is a Japanese

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

and former

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

. She is best known for her extensive tenure in

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was s ...

, where she was the inaugural and longest reigning

Women of Honor Champion The Women of Honor World Championship was a women's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). History At Final Battle, December 15, 2017, it was announced t ...

Early life

As a young woman, Sakai practiced

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...

. From 1995 to 1997, she halted her practice of judo to work with

senior citizens Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

at the Kasugamachi Care Center in

Kanazawa, Ishikawa is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Overview Cityscape File:もてな� ...

Professional wrestling career

Japan

Sakai became involved in wrestling when her friend and fellow judo practitioner, Megumi Yabushita, invited her to join the wrestling sport. Sakai trained under

Jaguar Yokota (born July 25, 1961) is a Japanese professional wrestler and later wrestling trainer, who wrestled under the name . She is widely considered one of the greatest female wrestlers of all time, and, during her heyday in the early 1980s, was consid ...

and made her debut on April 20, 1997 with the Yoshimoto Ladies Pro Wrestling promotion, facing Yabushita in the

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

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. She went on to form a tag team with Yabushita named . Later in 1997, Sakai began wrestling for Yokota's

JDStar JDStar (also spelt Jd'), was a women's professional wrestling promotion based in Tokyo, Japan. In the wake of the joshi puroresu boom of the early 1990s, several different groups opened with distinct approaches. The Jd'Star promotion, with its ...

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 is a Japanese retired professional wrestler better known by her ring name . Along with long-time tag team partner Chigusa Nagayo she formed Crush Gals, known for their mainstream popularity in the 1980s, and for being one of the most successf ...

. 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 , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler. Togo is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of the Bullet Club stable, and its sub-group House of Torture. Togo has spent the majority of ...

The Great Sasuke , born July 18, 1969), is a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and politician, currently wrestling for Michinoku Pro Wrestling (MPW) under the ring name . Aside from professional wrestling, he is also a former Iwate Prefectural Assembly ...

and

Jinsei Shinzaki Kensuke Shinzaki (新崎健介 ''Shinzaki Kensuke'', born December 2, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling executive, better known by his ring name, Jinsei Shinzaki (新崎人生 ''Shinzaki Jinsei''). He is curr ...

. She furthered her training under Bison Kimura, Cooga and Lioness Asuka.

United States

Independent wrestling (2002–present)

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 Jazmin Benitez (born November 17, 1980) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Mercedes Martinez. She also appears for AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor (ROH), where she is a form ...

New England Championship Wrestling New England Championship Wrestling (NECW) is an independent professional wrestling promotion based in the Northeastern United States that has promoted events since 2000. Currently owned and operated by Sheldon Goldberg, is one of the top indepen ...

. While in the promotion, she and Martinez traded the

North American Women's Championship, but Sakai was champion when she returned to Japan. In 2003, she left JDStar and relocated to the United States. 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 A virus is a wikt:submicroscopic, submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and ...

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 Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held thei ...

alumni such as

Masato Tanaka is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in Japan where he was a one-time FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion and a one-time WEW World Heavyweight Champion and in Ext ...

and

Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

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. On August 9, 2019, Sakai defeated PCW Ultra Woman’s Champion Tessa Blanchard for the title.

Ring of Honor

Early appearances (2002–2005)

Sakai first appeared in

(ROH) in June 2002 and defeated

Simply Luscious Veronica "Ronnie" Carrejo-Brazier (born July 19, 1973), also known by her ring name Simply Luscious, is an American professional wrestler best known for her stint in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Since 2004, she has been performing on the ind ...

in the very first women's match on an ROH card. She returned in December 2003 and January 2004, defeating Alison Danger and losing to Alexis Laree and

April Hunter April Hunter (born September 24, 1976) is an American retired professional wrestler, professional wrestling valet A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, ...

. She returned to ROH on August 20, 2005, losing to Lacey at ''Do or Die 5''.

Re-launched of Women of Honor division (2014–2017)

Sakai returned to ROH in 2014 and been performing regularly for ROH since 2015 for its Women of Honor division. On September 26, 2015, Sakai faced Veda Scott in a losing effort as part of "Women of Honor Wednesday" program. Sakai made her televised debut on the June 26, 2016, episode of '' ROH TV'', where Sakai alongside Mary Dobson and Thunderkitty faced the team of

Allysin Kay Allysin Kay (born November 5, 1987) is an American professional wrestler, who currently wrestles for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and is a former NWA World Women's Tag Team champion. She is also a one-time NWA World Women's Champion. ...

, Amber Gallows and Scott in a losing effort.

Women of Honor World Champion (2018)

Since 2018, Sakai took part in the tournament to crown the inaugural ROH Women of Honor World champion, where she won in the first round (at ROH 16th Anniversary Show) against

Hana Kimura was a Japanese joshi puroresu professional wrestler. She worked for native companies in her country such as World Wonder Ring Stardom from 2016 to 2020, and Wrestle-1, in addition to having made appearances for foreign companies such as Ring o ...

. Sakai became the inaugural Women of Honor champion at

Supercard of Honor XII Supercard of Honor XII was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by American promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), which took place Saturday, April 7, 2018, at the UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. Wrestlers from New Japan Pro ...

after defeating Kelly Klein. During her reign, Sakai was able to retain her title against various competitors such as

Madison Rayne Ashley Nichole Lomberger (née Simmons; born February 5, 1986) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling under the ring name Madison Rayne, where she is also the coach of the women's division. She is best know ...

and

Tenille Dashwood Tenille Averil Dashwood (born 1 March 1989) is an Australian professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Emma. Dashwood started training for professional wrestling in Australia i ...

. On Finale Battle, Sakai lost the championship to Klein in a Four Corner Survival match which also involved Karen Q and Rayne.

Various competitors and heel turn (2019–2020)

On January 26, 2019, she received her first Women of Honor World Championship match since losing the title, when she challenged Klein, but was unsuccessful. On January 11, 2020, at the ''Saturday Night at Center Stage'', Sakai teamed with Nicole Savoy when they faced The Allure (

Angelina Love Lauren Williams (born September 13, 1981) is a Canadians, Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler She is best known for her time in Impact Wrestling, TNA/Impact Wrestling under the ring name Angelina Love. She is currently signed w ...

and Mandy Leon) in a losing effort. After the match, Sakai attacked Savoy out of frustration, turning heel in the process. The following day, Sakai defeated Savoy in their second encounter against each other.

Return after COVID-19 pandemic (2021–present)

With ROH returning after the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, Sakai made had her first match over a year on May 5, 2021, where she defeated Vita VonStarr, working as a face again. On July 7, Sakai received a "Ticket to Gold" to compete at a tournament to crown the inaugural ROH Women's World Champion. On July 30, Sakai lost to Rok-C at the first round of the tournament. After her loss to Rok-C in the ROH Women's World title tournament and the company ROH being sold to

Tony Khan Antony Rafiq Khan (born October 10, 1982) is an American businessman, promoter, and sports executive. He is known for his involvement in American football, professional wrestling and soccer. He is best known as the founder and co-owner of All ...

she has not been seen in Ring of Honor.

Mixed martial arts

Sakai made her

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

debut on October 14, 2006, fighting American

kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, gener ...

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 An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armlock that hyper-extends the arm is known as an armbar, and it includes the traditional armbar, p ...

applied by Sakai.

Mixed martial arts record

, Loss , align=center, 2–4 , Jamie Lowe , TKO (punches) , Cage Fury Fighting Championships 19 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:32 ,

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–2 ,

Jessica Penne Jessica Marie Penne (born January 30, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial artist. Penne currently competes in the Women's Strawweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). She was the first Invicta FC Atomweight Cha ...

, Submission (armbar) , Fatal Femmes Fighting 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:33 ,

Compton, California Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and, on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city in Los Angeles County to incorporate ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Amber McCoy , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Brawl at Bourbon Street , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:18 ,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–1 ,

Jessica Aguilar Jessica Aguilar (born May 8, 1982) is a Mexican- American mixed martial artist who competes in RIZIN. At the time of her voluntary departure from World Series of Fighting, she was the reigning WSOF Women's Strawweight Champion. Aguilar previousl ...

, Decision (unanimous) , Combat Fighting Championship 3 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Orlando, Florida, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Melissa Vasquez , Submission (armbar) , Freestyle Combat Challenge 25 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

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, United States ,

Championships and accomplishments

All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling , nicknamed Zenjo (全女: 全 meaning "All", 女 meaning "Woman") was a '' joshi puroresu'' ( women's professional wrestling) promotion established in 1968 by Takashi Matsunaga and his brothers. The group held their first card on June 4 of tha ...

AJW Tag Team Championship The AJW Tag Team Championship was the secondary tag team title in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. The title was introduced in 1986 and was retired in April 2005 when the promotion closed. Title his ...

( 1 time) – with Yuko Kosugi * American Wrestling Federation ** 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) * PCW ULTRA ** PCW ULTRA Women's Championship (1 time) * ''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' ** Ranked No. 12 of the top 50 female singles wrestlers in the '' PWI Female 50'' in 2018 * Pro Wrestling Unplugged ** PWU Women's Championship (1 time) * Pro Wrestling World-1 ** Pro Wrestling World-1 Women's Championship (1 time) *

** Women of Honor World Championship (1 time, inaugural) ** Women of Honor Championship Tournament (2018) ** ROH Year-End Award (1 time) *** WOH Wrestler of the Year (2018) * Trans-World Wrestling Federation ** TWWF Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Cooga (1), Hiroyo Mutoh (1) and Megumi Yabushita (1) * Valkyrie Women's Professional Wrestling ** International Joshi Grand Prix (2014) * Women's Extreme Wrestling ** WEW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Annie Social

References

Notes

''Bobish, Seguin Win at XFS II''

Sumie Sakai at Cagematch.net

Sumie Sakai at GloryWrestling.com

External links

Sumie Sakai at Sherdog.com

Sumie Sakai at WExtremeW.com

Sumie's Myspace Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakai, Sumie 1971 births Japanese female professional wrestlers Japanese female judoka Japanese female mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Living people Sportspeople from Mie Prefecture Sportspeople from Philadelphia 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers Women of Honor World Champions