The STARDOM 5STAR GP continued with two shows this past weekend. The first night in Ishikawa was main evented by Saori Anou and Maika, while the show on Sunday was main evented by Hazuki facing the World of STARODM Champion, Tam Nakano in a Red Block match.
In the first 5STAR match of the weekend, AZM (0-1-0) tries to get on the board by facing MIRAI (1-2-0). The match started with AZM being in control over by using her speed as an advantage. While MIRAI always tried to make her comeback, the quickness of AZM always brought the High-Speed Bomb Girl back on top and gets close to winning several times even capturing MIRAI with the Azumisushi and multiple arm bars, but the Wonder Of Stardom Champion always found a way out and overcame the tough challenge and barely escape a third loss by hitting the Jumping Lariat to pin AZM in a good match.
In the next match, Suzu Suzuki (0-2-0) and Starlight Kid (0-1-0) continue their rivalry in a Red Stars Block match. SLK started to dominate the match in the early stages with good leg work and dragged Suzu to the outside, she wanted to hit Suzu with a chair, but it backfired and Suzuki started to get some offense in. In the middle part, it was totally 50/50 with SLK continuing her leg work while Suzu does her usual high-impact moves. Towards the end, Starlight Kid hit the moonsault but Suzuki put her knees up. From then on, it was only Suzu in control. She turned it around with the Tequila Sunrise and then hit the Locomotive German Suplex for the three count. Suzu gets her first two Points in a great match and is worth checking out.
In the Main Event of the Saturday show, Maika (1-0-0) battled Saori Anou (1-0-1) in a first-time-ever match. Two of the favorites of the tournament that never met each other in the ring, and that makes this match-up really interesting. Maika wanted to start the match with a handshake, but Anou declined and kicked the hand of the Empress. Maika was not having any of Anou’s disrespect and instantly drop-kicked her in the back. Saori rolled to the outside and Maika continued her dominance with a Lariat and threw Anou into the chairs. The second attempt was countered by Saori and Maika got thrown into the crowd. Back in the ring, Anou took over the match, putting Maika in devastating-looking submissions, but Maika countered with a power slam. From then on, it was a back-and-forth striking exchange that Maika was able to win. The brawl went to the outside again pretty quickly, with Anou and Maika pouring water over each other, which added even more tension to this match. Back into the ring, the 10-minute mark was called and both started to use all the energy that they have left in their tank. High Spots after High Spots with an unreal intensity. They threw everything at each other but it wasn’t enough to keep one down. The match ends in a time-limit draw and both earn themselves a Point.
The Sunday show featured four 5STAR matches, with two from the Red Stars Block and two from the Blue Stars Block, with the main eventing being Hazuki facing the World Of Stardom Champion Tam Nakano.
In the first 5STAR Match of the day, Hanan (0-3-0) faced Mina Shirakawa (1-1-0). The Young Lioness didn’t waste any second and attacked Mina right when the bell rang to catch Mina off guard, and it worked well. Hanan was hitting Mina with multiple running Uppercuts and started to work on Shirakawa’s neck. But it wasn’t easy to stop the Venus, who used the first opportunity to come back and start her leg work, hitting Hanan with multiple dropkicks to her legs and using the figure four to put more pressure on it. From then on it was all Mina. She showed her dominance perfectly here and tore apart the legs of the former Future Of Stardom Champion. Hanan tried to come back multiple times, but every try was put to an end by Shirakawa instantly. She had only small problems in the last couple of minutes and was able to tap out Hanan with the Figure Four Leg lock. Hanan now lost her first four matches and is close to being eliminated already, Mina picks up her second win in a row after a devastating loss to Utami on Day 1.
AZM (0-2-0) has yet to win in her 5STAR campaign and tries to change that against Saori Anou (1-0-2). Both have known each over for 7 years and have teamed up during Anou’s first run in STARDOM. Just like in the MIRAI match, AZM controlled the match pace, and it was fast again. The former High-Speed Champion was trying to outpace Anou on multiple occasions, but unlike the World Of Stardom Champion, Anou had no problem keeping up with AZM’s pace. They were evenly matched and countered each others moves time for time again. The finishing sequence was one of the best of the entire tournament. Incredible fast pace with AZM countering one move, hitting the Canadian Destroyer and the Azumi Sushi for the three count and her first victory in the 5STAR.
In the battle of the Leaders, Natsuko Tora (2-0-0) fights Syuri (1-0-0) for two very important Points in the run for the Red Stars Block. From the first moment on, it was Tora dominating Syuri by hitting her with a chair, throwing her into the crowd, and more. The former World Of Stardom Champion instantly started to make her comeback when Tora didn’t pay attention for a second. The God’s Eye Leader controlled the match then for a bit and left Tora no chance to control the match again. Syuri especially targeted the right arm of Tora with multiple armbar submissions. Tora hit the Death Valley Driver and tried the Swanton Bomb, but Syuri escaped at the last minute. Syuri then took over in the last couple of minutes, hitting Tora with a nasty high kick and a Powerbomb. Tora pushed the ref away and hit Syuri with the Green Mist and Death Valley Driver from the top rope to a close two count. Natsuko Tora instantly ran up the top rope again to hit the Swanton Bomb to win her third match in the 5STAR and is the first Wrestler to reach the 6 Points mark.
In the Main Event, Hazuki (0-1-0) tries to beat the World Of Stardom Champion Tam Nakano (1-0-0). The Red Belt Champion dominated the early parts of the match, while Hazuki needed to find a way to get into the match. Whenever she is on the offense, Nakano cut her short instantly with a counter or move on her own, but Hazuki proved that she has fighting spirit and made a great comeback to get control over the middle part of the match. In the final minutes, Nakano found herself back in it as well and the match got into a back-and-forth between two of the best in the company. A fantastic ending sequence that showed the fighting spirit of Hazuki perfectly ended the match with Tam Nakano hitting the Violent Screwdriver to win the match.
Next Week’s 5STAR Grand Prix Matches:
Day 6 – August 8
- Blue Stars: Momo Watanabe vs Maika
- Blue Stars: Mariah May vs Giulia
- Red Stars: Syuri vs Natsupoi
- Red Stars: Suzu Suzuki vs Mayu Iwatani
Day 7 – August 10
- Red Stars: Suzu Suzuki vs Natsuko Tora
- Red Stars: Mayu iwatani vs Natsupoi
Day 8 – August 12
- Blue Stars: Utami Hayashishita vs Saori Anou
- Blue Stars: Giulia vs Mina Shirakawa
- Blue Stars: AZM vs Hanan
STARDOM x STARDOM – August 13
- Red Stars: Natsuko Tora vs Starlight Kid
Official 5STAR Grand Prix Standings following Day 5:
RED STARS BLOCK –
6 – Natsuko Tora (3-0-0)
4 – Tam Nakano (2-0-0)
4 – Natsupoi (2-0-0)
2 – Syuri (1-1-0)
2 – Mayu Iwatani (1-0-0)
2 – Suzu Suzuki (1-2-0)
0 – Starlight Kid (0-2-0)
0 – Ami Sourei (0-1-0)
0 – Hazuki (0-2-0)
0 – Saya Kamitani (0-2-0)
BLUE STARS BLOCK –
4 – Saori Anou (1-1-2)
4 – Mina Shirakawa (2-1-0)
4 – MIRAI (2-2-0)
3 – Giulia (1-0-1)
3 – Maika (1-0-1)
2 – Mariah May (1-1-0)
2 – Utami Hayashishita (1-0-0)
2 – Momo Watanabe (1-0-0)
2 – AZM (1-2-0)
0 – Hanan (0-4-0)
Sareeeism
The second Sareee-ISM show happened on August 4 with a fantastic main event match between Takumi Iroha & Arisa Nakajima against Sareee & KAIRI. This was a preview Tag Team Match for the upcoming SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Singles Championship match between Arisa and Sareee. Alone, the entrances were worth watching. Four of the biggest Stars in Joshi Wrestling made their way to the ring in front of a packed Shinjuku FACE crowd that came to the show to see this match. The charisma, the look, and the star power just were on point here and made the bout feel huge and the match itself ended up fantastic.
The match was 27 minutes of hard-hitting strong style with all four women just battering the living hell out of each other until one stays down. The crowd was really into it from start to finish and cheered for the KAIRI & Sareee Tag Team. Iroha and Arisa played the dominant role in this match and destroyed the underdogs in the first 10 minutes of the match. The team of former WWE Wrestlers made their comebacks and their way into this match again with a well-built and great hot tag. From then on it was an all-out war with all four Wrestlers just going crazy. The highlights were clearly the Arisa and Sareee interactions, with both hitting each other incredibly hard and stiff with unreal elbows. The last 10 minutes were built around them, and they hit a home run here to promote their upcoming title match. Sareee was able to pin Nakajima with a Modified Uranage in one of the best Tag Matches of the entire year. A must-watch that is available to buy on Sareeelive.com
