As Stardom continues to move on from the mass talent exodus (mostly to Rossy Ogawa’s newly-announced Marigold promotion), the promotion also continues to further test live streaming capability with this weekend’s doubleheader. Today they’re in Kobe for a house show with 5 scheduled matches ahead of tomorrow’s event, which has a title match scheduled. The likely main event is a 10-woman tag match with rules rarely seen in women’s wrestling these days-3 Falls with a 1 Hour time limit as HLA…I mean, E Nexus V (Mina Shirakawa sure bought the HLA on her recent US tour during The Collective) vs. the Oedo Corps faction.
Today’s event will be held at Kobe Sambo Hall in Kobe and can be watched LIVE on Stardom World. There will be no commentary. Most non-title matches in the promotion have 15-20 minute time limits so even with the potential hour-long main event I anticipate this event’s total running time being around 2 hours.
Today’s lineup (match order TBA):
Suzu Suzuki & Mei Seira vs. Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara
Natsupoi vs. Ami Sohrei, Lady C & Rian in a 4-way
Syuri, Saki Kashima & Ranna Yagami vs. Hazuki, Saya Iida & Momo Kohgo and Saya Kamitani, AZM & Miyu Amasaki in a 3-way
Mayu Iwatani, Hanan & Koguma vs. Saori Anou, Tam Nakano & Yuna Mizumori
Maika, Mina Shirakawa, Gina, HANAKO & Waka Tsukiyama vs. Natsuko Tora, Momo Watanabe, Starlight Kid, Ruaka & Fukigen in a 3 Falls match
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 9 PM PT/midnight ET.
8:30 PM PT UPDATE: You can also watch the first match live & on demand FOR FREE on YouTube. It looks like the first match will be Suzuki/Seira vs. Sakura/Kurara.
8:40 PM PT UPDATE: The Stardom World live stream is up and running in pre-show mode. The live broadcast should begin in about 20 minutes.
9 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE from Kobe Sambo Hall in Kobe, Japan. There is no commentary.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. Usually the venue can be set up for between 600-800 for wrestling, and it looks like a near-sellout. Depends on the setup but I’m guessing it’ll be in the 500-550 range. At least a full house, could wind up being a legit sellout. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 305. Not even close to either)
Match card rundown, it’s going to be the order listed above.
Match 1: Suzu Suzuki & Mei Seira vs. Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara. 15 minute time limit
Result: Suzu Suzuki & Mei Seira beat Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara. Seira beat Kurara with an inverted face lock.
The YouTube broadcast ends here.
Match 2: Natsupoi vs. Ami Sohrei, Lady C & Rian in a 4-way. 15 minute time limit
Result: Natsupoi beat Ami Sohrei, Lady C & Rian in a 4-way by pinning Rian.
Match 3: Syuri, Saki Kashima & Ranna Yagami vs. Hazuki, Saya Iida & Momo Kohgo and Saya Kamitani, AZM & Miyu Amasaki in a 3-way. 20 minute time limit. During intros there was a funny spot when, during Iida’s intro, she took part of her outerwear off and tossed it up, and it got caught on pipes above the ring! Thankfully one of the other wrestlers was able to jump high enough to pull it down.
Result: Saya Kamitani, AZM & Miyu Amasaki beat Syuri, Saki Kashima & Ranna Yagami and Hazuki, Saya Iida & Momo Kohgo in a 3-way when Kamitani pinned Kashima. Based on post-match happenings, Kamitani could now be angling for a shot at the High Speed Championship held by Kashima.
Match 4: Mayu Iwatani, Hanan & Koguma vs. Saori Anou, Tam Nakano & Yuna Mizumori. 20 minute time limit
Result: Mayu Iwatani, Hanan & Koguma beat Saori Anou, Tam Nakano & Yuna Mizumori. Hanan pinned Mizumori with a German suplex hold.
Intermission. Main Event coming up shortly.
Main Event: Maika, Mina Shirakawa, Gina, HANAKO & Waka Tsukiyama vs. Natsuko Tora, Momo Watanabe, Starlight Kid, Ruaka & Fukigen in a 3 Falls match. 1 Hour time limit
Fall 1: Watanabe pinned Tsukiyama.
Fall 2: Tora DQ’d. Weapon use.
Fall 3: Maika pinned Fukigen.
Result: E Nexus V wins 2-1. In total, the match went just under 20 minutes.
Overall the streaming experience was good as Stardom continues ramping up live broadcasts on Stardom World, it was high quality (1080p HD) and there were only a couple times when it cut out (once during the main event, perhaps due to activity all over the venue) but for less than a second each time. There are more live streams to come which is a good sign. For my first time watching live on the service, a solid 9/10. Interesting to note they used 2 hard cameras-an additional one looking at one corner of the ring and the other in the traditional position-in addition to ringside cameras. Rather unique to me.
The next event is tomorrow at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka. Live streaming on Stardom World (also as a PPV via Pia Stream for around $15 US) will begin at 9 PM PT/midnight ET. Live results are tentatively scheduled.
