Puroresu Pulse

Giulia’s Troublemaker Syndrome (Sindrome) — Installment #189

Giulia suffered a defeat against Blake Monroe in their long-awaited clash, yet left an undeniable impact. As she looks back on a war with a rival that leaves fans demanding a rematch, she also opens up about the departure of her former Marigold junior, Mai Sakurai.

Interviewer (hearafter G-Guard): The match against Blake finally happened. Even in defeat, it was a massive war that screamed “This is Giulia!”

Giulia (hereafter G): Now that I’ve returned to the ring after turning babyface, that might be the first time I’ve been able to have a match that truly felt like me. I’ve entered my third year since coming here [to WWE], and now that I’m gradually gaining more connections and juniors on the main roster, things are slowly getting a lot more interesting. It was a match built on everything that happened leading up to the bell—tongue-lashings, ambushes, and all sorts of back-and-forth. Plus, I knew going in that she’s a tough customer who can take a beating, so I didn’t hold back a single bit.

G-Guard: The striking exchanges were intense, too.

G: People might wonder if it’s really okay to punch a beauty like her right in the face (wry smile). But with Blake, I know I can throw anything at her, and of course, whatever she dishes back at me, I have zero complaints—that’s the kind of trust and relationship we had going in. It honestly felt pretty close to the vibe of my matches with Tam (laughs). Also, it really reminded me all over again just how important the story leading up to a match is.

G-Guard: What do you mean by that?

G: Ever since my days in Japan, I’ve always been the type of wrestler who fires up my own emotions through my dynamic and relationship with my opponent, and then clashes with them head-on. I’m putting in the effort to adjust to the WWE style, of course, but at the same time, I have no intention of changing who I am at my core. Pro wrestling only truly captures people’s attention when two human beings collide with every ounce of their emotions. Also, it hit me once again that America is a society built on negotiation. No matter what you want to do, you first have to persuade the producers, or you won’t be able to get your vision across. And to do that, I need to be able to clearly communicate my ideas in English. In that sense, I feel like I was able to show the fruits of these past two years a little bit.

G-Guard: However, at the very end, you struck your head and lost via what looked like a referee stoppage / TKO.

G: I got a massive goose egg on my forehead (laughs), but my spirit isn’t broken in the slightest. It’s very much To be continued. There is no way I’m satisfied with how things ended this time… not even one bit. It feels like the match got cut short because I took a bad spill. With her, I think we can take things to a much, much more dangerous level. She has a gorgeous face, yet she possesses an incredible fighting spirit.

G-Guard: On the day of the Blake match, your former junior, Mai Sakurai, announced her departure from Marigold.

G: Actually, we talked on the phone before she made the announcement. We talked for about four hours—about the current state of Marigold, how she was feeling personally, and all of that. During our talk, she told me, “Part of me also felt like I had to protect a place for you to come home to, Giulia-san.”

G-Guard: Sakurai-san is so earnest and gives everything she has, which is precisely why she tends to carry so many burdens on her own shoulders.

G: That’s Sakurai’s bad habit, isn’t it (laughs). Look, I’m happy that she says those things for my sake, I really am. However, before anything else, she is an individual pro wrestler with her own life—so I told her not to make decisions for the promotion or for someone else, but to put herself first and decide what she wants to do. I told her that if it’s a decision Sakurai made for herself, I’ll respect it and support her all the way, and then we hung up.

G-Guard: In the end, Sakurai-san decided to leave the promotion, stating she wants to rest her body and mind.

G: The roster members who came over from Stardom have been quitting one after another, so she really worked her heart out holding the fort. Whether through tears or laughter, she has one match left. I want her to wrestle that match to the fullest, and then give her body and mind a proper rest. Because her life belongs to her, and her alone.

G-Guard: Representative Ogawa has shown frustration over how Sakurai-san’s departure unfolded.

G: Hey, that’s classic Ogawa-san, and I think that’s fine. When things get tough, you have to put up an even bigger front and talk a big game. Ogawa-san has always been the type to drop shocking, radical remarks that startle the public, and the truth is, that’s his way of lighting a fire under the roster so they think, “We have to step up and do something about this ourselves!”. Even from across the ocean, I look at him and think, “Man, Rossy’s roots really never change, do they?” (laughs). It’s precisely when their backs are against the wall that I hope they dig their heels in and rebuild a brand-new Marigold. Until next time—Arrivederci, see you!

Translator’s Notes

• Column Title & Wordplay (Giulia no Osawagase Sindrome): The serialized column title translates to “Giulia’s Troublemaker Syndrome” (stylized with the Italian spelling Sindrome in the magazine header). Osawagase refers to someone who stirs up commotion, controversy, or buzz wherever they go—a nod to Giulia’s career-long reputation as a polarizing, headline-grabbing disruptor in the wrestling world.
• The Interviewer (Giulia Ban / “G-Guard”): In Japanese sports journalism, a reporter assigned specifically to cover a single athlete or promotion full-time is called a ban-kisha (beat reporter). Here, the magazine abbreviates Giulia-ban as G-ban (localized as “Giulia Guard” / “G-Guard”), playing on both the journalistic beat term and the idea of a personal guard or attendant.
• Blake Monroe (Mariah May) & Tam Nakano Parallels: Giulia discusses her physical match against Blake Monroe (the WWE ring name of her former Stardom contemporary Mariah May). When describing their mutual trust to lay in stiff, unpulled strikes right to the face without complaint, Giulia compares the chemistry directly to her legendary rivalry with Tam Nakano (“Tamu to no shiai ni chikai kankaku”), referencing their famous wars in Stardom where emotional storytelling and brutal physicality blurred the lines of kayfabe.
• Referee Stoppage / Knockout (Shisshin KO): The interviewer describes the finish of the Blake Monroe match as a shisshin KO—literally a “fainting/unconsciousness knockout”. In Japanese wrestling terminology, this refers to a referee stoppage or TKO where a competitor is ruled unable to continue due to a sudden blow to the head or loss of consciousness, protecting the defeated wrestler’s fighting spirit since they never submitted or gave up willingly. Giulia responds by noting she got a tankan-kobu (a massive bump or “goose egg” on her head) from taking a bad spill (jibaku, literally “self-destruction” or crashing on one’s own move/bump).
• Mai Sakurai and the Donna del Mondo / Marigold Lineage: Giulia refers to Mai Sakurai as her kouhai (junior). When Sakurai first arrived in Stardom in 2021 and struggled to find her footing in COSMIC ANGELS, Giulia recruited her into Donna del Mondo (DDM) and personally mentored her. That close senior-junior bond carried over when both wrestlers departed Stardom in early 2024 to help launch Dream Star Fighting Marigold. Sakurai’s poignant quote—feeling obligated to “protect a place for Giulia-san to come home to”—reflects the traditional Japanese senpai-kouhai sense of duty, as well as the heavy emotional toll left on the remaining founding members after multiple former Stardom alumni departed the promotion.
• Idiom — Putting Up a Big Front (Ooburoshiki wo hirogeru): When discussing Rossy Ogawa’s pointed public comments regarding Sakurai’s departure, Giulia uses the classic Japanese idiom ooburoshiki wo hirogeru (literally, “to spread out a large furoshiki wrapping cloth”). Idiomatically, it means to talk a big game, make grand boasts, or project bluster and ambition, especially when trying to mask a crisis or rally troops during a difficult period.
• Idiom — Turning Defeat into Defiance (Hirakinaotte): Near the end, Giulia hopes the remaining Marigold roster will hirakinaotte during this pinch. Hirakinaoru describes the psychological shift of dropping all hesitation or defensiveness when backed into a corner, becoming defiant, resolute, and ready to fight back with nothing left to lose.
• Signature Sign-Off (Arrivederci, See You!): Giulia closes every installment of her column with her trademark bilingual catchphrase combining Italian (Arrivederci, honoring her Italian heritage) and English (See you!).