The white belt means “almost” as much as the World of STARDOM Championship.

World Wonder Ring Stardom came to be back in September 2010, but wouldn’t have their first event until January 23, 2011. While the company was having shows, there weren’t any champions crowned until months later at the STARDOM X STARDOM 2011 show on July 24, and that is where we get started with the history of the Wonder of Stardom Championship.

The “White Belt” as it has famously become known, was introduced as a secondary title, in the same vein as the IWGP Intercontinental or more currently, the Marigold United National Championship. 

Yuzuki Aikawa would be crowned the inaugural champion when she beat Yoshiko in STARDOM’s first ever championship bout.

The title originally had a stipulation that only wrestlers from STARDOM would be able to compete for the belt, but after Aikawa’s record setting 618-day reign, that stipulation would be forgotten. Her reign is also a prime example of how the title wasn’t initially a workhorse belt like it is currently, with her lengthy time as champion only seeing eight title defenses.

The title would change hands here and there, with a couple of vacancies early on (three of them coming within the first few years of the title’s history). Reigns from STARDOM greats like Io Shirai, Mayu Iwatani, and Kairi Hojo did a lot to raise the prestige of the title, and in late 2017, the Wonder of Stardom title would be on the same level as the World of Stardom Championship in most people’s eyes.

Io Shirai’s second reign as champion lasted 185 days and saw her defend the belt 11 times before being bested by Momo Watanabe. Momo would then proceed to beat that title defense record set by Io and have a 358-day reign with 13 successful defenses. These two reigns solidified the value of this belt and even saw a handful of shows where the Wonder of Stardom belt main-evented over the World of Stardom title.

Here are a handful of matches to check out from this era of the title to get a full understanding of the work these two women did for the belt.

• Io Shirai vs. Momo Watanabe (STARDOM Queen’s Fes, February 22nd, 2018)
• Io Shirai vs. Kagetsu (STARDOM/Queen’s Quest Produce Golden Week Stars, May 5th, 2018)
• Io Shirai vs. Momo Watanabe (STARDOM Gold Star, May 29th, 2018)
• Momo Watanabe vs. Jungle Kyona (STARDOM Goddesses Of Destiny, June 26th, 2018)
• Momo Watanabe vs. Kagetsu (STARDOM 5Star Grand Prix: Grand Champion Carnival, September 30th, 2018)
• Momo Watanabe vs. Tam Nakano (STARDOM 8th Anniversary, January 22nd, 2019)

There are plenty more just from these two reigns that are worth checking out, but these are just a few matches from each champion that stand out as amazing and monumental steps forward for the Wonder of Stardom Championship.

The title also works as a great booster for someone to eventually become World of Stardom champion down the line, as names like Tam Nakano, Giulia, and Saya Kamitani have all done just that in the last five years. 

Saya Kamitani currently holds the record for most title defenses (15) during her 480-day reign spanning from December 2021 to April 2023. During this reign, she would have some spectacular matches against the likes of Tam Nakano, Natsupoi, Starlight Kid, Mina Shirakawa, and many more.

Not every reign was outstanding, however, with 2023 being a year that saw some odd reigns like Mina Shirakawa dethroning Saya Kamitani, only to lose the belt 34 days later to Tam Nakano. Tam would then only hold the belt for 36 days before losing to Mirai. 2024 would do something similar with Mika Iwata and Saori Anou, who both had reigns of 23 and 12 days respectively.

One major example of this belt’s importance is the annual STARDOM Cinderella Tournament that started with the winner getting a World of Stardom Championship match, but since 2018, the winner now typically receives a Wonder of Stardom Championship match instead.

Previous winners like Momo Watanabe, Arisa Hoshiki, Giulia, and Mirai all went on to challenge for the title and become champion. The last time a winner decided to challenge for the World of Stardom Championship was back when Toni Storm won in 2017.

To summarize, yes, the Wonder of Stardom Championship is technically the secondary title for STARDOM, but the title is just as important as the World title. Stories like Giulia vs. Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa’s rise to prominence, and more have cemented this title as more of a 1B title to the World of Stardom’s 1A placing.

Here is another random compilation of somewhat recent Wonder of STARDOM matches that are worth checking out.

• Natsupoi vs. Starlight Kid (STARDOM Dream Queendom 2024)
• MIRAI vs. Momo Watanabe (STARDOM Nagoya Golden Fight 2023)
• Mina Shirakawa vs. Natsupoi (STARDOM Fukuoka Goddess Legend 2023)