STARDOM
Golden Week is one of the busiest times in the calendar of STARDOM as they had five shows this past week from Hiroshima all the way to Fukuoka.
Ami Sohrei and Natsupoi faced each other in a No. 1 Contenders match in Yamaguchi on May 3rd with the winner going on to Flashing Champions to face Saori Anou for the Wonder of Stardom Championship. They had a really good match with Natsupoi having a great performance against Ami Sohrei, but it wasn’t enough to beat the ‘God’s Chosen Big Girl’ as Sohrei pinned Natsupoi with the Like A Thunderbolt to punch her ticket to Flashing Champions, where she will get her first shot at the White Belt since January 2023.
It couldn’t be more apparent that Natsupoi is the next Wonder of Stardom Champion as they are delaying the inevitable match against Saori Anou more. It’s understandable to wait a bit longer with Saori Anou just signing a deal with STARDOM, but it’s clear that they shouldn’t wait much longer after Flashing Champions.
On May 5th, Maika had her homecoming as she teamed with Mina Shirakawa and Xena to defend the Artist of Stardom Championships against the STARS trio of Mayu Iwatani, Hanan, and Saya Iida. It was a fun back-and-forth trios match with six of the hardest workers in STARDOM. All the interactions were great, especially between Xena & Iida as the pair worked fantasticly together and showed promising chemistry for future match-ups, while Maika & Hanan got the final stretch. The match ended with EXV retaining the Artist of Stardom Championships as Maika pinned Hanan with the Michinoku Driver II. ‘The Empress’ is now two defenses away from tying the all-time defense record with the Artist Title of 12 that is currently held by Tam Nakano & Mayu Iwatani.
The main event saw Crazy Star defending the Goddesses of Stardom Championship for the third weekend in a row as Suzu Suzuki and Mei Seira put their Championships on the line against the hometown team of Hazuki and Koguma. This match absolutely rocked and was one of the best tag team matches in the history of the promotion.
They wrestled at a frantic pace, bumped a ton, and built up a fantastic finishing stretch between Seira & Hazuki, who have one of the best rivalries in Joshi this year. The several tremendous nearfalls had the loud crowd rocking & screaming, unsurprisingly being fully behind the hometown heroes. The match ended with Hazuki beating Mei Seira with the Brainbuster to win the Goddess Championships for FWC. Koguma & Hazuki are now the first duo to win the Goddesses of Stardom Championship on three separate occasions, bringing an end to Crazy Star’s reign after just 36 days.
Diana
Diana held a show at Korakuen Hall on April 29th in front of 781 fans. In the main event, Haruka Umesaki defended her WWWD World Championship against STARDOM’s Mei Seira. Their history goes back to Umesaki’s debut match as she teamed up with Sareee to face Takumi Iroha and Mei Seira in a match that went to a time-limit-draw. Five years later, the two face off with a World Championship on the line.
The match was great and now stands as the best title match of Umesaki’s run, with she & Seira having brilliant chemistry, delivering a number of amazing sequences. Umesaki had brutal elbow strikes that were LOUD, while Seira used her speed & agility to stand a chance. If there was anything negative about this match, then it was the non-existent build-up and Seira having zero chances to win the match, which led to the match lacking drama at points. Regardless, Seira & Umesaki were able to pull off convincing near falls at the end of the match that the hot Korakuen crowd believed. The final minutes were incredible and Umesaki picked up the win after countering Mei’s counter of Umesaki’s German Suplex attempt and followed it up with another German Suplex to retain her Championship after 15 minutes.
With her win, Haruka Umesaki showed Mei Seira how far she’s come since her debut match. It was Umesaki’s fourth successful title defense and, in doing so, she broke the WWWD World Championship defense record, which was previously set by Kyoko Inoue & Ayako Sato. ‘The Super Idol Wrestler’ has now been on the top of Diana for over a year and continues to establish herself as the new Ace of the promotion. Her next Championship defense is on May 26 in Nagoya against Tae Honma.
Marigold
After getting released from STARDOM, Rossy Ogawa announced his new promotion, “DREAM STAR FIGHTING Marigold,” or “Marigold” for short. The roster includes Giulia, Utami Hayashishita, Mai Sakurai, MIRAI, and Victoria Yuzuki (FKA Yuzuki) who all left STARDOM on March 31st, as well as Nao Ishikawa, Nanae Takahashi, and 6 former AWG talents.
The debut show will be on May 20th at Korakuen Hall, live on Wrestle Universe, and it will feature English and Japanese commentary. This past week, Rossy Ogawa announced the full card of the Korakuen Hall show as part of a fan fest. In the main event of the show, Giulia & Utami Hayashishita will team up to face Sareee & Bozilla in a special Tag Team Match.
The Official Card for Marigold Fields Forever on May 20th:
- Victoria Yuzuki vs. Nanae Takahashi
- Miku Aono vs. Nao Ishikawa
- MIRAI vs. CHIAKI
- Natsumi Showzuki & Misa Matsui vs. Kouki Amarei & Chika Goto
- Mai Sakurai & Zayda Steel vs. Nagisa Nozaki & Myla Grace
- Giulia & Utami Hayashishita vs. Sareee & Bozilla
