Tag: stardom

Stardom 7/2/23 Results

Coverage of Stardom on this site kicks off today with results from their STAROM MIDSUMMER CHAMPIONS 2023 event.

Today’s event was held at Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama and can be watched on demand on PPV only. It may be available on Stardom World at a later date (it looks like Stardom World generally doesn’t do live broadcasts, usually non-PPVs are available on demand about a week after the events).

The announced paid attendance was 1307.

Match 1: Yuna Mizumori & Waka Tsukiyama beat Miyu Amasaki & Hina. Tsukiyama pinned Hina with an Ausu suplex hold.

Match 2: HANAKO, Mei Hoshirai & Suzu Suzuki beat Aya Sakura, Hazuki & Saya Iida. HANAKO pinned Sakura after JP Coaster.

Match 3: Lady C, AZM, Saya Kamitani & Utami Hayashishita beat Momo Kohgo, Koguma, Hanan & Mayu Iwatani. Kamitani pinned Kohgo after Star Crusher.

Match 4: Mai Sakurai, Thekla, Maika & Giulia beat Momo Watanabe, Ruaka, Rina & Natsuko Toura. Sakurai pinned Ruaka after MPR.

Match 5: Nanae Takahashi beat Starlight Kid.

Match 6: Goddesses Of Stardom Champions Mariah May & Mina Shirakawa beat Ami Sohrei & Syuri to retain the titles. Shirakawa pinned Syuri after Glamorous Collection MINA. V1 for the champs.

Match 7: High Speed Champion Saki Kashima beat Fukigen to retain the title. V1 for Kashima.

Match 8: MIRAI beat Wonder Of Stardom Champion Tam Nakano to win the title. MIRAI becomes the 19th Wonder Of Stardom Champion.

Main Event: In an Indian Strap Match, where competitors were joined at the wrists by a leather strap and the only way to win was by getting a 3 count pinfall then touching all 4 corners before the downed opponent could touch a corner and break it up, Saori Anou (Independent/Freelancer) beat Natsupoi.

The next event is Saturday at Fujisan Messe in Shizuoka. It should be available on Stardom World at a later date.

New Japan News: New Women’s Champion in Stardom (Updated)

Stardom, the women’s promotion owned by New Japan owner Bushiroad Corporation, held what was billed as their biggest event ever today, and every one of the promotion’s titles changed hands. That included the IWGP Women’s Championship as Mayu Iwatani beat Mercedes Mone (the former Sasha Banks) to win the title. Iwatani becomes the third IWGP Women’s Champion.

This maybe wasn’t a terrible surprise because word was Mone’s limited dates contract with Bushiroad is now over (it ended today) and she’s a free agent again. So the question now is where does she go? She has been raving on social media about moving to Japan and enrolling in language school, but she could very well return to the US and go to All Elite Wrestling or even back to WWE. We shall see, but for now the title will stay in Japan and, for now, Stardom with hopefully defenses in New Japan again.

UPDATE: Mone has been announced for the 5/21 New Japan US event in Long Beach, CA. No word on her match yet.

BREAKING: Women’s 3-Way Title Match Added to NJPW Event

New Japan just announced a big addition to SAKURA GENESIS on 4/8: IWGP Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone vs. AZM & Hazuki in a 3-way for the title. Both challengers are from Stardom (which like New Japan is owned by Bushiroad Corporation) and while this is not official, Mayu Iwatani has challenged the winner for the title on 4/23 in Stardom at Yokohama Arena.

More as it becomes available.

RUMOR: WWE Superstar to New Japan

This is just a rumor for now, but it’s huge-Mercedes Varnado, best known as Sasha Banks on WWE, is reportedly headed to New Japan, at least temporarily. Varnado, who has been out of WWE since summer but is still reportedly under contract, has agreed to “multiple dates” with New Japan and may have a deal with them. But there is a chance she re-signs with WWE, and if that happens the potential New Japan deal is off. Her WWE deal is up at the end of the year but they could add time on based on how long she has been out, that could mean as much as 6-7 months.

If she does go to New Japan it likely would be for special attraction matches against talent from Stardom as both are owned by Bushiroad Corporation. Showing up in Stardom is also possible.What seems less clear now is All Elite Wrestling and if she might go there, or if they had a hand in this.

More as it becomes available. But for now this is all rumors.

New Japan/Stardom 11/20/22 Results

HISTORIC X-OVER, the first joint New Japan & Stardom event, is now in the books. The two promotions, both owned by Bushiroad Corporation, put on a dream card today although it was tempered somewhat by the rules not allowing true intergender matches-in the mixed tag matches the men could only wrestle against the men and the women against the women-when one team tagged out, the other side had to do the same, so nothing like we see in DDT (with Saki Akai matches) and on the US independent scene.

Today’s event was held at Ariake Arena in Tokyo and currently can be watched on demand as a PPV on New Japan World in English (additional purchase required). It will be a PPV only replay for the next week. It will be available on demand without additional purchase to all New Japan World subscribers at a later date. There was also a 1 hour pre-show that, for now, can be watched FOR FREE on YouTube.

The announced paid attendance was 7102. No vocal cheering allowed. Depending on the layout, this probably was just short of 80% capacity (the venue’s normal capacity is 12,000 but I’m guessing the setup cut it down closer to 9000).

Pre-show Match 1: Oskar Leube Debut Match: Gabriel Kidd, Clark Connors, Kevin Knight & Alex Coughlin beat Oskar Leube, Kosei Fujita, Ryohei Oiwa & Yuto Nakashima. Coughlin pinned Leube after DPD. Leube is a new Young Lion from Europe (I don’t remember which country but I want to say Germany) who has been trained/mentored by Yuji Nagata.

Pre-show Match 2: MIRAI won a 15-woman Stardom Battle Royal, last eliminating Super Strong Stardom Machine.

PPV:
Match 1: Lio Rush, Yoh, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiso Ishii beat Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Rush pinned Togo after 3K.

Match 2; Saya Kamitani, Lady C & AZM Beat Himeka, Thekla & Mai Sakurai. Kamitani pinned Sakurai after Firebird Splash.

Match 3: Giulia & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Syuri & Tom Lawlor. Sabre beat Lawlor with a European Clutch.

Match 4: Natsupoi, Tam Nakano, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi beat Momo Watanabe, Starlight Kid, El Desperado & DOUKI. Taichi pinned DOUKI after Black Mephisto.

Match 5: Utami Hayashishita & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Maika & Hirooki Goto. Hayashishita pinned Maika after Hijack Bomb.

Match 6: Gideon Gray, Francesco Akira, TJP & Aussie Open beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Kyle Fletcher pinned BUSHI after Corealis.

Match 7: The Great Muta Final New Japan Match: The Great Muta (Keiji Muto), Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano beat Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & Aaron Henare. Okada pinned Henare after Rainmaker.

Match 8: IWGP US Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay beat Shota Umino to retain the title. V4 for Ospreay. Next up: Possibly Kenny Omega, who issued a recorded challenge for Tokyo Dome on 1/4. That’s a big if because 1/4 is a Wednesday next year and All Elite Wrestling will be making their Seattle, WA debut that night. When asked about Tokyo Dome last night at the post-PPV media scrum, AEW President/Owner Tony Khan indicated he wanted most, if not all the AEW roster present for this event. So either he OK’d this or Omega, an Executive Vice-President of AEW, is already getting himself back into potential hot water just hours after returning from an indefinite suspension following AEW’s prior PPV in September (a reported post-PPV altercation backstage involving The Young Bucks, who also returned last night, and CM Punk, who is not expected to return to AEW).

Main Event: IWGP Women’s Championship Tournament Finals: KAIRI (Independent/Freelancer) beat Mayu Iwatani to win the tournament and the title and become the inaugural IWGP Women’s Champion. KAIRI is Kairi Hojo, who began her career in Stardom before leaving in the 2010s for WWE, where she became Kairi Sane, then returned to Japan after being released and changed her name back to just her first name. The first challenger: Tam Nakano. That will happen on 1/4 at Tokyo Dome.

Next up is the World Tag League and Super Jr. Tag League 2022, beginning tomorrow at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The tournaments will alternate dates through most of the tour, with the Super Jr. Tag League starting first then the World Tag League following on Tuesday. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET, and even better, you can watch tomorrow’s event FOR FREE! Also, every remaining New Japan event this year will be live on New Japan World.

11/20/22 HISTORIC X-OVER Card Announced (Updated)

The full card for the New Japan/Stardom HISTORIC X-OVER event on 11/20/22 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo has been announced. There will be 11 matches including 2 pre-show matches and the main event will be the IWGP Women’s Championship Tournament Finals for the title.

The full card:
Pre-Show:
Oskar Leube Debut Match: Oskar Leube, Ryohei Oiwa, Kosei Fujita & Yuto Nakashima vs. Kevin Knight, Gabriel Kidd, Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin
Stardom 15 Woman Battle Royal

Main Show:
Lio Rush, Tomohiro Ishii, Yoh & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL
Lady C, AZM & Saya Kamitani vs. Mai Sakurai, Himeka & Thekla
Tom Lawlor & Syuri vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Giulia
Tam Nakano, Natsupoi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi vs. Starlight Kid, Momo Watanabe, El Desperado & DOUKI
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Utami Hayashishita vs. Hirooki Goto & Maika
BUSHI, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi, Shongo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito vs. Aussie Open, TJP, Francesco Akira & Gideon Gray
The Great Muta (Keiji Muto), Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada vs. Great-O-Khan, Aaron Henare & Jeff Cobb
IWGP US Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay vs. Shota Umino for the title
Mayu Iwatani vs. KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s Championship

The mixed tag matches aren’t “true” mixed matches because the men can only face the men, and the women only face the women. No intergender action, there must be a tag on both sides.

The event will be available worldwide as a PPV on New Japan World. The pre-show will begin on 11/20 at 2 AM ET/11 PM PT with the main show at midnight PT/3 AM ET.

UPDATE: The PPV is now available for pre-order. It will be in English and will cost 3990 yen, or about $27 US. There is conflicting information regarding if a New Japan World subscription is required (New Japan’s English website says no, but the PPV purchase page says yes). If you buy the PPV you get the live stream on 11/20 at midnight PT/3 AM ET and unlimited replays until 11/27 at 7 AM PT/10 AM ET. The replay will also be available to all New Japan World subscribers without additional fees at a later date.

New Japan News: IWGP Women’s Title Final Set

Based on what happened in Stardom this past weekend, we now know who will be in the finals of a tournament to crown the inaugural IWGP Women’s Champion…Mayu Iwatani & KAIRI (Kairi Hojo, formerly Kairi Sane in WWE). Iwatani won the Stardom side of the bracket by beating Utami Hayashishita. KAIRI won the International side by beating Jazzy Gabert (Alpha Female). They will meet for the title on 11/20 and the winner will first defend at Tokyo Dome on 1/4.

Just an early heads-up for those who want to watch the New Japan/Stardom crossover event live on 11/20: IT IS A PPV. Not included with New Japan World subscription so you first have to subscribe then you can buy the PPV. Start time is listed as 3 AM ET/midnight PT however these will be moved up an hour due to the time change on 11/6 in the US. So it likely will be 2 AM ET/11 PM PT.

New Japan News: First IWGP Women’s Title Tournament Match Set

On their Japanese website, New Japan has announced the first match of the upcoming IWGP Women’s Championship Tournament: It will be Alpha Female vs. (slight guess on name from translation) Arbor White. Female is a former World Of Stardom Champion, which is the top singles title in Stardom.

The match will be on 10/2 at Royal Quest 2 in London, England.

New Japan-Stardom Press Conference Notes (8/23/22)

New Japan’s corporate offices hosted a major press conference today regarding the upcoming NJPW-Stardom crossover event in November and the new IWGP Women’s Championship. Attending were Bushiroad Corporation chairman Takaaki Kidani (Kitani), New Japan chairman Naoki Sugabayashi, Stardom creator/executive producer Rossy Ogawa, Hiroshi Tanahashi representing New Japan, and Mayu Iwatani representing Stardom.
Kitani began talking about this year marking the 15th anniversary of Bushiroad, the 50th anniversary of New Japan and the 10th anniversary of Stardom last year. Bushiroad owns both promotions. Kidani discussed the rumors and feedback since the IWGP Women’s Championship was announced as well as a recent issue of a Japanese sports magazine that featured both Kazuchika Okada on the cover and an interview with New Japan founder and wrestling Hall of Famer Antonio Inoki.
Chairman Sugabayashi then discussed the championship and plans for a tournament to crown the inaugural IWGP Women’s Champion…the tournament will begin on 10/2 during the second day of New Japan’s return to London, England, continue in Stardom on 10/22 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, then the Semifinals will be held in Stardom on 10/23 at Arena Tachikawa, with the Finals on 11/20 at the historic crossover event at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Participants TBA. The inaugural champion will first defend the title at Tokyo Dome on 1/4/23.
Besides the tournament final, the first matches for 11/20 were announced, all are mixed tag/intergender matches:
Tom Lawlor & Syuri vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Guilia
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Utami Hayashishita vs. Hirooki Goto & Maika
Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Natsupoi & Tam Nakano vs. DOUKI, El Desperado, Starlight Kid & Momo Watanabe

New Japan’s English website is suggesting the broadcast in the US will be in English and a PPV on New Japan World, which also means possibly on FITE as well. The event is scheduled for Sunday, November 20 at, taking the time change into consideration, midnight PT/3 AM ET. No word on if it will also be available on Stardom World, Stardom’s online streaming service.
More as it becomes available.

Verified by MonsterInsights