, better known by her

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

, is a Japanese retired

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

. She is best known for her work with the ARSION

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within ...

, where she was also head trainer.

Professional wrestling career

Yoshida debuted for

All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling , nicknamed Zenjo (全女: 全 meaning "All", 女 meaning "Woman") was a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) professional wrestling promotion, promotion established in 1968 by Takashi Matsunaga and his brothers. The group held the ...

(AJW or ''Zenjo'') on October 10, 1988 at Tokyo's

Korakuen Hall is a sports arena in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, which has hosted boxing, professional wrestling, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and Lethwei matches. History On April 16, 1962, the Korakuen Hall was officially opened with a capacity of approximat ...

in a match against Keiko Waki. Before her neck injury in late 1992, which would cause her to miss two years of ring time, Yoshida was easily one of the best young stars in AJW, often showcasing

Lucha Libre ''Lucha libre'' (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has develope ...

-inspired aerial maneuvers to go along with her mat-work skills. In 1997, she left AJW to join

Aja Kong is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by her ring name . She currently makes appearances on the Japanese independent circuit and for Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (TJPW). She is the founder of the Arsion all-women professional wrestli ...

's Arsion promotion, becoming their head trainer. There she was repackaged as a technical wrestling master, and

push Push may refer to: * A type of force applied to an object Music * Mike Dierickx (born 1973), a Belgian producer also known as Push Albums * ''Push'' (Bros album), 1988 * ''Push'' (Gruntruck album), 1992 * ''Push'' (Jacky Terrasson album), 201 ...

ed as a major star. She has been nicknamed ''ARSION no Shinjutsu'', or "Arsion True Heart". Forgoing the high-flying techniques of her run in Zenjo, her style in Arsion was centered on mat wrestling and submission holds derived from

shoot wrestling Shoot wrestling is a Japanese hybrid grappling style and combat sport. Shoot wrestling incorporates techniques from various wrestling, submission grappling, kickboxing and karate styles. It was particularly inspired and influenced by catch ...

, along with more elaborate lucha-inspired submissions. In June 2005, she launched ''Ibuki'', a bi-monthly event series, with her intention to provide opportunities for young, up and coming wrestlers from different promotions to compete with each other and to challenge senior wrestlers like Yoshida herself. ''Ibuki'' has now gained high reputation among joshi puroresu fans in Japan. In 2006, Yoshida was presented with the Cauliflower Alley Club's Future Legend Award, becoming only the second female after

Cheerleader Melissa Melissa Anderson (born August 17, 1982) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Cheerleader Melissa. She is best known for her work in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where she worked as Alissa ...

, to win this award. Yoshida retired from professional wrestling on November 19, 2017, losing to her trainee

Hiroyo Matsumoto is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer. Emi Sakura gave her the nickname of because Matsumoto broke a wall in the Ichigaya arena during her Ice Ribbon debut. She is best known with other ...

in her final match. Mariko Yoshida 2008

Professional wrestling style and persona

Yoshida employed a submission-based style, based on her

training. Yoshida is the innovator of two finishing moves, an over-the-shoulder back-to-belly piledriver, which she calls the ''Air Raid Crash'' and a

headscissors Professional wrestling holds include a number of set moves and pins used by performers to immobilize their opponents or lead to a submission. This article covers the various pins, stretches and transition holds used in the ring. Some wrestlers use ...

shoulder lock, which she has named the ''Spider Twist''. Among her signature moves are the arm wrench inside cradle, a Cross armbar, sometimes proceeded by an

Oklahoma roll In professional wrestling, a pin is a move where a wrestler holds an opponent's shoulders to the mat in an attempt to score a fall. A pinfall is a common victory condition, where the attacker pins an opponent and the referee makes a three count ...

, a lifting double underhook facebuster, a running big boot and a

triangle choke A triangle choke, or sankaku-jime (三角絞) in judo, is a type of figure-four chokehold that encircles the opponent's neck and one arm with the legs in a configuration similar to the shape of a triangle. Applying pressure using both legs and ...

. She uses "

Fable Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a parti ...

" by

Robert Miles Roberto Concina (; 3 November 1969 – 9 May 2017), known professionally as Robert Miles, was an Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ. His 1995 composition "Children" sold more than 5 million copies and topped the charts worldwid ...

as her theme song.

Championships and accomplishments

AJW Championship The AJW Championship was a tertiary belt in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) promotion. The first champion, in 1980, was Rimi Yokota. During the title's history, no one held the belt more than two times. The belt was abandoned in 2005 after ...

( 1 time) **

AJW Tag Team Championship The AJW Tag Team Championship was the secondary tag team championship (professional wrestling), title in the Professional wrestling in Japan, Japanese professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestl ...

( 3 times) – with

Takako Inoue is a Japanese professional wrestler. She wrestled primarily for the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling promotion, and held several championships, primarily in tag team wrestling. She was well known as one-half of the tag team Double Inoue, whic ...

(2) and Rie Tamada (1) * Arsion **

Queen of Arsion Championship The was a women's professional wrestling championship in Japan owned by the Hyper Visual Fighting Arsion promotion. Like most professional wrestling championships, the title was won as a result of a scripted match. The championship, which was si ...

( 3 times) **

Twin Star of Arsion Championship Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) – with

(1) and

Lioness Asuka is a Japanese retired professional wrestler better known by her ring name . She was one half of the Crush Gals professional wrestling tag team, along with Chigusa Nagayo, who are known for their mainstream popularity in the 1980s, and for be ...

(1) **Zion '98 *

BattlARTS , more commonly referred to as simply Battlarts (also stylized as BattlARTS) was a professional wrestling promotion founded in 1996 by Yuki Ishikawa following the mass exodus he led from Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG) amidst the financial st ...

**King And Queens Tournament (2000) – with

Alexander Otsuka , better known by his ring name Alexander Otsuka and Otoko Sakari, is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. Having competed for multiple pro wrestling organizations in his career, most recently with Antonio Inoki's In ...

and Yumi Fukawa *

Cauliflower Alley Club The Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America. Established in 1965 by Mike Mazurki and Art Ab ...

**Future Legend Award (

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

) *

ChickFight ChickFight was a women's professional wrestling promotion based in San Francisco, California. History ChickFight originally began as an eight-woman tournament with the first one taking place on October 29, 2004, in Hayward, California as part of ...

** ChickFight II ** ChickFight III *

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as (EMLL) (''Mexican Wrestling Enterprise''). Founded in 1933, it is the oldest profe ...

CMLL World Women's Championship The CMLL World Women's Championship (''Campeonato Mundial Femenil de CMLL'' in Spanish language, Spanish) is the professional wrestling championship, championship in women's professional wrestling that is most highly promoted by the Mexican lucha ...

( 1 time)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshida, Mariko 1970 births Living people 1988 professional wrestling debuts 20th-century female professional wrestlers 20th-century Japanese professional wrestlers 21st-century female professional wrestlers 21st-century Japanese professional wrestlers Japanese female professional wrestlers People from Onomichi, Hiroshima Sportspeople from Hiroshima Prefecture CMLL World Women's Champions AJW Champions AJW Tag Team Champions Queen of Arsion Champions Twin Star of Arsion Champions