Just three days ago, Utami Hayashishita wrestled her final match for Dream Star Marigold. It wouldn’t take long for Hayashishita to land on her feet, in the same place where she became one of the biggest joshi stars in Japan. Tuesday morning in Korakuen Hall, Hayashishita appeared at a World Wonder Ring Stardom event, confronting former World of Stardom Champion Saya Kamitani.

SHE’S BAAAACK! 👑🤯

UTAMI HAYASHISHITA HAS RETURNED TO STARDOM!#STARDOM pic.twitter.com/le0NrgORsr

— STARDOM Global (@we_are_stardom) May 26, 2026

It had been over two years since Hayashishita had last appeared in Stardom, where she made her debut in 2018. In just six years, she would go on to become one of the promotion’s most accomplished stars, winning the Goddess of Stardom Championships three times, and the Artist of Stardom, Future of Stardom, SWA Undisputed World Women’s, and World of Stardom Championship’s once. Hayashishita’s reign as World of Stardom Champion saw her hold the title for 409 days, the fifth longest reign in Stardom history, with her defenses against rival Syuri producing what many felt were among the best Stardom matches in history.

Alongside current WWE star Giulia, Mai Sakurai, MIRAI, and Yuzuki, Hayashishita left Stardom in March 2024, jumping to Marigold after it was formed by former Stardom head Rossy Ogawa. In early 2025, Hayashishita would win the Marigold World Championship, holding it for 296 days before dropping it to Miku Aono. After losing a rematch to Aono in April, Hayashishita announced she’d be departing Marigold a month later.

Hayashishita and Kamitani are no strangers to each other, having previously won the Goddess of Stardom Championships together as part of stable Queen’s Quest. Since Hayashishita left Stardom, Kamitani has developed into the promotion’s top star, leading her own stable, H.A.T.E., and holding the World of Stardom Championship 483 days, 74 days longer that Hayashishita’s reign.

WWE’s Ludwig Kaiser, also known as El Grande Americano, is free to travel despite his arrest for battery last week, after an altercation in a Florida apartment building. Kaiser, whose real name is Marcel Barthel, turned himself in to Orlando police after learning of the warrant for his arrest, traveling from Mexico back to Florida, for the incident that occurred in April.

According to PWInsider, the judge presiding over Kaiser’s criminal case approved the motion on Tuesday to allow Kaiser to travel both within the United States and internationally. Kaiser previously returned to Mexico last week to participate in an event for AAA, and he is set to face the Original El Grande Americano, Chad Gable, in a mask-vs-mask at AAA Noche de los Grandes on Saturday. He is required to appear for all court dates in the future.

Kaiser is accused of battering a man after an altercation in an elevator of the apartment building. The victim told police that Kaiser and a woman were acting “uncontrollably intimate,” and when he exited the elevator, he told the pair to “please have some manners.” The victim claims that’s when Kaiser punched him and shoved him to the ground.

Kaiser pleaded not guilty to the charge of simple battery. According to PWInsider, he was reportedly ordered to have no contact with the victim or any witnesses. Kaiser was allowed a supervised return to the apartment, accompanied by police.

Neither WWE or Kaiser himself have commented on the situation. AAA posted a social media video of an emotional Kaiser from its event last week, Serenata Para El Grande Americano, where fans serenaded the star ahead of his upcoming mask-vs-mask bout.

All Elite Wrestling’s launched its brand new streaming service, MyAEW, in March 2026 as a way for international fans to get their AEW fix, but other promotions have gotten in on the fun as of late too. QT Marshall’s 1FW was added to the site shortly before AEW Double or Nothing 2026, leading some fans to wonder if there will be any other promotions making deals with AEW to get their shows on the platform. AEW President Tony Khan was asked about the platform at the Double or Nothing post-show media scrum, which led to Khan stating how important MyAEW is for the international growth of the company.

“MyAEW is primarily focused on international [distribution], but that we do have the domestic service, and it has a lot of great content and we plan to feature wrestling from multiple promotions. We’ve just added QT’s great promotion, we have 1Fall Wrestling now, but we’re looking to add other promotions to MyAEW and make it a hub for pro wrestling all over the world. Of course, for a lot of fans it’s already become a great destination. It’s been a key part of our international strategy, but also here in the US, there’s great promotions that we can make available on MyAEW and still, we have all of our focus here pushed towards HBO MAX and Warner Brothers Discovery.”

MyAEW has taken the place of the AEW Plus feature on TrillerTV, which ceased operations in April 2026 following the financial trouble TrillerTV has faced in recent years. AEW has since filed a lawsuit against TrillerTV over late payments amounting to the sum of $5 Million, though there has been no further updates on if and when that case will be settled.

Please credit the original source when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Only a month after departing from WWE, Nikki Cross is making a big move alongside her husband Big Damo, aka former WWE star Killian Dain. On Tuesday morning, the couple shocked the wrestling world, announcing they had purchased both UK indie promotion Progress Wrestling and United States indie promotion DEFY Wrestling. The first Progress show held under Damo and Cross’ ownership will take place on June 7 at the 02 Ritz Academy in Manchester, England.

“It is not lost on me that there are few female owners in professional wrestling, so I want to bring my experience and insights to the table and elevate Progress and DEFY to new levels,” Cross said in a statement. “We were deeply encouraged by the first Progress Women’s Super Strong Style 16 tournament. Rhio and Gisele competed in an incredible main event, and Rhio proved to be a worthy winner! We will soon be announcing that next year, in 2027, we will host the first stand alone female Super Strong Style 16. We are also in the process of bringing Progress to new cities across the UK, and will be excited to announce those details soon”

Launched in 2012, Progress became one of the most well recognized independent promotions in England during the UK wrestling boom of the mid-2010s, and later developed a working relationship with WWE. By 2020, however, a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Speaking Out movement led to Progress going on hiatus, returning only in 2021. The promotion’s relationship with WWE soon ended, and Progress was later purchased by Lee McAteer and Martyn Best, who would run Progress until selling it to Cross and Damo.

As for DEFY, the Pacific Northwest promotion launched in 2017 under Matt Farmer, and had run shows consistently through 2025. In 2024, DEFY and Progress announced that the two promotions would be merging. No follow up report regarding the merger ever emerged, though Cross and Damo’s purchase of both promotions suggest that the merger was ultimately completed.