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Mayu Iwatani

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Mayu Iwatani (岩谷 麻由, Iwatani Mayu, ring name: 岩谷 麻優) (born February 19, 1993) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. Since making her debut in January 2011, she became a two-time World of Stardom Champion, two-time Wonder of Stardom Champion, one-time High Speed Champion, two-time Goddess of Stardom Champion, a five-time Artist of Stardom Champion and a current one-time SWA World Champion, while also having won the Cinderella Tournament back to back in 2015 and 2016, and the 2018 5★Star Grand Prix. Upon winning the SWA World Championship in May 2022, Iwatani became Stardom's Second Grand Slam Champion. In Stardom's sister New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), she is the current IWGP Women's Champion in her first reign.

Iwatani since the launch of the company, she became one of its franchise players and one of its public faces for the next decade, leading the highly decorated wrestling journalist, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, stating that Iwatani and fellow Japanese workers and real-life best friends, Io Shirai and Kairi Hojo "three of the best wrestlers in the world". Iwatani as been named Tokyo Sports woman's wrestler of the year in 2019, and between 2018 and 2020, was named in the top 10 and 20 of Pro Wrestling Illustrated's list of the top 500 women wrestlers in the world at ninth, sixteen and tenth places. Iwatani has headlined several Stardom pay-per-view events, including Stardom's biggest annual event Year-End Climax. She is also recognized as the "ace" of Stardom.

Through a working relationship between Stardom and its then-American partner, Ring of Honor (ROH), she also made appearances in the promotion, where she is also former one-time Women of Honor World Champion.

Early life[]

Iwatani grew up in the countryside of Mine, Yamaguchi with her family, which includes two older brothers. In primary school, she practiced judo and high jump, but in high school, she began isolating herself from society, spending three years mostly indoors. After quitting high school, she fell in love with professional wrestling after seeing a Dragon Gate event. She contacted Fuka, the general manager of the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion, who were looking for new wrestlers, and eventually moved to Tokyo in 2010 to pursue a career in professional wrestling.

Professional wrestling career[]

World Wonder Ring Stardom (2011–present)[]

Iwatani was part of Stardom's first class of trainees. She made her professional wrestling debut at the promotion's inaugural event on January 23, 2011, facing fellow debutante Arisa Hoshiki. Afterwards, Iwatani and Hoshiki formed a tag team named AMA, which became one of Stardom's most popular acts. Despite her popularity, Iwatani was the last of the class one trainees to obtain a win in a professional wrestling ring. In June, she was defeated by Eri Susa, the other winless Stardom trainee, and subsequently became known as Stardom's weakest wrestler. Iwatani was winless for the first eleven months of her career, before finally defeating Susa in a rematch on December 25, 2011. Afterwards, Iwatani and Hoshiki became part of Io Shirai's "Planet" stable, along with Natsumi Showzuki.

Following Hoshiki's retirement from professional wrestling in June 2012, Iwatani began teaming with Io Shirai under the team name "Thunder Rock". She also became part of a stable named Tawashis with Hiroyo Matsumoto and Miho Wakizawa. The three went on to win the Artist of Stardom Championship on December 29, 2013, by defeating Alpha Female, The Female Predator "Amazon" and Kyoko Kimura. On July 27, 2014, Iwatani won her first singles title, when she defeated her teammate Miho Wakizawa for the vacant Wonder of Stardom Championship. After a record-setting eight-month reign, Tawashis lost the Artist of Stardom Championship to Hatsuhinode Kamen, Kaori Yoneyama and Tsubasa Kuragaki on August 10, 2014. On January 18, 2015, Iwatani lost the Wonder of Stardom Championship to Act Yasukawa.

On April 23, 2015, Iwatani won the first annual Cinderella Tournament, defeating Koguma in the finals. As a result, Iwatani was granted a shot at Stardom's top title, the World of Stardom Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion, Kairi Hojo, on May 17. On May 6, Iwatani and Io Shirai, Thunder Rock, defeated Chelsea and Kairi Hojo to win the vacant Goddess of Stardom Championship. On October 11, Iwatani defeated Rosa Negra to also win the High Speed Championship. During their tag team title reign, Thunder Rock also won the 2015 Goddesses of Stardom Tag Tournament. On February 28, 2016, Iwatani became a triple champion, when she, Shirai and Kairi Hojo, billed together as "Threedom" (a combination of the words "Three" and "Stardom"), defeated Evie, Hiroyo Matsumoto and Kellie Skater for the Artist of Stardom Championship. In April, Iwatani, along with Hojo and Shirai, traveled to the United States to take part in events held by Lucha Underground and Vendetta Pro Wrestling. On April 29, Iwatani won her second Cinderella Tournament in a row, defeating Hiroyo Matsumoto in the finals. As a result, Iwatani received another shot at the World of Stardom Championship, but was defeated by Io Shirai on May 15. After setting records for both the longest reign and most successful title defenses, Iwatani and Shirai lost the Goddess of Stardom Championship to Kagetsu and Kyoko Kimura in their 11th title defense on June 16. On October 2, Threedom lost the Artist of Stardom Championship to Hana Kimura, Kagetsu and Kyoko Kimura in their third defense.

On November 11, both Thunder Rock and Threedom were dissolved, when Shirai turned on Iwatani, after the two had lost to Hojo and Yoko Bito in the finals of the 2016 Goddesses of Stardom Tag League. This led to Iwatani unsuccessfully challenging Shirai for the World of Stardom Championship at Stardom's year-end show on December 22. The following day, the match was named Stardom's 2016 Match of the Year. Reportedly, Iwatani was originally scheduled to win the match and the World of Stardom Championship, but the result was changed after she told Stardom that she wanted to retire from professional wrestling in 2017. After nine successful title defenses, Iwatani lost the High Speed Championship to Kris Wolf in a three-way match, also involving Kagetsu, on February 23, 2017. On April 30, Iwatani made it to the finals of her third Cinderella Tournament in a row, but was this time defeated by Toni Storm. With Storm going after the World of Stardom Championship, Iwatani chose to challenge for the Wonder of Stardom Championship. On May 14, Iwatani defeated Kairi Hojo to win the Wonder of Stardom Championship for the second time. Shortly afterwards it was reported that Iwatani was no longer considering retirement and was being positioned as Stardom's top star in the wake of Io Shirai and Kairi Hojo's departures from the promotion.

On June 21, Iwatani defeated Shirai to win the World of Stardom Championship for the first time in her fifth challenge, becoming the first wrestler to simultaneously hold the World and Wonder of Stardom Championships. Afterwards, Iwatani started defending both the World and Wonder of Stardom Championships in separate title matches. On September 23, Iwatani lost the Wonder of Stardom Championship to Yoko Bito in her third defense. The following day, Iwatani lost the World of Stardom Championship to Storm, again in her third defense. The title change was unplanned as the match had to be stopped after only two minutes due to Iwatani legitimately dislocating her elbow, forcing referee Daichi Murayama to award the title to Storm. Iwatani returned to the ring on December 10 to take part in Yoko Bito's final match in Shin-Kiba 1st Ring.

Since her return, Iwatani became a leader of a new unit named "STARS". On February 18, 2018, Iwatani and Tam Nakano challenged Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura and Kagetsu) for the Goddesses of Stardom Championship, but were unsuccessful. On April 1, Iwatani tried to capture again the World of Stardom Championship from Storm after Iwatani was injured in their last match, but was unsuccessful. On June 3, Iwatani, along with Saki Kashima, defeated Hana Kimura and Kagetsu to win the Goddesses of Stardom Championship. On September 24, Iwatani won the 5★Star GP after defeating Utami Hayashishita in the finals. On September 30, at the afternoon show of 5★Star Grand Champion Carnival, Iwatani won the Artist of Stardom Championship with Kashima and Nakano after defeating J.A.N. (Jungle Kyona, Kaori Yoneyama and Natsuko Tora), however, Iwatani and Kashima lost the Goddess of Stardom Championship to Kyona and Tora during the evening show. On May 16, 2019, STARS (Iwatani, Kashima and Nakano) lost the Artist of Stardom Championship Tokyo Cyber Squad (Hana Kimura, Jungle Kyona and Konami). Stars won the title for the second time on June 23, after defeating Tokyo Cyber Squad. Stars held the title until July 20, when they lost the championship to Andras Miyagi, Kagetsu and Sumire Natsu. On November 4, Iwatani defeated Bea Priestley to win the World of Stardom Championship for the second time. At Stardom Cinderella Tournament 2020, Iwatani wrestled Hana Kimura into a time-limit draw during the first round matches from March 24. At Stardom Yokohama Cinderella 2020 on October 3, 2020, she successfully defended the World of Stardom Championship against Syuri. On November 15, 2020, Iwatani lost the World Championship to Utami Hayashishita, ending her reign at 377 days. At Stardom Osaka Dream Cinderella 2020 on December 20, Iwatani teamed up with Stars stablemates Starlight Kid and Gokigen Death and unsuccessfully challenged the then sub-unit of STARS, Cosmic Angels (Mina Shirakawa, Tam Nakano and Unagi Sayaka) for the Artist of Stardom Championship. After they retained, Sayaka, Nakano and Shirakawa announced that they would split up from STARS to act as an independent unit. On November 15, 2020, Iwatani lost the World of Stardom Championship to Utami Hayashishita, ending her reign at 377 days. On October 9, at Osaka Dream Cinderella, Iwatani went into a time limit draw against Tam Nakano for the Wonder of Stardom Championship. On May 5, 2022, Iwatani defeated Thekla to win the SWA World Championship for her first time becoming the second Grand Slam champion in the promotion's history. From July 30 until October 1, Iwatani took part in the 2022 5★Star GP, competing in the Blue Stars block, where she finished the tournament with a record of nine wins, four losses and one draw, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament.

In October, Iwatani took part in a tournament to become the inaugural IWGP Women's Champion. In the first round of the tournament, she defeated Odeo Tai's Momo Watanabe on October 22 and a day later, Iwatani defeated Utami Hayashishita in a semi-final match of the tournament. After the match, Iwatani stare down with KAIRI who would face each other in the finals at Historic X-Over as both women got a hold of the IWGP Women's Championship belt in the middle of the ring. On November 3, 2022, after successfully defending the SWA World Championship against Alpha Female, Iwatani relinquished the title in order to focus on her match against KAIRI at Historic X-Over on November 20. At the event, Iwatani was defeated KAIRI in the finals.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2020–Present)[]

On January 4, 2020, Iwatani along with Giulia made their debut, Hana Kimura and Arisa Hoshiki made a appearance at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 14 event at the Tokyo Dome in a special exhibition dark tag team match where they defeated Giulia and Hana Kimura. The following year, on January 5, Iwatani made her second appearance in NJPW at Wrestle Kingdom 15 where she, alongside Tam Nakano, lost to Giulia and Syuri in another special exhibition dark tag team match.

On December 11, it was later announced that Stardom wrestlers would be competing at the event, for the third consecutive year, with a draw being held to determine the competitors for the event. After drawing straws, it was announced that Iwatani along with Starlight Kid would be competing against Tam Nakano and Saya Kamitani, with the match this time with match being in the full card instead of a dark match. On January 5, at Wrestle Kingdom 16, Iwatani and Kid lost faced Nakano and Kamitani in a losing effort.

On April 8, 2023, at Sakura Genesis after the IWGP Women's Champion Mercedes Moné retained the title against AZM and Hazuki in a three-way match, Iwatani challenged Moné for the title at Stardom All Star Grand Queendom, which Moné accepted, before proceding to slap her and leaving the ring. At the event, on April 23, Iwatani defeated Moné to become the new IWGP Women's Champion. On August 13, during Stardom x Stardom: Osaka Summer Team, Iwatani had her first successful title defense against Utami Hayashishita.

Ring of Honor (2017–2019)[]

On December 15, Iwatani made her debut for American promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), when she was announced as part of a tournament to crown the inaugural Women of Honor Champion. At Bound By Honor, Iwatani challenged champion Kelly Klein to a title match, in which she defeated Klein for the title. Iwatani successfully defended the title twice before losing the title back to Klein at the G1 Supercard on April 6, 2019.

Other media[]

On August 2020, Iwatani released her own memoir. On June 6, 2022, it was announced that a movie based on Iwatani's memoir, would be produced under the name Runaway Wrestler.

In wrestling[]

  • Finishing moves
    • Bridging high-angle dragon suplex, sometimes while delaying
    • Frog splash – 2014
    • Fubuki Rana (Springboard reverse hurricanrana from the corner into a pin)
    • Magica de Mayu (Backslide while applying a floatover bridging pin) – 2014
    • Moonsault
    • Two Step Dragon Suplex (Wheelbarrow bridging dragon suplex)
    • Wheelbarrow dragon sleeper - 2019-present
  • Signature moves
    • Brainbuster, sometimes from the top rope
    • Cross armbreaker
    • Dragonrana (Somersault hurricanrana) – 2014; adopted from Dragon Kid
    • Diving double foot stomp
    • Diving splash
    • Dodonpa (Crucifix driver)
    • Double leg takedown, followed by mounted punches
    • Dropkick, sometimes after a schoolgirl rollup or while diving
    • Headscissors takedown
    • Kneeling facebuster, outside of the ring
    • Lariat
    • Multiple pin variations
      • Backslide
      • Jackknife
      • Schoolboy
      • Small package
      • Victory roll
    • Multiple suplex variations
      • Belly to back
      • German
      • Wrist-clutch northern lights
    • Roundhouse kick
    • Running Three (Running crucifix powerbomb) – adopted from Chigusa Nagayo
    • Sky High (Sitout spinebuster)
    • Spinning sitout sleeper slam
    • Springboard arm drag
    • Suicide dive
    • Superkick
    • Tombstone piledriver
  • Nicknames
    • "Sutādamu no Icon" (Japanese for "Icon of Stardom")
    • "Sekai ni Todoroku Sutādamu no Icon" (Japanese for "Icon of Stardom Roaring Around the World")
    • "Hyper Technician"
    • "Sky Blue no Stardom Future"
    • "The Gift"
  • Entrance themes
    • "Blue Bird" by Ikimono-gakari
    • "Life Is Show Time" by Golden Bomber
    • "The Savior" by World Wonder Ring Stardom
    • "One and Only" by Io Shirai, Mayu Iwatani and Kazuhiro Kojima (used while teaming with Io Shirai)

Championships and accomplishments[]

  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    • Ranked No. 9 of the top 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2018
    • Ranked No. 16 of the top 100 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Women's 100 in 2019
    • Ranked No. 10 of the top 100 female wrestlers in the PWI Female 100 in 2020
  • Ring of Honor
    • Women of Honor World Championship (1 time)
    • 5★Star GP (2018)
    • 5★Star GP Award (4 times)
      • 5★Star GP Best Match Award (2015) vs. Io Shirai on August 23
      • 5★Star GP Best Match Award (2017) vs. Kagetsu on September 18
      • 5★Star GP Red Stars Best Bout Award (2021) vs. Giulia on August 1
      • 5★Star GP Outstanding Performance Award (2014)
    • Stardom Year-End Award (10 times)
      • Best Match Award (2016) vs. Io Shirai on December 22
      • Best Match Award (2018) with Io Shirai vs. Kagetsu and Hazuki
      • Best Match Award (2020) vs. Utami Hayashishita on November 15
      • Best Tag Team Award (2015) with Io Shirai
      • Fighting Spirit Award (2017)
      • Technique Award (2014, 2015)
      • MVP Award (2019)
      • Special Award (2021)
      • Outstanding Performance Award (2023)
      • Best Unit Award (2022) with Hazuki, Koguma, Saya Iida, Hanan and Momo Kohgo as STARS
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