Cero Reviews STARDOM 5★STAR Grand Prix 2021, 9.12

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Cero Reviews STARDOM 5★STAR Grand Prix 2021, 9.12

Post by cero2k » Sep 15th, '21, 21:33

STARDOM 5★STAR Grand Prix 2021, Day 12
September 12, 2021
Sendai PIT, Sendai, Japan

Utami Hayashishita vs. Lady C - 4.5/10
Ok match, Hayashishita is at such a level that different from everyone else, selling for someone like C looks weird. It was just too much in my opinion, even if she did easily come back and won with a Komoritsuri Otoshi slam.

Mina Shirakawa vs. Waka Tsukiyama - 6.5/10
This was similar to the Sayaka match, they gave these two a lot of time to do their thing, and because of that, Tsukiyama got to show a lot more, as did Shirakawa for that matter, and it's good experience for her to carry a match. I really enjoy Tsukiyama's facial expressions when she's selling.

Post-match - Sayaka carried Tsukiyama to the back, so I do think she'll be joining Cosmic Angels sooner or later.

Natsupoi vs. Mai Sakurai - 6/10
Match was ok, but it felt more like a Natsupoi showcase. Sakurai is not bad, but I'm still not that impressed by her, her personality doesn't really show during matches, so I hope they at least let her cut some pre-match promos backstage to listen what her deal is. Her look at this point is somewhat generic as is her wrestling, so at least let her talk her way into being different. Natsupoi won with the Faerial Gift.

5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Blue Block Match
Takumi Iroha [5] vs. Ruaka [0] - 6.5/10
I paid close attention to Ruaka in this match, Iroha is someone who will bring out the intensity in you, and I wanted to see if she could do it from Ruaka. Once they were done with the whole Oedo Tai shenanigans outside the ring, the wrestling in the ring did work, but I think what Ruaka is missing the most is either the confidence to put some weight and speed on her offense, or just become a chaotic brawler like Matsumoto, who did similar stuff to what Ruaka does today, but made it look so wild that it worked. I don't know if it's a matter or stamina or just confidence, but Ruaka has to work on making her offence look more real and not rookie like. Iroha won with a Sleeper.

5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Red Block Match
Koguma [4] vs. Momo Watanabe [8] - 7.5/10
It took a while to pick up momentum, but this match ended up being really good. Koguma tends to do a couple of cute spots early on in her matches, but once she gets going, she's good, and with someone like Momo, that is all intensity, Koguma was pushed to be on her toes. Koguma has the benefit of being a high speed wrestler with size, so her offense against someone like Momo ends up being more overwhelming and she can get more offense than a smaller high speed wrestler that would be easier for Momo to cut off with a kick. Momo ended up winning with a Peach Sunrise.

5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Blue Block Match
AZM [2] vs. Tam Nakano [6] - 9/10
I loved this! When the tournament started, a lot of the matches were paying attention to limb work between matches, as they were done with the big venue shows and they took time off, they started to slow it down, which does kinda make sense if they had weeks without shows and thus time to recover. Well, AZM vs Tam was all about AZM going back after Nakano's injured arm from the start of the tournament.

The match was laid out like a Nakano match, with AZM getting most of the early offense until Nakano makes her strong style comeback and they take it to the back and forth near fall exchange. I particularly hyped for AZM locking in the Mistica, I thought she had a strong chance at getting the win there, but indeed, Nakano escaped and about a minute later, landed Twilight Dream for the win. I honestly thought AZM had a chance to win, not just because she's not doing as well in the tournament, but because she could be a perfect challenger for Nakano in a lesser show.

I haven't done any calculations, but this match does eliminate AZM.

5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Blue Block Match
Syuri [5] vs. Unagi Sayaka [5] - 7/10
Sayaka had an over the top rope win on Syuri from the Cinderella tournament, so it made most sense for Syuri to get her win back. Since the previous rule that gave Sayaka the win were not present anymore, it was going to be really hard to recall spots from that match and make them matter in this match, so they just kinda had a normal match that played into their styles and strengths, which depending on how you want to see it, could had been better or not. I kinda wanted to see some reference, but like I said, it was going to be hard.

The match they had was a more serious Syuri kicking Sayaka's butt, Sayaka having some comebacks here and there, but nothing to really derail Syuri, and at the end, she submitted Sayaka with a White Tiger. The saving grace for Sayaka in this match, as some other ones against stronger opponents, is that she keeps coming back, she keeps kicking out, and no matter what the opponent throws at her, she just won't give up until she's done for.

5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Blue Block Match
Maika [7] vs. Saya Kamitani [7] - 8/10
Kinda halfway through the match, I just knew this was going to Kamitani, it was a total showcase for her. A lot of her matches this tournament haven't allowed her to really fly, but this one did, mostly as they came closer to the end. The match was all about Saya being one step ahead of Maika, and being way faster too, her only problem was when Maika got offense in, it was quite damaging, so Saya never really got a strong dominance over Maika. Her abilities were enough to catch Maika with a Frankensteiner though, and keep it down for the win.

Post-match - Kamitani cut her winner's promo saying that with this win, she has made it to the top of the block. She put over Sayaka and AZM as opponents she can't look past, but she believes she will win. She closed the show afterwards.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
This was a show right in the middle of quality, but it did have one of my favorite matches of the whole tournament so far between Tam and AZM.

Red Block
Giulia - 3-0-6 -- 6
Natsupoi - 3-1-3 -- 7
Himeka - 4-0-2 -- 8
Mayu Iwatani - 3-0-2 -- 6
Koguma - 2-0-3 -- 4
Momo Watanabe - 5-0-2 -- 10
Fukigen Death - 3-0-4 -- 6
Starlight Kid - 3-2-2 -- 7
Saki Kashima - 1-0-3 -- 2
Mina Shirakawa - 2-0-3 -- 4

Blue Block
Utami Hayashishita - 3-1-1 -- 7
Saya Kamitani - 4-1-2 -- 9
AZM - 1-0-4 -- 2
Syuri - 3-1-2 -- 7
Maika - 3-1-4 -- 7
Tam Nakano - 4-0-3 -- 8
Unagi Sayaka - 2-1-3 -- 5
Ruaka - 0-0-5 -- 0
Konami - 4-0-2 -- 8
Takumi Iroha - 3-1-1 -- 7
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