[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] "Dieses andere Level an Pro Wrestling. Was für ein unglaublicher Start ins Turnier. Da war für mich alles dabei und abseits von Fukigen Death war hier alles mindestens ***3/4 und halt mehr; vor allem der Main Event mit ich würde so sagen ****3/4. Einfach nur geil. Maika ist ein unglaubliches Biest. So fantastisch."

[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] "Stardom hat hier im Vergleich zu den vergangenen Jahren mehr in die optische Präsentation investiert, was diesem Rahmen wirklich sehr angemessen ist. Die Show selbst ist stark. Ein mehr als würdiger Auftakt, der definitiv ein grandioses Turnier verspricht."

[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."

[8.0] "Der 5 Star GP 2021 beginnt ziemlich vielversprechend und man hat auch ein durchaus gutes Roster parat und mit Takumi Iroha eine absolute Top Matchgarantin als Gast dabei. Los gehts mit Mina Shirakawa und Fukigen Death. Zwei Comedy wrestler im 4 Minuten Opener, kann man so durchwinken. Ernster wird es dann mit Koguma und Natsupoi. Das erste Singles Match, das ich von Koguma seit ihrer Rückkehr gesehen habe und sie macht es wirklich gut und bekommt dann auch den Sieg. Giulia und Starlight Kid ist echt auch solide, wahrscheinlich das drittbeste am Abend. Starlight Kid hat sich im Ring wirklich sehr weiterentwickelt, der Sieg für Giulia war aber erwartbar. Unagi Sayaka vs Tam Nakano war okay, ich versthe aber nicht ganz, warum man Unagi gegen ihre Teamleaderin gewinnen lässt. Ohnehin finde ich das Booking um Tam seit dem Titelgewinn nicht so gut wie ich es mir gewünscht hätte. Syuri und Kamitani gefällt mir sehr gut. Kamitani mit ihren typischen Crazy Spots und Syuri kann damit sehr gut arbeiten und das zweitbeste Match der Show abliefern. Das klare MOTN zweigen dann aber Momo Watanabe und Mayu Iwatani, rein auf dem Papier schon die beste Ansetzung die Stardom zu bieten hat. Fantastisches Match gekrönt von Momo's wirklich tollen neuen Finisher, mit dem sie Mayu besiegt und endlich mal wieder einen größeren Sieg einfährt. Von allen hätte sie den Turniersieg ohnehin am nötigsten, weshalb das ein toller Auftakt war. Der ME geht so. Beide haben für mich sehr ähnliche Probleme z. B. einfach kaum Ausstrahlung im Ring. Das Match hatte seine Momente und sollte der typische ME werden und nimmt auch von dem zum Glück erneut um 5 Minuten verlängerten Time Limit gebrauch. Am Ende begeistern die beiden mich aber nicht wirklich und ich kann auch nicht verstehen, warum man ausgerechnet Maika wieder so pusht und dann gegen den Champion gewinnen lässt. Beide, aber vor allem Maika, sehe ich einfach noch nicht an dieser Position. Insgesamt aber eine trotzdem sehr gelungene Show ohne ein wirklich schlechtes Match und mit Syuri vs Kamitani und vor allem Mayu vs Momo zwei hervorragenden Matches."

[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."

[9.0] "Das war ein sehr gelungener Auftakt in den GP mit vier ****+ Matches. Absolut PPV würdig. Starlight Kid kommt ihre neue heelische Rolle sehr zugute, um auch mehr auf Ringpsychologie zu setzen und sich nicht nur selbst allein dem High Speed Wrestling einzugrenzen wie noch als Baybface zuvor. So war dann das Match gegen Giulia etwas anders gestaltet, als noch das erste sehr gute Aufeinandertreffen Anfang des Jahres, mit mehr Dominanz im Match für Kid. Schöner Kontrast zu beiden Matches. Die größte Überraschung war für mich der Sieg von Unagi über Tam Nakano, auch wenn das Match mir nicht so sehr zusagte - wie so oft bei Unagi Matches. Wenn ich es richtig verstanden habe, ist Unagi durch den Sieg nun die Anführerin der Cosmic Angels Syuri vs. Saya fand ich von der Matcherzählung spannend. Syuri nahm Saya relativ schnell den Hayabusa Stil aus den Flügeln und so etwickelte sich mehr ein stifferes und bondeständigeres Match, was natürlich Syuri zu Gute kam. Das Match der Show war für mich Momo Watanabe gegen Mayu. Das war durchgehend stark. Aber auch der Main Event wusste zu überzeugen, als guter Abschluss des ersten Tages und erneut mit einem überraschenden Ausgang."

[8.0] "Insgesamt ein starker Auftakt. Kein schlechtes Match dabei und die letzten drei Matches waren sehr sehenswert. Mit Mayu gg. Momo sogar ein früher heißer Kandidat für das beste Turniermatch dabei. Macht auf jeden Fall viel Lust auf die kommenden Wochen."

[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."

[9.0] "Tag 1 vom 5 Star Grand Prix war ein insgesamt starker Tag. Der Main Event und Co Main Event waren stark. Giulia gegen Starlight Kid, Tam gegen Unagi und Syuri gegen Saya waren gute Matches. Insgesamt hat es durchaus Sinn gemacht den Ausgang so zu gestalten wie man ihn gestaltet hat. Vllt. hätte man Starlight Kid sogar noch den Upset gegen Giulia geben können, andererseits hat man so logisch die Rivalität weitergeführt. Die Szenen nach dem Match haben den Eindruck nochmal verstärkt. Unagi gelang eine dicke Überraschung mit dem Sieg über Tam. Koguma konnte Natsupoi besiegen, was ebenfalls sinnvoll war, um sie als nächste Herasuforderin auf den High Speed Titel zu positionieren. Momo's Sieg gegen Mayu war ebenfalls etwas überraschend und etwas Balsam auf die Momo Fanseele. Syuri konnte im Gegensatz zu einigen anderen ihrer Favoritenrolle gerecht werden. Im Main Event konnte Maika eine weitere Überraschung gelingen und Utami pinnen. Ihre Rivalität eröffnet vermutlich das nächste Kapitel. Hier gab es ein interessantes Finish, als Maika den Griff nicht gelöst hat, obwohl Utami den Ropebreak schaffte. So schützt man sie auch noch etwas in dieser Niederlage."