Marigold
Marigold continued their Grand Opening Wars tour with another Korakuen Hall show on Tuesday in front of 985 fans, which is another good number for the fledgling Joshi promotion.
In the opening match of the show, Komomo Minami made her pro wrestling debut against MIRAI and became first trainee to debut for Marigold. Minami was originally set to debut at STARDOM’s NEW BLOOD Premium show last year on March 25th, 2023, against Hazuki, but it was postponed due to injury. She had a good showing against the former Wonder of Stardom Champion. She seems to be a lot more experienced already than the usual rookie and already understands the little things, especially her facial expressions.
Rossy Ogawa announced in the ring that former Sendai Girls rookie Rea Marumori will be joining Marigold. He stated that SENJO owner Meiko Satomura gave him a call saying that Marumori wanted to join the promotion. The 23-year-old debuted back in August and has had around 20 matches in her career. She is another good addition to the roster that will help the promotion in the long run.
Sareee destroyed Victoria Yuzuki in their singles match, and it achieved what was needed. It continued to put over Sareee as a ruthless fighter who beat the hell out of the rookie, whilst Minami fought back and showed great fire, despite Sareee throwing forearm after forearm at her. It hyped up the upcoming match between Giulia & Sareee at Summer Destiny on July 13th well.
The main event was a Passion Injection match between Nanae Takahashi & Utami Hayashishita and it might be the best Passion Injection match so far. The pair delivered an epic that ruled from the very beginning and got dramatic by the end. Nanae has been great in Marigold thus far, and Utami is back to her best as she delivered an amazing performance. Utami beat her with the BT Bomb and scored a major win just a month before the Sumo Hall show.
After the match, Rossy Ogawa said he had a special opponent for Utami Hayashishita, and on the screen, WWE’s IYO SKY appeared and challenged Utami to a Special Singles Match on July 13th in Sumo Hall. The most successful World of Stardom Champion and former Queen’s Quest leader IYO SKY returns to Japan for the first time in six years to face another former Queen’s Quest leader and one of the most dominant Red Belt Champions in Utami Hayashishita inside a Marigold Ring.
IYO SKY/Io Shirai has been Utami’s dream opponent since the moment she joined STARDOM, with the pair never having the chance to cross paths due to IYO joining WWE. She was happy & instantly in tears when the match was announced as it was a surprise for her. This is the biggest dream match in Japanese women’s wrestling right now, and it’s finally happening on July 13th. It’s going to be must-watch.
WON reports that following the announcement of WWE’s IYO SKY competing at Marigold Summer Destiny 2024, Marigold sold “almost 1,000 tickets” for the show on that day, which is a huge boost for the show in Sumo Hall.
Marigold announced a tournament for the Marigold Superfly Championship, which is a title with a weight limit of 55 kg and essentially acts as Marigold’s version of the High-Speed Championship. The first round of the tournament happened on Saturday at KBS Hall as Natsumi Showzuki and Misa Matsui advanced to the finals of the tournament at Summer Destiny by defeating Zayda Steel and Myla Grace respectively. The two former AWG wrestlers had teased the match at the Korakuen Hall show, and now it’s official. It’s going to be a great match, and it is another great addition to the Sumo Hall show.
During the Korakuen Hall show, MIRAI, Miku Aono, and Bozilla all announced their interest in the United National Championship. A tournament between the three and Nagisa Nozaki was announced a few hours later. The first round of the tournament happened at the show in Nagoya, while the final is happening on July 13th at Summer Destiny.
Bozilla destroyed Nagisa Nozaki in the first round to advance to the final, where she will meet the winner of MIRAI & Miku Aono. The match between the two ended in a time limit draw, and then they added a 5-minute overtime, still resulting in a draw. A rematch has been made on June 23rd to decide who will face Bozilla for the United National Championship at Summer Destiny. It’s an interesting booking decision that seems like a “Plan B” to slot one of the two in against Sareee if Giulia isn’t cleared for the show.