#253: Mayu Iwatani vs. Utami Hayashishita, STARDOM Sendai Cinderella (11/15/2020).
This is for Mayu’s World of Stardom Championship.
Utami won the 2020 5 Star Grand Prix – STARDOM’s equivalent to New Japan’s G1 Climax – to earn this title shot here. Since debuting for STARDOM in 2018, Utami has been classified as “Super Rookie,” which means that although she doesn’t have much experience, she’s really fucking good within the ropes. She’s made the 5 Star Finals twice, and has acquired six different championships across her run in STARDOM. Needless to say, the promotion sees big things for her already.
Here, she’s facing Mayu Iwatani, the Ace of STARDOM, in the midst of her second reign as World of Stardom Champion, and the better of the two reigns she’s had. Despite COVID fucking everything up in 2020, Mayu’s reign has been nothing short of phenomenal, and she’s easily one of the best wrestlers in the world at this point. She looks to add to her impressive resume in 2020 by beating a woman that the promotion has high hopes for. It’s do or die for Utami in her biggest match to date.
Utami refuses the handshake offer from Mayu, as the bell sounds. The crowd are clapping right away, as per usual in this COVID clap crowd era. Mayu offers her hand out once again, and this time, Utami accepts the hand shake. They look for a test of strength right away, with Mayu on the offensive. She tries forcing Utami backwards, but Utami is definitely the stronger of the two and she fights it off. Mayu is able to trip Utami and get her to the mat, then she takes control of the arm.
Utami reverses the pressure briefly, but Mayu is able to hammerlock the arm of Utami. The challenger trips Mayu, and takes control of the legs, tying the champion up like a pretzel. Front face lock by Utami, as Mayu takes the arm and transitions into a side headlock takedown. Utami reverses with a head scissors, and we get a clean break from both ladies. Collar and elbow tie up from both, and Utami uses her strength to force Mayu into the ropes.
We get an aggressive clean break, and they lock up again. Mayu quickly forces Utami into the ropes, and chops the shit out of her. Big shoulder tackle by Utami, but Mayu is right back up, and she hammerlocks the arm, looking for a Kimura Lock. Utami uses her reach to get her foot on the bottom rope. Mayu responds by kicking Utami pretty hard. She traps the arm in the ropes and tugs on it with ease. She next forces Utami to the mat with an arm bar.
Utami crawls and gets her foot on the ropes to break the hold, but Mayu responds by stomping on the injured arm. She snaps it off the top rope, and makes the cover, but Utami kicks out. Mayu runs the ropes, and Utami catches her with a dropkick. She stomps on Mayu’s chest. Snap mare by Utami, followed by a single leg dropkick to the neck. That one looked like it hurt! She continues to kick at the champion, and follows with a nice powerslam. The basics can hurt. She covers, and Mayu kicks out.
Camel Clutch by Utami next. Mayu fights with all of her might, and as she gets close to the ropes, Utami wisely rolls her back to the middle of the ring and reapplies the hold. Smart ring strategy by the much less experienced Utami! She transitions to a head scissors lock, and Mayu is able to crawl her way to the bottom rope to break the hold. Utami drops her knee right on Mayu’s head, with reckless abandon.
Utami with a running back elbow in the corner, followed by a middle rope dropkick to the back of the head. She covers, and Mayu is able to kick out. She places Mayu on the middle rope, and connects with a shotgun dropkick. She follows through with several forearms to the back. That gets her a nearfall. Utami with an irish whip, and Mayu simply collapses. Mayu avoids a corner attack, and hits a shotgun dropkick to the challenger. With Utami laying against the ropes, Mayu hits another dropkick that connects flush. Utami and Mayu go to the apron, and Mayu lifts her up for a Tombstone Piledriver. She hits it, spiking Utami right on her head, on the hardest part of the ring, no less. Utami tries to recover, but Mayu gives her no quarter, and hits a wild Tope to the outside onto her!
Mayu rolls her back into the ring, and connects with a top rope shotgun dropkick, Toyota style! Mayu makes the cover, and Utami is able to kick out. Mayu with a nice German Suplex, and Utami kicks out again. Mayu goes to the top rope now, but Utami is right back up to cut her off. She grabs her and hits a Gut Wrench German Suplex! Very impressive. They go to the apron, and Utami hits an Air Raid Crash onto the apron! Mayu looks wrecked after that.
Utami with a big soccer kick to Mayu’s chest, and she follows up with a single leg shotgun dropkick to the head. She grabs Mayu from inside the ring and locks in a sleeper hold, and she drags her back into the ring that way, and fully applies the submission! She swings Mayu around, and then brings her to the mat. Utami wisely uses her own leg to prevent Mayu from reaching the ropes, but it only lasts for a moment. Mayu eventually gets there.
Utami looks for a wheel barrel, but Mayu grabs the ropes. Utami pulls her away, and swings her backwards for a suplex. It gets her a 2 count. Utami lifts Mayu up, and the champion counters into a crucifix pin for a nearfall. Hey, is that Saya Kamitani at ringside in a face mask? Nice! Back to their feet, the two ladies exchange hard forearms to the chest. Utami grabs Mayu and hits the Air Raid Crash! She covers, and Mayu is able to kick out.
Utami brings Mayu into the air, but Mayu slips out and hits a superkick, followed by a Poisonrana into a roll up, and Utami is somehow able to kick out. Both women are down, as their seconds and the fans in attendance will them on. Mayu stiff kicks Utami in the face, and then looks for the Dragon Suplex. She connects, and bridges it into a pin, and Utami is able to kick out. Mayu goes to the top rope, and hits a beautiful moonsault! She covers, and Utami kicks out once again.
Mayu looks for another suplex, but Utami counters into a sleeper hold. She flips Mayu over, and transitions to a front facelock sleeper. Swinging neckbreaker by Utami, and she hits a DDT into a Guillotine choke. Mayu has a dazed look, but it could also be her zombie face. Who knows? Mayu gets to the ropes to break it up. Nice back suplex by Utami, but Mayu still kicks out. Someone at ringside is straight up screaming, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Saya Kamitani.
Torture Rack Bomb by Utami connects! Mayu kicks out once again. She will not stay down. Mayu catches Utami with a small package for a very close 2 count. Utami fires back with a vicious lariat that nearly spikes Mayu on her head. She hits the Torture Rack Bomb once again, and then delivers the BT Bomb to win the match and win the World of Stardom Championship for the first time!
Fantastic match, as Mayu’s awesome Red Belt reign comes to a close, and Utami’s awesome Red Belt reign begins! It was a nice back and forth battle of control from both ladies, as Mayu looked to use her experience to wear Utami down, while Utami came to play with her strength advantage and looked to batter Mayu all match long. There were some crazy spots, including Utami’s Air Raid Crash on the apron, the kick to the face by Mayu, her moonsault, and Utami’s absolutely sick lariat at the end of the match.
This was a monumental win for Utami. Mayu Iwatani is considered the Icon of STARDOM for a reason: She’s been there from Day One, she’s wrestled everyone, and she’s held every belt that the company has to offer, the exception being the Future of Stardom Championship. With this win, it immediately elevated Utami further than she’d already been. Sure, she had all the title accomplishments, the 5 Star GP victory, and she’d risen up the ranks at lightning speed in just two years, but by winning the Red Belt by Mayu, she was a made woman right away. There was no longer any room to doubt it: Utami was the new Ace of STARDOM, and now was her chance to shine.
Utami’s Red Belt reign would last until December 29th, 2021, and her reign with it was nothing short of phenomenal. She brought a new level of quality and standard to the main event scene, and it helped elevate her to being one of the best wrestlers in the world at the time. It was also in 2021, where Utami’s Red Belt would be threatened by Syuri in a series of legendary matches – the first one being a match so good that it got ESPN talking. But, that’s another post.