High Hai Mate Pick Up Points Over 02Line in STARDOM 5★STAR GP, Still Have Eyes on the Tag Gold

By Noah Leatherland

Despite losing their challenge for the Goddesses of Stardom Championships earlier this month, HANAKO and Maika made statement wins in the STARDOM 5★STAR GP. The two women picked up points over the tag champions, and still have gold in their sights.

The third leg of the STARDOM 5★STAR GP took place in Osaka, with the top two matches of the event seeing HANAKO face Miyu Amasaki, and Maika face AZM. HANAKO’s bout with Amasaki almost went all the way to the 15 minute time limit, only for HANAKO to connect with her JP Coaster and put Amasaki down for the three count. In her celebrations, HANAKO took hold of one of the Goddesses of Stardom titles and held it aloft, much to the anger of 02Line.

AZM and Maika were already at ringside supporting their partners, and went straight into their own match afterwards.

The two combatants took no time at all to get into the heat of the action, going right after each other. AZM and Maika both broke out the heavy artillery for this match, both eager to climb the table in Red Stars A Block.

In the end, it was Maika that emerged the victor, putting AZM away with a wrist-clutch Michinoku Driver II, picking herself up two points in the process.

Elsewhere on the card, Momo Watanabe carried on her momentum by picking up another two points over Kikyo Furusawa. Rina Yamashita pushed herself up the rankings with a win over Azusa Inaba. Hina got her first points for the Grand Prix, coming at the expense of Aya Sakura. Saya Iida moved to the top of Red Stars Block B with a win over Lady C. Hanan managed to keep Koguma from getting too far ahead in the points, picking up a win and equaling Koguma’s tally of four points. Then, Tomoka Inaba picked up a big win by defeating the former World of Stardom Champion, Sayaka Kurara.

Here are the full results for STARDOM 5★STAR GP Day 3:

• Saori Anou def. Natsupoi, Matoi Hamabe and Ema Maishima (5:20)
• Blue Stars B: Momo Watanabe [4] def. Kikyo Furusawa [0] (7:44)
• Red Stars B: Rina Yamashita [3] def. Azusa Inaba [0] (8:56)
• Blue Stars A: Hina [2] def. Aya Sakura [2] (11:27)
• Red Stars B: Saya Iida [4] def. Lady C [0] (11:30)
• Blue Stars B: Hanan [4] def. Koguma [4] (8:34)
• Red Stars A: Tomoka Inaba [4] def. Sayaka Kurara [4] (4:49)
• Blue Stars A: HANAKO [2] def. Miyu Amasaki [0] (14:22)
• Red Stars A: Maika [2] def. AZM [0] (13:03)

Here are the updated standings for the STARDOM 5★STAR GP:

RED STARS BLOCK A

• Sayaka Kurara [4]
• Tomoka Inaba [4]
• Itsuki Aoki [2]
• Maika [2]
• AZM [0]
• Natsuko Tora [0]
• Rina [0]
• Akira Kurogane [0]

RED STARS BLOCK B

• Saya Iida [4]
• Rina Yamashita [3]
• Mei Seira [2]
• Maki Itoh [2]
• Utami Hayashishita [1]
• Konami [0]
• Lady C [0]
• Azusa Inaba [0]

BLUE STARS BLOCK A

• Ruaka [4]
• Aya Sakura [2]
• Suzu Suzuki [2]
• HANAKO [2]
• Hina [2]
• Julia Hart
• Rian [0]
• Miyu Amasaki [0]

BLUE STARS BLOCK B

• Hanan [4]
• Koguma [4]
• Momo Watanabe [4]
• Starlight Kid
• Saya Kamitani
• Ami Sohrei [0]
• Yuna Mizumori [0]
• Kikyo Furusawa [0]