Natsuko Tora defeated as Giulia nets ninth defence
STARDOM’s February 17 Korakuen hall event saw Giulia defend the STRONG Women’s Championship for a ninth time as she took on the intimidating face painted leader of Oedo Tai in Natsuko Tora. With a 1-1-1 record during the week’s preview tags heading into Korakuen, the two women trading pins and a middle bout being thrown out in an uncontrollable brawl, the showdown for the title was made more heated as champion and challenger both demanded no countouts and no DQs.
The two women charged into one another at the bell with elbows, but it would be the challenger that got the upper hand as soon as weapons became involved. A hurled chair, a swung bat thanks to the numbers advantage provided by Oedo Tai members Momo Watanabe as well as Starlight Kid and Ruaka at ringside, and Tora was comfortably on top. A chain assisted lariat later and Tora got much too comfortable, looking to disgrace the champion by cutting her hair, and in the process unleashing Giulia’s killer instinct.
The champion fought back with chair shots and brought Tora crashing into the famous ‘East’ seating signboard. The challenger was able to escape a table piledriver though, instead looking to dive onto Giulia through the wood before being cut off with another chair. As the match passed an intense ten minutes, a Hurricane Driver off the top for Tora scored, but when the two women went up top one more time, the result was a double arm suplex from the top floor, a move that finally weakened Tora enough to be piledriven through the table on the outside.
Bringing the challenger back into the ring, Giulia covered, but Tora kicked out before three, A backdrop suplex and knee wasn’t enough either; nor was a Northern Lights Bomb. The fighting spirit of the challenger was not in question as she launched a Hurricane Driver and Swanton for the nearest of twos, and then kicked out of a desperation Glorious Driver at one.
In the end it would be the pieces of the earlier shattered table that brought about a violent end to the match. Tora looked to use the table as a weapon but instead ate a backdrop suplex; Giulia seized control of the makeshift weapon and delivered a shot to the skull and another knee for two, before a Northern lights Bomb saw the referee count three.
Post match, Giulia and Tora shared mutual respect, as the ‘Insane Beauty’ approaches two digit defences. Can anyone take the STRONG gold away from Giulia?
