SHOW PREVIEW: Stardom New Year Dream 2025 (03/01/2025)

When & Where?

• When?: Friday 3rd January 2025
• Where?: Tokyo Garden Theater, Ariake
• Time?: Time?: 4pm JST 🇯🇵/2am EST 🇺🇸/11pm PT 🇺🇸/7am GMT 🇬🇧

The Press Conference

What is the Full Card?

• H.A.T.E (Saya Kamitani & Momo Watanabe) vs. Crazy Tiger Girl (Starlight Kid & Suzu Suzuki)
• Tam Nakano vs. Unagi Sayaka
• Cup High Mate (Maika & HANAKO) vs. Team 200kg (Chihiro Hashimoto & YUU)
• Athena & Thekla vs. Mina Shirakawa & Tay Melo
• God’s Eye (Syuri, Tomoka Inaba & Kiyoka Kotatsu) vs. H.A.T.E (Momo Watanabe, Azusa Inaba & Fukigen Death)
• Sendai Girls Junior Championship: Chi Chi (c) vs. Aya Sakura
• Hanan & Manami vs. H.A.T.E (Rina & Ruaka)
• STARS (Mayu Iwatani, Hazuki & Koguma) vs. NEO-GENESIS (AZM, Mei Seira & Miyu Amasaki)
• Cosmic Angels (Saori Anou, Natsupoi & Sayaka Kurura) vs. Natsuko Tora, Dump Matsumoto & ZAP
• High Speed Battle Royal: Saki Kashima vs. Yuna Mizumori vs. Waka Tsukiyama vs. Kohaku vs. Matoi Hamabe
• God’s Eye (Hina & Ranna Yagami) vs. ZONES & Soy*
• God’s Eye (Nanami & Lady C) vs. STARS (Saya Iida & Momo Kohgo)*
• Rian & Honoka vs. Mizuki Kato & Yuma Makoto*
  

*indicates match will be on the YouTube pre-show

What do I Need to Know?

• During the press conference, Tam Nakano and Unagi Sayaka made their singles match a ‘career vs. career’ match. If Tam wins, Unagi can never wrestle in Stardom again, and if Unagi wins, Tam cannot compete as Tam Nakano ever again.
• Tam and Unagi used to be in Cosmic Angels together until the latter’s firing in 2022. They have held the Artist of Stardom Championships together – alongside Mina Shirakawa – and are still to this day the longest reigning champions ever at 291 days.
• This will be Unagi Sayaka’s first match in a Stardom ring since 29th December 2022.
• Their current singles record sits at 2-1 in Tam’s favour, with her winning their last two encounters back-to-back.
• After saving Syuri from a H.A.T.E beatdown at Dream Queendom on December 29th, Kiyoka Komatsu – formerly Maya Fukuda of GLEAT – will team with God’s Eye against H.A.T.E, making her Stardom debut.
• Reigning Ring of Honor Women’s World Champion Athena will make her Japanese debut on this show, teaming with Thekla.
• AEW’s Tay Melo – formerly Tay Conti – will also make her Japanese debut on this show, with this being her first match back since March of 2023 after giving birth to her daughter. She will team with Mina Shirakawa.
• AZM and Mayu Iwatani will face each other for the IWGP Women’s Championship on January 4th at Wrestle Kingdom 19 in the Tokyo Dome. The 6-woman tag team match will act as the final preview to that match, with AZM winning the previous preview tag match at Dream Queendom by pinning Momo Kohgo.
• 9th Sendai Girls Junior Champion Chi Chi has been champion for 55 days – in her first reign. This will be the second title defence of her reign.
• Chi Chi won the reinstated belt back on the 9th November in a championship decision match against YUNA.
• The feud between Chi Chi and Aya Sakura has been building since their face-off in the finals of Sendai Girls’ Jaja Uma tournament, which Chi Chi won. The rivalry has intensified with Aya losing her cool on behalf of HANAKO and Rian when Chi Chi bad mouthed them after she and ZONES had beaten them at New Blood West 2.
• Chi Chi has won their only previous singles match, though Aya Sakura holds the winning record overall with 3 wins and 2 losses.
• Manami makes her return to Stardom for the first time since defeating Rian at New Blood 16 on October 19th.
• Dump Matsumoto and ZAP return to Stardom for the first time since 27th October, where they teamed with H.A.T.E in victory over Cosmic Angels in Korakuen Hall, Matsumoto pinning Sayaka Kurura after obliterating her for most of the match.
• Mizuki Kato, Yuma Makoto and Soy all make their Stardom main show debuts, having all only previously wrestled on the New Blood shows.
• Following their match at New Blood 17, Rian and Honoka agreed to team together in the future after earning each other’s respect. This union will happen on this show for the first time against Kato and Makoto.
• Ami Sourei, Xena and Konami will all miss this show through injury, though Ami will be on Japanese commentary and Xena joining the English announce team.

How do I Watch the Show?

The show will air as a PPV complete with English Commentary. You can purchase the PPV from the link here.

Rob & Matt’s Predictions

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