Eimi Gloria Matsudo (松戸グロリア英美,Matsudo Guroria Eimi; born February 21, 1994), better known by herring nameGiulia (ジュリア,Juria), is an English-born Italian-Japanese professional wrestler. She is signed toWWE, where she performs on theSmackdownbrand. She is a former one-timeWWE Women's United States Champion and one-timeNXT Women's Champion.
Eimi Gloria Matsudo[6][7][8] was born inLondon, England,[9] on February 21, 1994,[1] to an Italian father and a Japanese mother. When Matsudo was one year old, her family moved to Japan, where she was raised inChiba Prefecture. She worked in her parents' Italian restaurant[10] before training as a professional wrestler withIce Ribbon in 2017.[9] She was bullied as a child from elementary school to junior high due to hermixed race background, prompting her parents to put her in a private high school.[11][12]
Matsudo debuted under thering nameGiulia in a tag team match atNew Ice Ribbon #845, an event promoted byIce Ribbon, on 29 October 2017, teaming withTakako Inoue in a loss to Nao Date andSatsuki Totoro.[13] In November, she entered the Young Ice Tournament, where she was eliminated by Totoro in the first round.[14] In April 2018, she wrestled Ice Ribbon's ace,Tsukasa Fujimoto, for the first time, losing in 39 seconds.[15] On 24 September, Giulia got her first singles victory when she defeated Asahi.[16] In the latter part of the year, Giulia began a feud withTequila Saya, which eventually bought in male wrestlersShinya Aoki andHideki Suzuki, who acted as mentors for the female wrestlers and taught them new moves throughout their feud.[citation needed] After a match on 31 December, where Saya and Suzuki were defeated by Giulia and Aoki, her and Saya reconciled and formed a tag team known as Burning Raw.[17] At the end of the year, she was presented with Ice Ribbon's New Face Award, the equivalent of winning rookie of the year.[citation needed] On 27 January 2019, Burning Raw unsuccessfully challengedKyuri andMaika Ozaki for theInternational Ribbon Tag Team Championship.[18] After 17 February, Giulia announced she would be taking a month off from wrestling due to nerve damage in her hip.[citation needed] After returning, she began a feud withMaya Yukihi, which culminated in Giulia unsuccessfully challenging for theICE Cross Infinity Championship on 25 May.[19] In July, Burning Raw defeated Yukihi andRisa Sera to win theInternational Ribbon Tag Team Championship; Giulia's first championship win of her career.[20] After 3 months as champions, Burning Raw lost the titles back to Yukihi and Sera on 23 September, ending their reigns at 70 days.[21] On 13 October, Giulia announced she would be leaving Ice Ribbon.[22][23]
On 14 October 2019, Giulia announced that she had signed withWorld Wonder Ring Stardom.[9] On 8 December, she made her in-ring debut on Stardom where she defeatedHazuki.[29]
During January 2020, Giulia formed a new unit namedDonna Del Mondo, recruitingMaika andSyuri to the stable in the process.[30] On 8 February, Donna del Mondo defeatedQueen's Quest (AZM,Momo Watanabe, andUtami Hayashishita) to win theArtist of Stardom Championship.[31] On 24 March, Giulia defeatedJungle Kyona, Watanabe, fellow Donna del Mondo's stablemate Syuri, and finallyNatsuko Tora to be crowned the2020 Cinderella Tournament winner.[32] In July, a feud began between Giulia andTam Nakano, initially for theWonder of Stardom Championship, that would continue intermittently for several years.[33][34] On 26 July atCinderella Summer in Tokyo, Giulia defeated Nakano in the finals of a four-woman tournament to win the vacant Wonder of Stardom Championship; winning her first singles title.[35] On 3 October, Giulia had her first successful title defense, where she defeated Nakano in a rematch.[36] In October and November, Giulia and Maika competed in the Red Goddesses' Block of the2020 Goddesses of Stardom Tag League, under the team nameCrazy Bloom. They reached the finals of the tournament, in which they lost toMOMOAZ.[37] On 14 November, Donna Del Mondo lost the Artist of Stardom Championship toOedo Tai (Bea Priestley,Saki Kashima and Tora), ending their reigns at 280 days.[38] AtSendai Cinderella 2020 on 15 November, Giulia successfully defended the Wonder of Stardom Championship againstKonami.[39] On 20 December, Giulia defended the Wonder of Stardom Championship in atitle vs. title match against fellow Donna Del Mondo's member Syuri, who also defended theSWA World Championship.[40] The match ended in a time-limit draw, with both titleholders retaining their titles in the process.[40]
On 3 March 2021, atAll Star Dream Cinderella, Giulia was defeated by Nakano in ahair vs. hair match for the Wonder of Stardom Championship, ending her reign at 220 days. During post-match, she had her head partially shaved in the ring, with the rest cut off backstage.[41] AtYokohama Dream Cinderella 2021 on 4 April, Giulia teamed up with Syuri to win theGoddesses of Stardom Championship from fellow Donna Del Mondo's members, Maika andHimeka, after an interstable clash. Giulia and Syuri would later name their tag teamAlto Livello Kabaliwan (English: "High Level Madness"), often shortened to ALK.[42] Giulia made it to the second round of the2021 Cinderella Tournament on 14 May, where she lost to Maika.[43] AtYokohama Dream Cinderella 2021 in Summer on 4 July, ALK successfully defended their Goddesses of Stardom Championship againstStars (Mayu Iwatani andKoguma).[44] Giulia took part in the2021 5 Star Grand Prix, competing in the Red Stars' Block, but pulled out of the tournament after three matches due to dealing with several injuries.[45] She made her in-ring return on 29 December, atDream Queendom, where she successfully picked up a victory against Konami, who was departing from Stardom.[46][47]
Giulia in 2022
On 3 January 2022, Giulia revealedThekla fromIce Ribbon andMirai fromTokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling as the two masked superstars who kept attacking various other wrestlers at the end of 2021. All three of them teamed up to defeatCosmic Angels (Nakano,Mai Sakurai andUnagi Sayaka) in asix-woman tag team match.[48] AtNagoya Golden Fight on 29 January, Giulia battled Iwatani into a time-limit draw in a No. 1 Contender match for theWorld of Stardom Championship, which awarded both of them an opportunity to challenge for the championship atWorld Climax 2022.[49] On the first night of the event on March 26, Giulia unsuccessfully challenged Syuri for the World of Stardom Championship. After their match, Syuri announced she will leave Donna Del Mondo to walk on her path and form another stable, later revealed to beGod's Eye.[50] On the second night from March 27, Giulia teamed up with Maika, Himeka and Thekla to take outProminence'sRisa Sera,Suzu Suzuki,Akane Fujita andMochi Miyagi, with whom all the Donna Del Mondo members had been in a feud. However, Suzuki stated that she was not finished with Giulia, despite her unit's loss, which meant that the feud was still standing.[51] At the2022 Cinderella Tournament, Giulia reached the second rounds on 10 April, where she lost to Koguma.[52] AtFlashing Champions on 28 May, Giulia teamed up with Sakurai to unsuccessfully faceFWC for the Goddesses of Stardom Championship.[53] AtFight in the Top on 26 June, Giulia, Maika, and Sakurai unsuccessfully challenged Oedo Tai (Saki Kashima, Watanabe andStarlight Kid), and God's Eye (Syuri, Mirai andAmi Sourei) in athree-way match for the Artist of Stardom Championship.[54] Giulia was announced compete in the2022 5 Star Grand Prix on 30 July.[55] She won the whole competition on the last day of the tournament on October 1 by defeating Nakano in the finals.[56] On 29 December atDream Queendom 2, Giulia defeated Syuri to win the World of Stardom Championship for the first time.[57]
On 4 February 2023, atStardom Supreme Fight, Giulia had her first successful title defense of the World of Stardom Championship by defeating Suzuki.[58][59] On 4 March, Giulia's second title defense, againstMaya Yukihi, ended in adouble countout.[60] It was later reported that the reason for the match ending in a double countout was due to real-lifeheat between the two.[61] On 23 April, atAll Star Grand Queendom, Giulia lost the title to Nakano, ending her reign at 115 days.[62] On 27 May, atFlashing Champions, Giulia, Sakurai and Thekla, together known as theBaribari Bombers, defeating Artist of Stardom ChampionsREStart (Kairi,Natsupoi andSaori Anou) to win the titles.[63]
AtNew Years Stars 2024 on 3 January, Baribari Bombers participated in the2024 Triangle Derby. After reaching the finals and deciding to defend the Artist of Stardom Championship, they lost the match and titles toAbarenbo GE, ending their reigns at 221 days.[64]
On February 27, 2024,Tokyo Sports reported that Giulia would be leaving Stardom at the conclusion of her contract.[65] Giulia had her last match in Stardom on April 12, teaming with Syuri against Iwatani andHanan.[66]
On 15 April 2024, former Stardom executiveRossy Ogawa held a press conference to announce his new promotionDream Star Fighting Marigold, with Giulia being one of the initial members of the roster.[76][77][78][79] On 20 May, she participated in the main event of Marigold's debut production,Marigold Fields Forever, tag-teaming withUtami Hayashishita in a losing effort againstSareee andBozilla. At the end of the event, Giulia and Sareee were scheduled for a singles match atMarigold Summer Destiny, on 13 July 2024.[80] However, the next day, it was announced by Marigold that Giulia had suffered awrist fracture, with her near-term matches cancelled, and putting her match against Sareee for the inauguralMarigold World Championship in doubt. In the end, the bout took place, with Giulia coming unsuccessful.[81] Giulia then announced that her final match for Marigold before moving to WWE would be on 19 August, againstMai Sakurai atMarigold Summer Gold Shine 2024.[82] At the event, Giulia defeated Sakurai.[83]
Giulia returned from injury on the April 8 episode ofNXT, fending offJordynne Grace andJaida Parker from Vaquer, only to attack her afterwards, turningheel in the process.[93] She would then challenge Vaquer for the NXT Women's Championship atNXT Stand and Deliver in afatal four-way match also involving Grace and Parker, which Giulia lost after Vaquer pinned Parker.[94] On the May 6 episode ofNXT, Giulia faced Grace in a #1 contender's match for the NXT Women's Championship, which she lost in what would be her final NXT appearance.[95]
On April 21, Giulia made her first main roster appearance on theRaw afterWrestleMania 41 alongside Roxanne Perez, interfering a match betweenWomen's World ChampionIyo Sky and NXT Women's Champion Stephanie Vaquer.[96] On the May 12 episode ofRaw, Giulia and Roxanne lost to Sky andRhea Ripley in a tag team match.[97] On the May 16 episode ofSmackDown, Giulia was announced as the newest member of theSmackDown brand.[98] The following week, Giulia made her SmackDown debut, defeatingCharlotte Flair andWomen's United States ChampionZelina Vega in a triple threat match to qualify for theMoney in the Bankladder match at thenamesake event by pinning Vega, but the match was won byNaomi.[99][100] On the June 27 episode ofSmackDown, Giulia defeated Vega to win the Women's United States Championship.[101] On the July 25 episode ofSmackdown, Giulia aligned herself with a returningKiana James, the latter serving as her official representative.[102] The following week, Giulia made her first title defense, retaining the title in a rematch against Vega.[103] On the November 7 episode ofSmackDown, Giulia lost the title toChelsea Green, ending her reign at a record 133 days.
Giulia was nicknamed "Beautiful Madness" during her time inStardom and the nickname was carried intoWWE.[104] One of her signature wrestling maneuvers is a variation of thescissored armbar crossface, which she calls simplyBianca.[104] She also uses aknee lift as her finisher, which she callsArrivederci, the other finisher is anorthern lights bomb, a move popularized by fellow compatriotAkira Hokuto.
^Michael, Casey (December 8, 2019)."Giulia Makes STARDOM Debut".Squared Circle Sirens.Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. RetrievedJuly 26, 2020.
^Wrestling Titles (April 4, 2021)."Goddesses of Stardom Title".wrestling-titles.com.Archived from the original on January 11, 2024. RetrievedApril 4, 2021.
^Pollock, John (January 3, 2022)."STARDOM 2021 award winners".postwrestling.com.Archived from the original on January 3, 2022. RetrievedJanuary 4, 2022.
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