NJPW Announces First-Time Ever Show With All-Female Promotion
Sibling promotions New Japan Pro-Wrestling & STARDOM held a press conference on Monday to announce the first-ever event between the two promotions. NJPW x STARDOM will take place on November 20th from the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The press conference celebrated 15 years of their parent company Bushiroad, and was attended by Artist of STARDOM Champion Starlight Kid, SWA World Champion Mayu Iwatani, as well as NJPW's Hiroshi Tanahashi and Great-O-Khan.
STARDOM has held matches during the pre-shows of major NJPW events in the past and was even featured on the main card of night 2 Wrestle Kingdom 16. That night Iwatani and Kid teamed up in a losing effort against Tam Nakano & Saya Kamitani. Not only is the show itself a new idea, but it's also taking place from a brand new venue for both companies. The Ariake Arena was constructed in 2020 for the Tokyo Olympics, which ended up being postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling promised more cross-promotional events back in 2021 when President Takami Ohbari said that the company would be "in the dream business," i.e. making fans' dreams and wrestlers' dreams alike come true in the ring.
The event will be NJPW's third cross-promotional event in 2022. January 8th saw NJPW face off against Pro Wrestling NOAH in the third night of Wrestle Kingdom 16 in Yokohama. NJPW will run Chicago's United Center on June 26th in tandem with All Elite Wrestling to present NJPW x AEW Forbidden Door. NJPW has also been playing host to wrestlers from GLEAT, IMPACT, CMLL & AEW during the course of the year, with CIMA, El Lindaman & T-Hawk from GLEAT making near-regular appearances on big shows.
Many have been clamoring for a bigger spotlight on STARDOM since they were purchased by NJPW's parent company Bushiroad in October of 2019. It is still unclear if STARDOM and NJPW will run more cross-promotional shows in the future, or if this is simply a one-off to celebrate Bushiroad's 15th Anniversary.