is a

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 o ...

better known by the ring name KAORU (stylized in all capital letters). Billed as the "Original Hardcore Queen", Kaoru is known for her wrestling style, which combines high-flying with

hardcore wrestling Hardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling where disqualifications, count-outs, and all other different rules do not apply. Taking place in usual or unusual environments, hardcore wrestling matches allow the use of numerous items, inclu ...

. Trained by the

All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling , nicknamed Zenjo (全女: 全 meaning "All", 女 meaning "Woman") was a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) promotion established in 1968 by Takashi Matsunaga and his brothers. The group held their first card on June 4 of that y ...

(AJW)

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 ...

, Maeda worked in both Japan and Mexico in the late 80s and early 90s, before making her breakthrough in the

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 ...

promotion, where she most notably was a founding member of the D-Fix stable. After the folding of Gaea Japan in 2005, Maeda became a freelancer, though closely affiliating herself with the

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 free ...

promotion. After returning from a three-year-long injury break in March 2014, Maeda resumed working as a freelancer, before signing with the new Marvelous promotion in January 2015.

Professional wrestling career

All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (1986–1991)

Maeda received her training in

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 or ...

at the

(AJW) dojo, where she was trained by

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 consid ...

alongside the likes of

Aja Kong is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by her ring name . She is the founder of the Arsion all-women professional wrestling promotion and has won several championships in both singles and tag team divisions throughout her career, prim ...

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 ...

. She made her debut, working under her real name, on August 8, 1986, facing

Megumi Kudo is a Japanese entertainment personality and former professional wrestler. She wrestled under her maiden name for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling, where she became the top star of the Women's Division. Kudo is primarily known for competing in bru ...

at an AJW event in

Higashimurayama, Tokyo is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 148,275, and a population density of 8700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Higashimurayama is located on th ...

. On December 26, 1987, Maeda made it to the finals of a tournament for the

vacant Within the context of building construction and building codes, "occupancy" refers to the use, or intended use, of a building, or portion of a building, for the shelter or support of persons, animals or property. A closely related meaning is t ...

AJW Junior Championship The AJW Junior Championship was a tertiary singles title in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. The title started in 1980 and was retired in April 2005 when the promotion closed. The prize was contested among wrestlers with less than two years of e ...

, before being defeated by Suzuka Minami. The following year, she formed the Honey Wings

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 ...

with Mika Takahashi. After the two made it to the finals of a tournament for the vacant

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 ...

, where they were defeated by

Erika Shishido is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by her ring name . She is the founder of the Arsion all-women professional wrestling promotion and has won several championships in both singles and tag team divisions throughout her career, pri ...

and Nobuko Kimura on April 2, 1988, the Honey Wings came back on October 10 and defeated Shishido and Kimura in a rematch to become the new AJW Tag Team Champions. After a five-month reign, Maeda and Takahashi lost the title to Miori Kamiya and Reibun Amada on March 4, 1989. The Honey Wings would regain the title on June 1, 1990, by defeating the Sweet Hearts (

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

Mima Shimoda is a Japanese female 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 known for being half of Las ...

). After another five-month reign, they lost the title to

Etsuko Mita is a retired Japanese professional wrestler. She formed a successful tag team with her partner Mima Shimoda as ''Las Cachorras Orientales'' (Spanish for "The Oriental Bitches"; which was originally a trio with Akira Hokuto) and Toshiyo Yamada ...

and Mima Shimoda on November 14, 1990. Shortly afterwards, Maeda left AJW.

Universal Pro-Wrestling (1991–1993)

After leaving AJW, Maeda began working for Japanese '' lucha libre'' promotion Universal Pro-Wrestling, now performing under her given name, stylized in all capital letters. On January 19, 1992, Kaoru and

Lady Apache Sandra González Calderón (born June 26, 1970) is a Mexican professional wrestler or ''luchadora'', best known under the ring name Lady Apache. As Lady Apache, González has mainly worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and AAA, Mex ...

made it to the finals of a tournament for the vacant

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 ...

, where they were defeated by the team of Manami Toyota 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– ...

. Through Universal Pro, Kaoru also made appearances in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

for the

Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as ''Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre'' (''EMLL'') (''Mexi ...

(EMLL) promotion, where she worked under a

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 pra ...

. Kaoru's tours of Mexico culminated on March 21, 1993, in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, when she lost her mask to

La Diabólica La Diabólica (real name unknown; born September 28, 1965) is a Mexican ''luchadora enmascarada'', or masked professional wrestler, best known from her work in the Mexican professional wrestling promotions Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) a ...

in a ''

Lucha de Apuestas Lucha libre (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term used in Latin America for professional wrestling. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form ...

''. During her years in Universal Pro, Kaoru also held the JCTV Women's Championship.

Gaea Japan (1994–2005)

On August 25, 1994, Kaoru appeared at a press conference, where

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 organizatio ...

announced the formation of the new

promotion. Kaoru was positioned as the second in command after Nagayo and helped her in training up-and-coming wrestlers in the promotion's dojo. The promotion held its first show on April 15, 1995, where Kaoru defeated Yasha Kurenai. During Gaea's first years, Kaoru wrestled as a member of the Gaea Seikigun ("regular army"), while also making sporadic appearances under a mask as Infernal Kaoru. Kaoru's first Gaea accomplishment took place on September 23, 1995, when she,

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 ...

and Tomoko Kuzumi won the Splash J & Running G tournament. Through Gaea Japan's working relationship with the

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 Nati ...

(WCW) promotion, Kaoru made 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 on November 30, 1996, in

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...

, defeating

Sonoko Kato is a Japanese professional wrestler. She made her debut in April 1995, working for Gaea Japan, where she became one half of the inaugural AAAW Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. After becoming a two-time winner of the High Spurt 600 Tourn ...

in the quarterfinals of a tournament to crown the inaugural WCW Women's Champion. Kaoru was eventually eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by

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 responsi ...

, who went on to win the entire tournament. On December 17, 1999, Kaoru turned on the Gaea Seikigun and joined forces with Aja Kong,

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 successfu ...

and Sonoko Kato to form the DorA (Dead or Alive) stable. As a member of the stable, Kaoru adopted a new wrestling style, combining her high-flying abilities with a

style. On February 6, 2000, Kaoru defeated Toshiyo Yamada to become the number one contender to stablemate Aja Kong's

AAAW Single Championship The AAAW (All Asia Athlete Women's) Single Championship or AAAW Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship formerly contested in the Japanese women's professional wrestling promotion Gaea Japan until 2005 after the promotion w ...

. Kaoru received her title shot seven days later, but was unable to dethrone the defending champion. Eventually the match led to the dissolution of the DorA stable. Meanwhile, Kaoru developed a storyline rivalry with Mayumi Ozaki. After defeating Ozaki with the use of a steel chain, Ozaki came back to defeat Kaoru in a Weapons match on May 14 at Gaea's fifth anniversary event to become the number one contender to the AAAW Single Championship. On May 13, 2001, Kaoru aligned herself with Ozaki and her male

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Police to form the D-Fix stable, with the three attacking and declaring a war on Aja Kong. On July 29, Kaoru and Ozaki defeated Dynamite Kansai and Toshiyo Yamada in the finals to win a one night tag team tournament. A month later on August 26, Kaoru defeated Meiko Satomura in the finals of a tournament to become the number one contender to the AAAW Single Championship. However, due to Ozaki being the reigning AAAW Single Champion, Kaoru opted not to challenge for the title. On April 7, 2002, Kaoru and Ozaki defeated

Chikayo Nagashima is a Japanese professional wrestler. She started her career in 1995, working for the Gaea Japan promotion, where she became a one-time AAAW Single Champion and a record five-time AAAW Tag Team Champion. She was also notably one of the four fou ...

and Sugar Sato to win the

AAAW Tag Team Championship The AAAW Tag Team Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship formerly contested in the Japanese women's professional wrestling promotion Gaea Japan Gaea Japan (trademarked as GAEA Japan) was a Japanese women's professional wr ...

. For most of 2002, Kaoru feuded with Meiko Satomura, which eventually led to a match on October 20, where Satomura and

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 ...

defeated D-Fix for the AAAW Tag Team Championship. On April 6, 2003, Kaoru and Ozaki were defeated by Chigusa Nagayo and Sakura Hirota in a

Hair vs. Hair 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 ...

and were both, as a result, shaved bald. The following November Kaoru suffered an injury, which would sideline her for the next five months. During her hiatus, Ozaki picked

Takako Inoue is a Japanese professional wrestler. She wrestled primarily for the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling promotion, and held several championships, primarily in tag team wrestling. She was well known as one-half of the tag team Double Inoue, which ...

as Kaoru's replacement in D-Fix. Kaoru returned on April 30, 2004, teaming with Ozaki and Inoue in a six woman tag team match, where they defeated

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 and Eagle Sawai. However, Kaoru's return was short-lived as just five days later, she broke the

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and th ...

in her left knee and was again sidelined from in-ring competition. Kaoru returned from her injury on January 16, 2005, teaming with D-Fix's newest member, Ayako Hamada, to defeat Chikayo Nagashima and Lioness Asuka in a tag team match. However, the following month, Kaoru broke her

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates wit ...

and was once again sidelined. During her time out of the ring, Gaea Japan folded on April 10, 2005.

Freelancing (2005–2015)

Kaoru returned from her femur injury on April 15, 2006, at an independent event produced by Chigusa Nagayo. On September 1, 2006, Kaoru made her return to the United States to take part in the ChickFight VI tournament in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. On September 2, Kaoru first defeated

Tiana Ringer Tiana Ringer (born September 3, 1985) is an American professional wrestler who has competed in North American promotions in Ontario and the North Central United States and has appeared in BSE Pro and Shimmer Women Athletes during the early 2000s. ...

in her first round match and then

MsChif Rachel Frobel (née Collins) is an American professional wrestler who is better known by her ring name MsChif. She has been wrestling since 2001 and in that time has worked for several independent promotions across the United States, with guest m ...

in her semifinal match. The following day, she was defeated in the finals of the tournament by

Daizee Haze Emily Sharp (born May 11, 1983) is an American former professional wrestler known under the ring name Daizee Haze. She is best known for her time on the independent circuit, where she performed for numerous promotions such as Chikara, Ring of Hon ...

. On December 16, Kaoru wrestled at a ''Luchamania'' event in Minneapolis, Minnesota, teaming with

Mini Abismo Negro Mini Abismo Negro (born November 21, 1978) is the ring name of a Mexican ''Luchador enmascarado'' who works in the ''Mini-Estrella'' division for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). Mini Abismo Negro is a former, two time Mexican Nat ...

in a losing effort against the team of

La Parkita Alberto Pérez Jiménez (May 15, 1975 – June 29, 2009) was a Mexican ''Luchador'' '' enmascarado'' who worked in the ''Mini-Estrella'' division from 1990 until his death in 2009. He was best known under the ring name La Parkita, having used t ...

and

Xóchitl Hamada is a Mexican semi-retired ''Luchadora'' or professional wrestler. She is the daughter of professional wrestler Gran Hamada, the sister of wrestler Ayako Hamada and the sister-in-law of Tiger Mask IV. Hamada was once married to Mexican wrestler ...

. Since the formation 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 Ta ...

in August 2007, Kaoru has made semi-regular appearances for the promotion, including working its first ever event on August 26, where she defeated

Shuu Shibutani is a retired Japanese professional wrestler better known by the ring name . Having started her career in the JDStar promotion in September 2004, Shibutani remained with the promotion until it folded in July 2007, after which she affiliated herse ...

. In May 2009, Kaoru took part in the first Catch the Wave tournament, during which she also captured

DDT Pro-Wrestling 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 ...

, holding it less than a day on June 20. After a record of one win and one draw, Kaoru was eliminated from the tournament on August 10 with a loss against eventual tournament winner,

Yumi Ohka , better known by her ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler. Originally trained by the now defunct JDStar promotion, Ohka now works for Oz Academy and Pro Wrestling Wave. She is a former two-time Wave Single Champion, while also bein ...

. During the summer of 2009, Kaoru also made several appearances for Meiko Satomura's

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 ...

promotion, where she mainly worked with Hiren. Kaoru

On September 24, 2010, Kaoru made her debut for the Smash promotion at ''Smash.8'', defeating

Syuri is a Japanese professional wrestler, shoot boxer, kickboxer and mixed martial artist, better known simply as . Syuri formerly competed in Ultimate Fighting Championship. Syuri is currently working for World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she is the ...

in a hardcore match. She returned to the promotion on November 22 at ''Smash.10'', where she teamed with Akira,

Nagisa Nozaki is a Japanese professional wrestler. She started her career in the NEO Japan Ladies Pro Wrestling promotion in November 2006 and after the promotion's folding in December 2010, worked for independent promotions such as Pro Wrestling Wave and Wor ...

and

Scotty 2 Hotty Scott Ronald Garland (born July 2, 1973) is an American professional wrestler who was most recently signed to WWE as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center. He also competed under the ring names "Too Hot" Scott Taylor (1991–1999) and Scotty 2 ...

to defeat Nunzio,

Taka Michinoku (born October 26, 1973), better known by his ring name (with his first name usually stylized in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. Michinoku is known in North America for his work for t ...

Tomoka Nakagawa is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. After being trained by Taka Michinoku, she started her career in his Kaientai Dojo promotion in September 2004. After leaving Kaientai Dojo in 2007, Nakagawa briefly joined Ibuki, where she underwent ...

and

Toshie Uematsu is a female Japanese retired professional wrestler best known for her popularity in the 1990s and 2000s. She was one of the members of the first class of wrestlers trained by Chigusa Nagayo when Nagayo formed the GAEA Japan promotion. Uematsu fi ...

in an eight-person tag team match. During a post-match interview, Kaoru got into an argument with Akira, which led to the two agreeing to face each other in a hardcore match. On December 24 at ''Happening Eve'', Kaoru defeated Akira in an intergender hardcore match, her final appearance for Smash. On December 11, 2013, it was announced that Kaoru would be returning to the ring and wrestling her first match in three years on March 22, 2014, at an independent event produced by Chigusa Nagayo. In her return match, Kaoru teamed

Dump Matsumoto , better known by her ring name , is a semi-retired Japanese professional wrestler. She came to prominence as one of the leading female wrestlers in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling during the 1980s. The longtime leader of the stable Gokuaku Domei ...

and Yoshiko in a six-woman tag team match, where they were defeated by Nagayo, Kagetsu and Takumi Iroha. Later in the main event, Kaoru teamed with Ayako Hamada and Takako Inoue to defeat Meiko Satomura, Shinobu Kandori and Toshie Uematsu, pinning Uematsu for the win. On April 6, Kaoru returned to Pro Wrestling Wave, teaming with Yumi Ohka to defeat

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 ...

and Shuu Shibutani in a main event tag team match. On April 25, Kaoru made her debut for

Wrestling New Classic was a Japanese '' puroresu'' or professional wrestling promotion, founded in April 2012 by Yoshihiro Tajiri. WNC was the follow-up promotion to Smash, which folded in March 2012. History On April 5, 2012, Tajiri held a press conference to a ...

(WNC), the follow-up promotion to Smash, teaming with Crazy Mary in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Kyoko Kimura and Syuri. Four days later, Kaoru made her debut for the World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana promotion, forming a new stable with Mima Shimoda and Takako Inoue and starting a three-way war with

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 ...

's Bousou-gun and

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 a ...

's Seikigun stables. On May 6, Kaoru made her debut for Osaka Joshi Pro Wrestling, defeating Fairy Nipponbashi. On August 17, Kaoru returned to

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 ...

, where she teamed with Mima Shimoda to unsuccessfully challenge

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. ...

and Kyoko Kimura for the Daily Sports Women's Tag Team and

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. On October 26, Kaoru and Shimoda defeated Kyoko Inoue and Tomoko Watanabe to win Diana's WWWD World Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Jaguar Yokota and Sareee in their first defense on December 23.

Oz Academy (2007–2013)

In June 2007, Kaoru began working regularly for Mayumi Ozaki's

promotion. In her return match, Kaoru teamed with Aja Kong to defeat Dynamite Kansai and Mizuki Endo in a tag team match. After teaming with Kong for two months, Kaoru reunited with Ozaki and Police on August 16 to reform the D-Fix stable. When they were joined the following year by Hiren, Manami Toyota, Mika Nishio and Takako Inoue, the stable was renamed Ozaki-gun and started a storyline rivalry with Aja Kong's Jungle Jack 21 stable. On August 10, 2008, Kaoru and Ozaki defeated

Carlos 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 ...

and Dynamite Kansai in a Two Out of Three Falls Hair vs. Hair match to win the

Oz Academy Tag Team Championship The Oz Academy Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the Oz Academy professional wrestling promotion. The championship was introduced on July 13, 2008, when Carlos Amano and Dynamite Kansai defeated Chik ...

. On September 11, Kaoru entered a round-robin tournament to determine the number one contender to the

Oz Academy Openweight Championship The Oz Academy Openweight Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the Oz Academy promotion. The reigning champion is referred to as the " Wizard of Oz". The championship, which is situated at the top of Oz Academy's ...

. After two wins and two draws, Kaoru was defeated in her final match on November 24 by Sonoko Kato and, as a result, failed to qualify for the finals of the tournament, with Ozaki overtaking her in the standings in the final round-robin match of the tournament. On February 5, 2009, Kaoru and Ozaki lost the Oz Academy Tag Team Championship to Jungle Jack 21's Aja Kong and

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 othe ...

in their first defense. Kaoru and Ozaki would regain the title from Chikayo Nagashima and Sonoko Kato on June 3. After a successful title defense against Akino and

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) * ...

, Kaoru and Ozaki lost the Tag Team Championship back to Nagashima and Kato on August 2. After Kaoru and Ozaki failed to regain the title on September 6, Ozaki and the rest of Ozaki-gun turned on Kaoru and kicked her out of the stable. On December 23, Kaoru and Mayumi Ozaki faced each other in their first singles match, a "Serial Killing" hardcore match, where a wrestler would have to earn two back-to-back pinfall or submission victories to win the match. In a match, which featured outside interference from Ozaki-gun, Kaoru won the first and third falls, before submitting to Ozaki in the fourth fall. Finally, in the fifth fall of the match, Ozaki dropped Kaoru with a

brainbuster A brainbuster is a professional wrestling professional wrestling throws, throw in which a wrestler puts the opponent in a Professional wrestling holds#Front facelock, front facelock, hooks their pants or thigh, and lifts them up as if they were e ...

off a ladder through a barbed-wire board to win the fall and the match. In order to reduce Ozaki-gun's numbers advantage over her, Kaoru began teaming with Jungle Jack 21 in 2010, though not officially joining the stable. After defeating Ozaki-gun member Yumi Ohka with Mayumi Ozaki's signature '' Ozakick'' on May 16, Kaoru defeated another former stablemate, Takako Inoue, on June 13 to become the number one contender to the Oz Academy Openweight Championship. On July 11, Kaoru defeated Carlos Amano to win the Oz Academy Openweight Championship, becoming the promotion's top champion. She made her first title defense on August 22, defeating Mayumi Ozaki in a Last Woman Standing match. Her second defense took place on November 3, when she defeated Takako Inoue. On February 19, 2011, Kaoru made her third successful defense, defeating Jungle Jack 21 member Ran Yu-Yu. On April 10, Kaoru, Aja Kong and Mayumi Ozaki faced each other in a three-way two-fall match, where Kaoru put her title and Kong and Ozaki the futures of their respective stables on the line. During the first fall, Kaoru fractured her calcaneus when diving out of the ring onto Kong and was unable to continue the match, resulting in the referee declaring the match a no contest and stripping Kaoru of the Oz Academy Openweight Championship, ending her reign at 273 days. Kaoru underwent surgery four days later. Her recovery was slowed down by her developing an

osteomyelitis Osteomyelitis (OM) is an infection of bone. Symptoms may include pain in a specific bone with overlying redness, fever, and weakness. The long bones of the arms and legs are most commonly involved in children e.g. the femur and humerus, while the ...

Marvelous (2015–present)

On January 18, 2015, it was announced that Maeda had signed with Chigusa Nagayo's Marvelous promotion, officially ending her days as a freelancer. On August 23, Kaoru made her debut for

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 ...

, when she entered the 2015 5★Star GP as a representative of Marvelous. She finished the tournament on September 13 with a record of three wins, one draw and one loss, failing to advance to the finals due to losing to

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 ...

in the head-to-head match. On October 16, 2016, Kaoru and

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 ...

defeated

Hikaru Shida is a Japanese professional wrestler, martial artist, actress, and model, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where she is a former and the longest-reigning AEW Women's World Champion. On February 25, 2021, she became the longest reign ...

and Syuri to win the vacant Sendai Girls World Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Shida and Syuri in a rematch on November 23. Kaoru and Chisako regained the vacant title on September 24, 2017, by defeating Alex Lee and Mika Shirahime. On December 28, 2020, Kaoru announced that she will retire in August 2021 from professional wrestling, as she would reach her 35th anniversary in wrestling at that month.

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 Mika Takahashi *

( 1 time) *

( 1 time) – with

** AAAW Single Championship Contender Tournament (2001) ** Splash J and Running G (1995) – with

and Tomoko Kuzumi ** Tag Team Tournament (2001) – with Mayumi Ozaki *

( 1 time) – with Hikari Fukuoka * Ōyama Pro Wrestling Festival ** Ōyama Women's Championship (1 time) *

( 1 time) **

(

) – with Mayumi Ozaki **Best Singles Match Award (2010) vs. Mayumi Ozaki, Last Woman Standing match, August 22 *

Sendai Girls Tag Team Championship The Sendai Girls Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling. The title was introduced on September 17, 2011, and the inaugural champions were crowned on October 11, 2015, ...

(

) – with

* Universal Pro-Wrestling ** JCTV Women's Championship (1 time) * World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana ** WWWD World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

Footnotes

References

External links

Gaea Japan profile

ChickFight profile

Official blog
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaoru 1969 births Japanese female professional wrestlers Living people People from Sasebo Sportspeople from Nagasaki Prefecture Masked wrestlers 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers Oz Academy Openweight Champions Oz Academy Tag Team Champions Ironman Heavymetalweight Champions AAAW Tag Team Champions