STARDOM 5 Star Grand Prix: Night Two Review By Trent Breward It's possible Utami Hayashishita was looking past Himeka last night, because awaiting her 24 hours later was the one person she had yet to beat. If that was the case, it was worth it because The Red Queen has finally slayed her dragon. With seconds to spare in the 6th singles meeting between Utami Hayashishita and Syuri, she finally managed to hit the BT Bomb in the middle of the ring and break the curse. Like their previous encounters it was a brutal affair, but where Utami seemed to succeed this time around was the steady stream of devastating blows. Syuri never got too far ahead on points without Utami landing a high impact move that brought the champion back down to earth. When the finishing stretch was upon them Syuri was a little more vulnerable, allowing Utami to…

NJPW Music City Mayhem Review By Thom Fain It was a continuation of the massively successful AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door — this time, a Music City Mayhem. The action stoked an intimate crowd in Nashville, who witnessed wrestlers from both sides of the Pacific demonstrate that heightened level of competition starting to trademark the events coming from Takami Ohbari and Tony Khan's burgeoning partnership. The production quality was noticeably better than previous FiteTV PPV events. Music City Mayhem also featured enough main card talent from Japan to be a proper throwback of those Cow Palace and Walter Pyramid shows from 2017-18, where The Elite set the tables for ALL IN and igniting change in the wrestling world. Although Nashville is hardly a wrestling epicenter, the fanfare for KUSHIDA, Hiromu Takahashi, El Desperado, and Shota Umino had to have encouraged New Japan’s Tokyo officials who remain hellbent on building out…

STARDOM 5 Star Grand Prix: Night One Review By: Trent Breward Overwhelming power was the name of the game as STARDOM's most prestigious tournament kicked off in Ota Ward Gymnasium. In each match the power game was the key. Whoever hit harder won the match. Hazuki and Giulia made determining that particularly difficult as they went back and forth in controlling the action in the main event. For a moment Giulia threatened to end the match the same way she did when the two faced off in her first ever STARDOM match, but the Stealth Viper submission couldn't quite get the job done. What could get it done was a sickening headbutt. It's a move Giulia has used in big matches to great effect, but this time she was on the other end of the strike. It dazed her long enough for Hazuki to hit a massive Michinoku Driver and…

STARDOM is currently the best women’s pro-wrestling company in the world, and now more than ever people will get the opportunity to see their wrestlers live. A summer press conference revealed that New Japan Pro-Wrestling and World Wonder Ring Stardom are minting the IWGP Women’s Championship, sure to have an impact on joshi puroresu’s continued expansion. Although the title is designed to be defended as part of joint New Japan cards, the IWGP Women’s Title will be defended domestically and abroad.

STARDOM Midsummer Champions in Nagoya Review By: Trent Breward With less than a week until the 5 Star Grand Prix tournament begins and off the back of a show the previous night, the wrestlers could be forgiven if they wanted to take Midsummer Champions a little easy. Instead, Syuri and Tam Nakano chose violence. In a match that exemplified both of their strengths, this slugfest felt more like a war of styles than it did competitors. The impeccable technique of the champion against the raw emotion of the challenger. Tam’s style had led her to great success in 2021 as the Wonder of Stardom Champion, and at moments it felt as though it was going to overwhelm Syuri. The Twilight Dream Suplex that had won her the White Belt almost brought the Red to her as well. However that emotional fuel that carried her to the cusp of championship glory…