[4.0] "The quality of this match was all over the place, having a boring beginning, bad middle and okay ending. Risa looked like she couldn't give a fuck about being there. The only positive was Kamitani's new gear and entrance. **1/4"
[6.0] "Risa absolutely not looking motivated. When the participants got announced she already looked bothered. Sayas new entrance is the absolute real shit. Its so good. The new Saya generally is amazing. The match lacked though. By those names it could have been better. ***1/4"
"Well Risa Sera tried, and Saya needs to figure out her new heel work in ring. Because that didn't work, which is weird as they've had a couple of good matches already. But that was when Saya was a face against a vicious Risa Sera. Here she couldn't be the vicious heel against Risa, so she was more of an annoying heel. Honestly it was a bad idea to have this be her first match as this new Phenix Queen. Should've faced someone she could just beat up and win easy, to solidify her character."
[4.0] "I dont know what to say about this. This wasn't a bad match from an in-ring standpoint, but Saya is completely miscast here and it takes the energy completely out of the audience and the viewer. Like the boos she got were so half-hearted... it's indicative of the terrible whirlwind of perplexing booking decisions that have led us to this point. And really, besides Saya's awesome entrance ... there was hardly anything positive to take from this? Saya doesn't suit being a heel, and putting her against a natural heel in her first match just hammered that point home. The Hate interference felt uninspired, Risa didn't particularly look like she was trying, and as much effort as Saya puts in ... it's just not right. She was born to be a Babyface. Everything about her journey, style and outside of the ring personality just screams BABYFACE. And trying to compare this heel shtick to the perfection we had before... yeah, idk. Also like... she tried to get the plunder out against a genuine hardcore wrestler? Saya what kind of gameplan is that! I hope that doesn't become a copy paste formula for all her matches. Maybe heel Saya will work more as the tournament goes on, idk. Oh, there was a cool Giant Swing, I guess. So points for that. But given this could/should have been the start of a big Saya redemption story, and this is what we got instead... I can't help but feel massively disappointed"
[2.0] "This was a bad match. Saya comes out with her new heel gear and she looks awesome. Unfortunately, that's about the only positive thing. Saya's heel work leaves a lot to be desired and she has no chemistry with Risa. There's a bunch of interference from HATE which gets boring very quickly. Risa does a weird comedy bit with the ref where there's a pile of chairs in the ring and every time she grabs one the ref tells her to put it down. This goes on for way too long and is just dumb. The wrestling is sloppy and full of botches. Saya eventually wins and mercifully this match is over. 2/10"
[3.0] "There were a couple of good moments built on the fact that both wrestlers are kinda heelish, but the rest 10 minutes were objectively bad, stupid and full of botches."
[5.0] "Saya's presentation as a heel is 10/10: entrance music, gear, all of this is fantastic. And then the bell rings, and babyface Risa Sera is a better heel than her. I kind of get where Saya wants to go, an unhinged and unpredictable villain with over the top presentation but now it just doesn't work. Her attitude feels clumsy, with dead air sprinkled everywhere and it works decently only when relies on her offense as a face. The chair spots where goofy though at least entertaining. It will take times before she figures herself out as a heel, for now she should just keep things simple and works from what she knows."
[4.0] "This match was extremely underwhelming especially that both aren't horrible workers, Risa Sera in particular is great but Saya Kamitani was absolutely horrible in this match, her heel work was cringe with her laughable facial expressions and acting, on top of that, the match revolved around Kamitani's new character so it was hard to watch from bell to bell. Risa Sera did her best, some exchanges were fine especially when Saya Kamitani showed impactful strikes but other than that this was tasteless. The finishing was horrible with Saya Kamitani fucking up her Frankensteiner because both weren't on the same page which led to Risa Sera doing her swing but Kamitani finally succeeded in doing her Frankensteiner for the win. Bad match - **"
[2.0] "Saya's heel work is tragically unfortunate in this match. The chairs piece felt tacky and forced as if Risa Sera's presence meant they had to get plunder-ish; it also disrupted the entire match in a way that was beyond salvageable after Saya had to keep selling and looking on as Risa and the ref argued. This bout had no rhythm. In the last few seconds, Saya threw some of the most awful punches that I have seen since that one extra from the Dark Order in AEW threw those air punches that completely missed Dustin Rhodes. Truly makes me dejected to see Saya putting on this horrid work when she was once at the top of the food chain. *"
[3.0] "Das war irgendwie konfus und ohne Plan. Risa Sera wirkt leider öfter zuletzt etwas planlos in ihren Matches. Kamitani hatte Timingschwierigkeiten und wartete oft was Sera macht, die oft viel z ulange brauchte als hätte die den Matchablauf vergessen. Das war nicht gut. Kamitanis neuer Look und Entrance ist aber cool."
[2.0] "Well that was nothing. Saya leaned into the brawling type, which she has never done before against Risa, who has a lot of experience in that and technically can fill her flaws/Inexperience in that regard, but they just had really bad chemistry. The match drifted into a ref bump situation early with many chairs in the ring. The spot where Risa grabbed chair after chair with the ref trying to stop it looked so goofy"
[2.0] "Saya Kamitani's presentation is cool but she really has no idea how to work as a heel and starting off against another heel was a horrible decision and the chairs spot proved Stardom has the worst refs in the sport."
[3.0] "This stunk. Honestly, Saya Kamitani's entrance presentation might be the only reason this gets 3 instead of 0. They completely nailed that, but once the bell rung - woof. Risa Sera was not a good first opponent for a freshly turned Kamitani - who had never worked heel in her career before. But even putting that aside, they seemed to have negative in-ring chemistry together. A whole bunch of awkward or even outright blown spots. And all of the spots involving chairs were just really weird and seemed to serve no purpose. Sometimes 2 great workers just don't click when working together and this was definitely a case of that. Weakest match of the night."
[7.0] "Yea, I definitely get the criticism about this match here. I recently heard about Saya Kamitanis big heel turn (which was met with negative reviews for that booking decision) before watching my first Stardom show here. Honestly, I did not mind her match here against Risa Sera for the most part. There were some sloppy moments during this match (which might have been due to Saya), but they were thankfully minor; so it didnt take much of anything away from the match personally. I think Saya deserves some leeway here since she is currently learning how to work heel; which is a big change for her, especially since she was apparently a natural babyface too. I give this good enough contest a 7 out of 10 here."
[6.0] "Never really kicked into second gear for me, and Saya's character came off a bit too strong and not quiet effective. Ultimately a middle of the road match that wasn't necessarily the best way to make Risa Sera seem like a threat in the tournament. Great Giant Swing, though."
[6.0] "Man, I really wanted to like this. Saya's entrance, new gear and new look were breathtaking. The match was kind of a mess. Had this match taken place a year ago, it probably winds up being an 8/10 level match. Instead, with Saya trying out new things and being new at this heel stuff, the match suffered. It's fine, but it really could've been way better than it was."
[5.0] "Saya keeps exaggerating her moves for some reason. It looks stupid. Just wrestle like you normally do and then add in a couple heel things. Worst match on the card. At least the entrances were cool."
[5.0] "The match is bad, but at least Saya looks cool as shit. The new presentation was the highlight of the show. Women rock. As for the match itself Saya needs to learn how to heel it up, because it's forced and corny. Risa is fine, but was never going to make this good. 2.5 Stars, and at least half of that for Saya's entrance."
[6.0] "This didn't do much for me. Overall decent with some good moments but others not so much. Saya's still learning to work heel so I'll cut her some slack."
