BITE-SIZE SHOW REPORT: New Year Unit League 2025 ~Championship Deciding Match~ (Thursday, 23rd January 2025)

Pre-Show Notes

• Rules: The New Year Unit League sees a return to a round robin format, with two blocks of three teams. Each match is a 6-woman tag team format, with a 30-minute time limit and the team with best of three falls being declared the victor. The competitors from each unit that will be taking part in each fall will be announced before the match with a different combination of wrestlers needed for each of the falls. In terms of a points tally, points are given per fall rather than per match, with a maximum of 5 points per match available per team (2 points for a win, 1 for a draw via double countout or double KO, and 0 for a loss). The two top teams following all block matches will then face each other in the final. Should there be a tie at the top of the blocks, then it will go down to head to head results with the team garnering the most points in the match progressing to the final.
• Unlike the block matches where each match was contested as a 2-out-of-3 falls match, the final of the New Year Unit League will be contested as a 30-minute match with as many falls as possible in that time period.
• Ami Sohrei will be absent from all cards as she begins the process of recovering from ACL and meniscus tears in her knee. She will however be seconding God’s Eye to all of their New Year Unit League matches.
• Xena has suffered a ligament injury in her knee, and will be out of action for an undisclosed period of time.
• Tam Nakano, Natsupoi and Saori Anou will be missing from this show, though Stardom have not confirmed why.
• All members of H.A.T.E will be missing from this show, though Stardom have not confirmed why.
• Hanan will return to action on this show after wrestling in World Women Pro-Wrestling Diana against Nanami; defeating the God’s Eye satellite member in 8:24 for victory.
• Attendance Notes: The announced attendance inside Shin-Kiba 1st RING was 284 – and attendance Stardom have billed as a sellout. Having run the venue previously a total of 212 times, this show is the first time Stardom have run Shin-Kiba 1st RING since March 2021 (an incredible 470 shows ago.) The attendance that night was 145, with today’s attendance being a 95.9% increase! Of course you must take into account that fact that the COVID-19 pandemic and it’s subsequent restrictions play an enormous factor in that, just like it does when saying that this is the largest house Stardom have drawn to the venue since 16th February 2020 (Stardom’s final show before the pandemic caused a temporary shut down of the company’s operations.)

Final Standings

Quick Results

• 10-Woman Tag Team Match: STARS (Hazuki, Koguma, Saya Iida & Momo Kohgo) & Matoi Hamabe def. Cosmic Angels (Yuna Mizumori, Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurura) & God’s Eye (Lady C & Ranna Yagami) w/ Lariat (10:49) (***1/2)
• Tag Team Match: Anecon (Syuri & Saki Kashima) def. Eye Contact (Mayu Iwatani & Hanan) w/ Ryeun (18:06)
• New Year Unit League 2025 Final Match: NEO-GENESIS (Starlight Kid, AZM, Suzu Suzuki, Mei Seira & Miyu Amasaki) def. EXV (Maika, Mina Shirakawa, HANAKO, Waka Tsukiyama & Rian) (3:2) (30:00) (****1/4)
  • Fall One: HANAKO def. Miyu Amasaki w/ JP Coaster (6:28) (EXV 1-0 NEO-GENESIS)
  • Fall Two: Mei Seira def. Rian w/ Dropkick (8:17) (NEO-GENESIS 1-1 EXV)
  • Fall Three: Mina Shirakawa def. AZM w/ Glamorous Collection MINA (EXV 2-1 NEO-GENESIS)
  • Fall Four: AZM def. Mina Shirakawa w/ Azumi Sushi (NEO-GENESIS 2-2 EXV)
  • Fall Five: Suzu Suzuki def. Maika w/ Locomotion German Suplex (NEO-GENESIS 3-2 EXV)

Other Show Notes

• Yuria and Akira opened the show with their final sparring session before their debuts at the weekend in Takadanobaba. Following the five-minute time-limit draw, Taro Okada came to the ring and the trio revealed the rookies new ring names. Yuria will be known as Yuria Hime going forward, and Akira will be known as Akira Kurogane.
• Today (Thursday 23rd January) marks the 14th anniversary of Mayu Iwatani’s debut – in Shin-Kiba 1st RING – back in 2011 in a singles match against Arisa Hoshiki at Stardom’s first ever show; Birth of Nova. Interestingly, Mayu hasn’t won any of her last 6 matches at the venue, including being eliminated from a battle royal on 21st February 2021.
• After becoming the inaugural winners of the New Year Unit League, NEO-GENESIS confirmed that they have chosen the Goddesses of Stardom Championships and Artist of Stardom Championships as the belts they wish to go after. Crazy Star (Suzu Suzuki & Mei Seira) will challenge for the Goddesses of Stardom Championships, whilst AZM, Starlight Kid and Miyu Amasaki will challenge for the Artist of Stardom Championships.
• After making their intentions clear, they were confronted by Winggori and Tam Nakano who both accepted the challenges.

You can check out the Stardom roster win/loss records for 2025 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

• Saturday 25th January – Stardom Award 2024 in Takadanobaba – Night 1, Belle Salle Takadanobaba, Tokyo (LIVE)
• Sunday 26th January – Stardom Award 2024 in Takadanobaba – Night 2, Belle Salle Takadanobaba, Tokyo (LIVE)
• Sunday 2nd February – Stardom Supreme Fight 2025 in Korakuen Hall, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo (LIVE)
• Wednesday 5th February – New Blood 18, Tokyo Square, Itabashi (TBC)
• Saturday 8th February – Stardom in Kobe 2025 Feb., Kobe Art Center, Hyogo (TBC)
• Sunday 9th February – Stardom in Yamaguchi 2025 ~Mayu Iwatani Triumphal Tournament~, KDDI Ishin Hall, Yamaguchi (TBC)
• Tuesday 11th February – Stardom in Hiroshima 2025, Hiroshima Prefectural Sangyou Kaikan, Hiroshima (TBC)
• Wednesday 12th February – Stardom in Osaka 2025 Feb., EDION Arena Osaka #2, Osaka (TBC)
• Saturday 15th February – Stardom in Takasaki 2025, G Messe Gunma (TBC)
• Sunday 16th February – Stardom in Fuji 2025, Fijisan Messe, Shizuoka (TBC)
• Saturday 22nd February – Stardom in Sendai 2025 Feb., Miyagi Yume Messe, Miyagi (TBC)
• Monday 24th February – Stardom Path of Thunder 2025, Utsunomiya Light Cube, Tochigi (PPV)