Utami Hayashishita Keeps STARDOM 5★STAR GP Hopes Alive in Sapporo

By: Noah Leatherland

STARDOM took the 5★STAR GP to Sapporo, with the Red Stars taking the focus today. After a rocky start to her tournament, Utami Hayashishita gained a vital two points in the main event to keep her campaign alive.

In the main event of the show, Utami Hayashishita came up against Lady C, who was sat at the bottom of Red Stars B. But, Lady C was coming off winning her first points of the tournament, and was determined to gain more.

However, Hayashishita fought through everything that Lady C threw at her. She managed to claim two points for herself, putting Lady C down with the Torture Rack Bomb for the win. As the two took to the microphone following the result, they both touched on their deep, shared history.

Lady C:

It’s been a while. To be honest, there were loads and loads of things I’d been meaning to say to you face to face like this… but I’ve forgotten them all now.

 

Two years ago, I’d been thinking, “Why did you leave at that particular moment… why have you come back now?” and so on… I’d been planning to give you a proper piece of my mind, but now, here at the Sapporo event, competing in the singles main event alongside Utami Hayashishita… I was truly delighted to be able to compete alongside you, Utami-san. Thank you very much.

Utami Hayashishita:

The person I’ve been hardest on, the person I’ve trained the most rigorously—that’s you, Lady. Up until now, I’ve been far stricter with you than with anyone else.

 

In the two years I’ve been away, have you changed at all? I thought I’d be facing a Lady C today who’d changed over these two years. Today, I wanted to ask you if you’d really changed, and if you can say ‘yes’, then I’m glad I got to fight that Lady C today.

 

We’re just senior and junior now—we’re not even in the same unit anymore—so I probably won’t be giving Lady C any more strict guidance… but let’s both do our best on our separate paths.

(Quotes translated via DeepL)

The victory was keeps Hayashishita in the race in Red Stars B, moving up to five points with two more matches left in her tournament schedule. However, Red Stars B stays tight at the top. Rina Yamashita scored a win over Konami, moving her up to eight points as she put the H.A.T.E. rep away with the Implant.

Aside from Tomoka Inaba getting a win over Akira Kurogane with the Senpuyaku, the rest of the day’s block action all ended in draws. AZM and Natsuko Tora ended up as a double-DQ as the referee was sent flying as the two wrestled over a chair. Then, Maki Itoh and Azusa Inaba went to a 15-minute time limit draw, as did Maika and Rina.

Here are the results for STARDOM 5★STAR GP in Sapporo, courtesy of purolove.com:

• Waka Tsukiyama & Ema Maishima def. Saya Iida & Matoi Hamabe (7:17)
• Red Stars A: Tomoka Inaba [6] def. Akira Kurogane [1] (6:57)
• Red Stars A: AZM [7] vs. Natsuko Tora [6] – Double DQ (9:42)
• Natsupoi & Saori Anou besiegen Sayaka Kurara & Anne Kanaya (8:16)
• Red Stars B: Maki Itoh [6] vs. Azusa Inaba [4] – Time Limit Draw (15:00)
• Red Stars B: Rina Yamashita [8] def. Konami [6] (10:26)
• Red Stars A: Maika [7] vs. Rina [5] – Time Limit Draw (15:00)
• Red Stars B: Utami Hayashishita [5] def. Lady C [2] (11:08)

Here are the updated standings for the STARDOM 5★STAR GP:

Red Stars A:

• Itsuki Aoki [8]
• AZM [7]
• Maika [7]
• Natsuko Tora [6]
• Tomoka Inaba [6]
• Rina [5]
• Sayaka Kurara [4]
• Akira Kurogane [1]

Red Stars B:

• Saya Iida [8]
• Rina Yamashita [8]
• Konami [6]
• Maki Itoh [6]
• Utami Hayashishita [5]
• Azusa Inaba [4]
• Mei Seira [3]
• Lady C [2]

Blue Stars A:

• Suzu Suzuki [8]
• Julia Hart [6]
• Ruaka [6]
• Aya Sakura [4]
• HANAKO [4]
• Hina [4]
• Miyu Amasaki [4]
• Rian [0]

Blue Stars B:

• Momo Watanabe [7]
• Hanan [6]
• Saya Kamitani [6]
• Starlight Kid [5]
• Koguma [4]
• Ami Sohrei [4]
• Yuna Mizumori [4]
• Kikyo Furusawa [0]