The first ever IWGP Women’s Champion was crowned at the NJPW X STARDOM Historic X-Over event.
At the joint event, KAIRI (fka WWE’s Kairi Sane) faced off against Mayu Iwatani in the finals of the IWGP Women’s Title tournament.
KAIRI was ultimately victorious, defeating Iwatani with her signature top rope elbow drop.
Following the bout, the two stars showed respect to one another. KAIRI then confirmed that she will defend her gold at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4, 2023.
During the tournament, KAIRI received a first round bye, before defeating Jazzy Gabert in their semifinal bout during the October 23 Goddesses of Stardom Tag League show.
Mayu Iwatani had bested Momo Watanabe and Utami Hayashishita before coming up short against KAIRI in the finals.
As previously stated, the new title will be defended at NJPW events both in Japan and in the USA. The gold is just an additional title, and won’t replace or become STARDOM’s top championship.
Also at the event, Kenny Omega made an appearance via a vignette to issue a challenge for Wrestle Kingdom 17.
Here are the full results from the event (via Fightful):
– Clark Connors, Alex Coughlin, Gabriel Kidd & Kevin Knight def. Oskar Leube, Yuto Nakashima, Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita
– MIRAI won the STARDOM Ranbo
– Lio Rush, YOH, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI def. EVIL, SHO, Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo
– Saya Kamitani, AZM & Lady C def. Thekla, Himeka & Mai Sakurai
– Giulia & Zack Sabre Jr. def. Syuri & Tom Lawlor
– Tam Nakano, Natsupoi, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru def. Starlight Kid, Momo Watanabe, El Desperado & DOUKI
– Utami Hayashishita & Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Maika & Hirooki Goto
– Kyle Fletcher, Mark Davis, TJP, Francesco Akira & Gideon Grey def. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI
– Kazuchika Okada, The Great Muta & Toru Yano def. Jeff Cobb, Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan
– Will Ospreay (c) def. Shota Umino – IWGP US Championship
– KAIRI def. Mayu Iwatani – IWGP Women’s Championship
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