JPN
At "STARDOM in KOBE 2026 May." held on Saturday, May 30th at the Kobe Sanbo Hall 2F Grand Exhibition Hall, former World of Stardom Champion Utami Hayashishita made her return to the Stardom ring after approximately two years
In the first match, she faced Tetsu Akira. Although she left Stardom at the end of March 2024, she made a surprise appearance in the ring at the Korakuen Hall event on May 26th and declared, "I would like to have a match in the Stardom ring again." It was Tetsu who requested a match at that event, and for Utami, it will be her first match in Stardom since the Korakuen Hall event on April 12, 2024
She appeared in a new costume based on the same red as her previous image color, carrying a red rose. She smiled and met Tetsu's stare-down before the gong, and then proceeded to engage in a deliberate ground battle, as if to gauge the strength of her opponent in their first encounter
He then gradually cornered his opponent with a body slam and a reverse Boston crab. In the elbow exchange, he thrust his chest out and took the blows head-on, then staggered his opponent with a heavy blow
He endured a face lock, a face wash, and a neckbreaker, then followed up with a lariat and a bat-hanging drop. Finally, at 9 minutes and 41 seconds, he secured the three-count with a spectacular German suplex
After the match, Utami placed her hand on Tetsu's shoulder to congratulate her on her valiant effort, then bowed deeply to all four sides of the ring, announcing her return to the Stardom ring to the fans in Kansai
Backstage, he reflected, "I was able to win the first match without any problems. Of course, he's not the Akira I knew, but a fine professional wrestler. Before the match, I thought I would just be happy to be able to have a singles match with Akira like this, but Akira was even more amazing and cool than I had imagined. I should be happy that I won, but I'm also frustrated. But I think it's a blessing as a professional wrestler to be able to make a junior wrestler feel this way."
At the Kyoto tournament on Sunday, May 31st, she will team with Matoi Hamabe to face Hanan and Saya Iida. "I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. At the same time, it's a time I want to have a lot of fun. Hayashishita Utami will do her absolute best," she said, already looking ahead to her next match