MARIGOLD Dream Star Grand Prix 2024 Opening Day Review
In this article, I'll be reviewing the league matches from the Dream Star Grand Prix opening night, and rating them on a 1-10 scale. The points will be added in brackets starting on the night show.
Afternoon Show
STAR LEAGUE: Bozilla vs Kizuna Tanaka
No exaggeration when I say this is one of my absolute favorite Bozilla matches since coming to MARIGOLD. For some reason, she and Kizuna worked well with each other. Kizuna had this fire to her, and Bozilla played her role greatly as she tends to do. Kizuna got a lot more than you would’ve suspected going into this match. Bozilla got the win with a nasty piledriver to gain her first win in the Dream Star. If this showing was anything to go off of? Kizuna Tanaka is going to have a really good Dream Star Grand Prix.
Match Rating: 6/10
DREAM LEAGUE: Natsumi Showzuki vs Victoria Yuzuki
This match was one that I had high hopes for, but sadly it was underwhelming. YUZUKI’s inexperience was on display, and their having to stretch this out for a draw hurt the match. I do think it started to come back around as it ended, but overall was hoping for a better outing for these two. Maybe after the tournament this can lead to a Championship rematch where they can have a chance to redeem themselves without the pressure of needing to reach a draw.
Match Rating: 5.5/10
DREAM LEAGUE: Kouki Amarei vs NØRI
One of the big questions I had heading into this tournament was how Kouki would perform coming off an excellent challenge of the United National Championship. Her performances can be very inconsistent, but Kouki did very well here. She seemed like she was oozing confidence, and was more poised than I have seen her be. NØRI was a treat to watch, but ultimately she lacked pacing in this match. She was constantly putting her foot on the gas pedal, which sometimes caused the match to be quite clunky—still enjoyed this a tad bit more than the Showzuki versus Yuzuki match.
Rating: 6.5/10
STAR LEAGUE: Miku Aono vs Misa Matsui
Miku Aono and Misa Matsui are two of the most compelling wrestlers in this tournament in terms of how they will score. Aono has the distinct advantage of being the United National Champion, but there’s some heavy hitters at the top of the block that she’s going to run into during this tournament. With all of that being said, I loved the layout of this match. Misa immediately targets Miku’s leg to try and weaken the impact of the kicks that Miku likes to throw. Miku Aono responds by leaning more into her power game, and throwing kicks when needed. This match was more back and forth than expected but was welcome. Miku secures the win with the Styles Clash and earns her first two points of the tournament.
Match Rating: 7/10
DREAM LEAGUE: Chika Goto vs MIRAI
Shouting GoChika’s catchphrase and cheering for MIRAI might’ve been the most lively this crowd has been all show. This is an interesting matchup considering tWintoWer challenged MIRAI and Mai Sakurai to a match for the Twin Star Championships. What a great outing for GoChika, as MIRAI put her in a position to shine. MIRAI controlled the match, and built GoChika up perfectly for her comeback. Despite being one of the tallest members of the roster, GoChika just thrives in that babyface in peril role. MIRAI was no slouch in this one either, as she was magnificent on both offense and defense. The finish was nasty as MIRAI kept putting more and more submission holds on GoChika until she was all tied up and was forced to give up.
Match Rating: 7.5/10
DREAM LEAGUE: Nagisa Nozaki vs Utami Hayashishita
The quiet crowd is noticeable in almost every match, but this is the one where I think it actively has a negative impact on the match. Nozaki and Utami just clicked for me, and Utami specifically was magnificent here. Loved her busting out the avalanche Air Raid Crash. Bringing out all of her big weapons from the Stalling German Suplex to the Torture Rack Bomb, but none of it was enough. Nozaki just needed one opening, and she got it. She used the one opening to throw everything she had left at Utami culminating in a big victory for her to start this tournament. I would love to see this in a Korakuen for example, because I think they have a greater match in them. Which is saying something, because I loved this one.
Match Rating: 8/10
STAR LEAGUE: Nanae Takahashi vs Mai Sakurai
Mai Sakurai jumping Nanae before the bell, and showing some more aggression was a good idea. That was a good idea…in theory. Once Nanae moved out of the way of Mai’s boot? She started beating her all across the entire venue with anything she could find including somebody’s umbrella. This match was just awesome. It was everything you wanted heading into this, as it very quickly became a scrap. At the peak, it had a lot of drama with them going back and forth exchanging big moves to try and secure the win. The biggest win for this match is how much the crowd got into it by the end.
I love a good referee stoppage finish as well, this rocked. Another great Nanae performance, and another stellar outing from Mai Sakurai. Mai Sakura might be the most improved wrestler of the whole year, as she’s been electric as of late. This match has only made me more hyped for her Dream Star. She was scrapping with Nanae Takahashi and didn’t feel out of place. Seek this one out.
Match Rating: 8.5
Night Show
STAR LEAGUE: Bozilla {2} vs Misa Matsui {0}
I didn’t like this match. It was fine, but the flow was way off. The peak was the finishing stretch. Served the purpose it needed to.
Match Rating: 4.5/10
STAR LEAGUE: CHIAKI {0} vs Miku Aono {2}
CHIAKI oozes charisma from when she walks out to when the bell rings. I think MARIGOLD’s biggest success from this GP will be if CHIAKI can put it together as a singles wrestler to where she can take on a bigger role. This match was worked smartly, but I think the one thing CHIAKI is confused on is when to insert her heel work into these matches. The ref bump and chair usage were just right in the middle of the match. It messed with the natural flow of things. If you take that out and look at the rest of the match? This was a good outing for both. Miku rolls on to tie Bozilla at the top of the block while CHIAKI fails to kick off her tournament with a win.
Match rating: 6/10
DREAM LEAGUE: NØRI {2} vs MIRAI {2}
I’ve been critical of the crowd throughout this entire review, but this match right here is what made me irate at them. They were better here than most matches, but it deserved more from the crowd than it got. NØRI and MIRAI killed it here! They started the match off with some really good mat grappling where NØRI got to show off her MMA background. Then when you got into pro wrestling it was an intense battle filled with big blows. NØRI looked more polished compared to the afternoon show, and MIRAI was the perfect dance partner.
NØRI wanted to slug it out and MIRAI is always down for that. This match was so strike-heavy that any time they hit a suplex for example it felt more important than it was. The finishing stretch leading to the draw was immaculate. My biggest criticism with draws is most of the time you can feel them building to it, but not here. Great stuff.
Match Rating: 8.5/10
DREAM LEAGUE: Chika Goto {0} vs Utami Hayashishita {0}
Interesting dynamic here as we have two people who lost on the afternoon show looking for the first points. This is the first definitive power battle of this GP. During the afternoon show MIRAI worked over GoChika a lot so she could build to her comeback. While in this one Utami was more 50/50 with GoChika. They had a back-and-forth exchange of power moves and heavy forearms. GoChika on day one is making a statement to possibly be the tournament’s most consistent wrestler. Utami of course ended up victorious, but I would love to see this again with a singles belt on the line. Utami gets on the board, while GoChika is still stuck at the bottom of the block.
Match Rating: 7.5/10
DREAM LEAGUE: Nagisa Nozaki {2} vs Natsumi Showzuki {1}
Nagisa Nozaki and Natsumi Showzuki main eventing this show was interesting heading into this. However, to their credit, both of them rose to the occasion. I thought this match overdelivered by a wide margin. Nozaki turned it on yet again, and Showzuki was incredible as always. Showzuki getting the big main event win here which moves her into a tie for first place in the DREAM LEAGUE with MIRAI and NØRI. Hats off to Nagisa Nozaki specifically, and I’d have to say she’s my MVP for these two shows. Nobody in the company had more dirt thrown on their name than her. She hasn’t had a reason to turn it up like this until now, and now that the beast has been awakened? The rest of her tournament is going to be quite interesting. Showzuki closing out this show was awesome to see, and she’s got some heavy hitters left as well. Good first day of league action.