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 ...

. Having made her debut in January 1998, Haruyama worked for the

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 ...

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

her entire career, becoming not only one of the promotion's most accomplished singles wrestlers, with one

JWP Junior Championship The JWP Junior Championship was a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the JWP Joshi Puroresu promotion. It was introduced on June 16, 1995, when Candy Okutsu defeated Hiromi Sugou and Hiromi Yagi in a three-way match to become the ...

reign and three

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 ...

reigns behind her, but also a three-time Daily Sports Women's Tag Team Champion and a five-time JWP Tag Team Champion, most notably teaming with

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 ...

as the

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

"Harukura". Haruyama's accomplishments outside of JWP include reigns as the AJW Champion and AJW Tag Team Champion and winning the 2006 Neo Japan Cup. She ended her 18-year career in December 2015.

Professional wrestling career

JWP Joshi Puroresu (1998–2015)

Haruyama 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

promotion on January 23, 1998, facing Erika Watanabe at

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 ...

. Later that year, Haruyama won the Souseiseki Cup, JWP's tournament for rookies. Haruyama followed that up by winning another tournament the following year to become the new

JWP Junior Champion The JWP Junior Championship was a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the JWP Joshi Puroresu promotion. It was introduced on June 16, 1995, when Candy Okutsu defeated Hiromi Sugou and Hiromi Yagi in a three-way match to become the ...

. After graduating from the junior division, Haruyama became one of JWP's top wrestlers, winning back-to-back MVP Awards in 2003 and 2004 and culminating in April 2008, when she defeated Azumi Hyuga to win JWP's top title, the

for the first time. Haruyama held the title for two years, making successful defenses against the likes of

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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) * ...

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 ...

, resulting in her winning yet another MVP Award 2008. Her reign ended in April 2010, when she lost the title to

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 m ...

in her ninth defense. Meanwhile, Haruyama also excelled in tag team wrestling. After

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 ...

reigns with Azumi Hyuga and Kaori Yoneyama, she formed the tag team "Harukura" with former junior division rival

. The two won their first JWP Tag Team Championship in August 2007 and during their fourteen-month reign, unified the title with the new

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 August 2008. Harukura held the titles for another eleven-month reign from December 2010 to November 2011. In April 2012, Haruyama regained the JWP Openweight Championship from her tag team partner Tsubasa Kuragaki and held it for six months, before losing it to

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 ...

. In January 2013, Harukura started their third reign as both the Daily Sports Women's Tag Team and JWP Tag Team Champions with a win over the team of

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 ...

and

Command Bolshoi is a retired Japanese professional wrestler. She debuted for Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (JWP) in November 1991 and worked for its follow-up promotion JWP Joshi Puroresu from 1992 until its folding in 2017, also serving as its final president. ...

. After a seven-month reign, they lost the titles to Heart Move (

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 Morii). On October 14, 2013, Haruyama defeated Kuragaki, who was making her final appearance for JWP, before her resignation from the promotion. After a short-lived partnership with

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 ...

, Haruyama found a new partner in

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 ...

wrestler Aoi Kizuki, with whom she won the 2015 Tag League the Best. On April 5, 2015, Haruyama defeated Arisa Nakajima to capture the JWP Openweight Championship for the third time. She lost the title to Command Bolshoi on July 11. Following the loss, Haruyama announced she would retire from professional wrestling on December 27. As part of her road to retirement, Haruyama reunited with the now

freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

Tsubasa Kuragaki, but the two failed to capture the Daily Sports Women's Tag Team and JWP Tag Team Championships on September 22. In October, Haruyama and Kuragaki made it to the finals of

Pro Wrestling Wave , is a women's professional wrestling, or Joshi Puroresu, promotion created in 2007 after the dissolution and closure of JDStar. The company was formed by Mikiko Futagami, or Gami, former JDStar wrestler Yumi Ohka, and former JDStar booker Tatsu ...

's 2015 Dual Shock Wave tournament, contested for the Wave Tag Team Championship, but were defeated there by

Ayako Hamada is a Mexican professional wrestler. During her 20-year career, Hamada wrestled for various promotions, including All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling, Gaea Japan and Pro Wrestling Wave in Japan, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Lucha Lib ...

and

Yuu Yamagata better known by her ring name is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer and is best known for her tenure with the Japanese promotions Kaientai Dojo and Pro Wrestling Wave. Professional wrestling career Independent ...

. On December 27, Haruyama wrestled twice during her retirement event, first teaming with Tsubasa Kuragaki to defeat Command Bolshoi and Kaori Yoneyama in Harukura's final match together as a tag team and then defeating Kuragaki in the final match of her 18-year career.

Championships and accomplishments

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 ...

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 ...

( 1 time) **

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 ...

( 1 time) – with

*Chick Fights Sun **Chick Fever J (2007) *

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 Mo ...

( 1 time) – with

Aoi Kizuki is a Japanese retired professional wrestler best known for her tenure with various Japanese promotions such as Ice Ribbon, JWP Joshi Puroresu and Oz Academy. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2005–2018) Kizuki made her pr ...

( 3 times) – with

( 1 time) **

( 3 times) **

( 5 times) – with Azumi Hyuga (1), Kaori Yoneyama (1) and Tsubasa Kuragaki (3) **JWP Junior Championship Tournament (1999) **JWP Openweight Championship Next Challenger Determination League (2008) **JWP Openweight Champion Next Challenger Determination 2Day Tournament (2013) ** JWP Tag League the Best (

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

) – with Tsubasa Kuragaki ** JWP Tag League the Best (

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

) – with Aoi Kizuki **Souseiseki Cup (1998) **Best Bout Award (2003) with

and Erika Watanabe vs. Azumi Hyuga,

and

Yuki Miyazaki is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Pro Wrestling Wave. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (1995-present) Miyazaki made her professional wrestling debut on Jan ...

on August 16 **Best Bout Award (2004) vs. Azumi Hyuga on November 28 **Best Bout Award (2007) with Tsubasa Kuragaki vs.

and

Natsuki☆Taiyo is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . Making her debut for All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) in January 2004, Mizushima quickly affiliated herself with Nanae Takahashi, following her out of AJW in 2006 a ...

on December 9 **Best Bout Award (2008) vs.

on September 23 **Best Bout Award (2009) vs. Azumi Hyuga on April 12 **Best Bout Award (2015) vs.

on December 23 **Fighting Spirit Award (2001–2002) **MVP Award (2003–2004, 2008, 2015) *NEO Japan Ladies Pro Wrestling **Neo Japan Cup (2006)

References

External links

JWP Joshi Puroresu profile

Official blog
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haruyama, Kayoko 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Fukuoka (city) Japanese female professional wrestlers