The , was the seventh annual

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 ...

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

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 ...

which took place beginning with April 10 and culminating on June 12 in the

Ota City General Gymnasium Ota City General Gymnasium is an arena in Ōta, Tokyo is a special ward located in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. In English, it is often called Ōta City. , the ward has an estimated population of 716,413, with 379,199 households and a populatio ...

. The tournament expanded out of the normal single night format to instead be determined over two separate dates with a limited attendance due in part to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

at the time. The tournament winner is awarded a wish that has prompted opportunities for the

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

of their choice. Night 2 was postponed due to the Japanese government announcing a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

for Tokyo lasting from April 25 until May 11. The rest of the tournament was rescheduled to May 14 and June 12, with the second-round and quarter-finals matches taking place on May 14. The semi-finals and finals were initially going to take place on May 29, but the extension of the

postponed the third night of the event to June 12.

Storylines

The show featured

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 resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed

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 a ...

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 built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. On the second night of the tournament, former

High Speed Champion The is a women's professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling), championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom professional wrestling promotion, promotion. The title was originally created on May 5, 2009, in the NEO Japan Lad ...

Koguma is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for the Japanese promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom where she is a former two-time Goddess of Stardom Champion with Hazuki and a former High Speed Champion. Professional wrestling career In ...

made her in-ring return, saving

Mayu Iwatani (born February 19, 1993) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom. Since making her debut in January 2011, she became a two-time World of Stardom Champion, two-time Wonder of Stardom Champion, one-time ...

from an attack performed by Oedo Tai after she fell short to Himeka in the quarter-finals of the tournament. Koguma was later revealed to have joined STARS. On the third night of the tournament which took place on June 12 due to delays caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic in Japan Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

, STARS and Oedo Tai culminated their feud in a ten-woman All-Out War elimination tag team match won by

Natsuko Tora (born January 30, 1991) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. Tora is a two-time Artist of Stardom Champion as well as one-time Goddess of Stardom Champion. Professional wrestling career ...

who lastly eliminated

Starlight Kid is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she is a former High Speed Champion. She became the first wrestler to wear her mask full-time in Stardom as part of her ''luchadora'' persona. Greatly infl ...

, therefore forcing her to join Oedo Tai. The show saw

Saya Kamitani (born November 28, 1996) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former idol, currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. She is the current Wonder of Stardom Champion in her first reign. Kamitani is also a former one-time Goddes ...

defeating Himeka in the

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of the tournament and finally Maika in the

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

to become the Cinderella Tournament winner of 2021. Kamitani issued a challenge to

Tam Nakano , is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she competes under the ring name , and is the leader of the Cosmic Angels stable. Nakano is a former three-time Artist of Stardom Champion, as well as a former Won ...

for the

Wonder of Stardom Championship The is a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. The title, which in Stardom's championship hierarchy is situated as the secondary title behind the World of Stardom Championship, was introduc ...

as her granted wish for winning the tournament. The main event of the evening portraited the collision between

Utami Hayashishita (born September 14, 1998) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion, Since making her debut on August 12, 2018, she became a one-time World of Stardom Champion, two-time Goddesses of Stardom Ch ...

and

Syuri is a Japanese professional wrestler, shoot boxer, kickboxer and mixed martial artist, better known simply as . Syuri formerly competed in Ultimate Fighting Championship. Syuri is currently working for World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she is the ...

for the

World of Stardom Championship The is a women's world professional wrestling championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. The title, which is situated at the top of Stardom's championship hierarchy, was introduced on June 26, 2011, and the inaugural champio ...

. The two of them went into a thirty-minute time-limit draw and

requested a restart of the match which Hayashishita accepted. The second match ended in a double count-out as both of the competitors were unable to continue. After retaining the title, Hayashishita saw

coming to challenge her for the '' red belt'' holding

's mask in her hand. The first match between

and Hayashishita received a 5.5 stars rating from

Dave Meltzer David Allen Meltzer (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist who reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, he has been the publisher and editor of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON''). He has als ...

, making it the highest-rated match in the history of

women's professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a dramatic enactment of wrestling as a spectator sport. As is the norm for this sport, women's professional wrestling is organized by wrestling federations called promotions. Some promotions are exclusively for women, ...

till it's date.

Participants

The tournament featured twenty wrestlers, being the greatest Cinderella Tournament till date. Despite

Bea Priestley Beatrice St. Clere Priestley (born 22 March 1996) is an English-New Zealand professional wrestler, best known by the ring name Bea Priestley. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Blair Davenpor ...

announcing her departure from

Stardom Yokohama Dream Cinderella 2021 was a professional wrestling event promoted by World Wonder Ring Stardom. It took place on April 4, 2021 in Yokohama, Japan, at the Yokohama Budokan with a limited attendance due in part to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic at the time. The preshow ...

from April 4, she was still listed as a participant. Ruaka and Hanan, previously listed as reserves, were announced on 7 April 2021, as replacements for the departing

and the injured

Saya Iida (born May 19, 1997) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. She is a former one-time Future of Stardom Champion. Professional wrestling career World Wonder Ring Stardom (2019–present) ...

Participants list

''*Noted underneath are the champions who held their titles at the time of the tournament.'' {, class="wikitable sortable" align="left center" style="width:32%;" , - !width:7%;", Wrestler !width:7%;", Unit !width:25%;", Notes , - , AZM ,

Queen's Quest is a professional wrestling stable, currently performing in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion, World Wonder Ring Stardom. The stable is led by Utami Hayashishita and also consists of AZM, Saya Kamitani, Lady C, Hina and Miyu Amasa ...

, , - , Gokigen Death ,

Oedo Tai (Stylized OEDotai, also known as "Oedo Corps" in Japanese) is a villanous professional wrestling stable, currently performing in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom, and formerly in the Professional wrestling ...

, , - , Giulia ,

Donna Del Mondo is a professional wrestling stable, currently performing in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion, World Wonder Ring Stardom. Founded by Giulia, the stable also consists of Maika, Himeka, Thekla and Mai Sakurai. The stable is often kno ...

Goddess of Stardom Champion The is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. Title history On August 2, 2011, Stardom held a press conference to announce the first ever Goddesses of Stardom Tag League, which would cu ...

, - ,

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 ...

, , - , Hanan ,

Stars A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...

, , - ,

Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...

, , - , Maika ,

, , - ,

Mina Shirakawa is a Japanese professional wrestler and idol, currently signed to the Japanese professional wrestling promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she is the leader of Club Venus. She is a former Artist of Stardom and Future of Stardom Champion. ...

Cosmic Angels is a professional wrestling stable, currently performing in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom. The stable currently consists of Tam Nakano, Unagi Sayaka, Mina Shirakawa, Waka Tsukiyama, Saki (wrestler), Saki, ...

Artist of Stardom Champion The is a professional wrestling Professional wrestling tag team match types#Multiple man teamed matches, six-woman tag team Championship (professional wrestling), championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom professional wrestling promotion ...

, - ,

Momo Watanabe (born March 22, 2000) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. Since making her debut on November 16, 2014, she became a two-time Artist of Stardom Champion, one-time Goddess of Stardom Cha ...

, , - ,

, , - , Natsupoi ,

, - , Ruaka ,

, , - ,

Saki Kashima is a Japanese people, Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler currently working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom where she is a former Artist of Stardom Championship, Artist of Stardom Ch ...

, , -style="background: gold" ,

, Winner , - ,

, , - ,

SWA World Champion The is a women's professional wrestling championship promoted by the Japanese World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. Though the Japanese name of the title translates to "SWA World Championship", the title is also being internationally referred to ...

, - ,

Wonder of Stardom Champion The is a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. The title, which in Stardom's championship hierarchy is situated as the secondary title behind the World of Stardom Championship, was introduc ...

, - ,

Unagi Sayaka , better known by her ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom and briefly working as a freelancer. She is best known for her time with Stardom, where she is a former Artist of Stardom Champion ...

, - ,

World of Stardom Champion The is a women's world professional wrestling championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. The title, which is situated at the top of Stardom's championship hierarchy, was introduced on June 26, 2011, and the inaugural champio ...

Future of Stardom Championship Tournament

Due to

relinquishing 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 ...

due to

injury An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, o ...

, a seven-woman tournament to crown a new champion was announced to kick off on the second night of the event. The finals of the tournament will take place on July 4 at ''

Yokohama Dream Cinderella 2021 in Summer , was a professional wrestling event promoted by World Wonder Ring Stardom. It took place on July 4, 2021 in Yokohama, Japan, at the Yokohama Budokan with a limited attendance due in part to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic at the time. The preshow ...

''.

Results

The match schedule of the first night was announced on April 7 after a press conference.

Notes

References

External links

Page Stardom World
{{Professional wrestling in Japan 2021 in professional wrestling Women's professional wrestling shows World Wonder Ring Stardom shows World Wonder Ring Stardom Women's professional wrestling tournaments