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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Naoko Sato (1957-10-30)October 30, 1957 Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan |
| Died | August 9, 1999(1999-08-09) (aged 41) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name | Jackie Satō |
| Billed height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) |
| Debut | April 27, 1975 |
| Retired | March 20, 1988 |
Naoko Satō (佐藤尚子,Satō Naoko; October 30, 1957 – August 9, 1999), better known asJackie Sato (ジャッキー佐藤,Jakkī Satō), was a Japaneseprofessional wrestler. In the 1970s, while wrestling forAll Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW), she formed thetag team, theBeauty Pair, withMaki Ueda. Following in the steps ofMach Fumiake [ja], the Beauty Pair was part of an important shift in the culture of Japanese women's wrestling, attracting more female fans by becoming pop icons. In their mainstream success, Satō and Ueda paved the way for theCrush Gals of the 1980s.[1]
Sato became a professional wrestler after graduating from high school.
Sato joinedAll Japan Women's Pro Wrestling (AJW) in 1975 and was part of the 1975 AJW rookie class alongsideMaki Ueda andYumi Ikeshita [ja]. She had her debut match against her future tag team partner, Maki Ueda, on April 27 of that year. On February 24, 1976, theBeauty Pair was formed, and they won theWWWA World Tag Team Championship that night. At the peak of the Beauty Pair's popularity, AJW achieved atelevision rating of over 20 percent.[2]
Sato also had success as a singles wrestler. She won theWWWA World Single Championship on November 1, 1977, from Maki Ueda in a Beauty Pair showdown, and held it twice more during the late 1970s, defeatingMonster Ripper andNancy Kumi [ja]. She lost the title the final time to the youngerJaguar Yokota on February 25, 1981.[3] On February 27, 1979, Sato defeated her former partner, Ueda, in a "loser retires" match. Satō's own retirement ceremony was held on May 21, 1981.
Sato attended the AJW thirtieth anniversary show in 1998.
In 1986, inspired by the current boom in interest in women's wrestling in Japan due to the success of theCrush Gals, Sato, along with wrestlerNancy Kumi [ja],boxerRumi Kazama, and others, formed the first women'spromotion to compete against theAJW monopoly,Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (JWP). Satō returned from retirement on JWP's first show on August 17, 1986, in a match againstShinobu Kandori. Sato was involved in an infamous incident on July 18, 1987, when a match involving her andShinobu Kandori turned into a shoot match.[4] This incident led to her retiring for a second and final time on March 20, 1988. Under Sato's influence, JWP did not offer the "mandatory retirement" policy common in AJW, allowing female wrestlers to compete until they wished to retire, rather than until the promoters ordered them to retire.
Sato playedbasketball inhigh school. Sato died on August 9, 1999, due to stomach cancer.
General
