Forever Forward Fridays

Mayu Iwatani VS Tam Nakano - Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix 8/15/2023

CJD: I didn't know what direction I wanted to go with Mayu, except that I've seen her in a good amount of big title matches. And I wanted something different. Now I'm highly sleep deprived with a sick kid at home, so this shotgun style slamjam of a match was just what the doctor ordered! I've seen a little of Tam but I know I'm way more ignorant than I should be of her work. These ladies went for broke with this one and the crowd ate it up. They had me with a real rooting interest by the end which is a credit to the little touches they added. Everything wasn't perfect but that wasn't what this match was about. And I wouldn't change a thing!

JJZ: Watched this match on a park bench at the playground! Wow, this was so much more stiff than I was expecting. It felt like all the strikes landed with such force. The trading of blows and high intensity spots really made this feel like a slamjam of a match for certain.  My favorite spot of the match was the rolling German suplexes. The high angle drop point made me turn my head a little and say ooooooo. Tam and Mayu really impressed me in this match. Getting to dive deeper into Nakano's match bank is getting me pumped CJD!

Forever Forward Fridays

Mayu Iwatani (c) VS Sareee - Stardom IWGP Women's Championship 4/27/2024

JJZ: So this match was actually on my 2024 To Watch list. Iwatani I'm not familiar with but it sounds like she had a hell of a year. She popped up on a lot of matches to watch list last year. Chris. Fucking banger of a match. These ladies just go for broke. Great spots. Great physicality. Solid crowd. I really got lost in this match. I was so locked in that nothing else mattered in the world for 27 minutes. Both women trying to fucking end each other. Just a test of wills. Fantastic match.

CJD: So not to be that guy, but you HAVE seen Iwatani matches before! Our good joshi buddy PB I'm almost certain has played you some of her over the years. She's had quite the storied career and it was really cool seeing her as such a well established Ace here. You could tell from the very first lock up that she was going to have to weather Sareee's storm if she had any hope to win this match. That if Iwatani was going to retain she was going to have to be willing to dig deeper and sacrifice everything. It was a simple and effective story and both women played it perfectly. Sareee was vicious, I've become such a fan. Great balance with the physicality as you said, the bomb throwing, and the pacing. We make a point not to lean into these big main event style title matches too too often. PIF was created with our ever dwindling attention spans in mind. But this was an easy epic to get invested in. Well worth your time!

Forever Forward Fridays

 

Mayu Iwatani/Toni Storm VS Hana Kimura/Kris Wolf - Stardom 5/6/2017

JJZ: So there are a few things in this match in terms of psychology I wasn't crazy about. BUT, the tightness and execution won me over. To me a big flaw in wreslting right now is bad tag team wrestling in the bigger companies. They use them as filler with minimum effort. To put it simply it's usually skippable. So when I see a match where all four of the wrestlers are making sure everything looks good it gets my full attention. All the moves looked like they hurt and everyone was trying to put on the best match possible in the time they had. I don't speak Japanese but the mic work after made me think this was part of a bigger storyline line. I really wish NJPW would put this kinda effort into their undercard sometimes.

CJD: Kimura and Wolf made for a great team, I wonder if they tagged regularly. My knowledge of Stardom is extremely limited but I do know we've covered some of their more tragic figures these two weeks with Act last week and Hana in this match. Two clearly very talented wrestlers, Hana in particular really jumps off the screen in this one. I've always wanted to check out more of Storm's work in Japan, but you certainly gave me some options in terms of which direction to go next. Like you said this match had a lot put into it for what could've been a throwaway undercard match. I don't want to rehash your comments but what you said last week about the DVD you get for the main event but the random undercard tag really delivers fits this one too. We had a run of some big matches on Tuesdays and Fridays and now I think we're into some palate cleansers and I'm totally fine with that. Everyone was really committed in this one and it made for a fun watch!