Sumie Sakai
| Sumie Sakai | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Ring name(s) | Sumie Sakai Yellow Michinoku Ranger |
| Billed height | 1.55 m (5 ft 1 in) |
| Billed weight | 54 kg (120 lb) |
| Born | November 24, 1971 [1] Suzuka, Mie, Japan |
| Resides | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Billed from | Osaka Tokyo Yokkaichi |
| Trained by | Japan Jaguar Yokota Lioness Asuka Cooga Bison Kimura United States Steve Bradley Killer Kowalski Slyck Wagner Brown Bill Scott |
| Debut | April 20, 1997 |
Sumie Sakai (坂井澄江 Sakai Sumie) born November 11, 1971) is a Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. She currently resides in the United States, appearing with professional wrestling promotions in the northeastern United States such as Women's Extreme Wrestling and Chikara.
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[edit] Early life
As a young woman, Sakai practiced judo. From 1995 to 1997, she halted her practice of judo to work with senior citizens at the Kasugamachi Care Center in Kanazawa, Ishikawa.
[edit] Professional wrestling career
[edit] Japan
Sakai became involved in wrestling when her friend and fellow judo practitioner, Megumi Yabushita, invited her to join the wrestling industry. Sakai trained under Jaguar Yokota and made her debut on April 20, 1997 with the Yoshimoto Ladies Pro Wrestling promotion, facing Yabushita in the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. She went on to form a tag team with Yabushita named Yabusaka (ヤブサカ).
Later in 1997, Sakai began wrestling for Yokota's JDStar promotion, where she won both the JDStar Junior Championship and the JDStar Queen of the Ring Championship. She also won the Women's Championship of the affiliated American Wrestling Federation and the Tag Team Championship of the affiliated Trans-World Wrestling Federation. In 1999, she suffered a broken leg while wrestling Lioness Asuka. While rehabilitating, Sakai became enamored of American professional wrestling, and resolved to one day wrestle in the United States.
While in Japan, Sakai faced several prominent male Japanese wrestlers, including Dick Togo, The Great Sasuke and Jinsei Shinzaki. She furthered her training under Bison Kimura, Cooga and Lioness Asuka.
[edit] United States
Sakai wrestled her first match in the United States in 2002. In May 2002, she began a three month tour of the US, where she feuded with Mercedes Martinez in New England Championship Wrestling.[2] While in the promotion, she and Martinez traded the North American Women's Championship, but Sakai was champion when she returned to Japan.[2] In 2003, she left JDStar and relocated to the United States.
In December 2003 and January 2004, Sakai appeared with Ring of Honor, defeating Alison Danger and losing to April Hunter. She returned to Ring of Honor on August 20, 2005, losing to Lacey at Do or Die 5.
On April 17, 2005, Sakai organised "WE LOVE SABU", a pair of shows held at the Differ Ariake Arena in Tokyo. "WE LOVE SABU" was organised in support of Terry "Sabu" Brunk, an American wrestler who had been afflicted with a serious virus in the summer of 2004, with the proceeds of the show going towards paying Sabu's medical bills. The show featured Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling alumni such as Masato Tanaka and Extreme Championship Wrestling alumni such as The Sandman. Sabu eventually made a complete recovery, returning to the ring on May 21, 2005.
In 2009, Sakai began training with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Bill Scott. She currently holds a blue belt.
[edit] Mixed martial arts
Sakai made her mixed martial arts debut on October 14, 2006, fighting American kickboxer Amy Davis in a bout promoted by the Primal Tribe Fighting Club as part of the Xtreme Fight Series II event. The bout ended in a no contest at the end of the first three-minute long round after Davis suffered an arm injury and was unable to continue as a result of an armbar applied by Sakai.
[edit] Mixed martial arts record
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 6 matches | 2 wins | 3 losses |
| By knockout | 0 | 1 |
| By submission | 2 | 1 |
| By decision | 0 | 1 |
| By disqualification | 0 | 0 |
| Draws | 0 | |
| No contests | 1 | |
| Result | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 2-3 | Iman Achhal | TKO (punches) | Ultimate Warrior Challenge 7 | October 3, 2009 | 2 | 2:30 | Fairfax, Virginia, United States | |
| Loss | 2-2 | Jessica Penne | Submission (armbar) | Fatal Femmes Fighting 2 | July 14, 2007 | 3 | 0:33 | Compton, California, United States | |
| Win | 2-1 | Amber McCoy | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Brawl at Bourbon Street | May 25, 2007 | 1 | 0:18 | Illinois, United States | |
| Loss | 1-1 | Jessica Aguilar | Decision (unanimous) | Combat Fighting Championship 3 | February 17, 2007 | 3 | 5:00 | Orlando, Florida, United States | |
| Win | 1-0 | Melissa Vasquez | Submission (armbar) | Freestyle Combat Challenge 25 | January 13, 2007 | 1 | N/A | Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States | |
| NC | 0-0 | Amy Davis | NC (confusion over rules) | Xtreme Fight Series 2 | October 14, 2006 | 1 | 3:0 | Boise, Idaho, United States |
[edit] In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Signature moves
-
- Tara Bush
-
- "Pune Tang"[5] (WEW)
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
-
- AJW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Yuko Kosugi
- American Wrestling Federation
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- AWF Women's Championship (2 times)
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- JDStar Junior Championship (1 time)
- JDStar Queen of the Ring Championship (1 time)
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- PWI ranked her #20 of the best 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2008.[7]
- Pro Wrestling Unplugged
-
- PWU Women's Championship (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling WORLD-1
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- Pro Wrestling WORLD-1 Women's Championship (1 time)[8]
- Trans-World Wrestling Federation
-
- TWWF Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Cooga (1), Hiroyo Mutoh (1) and Megumi Yabushita (1)
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- WEW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Annie Social [9]
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Sumie Sakai at Sherdog.com". http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Sumie-Sakai-19412. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
- ^ a b c Clapp, John (December 13, 2006). "Mercedes Martinez: Unlike any other". SLAM! Wrestling. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2006/12/06/2668982.html. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
- ^ a b "Sumie Sakai's personal notes". http://www.puroresuya.com/sumie1.html.
- ^ "Sumie Sakai at Glory Wrestling". http://www.glorywrestling.com/gg/SumieSakai/SS.asp.
- ^ "Sumie Sakai at Women's Extreme Wrestling". http://www.wextremew.com/talent.asp?id=95.
- ^ "Independent Wrestling Results - June 2002". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/other/2002-06.html. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
- ^ "The PWI Female 50 Rankings: Who Is The Top Women's Wrestler In The World?". PWPix.net. 2008-09-18. http://www.pwpix.net/pwpixnews/headlines/223777233.php. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
- ^ "Pro Wrestling WORLD-1 Women's Championship". titlehistories.com. http://www.titlehistories.com/Pro_Wrestling_World_1.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
- ^ "Independent Wrestling Results - May 2007". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/other/2007-05.html. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
[edit] References
- Bobish, Seguin Win at XFS II
- Sumie Sakai at Bodyslamming.com
- Sumie Sakai at Cagematch.net
- Sumie Sakai at GloryWrestling.com
- Sumie Sakai at Puroresuya.com
- Sumie Sakai Debuts in America
- WE LOVE SABU 4/17/05 Shows
