Stardom Review And Analysis: January 19 in Shinkiba

STARS vs Hana Kimura, Sadie Gibbs, & Bobbi Tyler

This match would have served as a preview for an Artist of Stardom Title match on January 27 between STARS and Hana’s trio, but Gibbs had to pull off of the tour for personal reasons. That match will shift into a tag team match pitting Hana and Bobbi against Mayu and Tam.

In one of the sadder moments for Tam Nakano, she received no streamers during her introduction! She was despondent, though Mayu attempted to cheer her up by wrapping her in streamers of her own. Continuing the disappointment, Hana and crew refused to shake hands before the contest.

It became clearly evident very early on that Hana, Sadie, and Bobbi simply could not compete with the teamwork of Mayu, Tam, and Starlight Kid. Any time STARS could work together, they absolutely used the numbers advantage and their quick teamwork to overwhelm their opponents. Only when a single member of STARS could be isolated could Hana’s team hold onto the advantage.

Hana tried unmasking Kid at one point showing that she picked up a trick or two from the rudos of Mexico during her excursion. Fortunately for Kid, the mask stayed on. Gibbs continued to impress nailing a ridiculous corkscrew Sasuke Special onto her opponents leading to a crushing frog splash onto Kid for the victory.

Thoughts: I’m very much into Hana having a group of her own at this point, though it is dwindling down with Gibbs off of the tour and will dwindle more once Bobbi’s tour of Stardom is complete. She felt a bit displaced after splitting from Oedo Tai with only Mary Apache as an ally. Hopefully, she can wrangle some additional partners in crime who are mainstays in the promotion. She’s shown quite a bit more intensity since this group has formed than in her initial matches after returning from Mexico.

This was a huge win for Gibbs, picking up a pinfall over the former Future of Stardom champion who has put in some awesome performances against Utami and Hazuki as of late. With any luck, she’ll be back for another tour of Stardom to pick up where she left off.

Future of Stardom Title: Utami Hayashishita (c) vs Hanan

In pre-match comments, Utami made note of both her and Hanan’s judo skills making sure to let Hanan know that the Future of Stardom champion had far superior judo which she would put on display.

Utami, breaking from her standard entrance gear, entered wearing an uwagi to match Hanan’s usual attire. In keeping with her promise to fight Hanan at her own game, Utami grappled Hanan at the start of the match with both wrestlers struggling to gain the advantage.

The two competitors would roll directly into the ropes with Hanan on top of the champion. From here, the challenger unleashed with forearms to the chest and a pair of running dropkicks to rock Utami against the ropes and on the canvas. With Utami reeling, Hanan began to work over her arm to try to weaken her toward a submission victory.

Due to the damage done to her arm, Utami was unable to lift Hanan up for a torture rack on her first attempt mid-way through the match. Capitalizing on the damage done to the champion, Hanan attempted a series of near falls coming extremely close to becoming the new Future of Stardom champion. Unfortunately for Hanan, Utami would catch her in a standing rear naked choke out of nowhere before successfully transitioning into the torture rack for a quick tap out.

Thoughts: This was kept fairly short but the intensity was high. I think Hanan has what it takes to grow into a star in the company especially if she continues to share the ring with the likes of Utami and Starlight Kid. Utami was caught off guard by Hanan’s offense but squeaked out the victory proving two things – Hanan can stand toe to toe with Stardom’s Big Rookie and Utami can end a match in a matter of moments if she can stop her opponent’s movement.