STARDOM 9/23/2023 5STAR Grand Prix 2023 Day 20

STARDOM 9/23/2023 5STAR Grand Prix 2023 Day 20

Yuna Mizumori vs. Ami Sourei

 

They shoulder battle and Yuna backs her up with shoulders. Ami shoulders her over. Yuna tries some pin attempts and Ami blocks her armdrag. Yuna crossbodies her then splashes her. Yuna does a handstand senton then 2nd rope splashes her for 2. They trade chest forearms and we see Giulia watching at ringside.

Ami lariats Saya then does a high crab on her. Ami spinning samoan drops her for 2 then Yuna lariats her for 2. Ami suplexes her then does her rolling lariat for 2. Ami blue thunder bombs her then does a fenix driver for the win.

It was short. They didn't have a lot of time and they really didn't do that much of note here.

Giulia and Ami fight outside after. HANAKO then joins in and hits forearms on Giulia.

HANAKO vs Giulia

Giulia = G

Naturally, this is the next match. Hana hits some chest forearms then G rolls her into a rings of saturn. G hair throws her and hits some stomps with the back of her foot. They trade forearms. Hanako hits a stiff lariat on the ropes then takes a stiff dropkick.

Hanako slams her for 2. G forearms her then Hanako shoulders her over. Hanako running facekicks her then suplexes her. Hanako crabs her then stomps on her. G puts her in a sleeper  then Hanako throws her over. G rolls her up for 2 and basement dropkicks her.

Hanako bumps too early on a hammerlock ddt and G gets a 2 count. G 2nd rope dropkicks her for 2 then STF's her. G taps her out.

It was mostly a squash though Hanako did get to fight back a little. There was never any doubt who was winning here. It was nice to see Hanako liven up a bit and show some spirit.

Ami comes in to slap Giulia around then G forearms her and stomps her. G holds the title up in her face after and stomps on her. 

Megan Bayne & Mei Seira vs. STARS (Koguma & Saya Iida)

Kog = Koguma, Meg = Megan Bayne

Mei does Kog's taunt with her then on the high five, Kog tries to irish whip her. They try pin attempts on each other then Mei 2nd rope blockbusters her. Mei is tripped then takes a double basement dropkicks. Saya slams Mei then hits an elbow drop.

Kog slams Mei and then stands and stomps on her. Kog corner splashes her then ddt's her for 2. Kog ddt's her then Meg picks her up deadlift style and throws her. Meg picks up Kog then catches Saya in the air, having boht of them on her. Meg then hits a double fallaway slam.

Meg spins Kog around by the arm and throws her. Kog top rope dropkicks her. Saya and Meg shoulder battle then Saya hits machine gun chops. Meg lariats her then slams her. Meg takes a double dropkick then double lariats her opponents. Saya hits double chops on Meg then is powerslammed. Meg throws Mei outside on Kog then double arm sitout chokeslams Iida for the win.

It was just an average match for the most part. Meg did her usual bit here.

 STARS (Hanan & Mayu Iwatani) vs. Club Venus (Mariah May & Waka Tsukiyama)

May wants a hug from Hanan. They hug and Waka tries to break it up. Hanan backs up Waka on the ropes then Hanan takes a double basement dropkick. Waka hits hip attacks on Hanan then Hanan rolling hip throws her. Waka is rolled by Mayu into a double stomp. Waka then takes a sandwich basement dropkick.

Mayu slams Waka then Waka crossbodies her. May hits machine gun chops on Mayu then May hits a rope handstand hurricanrana. May dropkicks her off the buckles. Mayu rolls up May and basement dropkicks her. Mayu tags in Hanan and Hanan la silla's May's neck on the ropes. Hanan and May trade chest forearms then May facekicks her. Waka knees Hanan on the ropes and hip attacks her there.

Hanan fameassers Waka then Waka double reverse armbars her while sitting on her back. Waka straightjacket bombs Hanan then Hanan cuty specials Waka. Hanan fameassers Waka then backdrops her by hooking the leg to win it.

It was a fast paced, throwaway tag. Hanan hit a nice cuty special and I haven't seen a lot of her finisher. Nothing wrong with this one but it wasn't memorable.

Oedo Tai (Natsuko Tora, Ruaka & Starlight Kid) vs. God's Eye (MIRAI, Saki Kashima & Syuri)

Tora and Mirai lock up to start. Mirai upkicks her and Tora side headlock takeovers her. Mirai uses the ropes to escape a hammer lock and kicks the rope with Tora's arm in it. Mirai is swept on the apron and is sent into the seats. Syuri and Saki are then sent into the seats too.

Mirai is beat up 2v1 in the ring then Tora mists Mirai. Mirai and Kid trade forearms. Mirai is footchoked on the ropes and then slammed. Tora sentons her then shoulders her over. Mirai is basement dropkicked in the face then Mirai forces Kid to ddt Tora. Saki bulldogs Tora off the 2nd rope then Saki accidentally bulldogs Syuri. Syuri and Saki argue then Tora takes a sandwich chest kick.

Saki headscissors Ruaka then boots her. Mirai and Ruaka shoulder battle then Mirai dropkicks her. Mirai running back elbows Ruaka then hits a corner lariat on her. Mirai top rope dropkicks Ruaka then Tora cannonballs Mirai on the ropes. Kid top rope crossbodies Mirai then Mirai takes a sandwich lariat. Ruaka fisherman suplexes Mirai for 2.

Mirai gets a kimura on Ruaka then Syuri and Saki also get submissions on at the same time. Ruaka double arm chokeslams Mirai then Ruaka misses a top rope splash. Syuri flying knees Ruaka then Mirai flatliners Ruaka. Mirai top rope crossbodies Ruaka. Mirai and Ruaka lariat battle then Mirai lariats Ruaka. Mirai hits a big lariat on Ruaka and wins it.

It was pretty basic and nothing too interesting. Syuri and Kid didn't get in this much at all. Mirai and Ruaka had a nice section though. 

5STAR Grand Prix 2023 Blue Stars - Mina Shirakawa vs Maika

 

Maika grabs Mina's chest then Mina dropkicks her in the knee. Maika suplexes her on the apron. Maika shoulders her over for 2, camel clutches her and pokes on her cut from the last show. Mina knee dropkicks Maika then hits kicks to the knee. Mina dropkicks her in the knee then Maika slams her. Maika suplexes her.

Mina attacks her knee on the apron then drops her on both knees on the apron. Mina drives her knee onto the floor mat then Mina bangs her knee off her own knee. Maika deadlift powerbombs her then they trade forearms. Mina hits a slap combo then sto's her. Maika hits a weird spinning drop on her.

Maika goes for a powerslam but Mina turns it into a reverse ddt. Mina spinning forearms her then is lariated. Mina dragon screws her then figure fours her, but Maika ropebreaks. Mina bridging suplexes her on the ropes then spinning back elbows her. Mina step up enzugiri's her then lifting ddt's her for 2. Maika 2nd rope superplexes her then hits a spinning lariat.

Maika powerbombs her then Mina figure fours her. The time limit then expires and it's a draw.

It had the usual Mina match issues where she focuses on the knee early, forgets about it then goes back at it at the end of the match. Not awful, but it could have been better.

5STAR Grand Prix 2023 Red Stars - Hazuki vs Suzu Suzuki

Haz = Hazuki

They evade kicks then kick each other at the same time. Haz dropkicks Suzu then hits facewash kicks on her. Haz hair throws her then hits more facewash kicks. Haz slams Suzu then sentons her. Suzu sliding germans her off the 2nd rope. Suzu top rope dropkicks her for 2 then ties up her head, arms and legs.

Suzu hits her drive-by dropkick on the apron then Haz topes her. Haz pump kicks her on the ropes then ddt's her for 2 over the middle rope. Haz crossfaces her and Suzu ropebreaks. Haz gets stuck up top and takes forearms. Suzu hurricanrana's her off the top then Haz pump kicks her. Suzu forearms her and both go down.

Haz and Suzu trade forearms and Haz forearm flurries her. Haz ddt's her then puts her on her shoulder anf side drops her for 2. Suzu is put on the 2nd rope and Haz codebreakers her. Haz hits a top rope senton for 2. Suzu rolls her up for 2 then relese germans her. Suzu buzzsaw kicks her then flying knees her in the back.

Suzu hits a tequila shot for 2. She release germans her then is rolled up in la magistral for 2. Suzu hits two german suplexes and wins it.

I felt like this should have been better than it was as the two have styles that are meant for each other. Hazuki is kind a 3 star general though and rarely ever seems to have that great match when she could though and that happened here. This wasn't even one of Hazuki's better matches of the tournament and she hasn't had a lot of good matches here.

Overall thoughts: A very average and uninteresting night of action with no real highlight matches.

WWE Smackdown 9/29/2023

WWE Smackdown 9/29/2023

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2023/09/wwe-smackdown-9222023.html

 

The Bloodline come out minus Roman. Heyman talks, the crowd boos and he says, "my name is not boooooo". They acknowledge Roman and say Cena took a beating at the hands of Bloodline last week and we see clips of how that unfolded. Heyman says he was told Cena is having transportation issues this evening and says we can't see Cena as he is not here. He said AJ Styles isn't here either because he's injured.

Jimmy Uso takes the mic and says Bloodline is in the city. Uso says Cena isn't here because he's scared of him. Karl Anderson then comes in and jumps Jimmy and Solo. Jimmy is lariated out of the ring. Karl says now it's OC business and it's personal. Solo tells Jimmy to handle this or he will handle this for him.

Karl Anderson vs Jimmy Uso

This started during the break. Karl hits punches and stomps on Uso then spinebusters him for 2. Karl hits a euro then Uso hits mounted punches. Uso superkicks him then hits a top rope splash for the win.

This was really short for some reason and the short loss made Karl look bad. What we got was okay, but it was not much.

 
Karl goes after Uso post-match then Solo samoan spikes him. Michin runs out and Uso says "there you go" and points to Karl. Michin slaps him.

Cathy Kelly interviews Santos Escobar. She asks where his mind is at. Santos says he is focused but has butterflies to go against Rey Mysterio. He said he has been dreaming and working for this moment. He said he won't stop fighting for his dreams and said Rey is in for the fight of his life. He says, "may the best man win".

Jimmy Uso is knocking stuff over in the back and pushes a guy with a headset for saying he saw what happened out there.

The Grayson Waller Effect

He says he's here to save the show and said his guests keep getting bigger. He says his guest tonight is a physical specimen and says it's Bobby Lashley. Lashley comes out and Waller says his boys, The Street Profits, lost last week. Lashley said he made a mistake and he needs to go back to the drawing board. Lashley has drawn on eyebrows here and looks stupid.

Waller says maybe he needs a team like Waller and Austin Theory. Lashley says he will pass on that one. The Street Profits then come out. Lashley says he doesn't want to hear excuses or reasons, he just wants them to prove it if they want something out of him. The Profits follow Lashley as he leaves and he tells them to prove it again. Waller says this is awkward and brings out Austin Theory. Theory stares down with Lashley.

We get a video on Dragon Lee and he's sitting in the crowd, watching the show.

Austin Theory vs Cameron Grimes

Grimes running facekicks him then hits euros and chops. Grimes flying forearms him, atomic drops him then hits a basement dropkick. Theory pounds on Grimes and Grimes hits some punches. Grimes enzugiri's him then top rope crossbodies him.

Grimes does a moonsault into a german for 2. Grimes lariats Theory over the top then kicks him from the apron. Waller bothers Grimes outside then Theory throws Grimes into the post from behind. Grimes takes a great bump for it. Theory rolls into a dropkick then hits A-town down to win it.

It was a short reverse squash. Grimes got almost all of the offense in until Waller distracted him. Theory then put him away quick. What we got was decent but not a fraction of what this could have been.

Theory faceshoves Dragon Lee after and the ref breaks it up.

Rey Mysterio is interviewed. Rey says LWO is family and says he knows how hard Santos has worked to get here. He said he has nothing but love and respect for him and says be careful what you wish for. He says he expects the best from his opponent and says he will bring the best tonigh. He says he will give him the fight of his life.

 

Jimmy Uso is beating up on I think Ashante Adonis in the back. Solo then urnage's Adonis through a table.

WWE United States Title - Rey Mysterio (c) vs Santos Escobar

Santos waistlocks him and Rey hooks a leg. Rey is tripped, Santos wristlocks him and Rey uses the ropes to flip out. Rey  has his headscissors blocked, then he is kicked and plancha'd on. We go to break and return.

Santos has him in an abdominal stretch and hammerlocks him. Rey snapmares him then Santos dropkicks him for 2. Rey headscissors him out then triangle springboard plancha's him off the 2nd rope to the outside. Rey hits a top rope la silla then flying forearms him.

Both men are down. Jimmy Uso and Solo are still beating up guards in the back and Solo samoan spikes one of them over a cart. Rey kicks Santos in the head then Santos hits a big superkick. Rey goes out and Santos topes him. Santos moonsaults him off the rail. Santos hits a flying knee in the corner. They fight on the 2nd rope and Rey takes an enzugiri. Santos hurricanrana's him off the 2nd rope.

Santos slingshot splashes him for 2. We go to break and return. Santos gut kicks him then does a gori special.  Rey armdrags him out of it. Santos enzugiri's him from the apron and misses a top rope crossbody. Rey misses a springboard crossbody then takes a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Santos backbreakers him from the torture rack position.

Rey sunset flips him and they fight up top. Rey jumps over his back and headscissors him off the top. Santos blocks Rey's 619 then Rey hits it on the 2nd try. Rey misses a top rope splash. Rey is on Santos' shoulders in the fireman's carry position, is thrown up then rolls him up into a pin off of it. Rey wins.

It was long and slow at times. It was not the best match they could have had. It was okay and watchable, but it dragged. I think they also could have worked the friend vs friend and face vs face storyline more here.

The Street Profits jump Rey and Santos after. Santos takes a hard lariat to the gut from Ford. Bobby LAshley comes out and is happy. Wilde runs into Lashley and takes a back elbow and del Toro is beat up by the Street Profits. Dragon Lee is held back by security. Wilde takes a sky high + neckbreaker combo.

The LWO talk in the doctor's office. Santos talks in spanish. Rey says they beat the Street Profits last week and says they challenge Lashley and The Street Profits at Fastlane.

They talk about Jade Cargill signing with WWE. 

John Cena is burning rubber in his car and has arrived.

We get a Pretty Deadly video. Elton falls over in his wheelchair and we see Kit pushing around, then letting him roll away on accident. Kit is hitting a punching bag with a chair and pokes a punching dummy in the eyes. Kit then finally gets out of the wheelchair and is able to walk. They then jump up together and celebrate.

The Brawling Brutes aren't impressed and says they wish they had broken his leg more.

Charlotte Flair vs Bayley

 

Flair gets on the mic and asks what happened to Bayley. She says she seems happy to be on the sidelines and carrying Iyo's title. She says Bayley is a stepping stone while she is the measuring stick. Flair says she will challenge Iyo at Fastlane for the title.

Bayley pounds on Flair then Flair hits chops. Bayley jumps off the apron and drops an elbow on Flair. We go to break and return. Flair top rope crossbodies Bayley. Flair hits more chops then fallaway slams her. Flair kips up and forward cartwheels into a lariat for 2. Flair works Bayley's knee and facekicks her for 2. Flair is put over the 2nd rope and knee pressed down. Flair is sunset flipped into the 2nd rope.

Bayley hits chops then takes a big spear. Flair wins it.

The ending was kind of out of nowhere. We didn't get a ton here and its was just a brief match for the most part.

Bayley gets on the mic after. Damage Ctrl surround her then Asuka comes out to save her before any damage is done. Asuka talks in Japanese. Bayley translates this to Asuka wanting a triple threat between Iyo, Asuka and Flair at Fastlane. Iyo doesn't seem to agree and isn't happy about that idea. Dakota Kai tries to explain it to her.

 

John Cena is headed to the ring.

John Cena comes out and says, "We gotta be serious" as he heads to the ring. He says he hears the fans and has a contract with him. He said he wants a match. He said Bloodline left him knocked out last week, but also left him with a contract. He said he doesn't have a partner and says he has a choice tonight. He said he can rip up the contract or can stand and fight. He says he will fight Bloodline by himself if he can't find a partner.

The Bloodline come out. Jimmy asks if he didn't see what he just did back there. Jimmy says he will, "get got". Jimmy says Cena won't make it to Fastlane. Cena knocks Jimmy off the apron and Solo stares him down. Cena goes for the AA on Solo then Jimmy superkicks him. Jimmy hits a running hip attack then Solo does too.

Cena is put on a table outside. Jimmy goes to climb up the buckles and Solo says he wants to be the one to do it. LA Knight then comes out. LA nails both opponents then stomps Jimmy. LA hits punches on Solo and neckbreakers him. He powerslams Jimmy then Solo is thrown out by Cena. LA signs the contract and gives it to Cena, so Cena now has a partner for Fastlane.

Overall thoughts: The US Title match was the only thing here that got a lot of time. Other than that, it was talking and people getting jumped. This wasn't a good one.