>>18872606>>18872612>>18872618Second part
In March 2022, Stardom launched a new brand called "NEW BLOOD." The first event featured the debut match of "Supernova" Miyu Amasaki, and since then, the event has been aimed at raising the bar for young talent. Rina has been the main event in many tournaments as the Future of Stardom Champion and NEW BLOOD Tag Team Champion.
>"Actually, I couldn't compete in the first tournament due to school commitments. I started competing from the second tournament, and at first I didn't feel like I was the one to lead (NEW BLOOD) at all; I wanted Future first. Eventually, Future started to main event NEW BLOOD more often, but when I won Future (at the Shinagawa tournament in May 2023), I was in the semi-finals. I was frustrated by that, and thought that if I promoted Future's belt as champion, maybe that would change. After that, I mostly fought in the main events, and top wrestlers stopped appearing. It really became a tournament for young wrestlers only. I think it became Future's fight, showing it through the content of the matches, so I'm confident that I've been leading NEW BLOOD, and I think Future's level has also improved. Even after I defeated Future, I had the tag belts, so I thought I had to lead. I really only thought about NEW BLOOD."At the July 4th Itabashi tournament, Rina's match at "NEW BLOOD 23" was scheduled as a singles match against Ema Maishima who had only debuted a month and a half at the time. When Maishima attempted a swan dive crossbody, Rina hit her head hard, suffered a concussion, and lost the match by referee stoppage. By handing a win to a newcomer at NEW BLOOD, which she holds dear, Rina made what she called a "mistake."
