STARDOM 8/10/2023 5STAR Grand Prix 2023 Day 7

STARDOM 8/10/2023 5STAR Grand Prix 2023 Day 7

Please bare with me guys. There's just so much to watch and I'm doing my best.  I know we're looking for gifs here.

Rina and Momo Watanabe vs Megan Bayne and Mei Sera vs HANAKO and Hina

Hina kicks Meg then is shouldered over. Meg hits knees and kicks on her in the corner then chest chops her. Meg slams her. Mei snapmares Hina and basement dropkicks her. Rina flying dropkicks Hina then hair throws her. Momo foot chokes Hina in the corner then slams her. Momo drops Hina with a chest kick then Hina hip throws her.

Hanako shoulders over Rina and Momo then spinning racks Rina. Hanako splashes and then crossbodies Rina and Momo at the same time. Hanako pulls Mei over the top. Mei kicks her through the ropes then does an STF varation that Hina breaks up.

Mei takes a dropkick + facekicks combo from Hanako's team then Hanako dropkicks her for 2. Meg throws out Hina. Mei crossbodies Hanako and is caught then Meg uses her boot to push her over. Mei does a nice dropkick on Hanako then Hanako forearm flurries Meg, who no sells it.

Meg and Hanako shoulder battle then they facekick each other.  Momo spinning uranage's Hanako for 2 then Meg has both of her feet stepped on. She double lariats Rina and Momo then double sitout chokeslam bombs Hanako for 2. Meg throws Mei onto Hina then Meg F-5's Hanako for the win.

It was a short, sprinty tag match and it was fine. The action kept moving and for an opener, it worked. 

Queen's Quest (AZM, Utami Hayashishita & Miyu Amasaki) vs Club Venus (Mina Shirakawa, Mariah May & Waka Tsukiyama) 

Utami and Waka start us off. Utami botches a flapjack on Waka and Waka takes double basement dropkicks. Utami slams Waka then Waka takes a double boot and a double basement dropkick. Miyu slams Waka. AZM kicks Waka in the back for 2 and they trade forearms. Waka gets dropped with one then Waka dropkicks her.

Mina gets in and running back elbows AZM. Miyu and AZM try to double team Waka but Mina thwarts both. Mina knee dropkicks AZM then AZM kicks her in the arm. AZM armbars Mina and suplexes her. AZM's flying headscissors attempt on Mina is blocked then AZM high kicks Mina. Mina spinning forearms her then May and Utami get in.

May hits sling blades on Utami and they trade forearms. May forearms Utami on the ropes then Utami release germans her. May no sells it and backdrops her. Utami uranage's her then Miyu cartwheel back elbows May. Miyu dropkicks May in the back of the neck then does like a grounded cobra twist. May ropebreaks.

Miyu gets tripped by Mina and Waka then Waka flatliners her while sitting on the 2nd rope. May handstand headscissors Miyu in the corner then 2nd rope dropkicks her for 2. May armbars Miyu and it is broken up. May takes a triple team in the corner then Miyu pendulum ddt's her for 2. AZM's team misses a triple dropkick then two of them take stereo dropkicks. Miyu is lifted into an assisted backdrop from May and Mina then May tombstones Miyu for the win.

It was another shorter, fast paced match. They kept interrupting moves early which hurt some of the pace. It got a little better during the last part of this and helped it out some.

Cosmic Angels (Tam Nakano, Saori Anou & Yuna Mizumori) vs Donna Del Mondo (Giulia, Thekla, Maika)

G = Giulia

G and Yuna lock up. Yuna hipts forearms off the break then trips her. Yuna hammerlocks her then G snapmares and chinlocks her. Yuna blocks a facekick then takes a basement dropkick. Thekla chest slaps Yuna then running euros her. Maika slams Yuna and dares her to hit her. Maika takes some forearm chest shots then Yuna dropkicks her. Yuna back body drops her.

Anou, G and Maika are in there. Maika and is whipped into G then Anou 2nd rope dropkicks both. Tam and Anou pumping knee Maika and G on the 2nd rope. Maika corner lariats Anou then shoulders her. Maika powerslams Anou then Thekla dropkicks her. Thekla slaps and spin kicks Anou then Anou suplexes her at a little past 5 minutes.

Tam and Thekla go at it. Tam forearms her then takes forearms. Yuna flying shoulders Thekla then is catapulted into her forearm by her partners on a failed move. G suplexes Tam overhead then Thekla hits facekicks on Tam. Thekla top rope crossbodies Tam for 2. Thekla sits on Tam's back and pulls her arms and Tam's team takes triple submissions.

Thekla gut punches Tam then superkicks her while she's kneeling. Tam limbos out of a lariat then Thekla buzzsaw kicks her. Anou throws out Maika then Anou step up enzugiri's Thekla. Yuna hits a nice lariat on Thekla and Tam flying knees Thekla for 2.

G and Maika get hit at the same time then Thekla rolls up Tam for 2. Thekla takes a triple axe kick to the back then Tam does a grounded octopus style hold on Thekla to win it.

It was another fast sprint. Nothing wrong with it at all but the finish of Tam winning with a submission was kind of out of nowhere. 

God's Eye (Syuri, MIRAI, Ami Sorei, Konami & Saki Kashima) vs STARS (Koguma, Hazuki, Hanan, Saya Iida, Momo Kohgo)

Kog = Koguma, Haz = Hazuki

Syuri and Haz start us off. Syuri side headlock takeovers her. Ami shoulders over Momo then her and Konami hit chops on Momo. Saki kicks Momo in the back and tags out. Konami then does the same as does Syuri. Mirai slams Momo and does a camel clutch variation on her.

Momo hits forearms on Mirai then Mirai drops her with a forearm. Momo dropkicks Mirai then 619's her. Hanan hits a nice dropkick on Momo then Hanan and Saya stereo sledgehammer shot opponents. Syuri's team is all put up against the bottom rope and dropkicked against it.

Hanan kicks Mirai then Mirai does her olympic slam style move on her. Konami hits kicks on Hanan then Hanan legdrops her neck over the middle rope. Hanan hits a running euro for 2. Haz gets tagged in and 2nd rope dropkicks Konami. Haz hits facewash kicks then Konami chest kicks her. They trade forearms and Haz does a long flurry on her. Konami slaps her then hammerfists her on the head. Haz rolls up Konami then Haz codebreakers her.

Haz facewash kicks Konami then Konami tries to armbar her before kicking her in the chest. Haz suplexes Konami then Konami high kicks her. Haz hits a stiff pump kick on her then takes a release german.

Kog rolls up Saki when they both get in. She tries several times then Syuri knees her on the ropes. Mirai flatliners Kog and Saki hits a palm thrust uppercut on her. Saki takes a running back elbow then Kog and Haz take shoulderblocks. Saya lariats Syuri and Konami at the same time then Momo, Hanan and Saya all hit planchas on opponents (and partners) outside.

Saki takes a triple team facebuster while in the air. Kog takes a high kick from Syuri then Saki rolls up Kog for 2. Haz and Kog hit a double team neckbreaker + powerbomb on Saki then Kog top rope splashes Saki for the win.

It was a sprint and they didn't really get enough time for everyone. It was certainly nowhere near as good as it could have been, but it was a fast paced and never dull. I liked it. 

Konami rips Saki after and says she's not doing that well. Mirai comes to her defense and Konami say she's getting cocky because she is a champion right now. Mirai says today's loss was everyone's fault and says Saki is necessary for God's Eye. Mirai challenges Konami to a match for Konami's belt. Mirai and Konami fight over the microphone and break it. Konami says she's not in wrestling to make friends and says Mirai's in trouble if she loses to her. Syuri says Konami and Mira are important people to her and everyone in God's Eye are her friends.

5STAR Grand Prix 2023 Red Stars - Suzu Suzuki vs Natsuko Tora

Suzu comes out choking Tora with a stick. Suzu throws Tora into the seats then throws her in the ring. Suzu kicks her and Tora rolls out. Tora hits her with the stick then throws her into the seats. Tora samoan drops her on a chair. Tora mists Suzu and the ref then sentons her.

Tora slams Suzu then is hit up top. Suzu top rope hurricanrana's her then knees her in the back of the head. Suzu and Tora trade forearms. Suzu hits a stiff forearm then then takes a cradle shock for 2. Tora cannonballs Suzu then Suzu top rope frogsplashes her for 2.

Tora hits a stiff lariat on Suzu then death valley drivers her for 2. Tora slams Suzu then misses a top rope swanton. Suzu takes off a turnbuckle pad and Tora runs into it. Suzu rolls her up for 2 then hits kicks to the head. Suzu buzzsaw kicks her and hits a tequila shot for 2. Rina pulls the ref out on the count then Suzu hits Rina on the apron. Suzu hits Tora with a stick then germans her twice for the win.

I didn't like this due to the the various shenanigans going on. They were deliberately cheating in front of the ref, missing the ref and pulling him away on counts. The ref didn't care though and it's just bogus. They might have had a fun match otherwise.

Suzu gets on top of Tora after and Tora spits at her.

5STAR Grand Prix 2023 Red Stars - Natsupoi vs Mayu Iwatani

Poi kicks her and cartwheels then cartwheels into an armdrag. Poi basement dropkicks her then snapmares her. Poi basement dropkicks her in the back of the head while she is seated then puts her in a camel clutch. Poi pulls her nostrils then Mayu spin kicks and axe kicks her. Mayu snapmares her and kicks her in the back. Mayu slams her for 2.

Mayu hits a chest kick flurry on the ropes then dropkicks her  into the bottom rope. Mayu takes a spin kick to the gut and a running headhunter. Poi misses a dropkick on the bottom rope then germans her on the apron. Poi top rope crossbodies Mayu on the outside then hits a lightning spiral on the inside.

Poi misses a 180 flip splash then Mayu basement dropkicks her. Mayu misses a kick and takes a spinning high kick. They each hit release germans and Mayu superkicks her in the face.  They trade forearms and Mayu stiffs her good. Mayu forearm flurries her then Poi forearm flurries her. Poi spin kicks her in the head then sweeping spin kicks her on the mat. Poi germans her for 2.

They roll each other up and Mayu superkicks her. Mayu 2nd rope moonsaults her then top rope frogsplashes her for 2. Mayu draon sleepers her from the wheelbarrow position then does a german off of it for 2. Poi hits a nice ranhei for 2 then Mayu tombstones her. Mayu buzzsaw kicks her then Poi rolls her up for the win in a surprise finish.

The two matched up well together and it had a real fast pace. I don't think they did a ton of selling here but I did like the work. They were stiff with each other and both took some hard bumps.

Poi says she got a 3 count on Mayu, the IWGP champ after. She gives Mayu the mic and Mayu says she doesn't have to say that as she knows it. Poi said she always admired her but is no longer the person she used to be. Mayu says "why?" and thanks her. Poi says she's the future and Mayu says, "thank you". Poi says Mayu is the most difficult person and there's lots of things she doesn't understand about her. She tells her not to forget that Poi is standing in front of her now.

Poi said she is undefeated in the GP and her strength is no longer just talking. She says she will keep winning until the last match so please support her. 

Overall thoughts: A very fast paced show. The semi-main had a bunch of shenanigans which I didn't like but the rest was all good stuff. If you like shorter, fast paced, this is for you. I thought it was a good show.