was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

event promoted by

World Wonder Ring Stardom World Wonder Ring Stardom (スターダム女子プロレス), often referred to simply as Stardom (stylized as ST★RDOM), is a Japanese '' joshi puroresu'' or women's professional wrestling promotion based in Tokyo, Japan. Stardom was founded i ...

. The event took place on April 23, 2023, in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

at the Yokohama Arena. Eleven matches were contested at the event, including two on the pre-show. The main event saw Tam Nakano defeat Giulia to win the World of Stardom Championship. In other prominent matches, Mayu Iwatani defeated Mercedes Moné to win the

IWGP Women's Championship The is a women's professional wrestling world championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling promotion. The title is to be exclusively won and defended on shows promoted by NJPW, not only in Japan but worldwide, with talent from NJPW's sister ...

, Mina Shirakawa defeated Saya Kamitani to win the Wonder of Stardom Championship, and Maika defeated

Himeka Catherine St. Onge (born July 20, 1981), better known by her stage name (stylized as HIMEKA), is a French Canadian descent anime song singer no longer active in Japan. While fluent in English and her native French, she is moderately proficient ...

in the latter's retirement match.

Production

Background

On December 29, 2022, during Dream Queendom 2,

Stardom ''Stardom'' is a 2000 Canadian comedy-drama film directed by Denys Arcand and written by J.Jacob Potashnik and Arcand. It stars Jessica Paré and Dan Aykroyd. It tells the story of a young girl who tries to cope with her rise to stardom after bei ...

announced that on April 23, 2023, at the Yokohama Arena, for the first time, All Star Grand Queendom will take place. The event took place 30 years after All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) All-Star Dream Slam, which is still considered one of the best wrestling events of all time. The event's press conference took place on April 3, 2023, and was broadcast on Stardom's

YouTube Channel YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most v ...

Storylines

The show featured eleven

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray

villains A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character as ...

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. On February 10, 2023,

announced her retirement from

. She underwent a "retirement road" series of matches ever since and expressed her wish of facing her long time MaiHime tag team partner Maika as her last-ever opponent in a Stardom match. On February 18, 2023, at

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

(NJPW)'s

Battle in the Valley Battle in the Valley was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It took place on November 13, 2021, at San Jose Civic in San Jose, California. Production Background In October 2019, NJPW an ...

, Mercedes Moné defeated Kairi to win the

. On April 8, at NJPW's

Sakura Genesis Sakura Genesis is an annual professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) since 2013. Held annually at Tokyo's Ryōgoku Kokugikan, the event has been nicknamed . Originally known as Invasion Attack, the event was rename ...

, Moné had her first successful title defense after defeating AZM and

Hazuki is the traditional name of the month of August in the Japanese calendar and a Japanese surname and given name. It can also refer to: People with given name *, Japanese diver *, Japanese professional footballer *, Japanese field hockey player *, Jap ...

in a three-way match. After the match, Mayu Iwatani challenged Moné for the title at Queendom. Moné accepted Iwatani's challenge, and slapped her across the face afterwards. On March 8, 2023, Kairi announced that she will take part into the event's card alongside a mystery partner. On April 2, on the third night of the

Stardom Cinderella Tournament 2023 The was the ninth annual professional wrestling single-elimination tournament promoted by World Wonder Ring Stardom. The event took place between March 26 and April 15, 2023. Storylines The show featured professional wrestling matches with scr ...

, it was later revealed that she picked freelancer

Saori Anou is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer and is best known for her tenure with the Japanese promotion Actwres girl'Z and her freelance appearances in promotions such as Oz Academy and Ice Ribbon. She is the current ...

and

Natsupoi , better known by her ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler. She is currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2015–present) Maki wrestled a couple of matches for Reina, one of ...

as her partners. They named their trio as "REstart" as they challenged Hiragi Kurumi, Risa Sera and Suzu Suzuki for the Artist of Stardom Championship. The following day, Saya Kamitani revealed on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that Saori Anou was in fact one of the two mysterious white-hatted women (one of them already revealed to be Kairi) from before the events of the

Stardom World Climax 2022 The Stardom World Climax 2022 was a two-day professional wrestling event promoted by World Wonder Ring Stardom. The event took place on March 26 and 27, 2022, in Tokyo, Japan at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan, with a limited attendance due in part to the ...

as her return to Stardom was foreshadowed for more than a year prior.

Event

The first two preshow matches were broadcast on Stardom's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel. In the first one, Mai Sakurai won the Yokohama Rumble match by last eliminating Super Strong Stardom Giant Machine. In the second one, Ruaka, Momo Watanabe, Natsuko Tora and Saki Kashima picked up a win over Jessie, Mariah May, Xena and Thekla. In the first main card match, Mei Seira and Starlight Kid picked up a victory over AZM and

Mei Suruga is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotions Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJPW) and Gatoh Move Pro Wrestling. Professional wrestling career Gatoh Move Pro Wrestling (2018–present) Sur ...

. Seira challenged AZM for a High Speed Championship match on further notice. next up,

Miyu Amasaki is a Japanese professional wrestler. She is currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom under the ring name . Professional wrestling career World Wonder Ring Stardom (2022-present) She revealed Dragon Gate as being her first ever wrestling ...

and Utami Hayashishita defeated

and Fuwa-chan. The fifth match saw the retirement match of

who fell short to her long time tag team partner Maika. The sixth bout saw Ami Sourei and Mirai defeating Nanae Takahashi and Yuu to win the Goddess of Stardom Championship, ending the latter team's reign at 115 days and two defenses. Sourei became double champion with the

Future of Stardom Championship The is a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. The title was introduced on February 18, 2018, and the inaugural champion was crowned on March 28, when Starlight Kid defeated Shiki Shibusawa ...

. In the seventh bout, Kairi,

and

defeated

Hiragi Kurumi is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Ice Ribbon where she is one half of the International Ribbon Tag Team Champions. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2010– ...

, Risa Sera and

Suzu Suzuki is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer and is best known for her time in Ice Ribbon and Pure-J, two Japanese professional wrestling promotions. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2018–present) ...

to win the Artist of Stardom Championship. The eighth bout saw Mina Shirakawa defeating Saya Kamitani to win the Wonder of Stardom Championship, ending the latter's reign at 480 days and then-time 15 consecutive defenses record. In the ninth bout, Syuri defeated

Chihiro Hashimoto is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling, where she is the current five time Sendai Girls World Champion. Hashimoto was trained in the Sendai Girls' dojo under Meiko Satomura, and made her debut in Octo ...

by knockout in a match that could only be won by knockout, count out, submission or referee stoppage. In the semi main event, Mayu Iwatani defeated Mercedes Moné to become the new IWGP Women's Champion. In the main event, Tam Nakano defeated Giulia to win the World of Stardom Championship, ending the latter's reign at 115 days and two consecutive defenses.

Results

Notes

References

External links

Page Stardom World
{{List of major World Wonder Ring Stardom events 2023 in professional wrestling Events in Yokohama Professional wrestling shows in Yokohama Women's professional wrestling shows World Wonder Ring Stardom World Wonder Ring Stardom shows