Pantoja’s STARDOM 5STAR Grand Prix 2025 Night 2 Review

STARDOM 5STAR Grand Prix Night 2

July 30^th, 2025 | Morioka Arena in Morioka, Iwate | Attendance: 448

Thankfully, the mess that was night one is past us and we’re back to a more traditional 8-match card here. The focus is on Red Stars as both of those blocks are in action.

I’d like to note that on 8/1 there’s a G1 show and a 5STAR Grand Prix show. Then, 8/2 has another STARDOM show, the start of Marigold’s tournament, a G1 show, and SummerSlam night one (plus I’ll be at a game with family that day). 8/3 marks another G1 show, TWO shows from STARDOM, and night 2 of SummerSlam. So while there’s a lot coming up, it will be hard for me to not fall behind. I appreciate your patience during this time.

Red Stars A Block: Saya Kamitani [2] vs. Yuna Mizumori [0]

Interestingly, the world champion has opened both nights of the tournament. Yuna’s skills in high speed wrestling are underrated, so it was nice to see her open with that. Saya, as expected given how good she is, more than kept up. That was the highlight of the match. Things got a bit less intense right after, including Yuna taking time to taunt on a chair in the middle of the ring. I feel like an underdog against the top champion should have some more urgency in a situation like this. Still, Yuna got in a handful of hope spots and they still had a solid match. There was one moment where a creative pin by Yuna made me bite. Saya kicked out and, soon after, won with Star Crusher in 8:42. Good little opener here, nothing special though. [***]

Red Stars A Block: Lady C [0] vs. Mei Seira [2]

This is an interesting matchup. Lady C has the clear power and definite size advantage, while Mei has the speed and is currently the best high speed wrestler around. That’s the story they played into from the start. Lady C easily took down Mei, so her response was to trap her in the corner and reel off a bunch of dropkicks. That was kind of how the match went and that made for something pretty entertaining. Whether it was Lady C doing the Giant Swing on Mei or Mei running all over the place to get the best of Mei, it was fun. In the end, Mei turned an STF into a modified Dragon Sleeper and won at 7:27. Another good match. I liked the story they told and how they played off their strengths. [***]

Red Stars B Block: Rian [0] vs. Starlight Kid [0]

Starlight Kid got upset on night one, while Rian feels like someone who will go winless. She’s just at that point of her career and these singles matches will at least help her grow. As is often the case, Starlight Kid put a target on the leg and worked that limb. Rian’s selling wasn’t awful but did leave a fair bit to be desired. Rian got in more offense than I expected. In fact, I think Starlight Kid gave her too much. I get wanting her to look good but the #2 champion should kid of run through Rian for the most part. Alas, Rian was no true threat with Starlight Kid making her tap to the Black Tiger Leg Killer in 9:20. Continues our string of good matches even if I think it should’ve been more one-sided. [***]

Red Stars A Block: Azusa Inaba [2] vs. Bea Priestley [2]

Both women scored wins on night one. Azusa is a rising talent while Bea is a former World of Stardom Champion who will likely do well in the tournament from a points perspective. One issue that I saw on night one again here is that there’s a bit of a chemistry issue here. Maybe it’s because Bea doesn’t really know these new girls or something but it’s not really clicking. What they did here was fine enough, with Bea as the bully who was targeting the arm and Azusa having to work from beneath. That was interesting because Azusa is a heel so that’s not a position she’s used to. I liked Azusa getting out of a long armbar only to apply a kneebar of her own. Bea’s next armbar also lasted a while but didn’t end this so she resorted to a sitout powerbomb of sorts to win in 10:26. Like night one, this Bea match wasn’t anything special and I think giving her 10 or so minutes isn’t the way to go. [**¼]

Red Stars B Block: AZM [0] vs. Tomoka Inaba [2]

Tomoka scored a massive upset over Starlight Kid on night one and now she faces SLK’s friend/rival, AZM, who lost to Natsuko Tora on night one but did beat Bozilla in a fantastic match a few days prior. They exploded out of the gates with kicks and a forearm exchange, giving this a level of intensity that we haven’t seen on this card so far. Both ladies focused on the arm when they went to the mat, with neither gaining a clear advantage there. I do need people to stop with the rope hung double stomp. It always looks goofy when someone has to awkwardly sit there in position waiting for the stomp, which Tomoka did here. Both girls threw some vicious kicks and when they did the flash pin gimmick we see often in STARDOM, they nailed it. I think they kind of botched the finish. It looked like Azumi Sushi was meant to be the end but they rolled under the ropes so they had to let it go. AZM then hit the diving double stomp and used Azumi Sushi to win in 12:32. Through two nights, Tomoka has a shot at being the tournament’s breakout star. Two very good matches against two top-notch opponents. [***¾]

Red Stars A Block: Hanan [0] vs. Waka Tsukiyama [0]

Hanan suffered a disappointing night one loss as someone who made it far last year, while Waka lost in a whopping 28 seconds. This wasn’t much better for Waka as they went through some flash pin attempts before Hanan beat her with a back suplex in 1:12. Wild to be 0-2 while wrestling a total of 1:40. [NR]

Red Stars B Block: Rina [2] vs. Sayaka Kurara [0]

I know there’s a TON of young talent in STARDOM but this feels like as good a look at the future as any. That said, Sayaka is only 25 but she’s SEVEN years older than Rina. This was kind of a classic case of good vs. evil. Sayaka was the resilient, plucky babyface while Rina was the cunning heel. That association with HATE is clear. Sayaka took a bit of a beating early before rallying with some nice moves. This is some of the cleanest bits of offense I’ve seen her get in. She started the year hot but tailed off, so maybe this is a sign that she’s turning it around. Rina looked good as the heel leading the match too. She’s come a long way in a short time. They were going at it late before Rina caught her with the Gory Bomb from out of nowhere, winning in 11:06. Good, quality match here. Second best of the night. [***¼]

Red Stars B Block: Natsuko Tora [2] vs. Natsupoi [2]

The layout of this match was obvious. Natsuko is the company’s ultimate bully heel and Natsupoi might be the best underdog babyface. It’s a simple recipe that works. Natsuko got control early and threw Poi around at ringside and into a row of chairs. Poi bumped well for her and hit a dive to the outside that helped her level the playing field a bit. Poi made a mistake by going for a German Suplex and fared much better when she took things to the mat instead. Alas, Poi couldn’t get too much momentum going because Natsuko could just run her over with a cross body or something impactful. Eventually, Natsuko got some HATE help, which included getting misted behind the referee’s back. That set up the Swanton Bomb to give Natsuko the win in 10:05. A good case of a big against a little, as well as good vs. evil. Nothing special but quality stuff. [***¼]

Red Stars A Block	Points	Red Stars B Block	Points	Blue Stars A Block	Points	Blue Stars B Block	Points
Saya Kamitani	4 (2-0)	Natsuko Tora	4 (2-0)	Saori Anou	2 (1-0)	Konami	2 (1-0)
Bea Priestley	4 (2-0)	Rina	4 (2-0)	Miyu Amasaki	2 (1-0)	HANAKO	2 (1-0)
Mei Seira	4 (2-0)	Natsupoi	2 (1-1)	Ami Sohrei	2 (1-0)	Suzu Suzuki	2 (1-0)
Azusa Inaba	2 (1-1)	AZM	2 (1-1)	Bozilla	1 (0-0-1)	Momo Watanabe	2 (1-0)
Hanan	2 (1-1)	Tomoka Inaba	2 (1-1)	Ruaka	1 (0-0-1)	Sareee	0 (0-1)
Yuna Mizumori	0 (0-2)	Starlight Kid	2 (1-1)	Saya Iida	0 (0-1)	Ranna Yagami	0 (0-1)
Waka Tsukiyama	0 (0-2)	Sayaka Kurara	0 (0-2)	Aya Sakura	0 (0-1)	Hina	0 (0-1)
Lady C	0 (0-2)	Rian	0 (0-2)	Yuria Hime	0 (0-1)	Momo Kohgo	0 (0-1)

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

I liked this more than night one since things weren’t rushed. The only matches I didn’t enjoy were Hanan/Waka (it was too short to enjoy) and Bea/Azusa (which wasn’t even bad). The rest of the stuff was consistently good even if nothing sniffed great. Easy watch.