A pair of STARDOM wrestlers will make a rare U.S. appearance next month.
Joshi talents AZM and Mina Shirakawa have been announced for NJPW’s Windy City Riot card on April 12 from the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois.
The event comes roughly a week after STARDOM American Dream 2024, which will take place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the week of Wrestlemania.
Through her decade-long career, AZM has yet to compete in the U.S. Windy City Riot could be her debut in the country, or her second appearance if she ends up working STARDOM’s Wrestlemania weekend card. She has competed three times under the NJPW banner in the past, including a three-way last year against Mercedes Mone and Hazuki.
Shirakawa will be making her return to the country years after her previous appearance there. Shirakawa notably tagged with Waka Tsukiyama as part of a kickoff match for NJPW Rumble On 44th Street in 2022.
Shirakawa appeared on the first night of NJPW’s The New Beginning In Sapporo this month, losing an IWGP Women’s Championship bout against Mayu Iwatani.
NJPW also announced CMLL’s Stephanie Vaquer for Windy City Riot. She has been a frequent name on NJPW’s U.S. dates, including notable fights against the aforementioned names Iwatani and Mone.
Just a few matches are known for Windy City Riot currently. In what will likely be the main event, Jon Moxley will challenge for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Tetsuya Naito if he still holds the belt by that date. Lower on the card, Illinois’ own Mustafa Ali will take on Hiromu Takahashi.
NJPW has distributed just over 5,000 tickets for the show as of Wednesday, per WrestleTix. They are hoping to move another 1,500 seats before the mid-April card.
