STARDOM and Bushiroad revealed yesterday that one of STARDOM’s co-founders, Rossy Ogawa, would be terminated from his contract effective immediately. According to their statement, STARDOM alleges they found out Ogawa had been poaching talent. Ogawa issued a statement soon after, stating that he had just been notified of his release and at this time his only concern is for the talent.ย
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Rumors quickly began circulating as AEW President Tony Khan began posting various gifs on X related to Rossy and the situation, leading fans to dig up rumors between AEW and STARDOM that have long been discussed. Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp posted on X that there are also longstanding rumors within every major company that Ogawa was set to become WWE bound at some point in the near future after he left STARDOM.ย
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter then reported that there is talent within the organization who are likely to not re-sign due to their allegiance to Ogawa and a lot of those contracts expire in March. At this time, Mayu Iwatani is the only one signed to a long term commitment with STARDOM.
Ogawa attempted to silence some of the rumors online in an interview with Tokyo Sports, first addressing the talent poaching allegations. “We did not do this. After hearing the rumors, there were a lot of players who wanted to come to this (new organization). I guess they were panicked too,” Ogawa stated. “However, President (Taro) Okada ‘accepted’ (the new organization). He said, ‘We’ll make an offer to (Yokohama) BUNTAI,’ and ‘Let’s have a rivalry match two years from now on the 15th anniversary. I was like, ‘What are you talking about now? I don’t want to get into a mud-slinging match.”
When asked for clarification on what “new organization” means that a few reports have also stated, Ogawa notes there are things he wasn’t allowed to do within STARDOM that he would like to branch out and do. “A new organization? That’s right. I want to do again what we can’t do here. There are quite a few things we can’t do here. Because we are a big company, we can’t do everything.”
Ogawa also said he was “forced to play aggressive cards” and that there was ongoing harassment within the company. “There was harassment within the company that continued and I started to lose the will to continue working here. Because of that, some of the wrestlers and staff told me, ‘I’m not joining the organization again.’”
