Stardom ran a rather uncommon weeknight event earlier today in Tokyo, coming amidst reports in the Japanese media that Saya Kamitani was verbally harassed & insulted by fans at a post-event autograph signing this weekend (per a Tokyo Sports report). Stardom Co. Ltd. President Taro Okada addressed this report earlier today.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on Stardom World.
The announced paid attendance was 796.
Match 1: Tam Nakano beat Rian.
Match 2: Rina & Azusa Inaba (Just Tap Out) beat Waka Tsukiyama & HANAKO. Inaba pinned HANAKO after Bubber Killer #2.
Match 3; Hanan, Hazuki & Momo Kohgo beat Yuna Mizumori, Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara. Hanan pinned Kurara with a blockbuster hold.
Match 4: AZM & Mei Seira beat Mina Shirakawa & Gina. AZM pinned Gina after a shooting star.
Match 5: Natsuko Tora, Momo Watanabe, Thekla, Ruaka & Fukigen beat Syuri, Konami, Saki Kashima, Ranna Yagami & Hina. Thekla pinned Syuri after a poisonous spider death drop. Based on a post-match promo, it sounds like Thekla & Watanabe will be the pair challenging for the Goddesses Of Stardom Championship next against Syuri & Konami.
Match 6: Mayu Iwatani & Koguma beat Starlight Kid & Miyu Amasaki. Iwatani beat Amasaki with a standing dragon sleeper. It’s also being reported that Kid is forming a new faction with Mei Seira & the injured Suzu Suzuki, and is trying to add Amasaki & AZM. No response from those last 2 yet.
Match 7: Saori Anou & Natsupoi vs. Mika Iwata & Aimi (Sendai Girls) went to a 20 minute time limit draw. Afterwards, it was announced Iwata will defend the Wonder Of Stardom Championship against Anou (who she beat for the title) at the 7/15 Sendai Girls event, and it could be a double title match for Iwata’s Sendai Girls World Championship. Then Natsupoi said that, regardless of who wins, she wanted a Wonder Of Stardom title shot on 7/27.
Main Event: Maika, Saya Kamitani & Saya Iida beat Tomoka Inaba, Ami Sohrei & Lady C. Kamitani pinned C after Star Crusher.
The next event is Sunday. Live streaming on Stardom World will begin at 7:30 PM PT/10:30 PM ET. Live results are tentatively scheduled.
In other news, the field for the annual 5STAR GP Tournament was announced today. If will be a total field of 28 separated into 4 blocks: Red A, Red B, Blue A & Blue B. It will be a round-robin format with the top 2 in each block advancing to the Quarterfinals.
The fields so far:
Red A: Maika, Natsuko Tora, Hazuki, Natsupoi, Konami, Aimi, TBA
Red B: Mayu Iwatani, Tam Nakano, Momo Watanabe, AZM, Mei Seira, Saya Iida, Tomoka Inaba
Blue A: Saori Anou, Syuri, Starlight Kid, Gina, TBA, TBA
Blue B: Suzu Suzuki, Saya Kamitani, Hanan, Ami Sohrei, Saki Kashima, Thekla, TBA
For Red A & Blue A, TBA will be winners of a determination tournament to be held (only for one of the Blue A spots). Based on who isn’t in, presumably those tournaments would include Mina Shirakawa, Koguma, Rina, Hina, Miyu Amasaki and whoever else I may have missed. That aside, these brackets suggest Maika & Iwatani are the Red Block favorites while Block B will be tougher to predict, in particular Blue B-Hanan will be looking to back up her Cinderella Tournament win with now a 5STAR GP as she may be the biggest threat to Kamitani while Blue A seems loaded.
All matches were announced as well. The tournament begins on 8/10 at Yokohama Budokan then continues on 8/11 (Shibuya Ward Sports Center, Tokyo), 8/12 (Light Cube Utsunomiya, Tochigi-2 events), 8/15 (Korakuen), 8/17 (Kyoto KBS Hall, Kyoto), 8/18 (Kobe Art Center, Kobe), 8/20 (Osaka Prefectural Gym 2, Osaka), 8/23 (Sendai Pit, Sendai), 8/24 (Parse Izaka, Fukushima), 8/25 (Yamagata Big Wing, Yamagata), 8/28 (Shinjuku Face-Quarterfinals), and 8/31 (Semifinals/Finals, Musashino Forest Sports Plaza Main Arena, Tokyo). Broadcast plans are also set-all events except 8/10 & 8/31 will be LIVE on Stardom World, 8/10 & 8/31 will be PPVs live then Stardom World on demand a few days later.
Also, it was just announced that the 7/15 Sendai Girls event will be streamed LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE and the double title match between Iwata & Anou is now official.
