Utami Hayashishita Discusses Leaving Marigold, Says She Doesn’t Have Much Time Left

By Noah Leatherland

Following her departure from Marigold, Utami Hayashishita discussed what went into that decision in a recent interview. She also touched on her outlook on the next chapter in her career.

Utami Hayashishita spoke to Encount about the recent developments in her career. When asked about what led her to leaving Marigold, Hayashishita said:

I had a vague feeling that I wanted to ‘go further’, but I felt I still had more to do for the younger members at Marigold, so I’d been suppressing that feeling. It was at the New Year’s Eve event that I received the Fighting Spirit Award, and that’s when that lid came off, so to speak. As there are many younger members at Marigold, whilst my own career was important, of course, the feeling that the younger members needed to grow was stronger.

When asked about that ‘vague’ feeling, Utami Hayashishita shared how looking across the whole wrestling landscaped affected her decision:

When I saw the success of the wrestlers around me, I suppose you could call it jealousy… but the feeling that I still wanted to give it my all naturally came to the surface. After all, I’m only in my eighth year, and I’ll be 28 this year, so I thought I still have plenty of years left to give it my all, and that feeling just bubbled up inside me. When the lid came off at the New Year’s show, I realised that whilst life at Marigold is truly wonderful and there are so many lovely juniors, and whilst I can support their growth, I wondered if it would be difficult for me to become a bigger presence in the pro-wrestling world from here on out. It’s a brand-new promotion, so it’s still very much in its infancy. Even though I say I can still do it at 28, I can’t help but realise I’m already 28. When I think about it that way, I can’t afford to wait for the long term. I don’t have much time left… At Marigold, where the focus is on everyone growing together from here on out, I felt I wouldn’t be able to keep up.

The interview also covered Utami Hayashishita’s reaction to ‘a certain wrestler’ who had an ‘outstanding performance’:

I felt a mixture of joy and jealousy. Believe it or not, I do get jealous (laughs). I just don’t talk about it much, and I lack confidence in myself. But it made me realise that I still want to give it my all and achieve something significant. After all, she’s accomplished something unprecedented in the world of pro-wrestling. I think her performance has been truly impressive, even from an outsider’s perspective.

When asked more about the current roster at Marigold, Utami Hayashishita spoke positively on the young wrestlers there:

I really do think it’s a good thing that there are so many new juniors. Sure, there are things they can’t do yet, and they can be a bit reckless at times, but if you look at it positively, it means there are plenty of young people with nothing but a future ahead of them. That’s truly a wonderful thing for the organisation. They’ve started wrestling, grown to love it, and are working hard at it, so it’s great that so many of them have such strong determination.

(Quotes translated via DeepL)