BITE-SIZE SHOW REPORT: Marigold Shine Forever 2025 ~A Glorious Celebration~ (Saturday, 24th May 2025)

Pre-Show Notes

• This will be Nanae Takahashi’s last match of her 28-year career. She will have wrestled 2333 matches, with 988 singles matches
• Her and Miku Aono have previously only faced off once before in singles action, with the match going to a time-limit draw in the 2024 Dream Star Grand Prix. 
• This will also mark the first time that either Miku Aono or Nanae Takahashi have main-evented a Marigold PPV. 
• 2nd Marigold World Champion Utami Hayashishita has been champion for 141 days – in her first reign. This will be the third title defence of her reign.
• Utami Hayashishita and MIRAI have faced each other twice previously in singles action, with the current record sitting at 1 win apiece. The most recent singles match saw MIRAI take the victory during the 2024 Dream Star Grand Prix. 
• This will be the first time MIRAI has challenged for the Marigold World Championship, and will be the first time she’s challenged for the top belt in a promotion since losing to Syuri for the World of Stardom Championship in January 2022. 
• 2nd Marigold Superfly Champion Victoria Yuzuki has been champion for 141 days – in her first reign. This will be the fourth title defence of her reign.
• A win will see Victoria Yuzuki draw level with Natsumi Showzuki on four successful title defences as the most successful Superfly champion in terms of defences. 
• This will be Mayu’s first title match in Marigold, and her first singles match against Yuzuki since 20th March 2024. Iwatani currently holds the winning record in singles matches between the pair with that victory.
• Both Mayu Iwatani and Yuzuki were in the same faction in Stardom (STARS).
• Mayu Iwatani is the inspiration behind Victoria Yuzuki wanted to be a wrestler, and therefore wants to prove to her how much she has developed since her time in Stardom. 
• Seri Yamaoka and Takumi Iroha have never faced each other in a singles match, though they did briefly face each other in the Twinstar Championships match back on the 30th March. 
• Natsumi Showzuki and Rea Seto are the only remaining members of the previous 5-on-5 elimination match on the 25th April. Both women faced Maria – now one half of the Twinstar Champions alongside Riko Kawahata as Magenta – with her eliminating Rea and going to a 10-minute time-limit draw against Natsumi. 
• Kouki Amarei makes her return to a Marigold ring for the first time since January 3rd 2025 when she tore her ACL against Chika Goto. 
• Kouki and Chika were previously a tag team called the tWin toWers, but had fractured somewhat before Kouki’s injury, with Chika taking time off to recover from a sternum injury and telling Kouki that she was free to do what she wanted. 
  At the previous Korakuen Hall event (4th May 2025), Chika Goto demanded that she be a part of Kouki Amarei’s return match, with the Amethyst Butterfly agreeing. 
• Shinno – daughter of former Queen of ARSION Champion Michiko Omukai – will make her pro-wrestling debut at Shine Forever at 16 years old. Though she is taking on Mai Sakurai, this match will not be for the Marigold United National Championship.
• Naho Yamada will miss an undisclosed period of time through a knee injury she sustained in Shinjuku FACE on the 7th February. She has since confirmed that she has ruptured the ACL and lateral ligament in her right knee and will undergo surgery to repair the damage.

• Attendance Notes: The attendance inside Yoyogi National Gymnasium #2 in Tokyo was 2,450. This is the highest attendance for Marigold since Summer Destiny 2024 in Ryogoku Kokugikan and is the second-highest in the company’s history. It is the second highest attendance of the year in the venue behind Sendai Girls’s Top of Joshi Wrestling and outdrawing the NJPW Best of the Super Juniors show there on the 17th May. It also outdrew Stardom’s THE CONVERSION show from last year, which drew 1,654 on June 22nd last year, main-evented by Maika and Xena for the World of Stardom Championship.

Quick Results

• Shinno Debut Match: Mai Sakurai def. Shinno w/ STF (12:33) (****)
• 8-Woman Tag Team Match: Darkness Revolution (Nagisa Nozaki, Misa Matsui, CHIAKI & Megaton) def. Chanyota, Erina Yamanaka, Ryoko Sakimura & Nagisa Tachibana w/ Diving Double Foot Stomp (9:27) (**3/4)
• Tag Team Match: Kouki Amarei & Kizuna Tanaka def. Chika Goto & Minami Yuki w/ Amethyst Butterfly (8:58) (**1/2)
• Marigold vs. Marvelous 5-on-5 Elimination Tag Team Match: Team Marigold (Natsumi Showzuki, Hummingbird, Nao Ishikawa, Komomo Minami & Rea Seto) def. Team Marvelous (Maria, Riko Kawahata, Ai Houzan, Sora Ayame & Senka Akatsuki) (19:26) (***3/4)

– Senka Akatsuki def. Komomo Minami (1-0)
– Nao Ishikawa def. Sora Ayame (1-1)
– Riko Kawahata def. Hummingbird (2-1)
– Natsumi Showzuki def. Senka Akatsuki (2-2)
– Maria, Riko Kawahata, Natsumi Showzuki & Nao Ishikawa All Eliminated Over the Top Rope (4-4)
– Rea Seto def. Ai Houzan (5-4)

• Singles Match: Takumi Iroha def. Seri Yamaoka w/ Modified Go To Sleep (12:33) (****)
• Marigold Superfly Championship Match: Mayu Iwatani def. Victoria Yuzuki (c) w/ Triple Jump Moonsault (9:58) (****1/4)
• Marigold World Championship Match: Utami Hayashishita (c) def. MIRAI w/ Hi-Jack Bomb (16:12) (****1/2)
• Nanae Takahashi Retirement Match: Miku Aono def. Nanae Takahashi w/ One-Second EX (22:04) (*****)

Show Notes

• After noting that Victoria Yuzuki has been stealing her moves, Mayu Iwatani won the Superfly Championship but using Yuzuki’s Triple Jump Moonsault – a move she had adopted from Io Shirai.
• Mayu took to the microphone after the match to said that she wanted to team with Yuzuki in the future and for her to stay be her side, incredibly impressed with just how much she has improved in 18 months. Yuzuki agreed, but stated that she still wanted to ultimately surpass her idol and mentor.
• Following her capture of the Marigold Superfly Championship in just her fourth match for the promotion, Mayu Iwatani was cornered backstage at Shine Forever by Nosawa Rongai, who asked her if she would participate on the first of NOAH’s Monday Magic Prime Time 2025 shows at Shinjuku FACE.
• At the resultant backstage press conference, Misa Matsui declared herself the number one contender for Mayu Iwatani and the Superfly Championship in what will be her fourth attempt at the belt.
• With her victory over MIRAI, Utami Hayashishita is now the most successful Marigold World Champion in history with three successful title defence.
• A clearly very excited Utami then called out Takumi Iroha and put forward the idea of Takumi as the next challenger for the belt. Takumi agreed, but did say that Utami would have to wait as there was something she had to do first!
• Following her last match, Nanae encouraged people to come out for a series one-minute gauntlet matches to put a proper end to passion. She drew against Senka Akatsuki, lost to Seri Yamaoka, drew with Kouki Amarei before defeating both Yumiko Hotta and Momoe Nakanishi.
• Marigold confirmed that they will be returning to the famous Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo to run Grand Destiny 2025 on October 26th 2025. This will be the first time Marigold have returned to ‘Sumo Hall’ since July 2024’s Summer Destiny show that not only saw the crowning of the first World and United National champions, but also the first Japanese match for IYO SKY since 2018 when she fought Utami Hayashishita!

You can check out the Marigold roster win/loss records for 2025 right here; https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11_PWxd5BDxeHIfKqtQ2YtiwhGteRrVUZ3B5L4yrDQE0/edit?gid=517287206#gid=517287206

You can check out a comprehensive run down of the Marigold Championship Histories here; https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18MJ2Cebe36Nvfcpj8uVs1AtMbAV1chn-lG7t-xn44DY/edit?gid=0#gid=0

Upcoming Shows

• Friday 30th May – Burning Desire 2025 – Night 1, Kumamoto City Moritoshin Hall, Kumamoto (VIDEO ON DEMAND)
• Saturday 31st May – Burning Desire 2025 – Night 2, ACROS Fukuoka, Fukuoka (VIDEO ON DEMAND)
• Thursday 5th June – Burning Desire 2025 – Night 3, Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo (LIVE)
• Saturday 14th June – Burning Desire 2025 – Night 4, 176BOX, Osaka (VIDEO ON DEMAND)
• Sunday 15th June – Burning Desire 2025 – Night 5, Fujisan Messe, Shizuoka (VIDEO ON DEMAND)
• Tuesday 17th June – Burning Desire 2025 – Night 6, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo (LIVE)
• Saturday 21st June – Burning Desire 2025 – Night 7, INPEX Sakata Arena, Yamagata (VIDEO ON DEMAND)
• Sunday 22nd June – Burning Desire 2025 – Night 8, Minamisoma City Ogawa Gymnasium, Fukushima (VIDEO ON DEMAND)
• Saturday 28th June – Burning Desire 2025 – Night 9, Kasukabe Fureai Cube, Saitama (VIDEO ON DEMAND)
• Saturday 5th July – Burning Desire 2025 – Night 10, Westa Kawagoe, Saitama (VIDEO ON DEMAND)
• Sunday 6th July – Burning Desire 2025 – Night 11, Niigata City Higashi Ward Plaza, Niigata (VIDEO ON DEMAND)
• Saturday 12th July – Burning Desire 2025 – Night 12, Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Tokyo (LIVE)
• Tuesday 16th July – Burning Desire 2025 – Night 13, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo (LIVE)