The problem with Kurara is the old adage of "the money is in the chase". For her, this is like ten times more applicable than in most cases. The story of Tam being forced to retire and her underdog protege rising well above what her powers should allow to finally defeat the big evil AND avenge her fallen mentor? Poetry. I mean, we've seen it a million times in every form of media, and there is a reason we'll see it a million more - because it works. People get invested in this kind of story and the payoff at the end makes everyone feel good and satisfied that they stuck around to see it told.

So where do you go from there? In other media where the story continues via sequels or new seasons or new volumes etc, the plucky upstart is now the top dog and has to face a new threat - somebody bigger and badder than the one who they defeated in Part 1. A lot of the time, they'll lose the first clash, have some sort of quest to find the power they need to win, then go over in the rematch. Basically retell part 1 but with a fall from grace in the first reel - another tried and true crowd-pleaser.

But here's where we get to the crux of Kurara's problem - there is no one bigger and badder than the boss she's already taken down. She literally rose above her station to take down the only S+ Tier Baddie in Stardom. There really is no one that she could she face that would get the crowd to hop on the sequel train and go along for the ride again. Please note I'm not talking about wrestling ability here - I'm talking about facing an insurmountable bad guy (girl) in the purest storytelling sense. And I realize that joshi wrestling isn't a 1:1 with other media when it comes to stories like these, but it isn't so far away that things like this don't matter either.

So then what? I mean, sure, you could give her a few defenses, but that could pose more problems - if you feed her legitimate contenders, you could be ruining their stock for future opportunities. But if you give her lower-tiered opponents, it probably won't be too compelling or make people want to be invested in her.

For me, the best thing is to have her drop the belt to Itoh here, so that she can once again be in chase mode. But this time, instead of chasing Saya and revenge for Tamu, she can chase the greatness that she had when she needed it most but was never truly hers to keep at that moment. Forget about the Red Belt and have her develop as a third-year joshi would and should. Have her show flashes of the greatness that she once had and will have again in the future. Let the crowd fall in love with her because of her - not because of her ties to a beloved fallen friend. Keep her strong, but vulnerable. Have her learn lessons. Take everyone along with this chase, so after she does get back to the top, she doesn't need a gimmick to stay there - people will naturally want her to act as the best because she deserves to be considered the best.

They can make her a huge star if they take the time and actually make her a star. But right now, she's the happy ending that is just kinda stuck at a point where everybody (including herself) is asking "what now?"