Stardom American Dream 2024 in the Keystone State (4.4.24) review 

 

April 4, 2024 

 

WRESTLEMANIA WEEK REVIEW #11  

 

Source: Triller TV ($25, American, a vertible pay per view) 

 

We’re in Philly at the 2300 Arena. I guess this is technically the Wrestlecon arena, but Wrestlecon barely run shows anymore. Hosts are Veda Scott and Tom Lawlor. 

 

Oh, my fucking good giddy god, this is 1h 45m. My prayers have been answered. 

 

High Speed Championship 

Mei Seira (c) vs. Saki Kashima vs. Ram Kaicho 

THE MUSIC IS SO LOUD IT COMPLETELY DROWNS OUT COMMS. God bless. Ram, being undead, is somewhat covered in dust. It’s all that lying around in crypts. They go for pure comedy. Kashima pretending to be the ref, them doing the rope running gimmicks. Ram throws crypt dust in everyone’s face, including her own and Kashima gets the cradle for the title. 

 

Camron Branae, AZM & Saya Kamitani vs. Momo Watanabe, Starlight Kid & Stephanie Vaquer 

Branae was in WWE but when I wasn’t paying attention. Vaquer, I’m sure I’ve seen in CMLL. Starlight Kid vs. AZM is Stardom heritage. AZM is what, 21? Already had 700 matches. Momo is getting meaner and hitting harder as she ages. She is going to be such a surly veteran. Branae looks like she’s suffered through WWE training. She has goofy OTT selling. What are they teaching them in Florida? Shawn Michaels can get all the way fucked. That whole system is garbage. Vaquer gets the pin on her.  

 

Syuri & Konami vs. Willow Nightingale & SAKI 

Willow has that babyface pop that’s down to hard work and support on the ground. You don’t get over like that accidentally. I’ve never been a fan, but she is incredibly likeable. The timing isn’t perfect on this one. I know it often isn’t in wrestling but when Syuri is in the ring, expectations are high. They end up doing their best stuff with Willow, around her size advantage. The tag team German suplex is excellent. Konami eating the POOOOOUNCE is a tremendous demonstration and how fun a size difference can be in wrestling. Willow powerbombs Konami for the win. This was great. Maybe the best I’ve ever seen Willow look. Maybe she’s levelled up recently. I get the love. *** 

 

STARS (Mayu Iwatani & Momo Kohgo) & Tam Nakano vs. Club Venus (Mariah May, Mina Shirakawa & Xia Brookside) 

Mina’s entrance is awesome, although Club Venus are nowhere near as coordinated as Oedo Tai used to be. I get the feeling Oedo Tai spent longer practicing their dancing than the matches. Last time I watched Stardom, Tam was the champion, but she got hurt last year. Kohgo spends a lot of time in there getting beaten up by Club Venus.  

 

Mayu is one of my favourite all-round talents in wrestling. Especially for bumping and selling. I did fear for her safety but I think she’s had her neck replaced with steel. Tam tags in and she still has the best gear in all of wrestling. Like she’s going to a party…in a Star Wars film. Club Venus occassionaly use their teaming to dominate the match, which is at it should be. They shouldn’t be winning straight up. As the match breaks down, it loses something. Tam pulls it back by KICKING XIA IN THE FACE. Twilight Dream finishes. This was fun enough, but the top guys (Tam, Mayu) were holding back knowing they weren’t the main event. Some workers could learn from this.  

 

Post Match: Toni Storm is here! Slumming it at the 2300.  

“This is the very place where I entered Sandman”. HAHAHA, fuck me. “Back where I started my career with Eastern Championship Wrestling”. After she’s finished fucking around, she points out she owes her career to Stardom and was the first gaijin champion they ever had. She then puts over Mariah May, which is lovely, but then slates Mina for being a loser. Mina isn’t happy so Toni says, “the Forbidden Door is always open”. Toni Storm is a dream. Such a good character and promo.  

 

World of Stardom Championship  

Maika (c) vs. Megan Bayne  

Megan Bayne emerged during the pandemic, so I’ve never seen her wrestle. Her walk out gear is ASTONISHING. Like, I’m staring at the screen. The headress alone is startling. The opening sequences here are perfunctory before they settle into the ‘Bayne is stronger’ storyline. They have some horrendous ‘waiting for a spot to happen’ moments. It’s not working for me at all.  

 

Maika gets me back into it by hitting a lariat. If you want to win me over, lariat someone. The harder the better. Let’s face it, this is better with the big bombs. Bayne hits a huuuuge sit out powerbomb and Maika is out at ONE! There’s an F5 in here where Maika kicked out after the cadence of the three count. It’s ok to kick out late but not SO late that the referee must fuck up for you to not lose your title. Get the timing right. Maika can’t finish with a Michinoku Driver off the ropes but then pops off a normal one for the pin. This had cracking BIG BOMB spots but the stuff in between was patchy. I’ll give them points for the epic nature of the near falls, but it wasn’t anywhere near the top red belt matches I’ve seen before. ***¼ 

 

Post Match: Momo Watanabe is out here and calls her shot. She’s got next! She’s put her quid on the side of the pool table, metaphorically.  

 

The 411: 

The show had moments and I like Stardom as a promotion, but they were not offering value for money here. A show that cost $25, compared to most of the shows that were part of the Triller weekend, needs to have at least one match on it that’s a banger. They deliberately put all their eggs in one basket here and those eggs didn’t hatch. The crowd liked it WAY more than me, in their defence, but I didn’t love this show. Which, for Stardom, is disappointing.