JDStar (also spelt Jd'), was a

women's professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a dramatic enactment of wrestling as a spectator sport. As is the norm for this sport, women's professional wrestling is organized by wrestling federations called promotions. Some promotions are exclusively for wome ...

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 ...

based in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. 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 subtitle, "Beauty Athlete," summed up the company's approach.

History

Jaguar Yokota came out of retirement and announced the formation of her promotion, JDStar, at a press conference, in 1995. In the beginning, she was the focal point of most of their shows. She left the promotion in 1998, After her departure, JDStar was bought by Kiyu Uji. The company had a nice roster, but none with the ability or personalities to attract much attention. In 2001, Hidenobu Ichimaru bought JDStar from Kiyu Uji, and establish a new gimmick to promote JDStar's talent: the "athtress" (athlete-actress), which used girls with model good looks to market them for their athleticism in the pro wrestling ring, and hopefully establish them as actresses. Coming mainly from an acting background, the first run of girls had few skills, and the fanfare dropped slightly. The "athtress" gimmick however, created more controversy than anything and the attempt to create an idol never quite caught on. Also dropping was the wrestlers' respect for Ichimaru, as several of the established wrestlers in joshi puroresu thought that the "athtresses" should not be in the same ring as them. JDStar continued to flounder before ultimately folding in the summer of 2007.

Roster

JD' moulded the careers of several new wrestlers with Uji in charge, including The Bloody, Fang Suzuki, and

Sumie Sakai is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. She is best known for her extensive tenure in Ring of Honor, where she was the inaugural and longest reigning Women of Honor Champion. Early life As a young woman, Sakai p ...

, who is also well known for wrestling for several independent promotions on the American east coast. The second run of Athtresses was the most famous group, featuring Emi Tojo,

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 ...

, Kei Akiyama and

Asami Kawasaki is a Japanese professional wrestler and actress. She debuted as a pro wrestler in 2003 while also attending an acting school run by Yoshimoto Kōgyō. Wrestling for a time for JDStar, she retired from the ring in 2006, but returned again in 2009. ...

. JDStar also moved into its home building, Shin-Kiba 1st Ring, later that year, and sold it out on their first show. The biggest surprise came in May of that year when Jaguar Yokota came back to the promotion, teaming with Lioness Asuka against Yumi Ohka and Emi Tojo, and picking up the win over Ohka. The third run of the Athtress program was its last, and

Fuka Fuka, Fūka or Fuuka may refer to: *Fūka (given name), a feminine Japanese given name * ''Fuuka'' (manga), a Japanese manga series *Fukah, a village in northern Egypt, referred to as Fuka in a World War II context **Sidi Haneish Airfield, referred ...

and Shuu Shibutani were the last two girls to run through the program. Both have seen much fanfare and success, with Shu becoming a popular wrestler through her training 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 W ...

's Ibuki group, which showcases the best young talents that Japan has to offer. Early in 2007, another rookie, Misaki Ohata, debuted with the promotion. She was trained by Yoshida throughout 2006.

Championships

JDStar

American Wrestling Federation The American Wrestling Federation (AWF) was a professional wrestling federation founded by Paul Alperstein active from 1994 to 1996. The promotion was based in Chicago, Illinois, but held shows in many other eastern states of the United States. Th ...

Trans World Federation

Other

References

External links

JDStar Official Website (Japanese)
{{Women's professional wrestling Japanese women's professional wrestling promotions Professional wrestling schools 2007 establishments in Japan