Maika vs. Utami Hayashishita

[7.0] "Really good match. I actually expected this to be a pretty generic Stardom bombfest, but these two surprised my by -- although still having a bunch of big-move trades -- throwing in an arm-targeting story as well which (A) thankfully WASN'T eventually forgotten about, and (B) was very significant to the overall story of the match, which was great to see. They tarted with some basic grappling followed by Utami gaining the upper hand with some mid-level attacks. Maika sold well as the face in peril, while Utami looked really good with how confident and merciless she was with her control work. Maika showed decent creativity with the intelligent counters she soon brought out in attempt to wear Utami down, with her also hitting some nicely impactful attacks and performing some pretty impressive displays of strength in the process. Utami's real-time selling in response to Maika's dominance was really good. Maika then began working over Utami's arm with variety of creative attacks, though Utami still showed good determination to fight back despite how dominated she was. Utami's eventual comeback led to both women then moving to 'big-move trading' territory, with both hitting some impressively impactful strikes and power moves one after the other. I appreciated that Utami was still selling the damage done to her arm all throughout this. They were pretty generic with the 'your turn, my turn' structure and minimal selling to allow those big-move trades, but they were still both so hard-hitting with their attacks that I didn't mind too much, and it ultimately made for a nice story of them both being so evenly matched. Maika did very well chaining together big power moves and quick submissions to further wear Utami down, but Utami still had her own big strikes and power moves that could just as easily put Maika down if she ever gained the space and time to attempt them. I greatly appreciated how Utami's arm injury continued to hold her back, preventing her from making the cover following her bigger moves and/or finishers and sometimes preventing her from even hitting those moves at all. Her selling was all-around great for just how consistent it was plus how significant it was to the overall match story -- something that's sadly rare in wrestling these days. Although I thought Maika was still recovering from Utami's big attacks and finishers a bit too quickly, I still really enjoyed the story of her outlasting Utami due to Utami's injured arm deteriorating further and further until the point that Maika could keep chaining her own signature moves together and eventually score the upset win with a beautiful Michinoku Driver II. Really good performances from both wrestlers. ***1/2"

[9.0] "Incredible match-up and a great main event with Maika finally pinning rival Utami after a hard-fought battle. It was a very interesting match and can be termed as the collision of two super strength modules. The lariat sequence was amazing and very stiff too. The story here was Utami's work on the back of Maika to weaken her power-lifting and strength advantage. Maika sold it well and Utami's work to provide legitimacy deserves appreciation. Maika then worked and fought against the agony and suffering that she faced during the match. The match started off with a captivating technically sound and mat grappling focused sequence. Then, turned into a brawl which was very hard-hitting and the exchanges are proof to that. The power-moves were pretty awesome too especially the German by Utami to Maika and Maika lifting Utami on the outside and connecting with a brain-buster. The action had the soothing flow and synchrony, the hard-hitting shots provided a good feeling of fiery intensity and positive energy. The match did a great job and I was satisfied as this match would close the show as it was nothing short of special. Great content nonetheless. ****1/2"

[8.0] "A good main event. Not as cool as Mayu-Momo, but also quite worthy. I was very surprised by Maika's victory. Plus, I like this style of fighting, like hers: submission, and then the move. In general, the fight was kept on the same note, not to say that somehow it was boring somewhere, but somewhere it was super cool. A typical Utami's match and a good performance by Maika. ****"

[8.0] "A very good main event here, even it was not easy to be after the war between Mayu and Momo. I prefered their match back in january, but it was a very good anyway. A good confrontation between two powerhouses, and what I like here it's that Utami for once was very dominant and seems like a champion. Often in her matches she takes the waves and make some strong returns, but most of the time she undergoes. Here, she was dominant in the match. Also I like the way Utami counter Maika's big move like the vertical suplex attempt in a standing sleeper/guillotine. Also, I appreciated very much Utami selling in this confrontation of strength. Maika was not effraid to go in the fight against one of the most powerfull worker of the company, and they have good chemistry. I was surprise by the results, but after thinking about it, that continues the storyline between them and Maika got her revenge. The thing bothering me it's the two major champions loosing in the first night, but it can be the beginning of good storytelling, and it's make you leave the show with some questions :" will doubts interfere in them ? How will them fight to find the precious points ? " I'm hype for the following of the tournament. 4"

[6.0] "Like many people said here, this match should not be in the main event. It was too boring, though the ending was impactful. Make this a main event just because Utami is a champion and her rivalry with Maika is one of the key feuds, is not so right."

[6.0] "This match shouldn't have gone last, especially with that 'budget Okada' match structure where a Top Rope Brainbuster is a replacement for a Dropkick. It was just a simple match with a simple story, but because it's one of 'rivalries' that STARDOM pushes for almost two years now, it should've been a bigger match. Finish also didn't stand out. On paper this result is a big deal, but in reality it didn't feel like a big deal at all. This match wasn't better than their Red Belt title match in January that wasn't anything special too, so I'm not interested in a another 'big' Maika/Hayashishita match after this. Almost eight months passed since then, and the only thing that is different is that they both wrestlers got new gear."

[7.0] "This suffers from following the electric match between Mayu and Momo, but these two definitely beat the hell out of each other and after a slow start it got pretty good. Maika getting the surprise win was a nice touch. ***3/4"

[6.0] "Not a bad match, but not exciting. There were some good exchanges, reverses, but overall nothing particularly outstanding. And at some point I even got tired of their lariat exchanges, despite the fact that some wrestlers can do storytelling with just a few moves. But this is clearly not about Maika and Utami. Hayashishita did well, she sold her hand injury nicely. This saved the match from a serious drawback, but did not make it more interesting."

[8.0] "Surprisingly really good, better than the title match they had earlier this year. They showed much better chemistry here and just had an all out bombfest ****."

[7.0] "It seems to me that it is difficult to sell a hand injury, and Hayashishita did quite well. It may not have been 100% convincing, but at least it played a big role in the end. The match itself clearly lacked emotion, and in some places it was boring. Not the best candidate for a main event, but it doesn't spoil the show either."

[9.0] "The Match of The Night. One million Lariats or even more. Very intense brawl. This is how PPV main event should look like. Maika's final move just planted Utami right on her neck. That was insane. I highly recommend."

[8.0] "This one was a very good match, even if it wasn't as good as the World of Stardom title match they had back in january at 10th Anniversary. Utami and Maika are two very good powerhouses and they have a great chemistry, that's not a surprise. Here they were very impactful and put me into the match very quickly, even if it lost some rythm at the middle of the match. It regained some interest very quickly, so not a problem. The finish was very well built and we could see the urgency in Maika's finisher, who logically takes her revenge on Utami. ***3/4"

[6.0] "To be honest, I didn't really like it, as it seemed boring and not very interesting. Mike worked on Utami's hand and it seems to me that she did it very well, but the protraction of the meal plays to their detriment. Even in a 20 minute match, there is an artificial tightening and not a very good pace, which often gets lost. Of course the best part of this match is the amazing ending. Utami did a great job of demonstrating the effects of selling - it's cool. However, their confrontation is not the level of the main event. This makes their duel seem foreign. It seems to me that this confrontation is not so important to demonstrate it so epic. Still not bad though. Definitely better than their last match. ***3/4"

[9.0] "The judo sequence at the beginning was so cool. I honestly would not have minded if they had just done that for half the match. Instead, they transitioned into limb work, with Maika working over Utami's arm. There was a strange moment when Maika starting hitting the wrong arm, but then she immediately switched back to the injured limb. They moved on to a great lariat contest, with Utami at the disadvantage due to the damaged arm. In the end, Maika pulled off the upset and felt like a credible title challenger, which is leaps and bounds above where she was before her first challenge last January. ****1/4"

[8.0] "I'll admit, I was a bit peeved that this was headlining over a clear PPV-headlining worthy matchup like Mayu vs Momo. It took a while to get into the match for that reason, as well as how formulaic it felt in the first half. Utami dominated the first five minutes, before Maika reversed the momentum and did the same over the next five. Nothing new and par for the course in Japanese tournament matches. Then things changed. Maika's brain buster to the floor, the superplex, etc were all great. Maika's resiliency down the stretch in the final five minutes, Utami's selling, the false finish in the final minutes, etc were all on point. By the time we reached the 17-minute mark, a draw felt imminent. It would've soured me if that had happened, as Utami has had a non-finish to each of her last two PPV main events. This felt like it was going to be that way too. And then, the swerve. Maika got the finish! It was a great ending and made it all worth it. Another upset on a night full of them, but this was a needed and proper swerve for those who expected a draw down the stretch. Well-played move by Stardom. As for the match, it was a ***3/4 or **** worthy match. 8/10 either way."

[9.0] "Another great match to end the show. Maybe it went a bit for to long as the pace was pretty slow at the start. It was another sloberknocker, as they thrower some really stiff strikes and throws to eachothers. I particularly liked how the end go the match was booked."

[6.0] "A hard physical match with methodical work at the beginning, but still not the level of the main event. Hayashishita was driven to exhaustion, and in order to regain the initiative, she had to fight back as best she could. This is potentially a good way to sell the match, but three-minute attacks by lariats seemed not the best idea. A hard match means that you will follow it, worrying and shaking with tension. But in this case, this hard match was hard to watch. The winner wasn't a shocking, but upset. I don't understand why they make such a big bet on this interaction between Maika and Utami (***)."

[9.0] "Maika has grown since her last match against Utami and she showed some qualities that were not present in their past matches. This was another amazing match between these two, possibly the best one they've had against each other yet. Suplexes and lariat battles, and a dominant finish from Maika. ****1/4"

[8.0] "Utami is the biggest star in Stardom. It's not Giulia, Mayu or anyone else, imo it's definitely Utami. She just brings the eyes of everyone on her as soon as her music hits, and her matches are always great. I don't like to do comparisons like that, but watching her rn really feels like watching Okada in 2016. Maika is underrated and a really good worker. This match was a little bit below what I was expecting but it was still very good. Maika's win is very interesting and surprising. ***3/4"

[9.0] "Amazing match in the Main Event of the first night. Maika & Utami have amazing chemistry together & they showed it here again. The Maika win was a big upset (****)"

[8.0] "This was also a pretty cool match, both did a lovely job. Maika did some good work on Utami's arm, which Utami also sold fantastic. It also didn't felt like that this match went nearly 20 minutes, it flew by very quick and I was suprised that Maika got the win actually, was still happy tho. I bet Peps liked it as well c:"