2023 World Wonder Ring Stardom event
Stardom New Blood Premium (スターダム ニューブラッド プレミアム, Sutādamu nyūburaddo puremiamu) was a professional wrestling event promoted by World Wonder Ring Stardom. The event took place on March 25, 2023, in Yokohama, Japan at the Yokohama Budokan. The event saw the finals of the New Blood Tag Team Championship tournament to crown the inaugural New Blood Tag Team Champions.[2][3]
Production
Background
The "New Blood" is a series of events that mainly focus on matches where rookie wrestlers, usually with three or fewer years of in-ring experience, evolve. Besides wrestlers from Stardom, various superstars from multiple promotions of the Japanese independent scene are invited to compete in bouts that are usually going under the stipulation of singles or tag team matches.[4]
The show featured nine professional wrestling matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that build tension and culminates in a wrestling match or series of matches.[5]
During the Stardom New Blood 6 event, the New Blood Tag Team Championship were introduced alongside a tournament to crown the inaugural champions which was set to begin at New Blood 7 on January 20, and concluding at New Blood Premium in Yokohama Budokan on March 25.[6]
On the twelfth night of the Triangle Derby I from February 17, 2023, Stardom announced Hanako Ueda, Sakura Ishiguro and Komomo Minami as their newest trainees and they were all set to make their debuts at New Blood Premium on March 25, 2023.[7] At the event's press conference from March 7, their respective matches were announced alongside their new ring names. Ishiguro and Ueda would go under the names of Sakura Aya and Hanako, while Minami kept her original name.[8] Minami was scheduled to face Hazuki but suffered a legitimate injury while training and was pulled out of the card.
Event
The first two matches of the preshow were broadcast on Stardom's YouTube channel. In the first one, Hanan and Hina picked up a victory over Stars (Momo Kohgo and Saya Iida) and YoungOED (Rina and Ruaka), and in the second one, World of Stardom Champion Giulia defeated a debuting Sakura Aya.[9] The first main card bout saw Maika and Himeka picking up a victory over a debuting Hanako and Lady C. Next up, Mariah May dressed up a "Sexy Dynamite Princess" defeated Super Strong Stardom Machine in singles competition. The fifth match saw one of the semifinals of the inaugural New Blood Tag Team Championship tournament in which Mirai and Tomoka Inaba defeated stablemates Ami Sourei and Nanami to advance to the finals. In the sixth match, Starlight Kid and Karma defeated Mai Sakurai and Chanyota to secure the other spot in the tournament finals. In the eighth confrontation, Syuri defeated Miyu Amasaki in one of the latter's "triumph series" of matches. In the semi main event, Starlight Kid and Karma defeated Mirai and Tomoka Inaba to become the first-ever New Blood Tag Team Champions. They received a challenge from Lady C and Hanako right after the bout concluded.[10][11]
In the main event, Tam Nakano and Waka Tsukiyama defeated one half of the Goddess of Stardom Champions Nanae Takahashi and Kairi. Tsukiyama succeeded in scoring a victory in almost two years.[12]
