Of all the units currently in Stardom, there is no one unit in more trouble than Queen’s Quest. At one time, the Queen’s were the cream of the crop, the one unit that ruled all of Stardom. However, ever since 2021, they have slid further and further into mediocrity and closer to disintegration. Before we delve too deeply into the current string of problems plaguing this one proud faction, let’s take a look at quite the abbreviated history of Queen’s Quest.
Formation
At the final of the 2016 edition of the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League which took place on November 11, Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani they lost the decisive match to Kairi Hojo and Yoko Bito, which led to Shirai’s frustration towards Iwatani, attacking her with the help of a returning Reo Hazuki (who went by HZK after that). Following this shocking attack, HZK and Shirai were soon joined by a young Momo Watanabe and the trio dubbed themselves Queen’s Quest.
After the trio won their first titles together in January 2017, the Artist of Stardom belts, they were joined by the prodigy known as Azumi (AZM). 2017 also saw the Queen’s joined by Viper whom WWE fans now know as Piper Niven. In 2018, Queen’s Quest would see their numbers bolstered by new members Chardonnay, Bea Priestley, Konami and Leo Onozaki. With numbers on their side and under the strong leadership skills of Io Shirai, Queen’s Quest was riding a high unlike any other in Stardom. But all good things must come to an end.
The End of the Shirai Era
When Io Shirai departed Stardom in 2018 for the WWE, she appointed Momo Watanabe as the new leader of the unit. As a founding member, Shirai had the upmost faith in Momo that she would continue to lead the Queen’s to prominence in Stardom. During this time we would also see Queen’s Quest come to be how we know it today. With Utami Hayashishita, Hina and Saya Kamitani all eventually joining up with the group, Queen’s Quest was primed for dominance once again.
While Momo Watanabe kept the Queen’s on the right track throughout 2018 and into 2020, Utami Hayashishita challenged and defeated Mayu Iwatani, claiming the World of Stardom Championship and becoming the top star of the unit. While many assumed that she was now the de facto leader of the group, she openly acknowledged that Watanabe was still the leader. That said, with Utami winning the title, it was clear to almost anyone watching that she commanded the attention and had basically taken over without being officially dubbed the leader.
In 2021 a lot of things changed in the Stardom world. Starlight Kid, a longtime member of the STARS unit, was forced into Oedo Tai and set her sights on Queen’s Quest. Kid had a long, varied history with the Queen’s specifically with AZM and Momo Watanabe. Near the end of 2021, she set her sights on Momo Watanabe, wanting to play mind games and try to recruit a new member for Oedo Tai. For the most part, Momo played it straight and didn’t seem like the games were getting to her, but you could tell things were starting to change within her. These mind games came to a head in what has become dubbed the Momo Watanabe Incident of 2021.
Momo Watanabe Incident and Aftermath
Momo Watanabe had been the victim of Starlight Kid’s mind games as the latter’s strategy to gain more recruits into Oedo Tai since the November 3 show of the Stardom Super Wars. Their feud degenerated into an eight-woman elimination tag team match in which both of them would be the captains of their respective teams. The loser captain would be forced to join the enemy unit and if Kid lost she would also have to unmask. The match took place on December 18, at Osaka Super Wars, the event which represented the last part of the “Super Wars” trilogy. With the match coming down to the wire and Queen’s Quest holding a 2 to 1 advantage over Starlight Kid a shocking moment occurred when Momo Watanabe betrayed her faction and hit her long-time tag team partner AZM over the head with a chair, handing the win to Oedo Tai and anointing herself the “Black Peach” of the group. Watanabe became the first leader of a Stardom faction to betray their own unit.
Shocked and hurt by this betrayal, AZM became the defacto leader and would try her best to beat some sense into the Black Peach, to no avail. A vicious move by Watanabe saw her load a wrench into her boot and punt AZM in the face with the weapon. If there was any doubt about Watanabe, it was sealed with that fateful move.
After this, the world wanted to know who would lead Queen’s Quest going forward. Yes, they brought in new members Lady C and Miyu Amasaki to help with their feud against Oedo Tai, but we all wanted to know who the real leader was. While I would have loved it if AZM became the true leader since she was one of the original 4 members, a five-way match between her, Hina, Saya Kamitani, Utami Hayashishita and Lady C was announced to determine the new leader. This match saw Utami win and become the “4th” leader of Queen’s Quest.
Yes, Queen’s Quest was strong at first under Utami’s leadership. She is a young, strong woman and was able to lead the Queen’s well at first. The problems, however, began to show earlier this year. Kamitani and Hayashishita, known as Aphrodite as a team, began showing cracks in their teamwork. Each woman blames the other for a string of bad luck with Saya subtly saying that Utami was the reason for the Queen’s recent struggles. You have to think about it. Long-time High-Speed Champion AZM lost her title to Saki Kashima, Saya Kamitani finally lost her Wonder of Stardom title and they’ve been unsuccessful at getting any of the titles back. Obviously, the stress of being on the decline has begun to take its toll on the members of this once proud unit. Even AZM seems to have had enough of the bickering.
The End is Nigh
Now, to no one’s surprise, someone wants to take advantage of the turmoil in Queen’s Quest and that someone is Oedo Tai. QQ is weakened, they’re vulnerable, and OT sees this as an opportunity to destroy the Queen’s once and for all. In recent weeks, there have been several matches between QQ and OT, with OT coming out on top in most of these matches.
The root cause of which is that Kamitani and Hayashishita cannot get on the same page. The infighting is affecting everyone in the unit, though AZM seems to be the one who is actually saying something about it.
This will all culminate on June 25th inside a steel cage as Queen’s Quest and Oedo Tai will battle it out with the last remaining person inside the cage being forced to leave their current unit. An interesting wrinkle to this was added quite recently as it was announced that weapons were going to be introduced and allowed inside the cage. Queen’s Quest will have all six current members locked inside the cage. For those who don’t know, the current members are Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani, AZM, Hina, Lady C and Miyu Amasaki. On the other side, Oedo Tai will be represented by Natsuko Tora, Starlight Kid, Momo Watanabe, Rina, Ruaka and Saki Kashima.
Believe me when I say that Queen’s Quest has never been in this much trouble during their long history. I am sure that Io Shirai is absolutely devastated to see her baby on the verge of destruction and you better believe that the end is nigh for them. On June 25th, someone on Queen’s Quest is going to be forced to leave the unit. Will it be Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani or AZM? Odds are that it will be one of those three names as they are the most likely to be the last one inside the cage. Something that I don’t see anyone predicting is that one of the Queen’s could betray the others. I could see this happening and honestly, I wouldn’t be shocked if it was AZM who does it. Hear me out here.
AZM is stuck in the middle of this feud between Kamitani and Hayashishita. She’s also the only one, outside of those two, voicing her displeasure with the current state of things. I could see SLK and Watanabe getting into her head and making her turn on her friends. Conversely, I could see her being absolutely sick of this and making sure that it’s either Kamitani or Hayashishita left in the cage at the end of the match.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the end is nigh for Queen’s Quest. On June 25th, we will witness the beginning of the end as QQ will lose to Oedo Tai and someone will be forced out. Who will it be and what will their future hold? Find out this coming Sunday at Stardom in Sunshine!