Giulia will be staying with the Marigold Wrestling promotion for slightly longer than initially planned, the Japanese wrestling sensation has revealed. Speaking to the press, Giulia shared that she will compete in a gauntlet at Marigold’s event in Shin-Kiba on August 25.

Wrestlers will have 60 seconds to face Giulia in the ring, and the offer to face Giulia will be available to talent from in and out of Marigold. As seen in the video below, Giulia debuted a new look, one more subdued than the usual colorful visage fans have come to know her for.

Giulia’s Future

Giulia had previously announced that her time competing in Japan would end on August 19, though this is clearly no longer the case. When Giulia does wrap up her time in Japan, many expect to see her in WWE shortly after. In April, it was reported that Giulia had signed with WWE and she appeared at NXT Stand & Deliver that same month.

Giulia’s name has been coming up more and more in WWE circles as of late, with NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez claiming to be the better wrestler. It has been reported that Giulia will start her WWE career in NXT where she is set to be pushed as the face of the gold brand’s women’s division. One source claimed that Giulia’s influence in NXT will rival that of Asuka, who held the NXT Women’s Championship for over 500 days before her move to the main roster. Stay tuned to SE Scoops for the latest on Giulia and her reported move to WWE.

Giulia will compete for the final time in Japan within a matter of weeks amid reports that she will soon be appearing for WWE. Last weekend, Giulia shared that she had an important announcement to make which would be made in the historic Korakuen Hall.

At a Dream Star Fighting Marigold show, Giulia teamed with Marigold World Champion Sareee to defeat Victoria Yuzuki and Kizuna Tanaka. After the match, Giulia shared that August 19, will mark her final match in Japan and vowed to challenge the world of professional wrestling.

Giulia’s announcement comes amid several reports that the former NJPW Strong Women’s Champion is coming to WWE. In late 2023, it was reported that WWE and Giulia had been in talks and speculation grew after she appeared at NXT Stand & Deliver in April 2024. Giulia was seated alongside William Regal and Marigold founder Rossy Ogawa, and was later seen backstage with Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque.

Giulia saying goodbye to Japan, where Marigold hosts its events, is something of a surprising move. Earlier this year, Rossy Ogawa shared that he hoped to work closely with WWE. It was later reported that the plan was for Giulia to work a handful of Marigold dates per year even after committing to WWE. With that said, Ogawa more recently said that Giulia’s time in Marigold was coming to an end, which certainly appears to be the case.

WWE’s Female Signings

Should she compete for WWE, Giulia will be part of something of a renaissance with the hiring of female talent. Stephanie Vaquer, who dethroned Giulia as NJPW Strong Women’s Champion, has signed with WWE mere days after appearing at AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door. It has also been reported that DELTA has signed with WWE. The Australian wrestler reportedly impressed during tryouts in Perth over Elimination Chamber weekend in February of this year.

Both AJ Styles and IYO SKY were successful in this week’s matches that took place outside of WWE as the company continues to work with other promotions.

For Styles, he defeated Naomichi Marufuji at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Destination 2024 event. This match marked Styles’ first non-WWE match in eight-and-a-half years and his first time ever competing for NOAH. Styles had quite the entrance that saw him don a black mask; a staple of his time competing in Japan.

Despite a valiant effort by Marufuji, a three-time GHC World Champion, it was Styles who got the win with his Styles Clash. After the match, Styles and Marufuji shared a sign of respect in the ring by bowing to each other.

IYO SKY Wins At Marigold

Styles wasn’t the only top WWE name in action outside of the company today. IYO SKY competed in her first non-WWE match since 2017 at the Marigold ‘Summer Destiny’ event. At the show, SKY defeated Utami Hayashishita.

It remains to be seen what companies WWE will work with next, though many feel it is likely under the post-McMahon administration. In the meantime, WWE NXT will continue to welcome TNA talent and don’t be surprised if we see Superstars appearing outside the Sports Entertainment juggernaut.

Marigold held its big Summer Destiny 2024 event on Saturday from Ryogoku Sumo Hall. The show was broadcast live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

Here are the results from this 10-match card, featuring the crowning two inaugural Marigold champions, as well as an appearance by WWE Superstar IYO SKY.

Marigold Summer Destiny Results

• tWin toWer vs. Victoria Yuzuki & Kizuna Tanaka ended in a 10-minute time-limit draw
• Marigold announced the Dream Star Grand Prix. The round-robin tournament will run from August 31 to September 28th
• Michiko Omukai announced that her daughter Shinno Omukai has officially joined the Marigold roster
• CHIAKI & Nagisa Nozaki def. Myla Grace & Zayda Steel
• Natsumi Showzuki def. Misa Matsui to become the inaugural Superfly Champion
• Shinobu Kandori, Takako Inoue & NORI def. Nanae Takahashi, Nao Ishikawa & Mai Sakurai
• Miku Aono def. MIRAI to become the United National Championship Finalist
• Miku Aono def. Bozilla to become the inaugural United National Champion
• IYO SKY def. Utami Hayashishita
• Sareee def. Giulia to become the inaugural Marigold World Champion

Giulia Emotional After Her Match

Marigold’s New Championships

Marigold United National Championship

Marigold World Championship Belt

Marigold Superfly Championship

Fans of Marigold Wrestling have received an updated look at the company’s championships with more titles on their way. 

Marigold, the brainchild of STARDOM founder Rossy Ogawa, was confirmed in April 2024 after speculation that Ogawa was looking to make a new company. It was allegations that Ogawa was ‘poaching’ talent from STARDOM that led to his termination from parent company Bushiroad.

This week, fans got a better look at the Marigold Championships than what had previously been offered. These new photos reveal an updated design that features blue accents to the World Championship and blue, green, and orange accents to the United National Championship. It has been reported that more titles are in the works, including planned Marigold Tag Team Championships. 

These titles are the latest creations from Belts By Dan, who has made several championships across professional wrestling. Creations of Dan’s include the AEW TNT Championship, the AEW Women’s World Championship, and the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. 

• Check Out the New MLW World Championship From Belts By Dan

The Future of Marigold

After hosting its inaugural Fields Forever event in May, Marigold’s next show will be the Summer Destiny event on July 13. The show will stream on on Wrestle Universe. Marigold has announced Giulia Vs. Sareee for the show, despite Giulia suffering a wrist injury during the Fields Forever show that has put plans for her on pause. 

Marigold’s future could also see involvement from WWE as Rossy Ogawa hopes to create strong ties with the world’s most successful wrestling promotion. Giulia is expected to make a handful of appearances for Marigold after she officially joins WWE later this year. Marigold is hopeful that WWE Superstars IYO SKY and Kairi Sane (both of whom have worked with Ogawa in the past) will be available for upcoming events with WWE’s blessing. 

Japanese wrestling sensation Giulia will go under the knife to repair her wrist which could put plans for her in WWE NXT on pause. 

Giulia suffered the injury during a tag-team match which saw herself and Utami Hayashishita face Sareee and Bozilla. Despite the injury happening mere minutes into the match, Giulia continued to compete throughout the bout which lasted over 28 minutes. 

The former NJPW Strong Women’s Champion will have surgery on her wrist on May 28, Tokyo Sports report. Giulia told the publication that she had been advised that surgery was the best course of action. 

“I was told that having surgery would be the quickest way to recover, and I made the decision because I wanted to be in top condition to wrestle against Saree.”

A match against Sareee has been announced for the Marigold Summer Destiny event on July 13. Giulia intends to wrestle at the event and is confident she will be healed in time for the event. In the meantime, Giulia is looking forward to taking things easy for the first time in a while. 

“I’ll be away from home for three nights and four days, so it’s like going on a trip to the countryside. I won’t be able to move around, so I’ll spend my time watching movies for the first time in a while and watching various wrestling videos.”

Giulia’s WWE Future

With this surgery, questions remain as to what the future holds for Giulia in WWE. The Japanese star appeared at NXT Stand & Deliver 2024 and remained in Philadelphia for the WrestleMania 40 festivities. Giulia is set to join WWE NXT later this year though this injury has caused doubts among fans as to when she’ll be joining. 

WWE officials remain optimistic that Giulia will be healed in time to compete at the NXT Heatwave event on July 9. Giulia is expected to be thrust into the NXT Women’s Championship picture with one source claiming she’ll have an impact in NXT that rivals what Asuka achieved during her two years with the gold brand. 

Giulia was injured week while wrestling on the inaugural card for Rossy Ogawa’s new Marigold promotion. On Monday, May 20, Giulia teamed with Utami Hayashashita at the Marigold Fields Forever event against NXT alum Sareee and Bozilla. Giulia’s team took the loss but the real story is that Giulia fractured her right wrist.

The injury will force her to cancer her upcoming matches, including the upcoming Hana Kimura tribute show. She’s still scheduled to face Sareee at Marigold’s Summer Destiny event on July 13, but we’ll see how her recovery goes. A statement by Marigold reads:

“Giulia’s right wrist was injured in yesterday’s inaugural match. Today, her doctor examined her and diagnosed her with a fracture. Unfortunately she will miss the Hana Kimura show on the 23rd, and upcoming shows for the time being. We apologize and thank you for understanding.”

Giulia Update

Giulia appeared at Japanese fighting sports memorabilia store Toudoukan and delivered the following message (translated):

“Today was Giulia’s first event at Todoukan! I’m really happy that there were so many people, and it seems like it sold out in the fastest time in Weekly Pro history. I also came to Todoukan for the first time… it’s amazing! I hope that Giulia’s prize that was won in the lottery today will be lined up here someday! Yes, I would like to visit again! Thank you! Arrivederci! See you!”

?????????
??5?21?????
????????40???????????????????EXTRA ?????
??????????????????????#???? #??????? #??????? pic.twitter.com/roMik8ElVC

— ??? (@toudoukan) May 21, 2024

This injury is a significant setback for Giulia, who was poised to help get Marigold off the ground before testing her skills in WWE. The Japanese sensation appeared at NXT Stand & Deliver 2024 alongside Ogawa, her first appearance for the company.

Giulia is (or potentially was) expected to make her in-ring debut for WWE at the upcoming NXT Heatwave event held on July 7. Not only that, but she is expected to compete in a championship match at the show, either the NXT Women’s Championship or the NXT Women’s North American Championship. All of these plans, however, now hinge on her condition and it remains to be seen whether her arrival in WWE will have to be delayed.

The roster of the new Marigold promotion will compete for a World Championship and a United National Championship once the first event takes place later this year.

Marigold, the brainchild of STARDOM founder Rossy Ogawa, was confirmed in April 2024 after speculation that Ogawa was looking to make a new company. It was allegations that Ogawa was ‘poaching’ talent from STARDOM that led to his termination from parent company Bushiroad. 

• Marigold Wrestling Launches: Rossy Ogawa, Roster & First Event on 5/20

Tokyo Sports gave fans their first glimpse at two of the championships that will be defended under the Marigold banner. The Marigold World Championship features a red strap with silver plates while the United National Championship features a white strap with silver plates. It is currently unclear how the inaugural champions will be decided. 

These won’t be the only titles that the roster of Marigold will compete for. There will be two more titles to be introduced, according to the report, but there is no word yet on what those titles will represent. 

Marigold Fields Forever

Marigold’s first event will come on May 20 and will take place at the iconic Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. This inaugural event will be broadcast on WRESTLE UNIVERSE and will offer both English and Japanese commentary. The show will feature Giulia, who despite reports that a WWE move is guaranteed, will make a handful of appearances for Marigold per year. The former NJPW Strong Women’s Champion will team with Utami Hayashishita to face WWE NXT alum Sareee and Bozilla. 

Rossy Ogawa’s termination from STARDOM was an unfortunate but necessary call after he allegedly deceived the promotion with health concerns. 

Ogawa was fired from the promotion he founded in February 2024 in a shocking move that led to speculation talent would quit in protest. Ogawa was accused of poaching STARDOM talent for a new promotion he’d been working on, a claim Ogawa denied at the time. 

With Ogawa out of the picture, Taro Okada was quickly promoted to being the promotion’s president. In a recent interview with Encount, Okada explained the circumstances surrounding Ogawa’s exit. 

“Considering sales, I felt that the organization was unstable. It was like a venture company that was aiming for sales of 100-200 million yen, but was somehow managing to do everything by handouts.” 

Okada added that Ogawa claimed he was ready to leave STARDOM for health reasons. After Okada and others learned of plans Ogawa’s plans to launch a promotion, they didn’t take his deception well. 

“Ogawa told me when we first met that he was quitting. At the time, he said it was a matter of physical strength. Then, in January of this year, I heard that Mr. Ogawa was going independent and that he was talking to a number of wrestlers. If we were to split up, it would be an unstable business.”

While Ogawa has claimed he was not poaching talent for a new promotion, he has since gone on to launch Marigold who are set to host their first event this June. The show will feature a number of ex-STARDOM talent, including Giulia. The ex-NJPW Strong Women’s Champion is also set to join WWE very soon.

More on Rossy Ogawa

Here are some recent articles relating to Rossy Ogawa and his situation now that his time with STARDOM is a thing of the past:

WWE’s new era will see the company form a working relationship with Rossy Ogawa’s new Marigold wrestling promotion, it has been reported.

Ogawa, the recently-fired founder of STARDOM is hoping to bring stars including IYO SKY and Kairi Sane to a Marigold event expected to take place this summer. Whether that happens or not, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that a working agreement will be in place between the two companies. 

The main star who’ll benefit from this working agreement is Giulia, who is expected to sign with WWE in the near future. The former NJPW Strong Women’s Champion is expected to compete for both WWE and Marigold before an eventual move to the U.S. Giulia, who appeared at NXT Stand & Deliver alongside Ogawa, is expected to appear on a few big Marigold events per year in addition to her full-time WWE commitments. 

Great to have you at #StandAndDeliver, @giulia0221g! pic.twitter.com/hv2kySgsHQ

— WWE (@WWE) April 6, 2024

Giulia is set to appear at Marigold’s debut event in May 2024 alongside a talented roster of women including NXT alum Sareee. Her WWE in-ring debut is expected to be at July’s NXT Heatwave event, possibly with championship gold on the line. 

WWE forging a working agreement with Marigold, one that’ll seemingly last for multiple years, is a massive change from how the previous administration did business. In stark contrast to Vince McMahon’s ‘don’t play well with others’ approach, WWE is said to be exploring forging working relationships with other companies and Tony Khan has said that he’d be interested in a WWE-AEW partnership, under the right circumstances.

Rossy Ogawa is hoping to bring some of the top women of WWE to his new Marigold promotion in what could be the start of a long-term partnership.

Marigold was officially launched earlier this week and comes mere months after Ogawa’s departure from STARDOM, which he also founded. Ogawa has denied the claim from STARDOM’s parent company Bushiroad that he was ‘poaching’ talent from the all-female promotion. 

In an interview with Tokyo Sports, Ogawa spoke about WWE and how the company is host to some of the names he worked with in STARDOM including Kairi Sane and IYO SKY. Ogawa added that he’d like to invite names from WWE to do something with MARIGOLD down the line. WrestleMania week was not kind to SKY or Sane as the former lost the WWE Women’s Championship to Bayley while the latter was on the losing-side of a six-woman tag-team match.

Ogawa even went on to tease that Marigold could become a feeder system for WWE in the future. He stated that perhaps Marigold will be a “ranch” for talent ahead of a move to WWE. 

The idea of WWE and Ogawa working together isn’t all that farfetched. After all, Ogawa was present at WWE NXT Stand & Deliver and was seen alongside Giulia, who shared a photo of herself shaking hands with Triple H backstage. The former NJPW Strong Women’s Champion is expected to join WWE, but she will be appearing for Marigold first to help the company get off the ground. 

Great to have you at #StandAndDeliver, @giulia0221g! pic.twitter.com/hv2kySgsHQ

— WWE (@WWE) April 6, 2024

Playing Well With Others

For decades, WWE was vehemently against working with other promotions but that attitude has considerably softened in recent years. From Mickie James and Jordynne Grace being in Royal Rumble matches to talent like Charlie Dempsey, Shayna Baszler, and Shinsuke Nakamura being allowed the chance to compete outside of WWE’s confines, there is certainly a new stance on working with other companies. 

WWE President Nick Khan is said to be seriously considering potential collaborations with other promotions, though nothing has been publicly confirmed just yet. Even AEW President Tony Khan isn’t against the idea as he told ComicBook.com that collaborating with WWE is an “interesting thought” and would “depend on the circumstance.”

Rossy Ogawa has launched a new Japanese women’s wrestling promotion, as expected. A press conference was held Monday morning to announce the launch of Marigold Dream Star Fighting.

Marigold been a long time in the making, with reports that Rossy was exiting Stardom to start his own project and taking talent with him. The company’s inaugural event, “Marigold Fields Forever,” is set for May 20 at Korakuen Hall. It broadcast live on Wrestle Universe with commentary in Japanese and English.

The will feature a tag team match pitting Giulia and Sareee on opposite sides, with partners to be announced soon.

May 20 Korakuen Hall
Inaugural Show!!
“Marigold Fields Forever”
◆Main Event
Giulia & X vs Sareee & X

Live on https://t.co/vDwXf9pjwZ
with English and Japanese commentary!!#Marigold pic.twitter.com/AOkVzsBTGM

— Marigold Joshi (@Marigold_Joshi) April 15, 2024

Marigold Roster

Rossy has compiled a roster of former stars from STARDOM and Actwres girl’Z featuring these 13 wrestlers at launch:

• Giulia
• Utami Hayashishita
• MIRAI
• Nanae Takahashi
• Mai Sakurai
• Yuzuki (now using the name Victoria Yuzuki)
• Nao Ishikawa
• Natsumi Sumikawa
• Miku Aono
• Misa Matsui
• CHIAKI
• Chika Goto
• KOUKI

Giulia, who recently appeared at NXT’s Stand & Deliver event during WrestleMania weekend, is assisting Ogawa with the new promotion before her transition to WWE.

Rossy’s Controversial Exit from 

Ogawa was dismissed from Stardom in February amid allegations of attempting to poach talent as he exited. He denied these claims but confirmed his plans to start this new promotion.

Many top stars were thought to be leaving Stardom as well, including Utami Hayashishita, MIRAI, Mai Sakurai, and Yuzuki, who all had contracts set to expire at the end of March.

In early February, it was reported that Giulia would postpone her WWE debut in order to fulfill her commitment to assist STARDOM founder Rossy Ogawa with his new promotion. The STARDOM standout has said in the past that she had unfinished business in Japan.