Syuri Gives Heartfelt Statement After Becoming A Double Champion At Wrestle Kingdom 20

By: Lewis Carlan

On Jan. 4th, New Japan Pro-Wrestling held it’s biggest event of the year Wrestle Kingdom 20 with a sold out crowd of 46,913 on hand for the show.

While the event was mainly about the final match of Hiroshi Tanahashi’s storied career, two of the best women wrestlers in the world did battle in a double championship bout.

The IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri faced NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion Saya Kamitani with both belts being defended.

The bout between the two superstars was a thrilling one as expected. Syuri & Kamitani fought their hearts out in an effort to be victorious. In the end, it was a Syuri Syu Seka that concluded the match at the 12:09 mark declaring her the winner and now a double champion.

Following her victory, the IWGP Women’s Champion and NJPW STRONG Women’s Titleholder gave a heartfelt backstage post-match statement regarding her defeat of Kamitani.

From Syuri:

“I’m incredibly happy. To be able to stand in the Tokyo Dome, in front of a full crowd, and claim victory as a double champion. I’m truly, truly happy. If people seeing a women’s match for the first time think it’s interesting and become more and more curious about it, that would make me incredibly happy. Also, I’m entering my 18th year as a pro-wrestler. Back then, I knew nothing about wrestling and had never seen it. I encountered wrestling from there, a lot of things happened, but I kept going, and now I’ve been able to become a double champion here at the Tokyo Dome. I’m genuinely glad I could keep going and fell in love with wrestling. From the bottom of my heart, I’m filled with gratitude for everyone who has supported me from the beginning. But this is still just the beginning. I want to become a presence where when people think of IWGP, they think of Syuri. I will seek more and more strength with the STRONG Women’s title, keep evolving, and charge straight through 2026 as a double champion.”

Syuri also indicated that she wants to defend her titles overseas in addition to wrestlers in STARDOM:

From Syuri:

“I want to face strong opponents, both overseas and in Japan. I want matches within STARDOM, but I also want to face wrestlers from outside. I want to keep fighting strong overseas competitors and keep etching that history.”

Full results for Wrestle Kingdom 20 are available here.

(H/T goes to meraWRESTLING for all the English Translation quotes.)