Maki Itoh Loses STARDOM Debut at New Year Stars in Korakuen Day 2

By Noah Leatherland

Maki Itoh snatched headlines with the announcement of her new STARDOM deal. However, The Cutest in the World has gotten off to a rocky start in her new promotion, suffering a defeat in her first STARDOM match.

Maki Itoh teamed with Saori Anou in her first STARDOM match. Itoh brought her unique brand of showmanship to STARDOM. However, Itoh’s debut ended on a sour note.

Itoh and Anou faced the current New Blood Tag Team champions, Aya Sakura and Sayaka Kurara. Tag team chemistry ended up being a deciding factor in the match, and in the climax, Itoh found herself all twisted up in a pinfall from Sakura. The champions walked away with a victory, and Itoh was left with a loss to start her STARDOM career.

In the fallout, Maki Itoh’s first singles match in STARDOM was confirmed. Sakura proclaimed herself to be the strongest, and the cutest, much to Itoh’s offence. Itoh will face Aya Sakura at STARDOM Supreme Fight in Osaka on February 7th. If Itoh loses, she will not be allowed to call herself The Cutest in the World while in STARDOM.

More challenges were laid out for STARDOM Supreme Fight elsewhere on the show. After picking up a victory in handicap tag action, Maika laid out a challenge to Rina Yamashita. Maika proposed a full-member battle between E neXus V and Mi Vida Loca.

A pair of title matches headlined the New Year Stars event. Hazuki successfully defended her CMLL-Japan Women’s Title against Mei Seira. Hazuki did not want to wait for her next challenge. After her win, she called out CMLL’s Olympia to step up next.

Then, in the main event, HATE’s Rina, Konami and Fukigen Death retained their Artist of Stardom titles against God’s Eye’s Hina, Lady C & Tomoka Inaba. To close the show, another title match was set for the future. From the winning side, Konami agreed to defend her Wonder of Stardom title against Rina. The match is set for STARDOM’s 15th anniversary show on January 21st.

Here are the full results for STARDOM New Year Stars in Korakuen Day 2, courtesy of purolove.com:

• Handicap Match: Maika, HANAKO, Xena, Waka Tsukiyama & Rian def. Bozilla, Rina Yamashita, Itsuki Aoki & Akira Kurogane (13:22)
• Saya Iida, Bea Priestley & Yuria Hime def. Natsuko Tora, Ruaka & Azusa Inaba (8:23)
• AZM def. Momo Kohgo and Anne Kanaya (5:54)
• Starlight Kid, Natsupoi, Yuna Mizumori & Miyu Amasaki def. Ami Sohrei, Saki Kashima, Kiyoka Kotatsu & Kikyo Furusawa (10:00)
• Sareee & Alex Windsor def. Syuri & Ranna Yagami (9:27)
• Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara def. Saori Anou & Maki Itoh (12:11)
• CMLL Japan Women’s Title: Hazuki (c) def. Mei Seira (18:10)
• Artist of Stardom Title: Konami, Rina & Fukigen Death★ (c) def. Hina, Lady C & Tomoka Inaba (22:19)