On September 20 at Korakuen Hall, 21-year-old Victoria Yuzuki captured the tournament crown in Marigold’s round-robin league, the DREAM STAR GP. Now, she is aiming straight for the Triple Crown in an unexpected three-way match at the October 24 Ryogoku Kokugikan event.
Mai Sakurai Also Departs… The Original Members Leaving One After Another
The moniker “Marigold’s Young Ace” fits the current Yuzuki to perfection. Even before any official announcement was made for the Ryogoku title picture, the possibility of a double title match between World Champion Miku Aono and United National Champion Yuzuki had already crossed people’s minds as a “what if.”
However, what makes this truly surprising is that Super Fly Champion—the “Icon” Mayu Iwatani—stepped forward asking to be thrown into the mix. Now, all three will put their respective titles on the line in a three-way match, where the sole survivor will wear all three belts simultaneously.
In a manner of speaking, it borders on a massive gamble, with Rossy Ogawa’s Marigold effectively entrusting the promotion’s future destiny to its three singles champions.
With Mai Sakurai’s departure, Yuzuki is practically the only founding roster member left standing (as Nao Ishikawa is currently sidelined due to poor health). It is an undeniable fact that Yuzuki harbors a sense of unease, wondering, “What on earth is happening to us?”
Although Yuzuki conquered the DREAM STAR GP, her journey this year has been anything but smooth sailing. During a match at the April 19 Sapporo event, she injured her right knee and was rushed to the hospital.
“I thought it was all over,” Yuzuki recalls. “When I extended my legs for a dropkick, it felt less like something snapped and more like it overstretched. Maybe I should have called it quits right there, but since it was an elimination match, I felt I couldn’t just bail out halfway through. Even dragging my leg, I could still move, so I kept going. The adrenaline was pumping, after all. I knew I’d really messed up.”
Carried out on a stretcher, Yuzuki was wheeled around the hospital in a wheelchair.
“Komomo Minami pushed my wheelchair for me. Since it was the emergency room, they only took X-rays that day. There was no CT scan or anything, so all we knew was that nothing was broken. The next day, when I got an MRI at a hospital in Tokyo, it turned out to be an ACL injury. I was given a choice between reconstructive surgery and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections. If I was okay with taking six months off, I could do the surgery; with the injections, it would take three to four months. After talking it over, I ultimately chose the injections so I could get back in the ring sooner.”
“I had a cast put on, but thankfully I could walk without crutches. I’ve actually never broken a bone before. Aside from occasionally visiting venues in Tokyo or grabbing food nearby, I rested at home and did just a little bit of whatever training I could manage. I really wanted to compete in Utami Hayashishita-san’s farewell match, too, but I held back. Then, I got the green light for the August 9 Ota City show—the exact date I had been targeting for my return—and had my comeback match.”
“It hit me like, ‘Man, that pro wrestling pain is back after a long time.’ I didn’t feel a thing during the match, but it hit me the second I got backstage. I was hurting all over. Sareee and Takumi Iroha are tough. Including Mayu-san, I’ve wrestled all three of them in singles matches before, so personally, I saw this as an opportunity. I stayed active out there to make sure I didn’t get overshadowed by the three of them.”
“Winning the Tournament Was the Only Thing on My Mind”
Yuzuki defeated Sakurai in her opening match. Her opponent in the final was Rea Seto, who had advanced by defeating both Iwatani and Aono.
“I wondered if Mayu-san or Miku-san would be the one waiting for me in the final,” Yuzuki says, “but my head was completely filled with the sole objective of winning the tournament.”
On September 20 at Korakuen Hall, she had to wrestle three tournament matches in a single night: the quarterfinals, semifinals, and final.
“Yuuka Yamazaki is one year into her career. Compared to others in her generation, she can really go. It was fun wrestling her. Still, winning was all I cared about, so I put her away with the cross-arm suplex. As for Kouki Amarei-san, that was my first time beating her. It wasn’t until after I won that it dawned on me—like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s right.’ Because I was genuinely only thinking about winning the whole tournament, it only hit me afterward that I had beaten her for the very first time.”
The Youngest Tournament Winner at 21: “I Slept Like a Log”
Although Yuzuki struggled against Seto’s relentless offense in the final, she captured the crown with a cross-arm suplex.
“Wrestling three matches in one day was exhausting. I wonder how many minutes I wrestled in total. Personally, I prefer having a longer gap between matches. When there’s only one match in between, I find myself wishing for one more match’s worth of rest. It’s not quite enough time to fully catch my breath—just barely enough to mentally reset for the next one. Because my style is so high-tempo, I need time to build my stamina back up.”
Amidst the celebration, Yuzuki remarked, “I just want to go home and sleep.”
“Last year, I came up just one step short, and I wanted to break through that wall. Even though I had been out injured, my foremost thought was that if I was going to enter, I had to win it all. Becoming the youngest winner at 21 gave me an extra spark, and I was thrilled. I slept a ton afterward. People threw a little celebration for me before I headed home, and I even fell asleep right there in that room.”
While Seto debuted in Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling and Yuzuki in Stardom, both belong to the same 2023 debut class.
“Rea and I have fought over both the Super Fly and United National titles before, so I thought it would be pretty cool if a final between us materialized. Rea really changed after joining Darkness Revolution. That character of hers is truly one of a kind. We don’t really chat, so I don’t know for sure, but it’s not like she’s just goofing around—when she’s smiling, she’s genuinely smiling. That’s the vibe I get.”
On October 10, in a United National Championship defense, she avenged her league loss to Diana Strong.
“Diana has a background in powerlifting, so even though she isn’t particularly tall, her muscle mass is incredible.”
Kizuna Tanaka and Seri Yamaoka, who have both been sidelined, will make their returns at the Ryogoku event. “We’ll finally have the full Marigo roster back together at Ryogoku,” Yuzuki said happily.
“Icon Peach Arrow—my trio with Iwatani and Minami—is so much fun. When the three of us are together, we just sparkle. Our rhythm really clicks. I want to spread the word about how amazing the three of us are, not just within Marigold, but across the entire pro wrestling world. When the three of us wrestled in GLEAT the other day, we really tore the house down, didn’t we?”
“At Heart, I’ll Be 18 Forever” — A Bold Triple Crown Declaration
When the conversation turned to food, Yuzuki let out a delighted “Oh!”
“I had prosciutto carpaccio recently. It was so delicious I went back for seconds.”
Given that Yuzuki usually dislikes raw meat and raw fish alike, it was surprising that she ate it at all—and apparently, she liked it quite a lot.
“I even bought prosciutto at the supermarket, sliced up some onions, soaked them in water, and made it myself. I’ve been cooking lately. At home, I’ve officially graduated from Uber Eats.”
When asked, “Do you know what arugula is?”, she came back with an amusing answer.
“I don’t know what that is, but I cannot eat cilantro. That stuff smells just like stink bugs, doesn’t it? There was a little bit of it in my dandan noodles once, and I felt like I was eating something humans aren’t meant to consume.”
Even as her standing in the promotion changes, Yuzuki’s personality remains the same.
“Whether I’m 20 or 21, I don’t feel any different on the inside. I don’t think I’ll change much no matter how old I get. Even if my outward appearance changes a bit, I’m still just as cheeky, and who I am on the inside hasn’t changed. No matter how old I get, at heart, I’ll be 18 forever. Eternally 18. Mentally, I’m still a high school student, because that’s the most fun time of your life. It’s like I want to grow up, yet I don’t want to at the same time. At what point do people start feeling like time is flying by, anyway?”
For Ryogoku Kokugikan, Yuzuki had originally anticipated a standard defense of her United National Championship, but things took an unforeseen turn. While it is still undeniably a title defense, the three-way stipulation also makes it an unconventional championship challenge. She admits to feeling some confusion. Even so, she declared emphatically, “I want all kinds of people to watch the Ryogoku main event. I want Marigold to reach a wider audience!”
“Personally, I see this as an opportunity. It does feel a little early, but since I was naturally planning to gun for the Red Belt next after the United National title anyway—and since Mayu-san took the Super Fly title from me—I want to win that back from Mayu-san, too. The one who will become Triple Crown Champion in Marigold is me, Victoria Yuzuki.”
Yuzuki is bursting with vibrant energy.
Sipping an iced café au lait sweetened with three packs of gum syrup, she flashed a bright grin.
“I actually want to put ten packs of gum syrup in and make it even sweeter, but that’s a little embarrassing.”
Translator’s Notes:
- The “Red Belt” (Aka) & Marigold’s Championship Hierarchy: When Yuzuki says she planned to aim for “the Red” (aka) after the United National Championship, she is referring to the Marigold World Championship, which features a crimson leather strap (continuing the tradition launched by Rossy Ogawa in Stardom and originating from All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling’s WWWA World Single Championship). Similarly, the United National Championship has a white strap, while the Super Fly Championship has a light blue strap and carries a 55 kg (121 lbs) weight limit. Winning all three simultaneously constitutes the Marigold “Triple Crown” (Sankan).
- “Icon Peach Arrow” (Aikon Pīchi Arō): The name of the trio formed by Mayu Iwatani, Komomo Minami, and Victoria Yuzuki is a portmanteau of their respective motifs and kanji: “Icon” from Iwatani’s longtime moniker (“The Icon of Stardom” / “The Icon of Marigold”), “Peach” from the momo (桃, peach) in Komomo Minami’s name, and “Arrow” from the yumi (弓, bow/archery) in Victoria Yuzuki’s name.
- “Senjo” (Senjo): In the original text, Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling is referred to by its ubiquitous industry shorthand Senjo (仙女), combining the first kanji of Sendai (仙台) and Joshi (女子).
- “Marigo” (Marigo): An affectionate, colloquial abbreviation for Marigold (マリーゴールド) used by both roster members and domestic fans.
- Prosciutto as “Raw Ham” (Nama-hamu): In Japanese, dry-cured prosciutto is called nama-hamu (生ハム, literally “raw/uncooked ham”). Because the word contains the kanji 生 (nama, raw), people who dislike raw fish (sashimi) or rare meat often lump nama-hamu into the same category, explaining why the interviewer was surprised that Yuzuki enjoyed prosciutto carpaccio.
- Cilantro and Stink Bugs (Pakuchī & Kamemushi): In Japan, cilantro/coriander is almost universally known by its Thai name, pakuchī (パクチー). For people with the genetic predisposition that makes cilantro unpleasant, the standard cultural comparison in Japan is not “soap” (as in the West), but kamemushi (カメムシ, stink bugs), which emit aldehydes chemically identical to those found in cilantro leaves.
- Gum Syrup (Gamu Shiroppu / Gamushiro): Japanese cafés serve iced coffee and iced café au lait unsweetened alongside small, single-serve plastic pods of liquid sugar syrup thickened with gum arabic (gamu shiroppu). Most patrons use one pod; using three is already considered a very sweet tooth, making her confession about wanting ten pods a humorous callback to her “eternally 18-year-old high schooler” palate.