The latest WWE and AEW News and Results
The Big Audio Nightmare is back as myself and Mike Sempervive talk about everything happening in the very busy world of Japanese wrestling.
This week’s topics include:
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Meiko Satomura’s opponent for her final match in Stardom has been revealed.
Satomura is set to wrestle the final match of her 30-year career on April 29 at Sendai Girls’ event titled “Satomura The Final.” Stardom has announced that her last match for them will take place two days earlier, on April 27, at the All Star Grand Queendom 2025 event in Yokohama Arena. She will team with Mika Iwata and Yuna in a trios bout against Saori Anou, Natsupoi, and Aya Sakura.
／
— スターダム✪STARDOM (@wwr_stardom) April 8, 2025
カードファイト!! ヴァンガード Divinez presents
🌟ALL STAR GRAND QUEENDOM 2025🌟
＼
🌟6人タッグマッチ
安納サオリ＆なつぽい＆さくらあや
vs 里村明衣子＆岩田美香＆YUNA
📅4/27
🏟神奈川・横浜アリーナ
🔽大会情報はコチラhttps://t.co/wacloT2B2t pic.twitter.com/ozYcas5p6i
Satomura revealed in June 2024 that she would retire the following year. In July, she participated in three WWE house shows in Japan, concluding the tour by challenging Bayley for the WWE Women’s Championship on the final night. She is also scheduled to face Kenoh on April 15 at a Pro Wrestling NOAH event.
Stardom All Star Grand Queendom 2025 lineup for Sunday, April 27:
Shayna Baszler is returning to Bloodsport for a match during WrestleMania 41 week in Las Vegas.
Game Changer Wrestling and Josh Barnett revealed today that Baszler will be in action against Stardom wrestler Konami at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XIII on April 17. After Konami called Baszler a dream opponent, Baszler cut a promo promising that Bloodsport will be a nightmare for her.
“Konami, you and I both come from the MMA world. In fact, we both trained with Megumi Fujii, arguably the greatest female fighter of all time,” Baszler said. “The difference between you and I is, although Bloodsport is in your DNA, I was born from Bloodsport. You said in a recent interview that I was a dream match of yours. The reality is: this match will be a nightmare.”
Baszler was the first-ever WWE talent booked for a Bloodsport show in 2024, and WWE wrestlers have continued to compete at the Bloodsport events that have taken place since. Baszler has a 2-0 record in Bloodsport with victories over Masha Slamovich and Miyu Yamashita. In WWE, Baszler is on the Raw roster and was featured on this week’s episode of WWE Speed.
Konami is making her Bloodsport debut against Baszler. The show is being held at the Pearl Concert Theater at the Palms Casino Resort in Vegas. It will stream live on TrillerTV+ with a start time of 11 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Pacific.
There have been eight matches announced for the card so far:
Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XIII (Thursday, April 17) —
A matchup between Tavion Heights and Royce Isaacs has also been set up but not officially announced yet.
An NXT vs. Stardom matchup is the newest addition to the card for Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XIII.
NXT’s Karmen Petrovic will face off against Stardom wrestler Maika at the April 17 Bloodsport event in Las Vegas. Presented by Josh Barnett and Game Changer Wrestling, the show is happening on the Thursday of WrestleMania week. It will air live on TrillerTV+.
Coming off a victory over Sumie Sakai last November, this will be Petrovic’s second time competing at Bloodsport. Maika is making her Bloodsport debut.
Petrovic joined the WWE Performance Center in 2022 and has a background in karate. Maika made her pro wrestling debut in 2019 and is a multi-time champion for Stardom.
Barnett hyped the match by questioning whether Petrovic’s karate style or Maika’s judo skills will prevail:
In addition to Petrovic wrestling at Bloodsport, WWE wrestlers Natalya, Pete Dunne, Karrion Kross, and Charlie Dempsey will be competing. There have been four matches confirmed so far. The show has a start time of 11 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Pacific.
Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XIII (Thursday, April 17) —
Mina Shirakawa is headed to All Elite Wrestling.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Shirakawa confirmed reports that her contract with Stardom expires at the end of the month. However, she will continue to wrestle for the promotion throughout much of April, concluding with Stardom American Dream 2025 in Las Vegas on April 17 and 18. Shirakawa announced that she will join AEW after leaving Stardom.
“I, Mina Shirakawa, will be joining AEW. This marks the start of my challenge to compete on the world stage, which has been my goal since my debut.”
【📺3.26 記者会見生配信】
— スターダム✪STARDOM (@wwr_stardom) March 26, 2025
白川未奈『私白川未奈はAEWに入団いたします。これはデビュー当初からの目標であった世界への挑戦ということになります。』
🔻Youtube生配信中！https://t.co/JqwzRhH6KH#STARDOM pic.twitter.com/CRW5H9FurI
Shirakawa vs. Maika will take place at Stardom’s April 2 show at Korakuen Hall. The lineup for her final match in Japan on April 6 will be announced at a later date. No matches have been announced yet for Stardom American Dream 2025.
Shirakawa thanked Stardom, her co-workers, and fans for supporting her during her time in the promotion, which began in 2020. She said she hopes to reunite with Stardom somewhere down the line and show fans an improved version of herself.
The full press conference is available below.
Mina Shirakawa is leaving Japan and could be making AEW her full-time home.
Tokyo Sports reported today that Shirakawa has informed Stardom that she will be leaving the promotion at the end of March for what is likely a full-time move to wrestling in the United States. The report mentioned both AEW and WWE as potential destinations. Shirakawa has already been a regular for AEW while with Stardom, including playing a role in the highly praised storyline between Toni Storm and Mariah May.
The report states that the 37-year-old Shirakawa told Stardom of her decision to leave at the end of last year.
Shirakawa made her first AEW/ROH appearance in March 2024 and challenged both Storm and May for the AEW Women’s World Championship during their respective reigns last year.
In January 2025, Shirakawa faced off against Mercedes Mone at the Tokyo Dome, where Mone defeated Shirakawa to win the RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Championship and retain the AEW TBS Championship.
Shirakawa started her pro wrestling career in 2018 and has competed for both Stardom and Tokyo Joshi Pro.
The Big Audio Nightmare is back as myself and Mike Sempervive talk about everything happening in the very busy world of Japanese wrestling.
This week’s topics include:
Click here to listen (sub needed)
On a new WOL, it’s results and news from wrestling cards all over the world.
WWE SmackDown took place in front of a raucous crowd in Barcelona, Spain, that saw new Tag Team Champions crowned and a wild brawl between Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte.
We saw the quarterfinals of the New Japan Cup with emotional matches between former tag team partners and Blue Thunder trying for the IWGP crown.
We also talk about the bloody ending to TNA Sacrifice in San Antonio, the finals of The 2025 Stardom Cinderella tournament, AEW Collision, and Defy set to crown a new champion.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including a full rundown of the RAW show following Elimination Chamber, Stardom, the Peacock deal with WWE, Rey Fenix leaving AEW, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Cody Rhodes suffered busted ear drum during Elimination Chamber attack, Buvaisar Saitiev passes away
2:10: Linda McMahon confirmed to lead Department of Education, Jon Stewart covers John Cena turn on ‘The Daily Show’, Pat McAfee responds to anthem controversy
7:53: Rey Fenix granted release from AEW
16:56: Mark Shapiro’s comments on WWE shows, UFC rights
29:19: What happened in the Stardom loser leaves town match
40:56: Ratings
46:07: Powerslap moves to YouTube, Tom Aspinall says Jon Jones fight being held up
49:50: WWE Raw recap, lineups for the week
The Big Audio Nightmare is back as Adam Summers and Mike Sempervive talk about everything happening in the very busy world of Japanese wrestling.
This week’s topics include:
Click here to listen (sub needed)
Mina Shirakawa is injured.
On Tuesday, Stardom announced that Shirakawa will be out of action for an unspecified period due to injuries suffered during Sunday’s show at Korakuen Hall. The exact nature of her injury has not been disclosed.
Stardom wrote:
“As announced earlier today, @MinaShirakawa will be out of action for an unspecified period to recover from injuries sustained on Sunday at Korakuen Hall. Join us in wishing Mina a speedy recovery”
As announced earlier today, @MinaShirakawa will be out of action for an unspecified period to recover from injuries sustained on Sunday at Korakuen Hall.
— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) February 4, 2025
Join us in wishing Mina a speedy recovery#WeWantMina#STARDOM pic.twitter.com/lraoLjBQlx
Shirakawa responded to the news, and a translation of her message reads:
“Regrettable. But I’m not the type of person to just keep losing and getting beaten. Please give me some time so I can give it back at 120%.”
悔しい。
— 白川未奈 Mina Shirakawa (@MinaShirakawa) February 4, 2025
でも負けっぱなし、やられっぱなしで終わる私じゃない。
120%でやり返す為に、少し時間をください🙏
待っててね。#STARDOM #WeWantMina https://t.co/bNmGVGBNJ8
Shirakawa last wrestled on Sunday in an eight-person tag match at Stardom 14th Anniversary Supreme Fight 2025 at Korakuen Hall. She teamed with other members of Empress Nexus Venus in a loss to the HATE faction’s Thekla, Momo Watanabe, Rina, and Azusa Inaba. Shirakawa last performed in the United States at NJPW Battle in the Valley on January 11. Before that, she had just lost the RevPro women’s title to Mercedes Mone at Wrestle Dynasty in the Tokyo Dome on January 5.
Stardom also recently announced its return to the United States. The promotion will be in Las Vegas for WrestleMania week on April 17 and 18.
Image: NOAH
The Big Audio Nightmare is back as Mike Sempervive and I talk about everything happening in the very busy world of Japanese wrestling.
This week’s topics include:
Click here to listen (sub needed)
Athena is heading back home to the United States after starting off 2025 with a tour of Japan.
The ROH Women’s World Champion made a successful title defense for Stardom on Monday, retaining against Thekla. Following the match, Athena told Thekla that she respects her — and she wants Thekla to come find her in the U.S. for a rematch.
Athena made her Japan debut for Stardom on January 3 and wrestled four matches for the promotion during this brief tour. She also competed at the Tokyo Dome as part of NJPW’s Wrestle Dynasty card.
In post-match comments after her victory today, Athena got emotional when talking about how much this experience meant to her.
“I am very sad to go because I love Japan and I love Stardom,” Athena said. “It’s very difficult for me to leave because I have had so much fun here. And it has reawakened my passion — not only as a fighting champion but as a wrestler who’s been doing this for almost 20 years. And normally in America, no one sees me cry — never. I’m tough, but this is very special. This is my dream, and I finally got to come here. Hopefully I can come back and compete in front of the most amazing fans with the most amazing women from around the world.
“So Stardom, you will see me again. The Fallen Goddess, the American Joshi, the Minion Overlord, the inspiration to every women’s division — but most importantly, today, I finally lived up to my nickname of the American Joshi. Thank you Stardom. Thank you everyone. I will see you again soon.”
Athena is on a historic run as ROH Women’s World Champion, holding the title for more than 760 days. It’s the longest-ever title reign in ROH.
Hiroshi Tanahashi’s last match in the United States has a date.
NJPW announced via video that following Battle in the Valley on January 11, Windy City Riot will take place on April 11 in Chicago at the Wintrust Arena. It was announced that Hiroshi Tanahashi’s final match in the United States will take place at this event.
Two new events were also announced. A Stardom show will take place mid April in Las Vegas, which will also be the location of WrestleMania 41 that same month. New Japan Resurgence was also announced, taking place on May 9 at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California. The already announced AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door event was also mentioned, taking place in London on August 25.
Battle in the Valley will have Gabe Kidd defending the NJPW Strong Openweight title against Tomohiro Isihi, The West Coast Wrecking Crew defending the NJPW Strong Tag Team titles against Roppongi ReVice, and Sumie Sakai’s retirement match, which will see her team with EVIL and SHO against Hiromu Takahashi, Mayu Iwatani, and Yuka Sakazaki.
Athena’s next ROH Women’s title match is set.
Following the events of Wrestle Dynasty, Athena agreed to a title match against Thekla at an upcoming Stardom event at Korakuen Hall on January 13. The match was made during backstage interviews made following the International Women’s Cup four-way match.
During the Wrestle Dynasty opener, Thekla prevented Athena from covering stablemate Momo Watanabe. The distraction allowed Watanabe to strike Athena with a baseball bat, eventually giving Watanabe the win, becoming the first-ever International Cup winner and earning a future title match.
Athena and Thekla previously had a confrontation backstage after they teamed together successfully at Stardom New Year Dream on Friday, defeating Tay Melo and Mina Shirakawa. After Athena reiterated that she is the Forever ROH World Champion, Thekla requested a title match, which Athena rejected.
Athena successfully defended the ROH Women’s title last month, defeating Billie Starks at ROH Final Battle. She has been champion for over 750 days, first winning the title from Mercedes Martinez at Final Battle 2022.
