Tokyo Sports awarded this year’s Women’s Pro-Wrestling Grand Prize Award to STARDOM‘s Tam Nakano in line with their 50th anniversary.
The selection committee deliberated amongst a competitive field for the award. Fellow nominees who advanced to the final round of deliberations included Unagi Sayaka, Saori Anou, Rina Yamashita, and Miyu Yamashita. However, the committee ultimately awarded Tam Nakano with the prize given her outstanding year in wrestling.
Tam’s year in wrestling
Tam began her year by challenging KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s Championship at NJPW WrestleKingdom 17. Though coming up short in that match, she reached the peak of the Stardom hierarchy upon defeating her most notable rival, Giulia, in the main event of All Star Grand Queendom later in April. She became the 16th World of Stardom Champion in the process.
Just a month later, she became Stardom’s second World and Wonder of Stardom Double Champion by defeating Mina Shirakawa in a Winner Takes All Match. This was Tam’s second reign with the Wonder of Stardom belt, but she immediately lost it in her first defense to Cinderella Tournament winner MIRAI in early July. Since the white belt loss, Tam defended her World of Stardom Championship against Megan Bayne and Natsuko Tora before vacating the title due to a knee injury sustained. On top of her championship runs this year, Tam was also an active participant in Stardom’s 5 Star Grand Prix Tournament.
Tam burst into tears of joy upon receiving her Women’s Pro-Wrestling Award. She says, “I thought a lot about whether it was okay for me to receive this award even though I couldn’t make it all the way to the end. However, I am who I am today thanks to the support of many people. I think this is an award I received in ‘STARDOM’ as a representative of STARDOM. I am grateful that I was chosen, and I will do my best to repay you all from now on” (translation made available by HD Subs, @HD_Subss on Twitter).
