Rossy Ogawa’s new wrestling promotion appears likely to work with WWE in some capacity.
On April 15th, STARDOM founder and former executive producer Rossy Ogawa revealed his new promotion, Dream Star Fighting Marigold, along with his initial roster, amongst other details. Multiple reports thus far have speculated that WWE may have involvement in the new promotion due to Ogawa’s presence at WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia, and it now appears as though that will indeed be the case.
In an exclusive on the new promotion, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter revealed that there is a working agreement between Marigold & WWE, with Ogawa looking to have both IYO SKY and Kairi Sane at an unannounced major show in the summer, whilst Giulia is expected to work for both companies for a time before moving to the U.S., although Marigold still expect her to work a few big shows per year in Japan.
“WWE flew both Giulia and Ogawa to WrestleMania to make a deal. Ogawa is attempting to get IYO SKY and Kairi Sane to Marigold for a major show this summer that will be announced shortly. While not finalized due to visa issues, Giulia is expected to be working for both companies for a time before eventually moving with her family to the U.S. Whether this happens or not, Marigold is expecting to work with WWE to have Giulia appear on a few big shows per year.”
-WON
The report added that whilst it’s unclear as to whether the relationship between Marigold and WWE has been formalised, it does exist, with this being the reasoning behind Ogawa meeting with Paul Levesque last week.
Additionally, it was noted that there was talk dating back to late 2023 with Ogawa and Levesque about working together once Ogawa informed Levesque he would be starting up his own promotion shortly.
Regarding Giulia’s status, the Observer revealed that she is planned to be the face of Marigold for a while, with an agreement in place that will see her work for both Ogawa’s new promotion and NXT before making the move to the States full-time.
Upon her arrival in NXT, the expectation is for Giulia to no longer be working in Japan for anyone but Marigold, with the exception of one prior commitment.
Marigold’s debut event, ‘Marigold Fields Forever,’ will take place on May 20th at Korakuen Hall and will be main evented by Giulia teaming with a mystery partner to take on Sareee and yet another mystery partner. The show will be aired live on Wrestle Universe, with both Japanese and English commentary set to be available.
Marigold’s initial roster includes former STARDOM talents Giulia, Utami Hayashishita, MIRAI, Nanae Takahashi, Mai Sakurai, & Victoria Yuzuki (FKA Yuzuki), along with former Ice Ribbon talent Nao Ishikawa and six women from the Actress Girl’z promotion: champion Natsumi Sumikwa, Miku Aono, Misa Matsui, CHIAKI, Chika Goto, and Kouki.
Along with the former Actwres girl’Z talent, the promotion’s advisor Fuka is also set to join Marigold, thus bringing STARDOM’s three founders (Rossy Ogawa, Nanae Takahashi, & Fuka) together again under a new banner.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Marigold and their relationship with WWE as soon as we hear more.
