Sakura Hirota

Sakura Hirota
Hirota in April 2023
Born (1978-04-12) April 12, 1978 (age 46)[1]
Owariasahi, Japan
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Kyusei Ninja Sakumaru
Stan Hansen Hirota
Kinnikuman Hirota
Bolshoi Hirota
Sakura Hirota
Billed height158 cm (5 ft 2 in)[2]
Billed weight58 kg (128 lb)
Trained byChigusa Nagayo
Debut1996

Sakura Hirota (広田さくら, Hirota sakura) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer and is best known for her tenure with the Japanese promotions, Gaea Japan, Pro Wrestling Wave and Oz Academy.[3]

Hirota's later career is characterized by being a comedy wrestler who oft appears as a doppelgänger of other wrestlers, dressing up as and portraying their mannerisms in an exaggerated, poorly executed way for comedic effect. Hirota sometimes even ironically imitates her own opponent, examples include: Saki Akai and Asuka.

Professional wrestling career

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Independent circuit (1996-present)

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Hirota made her professional wrestling debut at AJW Discover New Heroine, an event promoted by All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling on August 12, 1996 where she competed in a tag team tournament in which she paired up with her trainer Chigusa Nagayo, falling short to Aja Kong and Yoshiko Tamura in a first-round match.[4]

As a freelancer, Hirota is known for working with various promotions. At WAVE The Virgin Mary Reina De Reinas 2012, a cross-over event produced by Pro Wrestling Wave in partnership with Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide on November 27, 2012, Hirota scored a victory over Ran Yu-Yu.[5] At JWP Recapture In Shinjuku, an event promoted by JWP Joshi Puroresu on October 25, 2015, she teamed up with Kazuki in a losing effort to Hanako Nakamori and Makoto.[6] At Seadlinnng The Second Match ~ Up To You! from November 25, 2015, Hirota teamed up with Emi Sakura in a losing effort to Takako Inoue and Yumiko Hotta.[7] At the finals of the 2020 D-Oh Grand Prix of DDT Pro Wrestling from December 28, 2018, she fell short to Saki Akai.[8] At Hana Kimura Memorial Show, a show which portraited one year since the passing of Hana Kimura on May 23, 2021, Hirota competed in a 28-person All-Star Battle Royal which also involved Cima, Masato Tanaka, Yusuke Kodama, Jun Kasai, Jinsei Shinzaki and many others.[9]

Ice Ribbon (2012-2019)

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She had her first match for Ice Ribbon at New Ice Ribbon #424 from October 28, 2012 she teamed up with Hamuko Hoshi to defeat Cherry and Meari Naito.[10] At New Ice Ribbon #696 on December 5, 2015, she unsuccessfully challenged Neko Nitta and Kyuri for the Triangle Ribbon Championship in a three-way match.[11]

Oz Academy (2011-present)

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Hirota has a tenure with Oz Academy. At Heart on Wave on September 23, 2014 she teamed up with Mayumi Ozaki as "Ozakura Princess" defeated Aja Kong and Tsubasa Kuragaki in the finals of a five tag team tournament to win the vacant Oz Academy Tag Team Championship.[12] At WAVE/OZ Academy OZABU Spin Off, a cross-over event promoted by both Oz Academy and Pro Wrestling Wave on June 7, 2015, she competed in a 19-person battle royal also involving Tsubasa Kuragaki, Mio Shirai, Kaori Yoneyama, Manami Toyota and others.[13]

Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling (2011-present)

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Hirota is also known for her tenure with Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling. At house show hosted by the promotion on January 20, 2019, she participated in a 15-woman battle royal also involving notable opponents such as Alex Lee, Kaoru Maeda, Meiko Satomura, Sareee and others.[14] At another house show from March 11, 2019 she unsuccessfully challenged Chihiro Hashimoto for the Sendai Girls World Championship.[15]

Pro Wrestling Wave (2010-present)

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Hirota is known for competing in various of the promotion's signature events. One of them is Catch the Wave, making her first appearance at the 2014 edition of the event where she placed herself in the "Adeyaka" block and scoring a total of six points after competing against Yumi Ohka, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tomoka Nakagawa, Kyoko Kimura, Shuu Shibutani and Yuu Yamagata.[16] On year later at the 2014 edition of the tournament, she scored three victories and six losses after competing against the likes of Kana, Hikaru Shida, Mika Iida, Cherry, Ryo Mizunami, Misaki Ohata, Kaho Kobayashi and Rina Yamashita.[17]

As for the Dual Shock Wave, she made her first appearance at the 2014 edition in which she competed against teams such as Fairy Family (Dynamite Kansai and Fairy Nipponbashi) and Merazoma (Melanie Cruise and Moeka Haruhi), she teamed up with Mika Iida as "Sakuragohan" and made it to the finals from October 15 where they also dropped the Wave Tag Team Championship to Revolucion Amandla (Kyoko Kimura and Tomoka Nakagawa).[18] At the 2017 edition of the event she teamed up with Saki as "Pyonzu, Zu" and fell short to Natsu & Natsuri (Natsumi Maki and Sumire Natsu).[19]

Personal life

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Hirota is a mother of twins, a boy and a girl. She once brought them at DDT All Out Day on July 29, 2019 since she did not find any babysitter for them.[20]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

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  1. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "Sakura Hirota • General Information". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  2. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Sakura Hirota/Career Data". cagematch.de (in German). Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  3. ^ Internet Wrestling Database (IWD). "Sakura Hirota Profile & Match Listing". profightdb.com. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  4. ^ Quebrada. "Shukan Puroresu Video Vol. 24 Manatsu no Ya no Budokan (Budokan Midsummer Night) DISCOVER NEW HEROINE Commercial Tapes 8/12/96 & 8/13/96 Tokyo Nippon Budokan". quebrada.net. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  5. ^ Baseball Magazine (November 27, 2012). WAVE+AAAコラボ興行~The Virgin Mary~Reina de Reinas 2012 東京・後楽園ホール. bbm-mobile.com (in Japanese). Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  6. ^ Quebrada (October 25, 2015). "JWP Nico Recapture in Shijuku 10/25/15 Tokyo Shinjuku Face". quebrada.net. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  7. ^ Purolove (November 25, 2015). "SEAdLINNNG "UP TO YOU!", 25.11.2015 Tokyo Korakuen Hall". purolove.com. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  8. ^ DDT Pro Wrestling (December 28, 2018). "DDT ProWrestling" D王 GRAND PRIX 2020 the FINAL!!. ddtpro.com (in Japanese). Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  9. ^ Klyn, Parker (May 22, 2021). "HANA KIMURA MEMORIAL SHOW LIVE RESULTS: KAGETSU, OTHERS IN ACTION". f4wonline.com. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  10. ^ Ice Ribbon (October 28, 2012). ◆2012年10月28日 開始時間 13時00分~ 2012横浜リボンIII 13時00分開始. iceribbon.com (in Japanese). Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  11. ^ Ice Ribbon (December 5, 2015). ◆2015年1 月05日 開始時間 18時00分~ / 開場時刻 17時30分 アイスリボン696 18時00分開始. iceribbon.com (in Japanese). Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  12. ^ "2014/09/23(火) 12:00~ 「 Heart on wave 」". Oz Academy (in Japanese). Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  13. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (June 7, 2015). "WAVE/OZ Academy OZABU Spin Off". cagematch.net (in German). Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  14. ^ Sendai Girls World Championship (January 20, 2019). 宮城 区文化センター大会(2019年1月) 2019年01月20日(日曜日) 14:00試合開始(13:30開場) 宮城野区文化センター 295人(超満員札止め). sendaigirls.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  15. ^ Sendai Girls World Championship (March 11, 2019). 新宿FACE大会(2019年3月) 2019年03月11日(月曜日) 19:00開始(18:30開場)新宿FACE 360人. sendaigirls.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  16. ^ "Catch The Wave Championship 2014". Pro Wrestling Wave (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  17. ^ Pro Wrestling Wave. "Virgin Killer". pro-w-wave.com (in Japanese). Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  18. ^ "Dual Shock Wave 2014 Weekday Wave vol-80". Pro Wrestling Wave (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 8, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  19. ^ Wave9・14ニコプロで公開記者会見. Pro Wrestling Wave (in Japanese). September 14, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  20. ^ DDT Pro Wrestling (July 29, 2019). "DDT ProWrestling" 闘うビアガーデン 2019 ~ALL OUT DAY~. ddtpro.com. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  21. ^ Wrestling Titles (August 18, 2021). "OZ Academy Tag Team Title". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  22. ^ "Best Wizard". Oz Academy (in Japanese). Ameba. January 13, 2015. Archived from the original on April 6, 2023. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  23. ^ a b c "「Catch the Wave 2014~波女決定決勝トーナメント~」". Pro Wrestling Wave (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 11, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  24. ^ "Catch the WAVE 2018~波女決勝戦~飯田美花引退「ごちそうさまでした!」". Pro Wrestling Wave (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 21, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  25. ^ 『CATCH THE WAVE 2024~決勝戦~』. Pro Wrestling Wave (in Japanese). July 14, 2024. Archived from the original on July 16, 2024. Retrieved July 29, 2024.