PERFECT END: Giulia vs. Konami Exemplified The Best of Pro Wrestling

A match that will be in my heart forever.

Hello everyone! It’s been a while. I’ve been trying to think of content to put here on the newsletter and have struggled. The idea of what I have wanted to do with this has changed but as I did with my last two posts (check them out if you haven’t please), I’m just going to writing things that are in the heart and see where it takes me. Okay, now back to the (not so) regularly featured content.

If you watch a pro wrestling match and it sticks with you for a few days, you know it is special. If it lasts a month? Awesome. Any longer and that means it’s likely an all timer for you which puts it in a special league of it’s own. It’s a match you consider a personal favorite or one of the greatest matches you’ve had the chance to see. Sometimes you don’t even realize that is happening until months later! Well, this is all to say that we all have those matches and it’s really why we watch professional wrestling in the first place.

You’re filled with emotion. It’s excitement. It’s sadness. It’s happiness. It’s everything that makes anything great, really. And that’s where I’m going today.

2022 has given everyone these moments I’m sure. But it’s also been filled with so much that it’s hard to remember something that happened days before 2022 even began. There’s been so much bad nonsense as well that has mudied the waters of what I think has been a spectacular year in pro wrestling. It only feels right, for me at least, that I get back to think about the matches and moments I have loved. The ones that stick with me.

I’ve had Giulia vs. Konami stuck on my mind since the moment it ended at Stardom Dream Queendom and I probably wrote something about it back then but this was as special as it gets. You want emotion? Got that before the bell ever rang. You want some story? That was locked in without Giulia being around to help tell the story. And you want a match that has all the moments and fundamentals you look for to deem it “great?” Yeah, these two can do it in their sleep. This match was a tribute, a goodbye, a welcome back, and above everything else — a classic.

Stardom Dream Queendom 2021 was a show of many moments. Syuri finally reaching the mountain top to end the night by winning the World of Stardom Championship. Saya Kamitani defeated Tam Nakano in a classic to become the Wonder of Stardom Champion. We even got to see Mayu Iwatani team with Takumi Iroha so obviously we love to see that! But before all of that was Giulia and Konami sending us through an emotional roller coaster. It’s the match that despite all these amazing events, I still think about since. Competing against two stellar matches in the semi-main event and main event, this match reached all the levels I look for in pro wrestling. It’s a lot of the reason the match between Mayu Iwatani and Starlight Kid from the final night of the 5STAR Grand Prix is one of my favorites of the year. The story, the emotion — it carries them to greatness.

For those who may not know or just need a reminder — Giulia was returning from the injury that took her out of a 5STAR Grand Prix tournament that she very much could have won. She was off for months and there were times of doubt as to when she would be returning. And then there was Konami, who announced she would be stepping away from STARDOM and pro wrestling after this match. As I’m writing this, she still isn’t back full time but it sure does seem she is loving life so that’s all that matters. But you see it — it was about being reborn for Giulia and taking care of yourself for Konami. These two were on different paths but the only way for them to move onto the next chapter was to go one-on-one and I’m not sure anyone really knew that before the match was about to begin.

I say that because the moment they made their entrances, those goosebumps and tears entered for many of us fans. Konami walked out not in the Oedo Tai gear she’s been wearing for over a year but her Tokyo Cyber Squad gear. It struck me and I know it struck you. Then Giulia having her complete new look that featured the familiar hair that would instantly remind STARDOM fans of a certain someone as well as the NEVER END flag with the entire STARDOM roster’s signatures on it. This is hitting me as I write this! But you see where I’m going. This was more than a welcome back. It was more than a goodbye. It was a tribute to Hana Kimura. A tribute that was so good that it is the best match of both women’s careers.

This is what professional wrestling is all about people! I felt it all. Sadness, happiness, I teared up, I smiled like an idiot in my basement at 5 a.m. in the morning, and I teared up some more. And then the bell rang and the match was on.

The work in here was spectacular. It was as though Konami hadn’t been in Oedo Tai for even a second and went back to her days of just being one of the very best in STARDOM. Her strikes were crisp, the technical work was clean, and she was on her game — something that is that much more impressive seeing she had health problems recently before this. Konami was back and it hurt that she wasn’t able to be this for so long but moving on from Tokyo Cyber Squad, like it or not, was still necessary when it happened. She had a chance to relive that version of her before walking away and for that, as a fan, I’m grateful.

Giulia was on another level. Well, she was on the Giulia level we have seen for the better part of the last year but you wouldn’t have thought she missed multiple months of action with injury. She was violent, she was confident, and she was class all at the same time. Prior to her injury, she was in the midst of combining her styles from her Wonder of Stardom Championship reign and her G.I. Giulia “I’m going to beat you up with everything I got” phase to make the complete version of herself. This was that. We got the best of Giulia and it was perfection.

Giulia and Konami couldn’t have had a better match. When I say it was perfect, I mean that. The Hana Kimura callbacks in the match reminded fans of how close both of these competitors were to her prior to her passing. I still believe that without Hana Kimura, Giulia doesn’t become who she is now. And it should go without saying but Konami was better because of her time with Hana and Tokyo Cyber Squad. They honored Kimura and it leaves me emotional as I write about it.

Wrestling fans can view pro wrestling however they want. But when I say this was perfect, I mean it. Anytime I think back to the match I smile because of the love it created. Giulia and Konami reminded me why STARDOM is so special. Creating memories like this match is why this promotion, more than any, is my favorite.

There’s not much more I need to say about this match other than thank you to both of them for doing what they did. It’s forever a favorite of mine and is a perfect example of the perfect wrestling match in my eyes. They checked all the boxes and filled my heart with love and joy. I miss Hana Kimura so much like everyone else. And I do my best to remember her. But if you want to see a match that perfectly remembers Hana and all that she stood for, this is the one. Simply incredible.

Pro wrestling is a special art and it’s the reason we all have these wonderful conversations every single day about it. If you want a match that makes you feel something, go watch Giulia vs. Konami from Stardom Dream Queendom. You won’t regret it.

NEVER END!