With the current unprecedented lockdowns/cancellations etc. caused by the coronavirus wrestling is needed more than ever. That’s why we are here to recommend some good ole professional wrestling matches to fill your time and give you your fix. This is a time when the streaming services like the WWE Network, Powerslam TV, and IMPACT Plus among others come into great use for you to go back and find some classics. This is the “Must Watch Matches” series, in this edition we explore the must-watch matches from the formative years of World Wonder Ring Stardom.
Note: This is not necessarily based on anything except wrestling matches that can bring any fan pure joy at any time. We hope you enjoy the list and check out these matches in this time of difficulty. Enjoy!
Tam Nakano vs Arisa Hoshiki
There’s no better place to start than with one of the best Stardom matches in recent memory. Months and months of tension between these two women came to the forefront as Nakano tried to take away Hoshiki’s newly won Wonder Of Stardom Championship. What we got was a vicious match with both women laying in their strikes and keeping the pace high to deliver one of the best matches of the year.
https://youtu.be/A_F5ac-GFzY
Mayu Iwatani vs Momo Watanabe
This was a nine-minute sprint that packed in a story, emotion, and action. Watanabe started by ruthlessly beating down Iwatani with kicks before Iwatani fired back up and we got into the peak of the match as both women went for the kill. Iwatani showed so much fire in this match and really helped take it up a notch
Konami vs Kagetsu
This was a change of pace from the usual Stardom house style. Konami has always had a shoot influence to her wrestling and that gelled really well with Kagetsu who’s technical prowess comes from her days training under Meiko Satomura. The mat work was fantastic and when the two were on their feet they traded shoot style kicks.
Mask Fiesta 12-Woman Tag Team Match
This was absurdly brilliant. Stardom Mask Fiesta is an alternate universe where things like this can happen. From the exhibition matches leading into the tag, and Kagetsu selling her back for 15 minutes after one suplex this was comedy gold and was one of the most enjoyable matches we’ve seen in a long time
Tokyo Cyber Squad (Jungle Kyona & Konami) vs Queen’s Quest (Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita)
Two of the top tag teams in Stardom battled it out for the tag team championships as Jungle Kyona renewed her rivalry with Watanabe and Hayashishita. The story of the match was Kyona attempting to finally get a win over Hayashishita or former partner Watanabe in her home town of Nagoya. The hometown crowd was fully behind Kyona and Konami as they willed them on to dethrone the dominant Queen’s Quest team.
Arisa Hoshiki vs Hazuki
A real clash of styles as Hazuki’s 2019 involved her becoming High Speed Champion and excelling in that style of wrestling. Her high-speed ways met Arisa Hoshiki’s “i’m going to kick you in the head a lot” mentality in one of the best Stardom matches of 2019.
Tokyo Cyber Squad (Hana Kimura, Konami & Jungle Kyona) vs STARS (Mayu Iwatani, Saki Kashima & Tam Nakano)
Mayu Iwatani came into this one with an injured knee that had caused her to take some time off and that knee became the main focus of the match. Tokyo Cyber Squad worked away at her knee and Iwatani showed tremendous fire in every comeback making every bit of momentum seem incredibly important as she fought with just one leg. Once Iwatani got her partners in the match picked up and was an entertaining spotfest that benefited from the storytelling of the first half
JAN (Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora) vs Queen’s Quest (Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita)
The JAN duo of Kyona and Tora was a short-lived tag team that offered something different thanks to their power-based offense. In this match, they met Kyona’s big rivals from QQ in an intense matchup that saw QQ put one of the final nails in the coffin of JAN.
Oedo Tai (Kagetsu & Jamie Hayter) vs STARS (Mayu Iwatani & Arisa Hoshiki)
Live bias may play into this one being so high but it was a very good tag team match regardless. Hayter is a gaijin that has settled into Stardom’s in-ring style really well and she kept up with three of Stardom’s best in this one. Hoshiki brought her hard strikes, Kagetsu and Iwatani brought fast-paced action and all four wrestlers were on the same wavelength pulling off a very fluid and high paced tag team contest that was a treat to see live.
Oedo Tai (Hazuki & Kagetsu) vs STARS (Mayu Iwatani & Arisa Hoshiki)
Hazuki’s retirement tour gave us this fantastic tag match. Notably impressive was the portion where Arisa decided to kill Hazuki with strikes. Mayu and Kagetsu got to build to their upcoming title match, which would be Kagetsu’s last, as they had some excellent exchanges. A really fun tag team match that showed off the talents of everyone involved as Hazuki reminded us all what we would miss when she left.
Momo Watanabe vs Arisa Hoshiki
Momo Watanabe’s record breaking run as Wonder Of Stardom Champion met it’s biggest challenge in Cinderella Tournament winner Arisa Hoshiki. Two of Stardom’s top strikers battled it out in a dramatic title matcha s rising star Hoshiki tried to end Watanabe’s historic run.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. And make sure to subscribe to Stardom World to see these fantastic matches from one of Stardom’s best years
