After an amazing pay-per-view that saw three of the top titles change hands, and the biggest attendance in STARDOM history, the landscape in STARDOM has changed. H.A.T.E.’s darkness over the rest of the roster has relented quite a bit, but they are still around, so there’s nothing saying that they couldn’t take back their power sometime later this year.
On the previous edition of The Pyramid, we ranked the roster’s power level before their second biggest show of any given year STARDOM Dream Queendom, but now that we’ve made it past STARDOM’s yearly WRESTLEMANIA like event, I think we’ll see quite a shake-up in where a lot of the roster ends up. As always, this is a bit of a tier list in a way, where I will be going from the lowest-ranked wrestler to the highest in an effort to show where I think each roster member sits at this moment in the STARDOM pecking order. You may agree or disagree, as this is all my opinion, but I’ll do my best as always to try to explain why a wrestler sits where they currently do.
This time around we will have a total of 47 wrestlers ranked, with two wrestlers being added, FUWA-Chan and Maki Itoh, as well as one wrestler being removed since the previous edition, Saki Kashima. Their current ranking will be listed first, and where they were on the previous edition will be in parenthesis after that.
Before we get started, I do want to take a moment to show some love to the very recently retired Saki Kashima who was always so tremendous at bringing smiles to our faces with her comedy, especially during the last few years of her career. The way she could still lock in to upset just about anyone on the roster with her flash pin or fall down in exhaustion simply from running the ropes, truly showed how much of a great utility player she was on the roster, which is something I do think they will miss going forward. I do still think there will be a fair share of comedy in the promotion with the likes of Maki Itoh there now, but Saki Kashima will be leave a pretty large hole that will need to be filled, to help make those random house show midcard matches fun for all involved. Thank you for the memories Saki Kashima, you’re one of a kind, and please enjoy retirement.
With all of that said, let’s get on to what you’ve been waiting for, the pyramid itself.
SEVENTH TIER
47. Anne Kanaya (46) – Even though this roster is absolutely stacked with great talent up and down the card, a wrestler has to come in last place, and for right now it’s Anne Kanaya, not because she’s not trying hard, or showing her wrestling talent, it’s simply because she’s apparently allergic to winning. Right now, she’s going through the tough road of being a rookie, especially one who was out for a quite a while with an injury, but I think in due time she’s going to pick up that first singles win, and she’s going to move on up my rankings because the talent is definitely there.
46. Matoi Hamabe (45) – While Matoi has been able to put in some really good performances since coming back, she’s still pretty low on my list because of the sheer amount of time she’s missed with injury thus far. I think with the way STARDOM has booked her since she’s gotten back, they see her as someone who could be a future big-time player in the company, but we’ll have to all watch with baited breath to make sure she stays healthy long enough to accomplish that. I remember seeing Matoi do a public exhibition when I was at Korakuen back in November of 2024, and ever since then, I’ve been a supporter of this awesome rookie.
45. Yuria Hime (42) – Honestly, if they wouldn’t have done the rookie tournament, I probably would have had Yuria up a little higher, but with her not doing so well in that, while also getting injured right after, it’s made me see her down towards the bottom of the rankings. I do think that Yuria is talented however, and she was really putting things together towards the end of last year, but I am wondering when we’ll see her truly take that next step. The fact that she’s in a faction already does help things, as I could see her possibly winning the New Blood Tag Team Championships with someone like Saya Iida or Momo Kohgo for instance, which would improve her stock a bit at least.
44. Kikyo Furusawa (44) – Kikyo Furusawa has to be thanking her lucky stars that Maki Itoh joined the company and took a liking to her, because the former idol has helped Kikyo add so much to her personality both inside and outside the ring. Kikyo has very impressive technical skill, becoming more and more smooth as she figures out new ways to get into her signature leg locks, but she was lacking in the overall charisma department until Itoh arrived. The fact that Kikyo was able to get to the finals of the rookie tournament shows that the company sees her as an important part of their future, but it will be interesting to see if that continues, or whether she ends up just trading wins with her fellow rookies for the next year or so.
43. Akira Kurogane (41) – Akira Kurogane seemed to have a lot going for her during the late part of last year, not only being in a great story as the weak tag team part of Bozilla who eventually earned her respect by picking up the victories herself, but also scoring the win for Mi Vida Loca in the unit battle against ExV. At that point, I thought Akira was going to continue to steadily move up the card, but since then I feel like she’s taken a step back, not in effort or skill, but simply in booking. Akira still has such a cool look, and I’d like to see a bit more character work for her to sink her teeth into over the next few months, because I do see her as a strong midcard presence for this company in the future. I also think that if she has something more to do, that will mean that Mi Vida Loca as a faction will have more to do as well.
42. Ema Maishima (43) – One of the wrestlers who moved up among her fellow rookies is Ema Maishima who won STARDOM’s rookie tournament, showing everyone what I’ve thought all along: Ema Maishima shows the most potential out of the entire STARDOM six. Obviously, I’m not going to take my victory lap yet, but ever since seeing her first few matches, I’ve had Ema pegged as being one of the best in-ring talents that STARDOM has had in a rookie for quite some time, and after she won the rookie tournament it honestly made me want to compare her even more with Yuzuki who showed flashes of brilliance right away before taking her talents to the golden gardens. Ema definitely needs to work on her character work a bit, because that could hold her back, but if she ends up joining Neo Genesis, which a lot of people have brought up as an idea before, I think the four in that faction would be able to help her come out of her shell a bit more, helping her establish more of a character on top of her great skills in the ring.
41. Waka Tsukiyama (38) – I know that usually when Waka gets put up against rookies she’s able to pick up the victory, but ultimately, at this point, it wouldn’t surprise me to see STARDOM have her drop matches against the STARDOM six that are ranked below her currently. Waka is a loveable comedy wrestler in Taro’s mind I believe, and because of that, her booking might be similar to Fukigen Death’s, though without the fact that there’s a legit legend under that character. While I do think that Waka has her moments where she locks in and puts on really good matches, she’s been rather inconsistent in my opinion, and STARDOM doesn’t really give her stuff to do unfortunately. I do think, that with some direction, she could become quite a fan favorite in the promotion, giving people some light hearted fun to look forward to, but at the moment, she seems to just be treading water towards the bottom of the card, something she’s unfortunately had to get used to for a quite a while now.
40. Kiyoka Kotatsu (39) – Ranking Kotatsu is a bit difficult in all honesty because when she’s there, she normally wins, or at least puts on good performances, and she’s been shown to be stronger than the rookies of the promotion at least, yet she’s never really put into important spots that could make me see her as even a midcarder at the moment. I do really wish that she’d be able to work more of the house shows for STARDOM because I think that’s where stories could develop more for her. I think she has some good basic striking talent, but we’re rarely ever given the chance to see what she can do outside of her ‘spots’ that she gets during her tag team matches. I believe that Kotatsu could be a big star in wrestling with both her look and the flashy strikes she can throw, but at this point I’m not sure she’ll ever be given a good enough chance to accomplish that feat.
39. Rian (40) – Rian is the type of talent who loses a lot, and I mean a lot of matches, but her character grows in the process so it’s really not all that bad. I think that Rian is a really good underdog that could be used to get a shock Future or High Speed Championship win if they were willing to pull that trigger, and I do think that the crowd would be all for it, however I’m not sure Taro sees her at that level, at the moment, unfortunately. Every chance she’s given to do some character work, or to get herself over, I think she’s done a pretty good job at, and now we just need to see her booked in that manner. In all honesty, I could totally see Rian get shifted into that spot that Saki Kashima held for years, and while there’s no way she’d be as good as Saki was at doing the comedy, she could still provide a lot of that lighthearted fun that we enjoyed in Saki’s matches.
38. Momo Kohgo (37) – As someone who wants to see Momo Kohgo succeed in this artform we love called pro wrestling, I’d love to put Momo high on my rankings, but unfortunately if you support Momo Kohgo, you’ll only know pain. There are times where she’s given just the slightest bit of a push, and at that point you start to wonder if they will go through with it, finally elevating her up the card a bit as someone who should be taken seriously, but then you crash back to reality when she starts losing match after match as the person being pinned or submitted. Momo puts in so much effort to perform for us considering how much her body continues to fight against her, and it would be great to see her one day hold the High Speed Championship or the CMLL-Japan Championship if that were to come back around again, as I know she loves Mexico along with that style of wrestling. Maybe one day, us Momo Kohgo fans will be able to celebrate something positive in her wresting career, but until then, she’ll be down in the bottom tier of these rankings.
37. Fukigen Death (35) – At the top of this bottom tier is everyone’s favorite sad clown Fukigen Death who can simultaneously be a big-time test for any lower card wrestler on the roster, while also being easy fodder against any wrestler on the mid card or higher. Obviously, Fukigen’s schtick is mostly based in comedy, but whenever she’d have her Artist of Stardom matches with her partners Rina and Konami, she’d lock in, showing us that even at her age, she’s still a legend who can do so much. If they intend to have H.A.T.E. lose their last titles that they are holding which is those aforementioned Artist titles, it’s probably a pretty safe prediction that Fukigen will be the one who eats the pin or submission for it, which is why she’s as low on this ranking as she is, but if we were simply looking at talent, she’d be quite a bit higher.
SIXTH TIER
36. Lady C (34) – Honestly, I would personally love to have Lady C much higher up my rankings, because much like Momo Kohgo, I know how much effort she puts in to be the best wrestler she can, but yet she’s always relegated to the lower card unless she’s paired with Ami Sohrei in a tag team affair. I think Lady C has leveled up her moves over the past year or two to where it’s believable in my opinion that she could challenge for the Wonder of Stardom Championship for instance, but I’m not sure the STARDOM brass sees her as a legit challenger for a title like that which is frustrating because I feel like Lady C has been stuck in the proverbial mud, keeping her lower down on the card and not taken seriously. I think it would be really cool to see Lady C wear the Artist of Stardom Championship sometime this year though, because she always seems to be at her best in those trio type matches.
35. Xena (32) – Xena for me is a big ‘what if’ type of wrestler because when she went down with her knee injury, she was up towards the top of the card, and challenged for the World of Stardom Championship, putting in an effort good enough to make people believe she could truly win. Now that she’s been back, she’s been kind of in a holding pattern unfortunately as I’m not sure the company believes she’s worth being pushed that hard again. Xena at her best, is one hell of a wrestler who has the strength and athleticism to beat just about anyone on the roster, but we’ve rarely ever been able to see that because of the booking. I think the entire ExV feud against Mi Vida Loca didn’t really help her much, and that’s something that we’ve been seeing quite a bit of over the past six months, even though the feud was supposed to end quite a while ago. Maybe now, with the two units having their blow off tag team match at the PPV, we’ll see all of the member of ExV finally move onto something different and meaningful which should also affect Xena who came away from the PPV with a future High Speed Championship opportunity.
34. Aya Sakura (26) – Aya Sakura is that type of wrestler who can be seen as an upper midcarder one day, and then somewhat of a rookie the next with the way she’s booked, and I think that’s why she finds herself as low on this list as she is. I truly believe that Aya Sakura is a better wrestler in the ring than our new World of Stardom champion who also happens to be her New Blood Tag Team champion partner, but she hasn’t been graced with the same kind of rocket push that Kurara has gotten. With how things played out at the PPV, Aya Sakura now finds herself pretty squarely at the bottom of the totem pole in Cosmic Angels, and while that’s not saying that she’s only going to eat pins like it might have in the Rossy days of STARDOM, she’s still going to be seen as the weak link in the faction, at least until they add Anne Kanaya which I think we all expect. I would love to see Aya Sakura move her way up the card this year, hopefully challenging for the Wonder of Stardom Championship even if I don’t think she’s at the level to win it quite yet. Just showing that she’s at that level will be enough to force me to move her up my power rankings, and it might possibly get even more of the crowd to be invested in this awesome pro wrestler.
33. Azusa Inaba (29) – It honestly pains me a bit to have Azusa this far down the rankings, but unfortunately, I simply don’t see STARDOM doing all that much with this ultra-talented young woman. Azusa has proven time and time again, not only in her home promotion of JTO, but also in STARDOM, when she’s given the chance, that she’s a total prodigy and I would love to see STARDOM finally shine more light on her, because she deserves it. Last year in the 5STAR, I felt like Azusa had a pretty awesome tournament where she was able to show off her awesome skillset, but even since then, I feel like she’s mostly just been a secondary character in H.A.T.E.-related tag team matches. Even with H.A.T.E. being as powerful as they are, the little imp Azusa Inaba should still be seen as a legit threat in every match she’s in, and not someone who gets a few cool spots in a match, only to be pinned later. I would love to see Azusa and Rina capture the Goddesses of Stardom Championship sometime this year, and honestly, I wouldn’t be upset if Azusa challenged for the World of Stardom title, only if Kurara is still champion, because Kurara being the champion instantly makes a lot of the roster a realistic threat for her championship.
32. Ranna Yagami (36) – The current Future of Stardom champion Ranna Yagami moved up a bit in the rankings based on her pretty strong push up the card which I think is totally deserved. Ranna has been working her ass off over the past few years ever since her debut to make herself the best wrestler she can be, even taking outside bookings to try to gain extra experience as well. All of that hard work is now paying off with Ranna being a strong lower card champion, who could easily take down a random mid card opponent if given the chance. I think having her there to work with the rookies of the company will benefit her, as it teaches her more about leading a match, but I think where Ranna will really take a leap this year will be her 5STAR, where I’d expect her to at least be mid table if not better. I think with a strong push against high-end talents in that league, the fans will really rally behind her, and with that a star could be born. It would also be interesting to see if Ranna could launch herself up enough to become almost a secondary leader of God’s Eye, though she’d have to beat out Ami Sohrei and Hina for that, which is not an easy task.
31. Yuna Mizumori (27) – Yuna Mizumori finally accomplished her goal of winning the High Speed Championship in December, and while she’s been defending it against the various contenders who have challenged her, it’s not exactly a list full of strongly booked people. Her matches have been good however, so I’ll give her that, but unfortunately, at this point in time, the High Speed title simply isn’t looked at all that strongly. There’s nothing saying that the prestige can’t grow, and I do think that Yuna can help the title, but I feel like Mei Seira’s reign where they messed with the rules, along with having defenses so infrequently hurt the prestige of the title in my eyes at least. Yuna will do her best to improve things though, and hopefully the booking will back her up, because she’s put in a ton of work to get to where she is now. I think Yuna could honestly be a really good Artist of Stardom champion with Poi and Anou if they wanted to go that route in the future, or even a possible Goddesses of Stardom champion with one of her faction mates, I just, unfortunately don’t see her ever winning one of the three big singles titles at the top. Maybe she’ll prove me wrong though.
30. FUWA-Chan (NR) – FUWA-Chan is a bit of an enigma as she’s both a rookie but also not at the same time. She has not wrestled too many matches yet in her career, yet she looks like a veteran in the ring as she’s taken to pro wrestling incredibly well since her re-debut back in December. With the strong following she had coming in because of her entertainment background and all, I believe that STARDOM wants to treat her like the big star that she is, yet they are also being careful to not just have her beat all of their big names right away, knowing that it would turn off a lot of their longtime fans most likely. FUWA has been great in her matches, especially the singles matches, blending her natural athletic ability and her comedic chops to entertain crowds all over Japan so far. I think by the next time I do an edition of The Pyramid, she’ll most likely be even higher on my list. I also won’t complain if she happens to pick up the Artist titles with Hazuki and Koguma as well.
29. HANAKO (20) – HANAKO or Big Nak as I call her has had a bit of an up -and-down time in STARDOM overall, but you can see that the booking team does really believe in her even if a lot of the international fans aren’t her biggest fans. I truly believe that she puts in the work to try to get better, and I think part of her issue might be the fact that there aren’t a lot of women as big as she is in joshi, so maybe it’s been tough for her to learn how to work that style effectively. Her Future of Stardom title run wasn’t all that amazing in my personal opinion, but after she dawned the crimson mask during her hardcore tag team match against Suzu and Rina, maybe she’ll get more appreciation from the fans, and the will want to support her more. HANAKO has already challenged for the white belt once, and I could see her doing so again during Hanan’s run with it, because HANAKO will still feel like a big test just based on her size against the young lioness. I also feel like HANAKO needs to join a faction that can really use her to her best ability, whether that means joining Mi Vida Loca, or another newly formed faction that is made out of some of the wrestlers who are already factionless at the moment. I still see a lot of potential in HANAKO, and I want to see her succeed.
28. Itsuki Aoki (31) – It’s a bit difficult to rank Itsuki Aoki at the moment because like some of the wrestlers we’ve already covered, she’s not been given all too much to do so far. She’s obviously played her part in the faction warfare between Mi Vida Loca and E neXus V, but other than that, she’s mostly been in random tag matches with her stablemates. While I feel like her team wins quite often at least, and she’s somewhat protected when it comes to who gets to pin her, or whether she takes the pin at all, she still feels like she’s more of a side player than anything, which probably has to do with the fact that she’s being brought in as a freelancer and not quite a regular member of the roster. Either way, I think Itsuki has proved herself as the Regina Di Wave champion so far and could be a legit contender for one of the top singles belts in the company even if it’s not likely that she’d win. I’d say, if nothing else, you could use her for a defense in Korakuen instead of something like a PPV. She’s also a possibility for the Goddesses of Stardom or Artists of Stardom Championships with her Mi Vida Loca faction mates.
27. Koguma (23) – Unfortunately, over the past few months Koguma has been pretty inactive due to injury, but luckily for us, our favorite bear has recently come back to the ring to tag with her best friend Hazuki, which means we’re going to see some of the best tag team action possible. At this point in Koguma’s career, I’m not totally sure what to make of her by herself at least. She’s still an incredible wrestler, and when they really let her lock in against a good opponent, she can put on some fantastic matches. It seems that most of the time, STARDOM books her strictly in tag matches like they do with a lot of the roster, which means it’s easier to forget just how talented she is because you barely get to see her in those big, multi-women tag matches. While I do think that Koguma is quite a bit above the High Speed belt, she can still work the style, so she could be a meaningful defense for Yuna Mizumori, but what I’d really like to see is Koguma challenge for the Wonder of Stardom Championship because we’d get to see her locked in and going all out.
26. Mei Seira (19) – Mei Seira is another wrestler who is far too talented for the lack of stuff that she has to do in the company, but I’m hopeful that they will remedy that soon by giving her something meaningful to do. Her High Speed title run was fine, with some really awesome matches, but the change in rules, and the overall way that the stories they told were very short, while lacking much content really hurt her reign in my eyes. She was excellent the entire time in ring however, and the eventually story that saw her losing the title against Yuna Mizumori was a fun one to watch for me. At this point however, I feel like Mei Seira is basically too good for the High Speed title and our perception of it, meaning that it’s time for her to challenge for the white or red belt, hell, let her get in there with Syuri to challenge for the IWGP Women’s Championship. At the end of the day, I just want this company to take advantage of the uber-talented wrestler they have under their umbrella, and use her to their full ability because I’m tired of Mei sometimes feeling like the forgotten member of Neo Genesis.
FIFTH TIER
25. Ruaka (25) – Ruaka is an interesting character to rank because she has been kept relatively strong by being one of half of the Goddesses of Stardom champions with her BMI 2000 partner Natsuko Tora, however when she wrestles on her own, or they need that team to take a pin, it was usually Ruaka who’d look like the somewhat weak one. I feel like Ruaka’s build as a power wrestler should be able to help her be booked strongly, but talent-wise, in the ring, I feel like she’s not been able to develop quite as well as I would have hoped for considering how early in life she started wrestling with the company. Part of me wonders if Ruaka will be treated more like Andras Miyagi was in Oedo Tai towards the end, where she looks intimidating, but happened to lose quite a bit, or whether they will try to book her towards the Wonder of Stardom Championship because of her family history with the current champion Hanan. I do think that Hanan and Ruaka could have a good title match, and the story is there to make it work, but I’m not sure you could have Ruaka challenge for that title on a PPV unless you’re able to really turn up the heat on the story to make fans want to see Hanan prevail over the still quite young H.A.T.E. member.
24. Tomoka Inaba (24) – As you can see from the fact that Tomoka finished in 24th last time I did this power ranking, she hasn’t really done much to move up or down the list. I feel like the booking team have done more with her than they have with her sister Azusa, but I still don’t think they are willing to truly push her as much as they should. I get it, Tomoka is officially still a JTO member, but at this point in time, I feel like it’s time to trust Tomoka enough to give her some meaningful stories when booking things because it’s not like she’s missing a lot of STARDOM’s shows because of other commitments. Tomoka is incredibly talented, and she works a style that I feel STARDOM fans really enjoy since she can both strike with the best of them and work a very good submission game. I know that she came up empty after challenging for the Wonder of Stardom Championship last year, but I’d love to see Tomoka actually challenge Syuri for the IWGP Women’s Championship because I think the styles match very well, for one, and I think it would be great to see just how far Tomoka has come as she takes on probably the best striker/ submission combo wrestler in all of joshi.
23. Bozilla (14) – The fact that Bozilla is as big and strong as she is makes her a legit test for any wrestler she steps foot in the ring with, which I think STARDOM has done a great job at showing with their booking of her through the second half of the year, last year. Obviously it was a total bummer seeing her get injured, especially with it being leg related since it’s always so difficult for bigger people in overall size to heal those muscles. Trust me, I know from experience because I have bad knees, and I’m not even half of the athlete that Bozilla is. When Bozilla eventually does come back, I will be very interested to see where they slot her in. I could honestly see her being a great World of Stardom contender, because there will be quite a bit of fanfare behind her return. If Kurara is still the champion at that time, it would also help finish a story that was started with Saki Kashima that we never got to see the ending to, as Bozilla threatened to beat up Sayaka Kurara before her injury took her out, all stemming back to them making Bozilla mad last year. I understand that booking a powerful monster isn’t always the easiest task when you run 100-plus shows every year, but I believe in Taro Okada to make it work once we see the giant German back inside of a STARDOM ring, hopefully by late this year.
22. Ami Sohrei (10) – Taro Okada is known for giving his roster small pushes towards titles, and then cooling them back off as they settle back in, in the midcard of their shows which right now feels like where they see Ami Sohrei currently. Ami Sohrei has been really good when they’ve given her the ball to run, whether that be in challenging for the Wonder of Stardom Championship or trying to get the Goddesses of Stardom Tag Team Championships with her partner Lady C, but until she accomplishes one of those, I don’t think I’ll see her as anything more than an upper midcard performer at best. The one thing that she has going for her though is that I do truly believe that the booking team believes in her as a wrestler, and they see big things in her future, but I think we’re just going to have to wait a while to see that develop. Until then, she’ll continue to beat most of the wrestlers under her in this power ranking, while losing against a lot of the wrestlers above her, and that’s totally fine as long as it does not stay like that forever.
21. Saya Iida (21) – Saya Iida is the lovable underdog that anyone can get behind because not only is she small but very powerful, but she’s also incredible at selling in an intense way that makes you want to run through a wall for her. She put in one hell of a performance against Konami when she challenged for the Wonder of Stardom championship in December, but unfortunately, she hasn’t done too much after that. She did recently get a shot at the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship against Alex Windsor while some of the STARDOM wrestlers were in Las Vegas, which she was not successful in, but she put on a gutsy performance that got the crowd chanting her name even after the match was done. Honestly, Saya Iida doesn’t have the prototypical look that Bushiroad probably loves since their president enjoys talking about how cute the girls are and such, but when it comes to being a pro wrestler, Saya Iida is honestly one of the best in the company because she truly makes a connection with all of the fans in the building. I would love to see Saya Iida one day hold the World of Stardom Championship because I truly believe she would be one hell of a champion for the company, and someone we would think of as a true success story because of it.
20. Hina (28) – Ever since Hina hit her 18th birthday, she’s been an absolute monster inside of the ring, and honestly, I love it! While I don’t think Hina has the same type of star power that Rina has personally, and I don’t connect with her matches quite as much as her twin’s, I do think that when it comes to in-ring skill, Hina might be the best out of the three sisters. Not only is she stronger than people may think, but she has kept that same, almost smug attitude from her days in Queen’s Quest, and transferred it over to God’s Eye, where no matter who she faces in the ring, she truly looks like she believes that she’s better than they are. Hina had a really good Future of Stardom Championship run and put in a really great performance in her opportunity for the Wonder of Stardom Championship against Konami, which makes me believe that she may have another title coming in her near future. One of the titles I think that would be good for her to have for a bit would be the Artist of Stardom Championship, because it’s a good introduction title that’s treated a bit more seriously than the Future title, when it’s booked that is. It’s also a title where she doesn’t have the focal point, even though there’s a good chance she would be because I’d see a God’s Eye team who wins it being the likes of Hina, Ami Sohrei, and Lady C. STARDOM would see Ami Sohrei as the biggest star in that trio, but all of us who know ball would know that Hina would be the one doing some of the carrying in ring.
19. Rina Yamashita (18) – So far, the three times I’ve done this pyramid article for STARDOM, Rina Yamashita has always been in 18th or 19 th place, and there’s probably a good reason for it. She’s what I would consider a premier upper midcard act in the company because she’s strong enough to beat pretty much anyone in the company and people wouldn’t be upset about it, yet she’s also able to be beaten by a wrestler who is ready to take the next step by getting a surprise victory over Yamashita. Her ability to do comedy, hardcore deathmatch wrestling or simply good standard pro wrestling is something that very few on the roster can do, and that makes Rina Yamashita an excellent utility member of the roster. I personally, would love to see her do something more in this company than she currently does just because I believe she could be a lot more important to the company if they allowed her to be, but the fact that she’s a freelancer that they bring in on a per show basis, means that they will usually keep her out of the major storylines if they can, as they would rather use a fully contracted talent for that spot. I would love to see Rina Yamashita be a red belt challenger sometime, and I could even see her winning the Goddesses of Stardom Championship with her partner Suzu Suzuki someday if the company decides to put a title on her. Ultimately, I just want more for Rina Yamashita because she’s one of my favorites!
18. Bea Priestley (17) – Bea Priestley has been booked pretty strongly since she has come back to STARDOM full time, and honestly, I’m not all too surprised by it. She is a former World of Stardom champion and even though Taro has booked things differently than Rossy over the few years that he’s had the book, he does still seem to try to show respect to the World of Stardom Championship, along with its former champions. Even in random tag team matches, which STARDOM has plenty of, it usually wasn’t Bea ever taking the pin or submission in a loss, making her easy to choose as a possible title challenger whenever they’d need her in the future. When they had her turn her back on Hanan at the PPV, they took full advantage of keeping her that strong by lining her up as Hanan’s first big defense of the Wonder of Stardom Championship. It may not excite a lot of the international fans, but fans in Japan do care about Bea, and I truly believe that they will be quite loud when these two battle it out for the white belt. Now that Bea is in her rightful place in H.A.T.E. I believe that she’ll be a bit more comfortable as a character in the company, and hopefully that also means that she’ll be an even better version of herself than she already was when she was with STARS.
17. Maki Itoh (NR) – Maki Itoh is the next World of Stardom challenger. Yes, you heard that correct, Maki Itoh gets the next shot at the prestigious red belt, which is something I don’t think any of us would have imagined this early into her career in STARDOM. She was brought into the company with a good bit of fanfare as they ran vignettes for her and even rerecorded her entrance song to make her feel that much of a bigger star. Some people haven’t been enjoying her in STARDOM as much, but I personally have really been enjoying her brand of comedy that she brings to the usually more serious in-ring product that STARDOM puts on. It also doesn’t hurt that when she does need to put on a really good match in the ring, that she’s been able to step up to the level needed. While I don’t think it’s logical or realistic that she could win the World of Stardom Championship this time around, it plays into the really fun story that she’s been telling since her first few weeks in the company, where she’s attempting to take down Cosmic Angels as she says, they are an evil group. She’s been able to do a good enough job telling this story that a crowd of over 8,000 people were cheering for her, and booing Natsupoi during their singles match at the PPV. While I’m not for sure on where Maki Itoh’s final power level will be in the company by the end of the year for instance, right now she’s riding quite a high, and should be looked at as an upper midcard talent if nothing else, which already honestly feels like more than she was getting from her former promotion TJPW.
FOURTH TIER
16. Natsupoi (12) – While Natsupoi is undoubtedly popular, I don’t feel like she’s been booked as the type of star that many feel like she is. She obviously got a big singles match at the December, big end of the year PPV by taking on her best friend Sareee in a hard-hitting affair, but after that I haven’t felt like she’s done all that much. Sure, her match with Maki Itoh was meaningful in its own way, but for a talent that STARDOM fans around the world see as a World of Stardom level talent, it’s not quite up to par. In my opinion, over the past few months, maybe even dating back to when she announced her marriage to NJPW wrestler Shingo Takagi, Natsupoi has seemingly been used as someone to put others over instead of herself, leaving a lot of people to wonder if she’s on her way out to possibly start a family soon. Sure, that might just be a rumor that fans themselves have started to try to explain the shift in her booking, but maybe there’s some truth to it. To me, Natsupoi is in the best shape of her life, putting on more muscle on her small frame, and she seems ready for something she can really sink her teeth into, but is Taro ready to push her in that way, or does he see her possible damaged goods now that their mostly male fanbase can’t imagine themselves marrying her anymore, since she’s already accounted for. Even though I’m not the biggest fan of Natsupoi myself, I know she’s very talented, and I’d like to see her in another meaningful story sooner rather than later, whether that leads her towards titles, or it involves putting someone else over in the end.
15. Hazuki (13) – Hazuki has already put in a pretty good year of work when it comes to her in-ring output, but when it comes to stories, she’s mostly been around to be FUWA-Chan’s proud mother as she tries to guide the rookie towards becoming a superstar for the company. Hazuki is the type of wrestler who is kept somewhat strong overall, usually putting her with a wrestler or two in tag matches that can take the fall instead while she waits around for something noteworthy to do herself. Anytime the company calls on Hazuki to have a great match with anyone on the roster, she delivers, and she’s still one of, if not the best Wonder of Stardom match wrestlers of all time without ever actually winning the title herself. Considering the lineage of that championship, that’s actually saying quite a bit, and I hope that this year will be the year that she’s finally able to claim that title for herself, and it will be that much sweeter if she beats Hanan to do it. Obviously, there’s certain politics around it, since it’s another company’s title, but I think it would be fun to see Hazuki defend her SPARK Joshi World Championship on a Korakuen every now and then because once again, it at least gives Hazuki something to do. Hazuki and Koguma look to have a tag team championship match coming up soon, but realistically I don’t see them winning it even if they are one of the best tag teams in the company’s history. If they want to do something new with FWC though, they could put the Artist of Stardom championships on them along with FUWA-Chan, but I won’t hold my breath on it. At the end of the day, Hazuki is a main event wrestler inside of the ring, so I’d love to see STARDOM feature her in that way.
14. Saori Anou (8) – Saori Anou is another wrestler much like Natsupoi who can step up to a main event level whenever you need her to, yet she can also lose to just about anyone on the roster in an attempt to get someone over. I personally, believe that Saori Anou should have become the new leader of Cosmic Angels, or if the group had folded, I think she should have moved over to the dark side to join H.A.T.E. because just sort of having her around doesn’t feel right. She’s a fantastic worker in the ring, and her persona is one that commands respect, which I don’t feel like shines through in her current position. If it was up to me, that Saori Anou challenge against Saya Kamitani at the end of last year would not be her last opportunity at that title, because she should be in that discussion at all times in my opinion. She is also one half of one of the strongest booked tag teams in the company along with her partner Natsupoi, but it seems like a lot of times, they don’t want the two of them to tag together in standard two versus two matches because they want to keep the team strong for a possible Goddesses of Stardom title defense. I personally feel like Saori Anou should be treated as a top five most powerful wrestler in the company, but right now, she’s pretty far from that unfortunately.
13. Rina (9) – Rina is an enigma, and STARDOM needs to be careful how they decide to use her over the next year or two, because I truly believe they have an absolute superstar on their hands if they are willing to go all in on it. The more Rina grows up, and her career continues to blossom, the more she reminds me of her mentor Hana Kimura, a wrestler who would have probably taken over America by now if she was still with us. Rina has that same type of charisma that made Hana special, and honestly, I feel like her in-ring work is even better now than Hana’s was at the time. Whenever she gets on the mic the crowd is invested in what she’s saying, and even though she’s on the bad guys team, H.A.T.E., the crowd can’t help but to cheer her on, sometimes more loudly than any of the babyfaces on the show. The ability to connect to a crowd is not something that you can really teach, it’s something you either have or you don’t usually, and Rina has it, which STARDOM needs to take advantage of. My hope is that they take advantage of her superstardom and give her, her own faction, which I hope would be along the lines of Tokyo Cyber Squad. The name doesn’t have to be the same, and the tag line could even be different if they want, but the overall personality of the group, along with the attitude is what would set it apart from the others. I think everyone believes that Rina is truly a good person, and that even to this day she truly believes that ‘everyone is different, everyone is special.’ Maybe having a faction of her own would finally propel her to the Wonder of Stardom Championship, which has avoided her twice so far, but maybe the third time is a charm.
12. Natsuko Tora (15) – Even though she’s the official leader of H.A.T.E. for the past year or so at least, you would have thought that Saya Kamitani had taken over, especially considering the difference in popularity between the two. At no time has there been any sort of wavering in the power structure for the faction though and I honestly have to give STARDOM credit for not just changing it up based on how popular Saya Kamitani is. Instead, they let her do her own thing, while Natsuko Tora continued to lead her faction as a very strong Goddesses of Stardom tag team champion with her BMI2000 partner Ruaka. There’s a lot of fans around the world who don’t love the style of wrestling that Natsuko does, as they are probably more used to the faster paced and more technical style that you get from a lot of the roster, however I personally like that Natsuko is different. Sure, she can adjust her style to work with whoever she ends up in the ring with, but her using a more powerful brawling style of wrestling instead helps sell her even better as heel which is what she wants at the end of the day. When you need a babyface to get a big win where they are able to show their heart and determination, Natsuko is the perfect person to do it against. That’s what keep Natsuko Tora up towards the top third of the pyramid, because she’s that proverbial mountain to climb and she played her part perfectly in helping to put over 02 Line on the PPV. In my opinion, Natsuko Tora is quite underrated, and considering the match she had with Sayaka Kurara last year in the 5STAR, she’d be one of the first wrestlers I’d line up to face the new World of Stardom champion, allowing her to be a mountain to climb for an underdog babyface once again.
11. Suzu Suzuki (11) – Honestly, if Suzu was not out injured so often, I’d probably have her up a bit higher because she’s always someone you can pencil into a main event spot and you know she’s going to deliver. No matter how many times Suzu Suzuki gets an opportunity at the World of Stardom Championship, you know she’s going to put on a great match, and there’s always the chance that she could come away with the victory even if she’s not had too much luck so far in doing so. When Suzu has been around, her unit has flourished in my opinion because without her, it’s mostly freelancers and a rookie. Mi Vida Loca is one of the most fun factions in STARDOM today, and if we can get more Suzu Suzuki this year, it will be very interesting to see what that faction decides to set their sights on, considering the fact that their feud with ExV or, at least the corpse of it, should be finished by now. While I don’t see Suzu in the current World of Stardom or Wonder of Stardom title pictures at this moment, it wouldn’t take much to heat her up to get her there, and she’d be a very strong defense for either of the champions if she doesn’t finally pick up the title herself that is. One fun hallmark of her stories though should be the hardcore aspect of things. Let her feuds become heated enough to bring weapons into it because that’s when you truly get Suzu into her element, and it’s something that she can be known for on the roster full of excellent wrestlers. Not only is she great in a standard match, but she’s also great when plunder is introduced, which is something that a lot of the roster can’t say.
10. Momo Watanabe (6) – Ever since Momo left to get her injury treated after her big time World of Stardom title match against Saya Kamitani, there’s been a big void towards the top of the card, especially on the heel side of things. In my opinion, there’s no one on the roster who is better at actually being a heel inside of the wrestling ring than Momo Watanabe which is the only reason I can fathom that she’s still in the group and hasn’t been kicked out yet. I know a lot of fans would love to see her leave H.A.T.E. and become the Momo of old that everyone believed in, because she’s still one of the most talented wrestlers in the company, but it just doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen. Like it or not, we gotta accept it. Still though, Momo’s countless World of Stardom Championship attempts has to lead to something some day, and I do truly believe that the World of Stardom Championship is in her future. How long will we have to wait, that’s the hard thing to figure out, but I do feel like it will be worth the wait. Even though she’s not quite back from her injury yet, she looked really good in Saki Kashima’s retirement match, and she’s been quite active as a second for some of the other H.A.T.E. matches, so I don’t think we’ll have to wait long to see her back full time which is definitely a plus. When she does return though, I hope that they will have a good storyline for her to start with, allowing her to hit the proverbial ground running and maybe by the end of the year she’ll be back towards the top, maybe even getting another World of Stardom championship opportunity.
THIRD TIER
9. Miyu Amasaki (33) – I feel like this year there’s been a directive of truly trying to get Miyu Amasaki over to the level of her fellow faction members, which is easier said that done considering who they are. Not only with the awesome Cinderella tournament run, but now with finally crowning her and AZM as the Goddesses of Stardom champions, they have truly made Miyu Amasaki a star. Not only has she gotten better inside of the ring, but her character work has improved quite a bit as well. I was someone who struggled to connect with her character for quite some time, but now I’m fully on board with her, and I want to see her have success, which means the company booked her correctly, while she did the work in the ring to get it over. The way she fought so hard in her tag team match, especially against Tora was awesome, as it told a great underdog babyface story that had been started quite a while ago when the teams first faced off for those titles. Now with the Goddesses of Stardom Championship around her waist, it will be interesting to see how the company books her when she’s not in a tag team match with the title on the line. Maybe now she’ll pick up some big singles victories, or maybe she’ll go back to the 50/50 booking she was having before when outside of 02 Line related matches. My hope is that she’s truly turned a corner now, and that even going into the 5STAR later this year, she’ll be someone who could make it to the playoff round at least, proving to be a real contender in the toughest league in all of wrestling.
8. AZM (16) – You know, it’s kind of crazy that AZM had never won the Goddesses of Stardom championships before until just recently, because she’s been a part of quite a few awesome tag teams over the years, but could simply never get over the hump. With the power of friendship though, she was able to capture those titles with her partner Miyu Amasaki as they put down the dastardly heel team of Natsuko Tora and Ruaka. We all know that AZM is one of the most skilled wrestlers in not only STARDOM but the world, but it’s nice to see her finally have a reason to show it to everyone again now as a tag team champion. One of the biggest issues for AZM over the years is that it’s felt like she’s been almost bored with limited stories to tell, and while she can have a good match with a literal broom if she wanted to, I don’t think the effort was always there in her matches to prove just how amazing she is in the ring. Now that she gets to be a champion with her best friend, I think we’ll see AZM truly unlocked, and if the team has a long title reign, we might even get a chance for her to make a case for being one of the best wrestlers in the world. Her 5STAR last year was pretty incredible, and while I don’t see her having quite as much success this year, I do hope they put her in a really strong block so that she will have fantastic matches, even if she doesn’t make it out of the group stage. I do really hope that within the next three years AZM gets a chance to be World of Stardom champion, but we’ll have to wait and see if that ends up playing out or not.
7. Konami (7) – While Konami’s Wonder of Stardom title reign may not have had some of the highs that Starlight Kid’s had before it, she honestly had one hell of a six-month reign with the title. Not only did Konami prove to be a really great villain to match up against all of the babyfaces on the roster she faced, but she was even able to heel it up against her own faction mate, Rina, to put together a great match that had the crowd reacting like their life depended on who won the match. We, as fans, were lucky enough to see what Konami could do while fully motivated, and it has at least left me wanting even more now that she’s lost the title. Her dropping the title to Hanan was very understandable as it finished up a story they had started telling late last year, where Konami helped take Hanan out of action for a few months. It was the correct way to end the story, but I really hope that it will simply cause Konami to continue to set her eyes on other members of the roster to torture, even with no titles on the line. I think Konami would be a lot of fun as a worker who you could put up against midcarders who need to take that next step, and while not all of them could beat Konami, the ones that do will get something from it, while the ones who don’t take a positive step in their career, showing that they have the fight in them to not give up against someone so evil. She currently holds one third of the Artist of Stardom Championships with Rina and Fukigen Death, but I don’t see that team holding those titles for very long unfortunately, however I would like to see her possibly start teaming with Bea Priestley to add another powerful tag team to the absolutely loaded tag team division they already have in STARDOM.
6. Maika (2) – When Maika came back from injury late last year, many of us believed that she was already penciled in to be the big challenger for All Star Grand Queendom against Saya Kamitani, especially after the great promo that she delivered after pinning the champion for the three-count in her return match. Unfortunately for her though, it didn’t end up working out that way, which leaves me to wonder what happened. In Taro Okada’s STARDOM, Maika sort of felt like their Kazuchika Okada, a wrestler who was a loveable babyface that the crowd could believe in, and was strong enough to take down even the toughest foes. After she came back from her injury though, she’s felt more like an upper midcarder, who couldn’t even save her own faction from it’s death when they faced off against Mi Vida Loca with a numbers advantage. Maybe Maika is simply on the backburner currently until they need to fire her back up, but if they want her to be the focal point of the company, and it’s biggest star in the future, they need to be careful with how they decide to book her going forward. She needs to be treated as the main event talent she is, and they need to decide what they want to do with her to keep her in big matches even if it’s away from the title for a while. On big shows, Maika should have a big match, whether it’s for gold or not, because that’s the way you keep her ready to take over when you want her to become your World of Stardom champion again. If you feel like she’s better suited as a fun but powerful midcarder though, then continue to do what you’re doing currently with her, and we’ll watch as her ranking on this tier list continues to fall.
5. Hanan (5) – Hanan has finally been crowned as the new Wonder of Stardom champion, and for the third time in a row, she’s coming in at fifth place on this tier list. Hanan is definitely one of Taro Okada’s prized possessions, who he wants to make into a big star for his company, and with her being so young, but yet having so much experience it makes total sense. While I’ve not been the biggest fan of Hanan’s work personally over the past year or so, before that she was putting on fantastic matches with Saya Iida as a part of the team Wing Gori, and I was loving it. It’s possible that Hanan is simply a better tag team wrestler than she is a singles wrestler, though maybe it’s just my own bias in thinking that, either way, she’s the company’s secondary top champion which means she has a chance to prove me and any other doubter wrong. The first person she’s going to be defending it against is Bea Priestley, who recently turned on her right after she won the title at the PPV. The two of them have been in the same faction for a good while, so hopefully that leads to some really good in-ring chemistry between the two that will make for a great match. From there, Hanan has some exciting possible challengers including Mei Seira who always who always brings the fight against her, and Hazuki who she has bad blood with from last year’s split from STARS. There’s also the possibility of facing both of her little sisters who previously challenged Konami the champion that Hanan just beat. Hanan has the chance to really make something awesome of this title reign and if she has those must see matches that I’d expect from her Wonder of Stardom Championship matches, I think it will make me turn a corner with my thoughts on Hanan as I’d once again see her as a star for the company.
SECOND TIER
4. Sayaka Kurara (22) – With one singular night, the rise of Sayaka Kurara continued with her not only beating Saya Kamitani one on one in the main event of STARDOM’s biggest PPV of the year, but by also claiming the top prize in the company, the World of Stardom championship. Tam’s true disciple embodied not only her, but the woman who made Tam retire Saya Kamitani, in the high stakes, big time, main event of All Star Grand Queendom and STARDOM created a new star in the process. While I’m not overly fond of them putting the World of Stardom Championship on a wrestler with about two and a half years of experience, the company sees her in a different light than I do. Obviously, there was a ton of story that went into her picking up the victory against the company’s most popular star, but now that the story has met a conclusion, but probably not the final conclusion, it will be interesting to see just how invested Sayaka Kurara can get me into her title matches going forward. I don’t think that she’s a bad wrestler, in fact, I think she’s quite good, especially with her limited experience, I just don’t think I have the connection with her as a wrestler the way that a lot of other fans may have. I never disliked Tam, but Tam also wasn’t my favorite at any time as a fan of STARDOM, so I can understand there being a bit of a disconnect. The first feud for the title is interesting, because it builds on the story that Maki Itoh has been telling for quite some time since her debut in the company. If Kurara is able to not only have a great match in ring with Itoh but also tell a story that actually grips me as an Itoh fan, then maybe I’ll turn into a believer, but until then, I’ll be instead left wondering if this gamble for STARDOM will be worth it in the end.
3. Starlight Kid (4) – Once again Starlight Kid finds herself towards the top of the tier list because she’s still one of the most over acts in the company, and is probably the top full babyface, all things considered. Her attempt at the World of Stardom Championship back in February was one of the best matches that the company has produced this year, and that happened mostly after Saya Kamitani dislocated a couple of her fingers early in the match. Not only is Starlight Kid one hell of a merch seller for the company, but she’s also a believable challenger for any title in the company other than the Future of Stardom title, making her an ultimate utility wrestler at the top of the card. There’s a gripe to go after the red belt because of feeling like she was screwed in the match against Kamitani, she probably has some old STARS lore that she could bring up as a reason to battle Hanan for the white belt, and her two faction mates are the current tag team champions, but it wouldn’t be the first time that the unit fought each other over a belt. You know that no matter what her story is, she’s going to be put a lot into it, and she will get crowd investment, which is all you can ask for as a booker. The important thing is that STARDOM needs to give Starlight Kid something to do that important, because that star power may eventually fade if they keep her away from the important stuff for too long.
2. Syuri (3) – Notice how I said Starlight Kid was probably the top babyface in the company? I didn’t lie, because Syuri isn’t a pure babyface since she hates bears. Those are the rules; I don’t make them. Syuri, though, showed once again with her big IWGP Women’s Championship title defense against Megan Bayne, that she’s one of the best wrestlers in the world, and no matter who you put her against, you know you’re going to get an incredible match from it. That’s what the IWGP Women’s Championship is all about after all isn’t it? Syuri, unfortunately isn’t always given a lot to do during the house show loop, which is something that I think STARDOM should remedy because there are many stories that she could tell, especially with the younger roster members. It doesn’t have to include the championship, instead it could be used sort of like ‘passion injection’ matches that Nanae Takahashi did during her time in STARDOM, as well as Marigold. We all know that Syuri is one of the main trainers for the company, so why not allow her to get in there one on one against some of those rookies she’s trained as they test themselves against one of the best that the company has to offer. It would also be awesome to simply see Syuri get a shot at the World of Stardom Championship again, though I’m not sure that I’d want to see it against Kurara as I don’t feel like that’s as good of a story. If Kamitani were to win the title back, Syuri would be a great challenger since it’s not a match we got too see for that title since the Wrestle Kingdom match was for the IWGP Women’s and the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championships instead. I do hope that Syuri gets a chance to shine brightly on the Forbidden Door PPV as well since that will have a larger audience overseas, which will hopefully help grow the popularity of the company worldwide.
FIRST TIER
1. Saya Kamitani (1) – Even though she was dethroned as the top champion in the company, there is still no bigger star in STARDOM than Saya Kamitani. Part of that can be attributed to her popularity outside of the ring, but there’s no doubt that she is a big reason why STARDOM continues to build on their best attendance of all time these past two years. I feel like at the end of her reign, she was getting banged up, and if this gives her the chance to rest a bit, I won’t be upset, knowing full well that she’ll have an even stronger second reign with the title. While I don’t expect her to be in the title picture right away, I do believe that by the end of the year she’ll be, once again, the World of Stardom champion, but first I see her possibly going off to the side with some other meaningful stories, like one with Utami possibly that doesn’t need the title involved. It will still draw, no doubt, but others will be allowed to try to outshine her, since they will be defending their titles on those same shows. Sayaka Kurara already got one hell of a popularity bump from working with Saya Kamitani, so now who else will be able to use Saya Kamitani to help them shoot up the card, making them a main event player going forward? There’s a lot of possibilities and it’s exciting trying to think of them all, which as a fan, you want. Her in-ring work is still fantastic, so no matter who you put her in there with, the match will be good, so there’s nothing to worry about there. Saya Kamitani is what a main-event talent is supposed to be, so let’s hope that STARDOM uses her effectively going forward to not only help her, but everyone else in the company as well.
That concludes this edition of The Pyramid. I’m sure there’s a lot of rankings that you might not agree with, but I did my best to try to explain why each wrestler ended up where they were at least. I’m sure I’ll get around to doing this again towards the end of the year, as I like to try to update this either before or after their big PPV which usually takes place in April and December. Also, I may dip my proverbial toe into the water and do an edition for The Pyramid for Marigold and Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling if that’s something that you guys would want to see. As always, stay tuned to ResuraMag.com for all thing joshi pro wrestling, and we’ll see you next time!
RESURA 