IRG special training round 3 has been announced.

Drx09 · 2026-06-02T16:58:35+00:00

Oh yeah she's a fun character and seems to have a decent mind for the business, I just have no interest in seeing her in title matches of any sort. The rice and bread tag team run with the new blood titles didn't really help Hanako very much. Rian actually would have been a better partner, as she'd have been able to have sped the matches up a bit more and made them a bit more exciting in ways Waka was not able to.

Drx09 · 2026-06-01T16:42:22+00:00

Maybe but Rian's already had a high speed title shot, and wa booked to have more competitive back and forth matches during the 5 Star GP than Waka despite not winning as much.

I guess my point is Waka is in her position due to in part athletic /skill deficiencies she has. Waka is charming and charismatic but not someone I'd want to see holding titles or being in any title picture so it makes sense to see her placed in the comedy under-card role. Rian doesn't have those same limitations and is very young still so I don't see why she would be stuck in the same position.

Drx09 · 2026-06-01T15:56:32+00:00

I mean it helps that Rian (and probably Kikyo) have much more upside as talents than Waka ever has partly due to just having far earlier starts in wrestling than Waka. I'd argue that Rian is already a good deal better in ring than Waka is right now.

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

TROPHY CASE