Nanae Takahashi v Mercedes Martinez: Stardom July 24

Nanae Takahashi (Stardom)                          

Exciting news coming out of Japan!  Stardom's big Korakuen Hall show on July 24 will feature Nanae's 15th anniversary show, the introduction of the new Stardom championship belts, and a great international battle, in keeping with the commitment of REINA and Diana to bring in international stars to challenge Japanese talent.  The high-profile match will feature Nanae, clearly the best wrestler in the Stardom stable, versus WSU champion and SHIMMER contender, Waterbury CT native, Mercedes Martinez!  Mercedes and Nanae are worthy opponents of each other.  They will be in one semi-final and The other semi-final has not been announced.  Great booking job by Stardom!

Mercedes Martinez (WSU) 

photo by David Falcon

Alright, more details on STARDOM's new titles and the Korakuen show. They will be having one lead up show, on July 10th at Chiba Blue Field. The main event of that show is a royal rumble type match with 10 wrestlers. They haven't announced the wrestlers or the details, but it appears likely that the winner of this rumble gets a spot in the 4 woman tournament for the World of STARDOM, or new "red belt". Already in the tournament are Nanae Takahashi, Yoko Bito, and "Latina Sensation" Mercedes Martinez. It's Nanae vs Mercedes and Yoko vs X in the semis. I guess Nanae will face X in the final, and I think it will end up being Ayumi Kurihara.


STARDOM July 10, 2011
Chiba Blue Field

1. Arisa Hoshiki vs Saki Kashima
2. Exhibition: Haruka vs Mayu Iwatani
3. Nanae Takahashi, Yoko Bito, & Eri Susa vs Natsuki*Taiyo, Yoshiko, & Yuu Yamagata
4. STARDOM Royal Rumble: 10 wrestlers; details TBA

Yuzuki Aikawa absent:  rib injury

STARDOM "STARDOM X STARDOM 2011" July 24, 2011
Korakuen Hall
Nanae Takahashi 15th Anniversary

1. Arisa Hoshiki & Mayu Iwatani vs Eri Susa & Saki Kashima
2. Exhibition: Haruka vs Kenny Omega
3. World of STARDOM Championship Tournament, Semifinal: Yoko Bito vs X
4. World of STARDOM Championship Tournament, Semifinal: Nanae Takahashi vs "Latina Sensation" Mercedes Martinez
5. Wonder of STARDOM Championship, Decision Match: Yuzuki Aikawa vs Yoshiko
6. High Speed Championship: Leon (c) vs Natsuki*Taiyo
7. World of STARDOM Championship Tournament Final: Takahashi/Martinez vs Bito/X


At this point I have no idea whether Mercedes will have any other matches in Japan.  Her stay will nt be a long one because she must be back in New Jersey on August 6 to defend her WSU championship at ACE Arena in Union City, NJ.  I do not know if Mercedes has ever traveled to Japan before.  If she has, I have not heard about it.  She did not spend months there the way Sara del Rey and Cheerleader Melissa did with ARSION back in the early 2000's.  I look forward to hearing more news about this from Stardom in the days to come.

It seems appropriate that Stardom will introduce it's new World Title Belt -- the premiere belt in the promotion -- that is to be defended against the best challengers in Japan and the world (Red Belt).  They will also introduce a their internal promotion belt (White belt) presumably for the younger girls in the promotion to contend (it seems like WSU's Championship belt and Spirit Champion belt). 

Stardom's Goddess of Fight World title belt

The Wonder of STARDOM, or "white belt", will have Yuzuki Aikawa vs Yoshiko to decide the first champion. Aikawa will miss the July 10th event due to a minor injury-probably just to make sure she doesn't miss the bigger show. As already announced, Natsuki*Taiyo will challenge Leon for the High Speed title.