High Speed Championship

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High Speed Championship
Current design of the title (2009 – present)
Details
PromotionNEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling (2009–2010)
World Wonder Ring Stardom (2010–present)
Date establishedMay 5, 2009[1]
Current champion(s)Saki Kashima
Date wonApril 4, 2024
Other name(s)
NEO High Speed Championship[1]
Statistics
First champion(s)Natsuki☆Taiyo[2]
Most reignsNatsuki☆Taiyo
(4 reigns)
Longest reignNatsuki☆Taiyo
(3rd reign, 679 days)
Shortest reignLa Rosa Negra
(18 days)
Oldest championMari Apache
(37 years, 298 days)[3]
Youngest championKoguma
(17 years, 33 days)[4]
Heaviest championMari Apache
(70 kg (150 lb))[3]
Lightest championRiho
(42 kg (93 lb))[5]

The High Speed Championship (ハイスピード王座, Hai Supīdo Ōza) is a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. The title was originally created on May 5, 2009, in the NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling promotion, where Natsuki☆Taiyo defeated Ray to become the inaugural champion.[1] As the name of the title suggests, it is meant for fast and high-flying wrestlers.[6] On November 19, 2010, Stardom acquired the rights to the High Speed Championship from NEO, which had announced it would be folding after December 31.[7] On July 24, 2011, Natsuki☆Taiyo, now affiliated with Stardom, defeated JWP Joshi Puroresu's Leon to officially bring the title over to the promotion.[2]

Title history[edit]

As all of Stardom's titles, the High Speed Championship is awarded to the champion with a symbolic trophy. AZM (pictured) on the second night of the Stardom World Climax 2022.

Originated in NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling, Natsuki☆Taiyo became the inaugural champion on May 5, 2009, after defeating Ray.[1] Tetsuya Koda, NEO president, has stated that the championship was inspired after a match between Kyoko Inoue and Manami Toyota in 1994.[8] On November 19, 2010, with the closing of NEO, Stardom acquired the rights to title.[7]

On July 24, 2011, Taiyo won the title for the third time in her career, which was also the first time the title appeared on Stardom.[2] The title, which was first named NEO High Speed Championship,[1] was re-named to High Speed Championship at Stardom.[7] Taiyo's third reign would last for 679 days, the longest reign over the championship's history. On December 29, 2013, Taiyo would also set a record for most reigns, at four.[9]

On August 10, 2019, the inaugural AEW Women's World Champion Riho defeated the than-champion Death Yama-san,[10] who was previously also known and held the title as Kaori Yoneyama,[11][12] to win the title in a three-way match, which also involved AZM.[13] On March 4, 2023, the 22nd champion AZM set a new record for most successful title defenses at ten by defeating Starlight Kid, who previously held the title as well.[14]

Belt design[edit]

The front plate of the championship belt was designed by Kana for NEO, a design that would carry through to Stardom.[8]

Reigns[edit]

Two-time and current champion Saki Kashima

As of April 25, 2024, there have been 25 reigns shared between 18 different champions. Natsuki☆Taiyo was the inaugural champion, who also holds the record for most reigns at four. Taiyo's third reign is the longest at 679 days, while La Rosa Negra's reign is the shortest at 18 days. Mari Apache is the oldest champion at 37 years old, while Koguma is the youngest at 17 years old.

Saki Kashima is the current champion in her second reign. She won the title by defeating the previous champion Mei Seira and Ram Kaicho at Stardom American Dream 2024 on April 4, 2024, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This also marks the first time that the championship changed hands outside of Japan.

Names[edit]

Name Years
NEO High Speed Championship May 2009 – December 2010
High Speed Championship December 2010 – present
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Defenses Number of successful defenses
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days Defenses
NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling
1 Natsuki☆Taiyo May 5, 2009 May History 09 Tokyo, Japan 1 138 2[11] Defeated Ray in a decision match to become the inaugural champion. [1]
2 Kaori Yoneyama September 20, 2009 Beat Up 09 Tokyo, Japan 1 175 1[15] [11]
3 Natsuki☆Taiyo March 14, 2010 Road to Maniax 2010: OCC League Kawasaki, Japan 2 258 3[16] [15]
4 Leon November 27, 2010 5Passion Kawasaki, Japan 1 239 3[2] [16]
World Wonder Ring Stardom
5 Natsuki☆Taiyo July 24, 2011 Stardom × Stardom 2011 Tokyo, Japan 3 679 4[12] [2]
6 Kaori Yoneyama June 2, 2013 Stardom Golden Age Tokyo, Japan 2 210 2[9] [12][17]
7 Natsuki☆Taiyo December 29, 2013 Stardom Yearend Climax 2013 Tokyo, Japan 4 128 3[9] [9][18]
8 Io Shirai May 6, 2014 Golden Week Stars 2014 Tokyo, Japan 1 292 1[19] [20][21]
9 Koguma February 22, 2015 Queen's Shout 2015 Tokyo, Japan 1 84 1[22] [19][23]
10 Star Fire May 17, 2015 Gold May 2015 Tokyo, Japan 1 129 1[24] [22][25]
11 La Rosa Negra September 23, 2015 5★Star GP2015 Tokyo, Japan 1 18 0[26] [24]
12 Mayu Iwatani October 11, 2015 Appeal the Heat 2015 Tokyo, Japan 1 501 9[27] [26]
13 Kris Wolf February 23, 2017 Stardom of Champions 2017 Tokyo, Japan 1 143 4[28] This was a three-way match, also involving Kagetsu. [27]
14 Shanna July 16, 2017 Stardom × Stardom 2017 Tokyo, Japan 1 28 0[29] [28]
15 Mary Apache August 13, 2017 Midsummer Champions 2017 Tokyo, Japan 1 498 4[30] [29][31]
16 Hazuki December 24, 2018 Stardom Year End Climax Tokyo, Japan 1 208 8[10] [30]
17 Death Yama-san July 20, 2019 Stardom World Big Summer in Osaka Osaka, Japan 3 21 0[13] This was a three-way match, also involving AZM. Death Yama-san was formerly known as Kaori Yoneyama. [10]
18 Riho August 10, 2019 Stardom X Stardom 2019 Tokyo, Japan 1 351 1[32] This was a three-way match, also involving Starlight Kid. [13][33]
19 AZM July 26, 2020 Cinderella Summer in Tokyo Tokyo, Japan 1 220 4[34] This was a three-way match, also involving Starlight Kid. [35]
20 Natsupoi March 3, 2021 All Star Dream Cinderella Tokyo, Japan 1 179 2[36] [37]
21 Starlight Kid August 29, 2021 5 Star Grand Prix
(Night 8)
Tokyo, Japan 1 178 5[38] [39]
22 AZM February 23, 2022 Cinderella Journey Tokyo, Japan 2 458 12 [40]
23 Saki Kashima May 27, 2023 Flashing Champions Tokyo, Japan 1 135 3 This was a three-way match, also involving Fukigen Death. [41]
24 Mei Seira October 9, 2023 Nagoya Golden Fight Nagoya, Japan 1 178 4 [42]
24 Saki Kashima April 4, 2024 Stardom American Dream 2024 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2 21+ 0 This was a three-way match also involving Ram Kaicho.

Combined reigns[edit]

As of April 25, 2024.

Two-time champion AZM holds the records for most defenses in one reign at 12 and most combined defenses at 16.
Natsupoi with the current design of the belt (2009–present)
Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns
Combined
defenses
Combined
days
1 Natsuki☆Taiyo 4 12 1,203
2 AZM 2 16 678
3 Mayu Iwatani 1 9 501
4 Mary Apache 1 4 498
5 Kaori Yoneyama 3[a] 3 406
6 Riho 1 1 351
7 Io Shirai 1 1 292
8 Leon 1 3 239
9 Hazuki 1 8 208
10 Natsupoi 1 2 179
11 Starlight Kid 1 5 178
Mei Seira 1 4 178
13 Saki Kashima 2 3 156+
14 Kris Wolf 1 4 143
15 Star Fire 1 1 129
16 Koguma 1 1 84
17 Shanna 1 0 28
18 La Rosa Negra 1 0 18

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Won her third reign under the name of Death Yama-san.

References[edit]

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  3. ^ a b 2017年7月4日 7・16後楽園大会対戦カード発表記者会見. World Wonder Ring Stardom (in Japanese). July 4, 2017. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  4. ^ コグマ. World Wonder Ring Stardom (in Japanese). May 22, 2014. Archived from the original on February 22, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
  5. ^ 〜大江戸隊の黒い狼〜 クリス・ウルフ. World Wonder Ring Stardom (in Japanese). August 22, 2014. Archived from the original on February 24, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
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  19. ^ a b 2015年2月22日 Queen's Shout2015~女王たちの叫び~. World Wonder Ring Stardom (in Japanese). February 22, 2015. Archived from the original on February 26, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
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External links[edit]