BITE-SIZE SHOW REPORT: Stardom New Year Stars 2025 in Korakuen Hall (Monday, 13th January 2025)

Pre-Show Notes

• Ami Sohrei will be absent from all cards as she begins the process of recovering from ACL and meniscus tears in her knee.
• Xena has suffered a ligament injury in her knee, and will be out of action for an undisclosed period of time.
• 27th Artist of Stardom Champions Cosmic Angels (Tam Nakano (4), Natsupoi (3) and Saori Anou (2)) have been champion for 162 days – in their first reign. This will be the second title defence of her reign.
• This will be the first time that Cosmic Angels have defended the Artist of Stardom Championships since the 22nd September 2024 – 113 days ago.
• For the challengers Yuna Mizumori, Aya Sakura and Sayaka Kurura, it will the first time they have ever competed for the Artist of Stardom Championships, having won the number one contendership tournament final against the H.A.T.E team of Natsuko Tora, Fukigen Death and Rina on the 12th January in Chunichi Hall.
• 4th Ring of Honor Women’s World Champion Athena has been champion for 765 days – in her first reign. This will be the twenty-sixth title defence of her reign.
• This will be the first time this incarnation of a women’s championship in Ring of Honor has been defended outside of the United States of America. However, the now defunct incarnation – Women of Honor Championship – was defended twice in Japan, with Mayu Iwatani successfully defeating both Konami and Natsuko Tora in 2019 during her 55-day run with the title.
• 27th High-Speed Champion Mei Seira has been champion for 169 days – in her second reign. This will be the fourth title defence of her reign.
• This will be the first time that the High-Speed Championship will be contested under the new rule-set, with each match now being under a ten-minute time-limit or best two-out-of-three falls. There will also now be a ten count on the outside rather than the internationally recognised twenty-count.
• Mei Seira and Saki Kashima have only faced either once before in singles competition, with Seira getting the victory to capture the High-Speed Title from Saki to start her first reign back at Nagoya Golden Fight in October of 2023.
• Mayu Iwatani, AZM, Maika, Mina Shirakawa and HANAKO will all be absent from the shows on the 11th, 12th and 13th due to their matches in San Jose as a part of New Japan’s Battle in the Valley show.
• Ruaka will be absent from this show due to taking part in her Coming of Age ceremony.
• Hanan and Rian will both return to action during this show after have time off for their own Coming of Age ceremonies.
• Attendance Notes: The announced attendance for the show inside Korakuen Hall was 1,233. This marks the 8th time out of the last 9 Korakuen Hall shows that have surpassed the 1,000 mark. The announced house is also a 22.2% increase on the 1,009 Stardom drew to their previous Korakuen Hall show on Christmas Eve 2024. This attendance also makes this show Stardom’s 3rd highest attendance at Korakuen Hall since May 2024.

Quick Results

• High-Speed Championship Match: Mei Seira (c) def. Saki Kashima (2:1) w/ Goodbye (✌️) (5:08) (***)
• Three-Way Match: Hina def. Matoi Hamabe & Fukigen Death w/ Gedo Clutch (5:44) (**1/2)
• Tag Team Match: H.A.T.E (Natsuko Tora & Momo Watanabe) def. EXV (Waka Tsukiyama & Rian) w/ Crossface Chicken Wing (9:33) (***1/4)
• 10-Woman Tag Team Match: STARS (Hanan, Hazuki, Koguma, Momo Kohgo & Saya Iida) def. God’s Eye (Syuri, Tomoka Inaba, Lady C, Ranna Yagami & Kiyoka Kotatsu) w/ Kuma Roll (14:27) (***1/2)
• 6-Woman Tag Team Match: H.A.T.E (Saya Kamitani, Rina & Azusa Inaba) def. NEO-GENESIS (Starlight Kid, Suzu Suzuki & Miyu Amasaki) w/ (12:10) (***1/2)
• Ring of Honor Women’s World Championship Match: Athena (c) def. Thekla w/ O-Face (14:56) (****)
• Artist of Stardom Championships Match: Cosmic Angels (Tam Nakano, Natsupoi & Saori Anou) (c) def. Cosmic Angels (Yuna Mizumori, Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurura) w/ Violet Screwdriver (18:38) (****1/4)

Show Notes

• There was a public contract signing for the Artist of Stardom Championship match before the beginning of the show. Yuna Mizumori took to the microphone and stated that today would be the day we would see a transition between the old and new generations of Cosmic Angels.
• After her pinfall victory over the Future of Stardom Champion Miyu Amasaki, Azusa Inaba laid out a challenge for the title.
• Suzu Suzuki and Saya Kamitani then had a confrontation which resulted in Kamitani demanding that Suzu kissed her foot. Suzu looked liked she was going to relent but ultimately bit her foot instead. It was then confirmed that the upcoming World of Stardom Championship match between the pair would take place on the 2nd February at Supreme Fight in Korakuen Hall, marking the first time in over four years the title has been defended in Korakuen (17th January 2021 between Utami Hayashishita and Maika).
• Having defended the Ring of Honor Women’s World Championship successfully for a twenty-sixth time against Thekla, Athena stressed her desire for a rematch in the US whilst stating how sad she is that this is her final show of her tour.
• Following their defeat of their Cosmic Angels teammates in the main event, Tam Nakano ended the show by saying that it was more than the trio of her, Natuspoi and Saori Anou that we on top of the world, but the full sextet of Cosmic Angels, fully putting over the challengers in defeat.

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

• Friday 17th January – New Year Stars 2025 in Matsuyama Ehime, Matsuyama City General Community Center, Ehime (VIDEO ON DEMAND)
• Saturday 18th January – New Year Stars 2025 in Osaka – Night 1, EDION Arena Osaka #2, Osaka (LIVE)
• Sunday 19th January – New Year Stars 2025 in Osaka – Night 2, EDION Arena Osaka #2, Osaka (LIVE)
• Thursday 23rd January – New Year Unit League – Championship Deciding Match, Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Tokyo (TBA)
• 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)