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

This was for Io and Mayu’s Goddesses of Stardom tag titles.

Quickly, regardless of how this eventually plays out, 20 minutes is a bit ridiculous. At least, as a concept alone. Nothing against the duo of Chelsea and Melissa, but they are rather plain. Fine wrestlers, nothing really interesting or offensive either way, and certainly not the type that should be wrestling 20+ minute main events. Even the Thunder Rock duo, who’s been teaming together for some time to this point, isn’t exactly the greatest in elongated matches that require traditional structures either. They fail to check me on that early, choosing to fill the first quarter of the match with some pretty awful attempts at an opening grappling sequence, quickly removing what little tension was created by the usual pre-match title ceremony. Next, they make sure to fulfill the Stardom obsession with hitting some stupid, overly coordinated poses. Normally, after seeing this, I’d err on the side of caution, save myself the 15 minutes, and chance the 1-in-100 of missing a match that evolves into something worthwhile. With the project though, I’ve held myself to a certain level of commitment, so I stuck it through.

Hit one of those one percenters for my troubles too.

Hidden behind the overly cutesy posing and prompts to the crowd is some damn solid work on a limb. Chelsea and Melissa both have enough push and snap in their approach to the control segment, and the resulting work on Mayu’s leg feels mean and focused. Because of that, Mayu gets to dip into the direct, gripping babyface selling I’ve found so easy to praise. The simplicity of the work takes any kind of complex thinking off of Mayu’s plate, and with sole focus on selling the leg and setting up the hot tag to Io, this thing is genuinely soaring for a few moments. Look no further than the simple heat-garnering rest holds, where she shines with her pained facial expressions, even getting a normally dormant, apron-bound Io to add some extra life, arguing with the referee while bouncing up-and-down, yelling encouragement to her partner. There is the unfortunate decision of having a springboard crossbody set up said hot tag to Shirai, but it’s a small walk back from the stunning turnaround. A couple of high-impact and high-flying moves from Shirai then get the crowd right back behind Thunder Rock, and from there the match does what so many Stardom matches never do: it naturally coasts to the finish. It’s all team babyface from there on out, with the only cutoffs coming via Mayu’s bad leg. There’s a particularly sick doomsday diving crossbody that Io eats a pretty nasty neck bump on, but that only serves to make her little comeback afterward more exciting. In the end, a spike tombstone and straightjacket suplex puts Chelsea away, and Thunder Rock retains.

Not essential or anything, but the best version of itself.

Rating: ***1/2