KAIRI Becomes Inaugural IWGP Women's Champion

KAIRI emerged victorious at NJPW x STARDOM Historical X-Over.

by Andrew Pollard
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NJPW/STARDOM

At today's NJPW x STARDOM Historical X-Over event, KAIRI beat Mayu Iwatani to become the inaugural IWGP Women's Champion.

KAIRI secured the victory after hitting a spinning back fist followed by her patented top rope elbow drop, and she already has a challenger on the horizon. Post-match, the former NXT Women's Champion stated how she intended to defend her newly won prize at Wrestle Kingdom 17 at the turn of the year, but that she wasn't sure who her opponent would be. Step forward, Tam Nakano - who came out to challenge KAIRI for WK17.

To get to Historical X-Over, KAIRI bested Jazzy Gabert on Night 1 of Goddess of STARDOM Tag League last month, while Mayu defeated Utami Hayashashita on that same night.

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It was previously stated how the IWGP Women's Title would be defended in both Japan and the US, so it remains to be seen where and when those Stateside defences take place. Already, some are pondering the prospect of KAIRI matching up against some of AEW's finest female grapplers.

Elsewhere at Historical X-Over, the full results read as follows:

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- Tomohiro Ishii, YOH, YOSHI-HASHI & Lio Rush beat Dick Togo, EVIL, SHO & Yukiro Takahashi

- AZM, Lady C & Saya Kamitani beat Himeka, Mai Sakurai & Thekla

- Guilia & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Syuri & Tom Lawlor

- Natsupoi, Tam Nakano, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat Momo Watanabe, Starlight Kid, DOUKI & El Desperado

- Hiroshi Tanahashi & Utami Hayashashita beat Hirooki Goto & Maika

- Kyle Fletcher, Mark Davis, TJP, Gideon Grey & Francesco Akira beat Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI

- Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & Great Muta beat Aaron Henare, Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan

- IWGP United States Champion Will Ospreay beat Shota Umino

- KAIRI beat Mayu Iwatani to become IWGP Women’s Champion

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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.