight back to Japan to reconnect with her roots. The second she set foot in Tokyo, she rediscovered her true self—and, as if by magic, the pigtails, glasses, school uniform and, yes, even her grandma’s amulet disappeared, to be replaced by a cold, emotionless stare and a relentless desire to drive her fellow human beings skull-first into the canvas.

It’s funny how life works out sometimes, because it turns out Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn did have it half right. Sareee and Syuri do in fact have magical powers. Not the power to fulfill the crude, quasi-pornographic fantasies of septuagenarian sleazeballs, but the ability to flip a switch—and without skipping a beat—transform from figures of fun into stone-cold killers capable of producing the most violent, inherently believable, stamina-draining, state-of-the-art wrestling matches in existence.

And best of all, I’m pleased to report that in 2025 Sareee not only has total control over her image and presentation, but also her booking, as she now runs her own tremendously successful “Sareee-ism” supershows—presenting her exact vision of professional wrestling.

© STARDOM

The Best In The World vs The Greatest Of All Time

I think it’s fair to end our story by having a little fun at WWE’s expense. Consider this: in a week where the decrepit John Cena is scheduled to face off against CM Punk live from Saudi Arabia, in a match ostensibly designed to determine not only who is the best wrestler in the world, but allegedly of all time—there is absolutely no chance their bout will come anywhere close to matching Sareee–Syuri I, let alone their astounding and exhilarating IWGP title match from this past weekend.

Personally, I think CM Punk is a great in-ring storyteller, and I have high hopes that his match with John Cena will pleasantly surprise people—but there are levels to this game. Oddly, however, these two seemingly irreconcilable matches do feel like strange inversions of one another, albeit viewed through a distorting clown mirror.

After all, to borrow a phrase from WWE’s own promotional material, Sareee and Syuri are the true “yin and yang” of professional wrestling: two wrestlers whose careers have oddly reflected one another, despite epitomising diametrically opposed philosophies of the art form. Sareee is the perpetual performer —the childhood superfan who believes in the sanctity and strict seriousness of professional wrestling as the home of the warrior champion— who embodies professional reserve and only expresses emotion through the visceral fire of her fighting spirit.

Syuri, on the other hand, is the real deal: a legitimate mixed martial artist trained in kickboxing, shoot-boxing and karate, whose stony death-stare dissipates the moment the bell rings—revealing a kind-hearted sweetheart who loves to cry, laugh, joke and act.

For my money, the best in the world is not decided when the Voice of the Voiceless exchanges shoulder tackles with the Unseen Seventeen, but when the serial crier and the stone-faced Sun God clonk heads.

By David Hayter

© STARDOM

STARDOM

“The Conversion”

21.06.2025
Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Yoyogi National Stadium Gymnasium #2
Attendance: 2,521
Watch On: STARDOM World (after 7 days)

Review by Tim Hunter

Sareee is the new IWGP women’s champion. The 29 year old super talent defeated Syuri in a gripping sequel to their classic match at “Sareee ISM Chapter VII” on March 10, when they fought to a brilliant 30 minute time limit draw. This match would once again cross the 30 minute mark with a runtime of 32:49 and become the longest match in the title’s history. It didn’t feel like it was long in the tooth whatsoever as it was exceptionally paced, from the early moments feeling each other out to the high octane finishing stretch. The match would be built on callbacks and plot points they had established in their premier bout, but even if you didn’t see that match, it won’t be a handicap to your viewing experience whatsoever. Two world class pro wrestlers with outstanding chemistry, it would be against their nature not to amaze. These are two wrestlers of the type that won’t allow themselves to be anything but pure excellence. Just unbound ambition.

Their first match in March ended with Sareee hitting one of her devastating Uranages, but the time ran out before she could make the pin. This would be mirrored in this match as well, as Sareee looked very dominant for the final minutes. She hit several Uranages in a row. Since the time limit was expanded to 60 minutes, it gave her the extra window to make the successful cover this time around to leave Syuri a devastated mess. Syuri had spent a lot of time making it clear how much this belt, and how much the letters IWGP mean to her personally, so her title reign coming to an end after only one single successful defense against Alex Windsor was a shock, not only to Syuri herself. The match was truly as unpredictable as a wrestling match could get from a results perspective, but putting the belt on a non-contracted talent and cutting the reign of one of the most important players on the roster right now short was, to me personally, the more unlikely outcome. For Syuri it is an incredible heartbreak, and one can only hope that she will go on the chase one more time and more vociferously than ever to finally overcome Sareee at some point in the future. The reception for Sareee’s win was surprisingly warm and positive by the 2500 people in attendance, given that she was booed in Yokohama Arena on 4/27 when she first made her challenge, and even during the match the crowd was firmly planted behind Syuri. The Sun God has never shied away from being the bad guy, slandering the entire promotion as being too soft in public interviews and smack talking their rookies after destroying them in the ring. After the match, it felt like it was all forgotten by the audience in the arena, who gave her her flowers after an incredible performance.

© STARDOM

The match is a hard hitting and technically proficient 5 star epic that should be kept in mind for any match of the year lists. The strikes and submission exchanges as well as the desperation and struggle displayed in this match are bar none. While Syuri is as tough as they come and will endure tremendous amounts of pain and suffering, it has to be considered a rather dominant performance by Sareee, who methodically took apart Syuri’s right leg. Syuri managed to fight back at several points, dropping Sareee on her head and trying to choke her out with all her strength, but Sareee resisted, survived and overcame. After a brutal submission hold where Syuri almost managed to choke Sareee unconscious, the damage to her leg finally started to seep in. Then, after a brutal kick to Sareee’s head, an attempt at Syuri’s finisher Syu-Sekai, a mix between a One Winged Angel and an Emerald Flowsion, failed – which would spell the beginning of the end for the former professional MMA fighter. After several more brutal headbutts and a running double foot stomp, Sareee began her onslaught of Uranages, topping it off with the wristlock variation that would finally put Syuri away. 

© STARDOM

The show has to be regarded as another success for STARDOM, as it was built with neither a red belt nor a white belt match and was essentially a one match show with an outside challenger. Saya Kamitani, their biggest star who finds her way into more and more opportunities on mainstream television and has to be in the conversation for the wrestler with the most hype behind her in Japan overall, was utilized in an eight man tag team match against God’s Eye fourth from the top and yet most seats they set the arena up for were sold out not long after tickets went on sale. Not to overuse a belaboured trope, but it is a surefire sign that the promotion is hot coming off of the incredibly successful Tam Nakano vs Saya Kamitani feud.

In the opening match the Future of STARDOM title was on the line as Rian challenged Hina after her first singles win in the promotion. Unfortunately her winning streak will not be expanding any further, as Hina put her away with a frogsplash in twelve and a half minutes. The theme of this match was that Rian was allowed to really show off her much improved offense and fighting spirit, as Hina gave her the majority of the match and there were several surprising counters and close pinfalls. This certainly went above any expectations.

The STARDOM midcard in Yoyogi was not really the most noteworthy stretch of a show. The Cosmic Angels trio of Yuna Mizumori, Aya Sakura and Sayaka Kurara defeated the two newest rookies Ema and Kikyo, who teamed with STARS veteran Momo Kohgo, when Aya landed a big kick to Kikyo’s head. The two rookies continue to look very promising.

The H.A.T.E. team of Natsuko Tora and Ruaka defeated Fukuoka W Crazy in the third main show match of the evening, after their usual cheap tactics and misting both Koguma and Hazuki. The noteworthy thing about this match was that Ruaka got the pin, which is rather unusual but good for her, and after the match FWC posted on social media that they are “unaffiliated”, posing with shirts that said the same. Whether that just plays into their current situation inside of the STARDOM roster of being factionless, or whether they are finally going to go more freelance as Taro Okada hinted at earlier in the year, remains to be seen.

To conclude the rather uninteresting parts of the show, unfortunately, HANAKO faced Risa Sera in a rather uninspiring bout. It’s sad that this match wouldn’t really work out, as the two have an important history with each other. Risa Sera essentially made HANAKO’s career, as the youngster used to do a Risa Sera tribute act in college. Unfortunately, having a deeply meaningful relationship with each other in real life doesn’t always guarantee great chemistry in the ring and this match just wouldn’t work out great. Risa Sera is set to retire next January so this was probably a bucket list item for her on her retirement road and even if this didn’t turn out to be a classic, it was nice to see it happen on a big stage.

© STARDOM

The first match of what I would call the business end of the card was the aforementioned H.A.T.E. vs God’s Eye 8-man which involved red belt champion Saya Kamitani and the big return of Ami Sourei, who worked through injuries for several years and finally took almost a full year off to nurse herself. She was in incredible shape in her comeback, including some awesome new gear. She would be the main focus of the match, as H.A.T.E. members would rotate in isolating her while preventing any tags being made from the other side. Whenever Ami managed to make a comeback, she did look very impressive, and in the end it was the red belt champion herself who would take it up with the returning powerhouse. Ultimately Saya would pin Ami, but it looked like they plausibly teased Ami to have a red belt challenge soon nonetheless. It was the classic Japanese wrestling story of a return after a long injury time, looking impressive, but in the end still not being 100% in the groove yet, suffering from miscommunication and ultimately failing.

© STARDOM

After that, the Goddesses of STARDOM (tag team) titles were on the line as the Cosmic Angels Natsupoi and Saori Anou – coming off of their successful anniversary show – challenged champions wing*gori, Hanan and Saya Iida. This match was everything I expected it would be, but not necessarily much more. Especially after the fantastic tune up match in Korakuen hall the week before, which I may have preferred to the PPV match, this did not completely blow me away. It was still an extremely good match mostly carried by Natsupoi’s excellence and well worth watching as it would be impossible not to be, given who was involved. This wing*gori tag title run has been interesting as they always have very good matches but never quite manage to steal the show. I think it is an important period for Hanan’s development. The champions retained in 17 minutes and were challenged by Yuna Mizumori to face her and her old partner SAKI (together Tropikawild) just 4 days later on 6/25 in Osaka.

© STARDOM

In the semi main event, Neo Genesis faced Mi Vida Loca in an 8 man hardcore tornado tag match. Mi Vida Loca was formed by former Neo Genesis member Suzu Suzuki after she turned on the group and specifically her former friend and tag team partner Mei Sera, so naturally this feud has had a lot of heat since its inception. This match was changed to the special no disqualification rules just days before the event, which left reason for a lot of speculation as to why that change was made. Did they want to do a big blood bath? A crazy arena brawl? Did they want to protect someone from taking a big loss? In the end it was none of the above, but it was the arrival of German wrestler Bozilla, who would walk down the ramp towards the end of the match and decide the bout in Mi Vida Loca’s favour. Bozilla would signify the first jump from rival promotion Marigold to STARDOM, as all jumps before that were going the other way. Bozilla always showed a lot of promise with her impressive strength and at times out of control powerhouse style, and she should be a positive acquisition for the company. Ultimately I don’t feel like Bozilla fits the Mi Vida Loca vibes perfectly, but Suzu told the story of recruiting Bozilla after a GCW show they were both on so it makes sense from that angle, I guess. The match was a nice bout with non-stop action, some plunder spots and well worth a watch, but ultimately a vehicle for the Bozilla angle. Bozilla gave a devastating powerbomb to Starlight Kid, who was then pinned by Suzu Suzuki, and after the match Bozilla challenged AZM to a NJPW Strong title match.

Overall, the show was ultimately carried by the main event, but that was pretty obvious going in. The rest of the card was a lot of fun, worked well to hint at future directions of the product and had, with Ami Sourei, an important return and with Bozilla a noteworthy debut.

Full Results

Waka Tsukiyama defeats Yuria Hime (9:17)

Future Of Stardom Title Match
Hina (c) defeats Rian (12:33)

Cosmic Angels (Aya Sakura, Sayaka Kurara & Yuna Mizumori) defeat Ema Maishima, Kikyo Furusawa & Momo Kohgo (8:47)

HATE (Natsuko Tora & Ruaka) defeat FWC (Hazuki & Koguma) (9:59)

Risa Sera defeats HANAKO (14:54)

H.A.T.E. (Momo Watanabe, Rina & Saya Kamitani) & Konami defeat God’s Eye (Ami Sourei, Kiyoka Kotatsu, Lady C & Ranna Yagami) (16:29)

Goddesses Of Stardom Title Match
STARS (Hanan & Saya Iida) (c) defeat Cosmic Angels (Natsupoi & Saori Anou) (17:08)

No Disqualification 
Mi Vida Loca (Akira Kurogane, Itsuki Aoki, Rina Yamashita & Suzu Suzuki) defeat Neo Genesis (AZM, Mei Seira, Miyu Amasaki & Starlight Kid) (22:44)

IWGP Women’s Title Match
Sareee defeats Syuri (c) (32:49)

Check out these other articles from this week!

Vibe Shift

WWE, AEW, and the Mood of the Summer.
By Micah

NJPW Dominion

Conor McFall takes apart New Japan’s second biggest show of the year.

CMLL Fantasticamania

Bandido rounded out one of the biggest week’s of his career so far by pinning Mistico in the main event of “Fantastica Mania” to set up a singles match between the two this weekend, back in Arena Mexico.