STARDOM Star Himeka Retires, Wrestles Entire Roster In A Gauntlet Match

As STARDOM continues to gain momentum as the top women's wrestling promotion in the world, the company officially said goodbye to one of its most popular stars earlier today when Himeka had her retirement ceremony inside Korakuen Hall.

Before the ritual began, however, Himeka was tasked with competing in a Gauntlet match, wrestling each member of the STARDOM roster for one minute each. While it was an impromptu proposal from Mina Shirakawa that spawned the Gauntlet match, its inclusion in the retirement festivities was not shocking to most long-time fans of the company. The Gauntlet match has been a tradition in Joshi wrestling for many years, with STARDOM doing it for significant departures from the company in the past. Similarly to previous retirement gauntlet matches, the majority of Himeka's one-minute bouts went to the time limit and gave her just enough time to interact with each member of the roster one last time as an active competitor.

As for the retirement ceremony itself, each faction in STARDOM bid farewell to the "Jumbo Princess" by giving her gifts and posing for photos. Along with the active STARDOM roster, Himeka's mentors, Jun Akiyama and Yumiko Hotta, also made their presence known, gifting Himeka flowers in celebration of her retirement.

While her retirement was announced earlier this year, Himeka has spent the last few months putting the finishing touches on her career as a part of her "Retirement Road" in anticipation of this event. Before today's Korakuen Hall event, the final event on that road was the Pro Wrestling WAVE x Bushiroad Fight produced show entitled "Jumbo Forever" late last month.