All Star Grand Queendom 2025

These were the words echoing through a packed Yokohama Arena, uttered by a heartbroken Saya Kamitani, tears streaming down her face after she had won the main event of STARDOM’s “All Star Grand Queendom”, an event that should go down in history as not only the biggest show STARDOM has ever put together, but the most successful show the world of joshi has seen in 2, maybe 3 decades.

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The 7,503 people in attendance had just witnessed the last match of one the great pro wrestlers of all time. Will she be remembered as one of the greatest in the annals of history and be inducted in every pro wrestling hall of fame? Probably not. She was the star in a niche of a niche but for the many hearts she touched with her incredible work in a career full of heartbreak, hatred and love she will surely always be remembered as one of the greatest storytellers there has ever been.

The closing shot of “All Star Grand Queendom” saw a despondent Kamitani cowering next to a smiling Tam Nakano, sitting atop of the entrance ramp, black feathers raining down on them looking back upon everything they had achieved with this arc spanning over the last 7 years. This was a story that set Saya Kamitani up to be one of the biggest stars in pro wrestling. Tam, a two time World of STARDOM champion herself (and one of only two people to ever be World and Wonder of STARDOM champion at the same time) did everything she could to set this succession story up for success. Judging by the thundering ovation Tam received while taking her final walk towards the end of the entrance ramp, held up by her former protegé turned blood rival, it may have all proven to be worth it.

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Her spirit may live on within Saya Kamitani and the young Sayaka Kurara, her favourite student, and it may hopefully carry the promotion on to greater heights. And who knows, maybe even the Tokyo Dome show she had always dreamt of.

The match between Tam Nakano and Saya Kamitani was a terrific struggle with some spots one might only be willing to take on the last night of their career. It was a classic bout with an incredibly emotional finishing stretch that saw both competitors use the other’s greatest weapons against each other. Saya, at one point, lifted Tam’s head before the impending third count not wanting to end her master’s career just yet.

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It was probably this moment that it all came back to her – everything Tam had done for her, even way before she started drifting off into this dark place, feeling empowered by evil and hatred. It was this moment when Saya realised what Tam has always meant for her and her incredibly successful pro wrestling career. Back to before she leapt off that scaffolding in their match during the opening night of the “5 Star Grand Prix” in 2023 and broke her arm, an injury she has blamed Tam for and justified her turn to darkness with ever since.

It was in this moment that a distant light flickered in the big dark eyes of Saya Kamitani, a sign that all hope may not be lost for her. Maybe she realised that the darkness is just a front to shield her insecurities and her own shortcomings after all. It never had anything to do with Tam Nakano or the injury. Maybe she has realised that in her journey to this point she has rid herself of all her shortcomings anyway and it is time to shed this masquerade.

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She has tried to call back to her past in the match before the finish. A last minute hesitation at an attempt of a phoenix splash almost cost her the match as Tam used the second she took too long to deliver a devastating top rope tiger suplex. The Phoenix Splash used to be Saya’s grand finale until she had incidents of it going wrong, landing badly and injuring her opponents. There was no question that these doubts about her own abilities creeping into her mind were a contributing factor in her turn towards darkness… but by the end of this final match against her master Tam Nakano, she may have finally found resolution. There might be light at the end of this dark tunnel of HATE.

In the end, Saya Kamitani claimed victory using Tam’s own Twilight Dream. A truly poetic finish to Tam’s career and possibly a move now inherited by Kamitani.

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One thing that has become very clear to me after the dust has settled, after getting over the initial anguish and depression, is that in many ways this was a perfect ending. The match was superb, including all the callbacks to the vast history of matches in their past. It was executed flawlessly, it wasn’t over-dramatic.

The finish was perfect, the post match promo was perfect and the final moment, seeing both of them cowering at the top of the ramp arm in arm, black feathers raining from the sky, Tam pointing towards the light one final time with a smile on her face – it was perfect.

This was the crowning moment of one of the greatest pro wrestling shows you will see this year, maybe ever.

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The preshow Rumble saw ExV’s HANAKO victorious. Surely this is an attempt to elevate HANAKO quickly since her stable is in dire straits after Mina Shirakwa (the V in ExV) has left the company for AEW and the E in ExV, Maika, was announced to be out for a long time in order to get elbow surgery that she has needed for over 3 years now. It is highly doubtful that the stable will survive these massive losses, but I guess if they are going to try, giving HANAKO this win is a great first step.

HANAKO will face Starlight Kid at Korakuen Hall on 5/21 for the Wonder of STARDOM Championship as the reward for winning the Rumble.

Hina retained her Future of STARDOM championship in a perfectly fine undercard match with Ranna Yagami. One might ask where Hina is left whilst her sisters Rina and Hanan are taking up increasingly more important spots on the card, but it has to be noted that she showed a more outgoing and desperate struggle in this match, as she fell into Syuri’s own protegé Ranna Yagami’s mean grappling holds, emoting more than maybe ever before. She is making leaps into the right direction.

She managed to put away her stablemate after a jackhammer followed by a frog splash.

In what has to be considered an upset, Sayaka Kurara defeated the “Toxic Spider” Thekla in a singles match 2nd on the card, but the important bit of news coming out of it is what happened after it was over. The stipulation for this match was that if Thekla lost she must join the Cosmic Angels, but if Thekla won she would get to fight the promotion’s booker, Taro Okada, who she has been at odds with in kayfabe for a long time. Of course, this would have been a very silly outcome so Kurara winning was definitely a blessing, but that didn’t stop Thekla. In a fit of rage over her new idol destiny, she started to go after Okada anyway and beat him around the Yokohama Arena.

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She got her wish in the end, she will not have to join the Cosmic Angels, instead, Okada fired her on the spot. This concluded a rather daft storyline as well as they possibly could, writing off a long time roster member bound for North America by putting over one of their most promising young stars and avoiding the match with the booker that they have been teasing for a while.

It remains to be seen where Thekla will land. She has a strong connection to Giulia in WWE, given she was in Giulia’s stable Donna Del Mondo and Giulia’s tag team partner in Mafia Bella until the very end, but it is also very possible that she will be AEW or ROH bound given that she had a feud with Athena to start the year that surely served as a try out for the Tony Khan universe, a place where her very close friend Clark Connors has also been showing up lately.

Backstage, after the match, Sayaka Kurara announced that the wish she still had left open – since her win in the Cinderella Tournament – will be to face the winner of the show’s main event for the World of STARDOM title at Korakuen Hall on 5/11.

This was a heartbreaking surprise for the many fans who were still counting on her wish to be a last opportunity for whoever would have to retire at the end of the show to dodge the stipulation. Kurara, however, said in a press conference the day after the show that she didn’t want to ruin a perfect moment and, with an extremely heavy heart, I must admit that she probably made the right choice.

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Yumiko Hotta choked out Rina in a match that probably went above expectations, given that Hotta actually took about 2 and a half bumps for Rina rather than the expected amount of 0. There was never any chance that one of the most promising young talents in Japanese Women’s wrestling who just graduated to an upper midcard level and will most probably be a top player in STARDOM in the not all too distant future, was going to get anything from an old AJW legend going on sixty. That’s just not how things work in Japan unfortunately. It is probably best we just move on from this one.

In a totally different fashion we saw the post AJW era legend Meiko Satomura go over Aya Sakura in her penultimate match, 2 days before her own retirement show.

This one, however, never felt like an old timer unwilling to give an inch to the new generation, this felt like someone trying to get a rookie over in defeat. Aya, recent winner of a midcard title in Meiko’s promotion Sendai Girls, got a flurry of offense on Meiko, kicking the literal hell out of her in the process, only to fall victim to a desperate counter suplex and the overhead kick for the win.

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The trio’s match also saw the continuation of a never ending feud between Saori Annou and Mika Iwata. When these two step into the ring together you know that it is guaranteed to be stiff and awesome. Natsupoi seemed to have reinjured her ankle during the match as she was hobbling throughout the second half. She has been on and off working through the nagging injury for almost 2 months now and it is probably time for her to get some time off, but someone is going have to force her to do that. She is still announced for future matches right now and with all the big departures coming out of the show she probably feels the need to stick around.

Natsupoi and Saori Annou have a special produce show planned for their 10th in ring anniversary on 5/31, one can only hope that her ankle will hold up for that occasion.

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This is the point in the show when business truly picked up. Mei Seira and Suzu Suzuki only had their falling out at the beginning of the month but it quickly developed into a real blood feud between the former tag team and long time friends that had previously formed Crazy Star. The fallout saw the entire landscape of the Wonder Ring STARDOM change as Suzu formed a new unit called “Mi Vida Loca”, introducing hardcore wrestlers Rina Yamashita and Itsuki Aoki to the promotion in the process.

Despite the match having a no DQ stipulation, Suzu’s new friends would not play any part in this grudge match, as Suzu and Mei fought this one out in an honorable 1 on 1. From the start it was clear who was on the backfoot in this bout as the two always had very contrasting styles; Suzu, the crazy deathmatch connoisseur and Mei Seira, the highspeed star. This one was firmly planted in Suzu’s territory, as both of them got busted open early.

Seeing her own blood streaming down her face seemed to fuel a fire inside of Suzu Suzuki, whilst Mei seemed to be completely out of it after a chairshot that caused a nasty gusher on the side of her own head. Barely conscious and confused by this foreign situation she found herself in, Mei stumbled into the ring, beating the 20 count, only to find a fully energized Suzuki was waiting for her, and she began an onslaught. Seira would regain her senses at a later point and started to fight back, but it wouldn’t be enough. Suzu was able to put her away after some devastating German Suplexes (including a very scary top rope variation), the Tequila Shot and a Sky Twister.

This match was just an awesome fight. I have rarely ever seen someone sell the devastating effect of gushing blood as well as Seira did. I knew going in that this had the potential to defy many expectations and be blow away, but it ended up almost entirely stealing the show, on a show that had a myriad of great matches.

© STARDOM, @_MasahiroKubota

Up next, we saw Maika challenging for the Sendai World Title against the invading Chihiro Hashimoto. This wasn’t the first time we’ve seen Hashimoto in STARDOM, as the former All Japan amateur wrestler has had matches with the likes of MIRAI, Himeka and Syuri previously. As expected from this match, it was a pure hoss battle, with the two powerhouses just running into each other, throwing each other around and beating each other breathless. I think this match delivered exactly what everyone expected going in, just two powerful, great workers hashing it out in a clean and respectful, but marvelous fashion.

© STARDOM, @_MasahiroKubota

In the end, Hashimoto managed to put away the former red belt champion and 5 Star Grand Prix winner, Maika. It wasn’t a huge surprise as Hashimoto had just won the Sendai Girls Championship from the retiring legend Meiko Satomura and taking the belt off her immediately would have been a baffling move, however Maika has been built up in serious fashion over the past two years and is now prepared to be an ace for the promotion, so Maika winning would not have been completely out of the question either.

It became much clearer why she lost the following day, as Maika announced that she has to take time away to get her elbow fixed in what is known as Tommy John surgery. This will be another big loss for the STARDOM roster after the departures of Tam and Thekla, and more was yet to come.

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In another instance of long time stablemates and friends turned serious grudge match Hanan and Saya Iida (wing*gori) defended the Goddesses of STARDOM championships against STARS colleagues Hazuki and Koguma, who go by FWC (Fukuoka W Crazy). FWC have been multiple time tag team champions in a number of companies.

This match was built on a real life grudge from Hanan after she accused Hazuki, a veteran and trainer in the STARDOM dojo, of being too harsh and bullying the rookies. While this may have been a shoot premise to build the feud on, Hazuki did a brilliant job in this match to sell the story. She was arrogant, belittling and condescending the whole way through until she finally lost her cool on Hanan and rained down on her with brutal slaps, before falling to her own hubris. Hanan endured the strikes, fought through the pain and quite frankly outwrestled her senior to win the match with the Hanan Special.

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This may not have been the best match on the card, but they played to the story expertly. It remains to be seen what happens to STARS as the two inner groups are obviously at odds and maybe more importantly, after the announcement of the departure of STARS leader Mayu Iwatani.

Mayu Iwatani was to defend the IWGP women’s championship against Syuri in another all-time classic match in the long series of all-time classic matches Iwatani has had while holding this title for a record 735 days. It was a bit of a weird title reign, as it effectively eliminated her from truly taking part in STARDOM’s week to week booking or contending for any of the other STARDOM championships. Mayu was basically secluded in her own little IWGP world where she would just fight challenger after challenger.

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What the title has been lacking in real, consistent, overarching storylines, it more than made up for with match quality and in ring storytelling. This one was no exception. It was essentially a rematch from Syuri’s first challenge for the title 16 months ago at the Tokyo Dome City Hall. Losing her first challenge lit a fire in Syuri that made her determined to one day take this title off of Mayu, and after battling freelancer Sareee to a time limit draw in the build up, the day had finally come where she could achieve her long time goal.

This match, to me, was reminiscent of some of the all time classics one Akira Hokuto had over 3 decades ago. These women were throwing bomb after bomb, took high risks with dives. What really held the match together and elevated it to a true classic was the inbetween, where Mayu Iwatani was fighting for her life, scrambling, barely staying conscious, suffocating in the tightening grip of her shoot fighter opponent, who used to compete in UFC and Pancrase. In a dramatic finale, Syuri would fend off Mayu’s double jump poisonrana, kick out of the bridging dragon suplex and finish Mayu off with two devastating kicks to her head and two of her Emerald Flowsion variations. Mayu fought and fought in her signature “zombie Mayu” fashion, never dying, but in the end, it just wouldn’t be enough.

Freelance star Sareee challenged the new IWGP champion Syuri after the match.

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The day after, the icon of STARDOM Mayu Iwatani would announce her departure from STARDOM in tears.

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At the point of writing this, it is not 100% certain where Mayu will end up, but it is truly the end of an era as Mayu had been with the company from day one, over 14 years ago. Most signs point to Marigold, as promoter and booker Rossy Ogawa gave her a home and a chance to make money and become a great pro wrestler after she ran away from home and thus she understandably sees him as a father figure.

The only real other option would be the WWE where her long time friend Io Shirai found a new home and Mayu undoubtedly sees what kind of success she’s having and money she’s making. Mayu has been outspoken about her unwillingness and anxiety to move to the US in the past, but who knows, money can change a lot of things.

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The semi main event of “All Star Grand Queendom” saw the renewal of one of the all time classic STARDOM feuds, as Wonder of STARDOM champion Starlight Kid took on long term rival turned friend, AZM. The match was not only for the title, but also for the leadership of the stable Neo Genesis that the two started together last year. Obviously, the match had a lot of expectations to meet given what these two have done in the past, but I think they took it in a bit of a different direction than people might have anticipated.

Starlight Kid injured her shoulder in her match on the Barb Sasaki produce show “Crazy Fest” back in March. She has been heavily taped up ever since and even missed several shows in order to conserve her body for this show. The logical conclusion would be for the promotion to take the belt off of Kid, and AZM would be the perfect person to hold it in her absence while she’s gone to heal up. So not only was it really surprising when Starlight Kid retained her Championship in the end, but I think the way this entire match was worked was surprising.

An injured shoulder will take the wind out of anyone’s sails to some extent, how is she supposed to fly around the ring with a clipped wing? But not only was this match a bit more subdued and based on groundwork than their previous bouts, her best friend AZM also showed absolutely no mercy and went straight for the injured shoulder for the entire match. Starlight Kid, in retaliation, kept working over AZM’s leg to take the high speed factor out of her game as well and prepare her for the Black Tiger Leg Killer submission hold.

Here is where I think there’s a bit of a misconception however. Just because the high speed gimmick of wrestlers like AZM, Natsupoi or Starlight Kid has always been ultrafast counter wrestling, doesn’t mean that they lack the ability to work a more ground based style. Their last big STARDOM singles match back in 2023 match was actually heavily built on submission psychology as well. They have always excelled at both things, and so it was no surprise to me that this match could still convince with the high speed factor being turned down a little.

Starlight Kid is fantastic at conveying emotions through her mask (combined with a bit of fortuitous blood from what looked like a busted nose), and the fact that the shoulder AZM was yanking on was legitimately injured added a lot of drama to the long submission exchanges. All the more surprising was the rather abrupt finish, when Starlight Kid managed to withstand the pain and hit her bridging tiger suplex to retain the title. And it looks like, just as with Natsupoi and Maika until now, Starlight Kid will keep working through the pain.

After the match Starlight Kid presented AZM with a white rose to mend the frustration and desperation between them. After Suzu Suzuki’s departure from the unit she couldn’t risk losing another member. AZM hesitated for a moment, but she took the gift in the end and the two hugged it out.

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So after all the dust has settled, looking back on this show, there is one important question left: What does this promotion even look like in the future?

This was undoubtedly the peak of the promotion so far and the peak for modern day women’s wrestling in Japan as a whole and it came just a year after what many described as a devastating exodus, losing their long-time booker as well as 4 of their top stars and the top rookie to Marigold.

A completely novice booker in Taro Okada came in and took the bull by the horns. He had no hesitation about pushing younger wrestlers and smaller wrestlers and a hungry locker room that was out there to prove something. They defied all expectations and drove the promotion to bigger heights than it had ever seen before, despite the exodus and injuries.

This show topped their previous attendance record by 2000 tickets sold. That is about a 40% increase to the Yokohama Arena show in 2023, which drew 5500. And it didn’t have the advantages of having big celebrities like Fuwa Chan on the show, or the novelty factor of being the first Yokohama Arena show in their existence. That is an absolutely astonishing feat, given the situation they found themselves in just a year ago.

Now they are in a similar situation once again, but maybe an even more devastating one. Several stables are in shambles. Mina Shirakawa is gone. Thekla is gone. Maika is gone for a while. Mayu Iwatani is gone. And most cataclysmic, Tam Nakano is gone. The biggest draw in women’s wrestling over the past two decades just left at the peak of her career. And, additionally, it feels like half the roster is either out with an injury, or fighting through injuries, which is usually a recipe for disaster.

What have we learned last year? Maybe change is good. They did it once, they can do it again. Saya Kamitani has turned into a complete package. Starlight Kid is still one of the most popular wrestlers in Japan. Suzu Suzuki has started off her deathmatch stable which hopefully will lead to exciting things. HANAKO is elevated to her first white belt match, Kurara is elevated beyond all expectations and will challenge for the red belt soon. The three sisters, Hanan, Hina and Rina are all positioned for great success. Sareee, maybe currently the best wrestler in the world, is coming in for a stint against Syuri. We may be standing before a promotion in ruins but once the tears have dried, I believe there will be an invigorating phase of reconstruction to look forward to.

By Tim Hunter

STARDOM
All Star Grand Queendom

 27.04.2025
Yokohama Arena
Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Attendance: 7.503

Pre-Show Rumble Match
HANAKO defeats Akira Kurogane and Azusa Inaba and Fukigen Death and Kiyoka Kotatsu and Lady C and Miyu Amasaki and Momo Kohgo and Momo Watanabe and Rian and Ruaka and Tomoka Inaba and Waka Tsukiyama and Yuna Mizumori and Yuria Hime (22:36)

Future Of Stardom Title Match
Hina (c) defeats Ranna Yagami (12:14)

Sayaka Kurara defeats Thekla (12:49)

Yumiko Hotta defeats Rina (10:02)

Meiko Satomura, Mika Iwata & YUNA defeat Cosmic Angels (Aya Sakura, Natsupoi & Saori Anou) (13:05)

No Disqualification Match
Suzu Suzuki defeats Mei Seira (15:55)

Sendai Girls World Title Match
Chihiro Hashimoto (c) defeats Maika (14:55)

Goddesses Of Stardom Title Match
STARS (Hanan & Saya Iida) (c) defeat STARS (Hazuki & Koguma) (14:26)

IWGP Women’s Title Match
Syuri defeats Mayu Iwatani (c) (21:54)

Wonder Of Stardom Title Match
Starlight Kid (c) defeats AZM (20:37)

World Of Stardom Title Career Vs. Career Match
Saya Kamitani (c) defeats Tam Nakano (26:09)

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