JPN
At "STARDOM THE CONVERSION 2026" held on Saturday, June 20th (at the National Yoyogi Gymnasium No. 2 in Tokyo), the IWGP Women's Championship match saw champion Syuri defeat Rina Yamashita to successfully defend her title for the fourth time
The tense match was a clash of wills and pride between the two. The champion delivered a powerful soccer ball kick, and Yamashita retaliated with a sliding lariat. In the exchange on the apron, Shuri's dropkick sent Yamashita crashing into the ring post, and the challenger slammed her onto the mat outside the ring with a powerbomb. Neither side gave an inch, and time simply ticked away
Shuri landed a knee strike to Yamashita's jaw, then followed up with a series of elbows in a kneeling elbow exchange. When the challenger continued to get up like a zombie, Shuri unleashed three right middle kicks and a running knee lift to finish her off
Despite facing a tough challenger who remained tenacious, after more than 20 minutes, a counter high kick landed perfectly. He followed up with a buzzsaw kick and finally caught his opponent in the White Tiger hold, forcing him to submit
After the match, Shuri expressed her gratitude, saying, "Yamashita Rina, I knew it, but you're the best! Before joining Stardom, I wrestled quite a lot. I never thought the day would come when I'd be able to wrestle with you again after joining. But I realized that if you keep going, you can meet again, so I was really happy to be able to wrestle with you today."
Then Yamashita shouted, "I still have a long way to go. It's been a while since I've had a match, and I wanted to prove that I'm closer to her than before by winning. I'm frustrated, but I also have a lot of happy feelings, damn it! Thank you for providing us with a stage like this. I think our next story has begun from today. I felt I made progress today, so I feel like I can win next time. Until then, please stay the strongest Akari. I love you!" The two then hugged each other and congratulated each other on their hard-fought battle
Then Natsupoi appeared. She casually grabbed the microphone and appealed, "Shuri's so lucky. She's strong and cool, and she has a belt. Compared to her, I'm cute, I have wonderful friends, and a cool husband."
She continued, "The only thing I'm missing is that belt! Shuri, please let me challenge for that IWGP belt!"
While surprised by the unexpected challenge, Shuri replied, "Oh, yeah. Wait a minute. I'm happy that Natsupoi would come, I never thought that would happen, but what's with that microphone? Of course, if you want to do it for the IWGP title, I'll accept the challenge!"
President Taro Okada also gave the go-ahead, and the V4 match was scheduled for July 18th at the EBARA WAVE Arena Ota (Ota City General Gymnasium) in Tokyo
The champion, whose next opponent has already been decided, called out, "I will definitely raise the value of this IWGP, so everyone please keep an eye on me!"