STARDOM
STARDOM announced the line-up of the annual Cinderella Tournament and the tournament looks to be very different this year with many of the big names noticeably missing including Maika, Saori Anou, Giulia, Utami Hayashishita, Mayu Iwatani, Syuri, Saya Kamitani, and Momo Watanabe. President Okada stated that they reconsidered the concept and decided it was time for a change. All former World of Wonder of Stardom Champions are now excluded from this year’s Cinderella Tournament, opening the chance for younger wrestlers to be elevated.
The tournament will feature 24 Participants with 8 Wrestlers getting a first-round bye. Hazuki, Mei Seira, and AZM will have one as chosen by STARDOM, Suzu Suzuki has a bye for being the 2023 5STAR GP winner, Ami Sohrei, Mai Sakurai and Waka Tsukiyama get first-round byes for being in the final four of last year’s Cinderella Tournament and MIRAI gets a first-round bye as the reigning Cinderella Winner and is the only former Wonder or World of Stardom Champion in the line-up.
Cinderella Tournament Participants
16 Wrestlers in the First Round
– Saya Iida
– Koguma
– Hanan
– Momo Kohgo
– Yuzuki
– Lady C
– Miyu Amasaki
– Yuna Mizumori
– Sayaka Kurara
– Ranna Yagami
– Saki Kashima
– HANAKO
– Xena
– Natsuko Tora
– Ruaka
– Starlight Kid
8 Seeded Wrestlers
– Hazuki
– AZM
– Mei Seira
– Suzu Suzuki
– Ami Sohrei
– Waka Tsukiyama
– Mai Sakurai
– MIRAI
STARDOM held two tour shows the past week with the first being in Gunma in the G Messe Gunma Exhibition Hall C which sold 384 tickets with a six-match card. In the main event of the show, Maika, Mina Shirakawa, Waka Tsukiyama & Xena defeated Ami Sohrei, MIRAI, Syuri & Ranna Yagami in an Eight Woman Tag Team Match when Maika pinned Yagami to win the match for EXV. After the match, Maika announced that she, Xena & Mina Shirakawa want to challenge Ami Sohrei, MIRAI & Syuri for the Artist of Stardom Championship, and the Champions accepted.
The second show was in Utsunomiya in the prefecture “Tochigi”, the home of Rina, Hina, and Hanan. It was a sold-out show in front of 464 fans and was streamed live on STARDOM’s official YouTube channel as part of a test broadcast. It had just one hard cam that didn’t zoom in, so watching the show was tough. It seems that they were trying to test the streaming setup itself and the hope is that the quality will improve over time.
On the show, the Future of Stardom Championship was on the line when Rina faced Miyu Amasaki, with Rina walking out as the winner in her home prefecture to retain her Championship for the sixth time. After the match, Hina announced that she would challenge her twin sister next for the Future of Stardom Championship and the match will occur when Hina is cleared to compete.
Sendai Girls
Senjo held a show in the Sendai PIT this past Tuesday that featured a Sendai Girls Tag Team Championship match in the main event of the show. Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu were defending their titles against DASH Chisako & Hiroyo Matsumoto in a rematch of their September match in Niigata that Team 200kg was able to win. In the rematch, things went differently, and Reiwa Ultima Powers was able to win the Sendai Girls Tag Team Title for the third time as a team after a 15-minute match.
After the match, Chisako called out Unagi Sayaka to challenge her to a Singles Match with the winner seemingly going after Mika Iwata and her Sendai Girls World Championship. At the same time, Ryo Mizunami & Manami announced that they will challenge DASH Chisako & Hiroyo Matsumoto for their newly won Tag Titles on March 17th.
Prominence
Prominence held a show at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring that was headlined by Risa Sera vs Chris Brookes in a 1991 hardcore match. Brookes brought out a foam board filled with plastic forks with “1991” written on it, which is the birth year of both. It was a wild fight with many different weapons and both Wrestlers bleeding heavily.
The match came to an unfortunate ending after Chris Brookes hit a Double Underhook Suplex off the top rope with Risa Sera landing on her head, which led to her rolling to the floor. After being checked on, the referee stopped the match and declared Brookes as the winner. Sera was stretched out and transported to a nearby hospital. It was later revealed by Prominence that Sera suffered a mild concussion and that she plans to be back in the ring for her hometown show at the beginning of March.
