NEW YEAR STARS 2024 ~Happy New Year Stardom~ - WrestleFile Historical Verdict

Yuzuki and Ranna Yagami open the Rookie of Stardom bracket with a direct comparison between two wrestlers who debuted only weeks apart. Yuzuki has the slight experience advantage after beginning in November and already scoring a win at Dream Queendom, while Yagami is only a few matches into her career. The 6:52 runtime keeps the assignment focused. Yuzuki wins with the Rolling Arrow and advances without making Yagami look out of place. The match is more important as a developmental marker than a standalone classic, but it establishes the tournament hierarchy immediately and gives both wrestlers another documented step at a larger venue.

HANAKO enters the rookie tournament with substantially more 2023 ring time than Sayaka Kurara, who debuted only nine days earlier. That experience gap becomes the match's basic logic. Kurara gets 5:13 against a larger developmental peer rather than another top-level veteran, while HANAKO advances with the Brainbuster. The short match protects the tournament pace and gives Kurara a different kind of early-career test after debuting against Saya Kamitani. HANAKO reaching the final also makes sense because she had already accumulated a year of reps across Stardom and NEW BLOOD cards, creating a credible obstacle for Yuzuki later in the show.

Lady C and Hina provide the only straightforward singles match between the early tournament rounds. Lady C wins in 7:39 with a single-leg crab after using her size advantage to control stretches of the bout. The match does not carry a championship or tournament consequence, but it gives both Queen's Quest members a clean competitive assignment on a card where the faction also appears in Triangle Derby. Its placement is useful because it breaks up the rookie bracket before the trios tournament becomes dominant. Historically, it is a minor roster snapshot rather than an essential result, but the concise runtime keeps it from slowing the event.

The most important first-round result is a 15-minute time-limit draw between Queen's Quest and the trio of Suzu Suzuki, Mei Seira and Megan Bayne. Both teams are eliminated, granting Baribari Bombers a semifinal bye after the Artist champions had already advanced from a separate first-round walkover caused by Miyu Amasaki's illness. The draw protects six prominent wrestlers at once: the Goddesses champions Kamitani and Hayashishita, High Speed champion Seira, and recent World-title challenger Suzuki all avoid a direct loss. The tradeoff is bracket awkwardness, but the finish has genuine consequence rather than existing only to protect names. It changes the route to the final and becomes a major structural event in the tournament.

Oedo Tai advances with a 9:41 win over STARS, and the result is stronger than a generic faction tag because Mayu Iwatani is joined by the NEW BLOOD Tag Team champions Hanan and Saya Iida. Momo Watanabe pins Iida with the Heartless Driver, keeping Iwatani protected while giving Oedo Tai a clean tournament victory. The match also establishes Natsuko Tora, Watanabe and Starlight Kid as the faction's stronger Triangle Derby trio before they meet God's Eye in the semifinal. STARS exits early, but the fall placement avoids weakening its biggest singles star. The result is efficient tournament booking with a clear protective hierarchy.

God's Eye begins its tournament run with a 6:26 win over Oedo Tai's Fukigen Death, Rina and Ruaka. MIRAI pins Ruaka after the lariat sequence, giving the eventual tournament winners a decisive first result without requiring Syuri to take over the match. The short runtime makes sense because God's Eye will wrestle again in the semifinal and final. It also preserves energy for the stronger Oedo Tai trio waiting later in the bracket. As a standalone bout it is modest, but in the tournament story it establishes the winning faction efficiently and gives MIRAI a direct contribution before the championship final.

The semifinal ends by countout at 8:22, allowing God's Eye to advance while protecting Oedo Tai's stronger trio from a pinfall or submission. That finish is less satisfying than a decisive tournament win, but it serves a clear purpose. Syuri, MIRAI and Ami Sohrei already worked a first-round match and still need to reach the main event, while Watanabe, Starlight Kid and Tora have enough standing to justify some protection. The countout also separates this match from the clean first-round result against Oedo Tai's other trio. God's Eye gets the advancement without making the faction rivalry feel settled in a single afternoon.

The New Year's special eight-person tag gives the card a break from tournament brackets and places several established names into the longest non-draw match of the show. Saki Kashima pins Yuna Mizumori with Kishikaisei at 16:36, protecting new World champion Maika and Wonder champion Saori Anou from the deciding fall. Nanae Takahashi, Yuu and Hazuki add enough experience to make the winning side credible, while Mina Shirakawa rounds out a team that represents several different late-2023 directions. The match is valuable mainly as a roster bridge after Dream Queendom, keeping the new singles champions visible without immediately putting their belts back at stake.

Yuzuki completes the rookie tournament by beating HANAKO in 7:23 with the Rolling Arrow. The result is meaningful because HANAKO entered with far more 2023 experience and had already become a recurring presence across Stardom's developmental cards. Yuzuki had debuted only in November, so winning the tournament less than two months later gives her first stretch of matches a clear upward trajectory. The final does not need a long runtime to make the point. Yuzuki has already wrestled once earlier in the show, and the second victory establishes her as the promotion's rookie-tournament winner without forcing either wrestler into an artificially epic format. It is the night's strongest individual developmental milestone.

The main event resolves both the one-day Triangle Derby and the Artist of Stardom Championship in 14:00. God's Eye enters after two wrestled matches, while Baribari Bombers reaches the final through an illness-related first-round walkover and a separate semifinal bye. That difference creates an obvious fatigue disadvantage for Syuri, MIRAI and Ami Sohrei, making their victory more meaningful. Syuri pins Thekla after Syu-sekai, ending Giulia, Thekla and Mai Sakurai's title reign and giving God's Eye the tournament trophy and the trios championship in the same result. The match refreshes the Artist division immediately to start 2024 and gives God's Eye a faction-level achievement that is distinct from its members' singles careers.