Welcome to the fields of Dream Star Fighting Marigold, the newest joshi promotion in town!
This project of Rossy Ogawa’s has been in the works for a few years now since the Mad Hatter and Bushiroad has been at odds over many things, including booking. Rossy had been let go from STARDOM due to talent poaching allegations, and thus created a short intermission of limbo in the realm of joshi. Marigold was officially announced back in April with much fanfare within the Japanese wrestling world and abroad.
The roster consist of STARDOM expats such as Giulia, Utami Hayashishita, MIRAI, Nanae Takahashi, Mai Sakurai, and Victoria Yuzuki, freelancer Nao Ishikawa, and AWG talents like Natsumi Showzuki, Miku Aono, Misa Matsui, Chiaki, Chika Goto, and Amarei Kouki. Fuka, a co-founder of STARDOM along with Nanae and Rossy back in 2010, will be an assistant producer while Hikaru Ohira is the ring announcer and former wrestler Yuzuki Aikawa will be on commentary for the first show.
Marigold Fields Forever will showcase Marigold’s roster at full strength for the first time as Rossy also hired mercenaries such as Sareee and Nagisa Nozaki to ensure that Marigold starts off with a big bang. The show will be held at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall as a full house is expected this Monday on May 20th. The stakes are sky-high too as Marigold aims to not only spend Rossy Ogawa’s retirement war chest, but to give Bushiroad and STARDOM a run for their own money.
FAR, Wali, and I, Custody, will cover each of these matches as we prepare for Marigold’s massive first month running shows. And without further ado, let’s walk down the fields of Marigold!
Passion Injection Match: Nanae Takahashi vs. Victoria Yuzuki
Passion will be Injected to open up the Golden Fields of Marigold. As we see Nanae Takahashi inject some PASSION into the future ace of Marigold Victoria Yuzuki in a Passion Injection Match. This match came about on April 15 during Marigold’s rollout press conference when Yuzuki would ask Nanae Takahashi “Please play single with me in the flag-off competition. Don’t say you’re retiring. I will instill passion in you. Look forward to seeing how I grow and become a champion.”
The match would be confirmed on May 5 during Marigold’s press conference. Yuzuki said during the press conference that “I’ll let Nananei-san inject some passion into me!” and I asked Nananei-san to match me with passion, and it finally came true! I think Marigold’s story, and at the same time, the story of Victoria Yuzuki, will begin in this first match.” Yuzuki is looking to beat Nanae Takahashi and wants to, “I want to leave my mark! And I want to carve the history of Marigold… and create history! I’ll inject you with Victoria Yuzuki’s unforgettable passion, so be prepared! Please stay!”
Nanae Takahashi said she is nervous because she is entrusted to be the first match to open Marigold’s first show and “thinking that a new history is about to begin, and I’m starting to see the history of Nananei Takahashi again. So, until the end of my life, I will devote every moment of my life to this marigold with all my might, and I will infuse it with all my strength and the essence of my struggle.” Nanae told Yuzuki she has seen her matches and thinks Yuzuki has the skills and explosive power that she has not seen in her career. Nanae would tell Yuzuki “But there’s still a lot to experience. No, I’ll inject fear and passion into you that I’ve never experienced in a match since I mentioned Nananei Takahashi’s name. It’s a contest to see who will be better.”
Yuzuki and Nanae are looking to Inject Passion in to each other. Yuzuki said she wants to leave her mark in Marigold and show why she in the future ace of Marigold, so her beating Nanae will be big for her and good start to becoming the ace of Marigold. Nanae wants to show Yuzuki that she still has a lot to learn and with this Passion Injection match she will inject fear and passion in to her.
Singles Match: Miku Aono vs. Nao Ishikawa
Miku Aono the former ACE of Actwres girl’Z known for her hard hitting kicks and crisp offense going up against Nao Ishikawa who is trying to prove her worth to a new audience and anyone familiar with her that just know her for cosplaying Tam Nakano last summer. Both wrestlers have lots to show in this match. Miku Aono is more than likely going to stake her claim as the major player for Marigold, while Nao does not believe in Miku and the rest of the AWG alumni who have come over.
Nao Ishikawa has been in pro wrestling for about four years and Miku Aono has six years of experience under her belt. Nao wants to show everyone that she is more than just a comedian and a Tam Nakano knockoff and what better way to prove that than with going head-to-head with the former ACE of AWG Miku Aono. Miku will undoubtedly give it her all to Nao to prove that she belongs in Marigold and is not a pretend wrestler/actor.
Singles Match (Power Battle): MIRAI vs. CHIAKI
The Golden Fields of Marigold will never be the same as it’s the battle of powers as we see the soul of Marigold MIRAI, who will show her power as she will face off against CHIAKI. This will be their first singles match against each other. The match was announced on May 5th during Marigold’s press conference. MIRAI would give herself the nickname “child of the soul” MIRAI would then say “The title of this match is “The Power Contest.” It’s about power, but I came to Marigold to bring out something different than just power.” MIRAI would then tell CHIAKI — “And… I may be biased, but it looks bad… We all get together to practice. We went out to eat together, but I still don’t really understand the guys from Actress Girls, but they seem like bad guys… ) Is that so? But it looks bad, so I want the hero MIRAI to defeat it!.”
CHIAKI would go on to talk about what pro wrestling means to her — “when I discovered professional wrestling, my conventional wisdom completely changed. I realized that there is a place where I can make the most of myself. So, I decided to face professional wrestling. I will do it with all my heart and soul, with all my natural power! Please.” CHIAKI would be making her pro wrestling debut for Marigold with this match being one of the Actwres girl’Z alumni that have come over to join the roster. Two years into her career she hopes to grow and unleash her power upon the fields of gold.
Tag Team Match: Mai Sakurai & Zayda Steel vs. Nagusa Nozaki & Myla Grace
Our Ladyship Mai Sakurai is also set to wrestle in Marigold’s inaugural show in a tag match involving two experienced joshi veterans teaming up with western gaijins. Sakurai teams up with Zayda Steel as they take on the team of Nagisa Nozaki and Myla Grace
It may not seem like it when one compares Mai Sakurai with the likes of Giulia, MIRAI, Nanae, and Utami; but make no mistake, Mai Sakurai is a vital piece of Marigold’s roster as one of Joshi Wrestling’s most lucrative talents. Sakurai does enjoy the luxuriousness of living life as a ladyship and loves showing off her dinner plans, vacation destinations, and high-end clothes as her commoners rise and show respect to the Ladyship.
Her road to becoming the Ladyship did not come easy for Sakurai as she spent a year at Actwres girl’Z before making the move to STARDOM in 2021 and joining Cosmic Angels. She would spend a bit more than half a year in Kozuen before pissing off Tam Nakano. On February 12, 2022, she decided to move to Giulia’s faction, Donna del Mondo, the chief rival of Cosmic Angels at the time.
From February 2022 to January 4, 2024, Sakurai would evolve as a professional joshi wrestler as she went from just another heel joshi to the luxurious lady many have become all too familiar with as she has become a flamboyant showboat. Sakurai also became an Artist of STARDOM winner along with Giulia and Thekla before losing to fellow AWG alum Ami Sohrei and former stable mates Syuri and MIRAI on January 3, 2024. Sakurai, Giulia, and MIRAI departed STARDOM to join Marigold in April.
While Sakurai is the main attraction in this match, the three other participants are worth intrigue as well.
Zayda Steel, Mai Sakurai’s partner for this match, is a 20-year-old wrestler from the Virginia side of the DC Metro area with only two years of experience. But don’t be fooled by her age as she is a member of the MLW roster. She is the former Women’s Champion at Warriors of Wrestling, and gone against the likes of Emi Sakura, Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Jania Kai, Trish Adora, and Allie Katch. A trip to Japan for a young talent like Zayda Steel will pay dividends for her as she progresses in her career.
On the other side of the ring is the pairing of Myla Grace and Nagusa Nozaki. Myla Grace is a five-year veteran from Belfast, Northern Ireland and is the current women’s champion at Titanic Wrestling since August 2023. In her career, Grace has gone against Mariah May, Xia Brookside, Isla Dawn, Rhio, and Millie McKenzie and has appeared on NXT UK in a few occasions. Grace has also traveled all across Europe and made some visits to America as she will be making her first appearance in Japan.
Like Mai Sakurai, Nagusa Nozaki is a familiar face in the joshi scene as I have already covered a match of hers earlier in the year. Nozaki boast the most experience as she’s been in the business for seventeen years and has won belts in Diana, WAVE, and SEAdLINNNG. Nozaki has also gone against the best that joshi ever has to offer. Nozaki has already gone against Sakurai in a NOAH vs. Marigold eight person tag team match earlier in the month when Sakurai’s team was victorious.
The match should be very balanced as most of the participants are all rounders with Nozaki being a technician. It’ll be interesting to see how Nozaki and Sakurai will fair off this time as this may become a frequent showdown that may spill into rivalry within the new promotion for the next shows.
Tag Team Match: Natsumi Showzuki & Misa Matsui vs. Amarei Kouki & Chika Goto
The second-biggest match of the card featuring the alumni of Actwres girl’Z who had left to join Marigold. Amarei Kouki and Chika Goto would be making their pro wrestling debuts. Kouki and Goto have two years of experience under the Actwres girl’Z system. The excitement surrounding the two making their pro debut is very high. Chika Goto is infamous for attracting 1.7 million viewers on a YouTube video over a provocative thumbnail featuring her. Kouki is an actor during her time away from the ring which would be beneficial into to her conveying her emotions in ring.
Natsumi Showzuki former AWG Champion was also a Stardom alumni having been in the promotion from 2012 through 2013 holding the Artist of Stardom championships with Kairi Hojo and Ho-Show Tennyo. Showzuki had to step away and retire due to a cervical spine injury. During her time away she did have a one-off match in 2016 featured in a “Royal Rumble” Natsumi would eventually come out of her eight-year hiatus to join Actwres girl’Z and now eventually fast-forward two years later into Marigold. Misa Matsui known as the “Speedstar” who is six years deep into her career. Matsui had been part of Actwres girl’Z since 2018, with the faction known as TEPPEN☆. Misa is the high speed oriented wrestler who can catch anyone and everyone off guard with her speedy offense.
All eyes on on these four as they are getting new eyes on them that have never seen them before with the bigger platform given to them. This is the one match I (FAR) am excited for on this show and I hope it steals the show.
Main Event Tag Team Match: Utami Hayashishita & Giulia vs. Sareee & Bozilla
In the first star-studded main event for Marigold’s Fields Forever. We see the super team of Utami and Giulia come together to take on the best current day freelancer in the scene Sareee and her partner The Might Bozilla. This was the first confirmed match for Marigold during their rollout press conference on April 15th. Giulia will be fighting for her pride in this match as she said during the press conference “… I think there are two types of professional wrestlers. One is the one who doesn’t see any point in fighting without the belt. The other is the one who wants to fight for their pride even if they don’t have the belt. I’ll fight you for my pride.”
Sareee has wanted to face Giulia since her return to Japan and would like to do so before Giulia leaves later in the year. Sareee has watched Giulia closely as she was away from Japan during her time in WWE and watched her growth as she says here during the press conference. “Yes, I think the women’s wrestling world has changed a lot while I was in the U.S., in a good way. I think Giulia is the one who has made the women’s wrestling world the most exciting. And that is why I have always been interested in her and have been saying that I want to fight her” This would not be the first time the two have faced each other. In 2019 for Minoru Tanaka Debut 25th Anniversary show. Giulia had gone on to describe what was going through her mind during that time like during that time as she had only been in the pro wrestling business for 2 years at that point — “When I was a newcomer and didn’t know much about wrestling, Sareee and I had a match out of the blue. Before that, my seniors scared me a lot. They said, “Sareee is dangerous,” “You’ll get hurt,” “You’re going to wrestle with Sareee? I feel sorry for you. They said a lot of things to me, and I was super scared, and then I had a match with ……, and it changed my life.”
Utami has said she will throw around Bozilla — “I would like to throw the big bozilla with my power.” Utami says she needs to build her bond with Giulia more as she feels awkward near her and with this tag match against Sareee she feels that Sareee’s main focus is on Giulia rather than the collective duo. Giulia and Utami have teamed up before but were unsuccessful due to lacking chemistry at them time and Giulia being hit my misfires from Utami — “The last time we tag-teamed, I lost because I ate all of Utami’s misfires, I’m worried…” Hopefully with the outdoor training the Marigold roster has done the last few weeks both Giulia and Utami have been able to grow a bond together so they can defeat Sareee and Bozilla.
How to Watch Marigold
Fans can watch Marigold on Wrestle Universe. Yes, Wrestle Universe will cover Marigold, including the Grand Opening Wars shows starting with Fields Forever on May 20th. Wrestle Universe has a lot of joshi wrestling to offer including TJPW, Sendai Girls, GanJo, and now Marigold!
Fans can watch Mio Momono and DASH Chisako tear it up SenJoPro, Yuna Manase and Unagi Sayaka facing off in trios action in Ganbare, and Miu Watanabe’s current reign with the Princess of Princess Championship. Viewers can also watch Kaito Kiyomiya’s road to redemption in NOAH, Shunma doing god knows what in DDT, hardcore antics in Michinoku Pro, and hard hitting action in Real Zero1!
A monthly subscription to Wrestle Universe only costs $8.33 out of your soul and if you missed Marigold’s Fields Forever show, do not panic because you can watch any of these shows in your own time. So sit back, relax, grab a beverage of your choosing, and enjoy the chaos in the form of a month-long dose of Dream Star Fighting Marigold!
Shine Forever, Marigold!
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