is a Japanese retired

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 ...

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 ...

. Along with long-time

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 ...

partner

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 ...

she formed

Crush Gals Crush may refer to: Film * ''Crush'' (1972 film), a Hong Kong film * ''Crush'' (1992 film), a New Zealand film by Alison Maclean * ''The Crush'' (1993 film), a film by Alan Shapiro, starring Cary Elwes and Alicia Silverstone * ''Crush'' (200 ...

, known for their mainstream popularity in the 1980s, and for being one of the most successful women's

s of all time.

Career

Born on July 28, 1963, Asuka joined

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) in 1980, and had her professional debut on May 10 of that year. She was an immediate success, winning her first title, the AJW Junior Championship, the following year, and the AJW Singles Championship in 1982. In 1983 she formed a tag team, called Crush Gals, with

. Crush Gals were huge stars for the (AJW), in the mid-1980s. They feuded with

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 the

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 ...

. Thanks to their fame, AJW's weekly television broadcast consistently brought in ratings over 12.0. Their fame also carried over into other media, including recording top ten singles. In the late 1980s, Crush Gals broke up, and Asuka began a lengthy feud with Nagayo, which culminated in her achievement of the

WWWA World Single Championship The was the top singles women's professional wrestling championship in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) from 1970 until it closed in 2005. It was also known in ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' and other London Publishing wrestling magazines as ...

in 1989. She retired later that year, but came out of retirement in 1994 and formed the Rideen Array, a faction consisting of fellow freelance wrestlers

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 ...

and Bison Kimura. She subsequently wrestled for many of the new women's promotions that arose at that time, such as Jd' and

Arsion Arsion (full official name Hyper Visual Fighting Arsion; frequently styled as ARSION) was a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) promotion established in 1997 by Aja Kong. The first event took place on February 18, 1998 and was ca ...

. She made one appearance for the WWF at the 1995 Survivor Series, teaming with Bertha Faye, Aja Kong, and Tomoko Watanabe. They defeated the team of Alundra Blayze, Kyoko Inoue, Sakie Hasegawa and Chaparita Asari. In 1998, she made a significant move when she joined

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 ...

, the promotion run by her former partner, Nagayo. Asuka began her GAEA career as a top

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...

, feuding with Nagayo, and, in one storyline, winning control of the organization from her and eventually creating the Super Star Unit (SSU), a faction composed of veteran stars such as

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 ...

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, prima ...

, and Las Cachorras Orientales, among others. However, near the end of 1999, Nagayo and Asuka united against a common rival, the

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 ...

-led faction Team Nostradamus, and, the next spring, reformed Crush Gals. The storyline was huge news in Japan, and GAEA's show of May 14, 2000, featuring the debut of the reunited team, now called CRUSH 2000, was the biggest in the promotion's history. Due to a neck injury, Asuka announced her retirement on November 3, 2004. Her retirement was made official on April 3, 2005 where she and

teamed up for the last time to defeat

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 at GAEA's tenth anniversary show.

Championships and accomplishments

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 ...

(

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 ...

) :*

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 ...

( 1 time) :*Unified Global Championship (1 time) :*

(

) :*

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 ...

( 4 times) – with

Japan Grand Prix The Japan Grand Prix was an annual professional wrestling tournament held by the promotion All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) to determine the number one contender for the promotion's highest achievement, the WWWA World Single Championship. ...

(

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

) :*

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 ...

(

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

) – with Chigusa Nagayo :*AJW Hall of Fame (Class of 1998) *

Queen of Arsion Championship The Queen of Arsion Championship was a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the Hyper Visual Fighting Arsion promotion. Like most professional wrestling championships, the title was won as a result of a scripted match. The cham ...

( 1 time) :*

Twin Star of Arsion Championship The Twin Star of Arsion Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the Hyper Visual Fighting Arsion promotion. Like most professional wrestling championships, the title was won as a result of a scripted match. ...

( 3 times) – with

Mariko Yoshida is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by the ring name . She is best known for her work with the ARSION professional wrestling promotion, where she was also head trainer. Professional wrestling career Yoshida debuted for All Japan ...

(1) and GAMI (2) *

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 ...

( 1 time) – with Chigusa Nagayo *

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 ...

:*TWF World Women's Championship (4 times) *

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 ...

:*LLPW Six Woman Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Eagle Sawai and Shark Tsuchiya (2) * NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling :*

NWA Women's Pacific/NEO Single Championship The NWA Women's Pacific/NEO Single Championship was a women's professional wrestling championship contested primarily in NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling. Being a professional wrestling championship, it was not won via direct competition; it was ...

(1 time) *

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 ...

(1997) *

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards This is a list of both active and inactive ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' awards created by professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA) journalist Dave Meltzer. The first fourteen awards were created in 1980 as an informal poll between ...

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling and mixed martial arts hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to their professions. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Meltzer, editor of t ...

(

Class of 1999 ''Class of 1999'' is a 1990 American science fiction film, science fiction thriller film directed by Mark L. Lester. It is the director's follow-up to his 1982 film ''Class of 1984''. Plot in an alternate 1990s, violence in American high schoo ...

)

References

External links

Online World Of Wrestling ProfileSherdog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asuka, Lioness 1963 births Japanese female professional wrestlers Living people Sportspeople from Tokyo Japanese female mixed martial artists 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers AAAW Tag Team Champions