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

This was for Kairi’s World of Stardom Championship.

It’s good.

That’s pretty much it. I’m guessing I’ve got a neutral opinion on this one anyway, but to me this wears both its strengths and weaknesses on its sleeve. There are certainly some disconnected moments and a handful of minor mechanical issues, but at the same time, both women are incredible from underneath, and between the fireworks, some of the simpler stuff shines through. For the first time on the project, it’s exactly what I expected. In that sense, I feel like I don’t know where to take this review.

Structurally, this takes the right approach. Doesn’t jump into the big stuff too early and establishes a thread with Mayu going after Kairi’s arm and Kairi’s working over Mayu’s midsection. The focus on those two ideas isn’t as tight as it could be, but the selling and consequence of these are consistent enough for me to keep caring about the match until the finish. On some of the bigger stuff, the majority of it has that crispness that only exists between the daughters. There’s a bit of delay for positional things, so we’re not quite in the natural flow Io’s able to get into with these two just yet, but it’s certainly not soulless either.

What surprised me most were the transitional concepts late in the match. Stardom matches have—and will, to a much heavier extent in the future—failed to grasp the elemental aspect of wrestling. A contest between two people who have to preserve themselves and struggle to do it is something these two understand, and they succeed in undertaking what it means to be the lesser of two in this scenario. I struggle a bit with both with how they approach working on top; they never quite push the advantage enough, nor do they commit to being mean or nasty, but their fight for oneself when put behind the eight ball is really great. Those transitional tidbits, especially in the latter half, feel so simple and effective. They fall back on simple yet sound strikes, usually to those damaged body parts, and as a result, they earn those slow, tension-building moments. Perhaps that’s why some of the over-the-top theatrics and drama feel earned, and why something that, with time, has aged into nothing more than playing the hits ends up landing so well anyway.

Hopefully, a building block for what’s to come.

Rating: ***1/2