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Pantoja’s STARDOM 5STAR Grand Prix 2026 Night 5 Review
Image Credit: STARDOM
Loading...STARDOM 5STAR Grand Prix 2026 Night Five
July 26th, 2026 | Duo CEREZO in Joetsu, Niigata | Attendance: 542
We’ve got another night of A Block action on tap! And we’re at a unique looking venue. Honestly, one of my favorite things about STARDOM is that they host shows in places that just look different from other wrestling events.
Red Stars A Block: Maika [4] vs. Tomoka Inaba [4]
The only prior meetings between these two were outside of STARDOM. We’ve got a top name against one of the promotion’s many rising stars. I popped for Tomoka waiting for Maika during her entrance so they could trade blows in the aisle. It’s a nice little way to give this a different feel. That set the tone for a hard hitting bout that kept up a pretty great pace. Maika could use her power, while Tomoka responded with her impressive array of kicks. Alas, Maika avoided a kick and hit a spinning lariat before adding two Michinoku Drivers to win in 8:03. Hell of a way to start the show. Tomoka has been ready for her breakout for a while. I’d love to see her win the High Speed or even the Wonder of Stardom Titles soon. Hell, her and Ranna made a good team and I wouldn’t mind them getting a tag title run. [***¾]
Red Stars B Block: Konami [2] vs. Lady C [0]
Lady C seemed to have more energy in this one. So far, she has been down because of the lost trios titles. Here, she attacked early and often but Konami quickly turned the tide and tossed her into chairs outside. Lady C fought back but as usual, Konami had some arm work ready to slow her momentum. She’d pull that out whenever Lady C got going. Although this was solid from start to finish, I never got the sense that Lady C had a chance. Konami polished her off with an absolutely awesome punt kick in 8:29. Seriously, if she makes that punt her finisher going forward, she could become a favorite of mine. [**¾]
Red Stars A Block: Natsuko Tora [0] vs. Rina [2]
HATE collides. We’ve got the most promising youngster in the faction against the bully veteran of the squad. You can tell Natsuko likes Rina because she had her working boots on here and she’s someone who is known to phone it in often. They brawled from the start and Rina held nothing back, looking very much like an equal to this former World of Stardom Champion. Natsuko gave Rina a lot but you could sense that she was gearing up for a win as she reeled off some big moves. However, she missed a Swanton Bomb and Rina rolled her up for a good near fall. Rina made the mistake of running right into powerbomb, though, and Natsuko succeeded with a Swanton Bomb that ended it in 10:54. Some good stuff here. [***¼]
Red Stars A Block: AZM [2] vs. Sayaka Kurara [4]
Every year, there’s at least one match that looks awesome, yet gets booked for only a few minutes. I get the idea of having flash wins because it shows that these matches can end at any time. However, doing it with matches that sound great on paper is disappointing, especially when less interesting bouts get way more time. Anyway, these two made sure to make the most of their short time. They threw German suplexes, moved with a purpose and gave us a bunch of flash pins. I do like those sequences because you should be trying to win however you can in a tournament. The Azumi Sushi kept Sayaka down to end this in 3:02. About as good as you can get in that timeframe. [***]
Red Stars B Block: Azusa Inaba [2] vs. Mei Seira [2]
Mei is another wrestler who is clearly on the verge of taking that next step. Meanwhile, Azusa is fresh off a great showing in a huge upset win over Utami Hayashishita. Azusa grounded Mei early, trying to cut off her speed and going for several submission attempts. She had an answer for any Mei attempt at a rally, which is kind of what she did to Utami a nigh earlier. Mei did manage to get going, yet she kept having to stop to sell the knee. She did a great job of it and showed how much it bothered her as it took her out of her game of fast paced attacks. They gave us a really good double countout tease. Matches tend to do that and rarely land it but it worked here. When they went into the exchange of flash pins and close calls, I was biting on all of them. They were both going for big moves and countering each other as time expired in 15:00, giving us a spectacular draw. A breakout performance by Azusa and another impressive showing for the rising Mei. Match of the tournament to this point. [****½]
Red Stars A Block: Akira Kurogane [0] vs. Itsuki Aoki [4]
An undefeated wrestler against a winless one. Itsuki might not be my favorite wrestler in the tournament but she does a good job of allowing her opponents time to shine. In a lot of ways, this was a showcase for Akira Kurogane and Itsuki made sure it felt that way. The crowd was also way behind Akira every step of the way. It seemed like Akira made sure to hit all of her signature stuff with a little something extra behind them. The fact that the fans were so into her also made an upset feel possible. Alas, Itsuki put her down with the Air Raid Crash after 11:02. A good outing here. [***¼]
Red Stars B Block: Maki Itoh [2] vs. Rina Yamashita [5]
I’ve always been someone who appreciates a wrestling show with variety and that’s what this gave me. This felt like nothing else on the card as it was silly and filled with personality quirks. These two had a history, with matches in GCW and TJPW, so they came in with established chemistry, which shined here. They knew how to play off each other to get the best possible reactions. The wackiness led to them brawling outside and to the back. They were gone from the camera way longer than expected to the point where even the ring announcer slowed his count. Then, right as he hit 20 for the double countout, both women reappeared, tied together by streamers in 12:44. That was goofy fun and I must admit, that’s not a finish I’ve ever seen before. [***¼]
Red Stars B Block: Saya Iida [6] vs. Utami Hayashishita [1]
Saya Iida is off to a red hot 3-0 start, while tournament favorite Utami Hayashishita enters with an 0-1-1 record. Right from the start, this felt like a proper main event. Saya was laying the shots into Utami, who was giving it right back. They even fought into the aisle and just rammed into one another. Saya has been giving me Tomohiro Ishii vibes because she’s a short, hard hitting wrestler who puts on bangers. She has come a long way over the past two or so years. Some of the shots they were hitting each other with sounded vicious. We got powerbombs, lariats, chops, and suplexes. Finally, a big lariat by Utami followed by her finisher kept Saya down at the 13:45 mark. Just an absolutely brutal main event. I think it lacked a bit of drama because I couldn’t imagine Utami staying at 1 point while Saya got to 8, Other than that though, this ruled. [****¼]
| Red Stars A | Points | Red Stars B | Points | Blue Stars A | Points | Blue Stars B | Points |
| Maika | 6 (3-0) | Saya Iida | 6 (3-1) | Ruaka | 4 (2-0) | Hanan | 4 (2-0) |
| Itsuki Aoki | 6 (3-0) | Rina Yamashita | 6 (2-1-2) | Suzu Suzuki | 2 (1-0) | Momo Watanabe | 4 (2-0) |
| AZM | 4 (2-1) | Konami | 4 (2-0) | Hina | 2 (1-1) | Koguma | 4 (2-1) |
| Tomoka Inaba | 4 (2-3) | Maki Itoh | 3 (1-1-1) | Aya Sakura | 2 (1-10) | Saya Kamitani | 0 (0-0) |
| Sayaka Kurara | 4 (2-3) | Utami Hayashishita | 3 (1-1-1) | HANAKO | 2 (1-1) | Starlight Kid | 0 (0-0) |
| Rina | 2 (1-2) | Azusa Inaba | 3 (1-2-1) | Julia Hart | 0 (0-0) | Ami Sohrei | 0 (0-1) |
| Natsuko Tora | 2 (1-2) | Mei Seira | 3 (1-2-1) | Rian | 0 (0-1) | Yuna Mizumori | 0 (0-1) |
| Akira Kurogane | 0 (0-3) | Lady C | 0 (0-3) | Miyu Amasaki | 0 (0-2) | Kikyo Furusawa | 0 (0-3) |
