.png)
I think it's fair to say that 2022 was a banner year for Stardom.
It was a year where the match quality was broadly fantastic. It was a year where they tried new things with the extension of the New Blood and Stardom in Showcase brands. And it was a year that ended in international recognition as Syuri topped the PWI Women's 150 and people began to fantasy book who Sasha Banks may face when she reached Japan.
So what did that spectacular 12 months look like in numbers? What do those statistics show about who dominated the year? And yes, where do we need to look past those numbers? If those are the sort of nerdy questions you are asking then we've got you absolutely sorted.
This is the first in two articles looking at the top (and in some cases bottom) tens in Stardom in 2022. Here we will be looking at the wins and losses charts for the year and seeing what that says about the various winners and losers. Look out for the second instalment in which we will look at who did well in one-on-one competition as well as looking at who main evented the most and who partook in the most title matches.
And if you really want to delve a bit more into it all please feel free to look at all the raw data at https://1drv.ms/x/s!Ap6qdh-YeTPumx-23sngMEE8v4ll and keep an eye out as we start it all again for 2023!
Just a quick note to say that these stats only show wrestlers who had more than 20 matches in Stardom in 2022. As such there is no space for the likes of KAIRI, Yuu and Nanae Takahashi.
Right...here we go.
Winners and Losers
If you're surprised to see Syuri at the top of this list then you probably weren't watching Stardom in 2022. The Red Belt holder for all but 3 days of the year, the leader of God's Eye also translated this into an avalanche of wins in any match format across Stardom. The relative dominance of God's Eye is backed up by MIRAI's position at second in this list. Don't sleep on the fact that she picked up a lot of those wins on her own though (as we will show in Part 2 of this article), culminating in her claiming the Cinderella Tournament gown.
Elsewhere in the list of winning-est wrestlers, it was another strong year for Donna Del Mondo. Maika edged out her tag-team partner Himeka and new Stardom World Champion Giulia, but in truth the faction as a whole was very strong across 2022. Koguma and Hazuki unsurprisingly also picked up a lot of wins both individually and as part of FWC, although there was no place for Stars leader Mayu Iwatani.
Finally, whilst it is great to see Momo Watanabe finally picking up wins, many of which were with Starlight Kid who is also on this list, it is Saki Kashima's name that stands out for Oedo Tai. Considered by many to be a relatively mid-card concern, Saki nonetheless picked up 50 wins in 2022, beating the likes of Saya Kamitani, Utami Hayashishita and Tam Nakano out of the top 10.
When we look at win percentages however the names change a fair bit. God's Eye again feature prominently, this time adding Ami Sohrei who won an impressive 56% of matches in her debut year. Himeka and Maika also show how impressive they were with an almost 60% win percentage each, and of course Syuri is near the top of the list again.
But at number 1, winning a whopping 65.2% of her matches in Stardom was the ludicrously talented and terrifying youngster Suzu Suzuki. The de-facto leader of the usurping Prominence stable, Suzu led her team to the Artists of Stardom Titles at the end of the year, had an impressive run in her debut 5 Star Grand Prix and generally left bodies in her wake in 2022. Her Prominence stable-mate Risa Sera also won more often than she lost and if they appear more frequently in Stardom in 2023 it will be a great concern for their opponents.
At the other end of the scale, Waka Tsukiyama was the undeniable 'loser' of 2022. She lost all 84 of the matches she appeared in and those statistics also explain the surprising inclusion of the rest of Cosmic Angels in this list. Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa and Unagi Sayaka were all victims of the number of times Waka's shoulders were pinned to the mat, explaining why Tam has now set somewhat of an ultimatum to Waka, and why Mina has walked away from the faction entirely.
Most of the rest of the names in this top 10 won't be much of a surprise as they highlight the 'pin-eaters' of each faction. Saya Iida will certainly be upset to still be in this list and needs to pick up some more wins in 2023. Similarly Ruaka will be looking to translate her increasing violence into victories, and Momo Kohgo and Lady C will also be keen to push on soon.
Special mention here to Starlight Kid who miraculously is in both the top 10 wins and the top 10 losses. This is mainly interesting as it shows that firstly she has been in an impressive amount of matches in 2022 (110 in total) but also that she has largely escaped Stardom's at times oppressive reliance on draws. SLK clearly doesn't deal in half-measures.
Pinning and Being Pinned
Wins and losses figures don't tell the only story in terms of who has had a good year inside the ropes. A good sign of who the company really favours is who is picking up the actual pinfalls and submissions, and who is suffering on the other end.
As the table above shows, MIRAI picked up the most pinfalls in Stardom in 2022, which is startling when you consider that was her first year in the promotion. It's clear that the big bosses have big things planned for MIRAI and they are therefore very keen to keep her looking strong.
AZM and Koguma also seem to have very bright futures in Stardom, and it is great to see both near the top of this list ahead of more established stars such as Syuri and Giulia. Having said that it is also comforting to see Mayu Iwatani on this list. She may not be a contented for the Red Belt anymore, but she's still pinning people left, right and centre, and long may it continue.
And there again is Saki Kashima! The Oedo Tai pinning machine! It is true to say that her stats are padded slightly by lots of wins over lower-card acts, but a pin is a pin and Saki Kashima is picking up a barrel-load of them.
As important as who is picking up pins are the stats showing who avoids taking the defeats. The people on the list above may not be winning as much as some others, but they are also being protected by not taking the losses personally.
Tomoka Inaba is a surprise leader in this category, although that probably lends itself to her simply not being on the losing team very often in her short sting in God's Eye so far. More remarkably, Syuri and MIRAI were only pinned in 6.8% and 7.2% of their matches respectively in 2022. Perhaps not surprising for the Red Belt holder, but another huge show of confidence in MIRAI.
Speaking of the Red Belt, these stats show that Stardom were keeping Giulia strong in the build up to her coronation as World Champion, and other Red-Belt contenders sich as Utami and Tam were also pinned very infrequently.
And does Natsuko Tora's appearance on this list suggest that she's going to get a push in 2023? Her injuries in 2022 slightly skew the stats, but it's clear that Stardom don't want her to be pinned too often. One to watch...
Lastly we again have to look towards the bottomo of the Stardom rankings, and we again find Waka Tsukiyama 'ruling' supreme with 80 pinfalls suffered. This is all clearly part of a storyline however so we shouldn't be too cruel, and I really hope to see Waka reverse all of these statistics in 2023.
Otherwise this list is not that surprising, other than the the appearance, ONCE AGAIN, of the magical Saki Kashima. Whilst she picked up 50 pinfalls in 2022, she was also pinned in 26% of her matches, which potentially breaches the laws of mathematics. Either way though, Saki Kashima has featured in the end to matches more than most in 2022 so you cannot say that she's not a crucial cog in the Stardom wheel.