Rookie Spotlight Archives - Joshi City

Rookie Spotlight: Chihiro Hashimoto

Kevin — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 04:15:48 +0000

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Waterwheel Drop Hold

You knew when 23 year old Chihiro Hashimoto debuted in a tag match teaming with Shinobu Kandori that she meant business. She got the pin in that match and won her next singles match as well, proving she wasn’t your average rookie. She even got votes in the Tokyo Sports Award for Rookie of 2015, even though she did not debut until October. But who is Chihiro Hashimoto, and why is she already such a force to be reckoned with in Sendai Girls’?

What makes Hashimoto special, and different from most Joshi rookies, is that Hashimoto is a legitimate wrestler. Not a seasoned professional wrestler (not yet), but an experienced amateur wrestler. She wrestled during high school and University, coming in third place at the World Student Championships while in school. Her thighs are massive, measuring over 25 inches around, and she can bench press 135 lbs. Even though she went into amateur wrestling, she had attempted to get into professional wrestling as early as Jr. high school, but was told to wait. Now an accomplished amateur wrestler, she comes in ahead of other rookies as it is not uncommon for wrestlers with success in another combat sport (be it wrestling, MMA, Sumo, etc.) to get a step ahead of those with no notable experience.

Hashimoto debuted on October 11th, 2015, teaming with Shinobu Kandori against Manami Toyota and Mika Iwata:

Chihiro Hashimoto Debut Match
After winning in her debut, on her next set of televised matches she did something even more impressive. On November 12th, first Hashimoto had a singles match against Stardom wrestler Momo Watanabe:

Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Momo Watanabe
Immediately after defeating Watanabe in short order, Hashimoto started for her team in the Sendai Girls’ vs. Stardom 6 x 6 Elimination Match. Below I have her series of matches in that Elimination Match:

Hashimoto in Elimination Match
So after beating Watanabe, she then immediately beat Hiromi Mimura and Kris Wolf of Stardom back to back, before falling to Io Shirai in her fourth match of the night. Even though she defeated three other wrestlers without a lot of experience, a rookie beating three consecutive wrestlers is no joke, and it took Io Shirai longer to beat Hashimoto than it took Hashimoto to defeat her last two opponents combined.

Since that time, Hashimoto has continued her dominance over newer wrestlers, including a win over fellow rookie Cassandra Miyagi on November 20th and another win over Mika Iwata on December 7th. In 2015, Hashimoto has clearly established that she is one of the best young wrestlers in Joshi. By using her brute strength and wrestling ability, she is having very little issue in defeating wrestlers with less physical gifts than she has. In Japan, wrestlers tend to move slowly up the ladder, but I would not be surprised if by mid-2016 she is competing with some of the bigger stars in Sendai Girls. Meiko Satomura sees a lot in Hashimoto, as do I, and it will be fun to watch her career really blossom in the upcoming year. Hashimoto is finally realizing her dream of being a professional wrestler, and at this point nothing is going to stand in her way of being the best.

The post Rookie Spotlight: Chihiro Hashimoto appeared first on Joshi City.

Rookie Spotlight: Konami

Kevin — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 07:02:03 +0000

Introducing…. Konami!

Konami is a rookie Freelancer, officially debuting in February of 2015 after having an exhibition match in October of 2014. Konami is the young protege of Kana, and imitates her offensive style with submissions and kicks. Konami is not the largest wrestler but plays a good underdog and is extremely smooth for a wrestler that only officially debuted four months ago. In her short career she has wrestled in Kana Pro (Kana’s own produced events), and also is taking part in the Catch The WAVE Young OH! OH! Tournament for rookies. Konami also wrestlers for REINA.

As I mentioned, Konami enjoys her kicks, as well as submission holds:

Only officially a few months into her career, she is definitely one to watch. For more information on Konami, you can follow her on Twitter @k_o_n_a_m_i as well as on her blog. For more detailed information, check out her profile over on Puroresu Central. I leave you with her debut match against Kana, check it out.

Kana vs. Konami Takemoto in Kana Pro on 2/25/15 by purocentral

The post Rookie Spotlight: Konami appeared first on Joshi City.

Rookie Spotlight: Hiroe Nagahama

Kevin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 01:06:57 +0000

Introducing…. Hiroe Nagahama!

Nagahama is a rookie in in Pro Wrestling WAVE, debuting on October of 2014. She trained with Pro Wrestling WAVE, with Yumi Ohka being her primary trainer. She has also wrestled in Ice Ribbon and JWP, generally wrestling other young wrestlers as she hones her craft. She is only 19 years old, but picked up her first singles win on 5/23/15 against Marie Ann. Currently she is participating in the Catch the WAVE 2015 Young Oh Oh Block, which is the rookie version of the Catch the WAVE tournament:

Nagahama is also included in the 2015 True Heart BBM Set, which can be purchased from Japan (and Ebay, if you are lucky):

You can follow Hiroe Nagahama on Twitter @nagahama_hiroe as well as on her Ameba Blog. To see her an action, here is her match on March 4th, 2015 as she teamed with Moeka Haruhi vs. Kana and Yamashita (Nagahama is in orange).

Kana and Rina Yamashita vs. Hiroe Nagahama and… by purocentral
I will continue to keep track of Nagahama’s progress and will have a second year update next year, hopefully she will continue to learn and grow!

The post Rookie Spotlight: Hiroe Nagahama appeared first on Joshi City.