Photo Credit: STARDOM
By: Noah Leatherland
STARDOM Crimson Nightmare took place in the Tokyo EBARE WAVE Arena Ota, helping to bring in the spooky season. In the main event, the red belt was up for grabs, with Suzu Suzuki managing to retain over a tough challenger in Starlight Kid.
Starlight Kid had earned this opportunity after defeating Suzuki in the semi-finals of this year’s 5STAR Grand Prix. She hoped to repeat that victory, and took it to the champion. Kid targeted Suzuki’s leg, repeatedly trying to make the champion submit. Suzuki’s gameplan focused on using her greater size and strength, which she did to great effect, driving Kid into the ring apron and tossing her around the ring. Even with the bad leg, Suzuki managed to unleash her German suplex hold finisher. However, it took three of those suplexes strung together to finally defeat Starlight Kid.
While Suzuki was celebrating her win, two more challengers made their presence known. One was the winner of this year’s 5STAR Grand Prix, Rina. The other was a former World of Stardom champion, Maika.
In her post-match comments, Suzuki looked ahead as the defending world champion:
I believe this world title is one that can only be held by a wrestler who can see the big picture—someone who’s truly ready to shoulder the weight of STARDOM.
When Maika said she’d challenge me if she won, I figured she meant she’d issue a direct challenge—and I was planning to accept it. Also, Rina’s still only 19, right? That’s why I thought she had nothing to fear. I went through a phase like that myself. But you know, I’m 24 now. I’m a fully-fledged adult, so the only thing I have is fear.
So even though Rina scared me today, first I’m going to take on Maika in this match, and then on December 29 at Ryogoku, I’m going to prove that you can’t win this belt with just momentum alone.
Meanwhile, Starlight Kid reflected on falling short once again:
This year, I competed in AEW, CMLL, two red belts matches, and was the runner-up at 5★STAR. Even though I seized so many opportunities, I wasn’t able to turn a single one into a victory. It’s so frustrating…
But these were challenges I took on to reach the top of the world and STARDOM, and I absolutely won’t let them go to waste. That’s why I’ll keep saying it: I won’t give up until I win the Red Belt. I will definitely achieve the Grand Slam. Because I’m ambitious.
It’s frustrating, but I’m going to do my best to shift my focus to the tag team league with Itoh-chan. I’m going to make my mark!
In one of the night’s other marquee match-ups, the couple of Natsupoi and Shingo Takagi succeeded in their first tag team effort. Despite some miscommunication, they managed to defeat the pairing of Yuna Mizumori and Hirooki Goto.
Also, in the huge faction elimination match, STARS found a way to overcome H.A.T.E. H.A.T.E. got an early advantage by eliminating the STARS rookies. But STARS battled back to even the odds. Amongst the multi-person madness, Utami Hayashishita got a measure of revenge by eliminating Saya Kamitani by knocking her out over the top rope. The match came down to a final two of Natsuko Tora and Hanan. After 25 minutes of faction warfare, Hanan became the last woman standing by dropping Tora with her backdrop hold and eliminating the final H.A.T.E. member.
Celebrating in the ring as a unit, STARS members spoke on their goals at the top of STARDOM.
Hanan:
I won’t let anyone say H.A.T.E. is the only dominant force anymore! We, STARS, are STARDOM’s number one unit—and the unit that’s going to lead STARDOM forward! We are STARS, and we are STARDOM!
Utami Hayashishita:
Today, with Hanan-san at the center and all of us in STARS giving it our all, we managed to pull off a win! Next, let’s keep making our individual dreams come true, one by one! I’m definitely going to make Kamitani take notice of me, too!
Maika:
It’s not just H.A.T.E. There’s still the Tag League—a huge tournament—left in STARDOM, too! Let’s deliver results in other areas as well and prove once and for all that STARS is number one!
Then, once they had gathered backstage, Hanan led the group in looking ahead to another big target:
STARS beat H.A.T.E.! H.A.T.E. even resorted to using weapons again, and even though our faces are all black like this, we were the ones who won in the end. This means we won’t let anyone say H.A.T.E. is the only dominant force anymore.
Don’t you think that when it comes to the Tokyo Dome, saying it together as a group brings us closer to our dream than if just one person says it? That’s why we at STARS say we’re all aiming for the Tokyo Dome together, and it’s STARS who will continue to shine a bright light on STARDOM from here on out!
(Quotes translated via DeepL)
Here are the full results for STARDOM Crimson Nightmare, courtesy of purolove.com:
Date:
October 29, 2026
Category:
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