Stardom Cinderella Journey (スターダムシンデレラジャーニー, Sutādamushindererajānī) was a professional wrestling event promoted by World Wonder Ring Stardom. It took place on February 23, 2022, with a limited attendance due in part to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic at the time.[2]
| Stardom Cinderella Journey | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster featuring various Stardom wrestlers | |||
| Promotion | World Wonder Ring Stardom | ||
| Date | February 23, 2022 | ||
| City | Nagaoka, Japan | ||
| Venue | City Hall Plaza Aore Nagaoka | ||
| Attendance | 706[1] | ||
| Event chronology | |||
| |||
Eight matches were contested at the event, including two on the pre-show, and four of Stardom's seven championships were on the line. The main event saw Saya Kamitani defeat Natsupoi to retain the Wonder of Stardom Championship. Other top matches included AZM defeating Starlight Kid to win the High Speed Championship, and FWC (Hazuki and Koguma) successfully defended the Goddesses of Stardom Championship against Cosmic Angels (Mina Shirakawa and Unagi Sayaka).
Storylines
editBackground
editThe event's press conference where the matches were officially announced took place on February 4 and was broadcast on Stardom's YouTube channel.[3] The show featured eight professional wrestling matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[4][5]
Event
editThe first two pre-show matches were broadcast on Stardom's YouTube channel. In the first one, Mai Sakurai defeated Waka Tsukiyama and Rina in a three-way match to become the number one contender for the Future of Stardom Championship. In the second match, Hanan successfully defended the future title for the second time in her reign against Stars stablemate Momo Kohgo. It was announced that Hanan will defend the title next against Rina on March 26, the first night of the Stardom World Climax 2022.[6] The six-man tag team match between Donna Del Mondo's separate teams of Giulia, Mirai & Thekla and Syuri, Maika & Himeka went down to a 20-minute time-limit draw. Giulia and Syuri had a brief staredown before their confrontation for the World of Stardom Championship on March 26. After Hazuki & Koguma successfully retained the Goddesses of Stardom Championship against Mina Shirakawa & Unagi Sayaka, Momo Watanabe stepped up to challenge them alongside a mystery partner which had to be furtherly revealed. The co-main event had AZM defeating Starlight Kid to win the High Speed Championship for the second time in her career. Kid was humble in defeat and sat in the ring. She did not speak but gestured for AZM to take her mask off too as a victory token. The latter refused to take her mask and instead offered her a fist bump out of respect.[7]
The main event portraited Saya Kamitani successfully defending the Wonder of Stardom Championship against Natsupoi. She named Utami Hayashishita who was at ringside doing guest commentary and Tam Nakano as the next challengers at Stardom World Climax. Her Queen's Quest stablemate will receive her title shot on the first night of the event from March 26 while the Cosmic Angels' unit leader will have it on March 27, the second night.[8]
Results
editExternal links
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip (February 23, 2022). "Stardom Cinderella Journey In Nagaoka". cagematch.net. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
- ^ World Wonder Ring Stardom. 2022.02.23 (水)［発売中］『STARDOM Cinderella Journey 2022 in NAGAOKA』新潟・アオーレ長岡. stardom.com (in Japanese). Retrieved February 6, 2022.
- ^ STARDOM OFFICIAL (February 4, 2022). 【★生配信★】2・23『STARDOM Cinderella Journey 2022 in NAGAOKA』アオーレ長岡大会 記者会見＆調印式【#STARDOM 】. youtube.com (in Japanese). Retrieved February 6, 2022.
- ^ Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
- ^ Richards, Alex (February 17, 2022). "Preview: Stardom – Cinderella Journey in Nagaoka (2/23/22)". lastwordonsports.com. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
- ^ STARDOM OFFICIAL (February 23, 2022). 【第1試合まで無料配信！】2・23『 STARDOM Cinderella Journey 2022 in NAGAOKA 』#STARDOM. youtube.com (in Japanese). Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ^ Peterson, Karen (February 23, 2022). "STARDOM Cinderella Journey Nagaoka: Saya Kamitani vs. Natsupoi, AZM vs. Starlight Kid". Post Wrestling. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
- ^ Wrestling With Demons (February 23, 2022). "STARDOM "CINDERELLA JOURNEY 2022 IN NAGAOKA" RESULTS 2/23/22: TITLE CHANGE!". wrestlingwithdemons.com. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ^ STARDOM OFFICIAL (February 23, 2022). 2022年2月23日 『Cinderella Journey 2022 in NAGAOKA』2月23日（水・祝）アオーレ長岡（観衆706人／コロナ対策限定人数）. wwr-stardom.com (in Japanese). Retrieved February 23, 2022.