is a retired

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

. She debuted for Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (JWP) in November 1991 and worked for its follow-up promotion

JWP Joshi Puroresu , also known as or simply JWP, was a Japanese ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) promotion, founded in 1992 as a splinter promotion of Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. Celebrating its 25th anniversary at the time of its folding in 2 ...

from 1992 until its folding in 2017, also serving as its final president. During her years in JWP, Bolshoi became a two-time JWP Openweight Champion, seven-time JWP Tag Team Champion and a four-time Daily Sports Women's Tag Team Champion. Bolshoi has worked under

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practic ...

for a majority of her career and has managed to keep her real name and birthdate secret.

Professional wrestling career

JWP Joshi Puroresu (1991–2017)

After spending two years training at the JWP Dojo, Bolshoi made her

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

debut for the Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (JWP) promotion on November 26, 1991, teaming with Mami Kitamura in a tag team match, where the two faced Hikari Fukuoka and Reiko Hoshino. Originally she worked under a

clown A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms. History The most ancient clowns have been found in ...

and the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

"Bolshoi Kid", named after the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n Bolshoi Circus. The following year, after the original JWP folded, she began working for its follow-up promotion,

, reinventing herself as "Command Bolshoi" in the process, though still disguising herself under a mask. To this day, she continues to occasionally work under her Bolshoi Kid persona. After

Cutie Suzuki (born October 22, 1969, as ), better known by her ring name , is a retired Japanese professional wrestler who mostly wrestled for JWP Joshi Puroresu. In 1990 she was featured in an all female wrestling game based on her titled '' Cutie Suzuki ...

Devil Masami Masami Yoshida (吉田雅美，born January 7, 1962) is a Japanese professional wrestler best known for her appearances in All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling, GAEA Japan and JWP Joshi Puroresu under the name Devil Masami. She is a member of the All ...

Dynamite Kansai is a retired Japanese female professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . Career Chieko Suzuki was born on December 4, 1969, and was raised in Kyoto, Japan. In 1986 she auditioned for All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW), but wa ...

and

Mayumi Ozaki (born October 28, 1968) is a Japanese professional wrestler. She is currently working for Oz Academy. Career Ozaki debuted in a tag team match in August, 1986. In her career, she held the WWWA tag titles with Dynamite Kansai from April 11, 19 ...

all quit JWP, Bolshoi became the promotion's new president, while also becoming a trainer at the promotion's dojo. Bolshoi won her first title in JWP in 1999, when she and

Rieko Amano is a Japanese retired professional wrestler better known by the ring name . Amano made her debut for JWP Joshi Puroresu in December 1994 and early on began also making appearances for the Gaea Japan promotion, where she most notably became one o ...

won the

JWP Tag Team Championship The JWP Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the JWP Joshi Puroresu promotion. The championship was introduced on August 9, 1992, when Cutie Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki defeated Dynamite Kansai and Sumiko ...

. The following year on August 6, Bolshoi defeated

Ran Yu-Yu Ran, RaN and ran may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ran'' (film), a 1985 film directed by Akira Kurosawa * "Ran" (song), a 2013 Japanese song by Luna Sea * '' Ran Online'', a 2004 MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) * ...

to win JWP's top title, the

JWP Openweight Championship The JWP Openweight Championship was a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the JWP Joshi Puroresu promotion. The championship, which was situated at the top of JWP's championship hierarchy, was introduced on December 2, 1992, when ...

. After a seven-month reign, she lost the title to Azumi Hyuga. During the next year, Bolshoi went on to win the JWP Tag Team Championship two more times with Azumi Hyuga and Gami. From July 2002 to April 2009, Bolshoi went completely without any titles, before she and

Megumi Yabushita is a retired Japanese female mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional wrestler and judoka. She has participated in several Japanese professional wrestling and mixed martial arts promotions. She is a Japanese national judo champion and a for ...

defeated Keito and

Yumiko Hotta is a Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Hotta was trained by and started her career in the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) promotion in June 1985. She worked for the promotion until 2003, becoming a three-time WWWA ...

for not only the JWP Tag Team Championship, but also the

Daily Sports Women's Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the Pure-J promotion. The title is named after the '' Daily Sports'' newspaper. Title history The championship was introduced by the JWP Joshi Puroresu promotion on August 3, 2008 ...

In 2010, Bolshoi made several appearances for the

Ice Ribbon is a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) professional wrestling promotion, promotion established in 2006 by Emi Sakura, after her split with Gatokunyan. History Ice Ribbon was founded by Emi Sakura, a professional wrestler wh ...

promotion, defeating

Hikari Minami is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for her work in the Ice Ribbon promotion, where she spent nearly seven years, making her debut in February 2006 at the age of eleven, becoming a two-time ICE×60 Champion and a one-time IW19 Ch ...

on August 27 to win the promotion's top title, the ICE×60 Championship. After a four-month reign, she lost the title to

Tsukasa Fujimoto is a Japanese professional wrestler and actress, who is currently wrestling for Ice Ribbon, where she also works behind the scenes as the co-head trainer. She is a record seven-time ICE×∞ Champion, six-time International Ribbon Tag Team C ...

on December 26. In December 2011, Bolshoi was scheduled to make her

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

debut with the Chikara promotion, but was forced to pull out at the last minute due to an injury. She eventually made her debut for the promotion the following September, when she,

Kaori Yoneyama is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer on the Japanese independent circuit. Yoneyama started her career in 1999, working with the JWP Joshi Puroresu promotion. During the following years, she became a one-time J ...

and

Tsubasa Kuragaki is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by the ring name . For most of her career, Kuragaki has worked for JWP Joshi Puroresu, becoming a one-time JWP Junior and two-time JWP Openweight Champion as a singles wrestler. As a tag team ...

made it to the second round of the 2012 King of Trios. Bolshoi's 2012 was highlighted by her and JWP's storyline rivalry with the Heart Move Kei Reform (HMK)

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

, which led to her and

Arisa Nakajima is a Japanese professional wrestler. Trained by the Major Girl's Fighting AtoZ promotion, Nakajima made her debut in January 2006, but when the promotion folded the following May, she transferred over to JWP Joshi Puroresu, where she became a ...

winning the Daily Sports Women's Tag Team and JWP Tag Team Championships from HMK members

Emi Sakura , better known by the ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler performing for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). After starting her career in International Wrestling Association of Japan in August 1995, Sakura worked for several promotions acro ...

and

in August 2012. Bolshoi's part in the rivalry culminated at the end of the year event on December 24, where Bolshoi defeated Yoneyama in a grudge match. In June 2013, Bolshoi announced the "Bolshoi Decade" series, where she would face all other JWP wrestlers in singles matches in order to assess their abilities. As part of the series, Bolshoi defeated

Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again f ...

on July 20 to win the

CMLL-Reina International Championship The CMLL-Reina International Championship (''Campeonato Internacional del CMLL-Reina'' in Spanish; in Japanese) is a women's professional wrestling championship promoted by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Reina Joshi Puroresu. The cham ...

. After a reign of only eight days, Bolshoi lost the title to Arisa Nakajima in the next match in the Bolshoi Decade series; a double title match, contested also for the JWP Openweight Championship. On May 4, 2014, Bolshoi and

Kyoko Kimura is a retired Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Throughout her 14-year career, she competed in Big Japan Pro Wrestling, Ibuki, Ice Ribbon, JWP Joshi Puroresu, NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling and World Wonder Ring Stardom, am ...

defeated Rabbit Miu and Tsukushi in a decision match to become the new Daily Sports Women's Tag Team and JWP Tag Team Champions. They held the titles for the rest of the year, losing them to Leon and Ray on December 28, 2014. On July 11, 2015, Bolshoi defeated

Kayoko Haruyama is a retired Japanese professional wrestler. Having made her debut in January 1998, Haruyama worked for the JWP Joshi Puroresu promotion her entire career, becoming not only one of the promotion's most accomplished singles wrestlers, with one JWP ...

to win the JWP Openweight Championship for the second time, fifteen years after winning it the first time. She lost the title to Mayumi Ozaki in her first defense on August 16. In September 2016, Bolshoi returned to the United States and Chikara to represent JWP in the 2016 King of Trios, alongside

Hanako Nakamori better known by her ring name Hanako Nakamori is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer and is best known for her time in the Japanese promotions JWP Joshi Puroresu and Pure-J. Professional wrestling career Independ ...

and

Manami Katsu is a Japanese professional wrestler. She was trained by the JWP Joshi Puroresu promotion and made her debut in April 2011. In December 2011, Katsu won the Souseiseki Cup and a year later the JWP Junior and Princess of Pro-Wrestling Championship ...

. The team made it to the finals of the tournament before losing to their compatriots, Team Sendai Girls (Cassandra Miyagi,

Dash Chisako , better known by her ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler. She was trained by Meiko Satomura and has worked for her Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling promotion since her debut in July 2006. For the first ten years of her career, Chisako wa ...

and

Meiko Satomura Meiko Satomura (里村明衣子, Satomura Meiko, born November 11, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler. She is currently signed to the American promotion WWE performing on the NXT brand and the Japanese promotion Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestlin ...

). On January 9, 2017, Bolshoi and Leon defeated Hanako Nakamori and Kyoko Kimura to win the Daily Sports Women's Tag Team and JWP Tag Team Championships. On February 8, it was announced that JWP would be folding on April 2, after which Bolshoi is scheduled to launch a new promotion on August 11. The following month, it was announced that the new promotion would be called "

Pure-J is a Japanese ''Joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) promotion established on August 11, 2017, by Command Bolshoi. History With the closure of JWP Joshi Puroresu on April 2, 2017, it was announced that Command Bolshoi will be in ...

". At JWP's final show on April 2, 2017, Bolshoi and Leon successfully defended the Daily Sports Women's Tag Team and JWP Tag Team Championships against Kazuki and Rydeen Hagane. Afterwards, the JWP title was retired, while the Daily Sports title moves on to Pure-J with the champions.

Pure-J (2017–2019)

Before the official launch of Pure-J on August 11, 2017, the former JWP roster presented shows under the name "Pure-Dream Presents Dream Joshi Puroresu". Bolshoi and Leon continued defending the Daily Sports Women's Tag Team Championship at these shows. During these shows, the two also named their team "P-Ray-L", in reference to Ray, who was battling cancer. The name, which includes the letters "P" and "L" for "Piko" and "Leon", was also a play on the word "prayer". At Pure-J's inaugural event on August 11, Bolshoi defeated

Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...

. On August 21, 2018, Bolshoi announced that due to the progressive worsening of the yellow ligament ossification in her spine, that she would be retiring in 2019, with her retirement show set at Korakuen Hall on April 21.

Bodybuilding

On May 31, 2015, Bolshoi took part in NPCJ's Blaze Open bodybuilding competition, where she finished third in the women's athlete category, beating fellow professional wrestler Meiko Satomura, who finished fourth. Bolshoi, however, won the Overall Best Performance Award, which was voted by 50 randomly picked members of the audience. On October 24, 2015, Bolshoi won the NPCJ Beef Sasaki Classic's figure category and was also chosen as the tournament's MVP across all categories.

Championships and accomplishments

** ICE×60 Championship ( 1 time) *

( 4 times) – with

(1),

(1) and

(1) **

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) **

( 7 times) – with Rieko Amano/Carlos Amano (1), Azumi Hyuga (1), Gami (1), Megumi Yabushita (1), Arisa Nakajima (1), Kyoko Kimura (1) and Leon (1) ** Natsu Onna Kettei Tag Tournament (

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

) – with

**Best Bout Award (2001) vs. Azumi Hyuga on November 21 **Best Bout Award (2003) with Erika Watanabe and

vs. Azumi Hyuga,

and Yuki Miyazaki on August 16 **Best Bout Award (2012) with Arisa Nakajima vs.

and Kaori Yoneyama on August 19 **JWP Award (2005) **Special Award (2002, 2007, 2012) *

Pure-J Openweight Championship The Pure-J Openweight Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the Pure-J promotion. The championship, which is situated at the top of Pure-J's championship hierarchy, was introduced on October 9, 2017, when Hanako N ...

(1 time) *Reina Joshi Puroresu **

( 1 time) *

Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling , often called , is a Japanese women's professional wrestling promotion. It is based in the city of Sendai, Miyagi in the Tohoku region. History Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling was founded in 2005 by Meiko Satomura, a female professional wrestler ...

Sendai Girls Junior Championship The Sendai Girls Junior Championship is a women's professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a dramatic enactment of wrestling as a spectator sport. As is the norm for this sport, women's professional wrestling is organized by wrestlin ...

(1 time) * Other accomplishments **Organization Representative One Night Tournament (2010)

References

External links

*
Osaka Joshi Pro Wrestling profile

Official blog
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolshoi, Command Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Living people Japanese female bodybuilders Japanese female professional wrestlers Masked wrestlers Professional wrestling executives Professional wrestling trainers Sportspeople from Osaka 20th-century professional wrestlers CMLL-Reina International Champions