AKINO
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| Mika Akino Image:Akino-lg.jpg | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | AKINO, Noki-A |
| Billed height | 5'3" (160 cm) |
| Billed weight | 135 lbs (61 kg) |
| Born | October 24, 1973 |
| Debut | July 21, 1998 |
Mika Akino, better known as AKINO, is a female joshi wrestler . Billed from Honshū, she started late in the sport and didn't debut until the age of 25. Trained by Mariko Yoshida, she proved to have an innate ring presence and excelled at the sport.
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Early career
AKINO debuted in the newly formed federation ARSION (then run by Aja Kong) as Mika Akino. In her first months she floated around and tagged with fellow rookie Ayako Hamada now and again. Her most notable match was for the Queen of ARSION title, against her mentor, Yoshida. This match is considered by some to be the quintessential rookie versus veteran match of the 1990s, and both women were praised for their performance.
It wasn't long before Akino was repackaged as AKINO, and placed in the stable called CAZAI, or Girls with Attitude. Fellow members included tag team partner Hamada, Ai Fujita and Candy Okutsu. The heel stable gain noteriety and popularity within ARSION. Hamada and AKINO eventually won the Twin Star of ARSION tag team championship, which set the stage for possibly both women's biggest match, in 1999.
Wrestling as HamaKINO, the two champions entered a storyline with popular tag team LCO (Las Cachorrus Orientales), made up of Mima Shimoda and Estuko Mita. The story culminated in a bloody brawl that was later considered one of the matches of the year. Held at the Carnival '99 show, the match skyrocketed the popularity of HamaKINO, and cemented the two women as draws for the promotion.
The group split up later, and AKINO went on to win the Sky High of ARSION title from Chapparita ASARI.
Kong left ARSION after disputes with Rossy Ogawa, and joshi legend Lioness Asuka took her place. Hamada left not long after, and AKINO stayed. While she never won the Queen of ARSION title, she was involved in several spotlight storylines and matches, including tagging with Asuka and competing against Michiko Ohmukai.
[edit] Leaving ARSION
After Asuka left, wrestler Yumiko Hotta took over and renamed ARSION AtoZ. In 2003 AKINO parted ways with the promotion, and declared herself a freelancer. Her mentor and friend Yoshida left AtoZ as well, as did wrestler Baby-M (at that time billed as Baby-A).
AKINO began performing with other promotions, like Jd' and JWP. She also began training in mixed martial arts (MMA), and competed at the LoveImpact show, on February 8, 2004. She KO'd her opponent, a middle cup tournament winner, less than a minute into the match. She also competed at the SmackGirl show, on August 5, 2004, and went all three rounds against her opponent, winning by split decision.
During this time AKINO wrestled primarily in Jd', JWP, and GAEA.
[edit] Forming M's Style
After leaving AtoZ, AKINO joined with three other joshi wrestlers to form a new promotion. Her long time friend Mariko Yoshida and fellow ARSION wrestler Michiko Ohmukai joined her, and rising star Momoe Nakinishi also jumped on board. The name of their promotion, M's Style, stemmed from the fact that all four women's first names started with the letter "M".
M's Style held its first show in April of 2004. At the time, the promotion was thought to be the future of joshi puroresu, and had been rumored to be working with puroresu powerhouse New Japan Pro Wrestling. Nothing came of the partnership, and the promotion suffered another blow.
Momoe Nakinishi announced her retirement the same year, with nagging injuries being among the top reasons. Many in the joshi fan community considered this a death knell for M's Style, and expected the promotion to go under.
Surprisingly, it has stayed open. Running a show once a month, AKINO and Ohmukai still remain, with Yoshida ocassionally wrestling, though she left to open Ibuki to train up the next generation of joshi wrestlers.
[edit] Present
Currently, AKINO still freelances while co-running M's Style. She teaches classes in puroresu at the U-FILE training center. One of her most notable students, who was also trained by Yoshida, is Ayumi Kurihara, who has tagged with AKINO several times and also wrestles in M's Style. AKINO has held tag championships with Ranmaru and Tsubasa Kurakagi, and has held many singles titles as both AKINO and her heel alter-ego Noki-A.
[edit] Finishing/Signature Moves
Tope Con Hilo
Tornado A
Aki-Imploder - Wrist-Clutch Exploder
Noki-A Backbreaker
[edit] Championships and Accomplishments
- ARSION
-
- Sky High of ARSION (2 times)
- Twin Star of ARSION (1 time) - with Ayako Hamada
- JWP Project
-
- JWP Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Tsubasa Kuragaki
[edit] External links
- AKINO fansite Fansite is in Japanese, but has an enormous photo gallery plus detailed championship listings.
- M's Style M's Style homepage, in Japanese.
- Sky Perfect AKINO's official website, includes blog. In Japanese.
- Smarkschoice Smarkschoice joshi forum. One of the best English information sources on the net for joshi puroresu.
