Tam Nakano's 2021: A truly Wonderful Year Part I.
Disclaimer:
I DON'T CLAIM ANY RIGHT TO SCREENSHOTS USED UNDER HERE.
All credit goes to Stardom and Bushiroad.
Forword:
I feel it was very underrated compared to the much-talked-about reign of Utami Hayashishita with the World of Stardom title.
So I figured I should probably go back and rewatch every one of her title matches. To see if the reign was just as disappointing or bad as some fans meant it was.
This will be the first part where I cover the first four matches from her reign and the next part will be the last four and my final thoughts about her reign.
A lot of the quotes I'm going to use is from a blog with translations by Dana find her here: https://twitter.com/ItsDanaNow (Great Follow DO IT)
Tam Nakano's Road to the Wonder of Stardom:
Her first try for the Wonder title was on the 16th of June 2019 against Arisa Hoshiki where she was unsuccessful.
She would later challenge again on the 3rd of October the same year against Giulia but was unsuccessful again.
The trio would almost immediately, win the Artists of Stardom Championships on the 16th of December, four days later the Cosmic Angles left STARS. Tam had been a part of STARS since 2018, and Oedo Tai before that. But this was the first time Tam was the leader of her own unit.
Tam Nakano vs. (c) Giulia
This match is very special for me because this was the first show I watched live after taking a one-year hiatus from Stardom. I recommend everyone to watch the whole show because it was one of the best shows of 2021.
Tam followed that by two spin kicks in a row then a Violet Screwdriver followed by the second Twilight dream of the match and that gets her the win 1.2.3
This is possibly my favorite post-match moment of all time Tam Nakano is so innocent after the match ends but a killer in the ring, meanwhile Giulia is just a killer all the time.
"I’ve always thought the white belt is the pinnacle of Stardom, more so than the red belt. I thought that winning the white belt would get me to the top, that was my goal, yes. But I think it’s going to take a long time for me to truly surpass Giulia, now I’m thinking about how to define the white belt. I think people associate it recently with Giulia, but I need people to definitively see it as Tam’s belt. So I’m not at the pinnacle yet at all." - Tam in an Interview about this match.
Yokohama Dream Cinderella In Spring.
Yokohama Dream Cinderella In Summer
After the match, Tam says: "This is not the Kamitani that I once knew, you have become so
much stronger than before. Let's reach for our dreams together." She extends her hand but Saya refuses and leaves.
Right after Starlight Kid comes out and challenges for the belt she says that she is the only one capable of taking the white belt from Tam and warns that she is no longer the same Starlight Kid as before.
21th of July 2021
and a very small venue brings this match a lot for me. I loved some bits of this match but I feel this should have been a Korakuen Hall defense if it wasn't going to be on a PPV. The throughline of Tam's reign remains true though, Starlight Kid showed up, she showed passion and heart. This was also a match where I felt the crowd restriction to only clap hurt the match, if we were in normal times the crowd would be very loud for this since it was a title match in a city they are not so often in.
Tam Nakano had still not given up on the Wonder of Stardom title however, Giulia still held it and seemed unbeatable.
On the 16th of February 2021 after winning the trios tag match against Giulia and her faction Donna del Mondo, Tam Nakano issued a challenge to Giulia, for a third match for the title.
Giulia suggested a Hair vs. Hair match after having calculated this to be off-putting to Tam Nakano, given her background as an Idol. But Tam Nakano agreed to everyone's surprise.
So the match was announced for Stardom's biggest show to date in the Nippon Budokan the first time a Joshi pro wrestling show had been held in the venue in 24 years.
It was also announced that the Wonder of Stardom title match would Main Event over the World of Stardom title match something that does not often happen.
Wonder of Stardom Championship match #1
All-Star Dream Cinderella
Hair vs. Hair
3rd of March 2021
This match is very special for me because this was the first show I watched live after taking a one-year hiatus from Stardom. I recommend everyone to watch the whole show because it was one of the best shows of 2021.
Onto the match breakdown.
Before the match starts both ladies grab the other hair as a reminder of the match stipulation this added a lot for me because you show how much this means to both of them.
Tam and Giulia have very good chemistry and the start shows that. It didn't feel like a feeling-out process because they both know each other in-ring style seeing as this is their third title match in a year.
A very good moment early was the forearm smash battle at the 3-minute mark that ended when Giulia rolled out of the ring, when she came back she slapped the mat in frustration and after some back and forth hit a devastating german but before she could make a pin Tam had rolled to the apron, Giulia followed her and teased the german on the apron but Tam managed to get her feet around the ropes, Giulia quickly changed the plan and did a neck breaker to her on the apron.
Giulia after that dominated Tam ringside, eventually doing a Piledriver to Tam through a table.
Tam was dominated a lot after this but still putting on a fight, she hit a great reverse DDT when she reversed a glorious driver from Giulia. This is my favorite part of Tam's matches she is so nimble and quick that she does some great reversals.
Shortly after this Tam would do her classic diving plancha to the outside on Giulia after that she hit a Twilight Dream in the ring for a great nearfall.
After this, Tam hit Giulia's move the glorious driver on her for another good nearfall.
Giulia later hit Tam with her own Glorius driver for another good nearfall.
They then started having a slap fight as they were getting up that continued for at least a minute after getting up, slap fights are something I always love in Joshi matches so I loved every part of this.
 |
| Cosmic angles helping Tam up after the pinfall |
This is such a great moment her whole career lead to this moment and I still get teary-eyed watching it now almost a year later. She had tried so many times without getting it and was finally in the spot I saw she could be in when she was in Oedo Tai during the first year of my Stardom fandom.
This match was one of my top 5 stardom matches of 2021. I feel like it is very underrated compared to all the other great matches in stardom in 2021.
***** on the Sondre Rating.
After the match, Tam says "I finally beat you. That's all I needed. It's enough. You don't have to cut your hair."
Giulia still wants to do it saying it was on the line after all. She sits down on a chair and gives the clippers to Tam.
Tam looks like she doesn't want to do it and while holding them her hands shake.
When Giulia notices, she looks tam in her eyes and sees Tam starting to cry.
Giulia takes the mic and asks "Why are you crying?"
Tam hands the clippers to a barber that starts cutting Giulia's hair "Make it look Cool" Giulia says before he starts.
 |
Giulia says to Tam "You're gonna be the busiest in the universe from now."
Wonder of Stardom Championship match #2
4th of April 2021
Defense #1
Natsupoi vs. (c) Tam Nakano
This was a very emotional match Natsupoi really showed up here, on the same show Tam won the Wonder of Stardom title, Natsupoi won the Highspeed title.
In this match, she really wanted to show Tam that she was on Tam's caliber.
The match starts with a very a highspeed showing of both women's acrobatics.
After just a minute or two Tam hits a high kick on Natsupi that sends her outside the ring, Tam followed her, and after some back and forth on the outside, Natsupoi hits a german suplex on Tam on the outside mat, Natsupoi takes her in the ring and is really going after Tam choking her with the middle ring rope and doing constant kicks.
She soon does her signature dropkick through the robes on Tam followed by a plancha from the top rope on Tam ringside.
After that Natsupoi traps Tam in the ropes and pours water on her in disrespect followed by a lot of face kicks and a crossbody from the top robe but Tam kicks out.
Natsupoi starts slapping her after the kickout but Tam reverses with a spin kick that sends Poi out from the ring, she follows up with her own plancha to the outside on Natsupoi she takes natsupoi up to the top rope corner and holds her in a dragon sleeper for some time before the ref makes her stop Tam then gets a bottle of water and pours it on Natsupoi as payback.
A little bit after that there is a great forearm beatdown from Tam to Natsupoi followed by a lot of pinfalls and rollups tries from both.
Natsupoi then hits a great german suplex for nearfall, she climbs up on the top rope and does the Fairial Gift but Tam just manages to kick out.
There is a really good sequence with the pair trading doing germans suplexes on each other ending with a tiger suplex from Tam but Natsupoi kicks out.
Natsupoi then hits a lot of slaps on Tam eventually starting to cry because Tam doesn't go down from them Tam slaps her away, Natsupoi screams and tries to attack but is hit by a spinning high kick, followed by the Violet Shoot knee strike she pins Natsupoi but at 1 Natsupoi gets out and roll her up for 2. Tam is quick to react with another violet shoot, then gets her up again hits the Twilight Dream, and pin Natsupoi 1.2.3
I really love this match the emotion in it is so good, it is very much my style of wrestling, Natsupoi showed up big time.
She showed a lot of emotion and passion, the depth of her emotional skills was felt very big time.
I think she proved a lot of doubters wrong, and she will be a future Wonder Champion for sure.
This is something that will become a very trending thing in these Tam defenses she brings out a lot of fire and emotion from her challengers.
After the match, Tam tells Natsupoi to use the highspeed belt to catch up to her, and that he believes that one-day Natsupoi will win the White Belt.
****3/4 on the Sondre Rating
Wonder of Stardom Championship match #3
Defense #2
4th of July 2021
Saya Kamitani vs. (c) Tam Nakano
On the 12th of June when Saya Kamitani defeated Maika in the finals of the Cinderella tournament, a tournament where the winner is granted a wish, she wished for a Wonder of Stardom title Match against Tam Nakano which was granted. Something interesting is that Saya also came into the wrestling industry as an Idol and that Tam was her mentor when Saya started wrestling.
This match is actually a rematch from their match in the opening round of the Cinderella tournament where Saya defeated Tam by count-out. Saya also came into this match with a minor rib injury.
The match starts with a good test of strength that shows both women's flexibility and strength followed by some good rollup attempts from both.
At one point early Saya rolls out after a spin back kick from Tam and takes a sip of water showing frustration she rolls in again only to be kicked by Tam in the ribs when she rolls in.
Tam dominates for some time after this especially focusing on hurting the ribs of Saya.
One of the devastating moments of this is when Tam has Saya in her dragon sleeper from the top robe let her go and does a double foot stomp to the back of Saya as she is getting up
Saya rolls out and Tam follows up with her plancha from the top rope.
Tam continues to dominate on the outside but Saya tries to come back with some weak forearm attacks that Tam just ignores.
They brawl into the ring and after some back and forth Saya hits a frankensteiner and Tam rolls out again but Saya then follows with a crossbody from the ropes.
She rolls Tam into the ring again hit a top robe dropkick on her and pins her for the first real nearfall of the match.
Right after that at the 10-minute mark, the women have a great forearm battle, Tam dominates the battle until at one point when Saya looks up at her smiling stands up, and starts slapping Tam as hard as she can repetitively and pushes her over to the corner with a big boot followed with kicks to tam in the corner that until the referee as to force her away, this moment was reminiscent of a Kota Ibushi beatdown which would make sense because Saya takes a lot of inspiration from him.
This is followed by a great slap fight that ends with a devastating dropkick from Saya to Tam.
Saya does a lot of her big moves after that, but they all fail to get her the three count.
She climbs to the corner to hit the Phoenix Splash, but Tam is too quick to react and gets up before Saya has turned around and does a german suplex from the second robe.
After that, while holding each other's wrists they have a kneeling back and forth forearm battle that they continued while standing up.
Saya dominates a bit after winning the forearm battle ending with a Star Crusher for a very close nearfall.
After this Saya climbs up and goes for the Phoenix Splash but Tam gets her knee up just before Saya lands and follows up with a tiger suplex to Saya for another very close nearfall, Tam then tries for the Twilight dream but Saya gets out.
Tam hits a spin kick followed by a high kick that puts Saya to her knees then Tam hits the first Violet Shoot of the match for another very close nearfall Tam in frustration takes Saya up and hits the Twilight Dream for the 1.2.3
This match is great in my opinion, Saya showed a lot of heart, fighting spirit, and desire in this match. I was really impressed by her, Tam brings this out of her opponent in every one of her defenses in my opinion.
****1/2 on the Sondre rating.
much stronger than before. Let's reach for our dreams together." She extends her hand but Saya refuses and leaves.
Wonder of Stardom Championship match #4
Cinderella Summer Tour In Sapporo
Defense #3
21th of July 2021Starlight Kid vs. (c) Tam Nakano
This match is a little different than the others it took place on a taped show instead of the other defenses that all happened on a PPV. I felt that held the importance of this match back a bit but I still thought it was a good match it was also hurt by a very small venue and one camera.
Before the match begins Tam offers her hand up but starlight Kid refuses.
The start of this match is very high speed with both girls going fast but starlight kid still doing a lot of stalling.
At one point after stalling a long time on the outside Kid tries to go inside but is dropkicked out again by Tam, she follows and they brawl a lot on the outside, Kid gets the upper hand and runs Tam into the side of the ring then the ring post.
Kid continues to punish Tam in the corner and the ref has to make her stop.
Tam falls down ringside again and the rest of Oedo Tai (who accompanied Kid to the ring) start beating on her while the ref is distracted, the other members of cosmic angles try to fight them off but the number of Oedo Tai is too much.
While that happens Saki takes the pad off one of the corners while the ref isn't looking and Kid regains her strength.
Oedo Tai eventually sends tam back inside the ring where Kid dominates Tam at one point sending her back first into the exposed corner.
But Tam keeps fighting back against her, with her usual kicks and regaining some control after a plancha to the outside.
Leading to a lot of forearms when they get back in the ring and some back and forth.
Kid gets in a DDT on Tam and goes for a moonsault from the top rope but Tam gets her knees up just before Kid lands.
Tam follows with a german suplex for the first real nearfall of the match.
Kid however regains control and does a great swinging neckbreaker followed by a chop to the back of Tam, she climbs up and hits the moonsault on Tam for a good nearfall.
Kid follows with a lot of kicks to the head and attempts a tiger suplex but Tam gets to the ropes and pushes Kid into the exposed corner catches her on the rebound and does a tiger suplex but she is so hurt in the back that she can't bridge for the cover.
They both get up at the same time and both go for forearm attacks, eventually, Tam slaps Kid and Kid falls to her knees Tam follows up with a violet shoot
Tam does another Tiger Suplex and this time makes the bridge but Kid kicks out at 2.
At one point after this Tam escapes when Kid tries to run her into the ropes where Ruaka is standing with a foreign object Ruaka hits Kid by mistake and that allows Tam to hit another violet shoot, Tam then hits the Twilight Dream for the 1.2.3
This is match is fun, but in my opinion, is the worst match so far, the atmosphere just didn't feel right, no commentary, only one camera
***3/4 on the Sondre rating
Following this match, Tam said that she was happy to they could have a title defense in Sapporo. She also said that there would not be any more defenses until the 5 star Grand Prix was complete in October.
That is the end of Part 1.
I really hope you liked it because I really put a lot of time into it.
Hope to see you back for part 2, promise I won't take a long time to complete it.
Feel free to follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SondreBjorn
Bye <3
No comments:
Post a Comment