5 months ago
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Stardom’s “Golden Phoenix” Saya Kamitani has chosen to remove her wings from her arsenal and retire her Phoenix Splash for good.
Per an interview in Tokyo Sports, Kamitani had been practicing her signature move in preparation for All Star Grand Queendom 2024. However, she had suffered a shoulder injury while practicing the move ahead of the event.
In an interview with Tokyo Sports, Saya Kamitani has revealed that she will no longer be using the Phoenix Splash.
She said it is due to a shoulder injury that she suffered in practicing the move ahead of her Wonder of Stardom Championship match against Mina Shirakawa at All… pic.twitter.com/Gwo9WGVPBj
Kamitani is one of the longest Wonder of Stardom champions at 480 days, only second to Yuzuki Aikawa. Throughout this reign, she had used this maneuver to defend her title a total of 15 times.
Infamously, during a title defense against Mina Shirakawa, she attempted to do the move twice, but ended up injuring the face of Shirakawa. Since that incident, Kamitani has used the technique very sparsely. During All Star Grand Queendom 2023 she brought the move back against Shirakawa for the first time in five months, although coming out on the losing end and stopping her lengthy reign.
Earlier this year, Kamitani debuted a new finisher labeled the Phoenix Strike.
At today’s Korakuen Hall show, Saya Kamitani debuted a new finisher called the Phoenix Strike.
She noted that she came up with it while she was out of action with injury. Seems to be her new finisher to avoid having to go to the Phoenix Splash always.#STARDOM pic.twitter.com/bJvfO63uMI
Kamitani is scheduled to compete at All Star Grand Queendom, May 17. She faces Saki Kashima, Saya Iida, and Fukigen Death in a four-way match for the High-Speed Championship.
