Unagi Sayaka Vows to Sink Marigold’s “Mud Boat” Ahead of Ryogoku Title Match

By: Thom Fain

The Kabukumono also questioned Miku Aono’s standing as World Champion and called Mayu Iwatani the only one worthy of the red belt.

Unagi Sayaka went after Marigold’s roster, its management and its World Champion in a run of posts on X and a Tokyo Sports interview ahead of her Twin Star title challenge at Saturday’s Grand Destiny at Ryogoku Kokugikan, where she and Hikari Noa face Chika Goto and Kouki Amarei.

In a post overnight addressed to everyone in Marigold, Unagi said they are sitting importantly on a mud boat, the Japanese idiom for a ship that will sink, built from the connections Rossy Ogawa has made over the years. She wrote that none of them has faced the box office, the shows or their own promotion, that nobody knows when the boat will go down, and that she will sink it.

A second post, quoting Goto’s message that she always gives it her all and finds nothing embarrassing in that, said Goto smirked through the press conference and that Unagi wanted to smack her for it. She wrote that she could not read Goto’s effort as a fight to protect and sell her own promotion, asked whether Goto understands what Marigold needs right now, and told her it is “you guys” standing at the edge of a cliff.

Tokyo Sports published a Friday interview with Unagi on Saturday morning under a headline quoting her saying she might take Marigold over. She told the paper that Aono’s reign feels fake to her, that she does not know what Aono wants to do, and that Iwatani, who she believes will stay until the end, is the only one worthy of the red belt in today’s Marigold.

Unagi also said everyone assumes Ogawa will fix things, and that she plans to do something interesting at Ryogoku.

She’s set to continue a feud that began at the Oct. 13 Grand Destiny press conference, where Unagi told the champions that people are leaving Marigold and the exchange with Goto turned into a brawl. Goto told Tokyo Sports on Oct. 22 that she wanted to thank Unagi for the challenge and wondered whether jealousy was behind her attitude. Amarei said the one working hardest is Unagi herself.

Unagi, 40, made her Marigold debut in Ota, appearing as Kabukimono U and beating Megaton. With her typical sassy delivery, she called one-time STARDOM boss Ogawa “just an old man” that day. The pair infamously had a fallout when Unagi was fired from STARDOM when they were both at Bushiroad, spurring “The Eel” to chart her own course as a freelancer.

Unagi is a former Artist of Stardom and Future of Stardom champion, and her run of self-produced shows highlights a rare popularity and business savvy in an increasingly crowded field of independent Joshi promotions.

The Twin Star match, the champions’ fifth defense, is the semi-main event.

The main event is a three-way survival match for the World, Superfly and United National titles between Aono, Iwatani and Victoria Yuzuki, with the winner taking all three. Aono has held the World title since Oct. 26, 2025 and has made six defenses. Iwatani, who joined Marigold from Stardom about a year and a half ago, and Yuzuki, a founding member, are each making a first challenge for it.

Mai Sakurai wrestles her last match for Marigold on the same card, and the show is streaming live on Wrestle Universe.