Kevin Wilson Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 That's a less impressive list then Rossy/Fumi was hinting at last month (or whenever it was he did the podcast). That's only three main eventers (by their definition), although we all assume Mayu will be going. Suzu is also still a question mark as I believe she signed a different month than everyone else so she may be going later like Mayu. That would at least give them to the "five" number. I never expected a WRESTLE-1 or NOAH level of defection, that seems about right. Their roster is so stacked I don't see them missing a beat, they still have plenty of stars. Will be interesting to see what direction Rossy ends up going in regards to scheduling and if he tries to sign more Freelancers to contracts or just uses his core with guest wrestlers coming in for shows. I wish there wasn't bad blood as it would be fun to do an occasional cross supershow down the road but I don't think that's likely for the time being. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 50 minutes ago, Ace said: Mai did say she was gonna follow Giulia after all. And smol Saya becomes the Stars pin eater once again. smol and swol Saya imo Also, we need to go all the way with this and we get the Mai Sakurai obligatory Paul Levesque finger point photo in NXT. That's the true litmus test to loyalty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 3 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said: smol and swol Saya imo Also, we need to go all the way with this and we get the Mai Sakurai obligatory Paul Levesque finger point photo in NXT. That's the true litmus test to loyalty. Paul is obligated to wear a hat to honor Her Ladyship. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wilson Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 Stardom has confirmed the five departures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 So if Giulia is gone after a handful of months, is going to be the MIRAI and Utami show? With Utami, I am worried if she can be the same wrestler she was a couple years ago. Outside a handful of matches and brief flashes here and there, I haven't seen someone who is ready for that spot. And that's coming from someone who has a very high opinion of her. It's going to very important how they pad out the roster especially if they cannot really exploit Giulia vs. Utami as a long term program. Is it going to be a lot of co-promotion/freelancer usage or is Rossy just going to pilfer where he can? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinube Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 I think there are enough freelancers who can fill out cards for a couple of months without having to raid other promotions all at once. Or god forbid, put some dudes on some shows. But perhaps Stardom giving Saori a contract (albeit a short one) was them announcing to those interested in becoming Global Amazing Hathletes or whatever it will be called that Bushi Road is open for business. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefanie Sparkleface Posted March 23 Author Share Posted March 23 Ice Ribbon had a good turnout for Korakuen, with 541 for this go-round to see Ibuki Hoshi successfully defend the Infinity Title against her mother, Hamuko Hoshi. Ibuki was able to retain after 23 minutes, and Hamuko put the belt on Ibuki after the match. Hamuko was asked at the pre-show press conference what she'd do if she lost, because in the past she had mentioned that if she ever lost to Ibuki it might be time to retire, and all she said was that "her mind was made up", so we'll see what happens with Hamuko from here. Cheerbell, the team of Mifu Ashida and Kyuuri, lost the International Ribbon Tag Titles in their first defense to a reunited BIG DEKAI, with Totoro Satsuki pinning Kyuuri following Moving Like A Thunderstorm to gain the titles for herself and Ganbare's Yuna Manase. No word on next challengers, but Totoro's former(?) partner Asuka Fujitaki was very upset that Totoro chose to team with Yuna and walked away from the two. Yappy has sympathized with Asuka and how she reacted to Totoro teaming with Yuna, so we may be in for a hoss battle if Yappy and Asuka start teaming regularly. The Triangle Ribbon... hoo boy. So Yuuki Mashiro came back and claimed that she was still the champion, having never lost the title after retiring. This even confused Cagematch who still listed Mashiro as champion for a while. When Mashiro tried to set up a defense against Kaho Matsushita and Makoto, though, MIO said that it was not a defense because Mashiro wasn't the champion, she lost that status when she retired. Those three met for a decision match, and Mashiro ended up winning, scoring one of her sneaky rollups to pin Kaho. Mashiro is now claiming that this was her seventh defense and she's been champion since the start of 2022, but Ice Ribbon says this is a brand new reign that started today. There was some chatter about the status of the Challengers, as Yuuki Minami, Yuu Hanaya, and Mayuka Koike have only ever appeared at Korakuen shows, while Nanae Furukawa and Asuka Fujitaki have been at all varieties of shows (as has Mifu Ashida, who had a reign as tag champ). It appears their contract lapses at the end of March, so we'll see how many stick around. There was a trios match that a couple of fans said was a farewell to the project (with Ganbare's Yoshiko Hasegawa replacing Mifu), and Nanae scored her first win, tapping out Asuka with a double armbar. Nanae has already confirmed she's staying in Ice Ribbon past March, as she's scheduled for a Triangle Ribbon challenge on April 6. As a reminder, this was a film project so I don't think too many would stick around; if Mifu, Asuka, and Nanae are the long term catches out of this (and it appears they will be), then I think the project was a success. Ancham beat Yappy in the second match, where there was a bet for dinner and drinks on the line. Yappy tweeted that she needed to borrow money to pay for Ancham's tab. Saran (who was teaming with YuuRI) also debuted a diving foot stomp, using it to beat Arisa Shinose (teaming with Yuko Sakurai). I think the turnout was very healthy considering how the last couple of years has been freelancer heavy, and this was mostly base talent, with freelancers only in the undercard. A lot of positive momentum on the horizon! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Monday Morning Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Sooo Stardom did some test livestreaming of the weekend's shows and it seems to have gone pretty well. Some highlights (?) -AZM & Mina bonding ahead of their stint in America (if you've ever wanted to see dancing AZM then between Mina's Tiktok and the match on Saturday you've been spoiled this weekend) -Golden Generation tag (Utami/Tall Saya/Maika/Non-Tall Saya) -DDM reunion tag (Giulia/Syuri/Maika/Natsupoi/Mirai/Mai Sakurai) -Sayaka Kurara and Aya Sakura both having singles against Yunamon trying to get into Cozuen -New Blood tag title match Ah heck there's a bunch of good stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 The DDM reunion tag was a whole lot of fun. Lots of old team-up stuff, Spoiler Natsupoi momentarily turning on DDM again... and lots of hugs and tears afterwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefanie Sparkleface Posted March 26 Author Share Posted March 26 Yuuki Mashiro has been teasing that she wants Unagi Sayaka to come to Ice Ribbon and maybe challenge for the Triangle Ribbon. Unagi has acknowledged it with a series of vomit emojis (which might mean she's interested, if one is familiar with how Unagi talks). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Monday Morning Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 I guess this should go in the ROH thread (if there even is such a thing) but maybe not everyone checks there - anyway, Maika/Mina/Mei Seira vs Tam/Tall Saya/AZM got announced for the RoH PPV on 5th April Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 (edited) TJPW Grand Princess Spoilers Spoiler Miu Watanabe defeated Miyu Yamashita in one hell of a match to win her first Princess of Princess championship. Daisy Monkey also won the tag belts. Stardom spoilers Spoiler MIRAI and Mai Sakurai had their final matches in Stardom tonight. MIRAI faced the rest of God's Eye in 5 minute matches. She drew with Ranna and Ami. She lost almost immediately to Saki, wanted a rematch, and lost to Saki again. She went to a draw with Syuri. Syuri demanded more time and pulled MIRAI into a hug. As a result, MIRAI pinned Syuri. Mai came out in her original white and pink gear, and was defeated by Tam Nakano. Giulia and Suzu Suzuki fought to a draw. They asked for 5 minutes more, and went to a draw again. From the previous evening... Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara wrestled to a draw. Yuna Mizumori declared they both have passed Tropical Judgment. However, Tam Nakano, Natsupoi, and Saori Anou came out and said there was one last step to join Cosmic Angels. Aya, Sayaka, and Yuna will faced Tam, Poi, and Saori in a trios match. Mina Shirakawa, Xena, and Maika won the Artist of Stardom belts, when Xena pinned MIRAI. Crazy Star defeated AphroditE to win the Goddess of Stardom belts. Maika (World of Stardom) & Mei Seira (High Speed) are now double champions. Edited March 31 by Ace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Monday Morning Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 (edited) I wouldn't even remotely call myself a regular TJPW watcher but Grand Princess was super fun. A little long, they probably could've cut one or two of the openers (or SKE48, lol) but a little something for everyone and some really good stuff. Personally MagiRabi vs TeaDK was MotN but there were a couple others that ran it very close. Brookes is getting into (already in?) that rarified Claudio-type air where you just slot him in to base for joshis and you know you'll get something great. Edited April 1 by Mr. Monday Morning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nofuture Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 Giulia wasting no time making her first post-Stardom appearance: Spoiler 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinube Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 Marika Kobashi was injured during a match she had in Korea. According to her someone (the promoters, I think) didn't want to get her an ambulance or take her to the hospital themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 Stardom Philly spoilers Spoiler Saki Kashima won the High Speed Championship against champion Mei Seira and Ram Kaichow. After the Club Venus reunion, Toni Storm came out and gave Mariah flowers. There was tension as Mariah was torn between Toni and Mina. Toni made a a veiled challenge to Mina to fight at Forbidden Door. Maika defended her title against Megan Bayne. Momo Watanabe came out to challenge for later this month and was about to hit Maika with the bat before Megan stepped into the way, causing Momo to back off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystman Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 Was at the Stardom show. It was fantastic, and the main event was an awesome monster battle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefanie Sparkleface Posted April 5 Author Share Posted April 5 Ice Ribbon announced that Ibuki Hoshi will be on a long-term leave of absence, and will be addressing the audience before tomorrow's show. They did not specify what the reason for the absence was, but speculation is that she's injured (and there may be some truth to that; she's been a bit banged up recently). Hopefully, whatever the situation is, she'll be okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefanie Sparkleface Posted April 6 Author Share Posted April 6 9 hours ago, Stefanie Sparkleface said: Ice Ribbon announced that Ibuki Hoshi will be on a long-term leave of absence, and will be addressing the audience before tomorrow's show. They did not specify what the reason for the absence was, but speculation is that she's injured (and there may be some truth to that; she's been a bit banged up recently). Hopefully, whatever the situation is, she'll be okay. Well, it's not an injury! https://twitter.com/Hassy0924/status/1776447506932801869 Ibuki is pregnant! Hamuko Hoshi's gonna be a grandma! Ibuki has vacated the Infinity title, and the tournament to crown the next champion will start on April 28. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 I haven't watched any Ice Ribbon in years, but for some reason I immediately thought pregnancy when you mentioned that earlier. Glad I was right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefanie Sparkleface Posted April 6 Author Share Posted April 6 7 hours ago, Eivion said: I haven't watched any Ice Ribbon in years, but for some reason I immediately thought pregnancy when you mentioned that earlier. Glad I was right. If you get the time, I'd strongly recommend checking out Ribbonmania or the March Korakuen. Both were strong shows, and the latter had fairly minimal freelancer involvement so if you want a temperature check on how the roster is looking nowadays, that's your best indication. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonzombie Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 Giulia and Triple H https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GKf-t5YaEAEEKmj?format=jpg&name=large Giulia was also in the NXT Stand & Deliver crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octopus Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 In honor of the WWE Hall of Fame induction and to high five @Casey, I think I’ll watch a Bull Nakano match 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 Spark Joshi spoilers Spoiler Tam Nakano and Aja Kong want to face each other in a singles match. Sumie Sakai defeated Billie Starkz by DQ, using the Eddie Guerrero chair trick to win the Spark Joshi World Championship. Sumie then said she would defend it anytime and anywhere. Starlight Kid came out and won the match in minutes. COLOR'S and Spark Joshi will co-promote in Japan in June. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.H. Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 I've been neglecting my Joshi watching, so after Mania XTRA LARGE went off the air I finally sat down and watched Miu and Miyu beat crap outta each other. It was GLORIOUS! Jamez! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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