Review: Stardom 5★STAR Grand Prix 2017 – Day 7 – 2017.9.10

Konami, AZM & Natsuko Tora vs. Mari Apache, Shiki Shibusawa & Hanan
A good match and far less repeat spots than the previous show’s opener. Mari Apache hit an incredible clothesline on Konami. Hanan did not let her botch on a judo throw affect her and continued well which is a good sign for a rookie. AZM did great as always and Shiki is looking more comfortable as the weeks go by. I would like to have seen more of Natsuko Tora though. Konami pinned Shiki Shibusawa for the win. 2.5/5

Viper vs. Hiromi Mimura
A really fun comedy match. I loved Hiromi’s antics imitating a matador and the way they played on the big vs. small concept was done far better than most matches. The crowd was really into everything and it’s great to see as Viper & Hiromi have both been very consistent in this tournament and the months before. Viper pinned Hiromi Mimura for the win. 3.5/5

Kay Lee Ray vs. Mandy Leon
This was great. Both women were entirely committed to putting on a great match and it resulted in a very physical encounter. Highlights included a nice cannonball off the apron by Mandy Leon and a huge suicide dive by Kay Lee Ray. The action inside the ring was solid too with solid grappling and some nice strikes. Kay Lee Ray pinned Mandy Leon after a Gory Bomb, 3.75/5 

Yoko Bito vs. Kris Wolf
Another fun match. It combined some nice proper wrestling, including a great superplex from Yoko Bito, with some great comedy spots including Kagetsu spraying some kind of compressed air into Yoko’s and the referee’s face and Kris Wolf biting Yoko Bito’s butt during an attempted B-Driver. Yoko Bito pinned Kris Wolf after hitting her second attempt at the B-Driver. 3.5/5

Mayu Iwatani vs. Xia Brookside
A solid match from Xia but not as good as her match with Yoko Bito from the last show. Pretty much everything went as expected, Mayu dominated most of the match, Xia had a little flurry of offence before Mayu hit her big moves and a huge frog splash for the win. 3/5

Io Shirai vs. Tam Nakano
Another great match. Tam Nakano has proved in her first few matches in Stardom that she has what it takes to compete towards the top of the card. This match was very even throughout as they exchanged big strikes and suplexes. I loved the huge uppercut by Io followed by the big kick from Nakano. 4/5

Jungle Kyona vs. HZK
Jungle Kyona & HZK have had some great matches together this year and this another to add to the collection. They have created a very believable rivalry through fantastic expression and brutal matches. Both wrestlers went for the same moves at the same time several times throughout the match and cancelled each other out really adding to the feel that both are equally matched. The strikes were as vicious as expected and the back-and-forth continued right to the finish where Jungle Kyona hit a beautiful power bomb to get the pin. 4/5

Hana Kimura vs. Kagetsu
Well this is comfortably the match of the tournament so far. From the hilarious opening of them both standing in the same corner holding hands, through the great reactions to Kagetsu turning on the plan to let Hana win, the match itself which was incredibly well worked with a mixture of great Oedo Tai hijinks and genuine high-quality, hard-hitting wrestling and finally the after-match events which setup lots of possibilities for the future. Kagetsu won the match after an Oedo Coaster. 4.5/5