Pantoja’s STARDOM 5STAR Grand Prix 2023 Night 7 Review

STARDOM 5STAR Grand Prix 2023 Night 7

August 10^th, 2023 | Okayama Convention Center in Okayama, Japan | Attendance: 410

Coming off a phenomenal night 6 with four great matches, we’ve only got two matches on tap for night 7. That’s due to Saya Kamitani’s injury as she was slated to face Ami Sourei here, so Sourei gets two points via forfeit.

Red Stars: Natsuko Tora [6] vs. Suzu Suzuki [2]

A loss for Suzu would really put her in serious trouble. Knowing that’s the case, Suzu surprised everyone by walking out with a battered Tora who she had attacked in the back. She dragged her out and choked her with a kendo stick before throwing her into chairs, all before the bell rang. Of course, it isn’t easy to keep Tora down, especially given her run so far in the tournament, so she turned the tide rather quickly. They continued to have a slugfest both in and out of the ring and it looked like Suzu had made a mistake. She pissed off Tora who responded by throwing her body into her at every turn. Suzu survived those big blows and exposed the turnbuckle as Tora ran into it, gaining a near fall. She kept up the pressure with a kendo stick shot and hit a duo of German suplexes to win at the 8:11 mark. A good, hard hitting match and it’s telling of how great this tournament is that this ranks among the worst of the bunch so far. [***¼]

Red Stars: Mayu Iwatani [4] vs. Natsupoi [5]

I’ve been saying it a lot in this tournament (especially when it involves Natsupoi) but this is another match I was very excited for. Natsupoi gained the early advantage and kind of toyed with Mayu, which set the IWGP Women’s Champion off and she responded with some stiff kicks. Unfortunately, Natsupoi whiffed on a dropkick on the ropes spot and it looked pretty lame. A German suplex on the apron turned us back into the good stuff and once back in the ring, they traded suplexes, kicks, and more that all looked great. The back and forth throughout this was very good and I popped for the Mayu frog splash. It gave me High Fly Flow vibes and I respect my aces accordingly. Natsupoi looked out of it soon after following some kicks to the head but from out of nowhere, she pulled Mayu into a pinning combination to win in 11:08. That was a blast of a sprint and I’m likely the high man on it but I don’t care. I love these two and they had a great match together with a clever ending that could open the door for future rematches. [****]

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

Always tough to fully gauge something that is only two matches but I got what I wanted out of this. A very good, hard hitting opener and the Natsupoi/Iwatani banger main event I hoped for.