Stardom Review And Analysis: January 6 in Osaka

Hina, Rina, and Hanan vs Sadie Gibbs, Bobbi Tyler, and Jamie Hayter

If this is your first time with Stardom, you’ll notice that Hina, Rina, and Hanan look ridiculously young. It’s because they are. I believe Hanan is around 14 while Hina and Rina, who are twins, are 11 or 12. Hanan is the oldest sister of the trio and made her Stardom debut back in March of 2017. It’s a bit insane seeing wrestlers so young, but it’s even more insane to see how good some of them already are.

Sadie Gibbs and Bobbi Tyler have been welcomed into the camp of Hana Kimura and Mary Apache on this tour. Kimura had been a member of Oedo Tai before splitting with the group several months back earning her a permanent, and dangerous, enemy in World of Stardom Champion and leader of Oedo Tai, Kagetsu.

Jamie Hayter recently swore her allegiance to Oedo Tai and now finds herself in the uncomfortable position of teaming with partners from beyond enemy lines. Hayter made her Stardom debut as part of this past year’s 5 Star Grand Prix and has been impressive ever since.

Of note in the pre-match promos is Hayter declaring that she’ll not participate in the match at all. Instead, she’ll sit back and watch as Gibbs and Tyler fall victim to the trio of sisters.

The match itself didn’t quote go to Hayter’s plan. The sisters jumped their opponents to start things off and rallied against Hayter with a series of dropkicks in the corner. Despite her desire to stay out of the ring completely, Hayter found herself the victim of Hana, Rina, and Hanan as they used their quickness to dominate her.

Once Hayter was able to recover, she looked for a tag from her partners who dropped down to the arena floor instead of accepting the tag. Hayter then found herself in a combination submission – a pair of cross armbreakers from Hina and Rina and a leglock from Hanan.

Gibbs and Tyler broke the submission up and from there, things broke down into chaos. The UK trio disposed of Hina and Rina leaving Hanan all alone in the ring. After a rebound Flatliner from Tyler, a frog splash from Gibbs, and a sliding knee to the face from Hayter, the Oedo Tai member was able to pick up the three count.

Thoughts: This was a solid opener letting the sisters shine for a bit before falling victim to the more experienced team. Hanan is one to watch in 2019 for sure! She came close to winning the Future of Stardom Title from Starlight Kid recently and improves every time she’s in the ring. In the crop of rookies in her age group, I find Hanan to exceed Ruaka and Leo Onozaki. Plus, she has maybe my favorite theme in all of Stardom so there’s that, too.

Post-match, Hana Kimura got into the ring to congratulate Hayter on a good fight. She asked Hayter to reconsider leaving her group, of which she was a part for only one day, suggesting that she won’t fit in with Oedo Tai. Kimura pondered why Oedo Tai wasn’t at ringside with her now but reminded her that she, and her group, were there right now.

Hayter rebuked the offer, kicking away Kimura’s handshake and raising the Oedo Tai “O” with her hands. This prompted an attack from Kimura and crew which was broken up by other wrestlers at ringside before Oedo Tai charged the ring to even the odds.

Kagetsu chided Kimura for the attack before telling her that they could fight right now, leading to our next match!