1.Yukihi, Anou vs Sumire, Rina ***
2.Elimination: Kodaka, Shimomura, Keisuke, Ohka, Iwasaki vs Gunso, Kinoshita, Tanizaki, Paloma, YASSHI ***1/4
3.Astronauts vs Yuya, Seiki ***1/2
4.Tanaka, Kuroda vs Jinsei, Pegaso ***1/4
5.Strong Hearts(Lindaman,T-Hawk),Yoshida,Chikano vs Strong Hearts(CIMA,Irie,Issei),Rekka ****
6.Isaka vs Takahiro ***1/2
Thoughts:
J-Stage is a fun promotion to watch when I get the chance, so I went ahead and broke back into March content for a show from them when I realized I had missed it. I might have also found another show or two to watch from the month for those that care since I'll have more time to dig for gems with so little new content coming.
Also, STARDOM added a new episode of We are to YouTube but it features content I've seen (from their Empty Gate show) so I'm skipping that. MLW, W1, AAA, AJPW, and Lucha Memes reviews should be up when I get the chance. Me getting a chance to even post this, and the post I'm about to make, is a big deal though considering my move so don't expect those until this weekend or early next week.
Anyway, this was a lot of fun.
The joshi contest was a nice showcase tag and the elimination tag cluster was fun. Note that seeing some legends working alongside rising star Pegasso was a nice sight, too. All fairly good encounters.
The three matches I really want to talk about more here though are pulls 3, 5, and 6.
In the three spot, note that I largely picked this because I am a huge fan of Seiki. I considered him on of the best hidden gems tucked away on the vastly underrated WRESTLE-1. This was borderline great with a nice pace throughout. Astronauts is a very fun team.
The Strong Hearts atomico was fantastic, building nicely and the final stretch is one of my favorites of the year. Pure, high speed action civil war stuff that once again showed us why the #SH are truly elite talents. El Lindaman trying to apron CIMA just to get a death stare was an awesome bonus moment here.
And, lastly, the main event was very good junior indie puro style content. I've seen very little of these two but would like to see more, including a rematch. A lot of potential here!
Hopefully, J-Stage will add some gold to the promotion soon.
In all, this was a very entertaining experience like all J-Stage shows that I've seen. Check out anything rated ***1/2+.