There have been several talents that have expressed their intentions to depart the promotion or are considering it.
On February 4th, STARDOM co-founder Rossy Ogawa was informed that his contract with the promotion was being terminated. In Bushiroad and STARDOM’s announcement about Ogawa’s exit, they claimed that he poached talent and staff. Ogawa reacted on X and noted that the truth may be told some day.
Tokyo Sports caught up with STARDOM President and Bushiroad Representative Director, Taro Okada. He told the publication that they learned information about Ogawa’s alleged poaching in December. Ogawa was approached and it was relayed to him that if he is doing that, they want him to stop. They learned that he was continuing to do so and in response, he was let go.
Around December, we began to hear information that Mr. Ogawa was poaching people out of the company. We had always verbally told him, ‘If you are doing that, please stop,’ and, ‘We would like to continue working together in the future,’ but we were able to confirm that he has continued to do so since then, so we have taken these measures.
The article notes that Ogawa had been expressing his intentions to leave STARDOM and despite efforts to change his mind, he remained adamant.
On January 21st, talents, staff and employees were informed that Ogawa would be leaving in March. His alleged poaching continued so that sped up the process.
Okada added that he’s aware that many talents who have been poached are either title holders or really popular. He said the worst-case scenario is if those talents leave, there would be possibility they might have to close STARDOM.
We are aware that many of the wrestlers (who have been poached) are title holders and other popular wrestlers. If those wrestlers leave… in the worst-case scenario, there was a possibility we would have to close the company. After internal consideration, we notified STARDOM that we would be terminating the contract immediately.
He addressed the rumors of Ogawa potentially starting his own organization. Okada stated that regardless, Ogawa was under contract and if he was making moves as such, it would be a breach of his deal. Okada then added that he has been approached by several STARDOM talents who have expressed their intentions to either leave or are considering leaving.
I have had several wrestlers express their intention to leave the company or are thinking about leaving.
To close, he spoke about the future of the organization and his role. He said there are people within STARDOM who have a good deal of experience in the wrestling business and with their guidance, STARDOM will be strengthened.
Within our group, we have people who understand and have experience in the wrestling industry, so with their guidance and cooperation, we will build a solid organization and strengthen the company’s structure. I believe that by revitalizing the local shows, we will be able to increase the turnout for the big matches in major cities, so we will formulate a solid strategy.
Ogawa’s exit from STARDOM was reacted to by AEW President Tony Khan and to check out his tweets, head over to this link.
The exit will be discussed on the next edition of Rewind-A-Raw.
