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It is my mission this year to shift my wrestling viewing away from the purely AEW habits that formed last year out of laziness due to its accessibility and bitesize nature. My favourite PPV from last year was the All Star Cinderella and I am very keen to reignite my late 2020-early 2021 Stardom enthusiasm.
So with all that being said, a well-reviewed clash between two of my favourites and a title defence from the 2021 MVP seemed like a terrific place to start.
Mayu Iwatani vs Giulia
A 30-minute draw full of fight and struggle. The statistical data is somewhat low due to the low use of simple strikes. Everything Giulia and Mayu Iwatani did was big and meaningful, this is exemplified by the Big Offence Percentage in the slide below.
Standout stats from this one are the high strikedowns from Giulia, both competitors plethora of grapples and Giulia's reliance on submissions.
Syuri Kondo vs MIRAI
A very different match here. Huge reliance on strikes but taking to the sky was essentially rationed. Strikedowns were high but this was due to the large strike totals, meaning lower strikedown rates. Submissions were high but very split.
The biggest interest point from this match is the split in offence. Newcomer, MIRAI, went toe-to-toe with Syuri with a 2% advantage in total offence.
Mayu Iwatani/Giulia and Syuri Kondo/MIRAI Comparisons
Using two similar matches provided context for the two biggest matches at Nagoya Supreme Fight. We can see the amount of strikes in Syuri/MIRAI is vast and the opposite shines through in the Giulia/Iwatani match. Interestingly, strikedowns seem to be the theme of the night with both matches out-pacing the two comparison matches.
Let us know in the comments your thoughts on Giulia's foul usage, Iwatani's lack of submissions, Mayu's all or nothing attitude or anything else you spot yourself!