Snowy's Top 10 Favorite Stardom Talents Right Now

Stardom is the most talented joshi promotion in the world--and here are my 10 favorite wrestlers currently working in Stardom!

Hello! In this first edition of Snowy’s Wrestling Semi-Regular newsletter, I thought it would be good to introduce you to what will ultimately be a large part of its featured content.

Stardom is the foremost joshi puroresu promotion on the planet. Over the past ten years, the promotion has gone from humble beginnings to housing some of the most talented female wrestlers the world has to offer. While there are many talents I keep track of in the promotion—that is to say all of them—here are the ten Stardom talents that are currently my favorites, and why you should follow them!

10—Mayu Iwatani (岩谷麻優)

Longtime fans of puroresu will immediately know the name Mayu Iwatani, as will some of Ring of Honor’s more hardcore fans given her run in the promotion during the mid-2010’s, but for everyone else, this is Stardom’s ace (and resident klutz). Making her debut at the age of 18 during Stardom’s first ever show on January 18, 2011, Mayu-chan has been with the promotion from the very beginning and is the longest-tenured member of the roster. Since the mid-2010’s, she has widely been considered one of the best wrestlers in the world, male or female.

Not only is she a generational talent in the ring, but she is also a lovable doofus outside of the ring, in the dojo, and in her own personal life. Stories of her mishaps, referred to by the joshi puro community as “Mayu moments,” are as commonplace as good matches from her. From falling asleep and missing a flight for a show because she set her phone to airplane mode, to not realizing that the lightbulbs installed in her home would burn out at the end of their useful life and asking Twitter for help, it is impossible not to love the chaotic artistry of a human being that is Mayu Iwatani.

9—Mina Shirakawa (白川未奈)

Mina Shirakawa is a woman of many facets. Even before becoming a wrestler, she had been everywhere and done just about everything a person could do. Upon turning 30 in 2018, she made a decision that would, to many, seem surprising: in her own words, she looked deep in her heart, asking herself, “what do I still want to accomplish with my life?” Lo’ and behold, she decided to become a wrestler!

A former model and gravure idol who joined Stardom in 2020, Mina-chan is admittedly still learning the ropes. She is without doubt the least skilled wrestler on this list, but it is easy to forget how much she has improved in (at the time of this writing) just under four years of wrestling. In that time, we have also seen her develop an interesting alter ego to say the least, which she calls her “Bloody Angel.” She is arguably the nicest wrestler in Stardom, and while this may sometimes be to her detriment—she unfortunately has many detractors—it is a far greater benefit as it has earned her many loyal fans. She is very active on Twitter (she leaves likes for what seems like every comment on her tweets) and recently started her own radio show—of which I have participated in!

8—AZM (あずみ)

AZM (shortened from Azumi) is still only 19, but she’s already been around the block. She made her debut at the tender young age of 10 and has since established herself as one of the best High Speed-style wrestlers on the planet. Owing to the nature of the High Speed style, her matches are often relatively short, but they are packed with action and frequently involve high-risk, high-reward spots. She is currently in the midst of what many expect to be the defining run with Stardom’s High Speed Championship, a belt that is older than the promotion itself.

Many in the wrestling world have had high praise for the young champion’s work, and given that she will turn 20 on the first day of October this year (at the time of this writing), she still has plenty of time to add to an already-impressive resume. It is largely expected that she will start challenging for more prestigious titles in Stardom within a couple years, and when she does, there will be plenty of fireworks in those matches! She definitely has one of the highest ceilings of any young talent in wrestling—stay tuned!

7—Unagi Sayaka (ウナギ・サヤカ)

If there was ever a title for the “most interesting person in Stardom,” Unagi Sayaka—affectionately referred to as “Eel” by her fans (her real-life surname is Unagi, which translates to “eel” in English")—easily takes the cake. A former model, idol, musician, and YouTuber, and current Fennec fox owner, Unagi-chan has done it all. Oh, and add being a good wrestler to her list of accolades. Even though she’s only been wresting for three years (at the time of this writing), she has already quietly (or loudly, depending on whether you follow her Twitter exploits) established herself as one of the better talents in Stardom’s upper midcard. She is considered by some to be worthy of frequenting the main-event scene, and I would be inclined to agree.

Not only is Unagi-chan a good wrestler, but she’s a good personality who has also proven to be very marketable. She might just be the best Twitter follow in Stardom, as her exploits are innumerable—she loves to challenge talents from other promotions seemingly out of nowhere! She has made good on those challenges, too, making many appearances for other promotions as of late, with Marvelous and Ganbare Pro being among the most notable.

6—Natsupoi (なつぽい)

If there was ever a wrestler that the community sold me on, it would be Natsupoi. I’m very glad they did! As a solid workhorse who is capable of wrestling in several different styles—and with one of the best German suplexes in the business, bar none—Poi is a massively underrated talent who many might not realize has been wrestling for almost a decade now. A veteran of the Japanese independent wrestling scene, Poi has worked for many different promotions prior to her time in Stardom, including REINA, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, JWP Joshi Puroresu, and Sendai Girl’s Pro Wrestling.

I would be doing Poi an injustice if I failed to mention that she is one of the most popular wrestlers among the joshi wrestling community. She wields seemingly endless amounts of charisma and is always capable of putting on a fantastic match when called upon. She sometimes gets lost in the shuffle in Stardom’s booking plans—as far as title challenges go, 2022 has not been kind to her—but she continues to put in some of her best work, and this will no doubt result in a breakthrough for her very soon!

5—Utami Hayashishita (林下詩美)

Utami Hayashishita is, by most accounts, one of Stardom’s pillars already despite being just 23 (at the time of this writing). She has it all—the rare combination of size and speed, as well as being one of the most lovable personalities you can find in wrestling. A former child TV star-turned-wrestler, Utami made her debut in late 2018, immediately making her mark and demonstrating a ceiling as high as she decided to make it. It turns out she decided to make it a very high ceiling, indeed, as within two years, she had been given the honor of carrying the company’s top belt, the World of Stardom Championship. She held the belt for just over a year before dropping it at the last show of 2021, after putting together one of the best title runs in recent memory.

While she has taken something of a backseat role compared to other members of Stardom’s main-event scene so far in 2022, she has still made her presence known with some excellent matches, and it won’t be long before she is back at the forefront of Stardom’s shows!

4—Hazuki (葉月)

Reo Hazuki, known mononymously by her surname Hazuki, has traveled a long and winding road since the beginning of her professional wrestling career. A former prodigy who began wrestling for Stardom at the age of 16, she continued to make waves until her sudden retirement at the end of 2019, which she later admitted was due to both a disliking of her career trajectory in the year prior to her retirement and a loss of love for the business as a result.

However, in fall 2021, she made a shocking return to Stardom and hasn’t looked back since. In the space of nine months, she has added two reigns with the Goddess of Stardom Championship, the promotion’s tag team title, to her resume. Most importantly, however, she is clearly enjoying wrestling again! She is also a great Twitter follow, and is very active on the platform—she loves interacting with her followers!

3—Saya Kamitani (上谷沙弥)

If there was one talent on the roster who I would say is a surefire bet to lead Stardom in the future, Saya Kamitani is it. Despite only wrestling for a little under three years (at the time of this writing), Saya-chan has very thoroughly crashed the party. A former idol—she was a dancer and a member of one of AKB48’s subgroups—Saya-chan consistently wows crowds with her passion, emotional matches, and high-flying moveset, which has earned her the Wonder of Stardom Championship. Her reign is currently one of the best things going on in Stardom right now, as she has yet to wrestle a bad singles match in 2022.

Nicknamed “Golden Phoenix” due to her usage of the Phoenix Splash as a finisher, Saya-chan is arguably Stardom’s MVP so far this year. She is also an affable, oft-dorky personality who spares no expense to show how grateful she is for the fan support she has earned throughout her still-young career. If she can continue at this pace, she will be the future of Stardom.

2—Tam Nakano (中野たむ)

Tam Nakano is kawaii. Tam Nakano also wants everyone to know that she is kawaii—she even bills herself as the Top Kawaii of the Cosmos! Behind the living embodiment of the word kawaii that is Tam-Tam, as she is known to her fans, exists one of Stardom’s best and hardest-working wrestlers. A former idol and bona fide kung fu master, Tam-Tam adopted her ring name prior to beginning her wrestling career, which, believe it or not, included quite a lot of hardcore wrestling—she was a fan of using a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, which also happened to be connected to C4.

As a recent Wonder of Stardom champion (she dropped the title to Saya Kamitani at the last show of 2021), Tam-Tam is certainly a main-event player, but she has yet to truly break through in the World of Stardom title scene. Given her hugely attractive kawaii personality, many in Stardom’s fanbase (myself included) hope that one day, the World of Stardom title finally gets to taste Tam-Tam’s kawaii!

1—Momo Watanabe (渡辺桃)

Momo Watanabe has, and likely always will be, my favorite wrestler in Stardom. Despite being just 22, she has been wrestling in Stardom since 2014, having been a part of the promotion’s growth into the most successful joshi puro promotion in the world. She orchestrated one of the most shocking heel turns in recent memory in late December 2021, turning into the sinister “Black Peach” of Stardom, and it seems to have paid off!

Momo-chan is responsible for what is arguably the greatest title run in the history of the Wonder of Stardom Championship, but until March 2022, she faced a title drought of 777 days before finally earning the Goddess of Stardom title to break the dry spell. Since then, she has also earned the Artist of Stardom title, Stardom’s trios tag team title, and is threatening to finally break through and earn her much-deserved first World of Stardom title reign.

Thank you for reading this edition of Snowy’s Wrestling Semi-Regular! I hope you enjoyed it and learned a thing or two about some amazing talents you should follow if you’re looking to get into Stardom!