Mai Sakurai On Being Giulia’s Last Marigold Match, Competing Against Sareee

Mai Sakurai recently spoke about being Giulia’s last singles match in Marigold, wanting to compete against Sareee and more. Sakurai spoke with Fightful’s Scott Edwards for a new interview and you can see highlights below:

On leaving STARDOM for Marigold: “I owe a lot to Mr. Rossy Ogawa. And I wanted to help him with his new organization. I also wanted to improve as a wrestler and aim for even greater heights. To do that, I wanted to change my environment. Unlike the previous organization, where everything was already in place, this organization is one that has to be created from scratch, so it takes a lot of energy and there are many difficulties. But it’s also very rewarding, and I definitely feel more ambition, a sense of urgency and a sense of responsibility than before, so I think it’s a positive environment for me right now.”

On facing Giulia in her final Marigold match: “I was very happy that she chose me to be her last opponent, but at the same time I felt a huge amount of pressure. That match was the best match of my whole career; it was a day I will never forget. Since then, many people have told me that I have changed. Until then, if I had said that I wanted to aim higher, people would have laughed at me, and I think they would have thought that it was impossible. Giulia always respected my feelings and believed in me. I was able to demonstrate that to the fullest in that match. I think I was able to demonstrate that strength because my opponent was Giulia. I am very grateful.”

On what she learned from Giulia: “I’ve come to value having a fighting spirit. I want to win at everything, and I channel that feeling of frustration into my matches. Giulia was very strict, so I was always getting in trouble. Tamu-san, on the other hand, is very kind. Because she’s kind, I end up taking advantage of her kindness. But I think my personality is more suited to being scolded than being praised, so maybe Giulia’s way of teaching was more suited to me.”

On being the inaugural TwinStar Champions with MIRAI: “We’re happy that challengers are coming out one after another, for whatever reason, wanting to challenge us for the tag team belts, so we want to always be defending the belts and building up our record of defenses, and as champions, we want to shine with these belts. And we, the tag team “MiraiSaku”, want to do various things as the number one tag team in the women’s pro-wrestling world and steal the limelight.”

On facing Sareee: “A match with Sareee is a match I want to have. I came to Marigold because I wanted to have a match like this, so I was happy to be able to fight. But I’ve been told a lot of things that make me feel frustrated, so I want to show them all up one day.”