I owe Mai Sakurai an apology, and it’s been a long time coming.
I was wrong about her. I doubted her.
When she first debuted in STARDOM in August 2021 after her stint in ActWres, I wasn’t too impressed by what I saw. Never in a million years did I see the slow, uncharismatic woman that looked completely out of place in her fluffy white costume turning into the confident and strong top champion she’s become in 2025.
It was unfair to place such high expectations on her so soon in fairness. She had previously only spent a year in ActWres Girlz, a company that was good at finding raw talent but never liked to commit to the idea of pro wrestling fully. However, STARDOM in the middle of 2021 was one of the most stacked rosters the company had ever assembled, and many of the acquisitions over the previous year had quickly proven themselves like Himeka and Natsupoi.
Her closest comparisons were Unagi Sayaka and Mina Shirakawa – two other members of Cosmic Angels who had joined a year prior. Both were around 30 like Mai when they joined and lacked the immediate impact in the ring. However, they were both far stronger personalities and instantly endeared themselves to fans, helping to assert their place on the roster. By comparison Mai Sakurai seemed to just exist, not really making compelling steps forward in the ring or standing out as a character.
Mai seemed like the first real hiring misstep from STARDOM. However, there was something under the surface that fans weren’t quite seeing – the determination to keep growing.
Despite the rather unimpressive start, she doubled her efforts and focus at the start of 2022. Mai Sakurai left her agency in order to focus on pro wrestling full time. She defected from Cosmic Angels to join with Donna Del Mondo, wanting to spend less time on dance routines for entrances and more time honing her craft in the ring.
She also wanted to work with Giulia, a wrestler she clearly admired – even daring to admit as much even while under Tam’s tutelage despite their intense rivalry. When Mai made the decision to switch sides after a bit of recruiting, Giulia took Sakurai under her wing for years, all the way up to her final singles match in August 2024 before she moved on to WWE.
In an interview with Scott Edwards and Fightful, Mai Sakurai spoke of how their leadership styles differed, and how she benefited more under Giulia.
“Giulia was very strict, so I was always getting in trouble. Tamu-san, on the other hand, is very kind. Because she’s kind, I end up taking advantage of her kindness. But I think my personality is more suited to being scolded than being praised, so maybe Giulia’s way of teaching was more suited to me.”
The changes under Giulia and Donna Del Mondo were near instantaneous. She looked far more comfortable away from the idol-esque costuming of the Angels, and her in-ring work already seemed to take a step forward with her newfound focus. But in such a competitive field, it was going to be a long process. Now she was in the most stacked faction in the company where any chance to shine would be a blessing.
Over the next year, Sakurai’s ring work slowly improved as did her general look – gone was the fluff of Cosmic Angels, replaced with the more modern chic of Donna Del Mondo’s styling. Despite this, she still felt very much like a lower card wrestler propped up by association, with little individual personality of her own. Sure, she had improved, but is that really enough to have proven people wrong? Again, if she were compared to Mina or Unagi’s progression, she still felt a long way off the mark.
The first signs of real growth would come through STARDOM’s New Blood shows: events for younger and lower card wrestlers to get extra reps as well as alongside some outside talent. Here, Mai Sakurai seemed to feel less restrained and more experimental working alongside talent like Chanyota and LINDA. She grew more bold with what the Sakurai character could be.
Then after a win against her mentor Giulia in the first round of the 2023 Cinderella Tournament, she laid the first foundations of her Ladyship gimmick. Sakurai grew into an arrogant, upperclass act who referred to the fans as ‘commoners’ and looked down on them all. It wasn’t long until she’d build on the gimmick, adding an extravagant feathery robe and enormous hat, and even carrying around some customised currency to throw out to the huddled masses in order to flaunt her superiority. Mai started adopting the Milano Special hold so that she could sit on her opponents and incorporated a new pose just for the gimmick and the moment that, similar to Mina Shirakawa’s signature pose, other wrestlers would take every chance to rip off for a cheap pop.
The gimmick took off, getting over incredibly quickly with the domestic crowds who relished playing along with her antics. She stood out in a company that didn’t lean too heavily on the more outlandish character heavy gimmicks, but she never let it go so far that it distracted from the rest of the show. This was someone who had struggled to show any character at all when she first started despite being placed in a faction that instantly defined a potential direction, yet here she was just two years later as one of the most unique characters on the roster.
The gimmick, as well as her continued improvement in the ring would help lead her to being one third of the Artist of Stardom Champions alongside Giulia and Thekla as BariBariBombers. It was her first accolade in wrestling and it was a title she’d hold until the beginning of 2024, when things would start to drastically change for Mai Sakurai and STARDOM as a whole.
The day after the trio lost the belts, Giulia announced the dissolution of Donna Del Mondo. On the surface, it was due to the original DDM trio – Giulia, Syuri and Maika – all having reached their goal of winning the Red Belt. Behind the scenes, though, things were changing. Several wrestlers were leaving STARDOM with Rossy Ogawa to form a new promotion called Marigold.
On March 22, Giulia, Utami Hayashishita, MIRAI, Yuzuki, and Mai Sakurai were all confirmed to be leaving STARDOM.
When the five names were announced, most people were pretty apathetic about Mai Sakurai’s inclusion. Everyone already knew Giulia was gone, but a young main event talent in Utami, a reliable upper midcarder in MIRAI and a highly vaunted rookie prospect in Yuzuki were all big scores for Rossy Ogawa’s new promotion. By comparison, a lower card character act like Mai Sakurai didn’t seem like much of a loss for STARDOM or much of a gain for Rossy Ogawa.
After all the hard work she had put in since her debut to prove people had underestimated her, it was happening all over again.
“I owe a lot to Mr. Rossy Ogawa. And I wanted to help him with his new organization. I also wanted to improve as a wrestler and aim for even greater heights. To do that, I wanted to change my environment. Unlike the previous organization, where everything was already in place, this organization is one that has to be created from scratch, so it takes a lot of energy and there are many difficulties. But it’s also very rewarding, and I definitely feel more ambition, a sense of urgency and a sense of responsibility than before, so I think it’s a positive environment for me right now.”
Mai Sakurai Interview with Scott Edwards – Fightful.com
Mai Sakurai could have settled for a comfortable spot in STARDOM as a reliable low to mid card wrestler who relied on her gimmick to get over. However, she wanted to push herself. Just as she challenged herself to get better at the start of 2022, she did so again in 2024 by leaving to join Ogawa’s new promotion where more would be asked of her.
All of a sudden, she was one of the more experienced wrestlers on a roster full of raw talent. Mai Sakurai had to step up and realise her full potential, especially as Giulia’s last days in the company were fast approaching.
It meant a lot that Giulia selected Mai Sakurai as her last singles match before moving on to WWE. It showed just how much their bond meant over the years, and it was one final test for Sakurai to showcase everything she had learnt from her mentor. It was easily her best match yet, showcasing just how far she had come as a wrestler and as a performer. It was a hard-hitting and intense battle, something that would have looked at home as a headline attraction on a PPV, drawing in the raucous Korakuen Hall crowd.
It was the kind of Mai Sakurai people could never have foreseen from the uncomfortable Cosmic Angels debutante in August 2021. The only question people had was: could she do it on the regular? She wouldn’t always have a performer at the caliber of a Giulia to pull that out of her, they needed Mai to be the one drawing those kinds of matches out of opponents.
Just like she had done all through her career, Mai Sakurai locked in and went to work proving the doubters wrong. She wanted to continue to develop herself into a new better version of herself.
Her Twin Stars Tag Title run with MIRAI was a strong precursor and helped establish her, alongside a successful Dream Star GP run that saw her make the final before falling to Utami. The tournament gave her the in-ring success necessary to establish her newfound spot in the pecking order but also several quality singles matches to be proud of, which would all serve as good preparation as she looked to win the United National Championship from Miku Aono to kick 2025 off.
Now she’s one of Marigold’s top champions and more consistent performers, often being asked to carry matches against challengers will less experience and skill. When the 16-year-old rookie and daughter of Michiko Omukai was set to debut on PPV, it was Mai Sakurai who was sent out there to stand opposite Shinno.
And while everyone left that match singing the praises of the schoolkid who put on a phenomenal debut performance (as they should), it shouldn’t go unnoticed how important a strong guiding hand is. Mai Sakurai filled the role that Jungle Kyona had for Utami Hayashishita’s debut, Momo Watanabe had for Yuzuki, or MIRAI had for Seri Yamaoka. It’s a spot that was unfathomable even a year prior, yet she looked at home in that veteran spot. Just as she has throughout for United National run.
Every time it seems like Mai Sakurai should have reached her ceiling, she continues to take another step forward. She went from one of the most uninspiring wrestlers in STARDOM and transformed herself into a fun role player with a stand-out gimmick. That alone would have been worthy of congratulations, yet Mai took it a step further and has become an invaluable part of a start up promotion by becoming a reliable top champion who can deliver stand out matches, constantly adapting her persona to what’s required of the situation.
Some wrestlers have instant potential, some take a little while to find their footing while others never really find their way. Many – including myself – were quick to place Mai Sakurai in the third category and assume that was that. She was a joke, someone to make memes about. Even as she started to prove us wrong we only reluctantly began to hand Mai her due flowers. Yet it always came with caveats like “Oh but she’s just a character performer” and “but she’ll never be a big match wrestler.” How wrong we were.
I’m here to officially and unequivocally apologise. I was wrong for doubting you Mai Sakurai. Long may her Ladyship reign.
RESURA 