A song everyone should listen to:

HANABIE – “OTAKU Lovely Densetsu”

Effective February 4, 2024, Rossy Ogawa is no longer with STARDOM. The co-founder of the promotion was terminated by Bushiroad (who are also affiliated with New Japan Pro Wrestling) for allegedly poaching talent for a new  promotion.

Months ago, Rossy made is known internally of his intentions to start a new promotion aside from STARDOM. Quietly securing some of  STARDOM’s own talent for his own was frowned upon by Bushiroad, and for good reason (if true). Even Tony Khan seemed happy with the news of Ogawa’s departure, amidst rumors that Ogawa was poaching STARDOM talent for WWE.

However, Ogawa strictly denies poaching talent at all, either to WWE, or his own future promotion. Regardless of any rumors or allegations, how will this affect Joshi wrestling moving forward, even for Western audiences? Let’s dig in.

Bushiroad’s Mismanagement of STARDOM

It seems that not all is well when it comes to the Bushiroad/STARDOM relationship. The parent company of New Japan Pro Wrestling, Bushiroad acquired STARDOM in 2019. While notable changes were made, including featuring STARDOM talent on NJPW shows, rumors have persisted of general mismanagement of STARDOM all together.

Giulia has been outspoken in her distaste for how Bushiroad was running the promotion from a business standpoint. They have allegedly urged Rossy to book more “gimmicky” shows for western audience appeal, but increased the show schedule as well.

In an interview in November of 2023, Giulia would bring this mismanagement to attention:  “The thing that Rossy Ogawa has built is being destroyed…”

This has been seen in STARDOM’s heavy schedule, as a slew of injuries have plagued the promotion over 2023. Current IWGP Women’s Champion Mayu Iwatani was injured up until December of 2023. Tam Nakano, Natsupoi, Waka Tsukiyama, Saki Kashima, Koguma, and many others have either just returned from injury, or are still currently out.

As Redditor MrDaark put it in a related post:

“BushiRoad has been doing a horrible job with both NJPW and Stardom since the purchase. BushiRoad is treating Stardom the way investors always treat acquired companies. They are beating it like a piñata until every last dollar comes out, and then they are going to ditch the dried out husk when they are finished.”

This is just one person’s opinion, seemingly shared by a chunk of fans. Let’s hope this isn’t the hard truth, mainly for the sake of the talent. For STARDOM’s talented roster, they should be repeated with as much respect to their mental and physical health as possible. If problems persist in Bushiroad, this needs to be corrected immediately.

Rossy is (mostly) Respected by Many

If Rossy were to start his own promotion, he might bring a number of STARDOM talents with him when many contracts are up in March. According to Dave Meltzer, it’s possible Giulia has delayed her WWE signing to help Rossy start his new women’s promotion.

And this makes sense. Rossy Ogawa is a generally admired figure in Joshi wrestling by fans and talent alike. He has been a major figure in the Joshi scene since the 70s. What you see from STARDOM largely comes from Rossy himself. We can’t speculate what talents could follow him to a new promotion, but we can assume much like the AJPW exodus to NOAH in 2000, some names will likely follow him.

Mayu Iwatani has a good relationship with Rossy, and she’s a locker room leader. It wouldn’t surprise me to see both Giulia and Mayu land in Rossy’s new promotion if and when that comes to fruition.

And how does this affect the Stardom/AEW/WWE relationship?

Well…

An Exodus to AEW/WWE?

Could we see Mina Shirakawa reunited with Mariah May in AEW? Does Rossy’s firing secure Giulia’s eventual future with WWE? According to Tokyo Sports, current STARDOM President Taro Okada has confirmed that several wrestlers within STARDOM intend to leave when their contract is up.

Does this mean talents may test the freelance waters before landing elsewhere entirely? Or perhaps a move within Japan to a promotion like Tokyo Joshi Pro or Ice Ribbon. It’s fitting that STARDOM is running a show in Philadelphia on Wrestlemania weekend on April 4th. Will this tempt current talents to venture beyond STARDOM into the United States and beyond?

According to the same reports, “popular talents” are ones rumored to have interest in leaving. Does this mean Mayu Iwatani, Utami Hayashishita, Maika, Natsupoi, or even Tam Nakano? Any of these names out of STARDOM would be a gut punch to the promotion. Any of these names in WWE or AEW would be an upgrade to the women’s division.

It remains to be seen how this unfolds, but what we can try to determine is how it might affect other current promotions.

TJPW, Oz Academy, Ice Ribbon on the Rise?

There are many Joshi promotions in Japan. In fact, both WWE and AEW have worked with a number of them. So which promotions could benefit from a potential decrease in STARDOM popularity upon a talent exodus?

Ice Ribbon features the likes of Misa Kagura, Ibuki Hoshi, and Akane Fujita. Hikaru Shida is a notable alumni, and the promotion has the greatest women’s wrestler of all time in Manami Toyota as a Managing Supervisor.

Giulia is also a former Ice Ribbon alumni, though that ended on bad terms. There’s more drama with Ice Ribbon and STARDOM that is too much to get into at the moment. 

Mia Momono, Rina Yamashita, and Maya Yukihi are names to keep an eye on from hardcore Joshi promotion Oz Academy.

And of course, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, which features a few talents who have appeared on AEW shows. Current champion Miyu Yamashita, Yuki Aino, Hyper Misao, and of course, Maki Itoh, whom we all love and adore, are notable names.

Unpopular opinion: I think TJPW is just as good, if not better than STARDOM. 

Rossy’s departure, and imminent departure of other stars, opens up a hole in the Joshi scene. I could see a few promotions rise in popularity as a result, especially Tokyo Joshi Pro.

But what does the future hold for Joshi?

Stardom Will Be Fine

As far as STARDOM goes, they’ll be fine. They still have a chunk of great talents that will carry the promotion long after Giulia, or even Mayu are gone. They still have the reputation of being the #1 Joshi promotion, and with names like Maika, Suzu Suzuki, Hazuki, Thekla, Utami, Syuri, and many others I’m not listing — STARDOM will be fine.

They have a loyal fan base, and the real question remains is how it’s run by Bushiroad influence. Even if questionably managed, Bushiroad has money and reach, and will likely continue to bring in fresh new talent for the promotion.

STARDOM may lose some stars, but they aren’t going anywhere.

The Future of Joshi

Formed in December of 2023, United Japan Pro Wrestling serves as partnership for Japanese promotions to work inside of the U.S. Essentially, a way for multiple promotions to share resources and talent.

This list includes:

In short, Rossy’s exit may open up more opportunities for a working U.S./Japan relationship, as well as more exposure to more Joshi promotions. I am a huge STARDOM fan, but they aren’t the be-all/end-all of joshi. While many popular names you know have passed through the ranks of STARDOM (Toni Storm, Io Sky, KAIRI, Jamie Hayter, Dakota Kai, Mercedes Mone, etc.), plenty of well-known made their way to the top without STARDOM.

This includes Asuka, Hikaru Shida, Yuka Sakazaki, and even Maki Itoh given her large popularity in the U.S. You can include Riho as well, as her time in STARDOM was very short-lived.

The future of Joshi is bright. And perhaps this move opens up more doors than we realize. Both in bringing Joshi to U.S. audiences, but Joshi to mainstream American promotions. More exposure of other Joshi promotions beyond STARDOM means more opportunities elsewhere.

I would love to see Miyu Yamashita back in AEW, or Mayu Iwatani herself; as well as a Club Venus reunion with Mariah May and Mina Shirakawa. And if Giulia does end up with WWE, why not bring the likes of Maika or Thekla with her and reunite Donna Del Mondo?

In the end, this might be the best thing to ever happen to Joshi. I guess I’ll stay on the positive end of this one. More to come as this unfolds…

tokusenwrestling@yahoo.com

The post What Does Rossy’s Exit from STARDOM Mean for Joshi? appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

 

Last week on AEW’s Battle of the Belts, AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm took on Taya Valkyrie. Due to weather issues (fitting for a match with a competitor named ‘Storm’), the live feed cut out more than half way through, leaving a black screen.

What a perfect metaphor for the state of the AEW Women’s Division, eh?

It’s been over four years, and to this day, it’s the same formula for this division put on repeat: One match per show — maybe one storyline at a time — minimal investment. Pop Quiz: How many current women’s storylines exist right in now AEW?

If you responded with ‘0’, you would be correct. 

This was made worse by the random and directionless squash match on last night’s Blood & Guts episode of Dynamite, where Britt Baker picked up a win over Kayla Sparks in 66 seconds.

This was the only women’s segment on the entire show.

Look, guys, this is not hard. Booking women’s wrestling, even competently, is not difficult. It’s just as easy as booking the men. In fact, here are five easy steps to get there. (But what do I know, right? I’ve only been a women’s wrestling fan for over three decades…)

 

What History Says

There have been plenty of notable women’s wresting feuds in the sport’s history. From Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong to Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus, successfully booking women’s wrestling is not some steep mountain to climb.

In fact, here is a shortlist of just some of the greatest feuds and stories in women’s wresting history:

-Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong (TNA/Impact)
-Bayley’s Ascension in NXT (NXT)
-MsChif vs. Cheerleader Melissa (SHIMMER)
-Lita vs. Trish (WWE)
-Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada (AJWPW)
-Alundra Blayze Vs. Bull Nakano (WWE)
-Giulia vs. Tam Nakano (Stardom)
-Becky Lynch becoming “The Man” (WWE)
-Maki Itoh vs. Miyu Yamashita (TJPW)
-Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair (WWE)
-Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa (AEW)

The list goes on and on; insert your own…

At this point, you might retort: “wOmEN’s wReStLinG iSnT a dRAw!”

Nothing is a draw anymore. Fans are loyal to their brand of choice. If the needle moves at all, it’s only very slightly. TV ratings aren’t nearly as important as they once were, and both USA and WBD are happy with the ratings their wrestling brand is getting them.

We have two top promotions that are both doing well. Comparing the business aspects of WWE and AEW is like trying to compare Starbucks (#1) with Dunkin’ (#2) in the coffee business world. Both are doing well.  (Though if you drink Dunkin’ you’re a monster, but I digress…)

McMahon and Khan can largely put whatever they want on their shows, and in the niche amount of an estimated 4-5 million U.S. fans, they will still mostly tune in. But even with that likelihood, it’s just beginning to become embarrassing to watch women in AEW because of how criminally underutilized they are. It’s not hard to book women’s wrestling in AEW, and it won’t even take up that much more time on shows. So without further adieu, here are five easy steps to get there…

 

Step 1: Bring the Doctor Back

Love her, hate her; it doesn’t matter. Baker always gets a reaction from the crowd, and remains the centerpiece of this division — yet we rarely see her (sans last night’s random squash).

Imagine if Charlotte Flair or Becky Lynch was healthy and able in WWE and weren’t being booked. It’d be a bit of a head-scratcher. Baker needs to come back on a regular basis as the main focus of the AEW women’s division, and furthermore, come back as a heel.

We can predict that Jamie Hayter will be healthy by All In for her title rematch with Toni Storm in London. I cannot for the life of me explain how important it is for Baker to turn on Hayter and cost her the title in this match.

In fact, Baker does so because she wants to be the first ever two-time AEW Women’s Champion. Yes, Storm was an Interim Champion, but Baker doesn’t “recognize” Storm’s first (interim) reign, creating tension between herself,  Hayter, and the Outcasts. Britt is back to being out for herself, and may even start her own faction.

AEW desperately needs that weekly women’s flagship, and the doctor could use some new patients.

 

Step 2: Rule of Nines

I’m not talking about burn victims or a really good song by Spiritbox. Every show must have at least 9 women (minimum) featured on it in some form. Stardom doesn’t even run weekly shows, and yet a large chunk of their roster is well-known by their fans. But we’ll get to Stardom later.

Familiarity is the key reason for this.

You can even keep the same 1 match-per-show quota of women’s’ wrestling per week. But fill in the rest with short to long segments with other talents. Just get them on TV. Kris Statlander was chilling with the Best Friends in last night’s backstage promo. That counts! Julia Hart with the House of Black — that counts!

If you have a singles match, plus a vignette with The Outcasts, and a backstage interview with maybe two feuding tag teams — there’s nine. Easy.  A six-woman match plus an Outcasts segment makes nine. Easy. It’s not hard…

Women make up roughly 20% of the entire roster, yet are featured well less than 10% of nearly every show from Dynamite to Collision. With 30-40 men featured on average every show, having 9 or more women helps get to that 20% number.

Familiarity breeds investment. The Outcasts have slowly gotten over, and with Soho recently in the finals of the Owen Hart Tournament and Storm as a strong current world champion, it’s been working, believe it or not.

And it’s because they’re on television nearly every week. We can throw anywhere from 9-15 women’s wrestlers on television every week in some fashion.

But that brings us to the third step:

 

Step 3: (K.I.S.T.) Keep it Simple, Tony

Anyone remember Extreme Warfare Revenge (or Total Extreme Wrestling)? It’s a wresting booking simulator, and it’s quite fun. In the game, there are hundreds of storyline templates you can choose from to help carve out your super-feud in your promotion of choice.

Look, everything has been done in wrestling sans a few exceptions. Most wresting stories have a template to them, and creating successful women’s feuds doesn’t need to be difficult. It’s all in the excecutiion and in-ring storytelling, not the encompassing premise itself.

There are literally hundreds of movies, shows, and video games about vampires — all with similar storylines. Yet, some stand above the rest as high quality — no doubt because of the characters within the story, and how it was executed and performed. The same applies to pro wrestling. Take any random template of a story, and insert the right talent to make it their own.

In fact, here’s a literal template of feuds from TEW.

I’m not advocating for Khan to start playing TEW, but even the most simple of storytelling can go a long way. Hikaru Shida’s feud with Serena Deeb in 2021-22 was wonderful, yet simple. This isn’t rocket science; just find 2-4 competitors, create motivations which leads to conflicts, and let it play out week to week over 2-3 months time.

Khan doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel. Just create a simple story and let the women run with it in their own way.

There’s no reason why the AEW women can’t have 2-3 ongoing storylines at any given moment. Right now, that number is zero. Khan could take inspiration from historic older feuds and simply insert his women into them. This is okay — the characters are what make the feud — not the story on its own. Is MJF/Cole the only “unlikely tag partner” story in wrestling history? Of course not — but it’s MJF and Adam Cole, so they’re making it their own; and it’s been very entertaining.

More than anything, he has to at least try. But there’s an even easier way to make this happen…

 

Step 4: Use Stardom as Inspiration (Factions)

Why is Stardom such a hot product right now? Because they have a boatload of talented wrestlers who are having great matches in simple, yet well told stories and feuds. However, Stardom has a built-in method to easy storytelling — and that’s their faction format.

When you have members of opposing factions, creating singles and tag/trios feuds becomes very easy. Creating 4-5 factions in AEW for the women would make story-building that much easier. It not only gets more women on television (Rule of Nines), but creates an environment in which fans can root for specific wrestlers within a faction much like Stardom.

The men have stables: BCC, The Elite, Death Triangle, House of Black, Best Friends, etc. Why not the women? And hell, if you want to leave talents like Kris Statlander in Best Friends or align Jamie Hayter with the BCC, that’s fine. But let’s break most of the women off into their own factions.

A Britt heel turn could lead to Tay Melo and Anna Jay leaving the J.A.S. to join up with her as protégés, along with a veteran like Serena Deeb. The Outcasts could easily add Athena to their lineup and have it make perfect sense. Hikaru Shida, Willow Nightingale, Skye Blue, Yuka Sakazaki, and Riho could make for a babyface Stars inspired faction. Thunder Rosa, Kiera Hogan, Diamante, and Red Velvet is a cool Latin-inspired faction. And Julia Hart might as well start her own female version of the House of Black withy Abadon, The Bunny, and Penelope Ford.

Create your own. I don’t work for AEW.

The point is that it’s easy to do this, and you get built-in angles and easy conflicts from doing so. If Stardom can feature an array of factions that doesn’t even air weekly, Khan can make this happen on AEW programming between three different weekly shows.

 

Step 5: Tag Team Championships

We barely see the Trios Championship put on the line. The FTW championship was just defended after a long time without a defense. The hard truth is that you don’t need to defend championships all the time. It’s okay to have titles floating around that aren’t defended every week on television.

Remember what I said about built-in stories with the creation of factions? Adding a tag team championship to the mix only helps.

I wouldn’t even care if a championship like this is defended once a month, even on an AEW pre-show. It still legitimizes the division, and it puts these faces on our TV screens more.

Yes, there is enough talent to do this. We have around 30 women on the roster, which means 28 aren’t holding championships. I think making room for two more is not a problem.

It’s a great way to introduce some new factions and elevate the division as a whole.

Going Home

This is All Elite Wrestling — not Analytical Elite Wrestling.

Khan can take all the analytics he wants and shove em’. It’s not as if his TV ratings are improving hand-over-fist right now. The fan base has steadied, WBD is happy, and the 800K-1M mark is probably where the company will be at for some time. As long as AEW appears on cable every week, I’m a happy fan.

(unless you keep booking your women into the ground…)

Booking your women properly won’t do a damn thing to hurt ratings. Hell, they may even increase them and bring in some of the female demographic. But furthermore, what is truly accomplished here is this.

Respecting your women’s wrestlers. 

This is what it comes down to. Respect. The division isn’t booked with a shred of respect right now, and has been struggling to do so since AEW’s inception. Again, I repeat, booking professional wrestling is not hard. However, fitting the right pieces into place when it comes to characters and motivations is what makes the difference in any story and feud.

But it’s as if TK isn’t even trying. If I were Britt, Jamie, Toni, or Rosa — I would be disappointed at where the division currently is.

An afterthought.

It doesn’t have to be like this — because as mentioned, this can be easily done.

-T5W
t5wrestling@yahoo.com

The post How to Fix the AEW Women’s Division in Five Easy Steps appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

World Wonder Ring Stardom, commonly known as Stardom, was first established in late 2010 with its first official event taking place on January 23, 2011. The promotion came to be when Rossy Ogawa, All Japan Women co-producer, approached Fuka Kakimoto, a former mixed martial artist, about creating a company with Fuka’s student Yukuzi Aikawa as the top star. By August of 2011, Stardom had their version of the popular G1 tournament named The Five Star Grand Prix and it would become a staple of the promotion with the first winner being Yukuzi Aikawa. In that first year, wrestlers such as Io Shirai (Iyo Sky) and Kana (Asuka) were some of the more popular stars of Stardom. But that was just the beginning of it of the name recognition coming from Stardom.

Throughout the following years, there would be many wrestlers that we know in major companies that come from Stardom. Some notable names that have come from Stardom and have been focal points in AEW and WWE are Hikaru Shida, Toni Storm, Bea Priestley (Blair Davenport), KAIRI, Jamie Hayter, Ruby Soho, Piper Niven, and many more. Even with all the names from Stardom that are in conversations with the “big two promotions” in North America, how come Stardom isn’t discussed more? It may be due to how much wrestling is already on our television screens or it may be because people do not know where they can find Stardom. You can add another streaming service to your collection by downloading Stardom World or you can catch up with some highlights from Stardom’s official YouTube page. But what if you wanted to watch it on television like you can with WWE, AEW, and Impact Wrestling?

As it stands right now, there is no television deal for Stardom, though Rossy Ogawa and Bushiroad (new owners of Stardom and NJPW) have been discussing the possibilities of a television deal in Japan. Why stop at Japan though? Stardom should try to expand into North American television because a televised wrestling company focusing solely on female talent would probably succeed in the current climate of professional wrestling. With the lack of predominant women’s involvement in AEW and WWE, a good move for Stardom would be to find a way to get on to North American television screens. Fans have been clamoring for “more women’s wrestling” for the past few years, so why not try and capitalize on that demand?

By no means am I a Stardom historian, if you want to learn more then you should check out someone with extensive Stardom knowledge then you should check out Alex and Kayla of Church of Joshi. I do know that Stardom has fantastic wrestling weekly and should have a bigger platform to display it. Much like NJPW, Stardom is a niche part of the wrestling world but unlike NJPW, Stardom does not get a chance to really shine with events like Forbidden Door in AEW. The more eyes that can get on Stardom the better. That being said, check out the Stardom Youtube page and find a few matches you like. I recommend watching any of Guilia, AKM, Momo Watanabe, or any Club Venus matches if you want to try and get into Stardom. Stardom coming to North American viewers could be precisely what is needed to get other wrestling companies the kick in the pants needed to put women’s wrestling front and center of their companies.

The post Can Stardom work in North America? appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

No opponent has been named for this event.

Having an immediate event to attend, along with yesterday’s reporting about Mone’s new NJPW contract, should help end some speculation that Mone might be moving on after her NJPW title loss.

While speaking to Kakutolog, Bushiroad owner Takaaki Kidani commented on Mercedes’ future…

“Yes, I am very grateful to her. She is very easy to talk to. I hope that she will continue to be involved in whatever she does. She seems to be very fond of Japan. She stayed in Japan for quite a long period of time this time as well. I think the IWGP women’s division has become more ‘prestigious.’”

[ SOURCE: WrestlingObserver.com ]

The post Update on the status of Mercedes Mone (Sasha Banks) with New Japan following loss appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Didn't Dave say these were the best women's wrestlers? https://t.co/Gk4dltCC9o

— Glenn Gilbertti (@TheRealDisco) April 29, 2022

Disco re-tweeted a clip from Stardom’s Cinderella Finals with a comment about Dave Meltzer’s statement on Stardom having the best women’s wrestlers. Meltzer’s comments came off the heels of WWE star Becky Lynch’s comments on Featured Cut Of The Day.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think they’re represented the way that we are,” Lynch told Featured Cut Of The Day. “They don’t get as much time as we get, and frankly, they’re not as good as we are. Certainly on RAW, we have the best women’s division in the world, in the world. I say that without any hesitation in my voice, we have the best women’s division in the world.”

Omega had the following to say about Disco’s comment:

It’s pretty sickening that un-athletic enhancement talents of yesteryear are trying to tear down incredibly gifted stars of today.

BTW, this clip and both these gals rule. https://t.co/K027QG6eP5

— Kenny Omega (@KennyOmegamanX) April 30, 2022

I was being generous by calling him an enhancement talent. In most cases no one’s character or career was enhanced by Disco’s performance

— Kenny Omega (@KennyOmegamanX) April 30, 2022

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The post Kenny Omega Blasts Former WCW Star For Comments on Stardom appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.