SHOW REPORT: Stardom Goddesses of Stardom Tag League 2024 – Night 2 (Sunday, 27th October 2024)

Notes

• Ami Sohrei will be absent from all cards as she begins the process of recovering from ACL and meniscus tears in her knee. Ranna Yagami will replace her in the 5Star Grand Prix.
• Kaori Yoneyama – more commonly known as Fukigen Death in Stardom – has also suffered an ACL tear and will be out of action for a year.
• Xena has suffered a ligament injury in her knee, and will be out of action for an undisclosed period of time.
• Suzu Suzuki has been withdrawn from the Korakeun Hall show on the 27th October due to poor health. This has necessitated a card change, with the none-tournament tag match and three-way bout becoming a 6-woman tag match seeing Mina Shirakawa, Starlight Kid and Saya Iida take on the God’s. Eye team of Ranna Yagami, Hina and Lady C.
• 27th High-Speed Champion Mei Seira has been champion for 91 days – in her second reign. This will be the second title defence of her reign.
• This will be challenger Yuna Mizumori’s first attempt at a championship of any kind in Stardom, and her first singles title opportunity since January 2023 when she unsuccessfully challenged YUU for the Eve International Championship in Shinjuku FACE.
• Attendance Notes: This will be the 156th time that Stardom have run Korakuen Hall. The announced attendance of 1,292 makes it the fifth Korakuen Hall out of the last six to surpass 1000 people, with it being a 53% increase on the previous show (The Stardom Nighter in Korakuen event from the 2nd October which drew 844). Of the sixteen times that Stardom have run Korakuen Hall in 2024, 1,292 is the fourth biggest house they have drawn.

Current Block Standings (Before 27th October 2024)

Quick Results

• 10-Woman Tag Team Match: H.A.T.E (Natusko Tora, Momo Watanabe & Ruaka) & Villainous Alliance (Dump Matsumoto & ZAP) def. Cosmic Angels (Tam Nakano, Natsupoi, Saori Anou, Sayaka Kurura & Aya Sakura) w/ Splash (8:15)
• Goddesses of Stardom Tag League 2024 Red Goddesses Match: Anecon (Syuri & Saki Kashima) (4) def. FWC (Hazuki & Koguma) (0) w/ Kishikaisei (0:11)
• Goddesses of Stardom Tag League 2024 Blue Goddesses Match: Reckless Fantasy (Waka Tsukiyama & Rian) (4) def. DEVIL/PRINCESS (Rina & Azusa Inaba) (0) w/ Moonlight Fantasy (9:16)
• 6-Woman Tag Team Match: Mina Shirakawa, Saya Iida & Starlight Kid def. God’s Eye (Ranna Yagami, Hina & Lady C) w/ Iidabashi (13:05)
• Goddesses of Stardom Tag League 2024 Red Goddesses Match: PsyQueen (Konami & Saya Kamitani) (2) def. Peach Rock (Mayu Iwatani & Momo Kohgo) (2) w/ Frankensteiner (12:16)
• Goddesses of Stardom Tag League 2024 Red Goddesses Match: High Cup (HANAKO & Maika) (2) def. 02 Line (AZM & Miyu Amasaki) (0) w/ Shirasagi (15:00)
• High-Speed Championship: Mei Seira (c) def. Yuna Mizumori w/ Checkmate (13:49)

Undercard

Say what you will about how well Dump Matsumoto can do in-ring at over 60 years old, but the reaction she gets upon her entrance and throughout the match more than justify her being booked on this show. Add to the fact that Sayaka Kurura feels like a bigger star courtesy of just being in the ring with her and the Queen of Villains bumping for her not once, but twice – including a Back Suplex – then I would argue that this was a very successful return to a Stardom ring. She gets the winning fall here, which the Korakuen crowd lap up, before taking to the microphone and promises to be back before putting over Natsuko Tora and the work she is doing, and intimidating a terrified-looking Taro Okada. (**)

This is something we like to call the Saki Kashima special, and we have seen it so many times, rolling up an unsuspecting person before the match can even really get going. We’ve seen it against Mayu Iwatani, we’ve seen it against Hana Kimura, and here we see it against Koguma in just 11 seconds, making this comfortably the shortest match in Goddesses of Stardom Tag League history – beating the previous record of 3:26 from all the way back in 2019 of the match between Zoe Lucas and Bobbi Tyler and Kagetsu and Andras Miyagi. (Not Rated)

This also means Saki holds the record for shortest match in all three of Stardom’s biggest tournaments;

• 5Star Grand Prix: 0:08 vs. Hana Kimura
• Goddesses of Stardom Tag League: 0:11 vs. FWC
• Cinderella Tournament: 0:17 vs. Mayu Iwatani

I would argue that DEVIL/PRINCESS are feeling rather confident ahead of their first tournament match, especially as the pair have already beaten Waka very recently in a New Blood Tag Team Championships match. The confidence must only have increased when first Azusa, and then Rina spend a considerable portion of the opening of this match utterly dominating Rian. Even Waka struggles to stem the tide initially, though crucially they stay in the match, and this appears to frustrate DEVIL/PRINCESS. Reckless Fantasy begin working as a team, and when Waka wriggles free of a Pink Devil and Rian wipes out Rina with a Diving Crossbody, the Moonlight Fantasy finds herself alone in the ring with Inaba. Though Inaba initially gets free of a Gokuraku Don and then kicks out when Tsukiyama manages to successfully hit the move, Waka hit the Moonlight Dream for the victory. Similarly to their H.A.T.E faction partners in BMI2000 last night, I imagine that DEVIL/PRINCESS must be wondering how on Earth they are leaving this match with nothing. Against all the odds however, it’s Reckless Fantasy that are the early pacesetters in the Blue Goddess block. (***1/4)

Starlight Kid is at a point where she is so beloved by every crowd she walks out in front of, that I genuinely have trouble believing she was ever a heel! Here she looks like she having the time of her life, dancing with Mina during her entrance, looking incredibly pleased with herself when she catches Saya’s hoodie, and looking delighted when Ranna chooses to open proceedings against her. For Yagami however, it is not a great start, as she is systematically picked apart by the mismatched team. Between Saya’s power and chops, and Kid and Mina taking apart her knee, it’s a blessing for Ranna when she is finally able to tag in Hina. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows though, with miscommunication between Kid and Saya Iida leading to the latter Shoulder Tackling Kid out of the way. When Mina attempts to bring peace between the two arguing parties, Hina uses the opportunity to plant all three with Ripcord Judo Throws. Kid then saves Saya by shoving her out of the way of an attack and hitting a Dropkick, and Saya and Lady C then have a great closing stretch, with Iida successfully locking in the Iidabashi for the winning pinfall following a Lariat. (***1/2)

After suffering a defeat to Anecon on the opening night of the Tag League, PsyQueen faced off with Peach Rock, who got their own opening night win against 02 Line. PsyQueen are ready for this match though and are ruthlessly efficient at completely stymieing any sort of Peach Rock momentum from the very outset of the match. Using the numbers game, they are able to take the action to the outside, before then isolating Mayu in-ring. Even Momo Kohgo’s hot tag isn’t really enough to sway the tide, and she ends up having to scrabble to the ropes to escape a Konami submission. PsyQueen just seem to be one step ahead of their opponents, illustrated perfectly at two different points of the match. The first sees Momo Kohgo attempting to break up a pinfall attempt with a Dropkick, only for Saya Kamitani to break her own pin and pull up Mayu’s head so that the kick hits that instead; a unique counter to this that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. Secondly, and most importantly in the context of this match is what leads to the finish. With Momo incapacitated on the outside, Saya shoves the referee in the way of Mayu before distracting him long enough for Konami to come in and spray paint her in the face. Before the referee has any idea what has gone on, Konami has bailed from the ring and Saya has hit Iwatani with the Frankensteiner, doing well to push her hand into Mayu’s face during the pinfall in order to hide it from the referee until it is too late. PsyQueen’s tournament is up and running in decisive fashion and, though I hate the spray paint as weapon for reasons I’ve outlined before, this is perhaps the most flawlessly executed example of how it can work! (***1/2)

Main Event Matches

Goddesses of Stardom Tag League 2024 Red Goddesses Match: High Cup (HANAKO & Maika) (2) def. 02 Line (AZM & Miyu Amasaki) (0) – With Cup High Mate having come out to the ring with cans of Sapporo beer, AZM makes a point to tell the audience that it was Maika who had taken her out drinking for her birthday. They shake hands – with Maika clearly having had no idea this was coming – before AZM surprises her with a roll-up attempt and the match starts in earnest. From here we have two very distinct match-ups within the tag team match itself; Miyu and HANAKO, and Maika and AZM. HANAKO and Miyu is based almost solely around Miyu attempting to survive the far-more powerful HANAKO, and take advantage of the pockets of offence she is afforded. For the most part however, it’s the fire and determination of Amasaki that the crowd latch on to, especially when she is left to fend for herself towards the end. Meanwhile, AZM and Maika showcase exactly why they have one of the most underrated chemistry’s in the entirety of Stardom – see their 5Star Grand Prix matches for further evidence. Though 02 Line fight well, and their tag team offence is as smooth as silk at times, you do get the impression that Amasaki can only take so much of the power offence of Cup High Mate. AZM saves her from one Shirasagi attempt before HANAKO can properly lock it in, but after a brief flurry of offence from 02 Line, AZM is sent careening from the ring. With AZM muscled out of the picture by Maika, HANAKO is able to hoist Miyu Amasaki into the Shirasagi for a second time and this time, having dragged her kicking into the air, Miyu has to submit. Have we just seen the first challenger to Amasaki’s Future of Stardom throne crowned here? Post-match, in-keeping with the earlier comments to the crowd, Maika offers AZM a commiseratory beer, which the High-Speed Bomb Girl emphatically turns down, spilling some of the beer in the process and leading to one of the most legitimate looks of devastation on the face of Maika! (****)

High-Speed Championship: Mei Seira (c) def. Yuna Mizumori – Yuna Mizumori, take a bow; what a performance! Having waited patiently for her first chance at singles gold in Stardom, having worked so incredibly hard for so little reward, having being thrust into a completely unfamiliar style, Mizumori didn’t just succeed – she thrived! From going toe-to-toe with Mei in the opening High-Speed exchanges, to dominating with her significant power advantage, to bringing in brand new elements to her offence and taking a risk by performing a Suicide Dive of all things. Because of this endeavour and because of her tireless effort, the Korakuen crowd are loudly behind Yuna, living and dying with every nearfall and with every moment of Mizumori dominance. Though no-one truly believed that she was going to unseat Mei Seira here, to perform the way she did in a style so alien to her, means that she has completely earned the standing ovation she gets at the end of the match. But we cannot forget Mei Seira, who is without doubt a High-Speed genius – with the greatest of respect to Koguma. She is the lynchpin of this division and continues to wow and amaze with what she’s able to do and the speed with which she is able to do it. Not only that, but her second reign with the High-Speed Championship has started against two less-conventional High-Speed opponents in Xena and Yuna, and she has knocked it out of the park both times. Sure, we get the usual pacey brilliance, and the moments of brilliance – a highlight being her Dropkick from the apron to stop Yuna as she charged around the ring – but its the intangibles that make her such a joy. From her facial expressions, to the way she gives Yuna Mizumori a lot of the offence, she needs to be commended for her part in a tremendous match. However, Mei will have plenty of opportunities to be showered with flowers and praise, this match is rightly focused on an excellent performance from Yuna who, in this moment and in front of a molten-hot Korakuen crowd, felt like a huge star. (****1/4)

Block Standings

You can check out the Stardom roster win/loss records for 2024 right here; https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/103h_Y27csTgcS-CcBwswaj-D7hVazTC_Wn0SPn0BZBM/edit

You can check out a comprehensive run down of the Stardom Championship Histories here; https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-Dk6T0ukSXm6R8eOTQU96i4rsfoy34wnz0-rKP5mwmQ/edit

Upcoming Shows

• Thursday 31st October – Goddesses of Stardom Tag League – Night 3, Takamatsu Symbol Tower, Takamatsu (VOD)
• Saturday 2nd November – Goddesses of Stardom Tag League – Night 4, Fukuoka Munakata Yurix, Fukuoka (TBA)
• Sunday 3rd November – Goddesses of Stardom Tag League – Night 5, Ozu Arena, Oita (TBA)
• Monday 4th November – Goddesses of Stardom Tag League – Night 6, UMK Sports Studio, Miyazaki (TBA)
• Saturday 9th November – Goddesses of Stardom Tag League – Night 7, New Pier Hall, Tokyo (TBA)
• Sunday 10th November – Goddesses of Stardom Tag League – Night 8, TKP Garden City, Chiba (TBA)
• Monday 11th November – Goddesses of Stardom Tag League – Night 9, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo (TBA)
• Saturday 16th November – New Blood West 2, Azalea Taisho Hall, Osaka (TBA)
• Sunday 17th November – NJPW x Stardom Historic X-Over II, EDION Arena Osaka, Osaka (LIVE)
• Wednesday 20th November – Goddesses of Stardom Tag League – Night 10, Aomori Budokan, Tohaku (TBA)
• Thursday 21st November – Goddesses of Stardom Tag League – Night 11, Akita Furusato Village Dome Theatre, Tohaku (TBA)
• Saturday 23rd November – Goddesses of Stardom Tag League – Night 12, Aztec Museum Sendai Industrial Exhibition Hall, Miyagi (TBA)
• Sunday 24th November – Goddesses of Stardom Tag League – Night 13, Big Palette Fukushima, Koriyama City (TBA)
• Saturday 30th November – Goddesses of Stardom Tag League – Night 14, Ishibashi Sports Center, Tochigi (TBA)
• Sunday 1st December – Goddesses of Stardom Tag League – Night 15, DUO CEREZO, Niigata (TBA)
• Saturday 7th December – Goddesses of Stardom Tag League – Night 16, Act City Hamamatsu, Hamamatsu (TBA)
• Sunday 8th December – Goddesses of Stardom Tag League – Night 17, Act City Hamamatsu, Hamamatsu (TBA)