JPN
World of Stardom champion Sayaka Kurei delivered a sharp blow to her next challenger, Suzu Suzuki
The signing ceremony for "STARDOM THE CONVERSION 2026," which will be held on Saturday, June 20th at the National Yoyogi Gymnasium No. 2 in Tokyo, took place on the 9th at Bushiroad's headquarters in Tokyo, with Kurei and Suzuki in attendance. The challenger, who took the microphone first, criticized the champion, saying, "I don't know what you want to do." She pressed him, saying, "If you don't tell me what you're aiming for and where you want to go, it's not going to be interesting. So please tell me now."
Kurei tried to explain, "I want to lead the pro wrestling world and Stardom even further and make them bigger...", but Suzuki just looked exasperated and said, "In the end, you're not really saying anything concrete."
Then Kyurei retorted, "She's rambling on and on, but she lost her belt on the train, didn't she? Someone like that has no right to talk about being a champion. I would never lose my belt, I keep it safe. I will never give it to someone like her, I won't lose!" Her sharp remark instantly changed the atmosphere in the press conference room
Suzuki, formerly a member of Ice Ribbon, won the organization's top title, the ICE×∞ Championship, for the first time in August 2020 when she was 17 years old. However, in November, she left the belt on a JR Keihin-Tohoku Line train and lost it. She has a history of defending her title using another sealed belt as a substitute
Even Suzuki seemed shaken, saying, "So you're fighting back, huh? Is this the kind of pro wrestling that Kurei does, getting beaten up and then fighting back in the end? I never thought that a major incident from my past would be brought up here..." She continued, "I don't have anything to say in return when you put it like that. But I will never make the same mistake again, so you can all trust me on that. You probably don't know how despairing I felt when I lost the belt, but it was more painful than losing a title match and having the belt taken away..." she said, gazing into the distance
It seemed that the wound still remained deep within Suzuki. Watching her challenger, Kurei vowed with determination, "That's why I will absolutely not lose. I will definitely defend this belt!"