STARDOM 5STAR Grand Prix Night 5
17.Augustth2024 | KBS Hall in Kyoto, Japan | Number of visitors: 506
NOTE: For those of you who follow all of my reviews, my WrestleMania streak is still ongoing. I do it in my spare time though, so reviews from 2024 (like this one) take precedence. Also, I’m on the Manias, which are about 7 hours long, so it takes a while.
Night 4 was a blast with 14 matches. We’re back to just six on this smaller show focused on Blue Stars. The ladies off tonight are Suzu Suzuki and Syuri.
Blue Stars B-Block: Ranna Yagami (2) vs. Saya Kamitani (4)
There’s no doubt that the tournament was a disappointment for Saya considering how good she usually is. Thankfully, this was one of her better performances. Rather than focusing on a series of hate gimmicks, this was just good, solid wrestling. Ranna brought in her strikes and some submission work, forcing Saya on the defensive. She fought back with her own offense where Saya just did her thing, rather than the over-the-top stable interference we’ve usually gotten. After an entertaining 8:13, Saya won with Star Crusher. It wasn’t anything special, but it was a step in the right direction for Saya’s Grand Prix. (***)
Blue Stars A Block: Anna Jay (2) vs. Xena (2)
Anna Jay has had a solid but unspectacular tournament so far. She hasn’t broken out like Mariah May did last year. Considering she’s already faced the best fighters in her block (Syuri, SLK, and Saori), I was surprised this was her best fight. She and Xena have been getting along well, and there’s no doubt that Xena has upped her game significantly in 2024. Anna’s offense looked good here, especially her rope neckbreaker. The same goes for Xena’s spinning side slam as always. The real kicker in this fight, however, was Xena’s skills. She set Anna Jay’s chest on fire. Anna shared the proof on social media afterward, too. Xena took the win by landing her gutbuster in 10:03, capping off a much better fight than I expected. (***½)
Blue Stars B-Block: Hanan (3) against Thekla (2)
This started off hot when Hanan tried to get ahead of someone known for cheating. The HATE style hasn’t worked so far, but the few times it’s been decent, it’s been against the best babyfaces in the promotion. And right now, Hanan is at least a top-3 face in 2024. The problem was when Thekla took over because she no longer has the interesting offense she had with DDM. Instead, she resorts to House of Torture levels of boring offense and underhanded tactics. Hanan survived all of that and won with her Bridging Fallaway Slam in 9:42. A solid match that could have been even better if it was DDM-era Thekla. (**¾)
Blue Stars A Block: Koguma (2) vs. Starlight Kid (3)
I feel like Starlight Kid is in the running to actually win the whole thing. Although I think Saya Kamitani will win it. There was the usual fun with Koguma’s typical taunting at the beginning before we got to the meat of the match which states that SLK works the legs. As with the best wrestlers, their section on footwork was actually interesting and worked much better than others. Plus, Koguma sold it well. Still, they found a way to incorporate good high-speed wrestling and I always forget that Koguma is very good in this style. The back and forth here was very good, but when SLK applied her Black Tiger Leg Killer, Koguma was in real trouble. She found a way to counter with a pin, setting up a really entertaining exchange that was capped off with the submission being reapplied and Koguma submitting. The match went 13:35 and was just an absolute blast. (***½)
Blue Stars B-Block: Risa Sera (2) vs. Saki Kashima (2)
I didn’t have high expectations for this match and it went as I expected. Risa was unhealthy the entire time and it shows, while Saki is supposed to be the Toru Yano of the tournament. She spent most of the match getting into antics, including running away from Risa to avoid any kind of confrontation. That was pretty much the gist of it and it was pretty good. Saki kept trying her signature flash pin, but Risa was eventually able to counter it and win after 9:50. Like I said, that was pretty good, although I would have preferred it to be 5 minutes rather than 10. (**)
Blue Stars A-Block: Miyu Amasaki (2) vs. Saori Anou (3)
This was a big challenge because Saori is an established star, but Miyu is still very new. It is also Miyu’s hometown. This followed the expected concept that Miyu, as an inexperienced wrestler, had to show fire and fight against the top star. Miyu started hot, but Saori turned the tables and somewhat dominated her. This worked because Miyu’s offense is rather limited, so she was able to use what she knows for her hope points. The best part was that the hometown crowd supported everything she did. Miyu survived a lot of hits and managed a few near-losses, but fell at 10:20 via a flipping DDT. A good main event that did what it was supposed to and was a nice performance for Miyu. (***¼)
| BLUE STARS A | POINTS | BLUE STARS B | POINTS | RED STARS A | POINTS | RED STARS B | POINTS |
| Syuri | 4 (2:1) | Saya Kamitani | 6 (3:0) | Maika | 6 (3:0) | Mayu Iwatani | 6 (3:0) |
| Starlight Child | 5 (2-1-1) | Suzuki Spark Plug | 3 (1-1-1) | Manami | 5 (2-1-1) | AZM | 6 (2-0-2) |
| Saori Anou | 5 (2-1-1) | Hanan | 5 (2-1-1) | Hazuki | 4 (2:1) | Tomoka Inaba | 6 (2-0-2) |
| Xena | 4 (2:1) | Risa Sera | 4 (2:1) | Natsupoi | 4 (2:1) | My Seira | 4 (1-0-2) |
| Miyu Amasaki | 2 (1-2) | Thekla | 2 (1-2) | Konami | 4 (2:1) | Saya Iida | 2 (1-2) |
| Koguma | 2 (1-2) | Ranna Yagami | 2 (1-2) | Ruaka | 1 (0-3-1) | Tam Nakano | 0 (0-3) |
| Anna Jay | 2 (1-3) | Saki Kashima | 2 (1-2) | Yuna Mizumori | 0 (0-3) | Momo Watanabe | 0 (0-4) |
