Maki Itoh Upsets Utami Hayashishita In Main Event of Night 11 Of 5★STAR GP

STARDOM returned to the Chateraise Gateaux Kingdom Sapporo for the 11th night of the 5★STAR Grand Prix on Sunday evening. The event followed a pretty underwhelming show the night before with seven tournament matches.

The first of those matches saw Natsuko Tora, who had drawn her previous two contests, taking on Sayaka Kurara, who was nursing a four-match losing streak. Tora physically dominated Kurara to start the match as expected. She basically did whatever she wanted, including firing off some suplexes and throws, as well as throwing Kurara into some chairs by ringside. Kurara was able to mount some offense, mostly through parries, but Tora was able to power through most of what she was dealt.

One pretty crazy moment that showed the disparity between the two wrestlers happened when Kurara initially tried to hit her Tokimeki Spear, yet when she did, she was completely stopped by Tora’s immense strength. Luckily for Kurara, she was able to regroup quickly and hit a Tokimeki Spear for a near fall, but that first attempt still showed that Kurara was in danger.

Tora would eventually win the match at 7:28 with a Swanton Bomb. With the win, Tora now sits at eight points, however she could be in danger of missing the knockouts because that was her final block match and there are a few other competitors threatening to leap frog her in the standings.

The second match of the evening saw AZM attempting to continue her strong block play against Akira Kurogane. The young Kurogane attacked AZM right as she entered the ring and rained down several strikes on her as she was down, including a crazy looking dropkick as she leaned against the ropes.

AZM was soon able to regain her footing and landed several blows to her opponent. She would eventually allow Kurogane to get up and have a test of wills with a strike battle. Kurogane would actually do pretty well in this exchange, and even ground AZM with another dropkick, followed by a crisp crossface. AZM was able to reverse the crossface eventually and trap Kurogane in a ruthless-looking submission of her own; however, Kurogane somehow hit the ropes to escape the torture.

AZM started to focus almost exclusively on destroying Kurogane’s left arm while she was attempting to simply slow down “The High Speed Bomb Girl” by any means necessary. AZM landed a diving stomp from the top rope for a near fall before Kurogane had one last gasp of energy, which led to a near fall of her own. Finally, she was able to trap Kurogane with a Numero Uno and force the tap out at 7:39. While the first match was really fun to watch, this match was just a level or two higher. Excellent stuff from both women. It was so much fun to see AZM lead a younger wrestler to a career-defining performance.

Following a tag match between Natsupoi and Saori Anou defeating Lady C and Waka Tsukiyama, Konami and Azusa Inaba took part in the third tournament match of the evening. Inaba was sitting on four points while Konami was at six. These two had a really strong match, especially for two dastardly heels.

Instead of your typical match where the two heels try to out-heel each other in a weird show of gamesmanship, this felt more like a younger wrestler, in his case Inaba, trying to kick a hole through the veteran, this time Konami. Inaba caught Konami with some fantastic kicks and even caught her in a tough leg submission, however Konami seemingly had a way of getting out of it.

Konami, for her part, wasn’t just taking punishment the whole time. She was tormenting Inaba with her own devastating-looking arm submissions, suplexes, and kicks. She really tested Inaba’s inner strength here. Konami would eventually get Inaba to tap out at 8:40 with a Triangle Lancer. After the match, Azusa allowed Konami to spray her in the face with the black paint, perhaps in a show of respect to the veteran.

The next match had potentially massive implications for the Red Stars A Block as Maika took on Itsuki Aoki. Aoki was previously the top dog in her group after winning her first four matches, however she slipped ever so slightly as she lost her last two. Maika, on the other hand, lost and then drew after winning her first three tournament matches.

These two maniacs sprinted at each other, jostling for position with repeated shoulder tackles. The physicality was super high in this match, with both throwing each other with repeated suplexes, slams, and throws. This was the first singles match of the night to eclipse 10 minutes, and it didn’t feel like that was the case at all.

Maika finally got the upper hand after these two kept one-upping each other. She fired off a wrist clutch lariat that pretty much knocked Aoki off her feet. But somehow, Aoki was able to kick out of a Michinoku Driver at two. Aoki used the shock of her kicking out to attempt some sort of comeback; however, Maika was able to end it pretty quickly with several headbutts until Aoki was done once again. Then she nearly tore off Aoki’s head with a spinning lariat for two, and finally a Wrist-Clutch Michinoku Driver II for the three at 11:40. This was awesome. With the win, Maika tied AZM at the top of the group with nine points, and Aoki continues her losing streak.

After an intermission, the show returned with a critical singles match pitting Saya Iida and Rina Yamashita, the two women leading Red Stars Block B with eight points apiece. Iida reached this point with a 4-1 record, while Yamashita had done the same with a 3-1-1 record.

These two began with a test of strength with several shoulder tackles, similar to the previous match, however, Yamashita was able to gain the upper hand a bit more quickly here. Iida was able to get her bearings soon after, and then the two restarted their test of strength, but this time with chops. Iida quickly won that test.

The biggest takeaway from this match was that these two really love to both dish out chops and all receive chops. It didn’t matter if they were in the ring, out of the ring, on top of chairs surrounded by cheering fans. Wherever chops could happen, these two tried to get them in. For such an important match in terms of block supremacy, these two seemed to care more about who was tougher.

While this didn’t hit the level of AZM/Kurogane and Maika/Aoki, I would recommend this because it was simply fun to watch. The match would eventually end in a 15-minute draw, which was honestly appropriate considering these two were incredibly evenly matched for this entire period. Both wrestlers now sit at nine points each.

The semi main event of the evening featured a clash between two incredibly talented young wrestlers, Tomoka Inaba and Rina, in a pretty crucial match for both wrestlers here. Inaba entered the match with a 3-3 record while Rina was 2-2-1.

For a semi main, these two wrestlers went super fast. This was honestly a high-speed match for most of its runtime. And it was fun to see a change of pace, especially after that 15-minute draw. Rina focused on swift strikes and attempts for submissions, while Inaba utilized her judo background for throws, as well as her own strikes. It was hard to see who had the upper hand for most of this match since these two constantly found ways to turn the tide on the other.

Rina was able to catch Inaba with the Pink♥Devil to earn the big win at 5:10. For such a fast match, it still felt like it flew by. With the win, Rina jumps up to seven points and right in the mix to earn the third knockout round spot in Red Stars Block A. Unfortunately, with the loss, Inaba’s own chances of advancing have faded away as she ends her block with only seven points.

Finally, we reached the main event, which saw Maki Itoh attempt to get an upset win over former World of Stardom champion Utami Hayashishita. These two started off with a little comedy, however, Utami was able to mostly take control early on. She lifted Itoh up with some early slams to get the advantage, but then Itoh was able to answer with some pretty impactful offense of her own.

Truth be told this was a pretty slow match and definitely not one of the better matches of the night. Utami tried to elevate whatever Itoh did to her; however, Itoh’s offense didn’t look all that strong, barring some of her strikes. Utami caught Itoh in a superplex and followed that by trying to end it early, but Itoh got away. Utami kept hitting Itoh with everything in her toolbox basically, but Itoh would simply muscle out of it somehow. I actually found it entertaining to see Itoh, who in all reality is a comedy wrestler, wrestle a more serious match. I thought she did a pretty good job at combining the two vibes, however I don’t know if that was appropriate for a main event match.

Itoh was able to roll Utami up with a flash roll-up pin and get the shocking win. So even though this wasn’t all that special of a match, the finish definitely bumped it up a little bit. Itoh and Utami then reasserted that they were friends in the post-match segment. Itoh now has eight points with one match to go, while Utami has been mathematically eliminated from reaching the knockouts in her first tournament since 2023.

Following this event, AZM, Itsuki Aoki, Natsuko Tora, Tomoka Inaba, and Saya Kurara from Red Stars Block A are all finished with their matches. Joining them is Rina Yamashita from Red Stars Block B. The 5★STAR will continue on Friday, August 15 and will see Lady C have her final block match and a big main event pitting Hanan and Momo Watanabe.

For more coverage from the tournament and everything surrounding STARDOM, WrestlePurists will keep you updated.

5★STAR Grand Prix – Current Standings (W-L-D):

Red Stars Block A:

AZM – 4-1-2 (9 points)

Maika – 4-1-1 (9 points)

Itsuki Aoki – 4-3 (8 points)

Natsuko Tora – 3-2-2 (8 points)

Rina – 3-2-1 (7 points)

Tomoka Inaba – 3-4 (6 points)

Sayaka Kurara – 2-5 (4 points)

Akira Kurogane – 0-5-1 (1 point)

Red Stars Block B:

Rina Yamashita – 3-1-3 (9 points)

Saya Iida – 4-1-1 (9 points)

Maki Itoh – 3-1-2 (8 points)

Konami – 3-2 (6 points)

Utami Hayashishita – 2-3-1 (5 points)

Azusa Inaba – 1-3-2 (4 points)

Mei Seira – 1-2-1 (3 points)

Lady C – 1-5 (2 points)

Blue Stars Block A:

Suzu Suzuki – 4-0 (8 points)

Julia Hart – 3-1 (6 points)

Ruaka – 3-1 (6 points)

Aya Sakura – 2-3 (4 points)

HANAKO – 2-2 (4 points)

Hina – 2-3 (4 points)

Miyu Amasaki – 2-3 (4 points)

Rian – 0-5 (0 points)

Blue Stars Block B:

Momo Watanabe – 3-1-1 (7 points)

Hanan – 3-1 (6 points)

Saya Kamitani – 2-0-2 (6 points)

Starlight Kid – 2-1-1 (5 points)

Ami Sourei – 2-2 (4 points)

Koguma – 2-3 (4 points)

Yuna Mizumori – 2-3 (4 points)

Kikyo Furusawa – 0-5 (0 points)