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 ...

who is best known as one half of the tag team

Jumping Bomb Angels The Jumping Bomb Angels were a female Japanese professional wrestling tag team. The members were Noriyo Tateno and Itzuki Yamazaki, Itsuki Yamazaki. History Japan Noriyo Tateno and Itsuki Yamazaki formed one of the most well-known teams on th ...

with

Noriyo Tateno (born December 1, 1965) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler who is best known as one half of the tag team Jumping Bomb Angels with Itsuki Yamazaki. She worked in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling, WWF and has been working in Ladies Legend ...

. Debuting in 1981, she worked with

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 ...

, the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

, and Japanese Women's Pro until retiring in 1991.

Professional wrestling career

All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling

Yamazaki competed in

in the 1980s. On February 28, 1984, she defeated

to win the

AJW Championship The AJW Championship was a tertiary belt in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) promotion. The first champion, in 1980, was Rimi Yokota. During the title's history, no one held the belt more than two times. The belt was abandoned in 2005 after ...

. The title was vacated approximately one year later on February 25, 1985.

The Jumping Bomb Angels

Yamazaki teamed with

to form a tag team that initially competed in Japan. On January 5, 1986, The Angels defeated

Bull Nakano is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and professional golfer better known as . She began competing in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) as a teenager under the ring name Bull Nakano. As a wrestler she was a villain, who often teamed w ...

and Condor Saito to win the vacant

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 ...

. Then on March 20, 1986, The Crush Gals (

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

Chigusa Nagayo is a Japanese professional wrestler best known for her mainstream popularity in the 1980s as a member of the tag team ''Crush Gals'' with long-time partner Lioness Asuka. She was the founder of the GAEA Women's Professional Wrestling organization ...

) defeated The Angels to capture the WWWA Tag Team titles. The Angels entered the

in mid-1987 known as "The Jumping Bomb Angels". At the first ever

Survivor Series Survivor Series is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving, it is the sec ...

, The Jumping Bomb Angels were the sole survivors in a women's

Survivor Series match The Survivor Series match is a professional wrestling tag team elimination match held in WWE. The match typically sees two teams pitted against each other and members of the teams are eliminated one-by-one until one entire team is eliminated. Membe ...

. During the match, they received large cheers from the audience and praise from commentators

Gorilla Monsoon Robert James Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play commentator, and booker. Monsoon is famous for his run as a villainous super-heavyw ...

and

Jesse Ventura Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2 ...

especially after they dropkicked

Jimmy Hart James Ray Hart (born January 1, 1944) is an American professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician currently signed with WWE in a Legends deal. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World ...

off the turnbuckle at the match's climax. On January 24, 1988 at the inaugural

Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle roya ...

, they beat

The Glamour Girls The Glamour Girls was a female professional wrestling tag team. The members were Judy Martin and Leilani Kai History Early career and training Leilani Kai was trained by The Fabulous Moolah in 1975 right after she finished high school at ' ...

(

Leilani Kai Patty Seymour (born January 23, 1960) is a semi-retired professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Leilani Kai. She began training with The Fabulous Moolah right after finishing high school. In the 1980s, as part of the World Wrestling F ...

and Judy Martin) in a

two-out-of-three falls match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

to win the

WWF Women's Tag Team Championship The WWF Women's Tag Team Championship was a women's professional wrestling tag team title in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The belief its holders were considered world champions was expressed by Jesse Ventura, an announcer for s ...

. The Angels would reign for 136 days until June 8, 1988 when The Glamour Girls defeated The Angels to recapture the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship.

Later career

Yamazaki retired in 1991. She made her return by making a special appearance for

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 ...

in 2008 and

Oz Academy is a Japanese ''joshi puroresu'' or women's professional wrestling promotion founded by Mayumi Ozaki. The promotion's full official name is . In addition to the contracted members of the roster, Oz Academy has also employed some of the top freel ...

in 2012.

Personal life

Yamazaki lived for a time in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

with her husband where they owned the restaurant "GO Sushi", which closed in 2013. They currently reside in

Bergen County Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.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 ...

( 1 time) - with

( 1 time) *

( 1 time) - with Noriyo Tateno

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yamazaki, Itzuki 1966 births Japanese female professional wrestlers Living people People from Hyōgo Prefecture 20th-century professional wrestlers