| Kana | |
|---|---|
Kana in December 2010. |
|
| Ring name(s) | Kana Kana-hime[1] |
| Billed height | 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)[2] |
| Billed weight | 62 kg (140 lb)[2] |
| Born | September 26, 1981 [2] Osaka, Osaka[2] |
| Debut | June 16, 2004[2] |
Kanako Urai (浦井 佳奈子 Urai Kanako, born September 26, 1981)[2] is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Kana (華名 Kana). She is known for her stiff wrestling style, which includes various kicks and submission holds. She also works as a freelance graphic designer and video game journalist and through her work with Microsoft, she is often sponsored by the company, wearing an Xbox 360 logo on her gear. She is currently working most notably for Pro Wrestling Wave and Smash.[3][4][5]
Contents |
Urai, working originally as a graphic designer, decided to find a new career in professional wrestling, after becoming a fan of the likes of Keiji Mutoh, Satoru Sayama, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Antonio Inoki, Akira Maeda, Nobuhiko Takada, Masakatsu Funaki, Volk Han and Minoru Suzuki.[4] Urai, adopting the ring name Kana, made her professional wrestling debut for all female promotion AtoZ on June 16, 2004.[2] She would spend the first part of her career with AtoZ, before suddenly announcing her retirement due to chronic nephritis on March 19, 2006.[2][3] During her time away from the ring, Urai opened her own graphic design agency.[2] After spending a year and a half away from professional wrestling, Urai made a comeback on September 22, 2007, and began working as a freelancer for promotion such as Ice Ribbon, Japanese Women Pro-Wrestling Project (JWP), NEO Japan Ladies Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Wave and Pro Wrestling Zero1, while also forming the Passion Red stable with Nanae Takahashi, Natsuki☆Taiyo, Ray and Yumiko Hotta in NEO, which would become her new home promotion.[2] On October 10, 2009, Kana teamed with Takahashi to defeat Hiroyo Matsumoto and Kyoko Inoue for the NEO Tag Team Championship, Kana's first professional wrestling title.[6] They would hold the title for two months, before losing it to Ayumi Kurihara and Yoshiko Tamura on December 31, 2009.[6] On January 24, 2010, Kana announced that she had quit Passion Red.[7]
On April 29, 2010, Kana held her first own event, titled Kana Pro, which saw her lose to Meiko Satomura in the main event of the evening.[2][8] On August 22, Kana formed the Triple Tails stable with Io and Mio, the Shirai sisters and together the three of them would work for several promotions across Japan.[2] At the end of 2010, NEO Japan Ladies Pro Wrestling folded, after which Kana began working more regularly for Pro Wrestling Wave.[6] Kana Pro's second event took place on January 10, 2011, and saw Kana and Yuki Ishikawa lose to Carlos Amano and Yoshiaki Fujiwara in the main event.[2][8] Triple Tails also put together their own shows, which took place on February 13 and May 8, 2011.[8] On July 24, Kana defeated Ayumi Kurihara in the finals to win the 2011 Catch the Wave League.[9] On October 30, Kana and Kurihara defeated Ran YuYu and Toshie Uematsu to win the Dual Shock Wave 2011 tournament and become the first ever Wave Tag Team Champions.[10] Kana Pro's third event took place on September 24 and saw Kana lose to Kengo Mashimo in the main event.[8]
Kana made her debut for Yoshihiro Tajiri's new Smash promotion on June 25, 2010, losing to Syuri in the main event of Smash.4.[11] After the match Kana left the arena smiling and later challenged Syuri to a rematch, which was made official on June 30.[12] The rematch took place on July 24 at Smash.5 and saw Kana, now a full blown villain, defeat Syuri via submission in just three minutes.[11] Kana then began making challenges towards the men of Smash and entered a three match series working against the opposite sex, losing to Tajiri on December 24, defeating Jessica Love on January 30, 2011, and losing to Funaki on March 31.[13] In April Kana entered a feud with former WWE performer Serena, stemming from a comment she made, calling Kana a talented "amateur" wrestler, while she herself had worked for the top promotion in the world.[14] In response, Kana vowed to make Serena respect her.[4] The first encounter between the two took place on April 30 at Smash.16, when Serena teamed with Makoto and Syuri to defeat the Triple Tails in a six woman tag team match, when Serena pinned Kana with her finishing maneuver, the spear.[15] On May 3 at Smash.17, Serena defeated Kana with a spear in the first singles match between the two.[16] At the following event on June 9, Smash started a tournament to crown the inaugural Smash Diva Champion. In her first round match Kana defeated Lin "Bitch" Bairon.[17] On August 11 at Smash.20, Kana defeated Syuri to set up a rematch with Serena in the finals of the tournament.[18] On September 8, Kana defeated Serena to become the inaugural Smash Diva Champion.[19] On November 24 at Smash.23, Kana lost the Smash Diva Championship to Tomoka Nakagawa in her first defense.[20]
On August 3, 2011, it was reported that Kana would be making her debut in the United States in early October, working for all-female promotion Shimmer Women Athletes on 1 and 2 and for Chikara on 7 and 8.[3][21] In her Shimmer debut on Volume 41, Kana was shown in early segments ignoring Sara Del Rey and Cheerleader Melissa's welcoming, establishing herself as a tweener in the process. Later, she defeated Mia Yim in her first match for the promotion.[22] Later that same day on Volume 42, Kana defeated Del Rey via submission.[22] The following day on Volume 43, Kana was defeated by Cheerleader Melissa in a match to determine the number one contender to the Shimmer Championship.[23] Later that day, Kana defeated LuFisto on Volume 44 in her final match for the weekend.[23] The following weekend Kana made her debut for Chikara, defeating Jessie McKay in her first match on October 7 in Burlington, North Carolina.[24] The following day Kana was defeated by Sara Del Rey in the main event of a show in Kingsport, Tennessee.[25]
Urai is a graduate of the Osaka University of Arts Junior College.[26] She is a writer for Xbox Magazine and designs graphics for Nintendo DS and various mobile applications, while also owning a hair salon named Another Heaven in Yokohama.[4] Urai is a fan of American culture and media, including bands such as Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith and Bon Jovi, movies like The Godfather, Gran Torino, Platoon and Dances with Wolves and video games such as the Call of Duty series and games from Rockstar Games.[4]