Hana Kimura Memorial Book 2024
Released Spring 2024

Background: Giulia joined Stardom in 2019, and quickly began a feud with Stardom wrestler Hana Kimura. Tragically, Hana passed away in May of 2020. Since her passing, every year her mother Kyoko Kimura puts on a memorial show. For the 2024 event, Giulia was scheduled to have a match in memory of her former friend and in-ring adversary.

— Translation begins below —

Giulia: The first exchange I had with Hana: “Ah, it’s me!”

The Fighting Spirit of Girlhood.
Fighting with Hana.

Fumi Saito: I would like to talk about your relationship with Hana Kimura, or rather, about your encounter with Hana.

Giulia: October 14, 2019, Korakuen Hall. The day I announced I was joining Stardom. It was the day I stood in the Stardom ring for the first time. That day, Hana fought for the red belt. It was a title match in the main event. Just before I stepped into the ring, we were in the waiting room together for a short time. At that time, our eyes met, and I remember one thing that Hana said to me.

Saito: What was the one thing?

Giulia: “Ah, it’s me!” she said. She looked at me and said “it’s me!”

Saito: What did she mean by that? It sounds as if there are two of her.

Giulia: We were kind of eye to eye and she looked at me and said “Ah, it’s me!”, and then she stopped for a second or two. Then she just went away with that cheerful excitement.

Saito: That was a shocking encounter.

Giulia: I had been wondering what kind of wrestler Hana Kimura was. She looks really good, she is half Japanese, and I had seen her on SNS and in magazines, so I was like, ‘Oh it’s Hana Kimura!’. It was the first time I heard her voice, and it left a big impression.

Saito: When was the next time you met?

Giulia: It was not at a match, but a press conference. At the press conference to announce that Stardom had joined Bushiroad, I said “I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you, but I’ve decided to join the group”, and Hana interrupted. She said something like “You’re making things difficult for everyone. I’m the only half member”. Then we got into a fight. ‘Ah, this person is really strong minded’, I thought. But I already knew that. Hana is younger than me, but in my late teens and early 20’s, I was also very bossy. I could see she had a rough temperament, and she was coming in with guns blazing, so I knew I could not step back from her. I had to take a stand against Hana.

Saito: I can understand Hana’s temperament, or rather her personality.

Giulia: I had a fighting spirit since I was a small child. But, at the time I was moving from Ice Ribbon to Stardom, I was feeling beaten up and really down, and I felt like I could not show myself. But Hana’s gung-ho attitude revived my fighting spirit, and it brought it back to life. I thought to myself, ‘Ah, this person, she’s really going to come at me. I need to be aggressive too’. Then there was the brawl at Shin-Kiba, with cameras following us to the waiting room.

Saito: You could hear the banging of the building’s shutters outside of the fans’ sight.

Giulia: When I was in elementary school, I had fights. This was the first time since then. I was like a kid again pretending to go horseback-riding, seeing someone I could get messed up with and wrestle. At that time, I thought ‘This is what being a pro-wrestler is all about’. Until then, I had never felt that way. Even when I was playing against seniors who pissed me off or whom I hated, I didn’t know how to turn on the switch, and I felt frustrated like that for a long time.

Saito: It was great you were able to clash with Hana in the ring at Stardom.

Giulia: I don’t think anyone wanted to get involved with me at that time. I felt that everyone wanted to avoid getting involved with me as much as possible.

Saito: Was there an atmosphere like that?

Giulia: There was. Among the wrestlers. I was beaten up so much, and I don’t have a good image. I had only been with Ice Ribbon for less than two years, and before that I was just an ordinary person. So, the slander on the internet was a big shock to me back then.

Saito: Why did you decide to become a professional wrestler in the first place?

Giulia: I don’t know if I can explain it well, but when I was still a fan, I used to go women’s wrestling and there were people who looked like they could beat her easily. Like, this isn’t a fight. Every time I saw a match like that, I thought to myself, ‘I’ll do it, too’. But when I tried it, I realized I didn’t have any talent, and I didn’t make any progress for over a year.

Saito: Once you made your debut, did you notice any contradictions within yourself?

Giulia: I did. I debuted at 24 and that’s when I saw the reality. After a year I gave up, and I thought about retiring. I thought that if I didn’t quit quickly, my body would just get worn out, I wouldn’t be able to earn money, and my life would be a mess.

Saito: Then the opportunity to move to Stardom presented itself?

Giulia: The choice was to retire or to start over as a trainee at Stardom. It was a gamble for me. Stardom was a great company and I had always admired them. Hana Kimura, Mayu Iwatani, Iyo, Kairi, all the stars were there. When Iyo said “I’m going to WWE” at Ryogoku, I was at the venue watching it. I thought that if I was serious about wrestling, this was the environment for me. It was a time when I was really worried about wrestling.

Saito: Have you always been aware of Hana Kimura?

Giulia: I mean, a girl that flashy, you can’t help but notice her, even if you’ve never met her. A really cool woman in Stardom. I’ve known about her since W-1, and she’s often appeared in the media since she joined Stardom.

Saito: Hana was active for four years, but only one year with Stardom.

Giulia: Oh, only four years? A legend was created in four years.

Drawn to Hana.
Encounter with VENY

[Editor’s Note: Giulia was scheduled to have a match against VENY on the Hana Kimura Memorial Show on 5/23/24, but it was cancelled due to Giulia being injured]

Saito: Do you know VENY, who you’ll be fighting this time?

Giulia: Yes, I know her. She’s Asuka right? I saw her fight with Syuri in Hana’s memorial match. I also saw her match with Sareee.

Saito: This is your first match. You’ve never even come into contact with each other?

Giulia: Not at all.

Saito:  There’s a relationship between Hana Kimura and Giulia. There’s a relationship between Hana Kimura and VENY. It is because of Hana Kimura that this singles match was made possible, right?

Giulia: If that hadn’t happened, I don’t think we would have this fight. I think wrestling can sometimes be a mysterious connection. I think Hana has drawn in all kinds of things to me in this way.

Saito: Can you imagine what kind of match this will be?

Giulia: Hana and I had some fierce matches. I think Hana likes that kind of thing. So I hope that when Hana watches my match with VENY she gets excited.

Full Original Interview:

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Weekly Pro Wrestling Magazine on 8/25/10
Released August 11th, 2010

Background: In 2010, Kana was a Freelancer and frequently appeared in Tajiri’s new promotion, SMASH. On June 25th, 2010, Kana and Syuri wrestled in the main event of SMASH.4, with Syuri winning. In this interview, Kana is discussing her upcoming rematch with Syuri, which was set to take place at SMASH.5 on July 24th, 2010.

— Translation begins below —

Click to Expand

Interview Introduction: The severe battle at the last tournament between Syuri and Kana demolished stereotypes that existed in the world of female professional wrestling. They are fighting again at 7.24 (starting at 12) on SMASH.5. Kana, demanding a rematch is in possession of serious intents. She is ready to surpass her limits and her plan is to showcase her most severe fighting skills during the rematch. But what is the “Manifesto” Kana is talking about? Let’s try to look at the true intent of this maverick facing the final battle. (Interview and editorial works: Fumio Tokita)

Interviewer: Right after your last battle, you said that you want revenge…

Kana: Well… I’ve had that fight with Syuri and that made me feel like I was able to show everything I had been talking about in response to her. Meanwhile, right after the battle, I thought of having a rematch before the fire inside me goes out.

Interviewer: So that was a certain self-esteem, telling you that there should be another fight between Syuri and Kana?

Kana: Exactly. So I’ve been talking about this since the beginning, but Syuri was a wrestler who didn’t know much about female professional wrestling, therefore we had this fight.

Interviewer: I know that opinions vary, but this must have been your best fight, right?

Kana: That’s right. This was my best fight. Even though I lost… it was a pity, but I’ve gained a lot of things and these were more important to me than the fact of losing the game. What’s more, it was a fight during which I could showcase many things to other female professional wrestlers.

Interviewer: In this sense, the establishment of the SMASH organization is definitely a fortunate thing for you, isn’t it?

Kana: Undoubtedly. Without SMASH these things would have been impossible to showcase and there would have been no place to use these properly. There were places rejecting me saying that they are not willing to accept someone saying such things. I received various feedback from various places, therefore I’m grateful to SMASH and to TAJIRI who accepted me.

Interviewer: The hatred from Syuri towards you seems to be ceasing. Your strategies in the rematch will be very different, right? Don’t you have any apprehensions?

Kana: Not really, I thought that if we have a fight Syuri’s feelings will change. What, did she say something about this? She was moved emotionally, wasn’t she? I thought that this will inevitably happen. Rather, she likes me too much and I think things will happen against her will. (laughs) Didn’t she say this?

Interviewer: No she did not!

Kana: Oh… really? That’s weird.

Interviewer: In the first place, because you don’t hate Syuri, do you?

Kana: I like her! I like her! There is nothing I can do about this (laughs). I’ll sacrifice her, that’s it. But the fact that her hatred disappeared happened according to my expectations. We’ll collide in a different way, and the battle will change forms. I think this will be interesting. I’m planning to use that thing I obtained in the last fight and my ideas will manifest in the ring. In other words, my plan is to perform the last rites that are understood only ​in the small world of female professional wrestling.

Interviewer: Asking for a rematch within such a short period of time is not common. Were you certain that you would get the green light when you told your intentions to TAJIRI?

Kana: I was pretty sure that TAJIRI would understand me. When I contacted TAJIRI, I was told the following: “I know that you are not saying that you want to repeat it, because losing the battle made you feel frustrated, so let’s give it another try!”. When I heard this, I was sure that we were thinking in the same way.

Interviewer: In this regard, there was something else that caused troubles. Is it appropriate to think of the thing so-called “Manifesto” as something that has already been ready in you and your plan is to showcase it soon?

Kana: Correct. This is the clear manifestation of my intentions. I’m going to showcase the manifestation of my ideas that’s essential for the creation of the Second World during the next event.

Interviewer: When exposing this to a third party, there must be unjust suspicions about professional wrestling taboos or that is to say latent destructive elements.

Kana: Well… doesn’t this make you guys more excited?

Interviewer: Since when did you have the idea of showcasing the “Manifesto”?

Kana: Since the last battle, when I grasped that response. Because, you know… I had been hearing in past tournaments that she is a little troublemaker and that was it. I was supposed to show it in these tournaments, but I was told otherwise. Therefore, even though I was supposed to present a theme, I didn’t have the chance. I think the opportunity to show it on the SMASH stage is a good thing.

Interviewer: It might be an inappropriate request, but would you mind us writing a special issue about the “Manifesto” in the Professional Wrestling Weekly Magazine?

Kana: Well… Let me think about it!

The post Translation of Kana’s Interview in Weekly Pro Wrestling on 8/25/10 appeared first on Joshi City.