STARDOM 5STAR Grand Prix 2024 Day 4 (August 15) Results & Review

WORLD WONDER RING STARDOM
5STAR GRAND PRIX DAY 4
AUGUST 15, 2024
KORAKUEN HALL
TOKYO, JAPAN

STARDOM hosts 5STAR Grand Prix Day 4 at Korkauen Hall, the iconic venue for Japanese wrestling, featuring a double-block slate of matches. This tournament has already consumed a large part of my free time, and I can see that continuing for the foreseeable. At least I’ve got Mayu vs. Momo, Tam vs. AZM, Iida vs. Inaba, and Anou vs. Kid to look forward to.

RED STARS B
AZM (6) DEF. TAM NAKANO (0)

We have our first elimination after just five shows and three block matches. Tam Nakano starts at a shocking 0-3 and is virtually eliminated from the tournament. I expected them to play up her injured knee to further the Tora feud, but to actually eliminate her early is shocking. This match made full use of the injury as AZM was willing to attack it at every necessary step to gain the upper hand.

It was an energetic opener that flowed really well without relying on the AZM underdog trope. The post-match does bring some confusion, though. Nakano is eliminated from the 5STAR but Natsuko Tora offered her a world title match anyway. Not sure about that one. ***1/2

BLUE STARS B
THEKLA (2) DEF. RANNA YAGAMI (2)

Pretty short match that was solid enough. Ranna tried to get the jump on the heel but fell pretty quickly after her opening blitz. **1/2

BLUE STARS A
KOGUMA (2) DEF. MIYU AMASAKI (2)

Perfection, excellence, greatness…it went 50 seconds, I don’t know, but they did the bear pose, so thumbs up!

RED STARS B
TOMOKA INABA (6) DEF. SAYA IIDA (2)

Saya Iida is having herself a RUN. Her style of wrestling is perfect not only for her murderer’s row block but this tournament and the general match lengths. She was so good here powering through the intense onslaught from Tomoka Inaba who was on point as always with her striking game. Marigold may have PASSION, but STARDOM has GORICHAN who never fails to deliver. ***3/4

RED STARS A
NATSUPOI (4) DEF. RUAKA (3)

Nice face vs heel match that got me into it once they picked things up. For as much as H.A.T.E does right, the whole throwing people into chairs heat stuff to pad time is so uncreative and I hope they can find something a bit better. Once we got past that I enjoyed this, Poi is a great babyface and Ruaka, as I’ve said before, is motivated and got the working boots on so she’s ready to bump for anyone and has been picking up the pace when the finishing stretch comes along. ***

BLUE STARS B
SAKI KASHIMA (2) DEF. HANAN (3)

Another sub-60 second match. Saki Kashima strikes again!

RED STARS A
MANAMI (5) DEF. YUNA MIZUMORI (0)

Back to the good vibes with a well-worked, if slightly short match here. Good action from start to finish and a nice return to form after the heel-heavy match and a 20-second flash win. ***1/4

BLUE STARS A
SYURI (4) DEF. ANNA JAY (2)

Pretty standard match. Nothing really happened, which is unusual for a Syuri match, unless she was afraid to lay it in on the AEW wrestler. Solid in-ring action but nothing to write home about as we hit hour 2 of the show. **1/2

RED STARS A
MAIKA (6) DEF. KONAMI (4)

Konami has settled into a nice groove in the tournament, she’s able to mix the heel stuff with her normal moveset pretty well. In fact, being a submission sniper really lends itself to the big heel faction, while her added ruthlessness is a better fit than her more laid-back vibe when she’s a babyface. The crowd even boos her which is a nice start, Maika was good on the comeback but this was another one where the finish came out of nowhere and just kind of cut things off. ***1/2

BLUE STARS B
RISA SERA (2) DEF. SUZU SUZUKI (3)

Another good match, this time thanks to Suzu Suzuki. It was fairly slow and plodding for a lot but she was bringing the heat and was laying her stuff in. Risa Sera hasn’t moved me too much in this tournament, and I’m pretty sure she’s banged up, so I can’t go too hard on her, but as of now, she’s completely middle of the road performance-wise. ***

BLUE STARS A
SAORI ANOU (3) VS STARLIGHT KID (3) – DRAW

Okay, so this one might be my fault, but knowing this went to a draw did kind of hurt my enjoyment of it. Not to mention it’s match 13 of the show, and my goodness, do I just wish I could be free from this vice. The wrestling was pretty good especially down the stretch, even knowing the result there was one or two really strong nearfalls that got me hooked. This was the good kind of TLD where it pretty naturally ended and came out of nowhere as the referee was mid-count when the bell rang. ***1/2

RED STARS B
MAYU IWATANI (6) DEF. MOMO WATANABE (0)

One of STARDOM’s most tried and true pairings went at it once again, and as per usual, they delivered one of the best matches of the tournament. Even the H.A.T.E stuff was really well done, as it added some real heat to proceedings and gave Momo a target to work on with her onslaught. Iwatani, of course, was an excellent babyface to work off of Watanabe’s dominance and heel cheating.

What makes Mayu so great is that she can really hit back just as hard as the heels hit her. She’s relentless, and when she’s making her comebacks, it is cathartic to see someone really take the bad guy to the cleaner.

These two have such incredible chemistry that they’re able to have great matches without any real effort, but this one felt different. The heel element added another layer to the match and made for a more interesting Iwatani struggle to overcome the opposition and continue her perfect record.

As of now, this sits at the head of the table as MOTT. ****1/2

FINAL THOUGHTS

With this many matches there were going to be hits and misses, the show was a real rollercoaster with some dips and some highs. It ended with a must-see match between Mayu Iwatani and Momo Watanabe but I’d be lying if I said the show didn’t feel like it was dragging on forever. A 14-match card when you’re running just days after your LAST blockbuster card as the fifth show in just about the same amount of days is asking a lot of even your most ardent fans. Welp, 8 more shows to go in the next 2 weeks, let’s keep it rolling!