, better known by her ring name , was a Japanese female professional wrestler who wrestled for Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling from 1986 to 1992 and then,

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 ...

from 1992 until her death in 1997. Mariko was the first professional wrestler in Japan to die as a result of injuries suffered in a wrestling match.

Career

During her career, Mariko received many ring injuries which eventually resulted in a

brain abscess The brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head ( cephalization), usually near organs for special sense ...

. She had previously suffered several concussions, but continued to wrestle. On August 15, 1997 she teamed with

Command Bolshoi is a retired Japanese professional wrestler. She debuted for Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (JWP) in November 1991 and worked for its follow-up promotion JWP Joshi Puroresu from 1992 until its folding in 2017, also serving as its final president. D ...

against

Mayumi Ozaki (born October 28, 1968) is a Japanese professional wrestler. She is currently working for Oz Academy. Professional wrestling career Ozaki debuted in a tag team match in August, 1986. In her career, she held the WWWA tag titles with Dynamite ...

and

Rieko Amano is a Japanese retired professional wrestler better known by the ring name . Amano made her debut for JWP Joshi Puroresu in December 1994 and early on began also making appearances for the Gaea Japan promotion, where she most notably became one ...

at the

Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hiroshima Sun Plaza (広島サンプラザ) is an arena in Hiroshima, Japan. With a capacity of 6,052, it is primarily used for indoor sports and concerts. In addition, the annual Seijin shiki (the Japanese coming-of-age ceremony) is held there ...

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

. At the match's conclusion, Ozaki used one of her regular moves, the '' Liger Bomb'', to pin Mariko. The move was executed just as usual, but appeared to have triggered a pre-existing problem. Since other wrestlers on the card had sold their finishes that night, the fans in the arena didn't immediately realize there was a problem. It seems that this spot may not have been the planned finish of the match. In any case, Mariko was knocked out from the Liger Bomb and didn't kick out. After the match, Ozaki and the other wrestlers saw Mariko, who still hadn't budged, snoring, which was a sign that her Tongue was blocking her airways. Mariko died a few hours later on August 16, 1997. No postmortem was performed on her at the request of her father. Despite this, Mariko was said to have had head injuries and an abscess on her brain which may have contributed to the

head trauma A head injury is any injury that results in trauma to the skull or brain. The terms ''traumatic brain injury'' and ''head injury'' are often used interchangeably in the medical literature. Because head injuries cover such a broad scope of inj ...

that killed her. An annual memorial show was held in her honor from 1997 to 1998. Both JWP and Mayumi Ozaki's

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 ...

have held annual memorial shows since. Mariko was posthumously inducted into the All Japan Women's Hall of Fame on November 29, 1998. In a 2022 interview,

Cutie Suzuki (born October 22, 1969, as ), better known by her ring name , is a retired Japanese professional wrestler, actress, and model who is best known for her time in JWP Joshi Puroresu, where she is a 5-time JWP Tag Team Champion. In 1990, she ...

revealed that Mariko's death profoundly impacted her, raising her awareness of the dangers of professional wrestling and altering her perspective on mortality.

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 that ye ...

:*AJW Hall of Fame (1998) *Japan Women's Pro Wrestling :*JWP Junior Championship (1 time) :*UWA Women's Junior Championship (1 time)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mariko, Plum 1967 births 1997 deaths 20th-century female professional wrestlers 20th-century Japanese professional wrestlers Japanese female professional wrestlers People from Ōta, Tokyo Professional wrestling deaths Professional wrestlers from Tokyo Sport deaths in Japan

Career

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References

External links