The third of our trio of Super Wars shows comes to us on 12/18 as Stardom once again graces us with a top-notch, and very intriguing, card. Rossi has really stacked the end of the year with some of the most interesting cards that Stardom’s done in recent years. We have at least one more super show coming to us from Rossi and company. 12/29 will give us the year-end show, Stardom Dream Queendom and that is going to be, probably, the biggest show that Stardom puts on this year. That’s a story for another article, however. Without rambling on and on, let’s just jump right into the event… Starting with the fate of Starlight Kid!
Queen’s Quest (Momo Watanabe, AZM, Saya Kamitani & Utami Hayashishita)
vs
Oedo Tai (Starlight Kid, Ruaka, Konami & Saki Kashima)
Rules: The Losing Captain must join the winning Unit. Until one of the captains has been defeated, the match proceeds as an elimination tag match. Only Starlight Kid or Momo Watanabe will be forced to join the opposing unit. If Starlight Kid is defeated, she will be forced to unmask in addition to joining Queen’s Quest.
Starlight Kid has been absolutely brazen since embracing Oedo Tai. She’s called her shots and she’s mostly delivered. That said, she may have shot herself in the foot for this match. She and Momo Watanabe will captain their units in an elimination tag match and should either woman be defeated, they will be forced to join the winning unit. For SLK, the stakes are even higher than just joining the opposing unit. If she loses, she absolutely must unmask as she joins Queen’s Quest. Part of the allure of Starlight Kid, is the mystery of who she actually is.
The current High-Speed Champion of Stardom is the only active roster member to wrestle full time in her mask. When you look at the teams for this match, the advantage is clearly on the side of Queen’s Quest. Momo Watanabe and AZM are an established tag team, Utami Hayashishita is the reigning World of Stardom Champion and Saya Kamitani will be challenging Tam Nakano for the Wonder of Stardom title at the year-end show. Queen’s Quest has a lot more chemistry on their team than that of the Oedo Tai team. For Oedo Tai, you have Ruaka and SLK, two of the youngest members of the unit, Saki Kashima and the Submission Sniper herself, Konami. Saki strikes me as the weak link of the team, but you could also say that of Ruaka as she has an abysmal win/loss record this year. I don’t like Starlight Kid’s odds in this match, truthfully. Outside of Konami, she really doesn’t have the best team around here for this match. While I find it hard to believe that Stardom will force Kid to change units twice in the same year, I think she will.. I just can’t see Momo Watanabe leaving Queen’s Quest.
Prediction: Queen’s Quest def Oedo Tai, SLK is forced to unmask
1 vs 3 Gauntlet Match: Syuri vs Lady C, Mai Sakurai and Waka Tsukiyama
Syuri looks to keep her momentum going for the year-end show as she takes on the trio of Lady C, Waka Tsukiyama and Mai Sakurai. Win or lose, Syuri is going to have three full matches on this night. Both Waka and Mai represent the Cosmic Angels unit and Lady C is not affiliated with any unit yet. All three are the newest members of the Stardom roster. Honestly, the trio has their work cut out for them. Especially since it is not a 3 on 1 match but instead a trio of 1 on 1 matches. Each woman will come out one at a time to face Syuri, at least that’s what was said at the press conference. There is one massive variable to consider for this match and that is the masked woman who has attacked both Waka and Mai on both previous Super Wars shows. I wouldn’t put it past the hammer-wielding woman to attack again in Osaka, however, I think she had better think twice about it or Syuri might unmask her. Syuri is poised to be the one who will defeat Utami Hayashishita for the World of Stardom title on the Year-End show, so I don’t see Syuri being made to look weak here. I expect a dominant performance from Syuri here as she runs roughshod through all three challengers before her.
Prediction: Syuri
10 Million ¥ Unit Challenge Match 1: Donna del Mondo vs Team Marvelous
Donna del Mondo: Natsupoi, Himeka and Maika (Artist of Stardom Champions)
Team Marvelous: Takumi Iroha, Maria and Rin Kadokura
Donna del Mondo takes on the women of Marvelous in one of the two Unit Elimination matches. Maika, Natsupoi and Himeka have their work cut out for them as there has been a lot of dissension between Natuspoi and Himeka. Both women have been arguing and fighting, leaving Maika to try and keep the peace. While MaiHimePoi is on the verge of tearing themselves apart, Team Marvelous comes into the match with camaraderie and the mentality of a true unit. Takumi Iroha, Rin Kadokura and Maria can easily take advantage of the infighting between Himeka and Natsupoi if they keep it up during the match. During the press conference, Himeka announced that Donna del Mondo would defend their Artist of Stardom titles if they make it to the ladder match which took both Natsupoi and Maika by surprise. Poi argued a bit with Himeka before she stormed off, leaving Poi near tears and Maika trying to comfort her. There is a lot riding on this tournament but the infighting will likely lead to MaiHimePoi’s downfall. As much as I would like to see them advance and defend their titles, I believe the infighting will ensure that DDM does not advance to the final round.
Prediction: Team Marvelous
10 Million ¥ Unit Challenge Match 2: STARS vs Cosmic Angels
STARS: Hazuki, Koguma & Mayu Iwatani
Cosmic Angels: Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa & Unagi Sayaka
In the second elimination match for the unit tournament, STARS will take on the Cosmic Angels. Representing STARS will be leader Mayu Iwatani, Koguma and, the newest member, Hazuki while the Cosmic Angels will be represented by leader Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa and Unagi Sayaka. There is a lot of history between Tam Nakano and Mayu Iwatani which will definitely play a part in this match. For those who don’t follow Stardom regularly, Tam Nakano and the Angels used to be part of the STARS unit. The Cosmic Angels were a faction within STARS until Tam and the Angels left the unit and became their own faction. While the history between Tam and Mayu will make the two of them try to kill each other, the other members will have a chance to show why the limelight should be on them. Hazuki and Koguma just won the Goddess of Stardom tag tournament last month while Unagi and Mina will be striving to support Tam to the best of their ability. The Unit tournament was Mayu Iwatani’s idea and honestly, I think that it’s because of that that STARS will win this match. It’ll be hard-fought and it’ll nearly go the distance, but STARS will win and will move on.
Prediction: STARS
10 Million ¥ Unit Challenge Ladder Match:
STARS vs Donna del Mondo vs Cosmic Angels vs Team Marvelous
The two winning teams will then compete in a ladder match, with the 10 million yen prize money hanging from the top to be claimed. Members can be eliminated from the match (presumably by the normal pinfall/submission etc). Using the ladder as a weapon is legal. The winning team is the one who claims the money that’s hanging. If Donna del Mondo makes it to the ladder match, the Artist of Stardom championship will be defended as well.
The winning teams from each of the elimination matches will face off with each other in a ladder match to try and win the 10 Million Yen prize. Given the rules and stipulations of the match, and that this is Stardom’s first true ladder match, I can imagine that this will be a bit of a clumsy match but it should be exciting no matter which teams make it. Given my predictions for the other two matches, I believe that it will be STARS vs Marvelous in this final match. I can’t really tell you much about it because this is uncharted territory for Rossi and Stardom. All I can say is sit back and enjoy the match, it should be very entertaining no matter what teams make it.
Prediction: STARS