[7.0] "Really good 1st day of the 5STAR GP, with a range of 'good' to 'very good' matches. Fukigen vs Mina was lame but very short. Fukigen's comedy was typically lame, and Mina's offence was very basic. Totally forgettable. TS;NR (too short; no rating). Koguma vs Natsu was nothing special but had good energy. Natsu's slick agility was impressive and her cheeky character work was endearing, while Koguma was a fine mini powerhouse but not much else. Their speedy exchanges and pin trades were always quite fun, though their high spots were mostly mediocre. **3/4. Kid vs Giulia was pretty good. Kid's heel spots, aggressive beatdown work, and trademark agile/high-flying attacks were all really good. Giulia was nicely sympathetic with her real-time selling, though her long-term selling of her worked-over leg was pretty poor. As usual, her offence wasn't flashy but always had good technique and physicality. They had good intensity, pacing, and near falls in the final 1/3rd. ***1/4 - ***1/2. Tam vs Unagi was pretty one-sided but still alright. Tam showed good grappling and great striking, while Unagi showed good fire despite knowing how outclassed she was. Her offence was mostly very basic but delivered with nice intensity. Nothing super impressive but their chemistry was usually always at least decent. Unagi stealing the win from the clutches of defeat was quite exciting. ***. Syuri vs Kamitani was a standard "good but not especially great" Stardom 'work-rate' match. Both women showed lots of fire and worked at a pretty energetic pace. Syuri's strikes all looked great, while Kamitani's offence was less polished and occasionally rather sloppy but usually still good, and she did well to mostly keep up with Syuri's pace and output. The final 1/3rd became a pretty generic 'epic' bombfest, but with strong chemistry and mostly really good technique to make it all still quite fun. ***1/4 - ***1/2. Mayu vs Momo was very good, with both showing very impressive physicality, intensity, and smoothness. Both women's kicks were always wonderfully stiff, and they made sure to put extra energy and impact behind all their bigger moves where it would look like they were just destroying each other. A shame they quickly abandoned their leg-targeting story, and their big-move trades in the final 1/3rd were pretty generically structured, but their all-around strong technique still made for some very exciting moments. Possibly my new Stardom 2021 MOTY. ***3/4. Utami vs Maika was really good. Both women had very good intensity and impact behind all their attacks, and they also told a very good story of Utami's injured arm, with it greatly limiting her more and more despite how much big offence she hit, and that culminated in Maika eventually putting her away after hitting more and more signature moves together one after the other in quick succession. Their big-move trades were often pretty generic, but their intensity and the arm-targeting story made up for that. ***1/2"

[9.0] "A bombastic first day of wrestling action in the Grand Prix. MOTN was Mayu/Momo closely followed by the main event and Syuri/Saya. The worst match on the card was Unagi/Tam and that too was pretty darn good content. A applaudable effort by all the ladies involved. Awaiting day-2 with deep interest. Some questionable booking decisions such as Unagi over Tam but this is just the beginning and Momo and Maika got the win so I do not have much of a opportunity to complain. Overall, a fantastic show. 9 it is for me."

[8.0] "A very good and strong show to open this year 5 star grand prix. If you have just one match to watch it's Mayu vs Momo, it was fantastic. The others matches were also good especially the ME and SLK-Giulia, or Syuri-Kamitani. I hope the other shows of the tournament will be this caliber."

[9.0] "One of the best STARDOM shows in 2021, and probably one of the best 5 STAR Grand Prix shows in STARDOM history - it was easy to watch, almost everyone who was in the position to leave a great impression and get over did that, and some surprising results were there too. Not a lot of things that happened on this show could be done better even though there was only one truly great match. Give this show a chance if you're new to STARDOM."

[9.0] "*Rating is for tournament matches only* A fantastic start to the 5 Star. Mina vs Fukigen was a nothing burger. Koguma vs NatsuPoi was just there and relied on the tired 'high speed' tropes to it's detriment. It improved markedly from there though, especially with the last three matches which were great or better. The highlight of those being Mayu vs Momo which was just ace and the match of the night."

[7.0] "Very good show. I could complain about two things only: the opening match and too loud commentary. I could barely hear the in-ring action and surrounding. Utami Hayashishita vs Maika was The Match of The Night. Other good matches: 1)Koguma vs Natsupoi, 2)Tam Nakano vs Unagi Sayaka, 3)Syuri vs Saya Kamitani, 4)Mayu Iwatani vs Momo Watanabe."

[9.0] "As a regular Stardom event, this was probably an 8, but as a 5STAR event, this was easily a 9. Every match on this show was at the very least solid and at the most incredible. Everything after the Unagi/Tam match is must watch for any wrestling fan who's trying to expand their wrestling pallet, especially the Mayu/Momo clash."

[9.0] "Very strong start to the 5STAR. Momo-Mayu was tremendous, Syuri-Saya and Maika-Utami were both great, and Giulia-SK was very good as well. Throw in a strong match from Unagi and Tam with a surprising finish, and you have a terrific opening night."

[9.0] "Arguably the best show of bell to bell action that Stardom has ever put on. Three ****+ matches to end the show, with good stories & developments told throughout the show. Really felt like a good G1 show pre-pandemic."

[9.0] "What an amazing show. I know it irks people that the show was a PPV, but at least it was available to watch live, instead of only being a VOD show for World that would be available days later as usual. This was, in my opinion, the best PPV Stardom has had in terms of match quality. The opening match between Mina and Fukigen was free on Youtube and fine for what it was. The PPV consisted of the other six matches, all but one of which rocked. Koguma vs Poi was a good match with a fun and funny first half, and a good second half. Giulia vs SLK was really good, with SLK busting out new moves and taking it to Giulia after Giulia dominated early on. Even though Giulia won, SLK saw her own stock go up in defeat. Tam vs Unagi was an expected step down, and the finishing stretch was botched by Unagi, in what was clearly the worst match on the show for me. It still was not a bad match though. The final three matches were amazing. Syuri vs Tall Saya was fantastic, had a perfect ending and will be in the rotation of rewatched matches for sure. Mayu vs Momo was yet another brutal classic between two of the best Joshi wrestlers in the world, and in all of women's wrestling for that matter. It was everything I hoped for, and the finishing stretch was one of my favorites in all of wrestling this year. It was the match of the night. The main event took some time to get invested in due to how great the Mayo/Momo match was, but the second half was terrific. The draw was teased in the final minutes, so the actual ending was a welcomed swerve. It too was a great match. So, of the six PPV matches, Four were in or above the **** threshold, Koguma/Poi was ***1/2 or so, and Tam/Unagi was the one subpar match. That is a 9/10 show. As far as 5Star shows go, this one was an all-timer."

[8.0] "This was a pretty good show and a nice start for the tournament, while the first two matches weren't bad or anything but also not really good either. The rest of the show was good or better, especially Syuri/Kamitani and Momo/Iwatani were highlights of this show. There were also some pleasant suprises, in form of Sayaka's and Maika's upsets."