STARDOM
The annual 5STAR Grand Prix of STARDOM started on August 10th in the Yokohama Budokan and will go on until August 31st. This year, STARDOM made a couple of changes. It’s a four-block system with 7 wrestlers in each block, so 28 wrestlers overall. The first two wrestlers of each block will advance to a quarter-final that will be held in Shinjuku FACE. The semi-finals & final of the tournament will be on the final show on August 31st.
STARDOM’s 5STAR is heading into the final stage of the tournaments as the last few nights of the Grand Prix are coming up this weekend. It has been an eventful tournament so far, and we will soon know who will advance to the playoffs.
Whether good or bad, there have been many notable decisions this tournament that have made it one to remember. A big point has been the booking of Momo Watanabe, who started the tournament with a 0-4 record and was the second wrestler eliminated from the Grand Prix. That was, as we later found out, because New Japan needed to announce her for the Capital Collision show on August 30th, where she will challenge Mercedes Mone for the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship.
The most questionable decision so far has been the booking of Tam Nakano, who entered the 5STAR as the heavy favourite, but was out after just a couple of shows. After her loss against AZM at the Korakuen Hall show, Natsuko Tora came out and offered her a World of Stardom Championship match that will happen on the 5STAR Grand Prix final show on August 31st. The idea here is that Tora believes Nakano is at her lowest and won’t be a threat to her Red Belt reign, which in theory is okay, but makes less sense the more fans think about it. Tam Nakano is now 0-4 in the tournament and a win over her doesn’t mean as much as it did before the tournament, so Tora defeating her wouldn’t do much for herself, while it would make Nakano hit rock bottom. Meanwhile, if a weakened Nakano wins the Red Belt, the entire H.A.T.E. faction, including Natsuko Tora, loses all of its momentum, and STARDOM’s solid work would have been for nothing. It’s an absolute lose-lose scenario, where no one comes out looking good. It also weakens the 5STAR Grand Prix as a whole since wrestlers seemingly don’t need to win the tournament or beat the champion to get a shot, but can just get one gifted by the champion while the tournament is still going.
On the positive side, the tournament has had many great matches so far, and the young talents are being highlighted well, with AZM getting a major win over Mayu Iwatani in Kobe to stay undefeated after five matches in the block of death. wMeanwhile, Starlight Kid is shining in the Blue Stars A Block and had one of the best matches of the entire tournament so far against Saori Anou at Korakuen Hall, where the two fought to a time limit draw. Plus, she isn’t the the only one who has performed well in her block, as Xena has been tremendous so far in the Grand Prix with great matches against Saori Anou and Anna Jay, perhaps even having Anna’s best-ever match when they met in Kyoto. Her style matches perfectly to the others, and with Starlight Kid and Syuri left, Xena will surely have two great matches to cap off the tournament.
The biggest highlight of the 5STAR Grand Prix has been Saki Kashima’s upset over Saya Kamitani. Unlike in her other matches, she grew out of her comedy role and showed that from the beginning as she made her entrance without the sponsorship board she’s been carrying around ever since the 5STAR started. Kashima wrestled a serious match because she knew she only stood a chance like this against Kamitani. It was well built and the Kishikaisei finish was fantastic with the crowd giving it a great reaction. The match showed perfectly how great of a babyface Kashima can be as she was the perfect choice to be the first wrestler to defeat heel Kamitani.
With just three block shows left, it’s getting clearer who has a chance of still advancing to the quarterfinals of the 5STAR. In Red Stars A, Maika has the biggest chance as she is leading with 4 wins, while Hazuki, Natsupoi, and Manami are still in the hunt. The show in Sendai can decide the block quickly as Maika would be through with a win over Hazuki. Meanwhile, Red Stars B is much closer, as while Momo Watanabe, Saya Iida, and Tam Nakano are already out, the other four are still in the mix for the top spots. AZM has the advantage of leading the block as she has already won her extra match, but with the tie-breakers being so close, everything can change up to the final night.
Blue Stars A is the closest block of the four as everyone except for Anna Jay still has some way to advance to the final eight. With Xena, Starlight Kid, Syuri, and Saori Anou, who has been sitting on top of the block, there are multiple realistic outcomes. Xena alone can decide the block with her matches against Starlight Kid and Syuri that could help anyone in the block. Meanwhile, Blue Stars B has been straightforward with Saya Kamitani and Risa Sera on top at six points, while Hanan and Suzu Suzuki are just one point behind them at five. The last two matches for Kamitani are the most important ones as she will face Suzuki and Hanan back-to-back and just one loss could be enough for her to be eliminated from the block.
Official 5STAR Grand Prix Standings after Night 7:
Red Stars A –
8 – Maika (4-0-0)
6 – Natsupoi (3-1-0)
6 – Hazuki (3-1-0)
5 – Manami (2-1-1)
4 – Konami (2-3-0)
1 – Ruaka (0-4-1)
0 – Yuna Mizumori (0-4-0)
Red Stars B –
8 – AZM (3-0-2)
6 – Mayu Iwatani (3-1-0)
6 – Tomoka Inaba (2-0-2)
6 – Mei Seira (2-0-2)
2 – Momo Watanabe (1-4-0)
2 – Saya Iida (1-3-0)
0 – Tam Nakano (0-4-0)
Blue Stars A –
7 – Saori Anou (3-1-1)
5 – Starlight Kid (2-1-1)
4 – Xena (2-2-0)
4 – Syuri (2-2-0)
4 – Koguma (2-2-0)
4 – Anna Jay (2-3-0)
2 – Miyu Amasaki (1-3-0)
Blue Stars B –
6 – Risa Sera (3-2-0)
6 – Saya Kamitani (3-1-0)
5 – Hanan (2-1-1)
5 – Suzu Suzuki (2-1-1)
4 – Saki Kashima (2-3-0)
2 – Ranna Yagami (1-3-0)
2 – Thekla (1-3-0)
Marigold
Marigold held a Korakuen Hall show this past Monday that drew an attendance of 1,450 fans, which is a fantastic number. The main reason was that the event held Giulia’s last singles match in Japan before she goes to WWE, as well as a United National Championship match.
Miku Aono successfully retained her Marigold United National Championship with the Styles Clash against Kouki Amarei. It took a bit to get going, but it ended up as a really good match and achieved the goal of Kouki having her best performance inside a Marigold ring. She has been getting a solid push since the start of the promotion and wasn’t able to back it up yet with her performances, but finally did so against a strong Miku Aono, who remains one of the MVPs of the new promotion. Aono said post-match that she wants to face either Mai Sakurai or Chika Goto next for the White Belt.
The main event of the show was Giulia’s final match in Marigold against Mai Sakurai, who she was together in Donna del Mondo with. The great match against Mai Sakurai had everything fans can expect from Giulia – hard-hitting, brawling, and dramatic in front of a hot crowd as it was the perfect send-off match for her. She wanted to go out with a bang, and she did as Giulia made Mai Sakurai look like a million bucks. In interviews before the match, Giulia stated that she wanted to make Sakurai look like a main eventer, and she did. Sakurai stepped up to the occasion and had one of the best singles matches of her entire career with her improvement continuing over the last 12 months as she has developed into a good wrestler whose specialty is normally tag matches, but now was able to show her skills in a major singles outing. If she continues this trend in improvement, she will reach heights nobody expects her to reach. Giulia had let her kick out of multiple finishing moves before winning the match in over 26 minutes.
Giulia now has one date left in Marigold as she will take part in a special Gauntlet Match on August 25th, where everyone who wants to has the chance to face her one last time. For that occasion, Giulia invited Tsukasa Fujimoto of Ice Ribbon to wrestle her one last time in a huge shock as the story between Ice Ribbon and Giulia goes deep, but it seems both parties are putting their differences aside for Giulia’s goodbye.
The start of their round-robin tournament called the Dream Star Grand Prix is nearing. It kicks off on August 31st in Osaka and ends on September 28th in Nagoya. The winner will earn a shot at the Marigold World Championship. Marigold announced the blocks of the tournament at the latest Korakuen Hall show with a ‘Dream League’ and a ‘Star League’.
DREAM LEAGUE
– Utami Hayashishita
– MIRAI
– Kouki Amarei
– Natsumi Showzuki
– Chika Goto
– Nagisa Nozaki
– Victoria Yuzuki
– NØRI (LLPW-X)
STAR LEAGUE
– Sareee
– Miku Aono
– Bozilla
– Nanae Takahashi
– Mai Sakurai
– Misa Matsui
– CHIAKI
– Kizuna Tanaka
