President Taro Okada Believes Rina Will Lead The Way For The New Era of STARDOM

By: Lewis Carlan

On Aug. 24th, STARDOM held a press conference as President Taro Okada and 19 year old STARDOM superstar Rina met with the media. They were there to discuss Rina’s historic STARDOM 5★STAR GP 2026 victory as she became the youngest competitor ever to win the tournament.

Rina was recently sent on an overseas tour and President Okada was asked about his mindset for sending her.

From Taro Okada:

First and foremost, I really wanted her to experience the world. She’s been with Stardom for a long time, has a solid career for her age, and is a wrestler who can truly deliver the essence of pro wrestling to the fans. However, she hadn’t really competed in what you might call an “away” environment, so I absolutely wanted her to experience that. Of course, I’d like everyone to experience this, but I especially wanted Rina to go alone—not with anyone else—so I decided she should go by herself this time. I’ve noticed from her everyday behavior that her perspective is a bit different—she tends to look a little higher than others—and that’s why I was determined to send her. I informed the various promotions, and since she also expressed a desire to go, we decided to send her at this time.

During the course of the interview, President Okada had great praise for Rina and stated he feels she will lead the way for the new era of STARDOM.

From Taro Okada

“With the largest-ever field for two consecutive years, I can truly say with pride that the level of Stardom’s wrestlers is rising. Making it to the final two is difficult enough, and I realize that surviving in that situation is no small feat. Watching the final, I felt incredibly excited and realized just how much they’re carrying the weight of our company on their shoulders. They’re carrying the weight of pro-wrestling itself. And it’s not just Stardom. As you mentioned, this year’s representative, Rina, is carrying the entire pro-wrestling world on her shoulders—and by that, I mean she’s delivering a style of pro-wrestling that resonates not only within the pro-wrestling community but also with people who’ve never seen it before. And at 19 years old, I’m incredibly proud of her. It’s not just about her age, but becoming the youngest champion will certainly go down in history, and I believe she’ll lead the way for this new era. I’m confident you can look forward to the future of Stardom.”

With President Okada indicating that he feels that Rina will lead this new era of STARDOM, one would expect a tremendous amount of pressure has been placed on squarely on the shoulders of the young star. But you get a sense that this is exactly the position Rina wants to be in and fans should expect her to thrive.

(All English quote translations courtesy of Deepl.com)