 Official logo of the promotion | |
| Acronym | NEO |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1997 [1] |
| Defunct | 2010 [1] |
| Style | Joshi Puroresu |
| Headquarters | Yokohama, Japan [1] |
| Founder(s) | Kyoko Inoue |
| Split from | All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling |
| Successor | World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana |
NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling (frequently styled as NEO) was a joshi puroresu (women's professional wrestling) promotion established in 1997 by Kyoko Inoue. The first event took place on January 9, 1998. [1]
NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling was founded during All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling financial struggles. The figurehead of the company was Kyoko Inoue, a former All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling wrestler. The name was meant to reference the "Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling" part of the name for All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling. The group was pegged with problems from the beginning as the group was initially supposed to be called New Japan Women's Pro Wrestling, but due to copyright concerns, NEO was chosen instead.
Their first show on January 9, 1998, featured the 9 members of the roster wrestling multiple times due to the small roster. The main event of the first show featured Las Cachorras Orientales of Etsuko Mita and Mima Shimoda teaming with Saya Endo to defeat Chaparita Asari, Kyoko Inoue and Yoshiko Tamura. [2]
During Spring 1998, Kyoko Inoue feuded with Lioness Asuka. Kyoko captured Lioness' TWF title on April 26, 1998. [3] The feud carried over to NEO where they met in a singles match on May 6, 1998, for JDStar's TWF Title, in which Asuka won the title back. In August 1998, Nicole Bass toured with the promotion, defeating Etsuko Mita, Chaparita ASARI and Kyoko Inoue on August 16, 1998. [4]
On October 29, 1998, the promotion featured a match between Kyoko Inoue and Aja Kong for Kyoko Inoue's 10th anniversary as a wrestler.
During Summer 1999, the promotion feuded with JWP and All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling, resulting in multiple inter-promotional matches. On July 11, 1999, Kyoko Inoue captured the WWWA World Single Championship of All Japan Women's, defeating Yumiko Hotta. The two had a rematch at a NEO event on October 22, 1999, with Hotta winning the title back. [5]
The original incarnation of the promotion only lasted until January 6, 2000, less than two years after its first show. The last show featured Kyoko Inoue wrestling in every match on the card. [6]
NEO renamed itself to NEO Women's Wrestling after NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling closed in 2000. The promotion's pre-debut show was on March 16, 2000, and their official debut was on May 31, 2000. The promotion regularly held events at Itabashi Green Hall in Itabashi, Tokyo, due to its smaller size, while running Korakuen Hall for bigger events.
The promotion rose to power in 2005 after the closure of All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling and Gaea Japan, with NEO being considered by many to be the top joshi puroresu promotion during this time. In 2007, founder Kyoko Inoue had complications from her pregnancy and was unable to wrestle, which hurt the promotion.
In 2009, business declined when two of their top stars, Etsuko Mita and idol wrestler Haruka Matsuo retired. [7]
The promotion announced its closure May 5, 2010. [7] Kyoko Inoue announced her resignation, [8] Yoshiko Tamura, Tanny Mouse and Yuki Miyazaki were slated to retire, young wrestlers Aoi Ishibashi and Natsumi Kawano had already left the company and the roster would have only been left with three wrestlers, due to the companies struggles with finding new talent. [7] The company held their final show on December 31, 2010. The first main event featured Ayumi Kurihara capturing her long-awaited first major singles title by defeating Yoshiko Tamura for the NWA Women's Pacific/NEO Single Championship and the second main event featured the remaining members of the NEO roster competing in 10-minute time limit trios match.
| Championship | Final champion(s) | Reign | Date won | Previous champion(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWA Women's Pacific/NEO Single Championship | Ayumi Kurihara | 1 | May 25, 2011 | Yoshiko Tamura |
| High Speed Championship | Leon | 1 | November 27, 2010 | Natsuki☆Taiyo |
| NEO Tag Team Championship | NEO Machine Guns (Tanny Mouse and Yuki Miyazaki | 2 | November 28, 2010 | Aya Yuuki and Ryo Mizunami |
| NEO Itabashi Tag Team Championship | Chiharu and Yuka Nakamura | 1 (2, 2) | December 23, 2004 | Tanny Mouse and Yuki Miyazaki |
| NEO Kitazawa Tag Team Championship | Tanny Mouse and Yuki Miyazaki | 4 | October 4, 2004 | Etsuko Mita and Kyoko Inoue |
| Championship | Final champion | Reign | Date won | Previous champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWF World Women's Championship | Tanny Mouse | 1 | June 26, 2004 | Misae Genki |
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All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling, nicknamed Zenjo was a joshi puroresu promotion established in 1968 by Takashi Matsunaga and his brothers. The group held their first card on June 4 of that year. For close to 33 years it had a TV program on Fuji TV called Women's Professional Wrestling.
Toshiyo Yamada is a retired Japanese female professional wrestler. In the 1990s, Yamada wrestled for the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling promotion (AJW).
Kyoko Inoue is a Japanese female professional wrestler currently signed to World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana. She has held the WWWA World Single Championship three times, and is the first woman to win a men's title in Japan.
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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, which she formed with fellow wrestler Kyoko Inoue.
Hiroyo Matsumoto is Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer. Emi Sakura gave her the nickname of Lady Destroyer because Matsumoto broke a wall in the Ichigaya arena during her Ice Ribbon debut. She is best known with other wrestling promotions such as Oz Academy and Seadlinnng. She graduated from Hiratsuka Konan High School in the Kanagawa Prefecture.
Etsuko Mita is a retired Japanese professional wrestler. She formed a successful tag team with her partner Mima Shimoda as Las Cachorras Orientales and Toshiyo Yamada as Dream Orca. She is credited as the innovator of the Death Valley Driver. Mita retired on November 1, 2009, defeating former tag team partner Makoto in her final singles match and teaming with Mima Shimoda in a loss against Kyoko Inoue and Nanae Takahashi in her final tag team match.
Yoshiko Tamura is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. Tamura was trained by the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) promotion, made her debut in September 1994 and worked for the promotion for three years, winning the AJW Junior Championship, before taking part in a mass exodus led by Kyoko Inoue and following her to the newly founded NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling promotion. Recognized as the "Ace" of NEO, Tamura performed with the promotion from its first event to the last, in the process becoming its most accomplished wrestler, winning the NEO Single and NWA Women's Pacific Championships a record seven times and the NEO Tag Team Championship three times. All in all, Tamura held the NEO Single and NWA Women's Pacific Championships for 2,074 days and successfully defended them 38 times. After being inducted into the NEO Hall of Fame, Tamura ended her sixteen-year career on December 31, 2010, retiring at the end of NEO's final event.
Natsumi Mizushima is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Natsuki☆Taiyo. Making her debut for All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) in January 2004, Mizushima quickly affiliated herself with Nanae Takahashi, following her out of AJW in 2006 and to Pro Wrestling Sun and NEO Japan Ladies Pro Wrestling, with the two forming the Passion Red stable with Kana in the process. After the folding of NEO, Mizushima began working exclusively for the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion, where she became a one-time holder of both the Artist of Stardom and Goddess of Stardom Championships. She is also a former four-time holder of the High Speed Championship, which has been owned by both NEO and Stardom. Mizushima was recognized as one of the top high-flyers in joshi puroresu. She retired from in-ring competition in June 2014 and afterwards began working for the Seadlinnng promotion as a senior managing director and referee.
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Las Cachorras Orientales(in Japanese: ラス・カチョーラス・オリエンタレス), frequently styled as LCO, were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Etsuko Mita and Mima Shimoda. The team's name is Spanish for "The Oriental Bitches". The team was created in 1992 and wrestled in multiple Japanese women's wrestling promotions. The group was well known for using painted steel chairs and guardrails on opponents.
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