#260: Utami Hayashishita vs. Syuri, STARDOM Tokyo Dream Cinderella (6/12/2021).
The historical significance of this match cannot be understated. It did wonders not only for the STARDOM promotion, but also for women’s wrestling in general.
During the 2020 5 Star Grand Prix, Utami Hayashishita and Syuri had their first one on one encounter, and it was a blistering match. A winner wasn’t decided, as the match went to a 20 minute time limit draw. Alas, that was enough to push Utami to the finals, where she’d defeat Himeka to take the whole tournament. From there, she’d use that momentum to defeat Mayu Iwatani and win the World of Stardom Championship for the first time, solidifying herself as the new Ace of STARDOM.
Throughout 2021, Utami had to fight through the rumors and bullshit that the promotion didn’t see her as a top draw. During STARDOM’s show in the legendary Nippon Budokan in March, she wrestled in the semi-main event against Saya Kamitani, while Tam Nakano would defeat Giulia for the Wonder of Stardom Championship in the main event. Granted, that can be excused, given that the Tam/Giulia match was Hair vs. Hair, and simply nothing else could follow it. So, I’d say that gets a pass.
However, at the Yokohama Dream Cinderella show a month later, Utami’s title defense was relegated to the semi main once again, while the Goddess of Stardom Championship match between Giulia & Syuri against Himeka & Maika took the main event slot. No reason that Utami couldn’t have closed out that show. Other than that, Utami was dominating as World of Stardom Champion, and having excellent matches to boot. She proudly carried the title and truly earned her place due to the quality of her work.
Someone was always waiting for their shot at Utami, though, and that was Syuri. A former MMA fighter, notable for her time in the UFC, Syuri had quickly risen to be one of STARDOM’s top stars, and was a favorite to win the 2020 GP, until her draw with Utami cost her a chance to go to the finals. From there, she vowed that she would get a chance to challenge for the championship in the near future. During the Cinderella Tournament in the spring of 2021, both men promised to win the tournament and go after the other.
Though that didn’t happen for either woman, Syuri did eliminate Utami from the tournament via an over the top rope elimination, and even sealed the deal with a kiss to add to the pressure. From there, it was obvious who Utami’s next big challenger would be, and despite a series of shows being canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the night finally came when these two would face off for the richest prize in STARDOM.
Adding to the drama was Syuri’s vow and proclamation to win the match for her recently deceased mother. To her, winning the World of Stardom Championship would be the ultimate tribute to the woman who helped nurture her and get her ready for the big stage. That, along with Utami’s desire to justify her position in the company, made for an intriguing contest. The contrast of styles – Syuri’s MMA background and Utami’s blackbelt in Judo – helps to add to the interest coming into this. I wonder if anyone had a clue that these two were about to change modern women’s wrestling forever.
The bell sounds, and we are under way. They lock up in the center of the ring, and neither woman gets the advantage right away. Utami gets Syuri into the ropes, and we get a clean break. Syuri explodes out with a lock up that forces Utami into the ropes, and she gives a clean break this time. A kick attempt is blocked by Utami, and Syuri gets a nice hiptoss, and goes to pull on the arm.
Syuri takes control of the back, and Utami transitions into a side headlock. Syuri uses her MMA experience to force Utami down, and she takes the mount position and goes for an arm bar. Utami slips out and Syuri gets a nearfall off. Both women are up, and circle each other. Single leg takedown by Syuri, who takes the back once again. Utami escapes and takes control of the arm, and Syuri is quick to slip out and take the arm of Utami now.
They exchange control of the arm, before Syuri takes a front headlock. Another stalemate, as both women are back up. Syuri snaps into the side headlock, before Utami slips out and takes one of her own. Utami with a shoulder tackle next, and Syuri is right back up. She grabs the hair and pulls Utami into a side headlock. Several quick nearfalls lead Syuri into a side headlock takedown. Back up, Syuri pops off an arm drag, followed by one from Utami. Evenly matched thus far, and no mistakes.
They stand head to head now, and exchange heavy forearms to the face. Utami has the upper hand for a moment, until Syuri just tackles her to the outside of the ring. Syuri stomps away at the champion, and slams her head off the ring apron. Syuri kicks Utami from the apron, then comes flying off with a hurricanrana. Syuri goes to kick Utami in the head, but it’s caught, and Utami sends Syuri knee first into the apron. Fun fact: the apron is the hardest part of the ring.
Back in the ring, Utami continues her assault of the leg, dropping all of her body weight onto the prone leg of the challenger. She follows with a dropkick to the leg. Utami goes for an Achilles lock to Syuri, who responds with one of her own. Utami strikes Syuri, and fully locks hers in. Syuri is able to stretch and grab the bottom rope to break the hold. They exchange irish whips into the corner, and Syuri is able to send Utami into the corner with a knee to the midsection.
Next, she ties the legs up with a variation of the STF, then quickly transitions to an armbar. Utami uses all her strength to crawl towards the ropes to break the hold. Syuri with a hard roundhouse kick to the back, and another, and another. Hard stomps from Syuri, as she looks to pace the match her way. She delivers a huge kick to the chest, and follows with an even harder one. She sends Utami into the corner face first, then kicks her chest once again. Syuri then connects with a nasty knee to the face for a 2 count.
Syuri goes back to the armbar, and Utami is able to roll out of it. Syuri quickly turns it into a Triangle Choke submission, but Utami uses her raw strength to lift Syuri up and send her back first into the corner. Utami comes down with a dropkick from the top, then hits two lariats back to back for a 2 count. Back to their feet, Syuri looks to come back with huge kicks to the chest. More relentless kicks while Utami is on her knees, and one final one to the side of the head. A soccer kick to the face, and Utami wisely rolls to the outside of the ring. Syuri wastes no time and rolls her back into the ring, and gets a close nearfall off of it.
Standing shotgun dropkick by Syuri, and a knee into the corner. Syuri goes to the top rope, and hits a leg drop to the back of the head. Syuri takes the back and looks for a suplex, but Utami lands several elbows to the side of the head, then hits a nasty German Suplex to Syuri that sends her right into the corner! Utami nails a clothesline to Syuri in the corner, then places her on the top rope. Syuri counters out of Utami’s attack and attempts a sunset flip, but Utami punches at her head.
Syuri nails a kick to the head, then lifts Utami up and drops her with a gutbuster to the knees. Once again, Utamiwisely rolls to the outside. Syuri goes for a kick from the apron, but Utami counters and sends Syuri hard to the floor! Both women make their way slowly to the apron, and Syuri is first to strike with a forearm. Utami with one of her own, and now we have a crazy exchange! Syuri with several kicks to the chest, until Utami catches one and lifts Syuri up for the Air Raid Crash. A Syuri slap slows Utami down, but the champion is able to hit it crisp on the apron, and that’s another hard landing on the back for the challenger!
Both women reenter the ring, but Syuri rolls to the other side to catch her breath. Utami follows, and eats a dropkick. A hurricanrana attempt is blocked by Utami, but Syuri is able to drop Utami on her head anyway. Then, a DDT to the floor follows, as both women are down. Syuri tries to reenter the ring, but Utami grabs her and hits a sick looking German Suplex onto the apron, with Syuri’s back of the head catching the apron in an ugly way!
Somehow, Syuri is back in the ring with Utami. The champion is up on the top, and hits a dropkick, but that’s only good enough for a 2 count. Huge back suplex from Utami, and that also gets a 2 count. Utami goes for the Torture Rack Bomb, but Syuri reverses into a DDT. Five knees to the midsection by Syuri, and she rolls into the Cross Armbreaker! Utami fights valiantly, and she gets to the ropes. Syuri goes for a powerslam, but Utami counters into a sleeper hold. She grapevines the midsection, and now the challenger is trapped!
Syuri is somehow able to get her foot on the rope. Utami places Syuri on the top rope, and brings her down with a huge German Suplex! Huge slap from Syuri, and Utami gives one back in kind. Big slap off in the middle of the ring, and Syuri has the upper hand, followed by some hard stomps to the back. Syuri runs at Utami, and runs into a huge slap by the champion! Another German Suplex from Utami, and she hits the Air Raid Crash, but Syuri is able to kick out!
Utami goes for the Torture Rack Bomb, but Syuri counters into a roll up for a 2 count. Another roll up gets 2 for the challenger. Syuri goes for a kick, but Utami counters with a clothesline. Big knee from Syuri connects to the face! She batters Utami with forearms to the face, and Utami fights back with some of her own, and the 30 minute time limit expires! What a war right up to the bell. They’re still exchanging forearms in the middle of the ring, as emotion has taken over.
Syuri grabs a microphone, and says that she’s not done. She wants to keep going, and that she’s fully alive. She asks Utami if she can keep going like this. Utami grabs the microphone and tells Syuri that she’s also still fully alive. She’s willing to give it another round. They stand head to head in the middle, and then STARDOM president Rossy Ogawa gives the go ahead that this match can continue!
With an additional 30 minutes on the clock, we continue as both women meet in the ring with furious strikes! They are throwing harder and faster than they did before! Utami gets the advantage and drops Syuri with multiple forearm strikes. Syuri is back up and delivers hard knees to the chest. She hits Utami with a lawn dart into the turnbuckle pad! Huge DDT by Syuri, and she gets a close nearfall. Syuri unloads with hard kicks all over the body, then she locks the Armbreaker in again, pulling all the way back on the arm of Utami!
The champion rolls out and gets the Sleeper Hold locked in. Syuri counters out with a Stunner of sorts. Hard kick to the back of the champion, and Utami is able to send Syuri into the ropes as a counter, then hits a quick German Suplex. Hard slaps to the face of Syuri, and both women are back to their feet, unloading with hard slaps to the face! Syuri gets a double leg takedown onto Utami, and she mounts her with more slaps to the head! Syuri misses a kick to the chest, and Utami looks for the gutbuster again. Both women hit hard forearms to the face, and Syuri connects with a Codebreaker, but Utami falls onto Syuri instead, and gets a close 2 count!
Syuri lands the kick to the face, then locks Utami into the Numero Dos, but Utami is able to get to the ropes. Syuri manages to drop Utami with a powerbomb for a 2 count. Both women are down, and are exhausted. Utami is up and hits a dropkick to the face. Utami goes to the top rope, but Syuri meets her there with a slap. She joins her on top, and traps Utami in a hammerlock! She tosses Utami down, and rolls right into a Kimura Lock! Utami just barely gets her leg on the bottom rope. Back up, Utami hits a German Suplex that drops Syuri right on her head. She lifts her up for the Torture Rack Bomb, and hits it picture perfect! Somehow, Syuri is able to kick out!
Utami goes for the BT Bomb, but Syuri reverses into an armbar! She traps both arms in immense pain, and once again, Utami gets her leg on the ropes! A huge running knee to the face, and Utami kicks out again! Syuri lifts Utami up and drops her with a brainbuster! It looks nasty, but Utami just barely gets the shoulder up. Utami counters a kick to the head with a huge powerbomb! Utami hits the BT Bomb to Syuri! She makes the cover, but Syuri grabs the bottom rope!
Utami is furious. Syuri is up with a kick to the head, and Utami slaps her several times with her forearms. A huge lariat sends Syuri into the corner, and she’s back out with several spinning back fists! Syuri kicks Utami in the head! Utami is back up with a lariat! Syuri is up and hits a beautiful kick to the head! Both women are down, and the referee counts! He gets to 10, and it’s over! The match ends in a Double Knockout! Post match, Syuri slaps the shit out of Utami, as she cries in the corner.
This is the tale of two matches, and they are tales that perfectly synchronize with one another. The initial 30 minutes of this match are pretty awesome. It’s a nice back and forth stylistic contest, where both Utami Hayashishita and Syuri get to show off their diverse backgrounds. As the match goes on, in the same vein as a New Japan match, the intensity gradually gets bigger and bigger. The spots become more high risk, and the pain each woman puts the other through gets more hard to watch.
I swear, the spot where Utami hits the German Suplex to Syuri against the fucking ring apron is one of the nastier spots I’ve seen in wrestling. And yet, despite the damage being dished out, neither woman backed down, and they took the fight all the way to the time limit draw. In most cases, that would mean the story is over, and a rematch would be a possibility down the road. Not here, and not on this night. Both women were on such an adrenaline high, neither one wanted the match to end like that. So, in a very rare case, STARDOM allowed an overtime round. And that’s where this match goes from great to legendary.
For the remaining 13 minutes of this match, both Utami and Syuri went full force, as if the match had just begun. But, no. They’d tore each other apart, and somehow hit each other harder than they did during the original match. Every shot was laced with emotion and brutality, as the urgency of both women to find victory was more apparent than it ever had been before. Syuri very nearly had the win in her sights by the end, but Utami’s fighting spirit was too much. And as the match neared the end, both women threw every last bit of power they had left into their strikes, and that resulted in both women being rendered unconscious.
It was an incredible piece of business, that put a light on women’s wrestling that honestly hadn’t been seen since the 1990s, in the heyday of the Golden era of Joshi. This wasn’t just a good women’s match, but an absolutely incredible match that happened to be about the women. It launched STARDOM into the spotlight like never before, with Dave Meltzer giving it the highest rating of any women’s match he’s ever reviewed, and even ESPN picking up on the story. STARDOM booked the rematch later in the year, where Syuri would finally win the title in another classic encounter.