Maki Itoh Reveals She Considered Changing Her Entire Persona and Style After Joining STARDOM

By: Lewis Carlan

Back on Jan. 10th, the pro-wrestling world was given an unexpected surprise when freelancer star Maki Itoh appeared at a STARDOM event to announce that she had joined the promotion as a full time competitor. STARDOM President Taro Okada was in the ring when the announcement was made official.

Itoh, who is known as “the cutest in the world” has enjoyed success in her two months with STARDOM and has aligned herself with Kikyo Furusawa.

Photo Credit: STARDOM

Itoh & Furusawa are coming off a big victory on Feb. 28th when they defeated Kiyoka Kotatsu & Tomoka Inaba and Maika & Xena in a three team bout.

Itoh revealed today on X that after she decided to join STARDOM, she seriously considered ending her entire “cutest in the world” persona and starting over from scratch. She ultimately decided not to make any changes and has enjoyed immediate success amongst the STARDOM fans.

From Maki Itoh:

“When I decided to join STARDOM, I seriously considered changing my fighting style at that point (I took criticism like “Ito is a characterless wrestler” to heart and developed a complex about it). I thought about stopping my singing entrance, changing my hairstyle, not saying things like “I’m the cutest in the world,” and starting over from scratch. But in the end, I gave up on being a model student in the best sense. After going full circle (or maybe 300 laps?), I decided to believe in myself. It took tremendous resolve, but despite some mixed reactions, seeing how quickly I’ve been able to make STARDOM’s fans smile makes me glad I trusted myself. Every time I step into this ring, I feel a deep sense of purpose.” (Translated via Deepl.com)

Itoh’s next match will see her once again team with Kikyo Furusawa as they face Waka Tsukiyama & Rian at STARDOM in KARIYA 2026 Mar. on March 1st.