Hanan Retains While Rina Picks Up Statement Win Over Utami Hayashishita at STARDOM Path of Thunder

By: Noah Leatherland

STARDOM Path of Thunder featured two big singles bouts at the top end of the card, with three of the four participants being sisters. In the main event, Hanan retained her Wonder of Stardom Title against Hina, while Rina scored a landmark victory over Utami Hayashishita.

Hanan stepped into Utsunomiya ready to make the fifth defence of her Wonder of Stardom Title. The previous day, Hina picked up some vital momentum, getting a pinfall on her older sister in the final preliminary bout. Hanan managed to overcome her younger sister, her wrist-clutch backdrop proving to be the deciding blow.

Speaking to her hometown crowd after the bout, Hanan shared the lofty goals she has for her future:

By the way, Hina asked me, ‘What do you want to do once you become a champion?’ That is right, I of course want to walk into the Tokyo Dome that Saya Kamitani is talking about while wearing this white belt. As the leader of STARS, I want all of us to have a match in the Tokyo Dome, in STARDOM. So it is not just Kamitani’s dream. It is our dream too.

 

And since I have plenty of dreams, I still have another dream: I want to hold a big match right here in Tochigi Prefecture at a venue many times larger than today. Therefore, the three sisters will keep building up the excitement even more, so please look forward to it. Thank you for your support!

(Quote translated via meraWRESTLING on X)

In her backstage comments, Hina was still reeling from defeat, disappointed that she wasn’t able to climb the rankings of the sisters in her head, but showed her will to keep fighting:

I suffered a total defeat. In the end, I wasn’t able to change my position or anything else. I was third before the match, and I’m still third now. It’s frustrating, but that’s my reality right now. I’m at a loss for words. Even so, I haven’t given up on anything. I will absolutely, without a doubt, wear the white belt, and I won’t give up on becoming number one either. I lost today, but I’ll refocus and give it my all again.

(Quote translated via DeepL)

In the semi-main event, the third sister, Rina, went toe-to-toe with Utami Hayashishita. With all the harsh words shared in the build up, this very much became a grudge match. Rina scored a big win over her senior, dropping Hayashishita with the package piledriver. After the match, it seemed like Rina was about to extend the olive branch…:

Utami Hayashishita, I told you before, didn’t I? ‘You went downhill after coming back to STARDOM.’

 

But after fighting you today… that wasn’t the case at all. Look forward to working with you again as a member of STARDOM.

… only to then change her tune and kick Hayashishita while she was down:

As if!

 

This is what I mean when I say you are soft! Idiot! Sure, there is a homecoming effect, but this is the crowd’s reaction. Remember it well and let us fight again.

 

Well, and also, this is still just one of the fun things I am doing that I talked about after winning the 5★STAR GP.

 

I am going to keep on making all of you more and more excited. Keep following me from now on! That is all!

(Quote translated via meraWRESTLING on X)

In her post-match comments, Hayashishita swallowed the defeat, with an eye towards moving forward:

After saying all that, it really wouldn’t mean anything if I didn’t win here, honestly. I was planning to beat Rina and then say what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t win. I’ve won the 5★STAR GP before, too, but I don’t want to just bask in past glories. That’s why I wanted to beat Rina, who won this year’s 5★STAR… but I ended up losing pretty soundly. I’ll have to start over from scratch again. But even though I might not seem like it—I’m not usually very outspoken, and I haven’t really been able to build much—I’m actually pretty ambitious. I’ve become a member of STARS, and even though I lost today, I think I need to stop looking down and look ahead to move on to the next challenge.

(Quote translated via DeepL)

Here are the full results for STARDOM Path of Thunder, courtesy of purolove.com:

• Saya Kamitani & Ruaka def. Saya Iida & Yuria Hime (8:58)
• Syuri def. Matoi Hamabe (11:31)
• Suzu Suzuki, Konami & Azusa Inaba def. Ami Sohrei, Lady C & Ranna Yagami (9:54)
• Maika & HANAKO def. Natsupoi & Saori Anou and Maki Itoh & Kiyoka Kotatsu (7:07)
• Aya Sakura & Yuna Mizumori def. Kikyo Furusawa & Rian (8:42)
• Suzu Suzuki, Rina Yamashita, Itsuki Aoki & Akira Kurogane def. Starlight Kid, Hazuki, Koguma & Fuwa-chan (8:45)
• Rina def. Utami Hayashishita (18:07)
• Wonder of Stardom Title: Hanan (c) def. Hina (19:40)