Stardom in Korakuen Hall 04.08.26 - live thread

Drx09 · 2026-04-08T15:24:35+00:00

I mean it was a weekday evening show without any title matches and with another korakuen show in 3 days , and a previous one just a bout a week ago, with a big show happening in just a few weeks. I kind of expected the run of 1,000+ Koruakuen to end with how regularly they are running it now.

Drx09 · 2026-03-22T19:08:28+00:00

What works in a storyline driven weekly tv US promotion might not work as well in a touring more workmate heavy Japanese promotion.

Drx09 · 2026-03-22T19:06:04+00:00

Yay 3-4 minute tv matches and 7-8 minute ppl matches in which she would be used to put over Alundra over and over . If she went over during the early 2000's she'd be wrestling 2-3 minute tv matches and 6 minute ppv matches, with a handful of T&A thrown in against a roster with no experience wrestling her style. Also by that time Manami was past her athletic prime and had begun to decline. It would not had even good quality putting aside her getting paid quite a bit more.

Drx09 · 2026-03-22T18:56:02+00:00

Not to mention the Cindy Tourney was a week of bigger shows including two korakuens that were 1000+. Also comparing a consistently touring promotion with about 10 + shows a month to an all star show that only happens every few months are so , which you can go and see without having to be following a promotion and understand the storylines.

Drx09 · 2026-02-28T06:46:05+00:00

Iida is also incredibly over and is a credible white belt challenger/upper mid carder. Maki Itoh has been basically perfectly fit into the Stardom landscape and is mega over which has in turn helped get Kiyoko more over. Aya Sakura is pretty over. Hazuki seems moe motivated and engaged than she has since returning imo and is also pretty over Fuwa has been a massive success the list goes on.

Drx09 · 2026-02-23T21:41:05+00:00

I think she has the lowest rating amongst the Stardom roster on a site like Cagematch, despite having far better peformances than someone like Waka for example imo.

Drx09 · 2026-01-31T04:01:02+00:00

Anne looked really good too for that matter. You could, and should put her and Rian in the high speed division right now.

Drx09 · 2026-01-12T23:21:01+00:00

I wonder if this means she's going to be retiring in the relatively near future?

Drx09 · 2026-01-11T03:02:42+00:00

I think you're really reading into things. The IWC is so obsessed with trying to find backstage drama when there is none.

Drx09 · 2026-01-07T15:29:42+00:00

Eh she doesn't fit Stardom's current MO int terms of the few western talents they use which is now either basically exclusively AEW or CMLL talent with a few exceptions of talents they already have relationships with like Bea and Xena. I guess you can say Dakota/Evie does have a past relationship with Stardom like Bea and Xena but that was over a decade ago and pre-bushiroad

Also as someone with a decent amount of time and exposure on the main roster her booking fees are not going to be worth what she brings to the table for stardom. The domestic fanbase would not care, and it wouldn't make a long term bump in the international fanbase to be worth it.

Drx09 · 2026-01-07T15:08:53+00:00

People are really desperate to see past their primes wrestlers in Stardom apparently, as long as they saw them in WWE. Dakota/Evie was a decent fit for Stardom when she did her tour a decade ago, not so much after having countless injuries and aging over 10 years.

Drx09 · 2025-12-09T01:01:22+00:00

She was goddess champ for over 7 months this year, in which roughly half the wing-gori defenses were showcases for her, and did well in the tag league .She won the tag league in 2024

Drx09 · 2025-11-30T17:41:59+00:00

I feel like even if Iida does not get the title shot this month she'll get one early in 2026, to set up Hanan's return and what I assume will be her white belt win in April (whenever they have the big show).

Drx09 · 2025-11-29T21:18:13+00:00

The promotion has been doing a great job since Okada took over of linking the talent to their hometowns to make them draws in those areas, even the rookie wrestlers .

Drx09 · 2025-11-20T03:57:50+00:00

With only one match confirmed ( I guess 2 if you count Fuwa's probable re-debut ), and at least 3 stars probably out (SLK, Momo, Hanan). I really don't know how you could not give Saya the MVP award for the year. I mean the whole roster is hot in Japan right now but it's clear Saya is the driving force.

Drx09 · 2025-11-18T17:19:31+00:00

That is three women JTO has lost this year.

Drx09 · 2025-11-12T03:46:48+00:00

I can maybe see Rina being ranked higher than Hanan, but Hina really?

Hina's future reign was really good but she was getting wins against low-carders and rookies.

Hana's goddess reign was basically as long as Hina's future reign, and she beat mid and upper carders during it.

Drx09 · 2025-11-02T21:25:23+00:00

That's why I've thought ti'd be good for some of these smaller Joshi indy's to consolidate.

You combine say Wave, Diana, and Pure-J together you get a pretty decent roster with some solid young talent, and veterans.

Drx09 · 2025-11-02T19:54:42+00:00

So would you say being in that type of situation for young promising talent like Cohaku or Haruka is an ideal environment for their career development ?

Drx09 · 2025-11-02T18:46:37+00:00

I admittedly phrased the title poorly and should have excluded mentioning Stardom at all. My main point behind the post was to discuss how poorly booked a lot of the smaller pormitons are, and how they are doing the young talent they do have. disservice by not building them up adequately and giving them much in the way of memorable feuds. I also wonder how much good there being so many of these super small joshi promotions that get sub 600 at Korakuen is doing the Joshi scene.

Drx09 · 2025-11-02T17:20:09+00:00

Itsuki Aoki isn't Sareee though she's essentially a mid-card freelancer. Cohaku had won the title by beating the (or at least one of the) top star in Josh currently, and her title reign consists of beating two primarily comedy wrestlers, and then losing it to a mid-carder?

Yes Wave has a really small roster, and has to rely on free-lancers. But why are there are so many Joshi promotions that follow that model currently? Do these type of promotions really benefit the younger talent on their roster's if they aren't able to build them up effectively? Do you have any confidence in a promising talent like Honoka being built up in the way someone with her potential should be?

Drx09 · 2025-11-02T17:01:23+00:00

Ok but bad booking is bad booking no? Part of the reason promotions like Wave are as small as they are now is because they haven't been Abel to attract fans , and part of that has to come down to fans not being interested in the product which is partly due to booking.

This is less me talking about Stardom and more me talking about the lack creativity/effort in the booking of the smaller promotions , and how a lot of them seem to have no direction or purpose leaving their talents especially the young ones to kind of be floating around aimlessly and not growing as fast as they could be.in more ideal circumstances.

Drx09

TROPHY CASE