Hopefully, you all got to read my preview of the Kawasaki Super Wars show that Stardom aired on PPV today because now it’s time for the review! There were nine total matches on the card, including the dark match from YouTube, so without much rambling from me let’s get into it!
First up…
Mai Sakurai vs Waka Tsukiyama
The Preshow match featured the two newest members of the Stardom roster, and the Cosmic Angels unit, facing off against one another. The match itself was actually pretty solid. I wasn’t expecting much going into it due to how inexperienced the two of these women actually are in the ring. What was a decent match however was overshadowed by what happened after the match. Someone, dressed all in black and wearing a Momo mask, attacked both of the Angels with a sledgehammer and laid them both out. The internet is abuzz with speculation on who this masked assailant is, and I will be making my own guesses in another article, but suffice it to say I cannot recall Stardom ever doing anything like this. The winner of the match was Mai Sakurai and you can watch this match on Stardom’s YouTube Channel.
Winner: Mai Sakurai
Up next, first match on the main pay-per-view..
Future of Stardom Championship: Ruaka (c) vs Lady C
Lady C gets her first title opportunity against Ruaka of Oedo Tai for the Future of Stardom title. Lady C has seen her popularity grow recently which seems to coincide with her abilities in the ring getting much better. She’s really inexperienced still and has only a handful of wins to date but she definitely earned this match. I’m gonna say this match was a bit more competitive than I anticipated. It seemed pretty short when watching it, but Lady C got a good bit of offense in. Unfortunately for her, it wasn’t meant to be as Ruaka hit the Refrigerator Bomb and secured the pinfall. Overall, it was a typical Ruaka match that was slightly better than usual. I’m not overly impressed with her, but Stardom must see something in her for that Future strap to be around her waist. Both WakaTsukiyama and Mai Sakurai challenged Ruaka after the match, so it’ll be interesting to see who gets the next shot.
Winner: Ruaka
Up next..
Red Goddess: Tag League official match
Saki Kashima & Fukigen Desu★ vs Rina and Hanan
This next match is part of the Goddess Tag League tournament. We’ve got Saki Kashima and Fukigen Death of Oedo Tai facing off against Rina, also of Oedo Tai, and her sister Hanan. The sisters worked pretty well together, until Hanan accidentally dropkicked Rina. This lead to the three members of Oedo Tai ganging up on Hanan and Rina leaving her partner to take the loss. I kind of saw this coming, you can’t trust a member of Oedo Tai, even if she is your sister. It kind of sucks, but Hanan is trying to make it work with Rina. I can’t see them actually being able to work together, as they have failed to do so up to this point. Solid and fun match, nothing overly special.
Winner: Saki Kashima & Fukigen Desu
Coming in hot after that match..
Kawasaki Super Wars 2021
Triple Threat Match: Saya Kamitani vs Maika vs Mina Shirakawa
Three of Stardom’s best and most improved in 2021 face off in this triple threat match. Originally, it was supposed to be a fatal four way and feature Konami, however she has been dealing with health issues lately and had to be pulled from the event. It’s definitely a contrast of styles here. Mina is the fun loving Angel who can actually turn on a vicious streak when she needs to. Saya is the quick high flyer who you can never count out in any match. Then there is Maika, the powerhouse, the no nonsense bad ass who will try to hurt you. There were some surprising moments in this match where two of the three teamed up together. Of course, they didn’t last very long at all. I’m gonna say this, Mina Shirakawa surprised me in this match. She matched speed with Saya and she went toe to toe with Maika in a striking match. She is a spunky one for sure and definitely someone you need to keep your eye on as she’s proving to be opportunistic. This was a lot of fun, which I expected from the announcement, but it was actually able to exceed my expectations. I credit each lady for this as this was the most fun match of the early going. Mina Shirakawa picked up the win after a vicious looking DDT. In a show of sportsmanship and respect, Maika checked on Saya Kamitani and helped her out of the ring and to the back.
Winner: Mina Shirakawa
Up next..
Kawasaki Super Wars 2021
Donna del Mondo (Himeka and Natsupoi) vs STARS (Mayu Iwatani and Koguma)
Up next we’ve got a faction tag match between Donna del Mondo and STARS. DDM being represented by powerhouse Himeka and the High Speed Fairy Natsupoi while STARS is represented by the Icon of Stardom Mayu Iwatani and the High Speed Genius Koguma. When you put four women as talented as these in the ring together, what you get is a fireworks spectacular akin to the fourth of July. They all work insanely well together. It was fun watching Koguma and Natsupoi chasing each other and trying to one-up the other. And of course it wouldn’t be a Mayu Iwatani match without her taking some absolutely insane bumps that look like they killed her. Koguma showed some impressive strength in this match too as she was able to use Mayu as a weapon and carry her around. These four insane athletes took each other to the limit which led to a time-limit draw. Which shocked everyone since Himeka was mere seconds away from pinning Mayu Iwatani after a vicious power bomb. I wish there had been an actual winner here, but a draw was probably the best way to end this match today.
Winner: Time-limit Draw, No Winner | Up next..
Kawasaki Super Wars 2021
High Speed Championship: Starlight Kid (c) vs Momo Watanabe
There is only one match on this card that I was looking forward to more than this match. For the life of me, I don’t know why SLK poked the bear here. The match was already going to happen. Kid had to get cocky and arrogant as she goaded and taunted Momo into wanting this match to be for the Championship. As the women enter the ring, Momo looks to be in a super serious state, which isn’t rare to see. She is 100% focused and she legit seems pissed at Kid. It was impressive to see Momo tapping into her High Speed side in the beginning of the match, as she hasn’t competed like this in a really long time. And of course, it wouldn’t be an Oedo Tai match without interference, as it happened on a few occasions. Kid seemed to get a bit cocky as the match went on and started slapping Momo. Never a good idea, BTW, but Kid did spend a good amount of time in control during this match. However, once Momo got ticked off, she turned it up to 11 and really went at Kid. At that point she didn’t seem to really care about the win or the loss, she wanted to hurt SLK and shut her up. I think Kid even threw Epsom salt in Momo’s face on the entrance ramp. I am not sure what the substance was, but it enraged Momo. She tried to rip Kid’s mask off of her head, managing to really tear the eye part of the mask. They had to literally be ripped off each other outside the ring as the match ended in a double count-out draw. There has to be more between these two after how this match went. There absolutely has to be. Maybe one Kid puts her mask on the line and Momo agrees that if she loses, she joins Oedo Tai. I don’t know but there needs to be a real finish to this feud. I can’t forget to add that Koguma came out after the match and staked her claim to the next title shot against Kid.
Winner: Count-out Draw, No Winner
Up next..
Kawasaki Super Wars 2021
Right to Challenge Briefcase/SWA Championship: Syuri (c) vs Azumi (AZM)
These two always put out absolutely insane matches against each other. AZM definitely has Syuri’s number in tournaments but Syuri usually gets the upper hand outside of them. AZM changed up her hair style for the match, not that it really matters to most of you but it looked really good on her. This may be an SWA rules match but AZM knows where her advantage lies and she really looked to exploit that. She hit Syuri with everything her quickness would let her. I was actually impressed with how fluid AZM was here. She actually tried to play Syuri’s game a bit, the hard hitting and submission style, but she always went back to using her speed. AZM spent a lot of time focusing on the arm of Syuri, trying to negate her power advantage. I could have sworn that AZM won it with a wicked Canadian Destroyer but that was not the case. Syuri hooked in a stretch muffler like submission and AZM had absolutely no choice but to tap out. Hell of a match here folks. This is one of those ones that you absolutely need to check out, it was that good.
Winner: Syuri
Our co-main event is up next folks.
Kawasaki Super Wars 2021
Wonder of Stardom Championship: Tam Nakano (c) vs Unagi Sayaka
Another battle between members of the Cosmic Angels unit in this one folks. Unagi Sayaka wants what Tam Nakano has, the reigns as leader, the Wonder title belt, she will do everything she can to wrest those from the Stardom Dream. Interesting to see that Unagi came out wielding a Katana, something I’ve never seen her do before. Then Tam comes out with her Halberd (or Pike), like she usually does for her major matches. This one should be a lot of fun, I think, since both Tam Nakano and Unagi Sayaka have been must-see all through 2021. What can I say about this match? One word… Wow. I am not even exaggerating. This match was the best match of the show to this point. Unagi and Tam came out and gave everything they had to each other. It is a huge sign of respect and adoration for each other that they did this. Sure, Unagi seemed to be trying to usurp Nakano but at the end of the day the two women really respect each other and them going all out against each other, to me, is a big sign of that. It always amazes me seeing what these two former Idols can do in the ring. After one of the best Stardom matches of the year, definitely the best one on this night, The Stardom Dream retained her title. It was hard fought and well earned, Unagi and Tam really gave it their all tonight. Check this match out, every one of you.
Winner: Tam Nakano
After the match, yet another Cosmic Angel stepped up and challenged Tam Nakano and that Angel is none other than Mina Shirakawa. I cannot wait to see this one.
And finally, our Main Event of the show…
Kawasaki Super Wars 2021
World of Stardom Championship: Utami Hayashishita (c) vs Hazuki (HZK)
Going into this event, this was the match I was most excited for. Hazuki, having recently returned from retirement, getting to challenge for the red belt that Utami Hayashishita holds. Utami’s reign has almost become legendary, truth be told. She’s dispatched every challenger and has gotten more and more dominant with each defense. Bluntly put, there is a reason why the Red Queen is being talked about as one of the very best in the world today. What shocked me though was that Utami dominated the majority of this match. Sure, HZK got in a bit of offense but the vast majority of the match saw Utami working her over and controlling every aspect. It seemed like Utami was one step ahead of HZK at nearly every turn. I did not see this coming truthfully. Credit Hazuki though for making Utami look even more like a bad ass. You never want to count Hazuki out. The Wild Heart of Stardom takes a beating but keeps coming, you have to put her down for her to stop. Utami found this out the hard way. She may have dominated most of the match, but Hazuki made her earn this win. Overall, this was a really good match, but it didn’t top Nakano vs Sayaka. It unfortunately didn’t come close for me. Unagi Sayaka and Tam Nakano were just that damn good tonight.
Winner: Utami Hayashishita
I may be mistaken, but I’m almost positive that I heard Utami calling out Kagetsu after the match. If this is accurate, I have to warn Utami to be careful what she wishes for. For if you speak of the devil, he usually appears.
Thanks for checking this out folks! I hope you all watch this awesome show for yourselves and support Stardom with everything you can. They more than deserve it. See ya next time!