Finals Set To Crown First Ever IWGP Women's Champion

The finals of the IWGP Women's Title tourney could be a Match of the Year candidate.

Oct 23, 2022 October 23rd, 2022

With New Japan Pro-Wrestling and World Wrestling Ring Stardom having introduced the IWGP Women's Title, we now know which two competitors will be squaring off to crown the first ever IWGP Women's Champion.

Today's Goddess of Stardom Tag League 2022 event saw KAIRI vs. Mayu Iwatani set in motion to crown the inaugural IWGP Women's Champion at NJPW x STARDOM Historic X-Over next month.

At Night 1 of Goddess of Stardom Tag League, KAIRI bested Jazzy Gabert to earn herself a spot in the Women's Title tournament finals. Likewise, Mayu defeated Utami Hayashashita to earn her place up against KAIRI.

NJPW x STARDOM Historic X-Over will take place from on 20 November from Tokyo's Ariake Arena. At present, the line-up for that event reads as follows:

- Suzuki-gun's Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru & meltear's Tam Nakano and Natsupoi vs. Suzuki-gun's El Desperado and Douki & Black Desire's Starlight Kid and Momo

- Hiroshi Tanahasa and Utami Hayashishita vs. Hirooki Goto and Maika

- Tom Lawler and Syuri vs. Zack Sabre Jr. and Giulia

- KAIRI vs. Mayu Iwatani for the IWGP Women's Title

Whoever emerges vicious in that KAIRI vs. Mayu match will see their first title defence take place at Wrestle Kingdom 17 in January. From there, the current plan is for the IWGP Women's Championship to be defended in both Japan and the US by STARDOM talent.

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.

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