Today it was announced that Hikari Noa has graduated from both Tokyo Joshi Pro as well as The Up Up Girls. Noa had been out of action since the end of December for health reasons and then in February her absence continued for personal reasons. Discussions between Noa and TJPW about her future took place during that time and this was the conclusion for both parties. It should be noted that the announcement from The Up Up Girls side says Noa graduated from the idol group on 15th May. Both TJPW and The Up Up Girls said there would be no comment from Noa about the situation or any graduation match taking place. TJPW also apologises to fans who were waiting for Noa’s return for not being able to make it happen.
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It is a disappointing ending to a story that’s been going on in the background for the last six months. It all began during the week of Christmas when Noa was pulled from an Up Up Girls concert and also the TJPW Christmas Eve show that happened the next day. Then the announcement came on New Year’s Eve about her taking a break from wrestling along with Free Wi-Fi vacating the Princess Tag Team Titles. Circumstances over what happened were never outright confirmed but there’s been suspicion from the start that what happened with Noa was more like a secret suspension or firing rather than time off needed for recovery. Noa at some point befriended a female super fan and when the two of them had a falling out, the fan leaked personal and restricted information about Noa and The Up Up Girls on social media. That Noa allegedly gave this person access to private details in the first place is probably what caused her absence to happen.
So what happens from here? Normally in TJPW a graduation also means retirement from pro wrestling but it’s not a strict meaning. Yuka Sakazaki and Marika Kobashi both “graduated” but clearly told everyone at the time they were going to wrestle again. Also we should now by now that retirement in pro wrestling means nothing. KANNA is coming back under the name Droog-K later this month. In fact that was an idea I thought could have happened if TJPW or The Up Up Girls wanted to cover up something. Strike a deal with a promotion like P.P.P Tokyo to take Noa off their hands so she could amicably split from her idol career and continue wrestling somewhere else. I guess she can still do something like that if she wants to continue wrestling but the announcement does not make it clear if she wants to continue that career. It is the end of “Hikari Noa” for sure though. If she does return to the ring I am expecting a name change.
I’m not sure if there is significance in the timing of Noa’s graduation from the idol group. As mentioned above they say it happened on 15th May but news of her TJPW graduation came out today on the 19th. I don’t think it is that crazy for anyone reading this to feel suspicious with the debut of Marigold taking place tomorrow. You all saw how quickly that group from Actwres girl’Z jumped from there to Marigold in the space of 24 hours. However the guy responsible for Marigold’s English content hasn’t teased anything yet. I remember he did back when Stardom signed up most of the TJPW talent that left back in September 2020. If there is smoke to this fire you will hear that guy humming campfire songs nearby.
Dramatic DDT 