The second match of the first round of World Wonder Ring Stardom‘s (Stardom) annual Cinderella Tournament saw a Giublend of hard-hitting brawling and a ground clash of hooks as Giulia (Donna del Mondo) defeated Jungle Kyona (Tokyo Cyber Squad) in a solid match after Giulia rendered Kyona unresponsive with an impressive submission hold, created by a sequence of ground catch wrestling. Her victory set her up to face Momo Watanabe in the second round of the tournament.
Giulia receives critique from the English speaking Stardom fanbase due to her ring work, circumstances around her coming to the promotion, and her immediate rise — yet, she put on a good show in this match. Jungle Kyona is a consistent performer, but that shouldn’t take away from Guilia’s performance during the match. She isn’t a finished product, but she is far from looking lost in the ring.
The match went 8 minutes and 23 seconds, the second-longest first-round match of the Cinderella Tournament. It may have not been the best match of the opening round, but it achieved its purpose of showing Kyona to be a credible threat in singles competition, and Giulia as a rising star.
The first round of the Cinderella Tournament can be seen below.
