---

So I mentioned the other day about how western fans want Stardom and New Japan to kinda fuse. More specifically, they think it's backwards that New Japan has no women on their shows (besides a few valets). And you hear that and it's like... yeah?? that doesn't sound great?? And if you're a fan who loves new japan and wants to see some of the best women's wrestling peppered on a show too, this seems awfully convenient!

But think about this from the opposite perspective. Image you're a Stardom fan. What benefit do you get from this? Now all your big matches are happening on another show, filled with matches with men that you may not care about. Would they get top billing, Almost certainly not... and the amount of slots for talent starts to shrink up, as they have to compete with an already full roster of male wrestlers with a fanbase that is already there to see them.

You can see this in western Women's Wrestling. Even in WWE, where, somehow, despite everything, women are given far more respect and time than most other promotions, they are given a small fraction of time on the show and while given main event spots regularly, still have to compete with the fact that they have a to compete with an audience who probably got into wrestling when it was male dominant. This also suffers from the fact these are two rosters who can only interact in a limited capacity and time for one takes away from the other. They are, in a way, a smaller show within a show.

The counter argument to this, which is true in the west is, yeah, sure, these are problems, but how many people were, say, following Shimmer or Shine (two western Women promotions)? Almost no one. High quality women's matches on WWE or AEW are really the only way to expose people to this kind of entertainment.

... But that's not true in Japan. Even ignoring periods in the 80s and 90s where Joshi companies were doing more business than their male counterparts, Stardom spent the whole pandemic growing, and being profitable, while New Japan was languishing. Growing and expanding their audience, running more PPVs, running bigger arenas and while they have not surpassed New Japan overall, the idea that a company and its talent would work so hard and build their fanbase only to be rewarded a second place prize in a currently male promotion is, even as a fan of both, insulting and only to the benefit of those too lazy to follow women's wrestling otherwise.

I can't properly describe how refreshing it is, after watching the whole Women's Revolution era of WWE to watch shows where... women open the show, they close the show. Everyone in the arena is there to see them. There isn't a 'death spot' or fans being 'cold for the women's match'. That you can just have so much diversity in talent in your roster and give so many more people a chance to get over. After years of watching like this, I can't go back to shared rosters.

Now, to be clear, while there was some possibility this could have happened, this doesn't seem to be the plan. Bushi Road seems to be keeping Stardom and New Japan as close siblings They'll cross over, share stars, and even, to fit western tastes, tour together in the US (though this does make me sad, but it's fine). That they can use one to give exposure to the other without giving one clear supremacy. Cause I do want people to be exposed to some of my favorite wrestlers, but not at the cost of slipping into the Separate-but not-quite-Equal thing we got going on over here and I really wish fans wouldn't demand this so blindly. There is a value to independence.

---