Matches:

1.World of STARDOM Title: Mayu(c) vs Iroha ****

Thoughts:

Back in February, which feels like 46 years ago instead of one, Marvelous' ace, Iroha, pinned Mayu Iwatani in a singles match that I gave a ****1/4 rating. They've been building the rematch with a short teaser for a few episodes of We are STARDOM!! and we've finally arrived!

A few episodes back, I called out the format style of the series. While it usually works for me, even if I always would prefer full content over clipped, that specific episode really exposed that when done wrong it can make the entire thing feel off. While that was still a decent episode, I think it took away drastically from the feel of the most important match of the episode. This is an issue that occurs from time to time on the show but was super glaring there.

This time, they did the right thing, though with the entirety of #46 focusing exclusively on the big rematch!

Their last encounter felt more one sided with Mayu trying to battle back against the power base until she just couldn't any more. I did appreciate this feeling a bit more even, but I also have to say I think their first contest was a touch better. I'd honestly have preferred a better finish here and it didn't grab me as much, but it was still a truly fantastic encounter and well worth seeing. Every second mattered and I hope you take time to catch this.

I demand a rubber match at some point! An apuesta, perhaps?

Overall Rating: 90/100%