Stardom Cinderella Tournament 2023

Stardom Cinderella Tournament 2023
Promotional poster of the event
Promotion	World Wonder Ring Stardom
Date	March 26–April 15, 2023
City	Yokohama, Japan (March 26) Utsunomiya, Japan (April 1) Tokyo, Japan (April 2 & 15)
Venue	Yokohama Budokan (March 26) Light Cube Utsunomiya (April 1) Korakuen Hall (April 2) Yoyogi National Gymnasium (April 15)
Attendance	Night 1 (1,263)[1] Night 2 (508)[2] Night 3 (1,295)[3] Night 4 (1,049)[4]
Event chronology
← Previous New Blood Premium Next → All Star Grand Queendom
Cinderella Tournament chronology
← Previous 2022 Next → 2024

The 2023 Stardom Cinderella Tournament (スターダムシンデレラトーナメント2023, Sutādamushindereratōnamento 2023) was the ninth annual professional wrestling single-elimination tournament promoted by World Wonder Ring Stardom. The event took place between March 26 and April 15, 2023.^[5]

The show featured professional wrestling matches with scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.^[6] The matches can be won by pinfall, submission or elimination over the top rope. A time-limit draw or a double elimination means a loss for each competitor.

The first day of the event which took place on March 26, 2023, portraited the first-round tournament matches. The first two bouts were broadcast on Stardom's YouTube channel. In the first one, Waka Tsukiyama, who was announced as one of the two mystery competitors of the edition, picked up a victory over Lady C as she began a winning spree following the events from Stardom New Blood Premium. In the second one, Saya Iida outmatched Miyu Amasaki.^[7] A total of eighteen matches occurred, five of them ending in draws generated by over the top rope eliminations or time limits, and the rest of thirteen concluding by pinfall or submission. Xena was presented as the second mystery competitor and was also announced as the newest member of the Club Venus sub-unit.^[8][9][10]

The second day of the event portraited five tournament confrontations and four tag team side matches. Momo Watanabe and Mai Sakurai, Saki Kashima and Waka Tsukiyama, Xena and Mirai, and Natsuko Tora and Ami Sourei made it to the quarterfinals of the tournament.^[11]

The third day of the event saw the four matches of the quarterfinals from which Waka Tsukiyama, Mirai, Ami Sourei and Mai Sakurai emerged to the semifinals. Prominence (Risa Sera, Suzu Suzuki and Hiragi Kurumi) retained the Artist of Stardom Championship for the second time in a row in that respective reign against Queen's Quest's Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani and AZM. Kairi brought Saori Anou into the promotion and they announced that the two of them alongside Natsupoi were going to challenge Sera, Suzuki and Kurumi for the Artist titles at Stardom All Star Grand Queendom on April 23, 2023. Furthermore, Konami reached out via video to challenge Syuri to a UWF rules match on the show from April 15, 2023. Himeka underwent one more of her retirement road bouts in which she teamed up with her independent scene tag team partner Miyuki Takase to defeat Natsupoi and Kakeru Sekiguchi.^[12]

The fourth and last day of the event featured the last two phases of the tournament. The first semifinal match in which Mai Sakurai defeated Waka Tsukiyama was broadcast live on Stardom's YouTube channel.^[13] Hanako and Sakura Aya faced each other into a time-limit draw in a dark match which took place before the broadcast. In the first match of the main card, Mirai defeated Ami Sourei to advance in the Cinderella Tournament finals. Next up, Mariah May, Xena and Jessie picked up a victory over Hazuki, Koguma and Momo Kohgo. In the fifth match of the night, Natsuko Tora, Starlight Kid, Momo Watanabe, Saki Kashima, Ruaka and Rina defeated Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani, AZM, Lady C, Hina and Miyu Amasaki in a full-unit war. In the sixth bout, Nanae Takahashi, Yuu and Yuna Mizumori defeated Mayu Iwatani, Hanan and Saya Iida. After the match, Mercedes Moné attacked Iwatani ahead of their confrontation for the IWGP Women's Championship from Stardom All Star Grand Queendom on April 23, 2023.^[14] Next up, Syuri defeated Konami in singles action. The semi main event of the night portraited the finals of the 2023 Cinderella Tournament edition. Mirai succeeded in defeating Mai Sakurai and winning the tournament for two years in a row, performance achieved only by Mayu Iwatani in the past, in 2015 and 2016.

In the main event, Donna Del Mondo's Giulia, Maika, Himeka Arita and Thekla defeated Cosmic Angels's Tam Nakano, Natsupoi, Mina Shirakawa and Saki in an elimination tag team match as the second last match of Himeka before her retirement. After the match concluded, Giulia and Tam Nakano have held some grudges ahead of their confrontation for the World of Stardom Championship from Stardom All Star Grand Queendom on April 23, 2023. On the same spot, Mina Shirakawa announced that Club Venus parted ways with Cosmic Angels and that they would act as an independent unit. More than that, Waka Tsukiyama was made to choose her unit given the events from the past months related to her losing streak coming to an end. Tsukiyama chose Club Venus in the process. Technically going down to three wrestlers (Nakano, Natsupoi and Unagi Sayaka who was still wandering the independent scene at the moment) and the sub unit of Color's (Saki, Rina Amikura, Hikari Shimizu and Yuko Sakurai), Cosmic Angels was saved by Saori Anou who stepped up into the last moment and joined the unit.^[15][16][17]

The night closed off with the ceremony of the Cinderella winner Mirai who wore the traditional Cinderella dress as well as the winner trophy.^[18]

The tournament was the largest to its date, with 36 competitors entering it, including the champions.^[19][20][21]

*Noted underneath are the champions who held their titles at the time of the tournament.

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