On Monday, Syuri and Giulia formed Alto Livello KABALIWAN (ALK) one final time, picking up a win over Mayu Iwatani and Saya Iida. Following the match, it was made clear by the World of Stardom Champion that she could no longer work with Giulia after their main event at Stardom World Climax ~ The Best ~. Donna del Mondo’s dominance has reached the point where the only way they can be stopped is by themselves. That’s where the biggest takeaway from Monday’s show comes in. Syuri has stated it is time for her to move on. She told DDM to be by Giulia’s side come Saturday while she introduces her new bodyguard to the mix. A true curveball to how fans expected this to end for the top two names in DDM. The World of Stardom Championship has guaranteed the impressive run of Donna del Mondo on top will no longer contain both Syuri and Giulia — meaning their dominance could be coming to an end sooner than we know it.
If you’ve been watching their interactions since Cinderella Journey, it’s become apparent that these two are going to come as close as possible to committing some crimes in their match. Every match they’ve opposed each other in has become grittier, and increasingly blood-driven. Syuri’s kicking Giulia as hard as she humanly can in the spine while Giulia is hitting headbutts which echo through the arena. To think that we’ve already seen all that and are still waiting for the main match itself, that alone probably explains why they can’t continue together.
The dissension between the two has bubbled up since Prominence made its presence felt. Risa Sera has picked her target in Syuri and Suzu Suzuki has picked her target in Giulia. You’d think this would have united them even more but at the final Korakuen Hall show last weekend, we saw Giulia walk away asking if Syuri was in on the plan of Prominence. Giulia’s past coming to her present has been interesting to see but it has reminded her of why she left Ice Ribbon in the first place — to be World of Stardom Champion. That’s what makes the past two years mean almost nothing as Stardom heads into Saturday.
No matter their aspirations, Giulia and Syuri have always been able to work beside one another. They wrestled for championship gold before. At Osaka Dream Cinderella in December 2020, Giulia put her Wonder of Stardom Championship on the line and Syuri put her SWA World Championship on the line. The stablemates would wrestle to a draw and carry on with their work together as a unit. In 2021, when Giulia was at her lowest following All Star Dream Cinderella, Syuri picked her up to ultimately become Goddess of Stardom Champions. Syuri remained focused on the team as well as the World of Stardom Championship, striving to be the first Donna del Mondo member to accomplish that goal.
More than that though, Syuri was focused on winning the title that she promised she would to her mother. The mixture of Giulia’s loss and Syuri’s match with Utami Hayashishita saw the natural powershift in DDM. ALK wasn’t dancing to Giulia’s song, after all. Fast forward to Stardom Dream Queendom, Giulia was returning from an injury that left her sidelined for months. Syuri was in the main event against Utami Hayashishita for the World of Stardom Championship. The returning leader oozed the confidence that she had prior to seeing her head shaved by Tam Nakano. Syuri, by the end of that night, was finally the World of Stardom Champion.
ALK, on the surface, was as strong as ever. Giulia back to her “God-like” form, Syuri finally as the World of Stardom Champion and top dog in the company. How could anyone beat them for their titles? Well in their first match back together as a tag team, they lost their belts to Hazuki and Koguma, with Giulia being the one to take the fall. Just like that, the most powerful version of ALK seemed to be the most vulnerable as a team, and it only escalated from there. At the beginning of the year, Giulia brought in Thekla and MIRAI to Donna del Mondo but it was the latter who’d be Syuri’s first title challenger, inevitably adding some smoke to the slow-burning fire behind the scenes for DDM.
At Nagoya Supreme Fight, Syuri retained her championship but only after Giulia earned a title shot at Stardom World Climax following her phenomenal draw with Mayu Iwatani. That brings us to this Saturday. Giulia’s desire to become World of Stardom Champion was no secret to anyone. Her removal from the 5 STAR Grand Prix might have been the only thing that put a pause on this DDM split. It felt Giulia and Syuri were on a collision course for the finals but with that not happening, it gave everyone some time.
Their match at Stardom World Climax means a lot of things, not just for Donna del Mondo or these two competitors but for the landscape of Stardom. Syuri oddly removing herself from the group means there is a new faction set to be led by her. Whoever this mystery bodyguard is will be the first member to unite themselves with Syuri. The more mouthwatering part will be who else follows. It feels there is little chance someone like Maika or Natsupoi will be okay with watching Syuri move on and not at least consider following her. MIRAI too, who just teamed with Syuri against Giulia and Thekla. The latter and Mai Sakurai are the only two from DDM that have guaranteed allegiance to Giulia, the rest remains unclear, regardless of Syuri’s wishes.
Syuri vs. Giulia is going to be physical. It’s going to be personal. But what no one may be ready for is that for Stardom, it will be the most emotional match of the year. Friends. Tag team partners. Stablemates. All of that comes crashing down with this one match. It has the ability to fit the mold of an old-fashioned Joshi match. Syuri and Giulia have separately been in matches that can be called wars. They’ll make those wars seem like a “walk in the park” when they’re done with one another on Saturday.
With their history, their story, and the greatness they often deliver in the middle of the squared circle, this match is more fitting than any to main event Stardom World Climax ~ The Best ~. It’s the perfect conclusion to the historic, one-of-a-kind era of Donna del Mondo.
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