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>My era begins." Momo Watanabe achieved her long-awaited first victory at the 5STAR GP 2025, Stardom's midsummer league tournament to determine the strongest wrestler. With nine appearances in the tournament, the most of any of the 32 contestants, it was a pinnacle she had finally reached. However, Watanabe had once created an "era." In the one year period from May 2018, she defended her title as Wonder of Stardom Champion 13 times, setting a record at the time for the most title defenses. Six years on, what does "Black Peach" think now that she has earned proof of her strength?
>This is my second interview with Momo Watanabe, and the last time was exactly one year ago. It was right before she challenged for the IWGP Women's Championship, which was held by Mayu Iwatani at the time. Although she was unsuccessful in winning the title, the match was also a hot topic as Watanabe, who had been wearing a black costume since joining HATE, wore a white costume.
>"White gives me a sense of determination and it makes me feel more focused, and I wasn't even thinking about going back to babyface. I just thought the combination of white and gold looked cool (laughs). It was more like a competition outfit, and I always wear black, so white was the complete opposite. I wasn't feeling white at all (laughs). I think it was the first time I'd worn white (costume) since shortly after my debut. I found out Iwatani was quitting at a press conference and she said, "I'm quitting because there's nothing left for me to do at Stardom," but she got away with it, but she said, "No, no, I still want to do this, and there are things I haven't done yet. She hasn't retired, and she said she "ran away from home," so I'm just thinking that there's a chance she might come back."
>This year's summer for Stardom was Momo Watanabe's. She won the 5STAR GP, which determines the strongest wrestler in midsummer, with a record 32 participants.
