Former STARDOM Co-founder Rossy Ogawa today announced via a press conference his brand new promotion, Dream Star Fighting Marigold (Marigold for short). Ogawa was terminated from STARDOM in February by Bushiroad on accusations of talent poaching which he vehemently denied at the time, instead announcing that he would be starting his own promotion. Several top stars in STARDOM with an allegiance to Ogawa also exited, including Giulia who just finished up her final dates with STARDOM this past weekend.
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So far, the Marigold roster includes Giulia, Utami Hayashishita, MIRAI, Mai Sakurai, Victoria Yuzuki (f.k.a. Yuzuki), Nanae Takahashi and Nao Ishikawa. At the end of the press conference, six former Actwres girl’Z talent — Natsumi Sumikawa, Miku Aono, Misa Matsui, CHIAKI, Chika Goto, and KOUKI — announced they will also be part of the roster. For their first tour, Myla Grace, Zayda Steel and Bozilla will join the fray. The first Marigold show will take place at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan on May 20. MARIGOLD Fields Forever will be headlined by Giulia team with a mystery partner against Sareee and a mystery partner. Nanae Takahashi vs. Victoria Yuzuki will also take place. For fans that can’t make it to the show live, it will stream on WRESTLE UNIVERSE with English commentary available.
Marigold’s official X (formerly Twitter) account released a statement following the news, writing, “Marigold is the next step in the evolution of women’s professional wrestling, not just in Japan but all over the world. It reflects the past of women’s professional wrestling and leads the revolution into the future. And it has the role of connecting the culture of women’s professional wrestling to future generations. Follow the heroic figures of the dream warriors shining in the golden garden.”
Tokyo Sports is also reporting that Ogawa and WWE have been in talks to bring in former STARDOM champions IYO SKY and Kairi Sane to Marigold. The report follows comments from WWE President Nick Khan that indicate he is looking “to engineer a collaboration with other professional wrestling promotions.” In less than a year, WWE has sent NXT’s Charlie Dempsey to AJPW and Shayna Baszler to GCW.
It’s been reported that Giulia, a top female free agent in professional wrestling, will likely help Ogawa kickstart the promotion and then head off to other ventures. During WrestleMania weekend in Philadelphia, Giulia appeared live in the crowd at NXT Stand and Deliver where WWE cameras captured her smiling and waving. She was then pictured backstage with WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque and reports were flying in that she had agreed to sign with WWE. The former multi-time STARDOM Champion and NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion revealed in an interview that there will be announcements in the “not too distant future.”
