STARDOM is presenting its first top PPV of the year, Path of Thunder 2025, on February 24 in the Tochigi Light Cube, which marks the promotion’s first PPV in Utsunomiya. The show is headlined by hometown hero Rina challenging Starlight Kid for the Wonder of STARDOM Championship and will give fans the first hints as to what could be in store at All Star Grand Queendom at the end of April for STARDOM’s biggest show of the year.
The promotion has been hot ever since the success of Dream Queendom, and the show in Utsunomiya will follow up well with what seems to be another sell-out for STARDOM. The card features several compelling matchups, making it a must-watch event. The nine-match lineup offers a solid mix of intriguing undercard bouts and multiple championship clashes, with the three sisters Hina, Rina & Hanan playing a huge role as part of the first PPV in their hometown.
Let’s dive into the card.
Mayu Iwatani vs. Yuria Hime
In the opening match, one of the two newest rookies in Stardom Yuria Hime will face Mayu Iwatani in Hime’s hometown match. For many, this will be the first look at Yuria, and this might be the perfect match for them to see what she’s about. Iwatani is known for being a great wrestler for the rookies to face as her formula for these kind of match-ups is very simple – she beats the hell out of the newer talent and they need to show the spirit to fight back. Hime already has a likeable personality, and mixed with her being in her hometown, the concept will work well.
Yuria Hime has a very limited moveset, just consisting of dropkicks, forearms, and a very good leg drop. STARDOM are throwing her against the top stars of the promotion very early on, with Hime facing Maika in her debut and against Iwatani now. It’s not about winning here for her, as Mayu will make easy work of her, but it’s more about how she looks against the IWGP Women’s Champion.
Prediction: Mayu Iwatani
Cosmic Angels (Aya Sakura, Natsupoi, Yuna Mizumori & Saori Anou) vs. God’s Eye (Ranna Yagami, Lady C, Tomoka Inaba & Saki Kashima)
A typical eight-woman undercard match between Cosmic Angels and God’s Eye is up next. The quality of the match will be similar to most undercard matches on PPVs that STARDOM usually have, though Cosmic Angels have been a highlight in terms of match quality on the house shows for quite a while now and I expect them to show up here as well
Lady C, Ranna Yagami, and Tomoka Inaba are challenging Neo Genesis for the Artist of Stardom Championship on March 3rd, so this seems to be a good way to give the three some momentum ahead of their title challenge at Korakuen Hall.
Prediction: God’s Eye (Ranna Yagami, Lady C, Tomoka Inaba & Saki Kashima)
AZM vs. Waka Tsukiyama vs. Fukigen Death vs. Akira Kurogane
This is the typical multi-woman match involving Fukigen Death that STARDOM has put on in different combinations across the past few shows. This time, along with Fukigen, the lineup consists of Waka Tsukiyama, AZM, and Akira Kurogane, who is the second rookie alongside Yuria Hime who has recently debuted in STARDOM.
The match will be okay and will be a mix of the typical comedy antics from Fukigen Death and Waka Tsukiyama and the high-speed style AZM that brings to the table. Either AZM or Fukigen Death is winning the match, and considering Fukigen is challenging Mei Seira for the High Speed Championship, her rolling up Tsukiyama or Kurogane seems to be the play.
Prediction: Fukigen Death
STARS (Hazuki, Momo Kohgo & Koguma) vs. E-neXus-V (Rian, Maika & HANAKO) vs. H.A.T.E. (Thekla, Ruaka & Momo Watanabe)
A three-way trios match with STARS, EXV, and H.A.T.E. all colliding in the most star-stacked undercard match of the show. All three teams have been involved with something outside of Stardom as FWC are the current OZ Academy Tag Team Champions, Maika & HANAKO are challenging for the Sendai Girls Tag Team Championships next month and Momo Watanabe gunning for Mercedes Mone’s TBS Championship at Revolution.
Maika and Thekla have the biggest rivalry in the match, and it has been brewing for some time. Maika has been trying to convince Thekla to join the good side again, while Thekla is using the weakness Maika has been showing to her advantage and even managed to pin her on the latest Korakuen Hall show. Here, Maika has the chance to get her revenge before the eventual singles outing between them, but, with Rian in the match, a win for H.A.T.E. over Rian seems the most likely outcome, and Maika’s revenge may need to wait a little longer.
Prediction: H.A.T.E. (Thekla, Ruaka & Momo Watanabe)
God’s Eye (Kiyoka Kotatsu & Syuri) vs. H.A.T.E. (Azusa Inaba & Konami)
Now, we’re heading into the bigger matches of the card as Konami and Syuri will clash in another tag team match to continue their rivalry that has been going on since July when Konami turned on her former friend. This time, Konami is teaming up with Azusa Inaba, while Syuri is alongside Kiyoka Kotatsu, who has been involving herself in the rivalry recently by stepping up to Konami on the house shows.
The match itself will be okay, but the feud between Syuri and Konami has been dragging on due to the initial payoff match being postponed after Konami got hurt in the Dream Queendom match. My hope is that this match sets up the singles match between them at an upcoming PPV.
Prediction: Kiyoka Kotatsu & Syuri
Future of Stardom Championship: Miyu Amasaki (c) vs. Hina
In the first championship match of the night, Hina will challenge Miyu Amasaki for the Future of Stardom Championship in a bout that has been building for a while. Hina and Amasaki are linked from their days together in Queen’s Quest, with Amasaki joining the faction on the day of her debut. ‘The Supernova’ has quickly taken Hina’s role as the future star from the stable and a friendly rivalry between them has been brewing ever since. Once Queen’s Quest was forced to split, the rivalry between them started to develop more and more with every match and is finding its peak here.
Miyu Amasaki has been the Future of STARDOM Champion for roughly 5 months after she was able to do what Hina couldn’t – defeating Rina for the title. Miyu even earned her title shot by defeating Hina in a straight-up singles match at a New Blood event. Amasaki has been dominant with the belt since winning it and has also gone on to claim the Artist of Stardom Championship with AZM and Starlight Kid in a match that was rated the full 5* by Dave Meltzer. Meanwhile, Hina has been slowly collecting wins as part of God’s Eye and has earned herself another chance at the Future of Stardom Championship, a title both her sisters have held before.
The title is switching here as Miyu Amasaki is just two weeks away from reaching the 3rd Anniversary of her debut which would rule her out of competing for the Future of Stardom Title anymore, so Hina crowing herself in her hometown is what should happen.
Prediction: Hina
Goddesses of Stardom Championship: wing★gori (Hanan & Saya Iida) (c) vs. Crazy Star (Mei Seira & Suzu Suzuki)
Hanan & Saya Iida will defend the Goddess of STARDOM Championships against former champions Mei Seira and Suzu Suzuki in a match between STARDOM’s best tag team of 2024 and their best tag team of 2023. Saya Iida just came back from a month-long injury break, and she’s certainly been missed on the tour shows because she always stands out with motivated performances against anyone on the roster. She has been one of STARDOM’s most consistent performers and that, mixed with Hanan’s return to her hometown, should make for a fantastic match between the champions and the hungry challengers as aim Crazy Star look for their second run as Goddess Champions. This match is likely to be very high on many tag team matches of the year lists, with all four wrestlers being more motivated than ever to steal the show on this PPV.
Ever since Neo Genesis was formed, all wrestlers in the faction have won at least one championship except for Suzu Suzuki, who failed in her two World of STARDOM championship matches and could lose her 4th title opportunity since the foundation of Neo Gen here. This is something that fans need to keep an eye on as they have planted the seeds for a potential change with Suzuki here, though whether it’s just something in her character or her turning completely on Neo Genesis remains to be seen.
This match seems to be the next chapter in that Suzu’s story as Saya Iida and Hanan will retain the championship in their first defence. Hanan has said that they are aiming for the defence record of Mayu Iwatani & Io Shirai, and this seems to be the start of their goal.
Prediction: wing★gori (Hanan & Saya Iida)
Cosmic Angels (Sayaka Kurara & Tam Nakano) vs. H.A.T.E. (Saya Kamitani & Natsuko Tora)
The hottest storyline in STARDOM continues with another big match on a PPV, but instead of it being for the World Championship, it’s for something bigger – faction loyalty. The match is all about Sayaka Kurara as the stipulation says that the 24-year-old will be forced to join Saya Kamitani and H.A.T.E. if the heels win, while Tam Nakano gets a wish of her choosing if Cosmic Angels are victorious. When the match was announced, it wasn’t clear who Kamitani’s tag partner would be. Speculation about a potential double swerve with Aya Sakura was talked about on social media, but it ended up Natsuko Tora. With that, the H.A.T.E. side features two wrestlers that Kurara has pinned before.
They went away from the Sayaka Kurara element of the story during the build-up to the Dream Queendom match for the World of Stardom Championship before returning to it here. Kurara is conflicted between the allure of joining Kamitani and staying loyal to Nakano, who has been trying to protect her from the evil side. In the build-up, Kurara has cost the Cosmic Angels several matches by unintentionally spearing her partners, showing that she is conflicted in her head and doesn’t know what the right path is for her yet. The match will come from the emotional side and needs a hot crowd to work to the level it’s set up to. The interactions between Kamitani and Cosmic Angels will be magical, while Tora is great at filling up the gaps to create the necessary heel heat for H.A.T.E.
With that stipulation in mind, everything is possible here. Kurara joining H.A.T.E. to be their new top rookie with Rina moving up the card would make sense and would be another great heat move for Kamitani. It would also lead to even more sympathy for Nakano before their eventual rematch for the World of Stardom Championship. What I see happening here is Nakano and Kurara winning to give the Cosmic Angels a feel-good moment on this show and an easy lay-up to set up Kamitani against Nakano for the World of Stardom Championship in the main event of the All-Star Grand Queendom show on April 27th in the Yokohama Arena.
Prediction: Cosmic Angels (Sayaka Kurara & Tam Nakano)
Wonder of Stardom Championship: Starlight Kid (c) vs. Rina
The 18-year-old Rina will challenge Starlight Kid for the Wonder of STARDOM Championship in the main event of the show and nothing shows more how much trust the promotion has in Rina than giving her this opportunity to be Starlight Kid’s opponent in her first defence of the White Belt.
The two have history together back in OEDo Tai as they teamed together with Ruaka as Young OED and even challenged for the Artist of Stardom Championship together in February of 2022 when Rina was just 15 years old. Now, 3 years later, they will face off with the Wonder of Stardom Title on the line in a match that could go a long way to deciding how quick Rina’s push to the top of the promotion will be. Rina has shown with her Future of Stardom Title run that she has the wrestling IQ to work what STARDOM is asking in the bigger singles matches with her great mind for her pacing as well as selling. Here the pressure will be on her more as it’s in the main event of her hometown show against the new champion in Starlight Kid, who wants to establish herself as a top-tier wrestler in the STARDOM roster.
It’s an emotional match on a personal side for Rina, too, as she brought up that she wants to win the White Belt for Hana Kimura, who was an important mentor early in Rina’s career. Their relationship goes back to the Stardom Draft in 2019, when a crying Rina was the last person to be drafted, and Kimura chose her in an emotional moment that changed Rina’s career forever. Emotions are the most important part of a White Belt match, and Rina has them. She has the story, and she has the skill to step up in the biggest match of her career. She may not be winning here but will create a buzz that will force STARDOM to continue to push her to the level that they have right now.
Prediction: Starlight Kid
