is a retired

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

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 formed a successful tag team with her partner

Mima Shimoda is a Japanese female professional wrestling, professional wrestler, who is working for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Japanese promotion World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana. She is most well kno ...

as ''

Las Cachorras Orientales Las Cachorras Orientales(in Japanese: ラス・カチョーラス・オリエンタレス), frequently styled as LCO, were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Etsuko Mita and Mima Shimoda. The team's name is Spanish for "The Oriental Bi ...

'' (Spanish for "The Oriental Bitches"; which was originally a trio with

Akira Hokuto is a Japanese retired professional wrestler better known as . Career Born Hisako Uno, Hokuto became a professional wrestler in the wake of the enormous popularity of tag team the Crush Gals (Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka), and was responsib ...

) and

Toshiyo Yamada is a retired Japanese female professional wrestler. In the 1990s, Yamada wrestled for the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling promotion (AJW). Professional wrestling career All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling Early Career and Dream Orca (1987–19 ...

as Dream Orca. She is credited as the innovator of the

Death Valley Driver Professional wrestling throws are the application of professional wrestling techniques that involve lifting the opponent up and throwing or slamming them down. They are sometimes also called "power" maneuvers, as they are meant to emphasize a wrest ...

. Mita retired on November 1, 2009, defeating former tag team partner

Makoto is a unisex Japanese name although it is more commonly used by males. As a noun, Makoto means "sincerity" (誠) or "truth" (真, 眞). People Given name * Makoto (musician) (born 1977), drum and bass artist *Makoto (Sharan Q) ( まこと), ...

in her final singles match and teaming with Mima Shimoda in a loss against

Kyoko Inoue is a Japanese female professional wrestler. She has held the WWWA World Single Championship three times, and is the first woman to win a men's title in Japan. Inoue performed in the World Wrestling Federation at Survivor Series 1995 in an all ...

and

Nanae Takahashi (born December 23, 1978) is a Japanese professional wrestler and the founder of Seadlinnng. She has wrestled for prominent Japanese promotions All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Sun, and is a two-time women's world champion in maj ...

in her final tag team match.

Career

Etsuko Mita debuted on July 31, 1987 against Chiaki Ishikawa and on August 5, 1987, she fought against her debuting future partner,

. She was part of the 1987

All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling , nicknamed Zenjo (全女: 全 meaning "All", 女 meaning "Woman") was a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) professional wrestling promotion, promotion established in 1968 by Takashi Matsunaga and his brothers. The group held th ...

debut class that included

Manami Toyota is a retired professional wrestler, best known for her work with the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) promotion. She is considered to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Following AJW's closure, she continued to work ...

and

. She teamed with

early on, forming "Dream Orca". On June 14, 1989, Mita captured the

AJW Tag Team Championship The AJW Tag Team Championship was the secondary tag team title in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. The title was introduced in 1986 and was retired in April 2005 when the promotion closed. Title his ...

with

, but the team had to vacate the titles in March 1990 when Yamada was injured. On November 14, 1990 at Wrestle Marinepiad '90, Mita and Shimoda, prior to becoming LCO captured the

from the "Honey Wings" of Mika Takahashi and

Kaoru Kaoru is a Japanese given name for males or females. Name Meanings The name's meaning varies depending on its written form: *薫/郁/芳 — "fragrance", common for both males and females *馨/香 — "fragrance", more common for females ...

. The reign lasted until April 21, 1991, when they were defeated by

Esther Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chosen ...

and

Cynthia Moreno Flavia Antonia Moreno León (born July 23, 1970) is a Mexican ''Luchadora'', or female professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Cynthia Moreno (sometimes spelled "Cinthia Moreno") She is working for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). Mo ...

at AJW St. Battle Day Part 2. This was Mita and Shimoda's only

together. By 1991, Mita started teaming with

to form the "Mint Showers". While the team did not have much success in-ring, on November 21, 1991, they released a single together called, "TIME TO GO", which was on the same record as Takako Inoue's "Door of Miracle" song. The Mint Showers teamed up together for Tag League the Best 1991 in October 1991, but finished near the bottom of the standings.

Las Cachorras Orientales (1992–2009)

In 1992, Mita formed

(commonly known as LCO) with

and

. While Hokuto was an original member, she did not stay on long as a regular with the team. The team mostly wrestled in the undercard until they captured both 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 S ...

and the

UWA World Women's Tag Team Championship The UWA World Women's Tag Team Championship (in Japanese: UWA世界女子タッグ王座) was a professional wrestling tag team title defended in the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) from 1992 to 1995, then revived in 2001. It was the primary ...

in March 1994. The team held both sets of titles until January 8, 1995, when they lost their

to Hikari Fukuoka 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 ...

. On September 2, 1995, they vacated their

after a successful defense against

Lioness Asuka is a Japanese retired professional wrestler better known by her ring name . Along with long-time tag team partner Chigusa Nagayo she formed Crush Gals, known for their mainstream popularity in the 1980s, and for being one of the most successful ...

and

Jaguar Yokota (born July 25, 1961) is a Japanese professional wrestler and later wrestling trainer, who wrestled under the name . She is widely considered one of the greatest female wrestlers of all time, and, during her heyday in the early 1980s, was conside ...

. On June 18, 1997, the team captured the

WWWA World Tag Team Championship The World Women's Wrestling Association (WWWA) World Tag Team Championship was the top doubles championship in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) from 1970 until it closed in 2005. During those years the title was held by many of the most famo ...

for the first time by defeating Tomoko Watanabe and Kumiko Maekawa, finally capturing the titles after 5 years as a team.

Post All Japan Women's career

Mita left

with Shimoda in October 1997 as the promotion filed for bankruptcy for

NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling (frequently styled as NEO) was a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) promotion established in 1997 by Kyoko Inoue. The first event took place on January 9, 1998. NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling NEO Ja ...

. Between October 1997 and February 1998, the team made stops in

Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling, also known as LLPW and currently as LLPW-X, is a Japanese independent women's professional wrestling promotion founded in 1992 by Rumi Kazama and Shinobu Kandori. History Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling split in 1992 ...

JDStar JDStar (also spelt Jd'), was a women's professional wrestling promotion based in Tokyo, Japan. In the wake of the joshi puroresu boom of the early 1990s, several different groups opened with distinct approaches. The Jd'Star promotion, with its su ...

and

Gaea Japan Gaea Japan (trademarked as GAEA Japan) was a Japanese women's professional wrestling promotion. GAEA's name comes from the Greek mythological goddess of the Earth, Gaea or Gaia. History GAEA was founded in 1995 by Chigusa Nagayo, a professional wr ...

while creating a rivalry with Kyoko Inoue and Misae Genki in NEO. The team also stopped in JWP later that year. The team became freelance in 1999. They wrestled multiple matches for

eventually joining the heel faction, SSU (Super Star Unit). The also started to appear in Arsion during Summer 1999, winning the Twin Stars of Arsion League in December 1999. They also returned to All Japan Women's during this time, capturing the WWWA Tag Titles on July 10, 1999. In 2003, Mita joined

full-time again. She spent the rest of her career wrestling both single and tag team matches. On November 1, 2009, LCO teamed for the final time as Mita retired. They teamed against Kyoko Inoue and Nanae Takahashi.

Championships and accomplishments

(

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 ...

) – with

(1) and

(1) :*

( 5 times) – with Mima Shimoda(4) and

(1) :*

Tag League the Best __NOTOC__ The was an annual professional wrestling tag team tournament, founded by All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW), which held it from 1985 to 2004 (with no tournament taking place in 1990). After the folding of AJW in 2005, the tournament wa ...

(

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

) – with Mima Shimoda *

Dramatic Dream Team is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Its name stands for Dramatic Dream Team, which was the promotion's official name from 1997 to 2004. Founded in March 1997 by Shintaro Muto, the promotion was eventually bo ...

Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship The is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the Japanese promotion CyberFight in its DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) brand. Open to anyone, regardless of gender or DDT employment status, the championship is defended " 24/7", as i ...

( 1 time) :*

Jiyūgaoka 6-Person Tag Team Championship The was a six-person tag team title in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Dramatic Dream Team, today known as DDT Pro-Wrestling. The title, established in 2003, was named after the Jiyūgaoka neighborhood in Meguro. It has since been ...

( 1 time) – with Hero! and

Sanshiro Takagi , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler. Takagi's gimmick is that he is Stone Cold Steve Austin. He is known in Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) and around the micro-indy scene for his hilarious promos and natural charism ...

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 ...

International Ribbon Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the Ice Ribbon promotion. The championship was introduced on April 4, 2007, at an Ice Ribbon and Neo Japan Ladies Pro Wrestling co-promoted event, where the Neo Machineguns (Tanny Mou ...

( 1 time) – with

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 ...

( 1 time) – with Mima Shimoda *

NEO Single Championship Neo or NEO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * Neo (''The Matrix''), the alias of Thomas Anderson, a hacker and the protagonist of the Matrix film series * Neo (''Marvel Comics'' species), a fictional race of superhumans * ...

( 1 time) :*NEO Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with

:*NEO Kitazawa Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kyoko Inoue :* NWA Women's Pacific Championship ( 1 time) :*NEO Hall of Fame (2010) *

Tokyo Sports is a Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1960. See also * Tokyo Sports Film Award * Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards The are Japanese professional wrestling, or ''puroresu'', awards that have been handed out by the ''Tokyo Sports'' mag ...

Joshi Puroresu Grand Prize The are Japanese professional wrestling, or ''puroresu'', awards that have been handed out by the ''Tokyo Sports'' magazine annually since 1974. The most publicized awards in Japanese professional wrestling, they are recognized by all the major pr ...

(2000) – with Mima Shimoda *

Universal Wrestling Association The Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) was a Mexican ''Lucha Libre'' or professional wrestling promotion based in Naucalpan, Mexico State that operated from 1975 until 1995. The name of the actual promotion was Lucha Libre Internacional (LLI) ...

– with Mima Shimoda

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mita, Etsuko 1969 births 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers Living people Japanese female professional wrestlers Ironman Heavymetalweight Champions Jiyūgaoka 6-Person Tag Team Champions