August 18th, 2018
The first day of the Stardom 5 Star Grand Prix is here! The show featured nine matches in total, but I will only be covering the eight matches that are apart of the 5 Star Grand Prix. At the end of each review, you will find the standings for each block.
Red Stars Block: Kimber Lee vs. Natsuko Tora
This was a solid opening match, with both ladies getting quite a bit in, but Kimber got to shine in her Stardom debut. The crowd still doesn’t really know who Kimber is, but by the end of this tour, she should get a great reaction. Natsuko probably won’t have the best record in this tournament, but she’ll definitely get in some quality outings. Good match here, featuring Kimber getting the win off of a swanton. There was a REALLY close near fall down the stretch, almost ending in a botched win for Kimber, which wouldn’t have been the best thing for your debut.
Winner: Kimber Lee
Match Rating: ***
Match Length: 7:09
Blue Stars Block: Jamie Hayter vs. Natsu Sumire
Pretty sloppy match here, filled with a bunch of “comedy” and shenanigans. Jamie Hayter got her win, but I’m not too sure how many more wins she’ll get in the tournament. She wasn’t BAD, but like I said, this was quite sloppy at times. Natsu and Oedo Tai pulled their typical interference and shenanigans, which can add to matches at times, but didn’t for me in this one. Thankfully it was pretty short (which all the 5* matches are), and Jamie got the surprise win.
Winner: Jamie Hayter
Match Rating: *3/4
Match Length: 7:38
Red Stars Block: Tam Nakano vs. Utami Hayashishita
For those of you that ready my last Stardom review, you are aware of how much I loved Utami Hayashishita. She knocked it out of the park in her debut against Jungle, and I expect great things from her in this tournament. Tam is still growing in the ring, but she’s always been solid. This was a good back and forth match, but in the end it was all about Utami. Utami continued to impress, with her beautiful looking Judo Throws, and everything just being so smooth. Utami was able to actually submit Tam to the Torture Rack, something she couldn’t do to Jungle in her debut match.
Winner: Utami Hayashishita
Match Rating: ***
Match Length: 7:09
Blue Stars Block: Saki Kashima vs. Hazuki
Solid match here, but nothing that blew me away. Both of these ladies recently suffered losses to Momo Watanabe, and are in need of a singles victory. Hazuki looked good here, while Saki had a few rough spots and botches. It started off back and forth, but eventually broke down, allowing for Hazuki to steal the win with a roll up. Not the weakest match, but nothing made it stand out either. I’m really pulling for Hazuki to have a great run in the tournament.
Winner: Hazuki
Match Rating: **1/2
Match Length: 6:54
Red Stars Block: Jungle Kyona vs. Rachel Ellering
I’ve been watching Rachel Ellering for about a year now, but I’m just not a fan. Her strikes look weak, selling is inconsistent, and she is either good, or quite bad. These two got 10 minutes to work, which is a lot more compared to these other matches… And it felt it. This felt long, and not really in a good way. It was far from a bad match, but these two didn’t have the best chemistry, and the match was all over the place. The stage brawling felt out of place, and almost seemed like it was there to fill time. Other than that, Jungle was great as usual, but sadly she lost to Rachel. It’s the first night, so you have to expect most of the gajins to pick up wins (Remember… Mandy Leon beat Io Shirai last year).
Winner: Rachel Ellering
Match Rating: **1/2
Match Length: 10:05
Blue Stars Block: Momo Watanabe vs. Nicole Savoy
This was a great match, easily the best so far. Nicole Savoy has toured with Stardom before, but this is her first time in the 5* Grand Prix. While it started off slow, the closing stretch (really the last 5 minutes) were all great. There were some good near falls, and Momo barely got her shoulder up on a couple of them. Nicole winning would’ve got her a future Wonder of Stardom Championship match, but Momo survived that, and picked up the win here. It’d be a long shot for her to win the tournament since she is currently the Wonder of Stardom Champion, but you never know.
Winner: Momo Watanabe
Match Rating: ***1/2
Match Length: 7:53
Blue Stars Block: Mayu Iwatani vs. Kelly Klein
Kelly Klein had quite the tour of Stardom last year, as she won the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League, alongside Bea Priestley. Now she’s back for the 5*, and there is no better first opponent than Mayu Iwatani. These two got a lot of time to work, and it resulted in a pretty good match. Not as good as the previous, but this was still one of the best matches of the night. Klein got a lot in, and picked up a MAJOR victory. It may shock a lot of you to know that this wasn’t a first time meeting, as they faced off back in April, during the Women of Honor Championship tournament. That was a pretty average match, with nothing too special, but this one delivered. Klein was ROH’s chosen one for the longest time, and it’s extended matches like this that make you realize that she’s legit.
Winner: Kelly Klein
Match Rating: ***1/2
Match Length: 10:20
Red Stars Block: Kagetsu vs. Konami
Great match here, allowing Konami to shine, and do what she does best. This almost felt like some of the Suzuki/Tanahashi matches, where Konami kept the submission locked in, and would keep going back to it, then finally securing the win. It’s a huge win for Konami, and will set up a great World of Stardom Championship match at the end of the tour. Kagetsu was great as usual, and it’s awesome not seeing Oedo Tai get involved in every single match. Match of the night, and could be one of the best tournament matches this year.
Winner: Konami
Match Rating: ***3/4
Match Length: 13:10
Final Thoughts:
The first night of a Round Robin tournament is usually filled with some good matches, some bad, and lots of surprise results. There were a ton of big wins for gajins, but the biggest of all was Konami beating Kagetsu. We also had two other very good matches, those being Klein/Mayu and Momo/Nicole. The weakest part of the show was easily Hayter/Sumire, but otherwise nothing was anywhere near bad. In other news, Utami picked up her first victory, and she is ready to have an amazing tournament. Don’t expect the standings to stay like this for a long, because we still have a long way to go. Pretty solid show here, and it’ll probably be one of the better ones we get.
Final Rating: 6.3/10
Red Star Standings:
T-1st: Kimber Lee (2 Points)
T-1st: Utami Hayashishita (2 Points)
T-1st: Rachel Ellering (2 Points)
T-1st: Konami (2 Points)
T-5th: Natsuko Tora (0 Points)
T-5th: Tam Nakano (0 Points)
T-5th: Jungle Kyona (0 Points)
T-5th: Kagetsu (0 Points)
Blue Star Standings:
T-1st: Jamie Hayter (2 Points)
T-1st: Hazuki (2 Points)
T-1st: Momo Watanabe (2 Points)
T-1st: Kelly Klein (2 Points)
T-5th: Natsu Sumire (0 Points)
T-5th: Saki Kashima (0 Points)
T-5th: Nicole Savoy (0 Points)
T-5th: Mayu Iwatani (0 Points)
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