better known by her

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 ...

, is a Japanese

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 is best known for her time in the joshi puroresu promotion

World Wonder Ring Stardom World Wonder Ring Stardom (スターダム女子プロレス), often referred to simply as Stardom (stylized as ST★RDOM), is a Japanese '' joshi puroresu'' or women's professional wrestling promotion based in Tokyo, Japan. Stardom was founded i ...

, where she was a former three-time

Artist of Stardom Champion The is a professional wrestling Professional wrestling tag team match types#Multiple man teamed matches, six-woman tag team Championship (professional wrestling), championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom professional wrestling promotion ...

and

Goddess of Stardom Champion The is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. Title history On August 2, 2011, Stardom held a press conference to announce the first ever Goddesses of Stardom Tag League, which would cu ...

Early life

Before becoming a professional wrestler, Yano worked in the

Republic of Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

on the Western Coast of Africa for two years.

Professional wrestling career

World Wonder Ring Stardom (2015–2021)

On November 15, 2015, Yano made her professional wrestling debut at

under the

Jungle Kyona, where she defeated

Momo Watanabe (born March 22, 2000) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. Since making her debut on November 16, 2014, she became a two-time Artist of Stardom Champion, one-time Goddess of Stardom Cha ...

in her first match. In only a month after her debut, Kyona won the Rookie of Stardom Tournament. On December 23, at ''Stardom Year-End Climax'', Kyona received her first title match where she teamed with Hiromi Mimura and Watanabe as they challenged the Hyper Destroyers (

Evie Evie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Evie (given name) * Evie (singer), American contemporary Christian music singer Evelyn Tornquist (born 1957) * Evie (wrestler), ring name of New Zealand female professional wrestler Cheree Crowl ...

Hiroyo Matsumoto (born November 6, 1985) is Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer. Emi Sakura gave her the nickname of because Matsumoto broke a wall in the Ichigaya arena during her Ice Ribbon debut. She is best known with other w ...

and

Kellie Skater Callee Keating (born 30 September 1987) is a retired Australian professional wrestler best known by her ring name Kellie Skater. She has wrestled internationally, in Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States. She is perhaps best known for h ...

) for the

Artist of Stardom Championship The is a professional wrestling six-woman tag team championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. The title was first announced during Stardom's year-end event on December 24, 2012, and two days later its name was revealed as the ...

, but were unsuccessful. Entering 2016, Kyona and Watanabe teamed together under the name "JKGReeeeN". On January 10, JKGReeeeN challenged Thunder Rock (

Io Shirai is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Iyo Sky (stylized in all caps). She is a member of Damage CTRL and one-half of the current WWE Women's Tag Team Champions ...

and

Mayu Iwatani (born February 19, 1993) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom. Since making her debut in January 2011, she became a two-time World of Stardom Champion, two-time Wonder of Stardom Champion, one-tim ...

) for the

Goddesses of Stardom Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. Title history On August 2, 2011, Stardom held a press conference to announce the first ever Goddesses of Stardom Tag League, which would cu ...

, but were unsuccessful. JKGReeeeN continued to wrestle through 2016 and even participated in the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League, although she did not succeed in making it to the finals. shortly after the Tag League, Watanabe turned on Kyona to join Shirai's unit "Queen's Quest". In 2017, Kyona began to pursue several championships. On January 29, Kyona unsuccessfully challenged

Kay Lee Ray Kayleigh Rae (born 11 August 1992), better known as Kay Lee Ray, is a Scottish professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Alba Fyre. Rae began her wrestling career in 2009 and c ...

for the

ICW Women's Championship The ICW Women's World Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship owned by Scotland's Insane Championship Wrestling promotion. Molly Spartan is the current champion in her first reign. She won the title by defeating Angel Hayze ...

. On February 23, Kyona challenged

Kairi Hojo is a Japanese professional wrestler and actress currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and World Wonder Ring Stardom under the ring name Kairi (stylized in all caps). Housako is also known for her work with WWE as . She is the c ...

for the

Wonder of Stardom Championship The is a women's professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling), championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom professional wrestling promotion, promotion. The title, which in Stardom's championship hierarchy is situated as t ...

, but was unsuccessful. On March 3, Kyona won her first title in her hometown in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

, where she teamed with Matsumoto to defeat Hojo and

Yoko Bito is a Japanese retired professional wrestler better known by the ring name . Bito initially made her in-ring debut in December 2010 for World Wonder Ring Stardom and quickly became one of the most popular wrestlers in the promotion, until announ ...

to win the Goddesses of Stardom Championship. Shortly after winning the title, Kyona and Matsumoto formed a group named "Team Jungle", alongside

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

Natsuko Tora (born January 30, 1991) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. Tora is a two-time Artist of Stardom Champion as well as one-time Goddess of Stardom Champion. Professional wrestling career ...

. On June 17, Kyona, along with Matsumoto and Yoneyama, defeated Queen's Quest ( AZM, HZK and Shirai) to win the Artist of Stardom Championship. The trio held the title until August 13, where they lost the title to HZK, Shirai and

Viper The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipers), hinged fangs tha ...

. On June 21, Kyona and Matsumoto lost the Goddesses of Stardom Championship to Oedo Tai (

Hana Kimura was a Japanese joshi puroresu professional wrestler. She worked for native companies in her country such as World Wonder Ring Stardom from 2016 to 2020, and Wrestle-1, in addition to having made appearances for foreign companies such as Ring of H ...

and

Kagetsu (born on June 24, 1992), better known by his ring name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in Stardom, JWP, Sendai Girls and various independent promotions. Professional wrestling career Independe ...

). Kyona teamed with Bito to participate in the Tag League and managed to win their way to the finals, where they lost to the team of

Bea Priestley Beatrice St. Clere Priestley (born 22 March 1996) is an English-New Zealand professional wrestler, best known by the ring name Bea Priestley. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Blair Davenpor ...

and

Kelly Klein Kelly Klein (born January 28, 1986), is an American professional wrestler who is currently a free agent. She is best known for her time in Ring of Honor, where she was a record three-time Women of Honor World Champion. Professional wrestling ...

on November 5. In 2018, Team Jungle started to lose their members, as Matsumoto left Stardom by March and Yoneyama had other commitments in multiple wrestling promotions outside of Stardom, Leaving Kyona and Tora the only members of the group. After not being picked by any unit in the annual draft, Kyona, along withLeo Onozaki, Ruaka, Tora and Yoneyama formed a unit named "J.A.N.", an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for Jungle Assault Nation. On May 27, Kyona, along with Tora and Yoneyama, defeated Oedo Tai (Hazuki, Kagetsu and Kimura) to win the vacated Artist of Stardom Championship. On June 17, Kyona main evented

Korakuen Hall is a famous sports arena in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, which has hosted many notable boxing, professional wrestling, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and Lethwei matches. History On April 16, 1962, the Korakuen Hall was officially opened with ...

where she challenged her former tag team partner Watanabe for the Wonder of Stardom Championship, but was unsuccessful. On September 30, while J.A.N. lost the Artist of Stardom Championship to Stars (Iwatani, Saki Kashima and

Tam Nakano , is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she competes under the ring name , and is the leader of the Cosmic Angels stable. Nakano is a former three-time Artist of Stardom Champion, as well as a former Won ...

) on the afternoon show, Kyona and Tora defeated Iwatani and Kashima to win the Goddesses of Stardom Championship. On November 23, Kyona and Tora lost the Goddesses of Stardom Championship to Watanabe and

Utami Hayashishita (born September 14, 1998) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion, Since making her debut on August 12, 2018, she became a one-time World of Stardom Champion, two-time Goddesses of Stardom Ch ...

. On January 14, 2019, Kyona received her first

World of Stardom Championship The is a women's world professional wrestling championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. The title, which is situated at the top of Stardom's championship hierarchy, was introduced on June 26, 2011, and the inaugural champio ...

match, when she challenged Kagetsu, but was unsuccessful. On April 14, at the second annual draft, all faction leaders battled in a five-way where the loser of the match must disband their own unit. Kyona lost to Iwatani, Kagetsu, Kimura and Watanabe, and therefore, J.A.N. was disbanded. Kyona was drafted afterwards to Kimura's unit "Tokyo Cyber Squad". On June 16, Kyona, along with Kimura and fellow Tokyo Cyber Squad member

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 ...

, defeated Iwatani, Kashima and Nakano to win the Artist of Stardom Championship. On June 23, the trio lost the title back to

Stars A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...

. On July 15, Konami and Kyona won the Goddesses of Stardom Championship, where they defeated Hayashishita and Watanabe. On January 19, 2020, Konami and Kyona lost the Goddesses of Stardom Championship to

Jamie Hayter Paige Wooding (born 23 April 1995) better known by the ring name Jamie Hayter is an English professional wrestler who is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where she is the current AEW Women's World Champion in her first reign. Sh ...

and Priestley, ending their reign at 188 days with 3 successful title defenses. After Hayter and Priestley vacated the championship as they couldn't defend it due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Konami and Kyona challenged Hayashishita and

Saya Kamitani (born November 28, 1996) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former idol, currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. She is the current Wonder of Stardom Champion in her first reign. Kamitani is also a former one-time Goddes ...

on July 26 for the vacant title, but were unsuccessful. At Stardom Yokohama Cinderella 2020 on October 3, Konami and Kyona lost to Kashima and Tora when the losing team must disband, therefore, Tokyo Cyber Squad was disbanded, as Konami turned on Kyona during the match and joined

Oedo Tai (Stylized OEDotai, also known as "Oedo Corps" in Japanese) is a villanous professional wrestling stable, currently performing in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom, and formerly in the Professional wrestling ...

. The rest of the Tokyo Cyber Squad were drafted to

. On October 7, Stardom announced that Kyona will be out of in-ring competition for extended period of time, due to multiple injuries. On September 30, 2021, Kyona left Stardom.

Championships and accomplishments

* ''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

'' ** Ranked No. 64 of the top 100 female wrestlers in the ''

PWI Female 100 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publis ...

'' in 2019 ** Ranked No. 31 of the top 50 tag teams in the '' PWI Tag Team 50'' in 2020 *

( 3 times) – with

and

(1),

and Kaori Yoneyama (1), and

and Konami (1) **

Goddess of Stardom Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team Championship (professional wrestling), championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom professional wrestling promotion, promotion. Title history On August 2, 2011, Stardom held a press conference t ...

( 3 times) – with Hiroyo Matsumoto (1), Natsuko Tora (1) and Konami (1) ** Rookie of Stardom Tournament (2015) ** Stardom Year-End Award (1 time) *** Best Tag Team Award (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyona, Jungle 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Nagoya Japanese female professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers Goddess of Stardom Champions Artist of Stardom Champions