ChocoPro’s New Dawn show on October 5th is a fitting name for several reasons. While at first glance it might be because Rina Yamashita is beginning her reign as the new Super Asia Champion, just before it is a match that might not feature the physical stakes of a title belt but could be just as important in the long term for the promotion.
Hiyori Yawata, now nearing a year and a half into her career, steps into the semi-main slot looking to make a statement against a wrestler she’s admired from before she even debuted. Over the past couple of months, she has leapt forward to become one of ChocoPro’s more compelling characters, shaking up the harmony of the group as she looks to find her spot among the promotion. Both as a wrestler and a person.
In many ways, Hiyori represents the true spirit of ChocoPro and the Dareyjo Project from which she graduated from. On the surface, she might not be a natural prodigy like Mei Suruga or enter the business with an extensive athletic or entertainment background like recruits to other promotions do. But there’s an earnest passion she exudes that seems to thrive under Emi Sakura’s system. It’s obvious across Yawata’s first year how hard she’s worked to improve as a wrestler and an entertainer, and that effort is paying off.
For someone who identifies as rather shy, Hiyori has really come into her own putting herself out there. A large part of her character seems to be in direct contrast to that reality. She isn’t just appealing to a live crowd, Hiyori’s portraying a rather bold personality who is not only unafraid of being the center of attention but craves it, regardless of the consequences. She’s always looking to start a ‘Hiyori’ chant with the crowd (even if it often ends up with the audience chanting for her opponents) and one of her signature attacks is built around running to each corner of Ichigaya to give a High Ten to a waiting fan.
There’s an awkwardness about her, but that’s also part of her charm. She’s a flawed and – for better or for worse – relatable personality. Now as Hiyori is becoming more comfortable as a performer, you can see her always looking to add a little dash of flavor to the show, and it all comes across as completely genuine rather than an act.
It’s gotten to the point where even though Hiyori is only fresh into her sophomore year, her character is already one of the more fascinating in the company, really only behind heavyweights like Emi, Mei and Chie. There’s been a focused drive over the past few months in directing her from a fun-loving rookie into a bulldozer that’s going to wreak havoc on the harmony of the roster – even if she doesn’t necessarily mean to – and it’s created a fascinating dynamic in ChocoPro that’s so unusual for the promotion.
It started innocently enough as she started to get on Mei Suruga’s nerves when they would face off in matches. While it’s fairly normal for Mei to get under the skin of opponents, it’s unusual to see her consistently rattled by an opponent. Yet Hiyori seems to have that gift. It was like Mei was looking in a mirror. One time, she jokingly dabbled in playing the role of “Ichigaya’s enemy” during the end of show janken tournament, but she didn’t feel like it suited her and decided to give that role back to Mei (an act that only further annoyed her).
It’s a character archetype ChocoPro has rarely explored. Sure, there will be moments where Mei might grate on someone with her Apple Goblin persona or Chie’s sheer volume bursts an eardrum, but like a typical sitcom by the end of an episode there’s no hard feelings. It’s rare for someone to be portrayed like a true antagonist.
With Hiyori, they seem to be making a concerted effort to explore how far they can take that idea. She’s become the annoying sibling, and things aren’t always resolved when the camera switches off.
Yawata’s not trying to antagonise anyone though, or at least it doesn’t seem that way. She’s not playing the kind of role Chris Brookes did in 2020/2021 when he was terrorising Ichigaya Square, Hiyori’s trying to be liked and just causing chaos in the process. It was rare to see a show end in a scrum until recently, but her words and actions have caused it to happen several times as Sayaka Obihiro loses her patience with the young wrestler.
Hiyori’s actions have been getting bold, and it’s been left to the veteran Obihiro to try and reel her in. On the eve of the Super Asia Championship match, as Mei Suruga and Rina Yamashita were staring each other down, who else but Hiyori would insert herself into the picture, walking in between the main event showdown to basically let everyone know she too would be interested in challenging for the belt.
The brazen audacity of the move left everyone dumbfounded and got her scolded by Soy, Obihiro, and Chie once they all recovered from what they just saw.
It’s the way Hiyori carries herself in these scenarios that works so well. If you picture how the typical wrestler would interrupt a big moment to insert themselves into the fray, it would look so different to how Hiyori went about it. There was no real bravado or cockiness behind it. Yet when confronted about the audacity of her actions, she’s not particularly apologetic about it either.
She’s still a young wrestler trying to find her footing. Hiyori’s been in the business just long enough to know how you get your opportunities – by standing up and laying down challenges – but the way she’s going about it feels wrong.
You can see where the change in her attitude has been inspired from. In an interview on the official ChocoPro website, Hiyori said the following as she moved into her second year as a pro wrestler:
“First and foremost, I want to become a wrestler who can win! Also, right now Hiyori is the one who raises her hand and says “Yes!” to team up with others, but I want to become a wrestler that others can trust, so that they will say “Let’s team up, Hiyori!”
(Translated) Interview with Hiyori Yawata – Chocoprowrestling.com
I also want to see more juniors, and right now I feel like I’ve only been able to show my junior Yawata Hiyori, so I want to be able to show my senior Yawata Hiyori as well. I really love Obihiro, and although I haven’t had the chance to team up with her or have a singles match yet, I’d like to fight her and one day team up with her like Popcorn Carnival. I also want to challenge for a belt! I want to challenge for the singles belt, and also the tag belt, so there’s a lot I want to do!”
There are a few revealing things in those comments. Like any growing wrestler she is looking to step up, win more matches, and challenge for title belts. Is it bold? Yes, but that’s most wrestlers, and a logical progression as you advance in your career.
The more interesting parts to extract come from the rest of the comments, like how she wants to be someone people gravitate to.
There were signs of this early on with the #teamhiyori hashtag on Twitter/X. Yes, it was a way to encourage people to get involved on social media and support her, but it extends beyond just the audience. Hiyori wants other wrestlers to be on board too.
A big part of ChocoPro lore comes from the various wrestler pairings. The Best Bros team of Mei Suruga and Baliyan Akki is virtually synonymous with ChocoPro, Chie Koishikawa has developed a lot of lore with both Shinno Hagane (Egg Tart) and Sayaka Obihiro (Popcorn Carnival), while part of what really established Soy in ChocoPro was her pairing with Miya Yotsuba as the MiyaSoy pairing.
For Hiyori, the closest she’s come to that is her tag team with Nonoka Seto, a fellow up-and-comer for who she seemed to develop a kinship with. Together they got their first title shot when they challenged Bellflower for the Asia Dream tag titles back in April. It might not have resulted in victory, but the match itself could have been a turning point for Hiyori. It was her strongest performance to date, and it was alongside someone who was well and truly Team Hiyori.
Yet, it was never going to last. Nonoka Seto had already announced she was planning to take an extended break before the title challenge, and although Hiyori got to say goodbye with a big win against Seto (her first singles victory), she was again without a clear partner.
It’s not for a lack of trying. Antonio Honda teased forming a team with her, but it didn’t consistently come to fruition as he continued to regularly work with Tokiko Kirihara as Black Comaneci. Kaho Hiromi has gravitated towards her at times but not to the point of a dedicated team. Some of the guests like Everett Connors, Munetatsu Nakamura, and Shota Kawakami have been happy to join in, but they’re just guests.
Hiyori is yet to find a true long-term tag team partner, yet if we look back at her comments, we can see that there’s one wrestler she’d like to work with above all, and it’s the very veteran who is now trying to reign her in. Sayaka Obihiro.
“I really love Obihiro, and although I haven’t had the chance to team up with her or have a singles match yet, I’d like to fight her and one day team up with her like Popcorn Carnival.”
There’s a deep respect for Obihiro that’s been there since before her wrestling debut, when she went to watch the GoGo! Green Curry Khob Khun Cup. That’s why Hiyori held her pinfall victory over Obi in such reverence and why she felt it entitled her to challenge for the Super Asia Championship.
The interview is just one example of Hiyori praising her senpai and speaking of wanting to form a team with her. Her social media is littered with hints of longing for what Chie has with Obi in that senpai/kouhai partnership of Popcorn Carnival. She even tried to fill the void while Koishikawa was injured.
That’s what makes the conflict between them so interesting. Hiyori isn’t trying to intentionally antagonise Obihiro, if anything she’s trying to prove that she’s good enough to be stand together. Yawata’s no longer a weak rookie.
Obihiro also doesn’t hate Hiyori, even if some shows are ending where she’s trying to strangle her. As a veteran, Obi’s trying to guide her and show her the way. She recognises some of the struggles Hiyori’s going through and is trying to teach through her own experiences. Yet sometimes the student is dead set on doing it her way.
Win or lose, October 5th is going to be an important step in Hiyori Yawata’s career. Beyond just being the biggest spotlight that’s been on her (even more than the Asia Dream title match) she’s going to get the chance to truly express her feelings in the ring to someone she’s admired.
At the end of it, maybe she will have convinced Obihiro and everyone watching to be on #teamhiyori.
RESURA 