Aja Kong & Kaoru Ito vs. Natsupoi & Tam Nakano

[5.0] "Fine match. I wasn't expecting something mind blowing looking at the fact we have here 2 women over 50 but they still did pretty well. Aja still can go which is amazing, she put on some cool stuff. Kaoru was just here tbh, she did a few BRUTAL moves to Natsupoi which i thought she won't get up from (fortunately she did) Tam was great, you could see her and Poi were trying to give the best match they could get from Kong and Ito. It was great to see Aja against Nakano and Poi and after the match she even did some posing with them which was hilarious. **, 5"

[8.0] "Pro-wrestling at it's best is about faces vs. heels, that's why watching Kong and Ito kinda turning back the clock and destroying these fools was just amazing, last five times brought the biggest smile to my face. Kong had a blast in that ring and it was so palpable, this was one of her performances in 2020s. This show needed badly a good match like this and one of the greatest of all time used her experience to deliver. ***3/4"

[3.0] "Non-sensical booking leads to this pretty embarassing and fairly dull match. Frankly, it's made only sometimes moderately enjoyable by how hard Poi and Tam work and the last vestiges of Kong's star power (Ito never had any star power so it could never dim). Compare this to Mima Shimoda's performance in the 'Despe Invitacional' where she sold AND lost by submission to Kido; it's almost as if Yen machines such as Despe and Shimoda actually get how to book well, create stars and not pointlessly bury people."

[4.0] "While the pace and ring psychology were quite good and the action even slowed down, there were a few actions that were botched for me. It's just that the older ladies in tag teams don't have the chops anymore."

[7.0] "With two Joshi legends like Aja Kong and Kaoru Ito, who are clearly passed their prime, I wasnt expecting much but I thought this was a very decent match. The two younger women tried their best but of course they were not on the level of Aja and Kaoru. 3.5 stars."

[8.0] "these match enjoyed me so much! nice collision of styles, weights and ages, where the young girls tried everything they had, even working togheter to break down Aja or Kaoru. Aja Kong seems didn't age bad, it's more slow but the class remain the same of their good periods. at the end the contest results watchable and at the end the level is rising"

[8.0] "Based match. Of course, over time, you can't help but notice how Aja's knees are getting worse, and how much more painful it is for her to give it her all every year. But it's still Aja. I don't know how, but she does it anyway. One of the most legendary women in wrestling. The match is filled with psychology. We saw both the strength of the veterans and the aspect of teamwork and communication that allowed meltear to fight back. The ending absolutely worked emotionally."

[7.0] "This match lived off the drasticly different styles and physiques of both parties and I think it worked well despite the obvious technical struggles that the lighter team cannot physically move them a lot, so Kong & Ito have to work most of their moves themselves. That does slightly decrease me believing that this is an actual fight but in the end they won me over by a nicely worked match story where I rooted for the babyfaces."

[5.0] "they jobbed out a recent red belt champion and tag champion to aja kong ()which is fair) and a barely mobile kaoru ito - first wild booking decision of the night"

[7.0] "This match was way better than I antecipated. Aja style fitted well in Stardom, and Meltear was surprising good opponents for her debut match. Kaoru was OK there too; Meltear was awesome as always. (***3/4)."

[7.0] "Much better than expected. Much of the match was Tam and Poi bouncing off of the immovable veterans, selling like crazy and trying to come up with any way to bring them down. Aja was her usual self, in a good way, all she had to do was stand there and beat up her smaller opponents. Ito moved around surprisingly well, so it wasn't just two statues the whole time. Ito's double footstomps on Poi looked painful. Everything that happened made sense and everyone did a good job in telling the story. The bigger, stronger veterans proved to be too much to overcome as they get the win. A good, enjoyable match. 7/10"

[8.0] "This was an incredibly fun intergenerational match, Tam and Natsupoi hit incredibly hard and bumped even harder for the veterans. Comedy was used really well in the context of the match and everything felt logical, dramatic and very tense as they built towards the finish. Ito and Kong are off course old and stiff in their movements, but this was a masterclass of putting on a match that does legends proud and makes younger fans happy: this match hugely over-delivered."

[7.0] "A fun match between two huge veterans and two wily less experience smaller wrestlers, yes the veterans can't go as hard as they used to but they still put on a good match."

[6.0] "They worked around everyone's limitations to deliver about as good as you could realistically expect from this match, it had more of a cohesive narrative than most Stardom matches. Ito can't move very well but she was positioned as the 'immovable object' so she didn't really need to. Her double foot-stomping Natsupoi looked great. Things were noticeably dragged down in a few moments by Tam's offense being so flimsy, at one point she did three running knees in a row to Aja Kong and not a single one even looked like they connected, it's not as if Aja can't take a hit."

[5.0] "Certainly good for what it was. Both Kong and Ito recognize their limitations, and the match is structured around what they can do. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Aja Kong still knows how to make an entrance too. As for Tam and Natsupoi, they probably have better things to be doing than this, but they put of a hell of performance bumping, with some character work. The best part of this came after the match ended, with Kong posing with Tam and doing some "poi" related antics. 2.75 Stars."

[8.0] "This was a really unique match in the world of Stardom, so that really helps it stand out. Tam and Poi bumped their asses off for the vets. Ito was far more mobile than I imagined coming in (some of her stomps look like they damn near killed poor Poi), and you cannot deny Aja's aura. A lot better than I thought it was going to be!"

[9.0] "This transcended imagination. I had no idea Aja Kong still had this gear in her, but then again, she's rarely come across an emotionally complex force like Tam Nakano. Kaoru Ito might have been even more amazing. Tam & Natsupoi used their technical brilliance and speed while the giant sized veterans countered with pure instincts and power. Meltear took everything the behemoths threw at them and kept fighting back bravely. I was most impressed by Natsupoi bearing Kaoru Ito's double foot stomps (! ). Every sequence was like a dream. A hyperdimensional clash of generations."