Every match on this list has a story about why the championship in question was vacated, but none of them are as unnerving, or as gruesome, as the story of why the World of Stardom Championship was vacant on March 29, 2015. About a month earlier, at an event called Queen’s Shout, reigning champion Yoshiko defended the title against young upstart Act Yasukawa in a match that saw Yoshiko, for reasons that have not been publicized, legitimately attack and brutalize the challenger, leaving Yasukawa’s face a bloody mess. If you’ve seen it, you know why it’s known as The Ghastly Match, and you’ve probably spent at least a few minutes of your life wondering why it goes on so long without anyone stopping it. The incident resulted in Stardom stripping Yoshiko of the title and suspending her; Yoshiko and her trainer, Stardom co-founder Nanae Takahashi, left the promotion shortly after. Yasukawa suffered fractures in her cheek, nasal, and orbital bones and retired at the end of 2015, though she would stay on with Stardom as a manager and eventually return to the ring.
With Yoshiko gone, a four-woman tournament was held to crown the new World of Stardom Champion, with the finals at The Highest coming down to Io Shirai and Kairi Hojo — respectively known to modern WWE fans as IYO SKY and Kairi Sane. It’s a great match in and of itself, and you should absolutely go over to YouTube and watch it, but it hits harder if you’re familiar with the history. Despite being two years younger than Kairi, Io was the established top star, having previously held the so-called Red Belt for 468 days. Aside from her and foreigner The Alpha Female (who “NXT UK” viewers will remember as Jazzy Gabbert) only Yoshiko and Takahashi (owner of the title’s first and still longest reign) had been Stardom’s top champion. In contrast, Kairi was just three years into her career, having been in the same training class as Yasukawa. Kairi’s well-known pirate gimmick is easily conflated with Yasukawa’s rum drinking and eye patch (though Yasukawa wore the patch because she was legitimately blind in one eye) and more importantly, they represented a newer generation of Stardom wrestlers that didn’t necessarily accept the “old school” AJW training methods Takahashi had brought to Stardom. In fact, Takahashi herself had already roughed up Kairi in similar fashion to Yoshiko brutalizing Yasakawa, leaving Kairi with massive bruises on her face after a match. When Stardom began to revise its standards in the wake of The Ghastly Match, Kairi was chosen to represent the talent in future conversations with management, and it’s difficult to imagine The Ghastly Match wasn’t on her mind when she defeated Io to win her first World of Stardom title.
None of what follows can be proven, but look at the way the match for the vacant title is structured. Io, working heel, is clearly acting the bully — her mannerisms and wrestling style seem to reflect Yoshiko at key moments, particularly during the early part of the match; Io is in complete control from the start and ends up dragging Kairi all around the outside area, hammering her the entire time. She’s using her own moves, but Yoshiko’s shadow remains visible. Io targets Kairi’s right arm, but Kairi fights back, ultimately delivering a pair of her patented elbow drops to claim the championship. There’s no proof that Act Yasakawa was supposed to win the World of Stardom title at Queen’s Shout (though it would explain Yoshiko’s resentment and why Yasakawa kept trying to fight back as long as she did) but even if she wasn’t, this match feels like Io and Kairi’s version of what that match may have looked like, with Yasakawa/Kairi overcoming the previous generation’s bullying ways and ushering in a new era for Stardom. Watch Kairi’s face and how emotional she becomes throughout her championship celebration — especially when she’s done smiling for the cameras and sinks to the mat, sobbing, before finally raising the Red Belt in hand — and tell me she wasn’t thinking at all of Yasukawa in that moment.
Pro wrestling is fiction, but it often works its greatest magic when interwoven with reality. More than any other match for a vacant title, this one represents a cleansing, a purification — the triumph of a kinder future over the brutal past, if only for a single night.
Written by Miles Schneiderman
