Less than 24-hours after Stardom World Climax – The Best takes place inside Ryogoku Kokugikan, Stardom will return to the sacred Sumo Hall to present Stardom World Climax – The Top on March 27th. While many of the matches on this show are conditional on the results on Night One, the expected lineup is sure to blow the roof off Ryogoku for the second day in a row. With four championship matches, three Special Singles Matches, the Cinderella Rumble, and all-out warfare between DDM & Prominence on the docket, let’s get into the action in store for Night Two of Stardom World Climax.
STARDOM World Climax – The Best Full Match Card
Future of Stardom Championship: Hanan or Rina vs. Mai Sakurai
Cinderella Rumble: Unagi Sayaka vs. Mina Shirakawa vs. Lady C vs. Miyu Amasaki vs. Saki Kashima vs. Ruaka vs. Saya Iida vs. Momo Kohgo vs. Waka Tsukiyama vs. Tomoka Inaba vs. Aoi vs. Haruka Umesaki vs. Nanami vs. Maria vs. Ai Houzan vs. Mei Suruga vs. Yuna Mizumori & more
Singles Match: Loser of Saya Kamitani/Utami Hayashishita vs. MIRAI
Singles Match: Hazuki vs. Momo Watanabe
High Speed Championship: AZM (c) vs Koguma vs. Natsupoi
Singles Match: KAIRI vs. Starlight Kid
DDM vs Prominence: Loser of Syuri/Giulia, Maika, Himeka & Thekla vs. Risa Sera, Suzu Suzuki, Akane Fujita & Mochi Miyagi
Wonder of Stardom Championship: Winner of Saya Kamitani/Utami Hayashishita vs. Tam Nakano
World of Stardom Championship: Winner of Syuri/Giulia vs. Mayu Iwatani
A Loaded Undercard To Kick Off the Show
Perhaps the most noticeable difference between Stardom World Climax – The Best and its predecessor is the sheer amount of volume present in Night Two’s undercard matches. The first two matches can certainly be seen as a focus on Stardom’s future, with the Future Championship on the line in the opener or the 2nd night in a row and many members of Stardom’s New Blood initiative taking part in the Cinderella Rumble. A win in the Rumble for someone like Tomoko Inaba or Miyu Amasaki can put them right in line for a Future Championship match in the near future.
What follows those two matchups are two generational singles matches between four of Stardom’s top talents. The loser of Night One’s Wonder of Stardom Championship Match between Utami Hayashishita and Saya Kamitani will face the intimidating MIRAI, who continues to make an impact in Stardom, as she looks to topple each member of Stardom’s Golden Generation. Next, a rematch that is sure to be nostalgic for Stardom fans from the late 2010s as Hazuki and Momo Watanabe will meet in singles action for the first time since 2019. The former tag team partners turned sworn enemies have seemingly been destined to battle forever. While Hazuki has an overwhelmingly victorious record against her younger counterpart, the unpredictable Momo Watanabe continues to be Stardom’s biggest wild card and could throw Hazuki off her game heading into the upcoming Cinderella Tournament.
Will the High-Speed Championship Steal the Show Again?
In perhaps the biggest dark horse match of the weekend, AZM will make her first defense of the High-Speed Championship since winning it from Starlight Kid in a critically acclaimed title match last month. Her opponents, Koguma and Natsupoi, are both former High-Speed Champions and have been making their mark recently as well. With both challengers spending the past several months as members of their own championship teams in FWC and Maihimepoi respectively, this match is truly flying under the radar as a possible show-stealer. While AZM seems destined to hold the High-Speed Belt long-term, Koguma and Natsupoi are slated as her biggest threats in the company, making this an incredibly precarious position for the reigning champ. Can AZM remain on top of the High-Speed Divison as Stardom’s Only One, or will her two challengers prove to be too much to handle?
KAIRI Collides With the Dark Tiger
March 27 Ryogoku Kokugikan
STARDOM WORLD CLIMAX 2022 ~ The Top ~
◆Pirate Princess Stardom Revival
KAIRI vs Starlight Kid pic.twitter.com/L2SqJMecHf— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) March 3, 2022
In her second match back in a Stardom ring, KAIRI will be tasked with going it alone against Oedo Tai’s Starlight Kid. After the untimely attack on KAIRI at the hands of Oedo Tai during KAIRI’s return presser, KAIRI selected Starlight Kid for her first singles match in the company since 2017 for good reason. Despite Kid having debuted a couple of years before KAIRI’s expedition to the WWE, the two never crossed paths outside of a single battle royal in 2016. After the attack by Kid, Momo Watanabe, and the currently injured Natsuko Tora, KAIRI saw three trainees that have grown immensely in the past half-decade. So, with Starlight Kid’s incredible momentum since becoming the De Facto leader of Oedo Tai in Tora’s absence, KAIRI will look to make a mark on the current landscape of Stardom by proving that, despite their growth, she still reigns supreme over Starlight Kid, Oedo Tai, and the other members of the Stardom roster.
Prominence and Donna Del Mondo Go To War
After months of conflict, Prominence will be in full force to battle four members of DDM for the first time ever. While the answer of who the fourth member of DDM is technically up in the air, Syuri’s secession from DDM points to this match being the first in-ring clash between Suzu Suzuki and Giulia since their time in Ice Ribbon nearly three years ago. While Prominence did say that they were willing to play by Stardom’s rules and throw their deathmatch tendencies out the window, emotions will be high, and we could see things get more violent the longer this match goes on. On top of all that, with Risa Sera’s recent claim to challenge for the Red Belt, Prominence will be looking for some momentum by any means necessary in Ryogoku Sumo Hall.
Tam Nakano and the Cursed Belt
After AphroditE clashes over the White Belt on Night One, Tam Nakano looks to reclaim the belt she insists to be cursed from either Utami Hayashishita or Saya Kamitani at Stardom World Climax – The Top. The White Belt, known for its emotional battles between close friends, sworn enemies, and all those negative emotions that are unique to joshi wrestling, was Tam’s prized possession throughout 2021. Since losing the title to Saya Kamitani, however, Tam has had trouble recovering and competing on the level she was during her reign. Meanwhile, Saya Kamitani is looking to extinguish her two strongest opponents back to back and expelling any doubts she has about being the rightful White Belt Champion. On the other hand, if Utami does defeat Saya on Night One, Tam Nakano’s drive to reclaimed her cursed belt could make the odds of Utami walking away with the White Belt around her waist slim to none.
Mayu Iwatani Walks the Vermillion Road
In the highly-anticipated main event of Stardom World Climax – The Top, Mayu Iwatani will seek her third World of Stardom Championship victory against the winner of Syuri vs. Giulia the night prior. In the event of a Giulia win, which is at this point seems unlikely, Mayu and Giulia will have a rematch of their polarizing 30-minute draw earlier this year. Alternatively, in the event of a Syuri retain on Night One, we will see a rematch of one of the best title defenses from Mayu Iwatani’s second reign with the Red Belt back in 2020, a 28-minute classic that saw Mayu on the ropes throughout, and was one of the first successful 25+ minute matches of the Bushiroad Era. With Syuri’s constant improvements and Mayu’s everlasting in-ring abilities, this match is one to watch for those who keep a list of the best wrestling matches of 2022. As for the outcome, despite Mayu itching for another reign with a top title in Stardom, it seems unlikely that she finds that here. If nothing else, Stardom World Climax Night Two will be yet another night of Syuri proving why she is the World-Class Woman On Another Level.
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. If you want to see more from Stardom, you can check out their subscription service Stardom World for all your wonderous Joshi needs.
