I’m sure if you’ve followed pro wrestling for any amount of time on the internet, you’ve probably seen people rank wrestlers with tier lists. I honestly think that they can be fun to use as a way to show which wrestlers are your favorites, and that content is usually well liked by others because everyone wants that confirmation that their feelings are shared by others. While we could make a tier list that has it’s usual ranks of S through F, I wanted to do something a little different. I could have multiple people in the top rank, but I think it’s more interesting if we instead make a pyramid where only one wrestler can stand at the top and then each tier down has more wrestlers included than the one previous.

I compiled a list of STARDOM wrestlers that includes members of the roster who are currently injured, along with a few regulars from other companies who often appear on STARDOM events, but not the two rookies who just debuted, which brought our number of wrestlers to 42. The number 42 meant that in total we’ll have 7 tiers with the format of: 1 – 2- 4 – 6 – 8 – 10 – 11.

While I do have people in these tiers, I also have them ranked in the tiers as well, meaning that you’ll see the lowest person in that tier listed first and the best of that bunch listed last, so keep that in mind. Also keep in mind that this is my opinion of where I see the awesome wrestlers of STARDOM in the proverbial pecking order after Mayu Iwatani, the former “STARDOM Icon” jumped ship and one of the biggest stars in the companies’ history, Tam Nakano retired. With all of that said, let’s get into lowest tier of this pyramid first.

SEVENTH TIER

Yuria Hime – I’m not sure if it’s a hot take or not, but at this point in time I believe that Yuria Hime is at the bottom of STARDOM in terms of how she’s getting booked and I honestly don’t blame them for booking her that way. There are certain basic things that Yuria does quite well, but for me she has yet to stand out enough to move up the ranks. Obviously, her career is still very young, and I do see her getting better over the next year or two, but someone has to be last on this list, and unfortunately this time, Yuria Hime is it.

Anne Kanaya – Anne Kanaya is the newest rookie to be included in this pyramid, and honestly whenever I make another pyramid in the future, I feel like she’ll move up quite a few spots. Right away, her charisma grabbed a lot of us fans by the proverbial collar to make us pay attention, and the moves she did while in the ring kept our attention on her after that. Where Yuria sort of fades into the background in my opinion, Anne doesn’t, so that’s why she’s getting this spot right above her. Unfortunately before her career could really get going she injured her hand quite badly, and she’s been out for a good while, but hopefully when she gets back, she’ll be back to impressing us all.

Rian – “Stone Cold” Rian may be one of the worst STARDOM wrestlers of all time when it comes to her win/loss record, but at least when she loses she’s quite entertaining. When she first debuted I definitely wasn’t sold on her, but over the past few months she’s really started to grow on me, and her personality has started to blossom. Her in ring style has developed as a bit of a high speed goblin, which really suits her, and I’ll be interested to see her go against other similar goblins to see where she stacks up. The somewhat newly 20 year old has dove head first into a beer drinking persona along with her stable mates, and if she starts hitting some stunners, maybe she’ll finally start picking up some wins. It is quite funny though that she’s sort of leaned into being a loveable “loser.”

Matoi Hamabe – Like most rookies, early on, I didn’t see much special in Matoi, but right before she had gotten injured I was starting to see the type of techniques that I think will make her an exciting star in the future. I also might have some bias because I watched her public exhibition at Korakuen Hall live, so she has to kind of be my rookie, but I do think she will come back stronger than before once her knee heals, and I think she’ll gain a lot of fans with her interesting technical move-set. While Rian might be a better wrestler at this moment, I feel like Matoi would be a foot or two ahead of her if she hadn’t gotten injured which is why I’m giving her the spot above Rian.

Akira Kurogane – When Akira and Yuria both debuted, there was instant buzz online at least with the English-speaking audience about Akira because of her intense and interesting look. Obviously like most rookie matches, there wasn’t a lot to take technique-wise from the match other than some good chain wrestling and her now signature “Half Hatch Suplex,” but that was enough to excite STARDOM fans from around the world. Since that debut, Akira has continuously impressed in many of the matches she’s been a part of, whether it’s a tag, triple threat or singles match, she always plays her part well. Now that she’s joined “Mi Vida Loca” and started to pick up pinfall victories herself, she’s moving up the proverbial ranks, and I have a feeling within the next few months she might find herself lined up for a Future of Stardom Championship match.

Kiyoka Kotatsu – The former Maya Fukuda surprised many when she showed up at the end of last year in a STARDOM ring to support Syuri when things broke down after the very short match with Konami. Kiyoka has a great look for a future star in the company, and with her now being on a much bigger stage than the GLEAT one she was on before, that should help her get much closer to that superstardom. The main thing for her though is to get more reps and clean up some of her mistakes in ring. There has been quite a few times this year in tag team matches where she’s seemed a bit lost or out of position, but if she can remedy that, her flashy kicking style will help make her a very popular player in STARDOM.

Waka Tsukiyama – The loveable loser gimmick that Waka had during her first year or two in STARDOM was something special. She’d put in the work, and get so close to that first victory, but in the end she’d end up looking up at the lights. “Waka-Mania” was running wild, and when she finally got that first victory, everything seemed to be looking up.

Unfortunately, her push kind of stopped there for quite some time with her going back to being a loveable loser right after. Within the past year she’s been able to capture the New Blood Tag Team championships with partner HANAKO as “Rice or Bread”, which is a good way of building her up a bit, but her booking outside of those championship matches has been anything but strong. I still see potential in Waka personally, but it’s possible that the company may not, and that might mean that she’ll be falling down this pyramid a few spots when we revisit it in the future.

Fukigen Death – Kaori Yoneyama is an absolute joshi legend and you can’t make me believe anything different! She’s been a hell of a worker for a long time, and even though her matches in STARDOM as Fukigen Death aren’t always pushing this awesome wrestler to her limits, she always offers the fans entertainment with the same few spots she always does. Not only will she get everyone to laugh, and make everyone boo her opponents when they break up one of Fukigen’s patented offensive maneuvers, but she’ll also get surprising wins over just about any wrestler on the roster with her very strong roll up! Veterans like Kaori are important for the overall young roster of STARDOM because you can trust her to get the job done against any rookie or veteran alike.

At this point, her ceiling might only be the High Speed Championship, but she’ll still be a Swiss Army knife for the company to put in any position needed.

Ranna Yagami – I have a feeling this placement might be a bit lower than some would have for Ranna, but while I’ve seen a lot of great development in her game over the past year or so, I still think she has a good way to go to really cement herself as a strong midcard star in the company. The experience that Ranna has been able to get from working outside of STARDOM has really helped her develop a bit faster than in ring than other comparable rookies, but I still think she lacks a bit when it comes to her charisma and personality that will really get the crowd to support her the way that they support a lot of the wrestlers above her. That said, I do like Ranna and if she continues to morph herself into a mini Syuri, she’ll be a possible white belt challenger by year’s end.

Momo Kohgo – Momo Kohgo should be a bigger star than she currently is, but unfortunately she hasn’t developed in the ring as quickly as I think STARDOM would have wanted, and she got stuck as being the lowest member in STARS for way too long, which meant that often times, she’d be the designated pin eater.

I do think that Momo is well loved by the crowd, because how can you not? She works hard every week in the gym even though her body is seemingly always in pain due to her Graves’ disease. She’s the underdog that everyone should cheer for, yet the company has never truly gotten behind her the way they should, and for that reason she finds herself in the lowest tier even though I’d love to put her higher up the list. Momo is truly an inspiration with her story, I really feel that STARDOM should capitalize on it and start booking her a bit stronger.

HANAKO – The last wrestler in this tier, meaning that she’s the highest of this tier level is HANAKO, the tallest joshi wrestler in the business today, and someone that STARDOM obviously sees a lot of potential in.

HANAKO is still pretty rough around the edges inside of the ropes, but her powerful skill set is special, so STARDOM treats it that way. You don’t see her taking a lot of pin-falls, and you can often see her throwing around her opponents, but when she gets big singles match opportunities, so far, HANAKO has come up short. With her challenging for the Wonder of Stardom championship this early into her career, there’s no doubt that STARDOM is trying to show that they believe in HANAKO, but is that belief in vain? That’s a question we’ll all be waiting to see answered as the year rolls on.

SIXTH TIER

Lady C – Everyone throw up them “C’s” for our favorite former school teacher! Lady C has really taken some great strides to get better inside of the ring over the past few years, and at this point, in my opinion she’s a midcard mainstay who can put in a good performance against just about anyone.

It was great to see Lady C get trusted as being a part of the young “God’s Eye” team who challenged “Neo Genesis” for the Artist of Stardom championship, and in my opinion she had the best performance out of everyone in that match. I hope performances like that will make STARDOM get behind her a bit more, and help push her up the card a little more as one of the stronger members of “God’s Eye”.

Hopefully, when Ami Sourei comes back, she will team up with Lady C again so that they can take a run at the Goddesses of Stardom Championships.

Hina – The current Future of Stardom champion Hina is the somewhat forgotten sister of the judo trio with Rina and Hanan, but over the past year she’s been putting in some really good work. School always sort of derailed Hina’s push as she took quite a few breaks because of it, but now that she’s graduated high school, she’s free to take her wrestling more seriously which in turn helped her finally win a championship.

With a power move like the “Jackhammer” in her repertoire along with a high impact “frog splash” from the top rope, Hina has truly leveled up, which is why she finds herself in the sixth tier instead of the seventh. Hopefully, her charisma will start to blossom a bit more to help really build a fanbase that wants to see her succeed just like her sisters have done. I don’t think her Future of Stardom run will be quite as legendary as Hanan or Rina’s but she’s off to a good start, defending her title strongly in her first few defenses.

Yuna Mizumori – As someone who enjoys the fun pro wrestling that is offered by Choco Pro, it kind of pains me to put Yuna Mizumori this low, especially with the hard work she’s put in ever since joining the “Cosmic Angels” faction. Not only did she completely change herself physically but inside of the ring she’s added so many more moves, especially powerful ones which has gotten the attention of fans around the world.

With the way she’s been booked recently, you can tell that Taro has taken notice as he’s put her in some big spots, and each time she’s knocked it out of the park, but when it comes to the pecking order in “Cosmic Angels,” she’s still the lowest on the totem pole which has to be a bit frustrating considering how long she’s been wrestling compared to her teammates Sayaka Kurara and Aya Sakura. If Yuna keeps putting on the great performances she has been recently, there’s no doubt that she’ll be moving up this pyramid in the future, especially if STARDOM starts giving her some big wins as well.

Sayaka Kurara – I have a feeling that I’m not as high on Sayaka Kurara as a lot of people are because to me, she’s still a rookie who has simply had the backing of the company to put her in many positions to succeed thus far. There’s no doubt that the crowd, especially at Korakuen has been behind her strongly, especially when she’s had big matches, but I still see her get lost in some matches, and mess up some of her moves which is something I think I’ll see a lot of less of a few years into the future.

Winning the Cinderella tournament with only a class of younger stars in it takes away a little bit of the credibility that the tournament normally has, but it’s still a big win, and her recent title challenge against Saya Kamitani showed that she does have something special, I just need to see more from her to truly see her as the future superstar that many other fans see her as.

Ruaka – Ruaka has been quite steady over the past year or two in STARDOM, putting in good efforts when she needs to.

I think at this point, it might be time for STARDOM to actually get behind her a bit more and give her a good push as a good power wrestler on the roster. I could always understand why the company would be a bit sheepish of pushing a wrestler who was “too young” but at the age of 20, I think it’s time that they put some belief in the “Violent Freezer” and make her one of the members of H.A.T.E. that an opponent should truly be scared of.

If they handle Ruaka correctly, I could definitely see her as a perennial Wonder of Stardom challenger, and someone who could win the championship if they want a strong heel to hold it for a while.

Saki Kashima – Saki Kashima has the innate ability to beat literally anyone on the roster at any time because of her flash pin, but I feel for the most part over the past few months especially her role has been lowered in the company quite a bit. She is still great at her comedic style and doing “low speed” matches, but when it comes to facing off against tougher competition, she’s normally coming out on the losing end. That’s at least my perception of it. If they wanted to, they could heat her up at any time because she’s still a very good wrestler, but I believe that injuries and overall “poor health” has made the company a bit scared to really get behind her at this point in time.

Itsuki Aoki – When it comes to outsiders who are treated somewhat as a member of the roster by being a part of a faction, you never know exactly how far the company will be willing to push them. I believe that Itsuki Aoki is a charismatic bruiser who can become quite popular in STARDOM, and I could easily see her being an Artist of Stardom champion along with Suzu and Rina Yamashita, but will she be seen as a strong enough challenger for one of the singles belts? That’s something we’ll have to wait and see, but I personally think that she’d be great to use in a few big matches at Korakuen since a lot of those fans have seen Aoki quite a bit from her time in OZ Academy and other independent promotions.

Aya Sakura – While it’s true that Aya Sakura is still considered a little bit of a rookie, she’s leveled up quite a bit to where she can put up a great fight against most of the STARDOM roster. She isn’t picking up a bunch of singles wins yet against the rest of the roster, but I do think it’s coming.

The fact that Meiko Satomura felt strongly enough about Sakura to put one of the Sendai Girls’ titles on her, and made sure that Sakura was in one of her final matches should say enough about where people in the business see this blossoming star. Aya Sakura if handled correctly over the next few years, could find herself winning the Wonder of Stardom Championship and I don’t think that’s a stretch at all. I hope that she’s also able to get a lot more experience working in places like Sendai Girls as well, as I think it will help her grow that much faster.

Miyu Amasaki – Miyu Amasaki has been steadily getting better for the past year or two and honestly it’s nice to see what she’s become. Is she a little bit too reliant on her many DDT variations? Probably, but it’s part of what makes her style special and something to look forward to in her matches. When Neo Genesis formed, I kind of had Miyu pegged as the lowest on the proverbial totem pole, but I feel like they’ve still booked her quite strong even if she’s the lowest in experience on her team.

She has the look to be a star, and the in-ring talent is coming together, but I still feel like she’s quite a ways off from being a big time singles title contender. I would be interested to see her win the Goddesses of Stardom Championships with AZM, though.

Azusa Inaba – The 17-year-old prodigy is one of the best young talents in the world of joshi! While her sister is more refined and has a bit more experience, Azusa is all attitude, and possesses skills that most wrestlers two years into their career wish they had. Whether it’s breaking down her opponent with her great striking, or slowing things down with a strong submission game, Azusa has the answer for most opponents she faces inside of the ring.

Right now, the only thing holding her back in STARDOM is probably the fact that she’s an outsider who happens to be on most of their shows. Sure, they gave her the New Blood tag team titles with Rina, but I think Azusa can do so much better. I could easily see her winning the Goddesses of Stardom tag team titles with Rina, or even challenging for the Wonder of Stardom Championship within the next year or two because she’s simply THAT good. Sky’s the limit for this girl!

FIFTH TIER

Ami Sourei – While it’s sort of tough to judge a wrestler who has been out with injury for the past 10-plus months, it seemed like STARDOM really believed in “God’s Chosen Big Girl”. Ami Sourei has already accomplished quite a bit in her three years in STARDOM by already winning the Future of Stardom, the Goddesses of Stardom and the Artist of Stardom Championships, along with challenging for the Wonder of Stardom Championship last year.

While a lot of her moves don’t pop off of the proverbial page, she’s a strong all-around talent who has been really growing into her role on the roster. With a few members of the roster leaving for Marigold last year, Ami seemed poised to continue moving up the card even more, but injury took her out, and now we’re left waiting to see when she’ll be able to return. As long as she’s 100 percent when she does return, I can instantly see her being back in the Wonder of Stardom title picture again, along with going back to tagging with Lady C which could lead to a tag team title shot as well.

Xena – Speaking of injured roster members, Xena really started to impress all of the fans last year after challenging for the World of Stardom Championship against her fellow faction mate Maika. A lot of us saw Xena as a good athlete who just needed more experience to really clean things up inside of the squared circle during her first run in the company in 2023, and when she returned she showed that she had put in the hard work needed to take that next step. During the 5-Star Grand Prix last year she was one of the more exciting wrestlers to watch in her block, making each of her matches entertaining, and coming out of it I think a lot of us saw her as a strong upper mid carder who can mix it up with anyone.

Unfortunately in October, she suffered a knee injury that has taken her out of action, but when she returns she will give her faction EXV quite a shot in the arm, especially with their leader Maika out for possibly the rest of the year. There’s a lot to look forward to with Xena.

Rina Yamashita – Once again we run into the possible issue of not knowing how far STARDOM will want to push an outsider, but if they get behind Rina Yamashita even a little bit, she could be a big time player in the company. Rina Yamashita is a strong veteran wrestler who can have a good match with anyone on the roster. If you need her to have a hard hitting match as the powerful “Deathmatch Amazon” she’s called, then she can do it, but if you need her to have a comedy classic with the likes of Koguma or Saki Kashima she can do that as well.

With her working against men as often as she does, I think fans who are aware of her will take her seriously inside of the ring, meaning that she could honestly challenge for either of the top two titles if you really wanted her to. I think it’s safe to say that she’ll probably hold the Artist of Stardom titles with Suzu and Aoki eventually, but I feel like STARDOM should do even more with Yamashita.

Tomoka Inaba – Tomoka Inaba has a lot of the same skill set as her sister, only a bit better and more refined. The one thing that Tomoka doesn’t have compared to her sister is that extra bit of charisma that could put her over the top. I fully believe that Tomoka is good enough to be in the Wonder of Stardom scene, and she could honestly work a strong match against most of the roster, but like most of the outsiders, I’m not sure if STARDOM would want to put her in that position or keep it for someone under an exclusive contract.

Tomoka has been really good in tag action, though, and could easily be in a tag or trio with any of her “God’s Eye” teammates that ends up challenging for titles. My hope with Inaba is that she’ll continue to get better with how many matches she’s working now that she’s doing both JTO and STARDOM regularly, so that eventually she’ll force the booking team to treat her like a possible main event level star.

Koguma – Everyone’s favorite little bear Koguma is quite a special wrestler, because she usually always incorporates some comedy in her matches, but when she needs to lock in, she can be a total killer in that ring. There’s very few wrestlers who can flip the proverbial switch like that, and Koguma is one of them. The “High Speed Genius” has seemingly graduated from that division, but if they needed a strong member of the roster to take that championship from Mei Seira, Koguma could definitely do the job. I also see her as a possible Wonder of Stardom challenger as well, but the recent interviews that mentioned that FWC would be “for the world” makes it seem like STARDOM may not really get behind her or her partner Hazuki in a singles sense.

Instead, they might have to win championships only as a tag team, or outside of the promotion, which is kind of unfortunate. Koguma has so much to offer both in singles competition and in tags, so I feel like STARDOM is really missing the boat if they aren’t going to push her a bit more, especially after getting the bear storyline against Ranna Yagami over as much as she did earlier this year.

Mei Seira – Speaking of high speed, it’s time to talk about Mei Seira, one of the most talented members of the roster. The stuff she can do inside of the ring is truly special, and I hope that STARDOM doesn’t just see her as a high speed division wrestler, and are willing to move her up the card eventually.

Mei showed a lot of guts and toughness having that no DQ match against Suzu Suzuki at All-Star Grand Queendom, and hopefully her awesome showing in that match allowed the office to see that there’s so much more they can do with her. Mei’s skill set is not only flashy, but exciting to watch, and I feel like she could be a good opponent for her fellow stablemate Starlight Kid if they needed a challenger who’d put on a good match, but not win the title quite yet.

Also, let’s keep in mind that Mei Seira defeated the current World of Stardom champion Saya Kamitani for the High Speed Championship, meaning that she could have a right to challenger her in the future by pointing that out. I think Mei would fit well in a big main event, especially at Korakuen going for one of the titles.

Natsuko Tora – While Natsuko Tora isn’t always the most exciting wrestler to watch, she’s still a very strong member of the roster who deserves to be taken seriously. The one-month title reign didn’t help that fact, however I do think STARDOM sees a great villain in Natsuko who can be a tough obstacle to overcome for an underdog babyface who’s ready to break through the glass ceiling that the company has put over them.

Personally, I think Natsuko Tora is effective in her role, and I hope that STARDOM will continue to book her somewhat strong, because in my opinion, every faction leader should be booked strongly. Sure, Saya Kamitani is by far the biggest star in H.A.T.E. but Natsuko is still the leader, and Natsuko needs to be treated like the “Intelligent Monster” she is. If they Taro decides that he wants to splinter the biggest faction in the company, then it will be interesting to see if Natsuko will be a World of Stardom challenger again or not.

Saya Iida – The little powerhouse is at the top spot of this tier because she’s been improving steadily for the last few years. I remember seeing Iida when I first started watching STARDOM back in 2019, and thinking she was fine, but just very plain. It took her a while to really find what made her special, and to see what she’s become now in 2025 is something to really appreciate.

Not only did she change her body to put on a ton of muscle, but her moveset has grown so much to where she can have a compelling match with any other member of the roster. While I’m not sure if the STARDOM brass see her as a big time singles competitor, she’s right now a current tag team champion with Hanan in one of the best tag teams in the world “Wing-Gori”. Personall,y I’d love to see Iida work her way up to either of the top two titles as a challenger, and it would be especially fun if it was the World of Stardom Championship since she’s always had a little bit of a rivalry with Saya Kamitani as they were known as “Tall Saya” and “Giant Saya” back when both were still at rookie status. Either way, I think Saya Iida could be a big star in STARDOM and she’s got the right personality to get the crowd behind her for any big match she might have.

FOURTH TIER

Konami – Konami may be a bit higher on this pyramid than others would put her, but I still think Konami is a great wrestler, I just think that sometimes she lacks motivation to really lock in and be the best she can be. I also feel like STARDOM still sees her as quite important as they seem to use her quite a bit for big time feuds and title challenges even though the crowd might have soured on her a little bit.

Obviously, the Japanese crowds might give her a better reaction than a lot of us overseas, but to me, Konami is a boss-like character that can be a big test for anyone on the roster. Would I rather her not rely on using black spray paint to her opponents face to help generate wins, definitely, but if that’s what STARDOM feels she needs to do to generate the heat they want for her, then so be it. I still feel like Konami should be treated like the killer she is, not only chopping down her opponents with her hard kicks, but also torturing them with her great submission game. Should she be a singles champion, I don’t quite think so at the moment, but having her be a sort of gatekeeper that you have to overcome to get to that point could be a really good spot for her.

AZM – AZM has been really putting it all together lately, and I must say it’s been really fun to watch. It took STARDOM forever to finally give her, her first shot at one of the big two singles titles after seemingly just seeing her as a high speed or tag wrestler for the past 11 years of her career, however she proved to everyone that she deserved that title opportunity by putting on a great match with her forever rival, yet faction-mate Starlight Kid. She then followed that up by picking up the New Japan Strong Women’s championship in a triple threat against two big stars in Mina Shirakawa and Mercedes Mone which was a big win for AZM. Sure, the title hasn’t been treated with the highest reverence up to this point, but with the title on AZM who will actively be in Japan most of the time, I think it will help build that title up a bit more with the local fanbase after it’s been stuck overseas for quite a while.

AZM is one of the most talented members of the STARDOM roster, and she could honestly be a good challenger to the red belt if they ever wanted to bring back some of the “Queen’s Quest” history between herself and Saya Kamitani. I also wouldn’t hate another white belt challenge from her if someone is able to dethrone Starlight Kid sometime this year. If AZM continues at the pace she’s on, I truly think she can get to the levels of someone like Iyo Sky, and become an Ace-like figure for STARDOM.

Hazuki – I’ll start off by admitting that Hazuki is my favorite joshi wrestler, so if you feel like my words are a bit biased, they might be, but I’ll try to be as unbiased as possible. Hazuki is someone who you can put inside the ring with anyone on the roster, and she can make magic happen. She’s the wrestler who probably has the best track record of great Wonder of Stardom title matches without ever winning the title herself, though I still have some hope that this year she’ll be able to finally win that championship that has alluded her for all of these years.

Hazuki is one half of in my opinion the best tag team in joshi “FWC” with her best friend Koguma, so at any time the two of them could be put into a program for the tag team championship or even the artist belts if you decide to put someone else with them. Hazuki is one of the most intense wrestlers on the roster once the bell sounds, and I believe that really adds a lot to her big matches, so STARDOM should take advantage of that, and give her some stories that she can truly sink her teeth into. She’s already made magic with Saya Kamitani for the Wonder of Stardom title, so why not have her challenge for the World of Stardom Championship against Kamitani?

All in all, Hazuki is a proverbial Swiss Army knife who you can put into any program on the card, and even though Taro Okada made mention that “FWC” is now for the world, I hope that doesn’t mean that they will keep them in purgatory like Mayu Iwatani was in over the past year.

Natsupoi – I’m going to be honest, Natsupoi isn’t one of my favorites, however I can appreciate her skillset inside of the ring, and the ability she has to connect with the fans.

Natsupoi was elevated higher than she had ever been when the company put the Wonder of Stardom Championship on her last year, but unfortunately they didn’t give her enough to do to really cement her superstardom in the company during her somewhat short reign. Was that her fault? I don’t really think so, but at the same time during her 5 Star run she wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire either. With Tam Nakano recently retiring, Cosmic Angels is left without a leader, and it seems like it would either be Natsupoi or Saori Anou who will be taking that spot, but neither have seemingly made a play at it yet. While I do think that Natsupoi fits what Cosmic Angels is more than Saori, I feel that Saori is a stronger leader, and quite frankly I like her in ring style better.

While Natsupoi will be in play for the white belt once again in the future, I’m unsure as to whether STARDOM would truly take her serious enough to put her in World of Stardom contention or not. Either way, she’s going to continue being a strong member of the roster going forward, so hopefully they give her good stories that she can sink her teeth into.

Momo Watanabe – If you poll most STARDOM fans who have been following the product for more than five years on who should be the next World of Stardom champion, I’m sure that a majority of them would say Momo Watanabe.

For years now, Momo has been one of the best wrestlers not only in STARDOM but all of joshi, yet she’s normally pushed to the background until they need a strong challenger who will have a good match with whichever champion she’s facing. To be honest, Momo Watanabe is one of the best heels in the company, and I think that’s truly what has kept her in “Oedo Tai” and now in “H.A.T.E.” for as long as she has been. There’s a natural cool factor to her nonchalant attitude, and when it’s time to inflict pain on her opponents, there’s very few who are better at it. She does a lot of what Konami does when it comes to being a heel, but Momo does it so much better. Momo deserves to where a major singles championship again, we’re all just wondering when the STARDOM brass are going to push her to it.

If Momo were to leave “H.A.T.E.” then that would be a good way to do it or end a feud with them after the fact, but at this moment in time it’s hard to see anyone taking the World of Stardom Championship away from Saya Kamitani. One thing is always for sure though, Momo Watanabe will put on an absolute banger with anyone on this stacked roster!

Saori Anou – The top wrestler in this tier, in my humble opinion, is Saori Anou, someone who has been putting on a lot of really great matches ever since she’s stepped foot in STARDOM. Saori plays her part as a stone-faced killer so well, yet she’s on the right side of justice fighting against the heels instead of joining them. Her match series with Mika Iwata was awesome last year, and every time they step foot inside the ring against each other, you know you’re in for a treat.

Saori has obviously already won the Wonder of Stardom Championship twice, even though she simply won it from the person who took it from her, but I think it’s time for Saori to move up towards the World of Stardom Championship instead. To me, not only should Saori Anou become the leader of Cosmic Angels, but she should be in the red belt conversation going forward in this company, and hopefully her reign with the top title in OZ Academy will help that argument as well.

THIRD TIER

Rina – One of the biggest movers when it comes to the stock of a wrestler in STARDOM has been Rina, but it’s not something that simply happened overnight. With the awesome Future of Stardom run that STARDOM gave her, you could tell they saw a bright future ahead of her, and it’s a good thing that they made that decision because she’s been proving them right this entire year so far.

You never truly know how wrestlers will turn out when they start underage, especially when they are very young, and Rina was always someone who showed talent, but never to the level that she is today. Everyone called her Mini-Hana after she joined TCS and instantly became attached at the hip to the leader Hana Kimura, but it wasn’t until the past year or two that we got to see first hand that she’s living up to that nickname fully. When Rina got her shot at the Wonder of Stardom title, a title that Hana Kimura definitely would have won by this time if she was still with us, Rina made us all proud by not only putting on a phenomenal match with the champion Starlight Kid, but also bringing in all of the emotional elements that is needed for a truly special match. I can admit, I had tears in my eyes watching her come out with Hana’s sword, and then wrestle the way she did, hitting the drop kick portion of the Tiger Lily, but not the package piledriver.

When she is able to finally win a big title, I think she’ll finally hit those moves perfectly, and all of us will rejoice, but until then I think she’ll be a strong challenger for the white belt again sometime this year, and she’s always a good option to get together with a couple of her “H.A.T.E.” teammates to win the Goddesses or Artist Championships. STARDOM has done well to nurture Rina’s career thus far, and if they keep it up, they will have a star on their hands for many years to come!

Suzu Suzuki – While there’s part of me that always wonders just how seriously STARDOM sees Suzu as a main event talent, anytime she’s been put in a big-match situation, she’s hit it out the park!

Suzu Suzuki may not look like she did a couple of years ago, but that hasn’t affected her in-ring ability at all. She’s still putting on fantastic matches and now that she’s been put in charge of her own faction, hopefully this means that STARDOM is willing to push her towards one of the big two titles within the next year. I don’t think she can lose too many more of her opportunities, because eventually the fans will believe that you have no chance of finally getting over the proverbial hump, meaning that you may not draw enough fans to make the head office happy.

I personally feel like STARDOM should keep Suzu as a focal point of stories going forward this year, especially with one of the biggest stars Maika being injured for the year. Suzu showed with her feud with Mei Seira that she can make things personal quite easily, and when she has those must see violent blow off matches, people will tune in to see it. We all know that Suzu Suzuki can have great matches without a hardcore setting, but she’s at a whole different level when she can be creative with many different types of weapons. If Suzu were to take the red belt from Saya Kamitani months down the road, I wouldn’t be upset with that at all.

Hanan – One thing that I feel was made clear last year was that Hanan is pegged as one of the biggest stars in STARDOM for the future, and that was proven by her winning of the Cinderella tournament, her strong run in the 5 Star and her winning the Goddesses of Stardom tag league last year. Hanan, being the oldest of the three judo sisters from Tochigi, was the first to get the proverbial rocket strapped to her, but with how well that went, you can see that STARDOM also wants to do the same with Rina as well. Hanan has also already been given her own faction with Mayu Iwatani leaving the company and the split with FWC, STARS is now under Hanan’s control, so it will be interesting to see the trajectory for the faction going forward as well. There’s a definite possibility of STARDOM deciding to change the name of STARS since they’ve been slowly moving on from the factions of old, but either way Hanan is cemented as their strong leader and considering her young age she may be in that position for many years to follow. With Saya Kamitani recently talking about Hanan as a person who may be able to push her or get to her level, you can tell that the office really wants Hanan to be the light against Saya’s darkness, but I personally don’t know if she’s ready for that spot quite yet. She can obviously be a title contender for the white or red belt pretty easily, but I don’t see her winning the red belt at least within the next year, as I think she needs to level up a bit more, and a Wonder of Stardom championship run could help that.

Maika – Maika is at the top of this tier because in all honesty she seems like the true “Ace” that the company wants to build around with how they’ve booked her over the past two years. Maika is a lovable, beer-drinking babyface who can get serious when the time is right, but during a lot of the house shows she makes the matches she’s a part of fun and entertaining. You can see that STARDOM had plans for Maika to feud with Saya Kamitani sometime this year considering how Maika lost the title in the first place, but with her having to go out for the year with a severe elbow injury, those plans will have to put on hold.

Does that mean that Saya Kamitani will hold the title the entire time while Maika is out, it’s hard to know, but one thing is for sure, out of everyone in the company Maika was the one most prepared to be the big World of Stardom challenger against the biggest draw in joshi puroesu Saya Kamitani. With Maika possibly being out for the rest of the year, it’s interesting to think about how STARDOM will look at year’s end. There’s a lot of possibilities for new stars to be made, and if I decide to do this pyramid again for STARDOM in the fall, it will be interesting to see how far Maika falls down the pecking order just because of inactivity. It will also be interesting to see what happens to her faction now that the “co-leader” Mina Shirakawa has left for America.

There’s a pretty steep decline from Maika to the next strongest member of the faction HANAKO, though maybe Xena will take the reigns temporarily once she’s back. One thing is for sure when it comes to Maika, though, it’s a big loss for the company while she’s out.

SECOND TIER

Syuri – Before Syuri won the IWGP Women’s championship I would have probably had her a tier lower, but with how strongly they’ve booked her right before winning the title and coming out of that match, I fully believe that STARDOM is finally going to use Syuri as effectively as they should. Syuri, in my opinion, was one of the greatest World of Stardom Champions of all time, but after her awesome title reign I feel like there’s been a lot of stopping and starting when it comes to her position within the company.

Syuri has a wealth of experience, and with an overall pretty young roster, STARDOM needs to take advantage of the veteran she is now that they don’t have Mayu and Tam to lean on for that sort of thing. Syuri also has the track record in both pro wrestling and MMA to be treated as an absolute killer on this roster, so that when you need a proverbial “final boss” she can be used for it. Hopefully, that will also make NJPW want to book the title more often and actually create more stories around the championship than they did with Mayu during her 735-day reign with the title.

We’re off to a good start at least with Sareee already making it known that she wants the title, and a nice first defense set up for Syuri with an Alex Windsor challenge coming up before that. Just having great wrestlers who really want the championship makes the title more important, and in turn that will also raise the stock of Syuri in the process.

Obviously, other than the IWGP championship, Syuri is a shoe in for a World of Stardom Championship opportunity anytime they want to do it, and if they wanted to make the story interesting, she could say that she wants to merge the titles together by challenging for the red belt, but not putting her own title on the line. It would give Saya a very strong defense, while also keeping the titles separate. It also could be used to see what the fans think about the idea of merging those two titles if the company wanted to go that way in the future.

Starlight Kid – SLK is the top of the second tier which in reality makes her number two in the company in my opinion. Ever since Rossy was removed from STARDOM it seems like there’s been a conscious effort to get the crowd behind Starlight Kid again, and it all started when Starlight Kid was kicked out of Oedo Tai. From there she had the ability to tag with just about everyone on the roster as she looked for a group to join, but eventually made her own faction called “Neo Genesis” with some of the other best young talents on the roster.

Even though it was never said that Starlight Kid was the leader for sure, I think all of the fans knew she was, and it helped improve her standing within STARDOM because faction leaders are usually always treated more seriously than the other wrestlers within the faction. From there, they pointed her towards the Wonder of Stardom Championship, and at the end of the year she was able to capture the white belt which is a perfect title for her since she loves to tell passionate stories within her matches. Since then, she’s already defended her championship four times, and it’s hard to know for sure when she’ll end up dropping it because she’s already battled through an injury, along with being one of the biggest stars in the company who gets a strong reaction from fans all around the world.

In all honesty, it’s quite perfect for STARDOM right now to have their two biggest stars currently holding their two biggest championships, I just hope they don’t end up going the route that they went with Mina and Tam where both titles end up on one wrestler. I’m holding out hope that Hazuki can defeat Starlight Kid for the white belt later on this year considering how heated things got between the two in the contendership match they had, but there’s a good chance that it might be someone like Hanan, or Rina who is able to dethrone Starlight Kid which will enable her to shoot for the World of Stardom Championship.

TOP TIER

Saya Kamitani – This probably shouldn’t be a surprise considering she’s probably the biggest draw in all of joshi puroresu at the moment, and she’s currently holding the World of Stardom Championship, along with the Regina di Wave Championship. A lot of people were down on the idea of Saya Kamitani being a heel when she was first turned, and I think a lot of that vitriol was because people felt like they were turning her in a nonsensical fashion. Did the turn feel like something Vince Russo would have done in the early 2000’s? Probably, but after many months we can honestly say that they made the right decision, because STARDOM has their ultimate “cool” heel in Saya Kamitani. It was easy for her to understand her character completely at first, especially when it came to her in-ring style, but ever since winning the World of Stardom Championship from Tam Nakano, she’s been locked in as the best the company has to offer.

Not only is she putting on great matches, but she’s also doing everything she needs to do outside of the ring to improve the awareness of the company to casual fans, and promote her feuds when she has them. I’m sure a lot of thought went into the idea of Saya being the one to retire Tam Nakano, and the match, along with the aftermath of the match there’s no doubt that they’ve made Saya the top of women’s wrestling in Japan.

It will be interesting to see who they line up as possible challengers for her and her title as the year goes on, because at this moment in time I simply don’t see anyone on the roster at the level needed to take that title away from her. It will also be interesting to see how she’s used in the 5 Star Grand Prix this year, because the old regime used to use losses in the tournament as a way to make future challengers, but the current STARDOM office doesn’t seem to do that quite as much.

I do hope that she’s in a strong block, so that she can get a few new possible challengers from it if they decide to treat it that way. Either that, or have her dominate her block only to be beaten in the semi-finals by someone who goes on to win the tournament setting up that big match up for the title at the end of the year. No matter how they decide to book it, they have a true star on their hands, so they better not mess it up!

With that said, that ends this edition of The Pyramid: STARDOM. I hope that you enjoyed my breakdown of the roster and where I see them currently in terms of booking and star power, along with what I think will happen for them potentially in the future. Everyone has their own opinion on things like this, so please feel free to let us know what you think on social media, just make sure to keep thing constructive, because there’s no reason to fight about it. Also remember that this was started before the STARDOM Nighter on May 21st, so some things may not be mentioned that’s happened since then.