The 5STAR Grand Prix is coming to an end and, with that, the next tournament in the world of Joshi is starting as Marigold’s first-ever round-robin tournament, the Dream Star Grand Prix, kicks off on August 31st in Osaka. It’s set to last for a month and will end on September 28th in Nagoya. The first-ever line-up features 16 of the best female wrestlers in Marigold’s roster facing each other in a two-block system. In the tournament, there are many first-time-ever singles matches and some matches that fans haven’t seen in a long time.
It’s a major test for many wrestlers who get their first shot at competing in a round-robin tournament. With Rossy Ogawa’s tournament booking set to come into full effect, many interesting results could happen in the Dream Star that will shape the next couple of months in Marigold. It’s yet to be said what the winner of the Grand Prix will get, but, realistically, they could get a title shot of their choosing whenever they want – likely on January 3rd, 2025, at Ota Ward.
Rules
- Win: 2 Points
- Draw (Count out, Time Limit Draw, Double DQ): 1 Point
- Loss: 0 Points
The matches have a 15-minute time limit, which is less compared to the G1 and other tournaments in Japan. It forces the wrestlers to have quicker matches at a faster pace. It also means that a couple of matches will end up in a draw. The goal is for a wrestler to have the most points at the end of the block stage, with the top two of each block advancing to the final. In case two wrestlers finish the block stage with the same points, the tiebreaker will decide who moves on.
How To Watch The Dream Star
Marigold’s shows are available on WrestleUniverse, which costs 1,298 yen/month. Subscribers will be able to see six of the nine Dream Star shows live on the network, including some that will have English commentary. The other three shows will be available as VOD a few days after they occur on WrestleUniverse.
Dream Star Grand Prix 2024 Blocks
Dream League
Chika Goto
Gochika has been one of the wrestlers that improved the most since appearing in Marigold, and her crowd reactions have reflected her rise in popularity. Her recent outing teaming with Nanae Takahashi against Sareee and Arisa Nakajima was the best match of her career.
She isn’t a favourite to win the entire Grand Prix or even come close to it, but it’s an important learning experience for her to grow and slowly become the star that many fans believe she can be down the line.
Important Match: vs. Kouki Amarei (September 23rd) – The match between the tWin toWers at Korakuen Hall will show which of the two is further along in their development. Since Marigold’s inception, Kouki has been ahead of Chika, and was even able to get a shot at the United National Championship, so Goto has to show that she isn’t just the tag partner of someone who is supposed to be the next big star but also is someone that will be on top of Marigold in the future.
Kouki Amarei
Coming straight off a loss in a United National Championship match against her mentor Miku Aono, Kouki wants to regain momentum, particularly as she has only been pinned once in Marigold so far.
She is billed to be one of the franchise players in the promotion in the coming years, and she has all the tools to fill that role once she figures out her in-ring skill, something this tournament will help with. Kouki will step into the ring with seven talented wrestlers in singles matches that will help her grow. On top of that, she has an actual chance to make it to the finals, with the results of the past few months showing that she can win matches against anyone at any time.
Important Match: vs. Utami Hayashishita (September 28th) – On the final night of the block, Kouki faces Hayashishita in a match, where the winner will likely advance to the final. The two have similar charisma, and Kouki resembles Utami a bit. With that, the first match between them will show what they can do in a future big match with a major championship on the line.
MIRAI
If it wasn’t for another name, MIRAI would be the favourite to win the entire tournament, as Marigold is still really high on the current Twin Star Tag Team Champion. The focus over the past two months has mostly been on her, and in particular, the company has put a major spotlight on her rivalry Miku Aono. MIRAI has always been beloved by Ogawa, and her getting the big push wouldn’t be shocking, so nobody should ever count her out as a top favourite to win her block and the tournament.
Coming into the tournament, MIRAI has a lot of momentum with great performances in all of her recent outings. She’s the most consistent wrestler in her block and will prove that with a tremendous tournament run, that could even lead to her winning it all.
Important Match: vs. Utami Hayashishita (September 16th) – Utami and MIRAI haven’t faced off in a singles match in over two years, with their last singles outing being a tremendous match at Stardom World Climax in Sumo Hall. Both have improved since their last meeting and will deliver a fantastic match at Korakuen Hall.
Nagisa Nozaki
The veteran is competing in her first round-robin tournament ever since the Catch the WAVE back in 2022 when Nozaki suffered a serious knee injury that kept her out for well over a year. She’s slowly finding her grove back in the ring and will fill the role of a rock-solid veteran who can help every match she is in.
Nozaki has been more of a heel in Marigold and is constantly using a chair to win her matches. With that in mind, it’s possible that she will get bigger wins than many may expect, including a win over one of the top names in her block – MIRAI or Utami Hayashishita.
Important Match: vs. MIRAI (September 28th) – On the final block night, Nozaki faces MIRAI and not only has the chance to ruin the tournament of the ‘Child of the Soul’ but also even has a chance to advance herself. It’s a match that will be important and could change the entire outcome of the block.
Natsumi Showzuki
After winning the Marigold Superfly Championship in a great match against Misa Matsui, Natsumi Showzuki enters the tournament with a target on her back. The pressure is high for Showzuki, as multiple wrestlers in the block are just waiting for an opportunity at her championship.
Showzuki has been showing her worth in Marigold as one of the best and most consistent wrestlers, who can have a great match with every single participant in this block.
Important Match: vs. MIRAI (September 23rd) – The two champions of the Dream League colliding at Korakuen Hall is not only a major match, but also a match between the most consistent house show wrestlers of the block, and the kick vs. lariat battle will be in full force.
NØRI
The student of Takako Inoue and Shinou Kandori impressed fans at her only Marigold appearance so far when she was part of the LLPW vs. Team Passion tag team match at the Sumo Hall show. With her great showing? she deserves a spot in the Dream Star Grand Prix. She won’t have anything to do with the final, but with her different style, she will bring something to the tournament that no one else has. Her shoot-fighting background will help her matches to stand out and deliver entertaining clashes that will continue her improvement inside the ring.
Important Match: vs. Natsumi Showzuki (September 16th) – Nobody in the block fits better to NØRI than Showzuki, as the two can just kick the living hell out of each other for 10 minutes straight and it will be fantastic to watch.
Utami Hayashishita
When Marigold started, Utami Hayashishita immediately seen as the ace of the company, but, after three months, she is far from being considered an ace after taking a big loss to IYO SKY at Marigold’s Sumo Hall show while wrestlers like Sareee, Miku Aono and Bozilla have been taking the spotlight.
Coming into the tournament, Hayashishita has a lot to prove and needs to at least advance to the final in order to keep her name in the conversation to be the rightful ace of Marigold. The fallen ace has a lot to prove and is the favourite heading into this tournament, but being the favourite doesn’t always mean that someone walks out as the winner. There is an interesting story to tell if Hayashsihita doesn’t win the tournament, having a fall from grace and needing to fight her way to the top of the promotion to fulfill her destiny to become the Ace of Marigold.
Important Match: vs. Victoria Yuzuki (September 8th) – the battle between the future of Marigold and the present, Yuzuki and Utami will face off in a singles match for the first time ever in Toyama.
Victoria Yuzuki
Marigold’s big prospect heads into her first round-robin tournament looking to the next step in her young career. Since joining Marigold, Yuzuki has been shining more on the microphone by playing the role of the bratty young wrestler and has been able to adapt that solidly into her in-ring work.
Yuzuki won’t have a successful tournament and won’t have a big result, but she will get the wins that she needs to call the Dream Star a success for her development.
Important Match: vs. Natsumi Showzuki (Osaka 31st) – When Yuzuki made her debut, she quickly made it known that she wanted to make the high-speed style her specialty and here she has the chance to face the Superfly Championship, perhaps even earning herself a shot to the belt if she can defeat Showzuki.
Star League
Bozilla
The Star League is filled with some of the biggest names Marigold has to offer, but nobody fits the word “big” more than Bozilla, who is one of the top favourites for the tournament. The German beast has been a game changer ever since her arrival in Marigold, with her only pinfall loss coming at the hands of Miku Aono at Summer Destiny. With that in mind, Bozilla has learned a lot ever since that devastating loss and is more focused than ever coming into this tournament.
She will run through this entire block and will aim to destroy everyone between her and the glorious trophy as she aims to become the first-ever Dream Star winner.
Important Match: vs. Sareee (September 28) – One of the wrestlers who stands between her and the trophy is Sareee, as the Marigold World Champion enters the tournament undefeated and will face Bozilla on the final night of the tournament. The winner of the two seems destined to advance to the final of the tournament.
CHIAKI
CHIAKI has been a fun addition to the Marigold roster after jumping from ActWres Girl’z, and is slowly finding her role as a heel together with Nagisa Nozaki. While her personality has been great, her in-ring work has been lackluster at points, which needs to change in the Dream Star. She loves using the chair and cheats regularly in her matches, sometimes which she will do in the Grand Prix. This will help her win several matches, including getting her a big upset.
Important Match: vs. Miku Aono (August 31st) – CHIAKI has the chance to face one of her seniors in AWG on the opening night of the tournament. Aono has been teasing defending her United National Title against her former AWG colleagues, which opens up the chance for CHIAKI to get the huge upset right at the opening night to earn herself a shot at the Marigold’s White Belt.
Kizuna Tanaka
The daughter of Minoru Tanaka and Yumi Fukawa joined the promotion in July and is now entering the company’s first round-robin tournament, which is a big spot for her. Together with Yuzuki, Tanaka is the youngest and least experienced wrestler in the blocks, but she also has the most to prove as she needs to justify the hype she has been getting from the company. The Dream Star will be a major learning experience for her as she will be facing some of the biggest names in the entire company.
Important Match: vs. Nanae Takahashi (September 14th) – Not one opponent in Marigold is better to show your growth than Nanae Takahashi, who has helped countless talents to make the next step in their career in ‘Passion Injection’ matches, and now it’s Tanaka’s turn to join the list. It will be her best outing of the block fighting against the veteran with her youth.
Mai Sakurai
After her break-out match as a singles wrestler against Giulia, expectations are high for Mai Sakurai in the Dream Star, particularly as she needs to prove that the match against Giulia wasn’t just a one-off performance from her. The Star League is the perfect chance for Mai to prove herself, as she faces some of the best wrestlers in the company, who she can shine with.
Sakurai will be a dark horse to make it out of her block, but considering she has Bozilla, Nanae Takahashi, and the two top champions in her block, it will be tough. Still, she might get an upset over Sareee or Aono to earn herself a future championship match
Important Match: vs. Miku Aono (September 23rd) – Miku Aono said after her latest title defence that she would love to defend the White Belt against Mai Sakurai, and, at Korakuen Hall, Sakurai has the chance to earn herself a shot at the United National Championship. For that, she needs to defeat Aono, who Sakurai’s Tag Team Partner MIRAI wasn’t able to defeat after a combined time of over 85 minutes.
Miku Aono
Miku Aono won the Marigold United National Championship and wrote her name down in history books as the first-ever champion. But with a major win like that, the target is on her back now, and this puts pressure on her. With CHIAKI, Misa Matsui, and Mai Sakurai, multiple potential challengers are waiting in her block for future title shots, as well as others who want revenge on her. Many opponents will use every second of weakness Aono shows to earn themselves a shot at the prestigious belt.
Aono has the momentum to go through in this block, but, with the target on her back, it will be tougher for her than other top names in her block, and it could cost her the entire tournament as everyone will give 120% against her to show their worth.
Important Match: vs. Bozilla (September 8th) – In a rematch from Summer Destiny, Miku Aono will once again clash with the woman she won the United National Championship against – Bozilla. It’s an important match for Aono as she needs to prove that her win over the dominant powerhouse wasn’t a fluke, but a win that she deserved.
Misa Matsui
After coming short at Summer Destiny to become the first-ever Superfly Champion, Misa Matsui enters the tournament looking to gain the confidence that she needs to defeat Showzuki and win the Superfly Championship that she still has her eyes on. She will have nothing to do with the block win, but she will show that she can hang with some of the absolute best in Marigold.
Important Match vs. Nanae Takahashi (September 8th) – Her breakout match in Marigold before Summer Destiny was the Passion Injection match against Takahashi and now she gets to show how much she has learned in the past 10 weeks since their first match against each other.
Nanae Takahashi
Takahashi may be entering her last round-robin tournament, as the veteran has been teasing that she may be on the final stint of her career. Despite her age, Nanae is still able to perform on the highest level and has been one of the stand-out performers in Joshi this year. Her ‘Passion Injection’ matches are a big test for not only established stars like Utami Hayashishita, but also the inexperienced talented who get their first real test as a singles performer in Marigold against Nanae such as Misa Matsui.
Everything Nanae has touched in Marigold has become gold, and, with her tremendous act together with Nao Ishikawa, she is taking over the hearts of the fans who want to root for her and that could be her biggest advantage in the tournament. She is one of the dark horses to win it all and become the first-ever wrestler to win the Dream Star and 5STAR Grand Prix.
Important Match: vs. Sareee (September 16th) – Takahashi and Sareee have been on a collision course for a while, and it’s only a question of when a match between the two for the Marigold World Championship happens, and this match at Korakuen Hall seems to be the way for Takahashi to earn herself a title match by either forcing a draw or defeating the Sun God.
Sareee
The first-ever Marigold World Champion is entering the Dream Star with the goal to not only win the entire tournament but also keep her undefeated streak alive as she has yet to be defeated inside a Marigold ring. With her being the world champion, everyone will try to get the win over her to potentially earn a shot at Sareee.
‘The Sun God’ will have the best matches in this tournament, and that shouldn’t be a discussion. While she won’t win it, the most interesting part about Sareee’s tournament will be who gets the big wins over her and challenges the World Champion in the upcoming months.
Important Match: vs. Miku Aono (September 23rd) – While Aono won’t be one of the wrestlers gunning for a championship match, it’s the biggest match in the tournament as the Red Belt Champion faces the White Belt Champion. Going by the history of the Ogawa-booked tournament, the White Belt Champion always has the advantage, but, with Sareee’s undefeated streak, she could easily win against everyone.
Potential Dream Star Finals
Utami Hayashishita vs. Bozilla
A match between Utami and Bozilla has been teased since the very first Marigold show, ending with Hayashishita and Bozilla staring down with the Marigold World Championship between them. Ever since, Marigold has teased the singles match without running it, so the Grand Prix final feels like the perfect time for this major first-time-ever match-up between two of the biggest stars in Marigold to happen.
What helps the case for this match is the fact that both Bozilla and Hayashishita are the top favourites to not only win the block but also the entire tournament and make the next step in becoming the top star of Marigold. However; the biggest point against it is the fact that the final is on the same night as the final block matches, so Marigold could save this major first-time-ever match-up for a different show.
MIRAI vs. Bozilla
Bozilla is the favourite to win the Star League, and it’s tough to bet against her to advance to the final. If it isn’t a final against Hayashishita, another match-up that makes sense for Bozilla is facing off against MIRAI in the final. A match between them was teased heavily during the United National Championship tournament, but Aono picked up the win over MIRAI to prevent it from happening. Ever since, the two have faced at countless shows, including a major part at the elimination tag team match at the latest Korakuen Hall show, and have shown great chemistry with each other.
It would be the perfect final for either to go over, as MIRAI would fight with her latest and her soul against Bozilla’s power, who can plant MIRAI out of every situation.
Dream Star Grand Prix 2024 Schedule
August 31st in Osaka (Afternoon)
Dream League
- Utami Hayashishita vs. Nagisa Nozaki
- MIRAI vs. Chika Goto
- Kouki Amarei vs. NØRI
- Natsumi Showzuki vs. Victoria Yuzuki
Star League
- Miku Aono vs. Misa Matsui
- Nanae Takahashi vs. Mai Sakurai
- Kizuna Tanaka vs. Bozilla
August 31st in Osaka (Evening)
Dream League
- Utami Hayashishita vs. Chika Goto
- MIRAI vs. NØRI
- Nagisa Nozaki vs. Natsumi Showzuki
Star League
- Miku Aono vs. CHIAKI
- Bozilla vs. Misa Matsui
September 8th in Toyama
Dream League
- Utami Hayashishita vs. Victoria Yuzuki
- Kouki Amarei vs. Natsumi Showzuki
- Chika Goto vs. NØRI
Star League
- Miku Aono vs. Bozilla
- Nanae Takahashi vs. Misa Matsui
- Sareee vs. Mai Sakurai
September 14th in Shin-Kiba
Dream League
- Nagisa Nozaki vs. NØRI
- Kouki Amarei vs. Victoria Yuzuki
Star League
- Sareee vs. CHIAKI
- Nanae Takahashi vs. Kizuna Tanaka
- Mai Sakurai vs. Bozilla
September 16th at Korakuen Hall
Dream League
- Utami Hayashishita vs. MIRAI
- Natsumi Showzuki vs. NØRI
- Chika Goto vs. Victoria Yuzuki
Star League
- Sareee vs. Miku Aono
- Nanae Takahashi vs. Bozilla
- Mai Sakurai vs. Kizuna Tanaka
- Misa Matsui vs. CHIAKI
September 20th in Sendai
Dream League
- MIRAI vs. Kouki Amarei
- Utami Hayashishita vs. Natsumi Showzuki
- Chika Goto vs. Nagisa Nozaki
Star League
- Sareee vs. Misa Matsui
- Miku Aono vs. Kizuna Tanaka
- CHIAKI vs. Nanae Takahashi
September 21st in Morioka
Dream League
- MIRAI vs. Victoria Yuzuki
- Kouki Amarei vs. Nagisa Nozaki
Star League
- Sareee vs. Kizuna Tanaka
- Mai Sakurai vs. CHIAKI
September 23rd at Korakuen Hall
Dream League
- Utami Hayashishita vs. NØRI
- Kouki Amarei vs. Chika Goto
- Victoria Yuzuki vs. Nagisa Nozaki
- MIRAI vs. Natsumi Showzuki
Star League
- Mai Sakurai vs. Miku Aono
- Sareee vs. Nanae Takahashi
- CHIAKI vs. Bozilla
- Kizuna Tanaka vs. Misa Matsui
September 28th in Nagoya
Dream League
- Utami Hayashishita vs. Kouki Amarei
- MIRAI vs. Nagisa Nozaki
- Natsumi Showzuki vs. Chika Goto
- Victoria Yuzuki vs. NØRI
Star League
- Sareee vs. Bozilla
- Miku Aono vs. Nanae Takahashi
- CHIAKI vs. Kizuna Tanaka
- Mai Sakurai vs. Misa Matsui
