Cero Reviews STARDOM 5★STAR Grand Prix 2021, 9.18

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Cero Reviews STARDOM 5★STAR Grand Prix 2021, 9.18

Post by cero2k » Sep 20th, '21, 18:03

STARDOM 5★STAR Grand Prix 2021, Day 14
September 18, 2021
EDION Arena Osaka #2, Osaka, Japan

Fukigen Death vs. Lady C - 4.5/10
Ok match, a lot of tall vs short schtick before the action started. The wrestling looked good, Death is really really underrated, everything she does looks good. Death won with a small package.

Syuri vs. Waka Tsukiyama - 5.5/10
Ok match too, it was what it had to be with Syuri being dominant, giving Tsukiyama a couple of spots, mainly her motorcycle submission, and at the end, Syuri won with a Sleeper. This wasn't the match for Tsukiyama to be super competitive.

Konami vs. Mai Sakurai - 5.5/10
We're not done with the Sakurai Stardom Challenge, this is match #8. Match saw Konami dominante, she even had Oedo Tai there with her to join in on the mockery. Sakurai had a couple of hope spots, kicking Konami, but she should know better than tot get into a kicking match with Konami. Buzzsaw Kick for the pin by Konami.

5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Blue Block Match
Ruaka [0] vs. Unagi Sayaka [5] - 4/10
Ruaka and Oedo Tai jumped Sayaka during her entrance, attacked her with Ruaka's suitcase. Ruaka beat up Sayaka for a while until Sayaka made a comeback and actually got close to getting the win, so Ruaka grabbed a weapon and choked Sayaka for the DQ.

Post-match - Ruaka challenged Sayaka to a Future of STARDOM title match at Osaka-Jo Hall. Ruaka is on year 5, but she's still 17 years old, so she is eligible. Sayaka is from Osaka, so I hope she wins.

5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Red Block Match
Saki Kashima [2] vs. Koguma [5] - 5/10
Match was ok, it was well wrestled and all, but I find Koguma's cutesy offense to be more dickish than cute, so half of the match, I'm just distracted thinking that Koguma is a dick. The idea of the match itself was weird, Kashima spent a fourth of the match working the feet, not the leg, but the feet, only to later on transition into the arm, looking for a submission. Koguma mostly worked the back as usual, until she got the win with a side rollup.

Between AZM and Kashima, I don't know what Rossy was thinking when he only gave them a couple of wins both.

5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Red Block Match
Mayu Iwatani [7] vs. Mina Shirakawa [4] - 7/10
This was a really different match from what we've seen from Shirakawa, and I guess Iwatani too. In this match, Iwatani is the far more experienced top of the card wrestler, and so the story was more about Shirakawa showing that she could hang with Iwatani.

Match started with some shenanigans from Mina, which sparked something inside Mayu, because from there on, she got vicious and didn't let go until she had the win via Dragon Suplex. Shirakawa was able to make some desperate cut offs and get some offense in here and there, and she did managed to slow down Mayu, but not completely stop her, so in a matter of a minute, Mayu started kicking Shirakawa's head off and ended with the Dragon Suplex.

Shirakawa is kinda there for wrestler to amount wins and spoils, but she is no doubt having a great tournament.

5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Blue Block Match
Takumi Iroha [9] vs. AZM [2] - 8/10
These two have a bit of a history together, even with 10 more years of age, Iroha and AZM started wrestling with only one year apart and have known each other for a while.

I couldn't tell with AZM, but Iroha was having the time of her life wrestling her little buddy. There was no malice from neither, but in the case of Iroha, you couldn't erase the smile off her face. The match was mostly back and forth with some emphasis on AZM trying to overcome her senior, while Iroha having to realize that if she didn't take AZM serious this time, she was getting beat. The final minutes of the match were back and forth counters and pin attempts, to the point that the final sequence was both women reversing a small package into a small package over and over, for about ten or twelve different near falls, but at the end, AZM got out of the loop, hit AZM Sushi twice, and got the win.

AZM didn't have many wins in the tournament, but the ones she got were important.

5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Red Block Match
Starlight Kid [7] vs. Himeka [8] - 8/10
This was a match that I had thought about as we got through the tournament. Starlight Kid is being pushed right now, to make her a strong contender for the final shows, especially going against Mayu Iwatani of all people. Himeka, while not a credible contender to win, she had been given a couple wins and is mostly presented as a big hoss, and that last part was what had me thinking about how this match would go down. It was somewhat clear to me that SLK had to win this match, but she was going against somewhat considerably bigger and they were not just going to have SLK beat up Himeka just like that.

The match did a good job at portraying SLK as a really strong competitor, able to take on a hoss, but the match was nonetheless, incredibly hard for her, it took double the effort to bring Himeka down, making the roll up finish a perfect way for her to get a credible win that didn't look abnormal. Himeka herself looked like a powerhouse that was caught by surprise and lost, and not that she didn't sell for SLK, but she clearly had an aura that if she had kicked out, she could had continued her onslaught and won down the line.

Post-match - Oedo Tai jumped Himeka to help SLK put the tiger mask on her. Afterwards, SLK cut a promo saying she got 2 points from Himeka and that she's still alive in the tournament and she plans to win the last two matches.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
Good show, nothing that will make any buzz though, it was just a show with good wrestling and minimum developments. This weekend's shows all felt like damage control for the weeks they had to take out, so they pilled up a bunch of matches, dealt with some wins and loses due to Giulia's exit, and they're setting up the final two shows.

Red Block
Giulia - 3-0-6 -- 6
Natsupoi - 4-1-3 -- 9
Himeka - 4-0-3 -- 8
Mayu Iwatani - 4-1-2 -- 9
Koguma - 3-1-3 -- 7
Momo Watanabe - 6-0-2 -- 12
Fukigen Death - 3-0-4 -- 6
Starlight Kid - 4-2-2 -- 9
Saki Kashima - 1-0-5 -- 2
Mina Shirakawa - 2-0-5 -- 4

Blue Block
Utami Hayashishita - 3-1-2 -- 7
Saya Kamitani - 5-1-2 -- 11
AZM - 2-0-5 -- 4
Syuri - 4-1-2 -- 9
Maika - 3-1-4 -- 7
Tam Nakano - 4-0-4 -- 8
Unagi Sayaka - 3-1-4 -- 7
Ruaka - 0-0-6 -- 0
Konami - 5-0-2 -- 10
Takumi Iroha - 4-1-2 -- 9
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