Arsion (full official name Hyper Visual Fighting Arsion; frequently styled as ARSION) was a ''

joshi puroresu is the predominant style of professional wrestling that has developed in Japan. The term comes from the Japanese pronunciation of , which is shortened to puroresu. The term became popular among English-speaking fans due to Hisaharu Tanabe's ac ...

'' (

women's professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a dramatic enactment of wrestling as a spectator sport. As is the norm for this sport, women's professional wrestling is organized by wrestling federations called promotions. Some promotions are exclusively for women ...

)

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

established in 1997 by

Aja Kong is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by her ring name . She is the founder of the Arsion all-women professional wrestling promotion and has won several championships in both singles and tag team divisions throughout her career, pri ...

. The first event took place on February 18, 1998 and was called "Virgin".

History

In its initial conception, the major key figures in the company were founder

, president, ex- AJW businessman Hiroshi "Rossy" Ogawa, manager Sakie Hasegawa and trainer Mariko Yoshida. Arsion's first event, entitled ''Virgin'', took place in front of a sell-out crowd in Tokyo on February 18, 1998. Arsion's wrestlers were trained at the promotion's dojo daily and attended

Pancrase Pancrase Inc. is a mixed martial arts promotion company founded in Japan in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. The name was based on pankration, a fighting sport in the Ancient Olympic Games. Suzuki and Funaki ...

and Battlarts dojo events weekly, learning the styles of

professional wrestling 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 ...

, ''

lucha libre Lucha libre (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term used in Latin America for professional wrestling. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form ...

'' and

shoot wrestling Shoot wrestling is a combat sport that originated in Japan's professional wrestling circuit of the 1970s. Professional wrestlers of that era attempted to use more realistic or even "full contact" moves in their matches to increase their exciteme ...

. The following year, in an attempt to boost audience numbers, Arsion put wrestlers Ai Fujita, AKINO,

Ayako Hamada is a Mexican professional wrestler. During her 20-year career, Hamada wrestled for various promotions, including All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling, Gaea Japan and Pro Wrestling Wave in Japan, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Lucha Libr ...

and Candy Okutsu together to form a pop group called Cazai. The act was an attempt to recreate the success of previous teams such as the Beauty Pair and Crush Gals, but in the end failed, leading to Arsion splitting the members up. Arsion then made another attempt to regain their audience by pushing former Cazai member Hamada to the top of the promotion with her defeating Aja Kong for the Queen of Arsion Championship in late 2000. In 2001, Aja Kong left Arsion following a disagreement with management over the promotion's direction and subsequently sued president Ogawa for falsely advertising her for upcoming events. Kong's departure was followed by Ogawa signing

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 ...

as the promotion's new booker. Asuka proceeded to push herself,

Etsuko Mita is a retired Japanese professional wrestler. She formed a successful tag team with her partner Mima Shimoda as '' Las Cachorras Orientales'' (Spanish for "The Oriental Bitches"; which was originally a trio with Akira Hokuto) and Toshiyo Yama ...

, Gami and Mima Shimoda into major storylines. In 2002, Ayako Hamada quit Arsion over internal politics within the promotion, feeling that she had been blamed for Arsion's recent problems and pushed down the card since Asuka took over the booking. Hamada joined Aja Kong at the

Gaea Japan Gaea Japan (trademarked as GAEA Japan) was a Japanese women's professional wrestling promotion. GAEA's name comes from the Greek mythological goddess of the Earth, Gaea or Gaia. History GAEA was founded in 1995 by Chigusa Nagayo, a professiona ...

promotion. Arsion finally folded during the summer of 2003, after which

Yumiko Hotta is a Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Hotta was trained by and started her career in the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) promotion in June 1985. She worked for the promotion until 2003, becoming a three-time WWWA ...

took over the promotion and renamed it AtoZ.

Championships

Tournaments

Alumni

* Ai Fujita *

Mika Akino , better known as Akino, (born October 24, 1973 in Tokyo, Japan) is a female Japanese ''joshi wrestler'', signed to Oz Academy. Billed from Honshū, she started late in the sport and didn't debut until the age of 24. Trained by Mariko Yoshida ...

* Alda Moreno * Azumi Hyuga *

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, ...

* Candy Okutsu * Chaparita Asari * Debbie Malenko *

Faby Apache Fabiola Balbuena Torres (born 26 December 1980) is a Mexican '' Luchadora'', or female professional wrestler known for her time with Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) where she performed as Faby Apache (sometimes written as "Fabi Apache"). Betwee ...

* Hiromi Yagi * Jessie Bennett *

Kaori Yoneyama is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer on the Japanese independent circuit. Yoneyama started her career in 1999, working with the JWP Joshi Puroresu promotion. During the following years, she became a one-tim ...

* Lady Metal * Linda Starr * Mari Apache * Mariko Yoshida *

Melissa Melissa is a female given name. The name comes from the Greek word μέλισσα (''mélissa''), "bee", which in turn comes from μέλι (''meli''), "honey". In Hittite, ''melit'' signifies "honey". ''Melissa'' also refers to the plant ''M ...

* Michiko Omukai * Mima Shimoda * Mikiko Futagami * Natsumi Nakazawa *

Piko Piko (stylized PIKO, pronounced "peek-oh") is a German model train brand in Europe that also exports to the United States and other parts of the world. History Founded in 1949, PIKO was once a state-owned enterprise in the German Democratic R ...

* Princesa Sujei * Reggie Bennett * Rie Tamada * Sakie Hasegawa * Yumi Fukawa

History

Championships

Tournaments

Alumni

References

External links

See also