Utami Hayashishita vs Iyo Sky: The Impossible Dream
Utami Hayashishita has been waiting her entire career to wrestle Iyo Sky. But to truly understand the magnitude of this match, we must take a look back at what transpired after Shirai's departure.
WWE announced on June 30th 2018 on a live event held at the Ryogoku Sumo Hall that they had signed the spearhead of World Wonder Ring STARDOM, Io Shirai, to a contract with the Connecticut based promotion.
This announcement shocked the entire wrestling world, and it especially shocked a young aspiring wrestler of what would now be Shirai's former promotion, who dreamt about wrestling the 2x World of STARDOM champion.
Unfortunately for Utami Hayashishita, Io Shirai left just two months before she was able to make her professional debut, leaving her hopes of wrestling the former STARDOM ace in the dust.Life would go on, but her dream was always on the horizon for her. Life gave a second chance to Utami Hayashishita nearly 6 years later after Shirai's departure to the WWE, a chance that manifested after 'The Red Queen' wrestled and defeated Nanae Takahashi on MARIGOLD's June 11th show.
But to fully grasp just how significant what unfolded right before our eyes on June 11th, we must take a look back in time to everything that has transpired ever since the announcement of Io Shirai joining a new promotion. Ladies and gentlemen, a short view back to the past:
2018: New Beginning
To understand this story, we shall travel all the way back to August 2018. On one hand, Io Shirai kick-started her american dream on August 8th when she wrestled for the first time in WWE on the 2018 edition of the Mae Young Classic. Shirai would go on to become the eventual runner-up of the whole tournament after enjoying a memorable run all throughout it, coming just shy of defeating Toni Storm on the finals.
On the other hand, we have Utami Hayashishita’s professional wrestling debut, which was just four days later after Shirai’s WWE debut, when she fought Jungle Kyona to a time limit draw. Despite having just made her debut, Io would not be the only one involved on a prestigious tournament, because on just her second match ever, Hayashishita would enter the 5 Star GP, and not only that, but she managed to obtain a victory against Tam Nakano on the process.
The new debutant would end up catching on fire so severely that she managed to reach the finals of the 5 Star GP. To become the winner of said competition, she just had one thing to do, and that was to overcome the ‘Icon of STARDOM’, Mayu Iwatani. Unfortunately for the rising phenom, the veteran was too much for her to handle.
Despite this defeat, Utami would not leave the year empty handed, because she went on to, not only win the Goddesses of STARDOM tag league alongside the newly crowned Wonder of STARDOM champion and new leader of Queen’s Quest in Momo Watanabe, but they went all the way to the championship bout and leave victorious with the tag belts. 2018 ended on a high for Utami Hayashishita, but the best was definetely yet to come.
2019: A year of change
If Utami Hayashishita’s 2018 season was the ignition to the fire, then 2019 would be the combustion of it, because Utami took just three calendar days of the new year to win the second championship belt of her career, when she defeated fellow rising star Starlight Kid for the Future of STARDOM championship. She would go on to reign for 409 days and successfully defend the title for 6 times, but this wouldn’t be the only belt that she would win on 2019, let alone on that same month.
Hayashishita would go on to make a statement by defeating the now known in WWE as ‘Piper Niven’ on a championship bout that had two championships at stake, the EVE International Title and the SWA Undispited World Women’s Title. This victory meant that in just the 40th match of her entire career, she was already a quadruple champion by holding the Goddessess, Future of STARDOM, SWA and EVE International Title at the same time.
She would be able to hold onto those 4 belts until the beginning of the summer, where she would lose the EVE International Title and the Goddessess of STARDOM belt as well, but would make up for it by winning the Artist of STARDOM belt alongside QQ. 2019 was incredible for Utami, but what happened to Io Shirai would also be pretty remarkable.
Io Shirai earned three championship opportunities for the NXT Women’s Championship against then champion Shayna Baszler, but she was unable to defeat her in every single one of those occasions, a fact that was genuinely frustrating to ‘the Genius of the Sky’. Shirai felt that she was being held back by holding onto her past in Japan, while also having to worry about others like Candice LeRae. The combination of these unsuccessful challenges and the internal battle that she was experiencing lead to her snapping and completely overhauling who she was.
Io Shirai went on to unleash her fury on a singles bout against Candice LeRae on Takeover Toronto 2019, where she would brutalize LeRae until the referee had to call for the bell for the madness to stop. Io would carry her aggression until the rest of the year where, alongside ‘Team NXT’, they would be able to make a statement on Survivor Series by defeating the other brands on a team elimination 3-way.
Despite this good momentum, Io would not only fail to achieve what she was longing for, but it would be Candice herself who would win on the last opportunity that Shirai had that year to go after the NXT Women’s Championship once again. 2019 would not be the year where Io Shirai finally earned the championship, but fortunately for her, the story did not end there.
2020: The queens earn their crowns
The protagonists of this story were not able to capture what they most desired last year, but that was quickly about to change for both of them, because 2020 would bring an unforgettable year to both of them.
We shall start with Io Shirai, who despite ending 2019 with a sour taste in her mouth, she was able to keep her focus and remain driven towards her main goal, the NXT Women’s Championship. The ‘Joshi Judas’ managed to defeat 5 other hungry wrestlers on a ladder match to earn yet another opportunity at the top belt on NXT.
Due to the aforementioned victory, Shirai would find herself on the main event of 2020’s NXT Takeover: In your house, against Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair. After a hard-fought 17 minutes and an unforgettable performance left behind, Io Shirai was finally able to reach the top of the NXT mountain to become the new queen of the brand. This would kick-start one of the most iconic championship reigns that the brand has ever had, with 7 successful title defenses and a reign that span for nearly a year.
The Joshi Judas had an outstanding 2020, but Utami Hayashishita’s season had nothing to envy from Shirai’s one, because despite a rocky start at the beggining of the year, she would be able to bounce back and claim the throne of STARDOM.The Red Queen started 2020 by losing the SWA and Artist of STARDOM championships to Jamie Hayter and Donna Del Mondo respectively. Utami would also have her 2nd challenge for the Wonder of STARDOM championship (the first one was in 2019 against Momo Watanabe), but would also come up short.
Despite the undesired results that she was achieving, Hayashishita felt that she was capable of claiming the top titles of STARDOM, so after defending the Future of STARDOM title against Saya Kamitani, she decided to vacate the belt in order to focus on winning the big belts of the promotion.
This decision would end up proving to be a marvelous one, because she went on to win the 5 Star GP on just her third try, go on to face the woman that previously defeated her on 2018 on those very same tournament finals in Mayu Iwatani, and was able to make a gigantic statement by becoming the new World of STARDOM champion.
Utami would also go on to have one of the most memorable Red Belt reigns in promotion history, by defending the title 9 times and reigning supreme until the very end of 2021.
Which leads us to:
2021: Rise to superstardom
2020 would be the year where Utami Hayashishita accomplished the most prized possession in her company, but what really put her on the record books would happen the year after, because 2021 would provide the most iconic campaign of her entire career so far.
The new champion completed the first half of the year with 3 more successful title defenses, but what would happen in June would cement her place among the greatest STARDOM wrestlers of all-time, while putting herself on a world-wide stage at the same time. On June 12th at Tokyo Dream Cinderella, Utami would enter the ring, ready to try and lock her 5th championship defense, but what would end up happening, would be something far deeper than just a title match.
Across the ring stood one of the toughest professional wrestlers to ever step foot inside a squared circle, someone with genuine MMA experience that even made appearences for the UFC. She is also one of the strongest hitters that the promotion had ever experienced, alongside the likes of other icons like Arisa Hoshiki. Utami Hayashishita had the titanic task that day to go head-to-head against Syuri for the Red Belt. The bell rung, and what would unfold would be one of the greatest battles that STARDOM had ever experienced in their decade-long history, a match that lasted for over 40 minutes that would end with a double KO finish.
The rivalry between them would not end there, because they would have 2 more singles matches that year. The first one was on the 5 Star GP where they collided once again with an unconclusive result. And the second one would happen at the very end of the year for STARDOM at Dream Queendom due to Syuri’ 5 Star GP tournament victory, which earned another opportunity at the World of STARDOM championship.
Despite another 4 title defenses and another superhuman effort against Syuri on a match that went on for 36 minutes, the year would end with Hayashishita losing the championship against Syuri. 2021 ended with a sour taste for Utami, but what she accomplished that year extended above any championship belts, because on 2021 Utami cemented herself as one of the most iconic Red Belt champions of all-time.
Speaking of iconic championship reigns, Io Shirai was experiencing one of her own between 2020 and 2021. Shirai left 2020 as a champion after reigning for the second half of the year by defending her title 5 times. She managed to carry her good momentum for the first trimester of the year, but her title reign would finally end in April after Raquel Gonzalez was able to beat her for the belt.
Despite this loss, the Joshi Judas would enjoy another title reign that year thanks to an NXT women’s tag title victory alongside Zoey Stark that would last for a couple of months. And thus, Io had accomplished everything that she could on the brand, which meant that she would be thinking about a change of scenery.
2022: Fresh start
2021 was a very successful year for both Hayashishita and Shirai, so it is only natural that things would eventually cool off, which is what would end up.. We shall start with the Red Queen’s 2022 season:
Utami started 2022 after losing the Red Belt at the very tail-end of 2021, but she wouldn’t have time to worry about this defeat, because there was also something really important that happened at the end of the year. On December 18th, Queen’s Quest fought Oedo Tai on a match-up where the losing faction would lose the last member to the opposition. The purple-wearing faction had been pushing for months the buttons of the group lead by co-founding member, Momo Watanabe, luring her to join their group.
Fast-forward into the match itself, there was a 2 on 1 advantage from best friends Momo Watanabe and AZM (‘MOMOAZ’) against Starlight Kid. But, when everything seemed to be falling in favor of the queens, the ‘True Heart’ turned on her partner and thus joining Oedo Tai. This betrayal would be on Utami’s mind all throughout the month, carrying all the way over until the end of the month, where Hayashishita would have to defend her title without a leader on her faction, nor knowing what would the future hold for any of the QQ members.
Hayashishita’s year would include a Wonder of STARDOM championship opportunity against Saya Kamitani, where she came up short, a deep run on the 5 Star GP tournament where she barely missed out on the finals, being runner-up on that year’s Goddesses of STARDOM tag league, a chance to become the inaugural IWGP Women’s champion where she would lose on the semi-finals to Mayu Iwatani, and a Red Belt rematch on November against the woman that defeated her in Syuri.
Despite finishing the year with no championships, there was one thing that Utami was able to take from the year. Queen’s Quest needed a new leader, which lead to every member fighting for the leadership on a 5-way match on May, which Hayashishita would win, and thus becoming the new leader of the iconic faction.
Speaking of wrestlers who have led Queen’s Quest, we shall look at Io Shirai’s 2022 campaign. Io started the first quarter of the year by making a victorious run on the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Classic alongside Kay Lee Ray, and also having another title match for the NXT Women’s Championship with an undesired result for her. Io Shirai had accomplished everything on NXT, so it was time for a change.
The new beginning for her would arrive by the hand of Bayley and Dakota Kai, when the three of them made a statement on that year’s Summerslam while pledging their alliance to each other, this alliance would be called ‘Damage CTRL’. This fresh start also included a personal change for Io Shirai, because she would now go by the name of ‘Iyo Sky’.
Iyo’s year consisted of her getting used to her new stablemates while also accomplishing multiple tag team title reigns alongside Dakota Kai.
She started on the right foot on her new home, but stuff would only keep getting better for her from now on.
2023: A rollercoaster of emotions
Despite the strong start of her new journey on RAW, 2023 would not immediately pick up for Iyo, due to the fact that Damage CTRL lost the tag team titles on February. Regardless of this beginning, Sky would keep her foot on the gas, an effort that would earn her an opportunity at the former ‘WWE RAW Women’s Championship’.
This victory materialized against Bianca Belair on a championship bout at Backlash. Despite a great 18-minute effort, Sky left Backlash with empty hands, but the story would not end there for her. Iyo’s remarkable resiliency led her to qualify for the women’s Money In The Bank match on the upcoming month.
The ladder match specialist managed to return home with the briefcase among her possessions, after she was able to defeat 5 other women, one of those being the very same leader of Damage CTRL in Bayley. Sky would not wait long to strike, because one month later, she cashed in successfully at Summerslam on Bianca Belair, thus crowning herself as the new WWE Women’s champion. She would finish the year with 5 defenses and thus heading into 2024 as the champion.
2023 was a great year for Sky, a fact that didn't apply to Hayashishita, because the new leader of Queen’s Quest endured a very difficult situation, due to a rift that opened inside her unit. Despite being long-time friends and tag partners, tension began to boil between AphroditE all throughout 2023.
This tension endangered the entire group, a situation that Oedo Tai was very eager to exploit, thus starting a rivarly that escalated towards a 12-woman steel cage match, where the losing member would be expelled from their faction. That faction war would end up being one of the most emotional bouts that the promotion had ever seen, ending on a cathartic Queen’s Quest victory.
After resolving this situation, AphroditE went back to work, ending the year by defeating the Goddesses of STARDOM Tag League winners in ‘Divine Kingdom’ (Maika and Megan Bayne) to earn the vacant tag titles and end the year on top of the tag division.
2024: A dream come true
2024 would open with Sky still holding the belt that she earned last year, but it all wasn’t sunshine and rainbows for her, because the leader of her faction won that year’s women’s Royal Rumble match, thus earning a championship opportunity at WrestleMania. The situation would keep escalating until Damage CTRL turned on Bayley, who had been used all along for the selfish benefit of the other faction members.
All of this would lead to Bayley facing Iyo at WrestleMania for that very same championship on the pre-main event of the show. Neither of the competitors left anything on the plate. Bayley would manage to defeat the champion to crown herself as the new spearhead of the division after a phenomenal 14-minute bout.
Ever since losing the title, Iyo Sky has unsuccessfully tried to get her crown back. Iyo lost on the semi-finals of the Queen of The Ring tournament and was unable to become a back-to-back MITB briefcase holder after Tiffany Stratton managed to win the ladder match.
Sky would not be the only one to lose her championship belt, because AphroditE were unable to defend the titles against ‘Crazy Star’, thus ending the title reign. Things were about to change, though, because Rossy Ogawa, one of the key figures in STARDOM’s world-wide growth, departed the promotion with effect immediate, which would lead to the foundation of a new promotion in MARIGOLD. This new promotion had a combination of freelancers, former Actwres girl’Z talent, and some STARDOM wrestlers like Giulia or Yuzuki who decided to follow Ogawa.
One of the wrestlers was Hayashishita herself, who decided to close her cycle on her former home, and thus also followed Ogawa into MARIGOLD, which finally leads us to the subject of this writing. On MARIGOLD’s show on June 11th at Korakuen Hall, Utami Hayashishita wrestled Nanae Takahashi on the main event, on a bout that went on for nearly 20 minutes. The Red Queen managed to defeat her opponent, but what happened immediately after the match would shatter the wrestling world.
Lights went out as Korakuen Hall filled with anticipation and excitement. The big screen lit up to show a message from someone directed to the winner of the main event, who was Hayashishita herself. That very same message was sent by none other than the wrestler that Utami had been dying to wrestle against for many years, one of the three founding members of the faction that she had lead herself at one point.
The wrestler on the screen challenged Hayashishita to a singles match on July 13th at the Ryogoku Sumo Hall, the very same arena who witnessed the announcement of a joshi wrestling legend that was going to sign for the WWE.
That wrestler was none other than Iyo Sky herself.
It took nearly 6 years of blood, sweat and tears for Utami Hayashishita to fullfil her career-long dream of wrestling Io Shirai/Iyo Sky.
The match could have happened quite easily if Shirai had stayed in STARDOM, but the fact that Utami had to fight for it, despite not knowing if it was ever going to happen, feels genuinely cathartic.
It took over 2000 days of work, 500 matches, becoming World of STARDOM champion, a leader of Queen's Quest's lineage and to challenge herself by departing STARDOM for Utami Hayashishita to accomplish her goal of wrestling against Iyo Sky.
On July 13th these 2 joshi wrestling icons will collide on what promises to be a legendary bout.
You can catch the match on Wrestle Universe, and whatever ends up happening, I am sure that it will that will be remembered forever.