World Wonder Ring of Stardom’s 5Star Grand Prix 2026 tournament officially came to an end on August 23, 2026. While watching and enjoying the G1 Climax this year, Stardom ran their annual 5Star Grand Prix around the same time. With four blocks of eight wrestlers instead of two blocks of 10, Stardom showcased a good portion of their entire roster with Round Robin matches for the ages.
I’ve seen my fair share of Stardom matches over the past several years, but never had the opportunity to sit down and watch something produced by them in full. Until this year!
Allow me to share my thoughts as a first time full time viewer of this year’s Stardom tourney. I’ll cover the best and worst matches, along with notable performers that stood out to me. Seeing a lot of these ladies wrestle for the first time felt absolutely eye-opening, and I have lots of love for them. But first, let’s talk about this year’s shocking winner of the whole tourney.
Thoughts on the Winner: Rina
Out of the millions of HATE members in Stardom, Rina was the last one I’d expect to outlast them all. This year’s playoffs of the tourney were very weird in general. No Momo Watanabe and no Saya Kamitani in the playoffs, but we made room for Konami and Ruaka. At least Starlight Kid and Rina’s paths to the finals were filled with great matches and less HATE interference and more grappling.
Rina’s maneuvers during her matches included the Tiger Lily, the famed finisher of the late great Hana Kimura. Her victory in the 5Star at just 19 years old also echoed Kimura’s tourney win in 2019 at the same time. Such a perfect time and a perfect background story to allow someone so young a crack at the spotlight. My only sadness comes with Starlight Kid’s loss under more bright lights. You’re telling me someone as talented and tenured as her who STILL hasn’t won the World Title gets shoved from the spotlight again?
Mercy.
Even still, Rina deserves this win. Pushing a “forced victory” agenda on her is completely unfair and ignores the talent she showed off in her matches to me, a relatively new viewer. The Pink Devil made her mark!
Very Early Prediction: 5Star Grand Prix 2027 Winner
There’s no telling who could possibly waltz into Stardom a year from now and take the 5Star next year. For goodness sake, Utami Hayashishita came back to Stardom only a few months ago, and Maki Itoh has signed with the company in early 2026 too. I could say Thunder Rosa would win and there’s a nonzero chance of it. But to keep the guessing pool simple, I’ll say a name that’s in Stardom and long overdue for a 5Star tourney win.
AZM is one of the smoothest wrestlers I’ve ever seen. Her quickness and agility force others to match pace or fall behind at a moment’s notice. How she hasn’t won the 5Star yet in her long career is unbelievable. She can put on a match of the year with anyone, and can comfortably run in a main event spot without anyone batting an eye. I’m locking her in for next year, even if my heart says Saya Iida. Muscle Mommy Iida is too amazing to be denied.
MVP of the 5Star GP ‘26
The majority of competitors in this year’s 5Star were peeps I was not familiar with until this past month. Many names like Suzu Suzuki and Utami Hayashishita left audiences spellbound with their aura, while names like Tomoka Inaba and Konami would punt kick their opponents to death beautifully. There are simply too many names to praise, so I shall limit the ultimate title of “MVP” to Saya Iida.
This 4’ 9’’ ball of energy remained the most consistently great performer out of everyone in this tourney. Her bumping and selling of the offense she’d receive was on the level of a 2010s Dolph Ziggler. And when she brought the fire back, she shoved it back into people’s faces with interest. Her lariats and brainbusters always popped me and left me wanting to see more of her wrestling all the time.
Of course, it takes two to tango. Iida’s matches against the likes of AZM, Utami Hayashishita, and Mei Seira were undeniable bangers and made for some great underdog performances against opponents bigger than her. Trust me though, what Iida lacked in stature, she made up for with muscle, speed, and believable fighting power. She’s quickly become an all-time favorite of mine through this tourney alone.
Worst Matches of 5Star GP ‘26
Well, they can’t all be golden. While a majority of the workers in this year’s 5Star were good to excellent, some matchups couldn’t live up to a good quality as much as we would have liked. Here are some examples of those disappointing times.
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Ruaka v. Miyu Amasaki, Night 1
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Natsuko Tora v. Itsuki Aoki, Night 4
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Julia Hart v. HANAKO, Night 13
You can just go ahead and throw most of Julia Hart’s matches into this list. Let’s be honest here, Hart has a bright future ahead of her for someone so young. But the high impact style that requires hard bumps and hard hits for Stardom’s standards just isn’t her cup of tea. Seeing Hart tap out multiple people in this tournament after not doing much the whole match just made my heart shrink every time it happened.
Ruaka and Natsuko Tora are the side of the villainous HATE faction I cannot get behind. Instead of clever tricks or good wrestling, they instead elect to bump refs, use weapons, and sometimes intentionally cause disqualifications. Sorry, but I would like to see wrestling in my wrestling show.
When Tora wrestled stablemate Rina on Night 5, that was a great example of wrestling within the faction. But constant behind-the-back interference in other matches is the same reason why I hate the House of Torture in NJPW. Once in a while is fine, but EVERY SINGLE MATCH? It just got so tiring.
Sleeper Matches of 5Star GP ‘26
We transition from having a moan to having a nap, in a good way. These matches may not feature on any “Match of the Year” candidates, but they are definitely worth checking out if you have the chance. If nothing else, it can get you familiar with all these wrestlers and characters like I did.
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AZM v. Maika, Night 3
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Azusa Inaba v. Mei Seira, Night 5
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Saya Kamitani v. Starlight Kid, Night 6
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Rina Yamashita v. Saya Iida, Night 11
AZM and Maika’s main event match was set up with an impromptu vibe since they were at ringside the previous match and didn’t need entrances. It was fast-paced, filled with killer kicks, and a Super Michinoku Driver to put a huge exclamation mark on it. There were many draws in this tournament due to the demanding 15-minute time limit for every block match, and Inaba/Seira was an example of a draw done right. While fans usually seem disappointed at the draw, these two drew out their brilliant face and heel dynamics to create some classic wrestling magic in the ring.
Kamitani and SLK’s Korakuen Hall main event slapped hard, with Stardom’s schedule withholding both of their first tourney appearances until they wrestled each other. Dives off balconies, unbelievable kickouts of big moves, and it ended with an understandable draw. Lovely. Then Rina Yamashita and Saya Iida were a great David v. Goliath situation with plenty of chops thrown. Yamashita took more of a comedy route in this tourney, so seeing her have fun at work was a great time every time.
Best Matches of 5Star GP ‘26
Familiarizing myself with these insanely talented peeps definitely made me want to keep watching this tournament with eyes wide open. Here’s my picks for my favorite names wrestling my favorite matches of this year’s 5Star Grand Prix.
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Utami Hayashishita v. Saya Iida, Night 5
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Hina v. Suzu Suzuki, Night 2
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Momo Watanabe v. Hanan, Night 12
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Utami Hayashishita v. Mei Seira, Night 14
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Starlight Kid v. Ami Sohrei, Nights 14 & 15
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Rina v. Konami, Red Stars Quarter Final
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Starlight Kid v. Rina, 5Star Final
The praise for the Finale and the Quarter-Final between Rina and Konami can’t be overstated enough. Rina being filled with this much passion and drive fueled by Hana Kimura was such a beautiful story told towards the end of the tour. And as much as I’m hit or miss on Konami, she can throw some stiff offense and garner tons of heat. As a matter of fact, many of the first and second round playoff matches were fantastic. I recommend checking them out for free on YouTube with Walker Stewart’s buttery smooth voice calling the action in English.
I got two new wrestling crushes from this tourney, much like Hyo from BOSJ. Koguma and her “bear club” shtick was always entertaining to me, but she never really got a match past ten minutes this year. Utami Hayashishita was presented as the outsider, back in the Stardom saddle after her time in Marigold. And my god, she can deliver. Whether it’s as a powerhouse against Saya Iida or a tweener against the babyface fire of Mei Seira, she can flip that switch seamlessly.
My first introduction to the current World of Stardom Champion Suzu Suzuki was nothing short of spectacular. An absolutely hard hitter with a monster-like build and an iron will to bulldoze anyone who stood in her way. Hina was a perfect first dance partner to prove why Suzuki deserves that World Title, and prove why Hina is extremely underrated as well.
Momo and Hanan’s stiff suplex-fest made me really enjoy the concept of the time limit draw instead of hate it, again (no pun intended). Wrestling all the time up until time and getting a two count before that bell rings really made for an awesome conclusion. And finally, SLK and Sohrei’s pair of matches on back-to-back nights were both too good to ignore. The leader of God’s Eye is easily one of the best workers in wrestling right now. Think like a Cesaro-type of respect she carries herself with every time she’s in the ring. Pair that against an expert bumper and athletic freak in Starlight Kid, and it’s a certified banger.
Also a huge shoutout goes to Natsupoi’s retirement run throughout this whole tour. She can still hang with anyone and pull off crazy spots for the love of the game. Her final match with Saori Anou on the Finals night is going on my Top 5 matches in 2026. And her IWGP Women’s Title match with Syuri on Night One was also extraordinary. They’re not technically tournament matches, but they’re still super.
OVERALL:
This tournament shined a new light on a world of wrestling I rarely visited, and made me a welcome guest into the atmosphere of joshi wrestling. Fans already familiar with Stardom weren’t crazy about the choices of playoff competitors when people like Kamitani and Momo weren’t even in it. But I found it refreshing to see new faces in the main event scene. Much like Ryohei Oiwa in the G1, seeing a new phoenix rise from the ashes in Rina was a brilliant way to revamp the World Title scene.
With names like Julia Hart and Natsuko Tora, this tournament wasn’t a total success all across the board. But, seeing many talented peeps for the first time made me excited for what’s to come in Stardom.
What to look forward to:
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A returning Bea Pristley v. Anne Kanaya
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Ranna Yagami (c) v. Akira Kurogane for the Future of Stardom Title
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Hanan (c) v. Ami Sohrei for the Wonder of Stardom Title
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Suzu Suzuki (c) v. Natsuko Tora for the World of Stardom Title
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AZM & Miyu Amasaki (c) v. Saya Kamitani & Momo Watanabe for the Goddesses of Stardom Titles
And this is just for the near future, what a time to become a fan!
