In February of 2022 I would take my first ever dive into the wrestling promotion, World Wonder Ring Stardom (more commonly known as Stardom). Though I would bare witness to many great matches, many great factions, and many great competitors, it was in June of that year where I would come to see one of my favorite feuds of all time. A tale that dates back to before these two had ever thought about stepping foot in a Stardom ring: Tam Nakano vs Natsupoi. While newer viewers of the Stardom promotion may know this pair by their (relatively) recently formed tag team, Meltear, their story is one filled with anger, frustration, and betrayal. But, before we get to this partnership's formation, we must first jump back to 2016 where this all began.
**Also, special shoutout to Meerkat Ultra on Youtube, his series on this feud was fantastic and a huge help in writing this. Now, onto the article!
Idols and Wrestlers
The tale of Tam Nakano and Natsupoi starts way back around 2016 in the joshi wrestling promotion, Actwres Girl'z. Nakano had initially began her career as an idol, performing as a part of a couple of groups up until she landed in Actwres Girl'z in 2016. Natsupoi (then known as Natsumi Maki) had actually been more of a freelancing wrestler from her debut in 2015 until she settled in Stardom years later. However, during this time before Stardom, the pair would both be trained together by Yuna Manase, and ultimately become friends. Coming from the world of being an idol and having little in-ring experience herself, Nakano looked up to Maki, stating: "she really made me want to become a cute, strong, and cool wrestler like her".
Things would seem to be going well as the pair would often perform together or against each other in matches for Actwres Girl'z, while behind the scenes Maki continued to support Nakano in her pursuit of becoming a strong wrestler of her own. However, Nakano would leave Actwres Girl'z in 2017, becoming a freelancer before landing in Stardom only about a month after departing from her previous promotion (though she wouldn't officially sign with the company until November of that year). In the wake of her departure from Actwres Girl'z, Maki was upset and felt betrayed that her friend would just leave her behind like that. It never seemed to be Nakano's intention to hurt her friend, but she had to make the right choice for herself that would allow her to become stronger. Maki would then vow to never forgive Tam Nakano.
Women of the World
Upon arriving in the company, Tam Nakano would compete in her first 5 Star Grand Prix (the Stardom equivalent to New Japan's G1 Climax) where she would ultimately wind up with one win and no chance at winning the competition. Nakano would float about the company for a brief period before joining Stardom's villainous faction, Oedo Tai. Here, she would only be a part of the group for a pretty short time as she was kicked out in 2018 after she was the last person eliminated in an elimination gauntlet match between Oedo Tai and Queen's Quest.
Nakano would then become a part of the STARS stable led by Stardom's Ace, Mayu Iwatani. However, a ghost of Nakano's past would soon come back to haunt her as Nastumi Maki would join Stardom in October 2020. Adopting her new name, Natsupoi, she would go on to join the Donna del Mondo faction led by Giulia (whom Nakano also has a very troubled history with, but that is for another time). Is it some strange coincidence that Natsupoi happened to join the faction in which its leader is in a heated rivalry with Tam Nakano? Probably not. Tam Nakano would soon form her own sub-faction of STARS, named Cosmic Angels, with Mina Shirakawa and Unagi Sayaka before eventually breaking off into their own full fledged faction.
Friends to Rivals
In March of 2021, Tam Nakano would defeat Giulia in one of the Stardom's most notable matches: a hair vs hair match for the Wonder of Stardom Championship. Her first challenger for the title? None other than Natsupoi. Filled with anger at Nakano leaving her all those years ago, as well as being jealous at seeing the tight bond Nakano would form with Arisa Hoshiki in Stardom, Natsupoi was absolutely vicious in the pair's encounter on April 4, 2021.
Going so far as to dump water on Nakano's head during the match, Natsupoi was showing her rival a new side of herself as this was not the typical smiling "fairy" many had become accustomed to. However, through every kick, slap, and slam, nothing was quite enough to keep Nakano down. In the four years since her departure from AWG, Nakano had also become her own person and is now the "cute, strong, and cool" wrestler that she had set out to be a few years prior. Tam Nakano would pick up the victory in the end, leaving the High Speed Fairy in the dust as she continued her White Belt title reign.
But, this would not be the last time these competitors would cross paths as Tam Nakano and Cosmic Angels were also the holders of the Artists of Stardom Championships (Stardom's trios titles). This would lead to a match against DDM's MaiHimePoi (Maika, Himeka, and Natsupoi) in October 2021, where Cosmic Angels would lose to MaiHimePoi at the hands of Natsupoi.
Forging History
In May of 2022, MaiHimePoi would lose the Artists of Stardom titles to Oedo Tai after going on a nearly record breaking run with the championships. Prior to this, Tam Nakano would lose the White Belt to Saya Kamitani in December of 2021. Both Nakano and Natsupoi were having a rough time in the first half of 2022. Nakano was surrounded by rumors of her retirement following her loss of the White Belt, while Natsupoi was struggling with her confidence as she was often carried to victory during MaiHimePoi's Artists title reign and was the reason the trio lost the titles.
Natsupoi had attempted to confide her fear and frustrations with herself to her faction's leader, but Giulia didn't seem to be all that bothered with the issue. As Natsupoi (and Giulia herself) would reveal later on, Giulia saw Natsupoi as nothing more than a mere "pet" and never seemed to truly take her all that seriously. Eventually, Natsupoi would incite Tam Nakano by asking if she was "ready for retirement". Nakano would refute such a claim and proceed to ask Natsupoi the same thing since it seemed as though she had not been enjoying wrestling recently. It was announced that Tam Nakano and Natsupoi would have two singles matches in the following weeks, which would lead to a very... interesting press conference. Anyways, the first match between these two would take place on June 26, 2022 in Stardom's first ever cage match.
The match begins with Tam Nakano absolutely battering Natsupoi, throwing her into the cage, dragging her face across the cage, and hitting her repeatedly with closed fists (which is banned, sorta, in Stardom). Natuspoi is eventually able to dropkick Nakano into the cage and pick up some momentum. The competitors go back and forth for the duration of the match with stiff forearms, slaps, and suplexes. Nakano and Nastupoi eventually end up on the top of the cage together where they trade hits, eventually slapping each other at the same time and falling back into the cage. Tam Nakano soon takes control as both competitors recover, absolutely laying into Natsupoi once again while the Fairy tries to show her fighting spirit. This isn't enough, though, as Nakano hits Natsupoi with a Violet Screwdriver before choking her out at the top of the cage and dropping her lifeless body back into the ring to climb out for the victory.
In the end, Natsupoi still could not beat her former friend. While Tam Nakano was fighting to show Natsupoi that she has become the strong wrestler she set out to be from their training days, Natsupoi was fighting to overcome Nakano in order to get revenge for leaving her behind and to prove to herself that she is a truly capable performer in the ring. Again, Tam Nakano never had any ill will towards Natsupoi until it was shown to her. Even after the cage match, Nakano was concerned with Natsupoi's well being and rushed right back to the ring to check up on her. However, Natsupoi was still upset that she was not strong enough to defeat Nakano. Tam didn't want to fight again, telling Natsupoi "it's enough"; but, Natsupoi would not be deterred until she got her victory.
Third Time's the Charm
Even though Tam Nakano was content and preferred to end the whole feud, Natsupoi was hell bent on keeping her promise of beating Nakano. This would lead to their "return match" just two days after the cage match. The competitors were plenty fired up for this one, as they couldn't even keep their hands off of each other until the ring introductions were completed. Quite frankly, these two were out to beat the absolute piss out of each other. The opening five or so minutes of the matches solely consisted of Nakano and Natsupoi body slamming each other on the thinly padded (and then exposed) ring area. While this is all happening, Nakano keeps pushing and kicking the ref (poor Daisuke) away as he attempts to restore order to the match.
In a backstage promo prior to the match, Tam Nakano stated that she knows what is going through Natsupoi's head. Throughout this match she is much more sinister than usual, punishing Natsupoi in an attempt to draw out that fierceness and strong will that she knows Natsupoi has. In breaking down Natsupoi physically, she was attempting to push her past her limits and force her to become the "cute, strong, and cool" wrestler that she knows Natsupoi truly is. We begin to see this take place as Natsupoi once again hits a dropkick to Nakano off the top rope. She then hits a Fairial Gift to Nakano on the floor to swing momentum in her favor. The pair trade a plethora of forearms, kicks, and suplexes as the story between these two women unfold in front of our very eyes.
Ultimately, Natsupoi is able to hit Nakano with a Fairial Gift and then a straight-jacket suplex to finally claim victory over her rival. Natsupoi is very emotional as she lays staring at the ceiling for quite some time with tears streaming down her face; she has finally done it. However, Natsupoi was still not content with things as they now sat at one victory a piece (it seems they forgot about their White Belt match and left it as something separate from this feud). Natsupoi would then tell Tam Nakano that everything would be settled in the upcoming unit battle between Donna del Mondo and Cosmic Angels.
Truthfully, this is one of my favorite matches of all time. Before I had begun writing this article I was scared that maybe there was a bit of nostalgia or emotional bias that made this match better (in my mind) than it truly was. I'm glad to say I was worried for nothing. I think the only thing that can be a bit jarring when watching these matches is the lack of crowd involvement/sound due to covid restrictions still placed on Japanese crowds at this time. In spite of that, the story that these two women are able to pull off inside and out of the ring is incredible.
Though the cage match was great in its own right, I feel as though this match is superior. Across these two matches, Natsupoi set out to become a strong wrestler capable of standing on her own and carrying her weight in faction bouts. Tam Nakano, on the other hand, set out to be the wall that stood blocking Natsupoi's path. Tam Nakano was the hurdle that Natsupoi had to leap in order to accomplish her goal, and she did exactly that.
Ascent to Cosmic Status
At Stardom's Mid Summer Champions in Tokyo, DDM would face Cosmic Angels in a 10-woman elimination tag team match. Though Tam Nakano and Natsupoi were the focal points of this match, Giulia was also very important as she is integral to both women's stories in the company. Natsupoi and Tam Nakano kick the match off, picking up where they had left off a few days prior. The match quickly breaks down into chaos before the action settles back down. There were actually quite a few stories at play in this match, which ultimately ties into why DDM and Cosmic Angels despise each other so much. It would be impossible to cover this match in depth without making this article much longer than it already is, so let's skip to the juicy part.
The final four consisted of SAKI and Tam Nakano vs Natsupoi and Giulia. To flashback a bit, Giulia and Natsupoi had only ever teamed (just the two of them) together four times since the inception of DDM. They lost every single time. The two pairs left in this matchup would battle it out for some time before Giulia was able to eliminate SAKI using the over-the-top-rope rule. This left Tam Nakano to fight for herself against her eternal rival, Giulia, and her former friend turned rival, Natsupoi.
As the two teams fought, all three women would eventually wind up over the top rope and on the apron. Giulia and Natsupoi rained down shots on Nakano before Giulia picked her up and held her so Poi could strike her and finish the match. Nakano, however, ducks the shot as Natsupoi goes for a superkick. Natsupoi freezes just in time before she could hit Giulia, but after a moment's thought, she winds up and strikes Giulia with a superkick. Tam Nakano then hits Giulia with a superkick of her own before Natsupoi suplexes Giulia, eliminating her from the match, and then eliminates herself to give Cosmic Angels the win.
This was wrestling betrayal at its finest. You could see the shock on the DDM members' faces and even hear audible "ooh"s from what is otherwise supposed to be a silent crowd. Though none of the DDM members could understand it, Natsupoi's reason for leaving was quite simple. They felt blindsided and betrayed as one of their original members had just stabbed them in the back. Maika and Himeka were especially saddened and upset, offering their own words before storming off. I think the part of this segment that hurt me the most was when Thekla tried to say something to Natsupoi, but simply broke down into tears before getting any words out. Giulia, however, was pissed. She stated that she only ever saw Natsupoi as a "sweet, cuddly pet", never truly taking her seriously and just throwing her off to be taken care of by Maika and Himeka.
Ultimately, Giulia left the ring vowing to crush Natsupoi. There has rarely been a time in all my years of watching wrestling when I have ever felt as emotional as I did when watching this feud unfold, from the cage match up until Natsupoi's departure from DDM. Even having only watched the promotion for roughly five months when I first saw these matches, there was something about the emotion and drama that captivated me while the in ring work was stellar as well. Natsupoi left Donna del Mondo as, through their series of matches, she had been able to once again feel like a truly strong and capable wrestler. The catalyst for that happening? Tam Nakano.
In choosing Cosmic Angels, Natsupoi had once again found her friend and someone who actually understands her and cares about her. Though she was sad to leave those closest to her, she did not want to just be seen as some team pet and swept off to the side by her own faction's leader. Now Natsupoi can stand next to the person whom she's known since her earliest days in wrestling, and someone who has pushed her to become the best version of herself. And to such a decision, Tam Nakano said: "let's start a revolution together".