We are at Sendai PIT for day 8 of the 5STAR Grand Prix. Coming into this show Maika and Mei Seira are undefeated (Mei has 2 draws). In Red Stars A Maika has Hazuki and Natsupoi right behind her in the standings, and in Red Stars B it’s Mayu, Inaba and Mei Seira all within 2 points of AZM at the top. This is the start of the final stretch with one more show for both Red and Blue blocks, and one full 12 match card on the final day of block matches on 8/25.
5STAR Grand Prix – Red Stars Block B: Mayu Iwatani [6] vs. Mei Seira [6]
Mei Sera has been one of the most consistent in Stardom this year (her match with SLK on 6/22 is one of my top Joshi matches of the year) and of course Mayu is always going to be Mayu – so going into this with both tied at 6 points I was hoping to see some real fireworks that we haven’t really seen yet in this tournament. While they didn’t give me what I was hoping for, this was a fun match. It started off fast paced with the traditional drop kick opener and some fast counters and evasion. The pacing slowed down when Mei was in control and Mayu sold like Mayu does but I never really got the feeling that Mei would win, even though there were a few extremely close near falls. Neo Genesis has been booked strong in the tournament so far though I think this was a missed opportunity to have Mei put a little more pressure on Mayu and add a little more drama. There were some fun moments like Mei stomping on Mayu’s hand repeatedly, and then later dumping her on her head (it looked a lot worse than it actually was), but aside from those moments this was fairly standard and much of the closing stretch was rollup reversals and Mei trying to steal a victory from Mayu, but Mayu ultimately stealing one from Mei with a quick pin. **3/4
5STAR Grand Prix – Red Stars Block A: Yuna Mizumori [0] vs. Konami [4]
Yuna, despite not scoring a victory yet, has had a solid run of matches so far and Konami has pretty much been the opposite of that. Konami attempts to go full H.A.T.E. but moves at a snails pace with no heat. Konami controls, and Yuna attempts to make a few spirited comebacks but Konami’s plodding work and submission attempts are too much for her I guess, but she’s selling the heck out of it and trying to gain control of the match but Konami ends up tapping her out with the triangle arm lock.. *1/2
5STAR Grand Prix – Red Stars Block B: Saya Iida [2] vs. Momo Watanabe [2]
Saya Iida is making a case to start becoming a must watch talent. She has 2 of my top 5 matches of the tournament so far, against Mayu Iwatani on 8/11 and Mei Sera on 8/18 – both good matches in their own right and also nice glimpses of what she can do with an upper tier opponent. This was good back and forth action, neither having much to fight for being basically eliminated, but they have good chemistry and Saya is super over. This isn’t the high quality Momo ring work that I love though there are shades of it, and her execution is always great, but this was definitely fun and is a matchup I will be looking forward to in the future with higher stakes. **3/4
5STAR Grand Prix – Red Stars Block B: Tam Nakano [0] vs. Tomoka Inaba [6]
This was basically a glorified squash. Inaba works the left knee for the majority of the beginning of the match and Tam struggles through the beatdown as she has all tournament. It’s not really even a good beatdown though, as Inaba is pretty uninspiring here and not showing any real urgency despite needing a win to keep pace with Mayu in the block. Tam hasn’t been booked as a threat to anyone so far, so this was never really a contest. *1/4
5STAR Grand Prix – Red Stars Block A: Natsupoi [6] vs. Manami [5]
I don’t want to say this is not worth your time, because I’m a Natsupoi fan and Manami has been solid, but this had way too much downtime and questionable execution in parts – especially the weird rope spot where Natsupoi just paused after seemingly getting stuck in the ropes which could have genuinely been miscommunication. One of my most hated things in all of wrestling, and this happens a lot in Stardom, is after a spot outside the ring stopping to drink water instead of pushing advantage and Manami did that here against the Wonder of Stardom champion. I’m looking for urgency and believability and that takes so so much away from a match for me. The ending stretch was fun back and forth though. **
5STAR Grand Prix – Red Stars Block A: Maika [8] vs. Hazuki [6]
This is their first singles match and I think with a little more chemistry they could have a good match but this wasn’t quite it. Much like Maika’s red belt run (aside from a couple matches) this left more to be desired. Structurally it was kind of a mess with most of the good stuff at the beginning and end with the middle being an overlong submission hold by Hazuki which immediately gets no sold into some bomb trading, and the “deathbed” dueling elbow strikes on their knees in the middle of the ring like they’ve just been through a 2 hour iron man match, but they haven’t even gotten to the real meat of the match yet. The match goes close to 15 as they tease the draw towards the end with reversals and near falls and Maika hits the Michinoku Driver to be the first to 10 points. Everything they did was solid though and they are both fun to watch – I just think the match structure sometimes gets in the way of Maika being able to have a match that qualifies as more than just “good” especially this year. Hazuki always brings the intensity and Maika’s best performance this year was the first fall of her against Momo (⅔ falls match on 4/27). Give me more of that Maika. **1/2
Final Thoughts: Nothing earth shattering but a fun show with a good crowd, and 3 matches worth checking out. Yunamon/Konami and Tam/Inaba are definitely skippable. Mayu/Mei and Iida/Momo were the highlights here and Maika/Hazuki also worth a watch.
Check out my full 5STAR match rankings and updated block points and standings!
X: @ligersama
