STARDOM
The STARDOM 5STAR GP came to an end this past Saturday with a highly dramatic final in front of 2507 fans in the Yokohama Budokan. The tournament lasted 9 weeks and featured 22 shows with some of the best Women’s Matches of the year. Overall, it was a great tournament, but the injuries of Kamitani, Utami Hayashishita, and Starlight Kid, who all missed out on matches, hurt the feeling of the tournament. Now on top, Natsupoi got injured as well and will miss the upcoming shows.
Hanan vs. Mariah May in a 5STAR Blue Stars Block Tournament Match
This was the final match of Mariah May’s first stint in STARDOM, and her last opponent couldn’t be a better fit than Hanan, who feels like May’s Little Sister. Over the course of the last couple of months, both got close and teamed up a few times.
They had a good opening match, with Mariah controlling the early part of the match with Hanan being the underdog. The match lived from its emotions, with the fans knowing that May wouldn’t be in STARDOM for a while after this match. Hanan rolled up Mariah with “Seventeen” to get the win and end her 5STAR at 6 Points. After the match, Mariah May and Hanan cried together in the ring, and the “Foreign Ace” said goodbye to the STARDOM fans.
Result: Hanan (3-6-0) defeats Mariah May (3-6-0) via pinfall in a 5STAR Blue Stars Block Tournament Match to gain two points.
AZM vs. Momo Watanabe in a 5STAR Blue Stars Block Tournament Match
Momo Watanabe and AZM have a huge backstory with them being former Tag Team Partners, even winning the Goddess Of Stardom Tag League, until Watanabe betrayed AZM & Queen’s Quest to join Oedo Tai. The Bomb Girl was never able to beat the Black Peach, and Watanabe wants to make sure that this stays that way.
A very good, short match between AZM and Momo with nothing but pride at stake. These two have some of the very best chemistry, and they showed it again here. All of their singles matches together are short sprints, which gives AZM an advantage, but Momo’s brutal offense turned the match in the favor of the Black Peach, and she was able to defeat AZM with the Peach Sunrise.
Result: Momo Watanabe (5-4-0) defeats AZM (4-5-0) via pinfall in a 5STAR Blue Stars Block Tournament Match to gain two points.
Mina Shirakawa vs. Saori Anou in a 5STAR Blue Stars Block Tournament Match
The first Blue Stars Block match with implications for the Block win. Shirakawa needed to beat Saori Anou to still have a chance to advance to the 5STAR, while Anou wanted to stop the Wrestler who left the Cosmic Angels just six months ago.
They had a technical match, that was focused around leg work. Normally, Shirakawa goes to work on her opponent’s legs, but in this match, she gets a taste of her own medicine, and it ruled. The limb work was creative. It featured some nice counters and great selling from both competitors. The final stretch was more how fans are used to in STARDOM, with more strikes, big moves, and great near falls. Mina seemed to have gained the advantage Saori was able to reverse the Figure Four Driver into a flash pin for the win, and eliminate the former Wonder Of Stardom Champion
Result: Saori Anou (4-3-2) defeats Mina Shirakawa (4-4-1) via pinfall in a 5STAR Blue Stars Block Tournament Match to gain two points.
Maika vs. MIRAI in a 5STAR Blue Stars Block Tournament Match
The two former Stable Mates in Donna del Mondo were clashing with the Blue Stars Block on the line. The winner advances to the final later in the night, if the match goes to a draw, then MIRAI advances with her tiebreaker over Giulia. This is interesting since Maika struggled in the tournament with the time limit and already drew twice against Saori Anou and Mina Shirakawa.
Maika and MIRAI had a hoss fight, that reminded me of the Himeka vs. Maika match from last year’s final night, but here we had a winner. A great power-based match that went back and forth and had that big fight feel. For 11 minutes, these two just ran at each other and threw everything at each other until someone stayed down, and it was MIRAI who couldn’t kick out after a Michinoku Driver II from the Empress. With that, Maika advances to the final of the 5STAR Grand Prix as the winner of the Blue Stars Block.
Result: Maika (5-2-2) defeats MIRAI (5-4-0) via pinfall in a 5STAR Blue Stars Block Tournament Match to gain two points and to win the Blue Stars Block
Syuri vs. Ami Sourei in a 5STAR Red Stars Block Tournament Match
The two God’s Eye Partners are facing each other in the first Red Stars Block match of the night. Syuri needs to win the match to still have a chance to advance to the final of the 5STAR, but Sourei wants momentum before she challenges Giulia for the NJPW Strong Women’s Championship on the next day.
Ami worked hard in this match and showed a lot more aggression than she normally does. Syuri was her usual self, delivering stiff kicks and applying painful submissions that made Sourei nearly tap out. Ami got the surprise win with a rollup, eliminating Syuri from contention.
Result: Ami Sourei (4-5-0) defeats Syuri (5-3-1) via pinfall in a 5STAR Red Stars Block Tournament Match to gain two points.
Hazuki vs. Natsuko Tora in a 5STAR Red Stars Block Tournament MatchThis was another deciding match in the Red Stars Block, where Tora just needed to beat or draw against Hazuki to advance to the final, but the “Wild Heart” didn’t want her former Tag Team Partner to advance to the final, which made this match interesting.
Natsuko Tora is fighting for a place in the final just before the biggest match of her career against Tam Nakano next week, and she wants to win more than anything else. She was dominant from the very beginning, giving Hazuki close to zero time to breathe, and was close to winning the match. She spits the green mist before executing a Death Valley Driver and a Swanton Bomb, which is her finisher combination, before making a mistake costing her the match by trying to hit another Death Valley Driver, but it backfires and Hazuki ends up stealing the win with the Hazukistral to eliminate Tora from the 5STAR.
Result: Hazuki (5-4-0) defeats Natsuko Tora (6-3-0) via pinfall in a 5STAR Red Stars Block Tournament Match to gain two points.
Tam Nakano vs. Natsupoi in a 5STAR Red Stars Block Tournament Match
This match decides who joins Maika in the 5STAR Final. Tam Nakano needs to win against Natsupoi, otherwise, Suzu Suzuki will go through. The High-Speed Fairy decided to not make it easy for her meltear Tag Team partner and gave everything
Their first singles match, since Natsupoi joined Cosmic Angels. Poi took a hell of a beating in the first minutes of this match, which created a great atmosphere with the crowd behind Natsupoi, who started a great comeback and was able to hit the Fairy Strain for the win to eliminate Tam from contention. There were 1 or 2 miscommunications near the end, but it was a good match and served its purpose.
With that, the final of the 5STAR GP 2023 is official: Maika (Blue Stars Block Winner) will face Suzu Suzuki (Blue Stars Block Winner) with the winner challenging the World Of Stardom Championship at an upcoming show.
Result: Natsupoi (5-4-1) defeats Tam Nakano (5-3-1) via pinfall in a 5STAR Red Stars Block Tournament Match to gain two points.
Maika vs. Suzu Suzuki in the final of the 5STAR Grand Prix 2023
Since Suzu joined STARDOM, she and Maika started to team up regularly together with Megan Bayne and Mei Seira. While all four got along well, Maika and Suzuki developed a rivalry over the Generation Struggle where Maika was not able to secure the win over Giulia on two occasions, and Suzu blamed her for it by calling her a “big match loser”, Maika admitted a handful of times. Now they are meeting in the final of the prestigious Joshi Tournament, with the winner getting a Championship match of their choosing.
Unlike Suzu, Maika already worked a 5STAR match earlier in the night, which put her in an underdog role in this match against the prodigy, and the crowd was fully behind her. Suzu and Maika had great chemistry, a violent brawl, and nice counters. They beat the living hell out of each other, in a match where Maika looked like a Superstar. She hit her own version of the three amigos with three Brainbusters, and a sick Powerbomb, and landed multiple Lariats for close near falls, but she wasn’t able to hit the deciding move. Suzu made a comeback of her own and hit the Locomotion German Suplex for a close two count. She then went up to the top rope and hit the Sky Twister Press under loud “MAIKA” chants to win the 5STAR Grand Prix 2023. The crowd instantly got quiet, which made the finish a bit deflating, since they desperately wanted to see Maika getting her moment. While Suzu Suzuki came out as the victorious 5STAR Winner, Maika won over the hearts of the STARDOM fans.
With her win, Suzu is officially the youngest 5STAR winner ever and earned herself a shot at Tam Nakano’s World Of Stardom Championship. She announced that she won’t wait until Dream Queendom, but rather will challenge at Gold Rush on November 18th. Suzu continues to make her promise to become “the Face of the Pro-Wrestling World” true.
Official Final 5STAR Grand Prix Standings:
RED STARS BLOCK –
12 – Suzu Suzuki (6-3-0) – Block Winner
12 – Natsuko Tora (6-3-0)
11 – Syuri (5-3-1)
11 – Tam Nakano (5-3-1)
11 – Natsupoi (5-3-1)
11 – Mayu Iwatani (5-3-1)
10 – Hazuki (5-4-0)
8 – Ami Sourei (4-5-0)
4 – Starlight Kid (2-7-0)
0 – Saya Kamitani (0-9-0)
BLUE STARS BLOCK –
12 – Maika (5-2-2) – Block Winner
11 – Giulia (5-3-1)
10 – MIRAI (5-4-0)
10 – Saori Anou (4-3-2)
10 – Momo Watanabe (5-4-0)
9 – Mina Shirakawa (4-4-1)
8 – Utami Hayashishita (4-5-0)
8 – AZM (4-5-0)
6 – Mariah May (3-6-0)
6 – Hanan (3-6-0)
STARDOM also held the 11th New Blood Show in the Shinagawa Intercity Hall in front of 357 fans. The show featured two championship matches, and Yuna Mizumori had a Cosmic Angels Membership Assessment Match against the World Of Stardom Champion Tam Nakano.
Yuna Mizumori failed to impress the World Of Stardom Champion in her last Cosmic Angels Membership Assessment Match against Natsupoi, where she had a solid performance. Nakano wanted to see what Mizumori could do by stepping into the ring against her, and Mizumori delivered. A great performance by her, coming close multiple times to upset the World of Stardom Champion, but the experience of Nakano was just a level above Mizumori’s here. After the match, Nakano was impressed with the performance of Yuna and accepted her into Cosmic Angels.
The match started off at a high pace, with Azusa hitting a Pump kick just seconds into the match. They had a heated match, with Rina having control and working on Inaba’s arm. Azusa got back into the match by working over Rina’s left leg and kicking her back as hard as she could. The finishing phase was exciting and ended with Rina winning the match with the Pink Devil. Not everything was clean, but their match was incredibly laid out for a 16 & 15-year-old, and it’s shocking how talented they are at this style. It will take time for them to get perfect at it, but they already understand the basics. It was great for a Rookie Match and it showed that Azusa is a top prospect already, and Rina is just getting better and better.
In the Main Event, KARMA and Starlight Kid defended the New Blood Tag Team Championships against Hanan & Saya Iida and Miyu Amasaki & AZM. The Champions are trying to defend their titles for a third time since winning the belts in March of this year.
They had a fast-paced match, with all three teams having a ton of offense and showing out what they could do. KARMA turned into more of her wrestling part than the character work, and it added something to the match, while the AZM & Starlight sequences once again stole the show. Wing Gori had a great underdog performance and worked together great as a Tag Team. 02Line continued their great Tag work as well, with Miyu Amasaki even busting out a dive, but after a great finishing sequence only one team was able to walk out as champions, and it was Wing Gori. The Young Lioness pinned Starlight Kid with the “Seventeen” flash pin to crown themselves the second-ever New Blood Tag Team Champions, ending the 188-day-long title run of Bloody Fate.
On Sunday, STARDOM held a Korakuen Hall show that celebrated the 10th Anniversary of AZM in the main event, when she faced the IWGP Women’s Champion Mayu Iwatani. Also, Giulia defended her NJPW Strong Women’s Championship against Ami Sourei. The show was filled with angles to build up the Halloween PPV, including a masked woman attacking MIRAI, seemingly aiming for MIRAI’s Wonder Of Stardom Championship.
Giulia retained her Championship against Ami Sourei. After the match, the “Renaissance Woman” Hyan issued a challenge to Giulia at the NJPW STRONG Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2023 on October 28th in Las Vegas. Hyan was wrestling in Germany and RevPro in the past few months and is now getting the biggest match of her career against Giulia in the United States.
After Giulia accepted the match, the lights went out and MICHIKO (fka Andras Miyagi) made her STARDOM return, attacking Giulia. When Giulia joined STARDOM, in her first few months before Donna del Mondo was founded, she and MICHIKO seemed to be a duo, but the former Oedo Tai Member left by the end of February 2020 and re-invented herself as Michiko Miyagi before joining GLEAT, becoming the big star in the small Joshi Division. Earlier in the Summer she founded “Diamond Egoist” which is made up of herself, Janai Kai, Risa Sera, Arisa Nakajima, and Aoi. The match will take place as the opening night of the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League on October 15th.
AZM and Mayu Iwatani were facing off in a singles match for the first time in four years when Mayu Iwatani defeated AZM in a 5STAR GP Block match. Their match ended in a double countout just two minutes into it, but Rossy Ogawa restarted the match and they had a competitive match with Mayu Iwatani winning. After the main event, three women with crow masks attacked and kidnapped Mayu Iwatani, which will likely lead to a six-woman tag with some Halloween Stipulation.
Pro Wrestling WAVE
Hikaru Shida defended her Regina di WAVE Championship on Sunday against VENY, who won the Catch The WAVE tournament after defeating SAKI in the final to earn the shot.
In a close to 20-minute match, VENY was able to defeat Shida clean with the “Captured” and crowned herself the 20th Regina di WAVE Champion. She ended the 413-day-long Championship run of the former AEW Women’s World Champion and is now a 2x RdW Champion. Shida said on Twitter that she will nominate VENY as her first challenger if she’s able to defeat Saraya and crown herself the AEW Women’s World Champion again.
