Kaori Nakayama (中山香里) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler who spent much of her career with

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling-Explosion (FMW-E) 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 fir ...

Professional wrestling career

The daughter of former

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 that ye ...

star Miyoko Hoshino, Kaori Nakayama followed in her mother's footsteps by training at the

Dojo, where she was trained by another former AJW star,

Megumi Kudo is a Japanese entertainment personality and former professional wrestler. She wrestled under her maiden name for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling, where she became the top star of the Women's Division. Kudo is primarily known for competing in ...

. Nakayama made her debut on July 19, 1994, against Mayumi Shimizu. After two years of paying her dues, she gradually ascended the ranks. Nakayama was widely expected to become the next prominent female babyface following Megumi Kudo's retirement. However, FMW and the media abandoned their women's division, discontinued the championships, and by the summer of 1998, all the female wrestlers had left the promotion. However, Nakayama stayed loyal and remained with the promotion. With no other females to wrestle, Nakayama was put in several intergender matches for over a year, before FMW signed Emi Motokawa in August 1999. Nakayama and Motokawa would alternate as partners and opponents. In 2000, Nakayama joined

Masato Tanaka is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in Japan where he was a FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship#Title History, one-time FMW Brass Knuckle ...

and

Gedo Gedo (, , , or ''Ghedu'') is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in Jubaland, southern Somalia. Its regional capital is Garbahaarreey. The region was formed during 1974 and is bordered by the Ogaden in Ethiopia, the North Eastern Province ...

and And or AND may refer to: Logic, grammar and computing * Conjunction, connecting two words, phrases, or clauses * Logical conjunction in mathematical logic, notated as "∧", "⋅", "&", or simple juxtaposition * Bitwise AND, a Boolean oper ...

Jado (born September 28, 1968) is a Japanese professional wrestler, manager and booker better known by the ring name . He is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as part of a tag team with his partner Gedo. Jado and Gedo's care ...

in a stable called The Complete Players. In September 2000, Nakayama won her only championship, the WEW Six-Man Tag Team Championship, with Gedo and Jado, defeating Kodo Fuyuki, Mr. Gannosuke, and Shinjuku Shark. They would hold onto the titles, until January 2001, when they vacated the titles. A month later, Nakayama, Jado, Gedo, Tanaka, and

Hideki Hosaka (August 5, 1971 – August 2, 2021) was a Japanese professional wrestler, who is best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling Zero-One. Career Early career (1991–1993) An amateur wrest ...

announced that they would be leaving FMW, citing problems with

Shoichi Arai Shoichi Arai (荒井昌一 ''Arai Shōichi'') (December 19, 1965 – May 16, 2002) was a Japanese professional wrestling promoter. Arai ran Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling from 1995 until its closure in 2002. Career Arai started with FMW as a ...

. After leaving FMW, Nakayama became a freelancer, wrestling for various promotions, including

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 ...

, GAEA Japan,

JWP Joshi Puroresu , also known as or simply JWP, was a Japanese ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) professional wrestling promotion, promotion, founded in 1992 as a splinter promotion of Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. Celebrating its 25th anniversa ...

Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling, also known as LLPW and currently as LLPW-X, is a Japanese independent women's professional wrestling promotion founded in 1992 by Rumi Kazama and Shinobu Kandori. History Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling split in 19 ...

, NEO Ladies,

OZ Academy is a Japanese '' joshi puroresu'' or women's professional wrestling promotion founded by Mayumi Ozaki. The promotion's full official name is . In addition to the contracted members of the roster, Oz Academy has also employed some of the top f ...

, Onita Pro, World W*ING Spirit, World Entertainment Wrestling, and Wrestling Marvelous Future. On October 23, 2002, she wrestled her retirement match, losing to

Shark Tsuchiya Eriko Tsuchiya (土屋恵理子, born February 19, 1970) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler better known by the ring name Shark Tsuchiya (シャーク土屋). She spent most of her career working for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling. Pr ...

Mixed martial arts career

In May 2001, Nakayama made her mixed martial arts debut at

JEWELS A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...

' ReMix Golden Gate 2001 event, losing to Yeon Hwa Lee by judges' decision. In August 2002, she fought her second and final fight at

Smackgirl Smackgirl was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion focused solely on Women's mixed martial arts, female fighters. The promotion also held grappling and amateur events along with its main line of professional MMA cards. After financial difficul ...

's Summer Gate 2002 event, losing to Lay Ho by judges' decision.

Championships and accomplishments

Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling-Explosion (FMW-E) 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 fir ...

WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship The WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship was a championship in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling and later in World Entertainment Wrestling. It was active from July 1999 until February 2002 as a substitute for the FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team C ...

(1 time) - with

and

Mixed martial arts record

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Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , , Judges' decision , Remix Golden Gate 2001 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

References

External links

Kaori Nakayama's SHERDOG ProfileKaori Nakayama's WrestlingData Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakayama, Kaori Japanese female professional wrestlers Japanese female mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling 1978 births Living people 20th-century female professional wrestlers 20th-century Japanese professional wrestlers 21st-century female professional wrestlers 21st-century Japanese professional wrestlers WEW 6-Man Tag Team Champions