Here we go again. Another All Star Grand Queendom, another dream match with Mayu Iwatani and the IWGP Women’s Championship involved. Mind you, I appreciate this trend. Do it forever. But the reason that this year is different from last year is simple — this match is four years in the making. And the wait hasn’t only been worth it, but it’s a match that pits who I believe to be the Greatest of All Time against the Best in the World.

Mayu Iwatani and Sareee aren’t going to just steal the show, they’re going to show the world that they’re the best of the best in professional wrestling. And it’s the last true dream match for me in my fandom.

But before I get into why the match itself is so incredible, let’s talk about how we got here. These two debuted in 2011, with Iwatani debuting at STARDOM’s inaugural show and Sareee debuting at Diana’s debut show. The road to this has written itself.

From the World of Stardom Championship match that never happened to each of the roads Mayu and Sareee took to get to where we are today. It’s the only way to look at this match because, if you’ve followed, it makes the match all the more special.

Mayu Iwatani: Established Greatness

Four years ago when this match was originally scheduled, Mayu Iwatani was in the midst of her second World of Stardom Championship reign. A reign that’d prove to be one of the most important in STARDOM history. A reign that brought her from “The Icon of STARDOM” to undeniably the best of Threedom. Part of that reign was the match with Sareee that was set to happen, which instead developed into a two-match series against Takumi Iroha that delivered two of the best matches in STARDOM history.

Those two matches showcased the greatness of Iwatani — both being the underdog and the confident champion from match to match. “The Icon” would eventually lose the championship at the end of the year, but she’d spend the next three years showing the world why she is one of the greatest to ever lace a pair of boots.

For my money, she is the greatest. An unbelievable talent that can play any role in the ring. Whether it was the Takumi Iroha matches, facing her longtime rival Momo Watanabe, or reliving her past against KAIRI — Mayu shined again and again and again.

That match with KAIRI is an important one in establishing Iwatani’s greatness to a worldwide audience. Historic X-Over saw her and KAIRI collide to crown the inaugural IWGP Women’s Champion. In the main event. Over the likes of Kazuchika Okada, Keiji Muto, Will Ospreay, and many others. And it’s not because of any other reason than she deserved that spot. Iwatani’s hard work to build up STARDOM and the Joshi scene was paying off. She didn’t leave for the big company in America like her opponent KAIRI did. Or, of course, her opponent this coming Saturday — Sareee. She became an all-timer by believing in herself and shining in STARDOM. It was only right that she was in that match. And, at the time, I thought she was the only choice to win that match.

After 25 minutes and 28 seconds, that moment that Iwatani had worked 11 years to have wasn’t going to happen yet. She lost the match to KAIRI yet proved more than anything that she is on a level that few can reach. Mayu delivered the best match of KAIRI’s return to STARDOM, putting on a show that wasn’t about her being the babyface but showing to her Threedom sister that she was at a higher level than KAIRI had reached — even if Iwatani wasn’t the one walking out with the win. And in the end, that was the right choice. Because when she would finally win the IWGP Women’s Championship, it’d be on STARDOM’s biggest stage against one of wrestling’s biggest stars. Period.

When I said “here we go again” at the start of this article, it was for this moment. A year ago, I wrote about my dream match — Mercedes Moné vs. Mayu Iwatani. The best of America against the best of Japan. The IWGP Women’s Championship was on the line in a match that wasn’t imaginable, quite frankly. But it happened and it was special. It wasn’t the match-of-the-year contender that I know they can have, but it was everything a great Joshi match is supposed to be. Most importantly, Mayu Iwatani walked out as the winner and finally IWGP Women’s Champion. It was a moment that she earned in her career through years of loyalty, ups and downs, and everything in between. That moment of pinning Mercedes in the middle of the ring was establishing her greatness in everyone’s eyes — and now she prepares for another chance to do so against Sareee.

When Mayu enters the match, she will have been IWGP Women’s Champion for over a year and a great reign behind her. She doesn’t have anything else to prove in the ring. However, Mayu always goes into a major match with something to prove — it’s why she is the greatest.
The challenge for her come Sunday is wrestling someone who has spent the entire past year reminding the world who she is.

Sareee: Reminding the World

The timelines for these two women have been very different. When Mayu Iwatani missed out on her match with Sareee, she carried on as World of Stardom Champion and had an excellent reign. She then remained “The Icon,” had her big matches in STARDOM, and won the IWGP Women’s Championship in those four years. For Sareee, it’s been nothing but a roller coaster of events.

Iwatani and Sareee didn’t happen because Sareee signed a deal to join WWE. As a result, the match was off and the reality set in that Mayu vs. Sareee may never happen. Crushing feeling, but that’s pro wrestling. It’s when the match went from a possibility to, you guessed it, an actual dream.

And then COVID-19 kicked in, and Sareee’s arrival in WWE was postponed. “The Sun God” stayed in Japan but never returned to STARDOM — which by then was under the Bushiroad umbrella. Sareee wrestled on the independent scene, having some great matches. She even won championship gold in SEAdLINNNG alongside Yoshiko, holding the Beyond The Sea Tag Team Titles. She’d continue to compete until January 2021, as she’d then finally get her chance to head over to WWE after signing a year prior.

Unfortunately, this is where a lot of things slowed down. Sareee had her name changed to Sarray in WWE, and never found consistent time on television. Despite being part of the company for two full years, Sareee had a total of 23 matches in the company while being part of the final days of NXT Black & Gold and having to deal with NXT 2.0. While Sareee is very appreciative of her time there and the matches she had with the likes of Tiffany Stratton and Mandy Rose, Joshi fans lost the chance to truly see one of the best wrestlers in the entire world. Truly, hope was lost as nothing had worked out and any time it felt like she’d have something new to do, things would go off the rails and wouldn’t come through.

Once 2023 came around, “The Sun God” had been out of action for the final months and there was wonder as to what she was doing. In March 2023, it was revealed that Sareee would be leaving WWE and returning to the scene at her own produce show, Sareee-ISM Chapter I. The show was set for May 16 and she’d be facing Chihiro Hashimoto in the match.
Considering she hadn’t wrestled an official match since August 2nd, 2022, rust could have been expected as she returned to the ring. But Sareee is one of a kind. She is the only wrestler I’ve seen to spend multiple years in WWE and somehow rub off the rust within their first match. For many, it takes time, but “The Sun God” was showing signs of the best in the world that we’ve come to love and appreciate today.

After her return match, she became undeniable from there.

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way, and maybe her career is completely different. Even if that’s the case, she’s a special wrestler. Sareee’s time away from Japan has made the return all the more incredible to witness. Countless matches with the likes of Hashimoto, Arisa Nakajima, Takumi Iroha, and others were not only can’t miss — you needed to go out of your way to see everything she was doing. And you still do. I talked about Mayu’s heroics to win championship gold, it’d be wrongful for me to not talk about Sareee’s as well.

“The Sun God” kicked off a rivalry with the aforementioned Nakajima over the Beyond The Sea Championship. On August 25th, Sareee won gold for the first time in two years. These two wrestled around Korakuen Hall for 27 minutes and 32 seconds with Sareee coming out on top and winning the belt. Not only that though. They had one of the best matches of the year in that very match.

So there are similarities in the widely different roads between Mayu and Sareee. And those similarities are them being the best at their profession. When Sareee steps into the ring on Saturday against Mayu Iwatani, she would still be just under a month away from her year-long return to Japan. And before we reach that year, she’s reminded the world that she’s the very best in the world.

It’s why this match, besides the four-year build, is the most highly anticipated match of the year in Joshi.

Mayu Iwatani vs. Sareee: Finally

March 9th, 2024. The day that Mayu Iwatani vs. Sareee finally became a reality once again.

“Yes, I am ready but I don’t think STARDOM is ready for me yet,” Sareee said in an interview with I had with her last year. “We will see. When the opportunity comes, I am interested in it, especially when Iwatani has the IWGP Women’s belt.”

Sareee’s eyes have been on the IWGP Women’s Championship since the moment she stepped back in Japan as a competitor. It’s only natural for someone who appreciates and follows Antonio Inoki as much as she does.

It was a year from when she officially left WWE that she stepped in a STARDOM ring for the first time, defeating her best friend Natsupoi in Poi’s return match. The match itself was tremendous, as she teamed with Chihiro Hashimoto against Natsupoi and Saori Anou. But there was unfinished business that didn’t feel real until it was over.

Following the all-star main event of the opening night of the Cinderella Tournament, Sareee made her way down to the ring to challenge Mayu Iwatani for the IWGP Women’s Championship. I remember watching it live. I don’t know if it’s possible to faint and leap out of my chair at the same time — but that’s how it felt at least. Four long years would be all we needed before these two went face-to-face — and the first match of All Star Grand Queendom was made. I wished luck to everyone else on the show from that moment forward.

February 8th, 2020 in Korakuen Hall wasn’t met to be for these two. April 27th, 2024 inside Yokohama BUNTAI is.

It’s the best ever vs. the best in the world. “The Icon” vs. “The Sun God.” The build up to this match was simple — they’re riding that this is a dream match. But for the build we have had, it’s only heightened my expectations.

Mayu Iwatani has shared her fear of Sareee’s offense, and it’s brought the tensions from a big match to a potential heated fight.

“I’m really scared,” Iwatani told Tokyo Sports, as translated by @meraWRESTLING. “Sareee’s elbows hurt and scares me. I’m still getting goosebumps… It hurt so much that I thought she was hitting me with a chain wrapped around her arm.”

Those fears have led to her considering leaving this match, and hoping another four years would pass before they actually do face off.

“Ah, maybe I should run away…,” Mayu said to Tokyo Sports, translated by @meraWRESTLING. “I’ll come back after BUNTAI is over…

“It’s fine! She canceled the championship match last time at the last minute, so now I can run away and get even! Just like the Olympics, we’ll have another championship match in four years, so it’s fine!”

The jokes were necessary, considering it was Sareee who called off their first bout. But rather than take this as a joke, Sareee had the priceless (but scary) reaction that probably strikes even more fear into the champion who is starting to re-enter that underdog role that has followed her for much of her career.

Sareee promised to end the match with just one elbow, shocked that Mayu would even consider running away as the champion. Angering Sareee in any regard convinces me that every hit is going to be stiffer and every elbow is going to look like it’s caving in the chest of Iwatani. Another reason to be excited about what these two will do on Saturday.

I don’t need to say much more about my dream match. When you cover pro wrestling, you don’t always tout your favorites, but I can’t hide it. For me, it’s these two. They’re in a league of their own in my humble opinion. That four-year wait was worth it because they’re both older, wiser, and better versions of themselves. It’s going to be a match of the year contender. I don’t doubt that for a second. They both have their own entries into that conversation this year with different opponents. Now together? Sareee wants this match to be special. One that’s remembered for a long time. Despite her fears, something tells me that Iwatani feels the same.

All Star Grand Queendom may not feel as massive this year as it did last year, but that’s okay. It’s okay because for the second year in a row — history will be made, the world will be watching, and a dream will officially come true.

This is what pro wrestling is all about.