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The Big Audio Nightmare is back as Adam Summers & Mike Sempervive review NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20, look back at the end of Hiroshi Tanahashi’s legendary career, and take a look the major shows from Stardom, Pro Wrestling NOAH, TJPW, Marigold, and All-Japan Pro Wrestling.
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Stardom continues to hype the arrival of a mystery wrestler — though it does not appear to be who fans initially thought it was.
The vignettes began airing during Christmas week and showed a mystery figure sitting in front of several screens. Initial speculation was that Stardom was hyping the return of either former WWE wrestler Dakota Kai or former NXT wrestler Stevie Turner, who both have been associated with video game streaming. But, as we’ve gotten a better look at the figure, that does not appear to be the case.
With the gear the mystery person is wearing in the latest video, fans are now speculating it to be Maki Itoh. She has been a free agent since departing Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling in August 2025.
— スターダム✪STARDOM (@wwr_stardom) January 9, 2026
Along with her work in Japan, Itoh has frequently wrestled in the United States and become popular with fans due to her foul-mouthed “Fired Idol” character, which is a reference to her real-life past as an aspiring pop singer. She is a regular for Game Changer Wrestling and also worked a match for House of Glory in November 2025, losing to Shayna Baszler.
Itoh has experience for AEW as well, having made appearances for the promotion from 2021-2023.
Image: Ring of Honor
With the year officially wrapped up and with the posting of last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, we now have Dave Meltzer’s complete set of match ratings for the entirety of 2025.
Of the thousands of matches that took place over the year, Dave rated 40 of them as either five stars or above — the full list of which can be found below. From AEW to NJPW to Ring of Honor to WWE, you’ll find them all here. (Big thanks to Cagematch for making them very sortable for exercises like this.)
And, as a personal editor’s note, ratings and reviews are subjective and shouldn’t affect your ability to enjoy what you like from wherever you like. Keep that in mind the next time you log into your social media platform of choice.
40) Jon Moxley vs. Kyle Fletcher Continental Classic finals | AEW Worlds End | December 27
39) Komander vs. World Historic Welterweight Champion Mascara Dorada | CMLL Domingo Familiar | November 23
38) TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Briscoe no DQ | AEW Full Gear | November 22
37) AEW World Tag Team Champions Brodido vs. FTR | AEW Full Gear | November 22
36) Men’s Blood & Guts match | AEW Dynamite | November 12
35) AEW World Tag Team Champions Brodido vs. Kazuchika Okada & Konosuke Takeshita | AEW WrestleDream | October 18
34) Torneo Cibernetico | CMLL Grand Prix International | August 29
33) Death Riders & Young Bucks vs. Darby Allin, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay & Kota Ibushi Lights Out cage match | AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door | August 24
32) Cody Rhodes vs. WWE Champion John Cena street fight | WWE SummerSlam | August 3
31) TNT Champion Dustin Rhodes vs. Kyle Fletcher street fight | AEW Collision | July 31
30) Mascara Dorada vs. Neon Torneo La Leyenda De Plata finals | CMLL Viernes Espectacular | July 25
29) Bandido & Hologram vs. Mascara Dorada & Mistico | CMLL Fantastica Mania | June 20
28) ROH World Champion Bandido vs. Mascara Dorada | CMLL Martes Populares | June 17
27) Anarchy in the Arena | AEW Double or Nothing | May 25
26) Motor City Machine Guns vs. WWE Tag Team Champions Street Profits vs. DIY TLC match | WWE SmackDown | April 25
25) WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair | WWE WrestleMania 41 | April 20
24) Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher steel cage match | AEW Revolution | March 9
23) AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kenny Omega | AEW Revolution | March 9
22) AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm vs. Mariah May Hollywood Ending match | AEW Revolution | March 9
21) Saya Kamitani vs. Tam Nakano loser leaves town | Stardom Nighter in Korakuen | March 3
20) Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn unsanctioned match | WWE Elimination Chamber | March 1
19) Kenny Omega & Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher | AEW Grand Slam Australia | February 15
18) IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji vs. Gabe Kidd | NJPW New Beginning in Osaka | February 11
17) AZM, Miyu Amasaki & Starlight Kid vs. Natsupoi, Saori Anou & Tam Nakano | Stardom 14th Anniversary Supreme Fight | February 2 | *****
More than 5 stars:
16) Kyle Fletcher vs. Mike Bailey | AEW Dynamite: Winter is Coming | December 10 | ***** 1/4
15) AEW World Champion Hangman Page vs. Kyle Fletcher | AEW All Out | September 20 | ***** 1/4
14) AEW Unified Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mascara Dorada | AEW All Out | September 20 | ***** 1/4
13) Sareee vs. IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri | Stardom The Conversion | June 21 | ***** 1/4
12) Swerve Strickland vs. Will Ospreay | AEW Dynamite: Summer Blockbuster | June 11 | ***** 1/4
11) Kosei Fujita vs. YOH | NJPW Best of the Super Juniors finals | June 1 | ***** 1/4
10) Saya Kamitani vs. Tam Nakano career vs. career | Stardom All-Star Grand Queendom | April 27 | ***** 1/4
9) Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd | NJPW Wrestle Dynasty | January 5 | ***** 1/4
8) IWGP World Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Konosuke Takeshita | NJPW King of Pro Wrestling | October 13 | ***** 1/2
7) Mistico vs. MJF mask vs. title | CMLL 92nd Anniversario | September 19 | ***** 1/2
6) ROH World Champion Bandido vs. Hechicero | ROH Death Before Dishonor | August 29 | ***** 1/2
5) AEW World Champion Jon Moxley vs. Hangman Page Texas Death Match | AEW All In | July 12 | ***** 1/2
4) Young Bucks vs. Swerve Strickland & Will Ospreay | AEW All In | July 12 | ***** 1/2
3) Hangman Page vs. Will Ospreay Owen Hart tournament finals | AEW Double or Nothing | May 25 | ***** 1/2
2) Konosuke Takeshita vs. Will Ospreay Owen Hart tournament semifinals | AEW Dynamite: Spring BreakThru | April 16 | ***** 1/2
ROH World Champion Bandido vs. Konosuke Takeshita | July 11 | ROH Supercard of Honor | ***** 3/4
From that week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
“With all the great wrestling from this past weekend in the U.S., which had two other very legit match of the year contenders, the match of the weekend was Bandido retaining his ROH title over Konosuke Takeshita on the 7/11 Supercard of Honor show.
The show wasn’t going to have a lot of impact given all the other higher profile events, but that match was among the best bouts I’ve ever seen. Takeshita is always great and the two showed excellent chemistry in their television tag match. I do worry about Takeshita working a harder schedule than most, especially with G-1 coming, and with all the stuff he does at his size. Bandido clearly got his confidence back working as a headliner in Mexico and it’s transferred to the U.S. He lost prime years of his career with a broken wrist that required two surgeries, and then got a concussion as soon as he was cleared.
It was great from start-to-finish, built well and the last few minutes were unreal. This was basically the ultimate in the modern style with everything fans who like that style love and everything people who hate the style complain about.”
Days after defeating Mercedes Mone for the RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Championship on the Holiday Bash edition of AEW Collision, Alex Windsor is now headed for her Stardom debut.
On January 3rd, 2026, Windsor is set to team up with Mei Seira and Starlight Kid to take on Natsupoi, Saori Anou, and Anne Kanaya in the show’s daytime event. She will later tag with Kikyo Furusawa to face Konami and Fukigen Death in the evening event. This will mark Windsor’s debut for Stardom. The announcement was shared via its social media handle.
“On Jan. 3rd in Shinjuku FACE, AEW’s Alex Windsor makes her #STARDOM debut at New Year Dream 2026!”
“The newly-crowned RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Champion will team with Starlight Kid & Mei Seira in the daytime event, and Kikyo Furusawa in the evening event.”
Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan, is set to host World Wonder Ring Stardom’s two-show day on January 3rd, where the promotion will be producing one daytime and one evening event.
As shared by Stardom’s official website, both these match cards are subject to change.
At Stardom’s December 24 event, a cryptic video aired teasing the arrival of a new or returning wrestler.
The video showed an unidentified person sitting at a desk with several computer monitors. Because they were wearing a hood, the person in the video was never fully shown. Their identity remains unconfirmed, but most fan speculation is that Stardom is hyping the return of the former Dakota Kai.
A cryptic video aired during STARDOM in Korakuen Hall today.#STARDOM pic.twitter.com/xjfkO4VTUa
— Himanshu Doi (@Himanshu_Doi) December 24, 2025
Kai, who was released from her WWE contract in May, regularly streams herself playing video games on Twitch. Before joining WWE, she competed for Stardom from 2015-2016 and was a trios champion for the Japanese women’s promotion. Kai went by the name “Evie” back then.
After her WWE release, Kai took a break from wrestling to recharge her batteries. She’s now ready to get back into the ring and has already been announced for one 2026 indie date. She’ll be challenging Kris Statlander for Pro Wrestling Eve’s International Championship at Wrestle Queendom in London on March 8.
Former WWE NXT wrestler Stevie Turner (Bobbi Tyler) is among the other names that fans have speculated this Stardom video could be for. She played a streamer character for part of her WWE run and has also wrestled for Stardom in the past. Turner was the on-screen general manager of WWE Evolve prior to her release this October.
The full Stardom event from today is available to watch on YouTube for free:
The Big Audio Nightmare is back with a solo express edition of the podcast featuring Adam Summers looking at the latest news from New Japan Pro Wrestling, Stardom, Pro Wrestling NOAH, and more throughout the very busy world of Japanese professional wrestling.
Subscribers can listen here.
Persephone has won this year’s CMLL Women’s International Grand Prix.
Much like earlier this year with the men, Team Mexico bested Team International in a 20-woman torneo cibernetico match on Friday in Arena Mexico. AEW’s Thekla was the last person eliminated, with Persephone picking up the win after a moonsault.
Those representing Team Mexico included Persephone, La Catalina, Olympia, Skadi, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis, India Sioux, Lluvia, and La Jarochita. Team International consisted of Julia Hart (AEW), Skye Blue (AEW), Thekla (AEW), Mina Shirakawa (AEW), Diamante (ROH), Shoko Nakajima (MLW), Hazuki (Stardom), Koguma (Stardom) and Kanji (RevPro).
Women’s International Grand Prix matches weren’t held in the promotion until 2022, when Dalys became the first tournament winner. Tessa Blanchard won in 2023, while Reyna Isis won last year’s tournament.
Mistico won the Men’s International Grand Prix back in August, last eliminating TJP. He, Volador Jr., Titan, Atlantis Jr., Mascara Dorada, Angel de Oro, Neon, Templario, Zandokan Jr., and Difunto represented Team Mexico while Team International featured Rocky Romero, Donovan Dijak, Robbie X, Michael Oku, The Beast Mortos, Lio Rush, Mike Bailey, TJP, Taiji Ishimori, and Action Andretti.
CMLL is continuing to expand its international ties by announcing an official partnership with Japanese women’s wrestling promotion Stardom.
The business relationship was announced on Wednesday night during CMLL’s weekly Informa talk show. CMLL boss Salvador Lutteroth Lomeli and Stardom president Taro Okada both appeared for the announcement. Kounosuke Izui of Japanese wrestling magazine Lady’s Ring — who helped bring the two promotions together — also appeared.
Joining the show now are Kounosuke Izui of Lady's Ring and Taro Okada of Stardom.
— luchablog (@luchablog) October 23, 2025
Salvador Lutteroth and Taro Okada officially announced a partnership between CMLL and Stardom. They'll interchange wrestlers in hopes of aiding the development of talent in both promotions. pic.twitter.com/hwoYq4FFPv
In the partnership, CMLL and Stardom will exchange talent with the goal of benefitting both promotions and advancing women’s wrestling worldwide.
“This partnership was made possible through the efforts of LADYSRING’s Kounosuke Izui who has long served as a bridge between CMLL and the Japanese women’s professional wrestling world,” Stardom wrote.
“In addition, Stardom’s sister organization, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, also has a partnership with CMLL, and Stardom’s entry into the organization will further expand their ties.”
CMLL now has official working relationships with AEW, NJPW, Stardom, and MLW.
This Friday, CMLL is presenting its annual Women’s International Grand Prix at Arena Mexico. Stardom’s Hazuki and Koguma are two of the participants. There will also be representatives from AEW/ROH (Mina Shirakawa, Skye Blue, Julia Hart, Thekla, and Diamante), MLW (Shoko Nakajima), and Revolution Pro Wrestling (Kanji).
IWGP Women’s Champion Sareee made her Ring of Honor debut prior to Wednesday’s sixth anniversary edition of AEW Dynamite in Hollywood, Florida.
The 29-year-old teamed with Alex Windsor to take on Billie Starkz and Diamante in tag team action (results below). It was her first match in either ROH or AEW and just her second match in the United States this year.
It’s unknown if the match will air on this week’s ROH or for a future episode.
She has held the IWGP title for over 100 days after winning it at a June Stardom event. She is also the Sukeban World Champion and one half of the AAAW Tag Team Champions.
The former Sarray in WWE NXT, she had a brief run in developmental from early-2021 through March 2023 when her contract expired. She recently spoke about not enjoying the experience.
Saya Kamitani now holds both the NJPW Strong Women’s Championship and the World of Stardom title.
Kamitani defeated AZM today at Korakuen Hall to defend her World of Stardom title and capture the Strong title. The finish saw AZM kick out of one Star Crusher, only to take a second Star Crusher moments later and stay down for three.
After the match, Kamitani was confronted by Momo Watanabe, winner of the 2025 5Star Grand Prix. Watanabe will challenge Kamitani for both titles on November 3.
Kamitani is now the sixth champion in the Strong Women’s title lineage, which began when Willow Nightingale became the inaugural champion after defeating Mercedes Mone, who was injured during the bout, at NJPW Strong Resurgence. AZM won the belt at Resurgence 2025 in a three-way against Mina Shirakawa and then-champion Mercedes Mone. She successfully defended it once, against Bozilla, in July.
Kamitani has now successfully defended the World of Stardom Championship six times since winning it from Tam Nakano at Dream Queendom 2024 last December.
The full show is available below:
Two teams have been revealed for the upcoming CMLL Women’s International Grand Prix and as expected, AEW will have a significant presence in the night’s featured match.
Revealed on Wednesday night, ROH Women’s TV Champion Mina Shirakawa, Skye Blue, Julia Hart, Thekla and ROH’s Diamante will be part of Team International, joining Stardom’s Hazuki and Koguma in addition to Kanji from RevPro and Shoko Nakajima from TJPW/MLW.
They will face Team Mexico, comprised of Olympia, Catalina, Persephone, Skadi, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis, India Sioux, LLuvia and La Jarochita in the Torneo Cibernetico match.
Shirakawa and Zeuxis were initially revealed for the show earlier this month.
The show is set for Friday, October 24 from Arena Mexico.
It follows the men’s version of the event that saw Mistico win the bout that included “Speedball” Mike Bailey, Rocky Romero, Donovan Dijak, Robbie X, Michael Oku, The Beast Mortos, Lio Rush, TJP, Taiji Ishimori, and Action Andretti on the international side.
The Big Audio Nightmare is back as Adam Summers & Mike Sempervive talk about everything happening in NJPW, Stardom, Pro Wrestling NOAH, AJPW, and throughout the very busy world of Japanese wrestling.
Available now, only for subscribers at f4wonline.com.
The World of Stardom Champion and the NJPW Strong Women’s Champion appear set to clash when Stardom heads to Korakuen Hall later this month.
Saya Kamitani retained her World of Stardom Championship against Bea Priestley at Stardom to the World in the Yokohama Budokan today. After the match, she was confronted by NJPW Strong Women’s Champion AZM, and they teased a title vs. title match for Stardom’s show on September 27.
AZM: “Do you remember losing to AZM at 5 ★ STAR GP? I came here to challenge for the red belt, and I’m fully qualified, right?”
Saya Kamitani: “You have another belt, right? That purple belt. If you’re willing to put that belt on the line, I’ll accept the challenge.”
Kamitani would later confirm the match has been set in her post-match comments, saying:
“On September 27 at Korakuen Hall, a double title match for the World and STRONG belts against AZM has been decided. I don’t care what kind of belts those are, but right now, Saya-sama needs ‘glory.’ Saya-sama’s ambition is the ‘Pro Wrestling Grand Prize MVP.’ AZM will just have to be my stepping stone.”
Priestley earned a shot at Kamitani’s title after defeating her during the round-robin portion of the 5STAR Grand Prix last month. AZM then beat Kamitani in the Red Stars semifinals of the tournament, putting her in line for a shot at the World of Stardom title as well.
【9・6 横浜大会PPV生配信中‼️】
— STARDOM WORLD (@stardomworld) September 6, 2025
AZM「5★STAR GPで、AZMに負けたこと覚えてる？その赤いベルト挑戦しに来たんだけど、十分資格あるよね？」
上谷沙弥「お前さ、ベルト持ってるよねもう1つ。あの紫のベルト。お前がそのベルト懸けるなら挑戦受けてやるよ」
9.27… pic.twitter.com/cCn8boF7Zo
NJPW & Stardom announcer Walker Stewart made his debut at the AEW commentary desk Sunday as part of the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door broadcast team.
Stewart quietly made his way to the desk, replacing Tony Schiavone for the TNT title match between Kyle Fletcher and challenger Hiromu Takahashi, joining Excalibur and Bryan Danielson. Excalibur joked about him suddenly appearing before introducing him. Don Callis also joined the party as well.
While he did not remain in the booth for the TBS title four-way despite Bozilla’s inclusion, Stewart returned for the IWGP World title match between champion Zack Sabre Jr. and Nigel McGuinness.
Stewart became the lead NJPW English language announcer in October 2023, replacing longtime voice Kevin Kelly.
“The Velvet Voice” is still in his early 20s and has done work for GCW, Mission Pro, Future Stars of Wrestling, and Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling in his past. Earlier this year, he added the position of Stardom Director of Global Communications and PR in addition to his commentary duties for both NJPW and Stardom.
Momo Watanabe has won the 5 Star Grand Prix.
She defeated AZM in the finals of the tournament on Saturday, which was held in Ota, Tokyo. With the win, Watanabe earns the right to challenge for the World of Stardom Championship, currently held by Saya Kamitani.
Watanabe said after her win (via Google Translate):
“Momo Watanabe is the champion! Finally winning on my ninth appearance. To all the jerks who’ve been supporting Momo Watanabe, I kept you waiting, huh? To all the belt holders around the world, get ready because this Momo Watanabe is coming for you. From now on, it’s the era of Momo Watanabe!”
The tournament used a format similar to this year’s G1, with three wrestlers from each block advancing to the knockout round. Watanabe had the fewest points of any wrestler to advance, finishing third in the Blue Stars B Block with 8 points off a 4-3 record. She defeated Ami Sohrei in the first knockout round, Sareee in the quarterfinals, and Saori Anou in the semifinals before defeating AZM in the finals.
This was the 14th edition of the tournament. No wrestler has won the tournament more than once. Former winners include Maika, Suzu Suzuki, Giulia, Syuri, Utami Hayashishita, Hana Kimura, Mayu Iwatani, Toni Storm, Yoko Bito, Kairi Sane, Iyo Sky, Nanae Takahashi, and Yuzuki Aikawa.
