Stardom will keep testing weekday big shows, president says after 1,994 attendance on Oct. 29

Stardom president Taro Okada said the promotion will press on with a strategy of staging some marquee shows on weekdays after the company’s Oct. 29 pay-per-view at Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo drew an announced crowd of 1,994.

The Oct. 29 card was headlined by Suzu Suzuki retaining the World of Stardom Championship against Starlight Kid. Tokyo Sports reported the attendance fell just short of a 2,000 target set for the event. Okada told media that there are supporters who cannot make weekend dates and have expressed appreciation for weekday opportunities to see major matches.

Okada framed the weekday experiment as a way to broaden Stardom’s audience by giving different groups of customers more options. He said the promotion needs to build consistent weekday turnout to move to the next stage of growth and that persistence is required to establish the approach.

The promotion’s October-November schedule includes five major weekday events, and the Oct. 29 show was presented as a pay-per-view. The card also featured Natsupoi teaming with her husband Shingo Takagi to defeat Yuna Mizumori and Hirooki Goto; Natsupoi is slated to retire from in-ring competition soon.

Okada’s wider business goals for Stardom include eventually holding a show at the Tokyo Dome. For international expansion, the company has prioritized cooperative arrangements with other promotions rather than running its own overseas events. Stardom has also worked to extend its global reach through English commentary on select shows and a dedicated global YouTube channel.

Okada indicated the only way to validate the weekday strategy is to keep offering those options and see whether fans respond, and he said Stardom will keep looking for chances to test the concept.