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 Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

based in Tokyo, Japan. Stardom was founded in September 2010 by former

All Japan Women , nicknamed Zenjo (全女: 全 meaning "All", 女 meaning "Woman") was a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) promotion established in 1968 by Takashi Matsunaga and his brothers. The group held their first card on June 4 of that y ...

co-producer Rossy Ogawa, retired professional wrestler and

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

Fuka Kakimoto is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and model better known simply as (pronounced and sometimes transliterated as "Fuuka"). She was trained by JDStar as part of the promotion's "Athtress" program and made her debu ...

, and All Japan Women veteran professional wrestler

Nanae Takahashi (born December 23, 1978) is a Japanese professional wrestler and the founder of Seadlinnng. She has wrestled for prominent Japanese promotions All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Sun, and is a two-time women's world champion in m ...

. Stardom is currently owned by Japanese card game company Bushiroad, making it the sister promotion of

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, 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 ...

(NJPW). Stardom quickly became one of the top ''joshi puroresu'' promotions, largely thanks to

gravure idol A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thou ...

Yuzuki Aikawa becoming the promotion's public face. Much like JDStar, Stardom also places heavy emphasis on the physical attractiveness of its workers, and publishes several modeling photobooks and calendars of its workers per year. Stardom's in-ring style takes influence from mixed martial arts with many workers relying on kicks as the main part of their offense. Stardom frequently holds shows in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

while also often traveling to

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

for daytime and nighttime events within the same day. In 2020 "We Are Stardom!!" would start to be aired on BS Nittele and

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...

and that marked the first time that Joshi Puroresu promotion has had a weekly national television program after

All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling , nicknamed Zenjo (全女: 全 meaning "All", 女 meaning "Woman") was a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) professional wrestling promotion, promotion established in 1968 by Takashi Matsunaga and his brothers. The group held th ...

(AJW) left

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...

in 2002.

History

Formation

After retiring from professional wrestling on March 29, 2010, Fuka began training Yuzuki Aikawa, a notable

signed to Platinum Production, the same modeling agency as her, for a career in professional wrestling. In April 2010, Fuka was approached by Rossy Ogawa, about starting a new promotion with Aikawa as the top star. During the summer of 2010, Fuka continued training Aikawa for her upcoming debut planned for October, while also training newcomers such as

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-tim ...

, Arisa Hoshiki, Yoshiko, Yoko Bito, and Eri Susa. These plans came together by September when Ogawa held a press conference with the newly formed roster of Fuka's trainees and Aikawa in attendance to announce a new promotion named World Wonder Ring Stardom. Fuka was appointed general manager of the promotion, as well as the role of

ring announcer A ring announcer is an in-ring (and sometimes on-camera) employee or contractor for a boxing, professional wrestling or mixed martial arts event or promotion, who introduces the competitors to the audience. In boxing and mixed martial arts bou ...

. Veteran All Japan Women (AJW) wrestler

was appointed the playing manager. In addition to Fuka's trainees, Aikawa, and Takahashi, Takahashi's longtime associate and fellow AJW wrestler

Natsuki☆Taiyo is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . Making her debut for All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) in January 2004, Mizushima quickly affiliated herself with Nanae Takahashi, following her out of AJW in 2006 a ...

and

Mika Nagano is a Japanese female mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. She fought as a lightweight in the Deep and Jewels promotions before her retirement in 2014. Nagano has also wrestled in Ice Ribbon and World Wonder Ring Stardom. Her nicknam ...

, who had some experience in professional wrestling with the

Ice Ribbon is a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) promotion established in 2006 by Emi Sakura, after her split with Gatokunyan. History Ice Ribbon was founded by Emi Sakura, a professional wrestler who was active with IWA Japan and ...

promotion, joined the promotion.

2011–2013

Stardom held its first event, Birth of Nova, on January 23, 2011, in

's Shin-Kiba 1st Ring, the venue that would frequently host events for the promotion in the following years and was also the location of Stardom's earliest training dojo. Originally, Stardom named and promoted events in the format of "seasons," with one season lasting, on average, two months. The opening match involved seasoned Takahashi and Taiyo, as well as Aikawa. The main event of the debut show saw Yoko Bito, who had an extensive Karate background before her wrestling training against 17-year-old Yoshiko. The two were considered the top trainees on the new roster. Stardom continued holding shows at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring each month before eventually holding their first-ever show at Korakuen Hall on July 24. At the event, 9-year-old Haruka, who had debuted on the first show, faced

DDT Pro-Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Its name stands for Dramatic Dream Team, which was the promotion's official name from 1997 to 2004. Founded in March 1997 by Shintaro Muto, the promotion was eventually bo ...

star

Kenny Omega Tyson Smith (born October 16, 1983), better known by the ring name Kenny Omega, is a Canadian-born professional wrestler. Omega is an executive vice president of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), in which he also performs. Omega is a former one-ti ...

in a match that became a viral hit on

YouTube 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 mo ...

, reaching over 1 million views. Several champions were crowned at the event as well. Aikawa defeated Yoshiko to become the first-ever Wonder of Stardom Champion and Natsuki Taiyo defeated JWP wrestler Leon to win the High Speed Championship. The inaugural World of Stardom Champion was crowned in a four-person tournament, with Takahashi defeating Bito in the final. Another notable development in Stardom's Korakuen Hall debut was freelancer

Io Shirai is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Iyo Sky (stylized in all caps). She is a member of Damage CTRL and one-half of the current WWE Women's Tag Team Champions ...

, who had been appearing in various other Joshi Puroresu promotions alongside her sister, Mio Shirai, and

Kana The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters (kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most p ...

as the stable

Triple Tails is a Japanese former professional wrestler and current professional wrestling referee. She started her career in March 2007, working alongside her sister Io Shirai on the Japanese independent circuit for promotions such as Ice Ribbon, JWP Jo ...

. Shirai made a surprise appearance at the end of Stardom X Stardom, requesting to join the company. The crowning of the first-ever

Goddess of Stardom Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team Championship (professional wrestling), championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom professional wrestling promotion, promotion. Title history On August 2, 2011, Stardom held a press conference t ...

began on October 10 with the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League, a round-robin tournament that has been held annually since. The team of Yuzuki Aikawa and Yoko Bito, collectively known as BY Hou, defeated Yoshiko and Natsuki Taiyo (Kawasaki Katsushika Saikyou Densetsu) in the finals on November 27. On November 12, the first Rookie of Stardom award was given, in which rookie wrestlers that had debuted within the year faced off. The final saw Yoshiko defeating Arisa Hoshiki to become the first recipient. In May 2012, Io Shirai had gone to Mexico for a tour and was involved in an incident when returning to Japan. Upon her return to Japan, Shirai and then-boyfriend Nosawa Rongai (a freelance Japanese professional wrestler) were arrested at the Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba on suspicion of trying to smuggle 75 grams of marijuana hidden inside paintings of the two into the country. Both Shirai and Nosawa denied the charges, claiming that the paintings were gifts from fans. Shirai was released from a detention center on June 12. On June 21, Shirai held a press conference, publicly apologizing to her fans, employers and co-workers, while again denying the charges. On June 28, Japan's public prosecutor's office decided not to prosecute Shirai over the incident. On July 9, Mexico-based Japanese wrestler Takuya Sugi held a press conference and confessed to planting the drugs on Shirai and Nosawa. According to Sugi, Masahiro Hayashi, who worked as a liaison between

Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide Antonio Peña Promotions, S.A. de C.V. doing business as, d/b/a Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide is a Mexican Lucha Libre (professional wrestling) professional wrestling promotion, promotion based in Mexico City, Mexico. Commonly referred to as simply ...

and Japan and who apparently had a personal grudge with Nosawa, had promised him a contract extension with AAA in exchange for the deed. The first 5★Star Grand Prix, a two-block round-robin tournament, commenced on August 19 at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring, and ran until September 30, becoming their biggest annual tournament every year. The finals saw Yuzuki Aikawa defeating Kyoko Kimura on September 30. At Stardom Year-End Climax in December, the creation of the promotion's trios championship, the

Artist of Stardom Championship The is a professional wrestling six-woman tag team championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. The title was first announced during Stardom's year-end event on December 24, 2012, and two days later its name was revealed as the ...

, was announced. Stardom's next Korakuen Hall show on March 17, Stardom the Highest, would mark a World of Stardom title change for the first time when German wrestler

Alpha Female Marie Kristin Gabert (June 4, 1982) is a German professional wrestler and former professional powerlifter, strongwoman, bodybuilder, and mixed martial artist under the names Alpha Female and Jazzy Gabert. She is best known on the independent scene ...

, now aligned with Kyoko Kimura's Kimura Monster-gun unit, defeated

for the World of Stardom Championship. On April 29, Yuzuki Aikawa had the first of what would become a tradition for many departing Stardom wrestlers in the form of a

gauntlet match 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 ...

, where they face the entire roster in one-minute singles matches. Stardom Ryōgoku Cinderella Champions Fiesta 2013 was the biggest event in the history of Stardom in its two-year history to that point, taking place April 29 at the historic Ryōgoku Kokugikan venue in Tokyo. It was the first joshi puroresu event held in the venue in six years. The card featured four of Stardom's five titles on the line, various participants from other wrestling promotions, including male wrestlers, and was headlined by the retirement match of Yuzuki Aikawa. The event was attended by 5,500 fans, making it Stardom's largest crowd to date in their two-year history. A special movie edition of the event, featuring backstage material, was premiered at a theater in

Ichikawa, Chiba 240px, Ichikawa City Hall is a city in western Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 491,716 in 251,142 households and a population density of 8559 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The city has a conc ...

and released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

on September 28.

2014–2018

In 2014, a new monthly television program began airing on Samurai TV during this time called ''Stardom Cafe''. The program was hosted by Yuzuki Aikawa and took place in a cafe. Aikawa interviewed various wrestlers on the roster as well as showed highlights of recent matches and activities outside the ring. ''Stardom Cafe'' ran each month until December 2015. Starting in 2015, Stardom began holding Korakuen Hall shows every month, making them the first Joshi Puroresu promotion since

Gaea Japan Gaea Japan (trademarked as GAEA Japan) was a Japanese women's professional wrestling promotion. GAEA's name comes from the Greek mythological goddess of the Earth, Gaea or Gaia. History GAEA was founded in 1995 by Chigusa Nagayo, a professional wr ...

to do so. At Stardom's next Korakuen Hall show on February 22, 2015, Stardom Queen's Shout, the main event of Yoshiko defending her World of Stardom Championship against

Act Yasukawa , better known by the ring name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. Making her pro wrestling debut in 2012, she wrestled exclusively for the joshi puroresu promotion Stardom. Yasukawa's career ultimately ended in December 2015, 10 mon ...

ended in controversy when the match had to be ended prematurely. Yoshiko and Yasukawa began shooting on each other, a boundary in professional wrestling that is rarely crossed. Yoshiko gained the advantage in the situation and severely injured Yasukawa's face, to the point where veteran referee Kyohei Wada had to stop the match. Following the match, Yasukawa was rushed to a Tokyo hospital, where she was diagnosed with fractured cheek, nasal and orbital bones and required surgery. Yasukawa had, just two months earlier, returned from a long injury break brought on by thyroid issues, during which she had also underwent cataract surgery. In addition to the outcome, leading up to the show, Yoshiko had refused to sign the contract for the match, as she felt Yasukawa was unfit to challenge for her title after their previous title match had been cancelled due to Yasukawa's Graves' disease flare. Yoshiko eventually signed the contract in the ring just before their match after Yasukawa and her new Oedo Tai teammates attacked her. Stardom's president Rossy Ogawa publicly apologized for the incident and called an emergency meeting for February 23 with general manager

and top senpais for the roster to discuss the situation. On February 25, Stardom held a press conference where Yoshiko publicly apologized for her actions, was stripped of the World of Stardom Championship and was suspended indefinitely. Ogawa, Kakimoto and Takahashi also announced they were taking a 30% pay cut for the next three months. Stardom also banned face punches from the promotion. Violations resulted in a disqualification for the first offense. A ringside doctor is now assigned to all future events and

Kairi Hojo is a Japanese professional wrestler and actress currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and World Wonder Ring Stardom under the ring name Kairi (stylized in all caps). Housako is also known for her work with WWE as . She is the c ...

was subsequently named intermediary between the wrestlers and management in order to bring the two sides closer. The incident received mainstream attention in Japan and became known as . This would end up being Yoshiko's final appearance for Stardom. April 23 saw the beginning of a new annual event, the Cinderella Tournament, a one-day single-elimination tournament, with the winner being presented a dress by Yuzuki Aikawa and is granted a wish of their choice. The methods of winning consist of pinfall, submission, over-the-top-rope elimination, ten-minute time limit (except for the final), with time limit draws resulting in a double elimination.

won the first tournament by defeating Koguma in the final. Also in 2015, Stardom held shows in Los Angeles County, California. This was the first time that Stardom held shows outside of Japan. Stardom's first United States show took place on October 16 in Covina, California, main evented by Io Shirai successfully defending her Wonder of Stardom Championship against

Mia Yim Stephanie Hym Lee (née Bell; born April 16, 1989) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name "Michin" Mia Yim. She is a member of The O.C.. She is also known for her tim ...

. The second show took place two days later in Baldwin Park, California, headlined by Thunder Rock retaining their Goddess of Stardom Championship against the team of Hiroyo Matsumoto &

Kellie Skater Callee Keating (born 30 September 1987) is a retired Australian professional wrestler best known by her ring name Kellie Skater. She has wrestled internationally, in Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States. She is perhaps best known for h ...

. In November, Stardom began an interpromotional feud with

Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling , often called , is a Japanese women's professional wrestling promotion. It is based in the city of Sendai, Miyagi in the Tohoku region. History Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling was founded in 2005 by Meiko Satomura, a female professional wrestler ...

during the latter's Korakuen Hall show. The event saw

Meiko Satomura Meiko Satomura (里村明衣子, Satomura Meiko, born November 11, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler. She is currently signed to the American promotion WWE performing on the NXT brand and the Japanese promotion Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestlin ...

Dash Chisako , better known by her ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler. She was trained by Meiko Satomura and has worked for her Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling promotion since her debut in July 2006. For the first ten years of her career, Chisako wa ...

Sendai Sachiko is a retired Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . She was trained by Meiko Satomura and made her debut for her Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling promotion in July 2006. Her older sister Chisako is also a professional wrestl ...

, Cassandra Miyagi, Mika Iwata, and

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 ...

against Io Shirai, Mayu Iwatani, Kairi Hojo, Momo Watanabe, Hiromi Mimura, and Kris Wolf, in a series of singles matches with gauntlet rules. Three days later, at Stardom's Korakuen Hall show,

was defeated by

in her challenge 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 ...

and

successfully defended her

Wonder of Stardom Championship The is a women's professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling), championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom professional wrestling promotion, promotion. The title, which in Stardom's championship hierarchy is situated as t ...

against challenger Sendai Sachiko; the two had gone to a time limit draw three days earlier. On February 28, 2016, Stardom launched

Stardom World 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 in ...

, a worldwide paid video service through

. The service was later moved to its own website. In April, Io Shirai, Kairi Hojo and Mayu Iwatani represented Stardom in the United States, taking part in events for

Lucha Underground Lucha Underground was an American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2014 by United Artists Media Group. Partly owned by Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), ''Lucha Underground'' also refers to its weekly television program, which featured c ...

and a match at the

Cauliflower Alley Club The Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America. Established in 1965 by Mike Mazurki and Art Abram ...

. In May, Threedom (Shirai, Iwatani, and Hojo) traveled to Europe, taking part in shows in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. A new championship was introduced on the show in Spain, the Stardom World Association (SWA) World Championship. Io Shirai defeated

Toni Storm Toni Rossall (born 19 October 1995), better known by the ring name Toni Storm, is a New Zealand-Australian professional wrestler. She is currently signed to AEW, where she is a former AEW Women's World Champion. She previously worked for WWE ...

in a tournament final to determine the first champion. The qualifications of defending the SWA title were that the opponent must be a different nationality to the champion. On February 18, 2018, Stardom announced the creation of the promotion's seventh active title, the Future of Stardom Championship, the title is meant for wrestlers with less than two years of experience in professional wrestling or under the age of 20.

2019–present

Stardom also introduced a new collaboration with

Fire Pro Wrestling World ''Fire Pro Wrestling World'' is a professional wrestling video game published by Spike Chunsoft. The game was released on Steam on December 19, 2017 and released for PlayStation 4 on August 28, 2018 in the United States. The game is part of the ...

, a video game developed by

Spike Chunsoft is a Japanese video game development and localization company specializing in role-playing video games, visual novels and adventure games. The company was founded in 1984 as Chunsoft Co., Ltd. and merged with Spike in 2012. It is owned by Dwango ...

. This would be Stardom's first involvement with a video game and was released on August 22, 2019.

Kagetsu (born on June 24, 1992), better known by his ring name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in Stardom, JWP, Sendai Girls and various independent promotions. Professional wrestling career Independ ...

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 *, J ...

, Andras Miyagi,

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 ...

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 ...

, Arisa Hoshiki,

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 influ ...

Jungle Kyona better known by her ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler. She is best known for her time in the joshi puroresu promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she was a former three-time Artist of Stardom Champion and Goddess of Stardom Ch ...

, and

Hana Kimura was a Japanese joshi puroresu professional wrestler. She worked for native companies in her country such as World Wonder Ring Stardom from 2016 to 2020, and Wrestle-1, in addition to having made appearances for foreign companies such as Ring of H ...

would be the Stardom wrestlers that were created for the release and all appeared in the ring during the announcement. On October 17, a press conference was held in which the purchase of Stardom by entertainment company, Bushiroad, was announced. Bushiroad is also the owner of

, making Stardom their sister promotion. Stardom president Rossy Ogawa would remain as Stardom's head producer. At

Wrestle Kingdom 14 Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo Dome was a two-night professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on January 4 and 5, 2020, at the Tokyo Dome, in Tokyo, Japan. It was the 29th January ...

on January 4, 2020,

and Arisa Hoshiki faced

and Giulia in a tag team

dark match Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence o ...

, marking the first women's match to take place at a Wrestle Kingdom event. On March 5, the second Fire Pro Wrestling World collaboration was released, with Giulia, Death Yama-san,

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 ...

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) ...

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 ...

Saki Kashima is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom where she is a former Artist of Stardom Champion. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2011-present) ...

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 ...

, AZM,

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 ...

, Sumire Natsu, and

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 ...

added to the game. Apart from the March 8 Korakuen Hall show, Stardom canceled all remaining March shows due to 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 COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. No People Gate was presented from an empty Korakuen Hall on March 8, and was aired live on their YouTube channel. The next Stardom show would be the Cinderella Tournament on March 24, and was held at Korakuen Hall with a limited number of tickets sold at the door. Fans and venue staff went through temperature checks and face masks were mandatory. Additional events were canceled throughout April and May, meaning Stardom's Ota Ward Gym show and the unit-produced shows held during Golden Week in early May would no longer be taking place. In the meantime, Stardom wrestlers began doing live streams on the Stardom YouTube channel and social media to interact with fans. On 23 May 2020,

committed suicide in a case investigated as

cyberbullying Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital ...

after an incident traced to her appearance on the

reality show ''

Terrace House In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...

''. On 16 December 2020, Osaka police announced a case is pending in the

legal system The contemporary national legal systems are generally based on one of four basic systems: civil law, common law, statutory law, religious law or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country is shaped by its unique history an ...

with a gentleman from the area the suspect. On August 15, 2020, Stardom canceled a Saturday show in

, putting a halt to the 5-star Grand Prix, after a performer tested positive for

COVID-19 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 COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On December 20, 2020, the experience level required for the Future of Stardom Title was changed from two years to less than three years of wrestling experience. On November 20, 2022, Stardom held a co-promoted event with sister promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling named

Historic X-Over Historic X-Over (pronounced: Historic Crossover) was a professional wrestling event co-promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and World Wonder Ring Stardom (Stardom). It took place on November 20, 2022, at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Tokyo, Jap ...

. On July 29, Stardom and NJPW announced 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 ...

, a title for Stardom that would be defended at NJPW events both in Japan and the United States with the inaugural champion being crowned at Historic X-Over. At the event, Kairi defeated Iwatani to become the inaugural champion.

Roster

Broadcasters

Domestic: *

(2020, 2021–present broadcasts weekly highlights show ''We are STARDOM!!'' and live specials) * Fighting TV Samurai (2010–present, currently broadcasting live specials, retrospective shows, and magazine shows) *

Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed su ...

(2020–present, currently broadcasting weekly episodes of We are STARDOM!! matches) Worldwide: *

(streaming service, broadcasting most Stardom shows live, as well as on-demand classic and documentary content)

Championships

As of ,

Main roster

Developmental

Shared

Other promoted

Grand slam champions

In Stardom, the Grand Slam consists of all the available titles promoted by the company except 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 ...

. They are the

, the

High Speed Championship The is a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. The title was originally created on May 5, 2009, in the NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling promotion, where Natsuki☆Taiyo defeated Ray to beco ...

and the

SWA World Championship 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 ...

. The notion of "grand slam" has officially started being mentioned on May 5, 2022, when

became the second wrestler in the company to achieve the feature after

List of notable pay-per-views

Annual tournaments

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , list1= {{CMLL {{ROH {{New Japan Pro Wrestling {{Bushiroad {{Professional wrestling in Japan {{Women's professional wrestling 2010 establishments in Japan Japanese women's professional wrestling promotions Kōtō Sport in Tokyo Bushiroad