Tag: stardom

Stardom continued their 2024 opening series today with an event in Tokyo. A very depleted Stardom, that is, more on that in a moment.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and will be available on demand on Stardom World at a later date.

The announced paid attendance was 800.

The promotion announced, both ahead of time and last-minute, that FIVE wrestlers were out of today’s tournament for various reasons: Miyu Amasaki, Thekla, Hina, Mai Sakurai and Momo Watanabe. The reasons: Amasaki-flu. Thekla-neck injury. Hina-collarbone injury. Sakurai-starnum injury. Watanabe-coronavirus. Amasaki is also off Monday. The others are out indefinitely.

Match 1; Ranna Yagami & Yuzuki beat Sayaka Kurara & HANAKO. Yuzuki pinned Kurara after Rolling Arrow.

Match 2: Saori Anou & Maika vs. Giulia & Mayu Iwatani went to a 20 minute time limit draw.

Match 3: Starlight Kid won a 12 woman battle royal, last eliminating Hanan. As a result, Kid gets a Wonder Of Stardom Championship match in the future.

Main Event: Saya Kamitani won a 10 woman battle royal (it was to have been 11 but with no Momo Watanabe it was only 10), last eliminating Mina Shirakawa. As a result, Kamitani gets a World Of Stardom Championship match in the future, which may be on 2/4 in Osaka.

The next event is tomorrow at Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall in Nagoya. It is now underway as of this post time and will be available on demand on Stardom World at a later date.

The promotion also announced Tam Nakano, who is out due to injury, will be visiting at Monday’s event.

Stardom began their 2024 with a major doubleheader, first yesterday in Yokohama then today before Tokyo Dome.

Yesterday’s event was held at Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama and will be available on demand on Stardom World at a later date.

The announced paid attendance was 960.

Match 1: Rookie Of Stardom 2023 Tournament: Yuzuki beat Ranna Yagami.

Match 2: Rookie Of Stardom 2023 Tournament: HANAKO beat Sayaka.

Match 3: Lady C beat Hina.

Match 4: Triangle Derby 2024 Tournament: Giulia, Thekla & Mai Sakurai beat Miyu Amasaki, Lady C & Hina by forfeit. Amasaki was forced off the card due to illness.

Match 5: Triangle Derby 2024 Tournament: Saya Kamitani, AZM & Utami Hayashita vs. Meghan Bayne, Mei Seira & Suzu Suzuki went to a 15 minute time limit draw. Both out of the tournament as a result. Because of this, Giulia/Thekla/Sakurai get a free pass and advance directly to the Finals.

Match 6: Triangle Derby 2024 Tournament: Momo Watanabe, Starlight Kid & Natsuko Tora beat Hanan, Saya Iida & Mayu Iwatani. Watanabe pinned Iida.

Match 7: Triangle Derby 2024 Tournament: Ami Sohrei, MIRAI & Syuri beat Fukigen, Hanan & Sumire Natsu. MIRAI pinned Natsu after a lariat.

Match 8: Triangle Derby 2024 Tournament: Ami Sohrei, MIRAI & Syuri beat Momo Watanabe, Starlight Kid & Natsuko Tora by countout. Tora counted out. Sohrei/MIRAI/Syuri advance to the Finals.

Match 9: Yuu, Nanae Takahashi, Hazuki & Saki Kashima beat Maika, Mina Shirakawa, Saori Anou & Yuna Mizumori. Kashima pinned Mizumori.

Match 10: Rookie Of Stardom 2023 Finals: Yuzuki beat HANAKO to win the tournament. She is officially Stardom’s 2023 Rookie Of The Year.

Main Event: Triangle Derby Tournament Finals: Ami Sohrei, MIRAI & Syuri beat Artist Of Stardom Champions Giulia, Thekla & Mai Sakurai to win the tournament and the titles. Sohrei, MIRAI & Syuri become the 31st Artist Of Stardom Champions. Syuri pinned Thekla.

Today’s event was held at Tokyo Dome City Hall in Tokyo and cma be watched on demand on PPV via Pia Japan. It will be available on Stardom World at a later date.

The announced paid attendance was 1536, a full house/near sellout.

Match 1: Ranna Yagami, Yuzuki & HANAKO beat Sayaka Unagi, Lady C & Hina. Yuzuki pinned Unagi after Tolling Arrow. Unagi was a late replacement for the absent Miyu Amasaki.

Match 2: Hazuki, Hanan & Saya Iida beat Fukigen, Starlight Kid & Hina. Hanan pinned Hina with a blockbuster hold.

Match 3: Mei Seira & Mina Shirakawa beat Mai Sakurai & Thekla. Seira pinned Thekla with La Magistral.

Match 4: SAKI, Saori Anou & Yuna Mizumori beat Momo Watanabe, Sumire Natsu & Natsuko Tora. Anou pinned Natsu.

Match 5: Saya Kamitani, AZM & Utami Hayashishita beat Saki Kashima, Ami Sohrei & MIRAI. Hayashishita pinned Kashima with a German suplex hold.

Match 6: Meghan Bayne & Maika vs. Giulia & Suzu Suzuki went to a 20 minute time limit draw. Afterwards, Giulia announced her Donna Del Mundo faction is no more and they are disbanded. In post-match backstage comments, Giulia confirmed she is done with Stardom and will be a freelancer going forward, but there have been online rumors she is possibly headed to WWE (they reportedly have made signing the mixed Japanese/Italian wrestler from England a very high priority).

Main Event: IWGP Women’s Champion Mayu Iwatani beat Syuri to retain the title. V3 for Iwatani.

The next event is Saturday (Friday US time) at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. It will be available on Stardom World at a later date.

To make up for the technical issues at the end of yesterday’s PPV stream (the entire main event and the end of the match before it were cut out), Stardom has uploaded the entire STARDOM DREAM QUEENDOM event from yesterday FOR FREE to YouTube. But for a VERY LIMITED TIME-you only have until Monday to watch, then it will only be available on Stardom World.

Watch the full event below (running time is 4 hours. Video courtesy of Stardom Official YouTube Channel):

Stardom wrapped up their 2023 with their final blowout event of the year, Stardom Dream Queendom 2023.

Today’s event was held at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on PPV via Pia (Japan). The last 2 matches have been uploaded to YouTube because the PPV feed was lost early and the end of the semifinal match and the entire main event were not shown due to network issues. The event will be available on Stardom World at a later date (probably in about a week).

The paid attendance has not yet been announced. There were some famous fans in attendance via posts on the socials including New Japan’s Yuji Nagata, who took his son to the event. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 3063)

Match 1: Miyu Amasaki, Yuzuki & Azusa Inaba beat Sayaka Kurara, Ranna Yagami & HANAKO. Yuzuki pinned Kurara.

Match 2: Saki Kashima & Ami Sohrei beat Lady C & Hina, Yuna Mizumori & SAKI and Thekla & Mai Sakurai in a 4-way when Sohrei pinned Mizumori.

Match 3: Mayu Iwatani, Hazuki, Saya Iida & Hanan beat Starkight Kid, Rina, Ruaka & Fukigen. Iwatani pinned Fukigen after a moonsault press.

Match 4: Nanae Takahashi, Yuu & AZM beat Mina Shirakawa, Mei Seira & Syuri. Takahashi pinned Shirakawa after Nanae Rocker.

Match 5: Goddesses Of Stardom Champions Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani beat Natsuko Tora & Momo Watanabe to retain the titles. Hayashishita pinned Tora after a torture rack bomb. V1 for the champs.

Match 6: STRONG Women’s Champion Giulia beat Meghan Bayne by submission to retain the title. V7 for Giulia. Next up: Trish Adora. That match may happen on 1/13 at the next New Japan US event in San Jose, CA.

Match 7: Saori Anou beat Wonder Of Stardom Champion MIRAI to win the title. Anou becomes the 20th Wonder Of Stardom Champion.

Main Event: Maika beat Suzu Suzuki to win the vacant World Of Stardom Championship. Maika becomes the 17th World Of Stardom Champion.

The next event is Wednesday at Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama. It will be available on demand on Stardom World at a later date.

UPDATE 2: After the PPV issues today it has been announced that all buyers will get a full refund after the new year begins and the entire event will be streamed free on YouTube for a limited time.

And the injury pileup sadly continues…this time it’s Stardom with another casualty as they announced, during a full week of events last week including at Bushiroad Expo Asia in Singapore, Lady C was injured. Neck. Out at least 2 weeks including all events from today through 12/10 (8 total events). A tag match she was in today was changed to a 3-way, other changes pending.

More as it becomes available.

This is not entirely a done deal yet and, based on later fact-checking done weekly by the site that shares them is probably 55-60% accurate right now, but there are RUMORS another top Stardom name could be WWE-bound. This time it’s top foreigner Giulia. Here’s what is being said: Giulia is verbally committed to Stardom for next year. But talks are to the point that WWE has made an offer. What it may come down to is money and which brand-if it’s NXT (their developmental brand), owner Bushiroad Corporation and sibling company New Japan Pro Wrestling can probably match the offer and keep her. But if it’s main level (Raw or Smackdown), and money is more important, Goulia is probably following KAIRI (back in the latter’s case) to The E. Giulia is said to be a “priority acquisition” for WWE and her multi-racial background (she is mixed Japanese & Italian and was born in England) could help then worldwide. Again, just RUMORS for now but bears watching.

More as it becomes available.

Stardom ran their final Osaka big show of the year, STARDOM GOLD RUSH 2023, yesterday, loaded with major title matches and more.

Yesterday’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka and can be watched on demand as a PPV via Pia for 4000 yen (around $27 US) until Tuesday morning (purchase by 1 AM PT/4 AM ET Tuesday). It should be available on Stardom World at a later date.

The announced paid attendance was 1033. If the venue was configured for full capacity (5000 for sumo, maybe a little less for wrestling), that’s barely 20% full. Probably was smaller capacity, but on paper that still seems rather bad.

There were multiple late changes to the cards due to Mayu Iwatani and Saki Kashima being off the event (injured).

Match 1: It’s Fukigen (Kaori Yoneyama) won a 7 woman battle royal, last eliminating Miyu Amasaki.

Match 2: Moneyball Tournament: Hanan, Hazuki & Saya Iida beat HANAKO, Ami Sohrei & Konami. Hanan pinned HANAKO after 17.

Match 3: Moneyball Tournament: Mai Sakurai, Thekla & Giulia beat Momo Watanabe, Natsuko Tora & Ruaka. Sakurai pinned Ruaka with Mai Bread Roll.

Match 4: High Speed Champion Mei Seira beat Momoka Hanazono to retain the title. V1 for Seira.

Match 5; AZM beat Starlight Kid & Suzu Suzuki in a 3-way by pinning Kid.

Match 6: In a UWF Rules MMA Fight, Syuri beat Scandinavian Hurricane by TKO.

Match 7: Wonder Of Stardom Champion MIRAI vs. Saori Anou went to a 30 minute time limit draw. As a result, MIRAI retains the title. V3 for MIRAI.

Main Event: Moneyball Tournament Finals: Artist Of Stardom Champions Mai Sakurai, Thekla & Giulia beat Hazuki, Hanan & Saya Iida by retrieving the right chest hanging above the ring with the key to unlock the chest to retain the titles. Thekla made the winning retrieval. V3 for the champs. Afterwards, Thekla challenged Seira for the High Speed Championship. That match will likely happen on 12/2 at Aichi Prefectural Gym in Nagoya.

The next event is Thursday at Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall in Nagoya. It should be available on Stardom World at a later date.