World Climax 2022 - The Best: WrestleFile Historical Verdict

The 7:05 Future title opener carries more weight than its runtime because it is the first match of Stardom's two-night Ryogoku experiment and directly feeds the next day. Hanan faces her sister Rina after Rina earned the March 26 challenge in Nagaoka. Hanan retains with the backdrop hold and reaches a third successful defense, preserving her momentum before facing Mai Sakurai on March 27. The match is concise, but the family dynamic and consecutive-night championship structure give it a clear purpose beyond simply warming up the crowd.

MIRAI's 10:23 submission win over Saya Iida is a strong example of Stardom using a major card to advance someone who is not yet in a championship match. Iida had just returned from a long injury absence at New Blood 1, while MIRAI was still establishing herself inside Donna del Mondo. The Miramare submission gives MIRAI a decisive singles result without making Iida's return feel wasted. It also keeps MIRAI moving toward the stronger singles position she would occupy later in 2022.

The six-woman tag gauntlet on the first World Climax night at Ryogoku on March 26, 2022 featured four actual trios across three successive matches. Oedo Tai's Fukigen Death, Ruaka and Saki Kashima first defeated Momo Kohgo, Waka Tsukiyama and Mina Shirakawa in 4:09, with Kashima pinning Tsukiyama. Queen's Quest's Miyu Amasaki, Lady C and AZM entered next and beat Oedo Tai in 2:39. In the final stage Donna del Mondo's Mai Sakurai, Natsupoi and Himeka eliminated Queen's Quest after 3:10, with Himeka pinning Lady C following a JP Coaster. The official STARDOM results record each successive fall individually. Treating the gauntlet as a single twelve-person faction brawl would conceal which wrestlers teamed together, when each trio entered and who won the final stage.

Prominence beating Maika and Thekla in 10:27 is the first major proof that the outside group can do more than provoke Donna del Mondo. Suzu Suzuki pins Thekla with a German suplex hold, giving Prominence a clean result before the larger eight-woman confrontation on March 27. The match also keeps the Giulia-Suzu history in the background without rushing their direct singles conflict. As connective booking it is excellent: the outsiders gain credibility, DDM has a reason to respond, and the feud escalates across the two-night format.

The 14:08 Goddesses title change turns Black Desire from an intriguing Oedo Tai pairing into a championship team. Hazuki and Koguma enter with a credible reign, so Momo Watanabe pinning Koguma after Peach Thunder feels like a genuine transfer of momentum rather than a transitional switch. The result also validates Watanabe's post-Queen's Quest identity and Starlight Kid's rapid rise after her own Oedo Tai transformation. With Hazuki set to face Watanabe in singles action the next day, the title change adds another immediate layer to World Climax's second night.

The timing connected the tag division to a continuing singles feud instead of treating those stories as isolated cards. Watanabe and Hazuki would meet again during the Ryogoku weekend, but the first result belonged to the Oedo Tai partnership. For Starlight Kid, gaining the belts alongside Watanabe was additional proof that her changed faction identity could translate into more than attention around individual matches.

KAIRI's return match is built around history without becoming pure nostalgia. Pairing her with Mayu Iwatani reconnects two central figures from Stardom's earlier era, while Tam Nakano and Unagi Sayaka give the match opponents who are deeply connected to the promotion's current identity. Mayu pins Unagi after the moonsault press, so KAIRI can return successfully without needing to take the deciding fall herself. The 17:36 runtime gives the comeback room to feel important and establishes KAIRI as an active part of the weekend before her singles match with Starlight Kid.

The decision to let Iwatani score the pin preserved a meaningful role for both returning and current wrestlers. KAIRI's presence was enough to make the match a centerpiece, while Iwatani was still an active standard-bearer with reason to win for the team. Nakano and Sayaka meanwhile represented Cosmic Angels as an existing unit, so the reunion had to confront a real part of Stardom's contemporary roster.

At 27:11, Saya Kamitani and Utami Hayashishita receive enough time to make the Wonder title defense feel like a major rivalry chapter rather than a scheduling device for night two. Kamitani had previously failed to overcome Hayashishita in a World title match, so retaining here changes the relationship between them. The Phoenix Splash finish gives Kamitani her third successful defense and sends her into the following night's Tam Nakano match with a much stronger championship identity. It is one of the most important early defenses of her reign.

That result mattered particularly because Hayashishita had held the promotion's World championship so recently. Kamitani was no longer simply the younger Queen's Quest partner receiving a chance against her; she had a separate singles title to defend and managed to win against the former red-belt champion. Beating Hayashishita also made the scheduled Nakano defense on the next night a test of endurance as well as technique.

The 26:54 main event works because the World title is only one layer of the story. Syuri and Giulia had built Donna del Mondo together and succeeded as a championship team, but their partnership had reached the point where both could not follow the same path. Syuri wins with Syu-sekai for a second successful defense and then moves toward a future outside Giulia's immediate orbit. The match preserves the champion for Mayu Iwatani on March 27 while giving the DDM split a definitive competitive result, making it the historical center of the first World Climax night.

Giulia's defeat also gave the next night's schedule a clear order of importance. Syuri had settled the direct challenge from the former partner who helped establish Donna del Mondo, but she still had to defend against Iwatani within roughly a day. The promotion could not treat the first victory as a conclusion to the entire weekend. It ended one personal championship pursuit while preserving the champion's obligation to face a different kind of challenger.

The original March 26 in-ring transcript makes the faction outcome explicit. After beating Giulia, Syuri said this was her final appearance as a Donna del Mondo member, that she would form a new unit and that the person accompanying her was its first member. Giulia accepted the split and promised to come after the World championship again as Syuri's rival. Mayu Iwatani then entered to affirm the March 27 challenge, ending the exchange with a handshake. These were post-match unit and title developments, not extra matches fought on night one or an announcement of the new group's eventual name.