STARDOM
STARDOM had a quiet past week with two tour shows in Ishikawa & Niigata that both didn’t have something newsworthy on just a week before the start of the Cinderella Tournament. For that, STARDOM released the bracket on Thursday including cards for the opening night at Yokohama Budokan and the second night in Korakuen Hall.
Aside from the first round of the Cinderella Tournament, the opening night also features the return of Natsupoi, who has been out due to a neck injury since October and will make her comeback by teaming with her Tag Team Partner Saori Anou against Chihiro Hashimoto of Sendai Girls and the reigning SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Champion Sareee, who will be making her STARDOM debut in this match. Sareee & Natsupoi have been friends for a long time, who teamed and faced each other countless times in many different promotions, and now it will continue in STARDOM. Sareee is the hottest freelancer in Joshi and has been making waves with her fantastic matches since returning from Japan. This is a match to look forward to.
Also on the show, Stephanie Vaquer will make her return to STARDOM for two matches, including a NJPW Strong Women’s Championship match against Giulia on the second night. In the preview tag match on the opening night, the CMLL Women’s Champion will team with Momo Watanabe & Fukigen Death to take on Giulia, Syuri, and the returning Konami. With Giulia’s departure nearing, Vaquer winning the Championship is the realistic outcome.
Full Card for the Opening Night of the Cinderella Tournament on March 9:
– Giulia, Syuri & Konami vs. Stephanie Vaquer, Momo Watanabe & Fukigen Death
– Ami Sohrei vs. Suzu Suzuki vs. Mai Sakurai vs. Mei Seira vs. MIRAI vs. AZM vs. Hazuki vs. Waka Tsukiyama
– Future of Stardom: Rina (c) vs. Miran
– Saori Anou & Natsupoi vs. Sareee & Chihiro Hashimoto
– Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani vs. Maika & Mina Shirakawa vs. Mayu Iwatani & Tam Nakano
– Cinderella Round 1: Hanan vs. HANAKO
– Cinderella Round 1: Yuzuki vs. Starlight Kid
– Cinderella Round 1: Momo Kohgo vs. Xena
– Cinderella Round 1: Koguma vs. Ruaka
– Cinderella Round 1: Saya Iida vs. Saki Kashima
– Cinderella Round 1: Yuna Mizumori vs. Lady C
– Cinderella Round 1: Sayaka Kurara vs. Natsuko Tora
– Cinderella Round 1: Miyu Amasaki vs. Ranna Yagami
Updated Card for the Second Night of the Cinderella Tournament on March 10:
– STRONG Women’s: Giulia (c) vs. Stephanie Vaquer
– Cinderella Round 2: MIRAI vs. Winner of Hanan/HANAKO
– Cinderella Round 2: Suzu Suzuki vs. Winner of Yuzuki/Starlight Kid
– Cinderella Round 2: Mei Seira vs. Winner of Saya Iida/Saki Kashima
– Cinderella Round 2: Ami Sohrei vs. Winner of Yuna Mizumori/Lady C
– Aya Sakura return match
Full Cinderella Bracket (English Translated)
Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling
TJPW held a show in Shinjuku FACE on Sunday in front of 370 fans on the road to Grand Princess in the Sumo Hall. Before the show, it was announced that Yuka Sakazaki would return for one night only for Grand Princess on March 31st, which will mark her first appearance after her Graduation from TJPW in December.
On the show, two new Rookies made their debut. In the first match, the Australian trainee Kira Summer made her debut when she teamed up with Nao Kakuta against Arisu Endo & Chika Nanase, who debuted last week. In a solid showing, Kira lost by tapping out to the Camel Clutch. In the second match, the new Up Up Girl Uta Takami teamed with Miu Watanabe to face Raku & Shino Suzuki. Uta did well in her debut and showed out, but in the end, lost to Raku in a good effort. TJPW continues to produce great Rookies and they are the next two to join the list.
JTO
JTO held a Korakuen Hall show on Friday and in the main event of the show, Tomoka Inaba put her Queen of JTO Championship on the line against her younger sister Tomoka Inaba in the final of the JTO Girls 2024 Tournament. The older sister is in her third reign on top of JTO, while Azusa challenged for the belt for the first time on her first Anniversary as a Pro Wrestler, after debuting against Tomoka in March of 2023.
This match was all about the improvement of Azusa over the past 12 months. For the match, she debuted a new look with a red robe and blonde hair. It looked great and she is developing into a star look. She tried her best against her older sister, but the experience of Tomoka was too much for Azusa, and the older sister won the match to retain her Championship.
Marvelous
Marvelous held a show in Shin-Kiba 1st RING on February 27th as part of the AAAW Tag League Tournament, where five teams compete to face Magenta for the AAAW Tag Team Championships on May 3rd in the Korakuen Hall.
The show featured two Tag League matches, with the first being Ryo Mizunami & Sonoko Kato defeating Ai Houzan & Sadie Gibbs to gain two points in a solid match. Kato & Mizunami are working great as a tag team and elevated the match with their performances, while Gibbs & Ai were good underdogs. Gibbs is slowly wrestling off her ring rust and is showing promising signs of development. The OZ Academy team is the only undefeated team after two days and stands on top of the table with 4 Points.
In the main event, Chikayo Nagashima & Takumi Iroha picked up their first two points of the tournament by defeating Chi Chi & ZONES. After a devastating loss to Mizunami & Kato, the former AAAW Tag Team Championshions found their groove back by defeating the Evolution Joshi team. It was a dominant win with Chi Chi & ZONES trying their best, but ultimately having no chance to win here.
Official AAAW Tag League Standings following Day 2
4 – Ryo Mizunami & Sonoko Kato (2-0-0)
2 – Ai Houzan & Sadie Gibbs (1-1-0)
2 – Chikayo Nagashima & Takumi Iroha (1-1-0)
0 – Chi Chi & ZONES (0-1-0)
0 – Tomoko Watanabe & Mio Momono (0-1-0)