Living The Dream: Stardom's 10th Anniversary in Review

By Rob Goodwin and Matt Charlton

'Living The Dream' sees author Rob Goodwin document the highs and the lows of World Wonder Ring Stardom's 10th Anniversary year, reviewing every title match, every PPV and every big match of an astounding 2021. With fantastic images from illustrator Matt Charlton (J-Crowned Series, Eggshells) adorning the pages, it is a must have for any fan of Stardom or the wider world of Wrestling!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781105772450

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Contents

Title Page

Living The Dream: Stardom’s 10th Anniversary in Review

Living The Dream: Stardom’s 10th Anniversary in Review

Copyright © 2021 Rob Goodwin All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher or author.

ISBN: 9781105772450

Cover design and Illustrations by: Matt Charlton @ShiningWizardDS

Printed in the United Kingdom

EBook Bar Code

For Hana Kimura.

A constant reminder for everyone to be better and to love one another.

Everybody's different, everybody's special.

#endthehate

https://rememberhana.com

Starlight

A (Not So) Brief History of the Company

Born from the ashes of the defunct promotion JDStar, World Wonder Ring Stardom, to give it its full name, ran its first show - Birth of Nova - on January 23rd 2011. The promotion itself is the brainchild of Rossy Ogawa, the former All Japan Women producer and JDStar co-producer. Now-retired wrestler Fuka Kakimoto was approached by Ogawa in the summer of 2010 in an attempt to start a new promotion. In a similar vein as JDStar, the focus would be put on physical attractiveness, with Kakimoto's new protégé, and former gravure idol, Yuzuki Aikawa as the top talent.

Alongside the first class of trainees, including future notable names such as Mayu Iwatani, Yoshiko and Arisa Hoshiki, were former WWWA World Single Champion Nanae Takahashi and Natsuki Taiyo, as well as mixed martial artist Mika Nagano. The company was officially announced to the public in September 2010, with shows commencing at the start of 2011 based mainly out of Shin-Kiba 1st Ring.

The July 24th 2011 show - Stardom X Stardom 2011 - would be notable for many reasons: firstly, it was the first Stardom show to emanate from the prestigious Korakuen Hall venue. Secondly, the first World and Wonder of Stardom Champions were crowned on this show, with Yuzuki Aikawa taking the Wonder of Stardom belt over Yoshiko, and Nanae Takahashi taking the World of Stardom Championship in a tournament final over Yoko Bito. Thirdly, and perhaps most well-known to the casual fan, this was the show that saw Kenny Omega fight 9-year-old Haruka in a match that lives on in YouTube infamy. Also on this card, the NEO High Speed Championship, synonymous with Kyoko Inoue's NEO Japan Ladies Wrestling, was officially brought to Stardom and rechristened as the High-Speed Championship, with Natsuki Taiyo bringing the belt to the promotion by defeating the reigning champion, Leon of JWP. At the end of this show, Io Shirai, a well-known freelancer at the time, made an appearance to request that she join the Stardom roster. Over the next 7 years, Shirai would become the most decorated champion in Stardom's history, sitting atop the promotion with a huge World of Stardom Championship reign on the way to holding every belt in the promotion, becoming the first Grand Slam champion in the company's history.

Stardom continued to grow in the intervening years between 2011 and 2015. November 2011 saw the formation of the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League in order to crown the inaugural Goddesses of Stardom Champions, while 2012 would see the first 5Star Grand Prix tournament through August and into September, aswell as the formation of the promotion's trios championship - Artist of Stardom Championships - at that year's Year End Climax show. To say 2013 was Stardom's biggest year in its short 2 year history would be an understatement. Not only was Nanae Takahashi's reign (a record 602 days) with the World of Stardom Championship finally halted by Alpha Female in the belt's first title change at the March Korakuen Hall Show - Stardom The Highest 2013 - but the company would also run its highest attended show ever.

To this day, the Stardom Ryogoku Cinderella Champions Fiesta 2013 is not only the biggest mouthful to say, but it was also the first time in six years that a Joshi promotion would run Sumo Hall. Headlined by the retirement of Yuzuki Aikawa, and featuring 4 championship matches aswell as matches with participants ranging from Joshi royalty in Manami Toyota to DDT & New Japan’s Kota Ibushi, the attendance of 5,500 remains Stardom's highest ever attendance at the time of writing.

Between the years of 2014 and 2015, the company's popularity would continue to increase, to the point that in 2015, Stardom began to run monthly Korakuen Hall shows, becoming the first Joshi promotion since GAEA Japan to achieve that feat. However, it was unfortunately during the February Korakuen Hall show - Stardom Queen's Shout 2015 - that perhaps the most infamous incident in their history would occur.

By this time, Yoshiko - a protégé of Nanae Takahashi - was in her first reign with the World of Stardom Championship, defending it in the main event against the Wonder of Stardom champion Act Yasukawa. Yasukawa had recently returned to the promotion after complications caused by Grave's Disease and had also undergone surgery on her eye. In what has since been labelled the 'Seisan Matchi' or 'Ghastly Match', Yoshiko legitimately assaulted Yasukawa, bludgeoning her to the point of fracturing her orbital, cheek and nasal bones, leaving her in bloody mess on the floor. The match was abandoned and Yasukawa was rushed to a nearby hospital to receive treatment for her multitude of injuries. It's not clear as to why this happened, though as you can imagine the rumours continue to be plentiful, from Yoshiko being jealous of Act's popularity, to the champion reacting badly to an accidental closed fist from Act in the opening exchanges to Yoshiko resenting the idea of the apparent finish of Yasukawa winning the belt from her; the conspiracy theories are many, but to this day nobody really knows what caused Yoshiko to snap that night. Perhaps the most egregious thing, aside from Yasukawa's grotesque injuries, is that there was no doctor present at ringside, thus the match went on far longer than it ever should have done, with no-one doing anything until Yasukawa's trainer at ringside furiously threw in the towel.

The backlash of this was far-reaching. The incident was obviously a black mark that the promotion would struggle to shake for years to come, gaining widespread mainstream attention in Japan. Yoshiko was subsequently stripped of the belt and suspended indefinitely, while ringside doctors were made mandatory and closed fists were banned. Ogawa, Fuka and Takahashi all took 30% pay cuts, with the latter also reportedly being fined for 'not training the workers properly'. Takahashi would leave the company the following month. Yoshiko never returned to the company but would instead return to wrestling in 2016 to join Takahashi's new promotion; SEAdLINNNG. Yasukawa would return in September of that year, but would never be the same again, retiring from in-ring competition on December 23rd 2015.

Elsewhere, 2015 would see Stardom's first foray into international touring with two dates in the United States in October. Both nights emanated from California, with the first headlined by Io Shirai defending her Wonder of Stardom Championship against Mia Yim, and the second with Thunder Rock defending their Goddesses of Stardom Championships against Hiroyo Matsumoto and Kellie Skater. The year would also see the company run its first ever Cinderella Tournament; a one night, 16-woman, single-elimination tournament that has since become a staple of Stardom's calendar. The inaugural winner would be Mayu Iwatani, who would use the win to challenge her friend and tag partner Io Shirai for the World of Stardom Championship. Incidentally, this would be the first in a trilogy of matches that spanned until 2017 and would be lauded as some of, if not the, best in the company's history.

Stardom soon began looking at possible ties in Europe, sending Mayu Iwatani, Io Shirai and Kairi Hojo (collectively known as Threedom) on a co-produced three day European tour alongside European promotions British Empire Wrestling, Revolution Championship Wrestling and Association Biterroise de Catch billed as the Stardom Europe Tour in May of 2016. This led to the creation of the SWA Undisputed World Women's Championship belt, originally created as the flagship title for the 'international alliance' between the aforementioned promotions under the banner of the 'Stardom World Association'. The rule-set for the belt reflects the international flavour of its original intent, and in turn sets it apart from the other belts in Stardom in that only challengers of a different nationality to the reigning champion could challenge. For example, during the tour Io Shirai became the first champion, meaning that no other Japanese wrestler could challenge for the belt. On the heels of this, the company brought in their 7th, and at the time of writing, final, belt; The Future of Stardom Championship in February of 2018. This belt also has a rule-set, that the competitors would have to fulfil one of two criteria to be eligible; either be under the age of 20, or have less than two years in-ring experience. This was amended to 3 years of in-ring experience in December 2020.

In more recent history, the company's popularity has accelerated at an ever-growing rate After being purchased by Bushiroad - a Japanese entertainment company that also owns New Japan Pro-Wrestling - in October of 2019, Stardom wrestlers appeared at New Japan's 4th January 2020 Wrestle Kingdom 14 card in an untelevised dark match. Mayu Iwatani, Hana Kimura, Giulia and Arisa Hoshiki became the first Joshi wrestlers to appear on a Wrestle Kingdom card. Later that same month, Stardom sold out Korakuen Hall for the first time in their history when their 9th Anniversary Show, headlined by Mayu Iwatani and Momo Watanabe for the World of Stardom Championship, drew a reported 1,602 people. The company also announced its first video game deal in collaboration with Spike Chunsoft's immersive wrestling simulation 'Fire Pro Wrestling World', thus bringing further interest toward the company.

The worldwide pandemic COVID-19 hit shortly after, forcing the end of wrestling as we knew it for a long time. Stardom ran a single empty arena show entitled 'No People Gate' in March, following it with a limited attendance Cinderella Tournament later the same month, before ultimately ceasing touring until June. In May, it was announced that due to head and neck injuries, Wonder of Stardom Champion Arisa Hoshiki would be retiring from in-ring competition with immediate effect, vacating the championship in the process. Just three days later, on May 23rd, tragedy would strike as long-time roster member Hana Kimura committed suicide following heinous cyber-bullying in response to her appearance on Fuji TV's 'Terrace House' show.

She was only 22 years old.

Stardom recommenced shows with the 21st June's 'Stardom is Again' show in Shin-Kiba 1st Ring, starting with a 10 bell salute in tribute to Hana.

As the year 2020 progressed, Utami Hayashishita would ultimately dethrone Mayu Iwatani to begin her first reign with the World of Stardom Championship after winning the 5Star Grand Prix. Giulia, who won the Cinderella Tournament back in March, won the vacated Wonder of Stardom Championship in July in the final of a four-person tournament at Korakuen Hall. In an ambitious move, the company also began running larger venues, looking at arenas for a set of PPV shows rather than relying on Korakuen Hall. Over the next few months, Stardom would run the Yokohama Budokan, Sendai City Plaza and the EDION Arena Osaka.

However, it was during the intermission of the November Sendai show that perhaps the biggest news in Stardom's history was announced. To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Stardom would become the 1st Joshi promotion in 24 years to run the historic Budokan Hall on March 3rd. Not since the All Japan Women's Budokan Queens ~ Brightness ~ show on the 20th August 1997 had a Joshi promotion stepped foot in the building, and for a promotion the size of Stardom to be the first to achieve that was a huge statement of intent.

With 2020 drawing to a close, the biggest show in its history on the horizon and with a talented roster the depth of which they had never seen before, the year ahead looked very bright indeed...

Title

Championships

World of Stardom Championship (The Red Belt)

World Wonder Ring Stardom's top prize, the World of Stardom Championship is often referred to by fans and wrestlers alike as the Red Belt. The colour is a living testament to the top prize of the now defunct AJW (All-Japan Women's Wrestling), the WWWA World Single Championship, as owner Rossy Ogawa referred to the company at its peak as 'The Golden-Age of Joshi puroresu'.

The red belt was introduced on June 26th 2011, with the inaugural holder ironically being the last holder of the WWWA World Single Championship - Nanae Takahashi. Since 2011, the belt has been held by the promotions top stars including Io Shirai, Mayu Iwatani and Kairi Hojo (known to most WWE fans as Kairi Sane), as well as gaijin wrestlers like Toni Storm, and most recently Bea Priestley. As of today, only two women have held the belt more than once in Shirai and Iwatani (both with 2 reigns.) The longest single reign currently - at the time of writing - stands at 606 days when held by inaugural champion Nanae Takahashi between 2011 and 2013, while Io Shirai holds the record for both combined defences at 24, and combined days with the championship at 1,014.

Brief Championship History

Championship Histories are accurate as of the 31st December 2021

Champions as of the 31st December 2021 will be highlighted in yellow

1. Nanae Takahashi, 1st Reign (602 days), 7 Successful Title Defences

2. Alpha Female, 1st Reign (43 days), 0 Successful Title Defences

3. Io Shirai, 1st Reign (468 days), 10 Successful Title Defences

4. Yoshiko, 1st Reign (197 days), 2 Successful Title Defences*

VACANT

5. Kairi Hojo, 1st Reign (119 days), 3 Successful Title Defences

6. Meiko Satomura, 1st Reign (150 days), 1 Successful Title Defence

7. Io Shirai, 2nd Reign (546 days), 14 Successful Title Defences

8. Mayu Iwatani, 1st Reign (95 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

9. Toni Storm, 1st Reign (258 days), 3 Successful Title Defences

10. Kagetsu, 1st Reign (329 days), 8 Successful Title Defences

11. Bea Priestely, 1st Reign (184 days), 5 Successful Title Defences

12. Mayu Iwatani, 2nd Reign (377 days), 5 Successful Title Defences

13. Utami Hayashishita, 1st Reign (409 days), 9 Successful Title Defences

14. Syuri, 1st Reign (2 days), 0 Successful Title Defences

*Yoshiko was forced to vacate the championship after an incident that occurred in February 2015, where Yoshiko began viciously attacking Act Yasukawa in what has since become known as 'The Ghastly Match'. Yoshiko would go on to break Act's cheek, orbital and nasal bones before the match was thrown out. Yoshiko was stripped of the belt and she was fired from the company.

Year in Review

This year has been the year of Utami Hayashishita in terms of the World of Stardom Championship. Racking up seven defences in 2021, Utami has consistently been at the top of her game and has repeatedly proved wrong those that doubted her in the early days of her reign. After an excellent match against Maika at the 10th Anniversary Show in Korakuen Hall, Utami and the red belt were bumped down the card in favour of the white belt match at the historic Budokan Show in March and then again, puzzlingly, for the Goddesses of Stardom tag belts in Yokohama in April. 

Though this shook Hayashishita and sparked rumours of Stardom’s lack of faith in their young champion, Utami set about doing what she does best; putting on excellent matches. Her matches with Saya Kamitani and Bea Priestly on the aforementioned Budokan and Yokohama cards are absolutely outstanding and surpassed even the most optimistic of expectations. 

Then came the Syuri match; a match that broke Dave Meltzer’s coveted ratings scale for the first time in Joshi history, and seemed to have the entire wrestling world talking about the company. 

Though her defence against Natsuko Tora in July was thrown out after 11 minutes due to a legitimate injury to the Oedo Tai leader’s knee, Utami’s - and the red belt’s - place at the pinnacle of the card was never again questioned, and she repaid the company’s faith by continuing to put on excellent defences. Her subsequent matches with Takumi Iroha in Osaka jo-Hall, the returning Hazuki in a match of the year candidate in Kawasaki and in a rematch with Maika in Tokyo are all outstanding in their own ways, telling different stories with Utami proving again and again just how much of a charismatic star she is, oozing with more and more confidence every time she steps through the curtain. 

The year ended at Sumo Hall, in front of the second biggest crowd of the year, which saw a rematch between Syuri and Utami, with the Donna Del Mondo member becoming the 14th World of Stardom Champion, finally usurping Utami and ending her reign at 409 days and 9 successful title defences in a masterclass of storytelling.

After a slow start where some doubted the belt’s value around the waist of Utami, it’s undeniable that this year has been one of the most consistently brilliant in its 10 year history, providing us with multiple matches that would make any top 10 list. 

Wonder of Stardom Championship (The White Belt)

Introduced on the same day as the World of Stardom Championship, The Wonder of Stardom Title - or The White Belt - is the secondary singles championship in the company. Again, the colour pays homage to the AJW promotion, this time time to the colour of the All Pacific Championship, which was famously referred to as the White Belt.

The inaugural champion was Yuzuki Aikawa, who is also currently the longest reigning champion with a single title reign of 616 days, only relinquishing the belt upon her retirement from professional wrestling in 2013. Originally, the idea was that only Japanese wrestlers could wrestle for this championship, but this rule has since been relaxed, with Dark Angel becoming the first of two gaijin champions (the other being Santana Garrett.) Even though Aikawa holds the record for days in a single reign and the combined reigns with the championship, it is Momo Watanabe who holds the record for most defences - 13 in her almost year long stint with the belt between 2018 and 2019.

Brief Championship History

Championship Histories are accurate as of the 31st December 2021

Champions as of the 31st December 2021 will be highlighted in yellow

1. Yuzuki Aikawa, 1st Reign (618 days), 8 Successful Title Defences*

VACANT

2. Dark Angel, 1st Reign (189 days), 3 Successful Title Defences

3. Act Yasukawa, 1st Reign (234 days), 4 Successful Title Defences**

VACANT

4. Mayu Iwatani, 1st Reign (175 days),2 Successful Title Defences

5. Act Yasukawa, 2nd Reign (103 days), 0 Successful Title Defences***

VACANT

6. Io Shirai, 1st Reign (190 days), 7 Successful Title Defences

7. Santana Garrett, 1st Reign (174 days), 9 Successful Title Defences

8. Kairi Hojo, 1st Reign (364 days), 8 Successful Title Defences

9. Mayu Iwatani, 2nd Reign (132 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

10. Yoko Bito, 1st Reign (57 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

11. Io Shirai, 2nd Reign (185 days), 10 Successful Title Defences

12. Momo Watanabe, 1st Reign (358 days), 13 Successful Title Defences

13. Arisa Hoshiki, 1st Reign (370 days), 10 Successful Title Defences****

VACANT

14. Giulia, 1st Reign (220 days), 6 Successful Title Defences

15. Tam Nakano, 1st Reign (301 days), 6 Successful Title Defences

16. Saya Kamitani, 1st Reign (2 days), 0 Successful Title Defences

*Yuzuki Aikawa vacated the championship upon her retirement on April 29th 2013. **Act Yasukawa vacated the championship after health issues brought on by thyroid deterioration related to Grave's Disease.

***Act Yasukawa vacated the belt on 1st May 2015 due to injuries she sustained during the match with Yoshiko in February.

****Arisa Hoshiki vacated the championship upon her retirement on May 20th 2020 due to head and neck injuries.

Year in Review

After winning the white belt as part of a four-woman tournament - also including Tam Nakano, Konami and Natsuko Tora - and holding onto it through to the new year, Giulia continued her imperious march towards Nippon Budokan with wins in a divisive No Rules match at the 10th Anniversary show against Natsuko Tora, and in a bonified Match of the Year candidate in February against Starlight Kid. One of Stardom’s feuds of 2020 in Giulia vs. Tam was subsequently re-ignited and made official for the Budokan show in March replete with a Hair vs. Hair stipulation. Such was the intensity and rivalry of the feud that it actually main-evented the show ahead of the red belt match, and would see Tam win the belt - her first singles title in Stardom - ending Giulia’s reign at 220 days.

Though arguably Tam’s title defences never reached the level of her Giulia match in terms of drama and intensity - somewhat understandably when you consider the feud, and how long it had been built - she still managed to put exceptional matches with the likes of Natsupoi and Starlight Kid, whilst also elevating the likes of Unagi Sayaka and Mina Shirakawa to some of their best singles matches in the company. Though her remaining two successful defences - her first defence against former pupil Saya Kamitani in July and against former friend Mayu Iwatani in October - were polarising amongst Western fans at least, it’s impossible to say that her defences weren’t all different in their composition and engaging in their execution, with some of the best storytelling in the company, elevating Tam to being one of the best underdog babyfaces in Stardom in the process.

Goddesses of Stardom Championships

The Goddesses of Stardom Championships are the Tag Team belts for the promotion, and were introduced in August 2011. The first Goddesses of STARDOM Tag League was used to crown the inaugural champions, with BY Hou (Yoko Bito and Yuzuki Aikawa) defeating the team of Yoshiko and Natsuki☆Taiyo, before going on to hold the belts for 433 days, a record reign at the time of writing.

Since then, a total of 24 wrestlers in 17 teams have held the belts. Kyoko Kimura, Kairi Hojo and Jungle Kyona have each held the belts 3 times, while Kagetsu has held the belts for the longest combined time at 536 days. The reign of the 19th Goddesses of STARDOM Champions, the Oedo Tai team of Bea Priestley and Jamie Hayter, is significant due to them being the first all-gaijin team to hold the belts since their inception.

Brief Championship History

Championship Histories are accurate as of the 31st December 2021

Champions as of the 31st December 2021 will be highlighted in yellow

1. BY Gun (Yoko Bito [1] & Yuzuki Aikawa [1]), 1st Reign (311 days), 2 Successful Title Defences*

VACANT

2. Kawasaki Katsushika Saikyou Densetsu (Natsuki☆Taiyo [1] & Yoshiko [1]), 1st Reign (112 days), 3 Successful Title Defences

3. Kimura Monster-gun (Hailey Hatred [1] & Kyoko Kimura [1]), 1st Reign (43 days), 0 Successful Title Defences

4. Ho-Show Tennyo (Kairi Hojo [1] & Natsumi Showzuki [1]), 1st Reign (42 days), 0 Successful Title Defences**

VACANT

5. Nanamiho (Miho Wakizawa [1] & Nanae Takahashi [1]), 1st Reign (195 days), 1 Successful Title Defence

6. Kimura Monster-gun (Alpha Female [1] & Kyoko Kimura [2]), 2nd Reign (196 days), 3 Successful Title Defences

7. 7Kairi (Kairi Hojo [2] & Nanae Takahashi [2]), 1st Reign (≈248 days), 4 Successful Title Defences***

VACANT

8. Thunder Rock (Mayu Iwatani [1] & Io Shirai [1]), 1st Reign (407 days), 11 Successful Title Defences

9. Oedo Tai (Kagetsu [1] & Kyoko Kimura [3]), 1st Reign (189 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

10. BY-Ho (Kairi Hojo [3] & Yoko Bito [2]), 1st Reign (73 days), 1 Successful Title Defence

11. Team Jungle (Jungle Kyona [1] & Hiroyo Matsumoto [1]), 1st Reign (108 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

12. Oedo Tai (Kagetsu [2] & Hana Kimura [1]), 2nd Reign (347 days), 8 Successful Title Defences

13. STARS (Mayu Iwatani [2] & Saki Kashima [1]), 1st Reign (119 days), 3 Successful Title Defences

14. J.A.N (Jungle Kyona [2] & Natsuko Tora [1]), 1st Reign (54 days), 0 Successful Title Defences

15. Queen's Quest (Momo Watanabe [1] & Utami Hayashishita [1]), 1st Reign (234 days), 6 Successful Title Defences

16. Tokyo Cyber Squad (Jungle Kyona [3] & Konami [1]), 1st Reign (188 days), 3 Successful Title Defences

17. Oedo Tai (Bea Priestley [1] & Jamie Hayter [1]), 3rd Reign (183 days), 1 Successful Title Defence****

VACANT

18. Queen's Quest/AphroditE [Saya Kamitani [1] & Utami Hayashishita [2]), 2nd Reign (153 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

19. Oedo Tai/Black Widows (Bea Priestley [2] & Konami [2]), 4th Reign (50 days), 1 Successful Title Defence

20. Donna Del Mondo/MaiHime [Himeka [1] & Maika [1]), 1st Reign (49 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

21. Donna Del Mondo/Alto Livello KABALIWAN [Giulia [1] & Syuri [1]), 2nd Reign (271 days), 4 Successful Title Defences

*BY Gun vacated the championships after Yoko Bito sustained a cervical hernia injury which side-lined her from competition.

**Ho-Show Tennyo vacated the championships after Natsumi Showzuki sustained a cervical spine injury which side-lined her from competition.

***7Kairi vacated the championships after Nanae Takahashi sustained an ankle injury which side-lined her from competition. The exact date for the vacation of the championships is uncertain, but is thought to have been in April 2015 meaning their reign stands between 234 and 263 days.

****Jamie Hayter & Bea Priestley vacated the championships as, due to COVID-19 restrictions, they were unable to travel to Japan to defend the belts.

Year in Review

Having won the belts on the last show of 2020, the Oedo Tai team of Bea Priestley and Konami defended the belts at Stardom’s debut at Belle Salle Takadanobaba in an underwhelming match against the Donna Del Mondo team of Himeka and Natsupoi. Himeka then found another partner in stablemate Maika, and the pair would go on to win the belts at Stardom Go To Budokan Valentine Special in February at Korakuen Hall, ending Bea and Konami’s reign at just 50 days and after a sole successful title defence.

At Budokan, Maika and Himeka would see off the Oedo Tai challenge of Natsuko Tora and Saki Kashima, and would then defeat the Cosmic Angels team of newly-recovered Mina Shirakawa and Unagi Sayaka less than two weeks later at Shinjuku FACE. Unit rivalry would them come calling as Maika and Himeka challenged Giulia and Syuri to a match at Yokohama Dream Cinderella 2021 in Spring at Yokohama Budokan - a match that would ultimately headline that show. After almost going to the 30 minute time limit, Giulia and Syuri came out on top, ending Maika and Himeka’s run with the belts at 49 days.

Giulia and Syuri, now re-christened Alto Livello KABALIWAN (which means High Level Madness) or ALK for short, went on somewhat of a tear after April, proceeding to put on excellent matches againsy MOMOAZ and MK Sisters during Golden Week, before rebuffing another STARS challenge, this time from Mayu Iwatani and Koguma, at Yokohama in July before their final defence saw them defeat ex-champions AphroditE on the 22nd July in Sapporo.

Unfortunately, Giulia would then have to take time away from the ring in the middle of August due to a neck injury, and wouldn’t return until the final show of the year at Sumo Hall on December 29th. Not only did this mean that we were robbed of more excellent title defences from one of the best teams to hold the belts, but also that the belts were held in utter obscurity from August onwards, an afterthought even at the Tag League final where Koguma (the eventual winner alongside partner Hazuki) was more bothered about tabling her challenge for the High-Speed belt, and the main angle after the win was Momo Watanabe and Starlight Kid’s spat ahead of Osaka Super Wars.

Whether it is right that Giulia wasn’t made to vacate the tag titles, or that Syuri wasn’t made to fight with a proxy, especially as Giulia’s injury kept her out of action for the last third of the year, is a point of contention. However, the saddest part is that after all the work ALK did to make the titles relevant and the matches must-see, the flame sputtered and died with no ceremony at the end of the year. A real shame.

Artist of Stardom Championships

Serving as the Six-Woman Tag Team belts for Stardom, the Artist of Stardom Championships are unique in the fact that the belts are all different colours (one blue, one orange, and the other pink). The belts were introduced on Christmas Eve 2012 with a four-team tournament to crown the first champions, with the team of Act Yasukawa, Saki Kashima and Natsuki☆Taiyo becoming the inaugural champions in January 2013.

Since then, Io Shirai has held the belts 6 times as part of 6 different teams, while Mayu Iwatani has held the belts cumulatively for the longest time, with a combined reign of 824 days. The longest single reign with the belts was achieved by the STARS team of Mayu Iwatani, Tam Nakano and Saki Kashima in 2018, at a total of 245 days. In 2021, the Cosmic Angels team of Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa and Unagi Sayaka broke the record for successful defences in a single reign, defending the belt 7 times in their 208-day run with the belts.

Brief Championship History

Championship Histories are accurate as of the 31st December 2021

Champions as of the 31st December 2021 will be highlighted in yellow

1. Kawasaki Katsushika Saikyou Densetsu (Act Yasukawa [1], Natsuki☆Taiyo [1] & Saki Kashima [1]), 1st Reign (115 days), 0 Successful Title Defences*

VACANT

2. Chibis (Kairi Hojo [1], Yuhi [1] & Kaori Yoneyama [1]), 1st Reign (134 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

3. Kimura Monster-gun (Kyoko Kimura [1], Alpha Female [1] & Female Predator Amazon [1]), 1st Reign (55 days), 0 Successful Title Defences

4. Tawashis (Hiroyo Matsumoto [1], Mayu Iwatani [1] & Miho Wakizawa [1]), 1st Reign (134 days), 4 Successful Title Defences

5. Tomodachi Mania (Hatsuhinode Kamen [1], Tsubasa Kuragaki [1] & Kaori Yoneyama [2]), 1st Reign (119 days), 0 Successful Title Defences

6. Heisei-gun (Io Shirai [1], Mayu Iwatani [2] & Takumi Iroha [1]), 1st Reign (128 days), 1 Successful Title Defence**

VACANT

7. Candy Crush (Kairi Hojo [2], Chelsea [1] & Koguma [1]), 1st Reign (209 days), 0 Successful Title Defences***

VACANT

8. Team Hyper Destroyers (Hiroyo Matsumoto [2], Evie [1] & Kellie Skater [1]), 1st Reign (84 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

9. Threedom (Kairi Hojo [3], Mayu Iwatani [3] & Io Shirai [2]), 1st Reign (217 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

10. Oedo Tai (Kagetsu [1], Hana Kimura [1] & Kyoko Kimura [2]), 1st Reign (97 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

11. Queen's Quest (Io Shirai [3], Momo Watanabe [1] & Hazuki [1]), 1st Reign (92 days), 0 Successful Title Defences****

VACANT

12. Queen's Quest (Io Shirai [4], AZM [1] & Hazuki [2]), 2nd Reign (21 days), 0 Successful Title Defences

13. Kairi Hojo [4], Konami [1] & Hiromi Mimura [1]), 1st Reign (29 days), 1 Successful Title Defence

14. Queen's Quest (Io Shirai [5], AZM [2] & Hazuki [3]), 3rd Reign (13 days), 0 Successful Title Defences

15. Team Jungle (Hiroyo Matsumoto [3], Jungle Kyona [1] & Kaori Yoneyama [3]), 1st Reign (57 days), 0 Successful Title Defences

16. Queen's Quest (Io Shirai [6], Viper [1] & Hazuki [4]), 4th Reign (245 days), 3 Successful Title Defences*****

VACANT

17. J.A.N (Jungle Kyona [2], Natsuko Tora [1] & Kaori Yoneyama [4]), 1st Reign (126 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

18. STARS (Mayu Iwatani [4], Tam Nakano [1] & Saki Kashima [2]), 1st Reign (228 days), 4 Successful Title Defences

19. Tokyo Cyber Squad (Hana Kimura [2], Jungle Kyona [4] & Konami [2]), 1st Reign (38 days), 1 Successful Title Defence

20. STARS (Mayu Iwatani [5], Tam Nakano [2] & Saki Kashima [3]), 2nd Reign (27 days), 1 Successful Title Defence

21. Oedo Tai (Kagetsu [2], Andras Miyagi [1] & Natsu Sumire [1]), 2nd Reign (126 days), 1 Successful Title Defence

22. Queen's Quest (Momo Watanabe [2], AZM [3] & Utami Hayashishita [1]), 5th Reign (77 days), 1 Successful Title Defence

23. Donna Del Mondo (Giulia [1], Maika [1] & Syuri [1]), 1st Reign (280 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

24. Oedo Tai (Bea Priestley [1], Natsuko Tora [2] & Saki Kashima [4]), 3rd Reign (32 days), 0 Successful Title Defences

25. Cosmic Angels (Tam Nakano [3], Mina Shirakawa [1] & Unagi Syaka [1]), 1st Reign (291 days), 7 Successful Title Defences

26. Donna Del Mondo (Himeka [1], Maika [2] & Natsupoi [1]), 2nd Reign (89 days), 4 Successful Title Defences

*Kawasaki Katsushika Saikyou Denetsu vacated the championships after Act Yasukawa sustained a cervical spine injury which side-lined her from competition, and Saki Kashima was side-lined through 'poor health'.

**Heisei-gun vacated the championships after Takumi Iroha sustained a ruptured ACL which side-lined her from competition.

***Candy Crush vacated the championships after Koguma was fired from the promotion in September of 2015.

****Queen's Quest vacated the championships after Momo Watanabe sustained an injury which side-lined her from competition.

*****The belts were vacated as a result of the 2018 Stardom draft.

Year in Review

It’s an unfortunate truth that many wrestling companies don’t actually care for their trios belts. Stardom was no different, often hot-potatoing the belts from one unit to another, giving it to the hottest or newest property of the time. It goes someway to explaining why the successful defence record at the start of 2021 was 4 and why no single reign has exceeded 280 days.

This year however it must be said that far more effort has been placed into booking the Artist of Stardom belts than in many previous years, boosted no doubt by the fact that the belts were chosen to main-event Korakuen Hall shows on multiple occasions this year.

Cosmic Angels, given the belts in late 2020 in an attempt to solidify the new unit’s status, worked wonders with the titles this year, making them feel important by actually treating them as something worth losing; a novel concept. They fought tooth-and-nail to keep them in excellent bouts against STARS and Queen’s Quest in March at back-to-back Korakuen Hall shows and showed genuine desire and care to break the successful title defence record; something they did in late April against the Oedo Tai team of Natsuko Tora, Saki Kashima and Fukigen Death. Far from a prop, the belts were a symbol of solidarity and unity for Cosmic Angels, and thus people actually found themselves caring about the belts. Further successful defences in the form of a rare 30 minute time limit draw with Donna Del Mondo, before a further two defences against Oedo Tai in June and Queen’s Quest in July put their successful defence tally at 7. Further good news would follow for Tam Nakano’s team as on Thursday 23rd September, Cosmic Angels became the longest reigning Artist of Stardom Champions, breaking the Donna Del Mondo team of Giulia, Maika and Syuri’s reign of 280 days.

Every good thing must come to an end however, and Cosmic Angels would lose the belts in a rematch with the Donna Del Mondo team of Maika, Himeka and Natsupoi (MaiHimePoi) in October in Nagoya, bringing to an end Cosmic Angels’ record-breaking reign at 291 days.

After defending the belts in Osaka-jo Hall against Queen’s Quest, Donna Del Mondo put up their championships in a ¥ 10,000,000 unit tournament at Osaka Super Wars at EDION Arena Osaka. The tournament included four teams; STARS (Mayu Iwatani, Hazuki and Koguma), Donna Del Mondo, Cosmic Angels (Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa and Unagi Sayaka) and a team from Marvelous (Takumi Iroha, Rin Kadokura and Maria). Donna Del Mondo retained in their match against Team Marvelous, and then would retain a second time in the main event against STARS in Stardom’s first ever ladder match.

A final defence of the year came at Sumo Hall, where Donna Del Mondo would successfully defend their belts for the 4th time against Cosmic Angels, bringing to an end a year where far more focus was put on the Artist of Stardom Championship belts, and where a lot of right things were done in terms of the division as a whole.

SWA World Women’s Undisputed Championship

Officially standing for the Stardom World Association Championship, the belt was created on May 21st 2016 during a 3-day European Tour. It began life as a flagship title of the Stardom World Association - which was an alliance between Stardom and a handful of other wrestling promotions outside of Japan such as WWS (Mexican Women's Wrestling Stars), RCW (Revolution Championship Wrestling), ABS Catch (Association Biterroise de Catch) and BEW (British Empire Wrestling.)

The rules of the championship are unique in the fact that the champion can only defend the belt against challengers from other countries.

There have been 7 wrestlers to hold the title thus far, each having held it once. Toni Storm currently holds the record for the longest reign, with a reign of 612 days, defending it a record 15 times.

Brief Championship History

Championship Histories are accurate as of the 31st December 2021

Champions as of the 31st December 2021 will be highlighted in yellow

1. Io Shirai, 1st Reign (64 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

2. Toni Storm, 1st Reign (612 days), 15 Successful Title Defences

3. Viper, 1st Reign (292 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

4. Utami Hayashishita, 1st Reign (377 days), 3 Successful Title Defences

5. Jamie Hayter, 1st Reign (≈230 days), 0 Successful Title Defences*

VACANT

6. Bea Priestley, 1st Reign (43 days), 0 Successful Title Defences

7. Syuri, 1st Reign (411 days), 9 Successful Title Defences

*Jamie Hayter vacated the championship as, due to COVID-19 restrictions, she was unable to travel to Japan to defend the belt. The exact date for the vacation of the championship is uncertain, but is thought to have been in September 2020 meaning her reign stands between 219 and 248 days.

Year in Review

It’s been somewhat of a roller-coaster year for the SWA Undisputed World Women’s Championship, a belt that often finds itself hamstrung by its own rule set.

On the one hand, dominant champion Syuri has held the belt for the entire year, amassing an unbroken reign of 411 days, and defending successfully 8 times in the year 2021. The first three of those aforementioned defences - against Momo Watanabe in January, AZM at Korakuen in February, and especially against former student Konami at Budokan in March - were excellent, noteworthy matches.

However, the problems came after Syuri’s well-deserved win of the 2021 5Star Grand Prix. With Stardom’s decision to have Syuri defend the contract in a series of matches leading from her win in September to her match with Utami on December 29th, came the decision to also have Syuri defend the SWA belt in those same matches. With the company very obviously heading towards a Syuri vs. Utami rematch at Sumo Hall in December after their instant classic in June, it became obvious that Syuri would not be dropping the contract before the rematch. Of course, that would by definition mean that Syuri would also not be dropping the SWA belt before then either.

As a bi-product of this, her intervening defences against Saki Kashima on October 9th and AZM on November 3rd suffered due to the predictability of the result. Even her final defence before Sumo Hall, an excellent UWF Rules rematch against Konami at Tokyo Super Wars, lost a little of its drama.

The unpredictability factor came back into play when it was announced that not only would there be no time limit to Syuri’s main event match against Utami at Stardom Dream Queendom, but it would also be a match for the both Utami’s World of Stardom Championship and SWA Undisputed World Women’s Championship. With Syuri coming out on top in what was another outstanding entry into their storied rivalry this year, she held onto the SWA belt for her ninth successful defence as well as gaining the World of Stardom Championship. In terms of days held, and successful title defences, Syuri sits in 2nd on the all-time list for the SWA belt, behind Toni Storm in both categories.

High-Speed Championship

Originally a belt created by the NEO Japanese Ladies Promotion in 2009, Stardom gained the rights to the belt in 2010 when NEO folded at the end of the year. The title, as the name alludes to, is defended in short, quick-paced matches usually comprising the higher-flying wrestlers on the roster.

Natsuki☆Taiyo, the champion when NEO closed its doors for the final time, holds the record for most championship reigns with 4 (though 2 of those were in the NEO promotion), has had the longest single title reign at 676 days, the longest combined reign with 1,203 days over those 4 reigns, and has defended the belt a combined 12 times.

Brief Championship History

Championship Histories are accurate as of the 31st December 2021

Champions as of the 31st December 2021 will be highlighted in yellow

1. Natsuki☆Taiyo, 1st Reign (138 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

2. Kaori Yoneyama, 1st Reign (175 days),1 Successful Title Defence

3. Natsuki☆Taiyo, 2nd Reign (258 days), 3 Successful Title Defences

4. Leon, 1st Reign (239 days), 4 Successful Title Defences

5. Natsuki☆Taiyo, 3rd Reign (679 days), 4 Successful Title Defences

6. Kaori Yoneyama, 2nd Reign (210 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

7. Natsuki☆Taiyo, 4th Reign (128 days), 3 Successful Title Defences

8. Io Shirai, 1st Reign (292 days), 2 Successful Title Defences

9. Koguma, 1st Reign (84 days), 1 Successful Title Defence

10. Star Fire, 1st Reign (129 days), 1 Successful Title Defence

11. La Rosa Negra, 1st Reign (18 days), 0 Successful Title Defences

12. Mayu Iwatani, 1st Reign (501 days), 9 Successful Title Defences

13. Kris Wolf, 1st Reign (143 days), 5 Successful