This is part of the “Stardom’s Favorite Daughter—Icon or Illusion?” watch series, which you can find here.

Tucked away in the “I’m surprised this actually happened already” category is actually another first on the watch project. This is a singles match that Mayu actually wins.

We start with a backstage interview of Mayu before the match. It should be obvious at this point I don’t speak Japanese, so this is just speculation on my part, but there is a certain air of confidence to her for the ~30 seconds we get of her talking. In comparison, Natsumi Showzuki sports a more hidden demeanor, sporting some kind of martial arts get-up, (taekwondo is my best guess) with a black belt. It’s her who is early in her career at this point, sporting less than 20 matches, although at this point, both women have won the same amount of singles matches, and gauging from how little Mayu’s risen up the card to this point, they should be on equal footing.

Now, this is once again me choosing to be speculatory, I am a little baffled at how this plays out. Showzuki got off to a much quicker start to her career when compared to Mayu, debuting with a nearly 13 minute loss to Shirai five months previous to this bout, which, as a reminder, Mayu labored to get through her debut. She’s also earned pinfall victories over Yuuri Haruka and Saki Kashima to this point, and with 10+ minute losses to established names like Natsuki Taiyo and Nanae Takahashi, it hardly seems like Stardom’s resident loser would pin her in five minutes, but hey, that’s what happens. Again, maybe there’s an answer as to why this happens, but I’m at the mercy of the footage that’s available, that or I just don’t care enough. You decide.

Anyhow, the match is fine. Hardly nothing that’s five minutes long ever is anything worse. Mayu has a little back-and-forth with the ring announcer that gets some laughs from the crowd before the match starts, though it’s hardly worth commenting on any kind of nerves at this point. What I will say is that it’s the biggest display of any kind of personality from either all that match, because once we do get underway, everything is wholly unremarkable. Dropkicks, wrist-locks, arm drags, a couple forearms—all real basic trainee stuff, and stuff that to this point, Showzuki is very much going through the motions with. She’s a boring wrestler who doesn’t seem to be putting much effort into anything asides her offense, and although some of that offense—particularly the roll through crossface—looks good, I’m given no reason to care about the match. No limb work, no real passion behind any of the strikes, no attempts to connect with the crowd. Hell, there’s no real attempts to sell anything from Showzuki beyond just taking the bump. Undeniably, it is a shame how her first run ends with a injury, but early on in this project, through this five minutes alone, Showzuki has already joined Yuzuki Aikawa as one of the most frustrating wrestlers in the promotion. Hell, even my presumptions about any importance surrounding the quickness of the result get thrown out, as Mayu wins with a Crucifix Driver after a uninspiring back-and-forth, then offers little reaction to support the idea this was a upset. Hard to blame her, she outclasses Showzuki in every way at this point.

Rating: Meh