To hell with waiting until tomorrow. We have more Meiko Satomura matches to watch. Let's roll with another Meiko Satomura classic, the
Nanae Takahashi vs. Meiko Satomura World of STARDOM title match from Stardom The Highest 2012.
Satomura offers a handhsake to Takahashi, and Takahashi waves it off. I'm guessing that Takahashi is going to regret this decision. Takahashi has a slight height advantage. They circle each other, and Takahashi slaps Satomura, which kicks off a slap exchange. Slaps become elbows in the corner, and the referee has to pry Takahashi off Satomura. Takahashi is able to dodge Satomura's strikes. Takahashi basically no sells a German suplex to
punch Satomura in the face. Takahashi is a madwoman here. Satomura responds to a powerslam with a
Pele kick to Takahashi to knock her off the top turnbuckle and a kick to Takahashi's face that shakes her up. Back to some grappling that doesn't really go anywhere because they're evenly matched. Then, we get what might retroactively become my favorite spot of 2012, an
intense test of strength between Satomura and Takahashi that is won by Satomura. Headlocks are traded on the mat. Back to their feet, and
Takahashi retreats to the corner as she eats Satomura's knees to get in close to rock Satomura with elbows. Takahashi's long hair makes this madwoman look work. A Takahashi tope suicida starts the next stage of the match, though I'm not sure what's up with Takahashi's errant tope. Satomura throws Takahashi off her shoulders from the apron to start her heat segment. A
Satomura somersault knee to the back of Takahashi's head dazes her. Takahashi no sells a back suplex to hit Satomura with a back suplex, a German suplex, and a running kick. Satomura counters a suplex attempt with a
Pele kick that puts A.J. Styles's to shame. Another elbow exchange leads to a slap exchange, and Takahashi is just eating damage. A short lariat takes Satomura down for two as I regret watching this match with headphones on because Takahashi's screams are piercing. Short lariats from Takahashi are countered into a loose Satomura Dragon sleeper. A Death Valley Driver attempt is countered into a choke. Great counter exchange leads to a shoulder breaker. Takahashi's splash attempt only gets two as Satomura looks worn down. Strikes and a rolling capo kick take Takahashi down for two. Falcon arrow takes Satomura down for two. Satomura is beginning to focus more on submissions to wear Takahashi down since Takahashi is just eating her kicks, knees, and slaps. Takahashi
counters a Satomura splash with knees, though not as brutally as Aja Kong recently did. Satomura counters a Takahashi jumping nothing with an elbow and hits her with a Death Valley Driver, but it only gets her down for two. Satomura is selling her exhaustion; she's hit Takahashi with everything, but Takahashi just gets up,
punches her in the face, and hits her with a Super Falcon Arrow. Satomura kicks out from another Falcon Arrow, and Takahashi tries to put her down with a DVD of her own. Another Satomura DVD and another kick to the face gets two, and Satomura goes back to the headlock to try to wear Takahashi down. A missed Pele kick gets Takahashi a two count, and Takahashi's
powerbomb opens her arm to Satomura, who locks in a hizajujigatame. Takahashi makes the ropes barely. Satomura tries to counter a lariat with an armbar, but Takahashi counters with a sidewalk slam. A splash off the top gets Takahashi a one count. Satomura feels the fighting spirit, but her strike falls short because she is just exhausted. Takahashi picks her up, tucks her arm in, slams her, and scores the win with the One Second EX. At 23 minutes, this felt epic. Takahashi eats all of Satomura's best offense, and she's able to counter a lot of Satomura's offense. It makes the show of disrespect at the start of the match make sense. Why should Takahashi shake Satomura's hand when she knows that Satomura can't beat her? Unfortunately, the middle of the match dragged. Takahashi's tope that hit another girl is still weird (though it could have been covered in the post-match promo that I didn't understand), and Satomura's submission work never goes anywhere. Nonetheless, watching Takahashi and Satomura trade bombs for 20 minutes was entertaining, and the tension at the start of the match was great. Satomura's selling of exhaustion is great, and Takahashi is mostly believable as the unstoppable monster. Her punches look great.