World of Stardom Champion Maika publicly expressed her negative feelings towards Rossy Ogawa’s controversial exit from the company.
Maika recently spoke with Tokyo Sports to share her thoughts on the recent happenings surrounding founder and former Executive Producer of STARDOM, Rossy Ogawa. She was also the first STARDOM talent to speak with Tokyo Sports on the issue. Other members of the roster, however, shared their personal thoughts on the matter on their respective Twitter accounts.
According to Maika, she was only informed of Rossy Ogawa’s contract situation after the February 4 Supreme Fight show. She was not aware of the news when she called for Rossy and the rest of the STARDOM roster for the post-show group photo. “I could have ended the show alone, but it was the 13th anniversary of the organization that Ogawa-san founded, so it was a smart move on my part. At that time, I didn’t even know that Ogawa-san would quit,” she says. (translation via Google Translate)
Maika then expressed her frustration as she feels that the recent controversies overshadowed her work as a World of Stardom Champion. A technical difficulty with the STARDOM live streaming service made Maika’s championship victory match unavailable during the bout. Hence, she wanted to make up for it by putting up a hard-fought first defense. “But Mr. Ogawa took over the topic. Don’t be silly! We athletes are fighting hard, and yet we’re being treated like this. I’m angry at Mr. Ogawa and the company,” she says. (translation via Google Translate) Maika adds, however, that she feels regret over how things ended between Rossy and the promotion stating that she wanted to send him off on friendlier terms. Nonetheless, she ends her interview by promising to “protect what needs to be protected” as the face of the promotion.
