The Actwres girl’Z promotion announced the news today that the 21-year-old died recently due to an unexpected accident. Additionally, the company is canceling its show scheduled for February 9
They wrote:
We would like to inform you that Asahi, a member of our company, has passed away due to an unexpected accident. We would also like to inform you that the Shinkiba performance on February 9th has been canceled for the time being. We will inform you about the future within the next day or two. We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who has supported Asahi so far.
Some reports are stating Asashi was killed in a car accident but that has not been confirmed.
RIP Asahi. We hope everyone supports the members of @actwresgirlz and Ice Ribbon in the weeks ahead, and be mindful of each new day we’re here together. pic.twitter.com/hllWGqkGpe
Asashi began training at the Ice Ribbon Dojo at 14 and wrestled for the promotion until March 2023. She joined Actwres the following month.
Tributes to the young wrestler have been pouring in online.
Brought so much joy, a wrestler since she was a fourteen year old girl and in doing what she loved helped others achieve their dreams, helped people to keep getting up each day, god bless Asahi, gone at 21 pic.twitter.com/aut8gg0w0q
These news really hit me hard. I want to say a lot of things, but I can't, the words are just flying off somewhere. Asahi, I'll always remember you smiling and cheerful, and how we used to chat on Twitcasting…❤️ …it wasn't supposed to end like this, it's not right.😖😖 pic.twitter.com/o2Iz0SuDLk
— AlexandrObukhov (アレクサンダーオブコフ) (@QuietInnerLife) February 5, 2024
Such a devastating loss… I’ll be off this ship while everyone panics at the other burning ships…
A new American-based Joshi promotion, Sukeban, is set to debut in New York later this month.
The promotion’s first-ever event is scheduled for Thursday, September 21 at The Capitale in Manhattan.
Tickets for the show went on sale at 10 a.m. Eastern time on Friday. However, the company has since announced they sold out within two hours of being released.
“Featuring the strongest women’s roster in North America, Sukeban will hearken back to the glory days of Joshi wrestling to present the authentic, hard-hitting, phenomenal Joshi experience,” a press release for the promotion reads, via PWInsider.
Former Future of Stardom Champion Unagi Sayaka is set to headline the show against Saori Anou, who is currently one-half of the Goddess of Stardom Champions with Natsupoi. However, both wrestlers will be adopting new names while in Sukeban. Sayaka will be known as Ichigo Sayaka while Anou will wrestle under the name Countess Saori. The winner of the match will earn the right to challenge for the Sukeban World Championship on the promotion’s second event, although a date and venue for the show have yet to be announced.
“The Sukeban name is an ode to the girl gangs of the 1960s and 1970s that helped bring feminism to the forefront of Japan. Sukeban’s roster features many of the world’s best wrestlers portraying new characters that they have helped influence and create. The company’s four stables, The Vandals, Harajuku Stars, Cherry Bomb Girls, and Dangerous Liaisons, feud with one another to reach the apex of Sukeban,” the press release continues.
Other talent announced for the promotion include:
Ram Kaichow as Atomic Banshee
Kaori Yoneyama as Otaku-chan
AOI as Midnight Player
Maya Yukihi as Maya Mamushi
Yuu as Crush Yuu
SAKI as Saki Bimi
Ancham as Babyface
Riko Kaiju as Riko Blondie
Arisa Nakajima as Commander Nakajima
Risa Sera as Lady Antoinette
Miyuki Takase as Queen of Hearts
In just two hours, the Sukeban World Premiere in New York City has SOLD OUT. Thank you. Stay tuned for more.
Sukeban World Premiere Set for September 21st in New York City
Joshi Wrestling Company to Debut at Capitale in Downtown Manhattan, with Tickets on Sale Now
First Ever All-Japanese Joshi Wrestling Company in the United States Brings Japan’s Top Female Wrestlers to a Global Audience
Coming Soon Trailer Previews Sukeban’s High-Octane Action and Unique Anime and Live Action Content
New York, NY (September 1, 2023) – Sukeban, the first ever Joshi women’s wrestling company outside of Japan featuring an entirely Japanese roster, will hold its World Premiere event on September 21, 2023 at Capitale in New York City. Featuring the strongest women’s roster in North America, Sukeban will hearken back to the glory days of Joshi wrestling to present the authentic, hard-hitting, phenomenal Joshi experience.
The Sukeban coming soon trailer, available here, highlights the intense action, anime influence, and world-class competition that Sukeban will offer fans.
Tickets go on sale for the World Premiere today, Friday, September 1st at 10 a.m. ET exclusively via DICE, conveniently linked from www.sukeban.com. The main event of the World Premiere event will feature Ichigo Sayaka (aka Unagi Sayaka) vs. Countess Saori (aka Saori Anou), with the winner competing for the Sukeban World Championship at Sukeban’s second event in the United States, to be announced in the coming weeks.
The Sukeban name is an ode to the girl gangs of the 1960s and 1970s that helped bring feminism to the forefront of Japan. Sukeban’s roster features many of the world’s best wrestlers portraying new characters that they have helped influence and create. The company’s four stables, The Vandals, Harajuku Stars, Cherry Bomb Girls, and Dangerous Liaisons, feud with one another to reach the apex of Sukeban. The contracted roster, signed to long-term deals, includes:
The Vandals
Atomic Banshee, portrayed by Ram Kaichow
Otaku-chan, portrayed by Kaori Yoneyama
Midnight Player, portrayed by AOI
BINGO, portrayed by ???
Harajuku Stars
Ichigo Sayaka, portrayed by Unagi Sayaka
Maya Mamushi, portrayed by Maya Yukihi
Saki Bimi, portrayed by SAKI
Babyface, portrayed by Ancham
Cherry Bomb Girls
Crush Yuu, portrayed by Yuu
Supersonic, portrayed by ???
Riko Blondie, portrayed by Riko Kaiju
Dangerous Liaisons
Countess Saori, portrayed by Saori Anou
Commander Nakajima, portrayed by Arisa Nakajima
Lady Antoinette, portrayed by Risa Sera
Queen of Hearts, portrayed by Miyuki Takase
Unaffiliated
Stray Cat, portrayed by ???
In addition to exciting wrestlers added to the roster, the World Premiere event at Capitale in New York City features several elements that will make the event unique:
Championship Belt, unveiled in New York, designed and created by the greatest industrial designer of this generation, Marc Newson.
Wrestler costumes and all merchandise designed by world-famous creative director and fashion designer Olympia Le-Tan.
Hats created by the most important milliner in history, Stephen Jones
Finger nail art by social media superstar Mei Kawajiri (Nails by Mei).
Anime and manga art by fast-rising artist and author Sakana Koji.
Sukeban’s debut event in New York will be followed by further events around the United States and globally, with additional plans to be announced in the coming weeks. With ambitious growth plans and a strategic focus on its content ecosystem, Sukeban is poised to expand operations worldwide and pull from numerous lucrative revenue streams.
For more information, visit sukeban.com and follow Sukeban on Instagram, TikTok, and X at @sukeban_world.
This week’s Big Audio Nightmare is a solo affair as I guide you through a spate of COVID-19 scares in New Japan Pro Wrestling, STARDOM, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling and 2AW. I talk about what happened, what is canceled, what may be coming next, and what it could all mean for the Japanese wrestling scene.
After that, you and I go on a tour of Japan including NOAH’s terrible booking reaching a new level, great Joshi matches from Ice Ribbon’s Yokohama show, how King of DDT delivered the goods, Dragon Gate’s buzzworthy rookies vs. vets match, and a look at tournament season in NOAH, AJPW, and elsewhere.
Get all that and more on the Big Audio Nightmare with me, Adam Summers!
Harley Saito, who was one of the top name woman wrestlers of the 90s, passed away today in a Tokyo hospital while undergoing surgery to remove uterine fibroids.
Saito had just turned 48 three days ago.
Born Sayori Saito, she took the name Harley after Harley Race.
Saito started her career as a teenager in 1986 with the JWP promotion, the rival to the dominant All Japan women’s group. She was part of the original group that left JWP in 1992 to form LLPW, where she was one of the top stars, with two different one-year runs as LLPW world champion.
She also competed on the 1992 LPWA PPV in Rochester, MN, the Super Ladies Showdown, winning an eight-woman tournament for the LPWA Japanese women’s championship.
She regularly worked with and against Shinobu Kandori, the current Japanese politician who is facing Gabi Garcia on the Rizin show later this month. On April 2nd, 1995, she was part of the 13-promotion show put on by Weekly Pro Wrestling before 50,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome, in what was billed as a UFC rules fight, where she lost to Kandori quickly via ground and pound.
She originally retired in 2010, but returned and had her final match at a retirement show on December 29th, 2012.
