Current Joshi Talk

[donsem43]

Mayu certainly has the ability to work the top of the card but seems to lack a bit of maturity to truly carry herself as a main-eventer. Matsumoto is a freelancer who has been working somewhat regularly for Stardom for around five years now. They have had plenty of opportunities to use her in a major role with the company but haven't. Jungle, HZK, and Momo Watanabe have the potential to work the top of the card. There are several things you can criticize Stardom's booking for but they have done a good job in starting to build up their younger workers this year.

 

Also, people don't realize since they've only been following Stardom for the last year or two, is that Io Shirai has been on top of the card for over four years now. That's almost as long as Nanae Takahashi and Yoshiko had with the company. So in a way, her leaving could benefit both the company and her own career. It provides opportunities for younger workers to move up the card while Io herself gets a bunch of fresh potential opponents.

[WingedEagle]

Yeah I'm admittedly new to Stardom so this doesn't quite feel like quite a positive reset as I'm far from burnt out on the roster. Is Watanabe injured? Haven't seen her for months. Will be interesting to see how they book things heading into and coming out of the Grand Prix. They'll presumably have to jump start a couple acts in that time frame to set things up going forward.

[aguakun]

Momo suffered an ACL injury. She'll be out of action for the year, but she still shows up at ringside during shows.

[WingedEagle]

Got it, thanks.

[Noah's_Savior]

Jaguar Yokota's 40th anniversary show will be at Korakuen Hall on June 17 https://twitter.com/yumiko_hotta/status/866820254835523584

List of names on the poster: Dump Matsumoto, Yumiko Hotta, Shinobu Kandori, KAORU, Mima Shimoda, Manami Toyota, Kyoko Inoue, Takako Inoue, Mariko Yoshida, Kaoru Itou, Tomoko Watanabe, Command Bolshoi, Keiko Aono, Chikayo Nagashima, Megumi Yabushita, KAZUKI, Kyuusei Ninja Ranmaru, Shiro Koshinaka, and TARU. Maki Ueda and Lioness Asuka will be there as guest and Tommy will be referee.

[donsem43]

Kairi Hojo's last match in Stardom will be May 28.

 

So Stardom announced today that Hojo's last show will actually be June 4. Also, Toni Storm will be back in late July.

 

Also William Regal was at today's SEAdLINNNG show, (he's apparently been at every Korakuen show this week) and supposedly talked to both Arisa Nakajima and Sareee.

[rzombie1988]

>Also William Regal was at today's SEAdLINNNG show, (he's apparently been at every Korakuen show this week) and supposedly talked to both Arisa Nakajima and Sareee.

 

Heard Hiroyo is a possibility as well.

 

WWE's already got Asuka, Io and Hojo. They do not need any more joshi wrestlers and those three are already enough, yet alone grabbing Arisa and Sareee as well.

Having too much of anything in wrestling is never good. Big Show was never really that special because they had Kane and then had Khali. 1 tall guy was special, 3 aren't. It's the same with the various guys WWE have signed lately. Itami was special...then they signed Nakamura. Getting Tozawa and Dar was cool, then they got Spanky and Mascara Dorada. It's too much.

All of the joshi girls are mostly similar. Their main thing is in ring work, not promos or characters. It limits and kind of makes it hard to do some things with them. They can learn English and learn to talk, but that's going to take a while and who knows if that'll ever come to fruition.

There's also only one champion. Everyone can't be the ace of the promotion or there is no ace. Someone's gonna have to job for someone else, and if you are an outside of WWE signing, that's the last thing you want to do.

Moderation is also really key. Most wrestlers get stale after a few years. There's only so much you can do with them - try booking someone 52 times a year and tell me you still have ideas after. They don't have to get all of these girls now. They aren't going anywhere most likely and with WWE money/fame, they can coerce them to come back.

WWE also has to be careful because the joshi scene is not healthy. There's a limited amount of girls and way too many promotions. They are going to be hit hard by all these signings and they just don't have the girls to replace them. And why would they? Who wants a job where you get hurt, don't get benefits and don't make that much money, especially as a Japanese girl who usually favors kids/marriage over work? They take everyone now and their might not be anyone left to take next time around. See the WWF in the early 1990's for how that turned out.

[jcmmnx]

Asuka's been in NXT for two years I imagine she'll be moving up when she drops the title. There's plenty of room for a few top Joshi talents in NXT.

[WingedEagle]

The buzz about Hiroyo Matsumoto caught my eye. Even if Asuka moves up, you're talking 3 frontline Japanese women coming in soon, never mind the domestic or Euro talents that will likely be added. Meltzer even reported that Shirai took less money than she was making in Stardom to come here. I can't imagine its a priority in Stamford/Orlando, but it seems odd to stockpile all this talent without a plan to feature it. The Japanese women's scene doesn't seem to be such a threat that they need to take it down, but perhaps the talent budget is such that there's no hesitation on hoarding workers at this price point.

[jcmmnx]

I think the women's division has always been a priority for HHH. Plus Steph threw her name behind the "revolution". I believe Hunter has a vested interest in returning the Horsewomen style buzz to NXT women's division.

[rzombie1988]

The buzz about Hiroyo Matsumoto caught my eye. Even if Asuka moves up, you're talking 3 frontline Japanese women coming in soon, never mind the domestic or Euro talents that will likely be added. Meltzer even reported that Shirai took less money than she was making in Stardom to come here. I can't imagine its a priority in Stamford/Orlando, but it seems odd to stockpile all this talent without a plan to feature it. The Japanese women's scene doesn't seem to be such a threat that they need to take it down, but perhaps the talent budget is such that there's no hesitation on hoarding workers at this price point.

I'm not sure what the long term plan is. We know about the women's tournament, but WWE isn't ready for an all-women's show. At this point, I'd say the 205 in 205 Live represents the number of people who actually watch it.

 

And I don't want Asuka, Io or Hojo anywhere the main rosters.

[Noah's_Savior]

>Also William Regal was at today's SEAdLINNNG show, (he's apparently been at every Korakuen show this week) and supposedly talked to both Arisa Nakajima and Sareee.

 

Heard Hiroyo is a possibility as well.

 

WWE's already got Asuka, Io and Hojo. They do not need any more joshi wrestlers and those three are already enough, yet alone grabbing Arisa and Sareee as well.

 

Having too much of anything in wrestling is never good. Big Show was never really that special because they had Kane and then had Khali. 1 tall guy was special, 3 aren't. It's the same with the various guys WWE have signed lately. Itami was special...then they signed Nakamura. Getting Tozawa and Dar was cool, then they got Spanky and Mascara Dorada. It's too much.

 

All of the joshi girls are mostly similar. Their main thing is in ring work, not promos or characters. It limits and kind of makes it hard to do some things with them. They can learn English and learn to talk, but that's going to take a while and who knows if that'll ever come to fruition.

 

There's also only one champion. Everyone can't be the ace of the promotion or there is no ace. Someone's gonna have to job for someone else, and if you are an outside of WWE signing, that's the last thing you want to do.

 

Moderation is also really key. Most wrestlers get stale after a few years. There's only so much you can do with them - try booking someone 52 times a year and tell me you still have ideas after. They don't have to get all of these girls now. They aren't going anywhere most likely and with WWE money/fame, they can coerce them to come back.

 

WWE also has to be careful because the joshi scene is not healthy. There's a limited amount of girls and way too many promotions. They are going to be hit hard by all these signings and they just don't have the girls to replace them. And why would they? Who wants a job where you get hurt, don't get benefits and don't make that much money, especially as a Japanese girl who usually favors kids/marriage over work? They take everyone now and their might not be anyone left to take next time around. See the WWF in the early 1990's for how that turned out.

Stardom women only work Stardom so why would places like Sendai Girls, Ice Ribbon, SEAdLINNNG, and others hurt from talent they don't use signing to WWE? The joshi scene is much healthier than the 2000s, the decade where AJW and Gaea japan both shutdown in the same year. Joshi didn't stop in 1999 and restart in 2014 so don't give me this shit that it's unhealthy or whatever, Pure-J and Sendai Girls have both gained a new trainee to their dojos, Chihiro Hashimoto, Tokyo Sports Rookie of the Year 2016, and Mika Shirahime aren't even two years into their careers and are already proving to be promising wrestlers. The joshi world doesn't revolve around Stardom and Rossy's hat, the scene will recover, Stardom and Weekly Playboy are the only ones who'll truly hurt from losing Io and Kairi to WWE. Akira Hokuto found a way to have a kid in 1998 and continue her career, fucking Jaguar Yokota had a kid in her 40s and still wrestles so that talking point can stop right there.

[rzombie1988]

 

>Also William Regal was at today's SEAdLINNNG show, (he's apparently been at every Korakuen show this week) and supposedly talked to both Arisa Nakajima and Sareee.

 

Heard Hiroyo is a possibility as well.

 

WWE's already got Asuka, Io and Hojo. They do not need any more joshi wrestlers and those three are already enough, yet alone grabbing Arisa and Sareee as well.

 

Having too much of anything in wrestling is never good. Big Show was never really that special because they had Kane and then had Khali. 1 tall guy was special, 3 aren't. It's the same with the various guys WWE have signed lately. Itami was special...then they signed Nakamura. Getting Tozawa and Dar was cool, then they got Spanky and Mascara Dorada. It's too much.

 

All of the joshi girls are mostly similar. Their main thing is in ring work, not promos or characters. It limits and kind of makes it hard to do some things with them. They can learn English and learn to talk, but that's going to take a while and who knows if that'll ever come to fruition.

 

There's also only one champion. Everyone can't be the ace of the promotion or there is no ace. Someone's gonna have to job for someone else, and if you are an outside of WWE signing, that's the last thing you want to do.

 

Moderation is also really key. Most wrestlers get stale after a few years. There's only so much you can do with them - try booking someone 52 times a year and tell me you still have ideas after. They don't have to get all of these girls now. They aren't going anywhere most likely and with WWE money/fame, they can coerce them to come back.

 

WWE also has to be careful because the joshi scene is not healthy. There's a limited amount of girls and way too many promotions. They are going to be hit hard by all these signings and they just don't have the girls to replace them. And why would they? Who wants a job where you get hurt, don't get benefits and don't make that much money, especially as a Japanese girl who usually favors kids/marriage over work? They take everyone now and their might not be anyone left to take next time around. See the WWF in the early 1990's for how that turned out.

Stardom women only work Stardom so why would places like Sendai Girls, Ice Ribbon, SEAdLINNNG, and others hurt from talent they don't use signing to WWE? The joshi scene is much healthier than the 2000s, the decade where AJW and Gaea japan both shutdown in the same year. Joshi didn't stop in 1999 and restart in 2014 so don't give me this shit that it's unhealthy or whatever, Pure-J and Sendai Girls have both gained a new trainee to their dojos, Chihiro Hashimoto, Tokyo Sports Rookie of the Year 2016, and Mika Shirahime aren't even two years into their careers and are already proving to be promising wrestlers. The joshi world doesn't revolve around Stardom and Rossy's hat, the scene will recover, Stardom and Weekly Playboy are the only ones who'll truly hurt from losing Io and Kairi to WWE. Akira Hokuto found a way to have a kid in 1998 and continue her career, fucking Jaguar Yokota had a kid in her 40s and still wrestles so that talking point can stop right there.

 

I don't think the current scene is healthy at all. Too many promotions splitting up a very small fanbase. It's also mostly Tokyo based.

 

Joshi just lost probably 2 of its biggest stars to WWE. That's not good.

 

The 2000's are not a good example, but yes it was a bad period for joshi.

 

There's not a lot of people on Io's skill level around in joshi and she's not that replaceable. She's the biggest female wrestler right now in Japan.

 

And I can list multiple examples of people who got married or left and didn't come back.

[donsem43]

FYI, Stardom World will post everything from the main event of Kairi Hojo's last show unedited, not just the Artists title match. Also, they announced Io vs. HZK at the next show so you have to wonder if Io will have an announcement at this show.

 

The last WAVE show had a fair bit of news too. First, Rina Yamashita won this year's Catch the WAVE tourney beating Rin Kadokura in the semis then Misaki Ohata in the finals. She then challenged Nanae Takahashi to a match at WAVE's tenth anniversary show in August, which is a rematch of the awesome match in SEAdLINNNG last year. Sakura Hirota announced that she is returning from maternity leave at this show. Nagisa Nozaki is also making here return with WAVE.

[donsem43]

Chihiro Hashimoto lost the Sendai Girls title again, this time to Hiroyo Matsumoto.

[donsem43]

NOAHs_Savior did a nice job making a beginner’s guide to current joshi wrestling. While it does nice work showing who's who to someone new, what it does best is point people towards other wrestlers that you should check out if you haven't ventured past the typical 'Stardom + Meiko Satomura matches' zone that most fans seem to stay in.

[donsem43]

So Io Shirai held a press conference today to announce that she is taking time off to treat neck problems and undergo medical exams, (in Pittsburgh?) Meltzer mentioned that this might have been originally scheduled to announce Io leaving Stardom. I wonder if Io had some initial medicals for the WWE that threw up some flags that they want Io to check out further, preferably by their doctors, before they sign her. An interesting situation to follow.

[donsem43]

WWE also has to be careful because the joshi scene is not healthy.

 

 

 

[aguakun]

[donsem43]

Apparently, Tsukushi was arrested for trying to stab Kagetsu.

[donsem43]

So Io Shirai held a press conference today to announce that she is taking time off to treat neck problems and undergo medical exams, (in Pittsburgh?) Meltzer mentioned that this might have been originally scheduled to announce Io leaving Stardom. I wonder if Io had some initial medicals for the WWE that threw up some flags that they want Io to check out further, preferably by their doctors, before they sign her. An interesting situation to follow.

 

Io did a run in at today's Stardom show then announced that she was entering the 5*GP. Two big questions are, just what condition is her neck actually in and what is her relationship with the WWE at this point?

[aguakun]

 

So Io Shirai held a press conference today to announce that she is taking time off to treat neck problems and undergo medical exams, (in Pittsburgh?) Meltzer mentioned that this might have been originally scheduled to announce Io leaving Stardom. I wonder if Io had some initial medicals for the WWE that threw up some flags that they want Io to check out further, preferably by their doctors, before they sign her. An interesting situation to follow.

 

Io did a run in at today's Stardom show then announced that she was entering the 5*GP. Two big questions are, just what condition is her neck actually in and what is her relationship with the WWE at this point?

 

 

The Stardom English rep likes to post inside scoops on the Stardom reddit, and he seems to be implying that Io isn't leaving now.

[WingedEagle]

 

So Io Shirai held a press conference today to announce that she is taking time off to treat neck problems and undergo medical exams, (in Pittsburgh?) Meltzer mentioned that this might have been originally scheduled to announce Io leaving Stardom. I wonder if Io had some initial medicals for the WWE that threw up some flags that they want Io to check out further, preferably by their doctors, before they sign her. An interesting situation to follow.

 

Io did a run in at today's Stardom show then announced that she was entering the 5*GP. Two big questions are, just what condition is her neck actually in and what is her relationship with the WWE at this point?

 

 

Waking up to see this on Twitter today was the best wrestling news I've seen in some time. Hoping she's back full time, but its always a good day when your current WOTY returns to her stomping grounds.

[donsem43]

Well the guy that runs the Square Circle Sirens website said on twitter that Io is just finishing up dates then going to WWE. Meltzer commented on his message board that he was told that Io's neck is "fucked up." I'm not a doctor, but I doubt that rest and physio is going to fix a bad neck in less than two months. I don't think that how Io is booked in the 5*GP is going to tell much either because if Stardom is committed to pushing a new era then Io might be booked to put over the younger wrestlers anyway. The whole situation seems like the definition of "wait and see."

 

I'm on the fence as to whether I'd like to see Io go to the WWE or not. Obviously, she would have a better chance at having great matches in Stardom but at the same time all of the talent that the WWE has brought in gives Io quite a few fresh, interesting matchups. I don't know, maybe I'm the only person who would be excited for Io vs. Charlotte or even vs. Ember Moon.

[WingedEagle]

Well the guy that runs the Square Circle Sirens website said on twitter that Io is just finishing up dates then going to WWE. Meltzer commented on his message board that he was told that Io's neck is "fucked up." I'm not a doctor, but I doubt that rest and physio is going to fix a bad neck in less than two months. I don't think that how Io is booked in the 5*GP is going to tell much either because if Stardom is committed to pushing a new era then Io might be booked to put over the younger wrestlers anyway. The whole situation seems like the definition of "wait and see."

 

I'm on the fence as to whether I'd like to see Io go to the WWE or not. Obviously, she would have a better chance at having great matches in Stardom but at the same time all of the talent that the WWE has brought in gives Io quite a few fresh, interesting matchups. I don't know, maybe I'm the only person who would be excited for Io vs. Charlotte or even vs. Ember Moon.

 

There are absolutely a number of matchups I'd love to see if she makes her way to NXT/WWE. I'm just not convinced we'll see them or that they'll be given meaningful time. Asuka is already established and Hojo is a featured player in the MYC. Is it really likely they give a third Japanese woman that kind of marquee push, even if she's far & away the best of the bunch?