Current Joshi Talk

[donsem43]

So...

Tam Nakano and Saya Kamitani just did their version of the Jerry Lawler/Eddie Gilbert parking lot brawl.

[El-P]

4 minutes ago, donsem43 said:

So...

Tam Nakano and Saya Kamitani just did their version of the Jerry Lawler/Eddie Gilbert parking lot brawl.

Tam driving away the safest way imaginable killed me. 😂

[donsem43]

I am 100% convinced that Onita got Tam into watching Memphis stuff.

[El-P]

13 minutes ago, donsem43 said:

I am 100% convinced that Onita got Tam into watching Memphis stuff.

I'm not familiar with the entire Tam career (very far from it). Was there a relationship of any sorts with Onita (like training or something) ?

Non stuntmen-women doing stunts always freaks me out. Tam's bump looked pretty safe thankfully.

[donsem43]

Tam slamming Kamitani actually dented the roof.

I don't really know how close they are, but Tam did appear on some indie shows that Onita was on early in her wrestling career. Onita was also suppose to have some role with the Stardom Idols project that never got off the ground.

[donsem43]

Stardom roster update:

* Tam Nakano has retired.

* Thekla was "fired" in an angle but, according to Fightful, has a rep talking to various American companies.

* Maika is out for the foreseeable future to get surgery on her elbow (sounds like Tommy John like what MLB pitchers get.)

* Mayu Iwatani is now no longer a member of the Stardom roster. She has not made up her mind as to what she will do next.

Stardom ref Barb Sasaki said of the Yokohama Arena show felt like Stardom had found all seven Dragon Balls, made a wish and now had to start the journey to find them all again. That couldn't feel more true now.

[El-P]

Mayu leaving is not very surprising, but it's a big blow. Her going to Temu Stardom would be such a downgrade, but her relationship with Rossy probably would help that and she would be de facto the biggest star there. Her going to WWE would be sad, because I would not watch her anymore at all, but then again, she can see what Iyo Skye is doing.

Thekla I guess can get work in either company. She's solid and is a pretty cool character. Would not mind her in AEW. Not a game changer either way.

Maika being out sucks and is another blow to the top of the cards.

I think this was the biggest show ever for Stardom in term of attendance. Hopefully it's not one of those "peak, and then down down down". Then again, heel Saya has been a complete success, way beyond expectations. They have many super talented workers they can push up the cards. The question is, will they be able to turn them into stars ? On paper Stardom looks much better than NJPW right now, still.

(funny though how at 58 years old, Yumiko Hotta is still a worthless no-selling waste of time)

[El-P]

OMG Mayu has signed with Marigold ? Who would have thought ! Such an unexpected turn of events, wow...

Yeah, I dunno if that will be enough for me to bother. I already only check out the biggest Stardom shows. What I've seen of Marigold hasn't been very impressive and the company was totally carried by Sareee. They also have the most annoying ring announcer ever. 

[donsem43]

Call me crazy, but giving your newest signee the nickname "The Savior" isn't a good look for the rest of your roster. Also, it's one thing to expect her to draw and upgrade the quality of the top of your card but to also ask her to fix your training and your company's culture. That is a hell of a lot to ask of just one person!

To top it off, you debut your "Savior" by having her go 20/80 against an aging veteran who can barely move because of bad knees. Plus the veteran is retiring in less than a month. Iwatani didn't even win definitively, she won via a rollup. Not the best way to make a boisterous debut in a new promotion.

Then you have Natsupoi, er I mean Victoria Yuzuki (Notpoi?) come down to challenge her to a match for a midcard title. Ugh, whatever... Good luck trying to fix this mess Mayu, you're gonna need every once you can get.

[El-P]

3 hours ago, donsem43 said:

Call me crazy, but giving your newest signee the nickname "The Savior" isn't a good look for the rest of your roster.

Immediately thought about that. Yeah, that's never a good feeling to give.

Also, are you telling me Nanae Takahashi is actually still an egotistical old fucker ? I will pretend to be shocked. When I saw Mayu's fist match was Nanae, I went like "Yeah, hard pass". Glad to you she's still have passion for putting over no one for real, even months shy of retiring.

They could not even sell out Korakuen Hall for this. Marigold ain't taking over Stardom. Not happening. How long before Levesque reveals they bought Marigold and that he loves the tradition of women's japanese pro-wrestling ?

[donsem43]

If you've read the plans Meiko Satomura has for Sendai Girls, and seen the growth in attendance that they've had in the last year and a half, they are more likely to overtake Stardom.

TKO buying Marigold is too much of a get out of jail free card for Rossy.

[WingedEagle]

On 5/5/2025 at 9:57 AM, donsem43 said:

If you've read the plans Meiko Satomura has for Sendai Girls, and seen the growth in attendance that they've had in the last year and a half, they are more likely to overtake Stardom.

TKO buying Marigold is too much of a get out of jail free card for Rossy.

What are Meiko's plans for Sendai? I haven't seen much spelled out anywhere.

[donsem43]

They're starting to run bigger buildings with the ultimate goal of running the Budokan sometime in the next 5 years. Their show on March 19 drew 3,500, 500 more than what Marigold drew at Sumo Hall last summer. In August, they're running a basketball area in Sendai.

Meiko also said that they are looking to double their roster sooner rather than later. They are also looking at recruiting trainees from judo, amateur wrestling and other sports.

[donsem43]

More Stardom roster news:

* Hazuki and Koguma have left STARS and are going to focus on working more globally. They made sure to clearly state that they have not left Stardom. Hanan is the new leader of STARS.

* Bea Priestley showed up at NJPW Resurgence and buddied up to AZM backstage but didn't seem to mention Stardom at all.

* 2 more trainees were introduced over the weekend at the New Blood show, debuts and ringnames are TBD. Stardom now had 11 trainees debut over the last 2+ years with only 1 leaving (Victoria Yuzuki, now of Marigold,) so they are managing to keep the roster restocked. Sayaka Kurara seems like a surefire star. HANAKO, Aya Sakura and Ranna Yagami have good potential as well.

 

 

[donsem43]

Stardom has temporarily uploaded the main event of All-Star Grand Queendom:

 

[El-P]

Finally got to watch the entire show. Incredible card, mostly. And that main event. The post-match with Tam & Saya walking together with no music, and then sitting on the entrance while the show fades to black was incredible. And the match, of course (although SLK vs AZM was also ridiculous).

[squidlad]

Sareee vs Syuri from yesterday's Stardom show was super intense with a lot of relentlessly angry submission work. An unexpected step up from their 30 minute TLD in Shinjuku.

[ElHijodeGorgeousGeorge]

17 hours ago, squidlad said:

Sareee vs Syuri from yesterday's Stardom show was super intense with a lot of relentlessly angry submission work. An unexpected step up from their 30 minute TLD in Shinjuku.

Totally agree this ruled and felt like the highest of stakes, something that IWGP Women's title has struggled with in the past. 

[WingedEagle]

I thought Sareee/Syuri was great, but a far cry from their draw earlier this year. Despite an actual finish it didn't feel nearly as tense as the first match. The submissions and limb work seemed like something they spent an inordinate amount of time on just to check the box rather than to build any real tension. Same for the strikes and headbutts late. They didn't get in earlier so they had to do it then. Again, these are two of the best wrestlers alive so it was stiill great. It just didn't live up to their earlier encounter.

[donsem43]

The IWGP title has always felt like a refashioned SWA title. It certainly helps that name wrestlers from outside of Stardom have gone after it. How Stardom handles Sareee's reign will be interesting given Stardom's raised profile in the Japanese mainstream along with Sareee associating herself with Inoki's legacy. In a interview with Tokyo Sports, Sareee said that she wants to be in this year's 5 Star GP.

I also preferred the draw from earlier this year than the title switch. Granted, the former had the advantage of that type of match being in a small venue. Not sure the match would come off the same if it was in a big gymnasium like the latter. I really enjoyed the finish of the title switch though. It felt Sareee knew that the match was starting to slip away from her so her finisher spamming at the end felt justified because she had to blitz Syuri hard in order to grab the win.

I want to mention that the Goddesses title match from this show was pretty good too. Especially the strike exchanges between Hanan and Natsupoi, which were intense and non-formulaic. The best match from what has been a underwhelming wing*gori title reign.

Bozilla showing up in Stardom was surprising.  It's a nice fit since she need to clean up her sloppy, sometimes dangerous, execution. Also, with how hot Stardom is at the moment, it keeps profile high if she wants to get signed by either AEW or WWE in the near future.

[donsem43]

5 Star Grand Prix lineup has been announced. THIRTY TWO (32!) women entered. Sareee and Bea Priestley are in. Syuri, Hazuki, Koguma and Saki Kashima are not.

[donsem43]

Watched the Stardom Sapporo Rendezvous show. I would recommend checking out the top two title matches (Saya Kamitani vs. Natsupoi and Starlight Kid vs. Saori Anou) especially if you're tired of the formulaic nature of modern Japanese title matches. While you could be nitpicky about the limb selling SLK/Anou, they do end up working it into the finishing stretch (particularly the actual finish of the match itself) in superb fashion. Meanwhile, if you had told me that Kamitani and Natsupoi built a match around taunting and brawling I would have expected the worst but the two of them did a tremendous job to make it work. Kinda shocked that the Star Killer is such protected as a finisher.