The day has finally arrived, it’s now time to cover Stardom’s 5 Star Grand Prix!

Last year, I covered Blue Stars while Andrew covered Red Stars and my block won the tournament. We have a stacked roster for both of our respective blocks and I can say we’re both excited about it.

For my prediction, I got Momo Watanabe and Kagetsu in the finals with Momo winning. Let’s see what happens as we…dive right in.

Star Rating System:

• 0 Stars: Dave Meltzer
• 1 Star: Vince Russo
• 2 Stars: Tony Schiavone
• 3 Stars: Eric Bischoff
• 4 Stars: Bruce Prichard
• 5 Stars: Jim Cornette

8/17/2019

5 Star Grand Prix Red Stars Block Match
AZM vs. Natsu Sumire

Review: Our first match starting off this tournament and my block is Natsu Sumire taking on AZM. These two have had quite a bit of history last year when Sumire would take both her mask and flag all because AZM kept calling her a grandma. Now, they’re fighting in the same block for the first day, so they could use that previous aggression to try and find a way to win. Who will get the first win for the Red Stars Block?

Something seemed off with this one, Sumire isn’t doing any type of comedy in this match at all and she’s just…wrestling. I guess she wants to try and have a serious run during this Grand Prix but I actually liked her silliness, it reminded me of Toru in the G1 and now it’s not here…sad. That’s not the only problem I had with this match, unfortunately as it does start off really strong with both of them being crisp, especially AZM since she showed she does deserve a chance to take part in this tournament. The big problem I had with the match was the second half of it because that was when they started to lose the audience to even gain some interest since it was just a sloppy mess to take it home and it really is a shame since it would’ve been a solid opener to start the tournament off strong. The few times AZM attempted the La Mistica, it looked like she slipped and Sumire was doing her best to catch her with a failed roll-up or get her in a Reverse DDT position to apply the Dragon Sleeper. AZM would actually hit and apply the La Mistica this time around as she makes Sumire tap out this time around to get the first win. Solid first half but poor second half to bring it down in points.

Now on https://t.co/q8dHnF58vW! AZM steps into her first ever 5★STAR Grand Prix, and she faces Natsu Sumire on Night 1! pic.twitter.com/lGHFdWFbXu

— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) August 19, 2019

Rating: Tony Schiavone and a quarter

5 Star Grand Prix Red Stars Block Match
Tam Nakano vs. Hana Kimura

Review: Our next match for the block is Tam Nakano taking on Hana Kimura. Tam has impressed a lot of people during her run in last year’s tournament with her performances all around and she could do it again. Hana wasn’t involved last year until she cost Kagetsu her chances of winning and now she looks to win it on her own with a brand new attitude. Will Tam get the first win or will Hana show what she’s all about?

Hana in her pre-match interview calling Tam the shitty little trashy panda…how rude. Anyway, Hana does come out with an awesome sword that glowed in the dark and that was pretty badass. Okay, this was a much better match compared to the previous on that just happened since you got two people that are better groomed together sharing the ring. It did seem a little bit one-sided with Hana taking the control but Tam did play a sympathetic babyface enough to get the story flowing in here. Tam would start to get the upper hand as she hits a nice Blockbuster before she had her on the ropes for a Dragon Sleeper, but she couldn’t tap since she was on the turnbuckle lifting Hana up during that time. It was still nice to see it be more even now after Hana getting a good amount of time in during the beginning. Tam looked like she would go for a German Suplex and Hana fought out of it before eating a Spinning Kick. The two would fight back and forth before Hana went to go for a submission but Tam spun around to avoid it to kick her until Hana caught her for an Ankle Lock as Tam rolled out of it. Hana would eventually pull off a modified Octopus Stretch called the Hydrangea, looks like she was watching some Zacke Sabre Jr as Tam would eventually tap out in a solid match.

Rating: Eric Bischoff and a quarter

5 Star Grand Prix Red Stars Block Match
Mayu Iwatani vs. Saki Kashima

Review: The tournament rolls on as we have our next match set with Saki Kashima taking on last year’s winner, Mayu Iwatani. They were both in the Blue Stars Block last year and Saki was able to defeat Mayu when they fought each other. This could be a chance for Mayu to get some payback from last year on the very first day. Will Saki beat Mayu twice or will Mayu become closer to winning the tournament back-to-back.

Both of them wearing shiny outfits, it’s so pretty and glittery. Mayu doing Saki dirty a little bit as she went to go for a handshake but rolled her up for a two count as Saki tried to roll her up but Mayu kicked out as well. It felt like you were watching a High Speed Title match with how quick the match was and the pacing they would set for it was it was crisp for the less than five minutes they shared in the ring as both of them don’t usually disappoint whenever they fight each other. Can I just say that Mayu has some of the best bridges that I’ve ever seen? Because how she does them during her variants of Suplexes look like a thing of beauty and just how her legs are placed once she hits it. Saki would go for the Killswitch after hitting a Bulldog off the middle rope but Mayu turned it around to hit a German Suplex for a two count. Mayu went to the top rope to hit a Frog Splash for another kickout and would pick her up for the Dragon Suplex as Saki reverses it to roll her up in a modified Crucifix and gets the surprise victory over Mayu!

Rating: Eric Bischoff

5 Star Grand Prix Red Stars Block Match
Momo Watanabe vs. Hazuki

Review: It’s now time for our final match of my block on this show as we have Momo Watanabe taking on Hazuki. These two fought in the Blue Stars Block last year and it came down to a draw. These two never disappoint with each other, so it’s obvious we’ll have another great match on our hands. Do we get a definitive winner or two years of Draws?

Hazuki showing why she is the Assault Commander as she was relentless during her assaults on Momo, she would even just throw her around the ring by her hair going back and forth with it and you can tell she wanted to beat her badly. The two never disappoint either way and while they had better encounters last year, this was still a solid match and a good addition to their rivalry. Momo is slowly trying to find her groove after losing her Wonder of Stardom Championship and she still brought out the best in Hazuki during the process.

Momo would attempt the Half Nelson Suplex but Hazuki got up right away as she hits Momo with the Codebreaker and the advantage is on her side now. Hazuki hits a Tornado DDT but Momo kicked out as Hazuki quickly applied the Crossface until Momo grabbed the ropes to break the hold. Momo finally makes a comeback hitting Hazuki with the Somato for a two count. Momo attempted the Package Driver but Hazuki rolled her up for a two count and Momo hits a PK before hitting the Package Driver this time as Hazuki kicked out. Momo hits the Tequila Sunrise but Hazuki kicked out barely and when Momo went for the Peach Sunrise, Hazuki rolled out of it and applied the Hazukistral for the victory! Hazuki gets the edge this year after failing to avenge her white belt loss last year!

From last night at Shinkiba! It's night 1 of the 5★STAR GP 2019 and it's Momo Watanabe vs Hazuki! Only on https://t.co/q8dHnF58vW! pic.twitter.com/oCWE0fS8Xv

— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) August 18, 2019

Rating: Eric Bischoff and a half

Overall: I’m only going by my matches on my block instead of just the whole show and I would say nothing spectacular happened on my block for the first day. Had one bad match and the last three for me turned out to be solid enough to keep me satisfied, but not great. We still got a lot more to cover as we’ll be on it whenever Stardom uploads our matches. Be sure to look out for the next set on Day 2!

Favorite Match: Momo Watanabe vs. Hazuki

Least Favorite Match: AZM vs. Natsu Sumire

Score: 6.5/10

Red Stars Standing:

• Hazuki: (1-0) (2 Points)
• Saki Kashima: (1-0) (2 Points)
• Hana Kimura (1-0) (2 Points)
• AZM (1-0) (2 Points)
• Mayu Iwatani (0-1) (0 Points)
• Momo Watanabe (0-1) (0 Points)
• Tam Nakano (0-1) (0 Points)
• Natsu Sumire (0-1) (0 Points)
• Avary (0-0) (0 Points)