Stardom’s Kagetsu Announces Retirement, Final Show Set For Next Month

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that former World of Stardom champion Kagetsu announced this past Wednesday that she will retire next month. It is said to be due to “power struggle” and is related to the retirement of Hazuki. Her last match for Stardom will be on January 26 in her hometown of Osaka. She will then promote her own retirement show for February 24. Hazuki retired on Tuesday after a match at Korakuen Hall.

Kagetsu was in charge of training the women and Hazuki was her best student, as well as her “most trusted ally.” This meant that Hazuki had power in the locker room. Kagetsu’s management style was said to be like Bill Watts. She fined those who were late and took away their personal time. Management came to her at one point and said not to do that, but she kept on going. After that, most of the roster went to management to complain about her being in charge. After a vote, she was removed as the head trainer and locker room leader, which led to her and Hazuki losing interest in STARDOM. Hazuki decided to retire, as she decided wrestling at Madison Square Garden back in April was her goal and she completed it.

This explains why Kagetsu frequently talked trash about Bushiroad after the company bought STARDOM. She tried to make her retirement positive, by claiming STARDOM was in good hands with Mayu Iwatani in charge. She added that it had nothing to do with Hazuki and that retirement could have been due to hard times.