Oedo Tai
Oedo Tai was a villainous professional wrestling stable mainly performing in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom and the Japanese independent scene between 2015 and 2024.
History
Under Kyoko Kimura and Act Yasukawa (2015)
The group originally formed after Kimura Monster Gun's Kyoko Kimura, Kris Wolf and Hudson Envy joined forces with Act Yasukawa, Dragonita and Heidi Lovelace following the events of Stardom's 4th Anniversary show on January 18, 2015, defining themselves as the founding members of the unit. With Yasukawa and Kimura acting as co-leaders, they rebranded themselves with a Samurai theme due to Act, who was "The Samurai Spirit" of Stardom. Yasukawa won the Wonder of Stardom Championship the same night after defeating Mayu Iwatani. The first match under the Oedo Tai name saw Yasukawa, Hudson Envy and Kimura defeating Heisei-gun in a six-woman tag team match on the second night of the Stardom New Year Stars 2015 which took place on February 1. On February 8, at Stardom Queen's Shout, the unit went for the first time after tag team gold, as Dragonita, Heidi Lovelace and Hudson Envy unsuccessfully challenged Heisei-gun for the Artist of Stardom Championship. The rush continued on February 22, at Stardom Queen's Shout, Kimura and Hudson Envy teamed up and unsuccessfully challenged 7Kairi for the Goddesses of Stardom Championship.Yasukawa vs. Yoshiko incident
Yasukawa was in a feud with Yoshiko, whom she challenged for the World of Stardom Championship on February 22. Things got off-script during the match, while Yoshiko legitimately attacked and injured Yasukawa, therefore getting stripped of the title and being suspended for an indefinite period. Yasukawa, who was the Wonder of Stardom Champion at the time had to furtherly relinquish the title on May 1, due to complications from her multiple injuries caused by the incident. Three days later from the occurrence, Stardom held a press conference where Yoshiko apologised for her actions, but subsequently remained suspended.On the fifth night of the Stardom Grows Up Star 2015 on April 12, Thunder Rosa teamed up with Kris Wolf to defeat Mayu Iwatani and Momo Watanabe, match which would mark her debut in the promotion as part of the stable. On the second night of the Stardom Golden Week Stars 2015 which took place on May 6, Star Fire marked her debut in the unit by teaming up with Kris Wolf in a losing effort to Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani in the semi-finals of a tournament to crown new Goddesses of Stardom Champions. Nikki Storm also made her first appearance in Stardom as part of the unit on June 14, at Stardom Galaxy Stars 2015, where she teamed up with Star Fire and unsuccessfully challenged Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani for the Goddesses of Stardom Championship. During the 5★Star Grand Prix 2015 tournament which took place beginning on August 23, La Rosa Negra joined the group, while competing in the B block of the tournament against stablemates Kris Wolf and Hudson Envy, Mayu Iwatani, Kaori Yoneyama and Io Shirai. On September 23, on the eight night of the tournament, La Rosa Negra successfully captured the High Speed Championship from stablemate Star Fire, with no major occurrences after the match. This was the latter's last match in Stardom and as part of Oedo Tai. At Stardom Mask Fiesta 2015 ~ Halloween Party on October 25, La Rosa Negra represented the stable in a six-person masked tag team match where she teamed up with Black Dragon and Kaoru Maeda in a losing effort to Io Shirai, Mayu Iwatani and Último Dragón. At the 2015 edition of the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League, Kris Wolf and Kyoko Kimura teamed up to represent the stable in a first-round match where they fell short to Hiroyo Matsumoto and Santana Garrett on November 11. The other pair which represented Oedo Tai in the competition was the team of Act Yasukawa and the new member of the stable, Holidead, who joined the unit during the event on November 3. The two teamed up on the same night, falling short to Kairi Hojo and Haruka Kato.
Under Kimura's single leadership (2015–2017)
Act Yasukawa returned in the in-ring competition in September 2015 after recovering from the injuries suffered during the incident with Yoshiko, but only for a brief period until December 23, when she announced her retirement from professional wrestling, remaining the manager of the group until early 2016. Kyoko Kimura subsequently remained the sole leader of the unit since then, and spent her time recruiting a handful of wrestlers in the first couple of months. The unit always had their doors open for new competitors from outside of Japan.On the first night of the Stardom 5th Anniversary on January 17, 2016, Kaitlin Diemond and Viper debuted in the stable by teaming up against Hyper Destroyers, obtaining the no. 1 contendership for the Goddesses of Stardom Championship, match which they would lose three days later to the champions Thunder Rock. On the fifth night of the Stardom Grows Up Stars 2016 on April 17, the luchadora Diosa Atenea teamed up with Kyoko Kimura as the new recruit of the unit, picking up a victory against Kagetsu and Lizzy Styles. The true purpose of the match was that Kimura tried to recruit Kagetsu in the stable but yet unsuccessfully. Six days later at Stardom Grows Up Stars 2016 - Kairi Hojo Homecoming on April 23, Kagetsu finally joined the stable and teamed up with Kyoko Kimura being accompanied at ring side by Act Yasukawa, to defeat Hiroyo Matsumoto and Jungle Kyona. On May 29, on the first night of the Stardom Shining Stars 2016 event, Leah Vaughan became the newest recruit of the unit as she teamed up with Kagetsu, Kris Wolf and Diosa Atenea to defeat Jungle Kyona and Thunder Rock in a six-man tag team match. The unit captured the first tag team gold at Stardom Premium Stars 2016 on June 16, when Kyoko Kimura and Kagetsu defeated Thunder Rock for the Goddesses of Stardom Championship. On September 22, on the eight night of the Stardom 5★Star Grand Prix 2016, Kyoko Kimura and Kagetsu would team up with a mystery wrestler to go against JKGReeeeN and Mayu Iwatani. That mystery partner was Hana Kimura, Kyoko's daughter who subsequently joined the stable. The three members of the unit picked up the victory. They would eventually become the strongest sub-group of the unit after winning the Artist of Stardom Championship for the first time at Stardom in Shin-Kiba Taikai on October 2, by defeating Threedom. Late in 2016, Kimura injured her wrist, which led to her going on a hiatus to recover.
Kyoko Kimura and Kagetsu represented the unit outside of Stardom at WAVE Happy New Year 2017 on January 8, an event promoted by Pro Wrestling Wave where they unsuccessfully challenged Misaki Ohata and Ryo Mizunami for the Wave Tag Team Championship.
Under Kagetsu (2017–2020)
Kyoko Kimura retired from professional wrestling on January 22, 2017, at the Kyoko Kimura Retirement Produce Last Afro, an event promoted by the Japanese independent scene where she teamed up with Hana and her husband, mixed martial artist Isao Kobayashi in a losing effort to Aja Kong, Meiko Satomura & Minoru Suzuki. Kagetsu was handed Kyoko's jitte, symbolizing the start of his leadership. Along with Hana, Kris Wolf and others, they kept the Oedo Tai name going, but the group started to fall apart. Wolf took off for some international matches and Kagetsu more or less looked like he also retired. Hana was left alone and struggled to keep the unit active while taking the leadership for several months. She challenged Mayu Iwatani for the Wonder of Stardom Championship title at Stardom Shining Stars 2017 on June 11, with an extra stipulation. If Hana won, Mayu would join Oedo Tai, but if Mayu won, Oedo Tai would be forced to disband. The match ended in a no-contest when Kagetsu returned attacking Mayu and the referee. Right after that, Wolf returned after being away for a couple of months. Thunder Rosa, La Rosa Negra and Holidead would also emigrate from Japan to wrestle in the American scene and subsequently left the unit in May. After those several departures, the unit suffered a slight gimmick change as the second generation of Oedo Tai was truly born.Kagetsu reinvented his look after returning on the fourth night of the Stardom Shining Stars 2017 on June 21, where he teamed up with Hana Kimura to defeat Hiroyo Matsumoto and Jungle Kyona for the Goddesses of Stardom Championship. Due to limiting themselves to a trio, Kagetsu, Wolf and Hana Kimura would look for new recruits as they brought Tam Nakano to the unit on September 10, during the 5STAR Grand Prix. Another member presented by Kagetsu on November 4, during the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League was Sumire Natsu who came from Pro Wrestling Wave.
Unfortunately Tam Nakano was forced to leave the stable and join Queen's Quest after being eliminated the last in a 10-woman elimination tag team match which occurred on January 21, 2018, at Stardom 7th Anniversary. On March 25, Wolf left Stardom and subsequently Oedo Tai due to visa issues which prevented her to wrestle in Japan anymore. On April 15, HZK, Martina and Nao Yamaguchi joined the uint after the 2018 Stardom Drafts. On June 9, at Stardom Shining Stars, Kagetsu defeated Toni Storm to win the World of Stardom Championship. The stable made a couple of brief appearances in the American independent scene. On June 29, HZK, Kagetsu and Hana Kimura represented the stable at Best in the World 2018, an event promoted by Ring of Honor. At ROH Wrestling #358 on June 30, Hana Kimura and Kagetsu teamed up to defeat Jenny Rose and Mayu Iwatani. During Kagetsu's final match in the 2018 5 Star Grand Prix on September 24, Kimura betrayed Oedo Tai by attacking Kagetsu with a chair, causing Kagetsu to lose and fail to reach the finals. Following the match, Kimura declared that she was no longer affiliated with Oedo Tai. This would lead to a showdown between the two at Stardom True Fight 2018 in a no disqualification match that saw both new enemies collide in the Korakuen Hall. The match would end via referee's decision as Kagetsu got a measure of revenge over the new Hana Kimura who would later join the Tokyo Cyber Squad stable.
On the fourth night of the Stardom Shining Stars 2019 on January 2, Kagetsu, Sumire Natsu and HZK teamed up to face Jamie Hayter, Hana Kimura and Bobbi Tyler of Tokyo Cyber Squad in a six-man tag team match in which Hayter betrayed Kimura and Tyler, providing the victory of Oedo Tai's members. The Pro-Wrestling: EVE's member joined the unit right after the match. The stable was growing again, with Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling's Andras Miyagi joining at Stardom Queen's Fest on February 17, as the "X", of Kagetsu in the tag team match against JAN which they won. After the 2019 drafts from April 14, Sumire Natsu, HZK and Andras Miyagi teamed up to defeat JAN. Due to the draft results, Tora switched factions as she joined Oedo Tai Andras Miyagi was kicked out of the group after dropping the Artist of Stardom Championship alongside Kagetsu and Sumire Natsu to Queen's Quest's AZM, Momo Watanabe and Utami Hayashishita. HZK announced her retirement from professional wrestling took place on December 24, at Stardom Year-End Climax, where she fell short to Tora in a singles match.
On January 3, 2020, Saki Kashima betrayed Mayu Iwatani and Stars in a match against the one-time reformed tag team from Hana Kimura and Kagetsu, and joined the stable at the request of Natsu and Tora. On January 19, at the Stardom 9th Anniversary, Bea Priestley teamed up with Jamie Hayter to defeat Tokyo Cyber Squad's Jungle Kyona and Konami for the Goddesses of Stardom Championship. Priestley later turned heel on Queen's Quest on the same night, joining Oedo Tai.