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>Former Stardom fighter Natsumi Sumikawa's return to competition eight years after quitting, her 'adult charm' and 'the ring is a sacred place'
>The first professional wrestling event I ever saw was also Stardom. It was the event where current WWE Women's Champion Io Shirai joined the company.
>I only had an image of it being scary, so my concept of pro wrestling changed. I heard there were lots of thin, beautiful people there."
>The founders, Rossy Ogawa and GM Fuka, wanted to create a new and glamorous women's professional wrestling organisation. The organisation's ace was gravure idol Yuzuki Aikawa, known as "Yuzupon". At the same time, there was Nanae Takahashi who came from the long-established All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling, and the matches were serious.
>'Practice was really tough. As newcomers, we had to do our best just to keep up with the same menu as our seniors. We third-term students first had three hours of practice under Nanae's guidance, followed by three hours of practice with Fuka."
>In the early days, Stardom did not have a dojo, so they were allowed to train at the 'Caesar's Gym Shinkoiwa', which was a standing martial arts shootboxing gym. The training consisted of basic fitness, mat exercises and passive techniques on a thin mat laid out on the floor. The techniques we learnt were all basic.
>'We don't have a ring, so we can't practise techniques like flying from the corner. We also sparred on joint techniques. We were taught just the basics. I think that was good."
