The World of Stardom Championship (ワールド・オブ・スターダム王座 Wārudo Obu Sutādamu Ōza) is the top singles championship in the World Wonder Ring Stardom (Stardom) promotion. The title, which is situated at the top of Stardom's championship hierarchy, was introduced on June 26, 2011, and the inaugural champion was crowned on July 24, 2011, when Nanae Takahashi defeated Yoko Bito in the finals of a four-woman tournament.
Since its inception title has been considered to be the most prestigious championship belt in World Wonder Ring Stardom and one of the most respected in Japanese professional wrestling and its promoted as World Wonder Ring Stardom's sole primary championship. The championship has been represented by two different belts. The title is often referred to simply as the "Red Belt", a name famously used by All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling to refer to its WWWA World Single Championship. The title has also been defended outside of Japan in three countries in Mexico, United States, and France. The championship has headlined several pay-per-view events, most importantly at their year end event, Dream Queendom.
History[]
On June 26, 2011, Stardom introduced its first two championships, with one of them being World of Stardom Championship, the top title of the promotion. The title was then referred to simply as the "Red Belt", a name famously used by All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling to refer to its WWWA World Single Championship. It was was crafted by American company Top Rope Belts, with a conscious decision to imitate the AJW title belt in terms of its color, with former Stardom CEO Rossy Ogawa referring to the promotion's heyday as the "Golden Age of Joshi Puroresu". Afterwards, Stardom held a tournament to crown the inaugural champion, which Nanae Takahashi won, defeating Yoko Bito in the finals of a four-woman tournament on July 24.
Inaugural Tournament (2011)[]
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||
| Mika Nagano | Pin | ||||||
| Yoko Bito | 9:10 | ||||||
| Yoko Bito | |||||||
| Nanae Takahashi | 13:17 | ||||||
| Mercedes Martinez | |||||||
| Nanae Takahashi | 12:21 | ||||||
Rise in reputation and Yoshiko's incident[]
After Takahashi won the title, the championship began headlined several pay-per-view events, most importantly at their year end event, Year-End Climax. It started to gain international regonition, during German wrestler Alpha Female's, where she the title for two months, before losing it to Io Shirai. Ãt the end of 2013, Stardom finished on a high note, when their year-end event on December 29, was headlined by an interpromotional title vs. title match between World of Stardom Champion Io Shirai and JWP Openweight Champion Arisa Nakajima, which Shirai retained. Nearing the one-year anniversary of her World of Stardom Championship win, Shirai vowed to break Nanae Takahashi's records for both the longest reign (602 days) and most successful title defenses (seven), while also announcing she was accepting challengers from all over the world. On May 17, 2024, Shirai made her record-setting eighth successful defense of the World of Stardom Championship by defeating Star Fire at Lucha Fan Fest 7 in Mexico City. On August 10, Shirai lost the World of Stardom Championship to Yoshiko, ending her reign at 468 days and ten successful defenses.
On February 22, 2015, Stardom's event in Korakuen Hall ended in controversy, when the main event, where Yoshiko defended the World of Stardom Championship against Act Yasukawa, had to be ended prematurely. The match reportedly saw Yoshiko shooting on Yasukawa, legitimately beating her to the point that the match had to be stopped. Following the match, Yasukawa, with a bloody and badly swollen face, was rushed to a Tokyo hospital, where she was diagnosed with fractured cheek, nasal and orbital bones, which would require surgery. Yasukawa had just two months earlier returned from a long injury break brought on by thyroid issues, during which she had also underwent cataract surgery. Stardom's president Rossy Ogawa publicly apologized for the incident and called for an emergency meeting on February 23 to discuss the situation. The incident received mainstream attention in Japan and became known as Seisan Matchi (凄惨マッチ, "Ghastly Match"). On February 25, Stardom held a press conference, where Yoshiko was stripped of the World of Stardom Championship and suspended indefinitely. Shortly after, Stardom announced a tournament to crown a new champion. On March 29, Kairi Hojo defeated Io Shirai in the finals of a four-woman tournament to win the vacant championship.
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||
| Io Shirai | Pin | ||||||
| Takumi Iroha | 17:43 | ||||||
| Io Shirai | 18:46 | ||||||
| Kairi Hojo | Pin | ||||||
| Kairi Hojo | Pin | ||||||
| Kyoko Kimura | 12:24 | ||||||
Regained Reputation and Similar Incidents[]
A year following the incident, Io Shirai regained the title for the record breaking second time. During her reign, the World of Stardom Championship was defended for the second time outside Japan in a Association Biterroise de Catch (ABC) event in Languedoc, France. Shortly after, Stardom began bringing a large influx of foreign wrestlers such as Viper, Taya Valkyrie, Kay Lee Ray and Kasey Owens, who all challenged and failed to win the title from Shirai, resulting in a bigger international appeal for the title and an increase in reputation that led to being considered to be the most prestigious championship belt in World Wonder Ring Stardom and one of the most respected in Japanese professional wrestling. On February 23, Shirai made her eleventh successful defense of the World of Stardom Championship against Shayna Baszler, breaking her own record for most defenses of the title.
After a reign of 18 months with a record 14 successful title defenses, Shirai lost the World of Stardom Championship to Wonder of Stardom Champion Mayu Iwatani on June 21, 2017, as she became the first wrestler to simultaneously hold the World and Wonder of Stardom Championships. Afterwards, Iwatani started to defend both the World and Wonder of Stardom Championships in separate title matches. During her reign, Stardom decided to replace the title belt by a new one with a darker red strap. On September 24, 2017, during a match between the then-current champion Iwatani and Toni Storm, the title changed hands, which was unplanned, as Iwatani legitimately dislocated her elbow, prompting the referee to stop the match and award the championship to Storm.
On November 20, 2023, Rossy Ogawa announced that the World of Stardom Championship would be vacated due to the severity of Tam Nakano's knee injury with a new champion being crowned at Dream Queendom 2023 on December 29. She had been scheduled to defend the red belt against 2023 5★Star GP winner Suzu Suzuki on November 18 at Gold Rush. It was then announced that Suzuki would face Hazuki for her title match on December 2 with the winner moving on to challenge for the vacant title at Dream Queendom. The other challenger would be determined in a four-woman one-night tournament on November 28. At the event, Maika defeated Momo Watanabe in the tournament final to become the first challenger. On December 2, Suzuki defeated Hazuki to become the other challenger, setting up the title match for the vacant title at Dream Queendom. At the event, on December 29, Maika defeated Suzuki to win the vacant title.
New Champion Advance Tournament and Qualifying Match (2024)[]
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||
| Momo Watanabe | Pin | ||||||
| Mina Shirakawa | 9:56 | ||||||
| Momo Watanabe | 14:33 | ||||||
| Maika | Pin | ||||||
| Maika | Pin | ||||||
| Ami Sourei | 9:26 | ||||||
- Nagoya Big Winter - December 2 (Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium - Nagoya, Japan)
| # | Results | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Suzu Suzuki defeated Hazuki | New Champion Qualifying Match for 2023 5★Star GP contract | 14:16 |
| |||
Championship Belt Design[]
Both belt designs of the World of Stardom Championship, contain a red strap with the first being a light red and the second version being a darker burgundy red version. The central plate is large and oval-shaped, featuring red elements and displaying the "World of Stardom Champion" text, in red and white lettering. The Stardom logo is also featured, often accompanied by stars or other decorative elements. The belt as two side plates on each side of the central plate, also oval or rectangular in shape and continue the theme of the central plate, featuring similar gold and red color schemes with decorative patterns and the Stardom logo or stars, aligning with its nickname, the "Red Belt."
Title History[]
As of January 19, 2025, there have been 20 reigns between 17 champions and two vacancies. Nanae Takahashi was the inaugural champion, as well as the longest reign at 602 days. Alpha Female has the shortest reign at 43 days. Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani has the most reigns at two. Meiko Satomura is the oldest champion at 35 years old, while Yoshiko is the youngest at 21 years old.
Saya Kamitani is the current champion in first reign after defeating Tam Nakano to become the new champion at Stardom Dream Queendom 2024.
| # | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Location | Length | Defenses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nanae Takahashi | 1 | July 24, 2011 | Tokyo | 602 Days | 7 | Takahashi defeated Yoko Bito in the finals of a four-woman tournament to become the inaugural champion. |
| 2 | Alpha Female | 1 | March 17, 2013 | Tokyo | 43 Days | 0 | |
| 3 | Io Shirai | 1 | April 29, 2013 | Tokyo | 468 Days | 10 | |
| 4 | Yoshiko | 1 | March 17, 2014 | Tokyo | 199 Days | 1 | |
| — | Vacated | — | February 25, 2015 | Tokyo | — | — | Yoshiko was stripped of the championship and suspended indefinitely for legitimately beating and injuring Act Yasukawa in a title defense on February 22. |
| 5 | Kairi Hojo | 1 | March 29, 2015 | Tokyo | 119 Days | 3 | Defeated Io Shirai in the finals of a four-woman tournament to win the vacant championship. |
| 6 | Meiko Satomura | 1 | July 26, 2015 | Tokyo | 150 Days | 1 | |
| 7 | Io Shirai | 2 | December 23, 2015 | Tokyo | 546 Days | 14 | |
| 8 | Mayu Iwatani | 1 | June 21, 2017 | Tokyo | 95 Days | 2 | |
| 9 | Toni Storm | 1 | September 24, 2017 | Nagoya | 258 Days | 3 | The title change was unplanned as Mayu Iwatani legitimately dislocated her elbow, prompting the referee to stop the match and award the championship to Storm. |
| 10 | Kagetsu | 1 | June 9, 2018 | Yokohama | 329 Days | 8 | |
| 11 | Bea Priestley | 1 | May 4, 2019 | Tokyo | 184 Days | 5 | |
| 12 | Mayu Iwatani | 2 | November 4, 2019 | Tokyo | 377 Days | 5 | |
| 13 | Utami Hayashishita | 1 | November 15, 2020 | Sendai | 409 Days | 9 | |
| 14 | Syuri | 1 | December 29, 2021 | Tokyo | 365 Days | 10 | This was a "Winner takes all" match also for the SWA World Championship. |
| 15 | Giulia | 1 | December 29, 2022 | Tokyo | 115 Days | 2 | |
| 16 | Tam Nakano | 1 | April 23, 2023 | Yokohama | 211 Days | 3 | |
| — | Vacated | — | November 20, 2023 | Tokyo | — | — | Vacated after Nakano being sidelined with injury. |
| 17 | Maika | 1 | December 29, 2023 | Tokyo | 212 Days | 6 | Defeated Suzu Suzuki in a decision match to win the vacant championship. |
| 18 | Natsuko Tora | 1 | July 28, 2024 | Sapporo | 34 Days | 0 | |
| 19 | Tam Nakano | 2 | August 31, 2024 | Tokyo | 120 Days | 2 | |
| 20 | Saya Kamitani | 1 | December 29, 2024 | Tokyo | 21+ | 0 |
Combined reigns[]
| † | Indicates the current champion |
|---|
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined defenses |
Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Io Shirai | 2 | 24 | 1,014 |
| 2 | Nanae Takahashi | 1 | 7 | 602 |
| 3 | Mayu Iwatani | 2 | 472 | |
| 4 | Utami Hayashishita | 1 | 9 | 409 |
| 5 | Syuri | 10 | 365 | |
| 6 | Tam Nakano | 2 | 5 | 331 |
| 7 | Kagetsu | 1 | 8 | 329 |
| 8 | Toni Storm | 3 | 258 | |
| 9 | Maika | 6 | 212 | |
| 10 | Yoshiko | 3 | 199 | |
| 11 | Bea Priestley | 5 | 184 | |
| 12 | Meiko Satomura | 1 | 150 | |
| 13 | Kairi Hojo | 3 | 119 | |
| 14 | Giulia | 2 | 115 | |
| 15 | Alpha Female | 0 | 43 | |
| 16 | Natsuko Tora | 34 | ||
| 17 | Saya Kamitani † | 21+ |
Gallery[]
