STARDOM 5STAR Grand Prix 2026 Final (August 23) Results & Review

WORLD WONDER RING STARDOM
STARDOM 5STAR GRAND PRIX FINAL
AUGUST 23, 2026
RYOGOKU KOKUGIKAN
TOKYO, JAPAN

5STAR GRAND PRIX SEMI-FINAL
STARLIGHT KID DEF. SUZU SUZUKI

I really like the vibe Suzu Suzuki has been channeling since her world title win, she walks and wrestles with a headstrong swagger that looks out of place in Joshi. You can see it in her wrestling with how she’s just a ruthless brawler who does her moves first and asks questions second. It was that dynamic that really made this match, as her take-no-prisoners in-ring approach met the agile intelligence of Starlight Kid, who was able to work away on Suzuki’s leg with counters and the occasional bit of uncanny offense.

They managed to carry the drama of a big semi-final without really dipping over into eye-rolling territory, as is often the case in 2026 across multiple companies. The finish itself was well done as Kid was able to get a desperation Leg Killer in and trapped Suzuki until she had no choice but to tap out despite her attempts to wriggle out.

I expected a Starlight Kid final as she was my pick to win the tournament from the final 4 but she and Suzuki did well to balance the big win with protecting Suzuki by basically having her lose to a stylistic error. If they want, they can run this back and get more mileage out of it as there’s still a lot to dig into between these two former stablemates. ****

5STAR GRAND PRIX SEMI-FINAL
RINA DEF. MAIKA

Once Kid got through, I knew this was going to be a Rina win; those two as the finalists just made a lot of sense to me. That’s probably why I didn’t fully enjoy this one, it felt like the same match Maika and Rina have done for the entire tournament so far with nothing standing out as interesting. That said, this was a good win for Rina, defeating a former World Champion on PPV as her climb continues. ***1/4

KOGUMA & MATOI HAMABE DEF. COSMIC ANGELS (YUNA MIZUMORI & ANNE KANAYA), HATE (KONAMI & FUKIGEN DEATH) & NEO GENESIS (MEI SEIRA & EMA MAISHIMA)

Most of the high speed division came together for a fun, if inconsequential tag match. I prefer these short matches with a fast pace and a lot more teams than standard undercard multi-tags. Koguma got the win and seems to have been put in contention for the High Speed title after beating Anne. ***

GOD’S EYE (AMI SOREI, LADY C, TOMOKA INABA, HINA & KIYOKA KOTATSU) DEF. AZM, MIYU AMASAKI, HANAKO, MAKI ITOH & WAKA TSUKIYAMA

Neat undercard tag with some good tag team work, largely when God’s Eye was involved, combined with Itoh and the 02Line crew for some cool spots. The Sorei/HANAKO closing stretch was funs powerhouse stuff that ended with Sorei getting the win over HANAKO and positioning herself for a Wonder of Stardom title match. ***1/4

HATE (NATSUKO TORA, RUAKA & AZUSA INABA) DEF. MI VIDA LOCA (ITSUKI AOKI, RINA YANASHITA & AKIRA KUROGANE)

HATE got the win through Natsuko Tora who pinned Itsuki Aoki, a post match beatown of Kurogane brought out Suzu Suzuki to set up a world title match. One thing I’ve really liked on this undercard is the eye to the future, every seemingly meaningless tag has had something spin from the result. ***

RANNA YAGAMI & KIKYO FURUSAWA DEF. AYA SAKURA & SAYAKA KURARA

As the show began, it was announced that Rian was absent, and this match was changed from a New Blood tag team title match to a Ranna Yagami return. They got the time to work a title match but with none of the stakes. Getting to see Yagami was a nice change as she’s been in the U.S. for a tour for the past month but she looked as good as ever, particularly in the finishing stretch with Aya Sakura. The win re-establishes Yagami pretty quickly after some time away and turns into her challenging Akira Kurogane for her next Future of Stardom title defense. ***1/2

**HATE (SAYA KAMITANI & MOMO WATANABE) DEF. WING*GORI (SAYA IIDA & HANAN)**

After looking like they were on the outs, Momo Watanabe and Saya Kamitani have come together to show that HATE is still a united front. The two have set their sights on the tag titles which would reintwine them with the Queen’s Quest story that Utami’s return sparked as former QQ members AZM and Amasaki are the titleholders. This was a strong win over the former tag champions for HATE as they got to reassert themselves after failing to progress in the GP itself. ***1/2

NATSUPOI DEF. SAORI ANOU

As one of the stops on her retirement road, Natsupoi got to face her close friend and tag team partner, Saori Anou, one more time. I’ve never been the biggest fan of this particular pairing dating back to their strap match on PPV but they brought some good out of each other here. What stood out was they sold a lot of the match better than a lot of STARDOM wrestlers do these day, there were a lot of points where I expected a no-sell or a one count kickout and they never did it, instead going for a more traditional build up.

There was an emotional core to this one that threw back to some of the Tam Nakano matches as it was clear this was two close friends expressing themselves in the ring. It’s an emotion that’s very exclusive to Joshi where wrestlers wear their heart on their sleeve a lot of the time, it made the big moves and the big hits feel more impactful knowing just how much they were both willing to put their bodies through to pay respects to Natsupoi’s career.

Natsupoi winning is probably a surprise to some as she’s the one retiring but I expected it, OkaTaro definitely approaches retirements differently, as Nakano didn’t lose at all on her retirement road and Saki Kashima got to just have a goodbye ceremony, Poi will be celebrated and win enough to keep her credible until the very end if I had to guess. ***3/4

5STAR GRAND PRIX FINAL
RINA DEF. STARLIGHT KID

One of the major hallmarks of Taro Okada’s time in STARDOM has been the consistent spotlight on Rina. She’s had a lot of chances to shine, she’s gone to at least the final four in four straight singles tournaments, and she’s been presented as a real ‘when, not if’ situation. Earlier this year and just a few days ago she had matches with Konami that proved she really could hang with the best of them in a main event setting and STARDOM have put all the chips in by giving her the 5STAR win.

It’s a huge step for Rina and one of the more interesting moves given her status in HATE and her ties to Hanan for the Wonder of Stardom title. There’s a real question as to which title she should content for but whichever one it is, this tournament win has cemented Rina as one of the top players in the company.

For Kid, it’s another big loss at a weird time, she dropped the white belt a month before Sumo Hall, she was the sacrificial last Kamitani defence before Yokohama Arena, and now she’s come up short against a 19-year-old for the GP win. It once looked like Starlight Kid would be alongside Maika as one of the company’s main babyfaces but now both are in a very strange spot with Kid still waiting for that final push over the line to get either the world title or the 5STAR.

By the time I got to watch this match I was spoiled on the result which might be why I just didn’t love it all that much. It lacked a lot of the interesting work that Kid vs Suzuki had and it didn’t feel as well built up as some of Rina’s better outings. It was a move-for-move match that used the usual tropes for drama in place of something better. I’m also quite torn on the finish, the Tiger Lilly being used to beat Konami felt like a huge moment for Rina, but here it gets a two-count and the Pink Devil was the finish, I’d much rather she just not use the Tiger Lilly and save it as a special finish instead of immediately devaluing it. ***1/2

FINAL THOUGHTS

Kind of an odd show in some ways. I didn’t really see any standout great match among the pile tonight but there was a lot to like on the PPV. The best part was how quickly things got rolling again after the tournament: the Future, Goddess, Wonder, World, and High Speed titles all got matches set up, which gives the company some direction instead of letting things lapse into nothing for a few weeks; even Bea Priestley’s comeback to feud with Anne Kanaya is an interesting and heated direction. I may not always love the matches ,but I can’t deny the enjoyment I get when STARDOM is in motion like this and keeps firing new matches with stakes my way. The big story of the night was obvously Rina winning the tournament but that’s one that will have to stew before it peaks as she could realistically challenge for the Red or White, the decision and what comes after will be of interest but could take a PPV or two to come up.