donsem43 Posted March 27, 2016 Report Share Posted March 27, 2016 This is a typical, but fun, 'Big vs. Small' match. Io works it as a mix of '90 Manami Toyota and '00 Rey Mysterio, she use a lot of her big high-spots for offense but also does a lot of juking to keep her bigger opponent off balance. Like the tag title match from the previous show, Viper's offense looks squishy again with Io doing some big bumping and selling to really put it over. Nothing too special about this match, but still highly entertaining. ***1/2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAC Posted May 10, 2016 Report Share Posted May 10, 2016 This match reminded me a bit of the Sting v. Vader series from 1992-94. Whenever Viper uses her weight advantage to squash Shirai, Shirai sells it very well. The match is built around Viper using her superior size and Shirai using her speed and striking to even the odds. In particular, Shirai seems to know that she needs to hit a big bomb to take Viper out, but try as she might, she can't get Viper up for a suplex. After numerous teases, Shirai muscles Viper up and over for a beautiful German suplex hold (and a great false finish). From there, two moonsaults finish off Viper. Shirai was great in this match. She sold big to put Viper over as a monster and teased the suplex effectively until finally delivering in the penultimate spot in the match. I thought Viper's lack of dynamic offence held the match back a bit--she just wasn't at the level of a Vader or an Aja Kong. It also hurt a bit that Shirai looked so much stronger than Viper during the striking exchanges. That said, Viper has a lot of charisma and lots of raw talent. I'm excited to see more of her in the future. If she add some more high-end offence, she could be a top-tier monster heel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donsem43 Posted May 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 Viper is more like Earthquake than Vader. She's not really athletic enough to have a really flashy offense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAC Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 Viper is more like Earthquake than Vader. She's not really athletic enough to have a really flashy offense. Her moveset is certainly more reminiscent of Tenta than Vader. It's probably more realistic to think of her as having the potential to be like a John Tenta for Stardom (or a Big Boss Man or One Man Gang). She's still got a ways to go, but she appears to still have some untapped potential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShittyLittleBoots Posted March 9, 2017 Report Share Posted March 9, 2017 Holy crap, I was absolutely blown away by how good this was! Just an absolute banger of a David vs. Goliath battle - Io Shirai's performance was absolutely perfect. Loved her selling, her facial expressions & especially that amazing offense of hers. Viper looked damn good too, she played her part as the bigger woman wonderfully. I am still very new to Stardom, but so far, as of 03/09/17 this is the best match I've seen from the promotion. ****3/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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