MidSummer Champions 2022: WrestleFile Historical Verdict

The 5:31 three-way works as a short preshow-style opener that gives Lady C a needed victory while keeping Hina and guest Yuko Sakurai in the developmental orbit of the card. Lady C pinning her Queen's Quest stablemate Hina adds a little internal competitive tension, and Sakurai's presence maintains the outside-talent thread from NEW BLOOD. The match is not historically central, but it gives the event an efficient start and provides a visible result for a wrestler who had expressed frustration with her recent position on cards.

Hanan's eighth successful Future of Stardom defense is more important than the 8:23 runtime suggests. Waka Tsukiyama enters as a persistent underdog, but Hanan had specifically chosen her after recognizing her effort, which gives the challenge an emotional frame beyond the title hierarchy. Hanan ultimately wins with the backdrop hold, extending a reign that was already setting defense records. The bout documents Hanan's transition from young prospect to a wrestler trusted to define the Future division while giving Tsukiyama another meaningful step in her long pursuit of a breakthrough.

The 11:58 tag continues two developing stories at once. MIRAI and Ami Sourei are building God's Eye into a credible unit around Syuri, while Miyu Amasaki is coming directly from the first match of her five-match trial series at New Blood 3. Pairing Amasaki with Utami Hayashishita gives the rookie elite support without protecting her from the finish. MIRAI pinning Amasaki after Miramare Shock keeps God's Eye moving toward larger title opportunities and makes the result useful connective tissue between developmental programming and Stardom's main cards.

The 8:42 eight-woman tag is short, but Rina pinning Saya Iida gives the bout a purpose beyond filling roster space. Oedo Tai gets a team victory over a STARS lineup featuring Mayu Iwatani and the reigning Goddesses champions Hazuki and Koguma, yet the finish lands on Iida and preserves the hierarchy. Rina's result also leads naturally into her post-match interest in the High Speed Championship later on the show. The match is best viewed as faction positioning rather than a standalone classic, but it efficiently moves several names toward their next programs.

AZM's fifth successful High Speed defense gives Momo Kohgo a genuine championship test rather than a token challenge. Kohgo had been improving rapidly under the influence of Hazuki, and the match lets her show enough speed and counters to force AZM into a focused submission finish with Numero Uno. The post-match attack and challenge from Rina immediately supplies AZM with another direction, so the defense advances the division even without a title change. It is one of the stronger examples of a champion using a defense to elevate a challenger while still reinforcing the gap between them.

The 16:02 elimination match becomes the card's defining storyline because its finish transforms a faction rivalry into a roster-changing moment. The early eliminations cycle through Cosmic Angels, COLOR'S and Donna del Mondo without making any single fall carry too much weight, but the final sequence narrows the story to Tam Nakano, Giulia and Natsupoi. Natsupoi chooses to help Tam remove Giulia and then steps away herself, effectively handing Tam the victory and ending her own place in DDM. The move pays off recent Tam-Natsupoi tension and creates an immediate new direction for Cosmic Angels.

The decisive moment cannot be understood merely as Cosmic Angels winning an elimination match. Natsupoi was still part of Donna del Mondo at the start, making her choice to support Nakano a rejection of the group that had brought her to this stage. The immediate beneficiary was Cosmic Angels, whose lineup and tag-team possibilities changed because of one competitor's decision. That made the result important to later title programs.

Saya Kamitani's seventh Wonder defense is a strong example of her reign becoming more than a sequence of athletic showcases. Starlight Kid enters with a specific plan built around damaging Kamitani's leg and limiting the champion's aerial offense, forcing Kamitani to work through a targeted weakness instead of simply overwhelming a challenger with pace. The 23:35 runtime allows the strategy to develop and gives Kid credibility as a singles challenger after her Oedo Tai transformation. Kamitani surviving and finishing with the Phoenix Splash reinforces her championship identity while leaving Kid stronger than a routine failed challenger.

The challenge was especially notable because Starlight Kid had developed a stronger singles profile since leaving STARS for Oedo Tai. Her leg-focused approach directly challenged what made Kamitani's offense dangerous, and the champion could not simply work an uninterrupted sequence of high-flying moves. Winning despite that adjustment strengthened the seventh defense, while Kid's failed title attempt still demonstrated she could drive a long singles championship bout.

Syuri and Momo Watanabe use 20:16 to revisit the rivalry that closed the 2021 5 STAR GP while showing how much both characters changed afterward. Syuri now enters as World champion and God's Eye leader, while Watanabe brings the aggression and rule-bending edge of Oedo Tai. The match mixes heavy striking with Watanabe's attempts to create openings through weapon-assisted tactics, but Syuri survives the escalation and ultimately forces the submission with Byakko. The defense works as both a high-level title match and a historical comparison point between the wrestlers' pre- and post-faction-change identities.

The Oedo Tai conflict gave Syuri an opponent whose conduct differed sharply from the more straightforward technical tests she had faced in other defenses. Watanabe tried to make the match operate on her terms, while Syuri needed to keep the main event about the championship rather than the faction's willingness to bend rules. The submission finish therefore supplied a direct answer and left the red belt securely with the God's Eye leader.