Back in 2015, I wrote this about the then just-about-gaining-traction-in-the-international-market World Wonder Ring Stardom. Three years later it has been on of the great success stories of Joshi, it always seems to survive every misfortune. Here I look back at some upside before another down.
If 2014 was the year that Stardom came of age, 2015 is the year that the student loan is due, their boyfriend has announced he is going on a gap year and their parents have come to visit for three months. After the shocking events of what has become known as “The Yoshiko Incident” back in February, things went downhill fast. Company President and long time Ace Nanae Takahashi came down with ankle injury that put her on the shelf. Kyoko Kimura also dropped out of action with another injury. Act Yasukawa was still working through her rehabilitation to get fit for a return, she is thankfully back into training now, and Yoshiko herself was indefinitely suspended. Four of the company's top draws were suddenly unavailable just as the company announced it was moving to a one show a month schedule at Korukean Hall. On top of that the company had to do a lot of soul searching as to why the Yoshiko incident happened and act upon it quickly. Their first move was to indefinitely suspend Yoshiko. Company bosses Takahashi, Rossy Ogawa, Fuka and Takahashi took a pay cut as a fine for allowing the incident to happen and new representation to the board was brought from the roster; Kairi Hojo would head up a delegation of workers to bring the locker room and the booking committee closer together. That didn’t do enough for Takahashi to feel she was still part of the company and in an interview with Tokyo Sports she announced her resignation. Her official departure was announced at a press conference the following day.
Losing Nanae Takahashi was perhaps the biggest blow to the company in all the bad news that has come along this year. She was the visionary that pulled the company out of the ashes of JD Star, gave it its philosophy, ring style and the all important lineage to the glory days of Joshi. However there were downsides to her involvement in the company, a locker room attitude that was hard bitten to say the least, and the kind of environment that would end up with one of its biggest young hopes being beaten to a pulp on TV was not healthy for the long term growth of the company. So how do you get back from the abyss? You find your new Ace and push them as hard as you can.
Io Shirai has been the undoubted star of the promotion in the last couple of years. While she isn’t ready for another run with Big Red just yet, she has been pushed hard winning the Goddesses of Stardom Tag Team Titles (Vacated thanks to Kimura’s injury) with Mayu Iwatani in a tournament final during Golden Week on May the 6th and then moving on to a match for the vacant Wonder of Stardom title against Nikki Storm. Yup that Nikki Storm, she became the first Scot to challenge for any title in Korukean Hall, something a lot of Scottish greats can not say they did.
The match they had told a story that sums up Stardom’s year; Shirai tried to fly, but the cold brutal reality of Storm brought her crashing down time and time again. As I watched the total performance from Storm the comparison that struck me was The Dynamite Kid. Thirty four years ago Tommy Billington came to Korukean and treated Tiger Mask with the exact same disdain and disrespect that Storm did Shirai (in a working way, I am sure she has nothing but utmost respect for her in reality). While many have been named the natural heir to Tommy, it has almost always been in move set. Chris Benoit, a Dynamite prodigy had that move set down cold, as does Davey Richards another Billington devotee. Storm though has that cold blooded “I am better than you” sports heel look, feel and temperament. As she held Shirai in a chin lock and screamed at ringside photographers “Take a PICTURE!”, everything was if you will pardon the pun, Pure Dynamite. Her move set is different, but that tight realistic submission style, and the willingness to sacrifice her own body is much the same. Her attitude to the match, angry bluster, was also a Dynamite trait in his NJPW run, but what got it for me was she pulled the floor mats back to deliver a neck breaker on that same parquet flooring that Billington had delivered a Tombstone Piledriver on all those years before, that is when it got me. What amazed me was that the commentators echoed my thoughts “Dynamite Kid san?” yes my friends you are absolutely right. Late in the match when Shirai turned Storm’s Death Valley Driver attempt into a Tombstone Piledriver, the comparison was complete. I am not sure this is what they were going for or if this homage was all a bunch of happy coincidences, Shirai who wears a Tiger’s Mask to the ring, had suddenly found the opponent she has been waiting all her life for. Shirai won with a Dead Weight Arm Trap German Suplex followed by a Moonsault, but if Nikki Storm is to be a regular feature in this company, this match must happen again soon. Shirai is now the Wonder of Stardom Champion, her job is to excite the crowd and being as she was the best technical and aerial wrestler of 2014 in any company that should be no bother. Hi Speed champ Starfire is her next opponent so Stardom are feeding her a range of different people to give her the well rounded Ace feel, a title she is wearing well, and as far as drawing power is concerned one that truly matters.
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