WWE is acknowledging wrestling legend Meiko Satomura as she steps away from the ring.
The 45-year-old Satomura retired on April 29 with her final match taking place in Tokyo for Sendai Girls, the promotion Satomura founded in 2005. WWE stars IYO SKY, Kairi Sane, Asuka, and Shinsuke Nakamura sent in video messages that were played on the show. Later that night, Corey Graves mentioned Satomura’s retirement on WWE NXT, congratulating her on an incredible career.
Paul “Triple H” Levesque then sent out a tweet today also congratulating Satomura.
Congratulations to the Japanese wrestling legend and former @WWENXT UK Women’s Champion, Meiko Satomura.
Your contributions to this industry have inspired a generation of female athletes around the world. https://t.co/eLKoVVpDBa
“Congratulations to the Japanese wrestling legend and former @WWENXT UK Women’s Champion, Meiko Satomura,” he wrote. “Your contributions to this industry have inspired a generation of female athletes around the world.”
Satomura was a coach and wrestler for NXT UK when that brand existed. Her last WWE matches happened in July 2024 on a main roster house show tour of Japan. She worked a pair of eight-woman tag matches on the tour before losing to Bayley in a singles match on the final night.
April marked the 30th anniversary of Satomura’s in-ring debut. Though she’s retiring from active competition, Satomura vowed to continue helping the next generation of women’s wrestlers through Sendai Girls.
Satomura’s official retirement match was her teaming with Manami to defeat Aja Kong & Chihiro Hashimoto. After that ended, there was an impromptu five-minute handicap match where Satomura & Kong teamed together.
Meiko Satomura’s 30-year journey in the ring came to an end at Korakuen Hall on Tuesday.
In her official retirement match, Satomura & Manami defeated Aja Kong & Sendai Girls Champion Chihiro Hashimoto. A Scorpio Rising kick from Satomura to Kong was the finish. There was then an impromptu five-minute handicap match where — at Kong’s request — the two legends Satomura & Kong teamed together against Hashimoto, Mika Iwata, Takumi Iroha, Senka Akatsuki & YUNA.
The show was named “Meiko Satomura The Final” and was produced by Satomura’s Sendai Girls promotion. WWE stars Kairi Sane, IYO SKY, Asuka, and Shinsuke Nakamura sent in video messages that were played for Satomura. There were also messages from NJPW’s Hiroshi Tanahashi and joshi legend Devil Masami. Among those in attendance at the show were The Crush Gals, Bull Nakano, Akira Hokuto, and Kenta Kobashi.
Fans showered Satomura with streamers after the bell rang 10 times and her name was called out by the announcer one final time. She gave a speech promising to continue devoting her life to pro wrestling through Sendai Girls.
The 45-year-old Satomura echoed that sentiment in a tweet, vowing to help make the next era of wrestling even more amazing. She thanked everyone who came to today’s show and said she was happy to be surrounded by so many people who played a part in her career.
Satomura’s journey took her from Japan to rings across the world, including wrestling for WCW in the 1990s, becoming an attraction on the European indies, and a stint with WWE as a wrestler, coach, and champion in NXT UK.
We now know who Meiko Satomura will be facing in her final match.
On April 29, Satomura, 45, will wrap up her in-ring career with a tag team match at Korakuen Hall. The match will pit two legends against each other with Satomura and Aja Kong on opposite sides. Satomura is teaming up with 20-year-old Sendai Girls wrestler Manami against Kong & Sendai Girls Champion Chihiro Hashimoto.
The show is titled “Satomura The Final” and is being produced by Satomura’s Sendai Girls promotion. It has a five-match card that includes Sareee, Mika Iwata & DASH Chisako facing Veny, Lena Kross & Nina Samuels in the semi-main event.
This month is the 30th anniversary of Satomura’s pro wrestling debut. A standout wrestler of her era, her journey has seen her compete in Japan, found her own promotion, become an international attraction on the indies, work for WWE as a wrestler, coach, and champion in NXT UK, and even compete for WCW in the 1990s.
Satomura’s final WWE matches took place in 2024 when she worked three house show dates in Japan. The last of those was a loss to Bayley in Tokyo.
Meiko Satomura’s opponent for her final match in Stardom has been revealed.
Satomura is set to wrestle the final match of her 30-year career on April 29 at Sendai Girls’ event titled “Satomura The Final.” Stardom has announced that her last match for them will take place two days earlier, on April 27, at the All Star Grand Queendom 2025 event in Yokohama Arena. She will team with Mika Iwata and Yuna in a trios bout against Saori Anou, Natsupoi, and Aya Sakura.
／ カードファイト!! ヴァンガード Divinez presents 🌟ALL STAR GRAND QUEENDOM 2025🌟 ＼
Satomura revealed in June 2024 that she would retire the following year. In July, she participated in three WWE house shows in Japan, concluding the tour by challenging Bayley for the WWE Women’s Championship on the final night. She is also scheduled to face Kenoh on April 15 at a Pro Wrestling NOAH event.
Stardom All Star Grand Queendom 2025 lineup for Sunday, April 27:
Wonder of Stardom Champion Starlight Kid defends against AZM
IWGP Women’s Champion Mayu Iwatani defends against Syuri
Goddess of Stardom Champions Hanan & Saya Iida defend against Hazuki & Koguma
Future of Stardom Champion Hina defends against Ranna Yagam
Meiko Satomura, Mika Iwata & Yuna vs. Saori Anou, Natsupoi & Aya Sakura
Meiko Satomura has an opponent for her return to PROGRESS Wrestling next month.
On her retirement tour, Satomura will return to the United Kingdom to compete for PROGRESS on Sunday, February 23. It was announced today that UK indie star Rhio will be Satomura’s opponent. Both Satomura and Rhio are former PROGRESS Women’s Champions.
The February 23 event is titled My Own Destiny and is taking place from the Electric Ballroom in London.
Rhio — who is from Preston, England — is a former ICW Women’s Champion.
The legendary Satomura is wrapping up her career with her final match set to take place on April 29. She had her first match in 1995 and is now retiring just over 30 years since making her debut. Satomura runs the Sendai Girls promotion in Japan and will be having her retirement match for them.
Satomura appeared as an attraction on the UK indies during the latter stages of her career. Her reign as PROGRESS Women’s Champion lasted for three months in 2019. She later was part of the NXT UK roster as a wrestler and coach.
Complete rundown of Full Gear, including addressing perception issues, why the crowd was difficult, business notes on attendance and PPV, timing, the Worlds End show and what it looks like, the head-to-head battle on 12/28 in Orlando and the Continental Classic.
A detailed look at the Conor McGregor sexual assault lawsuit, testimony, keys to the verdict, reactions from McGregor, Dee Devlin, Nikita Hand and others. We also look at the aftermath with companies breaking ties with McGregor, supermarkets and shops no longer carrying his products and the UFC lack of reaction, and how that compares with boxing history with top draws.
The business of Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul and explaining the numbers
Linda McMahon nominated by Trump as Secretary of Education and media coverage
Survivor Series coverage
The Ricky Starks GCW controversy, what happened, why it happened and how it could and should have been avoided
UFC 309 coverage with business notes, what’s next for the fighters, Jon Jones’ future and more
A look at the life and career of Mighty Inoue, who passed away this week, a Japanese wrestler from the 60s to 90s and later a referee, including the brief period when he was the top star in the IWE and his legendary bouts in Japan against all-time greats.
Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame balloting notes
The life of Colosso Colosetti, who was a star for three decades in Mexico and held several titles in the U.S. as well. We look at his biggest matches, and there were a ton of them.
The most detailed look at the ratings from the past two weeks
Advanced ticket sales for upcoming WWE, AEW and New Japan shows in the U.S. We also look at a key thing regarding ticket advances and sales in the U.S.
Former ROH star wins major world title in fantastic match in Mexico
Notes on an upcoming international event at Arena Mexico
Mistico talks his match with Chris Jericho
AAA’s biggest feud for 2025
Coverage of all the Japanese tournaments going on in Stardom, Dragon Gate, All Japan and New Japan
Kenny Omega’s return and New Japan/AEW Wrestle Dynasty update
Historic X-Over show notes
Former WWE talent openly talks about going for a gold medal in the 2028 Olympics
The second oldest male wrestler ever in a match took place over the weekend featuring one of the most famous wrestlers ever in his country
WWE star makes surprise appearance at an international show
Bloodsport notes
A look at AEW’s upcoming schedule
AEW moves the Brisbane show
International TV ratings and streaming numbers
Bellator fighters talking publicly about not getting fights
Lots of notes on the death of fighter Trokon Dousuah after a fight in Alberta and the backstory of all that happened
Value of WWE & UFC skyrockets
Lots on the Netflix debut and Saturday Night’s Main Event
Dwayne Johnson box office notes
Royal Rumble tickets
WWE changing how it handles comp tickets
How Comcast internal changes will affect WWE
Crown Jewel and Bound for Glory PPV updates
Lots on new WWE signees
This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue
During WWE and Netflix’s media event at Netflix headquarters yesterday, Paul “Triple H” Levesque discussed how WWE can keep things fresh by giving talent some time off television. Levesque pointed to Drew McIntyre – who returned on Raw this Monday after not appearing since Bad Blood – as an example of that:
As we create more and more stars, it sort of creates this opportunity for stars to be able to come in and out, because you’re not reliant on the same people every week to get you to where you need to get to, right?
[McIntyre] was dying to come back. He wasn’t hurt, he wasn’t injured. ‘Let’s just give you a little breather here for a second.’ And whether that’s spending some time at home enjoying your family, whatever that is, or whether that’s, ‘Hey, I have this other project I want to work on. I have this project that Netflix has come up with, I’m going to work on that.’ Whatever. Us having that ability to morph and shift things around and keep things fresh, I think is a tremendous opportunity for us. So, I’d look for more of that too.
I just saw Jelly Roll the other day and he’s still raving about wrestling. Every time I see him he says the same thing, ‘I got another 100 pounds [of weight loss] to go, baby, and I’m doing a match with you guys.’
Jim Ross is voicing the opening video for this Thursday’s Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers NFL game on Amazon Prime Video. Ross tweeted: “If you’re watching @PrimeVideo [tomorrow] for the @Lions vs @packers showdown check out the cold open that I voiced over this morning.”
This will be their fourth singles matches against one another, with Satomura leading the head-to-head series 2-1. The two also teamed with each other frequently in Satomura’s Sendai Girls promotion, and once on an episode of NXT UK in a win over Eliza Alexander and Xia Brookside.
The match will take place a little over three months before Satomura retires from in-ring competition. Sendai Girls has announced an event titled “Satomura The Final” for April 29, 2025, featuring her retirement match. Satomura’s opponent has yet to be named.
Satomura announced in June that she plans to retire in 2025. The following month, she appeared on three WWE house shows in Japan, ending the tour with a match against Bayley for the WWE Women’s title.
With Bryan Alvarez out and Filthy Tom Lawlor on the road, Mike Sempervive flies solo. A lot to get into, as always, including tonight’s head-to-head battle between NXT and AEW Dynamite, Meiko Satomura’s retirement date, QT Marshall talks about his talk with WWE, and more! It’s a fun show as always, so check it out~!
Meiko Satomura’s career will officially come to an end 30 years after it started.
Satomura’s Sendai Girls promotion has announced an event titled “Satomura The Final” for April 29, 2025. It will take place 30 years and two weeks from the day of her pro wrestling debut on April 15, 1995.
“30 years of history, curtain,” she wrote on Instagram.
— センダイガ－ルズプロレスリング-SENDAI GIRLS PROWRESTLING- (@senjo2006) November 6, 2024
Her opponent for the show has yet to be revealed.
Satomura announced in June that she will retire next year. The following month, she participated in three WWE house shows in Japan, culminating in her challenging Bayley for the WWE Women’s Championship on the final night of the tour.
Satomura started her career in 1995 with the GAEA promotion. After the promotion closed, she helped found Sendai Girls in 2005. She signed with WWE in 2021 as a wrestler and coach in NXT and was the final NXT UK Women’s Champion before the title was unified with the NXT Women’s Championship at Worlds Collide 2022.
Though it took place at an untelevised show, fans can now watch Bayley and Meiko Satomura’s WWE Women’s Championship match.
The legendary Satomura faced off against Bayley for the first time ever at WWE’s house show in Tokyo on July 27. A Rose Plant earned Bayley the victory as she remained WWE Women’s Champion. After the match, the two competitors showed respect to each other and Bayley left the ring so Satomura could spend a moment with the crowd.
The full match has been uploaded by WWE to their WWE Vault YouTube channel:
Three WWE house shows were held in Japan from July 25-27. At the other two events, Bayley, Satomura, Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill defeated IYO SKY, Kairi Sane, Dakota Kai & Tiffany Stratton in eight-woman tag matches. This was the first time WWE has been to Japan since 2019.
Bayley is set to defend her WWE Women’s Championship against Nia Jax at SummerSlam this Saturday. Stratton, who holds the Money in the Bank briefcase, has also been positioned as a threat to Bayley’s title reign. There was a spot during the Bayley vs. Satomura match where Stratton wanted to cash in but was laid out by Satomura.
Satomura has announced that she will retire from in-ring competition in April 2025. That month marks the 30th anniversary of her pro wrestling debut. Satomura has been signed to WWE since joining NXT UK as a wrestler and coach in 2021. She also runs the Sendai Girls promotion in Japan.
In a press conference held Saturday in Japan, Satomura announced that she will have her last match in April of 2025, as that date coincides with her 30th anniversary. Tokyo Sports reported on Friday that Satomura was considering retirement.
She also announced that in September, she will wrestle a series of matches in her own promotion, Sendai Girls, and was open to the idea of wrestling for other promotions. AEW’s Emi Sakura appeared at the press conference and said she would like to face Satomura before her retirement.
Satomura started wrestling in 1995, wrestling for GAEA until the promotion closed in 2005. The following year, she founded Sendai Girls. During her run in GAEA, she made several appearances in WCW.
In 2020, she signed with WWE as part of NXT UK, where she became the final NXT UK Women’s Champion. When the brand folded, she made several appearances in the United States, losing a unification match at Worlds Collide 2022 to Mandy Rose and Blair Davenport in a three-way match. She also faced Roxanne Perez for the NXT Women’s Championship at NXT Roadblock 2023, where she also lost.
– Garrett Gonzales and I have our week in review show later this afternoon. You can also send in questions during the live airing. Bryan and I will be back tomorrow night with our weekend show covering UFC, AEW, G1, SmackDown and CMLL.
Update on SummerSlam and All In, lineups, possible additions, things expected to happen, business notes on both shows, ticket sales and where they will stack up in the all-time historical records. We also look at the stories behind the matches.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan meets with Nick Khan and Paul Levesque regarding bringing WrestleMania to the city.
Notes on the first week of the G1 Climax tournament, stories, standings, business and quality of the matches.
Notes on week two of G1
Part one of our story on the life and career of Canadian star Leo Burke, a Stampede Hall of Famer and how he shaped the career of Bret Hart, and trained some of the biggest names in wrestling
Vince McMahon’s lawyers try and shut down a motion by Janel Grant’s lawyers
TNA Slammiversary, its biggest crowd in years and how it was done, PPV numbers update, and full show coverage
Coverage of Dragon Gate & DDT’s biggest shows of the year
The most detailed look at the ratings of all the major pro wrestling shows, placings, competition and segment-by-segment
What the CMLL current era compares to in Mexican history
A look at the big matches coming over the next month including AEW stars and World Grand Prix participants
Stardom PPV shows this weekend
50th anniversary celebration
One of the top legends of this era pushing his farewell tour
Bloodsport notes
Next few weeks of TNA television
Update on AEW TV negotiations
Lots of AEW injuries
Tony Khan talks about strippaing titles vs. waiting for champions to recover
Darby Allin talks current scene
Ticket sales for upcoming AEW & WWE shows
International TV ratings and streaming numbers
Cung Le lawsuit update
Top ten male and female fighters of the 21st century
Jake Paul vs. Mike Perry and update on celebrity fights and how they are doing
– Meiko Satomura will have a press conference at 11 p.m. Eastern time tonight which is believed to be her retirement announcement and farewell match or matches. (thanks to Jose Gonzalez)
– As expected WBD has filed suit against the NBA claiming breach of contract and failure to negotiate in good faith after the NBA turned down WBD’s accepting to match the right package of Amazon Prime. WBD is arguing that Max is equivalent to Amazon Prime as both are major streaming services plus they offer television. The NBA is claiming WBD matched the money but can’t match the exposure.
– ROH Death Before Dishonor on Honor Club with the pre-show starting at 7 p.m.
MxM in a match
Dustin Rhodes & Marshall & Ross Von Erich vs. John Silver & Evil Uno & Alex Reynolds — winning team faces Matt Taven & Mike Benett & Roderick Strong on Battle of the Belts tomorrow night to fill the vacant ROH trios titles
Komander vs. Beast Mortos
Atlantis Jr. vs. Lio Rush vs. Shane Taylor vs. Lee Johnson vs. Brian Cage vs. Johnny TV for the ROH TV title
Taven & Bennett defend the ROH tag titles against Kyle O’Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii
Diamante vs. Leyla Hirsch Texas death match
Wheeler Yuta vs. Lee Moriarty for the ROH Pure title
Billie Starkz vs. Red Velvet for the women’s TV title
Athena vs. Queen Animata for the ROH women’s title
Mark Briscoe vs. Roderick Strong for the ROH title
A note is that AEW has gotten CMLL to agree to allow its talent on the same show as AAA talent at least in this instance. Komander is the AAA cruiserweight champion on the same show as Atlantis Jr, one of CMLL’s biggest stars.
– SmackDown tonight is a taped show since the crew is in Japan right now. Lineup has:
LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar
Bayley & Michin vs. Nia Jax & Tiffany Stratton
Gauntlet with Angel & Berto, Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa, Street Profits, Pretty Deadly, Apollo Crews & Baron Corbin and Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson for a title shot at DIY in the future.
– Rampage tonight at 10 p.m. on TNT:
Two Ring Rampage Rumble Battle Royal, winner gets an AEW title shot on 9/25 at Arthur Ashe Stadium
Kris Statander vs. Leila Gray
Lance Archer vs. ?
Dutch & Vincent vs. Private Party vs. Kyle Fletcher & Rush vs. Outrunners
– Regarding the note in the new Observer on Nick Khan selling $4,887,506 of TKO stock this past week we noted it was partially to pay taxes. Those close to the situation say it was entirely to pay taxes on stock grants and that all of Khan’s stock sales to date have been only to cover taxes.
– WWE results from earlier today at Sumo Hall in Tokyo:
Shinsuke Nakamura (as a babyface) & Kevin Owens & LA Knight defeated Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa & Solo Sikoa
Liv Morgan defeated Iyo Sky to retain the world women’s title
Sami Zayn defeated Dominik Mysterio to keep the IC title
Damian Priest defeated Rey Mysterio to keep world heavyweight title
Finn Balor & JD McDonagh defeated New Day to keep the world tag titles
Gunther defeated Jey Uso
Cody Rhodes defeated AJ Styles to keep the undisputed WWE title
Rossy Ogawa was at the show walking around in the crowd.
At the show, Cody Rhodes was presented with the robe and hat that Dusty Rhodes wore in his 1979 NWF title challenge in Tokyo against Antonio Inoki. The robe had been on display at the Super Inoki Exhibition.
– UFC 304 is tomorrow from Manchester, England:
Prelims on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. Eastern
Shauna Bannon (115) vs. Alice Ardelean (116)
Mick Parkin (264) vs. Lukasz Brzeski (235)
Sam Patterson (170) vs. Kiefer Crosbie (a171)
Muhammad Mokaev (126) vs. Manel Kape (125.5)
Oban Elliott (170) vs. Preston Parsons (169)
ESPN2 at 8 p.m. Eastern
Modestas Bukauskas (204) vs. Marcin Prachnio (205)
Caolan Loughran (136) vs. Jake Hadley (137) – Hadley missed weight and had to forfeit 20 percent of his purse
Molly McCann (116) vs. Bruna Brasil (116)
Nathaniel Wood (145) vs. Daniel Pineda (146)
PPV at 10 p.m. Eastern
Arnold Allen (145) vs. Giga Chikadze (146)
Christian Leroy Dunca (185) vs. Gregory Rodrigues (185)
Paddy Pimblett (156) vs. Bobby Green (154.5)
Tom Aspinall (251) vs. Curtis Blaydes (256) for the interim heavyweight title
Leon Edwards (170) vs. Belal Muhammad (169) for the welterweight title
– Dana White said that he would announce the complete September PPV card from The Sphere in Las Vegas today.
– Beth Phoenix is no longer under contract to WWE.
– There was apparently a Ticketmaster snafu for a few hours today which listed tickets for All In for just the service charge. We are told the tickets would not be honored and AEW officials had gotten the mistake rectified.
– Paddy Pimblett has signed a new UFC contract this week.
–Mistico & Volador Jr. & Mascara Dorada vs. Penta & Fenix & Pac headlines Arena Mexico tonight in what should be a great match. The show also has Templario & Titan vs Rocky Romero & Ultimo Guerrero and Angel de Oro vs. Star Jr in the Leyenda de Plata tournament final. They are expecting a sellout of 15,000 fans for the show to see Penta & Fenix’s first match at Arena Mexico in many years.
– CMLL posted the Misticio vs. Volador Jr. title match from Puebla for subscribers to their YouTube page. As if there isn’t enough other wrestling to watch the next two days.
– The CMLL women’s tag title that was held by Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis will be filled by a tournament with eight teams. The first two rounds will be on 7/30 and the championship match will be on 8/6, all at Arena Mexico. Teams are Skadi & Kira, Olympia & Hera, Metalica & Reyna Isis, Sanely & Nautica, Dark Silueta & Valkiria, Zeuxis & Persephone, Tessa Blanchard & Lluvia and Catalina & Princesa Sugehit.
– G1 continues from Nagasaki tonight at 3 a.m Eastern and midnight Pacific
Katsuya Murashima & Shoma Kato vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Henare
El Phantasmo & Jado vs. Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano
Jeff Cobb & Francesco Akira vs. Yuya Uemura & Taka Michinoku
David Finlay & Gedo vs. Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Hirooki Goto & Tomoaki Honma vs. Yota Tsuji & Bushi
Shingo Takagi vs. Callum Newman
Gabe Kidd vs. Sanada
Shota Umino vs. Great O’Khan
Jake Lee vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Tetsuya Naito vs. Evil
– Adam Copeland was at the San Diego Comic-Con today as part of the Percy Jaackson and the Olympians panel. Copeland has a role in that TV show.
– Mattel debuted its new WWE action figures including Chase U at the San Diego Comic Con. It was said that Thea Hail is the youngest woman ever to have had a WWE action figure modeled after her.
– House of Glory Wrestling tonight in Jamaica, NY on FITE+ has the Matt Travis Memorial Battle Royal, Gringo Loco vs. Kevin Knight for the cruiserweight title plus Mike Santana vs. Steve Maclin in a street fight and a first time ever match with Swerve Strickland vs. Amazing Red.
– Kirk White’s Big Time Wrestling on 8/2 in Newark, CA at the Pavilion has Toa Liona of AEW vs. Juicy Finau vs. Journey Fatu vs. Losefa Parsi in a South Pacific Savage match plus Robbie Eagles & Aaron Solo vs. Marcus Lewis & Big Fonz, Starboy Charlie vs. Lince Dorado and Viva Van vs. Jada Stone.
Bayley and pro wrestling legend Meiko Satomura are set to face off against each other for the first time ever.
At WWE’s house show in Tokyo this Saturday, Bayley will put her WWE Women’s Championship on the line against Satomura. The match was announced after they teamed up together in matches on the first two nights of WWE’s Japan tour. Satomura cut a promo challenging Bayley to the title match.
“Tomorrow night will be an absolute honor,” Bayley wrote. “Feels like I’m having a Wrestlemania match 1 week before Summerslam.”
A WWE Women’s Championship match with Bayley defending against Nia Jax is scheduled for SummerSlam on Saturday, August 3.
WWE was in Osaka on Thursday and Tokyo on Friday for the first two events of the house show tour. It’s the fist time WWE has held shows in Japan since 2019. The tour concludes with Saturday’s live event at Sumo Hall.
Bayley, Satomura, Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill defeated IYO SKY, Kairi Sane, Dakota Kai & Tiffany Stratton at the Thursday and Friday events.
Tokyo Sports reported this week that Satomura has made the decision to retire from in-ring competition and will likely have her final match in spring 2025. Next April marks the 30th anniversary of Satomura’s pro wrestling debut. She runs the Sendai Girls promotion in Japan and is also under contract with WWE.
Satomura is a former NXT UK Women’s Champion. She signed with WWE in 2021 as a wrestler and coach for NXT UK.
The legendary Meiko Satomura is wrapping up her in-ring career.
Tokyo Sports reports that Satomura has decided to retire from in-ring competition and will be making a formal announcement about the decision soon. The report says that, while a date for her retirement has not been confirmed, it will likely happen next spring. April 2025 is the 30th anniversary of Satomura’s pro wrestling debut.
Satomura runs the Sendai Girls promotion in Japan and is under contract with WWE. At Thursday’s house show in Osaka, Satomura wrestled her first WWE match since competing for NXT in March 2023. She teamed with Bayley, Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill in a victory over IYO SKY, Kairi Sane, Dakota Kai & Tiffany Stratton.
After the house show, Satomura told Tokyo Sports that she will address her impending retirement in the near future. She has only wrestled a couple of times over the last year.
Satomura signed with WWE in 2021 as a wrestler and coach for NXT UK. She’s a former NXT UK Women’s Champion.
During her stellar in-ring career, Satomura has competed in Japan, starred on the indies globally, and even competed for WCW in the 1990s.
Meiko Satomura is advertised for WWE’s house show tour of Japan later this month.
WWE will run an event at Osaka’s Edion Arena on Thursday, July 25, and then two nights at Ryōgoku Sumo Hall in Tokyo on July 26 and 27. Satomura is featured in advertising for all three shows along with Cody Rhodes, Shinsuke Nakamura, Asuka, Kairi Sane, and Dakota Kai.
Satomura hasn’t wrestled for WWE since March 2023 when she lost to Roxanne Perez at Roadblock. However, she wrestled at Korakuen Hall for a show produced by Kenta Kobashi last month. She teamed with Takumi Iroha and defeated Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu. Kobashi would later tell Tokyo Sports that WWE granted Satomura permission to work the event.
Satomura also made a cameo for DDT recently when she appeared during the Toden Train match between Minoru Suzuki and Sanshiro Takagi on June 29. The match took place on the Tokyo tram/rail line.
Satomura was hired by WWE in January 2021, primarily to work as a player/coach for the NXT UK brand. She was a co-founder of the Sendai Girls promotion in 2006 following the closure of Gaee Japan the previous year. Mercedes Mone was spotted training with Satomura at the Sendai Girls dojo in January 2023 as well.
