Ladies and gentlemen, Osaka Super Wars is in the books and what a show it was. It had me on the edge of my seat the entire time and, in my opinion, this was the most entertaining of the three Super Wars shows. You’ll see and understand why as I review each match. Without too much banter and dragging things out, let’s jump right into things with our first “match” of the show, shall we?
First up is the Special Gauntlet Match…
Osaka Super Wars: 1 vs 3 Gauntlet Match:
Syuri vs Lady C, Mai Sakurai and Waka Tsukiyama
We get a handshake to start things off and Waka volunteers herself to be Syuri’s first opponent. This is basically David vs Goliath in this match as Syuri is infinitely better in the ring than Waka is at this point. Syuri made her look like a million bucks though, selling for her surprise roll-ups and the other offense that Waka threw at her. One head kick gave Syuri win 1 in the gauntlet.
Mai rushes in and attacks as soon as the bell rings. Smart move by her as she gets some control in. She makes a rookie mistake and turns her back on Syuri which she pays for. I gotta give it to Syuri here, she is really working to make the rookie’s look great in this show. She makes Mai tap in quick order, only to get jumped once again by Lady C.
Of Syuri’s three challengers, Lady C is the better performer. She’s really come into her own this year and improved a lot. Lady C put up the best fight of them all, even hitting her massive Chokeslam on Syuri but only getting a two count. I think I even saw a Giant Chop at one point.. Syuri locked in a figure four leg lock, perfectly I may add, and swept the gauntlet match.
Winner: Syuri (Clean Sweep)
After the match, Lady C and the other two were in the ring and Lady was supposedly going to thank Syuri and announce her Unit choice, but all three were attacked by the masked Momo Figure. Except… there are two of them now! They’re multiplying folks and this is getting a lot more interesting. I have no idea who these two are, despite one being briefly unmasked during their attack. I guess we will have to keep watching to hopefully figure it out sooner than later.
Up next…
Osaka Super Wars
10 Million ¥ Unit Challenge Match 1: Donna del Mondo vs Team Marvelous
Artist of Stardom Titles are on the line in this match
Donna del Mondo: Natsupoi, Himeka and Maika (Artist of Stardom Champions)
Team Marvelous: Takumi Iroha, Maria and Rin Kadokura
It’s our first of three Unit Tournament matches, and also an Artist of Stardom Championship match as Team Marvelous challenges MaiHimePoi. Fair bit of drama from the MaiHimePoi camp leading into this tournament as Natsupoi and Himeka have not been getting along at all. Let’s see if they get it together for the match.. First impression? Yes, they got it together. Matching attire and a synchronized dance move ala old school Oedo Tai or Cosmic Angels. Kind of interesting seeing Maika and Himeka doing a synchro dance. They looked a bit lost there at points but Poi was having a blast. Kadokura and Maika start the match for their teams. Rin and Maika tested each other a bit, not much action there, before tagging out to Takumi and Himeka. That one got the action going as they traded shoulder blocks for a bit with Himeka taking control. Maria tagged in and Himeka in turn brought in Poi. They’re definitely playing to matchups early on and each one makes sense given their styles. In comes Iroha again and she picks up where Maria left off, picking Poi apart. Team Marvelous takes turns in picking on Poi, keeping Maika and Himeka out of the match as much as possible. Smart strategy by them. Poi finally gets a tag and Maika comes storming in, taking out all three Marvelous women before focusing on Rin. Bit surprising that Marvelous controlled a good portion of the match, but all three women are the best the promotion has to offer. At a lot of points, I thought Marvelous had it won but DDM found a way to turn it around, especially once Himeka returned into the match. Marvelous controlled a good portion of the match and really made DDM earn this one, but earn it they did eventually via a Himeka Powerbomb to Maria. Phenomenal way to kick off the unit tournament and one of the most fun trio matches I’d see to this point. You gotta check this one out.
Winner: MaiHimePoi
Osaka Super Wars
10 Million ¥ Unit Challenge Match 2: STARS vs Cosmic Angels
STARS: Hazuki, Koguma & Mayu Iwatani
Cosmic Angels: Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa & Unagi Sayaka
Following that phenomenal match we have STARS facing the Cosmic Angels in the second match of the tournament. None of the drama ala DDM in this one folks, just two units that used to be one going at it. Koguma and Mina kick us off with Koguma seemingly a bit unsure how to approach Mina at first. Didn’t take long for CA to use their trio moves on Koguma, even resulting in Mina locking in the surfboard. Mina tags in Tam who picks up where she left off. The Angels working really well together against Koguma in the early going. She finally gets a break and tags in Mayu. Mayu comes in hot but Unagi fends her off quickly. Tam gets the tag and comes in, rekindling her rivalry with Mayu in the process. Tam and Mayu have a good bit of back and forth before Mayu gets the tag and Hazuki enters the fray. She goes right after Tam and I’m not gonna lie, this is a match I’ve been begging for since Hazuki returned. Watching Tam and Hazuki trade moves back and forth was the highlight of this match for me. Those two will put on phenomenal single’s matches someday soon, I hope. Mina comes back in and gets a nearfall on Hazuki. Hell, she almost ended it with a spike DDT. Mina got cocky though and when she went for a reverse DDT, Hazuki reversed the move and rolled Mina up for the pinfall, giving the victory to STARS. Not as good as the prior match but that was a lot of fun too. I really cannot wait to see Hazuki and Tam Nakano step into the ring together one on one. Someday soon, I really hope.
Winner: STARS
With that win, the Ladder Match has been decided. It will be Donna del Mondo facing STARS. Up next the match I have been waiting for the whole show.
Osaka Super Wars
Queen’s Quest (Momo Watanabe, AZM, Saya Kamitani & Utami Hayashishita) vs Oedo Tai (Starlight Kid, Ruaka, Konami & Saki Kashima)
Rules: The Losing Captain must join the winning Unit. Until one of the captains has been defeated, the match proceeds as an elimination tag match. Only Starlight Kid or Momo Watanabe will be forced to join the opposing unit. If Starlight Kid is defeated, she will be forced to unmask in addition to joining Queen’s Quest.
An all-out brawl kicks off the match before Utami single’s Kid out and nearly eliminated her right off the bat. AZM gets the tag and goes right after Kid. QQ really wants to focus on Kid but Konami protects her and gets the tag. Konami works over AZM for a bit before tagging in Ruaka. Maybe a mistake as AZM is able to tag in Utami once again. Saki and Ruaka try to work together against Utami but she isn’t having it. Ruaka wins their shoulder block battle before tagging Konami back in. Utami and Konami go at it with Utami eventually dumping Konami over the top, but Konami kept ahold of Utami and dragged her over with her! Both Konami and Utami have been eliminated!
Kid and Momo jump into the ring to pick the action back up. The three remaining OT members gang up on Momo and set Kid up for a big splash off the top but they only get two. Saya and AZM save Momo who starts to take over against Kid, getting a near fall. She tags in Saya Kamitani who goes after Kid. Saki tags herself in behind Saya’s back and saves Kid. Fisherman’s suplex by Saya gets a two. Saya pretty much dominates Saki, despite a couple of near falls from Saki. With Ruaka’s help, Saki surprises Saya with a roll-up and eliminates her! It’s Three against Two now!
Azm comes in as Ruaka gets tagged in. Some brief MomoAZ tag tactics but it’s not enough to keep Ruaka down. AZM rolls out of the way of the Refrigerator Bomb and nearly pins her. AZM locks in her wicked submission finisher that I don’t know the name of and makes Ruaka tap out! Two a piece left! Saki runs in but AZM rolls her right up! Starlight Kid is the only one left in Oedo Tai!
Kid jumps AZM but Momo comes in and they tag up on her. Queen’s Quest pretty much has this one won at this point. MomoAZ using a lot of team moves to keep Kid down but Oedo Tai interferes and allows Kid some breathing room. AZM does almost beat her with a roll-up though. Kid fighting for her life here as AZM and Momo work together to beat her up. Momo nearly pins Kid after a wicked suplex. Momo had Kid pinned but someone from OT pulled the ref out of the ring! I think it was Konami. Momo and AZM are ticked off and they both go to work on Kid now that there is no ref in the match.
AZM accidentally kicks Momo in the head and that almost lets Kid pin her. They are really building the drama in this one. Ruaka is outside holding AZM still while Kid hits a Moonsault but isn’t able to cover Momo. Kid hits the Tiger Driver but AZM breaks up the pin! Konami introduces a chair to Kid who tries to use it but misses badly. Momo gets the chair and looks poised to smack Kid with it, but instead, she nails AZM!
She then attacks the Referee and intentionally gets herself disqualified! Momo Watanabe has betrayed Queen’s Quest and willingly joined with Oedo Tai! I cannot believe I am saying that. After the match, all five members of Oedo Tai, including Momo, attack what’s left of Queen’s Quest.
Kid and Momo get on the Mic and taunt the shocked Queen’s Quest group. Kid said, “Welcome to Momo Watanabe, welcome to the Oedo Corps!” Watanabe said to the Queens Quest members, “Oh, it’s fun. Momo Watanabe, the leader of Queen’s Quest, isn’t here. I wanted to see her face. It’s fun. AZM, Uetani. From now on, I’ll be reborn as the black peach of the Oedo corps., Queen’s Quest Omae and others, I’ll destroy it, so please look forward to it.” AZM looks absolutely destroyed by this turn of events and I don’t blame her. Her and Momo were the best of friends for a long time. Momo declares herself Oedo Tai’s Black Peach before Utami and AZM beg Momo to tell them why she betrayed them with AZM in tears and crying as she begs. Konami declares The END for Queen’s Quest and they leave the ring. Wow.. I have no words at all. I cannot believe that happened the way it did.
Winner: Oedo Tai – Starlight Kid the sole survivor for the unit.
Osaka Super Wars
10 Million ¥ Unit Challenge Ladder Match/Artist of Stardom Championship:
STARS vs Donna del Mondo
Donna del Mondo: Natsupoi, Himeka and Maika (Artist of Stardom Champions)
STARS: Hazuki, Koguma & Mayu Iwatani
There’s only one match left folks and it’s the ladder match! We’ve got STARS facing Donna del Mondo for the 10 Million Yen and Artist of Stardom titles. This is also an elimination match, so if someone gets pinned or submitted then they have to leave the match. Koguma and Natsupoi rush up the ladder as soon as the bell rings but they get brought down immediately. What I didn’t realize is that this is a tag match, not a traditional ladder match where everyone is in the ring together at once. I am fairly sure that this is Stardom’s first real ladder match so it’s not surprising that they have a lot more rules to it. You can really tell that both teams want this victory. It’s a decent amount of money plus it’s the championships on top of it. This was absolutely nuts for a Stardom match, I can’t even tell you. Mayu Iwatani hit a moonsault from the top of the ladder, as it was propped in the corner by Koguma and Hazuki, to Maika and eliminated her from the match. That was a beautiful spot with perfect execution. Then, Koguma climbed the ladder and did a flying splash from the top to the outside onto all three members of DDM. I guess bears can fly?! I expected big ladder spots from Mayu and Hazuki but not from Koguma. That was impressive as hell. Himeka hits a big lariat and pins Koguma, eliminating her from the match as well. Shocked we haven’t gotten a Hazuki or Natsupoi ladder spot to this point. Poi’s biggest ladder spot was when she did a cross body off the mid part to help powerbomb Mayu. Himeka helped Natsupoi climb the ladder and retrieved the briefcase, winning the match for Donna del Mondo! Poi and Himeka hug at the top of the ladder and seem to have made amends, which honestly is nice to see. Poi was definitely the workhorse for DDM this match and deserved to be the one to get the case for them. STARS looks shocked as they are shown in the corner.
After the match, Natsupoi apologizes to Himeka and says thank you to her before they hug. She then thanks Maika. I’m not fully sure what the rest of their promo entailed as I am not fluent in Japanese. However, Unagi Sayaka, Mina Shirakawa and Mai Sakurai interrupted Himeka and challenged MaiHimePoi for the Artist of Stardom titles. I wish I could have translated all that for you but alas, this is where I have to leave you all for the day. Check this show out, I highly recommend it. Take care and I’ll see you all when I preview the Stardom Dream Queendom show taking place on 12/29. Peace!