, known

mononymously A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

as , 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 or ...

. She is currently working for

Seadlinnng (stylised as SEAdLINNNG) is a Japanese women's professional wrestling promotion founded in 2015 by former Stardom wrestler and founder Nanae Takahashi. Their roster is predominantly made up of outside talent from other promotions such as Ice Ri ...

. She debuted with the

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 ...

promotion in January 2011, forming a successful partnership with

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 ...

, with the two winning the

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 ...

and the 2012 Goddesses of Stardom Tag League. Following Taiyo's retirement, Yoshiko won Stardom's top title, the

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 ...

, in August 2014. Yoshiko's reign ended in controversy in February 2015, when she went off script during a match with

Act Yasukawa , better known by the ring name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. Making her pro wrestling debut in 2012, she wrestled exclusively for the joshi puroresu promotion Stardom. Yasukawa's career ultimately ended in December 2015, 10 mon ...

, legitimately beating and injuring her. Afterwards, Yoshiko was out of the

, suspended and eventually announced her retirement. However, she soon returned to professional wrestling, and in February 2016, started working for

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 maj ...

's new promotion

. She later made a special appearance at All Star Dream Cinderella, in a match against

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 ...

Professional wrestling career

World Wonder Ring Stardom (2010–2015)

Hirano was presented as part of

's roster at the promotion's first press conference on September 7, 2010. She was trained alongside the likes of Eri Susa,

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 ...

and

Yuzuki Aikawa is a Japanese gravure idol and retired professional wrestler. Starting her modeling career in 2003, Aikawa went on to become one of Japan's top gravure idols, earning the nickname "The Gravure Queen of the Next Generation" by appearing in variou ...

as part of Stardom's first class of trainees. Hirano was given the

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 ...

Yoshiko, spelled with the

Roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

for the number four, IV, read as "shi". She was given a villainous character, inspired by the ''

yankii The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Its various senses depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, residents of the Northern United St ...

'' culture. Her debut match took place at Stardom's inaugural event on January 23, 2011, where she was defeated by Yoko Bito. Afterwards, Yoshiko formed a partnership with veteran wrestler

. The team was named "Kawasaki Katsushika Saikyou Densetsu" (" Kawasaki aiyo's birthplace

Katsushika is a special ward located in Tokyo, Japan. The ward calls itself Katsushika City in English. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 444,356, and a population density of 12,770 people per km². The total area is 34.80 ...

oshiko's birthplaceStrongest Legend"). On July 24, Yoshiko was part of a match to determine the inaugural

Wonder of Stardom Champion The is a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. The title, which in Stardom's championship hierarchy is situated as the secondary title behind the World of Stardom Championship, was introduc ...

, but was defeated by Yuzuki Aikawa. On November 27, Yoshiko and Taiyo were defeated by Aikawa and Bito in the finals of the 2011 Goddesses of Stardom Tag League, which was used to determine the inaugural

Goddess of Stardom Champions 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 ...

. Yoshiko ended the year by winning a four-woman tournament contested between the class one trainees to become the 2011 Rookie of Stardom. 世IV虎

Yoshiko and Taiyo eventually won the Goddess of Stardom Championship on November 25, 2012, by defeating

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 ...

and Natsumi Showzuki in the finals of the 2012 Goddesses of Stardom Tag League. Meanwhile, Kawasaki Katsushika Saikyou Densetsu expanded into "Kawasaki Katsushika Saikyou Densetsu Plus One" with the additions of

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 Saki Kashima. After three successful title defenses, Yoshiko and Taiyo lost the Goddess of Stardom Championship to former stablemate Kyoko Kimura and

Hailey Hatred Angel Katherine Reece (born November 4, 1983) is a retired American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Hailey Hatred. Originally debuting in July 2002, Hatred worked for several years for various promotions in both the United S ...

on March 17. On April 29, Yoshiko main evented Stardom's '' Ryōgoku Cinderella'' event, defeating Yuzuki Aikawa in her retirement match. On October 17, Yoshiko took part in a sixteen-woman elimination tag team match, promoted by

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 ...

. The match pitted a team of younger wrestlers against a team of industry veterans. Yoshiko won the match for the younger generation by scoring the final elimination over Sendai Girls' founder

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 ...

. Back in Stardom, Yoshiko continued teaming with Taiyo until her retirement in June 2014. On the road to her retirement, Taiyo was defeated by Yoshiko on March 16 in what was billed as the final match between the teacher and student pairing. After going solo, Yoshiko won Stardom's top title, the

, by defeating

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 ...

on August 10, 2014. Afterwards, Yoshiko came together with Shirai, Mayu Iwatani and Reo Hazuki to form a group of wrestlers born in the

Heisei period The is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Emeritus Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohito, ...

, opposing a team of Stardom's older wrestlers, led by

. On January 18, 2015, Yoshiko successfully defended the World of Stardom Championship against Takahashi. On February 22, 2015, Yoshiko faced former stablemate Act Yasukawa in her third defense of the World of Stardom Championship. The match saw Yoshiko go off script, legitimately beating Yasukawa until veteran wrestler Kyoko Kimura threw in a towel to end the match after less than eight minutes. Afterwards, Yasukawa was diagnosed with fractured

cheek The cheeks ( la, buccae) constitute the area of the face below the eyes and between the nose and the left or right ear. "Buccal" means relating to the cheek. In humans, the region is innervated by the buccal nerve. The area between the inside ...

, nasal and orbital bones, which required surgery. Yasukawa had had issues with her eyes before the incident, having undergone a

cataract surgery Cataract surgery, also called lens replacement surgery, is the removal of the natural lens of the eye (also called "crystalline lens") that has developed an opacification, which is referred to as a cataract, and its replacement with an intraocu ...

the previous year. On February 25, Stardom held a press conference, during which Yoshiko publicly apologized for the incident, after which she was stripped of the World of Stardom Championship and suspended indefinitely. The incident received mainstream attention in Japan and became known as . The incident also strained the relationship between Stardom's management and top wrestler Nanae Takahashi, leading to Takahashi quitting the promotion in May. On May 31, Stardom announced that Yoshiko had decided to retire from professional wrestling. Her retirement ceremony took place on June 14, however, during the closing ten-bell salute meant to signal the end of her career, Yoshiko walked out on the ceremony, leading to questions over whether she was truly retired. Yasukawa eventually returned to the ring on September 23, 2015, but retired the following December due to the damage inflicted on her eye in the incident with Yoshiko.

Seadlinnng (2016–present)

Yoshiko returned to professional wrestling on January 11, 2016, during an event held by Nanae Takahashi's new

promotion. She appeared ringside, supporting Takahashi during her main event match against Meiko Satomura. On February 11, Seadlinnng officially announced that Yoshiko (now with a revised ring name) had joined the promotion and would be returning to wrestling full-time. Her return match took place on March 7 and saw her defeat Takahashi. Afterwards, Yoshiko also began making appearances outside of Seadlinnng, working for Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling on April 8, World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana on May 5, and participating in

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 2016 Catch the Wave tournament between April 10 and June 5, making it to the semifinals, before losing to eventual tournament winner Ryo Mizunami. On August 24, 2017, Yoshiko defeated Takumi Iroha in the finals to win the Ultra U-7 Tournament. On October 29, Yoshiko defeated

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 ...

to win 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 freel ...

promotion's top title, 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 ...

. On July 25, 2018, Yoshiko and Rina Yamashita became the first Seadlinnng Beyond the Sea Tag Team Champions, defeating Nanae Takahashi and

Tsukasa Fujimoto is a Japanese professional wrestler and actress, who is currently wrestling for Ice Ribbon, where she also works behind the scenes as the co-head trainer. She is a record seven-time ICE×∞ Champion, six-time International Ribbon Tag Team C ...

. Yoshiko and Rina Yamashita, in the Oz Academy promotion, defeated Maya Yukihi 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 ...

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 17, the match was also for the Beyond the Sea Tag Team Championship.

Return to Stardom (2020–present)

After five and a half years since leaving Stardom, Yoshiko alongside Nanae Takahashi, made their surprise return where they confronted

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 ...

Starlight Kid is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she is a former High Speed Champion. She became the first wrestler to wear her mask full-time in Stardom as part of her ''luchadora'' persona. Greatly influ ...

and

Saya Iida (born May 19, 1997) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion. She is a former one-time Future of Stardom Champion. Professional wrestling career World Wonder Ring Stardom (2019–present) ...

. Yoshiko had her return match against Iwatani at Stardom's 10 Year Anniversary All Star Dream Cinderella show.

Mixed martial arts career

On January 23, 2017, Yoshiko announced she would be making her

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

(MMA) debut for

Road Fighting Championship Road Fighting Championship (Road FC; ) is a South Korean-based mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is ...

(Road FC) on February 11 in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Road FC used the incident with Yasukawa to promote the debut, dubbing Yoshiko the "face-crusher". She had been training MMA since the autumn of 2016 at

Kiyoshi Tamura is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Once a student of legendary professional wrestlers Billy Robinson, Lou Thesz and Akira Maeda, Tamura was known for his skills in catch wrestling and is considered to be one of ...

's U-File Camp and underwent further training under

Hidetaka Monma Hidetaka Monma () (October 23, 1973), is a Japanese mixed martial artist who last competed in 2014. A professional since 2001, he competed for Pancrase, DREAM, DEEP, RINGS, and K-1 HERO'S. Background Monma began training in jujutsu at age of 13 ...

at his Brightness dojo after the fight was announced. In her debut fight, Yoshiko defeated local fighter Chun Sun-Yoo by

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

in the first round. Yoshiko and Chun Sun-Yoo had a rematch on June 10, 2017, with Yoshiko this time winning via submission with a

Kimura Kimura (written: lit. "tree village") is the 17th most common Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese novelist *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese botanist *, Japanese idol and singer *, Japanese footballer *, Japanes ...

in the first round. Yoshiko suffered her first loss when she was defeated by Young Ji Kim via unanimous decision on December 23, 2017. That same day, Yoshiko was named Road FC's Female Rookie of the Year.

Championships and accomplishments

;Mixed martial arts *

** Female Rookie of the Year (2017) ;Professional wrestling *

( 1 time) **

( 1 time) – with Rina Yamashita *

Beyond the Sea Single Championship The is a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the Seadlinnng promotion. The title, which is situated at the top of Seadlinnng's championship hierarchy, was introduced on October 3, 2018, and the inaugural champion was crowned on ...

( 1 time) ** Beyond the Sea Tag Team Championship ( 3 times) – with

(1), Rina Yamashita (1) and

Sareee is a Japanese professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Sarray. She was trained by Kyoko Inoue and made her debut in April 2011 at the age of 15 where she wrestled under the ring name ...

(1) ** Ultra U-7 Tournament (2017) *

( 1 time) – with

( 1 time) **

Goddesses of Stardom Tag League The is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held annually by the Japanese professional wrestling promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom. It was created in 2011. The Goddesses of Stardom Tag League are held under a multi-point ...

(2012) – with Natsuki☆Taiyo ** Rookie of Stardom (2011) ** 5★Star GP Award (1 time) *** 5★Star GP Fighting Spirit Award (2012) ** Stardom Year-End Award (4 times) *** Best Match Award (2013) vs.

on April 29 *** Best Tag Team Award (2012) with Natsuki☆Taiyo *** Fighting Spirit Award (2011) *** Outstanding Performance Award (2014)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 2–1 , Young Ji Kim , Decision (unanimous) ,

Road FC 045 A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, Openweight match , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Sun Yoo Chun , Submission (keylock) ,

Road FC 039 The year 2017 was the 8th year in the history of the Road Fighting Championship, a mma promotion based in South Korea. 2017 started with Road FC 036 and ended with Road FC 045 XX. List of events Road FC 045 XX Xiaomi ''Road FC 045 XX'' w ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:49 ,

, Openweight match , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Sun Yoo Chun , KO (punch) ,

Road FC 036 The year 2017 was the 8th year in the history of the Road Fighting Championship, a mma promotion based in South Korea. 2017 started with Road FC 036 and ended with Road FC 045 XX. List of events Road FC 045 XX Xiaomi ''Road FC 045 XX'' w ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:01 ,

, Openweight match

References

External links

*
Seadlinnng profile
*
Official blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshiko (Wrestler) 1993 births Living people Japanese female professional wrestlers Japanese female mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Sportspeople from Tokyo Masked wrestlers World of Stardom Champions Goddess of Stardom Champions Oz Academy Openweight Champions Oz Academy Tag Team Champions