Three Years And Five Champions, Who Could Imagine Such A Historic Yet Mixed Lineage
New Japan Pro-Wrestling and World Wonder Ring STARDOM have served as two of the largest promotions in terms of Japanese professional wrestling for many years. The major difference between the two was that NJPW focused on men, while STARDOM was the home of joshi stars; NJPW didn’t have a single woman on the active roster.
NJPW was founded in 1972, with All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling starting that year as well. That promotion stood as the standout for joshi wrestling up until it closed its doors in 2005 after years of television deal issues and more. Many other promotions were able to pick up the scraps of what AJW left after closing, including Arsion, GAEA Japan, JWP, and more.
2022 would be a very special year in the history of joshi wrestling as NJPW finally decided to create a championship under the International Wrestling Grand Prix governing body, specially made for joshi wrestlers. That title would become the IWGP Women’s Championship, a joint venture between NJPW and STARDOM.
This partnership wasn’t anything new as STARDOM and NJPW had been tightly connected since Bushiroad, owners of NJPW, acquired STARDOM back in 2019. Wrestle Kingdom 14 in 2020 saw the two promotions work together, as a few talents from STARDOM had a match on the first night of that show.
As far as the look of the IWGP Women’s Championship, it would be heavily influenced by the second version of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, with the main plates being very similar crown designs. The star side plates would harken back to STARDOM with their signature star plates on most titles.
STARDOM’s The Conversion event in June 2025 marked a major point in this title’s history, so it feels only right to highlight the title and what it has gone through in the almost three years of life it has had.
Kairi Hojo would make her return to STARDOM in 2022 after parting ways with the WWE the previous year. Less than a year after returning, she would get the chance to make history as she competed against her longtime friend/rival, Mayu Iwatani. This match would be the main event of the Historic X-Over show in November 2022. Kairi scored the win and became the first ever IWGP Women’s Champion, a title she ended up holding for 90 days.
Kairi did alright for an inaugural champion, with the biggest problems being a lack of title defenses and her only successful one being a five-minute bout. Her time as champion came to an end as another former WWE employee was departing the company and making their name outside the promotion. Mercedes Mone (formerly Sasha Banks) came to NJPW/STARDOM at Wrestle Kingdom 17, setting her sights on Kairi and the IWGP Women’s title for the Battle in the Valley show in San Jose, California.
It is safe to say that not everyone was a fan of Mercedes coming in and just being handed a huge title shot; it was her first match since being suspended in WWE back in May 2022. The match between her and Kairi was incredible, however, and Mercedes went on to have a successful title defense against both AZM and Hazuki at NJPW Sakura Genesis.
Mayu Iwatani is next in line as she won the title from Mercedes at All-Star Grand Queendom a few months later, kicking off the title’s longest reign yet, and possibly its longest reign for quite some time. Mayu held the belt for 735 days, which, spoiler, no other reign has even gotten close. She was able to defend against many stars such as Utami Hayashishita, Stephanie Vaquer, Mina Shirakawa, Sareee, and more.
Mayu’s route to the title actually saw her vacate the SWA World Championship, with the belt subsequently being abandoned. Eventually, someone would find the strength and ability to dethrone Mayu, as Syuri had another shot at the champ at All-Star Grand Queendom 2025. That show featured some great matches in the latter half of the show, with many fans agreeing that the fight between Syuri and Mayu was one of the best, hands down.
Time for celebration wasn’t long for Syuri as mere seconds after dethroning such a legendary champion, Sareee would lay her challenge out for the title. Syuri wasn’t a slouch and still found the time to put on a great match with Alex Windsor at Pro Wrestling EVE’s June 6th show in London, but the next challenge was only a couple of weeks away at STARDOM’s The Conversion on the 21st.
The IWGP Women’s Championship took the main event spot as Syuri put her title on the line against the dangerous Sareee. An earlier highly acclaimed bout between these two and some harsh comments made before this rematch had anticipation at an all-time high, with the result living up to expectations.
After 32 minutes of this year’s best wrestling, filled with aggressive kicks, rough punches and forearms, and some sound technical limb work, Sareee captured the title and gained the upper hand after their 30-minute draw back in March.
This title has only been around for a few years, but in that short time, it has already done a great job of creating a unique and outstanding catalog of former champions. While we wait and see what Sareee is capable of doing with this belt, it is a good trip to take and look back on what both STARDOM and New Japan have been able to do with this title.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING
- KAIRI vs. Mayu Iwatani, NJPW/STARDOM Historic X-Over 2022.
- Mercedes Mone vs. KAIRI, NJPW Battle In The Valley 2023.
- Mayu Iwatani vs. Sareee, STARDOM All-Star Grand Queendom 2024.
- Syuri vs. Mayu Iwatani, STARDOM All-Star Grand Queendom 2025.
- Sareee vs. Syuri, STARDOM The Conversion 2025.
RESURA 