WORLD WONDER RING STARDOM
5STAR GRAND PRIX 2024 DAY 6
AUGUST 18, 2024
KOBE ARTS CENTRE
Watch: Stardom World
One other day, one other nickel; I really loved yesterday’s present in Kyoto, so the universe goes to throw up a foul present right here in Kobe to make me appear like a grump. Let’s GEDDIT
RED STARS A
MAIKA (8) DEF. RUAKA (1)
Tidy opener with a receptive crowd that needed to see H.A.T.E get beat. Ruaka and Saya labored properly to torment Maika all through the match together with her comeback on the finish being properly obtained. Can positively reside with H.A.T.E if it’s extra like this. Maika is presently operating the blocks and has an actual head of steam, might she be the brand new favorite to win the event and vanquish Tora? ***
RED STARS A
HAZUKI (6) DEF. YUNA MIZUMORI (0)
It was a great back-and-forth match; a number of the counters have been nuts, like Hazuki turning Yunamon’s turnbuckle-assisted splash right into a codebreaker. ***1/2
RED STARS B
MEI SEIRA (6) DEF. SAYA IIDA (2)
Actually enjoyable match. It was attention-grabbing to see the 2 combine their ordinary types collectively, Iida is the extra stand-and-trade one of many two however Seira was able to throw forearms and didn’t again all the way down to Iida’s energy. When the tempo picked up it was Seira’s excessive velocity trickery that gave her a bonus however Iida was competent and managed to compete towards the dazzling velocity of Seira higher than one would anticipate. ***1/2
RED STARS A
NATSUPOI (6) DEF. KONAMI (4)
Given the 2 wrestlers concerned, I used to be anticipating much more from this, Natsupoi hasn’t actually set the world ablaze throughout this event and it’s clear she’s holding again. The results of the match is questionable too, I used to be anticipating a Konami win to set her up as a white belt challenger however as a substitute, Poi will get the flash win and that was that. Given this was a mid-tournament present in Kobe I can’t criticise both one for going at half-capacity however the potential they each have makes that disappointing. ***
RED STARS B
MOMO WATANABE (2) DEF. TAM NAKANO (0)
Momo Watanabe has gained greater than another H.A.T.E member from their latest push. The truth that they’re dishonest successfully now makes her a very daunting opponent as she will be able to choose aside any accidents or simply kick the shit out of you till you lose. Pairing her with Nakano made for a very good match the place Tam tapped into all of her babyface instincts.
The one factor that stopped this from being nice was the slower tempo, they positively might’ve carried out with choosing up the velocity in the direction of the top however I get what they have been going for, this is only one match within the bigger Tam Nakano vs Natsuko Tora feud. Momo’s job was to destroy Tam’s injured leg as a lot as doable to make Tora’s job on August 31 simpler.
Regardless of the entire assaults on her damage, and a submission end to rub salt within the wounds, Tam Nakano displayed an timeless babyface spirit that can absolutely make her a giant crowd favorite when she challenges Tora. ***3/4
RED STARS B
AZM (8) DEF. MAYU IWATANI (6)
Two undefeated opponents went head-to-head in an exciting essential occasion. Mayu Iwatani seemed fairly impervious on this event, and I used to be partially anticipating her to run the gauntlet and win all of it, however she fell to a really sport AZM. They labored rather well collectively, which shouldn’t be a shock given their skills.
Iwatani’s expertise lent itself properly right here as she’s in a position to work the faster-paced, high-spot-focused fashion that AZM excels at whereas additionally peppering in sufficient of her personal stuff to maintain issues ticking.
AZM continues to innovate and has discovered a components for fulfillment by utilizing the Canadian destroyer variants to arrange the Azumisushi to get wins, this time it was a double underhook destroyer that did Iwatani in and left her susceptible for the roll-up.
AZM instantly challenged for the IWGP Ladies’s Championship, and relying on how the block shakes out, they might add that to the GP Remaining present to load it up and get a greater quantity at Musashino (which is a fairly large venue by STARDOM’s requirements).****
FINAL THOUGHTS
The universe did NOT, actually, throw up a weaker present for me this time round. Whereas the double-block Korakuen was a take a look at of my willpower, these 6-match block reveals are fairly fulfilling. I’d need to suggest watching Nakano vs Watanabe over the primary occasion when you’re flying in as that has loads of relevance to the upcoming World of Stardom Championship match and set Nakano because the agency underdog forward of that conflict.
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