#194: Iyo Sky vs. Utami Hayashishita, Marigold Summer Destiny (7/13/2024).
This is #7 in my Top Matches of 2024.
Thanks to the generosity of Triple H, a genuine Dream Match thought to be long passed was able to take place in Sumo Hall for the young Marigold promotion. Utami Hayashishita, one of Joshi’s biggest and best stars of the modern era, had the chance to take on her all time dream opponent: WWE’s Iyo Sky, and formerly Io Shirai from STARDOM, arguably the greatest wrestler in that promotion’s history. There’s no story here: this is an exhibition between two of the best products to ever come from Japanese women’s wrestling.
The bell rings, and here we go. The crowd is behind both ladies to start out. They lock up, and look for an advantage in the ropes. Iyo gives a clean break, and backs away. They lock hands, and Iyo kicks one of the arms. Iyo takes the side headlock, and Utami looks for a back suplex. Iyo holds off, and tightens the headlock. They shoulder tackle in the middle, with neither woman backing down. Iyo with a nice hand spring into a shotgun dropkick, which gets a big pop.
Utami fires back with a shoulder tackle, and a back elbow in the corner. She connects with a dropkick next. She tries for a German Suplex, and Utami is able to fight it off. Iyo trips Utami, and drags her to the floor. Iyo returns to the ring, and hits a nice Tope to Utami, sending her crashing into the barricade. Iyo is back in the ring, and she taunts for the crowd. Utami is back in the ring, and Iyo is quick to stomp her down. She tosses Utami into the turnbuckle, and places both her feet into the neck, and then slingshots her knees into her face.
Iyo goes to the top rope, and Utami cuts her off. Iyo gets Utami caught in the Tree of Woe, and stomps on her with ruthless intent. Iyo with an arm choke hold next. She slams Utami head first into the mat, then lightly kicks her face. Utami tries to fight back with some forearms, and Iyo explodes with a hurricanrana for a nearfall. Iyo with a nice buzzsaw kick to the head, and she follows up by rushing Utami, who counters into a nice spinebuster out of nowhere.
Utami with a lariat into the ropes, and now she drops Iyo to the mat with a version of Shell Shocked, which looked better than Ryback ever did. Sliding lariat follows, and Iyo kicks out. Middle rope missile dropkick by Utami lands flush, but she only gets a nearfall out of it. Iyo with some kicks to the gut and chest, followed by a forearm. Iyo rolls Utami up for a 2 count, and she stays on her for a Crossface submission.
Iyo has a lot of torque on it, but Utami is able to get to the bottom rope. Double knees to the spine by Iyo, and she follows that with a top rope shotgun dropkick, Toyota style, and a springboard 619, Mysterio style! Shotgun dropkick from the top rope sends Utami to the outside. Iyo goes to the top rope, and hits a beautiful moonsault onto Utami! Iyo brings her back inside, and Utami is able to kick out of the pin attempt.
Iyo kicks the gut, and goes back to the top rope, but here comes Utami with a blind side attack to the spine. Iyo pulls the arm of Utami down into the steel of the turnbuckle, then hits an incredible avalanche Poisonrana to the mat! She covers, but Utami is somehow able to kick out. Utami blocks an attack from Iyo and drops her with the Air Raid Crash. Utami sends Iyo to the outside with a vicious lariat. Iyo bumps off the apron on the way down.
Iyo manages to return to the ring, but eats a dropkick by Utami. Utami gets her in a chinlock, and swings her whole body around, and then she applies a sleeper hold. Hip toss to Iyo, and she reapplies the hold even tighter. Iyo manages to get her foot on the bottom rope to break the hold. Utami with a nice deadlift German Suplex into a bridge, but Iyo is able to kick out. Utami tries for the BT Bomb, and Iyo counters into a hurricanrana for a close nearfall.
Utami with two hard lariats to Iyo flip her upside down! She covers, and Iyo kicks out again. Utami tries for the BT Bomb again, but here’s Iyo with some nice palm strikes as a counter, followed by the Implant Buster! Both women are down, but Iyo is up first. Running double knee into the corner, and now she’s up on the top rope. Utami meets her there, and hits a bridging German Suplex to the mat! She covers, and Iyo kicks out again.
Utami with some hard forearms to the head, as her face continues to bleed. She deadlifts Iyo up for a splash, and Iyo kicks out again. Utami goes for the BT Bomb again, and this time, she lands it! She makes the pin, and Iyo is somehow able to kick out at the last second. Short range lariat connects with Utami, but Iyo quickly transitions to the Crossface again. Utami rolls through, and Iyo plants her with a nasty knee to the face.
Iyo with the Tombstone Piledriver, and she goes back to the top rope. Beautiful moonsault connects, and Iyo takes the win. Post match, Iyo gives her appreciation to Utami, and they bow in respect to one another. That was a thrilling contest, as Iyo held nothing back despite representing the biggest wrestling company in the world. She gave Utami plenty of chances to shine in her offense, and Iyo herself was a lightning bolt of strikes throughout this.
Not much story going in, and not much story during the match, but this wasn’t about story. This was about two worlds crossing paths. This was about a major WWE wrestler competing in Sumo Hall for a different promotion. This was about two previous STARDOM aces squaring off for the first time ever, and it delivered big time. It was stiff at times, exciting all throughout, and once it got going in the final third, it never let up. Iyo winning was never in doubt, but Utami did enough here to justify her place among the best in Joshi – something she’s proven many a times over the years.