Back in 2024, STARDOM saw a mass exodus as stars including Utami Hayashishita, Victoria Yuzuki, MIRAI & Mai Sakarai all departed to join Rossy Ogawa’s new promotion Marigold. One of their top stars Giulia also left STARDOM in 2024 to help Marigold get off the ground before heading to the WWE. All those departures were major losses for STARDOM but the talent exits were not done going into 2025.
When Daichi Hashimoto successfully defended his Big Japan Pro-Wrestling World Strong Heavyweight Championship on Aug. 24th against Leyton Buzzard, fans immediately began to wonder who would be the next challenger for Hashimoto.
Hashimoto didn’t make fans at the Aichi Toyoda Gosei Memorial Gymnasium wait long as the BJW Strong Champion nominated Shuji Ishikawa as his next challenger.
A little over a month ago on July 21st, TJPW star Moka Miyamoto defeated Suzume to win the International Princess Title. It was the her first championship win and she was in the process of taking her career to the next level of success.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling superstar Francesco Akira suffered an injury that will cause him to be out of action indefinitely. The injury occurred on Aug. 22 as Akira was facing Leon Slater at the RevPro 13th Anniversary event in London, England. During the course of the match, Akira suffered a fractured right wrist in a bout that lasted only eight minutes and was won by Leon Slater.
As the holder of the Wonder of STARDOM Title, Starlight Kid had high hopes for the 5★STAR GP 2025 Tournament. Prior to the tournament, Starlight Kid had confidently expressed that she wanted to win the whole thing and face Saya Kamitani in a double title match.
Yuji Nagata and Hiroshi Tanahashi will be facing off against each other for the eighteenth and final time at the upcoming Nagata produced Blue Justice XVI event. The two have had quite a storied rivalry and they will have one final match as Tanahashi is on his Final Road tour as he is set to retire at the Wrestle Kingdom 20 on Jan. 4th 2026.
The legendary Korakuen Hall will host one of the most pivotal nights of the 2025 Dream Star GP tournament on August 30th, streaming live on Wrestle Universe with English commentary. As we reach the final stages of Marigold’s annual round-robin tournament, mathematical possibilities begin to narrow for some – and championship dreams crystallize for rising stars.
When Momo Watanabe won the STARDOM 5★STAR GP 2025 tournament, she stated that she was not in a hurray to decide which title she would like to challenge for.
Maki Itoh has announced via her X page that she is leaving TJPW. In her post, Itoh revealed that August 23rd was the last date in her contract.
After KONOSUKE TAKESHITA won the New Japan Pro-Wrestling G1 Climax 35 tournament, he stated he wanted to go into Wrestle Kingdom 20 as the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Well, TAKESHITA will have his chance as he will get the IWGP World Heavyweight Title opportunity he earned by winning the G1 Climax 35.
