Stardom Cinderella Tournament 2019 4/29/2019

Stardom Cinderella Tournament 2019 4/29/2019

シンデレラ・トーナメント2019 2019年4月29日

Hana did a promo with Ruaka and Rina, who now wear Hana's gear. Hina and Leo were happy to rep QQ and said they wanna win. IIda and Hannan said they want to use their smarts and do their best

Tokyo Cyber Squad - Rina and Ruaka vs Queen's Quest - Hina and Leo Onozaki vs STARS - Saya Iida and Hannan

Hannan takes the double camel clutch and a bad judo throw. Rina splashes Iida and Hina. Leo hits a cutter on two girls at the same time. Iida then hits her pinning combination on Hina in a quick and rushed match.

This is the Cinderella Tournament. The winner gets a title shot I believe, all matches have a 10 minute time limit and you can lose by going over the top.

AZM vs Rebel Kel
AZM apparently gets injured during this.Kel said she's tired of commenting and she wants to focus on winning since she's been losing. AZM said she wants to this tournament then make a big announcement.

Kel wants the test of strength, but AZM is too small. Kel just kind of swats her away. AZM takes a weird bump off of a dropkick. Kel and AZM have an ugly looking escape exchange before AZM double stomps her. AZM takes a rough yakuza kick while seated on the top. Kel drops her with a not so good gorilla press, then throws her by the hair. AZM slips on the middle rope while Kel is on the top. AZM hits a high kick on her and a suplex. AZM takes a brutal step kick. AZM then counters a chokeslam with a roll-up to win out of nowhere. AZM really got her stuff kicked in during the match and I can think of atleast 3 spots where she should have been injured.

Natsu Sumire vs Starlight Kid

Sumire says she absolutely gonna beat Kid. Kid says she will be careful and wants to wear the Cinderella tournament winner dress.

Kid does a little lucha and armdrags Sumire. They botch a roll up, but Sumire covers it and makes it a pin. Kid gets tied up in the ropes and Sumire spits water on the crowd, then kicks her. Sumire does a cocky pin for 1. Sumire misses the bronco buster and pays for it. Kid does a 2nd rope frogsplash, but gets caught on a 619. Natsu puts her in the corner and knees her down. Kid bangs Natsu's head off the canvas with a move I gif'd above, and then rolls her up for the surprise pin. This was entertaining for the short time they got.

Hazuki vs Bea Priestley
Hazuki said she plans to win. Priestley said that unlike before, she will be eliminated in the first round.

Bea hits a nice hurricanrana then Hazuki hits a good senton on her. Hazuki facewashes her. They trade some nice forearms and Hazuki dropkicks her from the ropes, then crossfaces her. Bea backdrops her then does her walk up curbstomp. Bea electric chair lifts her and they go over the top with Bea touching first. The announcer screws up and says Bea wins, with everyone being confused, then changes it to Hazuki winning. Quick match here.

Arisa Hoshiki vs Saki Kashima
Battle of the STARS members here. Saki asks if her pink dress is ready and says she will win it. Arisa says its her first Cinderella tournament. She says she will challenge for a belt if she wins.

They both double dropkick at the start and miss. Arisa has a new orange/yellow/black outfit and some orange hairdye. Arisa puts double knees down on her hard. Saki works Arisa's knee, jumping on it a few times. Saki hits a nasty dragon screw on Arisa and double underhook facedrops her. Arisa high kicks Saki right in the mouth and gets rolled up for 2. Arisa hits a running knee for 2. Arisa then hits a turnaround splash from the top. Most of Saki's stuff didn't look real good here. They hug after the match.

Hana Kimura vs Andras Miyagi

Hana gets a chant with "Hana, Hana, Go, Go Go" and rocks her head to it. Looks like she has to be witch-hunted for breaking Japanese etiquette LOL Hana and Andras bang their heads and Hana hits a big yakuza kick.  Hana does a flying octopus hold on her, but Andras rolls forward and gets the ropes. They exchange forearm shots with Hana winning it, then they both forearm and kick each other at the same time. Hana then hits a sideslam. Andras gets on the apron after Hana puts her there, but gets back in. Hana kisses a yakuza kick and gets backdropped. Hana gets on the top, which is a mistake in this tournament and Andras charges at her. They both fight on the apron and Hana dropkicks her off of it to win.

Tam Nakano vs Kagetsu

Promos: Tam said every girl wants to become a princess and she does too. She said she's been wanting to fight Kagetsu for a while and said she'd win. Not sure what Kagetsu was talking about in her promo.

Kagetsu offers a handshake to start. They do some slow stuff on the ground to start off. Kagetsu puts in a leg lock only for Tam to hit the ropes. Tam botches a blockbuster then hits a cartwheel knee ala Meiko. They dodge each other's spin kicks. Tam hits the Desinty Hammer on Kagetsu and soon after Tam gets put in another leg lock. Tam gets up and hits a superplex, but Kagetsu doesn't really sell it then gets slammed down with an F-U. Time limit is getting close and the crowd gets hot. Tam and Kagetsu trade forearms. Kagetsu goes for the 450 and misses with a minute left. Tam spinkicks her and does a big tiger suplex on her for 2. Tam grounds Kagetsu with a dragon sleeper but time runs out and they are both eliminated. They rushed this and went through a lot of stuff in the time they had. This had some selling issues when it may have been good otherwise without the time limit.

Natsuko Tora vs Jungle Kyona
I was against this happening here. It's not going to get the time it needs and it didn't have enough build for being one of the bigger stories right now. Tora says her dress when she wins will be baptized in Oedo Tai's blood. Jungle says she doesn't like OT and says she will kill Natsuko.

The finish

They exchange hard forearms to start and bring the hate. Tora spears down Jungle. Tora ties her up in the ropes then chest slaps her. Tora pours water all over Jungle's head. Tora paintbrushers her with slaps then hits a bunch of weak forearms before Jungle slaps her hard. Tora slaps her back and Jungle hits some lariats. Jungle dives on her from the top and gets knees then gets splashed from the top for 2. Jungle hits more lariats for 2. Tora did a top rope legdrop on Jungle, basically squashing her face and won it. It started out good, but then lost steam. This just wasn't the setting for this and now the match has been done, for nothing.

Konami vs Momo Watanabe
Like the Jungle/Tora mathch, I'm against this happening here. This is one of the main feuds and it's being wasted for this, where it's guranteed to not get the time it needs or the build. During the promos Konami says she is the queen of singles matches and says she will win this with or without the Triangle Lacer. She said she wants to wipe out QQ. Momo said she won the last Cinderella Tournament. Momo says she wants to beat and humiliate Konami.

Konami kicks Momo early and flips her the double bird. Momo comes back with a dropkick and a flurry of kicks. They trade more kicks. Konami hits a fisherman's suplex for 2 then kicks Momo more. Momo dropkicks her hard twice in the corner then does a bad uranage. She dives down on her with double knees for 2. Momo goes top and does double knees on her then they trade high kicks. Konami then armbars her but she hits the ropes. Konami does a hanging armbar on her and Momo rushes at her then is thrown over the top. Yeah, I'm tired of that finish already. It was fine, just very rushed and short and a waste of a big match.

Hazuki vs Starlight Kid
No promos for this. Kid immediately dropkicks Hazuki in the corner and then does a lucha style DDT. She hits the 619 and a standing moonsault. Hazuki hits a codebreaker then his Hazuki when she is in the corner to get her on the apron. Kid then pushes her out when she goes for her springboard for the win. Super short and super predictable.

AZM vs Konami

The finish

No promos for this, but AZM is a QQ member and Konami wants QQ. Konami flicks her off and they go back and forth real fast. Konami runs up the ropes and then turns around and kicks her. AZM then responds with dropkicks. AZM ddges some shots, slaps her then catches her with a hurricanrana. They trade some nearfalls and AZM kicks her in the head. AZM does a top rope footstomp for 2. AZM then gets caught with the triangle lancer and taps out. This was only a few minutes long. Not much to say really.

Natsuko Tora vs Hana Kimura
No promos for this.

Hana wants the test of strength but gets a kick instead as Tora laughs. Tora boots her but Hana dares her to do it more. Tora hits some weak shots and then stands on Hana in the corner. OT picks on Hana together which Kel and the mini-Hana's try to stop. Hana takes control and throws Tora into some chairs then chairs her in plain view of the ref. Hana whips Tora around by her hair. Hana camel clutches her and grabs her by the nose. Hana hooks her in the octopus hold again and like usual, the girl taking it falls over. No idea if that's supposed to happen or not. Tora catches the ropes though. Hana goes over the top and the OT sign is thrown in for Tora, who uses it and eliminates her. OT should have just pulled out down off the apron since they were already interfering. OT then mocks Hana with the "Yes, Sir!" pose. I thought Tora took too much here and was kind of made to look like a jobber when she shouldn't have been.

Natsuo Tora vs Arisa Hoshiki
No promos for this.

Tora flurries with punches to Arisa's stomach to start then clubs on her knee. Tora works on the knee more then gets kicked down. Arisa then springboards on her with double knees. Tora slaps her with feet in the corner then spears her back down. Tora misses a top rope legdrop and gets kicked in the head. Arisa then wins it with a turnaround splash. Really wondering why OT didn't interfere. Like most of this, this was rushed and the selling was questionable.

Starlight Kid vs Konami
Konami kicks Kid's back hard to start this then rolled up for 2, multiple times. Kid hits a spinning neckbreaker and another roll-up for 2. More nearfalls. Kid goes for a Shiranui and misses an Asai moonsault from the corner. She then gets triangle lancer'd and Konami wins out of nowhere. This was only a few minutes long and rushed.

Cinderella Tournament Finals - Konami vs Arisa Hoshiki

The finish

They feel each other out with some kicks to start. They get a kick exchange going and Arisa rolls backwards after a kick. Arisa hits double knees then drives both knees into Konami's back from the Vader Bomb position. Arisa nails a nasty sounding high kick on Konami. Then Konami superplexes her then puts her in the stretch muffler. Arisa immediately hits the ropes though, but Konami grabs her arm and pulls her back, then does an arm + stretch muffler hold. Not to worry, Arisa was on the top doing her turn around splash right after. Konami goes for the triangle lancer but Arisa immediately goes to the ropes and hits a nasty knee to the face. She then hits another. She slams her and does her turnaround splash from the top again for 2. Arisa then combo's her and nails her with the brazilian kick to win. The selling wasn't good here at all, and there's really no excuse since they wrestled multiple times that night and should have been hurt. The crowd really enjoyed the match and had they sold, maybe I would have liked it more too.

Arisa then challenged Momo for the White Belt after, and Momo accepted.

Overall thoughts: I did not enjoy this. Way too many matches. Most of them were too rushed or too short, and they wasted two of their biggest matches for this. The over the top rule also really wasn't played out too well and it was clear it wasn't part of their natural movesets. It took me about 3 sessions to watch this. If it were me, I'd make this 8 person instead of 16, or make this 2 shows. Either way, there is less rushing and more time for matches. I don't recommend this.

And as for the Israeli guy - the whole situation was really blown out of proportion. He was a little annoying, but at times he was the only one who seemed into the show. All of the various calls to action were very concerning and signs of a lack of maturity.