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Top 5 Stardom Matches of 2018

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Well you didn’t think we’d have all these Top 5s and forget Stardom did you? We have a Joshi Expert just for these reasons! Let’s see Mathew’s top Stardom matches of 2018.

This one is a bonus list I wanted to do for a couple of reasons and one will be at the bottom of countdown later.

I’m sure people were surprised that a single Stardom match didn’t make it to my list this year and it’s not that they were bad by any means, it’s just that the matches I listed were just a little bit better.

However, I decided to give them their own list with my Top 5 favorite matches of the promotion as they do deserve to be viewed. So out of just Stardom, which five were my favorite for the year? Well, let’s check it out.

 

5. Starlight Kid vs. AZM (Queen’s Fes in Sapporo 6/3/18)

– This one even I’m surprised that it made it on here too but at the same time, Both AZM and Starlight have been tearing it up lately this year every time they face each other that it’s hard to ignore them for that reason alone. Stardom recently created a new title called the Future of Stardom Championship and it’s a title qualified for people that are under twenty years old and/or have less than two years of experience which they both qualify for due to their age as they both have years of experience. Starlight won the title in April against AZM and she would then tell her that she would love to defend the title against her sometime and it looks like she now has an equal when it comes to the division.

AZM would eventually earn that title opportunity after pinning Starlight in a tag match and it took place at one of their Queen’s Fes shows in Sapporo in June and it was a test for herself to try and take that belt away from her. The two women have unbelievable chemistry in the ring that they would hardly mess up and if they ever did, it’s hardly noticeable and they catch it real quick to make it look like nothing happened. When it comes to this new division, these are your two best right now that can carry it to new heights to make it a must watch if they keep it up throughout 2019 alone with the other females involved. The match ended in a no contest due to the time limit and we were unable to get that proper conclusion to see who was truly better as they never had a one on one match after this, but they still fought off in tag matches for the time being. When will they fight for the title again? Who knows, but it’ll be worth seeing when that day happens.

 

4. Io Shirai & Mayu Iwatani vs. Kagetsu & Hazuki (Goddesses of Destiny 6/19/2018)

– This would be Io Shirai’s final match with the Stardom promotion, the company she has carried for years with her legendary title reigns and the career she made of herself there to make the company a must watch. Before Io would depart Stardom to head to the WWE, she would need to have one final tag match as she teams up with her old rival and former Thunder Rock partner, Mayu Iwatani. Thunder Rock was formed in 2012 before they would disband in 2016 when Io would turn heel to form Queen’s Quest but for one night only, the two would team up for her final show in Stardom as they fight two members of Oedo Tai, Hazuki and the World of Stardom Champion, Kagetsu.

For Thunder Rock, they looked like they never lost a step as a tag team after being away from each other for so long but then again, these are the companies best women that can have a great match with nearly anyone but their opponents are no laughing matter either as they could hold out on their own against them. They would fight all over the place in and out of the ring and Io would even hit one last Moonsault off the balcony to send the fans home happy before she would depart. Thunder Rock would win the match at the end and the ceremony they had for Io Shirai was just beautiful. Mayu would surprise Io with a kiss to make her weak in the knees and Kagetsu would tell Io that while she’s gone, she’ll be the one to lead the company where she left off as they give each other that final respect. Very fun tag team match and a perfect way to send Io Shirai off who’s doing more in the WWE to represent Japan and the place she made famous, Stardom.

 

3. Konami vs. Kagetsu (5 Star Grand Prix 8/18/18)

– Talk about a stiff fest right here since that’s what Kagetsu and Konami would do together. This was the first day of Stardom’s Five Star Grand Prix show which is their biggest tournament of the year, and the two would be paired off in the Red Stars block and even be involved in the first day right off the bat. Kagetsu is the reigning World of Stardom Champion and we haven’t really seen her do much with the title except for defeat Viper and Mayu Iwatani, so she needed the challenge to prove herself as the top champion of the company. Kagetsu was up for the challenge to try and be undefeated in her block to go onto the finals and prove she’s the actual future of the company and the focus should be set to her instead.

Konami has gone through a character change ever since she got drafted to Queen’s Quest and has made herself more lethal with her strikes and submissions that she made sure to capitalize all of them in her matches, especially against Kagetsu since she wanted to prove herself against the champion to thinking that she deserves to hang with the best and won’t be overlooked anymore. They went back and forth pulling everything they could against each other here and made themselves feel each impact placed upon them as the match went on. Konami would pull off the surprise as she made Kagetsu tap out on the first night and not only did she defeat her, but she would also leave her with an injured neck in the process to show her who serious she can be and she wanted Kagetsu to remember that should they ever fight again. Both intense and brutal, this is one fight I would check out to see what both of these women are made of and Konami will show you why the Triangle Lancer is indeed 100%.

 

2. Mayu Iwatani vs. Utami Hayashishita (5 Star Grand Prix 9/24/2018)

– The Five Star Grand Prix will once again make its way to the list but this time, we’ll be talking about the final match of the tournament as the Icon, Mayu Iwatani takes on Stardom’s Super Rookie, Utami Hayashishita. Utami is someone who has had a lot of pressure on her ever since making her debut in Stardom since she’s also a reality star which set a lot of eyes on the product and people didn’t know who she would fair off in the squared circled but to everyone’s surprise, she was a quick learner during the training camp and made so much of an impression in her debut that Stardom’s President, Rossy Ogawa would even invite Utami to take the final spot of the Red Stars block for the tournament in which of course, Utami would say yes as this would be a perfect opportunity to see what she really is all about.

Utami has impressed a lot of people in this tournament that she would even win her block to even get a chance to fight Mayu as this was now the big test to find out if she can be a future star of the company. The answer to that question is yes as she has had solid matches against a lot of people to prove her worth and did that with Mayu to show the amount of potential she has in the ring and why she has the nickname of Super Rookie. Mayu did a great job in making Utami look like a star with her selling and even making it fairly even with her when it came to their abilities. Mayu would win the tournament to show that she can still be the top star of the company to get a future rematch against Kagetsu for the World of Stardom Championship, which we still don’t have an official date for it yet. The main part of the match was still building towards a better future as we seem to know who will be our top stars going forward after the departure of Io Shirai such as Mayu Iwatani, Kagetsu, Momo Watanabe, Jungle Kyona, and now Utami Hayashishita. Still a great match wit ha proper story to back it up that it’s a must for those to see how the future of Stardom will be.

 

1. Io Shirai vs. Momo Watanabe (Gold Star 5/23/2018)

– My favorite match in Stardom for many reasons, one of them is this would be the last time we’ll see Io Shirai be a champion in Stardom since she one day had to pass the torch before leaving and two, it was a great match, to begin with. Momo Watanabe fought Io for the Wonder of Stardom Championship in February and she would eventually lose that match but Momo wouldn’t give us as it motivated her to do better to one day top her Queen’s Quest leader and mentor. Momo had a second chance when she won the Cinderella Tournament and was able to request any match she wanted against any opponent and she would decide to fight Io one more time in a rematch for the Wonder of Stardom Championship since she felt like she was ready this time to defeat her. The match was made official and it would take place at their Gold Star show in the main event.

Momo has been wrestling since she was fourteen years old and already has four years of experience under her belt, and the progression she has made in those four years has been an experience since you can tell she was groomed for success someday when the time was right and it just so happens to be the day where they would pull the trigger. Momo would finally defeat Io to win her first major title as the new Wonder of Stardom Champion and thus, creating a star in the process when she defeated the now former ace. Ever since she defeated Io, she has been pushed to be the future of Stardom while being the main focus for most of their shows, even more so than Kagetsu who is their World of Stardom Champion, so it shows who their prime focus is for the company despite not being their World of Stardom Champion. Momo has successfully retained this title eight times and is three more defenses away from beating for mentors record of ten title defenses. Momo has also had a chance to fight Kagetsu for the World of Stardom Championship which she lost due to a double knockout and has made new rivalries along the way with Hazuki and Mayu Iwatani, who she has defeated in the Icon vs. Ace match a couple of months ago and solidified herself as the top star.

Io Shirai can now be content with the fact that she left Stardom in good hands.

 

Thoughts:

Thank you all for tuning in for just the Stardom countdown and I do have an announcement or a goal for this one.

Recently, Stardom called out a certain journalist about them complaining that New Japan doesn’t have a women’s division, but ignore just the female promotions in Japan. The point is to Stardom, I’m interested in being the one to cover more of your shows to give you that much-deserved exposure.

True while I might not have a big credential list, I care a lot about the Stardom product and have been following them for years now that I want to help more people see this promotion since it really is a great company and deserves such recognition. Let’s get a #HireMat trend going on Twitter and gonna hope for the best.

Thank you all again and see you all next time!

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Opinion

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS: WWE Bash In Berlin Immediate Reactions

Join DJ and Tunney for their immediate reactions to WWE Bash in Berlin. For the latest, greatest and up to datest, ALWAYS #UseYourHead and visit THECHAIRSHOT.COM

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Join DJ and Tunney for their immediate reactions to WWE Bash in Berlin. For the latest, greatest and up to datest, ALWAYS #UseYourHead and visit THECHAIRSHOT.COM

Powered by RedCircle

@TheMindlessPod @PCTunney @ChairshotMedia

prowrestlingtees.com/TheChairshot – TONS of Great designs…MAKES A GREAT GIFT!

About Chairshot Radio Network

Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!

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About Chairshot Radio Network

Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!

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Opinion

AJ’s Top 3 Favorite SummerSlams

AJ is back with his annual opinion article, and this time the SummerSlam buzz got him wondering about his personal Top 3.

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It’s been a while since I have done any form of writing and SummerSlam is this Saturday. Of all the SummerSlams I’ve seen over the years; which ones are my favorites? While it’s not a revolutionary idea, I figured everyone loves to debate favorites of well, anything. Don’t worry though because this isn’t just going to be pure recency bias. I’ve watched the majority of them so with the ones I put on the list, it hit me more in some way shape or form whether it was story, a really good match or it just felt like a solid event.

At least this proves WWE is trending in a good direction for me, when it gets the ol’ brain juices flowing just because a show is around the corner!

#3: 2022 (Ol’ Brock Lesnar Has A Farm)

r/Wrasslin - when did Brock lesner begin his farmer and cowboy gimmick and when did he stop doing the gimmick ? is it worth watching I believe it was 2021 but not sure when he stopped the gimmick
Starting off the show, we get Bianca looking for a rematch against Becky from last years SummerSlam and it was better than the 21 second affair that everyone claims was a squash. This time Bianca holds her own and beats the Man in a fairly decent match, good way to get the event started. Next up is the heat seeking missile, Logan Paul against the former heat seeking missile because, well he wasn’t cut out for it and wasn’t a guy in everyone’s eyes, The Miz. After they had their blow off at Mania with Logan coming out on top which… isn’t awful, I just don’t like Logan Paul because he has that dude bro aura and swagger to make him more hateable than any other person on the card. Which I suppose is his gimmick…so…kudos?

First Championship match is for the US Championship and it’s as expected that in Theory, he should never beat someone to the caliber of Bobby Lashley which is no surprise. Dominik and Rey still back when Dom wanted the good fight against the Judgement Day before joining them later. The former Colts players, which they hammered it dahn in this match up showed that the canal swimming, trash talkin’, podcastin’, current RAW Color Commentatin’ goofball we all love, Pat McAfee came out on top again Bum Ass Corbin.

Usos putting the Street Profits on lockdown in the penitentiary since I believe this was peak Bloodline with the belt collecting and running all of WWE. Liv beat Ronda Rousey which isn’t astonishing but it’s not something people had on their bingo cards for anything with WWE so it was a nice little shock factor. The most memorable part of the night is obviously the Main Event, Lesnar brings the tractor, Roman catching the Microphone and Brock stands on top of the vehicle. Damn good match that showed off what they do in the ring since Roman caught his stride as the main bad guy and Brock… liked people after all of this? That is still a weird statement in my head. Brock being a good guy people person. If Liv wasn’t on bingo cards for wrestling, that is not on bingo cards in any aspect of life really.

That is more of the event that had solid matches and story going for it. No weird double count out, multiple people involved, 5 tag matches on the card. Things made sense and weren’t convoluted, had shocking moments that were great to see like Liv actually getting a title defense and there were the results we all expected at the time like Theory losing in 4 minutes to Bobby Lashley.

#2: 2009 (Are You Ready for The Return?)

10 Greatest Summerslam Entrances in WWE History - GameSpot
This event wasn’t that strong. It was strong with the star power involved in 2009 with guys like Rey Mysterio as Intercontinental Champion, Orton and Cena for the WWE Championship as it was becoming as stale as month old chips and CM Punk was facing Jeff Hardy before he ultimately returned to TNA at the beginning of 2010 after this PPV. For me, it’s not so much of the show itself, it was more of the memories because the Balai as our friends Chris Platt and Rey Cash like to call my brother and I, we were just coming back into wrestling and we were TNA Fans. We didn’t watch WWE that much really, it was just what came on after another channel had old ROH shows before they moved to three hours and swallowed the 8pm Eastern Slot. No, the reason why this has so many memories for me is three main reasons. First, Orton and Cena. They have had their rivalry since the beginning it seems, being each others foils like Hogan and Piper before them and there had to be a stipulation where if Randy was Counted Out or DQ’d, he’d lose the championship regardless. This was prime Viper Randy and the obvious joke we had of Super Cena where he very rarely lost, unless it was SummerSlam surprisingly enough.

Number two reason was CM Punk and Jeff Hardy. Hardys known for the Ladder and TLC matches in the past and this being the penultimate match for this feud and it was a banger of a match. If you didn’t know Punk before, it was a great introduction to his wrestling. I used to like Punk a lot because of this match because he could talk, wrestle… and not insanely personal with things in wrestling. In all seriousness, this was a great match. Ultimate risks, high reward for Punk grabbing the World Heavyweight Championship and he was given his next feud because of the final boss of SmackDown at that time. Thanks, Teddy Long.

The main and final reason though why this match gave me the memories flowing back is more of the fact that one of my closest and longest termed friends of 23 years, also loves wrestling. Back when we were younger, he’d do MoCap videos on YouTube with his figures. We’d have friends come over for parties at his house and we’d do the one thing WWE always told us not to do and that was try it at home. He was always stronger than me, I was always more charismatic. He had the power aspect and did things with brute force, I could talk my way out of trouble with parents if we did something wrong. There was always one thing that our respective mother’s always called us though… it’s on the tip of my tongue… oh right, ‘Degenerates’.

As soon as we were called that, we kind of parodied the DX line. I was limber enough to do the HBK pose and do a Superkick before it became the new DDT and he would just Spinebuster people and knew how to do the water spit. So what do you think was the main reason we even ordered this PPV for his 13th Birthday? I think the two guys we were pretending to be were set to return on a tank and toss out some glow sticks. The return of DX, Shawn Michaels coming back after Mania with Triple H to deal with the Legacy problem was an amazing return for them and made everything so much fun.

So we have the solid card and this one has a personal story… what’s my number one SummerSlam? Is it personal? Well yes but not going into that. Is it a good card? To me, it was a phenomenal card! Is it memorable? Seeing how wrestling fans still mention at least three matches to this day.

#1: 2005 (Octopus in the Washer, Lover’s Quarrel and Where the F%#$ is Vickie?)

Vickie Guerrero on Rey vs. Dominik Mysterio: 'I wish I was part of it' -  Cageside Seats
Quite possibly some of the best matches I’ve seen and one that was just the most hilarious moments of overselling in wrestling history, I know why I love this SummerSlam but it’s also a really good card at the same time. Redacted beats Orlando Jordan in 25 seconds for the US Title and they made jokes about it like, he can make a coffee faster than he beat Orlando and stuff like that, it’s pretty funny. Angle getting sick of Eugene’s antics for his Gold Medal was also a great bit they had play up, the Year long feud of Randy Orton and Undertaker was still going on where Orton comes out on top this time around to get the win back from Mania, Jericho returning for the match with Cena in a whole promotional thing for each other’s groups, Fozzy for Jericho and the Chain Gang doing Bad, Bad Man for Cena leading up to a match for the WWE Championship. JBL won a 20 man battle royal on SmackDown to win the Championship…… Opportunity to face the newest member of SmackDown, Batista but the three main matches that a lot of people talk about to this day; Edge vs Matt Hardy, Rey vs Eddie for Dominik and Hogan vs HBK in the Main Event.

I have reasons to enjoy the Hardy/Edge match but it looked like a real fight, it really made us believe that Matt Hardy was going to kill Edge because real names were dropped during this tirade from Hardy. It wasn’t Edge and Lita, it was Adam and Amy. Matt was so dead set on beating the hell out of Edge that they made a situation into gold and it was a great moment for this match to happen, I believe it was also an Unsanctioned Match too which added the intensity until matt got concussed and knocked senseless that it looked like he couldn’t fight for anything but the build up was what made it seem like a marque match. It made it feel real, it made it feel awesome and it made it feel personal.

Eddie kept tormenting Rey Mysterio about Dominik not being Rey’s but Eddie’s for the summer. That’s all you heard from Eddie being the weasel he was is hanging out with Dominik, making the world believe it’s his son and what not (Let’s not do a fast forward to today where he has the mullet, mustache and everything like Eddie) but they settle this in a Ladder Match where the top of it is a document for the custody of Dominik and my god, this match is better than it should have been. I expect nothing else from Eddie because the man hated having a bad match, Dom got involved and stopped Eddie, Vickie was late and stopped Eddie. The whole match was good it was just very weird with the premise but was a great match. I wonder if Rey regrets his decision to win the match now…

Octopus in a Washing Machine… those five words have resonated with Shawn Michaels’ performance in this match, forever. It was supposed to be an amazing match up between Hogan and Michaels, Icon vs Icon it said and suddenly Hogan’s back gives out, can’t do a trilogy of matches so we can only do the one and then pull out of everything after. This match was set up to be a classic and instead turned into the most unbelievable sell fest ever. A Hogan big boot caused Shawn to tumble 3 or 4 times, getting crotched on the ropes had HBK bouncing higher than he should have, being tossed out of the ring made it look like Shawn never broke his back in 1998 from how much he flopped and flipped around like crazy. It’s bad… or maybe even good that a lot of current wrestlers watched this match that went, “I can sell like that, I want to be a wrestler” and did. So good or bad, I don’t know but for some reason this PPV has always had a place in my heart for how memorable it was.

Those are my top three SummerSlams so far but who knows, 2024 has potential to maybe bump something or at least get me to consider a shift. Should be fun to see how the show plays out! What are some of your favorite SummerSlams?

About Chairshot Radio Network

Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!

 MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)

WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling) 

THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)

FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast 

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5

Classic POD is WAR


Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!

All Shows On Demand


Powered by RedCircle


Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
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