Stardom - 5★STAR GP2017 (9/18/2017)

4. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Hana Kimura vs. Kris Wolf

Hana used a variety of meats to distract Kris, and things got heated between them. Fun little match, loved the aggression Hana-chan showed.

**3/4

5. 5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: Jungle Kyona vs. Tam Nakano

The crowd was lively for this one. Tam is green, but she makes up for that with her charisma. Kyona's leg gives out when she lifts Tam for her powerbomb finisher and the move falls apart. She doesn't know how to lift. She needs to work on lifting!

***

7. 5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: HZK vs. Io Shirai

Good! The best of HZK's tournament (for what that is worth). She went toe-to-toe with Io in counters and kicked out of the moonsault.

***

8. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Viper vs. Yoko Bito

Viper ambushes Bito, and they're just going back and forth with big moves. Viper's offense could have looked better... I wasn't really into this until Bito's comeback.

**1/4

9. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Kagetsu vs. Mayu Iwatani

Kagetsu tries to murder Mayu by pushing the entrance gate on top of her. Mayu's neck ends up sandwiched between the structure and a guardrail, it looked horrific. This was good, these two obviously have amazing chemistry and they put on a fresh installment to their feud.

***3/4

10. 5★STAR GP - Finals: Toni Storm vs. Yoko Bito

bad

Stardom - 5★STAR GP2017 (9/10/2017)

4. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Kris Wolf vs. Yoko Bito

***

5. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Mayu Iwatani vs. Xia Brookside

**1/2

6. 5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: Io Shirai vs. Tam Nakano

Tam looked strong with her dragon sleeper and near-fall. Love the somato Io has been using lately. Good match, the crowd reaction was strong.

***1/2

7. 5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: HZK vs. Jungle Kyona

This was easily HZK's best match of the tournament so far. Loved the callbacks.

***

8. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Hana Kimura vs. Kagetsu

This was a strong performance for Kagetsu, she gets the crowd into the match with her shenanigans. 1stRING was eating this up. The in-ring was solid and the story was very compelling.

***3/4

Stardom - 5★STAR GP 2017 (9/3/2017)

1. Queen's Quest (AZM & Viper) & Tora Natsuko vs. Mari Apache, Hiromi Mimura & Shiki Shibusawa

**1/4

2. 5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: Jungle Kyona vs. Kay Lee Ray

**

3. 5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: HZK vs. Mandy Leon

*

4. 5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: Tam Nakano vs. Toni Storm

*1/2

5. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Xia Brookside vs. Yoko Bito

**1/4

6. 5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: Io Shirai vs. Konami

Another awesome match between these two -- they've got good chemistry. Konami stepped it up here.

***3/4

7. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Kris Wolf vs. Mayu Iwatani

**1/2

Stardom - 5★STAR GP2017 (9/2/2017)

1. Hanan vs. Kris Wolf vs. Ruaka

***1/4

2. Queen's Quest (AZM & HZK) vs. Team Jungle (Jungle Kyona & Tora Natsuko) vs. Yoko Bito & Mari Apache vs. Shiki☆d (Starlight Kid & Shiki Shibusawa)

***

3. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Viper vs. Xia Brookside

**1/2

4. 5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: Konami vs. Tam Nakano

Very good match between these GPS girls. Konami was the aggressor, and Tam was selling those kicks. This had a feel of tension and urgency, and I was impressed with the raw emotion/conviction coming from Nakano.

***1/2

5. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Hiromi Mimura vs. Mayu Iwatani

***1/4

6. 5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: Mandy Leon vs. Toni Storm

DUD

7. 5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: Io Shirai vs. Kay Lee Ray

***

Stardom - 5★STAR GP2017 (8/27/2017)

2. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Hana Kimura vs. Xia Brookside

Good match. The pacing was there, the counters were neat and well-timed. It was interesting to see Hana try to out-grapple Xia as that isn't her usual style of wrestling, I'm liking the brutality of her octopus hold.

***

3. 5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: Konami vs. Toni Storm

**1/4

4. 5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: HZK vs. Kay Lee Ray

**1/2

5. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Hiromi Mimura vs. Yoko Bito

**

6. Jungle Kyona, Mary Apache & Mayu Iwatani vs. Mandy Leon & Queen's Quest (AZM & Io Shirai)

***1/2

7. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Kagetsu vs. Viper

***1/4

Stardom - 5★STAR GP2017 (8/26/2017)

1. Konami & AZM vs. Shiki☆d (Starlight Kid & Shiki Shibusawa)

**1/2

2. Mandy Leon & Kay Lee Ray vs. Mari Apache & Tora Natsuko

*1/4

3. 5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: HZK vs. Toni Storm

**

4. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Kris Wolf vs. Viper

**3/4

5. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Hana Kimura vs. Hiromi Mimura

I enjoyed Hana's control segment in this. The heel work was amazing, and she was very aggressive throughout, really laying in those strikes. Hiromi's the perfect target for bullying.

***

6. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Kagetsu vs. Xia Brookside

The middle part of this could have been better, but I thought it otherwise flowed well and they were throwing awesome strikes. Best match of Xia's career.

**3/4

7. 5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: Io Shirai vs. Jungle Kyona

Io's injured neck is the MVP of this tournament! I'm liking the matches being built around it so far. Kyona brought her wild energy as the aggressor. Io was bumping hard, and there were nifty spots, like the tombstone counters and Io's springboard dropkick sequence. 

***3/4

8. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Mayu Iwatani vs. Yoko Bito

***1/2

Stardom - 5★STAR GP2017 (8/19/2017)

7. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Hana Kimura vs. Yoko Bito

This was hurt by timing issues/awkwardness, but there are still things to be enjoyed here, like Hana's octopus hold, and the impact of Bito's kicks. The closing segment where Hana destroys Bito with relentless boots was awesome.

**3/4

8. 5★STAR GP Blue Stars Block: Io Shirai vs. Mandy Leon

***

9. 5★STAR GP Red Stars Block: Mayu Iwatani vs. Viper

Viper's offense works well with Mayu's ragdoll selling; her body attacks and slams looked destructive, especially that finish (!).

***

Stardom - Midsummer Champions (8/13/2017)

2. 5★STAR Grand Prix 2017 Qualifying Match: Natsuko Tora vs. Tam Nakano

Pretty solid performance from both wrestlers, especially for Tamu, who made a strong impression in her Stardom debut. Tora gets a crazy close near-fall.

***

3. Gabby Ortiz & Hiromi Mimura vs. Konami & Yoko Bito vs. Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura & Kris Wolf) vs. Shiki Shibusawa & Starlight Kid

***

4. SWA World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Xia Brookside

*1/2

5. High Speed Championship: Shanna (c) vs. Mari Apache

**1/2

6. Artist of Stardom Championship: Team Jungle (Hiroyo Matsumoto, Jungle Kyona & Kaori Yoneyama) (c) vs. Queen's Quest (HZK, Io Shirai & Viper)

A solid match for Io's return. I thought she looked great, and she did some new flippy stuff. Viper ends up crushing Kyona's face and causing a nosebleed, and I thought it added to the match visually. It's also nice to see HZK pick up the win.

***

7. World of Stardom Championship: Mayu Iwatani (c) vs. Kagetsu

Mayu and Kagetsu had a great High Speed match last year, but this was horrendous. It wasn't connecting with me, and by the end of it I stopped caring. The action was dull, the pacing felt very off, and of course they have to shoehorn a stairwell spot in every single Stardom Korakuen main event. This was no good!

bad