An in-depth recount of Ogawa’s firing.
Hiroshi Arai of Proresu-TODAY published an article that takes a look at Rossy Ogawa’s termination from STARDOM via Bushiroad. Following the promotion’s 2/4 show, the news of the now-former executive producer’s firing was made public with STARDOM and Bushiroad citing the reasoning as Ogawa’s poaching of talent and staff.
Ogawa has since given his rebuttal and did so again in detail in the Proresu-TODAY piece. Arai’s additional reporting is included in the article. It is noted that Ogawa had been thinking about making the formal announcement of his exit from STARDOM in February. He stated in prior media appearances that he first informed the promotion of his intentions in November.
He floated the idea of making the announcement around the time of STARDOM’s show at Bellesalle Shibuya First in Tokyo which took place on 2/18.
Hiroshi Arai noted that after the backstage comments wrapped on 2/4, wrestlers and staff gathered for an emergency meeting. The press that had their belongings backstage were not present for the meeting. When Ogawa left the ring following a group photo, he attempted to head to the backstage area but was pulled aside by a staff member and taken to a room that was separate from where the meeting was taking place.
He was met by a lawyer and a woman who was in charge of legal affairs. It was right in that moment that Ogawa was told his contract was being terminated and there was a taxi waiting on him so he could leave the venue.
I was about to leave the ring and go backstage when a staff member stopped me and took me to a room. There was a lawyer and a woman in charge of legal affairs there, and they handed me a piece of paper. They told me that my contract was terminated today. That was the end of it. They put me in a taxi prepared by the company and sent me home. It was like something out of a drama…
Ogawa went on to add that all of the injured talents were present that day and something felt off about that.
All the injured wrestlers were there that day. It certainly felt strange… I wanted to take a commemorative photo since I had come all this way, and since it was the 13th anniversary of the event, I thought it would be a good thing. I wanted to make it a memory for myself…
The day prior to his firing, he chatted with STARDOM President Taro Okada in Kyoto. Hiroshi Arai notes that Ogawa expressed his intentions to publicly announce his future with STARDOM later that month. Back in January, wrestlers and staff were made aware of Ogawa’s plans to resign but did not know when that would be happening.
He recalls his contract being for five years and after four years, his future would be discussed but those discussions never happened.
I believe it was for five years (his STARDOM contract), and after four years we would discuss the future… But, there was no such talk.
Rossy reiterated that it was in November when he informed STARDOM of his intentions to step away. On 12/29 following Dream Queendom, he spoke to Bushiroad CEO Takaaki Kidani for an hour and relayed his intentions to him.
Speaking about his role towards the end of his time with STARDOM, Rossy said it became routine. He added that he got stuck in a rut and just began to do what was in front of him.
In the end, my work had become routine. It’s true that I was stuck in a rut, playing cards and traveling around the country. I just did what was in front of me, and I don’t know about you, but it stopped being fun.
On the topic of there not being a successor lined up to take over after him, he said employees are subject to transfer so they could not dedicate all of their time to it.
We didn’t have such people (to prepare a successor), or rather, employees are subject to transfer, so they can’t work there all the time. I don’t think there are people who can immerse themselves in this for the rest of their lives. In the end, I think that STARDOM is something that lasts only for one generation. From now on, I think it’s okay to call it the new STARDOM, Bushiroad STARDOM.
The STARDOM co-founder confirmed his intentions to launch a new organization. President Okada told Tokyo Sports in early February that several talents expressed their intentions to leave the promotion or are considering it.
