The 5 Star Grand Prix winner, Hana Kimura, gets her shot at the red belt! Does she beat Bea Priestley? Mathew gives us the complete run down!

Now that the flu has disappeared and anniversary plans are over, it’s time to get back to work and we’re going to get right into it with Stardom’s last big show, World Champion Wars 2019.

This is the show where Hana Kimura will use her championship opportunity against Bea Priestley in the main event along with another title match on the show.

Will we have a new champion and star made? Let’s find out as we…dive right in.

Star Rating System:

• 0 Stars: Dave Meltzer
• 1 Star: Vince Russo
• 2 Stars: Tony Schiavone
• 3 Stars: Eric Bischoff
• 4 Stars: Bruce Prichard
• 5 Stars: Jim Cornette

Singles Match
Saya Kamitani vs. Tam Nakano

Review: Our first match of the show kicks off with Tam Nakano taking on one of the newer rookies of Stardom, Saya Kamitani. These past few rookies in Stardom have been impressing a lot of people lately. First, it was Utami Hayashishita, then it was Saya Iida, and now Saya Kamitani is another one that the people have been keeping an eye on since her debut two months ago. Tam is a fine opponent for Saya to see if she can go to that next level and even have a chance to win. Will Saya be able to get a big victory or fall in a valiant effort?

This match was more of a beatdown than anything in this match since it was mostly Tam schooling Saya in the ring while she took the beating like a good rookie. Not sure how I feel about Saya just yet since this is the first time I’m watching her as I was more focused on the Grand Prix, she did sell well at least when she did get hurt on her back and such. My one little complaint that I have about her is her multiple uses of the Dropkick since she would do it immediately as she got up in awkward positions at times and I get wanting to take your opponent down but didn’t always fit and would just come off as sloppy. We did get a small glimmer of hope with Saya potentially winning when she flipped over a Backdrop and rolled her up for a two count. Tam would eventually hit a Spinning Kick to knock her out and score the pinfall victory. Standard pro vs rookie type of match but gonna keep an eye on Saya and see how far she can go.

Now on https://t.co/q8dHnF58vW! Saya Kamitani battles her mentor Tam Nakano at Korakuen Hall! pic.twitter.com/g1h4z7X6va

— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) October 16, 2019

Rating: Tony Schiavone and a quarter

Gauntlet Tag Team Match
Oedo Tai (Andras Miyagi & Jamie Hayter) vs. Oedo Tai (Hazuki & Natsuko Tora) vs. Queen’s Quest (Hina & Leo Onozaki) vs. STARS (Saya Iida & Starlight Kid) vs. Tokyo Cyber Squad (Death Yama-san & Konami)

Review: In our next match, we have a tag team gauntlet match for people not involved in the tag league or their partners are in bigger matches later on. We got two members from each group except for Oedo Tai who will have four of their members taking part with two different teams. Not much could be expected from this except to showcase some of the talent, some quick eliminations, and then someone winning while it leads to nothing big. Either way, this should still be a fun little contest for everyone and the fans love it. Does one of the Oedo Tai groups in or will it go to one of the other units?

So it looks like the first two teams that will start this one will be Konami and Death taking on Hina and Leo, so let’s see who gets eliminated first. Death was going her usual taunts and Leo would come in with the weak strikes, and she did no cutters during her time in her match, I’m shocked as my Leo counter is now depleted. Hina showed more progress than Leo in this match and would almost win when she does the Gedo Clutch to Death but Konami would break it up as Death hits the Senton to eliminate them in a quick two-minute match. That’s my problem with most of these since they’re so short that not a lot gets done or it’s just there just for the sake of putting them on the card to do a few things. I know the fans like it but they’re also mostly useless. Starlight Kid and Saya Iida are out next to take them on. The two would hit Death with a Double Dropkick before Starlight hits a Moonsault for Death to kick out at two. Konami would get a combo in when she hooked Starlight’s legs for submission and hits Saya with a DDT in the process while Death taunted around them. Death and Starlight are in the ring as Starlight hits a Springboard Crossbody for a two count as Konami and Death would do their kick and Senton combo again but kicked out. Death goes to the top rope and Starlight hits her off with a Dropkick and delivers one more to eliminate her.

We now know that two teams from Oedo Tai are left and the first one that comes out is the team of Andras Miyagi and Jamie Hayter and they immediately go into the attack without waiting for their intro and bell. A little sloppy sequence between Andras and Starlight when Andras caught her during a Crossbody and it looked like Starlight was gonna roll her up but overshot it. Saya does a blind tag when Starlight was in trouble and would deliver a Small Package to Jamie for a two count but she would keep rolling Jamie up to try and tire her out with all of these quick pins but ended when Andras broke the cycle finally. After a Double Suplex, Jamie would pick up Saya for the Ushigoroshi and pinned her to eliminate STARS as Hazuki and Natsuo come out next. Weird that Natsuko and Hazuki seem like a more balanced tag team than Andras and Jamie. Hazuki was able to get Andras to the apron and our assault commander would share her around the apron to try and lose her, but she’s too fast. Natsuko would grab Andras’ leg to distract her while Hazuki Dropkicks her to eliminate her as Hazuki and Natsuko win.

Rating: Tony Schiavone and a half

Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2019 Blue Goddess Block Match
Oedo Tai (Martina & Natsu Sumire) vs. Tokyo Cyber Squad (Bobbi Tyler & Zoe Lucas)

Preview: It’s time to begin the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League as the ones starting it off for the Blue Stars is Tokyo Cyber Squad members, Bobbi Tyler and Zoe Lucas taking on members of Oedo Tai, Martina, and Natsu Sumire. I won’t be covering the tournament but I’m still gonna cover the two matches that are on this show. While I’m not a fan of Session Moth Martina, I do like her teamwork with Natsu and curious to see how the team of Bobbi and Zoe turns out. Who will get the first win for the Blue Stars Block?

Martina would offer Zoe a beer at the beginning of the match and when Zoe took it, Martina told her to drink but Zoe chucked it out of the ring. This triggered Martina but I hate beer, so it doesn’t bother me as Martina would hit a stiff forearm in retaliation. Despite my feelings for Martina, she can hit a great forearm. Overall, the match was nothing fully special since it seemed like Zoe is about the same with little improvement and Bobbi looked like she downgraded a little bit, so not sure what happened since it’s been a while since I’ve seen her. Martina and Sumire are mediocre solo but do have a unique charm and chemistry together as a tag team, which is why I don’t mind them paired up whenever Martina is around for a tour or two. I will give praise to Martina for the finish when she hits the Jagerbomb onto Bobbi to get the win and two points since it looked like a cool move. Average match with a nice ending.

Rating: Tony Schiavone and a half

Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2019 Red Goddess Block Match
Queen’s Quest (AZM & Momo Watanabe) vs. STARS (Mayu Iwatani & Saki Kashima)

Review: Now that the Blue Stars block is done, it’s now time to go to the Red Stars block with their first match of this tournament as we have Momo Watanabe and AZM from Queen’s Quest taking on STARS members, Mayu Iwatani and Saki Kashima. It’s no surprise that Mayu and Saki are pairing up again since they were former champions and could have a chance to win and regain the gold that they lost. AZM has impressed a lot of people during her time in their 5 Star Grand Prix and now she has a chance to keep impressing people when she teams up with Stardom’s ace. Which one of these top teams will win?

I love how Saki and Mayu just switched their gears for the match with Saki being colorful and Mayu just wearing black and pink, which doesn’t look bad on her. We got AZM and Saki starting this matchup with their usual quickness but Saki did look like she delayed one of the spots when they were going back and forth, but they were able to make up for it. Mayu and Momo are in the ring now as Momo started to work on Mayu’s taped up leg and had her in a Boston Crab to apply more damage to it. Some double teamwork with Momo applying the Camel Clutch on Mayu while AZM hits a Dropkick. A little underwhelming from what I can see but still a very solid tag match and much better than the previous two matches we had in here. I mostly cared about the sequence between Momo and Mayu since they’ve been tearing it up against each other recently. Mayu would attempt to hit a Double Stomp off the top rope as Momo moved out of the way, leading AZM to hit her with a kick and then Momo would hit her with a kick before hitting the Tequila Sunrise and then a Somato as Saki broke the pinfall before it was a three count. Momo and Mayu were both on top and Mayu hits a Hurricanrana, then Saki would hit a Double Stomp from the top rope, and then Mayu tops it off with a Frog Splash and goes for the cover but AZM broke the pinfall. Mayu attempts to go for the Moonsault and Momo would grab ahold of her for the Peach Sunrise but Mayu rolled forward to pin her as Momo kicked out. Mayu would hit Momo with a Roundhouse Kick to knock her down and would then go to the top rope to hit the Moonsault and gets the pinfall victory. Surprise win for Mayu to get the pinfall on Momo, wonder if it’ll lead to something.

Rating: Eric Bischoff and a half

Wonder Of Stardom Title Match
Arisa Hoshiki (c) vs. Kagetsu

Review: It’s time for our first title match as we have Arisa Hoshiki defending her Wonder of Stardom Championship against Kagetsu. On the final show on September 22nd, she fought Arisa Hoshiki and the match would end in a draw due to the fifteen-minute time limit expiring. Since it ended in a draw, Kagetsu wanted to fight Arisa again and this time, she wants to do it for the white belt. This will be another big match for Arisa and these two have a chance to steal the show if they do go all out. Will Arisa be able to successfully defend the title for the sixth time or will our Emperor win the white belt for the first time?

The two started it off slow with the both of them trying to get small hits onto one another until Arisa would get the first advantage. Arisa would attempt to jump the ropes but slipped in the process, however, she still fixed it when she just jumped and landed her knees onto Kagetsu’s back, which was what she wanted to do but was able to correct herself and not ruin the flow of the match. It was Kagetsu’s turn to get some action in as she threw Arisa to the outside and would perform multiple dives to the outside and was able to hit them all before she slaps her around outside of the ring. Our emperor would bring Arisa in to do some damage on her leg and back to minimize the damage Arisa could do with her running and kicks since Arisa has deadly kicks. I felt like this match was a much better improvement over their encounter in the Grand Prix since it had a much better flow in the match and was able to tell us a story that made sense. Arisa would introduce a new move in her arsenal, courtesy of Will Ospreay as she does the Oscutter which she calls the Shining Star Cutter. She acquired this move after defeating Bea Priestly in the tournament and was able to have one move from Will’s arsenal and this was what she chose.

Arisa would attempt to go to the top rope but Kagetsu caught her to hit a German Suplex. This lead to Kagetsu hitting a series of moves, firstly, the running knee and then she would hit a couple of Michinoku Drivers to get her down before climbing to the rope to hit the Oedo Coaster, which she misses. Arisa wasted no time once she moved out of the way and hits a knee to the face and the two would go down. The two would then have a battle of kicks with none of them budging until Kagetsu would hit the one to make Arisa go down as Arisa kicked out at two. Kagetsu quickly grabbed her arm when she kicked out to apply the Kimura but Arisa had her foot on the rope. The two started to kick each other again as Arisa would come out the victor this time but Kagetsu still kicked out. Arisa would attempt to hit her running knee as Kagetsu ducked but would get hit anyway with two knees before going down but our emperor still kicked out. Arisa went for the Brazillian Kick as Kagetsu pulled the ref out of the way after ducking to spray Green Mist into her eyes and hits a Michinoku Driver along with the Oedo Coaster but Arisa kicked out! Kagetsu attempts another Michinoku Driver as Arisa fought out of it and knees her jaw when Kagetsu tried to spray green mist again. Arisa would then hit her Brazillian Kick as Kagetsu goes down and Arisa retains the title!

After the match, she would pay her respect to Kagetsu and talked about retaining the championship six times. She told the crowd she respected Kagetsu despite the group she’s in and was satisfied with the win after the time limit draw. She now ponders who she would fight next and said she had some unfinished business from the Grand Prix, which is why she’ll be challenging Jamie Hayter next since she was the first one to pin her in singles action since her return. Looking forward to it and a great match from both of them.

Now on https://t.co/q8dHnF58vW from yesterday at Korakuen Hall! Arisa Hoshiki defends the Wonder of Stardom title vs Kagetsu! pic.twitter.com/OPZL3Yct3A

— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) October 15, 2019

Rating: Bruce Prichard and a quarter

World Of Stardom Title Match
Bea Priestley (c) vs. Hana Kimura

Review: It’s now time for our main event as we have Bea Priestley defending her World of Stardom Championship against the winner of this year’s 5 Star Grand Prix, Hana Kimura. Hana was lucky enough to win the tournament to have herself get elevated to that next step in being the top star but not to solidify it, she would need to beat Bea and win the championship. Bea is still mixed with some people and still believes that she is just a transitional champion to drop it to the winner of this tournament, however, she could change those opinions here if she were to win and prove to be the top gaijin. Will Hana win the big one or does Bea retain her position?

After a tiny little stalemate at the beginning, Hana would offer Bea a handshake in which Bea replied by flipping her off and saying fuck you. Hana still kept her cool and would offer a handshake again but the crowd would cheer for Hana as Bea would attempt to shake her hand until Hana spat at her face and flipped her off, which Bea would do the same thing. The two would fight outside for a little bit with Hana getting the advantage before getting her inside. Bea would start to get an advantage of her own and held Hana’s hand as she jumped to the top rope and walking across it to slam Hana’s hand onto the rope instead of pushing her off since Hana had plenty of time to do anything since Be was just standing there for a few seconds before she dropped. One thing I did like about this match was that this did have a feel of a main event type match since we had a big match for both of them here where it could lead to a permanent spot as one of the top women in the company. We had a nasty bump occur when Hana was hanging between the ropes and Bea would be on the top rope to hit a Double Stomp and it looked like her back bent there when the two of them fell to the outside. Both looked to be in a lot of pain and Hana would take off the fuzzy parts of her boots off for some reason and Bea would get her back into the ring.

Here come the Bea-Triggers here from Bea once Hana would eventually get back into the ring, see what I did there? Bea calls for the Queen’s Landing but Hana would fight her off while on the top rope and Bea kicked her head in and joins her to the top as the two would fight back and forth until Hana would get the advantage and hits a Brainbuster off the top rope and Bea kicked out at two. Hana is getting a comeback now after she abuses she took and would start to apply the Hydrengia and she almost had it locked in except for the feet as Bea would have her foot on the rope to break the hold. Hana would call for the Tiger Lily but Bea fought out of it and tried to attack Hana but Hana caught her for a German Suplex as Bea kicked out at two. Hana attempts to hit it again but Bea ducked to kick her and nails a Kamigoye as she sent for a pin but Hana had her hand on the rope to save herself! Bea would then hit a Regalplex onto Hana as she kicked out at one this time and Bea is starting to get frustrated over this now. The two charges in at each other as Bea hits the Bea-Trigger and would hit one more for good measure before having her on the top to hit the Queen’s Landing and retains the title!

That honestly shocked me as I was expecting Hana to get the victory here but it looks like Stardom is high on Bea as their World of Stardom Champion and is here to stay as the top gaijin of the company. After the match, Bea would talk about her fourth victory after defeating the winner of the 5 Star Grand Prix and she wants to know who wants to step up next to the top gaijin. Mayu Iwatani would come into the ring as she looks to make a challenge for the title on November 4th. After the challenge has been made, Stardom President Rossy Ogawa would have a special announcement as he introduces a new addition to the roster which was former Ice Ribbon star, Giulia! That’s right, Stardom has poached talent from Ice Ribbon and Giulia would jump ship as soon as she left her Ice Ribbon contract. Giulia has introduced herself to the roster and is looking forward to competing in the top Joshi promotion. Heard there were some issues during her departure from the company, so not entirely sure how I feel about this but I’ll keep an open mind for the time being and see how she does in Stardom. I will say that a bridge has been burned between the two promotions now.

Now on https://t.co/q8dHnF58vW from earlier today at Korakuen Hall! Bea Priestley defends her World of Stardom title vs Hana Kimura of Tokyo Cyber Squad! pic.twitter.com/OSKsJJhjYr

— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) October 14, 2019

Rating: Bruce Prichard

Overall: A slightly above average first half of the show but the second half of it would leave a better impact with two great title matches to close off the show. Very excited to cover the November 4th show to see how the outcome will take place when Mayu and Bea fight off for the World of Stardom Championship. With how Bea has been doing, I think she’s here to stay on the top spot for a while.

Favorite Match: Arisa Hoshiki vs. Kagetsu

Least Favorite Match: Saya Kamitani vs. Tam Nakano

Score: 8/10