[329] At the event, Asuka was unsuccessful to win the title and was pinned by Ripley. Muto escapes and sends Austin into the ropes but Austin holds onto them to avoid a dropkick. ", "BROCK LESNAR VS. DANIEL BRYAN, CHARLOTTE FLAIR VS. RONDA ROUSEY, RAW VS. SMACKDOWN & MORE: COMPLETE WWE SURVIVOR SERIES 2018 PPV COVERAGE", "WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT: THE WOMEN'S TITLE MATCH IS SET, A NEW MASK COLLECTOR, USOS VERSUS BAR, AND MORE", "WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT: DANIEL BRYAN'S FICKLE MANIFESTO, A CONTRACT SIGNING, AND MORE", "WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT: NO ONE IS READY FOR ASUKA, THE NEW DANIEL BRYAN, AND MORE", "THE MAN VS. Taue follows with a short-range lariat and a chokeslam for the pin and the win. [311] On the February 3, 2020, episode of Raw, Asuka demanded a rematch for the title, in which Lynch accepted,[312] but a week later on Raw, Asuka again failed to win the title. With such a rich history, here is a look at the 10 best Japanese wrestlers of all-time. Muto starts spamming dropkicks to Docs knee and then hits a dragon screw followed by a Figure-4 leglock. [42][43] In July 2015, Kana made it to the semi-finals of the 2015 Catch the Wave tournament, but was defeated there by eventual tournament winner Yumi Ohka. [220] On the January 11, 2017, episode of NXT when Asuka was overpowered by The Iconic Duo (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce), Nikki Cross came to her rescue but then herself attacked Asuka. Tsuruta recovers and follows with a lariat that sends Cactus falling back to the floor. Out of the underground parking garage comes a sleek-as-fuck all-white Land Rover with Suzuki behind the wheel wearing his black hat. He follows with some chop takedowns for a two-count and then tags Kobashi, who also hits stiff chops. His biggest (or only) achievement may have been winning the dark match Battle Royale before WrestleMania XXVI. Kimura was considered a . Kobashi counters with a shoulder tackle and tags Kikuchi. A star of the Japanese wrestling scene has announced they have signed with WWE and will soon be moving to the United States. [117][118] In her Shimmer debut on Volume 41, Kana was shown in early segments ignoring Sara Del Rey and Cheerleader Melissa's welcoming, establishing herself as a villain in the process. Neither of the Japanese heels was born in Japan though, both hailing from Hawaii. Veer Mahaan with The Miz as special referee", "WWE Raw report: Riddle gets serious, card subject to change, mixed tag action, and more", "Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair def. [2] After spending a year and a half away from professional wrestling, Urai made a comeback on September 22, 2007, and worked as a freelancer for promotion such as Ice Ribbon, JWP Joshi Puroresu, NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Wave and Pro Wrestling Zero1 while also forming the Passion Red stable with Nanae Takahashi, NatsukiTaiyo, Ray and Yumiko Hotta in NEO, which became her new home promotion. Asuka saved Carmella from a post-match attack by Eva Marie and Nia Jax and afterwards had a staredown with Bayley, indicating that she wanted a shot at her title. For a while, Muto juggled the dual roles of being a promoter with being a wrestler, which made it much less likely that hed beat Doc, no matter how far removed Doc was from his prime. Misawa for the first and only time ever. Install the TJR Wrestling web app for instant access to the very latest news and reviews! [56] In early July, Kana and Mio Shirai took part in the 2012 Japan Expo in Paris, France. jushin thunder liger has technically only wrestled two matches in wwe before his 36-year career came to an end in january 2020, but his match at the bout at the 1990 wwf/ajpw/njpw wrestling. The O.C., originally known as The Club, is an American professional wrestling stable currently signed to WWE.The group performs on the Raw brand and is composed of AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and Mia Yim, Anderson being the reigning NEVER Openweight Champion of New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). This Japanese wrestler (not to be confused with the WWE cis-female wrestler of the same name) was the first trans woman to hold a women's championship title in a major indie company, the . [142][143][144] Kana returned to Shimmer on October 18, 2014, unsuccessfully challenging Cheerleader Melissa for the Shimmer Championship at Volume 67. Fans from his NOAH days and his RoH appearances will still have high hopes that upon his return, Itami can rise up the ranks. Back in the ring, Tsuruta applies an abdominal stretch but Cactus throws him off. [67][68] Ahead of Ayumi Kurihara's impending retirement, she and Kana came together on July 26 to produce the "kanAyu" independent event, which saw Kana and Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!! [110] On September 8, Kana defeated Serena to become the inaugural Smash Diva Champion. The two trade elbow smashes until Kawada tags in and hits a running lariat for a two-count. [100] Following the loss, Kana reemerged on January 29, 2011, as the leader of the Triple Tails stable with the Shirai sisters,[101][102] dubbing herself Sekai no Kana (literally "World Famous Kana"). Austin gets another two-count off a suplex and applies a grounded chinlock. [1][2] She spent the first part of her career with AtoZ, before suddenly retiring due to chronic nephritis on March 19, 2006. This led to the match being declared a no-contest, but the valiant Inoki refused to accept the title leaving it, in the eyes of the Japanese fans and press, vacant. won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match", "Note On Current Injury Status For Bayley & Asuka In WWE", "WWE Superstars Not Included In Draft Pool", "WWE Raw Results 5/9/22 (Theory vs. Cody Rhodes for the WWE U.S. This answers first letter of which starts with S and can be found at the end of S. We think SUMOS is the possible answer on this clue. New Japan Pro-Wrestling Co., Ltd. (, Shin Nihon Puroresuringu Kabushiki-gaisha) (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo.Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. The Japanese wrestling promotion HUSTLE was created as an industry experiment to see whether American-style pro wrestling could find a market in Japan. On the October 19 episode of Raw, Asuka successfully retained her title against Lana. For the second successive year, our resident global wrestling expert, Mo Chatra, has . Kawada is the top rising star here, Kobashi is his #2, and Kikuchi is the junior heavyweight destined to take the fall because Baba didnt really care about juniors as much as Inoki did in New Japan. After leaving WWE in the early 90s he went over to Japan for a short while. Review: Interesting match for its novelty and trivia factors but not much else to it. Of course the WWE ignored this back home and the title change was never officially recognised. ANTONIO INOKI The 2010 Hall of Fame member is more famous for being the founder of New Japan Pro Wrestling than anything he did in / with the WWE, but he remains one of the biggest names in Japanese Wresting historyand he has more of a history in the WWE than you might think. But as he embarked on a full time teaching career, he was using his sick time to wrestle in Japan. Baba and Kawada brawl ringside as Andr keeps Kobashi immobilized and Kikuchi hits Dory with running elbows. Cactus hits a rib breaker and then lands his Cactus Elbow from the apron to the exposed floor. Big E & Carmella in Week 2 of WWE Mixed Match Challenge", "The Miz & Asuka def. Nov 09, 2022 (Heraldkeepers) -- New Jersey, United States Infinity Business Insights has disseminated information on the worldwide Professional Wrestling. Thankfully that name was dropped fairly sharpish with their manager Yamaguchi-San proclaiming their new identity. Undoubtedly becoming one of the most popular wrestlers of all time, before he earned that title, The Undertaker worked in Japan for a brief time. Japanese newspaper Tokyo Sports named her the top female wrestler of the year thrice. [350][351][352] In September 2019, Urai launched her own gaming and cooking channel on YouTube, KanaChanTV. Nakamura also won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. [24][25][26] On February 17, Kana, as the 2011 Catch the Wave winner, was granted entrance into the Wave Single Championship tournament, defeating Mio Shirai in her semi-final match. One, two, Baba kicks out. Games: The Handsome Jackpot | A Borderlands 3 DLC, Games: Life is Strange: True Colors Review, Keep The Faith 30 Years Later: Bon Jovis Transition Re-Visited, Shows: A Clockwork Orange A Beautifully Ultra-Violent Review, Music: Top 10 Greatest Hits | Girls Aloud, Music: 10 Greatest Simon and Garfunkel Songs, Football: Man City/Liverpool news; Injured & Suspended players, Freestyle Wrestling: The Best Wrestling From Ohio State. [155][156] On July 15, Kana defeated Shirai in a singles match, after which she had another heated exchange with Makoto, who had been sidelined from in-ring action with a fractured wrist. Although the Express were never serious contenders to the World Tag Team Titles there were a reasonably good team, who had an epic feud with the Rockers. No matter how hard NJPW tried to make him a star, fans just wanted nothing to do with Lesnar. [176] After Kana used her power to strip Ariya and Makoto of the Reina World Tag Team Championship,[177][178] she and Arisa Nakajima became the new champions on November 20 by defeating Lin Byron and Syuri in a tournament final, when Syuri was betrayed by her own partner, paid off by Kana. She has written for Xbox Magazine and designed graphics for Nintendo DS and various mobile applications;[13] she also owns a hair salon in Yokohama called Another Heaven. From WWE to NJPW and NXT to AEW, here are the top 50 wrestlers from around the world in our annual countdown. Kawada dumps Dory to ringside as Kobashi leg drops Baba and dropkicks Andr. [363][364][365], In an interview with ET Canada in 2021, Urai detailed her own experiences with racism and shared her thoughts on the rise of anti-Asian sentiment during the COVID-19 pandemic.[366]. This is also why people who are top stars but in different companies are more likely to go (Kenta, Tozawa, Asuka, Kairi, Shirai). The Miz and John Morrison for the WWE Universal Championship, Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus", "6/15 WWE Raw Results: Powell's live review of Asuka vs. Nia Jax for the Raw Women's Championship, Ric Flair's appearance, Drew McIntyre and R-Truth vs. Bobby Lashley and MVP, Randy Orton's opening segment, Dominick Mysterio accepting Seth Rollins' invitation", "Sasha Banks Beats Asuka, Wins Raw Women's Championship on WWE Raw", "Kairi Sane bids farewell to the WWE Universe | WWE", "SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley def. Tsuruta throws Cactus back into the ring and hits both another jumping knee and a Backdrop suplex for the pin and the win. Yohei Komatsu vs. Hiromu Takahashi (Pro Wrestling World Cup Japan - 1st Round) - YouTube For more information and tickets to our upcoming shows, visit: http://wc.pwFacebook:. Josh Cascio reports. She is also a former two-time Raw Women's Champion, SmackDown Women's Champion, record-tying three-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion (with Kairi Sane, Charlotte Flair, and Alexa Bliss; the only woman to win this title with three different partners), and the 2020 Women's Money in the Bank ladder match winner. Kanako Urai ( , Urai Kanako, born September 26, 1981) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Asuka ( or , / s k /).. This crossword clue Japanese wrestlers was discovered last seen in the September 10 2022 at the Eugene Sheffer Crossword. [201] She joined WWE's developmental territory NXT,[202][203] and adopted the ring name Asuka. [180][181] Following the win, Kana reformed Reina as the promotion's new "general producer" (GP). Baba reverses an irish whip and Kawada holds his own partner against the ropes to save him from Babas big boot. [12] Urai is a mother, as mentioned by Becky Lynch and Naomi. [2] On October 10, 2009, Kana teamed with Takahashi to defeat Hiroyo Matsumoto and Kyoko Inoue for the NEO Tag Team Championship, Kana's first professional wrestling title. [116], On August 3, 2011, it was reported that Kana would be making her debut in the United States in early October, working for all-female promotion Shimmer Women Athletes on 1 and 2 and for Chikara on 7 and 8. [19] On October 30, Kana and Kurihara defeated Ran Yu-Yu and Toshie Uematsu to win the Dual Shock Wave 2011 tournament and become the first ever Wave Tag Team Champions. Kanako Urai ( , Urai Kanako, born September 26, 1981)[1][2] is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Asuka ( or , /sk/).[9]. [330], On the June 21 episode of Raw, Asuka and Naomi qualified for the women's Money in the Bank ladder match by defeating the team of Eva Marie and Doudrop (formerly Piper Niven). [247] Throughout the next few months, Asuka continued her streak by defeating the likes of Dana Brooke (whom she defeated in three seconds, setting a new WWE record for the fastest submission win in a women's match),[248][249] Alicia Fox[250][251][252] and Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss in a non-title match. Doc tries escaping another headlock with a Backdrop but Muto counters with another takeover to the mat. [224][225] Around this time, WWE began promoting Asuka's "undefeated streak [] since her arrival" in NXT. Maria (Japanese wrestler) Plum Mariko. "I always say, my fight is much more - bigger than in the ring. Many stars have graced the ring in Japan, some of which found much success working in the country. [209] At NXT TakeOver: London, Asuka defeated Emma. Death Steve Williams. [74][75] Kana made her second successful title defense on October 14 against JWP Tag Team and Daily Sports Women's Tag Team Champion Hanako Nakamori. [49], On March 11, 2012, Kana made her debut for the DDT Pro-Wrestling promotion, taking part in an eight-person ten-minute battle royal for the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship, which she won five minutes into the match by pinning Michael Nakazawa, before losing it with just 50 seconds remaining in the match to Antonio Honda, only to regain it via submission with just 22 seconds remaining in the match. Muto tries a crossbody press but Austin catches him and hotshots him against the top rope for a two-count. Austin follows with a suplex into the ring and locks in a single leg crab. [105], In April, Kana entered a feud with former WWE wrestler Serena, stemming from a comment she made, calling Kana a talented "amateur" wrestler, while she herself had worked for the top promotion in the world. [230] Asuka also attacked Ember Moon, Nikki Cross and Ruby Riott, who were the final competitors in a battle royal to determine her challenger for NXT TakeOver: Chicago, officially cementing herself as a villainess. Dreamer avoids a vertical suplex and lands another shoulder block for a one-count and a back suplex for a two-count. The far east has its eyes on the American Dragon. [79][80] On December 15 at JWP's annual year-end Climax event, Kana lost the JWP Openweight Championship back to Nakajima in her third title defense. This week, we're voting on nationally televised and internet streaming pro wrestling shows that took place Oct. 30-Nov. 5 Raw, Dark: Elevation, Dark, NXT, Dynamite, Fusion, Powerrr, NXT UK, Impact, SmackDown, Rampage, Level Up, NJPW Strong, New Japan's Battle Autumn shows, WWE's Crown Jewel PLE, and anything else I'm forgetting. Death Steve Williams. Though he was a large spectacle of a star, NJPW fans just could not get behind his in-ring style. Let's see if they too showed off different sides of themselves when they weren't in their original environments. By Craig Ballantyne. Tommy Dreamer vs Akira Taue - AJPW, January 19 th, 1995 [124] The following day on Volume 47, Kana and LuFisto defeated Christina Von Eerie and MsChif in a tag team match. THE QUEEN VS. [349] She and Mio Shirai have also released a gravure DVD together, titled Sadistic Tails (2012). Austin double-legs Muto but Muto avoids an elbow drop. The last five minutes was great with some smart wrestling and terrific counters and near-falls. They trade headscissors until Muto gets a ropebreak. [276] In September, Asuka helped Naomi, who after defeating Peyton Royce was attacked by The IIconics. (October 10, 1997) Michinoku Pro. (1999) and WWE NXT (2010). Top 25 WWE RAW AND WWE SMACKDOWN Sort by: View: 25 names 1. [263][264] With wins over Carmella and Big E, Sasha Banks and Finn Blor,[265][266] Alexa Bliss and Braun Strowman[267] and finally Charlotte Flair and Bobby Roode, they won the tournament. View All or Current WWE 2K22 Superstars' Ratings! [315], On the Raw immediately following Money in the Bank, Becky Lynch revealed that she had vacated the Raw Women's Championship due to pregnancy, and that the ladder match was in fact for the vacated Raw Women's Championship rather than a championship match contract, making Asuka the new champion. [108] At the following event on June 9, Smash started a tournament to crown the inaugural Smash Diva Champion, which saw Kana defeat Lin "Bitch" Byron in her first round match. [223] In March, Asuka wrestled on several house shows with WWE's main roster as a replacement for an injured Naomi, including a show at Madison Square Garden on March 12. Doc lands some stiff shots and goes for a running elbow drop nut Muto dodges and hits his patented flashing elbow drop.