This is for Io's World of Stardom title. I really liked the first half of this. They paced it so well and managed to work in a few good nearfalls too. The early matwork was great with Io using some shootstyle matwork to counter Storm's British style but then Toni mixes it further by working in some shootstyle of her own. The early second half of the match does drag but that's the only time that you feel that they are working towards a draw. The finishing run is interesting as they do something similar to Io's match with Shayna Baszler as the ref halts the match after Io gets KO'd by a nasty Storm piledriver. Unfortunately, Io does come back a little too soon which wasn't helped by Toni just sitting around seemingly waiting for Io to attack her. Even with the annoying flaws, this is a great match and probably would have been my joshi MOTY if they hadn't have happened. Still, yet another impressive showing for Io and the best performance from Storm in her career so far. ****

World of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai © vs. Toni Storm

 

This was excellent; an intense high drama main event. Io puts a wicked beating on the challenger in the first act, with a dropkick while Toni's neck is trapped in a chair, followed by stomps, and a double knee smash into the ring post. This is the most vulnerable Toni Storm has ever looked in Stardom. Storm has Io down for the count after she hits her deadly piledriver, the culmination of a neck-workover of hip attacks and an Okada-style reverse neckbreaker, but her pride won't allow her to win that way. Io sells the damage amazingly, lunging around on the mat with a stiff upper body as she fights to make the comeback; easily the best selling I have ever seen from her. Great match! ****