JPN
In the Future of Stardom Championship match (held on the 25th at Shin-Kiba 1stRING in Tokyo), champion Ranna Yagami defeated Aya Sakura to successfully defend her title for the first time
The match began with a quiet exchange of blows on the ground. Neither fighter gave an inch, and the fight continued in a back-and-forth manner. After about five minutes, the fight turned into a kicking battle, which is each fighter's specialty. The champion blocked Sakura's right middle kick head-on and knocked her down with a counter right middle kick of her own. With three minutes remaining in the match, kicks were exchanged, and both fighters were knocked down at one point
Nevertheless, the champion rose again with sheer determination and unleashed a counter high kick. Finally, at 14 minutes and 41 seconds, he secured the victory with a Beat Buster, dropping his opponent with his arms crossed. It was a nail-biting victory with just 19 seconds left in the match
After the match, Yagami took the microphone and thanked her contemporary, saying, "Thank you for fighting me today," while Sakura left the ring in tears. The rules for the title stipulate that the winner must be "within three years of debut or under 20 years old," so this was Sakura's last chance, as she had been a wrestler for three years
The champion then added, "I really wanted to beat him today, and there's someone I want to face," before naming Enka of Pro Wrestling WAVE as his next challenger. He designated the Korakuen Hall event on March 31st as the battleground, calling out, "I'm going to defend my title, so come on over. Enka, I'll be waiting!" Enka currently holds the POP Championship, so there's a possibility it will be a double title match
Finally, the fighters who participated in the day's event were called into the ring, bringing the momentous 30th NEW BLOOD brand tournament to a close
[Yagami's comments] I've never beaten Sakura before, and it was really frustrating, so I'm really glad I was able to win today. I've challenged for this belt four times, and I think it's a belt that allows challengers to grow tremendously, so I want to keep challenging my juniors and contemporaries in Stardom, but I lost to Enka from WAVE in the CATCH THE WAVE finals two years ago. Enka's deadline is April 2nd. I really wanted to have a match against her for this belt before then, so I'd like to have a match at Korakuen Hall on March 31st to defend it and make it a belt that helps the young wrestlers of Stardom push each other to improve