Saya vs AZM and Cena vs Styles

A bit of a catchup for Stardom, plus a match I watched out of grim curiosity...
Saya vs AZM - STARDOM in KORAKUEN September 26, 2025
This match is Free on Youtube!
These two were almost a little too extra and were going WAY WAY crazy. Felt like they wanted to make sure AZM wasn't just seen as a throw-away-great-match dispenser. Making this for the Strong title and not the Red Belt makes the results hurt way more. Saya is great, and likely wanting to do more stuff over seas, but AZM has been begging for a break for years now.
The era of AZM will come one day... one day...
AJ Styles vs John Cena - WWE Crown Jewel 2025
This match was not made for me, but I watched it out of curiosity, regardless. Part of me has to respect this match. Two wrestlers went out and gave the crowd what they wanted. They shouldn't have done anything different.
But I'm not the WWE crowd, and for me, it was a bunch of borrowed finishers, unearned and unexplained, in a match with no particular stakes. It sometimes worked for me. Cena's response to the crowd's response to the Bray Wyatt spot was touching. The 619 spot -- a spot forced on them, by the crowd -- was genuinely a hilarious, on the fly adaptation. It's not like they don't know how to work!
... But ultimately, this is WWE. What they peddle is memories, and this match was a march down memory lane. With two greats nearing retirement, this is a time to feel and be a little sappy. While I can say a lot of the match felt "unearned", in the context of their careers it's very earned. I can't blame someone for being moved by this match... These two gave the actual fans the a match they could only dream for.
But as someone with few warm memories for WWE. I respect Cena, but I will not miss him. AJ retiring soon feels like the end of the era, but this is a company I haven't followed for years now. As an external observer, watching a pirate VOD on VK, the smoke and mirrors were all too apparent. The magic wasn't there. But whatever. I'm not -- and shouldn't be the audience. The crowd, a sea of Cena Yellow Shirts were all in. The two took a lovely victory lap for them.
I watched this with April, my lab grown wrestler-friend who only watches stuff I put on. Her... tastes are hilariously varied and developed for someone who would never watch wrestling on their own. Her review was basically "It was fine... Kinda slow, but it's like if Rock vs Hogan was actually good."
Crouton, who was half asleep watching on the couch with a cat in his lap, tiredly quipped. "... All these finishers are real corny." So I guess my rating is a bit generous.