is a Japanese retired

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

better known by the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname 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 ...

. Bito initially made her in-ring debut in December 2010 for

World Wonder Ring Stardom , is a Japanese ''joshi puroresu'' or women's professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo, Japan. Stardom was founded in September 2010 by former All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) co-producer Ross ...

and quickly became one of the most popular wrestlers in the promotion, until announcing her retirement from in-ring competition in November 2012. Bito came out of retirement and returned to Stardom in April 2016, and returned to the ring in June of that year, before retiring again in December 2017.

Professional wrestling career

World Wonder Ring Stardom (2010–2012)

Bito entered Stardom's

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

dojo in 2010 with a background in

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

and

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

. She, along with

Mayu Iwatani (born February 19, 1993) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Dream Star Fighting Marigold, where she is the current Marigold Super Fly Champion in her first reign. She is best known for her tenure with World Wonder Ring Sta ...

and

Kairi Hojo is a Japanese professional wrestler and actress. she is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name . From 2012 to 2017, she wrestled for the Japanese promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom under the ring name . Em ...

was a member of the first graduating class of Stardom's professional wrestling school where she was trained by Fuka. She made her debut on December 31, 2010, wrestling Eri Susa to a time limit draw. On January 21, 2011, in the main event of Stardom's first ever show, Bito defeated Yoshiko for her first professional win. Bito made Stardom her home promotion, and in July, she made it to the finals of the tournament to crown the first ever World of Stardom Champion, where she lost to Nanae Takahashi. In November, Bito teamed with

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 vario ...

, her main rival, to take part in the tournament to crown the first ever winners of the Goddesses of Stardom Championship. In the final, Bito and Aikawa defeated Yoshiko and Natsuki☆Taiyo to become the inaugural champions. Bito and Aikawa held on to the championships throughout the rest of 2011 and into 2012. In August 2012, Bito challenged Aikawa for the

Wonder of Stardom Championship The is a women's professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling), championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom professional wrestling promotion, promotion. The title, which in Stardom's championship hierarchy is situated as t ...

, where she was unsuccessful. This would turn out to be Bito's last match before announcing her retirement in November of that year, citing neck and back injuries as her reason and subsequently vacating the Goddesses of Stardom Championship.

Return to Stardom (2016–2017)

After a near four-year absence from professional wrestling, Bito announced her return to the ring in April 2016, and made her official in-ring return on June 16 at

Korakuen Hall is a sports arena in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, which has hosted boxing, professional wrestling, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and Lethwei matches. History On April 16, 1962, the Korakuen Hall was officially opened with a capacity of approximat ...

, losing to Kairi Hojo. In August, Bito took part in the 2016 5★Star GP, winning all but one of her matches and tying for first place. On September 11, Bito defeated Kay Lee Ray in a tiebreaker and made it to the final, where she defeated

Tessa Blanchard Tessa Blanchard (born July 26, 1995) is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where she is a former Impact World Champion, and a former Impact Knockouts Champion. She previously performed for ...

to win the tournament. On October 10, Bito unsuccessfully challenged Io Shirai for the

World of Stardom Championship The is a women's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championship, world championship owned by the World Wonder Ring Stardom professional wrestling promotion, promotion. The title, which is situated at the top of Sta ...

. On November 11, Bito teamed with Kairi Hojo to defeat Shirai and Mayu Iwatani in the final of the 2016 Goddesses of Stardom Tag League. On December 22, Bito teamed with Kairi Hojo to win the Goddesses of Stardom Championship for the second time in her career, defeating Oedo Tai ( Kagetsu and

Kyoko Kimura is a Japanese retired 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, a ...

). On January 15, Bito and Hojo made their first successful defence against Kay Lee Ray and Nixon Newell, but dropped the title to

Hiroyo Matsumoto is a Japanese Professional wrestling, 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 ...

and

Jungle Kyona better known by her ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler. She is best known for her time in the joshi puroresu promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she was a former three-time Artist of Stardom Champion and Goddesses of Stardo ...

on March 5. On September 23, 2017, Bito defeated Mayu Iwatani to win the Wonder of Stardom Championship for the first time. She lost the title to Io Shirai in her third defense on November 19 and afterwards announced she would again retire on December 24.

Sporadic appearances (2021)

Bito made a one night coming out of retirement at Stardom All Star Dream Cinderella on March 3, 2021, where she competed in a 24-women Stardom All Star Rumble featuring various active stars such as

Unagi Sayaka is a Japanese professional wrestler working as a freelancer. She is best known for her time with World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she is a former Artist of Stardom and Future of Stardom Champion. In the Japanese independent scene, she worked f ...

, Mina Shirakawa and Bea Priestley, and from the past such as

Chigusa Nagayo is a Japanese professional wrestler best known for her mainstream popularity in the 1980s as a member of the Crush Gals with long-time tag team partner Lioness Asuka. In 1995 she founded GAEA Japan and in 2014 created its successor Marvelous ...

Kyoko Inoue is a Japanese female professional wrestler currently signed to World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana. She has held the WWWA World Single Championship three times, and is the first woman to win a men's title in Japan. Inoue is the founder of NEO J ...

, Mima Shimoda,

, Emi Sakura, Momoe Nakanishi and others.

Championships and accomplishments

*''

Nikkan Sports is the first-launched Japanese daily sports newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background ...

'' **Joshi Tag Team Award (2011) with

** Goddesses of Stardom Championship (

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) – with

(1) and

(1) **

( 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 ...

– with Yuzuki Aikawa (

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

) and Kairi Hojo (

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

) ** 5★Star GP (2016) ** Stardom Year-End Award (4 times) *** Best Match Award (2017) vs.

Takumi Iroha is a Japanese professional wrestler working for Marvelous That's Women Pro Wrestling. She also competes in Seadlinnng, where she is a former Beyond the Sea Champion. Iroha was trained by Fuka Kakimoto and made her debut in April 2013 for World ...

on October 17 *** Best Tag Team Award (2016) with Kairi Hojo *** Outstanding Performance Award (2011, 2016)

References

External links

Stardom
- Yoko Bito Stardom profile
Cagematch
- Yoko Bito Cagematch profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Bito, Yoko 1986 births Living people Japanese female professional wrestlers 21st-century female professional wrestlers 21st-century Japanese professional wrestlers Wonder of Stardom Champions Goddesses of Stardom Champions Goddesses of Stardom Tag League winners