The ace of STARDOM taking on the ace/creator of Sendai Girls, this will be alright won’t it?
By the mid-2010s, Io Shirai had earned herself a reputation for legitimately one of the best wrestlers in the world, and was leading the new wave of Joshi wrestling. The 2000s was a dark period for Joshi as both All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling and GAEA ceased operations, legends of the previous era started retiring left, right, and center, and wrestling as a whole took a downturn in interest during this time. With companies like STARDOM, Joshi wrestling rose to prominence once again and Shirai was at the forefront of that, but in 2015, the World of STARDOM Championship was around the waist of a true Joshi icon, the original final boss before The Rock came along, Meiko Satomura.
Satomura took the title from Shirai’s close friend Kairi Hojo, and later defended it against another close friend of Shirai’s in Mayu Iwatani. Shirai wanted to bring the title back to STARDOM as Satomura was mainly working in Sendai Girls, a promotion Satomura herself founded and reigned over as world champion. The feud between Satomura and Shirai needed a line drawing under it and the date was set, December 23, 2015, at the legendary Korakuen Hall in Tokyo at STARDOM’s final event of the year, Shirai vs. Satomura.
To say that this match is a classic would be an understatement. It isn’t the easiest to find as STARDOM didn’t have a proper streaming service at the time, but when you do eventually find it, it’s like you’ve won the lottery. Shirai refuses Satomura’s handshake at the start, setting the tone for the entire match, which plays out in an almost teacher vs. student sort of battle. Satomura is ferocious with her strikes, particularly her kicks, and Shirai sells them as if she’s been shot out of a cannon. But Shirai doesn’t stop throughout this whole thing, even when her aerial offense comes back to haunt her, result in some nasty spills.
These two compliment each other perfectly, with Shirai being the “Genius of the Sky” that we know her to be today, flying all over the building at times to keep herself one step ahead of the veteran. However, Satomura beats the life out of Shirai at times, and even ties her up in submissions to the point where you think Shirai might end up passing out. In the end, Shirai’s constant onslaught of moves leads to her channeling her friends in Hojo and Iwatani, before landing her trademark Moonsault for the win. She earns the respect of Satomura, solidifies herself as the queen of STARDOM, and stands tall at the end of one of the best matches of the 21st century.
Read the full article here
