Stardom 5 Star Grand Prix Review Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Natsu Sumire

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This year has been full of interest surrounding tournaments and women’s wrestling.  WWE’s Mae Young Classic 2018 is in full swing, showcasing some of Japan’s top talent in Io Shirai, Hiroyo Matsumoto, and Meiko Satomura.  For anyone who is enjoying their runs in the tournament, there is another women’s tournament to enjoy –  Stardom’s annual singles tournament, the 5 Star Grand Prix.  Io Shirai was a previous winner of this tournament, but with the departures of Io and Kairi Sane over the last two years Stardom has been building up some new members of their roster to take their places.   In this year’s 5 Star GP a new star was born (pun intended).  She was someone making their 5 Star GP debut this year, and there were some question marks about how she would find the going in a strong block.  And yet, she rose to the challenge and made a lot of new fans along the way.  I am of course referring to Natsu Sumire, the new queen of promos.

The 5 Star GP has a similar format to New Japan’s G1 Climax – two blocks of eight wrestlers face each other and earn two points for a win, one point for a draw, and zero for a loss.  This year the Red Stars Block featured the World of Stardom Champion Kagetsu, as well as two members of the Artist of Stardom Champions in Jungle Kyona and Natsuko Tora.  The Blue Stars Block contained the Wonder of Stardom Champion Momo Watanabe, and the Tag Team Champions Mayu Iwatani and Saki Kashima.  Stardom also brought in five foreign wrestlers for the tournament – Rev Pro’s Jamie Hayter, Shimmer’s Nicole Savoy, ROH’s Kelly Klein, along with independent’s Rachael Ellering and Kimber Lee.

The two blocks on the eve of the final day. Photos from @we_are_stardom

In the Red Stars Block Kagetsu, Rachael Ellering, Jungle Kyona, and Utami Hayashishita were all in contention on the final day.  Ellering and Kyona lost their matches, which took them out of contention, but Utami won hers, which meant that Kagetsu had to win her match in order to reach the final.  She looked to have the match won until her fellow Oedo Tai stablemate Hana Kimura attacked her and cost her the match, which allowed Utami to advance to the final.  In the Blue Stars Block Mayu Iwatani, Hazuki, Kelly Klein, and Momo Watanabe were all in contention on the final day, but Klein lost her match, which eliminated her.  Hazuki won her match, but Mayu and Momo drew, which meant that Mayu and Hazuki finished level on points.  Thanks to the fact that Mayu beat Hazuki earlier in the tournament she advanced to face Utami in the final.

Natsu’s strong tournament aside, the clear breakout star of the 5 Star GP was the rookie Utami Hayashishita, who shocked a lot of people by making it all the way to the final.  Utami only made her debut in August of this year but she doesn’t look like a first-year rookie in the ring, both in terms of technical skill and the way that she carries herself.  She may have surprised people by getting to the final over more obvious candidates such as Kagetsu and Jungle Kyona, but the final with Mayu was an excellent showing and there are a lot of reasons to be excited about the future of Utami.

Mayu’s victory in this year’s 5 Star GP was her first ever, and well-deserved given that she put on some fantastic matches in the tournament, including the final.  She’s also been with Stardom since 2011 and in recent times her pushes have been interrupted by injuries, as well as possibly being overshadowed by the fact that Kairi Sane and Io Shirai have both seen their names become even more famous as they moved to WWE.  Mayu lost her first two matches of the tournament, but then swept her matches until the final day against Momo.  Her match against Hazuki was a particular highlight of the tournament, and her last three matches against Hazuki, Momo, and Utami were a very strong run of performances.  Mayu plays a masterful babyface in peril, and her high-flying and striking ability is top quality.  Some of the athleticism that she displayed in the final needs to be seen to be believed, as well as the savage looking bumps that she is willing to take for her opponents.

Aside from the two finalists there were a number of other wrestlers who had strong tournaments.  Hazuki did particularly well in her second 5 Star GP, only missing out on making the finals due to her loss to Mayu.  Momo Watanabe continued to impress, particularly in her match with Hazuki, which might be my favourite rivalry in Stardom right now.  Jungle Kyona has had a consistently good year, which has gone slightly under the radar since she hasn’t won any singles titles, and she continued that in the 5 Star.  Her matches against Utami and Kagetsu were excellent.  Konami began the tournament with a great win over Kagetsu, but unfortunately was unable to put enough of a run together to stay in contention.  She’s constantly impressive with her array of strikes and submissions, and puts on great performances regardless of booking.  Tam Nakano also had a good tournament, despite only getting four points, and her final match against Kagetsu was a very good match before the interference finish.  Natsu Sumire, beyond proving that she is a fire promo, also demonstrated a perfect blend of comedy wrestling and a willingness to take bumps that raised her stock despite only finishing with two wins.

Stardom brings in foreign wrestlers for tours throughout the year, and this often leads to some upset wins, such as Mandy Leon beating Io Shirai in last year’s 5 Star GP.  Toni Storm won the tournament last year, becoming the first foreign wrestler ever to do so, and previous finalists included Tessa Blanchard, Alpha Female, and Hudson Envy.  This year none of the overseas wrestlers made it to the final, although Rachael Ellering was in contention until her last match against Kimber Lee.  Jamie Hayter greatly impressed me this year, and her opening match against Natsu Sumire set the tone for a tournament run that looked like she’d been doing this for years.  Nicole Savoy also impressed me in this tour, and Kimber Lee did a good job of playing spoiler against Ellering on the last day.  There was an incident involving Ellering and Konami mid-way through the tournament, when Ellering appeared to lose her cool over how stiff Konami was working and had words with Konami after the match in what was an unprofessional moment.  This didn’t endear her to me, but the Japanese crowd didn’t seem to mind, and she came very close to making the final from the Red Stars Block.

With her victory in the 5 Star GP Mayu now gets a title shot against the World of Stardom Champion.  Her previous title challenge against Kagetsu ended in failure, but with her year rejuvenated by the tournament win I wouldn’t bet against her taking back the Red Belt.  Especially given the possibility of interference from Hana Kimura, which would further the in-fighting within Oedo Tai, and allow Kagetsu to transition from being champion to a strong feud if she drops the belt.

The 5 Star Grand Prix is a great way in for anyone who might be thinking of starting to watch Stardom.  The matches are all fifteen minute time-limits, which means that they are easy to watch, they are all subtitled in English, and now they’ve all been uploaded to Stardom World.  I would encourage anyone who is a fan of women’s wrestling to subscribe and support Stardom (along with the other joshi promotions, many of which are easily accessible online).

 

Recommended Matches:

Konami vs. Kagetsu – 8.18.2018 Shinkiba

Natsu Sumire vs. Jamie Hayter – 8.18.2018 Shinkiba

Jungle Kyona vs. Konami – 8.26.2018 Osaka Day

Utami Hayashishita vs. Kagetsu – 9.1.2018 Yokohama

Kagetsu vs. Jungle Kyona – 9.8.2018 Shinkiba

Tam Nakano vs. Natsuko Tora – 9.9.2018 Shinkiba

Utami Hayashishita vs. Jungle Kyona – 9.9.2018 Shinkiba

Hazuki vs. Momo Watanabe – 9.9.2018 Shinkiba

Hazuki vs. Mayu Iwatani – 9.16.2018 Osaka

Mayu Iwatani vs. Momo Watanabe – 9.24.2018 Korakuen

Tam Nakano vs. Kagetsu – 9.24.2018 Korakuen

Mayu Iwatani vs. Utami Hayashishita – 9.24.2018 Korakuen

Featured Image from @we_are_stardom

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