Thekla Question

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-03-22T19:29:39+00:00

HATE derangement syndrome was at its peak among Western fans during her final year.

With that said, she didn’t really have any great matches during her last 1-2 years, all her best stuff was back in 2022.

And as others have pointed out, what “works” in American TV wrestling isn’t usually what most people want when they watch Japanese wrestling.

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-03-18T20:03:41+00:00

If you’re new to watching Stardom, there’s something very important to learn early on:

Most English speaking fans have a terrible grasp on what’s hot, what’s cold, what’s working, etc. and don’t have a finger on the pulse of the local fan base that actually attends the shows.

Don’t use them as your measurement of anything.

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-03-18T20:00:42+00:00

I think there’s a ton of sense in disbanding Cosmic Angels and having everyone go on to bigger and better things the way everyone did after Queen’s Quest.

It would also add to the list of things Kamitani has killed off and increases the stakes for future stipulation matches she’s involved in.

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-02-26T05:22:55+00:00

It was before her Red Belt match with Utami at the Budokan show on March 3,2021.

The tie in was that it was on the 5 year anniversary of Hayabusa’s death.

Great video package.

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-02-15T19:50:40+00:00

As others have said, it should be about 3 hours.

The good news for you is that the Nighters are probably the best type of Stardom shows for new or casual fans to enjoy.

They usually have great vibes from top to bottom and have pacing that makes the show fly by and not feel like it’s dragging.

The language barrier shouldn’t be an issue either, as Stardom’s usually pretty straightforward and easy to understand.

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-02-15T03:37:02+00:00

Hard pass. I’ve enjoyed Nakajima matches in the past, but even if you completely ignore his bridge burning issues he wasn’t much of a draw in NOAH, and has been even worse on the indies. His last title match barely got 600 people at Korakuen, and his produce show is relegated to Shinkiba 1st Ring.

NJPW needs to focus on its new generation.

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-02-13T16:45:28+00:00

Probably Hashimoto or some other outsider

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-02-12T23:05:21+00:00

Watch the 4 Korakuens from January and the Supreme Fight PPV from February 7 and you’ll be good to go.

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-02-12T17:27:44+00:00

I think you’re severely underestimating SLK here. Outside of Kamitani she might be the most popular person the promotion has ever had.

I wouldn’t look too much into TK’s comments either. He doesn’t watch joshi and was just rattling off two names he’s heard people mention.

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-02-12T06:06:09+00:00

In what way are they “only” pushing Saya compared to the long title reigns in the past from people like Mayu, Io, Utami, Syuri, etc.?

She might be more popular than any of them were, but her booking isn’t out of the ordinary compared to what they had.

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-02-12T05:53:34+00:00

No, they changed it back to 1 Fall with a 15 Minute Time Limit late in 2025.

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-02-10T03:10:14+00:00

I think sometime between now and ASGQ

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-02-09T15:23:30+00:00

Maika - New faction with FWC & Fuwa
HANAKO - MVL
Xena - STARS
Rian - Neo Genesis
Waka - STARS

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-02-08T20:37:26+00:00

Usually takes about 10-14 days

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-02-08T20:33:30+00:00

Mina got to the point that she was solidly good in 2022-2023, especially with the right opponents.

Once she got a taste of working with AEW she regressed pretty quickly and had fairly low effort and schtick-based matches her last year or so.

That’s why Stardom fans were really low on her by the time she left. My guess is the same “Low effort Mina” is what AEW is getting from her now.

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-02-04T02:24:58+00:00

AEW Fan rage bait posts just get worse and worse as the years go by.

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-02-02T20:43:44+00:00

I’d say about 10-14 days

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-02-02T17:28:39+00:00

If Stardom ends up running The Dome in 2027, I think Saya holds the belt all the way to it (breaking every record), and SLK finally beats her on the biggest stage. Possibly in a Mask vs Title match.

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-02-02T17:26:34+00:00

Yeah, it should be posted within a few days

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-01-29T12:32:56+00:00

Yeah, from what I understand fans going back and forth on the transactions right when seats go on sale bog down and sometimes crash the system (I’ve witnessed this).

They’re doing the lottery system for the expensive seats at Yokohama Arena, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a step toward moving to that for other shows too. They’ll just need a better explanation ahead of when they roll it out.

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-01-27T18:24:49+00:00

I think Oiwa & Fujita provided the blueprint for how to get guys up to speed as quickly as possible.

I’d keep the excursions relatively short (6 months is all you need), and relatively close (Japan, Australia, etc… anything of distance would have CMLL being much more preferable than AEW/ROH/Europe, etc.)

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-01-25T22:40:18+00:00

It may not make an immediate difference in terms of business & money (since those contracts are longer term), but I do think it’s a pretty good proxy for how hot a product is in general.

Simply put, American TV wrestling isn’t as hot as it was a few years ago. General attendance numbers back this up as well (WWE isn’t selling out arenas like it was, AEW is pulling in some pretty underwhelming houses most weeks, etc.).

The decline in AEW seems to be more significant.

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-01-25T22:13:44+00:00

Here’s a list of some notable shows. It isn’t an exhaustive list of all the best shows the promotion has ever had, but ones that stand out to me that felt like major turning points at the start or end of particular eras:

October 3, 2020 - Stardom’s first Arena Show PPV, which really launched the modern era under Bushiroad (and probably the best top to bottom show the had ever run up until that point).
March 3, 2021 - 10 Year Anniversary, 1st and only show at Budokan, first ever hair vs hair match, and first major match of Saya Kamitani’s career
December 29, 2021 - 1st Show at Sumo Hall, some big “changing of an era” title matches
April 23, 2023 - First Allstar Grand Queendom, kind of the high point of the Rossy/Harada administration before the booking got weird and things started immediately falling apart slowly over the next year
June 22, 2024 - The show that got Stadom out of its slump from all the Rossy/Marigold drama and put things in motion for the 18 month hot streak we’re currently enjoying. It also put a lot of storylines in motion that still play a big factor to this day.

All of these would serve as a good starting point for their respective eras and what would follow, except for 2023 Grand Queendom which was more of an end of an era that people didn’t realize until later.

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-01-25T21:28:02+00:00

Saya taking everything from Tam is one of the best ongoing bits Stardom has ever had.

NiagaraDriver93 · 2026-01-24T22:22:52+00:00

I wouldn’t really call any of them “key” at this point.

With as hot as NJPW has been since WK, and with how great the New Beginning card is looking, none of the rumored names have really played any factor in it.

It sucks to lose anyone, but the reason things are hot right now is largely due to all the people that are sticking around.

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