WWE Commitments Kept Giulia From Marigold Return

Giulia had her heart set on returning to Dream Star Fighting Marigold, but her WWE obligations pulled her in another direction.

In a new interview with Sports Graphic Number, Marigold founder Rossy Ogawa revealed that Giulia wanted to be part of Nanae Takahashi’s retirement match on May 24. According to Ogawa, “At first, Giulia wanted to come, so we considered having her as her opponent, but it happened to coincide with a pay-per-view match over there (at WWE).”

That match is set for the May 23 edition of SmackDown, where Giulia will face Charlotte Flair and Zelina Vega in a Money in the Bank qualifier. With her WWE calendar already locked in, she had no choice but to stay stateside.

Takahashi’s final match will instead feature Miku Aono, whom Ogawa praised as a constant presence in the company. “Aono has been consistent throughout the past year… She’s popular too. She’s a wrestler who contributed greatly to Marigold,” he added.

The event, titled Shine Forever, will also feature Utami Hayashishita defending the Marigold World Title against MIRAI and Mayu Iwatani going after the Super Flyweight Championship.