NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool

Moustache Mountain vs James Drake & Zack Gibson

Super hot opener that was probably the best match on the show. Some nice early sequences, including Tyler Bate bridging ridiculously out of a double-knucklelock and rolling through, just insane strength. I loved Zack Gibson pulling Drake out as he got fired into the ropes to break the Moustache Mountain momentum, just a lovely bit of heeling that drew monster heat. Moustache Mountain remain in control, until Trent Seven hits a low tope, hurting his shoulder in the process. Drake & Gibson work a nice control, not always focused on the injury, but not neglecting it either. Loved Drake hitting a pescado to land a double team backbreaker on Seven on the floor. A big Drake forearm to the back of Seven’s head seems to open him up, looks nasty. Trent gets the hot tag, and Tyler is tremendous in the roll, just so entertaining. He hits a ludicrous but entertaining  double airplane spin on Drake and Gibson, takes both men out by hitting an exploder on Drake to the floor, landing him on Gibson, then follows up with a shooting star press. Great nearfall as Gibson stops a MM double team with a codebreaker from nowhere on Bate, and a Drake 450 on Seven gets two. They work a neat double Shankley Gate spot which I really loved – Gibson locks Seven’s injured shoulder in the move, and when Bate tries to break it up, Drake downs him and locks HIM in the move, putting both MM members in jeopardy. However, because it’s not Drake’s move and because Tyler’s shoulder wasn’t already injured, Bate is able to power up and drop Drake onto Gibson, saving Seven in the process. Bate is taken out with an insane Doomsday Device tope on the floor, and a Seven dive sees him getting laid out. Back in, with Bate still down, the Ticket To Mayhem gives Drake & Gibson the win. Great stuff.

Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin

This is to replace a Devlin/Travis Banks match that gets called out due to a knee injury Devlin inflicts on Banks. Strange one this, I think Banks/Devlin would have been a better match (they had a banger at Fight Club: Pro in Sept 17), but as a big marquee match, this has the edge. It’s worked really evenly, which allows Devlin to look good going head-to-head with a former Universal champion, looked very much on Balor’s level. A good chunk of this match is based around Balor going for the Coup de Grace, but Devlin having it scouted and avoiding the move, including dropkicking Balor to the floor in an early big bump. Devlin works Balor’s torso nicely, slamming his back to the apron, hitting a double stomp in the ring and locking in an abdominal stretch. Every time Balor takes control and plays to the crowd, Devlin is ready to cut him off, and even gets a great nearfall with his feet on the ropes. Ultimately, Balor is just too much and the fourth attempt at the Coup de Grace finally hits, giving Finn the win.

Eddie Dennis vs Dave Mastiff

Had big hopes for this going in, and it was really fun. It worked as a showcase for Dennis’s often-overlooked raw strength and for Mastiff’s ever-surprising agility. Early on, Mastiff hits a lovely crossbody at top speed, like a freight train hitting Dennis. Liked Eddie going for a kendo stick under the ring, keeping it hidden from Mastiff until the last moment and striking him. Eddie starts with the impressive power spots, catching another Mastiff crossbody and hitting a swinging slam onto the steps (loved him selling the effort by trembling his knees too). The Severn Bridge looks insanely impressive, especially as there’s a little extra lift he has to do to get Mastiff over his head for the drop. The fact Dennis also hits the Next Stop Driver makes this a really impressive show of power. Mastiff hitting the Finlay Roll on the exposed concrete was a nasty looking bump and his attempt at a split legged moonsault looked neat. In the end, Mastiff avoids a second Severn Bridge, hits a German suplex and hits a cannonball to plant Eddie through a table for the win. Loved this.

Rhea Ripley vs Toni Storm

Ripley is pretty cagey to start this, spends a bit of time leaving the ring, so it’s nice to see Storm take her out with a tope out of frustration. Loved Ripley grabbing Storm’s hair as she tries to get back in the ring, kicking her in the head whilst she’s stuck on the apron. The commentary brings up Storm’s prior back injury, and a lot of Ripley’s offence focuses on this – neat looking body scissors, big delayed suplex and a pair of slams. Ripley does oversell getting pushed into the corner by Storm’s legs from the floor and an in-ring punch sequence looks pretty terrible, but this is decent on the whole. Ripley’s inverse Texas cloverleaf looks great still. Storm gets Storm Zero for the victory.

Pete Dunne vs Joe Coffey

This goes over half an hour, and just about manages to fill that time without it falling off a cliff. This starts cagily, worked on the mat, with Dunne throwing in a few nice touches, punching the exposed torso of Coffey in order to distract him and lock on submissions. Both guys play to their strengths, Coffey uses his power advantage by hitting a big pop-up powerslam on the ramp and locking in a big bearhug. Dunne, in contrast, knows he’s quicker than Coffey, thus he evades him via running moonsault in the corner, flips out of a back suplex then hits a big moonsault to the floor. Dunne keeps locking in a range of subs, but Coffey plans him with a sitout powerbomb on the apron. Great nearfall after Coffey hits a discus clothesline for two. Dunne locks in another submission, but Coffey breaks it by climbing to the top rope and throwing Pete off. Great spot. We maybe get a few too many kickouts near the end, drawing things out when it could have happily ended 5 minutes earlier, and the spot where they seemed to tumble from the top rope doesn’t look too good, but they do convincingly make you think Coffey has a chance of winning and also make him look good by surviving so much. The Bitter End only gets two, but Pete locks in one last submission, wrenching the fingers for the submission. Big main event that just about delivered.

WWE Mae Young Classic 2018 - Semi Finals

Toni Storm vs Meiko Satomura

Not a surprise that this match was pretty terrific. Even Satomura’s headlock takeover was a struggle, and their mat exchanges had a real sense that neither wanted to yield. Toni isn’t afraid to lay her stuff in here, with a big boot and nasty kicks, but Meiko is even more brutal, just laying into Storm’s legs with a series of vicious kicks, grounding her. Loved the leg lariat that just sees Satomura flying off the ropes. Like Storm locking Meiko into an STF as soon as she gets an advantage, knowing she needs to wear her down as much as she can. She holds it a long time, and suddenly Satomura is in trouble. Storm really goes for it on this opening, hitting a corner charge and a huge suicide dive, but Satomura plants her with a DDT and hits a flipping kick for two. We get a collection of believable nearfalls from both – Storm Zero from Toni, DVD from Satomura, Scorpion Kick from Satomura – with each feeling like the end. Eventually, Toni reverses another DVD attempt to her second Storm Zero to get the win. Loved this.

Rhea Ripley vs Io Shirai

Huge coming out party for Ripley here, she looked like she belonged with Io, didn’t look outclassed at all. Ripley over-powers Shirai early, rag-dolling her about and hitting some really big shots. Loved her punches to the ribs and kicks. Ripley locking on a stomach claw thrilled me, and she hit a tremendous delayed suplex. Loved the flurry of nasty forearms Io hit to break a body-scissors, needed to look convincing to wear down the larger Ripley. Io hits a sudden rana on a rope running exchange, followed by a suicide dive and a big missile dropkick, that Ripley sells big but also believably. She manages to stumble into place for the dropkick without it looking massively contrived. Rhea hits a great superplex, shows incredible balance on the top rope, but Io escapes a pumphandle and hits the corner knees and the moonsault to win. Really great stuff.

WWE Mae Young Classic 2018 Quarter Finals

Meiko Satomura vs Lacey Lane

This was the match it needed to be. Lane is vastly under-powered against Meiko, but is able to use her speed and obvious agility to avoid some big shots early on. Unfortunately, she then refuses a handshake and gets kicked to fuck for her disrespect. Lane misses a kick pretty badly, looked like she was never going to hit Meiko with it, but she does look good evading a flurry of offence and hitting a neat crossbody for two. Ultimately though, Satomura is too good, she kicks the crap out of Lane and gets the pin.

Io Shirai vs Deonna Purrazzo

I thought this was fine, but there’s bits that also didn’t work for me. Shirai lands on her feet from a flying headscissors, as per the first round Brookside match, but it looked less impressive her as Purrazzo barely grazed her with the move. Shirai is quick as can be though, and she ploughs through Purrazzo with a suicide dive, and I loved her rolling through a takedown right into a double stomp. Part of the problem with the match is with the layout – twice Shirai gets locked in Purrazzo’s Fujiwara armbar, and twice Shirai is able to reverse it to a crossface. Escaping Purrazzo’s signature move once was fine, but twice seems a bit of overkill especially as Shirai has to use the injured arm to hold onto the crossface. It doesn’t feel like a match Purrazzo is going to win, and it comes to pass as Shirai hits another overshot moonsault for the win. I really like both, but this was underwhelming.

Tegan Nox vs Rhea Ripley

If that was underwhelming, this was heart-wrenching. As someone who has seen Nox live countless times, from playing T-Bone’s sister in a long-forgotten angle in HOPE to having one of the best intergender matches I’ve ever seen with Chris Brookes in Fight Club Pro last year, I was more invested in her performance this year than anyone elses, especially with her injury keeping her out last year. So for her tournament to end in this fashion was horrible. Bless her for trying to continue after injuring her leg on the suicide dive, and huge kudos to Ripley for maintaining character, not getting lost and carrying on as everything they would have had planned changed. This was a hard watch.

Toni Storm vs Mia Yim

I had high hopes for this, and it ended up being another match that didn’t live up to my expectations. The opening stages just felt like a bunch of strikes from both women, with nothing really linking it all together. I do think Storm had a good performance as things went along though. Kicking Yim in the injured hand looked neat, and she laid in a nasty headbutt. The leg-trapped German suplex she hit looked choice, and I liked that she again went to the bad hand in the finish, as it caused Yim enough pain that she could slip behind and hit a German suplex, followed by a Tiger Driver for the victory. These were all good moments, and the match itself wasn’t bad, it just didn’t feel as important as I’d maybe expected.

Mae Young Classic 2018 - Round 2 #1

Toni Storm vs Hiroyo Matsumoto

So this episode kicks off with a cracker of a match. Loved the opening, evenly worked matwork being paid off by Matsumoto heeling it up by booting Storm in the stomach from a handshake. From there, Matsumoto controls Storm, breaking her down with a lovely missile dropkick and focusing on the back. Toni gets a lovely snap German suplex and a corner charge, but after both ladies build up momentum by running the ropes, it’s Matsumoto who takes advantage with a massive clothesline. Hiroyo hits the Vader Bomb kneedrop and shows great strength by muscling Storm up for the Rock Drop, but Toni makes the ropes. Matsumoto hits a pair of vicious clotheslines, but showboats too much, allowing Toni to reverse a third into a bridging cradle for three. Storm ate a lot of punishment here, so it made sense that her win would have to come from a reversal, and Matsumoto’s hubris came back to haunt her.

Rhea Ripley vs Kacy Catanzaro

There were bits of this I really dug, mainly the bits where Ripley’s raw power let her muscle Catanzaro around, but I’m still unconvinced by Kacy’s offence. I liked Rhea having enough awareness not to fully sell a glancing flying headscissors, stumbling but not going over. Kacy getting a small package when Ripley was too nonchalant going for a suplex made sense, looked like she really caught Ripley unaware. Ripley hits a neat low dropkick to Catanzaro’s face as she sits up and a great delayed vertical suplex, walking her around the ring. Rhea whips Catanzaro off the mat, through her legs, to lock in a neat cloverleaf variation. Kacy gets a small run off offence, fun tilt-a-whirl DDT and a nice twisting plancha, but her botching a springboard dropkick and just repeating the spot is a bit iffy. Ripley plants her with a sitout powerbomb for the win.

Taynara Conti vs Lacey Lane

I’m totally becoming a believer in Conti, thought she was excellent here. She’s believably cruel in her actions, loved her getting Lane off the ropes by a pair of nasty kicks to the hands. Lane has some flash, but Conti provided the meat of this match, with a big judo throw and a slam from the corner both looking great. Conti goes for the judo throw sideslam that won her the last match, but Lane reverses to a crucifix bomb for the win. This was brief, but fun.

Meiko Satomura vs Mercedes Martinez

This match had the potential to be excellent, and it massively achieved it and then some. Both women are portrayed pretty evenly, as two veterans and two of the top seeds in the tournament. Satomura sets the bar early, with a nice kick combo polished off with a big legsweep. Martinez slaps Satomura, before laying into her with a series of big strikes and a flurry of elbows to the head. At one point Satomura gets fired up and looks to be mounting a comeback, only for Martinez to crotch her on the top ropes and nail a swinging neckbreaker. Loved how Satomura’s comeback was worked, as she caught Mercedes unaware with an armbar, giving her the opening to then lay into her with some kicks. A pair of nasty looking DDTs followed, but Martinez blocks a Pele kick to nail a Fisherman Buster. This only gets a two count, and Martinez tries to lock in a surfboard. However, Satomura breaks it, and kicks Martinez as she tries to get up. The Scorpion Kick finishes it moments later. Really great hard-hitting stuff, with Satomura being just a little too quick and focused for Martinez.

Mae Young Classic 2018 Episode #3

Kaitlyn vs Kavita Devi

This felt like it veered between really good bits and being very amateur. At times, Devi looked pretty lost, and there were awkward transitions where neither looked like they were sure what to do next. On the positive, Kaitlyn really whipped Devi over with a snapmere, hit a really nice shoulderblock and flew into the corner on a cannonball. It wasn’t a pretty match, but was quite nicely hard-hitting. Kaitlyn won with a spear.

Toni Storm vs Jinny

This was comfortably match of the episode, both ladies worked a nice competitive opening and gave a real air of aggression. Jinny slapping Storm feels like a mistake, as it prompts Storm to fire back, with Jinny taking a big bump from a Storm kick. Jinny comes back with a nasty kick to the spine, and I loved her Japanese armdrag into the corner. She locked in a surfboard that looked absolutely vicious, and it felt like Toni really had to battle to make the ropes. Eventually, she does escape, planting Jinny with a German suplex, charging her in the corner and hitting a Tiger Driver to win. Great stuff here.

Xia Li vs Karen Q

Li really impressed in last years tournament, and she looked like the extras year’s experience had helped continue her progress. The opening exchange, where both girls went for each other with some martial arts, really popped the crowd by being so different. Q slapped Li in the face, and at a monstrous barrage of strikes in the corner. This was briskly paced, with Q hitting a lovely back elbow and an exploder to take over, Li firing back with a nice range of kicks, before Q missed a frog splash, giving Li an opening for a flipping ax kick for three. Only 4 minutes long, but I really enjoyed this.

Mia Yim vs Allysin Kay

Bit of a disappointment here, both ladies have big reputations and are experienced working together, but this felt like they were just throwing things out there with no rhyme or reason. There’s a poor opening scuffle supposed to indicate animosity between the two, but the hatred never feels that real. There’s some nice wrestling, loved Yim’s big kick from the apron and her suicide dive, but then you get the moment like Yim violently chopping the post by accident that never goes anywhere, and you wonder what the point of that was. Kay taking over and choking Yim with her hair was nicely done, and she does nail a lovely discus clothesline, but then there’s a strike exchange that almost feels like a reset. Yim gets the win in the end with a top rope Eat Defeat, but I didn’t love this.

WWE Mae Young Classic Episode 8 (Semi Finals)

Mercedes Martinez vs Shayna Baszler

They play up the teacher/student relationship between Martinez and Baszler, and in keeping with that Baszler shakes hands with her opponent for the first time in the tournament. Tentative start, with both hesitant to commit, but it’s Martinez who draws first blood, reigning down chops, forearms and even throwing some feints on Baszler. She also misdirects Shayna before locking in a chinlock. When Baszler gets an opening, she hits a nasty looking strikes combo, throwing shots to different parts of the body (crucially including the knee) that Martinez can’t block. Loved Baszler’s rolling gutwrenches, showing off a bit of strength. They exchange strikes in the middle of the ring before Martinez is able to hit the Fisherman Buster. However, her knee has been broke down by the assault by Baszler and she can’t get over to cover in time. Martinez is able to hit a series of suplexes, but Baszler reverses another Fisherman Buster attempt into the choke to win.

Kairi Sane vs Toni Storm

Calling bullshit on the commentary claims that these two have never faced each other before, primarily because I saw them on opposing tag teams in London last year. Nice chain wrestling sequence to start, with Storm getting in one sharp blow to the right arm of Sane. Sane does these really fun sells of Storm’s uppercuts, as if she’s desperately trying not to show weakness by falling. Sane hits a big crossbody to the floor in an impressive moment. Storm avoids the Sliding D by getting feet up, again causing pain to the arm. Loved Sane countering the hip attack with a massive spear. First attempt at the big elbow is stopped by Storm getting a bridging muscle buster for two. More damage is done to the arm as Storm blocks the spinning backfist and pulls her down into a bridging armbar, which looks nasty. What I like is how the elbow injury is played. Sane knows her arm is injured, but also knows her elbow drop is her killshot, so she takes the risk to hit the top rope elbow and, when she does, it gets the win. Really good match.

WWE Mae Young Classic Episode 7 (Quarter Finals)

Abbey Laith vs Mercedes Martinez

As they lock up, it suddenly dawns on me that earlier this year I wrote up a match they had for AAW, which I really enjoyed. This wasn’t quite so go, mainly because it didn’t get as much time to develop, but it was still good. Probably the best Martinez has looked in the tournament, with little touches like her using Laith’s momentum to roll through an armbar into a pinning cradle. Loved her aggression early on, throwing some big shots in the corner. Laith is a likable face working from underneath, though her strikes seem less impactful than those of Martinez. Mercedes pretty much telegraphs a failed suplex from outside by having her arm under the top rope as she goes for it. Laith unsurprisingly reverses this into a nice German for 2. The end seems to come from nowhere and isn’t really built to, as Martinez rolls through the Alligator Clutch and hits a fisherman buster to win.

Candice LeRae vs Shayna Baszler

I came into the tournament unconvinced by LeRae, and she’s not really done anything to change that view. That said, this is her best showing in the tournament. Her suicide dive into a DDT on the outside looked great. Between that and the Yim dive in the second round, Baszler has ended up being a surprisingly good base for high flyers. LeRae goes for the Gargano Escape, but when she tries to roll through to keep Shayna from the ropes, the more experienced submission wrestler is able to escape easily. Candice goes for the 2^nd rope neckbreaker, but Baszler reverses into the choke for the win. Nice little sprint, again puts over the danger Baszler poses, being able to lock in her finisher from anywhere.

Piper Niven vs Toni Storm

Another match I’ve seen before, this time in a leisure centre in Mansfield. Kinda neat to see it taking place in a WWE ring. This is a really great match, possibly the match of the tournament thus far, despite the commentary not really telling the story of the match. The story, which both ladies show by their actions and expressions, is that they’re clearly close friends – Piper laughs off Storm stealing her “gentle punch to the chin” taunt and they work a fun knucklelock sequence ending with them shaking hands whilst bridging on their necks. This is vital for the next stage, where Storm is bridging again, having escaped another move, and Niven just thinks “Fuck it” and hits a big surprise splash for two. At this point, the tone changes and Niven blitzes Toni in an attempt to win. She nails two crossbodies and a senton, all getting two, before Toni is able to fight her way back into the match, avoiding a cannonball and hitting a hip attack in the corner. The Michinoku Driver gets 2 for Niven, and we see her frustration kicking in. She goes for a Vader Bomb, but Storm gets up and hits a second rope German suplex (also paying off her failed attempts to hit a German earlier in the match). A top rope legdrop gives her the win. Really great stuff.

Kairi Sane vs Dakota Kai

Another good match, with both ladies being similar in size and style. This is the first time Kai hasn’t been the smallest competitor in the match, so it was nice to see her in a role other than underdog. Loved Sane hitting a pounce from nowhere to catch Kai unawares. Kai’s curling running kick into the corner looks great every time. I enjoyed Sane avoiding the corner stomp by virtue of the tactic of “not holding herself up into position” before following it with a neat diving elbow strike from the top. Kai misses a second corner kick, and the Alabama Slam is followed by Sane’s top rope elbow to win.

WWE Mae Young Classic Episode 6

Toni Storm vs Lacey Evans

Much better performance by both women than in the first round. Evans in particular looks more comfortable, possibly due to being in the ring with a more experienced opponent, and this ended up being a better showcase for her than the match she won. Liked her avoiding a third butt thrust by rolling Storm into a roll up, and she hit some nice legsweeps from the apron including a sort-of 619 around the post. Storm also looks more comfortable, and she look so fluid quickly reversing a boot in the corner into a backcracker. Evans tries a backflip into a pin, but eats knees and the Strong Zero gets the win for Storm.

Mia Yim vs Shayna Baszler

Good match, but one where I never thought the result was in question. Baszler hits some nice early kicks to down Yim, but Mia sends her outside and follows with a great looking dive. Loved how Baszler had this look of disdain at Yim’s strikes before taking control again. Later in the match, Yim tries another strike combo, which looks more successful until Shayna just belts her with a knee to the face. Baszler is really smooth at countering into an ankle lock, first from out of a Yim pinfall then later as a counter to a German suplex. It also helps to convey the idea that she can hook a submission from nowhere, which she proves by getting her knees up on a Yim 450 and swiftly locking on the choke for the win.

Rhea Ripley vs Dakota Kai

Another fun match here, and another where the loser is elevated in defeat. Loved the early spot where Ripley lands on her feet on getting sent to the floor, scoops Kai onto her shoulders and drops her face first on the apron. Ripley has some nice kicks, including a big dropkick to the stomach. Even better is that moments later Kai tries a bridging cradle, but can’t commit to it due to selling her stomach. Kai also has her own share of nasty looking offence, with a facewash in the corner standing out. The end sees Ripley making a mistake by putting Kai on the top rope for a superplex, only to get knocked down and hit with a top rope stomp for the win. Both women came out of this looking great.

Candice LeRae vs Nicole Savoy

Probably the weakest match of the show. At least this time the “Queen of Suplexes” got to hit some, and they looked pretty good. Loved the rolling butterfly suplex chained into an armbar, and she plants LeRae with a back suplex. Savoy looks pretty impressive throughout, really liked her diving clothesline in the corner. LeRae looks less impressive, though she does sell pretty well, but her offensive run is pretty forgettable and never seems truly convincing against the bigger, stronger Savoy. LeRae gets the win with a 2^nd rope neckbreaker.

WWE Mae Young Classic Episode 3

Toni Storm vs Ayesha Raymond

This was pretty solid, some hard-hitting stuff from both ladies. Raymond is a powerful lady, and she moves well here, with some deliberate offence. Sometimes comes off a bit green, but Storm is competent enough to fill the gaps. The end plays into the over-confidence of Raymond as she takes too long to yell at the fans , missing a top rope splash, following which Storm cradles her for the win.

Dakota Kai vs Kavita Devi

Devi has a substantial size and strength advantage over Kai, which she works at the start of this match. She looks green, but they work this quite sensibly to have a decent match. Devi works over the arm of Kai with her strength, hoisting her in the air and working a lucha-style top rope armdrag (though it looks really hesitant, may have been better not to do it). Devi uses a big press slam but misses a corner splash. Great looking corner kick is followed by a top rope stomp by Kai, giving her the win. This is fine.

Sage Beckett vs Bianca Belair

There were parts of this I really enjoyed, but also a few scrappy looking bits. Beckett hits a big elbow drop that looks great and Belair hits a really nice looking clothesline. Beckett seems to be working this as underdog face, which is odd given her size advantage. Belair has a few moments where she looks a bit off the pace and doesn’t quite have the stuff to fill it. Beckett misses a Vader bomb and Belair whips her with her ridiculously long hair, before hitting a huge spear to win.

Piper Niven vs Santana Garrett

Really feels like both women should be going through to the next round. Loved the early armbar sequence they work, with Santana gaining control by using the ropes to flip through and Niven swinging and missing to try and break free. Love Piper’s running crossbody, looks great as a sudden impact move. Niven works a neat cravate before hitting a low crossbody to a seated Garrett. Santana’s comeback is good, really liked how they worked her handstand rana, with Niven initially fighting it off before Santana gets it. Garrett misses the Shining Star Press and Niven hits a senton and a Michinoku Driver to win. Best match of the tournament so far.

Stardom in Sendai 06/08/2017

Ruaka vs Hanan vs Shiki Shibusawa

Rookie three way opener. This is the quintessential Stardom opener, competently worked whilst still feeling quite rehearsed. There’s a few moments of hesitation, with Shibusawa looking the least comfortable of the three. Her offence at this stages seems to be mainly dropkicks. The sections with Ruaka working Hanan look the most coherent, they work very well together, and Hanan has a great looking rolling leglock. Ruaka gets the win by rolling up Hanan.

Natsuko Tora vs Konami

Konami is pretty great, really like her fighting stance. Her early offence targets the back with some sharp kicks and a nice knee drop. They work a fun headscissors section early on, with Konami battling to get to the ropes whilst Tora seems to choke the life out of her. Tora hits a surprisingly great spear, but Konami hits a big German suplex and kicks her in the face to win. Short match, but pretty fun.

Jungle Kyona & Mari Apache vs Shanna & Starlight Kid

Nicely worked battle of speed vs power. Starlight Kid has a very brief advantage until Kyona catches her on a 619 and nails a side slam. Apache works Kid on the mat, with her size advantage letting her control easily. It’s the speed advantage that allows Kid to make her escape and tag in Shanna, and her hot tag run is pretty fun. Her offensive run does include a double-underhook facebuster that basically drops Kyona on her head and her crossbody into a sunset flip looks great. Her mistake is taking out Apache with a big suicide dive, as this leaves Kid alone with Kyona, with Jungle nailing a big clothesline for the win. Good stuff.

Queen’s Quest (Viper, HZK & AZM) vs Toni Storm, Xia Brookside & Gabby Ortiz

Everyone gets paired off in the opening stages, with the big gun of both teams – Viper and Storm – having the best sequence. Viper is really good at using her size advantage in interesting ways, and her sudden crossbody looks deadly with how quickly she’s able to hit it. When things break down, it’s unsurprisingly the two least experienced, Brookside and Ortiz, who look slightly lost. Though AZM and HZK are both really young, their execution has a crispness that belies that and shows their experience. Storm hits a lovely suicide dive, but Ortiz ends up isolated and all three members of Queen’s Quest jump on her, culminating in a Viper senton for the win.

Oedo Tai (Kris Wolf, Kagetsu & Hana Kimura) vs Mayu Iwatani, Hiromi Mimura & Yoko Bito

This is the first time I’ve seen Iwatani since she’s become the World of Stardom champion, and it’s quite interesting to see her carry herself as the ace. She’s believable in the role, partly helped by the fact she’s the best performer in the match. Given the nature of Oedo Tai matches, this breaks down pretty swiftly. I loved the fact that, during the Oedo Tai pose, Wolf decides to tickle Mimura rather than put a boot into her face, somehow feels a bit more dickish. The faces later do the Kaientai pose on Kimura, which feels like a nice payback spot. Oedo Tai logically have the advantage when things break down, swifter at coming to each other’s aid and triple-teaming the first member they isolate. In this case, it’s Mimura who gets singled out. The superior teamwork of Oedo Tai even plays into the finish, as Kagetsu gets a blind tag during a Mimura/Wolf roll up exchange and gets the win with a 450 splash. Fun main event.

Stardom - Stardom of Champions 23/02/2017

Zoe Lucas & Christi Jaynes vs Natsuko Tora & Kaori Yoneyama vs Arisu Nanase & Hiromi Mimura vs Queens Quest (Azumi & HZK)

This is an elimination match, with eliminations by submission, pinfall and going over-the-top rope. Pretty much a fun spotfest opener, which puts some of the greener members of the roster in a position where they only have to hit their moves and get out, which keeps everyone looking good. I liked the gaijin Jaynes and Lucas working big against Nanase and Mimura – neither are huge, but there was a notable size difference which I’m glad was played up. Dug the Queens Quest girls hitting a swank double facewash into the same corner from opposite angles. Lucas pins Nanase after a series of big kicks, but is quickly pinned by HZK after a seated senton. Yoneyama and Tora had played it smart by staying outside a lot, and I loved their control on Queens Quest – Yoneyama hitting a dropkick on HZK and simultaneously landing a senton on Azumi looked killer. However, they make the mistake of going up top, and Queens Quest bundle them to the floor to win.

Konami vs Yoko Bito

Konami impressed in her Stardom debut in December, and I thought she looked excellent here. Liked the cagey opening with both wrestlers trying to sneak in a kick or find an opening. Konami is really tenacious here, quickly going to work on Bito’s leg and on release not giving her a moment’s recovery before pouncing with another submission hold. Bito tries a Jig’N’Tonic, but Konami is able to grab the injured leg whilst upside down and roll through into another sub. Bito’s comeback felt a bit premature, and she felt like the weaker link in the bout, as she picks up the win with a second try at the Jig’N’Tonic.

Toni Storm vs Deonna Purrazzo

This is for Storm’s SWA title. Nice little sense of one-upsmanship to start, with both sneaking little bits of offense in as they work the mat for superiority – Purrazzo sneaks in a quick headbutt to the torso on a rope break, Storm holding her hands on the mat to stomp the fingers. Storm takes a really nasty spill on a suicide dive, looking like her feet caught the ropes, but she seems to recover quickly, hitting a nice running hip attack and a decent Fisherman’s suplex for two. Purrazzo seems to have a gameplan of working Storm’s arm, and I liked how that same into play when Storm tries a suplex, Purrazzo finding it easy to counter and go right back to an armbar. My only complaint is that the end seemed to come from nowhere for the second bout in a row, as Storm suddenly hits a backcracker and a piledriver to win.

Mayu Iwatani vs Kris Wolf vs Kagetsu

This is for Iwatani’s High Speed title, and the deck is stacked against her – not just because she’s facing two members of Oedo Tai, but because a third member in Hana Kimura is outside the ring, which we realise as she trips Iwatani in the early stages after Oedo Tai lure her outside for a foot chase round the ring. Fun comedy spot as Kimura and Kagetsu hold Iwatani in the ropes and tie some elasticated tape to her, and Wolf runs off into the crowd with the other end, letting the roll ping off into Mayu’s face. I dug Iwatani’s gameplan of trying to isolate one Oedo Tai member, hitting an Iconoclasm on Wolf onto Kagetsu. The obvious problem of which member of Oedo Tai will get the win is addressed as Kagetsu ties Wolf by the tail to one of the ropes, and even when Wolf gets free, her pin attempt is thwarted by Kagetsu hurling a briefcase at her. In the end, it doesn’t matter, as Wolf lets Kagetsu hit a sitout driver on Iwatani, then hurtles across the ring to cover both ladies and win the title. Fun match, felt like a big moment for Wolf.

Kairi Hojo vs Jungle Kyona

Absolutely loved this. This is for Hojo’s Wonder of Stardom title. Real big match feel, as Kyona rushes Hojo as soon as the bell ring, taking any legal advantage possible. Hojo is the smaller wrestler here, and noticeably her offence here is based around quick impact moves, but this costs her early, as she takes an insane high speed charge into the ring post on the outside. She just splatted into it with Kyona moving just in time. Kyona works over the back of Hojo, with a backdrop on the floor and an Argentine backbreaker, and there’s a big red mark appearing early on Hojo’s lower spine. Hojo makes a comeback with her quick offence, a spear looking surprisingly good considering the size difference, and a big crossbody to the floor looking immense. Hojo works over a body part herself, hooking an ankle pick on Kyona, and I loved how Kyona sold it. After escaping, Kyona is on one knee trying to level Hojo with strikes, but the injury means she can’t put pressure on the leg and as such means she hasn’t got a base to put any real force behind the blows, which Hojo barely feels. Kyona is able to get up to meet Hojo on the top rope, hitting a top rope powerslam to further hurt the back. This is followed by two awesome deadlift gutwrench powerbombs that get a real close nearfall. Hojo hits some big backfists (and one that looked a bit duff, sadly) and goes back up top, but soon has this great look of shocked horror as Kyona AGAIN gets up to meet her. This time, Hojo sends her back down with a double stomp and hits her perfect top rope elbow for the win. Incredible bout, felt like a real breakthrough performance by Kyona.

Io Shirai vs Shayna Baszler

This is for Shirai’s World of Stardom title. Really good stuff here right from the get-go, as Shirai fires off a blow right from the handshake, only to get caught in a big sleeper right away, showing how dangerous Baszler can be. Baszler works Shirai’s arm early door, and I love how they kept coming back to the injury throughout the match. Shirai sells it throughout, just little touches like not being able to properly grind her elbow into Baszler’s ribs on an abdominal stretch or giving it a quick shake in between moves so you know it’s still bothering her. Baszler locks another sleeper in on Shirai, this time in the corner from the top rope, and Io does this amazing limp body hanging sell. They fight outside, which is where Shirai takes over, dropkicking Baszler’s head through a chair, blasting her with a thrown chair and hurling her into the crowd, where Baszler only just makes the 20 count back into the ring. Shirai challenges Baszler to strike her, fighting through Shayna’s kicks to the leg, but not being prepared for Baszler to mix it up and kick the injured arm instead, which puts Io down. Baszler gets this amazing Falcon Arrow into a sleeper, and this leads to probably the only weak point of the match – the ref checks on Shirai, who is out, and rather than award the match to Baszler, he makes her break the hold and pin Io, only getting a two count. Very odd. Baszler lets herself get distracted talking to the ref, and this is her downfall, as Shirai hits a straitjacket German suplex, a tombstone and a moonsault to pick up the win. Great stuff.