JPN
Saki Kashima's final solo event as an active player, "Super Hot! Gathering of Creepy Otaku - FINAL -," was held on April 19th (Sunday) at Nakano Central Park Conference in Tokyo, bringing together kimo-ota (the nickname for Kashima's fans) from all over Japan
The MC was Yurie Kosakai, who also serves as the ring announcer for Stardom. Shuri and Saori Anno were also seen in the audience
The event was packed with activities that Kashima himself participated in, and he spent a blissful time with the otaku
In the "Intro Don" segment, where contestants had to guess the entrance theme songs of Stardom wrestlers, Kashima thought for a moment, saying she'd heard it before, and then correctly answered that it was Hamabe Matoi. In the "Super Difficult! 1st Annual Otaku King Championship!", a series of true/false questions about Kashima were asked
From easy questions that any nerd would know, such as "Saki Kashima's favorite character is Snoopy," to difficult questions like "Saki Kashima has been crowned Artist King four times," the nerd who answered all 18 questions correctly in a row was crowned the King of Nerds
Furthermore, as this was his final autograph session as an active performer, he offered a special service of signing personal items. Some brave souls even brought their copies of the Kojien dictionary
Kashima said, "I'm exhausted! Really," but with a satisfied expression. "It was so much fun. I hadn't heard any details about the quiz, so I was able to enjoy it together with the nerds," he said, reflecting on the event
In her final match as an active wrestler, at the Korakuen Hall event on the 23rd, she will face AZM and Momo Watanabe in a team match with Shuri. Her retirement ceremony will be held at the Yokohama Arena event on the 26th
"It was business as usual. But after the press conference (on April 2nd), it really hit me that I was actually retiring. Until then, it felt like it was someone else's problem. But when I thought about how I wouldn't be doing these kinds of events with nerds anymore, I felt quite sad."
Finally, she expressed her gratitude, saying, "Honestly, I didn't expect so many people to come, and I'm filled with happiness knowing that you're supporting me so much in places I don't even know about. The happiest moment for me as a pro wrestler is when everyone cheers me on. And of course, when Shuri is protecting me. You otaku are seriously, really big. I'm so happy," and saw off the otaku as they headed home