World Wonder Stardom 5 Star Grand Prix August 10th 2024

Whew. Okay, I’m finally here. I’ve been burned by NOAH recently, I’ve been burned by Marigold before that, I’ve been burned by New Japan after that, I’ve been burned by All Japan (okay All Japan is still great, they just don’t run many shows) so here I am, hat in hand, returning to Stardom. The Five Star is always fun, always a time for wrestlers to make the leap and hit the next level (or not). We’ve had a lot of big changes this year in the company, so let’s see what Stardom gave us (yes I’m way behind, shut up). We’re here in the Budokan with almost 1600 people in attendance, let’s get to it.

I do want to say that I’m probably going to skip over every non-block match, I’ve seen enough Stardom undercard tags to last a lifetime and I do not need to see any more.

Saori Anou vs. Anna Jay – Blue Block A Match

Background: So Saori is aloof and stoic and pretty credible, having held the secondary title and a number of big singles belts outside the company as well. Anna of course is from AEW and well, she hasn’t accomplished much in her career but it’s trial by fire time! Anna is in dark gear with black stars on them and a big coat and a ponytail. Saori is in her gossamer and feathered boa entrance gear and her ring gear is all white with some blue highlights on her top and a long stocking/belt thing on her left leg, looks pretty cool.

The Match: Anou doesn’t mess around and gets a Northern Lights and then a low roundhouse to start but Anna dodges a kick against the ropes and then slams Saori’s head on each turnbuckle and does some brawling and then a neckbreaker through the ropes. Anna chokes Saori on the ropes and then against the turnbuckle, but when Jay goes for a charge Saori does a floatover and gets a fisherman’s suplex. They slug it out and the strikes are pretty gentle. Saori gets an enzuigiri though and goes up but Jay cuts Saori off, gets a thrust kick on the top and iconoclasms Anou off before following up with a weak cover for 2.5. Anna follows with an attempt at her Queenslayer sleeper but Saori gets a jawbreaker to buy some time and now goes up and gets the missile dropkick. Saori covers but Anna gets the Queenslayer again! Anou makes the ropes but Jay smells blood and gets a Gory Bomb for 2.6. A short-arm heel kick is attempted by the American but Anou counters that with a German suplex. But now Jay lands the heel kick…and Saori gets another German, this time with a bridge, for 2.8. ANOTHER Anna Jay heel kick sets up the Queenslayer but Saori spins out and gets the bridging backslide…but Anna reverses into a jackknife for 3.

½*

This was very bad. Anna is slow, clunky, awkward, and just nervous out there, and these limitations of execution means she can’t even begin to wrestle with a character. Anou is better at execution and she has a gimmick, but she can’t marry the two. Bad match and a disturbing sign for the rest of the Anna Jay run. Least it was short.

Konami vs. Ruaka – Red Block A Match

Background: So we get HATE vs. HATE here. The dominant and new heel faction, HATE, have just taken over and gotten a ton of gold. Konami had recently betrayed God’s Eye and is a shoot-fighting kicker/submission artist, Ruaka is taking the spot of the new World of Stardom Champion, Natsuko Tora, and like Tora, Ruaka is a big-bodied brawler, using big fat sentons and plenty of cheating to get the win. Ruaka is still relatively inexperienced and this is her first Five Star. Ruaka has a white hime cut with heavy eyeshadow and is a latex outfit with some lace and straps to really ramp up the bad girl thing with all sorts of asymmetrical character to it. She’s bringing her traditional luggage weapon with her. Konami has a pretty dope cape and silver hair with bangs that hang over her face. Her gear is black with some dark red highlights but is less shiny than Ruaka’s latex and has instead some glittery notes to it and some fur and feather pieces (relics of her time with Tokyo Cyber Squad, but now EVIL!!!).

The Match: We get a handshake of respect to start…and then Konami immediately sneak attacks the kid and we have slug fest to get us going. Konami wins with strikes but Ruaka goes at the eye and then shoulders the smaller Konami down. Biels follow and then some corner choking, but Konami goes to the hair too chokes Ruaka against the ropes, but Ruaka gets a low-bridge and then they take it outside. Ruaka grabs her luggage and Konami a chair and get ready to swing, but both agree to put their weapons down…and then try to swing at each other again before the ref yanks the foreign objects away. Konami gets whipped into the chairs instead. Back in and Ruaka gets a running corner avalanche and then a running senton. Konami fires back with an armbar though and some small joint manipulation that forces a break, but Konami gets a sliding kick into the ropes to keep the advantage going. Konami can’t get a German though and Ruaka wipes her out with a crossbody into the ropes and then a delayed fisherman’s suplex. Another running body avalanche into the turnbuckle and Ruaka sets up something out of the corner, but Rina (one of their stablemates) passes Konami some spraypaint that she blinds Ruaka with! Diving gamengiri by Konami, and then a running, jumping punt gets 2.8 but the followup by Konami involves her running straight into a luggage shot from Ruaka and then a lariat for 2.9! Konami jumps out of the chokebomb though and Konami gets a choke, a German, and then a ripcord knee for 3.

**¾

Well this was a lot of fun! I guess I would have rather seen this later on when some of their cheating was more established, but I’m a sucker for heel vs heel stuff, and Ruaka’s big bulky brawler versus Konami’s more sophisticated striking cheating was a fun interaction. Definitely didn’t expect this from Ruaka but I’m kind of hyped now.

Xena vs. Miyu Amasaki – Blue Block A Match

Background: So Xena is representing ExV and is their dedicated power wrestler. She’s an Australian and she’s dressed like how you would expect. Miyu is the lowest-ranked member of the Neo Genesis, the brand-spanking new all-juniors faction. Miyu has dark blonde hair that is based onehr trying to fix an awful attempt at green she tried earlier t5his year and is wearing very watery colors, turquoise, cyan, seafoam, with some gold and dark blue on her chest. Xena is dressed exactly how you would expect a wrestler named Xena to be dressed, she has the dark colors and the battle skirt deal and long, straight, black hair.

The Match: Xena immediately takes the back and does a few takedowns on Miyu and just rides her on the mat. Miyu gets a few evasions but it’s mostly Xena…until Amasaki gets a kick to the gut…and Xena immediately gets a tilt-a-whirl into an Argentine rack dropped into a double-knee backbreaker…for 2.8. Nasty and great looking move there. Xena then just slaps the holy spirit out of Miyu, picks her up for a fireman’s carry…and Miyu slips out the back and gets a Delfin Clutch for 3!

**

Always feel weird rating matches this short, but it succeeded at what it was trying to do. Xena was arrogant but much stronger and Miyu got an underdog, upstart win against an opponent with a sneaky rollup. Also I appreciate the variety of shorter matches and some upsets and quick situations as the time calls for it.

Saki Kashima vs. Ranna Yagami – Blue Block B Match

Background: Another stablemate civil war as both Saki and Ranna are in God’s Eye together. While Ranna is the student and protege, learning how to be an honorable and pure-hearted martial artist, Saki is their lazy, slacker, only-in-it-cause-the-heels-kicked-her-out black sheep. Ranna is straight forward, Saki is underhanded and sneaky. Ranna has short blonde hair and is wearing a yellow and black outfit with some shooting star motifs on it. Saki is in wine red with dark red hair and some fishnet/gossamer sleeves on in like a stylized ninja outfit. Even more amazingly she has a Fist of the North Star themed tron and a big poster that I assume is also related to that, as she is a HUGE Hokuto no Ken fan.

The Match: Saki continues to pose with the poster and Ranna just dropkicks her down and goes at her in the ropes, but Saki kicks her…while continuing to hold the poster, Ranna even gets a rollup and Kashima keeps the poster intact! Saki finally gets to pose with the poster with the ref and bows, and then hands it over and slams Ranna against the turnbuckle and then chokes her on the ropes. Ranna gets free though and gets some running kick stuff and a dropkick. Snapmares and shoot kicks follow by Yagami and Kashima crawls to the corner and covers up Ranna continues just brutalizing Saki with kicks though as Kashima is totally out of it. Saki ducks the buzzsaw kick though and gets a few loose strikes of her own. Saki poses in the corner with the poster and gets a diving double stomp out of it, but she keeps posing and Ranna rolls her up for 3 as Saki refuses to give the poster up.

*½

Dunno about putting this right after the last “quick rollup finish” match, but this was a lot more comedic. I also don’t think it was a good enough joke to extend through a full match, but the match was short. I dunno, Ranna seems competent but she needs something more than “I am serious and kick.” Kashima at least was very hyped over the poster, so that’s neat.

Post-match Saki Kashima makes nice with Ranna…and then hits her with the poster and they walk off together. That’s cute.

Hanan vs. Suzu Suzuki – Blue Block B Match

Background: So Suzu won the last Five Star but didn’t win her match for the Red Belt. She’s the Crazy Girl and is the ‘heavywight’ of Neo Genesis. She’s half-techincal prodigy, and half-crazy deathmatch wrestler. Hanan is the rising star of uh…STARS, and has achieved some success with a Cinderella Tournament win earlier this year. She’s athletic and smiles a lot and does judo. Suzu is in more black and red and has tights that are artfully ripped up and she looks like some fantasy barbarian from an expensive video game, cool look. Hanan is in a blue outfit with some yellow fur trim.

The Match: Hot start as Hanan comes in, dropkicks down Suzu while her music is still playing and unleashes a flying uppercut…but Suzu catches her coming out of the corner with a crossbody and kicks her down and then tosses Hanan into the opposite corner for some stomps and chokes. Suzu gets some running strikes into the corner and then some kicks as Suzu plays to the crowd and facewashes Hanan a bit before doing her “run through the crowd and do a huge buildup before hitting a drive-by kick” and well she misses this time. Hanan knocks her down and gets the “Jeff Jarrett flying crotch attack to an opponent draped on the ropes” (we need a shorter name for that) and then a gorgeous headlock takeover that is scoop powerslam-esque in its pop. Suzu tries to come back with a thrust kick and then a spinning enzuigiri both the first is blocked and the second ducked and Hanan goes for the backdrop driver…Suzu flips out though and they do some run and gun stuff before Suzu catches Hanan with a buzzsaw kick. Suzu catches her breath before teasing the German but Hanan fights it off but gets dropped with a forearm. Hanan comes back with her own and we have a strike off…and Hanan almost wins before Suzuki gets the savate kick and just pounds away at the taller wrestler before stomping her into the dirt. Suzu follows up with a punt and this has been a beating. Suzu goes for the kill but Hanan gets an uppercut and two backdrop drivers! Suzu rolls outside and Hanan gets the plancha…but Suzu ducks and Hanan wipes out other Neo Genesis members instead. A toss into the stairs and Suzu drags Hanan back…but the Stars wrestler gets a desperation backdrop driver and Suzu mostly flips out of it…I think. But Hanan gets a blockbuster slam and crawls back inside…and Suzu Germans her off the apron but Hanan won’t let her back in and we have a double countout and they brawl some more.

***

Some of the ending stuff was a bit fuzzy but this was a nice brawl where both wrestlers played their characters and Suzu’s love of violence costing her a win was a nice touch. Hanan showed fire as well and I think that she’s the one you want to rise up the card for Stars as Mayu’s eventual replacement.

Hazuki vs. Manami – Red Block A Match

Background: Hazuki is a Stars member and a reliable hand in the tag-division, having held oodles of gold, she’s a bit of a hard-edged note for the normally soft and fluffy Stars stable, serving as a sort of taskmaster for their rookies. Manami is an act I’m only somewhat familiar with but she’s from Sendai and is a bit of high-flyer. Manami is out and she’s dressed in a LOT of blue and has blue hair and a blue boa and a blue top and all sorts of blue, blue all over the place…and an orange fan, so maybe she’s a Mets fan. Hazuki is in a lavender kimono and orange gear…with blue accents, so maybe they’re BOTH Mets fans?

The Match: We actually start with a lockup and Manami gets Hazuki in the ropes and then grabs a headlock as she’s notably taller than the Wildheart. Hazuki uses some momentum off a whip to get a schoolgirl and then a dropkick and then some facewashes against the ropes while playing to the crowd. Running low boot and Manami flops her hair around wonderfully for it. More classic Hazuki offense with a senton into a crossface and Manami makes the ropes. Manami fires back while Hazuki kicks her down and applies a cross-armed choke. Manami eventually makes her comeback by screaming a lot and getting a flying forearm and a dropkick…and I guess screaming is her thing cause she does it to every side of the ring…and Hazuki taps her on the shoulder and slaps her to get back to the wrestling. Hazuki gets a springboard dropkick for 2.5 and then teases a brainbuster but Manami slips out. Slap-off next and Manami is all rubber-legged and Hazuki takes advantage with a brainbuster and back to the crossface and after some time Manami gets another break. Another low boot sets up a diving senton for Hazuki…but Manami cuts her off and slams her off the top. Jumping knee by Manami! Missile dropkick follows for 2.7 and Manami presses with a backstabber and then a hammerlock Northern Light’s suplex. Manami goes up with a splash and misses and we get some roll-up reversals next…and then Hazuki gets a big boot and then a codebreaker out of the corner. But Manami uses her height to get a break. Hazuki goes back up and she gets the diving senton for 3.

**¾

Well, this was…energetic and sharply worked if nothing else. I don’t think I got enough of a sense of Manami’s character in this match but she’s unique if nothing else and has something as this loud weirdo. Looking forward to more of her. Hazuki remains absolutely rock solid even if she doesn’t quite have the charisma to be a top-star. I do wish Manami used her height advantage for more than just ropebreaks but maybe that’s just a minor quibble.

Mei Seira vs. Tomoka Inaba – Red Block B Match

Background: Mei is a member of Neo Genesis and is ANOTHER junior in their stable, she’s the most junior junior, being very small, very quick, and kind of a puckish sorta scamp, though nowhere near as mean or bratty as others. Tomoka is another member of God’s Eye that’s a serious kicky person, but she’s got a lot more experience than Ranna and is a protege of TAKA Michinoku and has been a fixture in his JTO promotion. Inaba has braids and one bang that hangs down and is wearing silver and white gear with a veil over her face for the entrance, also she has some belt from JTO and does a few kata before the match. Mei has black as a base color and a ton of brightly colored strings either hanging as tassels or woven into the gear, she has rainbow hair as well.

The Match: They circle each other for a bit, both probing without committing until Inaba eventually takes the arm and Mei reverses it as they do some wristlock business, headlock takeover/headscissors deal and a stalemate and then they go quick with Mei bamboozling Inaba with rapid movement to set up a dropkick and then a toss. Mei decides to work the knee and grinds away at Inaba’s let with stomps and then works it in the ropes, a few rapidfire dropkicks to the knee keeps the abuse up. Inaba tries to slug it out but Mei just stomps on the leg again but runs into a punch to the stomach and Inaba fires off her own kicks, remembering to sell people strikes at least. Tomoka then attacks the leg of Mei. Now both their legs are gimpy and Inaba slowly grinds out Mei’s leg. More stomps from Inaba and Mei finally fires up and hits a springboard reverse dropkick off of the middle rope, and clutches the leg afterwards at least. Inaba locks in another kneebar and Inaba makes the ropes. Reset and Inaba gets a scoop lift into a knee strike (argh) and uh, it mildly bothers her leg. Samoa Joe evasion for a Mei crossbody leads into a sunset flip sequences and then Mei is just firing off rollup attempts and their legs are fine. Spin kick from Inaba and a dropkick from Mei and we get a double down. They slug it out and Inaba wins, backing Seira into the ropes and hammering away at her, but Mei gets a low-bridge and attempts a dropkick off the apron but it’s dodged and Tomoka gets a big kick (and then some water). Back in and Inaba gets a dragon screw through the ropes and then an ankle lock. Ropebreak from Mei and then Inaba gets some Muay Thai knees and then some shoot kicks to the back. Mei gets a cazadora though and her own ankle lock before Inaba reverses into HER own ankle lock. More kicks from Inaba and then a heel hook and Mei is in it for a while before she makes the ropes Mei gets a big German, ducks a high kick, and gets another big German, but then runs into Inaba’s pop-up knee and a buzzsaw kick gets…2. More precise strikes from Inaba loads up a Michinoku Driver…and time expires right as Inaba hits it.

*¼

Well this is a lot of my least favorite things in a match, limb work that just didn’t go anywhere, fighting for a draw, lots of time wasting holds…just not good. But the finishing sequence looked good and was well-timed.

Syuri vs. Starlight Kid – Blue Block A Match

Background: Syuri is the leader of God’s Eye, she’s honorable, mostly serious, and a versatile ex-MMA fighter who does basically a little bit of everything in the ring though her bread and butter is submissions, she’s won almost everything there is to win in the company. Starlight Kid, recently turning babyface after being booted from the former Oedo Tai, is a very, VERY popular junior who is kinda-sorta in charge of Neo Genesis (though they insist they have no leader) who has yet to crossover into heavyweight status so we’ll see if she can do so. Kid is in a lot of blue and has long blonde hair with some pink highlights, she’s of course wearing a mask. Syuri has a purple and silver robe on and her ring gear is like…iridescent blue, purple, and green, I think it’s supposed to be peacock themed.

The Match: Lockup to start and Syuri wins and gives the clean break but Syuri throws a kick after and SLK ducks. Lucha sequence from Kid and Syuri misses some more kicks before getting a John Woo and then a snap suplex and a chinlock. Syuri continues stomps Kid down and she’s definitely heeling it up a bit as SLK sells big off the strikes. Bit of an ugly botch as Kid almost slips going off the ropes for a reverse crossbody and Syrui waits to charge so Kid can regain her footing. Eesh. More fancy footwork from Kid as she gets Syuri’s leg trapped in the ropes and hits a legbreaker, a standing moonsault to the leg, and then cranks in the Stretch Muffler. Syuri makes the ropes and gets a breather with a codebreaker to shake the leg out and then knees SLK against the ropes and gingerly climbs the ropes while stretching her leg. Kid takes this chance to cut Syuri off and after a bit of a struggle, gets a springboard dropkick that spills Syuri to the outside and Kid follows with an Asai Moonsault. Back in and Starlight gets some rolling cross-legged fisherman suplexes and then goes up for a 180 splash, but when Kid goes up for a moonsault to follow up Syuri rolls out of the way and then splatters Kid with a running knee and goes for her own stretch muffler before Kid counters into her own…and then Syuri counter that and gets a standing swinging stretch muffler into the full Byakko (Syuri has four signature submissions each named after the four directional gods of east Asian myth) before Kid makes the ropes. A draping DDT by Syuri keeps the pressure up and goes for her delayed Emerald Flowsion she calls Ryuen (all of Syuri’s names are mythological references, it is what it is) but Kid slips out and stumbles a bit and both remember their knees are jacked up. They slug it out and Syuri easily wins that exchange and gets a ridiculous step-up knee that sounds like death, Ryuen gets 2.8 for Syuri who adjusts her knee a bit more going for a cutthroat Ryuen…but Kid slips out and gets a rana for 2.8 and then a Tiger Suplex for 2.9! Moonsault lands and Syuri kicks out at 2.8. Kid goes for another suplex but Syuri does a standing switch and gets a big German, Kid gets a jumping leg lariat, but a high kick by Syuri lets her lock in the Byakko in the middle of the ring and she gets the arm-catch and that’s it.

***¼

There’s a few quibbles about shaky selling at parts and a few slip-ups with timing, but these are two electric athletes who have a great contrast with each other. I appreciated Syuri working a sort of Bret Hart-heel as she took down the smaller, younger worker with some mean, but not illegal, stuff. Now I will say Neo Genesis Starlight Kid does not seem all that much more different than Oedo Tai Starlight Kid in the ring.

Momo Watanabe vs. AZM – Red Block B Match

Background: Momo is the mean, burnt out kicks and suplexes workrate goddess of the HATE stable. AZM is the other popular junior who joined Neo Genesis, she was a bit of a young jerk who made fun of her opponents for being older than her but she’s mellowed a bit, named the High Speed Bomb Girl, AZM goes fast and loves to work the arm. Momo has a pretty dope jacket with fur fringe, straps, buckles and all sorts of other Final Fantasy looking accouterments, and of course a bat. Momo’s hair is two-toned black and pale yellow and she’s wearing black gear with more straps, a fishnet front thing and a few yellow highlights.. AZM is dressed like a futuristic DJ (hey Tokyo Cyber Squad wants their look back) with a neon jacket, her gear is green, white, and purple as she’s keeping the cyberpunk raver deal, her hair has a few fading purple highlights in it.

The Match: Hot start as Momo jumps AZM in the corner and immediately tosses her and they brawl ringside while Momo uses AZM’s head as a percussive instrument. AZM tries to use the apron to reverse something into a headscissors but Momo catches it and stablemate Konami kicks AZM in the abdomen and we get a crab on the outside before Momo tosses AZM back in and we get some heavy kicks to the high-flyer. AZM tries to speed things up with some rope-running but Momo leapfrogs AZM and kicks her down and keeps the stomping up and mixes in some choking on the ropes. AZM throws some weak forearms as Momo is just loving this and she smiles and laughs to the crowd, but AZM reverses a brainbuster and unleashes her own kicks and then goes for Momo’s arm, Watanabe gets the ropebreak but AZM takes this chance to get a stinging kick to the arm. AZM keeps up the speed with some more run and gun but when she attempts to go out of the corner with a reverse dropkick Momo keeps pace and shoves AZM over the top. Momo gets a running PK on the High Speed Bomb Girl from the apron and once again goes at AZM on the outside, this time whipping AZM across four rows of chairs. AZM reverses a second whip though as Momo flies into the chairs, they brawl on the outside and tease a double count-out when they get a double high-kick and both fall down. Both roll back in though and slug it out on their knees before rising up, Momo gets some heavy kicks but AZM gets LA MISTICA! LA MISTICA! LA MISTICA! (sorry, it’s just fun to yell) and gets the full armbar before Momo scrambles to the ropes. AZM goes up but misses the double stomp. Momo can’t get a suplex and AZM tries Azumi Sushi and we get a very tight nearfall sequence as both trade pins but neither can seal the deal. Both trade high-kicks next and Momo loads up the B-Driver…but AZM gets a Yoshi-Tonic out of it…but only for 2.9. AZM goes up and gets the double-stomp and covers…but pulls Momo up at 2….uh oh. AZM tries for a buzzsaw kick to finish but Momo blocks it, AZM goes for another La Mistica but Watanabe counters that into a reverse B-Driver…for 2.8. Momo locks in a crossface chickenwing, AZM reaches for the ropes but this was bait as Momo kicks the arm and gets her Peach Sunrise (half-and-half suplex) but doesn’t cover and sets up something else that AZM reverses into a Canadian Destroyer (that she lands pretty awkwardly on, lots of Momo’s weight is on ONE of AZM’s legs) gets only 2.8 and AZM tries for a double-underhook Canadian Destroyer, but Momo gets the B-Driver and a punt both for 2.9. Momo plants AZM on the top and teases a top-rope B-Driver but AZM gets a super Canadian Destroyer and then Azumi Sushi gets 3.

***¾

This was basically a wild sprint, but it was one heck of a sprint. It descended into a certain amount of movez-ishness at times but for a bomb-throwing high octane deal with tons of counters and a wicked pace (plus really fun heeling from Momo). I’m sure there will be people who like this match even more than I do if this sounds like your cup of tea. If we had managed to get the work on Momo’s arm a little more coherently through the match I probably would have gone 4 for this.

Risa Sera vs. Saya Kamitani – Blue Block B Match

Background: Risa Sera was at one point a deathmatch invader as part of the Prominence stable/promotion (it’s complicated) but is back and I’m legitimately unsure of her alignment. She likes to cheat and hit people with a kendo stick but we’ll see how that works. Saya is…a very complicated story but the short version is that she was in Queen’s Quest (which is no more) and they got disbanded and she joined the stable that beat them and is now a dirty rotten cheating stinking heel. Before that she was an athletic, tall, high-flyer who did all the stuff and was bright and chipper, now she’s the Dark Phoenix (that’s a good name for a comic book!) and uh, we’ll see how her super babyface personality and wrestling works as part of the diabolical HATE stable. Saya has new gear and new music and instead of a good flag she has an EVIL flag of EVIL, her entrance robe is basically her old getup except it’s all black feathers and black tassels and leather and buckles and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t super cool looking. Her ring gear is likewise stripped of color, all black leather and buckles. Risa Sera has kept her ice queen look with glittery blue gear with some gray and white notes and blue hair.

The Match: Well Saya actually starts with some cheating as she chokes down Rise and goes for the hair…but you ain’t going to out cheat Risa who reverses the hair grab and slams Saya into the turnbuckle and teases a slingshot into the ropes but the ref breaks it up…and then Saya stomps Risa down in the corner. Really think that Saya’s first match with this gimmick should have been against a squeaky clean babyface and now Risa Sera. Sera gets a swinging Kryptonite Krunch and then a giant swing. Saya fires back with a dropkick…an EVIL dropkick, and then an evil running knee into the corner! And then she crosses Risa’s legs and teases a sasori-gatame but instead…drops down into a weird figure-four deathlock. Ropebreak and they fight on the apron before Saya kicks her off and grabs a chair on the outside, and then more chairs and creates a stack and tries to slam Sera on it…but Risa grabs a chair and just clobbers Saya and then the rest of HATE. It’s funny that Risa Sera is just so much more naturally violent and unhinged than Saya. Risa moves the stack of chairs into the ring and teases a brainbuster on it, but Saya slips out…but Risa goes for a powerbomb and Saya gets a rana and then her own brainbuster and Risa goes RIGHT into the stack. Chairshot next but Risa catches it and tries to swing it back but the ref has recovered and stops her. Funny spot as Risa attempts to swing through the entire stack of chairs and the ref takes them away in turn, but as he’s busy removing them Risa tags Saya with the final chair. Saya goes for some ground and pound and then stomps to a prone Risa who is caught up in the ropes. Slugfest follows and Saya gets the advantage with a few spin kicks…evil spin kicks of course. Saya goes for the Star Crusher (fisherman’s driver) but Risa counters with a Falcon Arrow and then gets her Boston Crab lifted into a powerbomb…and Saya reverses that into a rana for 3.

*¾

This was…not good. Risa remained the high point and I have a definite ceiling on how I feel about her matches, but it absolutely destroyed whatever they were going for with Saya, I have no sense of what sort of heel she is, is she vicious, is she a cheater, is she a coward, is she sneaky, is she smart? The only moves she did with confidence were her super babyface offense. She was outclassed in intensity and brutality by the erstwhile babyface. I dunno, this was a total mess even if perhaps the quality of the ‘moves’ made it worth more than this, but it was not a ‘fine’ match by any means so it ain’t ** for me.

Natsupoi vs. Maika – Red Block A Match

Background: Okay we got some stars now. Maika is the former world champion who lost her belt to the dirty nasty Natsuko Tora, Natsupoi is the current white belt champion. Former stablemates once upon a time in Donna Del Mondo, they’ve taken a vastly different path since then. Maika is the erstwhile leader of ExV and is a powerhouse judoka, Natsupoi is the top junior for Cosmic Angels and is a tricky, agile, tiny Ring Fairy. So we got a real power vs. speed situation with pretty significant main-event ramifications. Maika is dressed in a red and gold robe with a mask, she’s kept her hair red and has a bob-sorta cut, her ring-gear is red tights and arm sleeves with white accents, mostly in a flame pattern on her top and thighs. Natsupoi is dressed in a gossamer robe with tons of lace and filigree and all that sorta faerie stuff, she has a crown of flowers and long blonde hair, she really does embrace the whole faerie aesthetic here. Poi is dressed in yellow and silver.

The Match: Hot start as Maika tries to ambush her but Natsupoi is too quick and gets a few cartwheels to set up some armdrags and a dropkick. Maika tries some clubbering but Poi reverses into an octopus stretch and then a thrust kick after Maika breaks it. Poi isolates on the arm with a wrist-clutch into a knee strike and then wraps Maika’s arm in the ropes and now I see the pretty massive wrap around Maika’s elbow. Poi showboats a bit too much though and Maika gets a fireman’s carry and presses her over the ropes to kersplat on the ropes outside. Maika goes for a powerbomb outside but Poi gets a rana and then teases a German…and Maika reverses to her own German and Poi gets a cazadora into a bulldog. They work the count a bit before heading back inside. Poi gets a dropkick into the corner and then some flailing forearms…but Maika reverses and gets some clotheslines in the corner…and they swap off again. They struggle over a whip for a while before Maika corners Poi and gets some strikes and then a running lariat and Maika sells the arm, oh right. Scoop powerslam! Sliding lariat! And that only gets 2.4 on Poi but Maika doesn’t let up with a cross-armed STO. Maika loads up the finish but Poi counters into a juji-gatame and Maika struggles to the ropes. Poi gets a dropkick to a rope-hung Maika in a nasty spot and the Fairy climbs up for a crossbod, but Maika snatches her out of the air and gets a blockbuster slam…but Poi gets a spinning roundhouse and then a release German before climbing up again…and Maika cuts her off and goes for an Argentine Rack on the top rope into a slam…but Poi gets another flying armbar in an impressive spot. Maika twists her body to relieve the pressure but gets caught in a triangle, Maika goes for the powerbomb but Poi reverses that into a guillotine…and Maika powers out of that into a series of brainbusters that knock the sense out of Poi, but the cover only gets 2.8. Enka Otoshi by Maika gets 2.7, so Maika goes for the Michinoku Driver but Poi cartwheels out and blocks a lariat with a kick as Maika remembers her arm hurts…but not that much as a second lariat flattens Poi. Maika sets up Poi on the top turnbuckle and gets the Himeka-Bomb (Himeka was Maika’s long-term partner before retirement and of course Maika, Himeka, and Poi held the Artist of Stardom Championships together and share a record for most successful defenses of the belts). Maika gets the rack again but Poi reverses into her Fairy Blink (modified victory roll that involves a ton of spinning) but Maika reverses that into her own victory roll and gets 3.

**¾

I think they were trying to tell a story about how they didn’t really want to fight and were still hung up on old emotions from their days in Donna Del Mondo, and Maika using Himeka’s powerbomb was where it ‘clicked’ for me, but I still think that this match fell below both of what I expect from them. It just felt a bit…cold and stiff at times and Maika not really selling the arm didn’t do us any favors either. I dunno, it wasn’t bad but it just didn’t connect enough with me to call it good either. Bubbling under though.

Post-match Maika seems to make nice and I think she wants a match for Poi’s Wonder of Stardom Championship (white belt) and they do a little pinky promise deal. How cute.

Mayu Iwatani vs. Tam Nakano – Red Block B Match

Background: Oh boy, so these are two pretty important wrestlers. Tam is probably the biggest draw in Stardom after all the Marigold departures and maybe was the biggest draw before that as well. She’s the leader of Cosmic Angels which was a splinter group from…Stars which is lead by Mayu Iwatani. Tam broke off to prove that idols can wrestle and felt like she wasn’t getting enough respect from Mayu and she’s all about big emotions and crying, lots and lots of crying. Mayu is one of the OGs of Stardom, being part of the Threedom group with Kairi and Io and kinda waving the flag for the original generation. She has a movie coming out but is definitely not quite portrayed as a tippy-top contender anymore, though she has held the IWGP Women’s Title for 5 years or something. Anyway, babyface vs. babyface but Tam has the tendency to get mean and Mayu does do some Eddie-esque cheating at times. Tam is out dressed like an angel with fake wings and a tiara and lots of feathers and has violet hair and a big stick. Tam’s ring-gear is purple and pink with some fluffy bits on the shoulders and lots of stars and shiny things on it. Mayu is dressed in her multi-colored, multi-material feathered, bedazzled, emblazoned, rhinestone kimono and has shorter hair in a flaxen color. Iwatani is wearing rainbow pastel gear with a big armsleeve (on her previously dislocated elbow) and lots of rainbow fur and she even has a tail, look she’s a bit of a wild-child.

The Match: Staredown to start and both give each other some space before we get a quick lockup and then they’re trading armbars and slipping out of suplexes and doing quick covers and bridges. They trade spin kicks (that both would miss by a mile) and stare each other down…and then Mayu hits a spin kick that does connect but Tam gets a pump knee to cut that off and then another bicycle knee in the ropes. Tam loads up a German suplex on the apron and then some kicks when that fails. Tam tries for a knee strike again but Mayu catches it and dragon screws Tam off the apron and Tam is selling big. Mayu takes the opportunity to go back inside…and go back outside with a tope on her injured opponent. Nakano crawls back in but Mayu gets a dropkick and then wraps up Tam’s legs in the ropes, well that’s not very friendly! More leg work and Mayu is getting chastised by the ref and just looks totally blank about it. Mayu goes up but Tam powers up to a standing position and stumbles over to cut Iwatani off and they slug it out with Tam winning and getting an axe kick (guess the leg is fine) and then a hanging choke on Mayu who flops over and falls to the outside in a sick thud bump…and Tam follows up with a plancha. Tam is selling the leg again but goes for a German suplex and after a struggle lands it…and another…and another…and another. The rolling Germans don’t do it but Tam climbs up and misses a diving knee and sells the leg kinda before Mayu drops her with a really loose Slingblade. Double down and we get Mayu running into a Tam spin kick and Tam running into a Mayu thrust kick, then we get a Mayu Dragon suplex and a Tam Tiger suplex and then a double high-kick into another double-down. Mayu goes back to the leg but can’t get her wheelbarrow Dragon suplex and Nakano reverses into a pin and gets some running knees. Tam can’t get her Violet Screwdriver though and Mayu gets the Crucifix Bomb and a buzzsaw kick before climbing up and landing a moonsault…for 2.8. Mayu goes for the wheelbarrow Dragon suplex again but Nakano counters into her cartwheel rollup named Andromeda. Mayu gets a series of kicks though and gets a Dragon suplex for 2.7, and then Iwatani gets the wheelbarrow Dragon suplex for 3.

**½

Well…I’m sure this matches deliberate pacing might come across as epic to others, but I just found it clunky. Tam actually solid decently well and some of her offense looked alright, but I’ve never been a fan and “surprised it was better than I feared” isn’t quite “good” for me. Mayu is still what Mayu is and she does rise and fall to her opponents ability and Tam did decent work and you got a decent match.

Post-match Tam cries and they both talk a bit.

Well, that’s our first Five Star Grand Prix show and while I didn’t have a MOTYC contender here, I was pleasantly warmed by the embrace of Stardom after so much time away from it. Fun stuff and I’ll hopefully be able to fly through this pretty quick as I did about…a seventh of the tournament tonight (so many matches). Well anyway, see you later, bye, ciao, all that stuff. I’m not going to put up the block points yet cause y’know, I just started reviewing it, obviously the tournament is finished now and you can just read who won but lets go on a journey together!