What a difference a year can make
November 20, 2022. The eyes of the wrestling world watched on as KAIRI and Mayu Iwatani fought to be crowned the first ever IWGP Women’s Champion. A title that carried with it a vision of breaking established barriers; introduced to provide an outlet for women’s wrestling to exist in the men’s club that is New Japan Pro Wrestling. An experiment brought to the forefront by Bushiroad executives.
One year later and that vision has become blurred. There’s now two “NJPW” women’s championships but less clarity than ever before. Excitement and anticipation quickly changed to confusion and apprehension, a title that has lost its way.
There was lots of justified hype surrounding the announcement of the new championship in mid 2022. For several years NJPW and STARDOM had been working together, but the announcement of an IWGP Women’s Championship signaled a big step forward in their relationship.
At the end of the night KAIRI held the title aloft in front of over 7000 people after a dramatic and high intensity match that brought 11 years of STARDOM together in one brilliant fight. A watershed moment with the next step forward already set: Wrestle Kingdom 17 inside Tokyo Dome. Meanwhile, the incoming arrival of Mercedes Moné proved to be the worst kept secret in wrestling. The vision set forth by Bushiroad seemed to be coming together perfectly.
What happened?
It helps to take a look at the title’s history over the course of its first year to gain an understanding of where things began to fall apart:
- KAIRI defeats Mayu Iwatani (Historic X-Over, November 20, 2022) in Japan
- KAIRI defeats Tam Nakano (Wrestle Kingdom 17, January 4, 2023) in Japan
- Mercedes Moné defeats KAIRI (Battle in the Valley, February 18, 2023) in the USA
- Mercedes Moné defeats Hazuki and AZM (Sakura Genesis, April 8, 2023) in Japan
- Mayu Iwatani defeats Mercedes Moné (All Star Grand Queendom, April 23, 2023) in Japan
- Mayu Iwatani defeats Utami Hayashishita (Stardom X Stardom 2023, August 13, 2023) in Japan
- Mayu Iwatani defeats Stephanie Vaquer (Lonestar Shootout, November 10, 2023) in the USA
At a first glance seven title matches in its first year isn’t too bad, and likely lines up with people’s initial expectations for the championship. It was clear from the beginning this wasn’t a belt to be defended just anywhere. At the press conference covering both the title and the announcement of the Historic X-Over event, NJPW Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi specified that “Title matches will take place at major NJPW events both internationally and in Japan, as well as at major STARDOM cards.” For comparison, the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship was defended eight times in 2023 and 2022, and six times in 2021.
There is a sizeable gap in the defense history, but that was part of a wider issue in how the championship has been handled. Deciding the first champion in the main event of Historic X-Over was a great first step, but excitement for the title was quickly crushed when the important first defense at Wrestle Kingdom went for a paltry six minutes, and felt like it was only there to serve as the reason for Mercedes to appear.
The championship would rebound in theory. Mercedes Moné vs KAIRI felt like a big match, serving as the semi-main event for Battle in the Valley behind only Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. They went out and stole the show, putting on a gripping match that set the pace for women’s wrestling in 2023.
Next time it appeared on a NJPW Japan show it was in the middle of the card, but it also received a more respectable runtime – more than doubling the six minutes from back in January. Moné, Hazuki and AZM put on a blistering fight that stood out against the rest of the show. The stink of its treatment at Wrestle Kingdom never left the title and concerns lingered about its long term usage, but Mercedes made the title feel important and the matches were delivering.
The problem came after Mayu Iwatani won the title in April at STARDOM’s biggest show of the year, and two notable things occurred in the aftermath.
The first issue was a lack of attention and defenses. Once Mayu won the title it was promptly forgotten about. For months NJPW ran shows in both Japan and America with no IWGP Women’s title match or even a hint of one happening. When a new match was finally announced in August, it was at another STARDOM show in a match with little real build behind it.
The second was the announcement of the STRONG Women’s Championship, which occurred a week after the Iwatani/Moné match. The new title, introduced through a mini tournament won in California a month later, meant there were now two NJPW women’s belts to juggle. Fans quickly joked that it was being brought in just so Mercedes Moné could have a title (though her injury in the tournament final would stop that from happening), but there didn’t seem to be a need for a second NJPW Women’s Title.
Rocky Romero, who is a key figure in booking NJPW’s America branch, spoke on the confusion surrounding the STRONG title’s introduction with Comedy Store Wrestling back in May:
“The first-ever STRONG Women’s Championship, which is like an American championship. I’ve been reading the boards and Twitter and people talking about this and it’s been controversial in the fact, ‘Why is New Japan making another women’s championship.’ It seems like everyone was complaining two years ago that there wasn’t a championship, there wasn’t a division, ‘where is the representation?’ Now, we’ve got two championships, one headlines in Japan and now the STRONG Women’s Championship. We’re trying to give women that representation and give them a great place to show professional wrestling. I don’t really understand where all the controversy is coming from,”
Rocky Romero (Transcript via Fightful)
In defending the addition of the STRONG Women’s Championship Rocky may have also pointed to the biggest issue now present with the two. Although original plans for the IWGP title saw it being defended both domestically and abroad, introducing a title baring the American expansion branding instantly hints at a certain separation of focus. Each title could be centred around a location: the IWGP was for Japan and the STRONG for America.
However, the addition of the STRONG title coincided with the IWGP title no longer being defended. The championship had not appeared on a NJPW Japan show since Sakura Genesis in April, and then news came out that the title will NOT be defended at Wrestle Kingdom 18 – instead headlining STARDOM’s own January 4 show.
Its only defense in Japan since has been at STARDOM events, where the STRONG Women’s Championship has also been defended – and more often. The one NJPW show since April where the IWGP Women’s Championship was defended happened to be a STRONG branded event after Mayu sought to take the title abroad, noting herself how little she had defended it. If location is meant to be a distinction between the two belts, then it is clearly an arbitrary one.
Perhaps the main reason for the existence of two belts comes from Bushiroad themselves. There was a specific vision surrounding the IWGP Women’s Championship when it was conceived, and while some compromises may need to be made over time there are other aspects that are simply too important. WON’s Dave Meltzer wrote on this in between the title’s introduction and first defense.
The IWGP women’s world title belt was an idea of [Takaaki] Kidani, and he wants to make it huge. He has talked in the Japanese media of reviving the spirit of Antonio Inoki in 2023 and in specific, they don’t want Kairi to defend the title against a bunch of U.S. indie women if they can help it.
Dave Meltzer: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, December 19 2022
Although this was stated months before the introduction of the STRONG title, there are some clues as to why a second belt was created instead of just using the first title more often.
The IWGP branding carries with it a certain imagery and prestige, and the IWGP Women’s Championship bares the iconic visage of the second design of the IWGP Heavyweight title. Ideally, every match should feel like a big deal – and if they would rather avoid the title being defended against a bunch of “U.S indie women” then booking around the title becomes more difficult, especially in America where they may not always be able to run matches that meet their standard of the IWGP branding.
The STRONG Women’s Championship isn’t hindered by the same brand legacy as its IWGP sister by comparison, and subsequently has a more diverse list of challengers to its lineage. In many ways it’s more of a workhorse title, with the champion taking on anyone and defending it more often.
In spite of this it ultimately feels like they have two belts serving the same purpose, especially with both champions being main event STARDOM talent. If the IWGP Women’s Championship isn’t going to be defended on NJPW Japan shows like its original intention, and the STRONG Women’s Championship is going to be the primary belt for American shows, then the IWGP doesn’t really have a home.
The belt was never meant to be a STARDOM title. It was a NJPW title created for NJPW events and would not be replacing STARDOM’s own World or Wonder of STARDOM Championships. Initial reports suggested it being defended on STARDOM shows would be a rarity.
To reiterate. The IWGP Women’s Championship was introduced for NJPW shows in Japan and the USA. Once the STRONG title was introduced, Rocky Romero indicated that one would be focused for Japan and the other for America. However, NJPW shows in Japan are seemingly not using the title. NJPW America shows only happen every one-to-two months so there’s no need for two belts to cover that market when there is generally only one women’s match on each show, nor do they each bring anything unique to justify both being defended on STARDOM shows.
Ultimately, it feels like the introduction of a women’s championship as well as the increased inclusion of women on NJPW shows was a nice idea on paper that was never fully committed to. Prior to the creation of the title, STARDOM matches on NJPW shows were rare exhibition matches. Increasing their footprint on these shows is clearly a Bushiroad directive that never really had the full backing of NJPW management.
Now, just one year after the title was created, STARDOM won’t be represented at Wrestle Kingdom at all, instead running their own show earlier in the day to form an optional double header. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing (especially if the alternative is a six minute match to fill a quota) but if there was a show where the IWGP Women’s title should be defended, it’s at Wrestle Kingdom.
Now, it’s very possible the next time the title finds itself defended in a NJPW ring in Japan will be at the upcoming Historic X-Over show, an event that is yet to have a date attached to it.
It’s difficult to know what the future holds for these championships. The IWGP Women’s Championship is beautiful, and boasts a short but impressive lineage featuring three of the best wrestlers in the world who have consistently delivered great matches with the title on the line. The fault doesn’t lay in the talent, but rather managerial direction.
A championship has to have a reason to exist for it to bring value. Even comedy belts carry meaning. Yet for all of the excitement and potential surrounding the IWGP Women’s Championship a year ago, it has already become lost as its purpose quickly disappeared. Why does it exist if women’s wrestling isn’t going to be featured on domestic NJPW shows and there’s a belt for the American market?
If there isn’t an answer for this, then it will never be more than a pretty prop to go around the waist of a wrestler. This is a title that meant so much to Mayu Iwatani that when it was announced, she forfeited her SWA World Championship so that she would have no distractions in her chase. When she won it from Mercedes, she promised to elevate the belt to new heights. Is this the future she had envisioned for the title now she is its champion?
Wrestle Inn 