Momo Watanabe Wins STARDOM Five Star Grand Prix Tournament

In a career that in recent years has been defined by not being able to win big matches when it counts the most, Momo Watanabe has broken through her own cycles to emerge as the winner of this year's STARDOM Five Star Grand Prix tournament.

The night began with two semifinal matches. The first was a sensational high-speed bout that saw AZM pick up a huge win over Rina. The second semifinal between Momo Watanabe and Saori Anou was more methodical in nature, with Watanabe moving on to the final.

Despite both wrestling rigorous matches earlier in the night, Watanabe and AZM left it all on the line in the tournament final. There were several moments in the match where Watanabe's H.A.T.E. teammates attempted to interfere on her behalf but eventually she urged them to allow her to win on her own.

Momo Watanabe is the winner of the 2025 STARDOM Five Star Grand Prix tournament | World Wonder Ring STARDOM

That's exactly what she did, securing victory with Peach Thunder and winning the Five Star Grand Prix for the first time in her ninth run in the tournament since 2016.

Queen's Quest Connections

AZM and Momo Watanabe have been tied together by history long before today's tournament final. They were both early members of Queen's Quest, a former faction in STARDOM that was founded and led by Io Shirai, now known as WWE's IYO SKY, from 2016 to 2018. When Shirai left for WWE, Momo Watanabe took over the faction as leader and would later betray her team in a high-stakes elimination tag team match by hitting AZM over the head with a chair and defecting to Oedo Tai, STARDOM's top heel faction at the time.

In addition to their Queen's Quest history with each other, they also both have Queen's Quest history with current World of Stardom Champion Saya Kamitani. Kamitani joined the faction in 2020 before Watanabe's betrayal and was the final member of Queen's Quest before its dissolution in 2024.

#STARDOM THE CONVERSION 6/22

Oedo-Tai def. Queen's Quest – everybody but Saya Kamitani was forced to leave the group.

Backstage comments in English: pic.twitter.com/hjhX6AJ7Ky
— STARDOM Global (@we_are_stardom) June 23, 2024

There was a ten-woman elimination match tag team match with the stipulation that ordered all participants on the losing team, except the last one to get eliminated, to leave their faction. Queen's Quest was on the losing end, with AZM and others being forced to leave while Kamitani was the last to be eliminated.

Rather than continuing Queen's Quest by herself, in July of 2024, Saya Kamitani chose to end the stable for good and join H.A.T.E., STARDOM's new top heel faction, in a shocking character change for her. As members of H.A.T.E., Kamitani and Momo Watanabe are stablemates once again, this time as heels.

What's Next?

While last year was a shift from tradition, many former Five Star Grand Prix winners have elected to exercise their guaranteed title opportunity at STARDOM's year-end show. At the beginning of tonight's show, it was announced that Dream Queendom, the final STARDOM show of the year, will take place on December 29th in Ryogoku Kokugikan.

It's certainly a possibility that Watanabe will choose Dream Queendom as the moment to formally shoot her shot.

＼＼📢特報‼／／

🔥2025年12月29日(月)両国国技館大会開催決定！

👑『STARDOM DREAM QUEENDOM 2025』

＜チケット情報＞
🎫FC有料会員先行販売：9月3日(水) 12:00～
🎫一般発売：9月18日(水) 12:00～ pic.twitter.com/XdJeJsckMI
— スターダム✪STARDOM (@wwr_stardom) August 23, 2025

Even though most Five Star Grand Prix winners chose to challenge for the World of Stardom Championship (currently held by Saya Kamitani), there have been instances where the Five Star Grand Prix winner decided to challenge for the Wonder of Stardom title (currently held by Starlight Kid) instead.

In her post-match comments, Momo Watanabe shared that she has not made a decision yet, but champions from all over the world should get ready for her.

Watanabe has had an eventful year. She won the International Women's Cup at Wrestle Dynasty in the Tokyo Dome on January 5th, then went on to unsuccessfully challenge Mercedes Moné for the TBS Championship at AEW Revolution, months after unsuccessfully challenging her for the NJPW Strong Women's Championship at NJPW Capital Collision. Only time will tell if this energized new version of Watanabe will target one (or several) of Moné's nine belts.