Mayu Iwatani States She Joined Marigold With Absolute Resolve and Won’t Quit Without Accomplishing Anything

By: Lewis Carlan

Back on May 1st 2025, the “Icon” Mayu Iwatani reunited with Rossy Ogawa and officially joined the Marigold roster after a long tenure with rival promotion STARDOM.

Photo Credit: DSF Marigold

Since Iwatani’s debut with Marigold, there have been a number of high profile departures from the promotion that included Utami Hayashishita, MIRAI and most recently Mai Sakurai.

In a recent interview with Number Web, Iwatani gave her insight as to why she thinks the departures have occurred. In addition, Iwatani vowed not to quit Marigold without accomplishing anything.

From Mayu Iwatani:

“I think the wrestlers do this because they love pro wrestling. However, it’s a fact that many people have left. Their hearts must break somewhere along the way. Good things happen if you stay. I can’t tell them not to quit, but I hope they keep going. The ones who transferred and the new members who joined must have made their moves with a certain level of resolve. Yet that gets thrown away so easily. I don’t know, but it made me think, ‘So that was the extent of everyone’s resolve.’ It’s difficult because everyone is different. I transferred to this promotion with absolute resolve, so saying ‘I guess I quit’ without accomplishing anything is something I can never do, nor do I want to. I don’t want to live such an uncool life. Saying this might cause friction. But this is how I truly feel. In my previous promotion, I worked as the Icon and was able to grow alongside the promotion. I lived a cool way of life. But right now, I can’t consider myself cool. That’s why I think my fans must feel anxious to some extent. No matter what I say, I’ll probably get criticized anyway, but as the Icon, I haven’t accomplished anything yet. I want to work hard together with everyone who is here now. I will not quit like this.”

During the interview, Iwatani talked about being featured in the popular Japanese magazine FLASH and how it could help Marigold gain new fans.

From Mayu Iwatani:

“Being featured in a magazine that everyone knows serves as an entrance for new fans. ‘A girl like this is doing combat sports? Well, let me take a look.’ Then they watch YouTube. They come to the venue. That’s how it spreads, not in the unpleasant way things spread right now, like ‘Marigold = a dangerous promotion’ or botched moves. That happens in every promotion, but Marigold gets clipped and shared frequently. When that kind of image takes precedence, I feel it can’t be helped if people think, ‘Ah, so it’s that kind of promotion.’ But if they actually watch us in person, I think they’ll realize, ‘They can actually do this pretty well.’”

On Oct. 24th at GRAND DESTINY 2026, Iwatani has the opportunity to become a triple champion. Iwatani will put her Marigold Superfly Title on the line against Marigold World Champion Miku Aono and Marigold United National Champion Victoria Yuzuki in a triple threat winner take all Triple Crown Championship bout.

(H/T goes to meraWRESTLING for the English quote translations)