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.

Japanese wrestling sensation Sareee has addressed her departure from WWE.

Sareee joined WWE in April 2021 and wrestled as Sarray for the company’s NXT brand. On Monday, she held a press conference at the from Tokyo, Japan at the Inoki Genki Factory to discuss her time with WWE and her future in wrestling.

According to Tokyo Sports, she said she has nothing but gratitude for her two years in America. She learned what she wanted to learn in America, but the time has come to take her career in a new direction.

“I made friends all over the world, I think that’s what I’ve gained,” she said (translated). “I think I need to make the most of what I have experienced in the No. 1 promotion in the world in my wrestling career”.

She is excited to be an independent wrestler once again. She feels that her purpose in life is to fight and she’s open to wrestling anywhere that fits her style. Her return match in Japan will be Tokyo Shinjuku Face Tournament “Sareee-ISM” on May 16th.

“I would like to make the most of it and go on a rampage in the Japanese professional wrestling world.”

Sareee

Sareee also tweeted the following, thanking WWE and the WWE Universe for the experience.

No matter what some people might say, I did my best. I am so glad that I had the chance to go to WWE??

Thank you WWE
Thank you Sarray
Thank you WWE Universe ?? pic.twitter.com/UIjvn6RKq2

— Sareee (@Sareee_official) March 13, 2023

A new report has provided an update on former NXT talent Sarray’s exit from WWE.

Sarray signed with the company in 2020 to join the NXT roster. Unfortunately, her WWE career was put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She competed in Japan during that time and also won the SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Tag Championship with her partner Yoshiko on Nov. 27, 2020, against Best Friends (Arisa Nakajima and Tsukasa Fujimoto). Sarray and Yoshiko dropped the titles to Nanae Takahashi & Arisa Nakajima on Jan. 22, 2021. After losing the SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Tag Championship, Sarray would come to the United States and debut in NXT on April. 20, 2021.

While Sarray came to the company with chances for new opportunities, WWE had difficulty featuring her on the show. She competed in NXT when they shifted to NXT 2.0, which started five months after her debut. During that time, NXT 2.0 began to focus on featuring newer talent like Cora Jade, Elektra Lopez, and Lash Legend, with other established NXT talents like Mandy Rose, Raquel Gonzales, and Kay Lee Ray. Sarray got lost in the shuffle and spent less time on NXT TV. Her last match was against Mandy Rose at NXT 2.0 on Aug. 2, 2022.

After three years, Tokyo Sports reported that Sarray had left the WWE after her contract expired, and she would return to Japan to continue her professional wrestling career. She is expected to hold a press conference on March. 13 in Japan to announce her plans.

Update on Sarray Leaving WWE

Since Tokyo Sports revealed that she had left WWE, fans were curious about what went wrong with her career in NXT. Fightful Select reported that they were told that “…the beginning of the end was actually early in 2022 when many of her biggest supporters were let go from NXT.”

The report continued, “…Sources within the brand said that she never factored into a consistent or major creative fashion after that. We’re told by the spring of 2022 that the writing was on the wall. William Regal’s departure was one that many pointed to as a turning point. Those who frequent the Performance Center said that she hadn’t been around in “ages” and weren’t given any answers when they’d ask about her.” The report shared that it’s acknowledged within WWE that she was given bad creative.

Despite her career in WWE, the report shared that she liked working with up-and-coming talent, including her brief feud with Tiffany Stratton. According to the report, people working in the Performance Center have positive things to say about Sarray.

She will have a match on May. 16 at the Sareee-ISM event at Shinjuku Face in Kabukicho, Tokyo, Japan.