From the rookie days in the dojo to competing in the big leagues, we will be Explaining the Storyline of Stardom’s Eternal Foes Starlight Kid & AZM and their journey to the top.
With a great amount of talented competitors in their roster, Stardom is continuously offering a fantastic product that showcases some of the best women’s wrestlers of the world. And within these talents, we can find promising homegrown stars such as Starlight Kid and AZM.
Even though they have the potential to become the main faces of the next generation of joshi wrestlers, the truth is that both SLK and AZM have been linked to each other since their very beginnings in the Stardom dojo and have recognized each other as ‘Eternal Foes’.
From their early days in the Stardom dojo, to their irruption in the promotion’s main units, to the instant-classic bouts, Tomas of Wrestling Republic will be Explaining the Storyline to reflect on the most important chapters of this amazing rivalry.
2013 – 2018: Starlight Kid & AZM’s Rookie Days
Even though both women debuted in different moments, with AZM debuting in October 2013 at the age of 11 and Starlight Kid in October 2015 at the age of 14, the duo showed a huge chemistry and potential to be future high-caliber competitors while training and competing in matches with the promotion’s top talents at the moment.
And it was during those times that both of them grew closer to each other and developed a friendly rivalry type of bond, since they were around the same age and shared similar pro wrestling dreams.
When a few years passed from their debuts, AZM impressed then Queen’s Quest leader Io Shirai (now known as IYO SKY in WWE) and joined the unit in 2017. Meanwhile, after taking a one year hiatus to focus on her studies, Starlight Kid returned to the ring that same year and would move on to win the tournament to crown the inaugural Future of Stardom champion in 2018, joining the STARS unit shortly after that.
2018 – 2020: First Championship Reigns & Notable Milestones
Thanks to her win in the tournament, Starlight Kid became the inaugural Future of Stardom Champion and still holds the record of being within the top five longest-reigning Future Champions in the history of the company, successfully defending the belt on five occasions during her 281 day reign.
Meanwhile, AZM won the Artist of Stardom Trios Titles alongside her QQ stablemates on three different occasions, with the first two reigns being less than 30 days long. However, AZM finally got her chance to shine when she won the Highspeed Championship in a 3-Way match against Starlight Kid and Natsupoi, holding on to the belt for 220 days and registering 4 successful title defenses before losing it to Natsupoi.
In addition, both of them had notable performances in some of Stardom’s big annual tournaments and became important players within their units, with SLK reaching the semifinals of the 2019 Cinderella Tournament and AZM winning the 2020 Goddess Tag League.
2020 – 2022: Major Character Developments & First Five Star Classic
During those years, Starlight Kid had become one of the most important members of the STARS unit and grew extremely close to leader Mayu Iwatani, developing a mentor/sister relationship that saw them teaming up as the ‘MK Sisters’. However, after tensions erupted between their respective leaders, STARS lost a 10-Woman Elimination Tag Team Match against Oedo Tai and Starlight Kid was forced to join the rival unit per leader Natsuko Tora’s request. This move would eventually result in the birth of the ‘Dark Side of the Sky Tiger’, the gimmick that solidified SLK in the elite of the Stardom roster and allowed her to win the Highspeed Championship for the first time in her career.
AZM also became a key player in Queen’s Quest, being one of the few remaining members that joined the unit under the original leader Io Shirai before her move to WWE. However, SLK and AZM’s paths would converge once again when Queen’s Quest reignited their rivalry with Oedo Tai and collided in an 8-Woman Elimination Tag Match that resulted in then QQ leader Momo Watanabe smashing a steel chair in AZM’s head to betray her stablemates and join the rival unit.
Momo’s betrayal turned AZM into the most senior member of Queen’s Quest and allowed her to become the defacto leader of the unit. After gaining momentum and becoming the #1 Contender for the Highspeed Title, AZM defeated SLK in an absolute five star classic to win the championship for the second time in her career and solidifying both women’s status as the ‘Eternal Foes’ that will lead Stardom into the next era of success.
2022 – Current: More Championships & Superstar Status
Their iconic five star classic opened the door for more important championship opportunities, with SLK winning the Goddess of Stardom Tag Titles, the Artist of Stardom Trios Titles and the New Blood Tag Team Titles between 2022 and 2023, as well as having outstanding performances in the 5 STAR GP and the Goddess of Stardom Tag League.
Meanwhile, AZM defended the Highspeed Championship for a record 12 times during her 458-days title reign, before dropping the belt to Saki Kashima on a 3-Way Match that also involved Fukigen Death in May 2023. In addition, AZM also scored notable wins in the 5 STAR GP (including victories in 2022 and 2023 against QQ’s new leader Utami Hayashishita) and had notable performances in the inaugural Triangle Derby.
It was also during these last two years that both of them decided to pursue Stardom’s main championships once again, with SLK unsuccessfully challenging for the Wonder of Stardom Title in two different occasions (against Saya Kamitani in July 2022 and Saori Anou on February 2024) and AZM challenging for the IWGP & NJPW Strong Women’s Titles (the first in a 3-Way Match against then champion Mercedes Mone and Hazuki and the last one against Giulia).
Even though they haven’t been able to add these important championships to their lists of accolades, the truth is that it won’t be very long before these two incredible talents can finally have the prestigious World of Stardom or Wonder of Stardom Titles around their waists.
Explaining The Storyline: Conclusion & Final Comments
As I have said on multiple occasions, the Stardom dojo is undoubtedly the birthplace of some of the very best female pro wrestlers on the planet, while also representing one of the most important development places for the next stars of Joshi wrestling.
The truth is that the golden trio of Iyo Sky, Kairi Sane and Mayu Iwatani will always be the founding stones of Stardom’s huge success, with the three of them solidifying themselves as the first global superstars to ever come out from the promotion. However, the three of them also served as mentors and inspiration for most of the competitors in Stardom and the joshi scene, with Starlight Kid and AZM aiming even higher and looking to surpass the ‘Golden Trio’ in their own way.
Perhaps at the beginning, many of us joshi fans saw SLK as the next Mayu Iwatani but the truth is that her Oedo Tai gimmick definitely pushed her career to new heights and, despite taking a whole different direction compared to the ‘Stardom Icon’, will give her the same or even bigger success in the future.
On the other hand, AZM is perhaps the perfect example of a prodigious generational talent that leads everyone to think she was born to be a world champion. The fact that she actually impressed Iyo Sky and joined one of the very best units at a very young age is the perfect example to describe her talent.
I even dare to say that, if they continue to evolve at this rate, it wouldn’t surprise me if they even manage to sign with big American promotions the caliber of WWE and AEW in the coming future, because they truly are the future not only of Stardom but the entire Joshi Wrestling scene.
