JPN
The master has been found! Maki Ito, who had been missing, was safely found at the "STARDOM in KOBE 2026 May." event held on Saturday, May 30th at the Kobe Sanbo Hall 2F Grand Exhibition Hall
Ito lost to reigning World Championship champion Sayaka Kurei in a match at the May 26 Aichi tournament, failing to win the belt. Still reeling from the defeat, she competed in the May 26 Korakuen Hall tournament, but was pinned by Waka Tsukiyama in a tag team match, and then disappeared after the match
Ito Respect Army's protégé, Furusawa Kian, had been desperately searching for Ito, but she had not been found by this day. The organization had also ruled Ito out of the match and changed the card to a tag team match between Koguma & Furusawa vs. Maika & HANAKO
First, the Maika team entered the ring. Next, Koguma and Furusawa from the red corner appeared in the ring. Both of them were handing out flyers to the audience asking for Ito's whereabouts. Just when it seemed the match would begin, Ito appeared in the audience, holding a fan and towel with Furusawa's name on it! And for some reason, she was wearing pajamas..
Ring announcer Yoriyuki Ando announced that "Maki Ito has been found," and the match was changed to a 3-on-2 handicap match: Koguma, Ito, and Furusawa vs. Maika and HANAKO
But Ito, clad in her pajamas, was completely listless and at the mercy of her opponents. Hanako landed body slams and reverse Boston crabs on Ito one after another. The arena erupted in chants of "Ito," but she remained trapped by her opponents
After that, she kept tripping in the ring, and even gave up on her "world's cutest knuckle" halfway through. Her elbows to Maika had absolutely no power, it was like watching a slow-motion video
There was a moment where she managed to assist Furusawa with a body press, but she ended up falling on her backside. In the end, she couldn't take advantage of the numerical superiority and accidentally hit Koguma, and at 10 minutes and 1 second, Furusawa was defeated by Maika's rolling lariat
Nevertheless, backstage, Furusawa looked relieved and said, "I finally found it!"
Unaware of the hardships his devoted disciple had endured searching for his master, Ito said, "I'm fine. I'm very fine," but his expression remained blank
Watching the two of them, Koguma defended them, saying, "We were supposed to be stronger because of the handicap, but they're still a bit out of practice, and their costumes are different too."
At the Kyoto KBS Hall event on May 31st, an eight-person tag team match will be held between Ito, Furusawa, Tsukiyama, and Rian vs. Sorei Ami, Hinami, Lady C, and Koryu Seika
Furusawa asked, "There's another match tomorrow, will you come?" in a manner reminiscent of Tamori, to which Ito immediately replied, "Of course I will."
Koguma advised, "Kian should take him home and spend a day with him. That way he won't be able to escape."
Finally, Ito took the lead and concluded with a completely unenthusiastic "Ito Respect Army Forever."