The last day of solo Blue block before the block stage finale. Let’s goooooo.
5STAR Grand Prix – Blue Stars Block B: Hanan [5] vs. Ranna Yagami [2]
Solid back and forth action here with Yagami pulling out the upset. Hanan has had mostly solid performances with her best match being against Suzu Suzuki on 8/10 and while Yagami has ranged from below average to solid, she has exceeded expectations and this match fed us a glimpse of what may be the not so distant future in Stardom. A fine opener. **1/2
5STAR Grand Prix – Blue Stars Block A: Koguma [4] vs. Anna Jay [6]
This tournament will hopefully do wonders for Anna Jay’s career as she continues to improve. It’s been noticeable that her opponents are mostly having to slow things down in their matches, most obvious to me was the Starlight Kid match on 8/12. Anna’s best individual performance was the brutal match with Xena on 8/17 and while it was still lacking in urgency and believability (something that I see as major areas of improvement in both Anna and Xena) it showed that she can be diverse in her match structure which is a sign of good things to come hopefully. This match, however, was probably one of the worst of the tournament void of nearly all suspension of disbelief as they went through the motions with almost zero intensity just waiting around for each other to do stuff. 3/4*
5STAR Grand Prix – Blue Stars Block A: Starlight Kid [5] vs. Miyu Amasaki [2]
With Koguma winning a draw here was highly likely to even out SLK’s point total going into the final day and keep Neo Genesis’ booking strong (SLK, Mei, AZM all having multiple draws). They work this like a hoss match throwing stiff strikes and launching bombs or a bit, likely to give ample time for selling. It’s pretty slow paced overall, like they are working towards a draw and not really trying to win the match until the short sprint at the end. Miyu’s arsenal of DDTs are cool. There is a good match here somewhere, sometime. **1/4
5STAR Grand Prix – Blue Stars Block B: Thekla [2] vs. Risa Sera [6]
Really have nothing to say here. Not going for low effort content but this was a heatless mess that ended with a ref bump, some nonsense, and a chairshot DQ by Risa. I take back what I said earlier about the worst match of the tournament (I think it’s still Saya/Thekla from 8/12 though). Thekla now has the 2 worst 5STAR matches. She needs to not be in singles tournaments, maybe. Sorry Risa. 1/2*
5STAR Grand Prix – Blue Stars Block A: Syuri [4] vs. Xena [4]
Xena has been improving this year and this was probably her best performance to date. I still find her robotic movements distracting and her striking often looks so lethargic and forced which was a major issue for me in the red belt match with Maika on 6/22. There was less of that here and the match was worked a little tighter with some new fun stuff from Xena and just general intensity and urgency that I don’t often see from her. **3/4
5STAR Grand Prix – Blue Stars Block B: Saya Kamitani [6] vs. Suzu Suzuki [5]
Things are definitely heating up as the block stage nears the end with several best individual performances of the tournament. This was Kamitani’s best so far. I have to admit I was worried after watching her match with Thekla where she was working face after making this massive heel turn. This felt a lot shorter than it was even though it did end abruptly at about 10 minutes with Kamitani hitting the Revolution-style Star Crusher. Saya and Suzu were both solid here and I want a longer match between them because they showed good chemistry with each other. **3/4
Final Thoughts: Some fine stuff here. Koguma/Anna and Thekla/Sera I would stay far away from but the rest was worth watching for sure. The problem with a lot of these block matches is that they just don’t get enough time to develop into anything truly good – so I have a tough time getting them out of the ** range.
Check out my full 5STAR match rankings and updated block points and standings!
X: @ligersama
