5/26 STARDOM KONAMI’S HOMECOMING report: Konami vs. Kagetsu, Hana Kimura & Jungle Kyona vs. Hazuki & Natsuko Tora

STARDOM SHINING STARS
MAY 26, 2019
FUKUYAMA, JAPAN AT FUKUYAMA BIG ROSE
AIRED ON STARDOM WORLD
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

It was a beautiful sunny day and Konami was outside the venue. They were in her hometown of Fukuyama, Hiroshima and she wanted to finish the night with her triangle lancer for the main event win. The cameras followed her into the venue and walking the halls.

-Onozaki said this was her first time in Fukuyama and has only faced Kashima once before. Kashima said it would be her homecoming show next month. She wanted to set the night off with the right tone.

(1) SAKI KASHIMA vs. LEO ONOZAKI

Kashima controlled the action early. Onozaki came back with a bit of offense but fell to a pedigree.

WINNER: Saki Kashima in 4:17.

(Pageot’s Perspective: A short win for Kashima ahead of her high speed title match. Onozaki continues to hold the worst record in Stardom this year at 0-8 now.  The venue appears to be a sports auditorium gymnasium, very brightly-lit with high ceilings and lots of echo. The last time Stardom ran a show in Hiroshima was over two years ago. They’ve already done a good job of making this one feel like a special occasion.)

Miyagi said it was going to be a bad ending. Iida vowed that she wouldn’t lose.

(2) SAYA IIDA vs. ANDRAS MIYAGI

Miyagi roughed up the smaller Iida. Iida got a handful of dropkicks in but was caught with a roll-up.

WINNER: Andras Miyagi in 7:14.

(Pageot’s Perspective: All of these opening card enhancement matches start to blur together after a while.)

Kid said it was exciting to have so much talent in one match. Watanabe said she’d never been to this part of Hiroshima before.

(3) QUEEN’S QUEST (World Of Stardom Champion Bea Priestley & Momo Watanabe) vs. STARS (Wonder Of Stardom Champion Arisa Hoshiki & Starlight Kid)

Priestley and Kid started with Priestley going after Kid’s mask. Watanabe tagged in as they worked over the youngster. Hoshiki tagged in for the first time at 4:00. Even back and forth. Kid hit her twisting splash but Watanabe kicked out. Kid tapped to Watanabe’s rear naked choke.

WINNERS: Queen’s Quest in 9:38.

(Pageot’s Perspective: Considering she’s the top champion in the promotion Priestley just stands there while her stable mates handle all the promos and she hasn’t even won her last two tag matches either.)

Tora said there’s nothing worth saying about TCS. She and Hazuki made plans to go get oysters after the show. Kimura and Kyona played a game where they took turns saying nice things about Konami. Her eyes are big. She’s small and cute. Her hair color’s cool. Her hairstyle’s cool. Her skin is beautiful. She treated Kimura at the pub last night. When Kyona was sick she was worried and called her. She has a lot of dogs. And a hedgehog. And a snake. Her eyes are close. She has a fish. She has a fish face. Wait, that’s not a compliment. Kyona lost and had to make a funny face.

(4) ARTIST OF STARDOM CHAMPIONS TOKYO CYBER SQUAD (Hana Kimura & Jungle Kyona) vs. OEDO TAI (High Speed Champion Hazuki & Natsuko Tora)

Oedo Tai attacked before the bell and they fought into the crowd. Kyona whipped Hazuki into the fan’s chairs. Kimura beat Tora with a paper fan. In the end Hazuki countered a spinning powerbomb attempt from Kyona into her usual pinning combination.

WINNERS: Oedo Tai in 11:26.

-Hazuki said they have a lot of nerve saying they want to defend their trios titles against Oedo Tai. Hazuki’s not even interested. She and Tora want the traditional tag titles (held by Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita). Hazuki told Hayashishita to hurry up and come back so they could defend them. Kimura said she doesn’t care about them. Their next defense is against… Kagetsu, Miyagi, & Sumire.

(Pageot’s Perspective: House show match.)

Kagetsu said Konami chose her as her opponent for her homecoming show. She doesn’t believe you need some big celebration just for being home, though. Still, it would be fun crushing her at home. Konami said she would beat Kagetsu by submission in front of her friends and family. Hiroshima was wrecked by heavy rain last summer so she wanted to bring a lot of happiness and smiles to the local fans.

(5) ARTIST OF STARDOM CHAMPION KONAMI vs. KAGETSU

Methodical mat wrestling through the first five minutes. Kagetsu full on strangled Konami with both hands until the referee pulled her off. She followed with a guillotine choke. They traded kicks at 8:00. Kagetsu tossed Konami to the floor and all of Oedo Tai stomped away at her until TCS chased them off. She sprayed water in Konami’s face, then the referee’s when he admonished her. Kagetsu whipped Konami into the fan’s chairs twice at 11:30. She then ran her head-first into the ring post and again into the chairs on a third side of the ring. She choked her with a chair. Hazuki held Konami draped across the apron and Kagetsu sprinted from one side of the auditorium to the other to hit a dropkick.

At 15:00 Kagetsu held Konami in the ropes and posed for the fans. All of Oedo Tai joined her for another pose, shutting down the burgeoning “Konami” chants. Konami avoided a dropkick and Kimura nailed Kagetsu with a kick to the face. The two women in the match traded strikes in the center of the ring. Dragon screw leg whip from Konami. Sliding dropkick. Legbar but Kagetsu made the rope break.

Figure four at 20:00. Kagetsu turned it over. Konami rolled it back. Rope break after a minute and a half in the hold. Armbar from Kagetsu. Guillotine choke from Konami. Kagetsu powered her up and over into a vertical suplex. Both women were down. “Konami” chants from the crowd while their stable mates scrambled at ringside.

They traded kicks at 25:00. Death valley driver from Kagetsu but Konami kicked out. Chokeslam. Another kick out. A second death valley driver. Konami cut off an Oedo Coaster attempt and hit a superplex. A trio of rolling German suplexes connected but Kagetsu kicked out. Kagetsu avoided the triangle lancer but took a kick to the side of the head. Konami avoided the 450 again and locked on a legbar in the ropes. Kagetsu fell to the floor. Konami with a splash off the top rope onto Kagetsu and everyone else at ringside. Missile dropkick to the back of Kagetsu’s head in the ring. Chinlock. Rope break. Kagetsu avoided the triangle lancer again, shoved the referee to the mat, and misted Konami. Death valley driver. Oedo Coaster hit but the bell rang as she landed.

DECISION: Time limit draw in 30:00.

-Oedo Tai left and an exhausted Konami thanked the fans from her knees. She said she wanted to cross this obstacle but couldn’t get past Kagetsu. The reason she could keep getting up again and again was because of their support, though. She was born in Fukuyama and moved to Tokyo at age 18 to become a pro wrestler. She’s had many fun times and many painful times. Many times she wanted to give up but did her best without quitting. It’s not easy but she can’t give up her dream of being a pro wrestler. Her goal is to win the red belt and she hasn’t given up on that. She called out Bea Priestley. She vowed that the red belt would be around her waist. Priestley gave her the finger and left. Konami vowed to return to Fukuyama as World Of Stardom Champion.

(Pageot’s Perspective: Terrific match. Konami’s style of wrestling isn’t really my cup of tea so I might not have loved this as much as others probably did but objectively this was fantastic and a star-making performance for her. Kagetsu remains very protected even after losing the red belt. Fingers crossed we get these two crossing paths again in the 5Star Grand Prix later this summer. The post-match was a full-fledged babyface promo from Konami. Drop the unprovoked violence and all the middle fingers and just let TCS be the cool babyface stable the fans want to love and cheer.)