STARDOM President Taro Okada comments on working with AEW.
Willow Nightingale will defend the TBS Championship against Tam Nakano at the Flashing Champions event on May 18.
At a press conference, Taro Okada discussed the match and how it came together. He detailed reaching out to AEW. (H/t Andrew Thompson of POST Wrestling)
“I am sure everyone was surprised at the TBS Title match, and I too was surprised,” Okada said. “Because after training, the wrestlers are, you know, in the process of putting out a challenge for a suitable opponent, and we heard that the title can be defended anywhere, even overseas, so I wanted to take up on it. Tam Nakano was the first to reply, and I was surprised by her outburst. I immediately contacted AEW to see if we could make the match happen, and when we did, (Tony Khan & his team) contacted us and asked when the match could happen. I told them we could do it after the upcoming Flashing Champions pay-per-view, but they said let’s do it right away.”
STARDOM President On Relationship With AEW
Okada continued by reiterating that they were told that Nightingale was ready. As a result, they decided to make the match right away. He went on to comment on STARDOM’s relationship with AEW.
“We were told that Willow was ready to go anywhere and any time. So we decided to make the match right away,” Okada said. “The relationship between STARDOM and AEW is such that the wrestlers’ dreams come true, and we wanted to support Tam Nakano trying to take the TBS Title so she could capture the championship and spread her wings to the next pay-per-view and into AEW. I would like to support her, and I hope she wins this match. We would like you to become a singles champion, become a new champion after a long drought.”
Willow Nightingale is set to defend the AEW TBS Championship against Mercedes Moné at AEW Double or Nothing on May 26. WrestleZone will have coverage of the show as it airs.
Click here to see what Willow Nightingale said about Stokely Hathaway.
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