Mayu Iwatani Promises She Won’t Quit Marigold, Reign At The Top Following Founding Stars’ Departures

By: Thom Fain

Mayu Iwatani, 33, told Reporters that Marigold will be okay, that it takes a beating from critics, and that she could not walk away with nothing accomplished.

“The Icon” of Joshi puroresu Mayu Iwatani says she is not leaving Marigold. In an interview Number Web published Oct. 19, five days before she won the World, United National and Super Fly titles at Ryogoku Kokugikan, the 33-year-old said she could never quit without having accomplished something. She is now the promotion’s triple crown champion, and most of the stars who launched it are gone.

Giulia, Utami Hayashishita, Nanae Takahashi and MIRAI, central names at the 2024 launch, had all left.

Utami, the ace, announced Apr. 25 that she would go after a May 23 final match. Mai Sakurai announced Oct. 3 that her last match would be Oct. 24, the night of Iwatani’s win. Number Web wrote that Victoria Yuzuki is now effectively the only original member left.

Iwatani told Number Web she moved to Marigold with resolve and cannot end up saying she quit with nothing to show for it. She said she does not feel cool right now, compared with her years as an icon who grew along with her previous promotion, and that fans are probably anxious. On the departures, she said plenty of people have left and guessed that something breaks in them along the way. She cannot tell anyone not to quit, she said, but she wants them to keep going. She has also come to feel that choosing Marigold as the last place of her career was the right call, she added, joking that it might not be the last.

The Icon also said the criticism is constant and makes things hard, but that Marigold is only in its third year. During her absence with a broken foot, from April to August, she watched every Tokyo and Osaka show and decided the company will be okay.

Her pitch is to come see Marigold and decide for yourselves: it is surprisingly fun.

She said the “dangerous promotion” image comes from botched moves being clipped, and that TV and magazine exposure, such as her FLASH cover, brings in new fans.

After the win she said it again: the haters will say something no matter what the promotion does.

Before the match she said the winner had to be the person who would reign as the company’s top. After, she reiterated she may have been too focused on raising younger wrestlers, and that others, and she herself, had wondered whether someone who joined after the launch could be the face of Marigold.

Iwatani became a player-coach on July 30 and said she wants to pass on what she was taught.

Founder Rossy Ogawa told Tokyo Sports in April that he learned of Hayashishita’s plans in January, would not try to talk departing talent into staying, and saw a chance for the rest of the roster to step up.

Reportedly, Marigold has locked up Yuzuki on a five-year contract. After Sakurai’s announcement he asked fans not to mock the promotion or individuals. He also chose the three-way format for Oct. 24, which Number Web’s Essei Hara called a gamble.

At Grand Destiny, Yuzuki pinned World champion Miku Aono, and Iwatani then beat Yuzuki with four Dragon suplexes, nearly a half-hour into the match.

Iwatani held up the Super Fly belt and asked Aono for a singles match, and Aono pointed at the red World belt.

They meet for the World title Jan. 3 at Ota City General Gymnasium. This is Iwatani’s first singles-only triple crown, and she said she will take any challenger while she holds the belts.