Sumie Sakai

For the Japanese actress, see Sumie Sakai (voice actress).
Sumie Sakai
Born (1971-11-24) November 24, 1971[1]
Suzuka, Mie, Japan
Residence Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Sumie Sakai
Yellow Michinoku Ranger
Billed height 1.55 m (5 ft 1 in)
Billed weight 54 kg (119 lb)
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 24, 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.

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.

Professional wrestling career

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.

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.

In 2012, Sakai joined Kurt Pellegrino's Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Belmar, NJ to better her BJJ and pursue her MMA career.

Mixed martial arts

Sakai made her mixed martial arts debut on October 14, 2006, fighting American kickboxer Amy Davis in a bout promoted by Tom Supnet of 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.

Mixed martial arts record

Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 2-4 Jamie Lowe TKO (punches) Cage Fury Fighting Championships 19 February 2, 2013 3 3:32 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
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

In wrestling

  • Tara Bush
  • "Pune Tang"[5] (WEW)

Championships and accomplishments

  • AWF Women's Championship (2 times)
  • JDStar Junior Championship (1 time)
  • JDStar Queen of the Ring Championship (1 time)
  • NECW North American Women's Championship (1 time)[2][6]
  • PWI ranked her #20 of the best 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2008.[7]
  • PWU Women's Championship (1 time)
  • Pro Wrestling WORLD-1 Women's Championship (1 time)[8]
  • TWWF Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Cooga (1), Hiroyo Mutoh (1) and Megumi Yabushita (1)
  • International Joshi Grand Prix (2014)
  • WEW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Annie Social [9]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Sumie Sakai at Sherdog.com". Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Clapp, John (December 13, 2006). "Mercedes Martinez: Unlike any other". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
  3. 1 2 "Sumie Sakai's personal notes".
  4. ↑ "Sumie Sakai at Glory Wrestling".
  5. ↑ "Sumie Sakai at Women's Extreme Wrestling".
  6. ↑ "Independent Wrestling Results - June 2002". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
  7. ↑ "The PWI Female 50 Rankings: Who Is The Top Women's Wrestler In The World?". PWPix.net. 2008-09-18. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  8. ↑ "Pro Wrestling WORLD-1 Women's Championship". titlehistories.com. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  9. ↑ "Independent Wrestling Results - May 2007". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-07-04.

References

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