STARDOM
After a newsworthy weekend in Sapporo, STARDOM held a tour show in Hamamatsu that featured the first matches of the newest stable H.A.T.E. and an Artist of Stardom Championship match between EXV & Cosmic Angels.
In the opener, Saya Kamitani had her first match as a heel as she teamed with Ruaka & World of Stardom Champion Natsuko Tora in a successful win against Miyu Amasaki, Starlight Kid, & AZM of NEO GENESIS. The match itself was fine, and it showed that Kamitani will need time to adjust to the new heel style, as it’s the complete opposite of her style as a face in Queen’s Quest. She lacks some of the fundamentals, as her elbow strikes and stomps don’t look good. Her overacting, which has been part of her character since she debuted, is comical in a good & bad way. Overall, it was a fine outing for her, but the 5STAR, where she will have a big run, will show where she is at as a heel.
Natsupoi, Tam Nakano, & Saori Anou won the Artist of Stardom Championship from Xena, Maika, & Mina Shirakawa after Nakano picked up the win over Xena in a great match and the best Artist Title match in a long time. The final minutes between Xena & Nakano were tremendous and showed how much Xena has improved over her second tour in STARDOM as she was once again able to hang in with one of the best in the company. It wasn’t enough to retain the titles, though, as Nakano hit the Violent Screwdriver for the three count. For Saori Anou, it’s already her fifth Championship in STARDOM, and that is impressive considering she only has been part of the roster for a bit over a year now. No one ever had a stronger first year and a half in STARDOM than Anou.
The show ended with H.A.T.E. attacking the new champions and laying them all down. Kamitani & Tora cut the hair of Tam Nakano as Thekla explained that H.A.T.E stands for “Harass, Abuse, Terrorize, Eradicate.” The booking of the new stable has been dominant so far, and the 5STAR Grand Prix will be built around them and the babyfaces trying to overcome them. Except for STARS, every stable has now had some form of confrontation with H.A.T.E. and will be involved in the fight against STARDOM’s new top heel unit.
By the show’s conclusion, Tam Nakano was officially the favourite to win the 5STAR Grand Prix as she looks to become one of the most decorated STARDOM wrestlers of all time.
After losing the Artist of Stardom Titles, Mina Shirakawa announced that she would be heading to the United States to “spread the wings” of EXV. Shirakawa will likely appear in AEW and be part of the storyline between Mariah May and Toni Storm, as she was a crucial part of it during the build-up to Forbidden Door. Currently, her stablemate HANAKO is also in the US for an excursion and is competing in various independent promotions all over the country.
Marigold
Marigold held the 3rd Korakuen Hall show in the existence of the promotion this past week that was headlined by the crowning of the first-ever Marigold Twin Star Champions, as the tournament semifinal and final were held at that show.
In between the tournament, Bozilla & Nanae Takahashi had one of the best matches in the company’s short history as Bozilla defeated Takahashi with the sleeper hold. It was a great match as both wrestlers just killed each other throughout, with great outside brawls and fun interactions inside the ring. Bozilla kicks ass and figures it out more and more with every match she has, while Nanae has been in her best form in a long while in Marigold. The Passion Injection matches are a constant highlight so far in the young promotion, and that was no different here.
MIRAI & Mai Sakurai are the first-ever Marigold Twin Star Champions after they defeated Miku Aono & Natsumi Showzuki in the final, as MIRAI finally got her big win over United National Champion Aono. MIRAI & Mai defeated CHIAKI & Nozaki in the semi-finals, while the champion duo of Aono & Showzuki defeated Chika Goto & Kouki Amarei in the semi-finals to advance.
MIRAISaku has been stellar as a team so far, and they showed it on this show as well. Mai Sakurai especially had two of her best performances so far and was the clear MVP of the tournament. The ‘Kifujin’ worked hard, and it is paying off. Aono & Showzuki are two constant highlights in Marigold since the company started in May, as they can help elevate every match, and it doesn’t matter who their opponents are. Great match and a good ending to a strong Korakuen Hall show.
Post-match, multiple challenges happened, as Kouki Amarei challenged Miku Aono for the United National Championship. Kouki has yet to be pinned or submitted inside the Marigold ring and is getting a major spot as the first challenger for the United Nationa Championship. She has been fine so far, but the one great performance that her AWG peers have had already is missing, and this is the perfect chance for her. Instantly after, Nanae Takahashi & Nao Ishikawa came out and announced that they will challenge MIRAI & Mai Sakurai. Nao & Nanae were scheduled for the Twin Star Tournament but dropped out due to Nanae getting ill.
Giulia announced that her match on August 19th at Marigold’s next Korakuen Hall show will be her last appearance in Japan before she goes to America to wrestle for WWE. Until then, the former World of Stardom Champion has five more appearances for Marigold, with the first two happening this past weekend. Her last match will be against her former Donna Del Mondo partner and good friend Mai Sakurai in the main event of the show.
While her time in Marigold was short and she didn’t have as many matches as she would have liked, Giulia had a big impact as she brought in multiple fans, especially internationally, to the promotion with her star power. She was the biggest star of the roster and was presented as such from the first press conference all over to this show. It’s a big loss for the young promotion that is lacking the main event talents right now, but wrestlers like Miku Aono, MIRAI, Natsumi Showzuki, and even Utami Hayashishita will see this as a big opportunity to stand up and claim the spot of being the “Ace of Marigold”.
The remaining Giulia Matches in Japan:
- August 10: Giulia vs. Miku Aono
- August 12: Giulia, Nagisa Nozaki & CHIAKI vs. Nanae Takahashi, Mai Sakurai & Nao Ishikawa
- August 19: Giulia vs. Mai Sakurai
Marigold has announced the field for the Dream Star Grand Prix, which is their first-ever round robin tournament set to begin on August 31st. The field includes 16 wrestlers, with three spots up for grabs in qualifying matches and another spot available for a wrestler from another promotion, which many fans expect to be NXT. In the first qualifier, Chika Goto defeated Nao Ishikawa to advance to the tournament. In the other two qualifiers that will happen next week, Victoria Yuzuki faces Myla Grace and Kizuna Tanaka battles Zayda Steel.
The full field of for the Dream Star Grand Prix:
- Sareee
- Miku Aono
- Utami Hayashishita
- MIRAI
- Nanae Takahashi
- Natsumi Showzuki
- Mai Sakurai
- Kouki Amarei
- Misa Matsui
- CHIAKI
- Bozilla
- Nagisa Nozaki
- Chika Goto
- Tournament Qualifier (Victoria Yuzuki vs. Myla Grace)
- Tournament Qualifier (Kizuna Tanaka vs. Zayda Steel)
- Competitor from another promotion
