 Matsumoto in April 2023 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Miyako Matsumoto[6] (1985-04-11)April 11, 1985 (age 40)[5][8] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Cure Gake no Fuchi Black[1] Daemon Miyako[2] Fighting Matsumoto[3] Miyako[4] Miyako Matsumoto[5] |
| Billed height | 1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)[5] |
| Billed weight | 47 kg (104 lb)[5] |
| Trained by | Emi Sakura[6] |
| Debut | July 29, 2008[7] |
Miyako Matsumoto (松本 都,Matsumoto Miyako; born April 11, 1985)[5] is a Japaneseprofessional wrestler and actress. She is best known for her work in theIce Ribbon promotion, where she is a former two-timeICE×60, three-timeTriangle Ribbon Champion and a two-timeInternational Ribbon Tag Team Champion, making her the promotion's secondTriple Crown Champion. She also wrestles regularly forOz Academy and Reina Joshi Puroresu and has also promoted her own shows under the Gake no Fuchi Puroresu banner.
After graduating fromNihon University's College of Art, Matsumoto embarked on a career as an actress, most notably working on the television seriesMuscle Venus, forming anidol group with fellow cast membersHikaru Shida, Hina Kozuki, Ichiko Mayu, Sachiko Koga, Tomoyo Morihisa,Tsukasa Fujimoto, Yuki Ueda and Yuri Natsume.[5][9] In 2008, theMuscle Venus group, excluding Kozuki and Natsume, was cast in a film titledThree Count, set in the world ofprofessional wrestling and also starring veteran professional wrestlersEmi Sakura,Kyoko Inoue andYoshiko Tamura.[5] As part of their roles, all members began training professional wrestling under Sakura.[5]
Matsumoto made her debut for Emi Sakura'sIce Ribbonpromotion on July 29, 2008, wrestling Yuki Ueda to a three-minute time limit draw.[7] Though allMuscle Venus members made their debuts around the same time, only Matsumoto, Hikaru Shida and Tsukasa Fujimoto lasted more than six months, making new careers out of professional wrestling.[10] Matsumoto'swrestling character included her wearing differentcosplay outfits, dancing in the middle of matches, intentionallybotching spots and other comedic behaviour.[5][11] Matsumoto gained her first victory on December 13, defeatingChii Tomiya.[12] The following month, despite her unimpressive win–loss record, Matsumoto declared herself the "ace" of all professional wrestling, before unsuccessfully challengingKiyoko Ichiki for Ice Ribbon's top title, theICE×60 Championship.[13][14] The following summer, Matsumoto started astoryline rivalry withInternational Wrestling Association of Japanmanager Haru Miyako, which led to her bringing her associates to face Matsumoto sporadically for the next two years.[15][16][17] On December 31, 2009, Matsumoto made her debut forNEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling in a three-way match to determine the "number one Matsumoto". The match, which also includedDump Matsumoto, was won byHiroyo Matsumoto; none of the three are related to each other.[18]
On March 21, 2010, Matsumoto won her first championship, when she scored an upset victory over Tsukasa Fujimoto to become the new ICE×60 Champion.[19][20] The following day, Matsumoto defeated defending championRiho andKazumi Shimouma in a three-way match to also become the newTriangle Ribbon Champion.[21] After a successful ICE×60 Championship defense againstMakoto on March 27,[22] Matsumoto's luck started to change, when she first was defeated in aDDT Pro-WrestlingExtreme Division Championship match byGentaro on March 31,[23] then lost the ICE×60 Championship to Riho on April 3,[24] and finally also lost the Triangle Ribbon Championship toNanae Takahashi on April 17.[25] As Matsumoto was left weeping in the ring, she was approached bydeathmatch wrestlerJun Kasai, whom she had earlier surprisingly declared as her favorite wrestler,[5] who then proceeded to suggest that the two should go for theInternational Ribbon Tag Team Championship together.[26] On May 3, Matsumoto and Kasai, dubbed "385Myankie's", defeated the defending champions Passion Red (Nanae Takahashi and Kazumi Shimouna) and the team of Gentaro andKeita Yano in a three-way hardcore match to win the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship.[27][28] With the win, Matsumoto became Ice Ribbon secondTriple Crown Champion, after Riho.[5] Afterwards, Matsumoto began feuding with Chii Tomiya.[29] On July 19, Matsumoto and Kasai made their first successful title defense against the team of Tomiya andCommand Bolshoi.[30] On August 7, Matsumoto and Kasai lost the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship to Tomiya andIsami Kodaka in their second defense.[31] On September 23, Matsumoto, Kasai andJaki Numazawa unsuccessfully challenged The Great Kojika, Mr. #6 and Riho for theDDT Jiyugaoka Six-Person Tag Team, DDT Nihonkai Six-Man Tag Team andUWA World Trios Championships.[32] As Kasai was not a regular member of Ice Ribbon's roster and only made sporadic appearances for the promotion, Matsumoto went on to join Hikaru Shida,Mochi Miyagi and Tsukasa Fujimoto to form the "Ichinisanshidan"stable.[33] On November 23, Matsumoto and Shida unsuccessfully challenged Emi Sakura and Nanae Takahashi for the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship.[34] Meanwhile, Matsumoto continued her rivalry with Chii Tomiya, now a member of rival stable Heisei YTR, building to a hardcore match on March 21, 2011, where Matsumoto and Jun Kasai defeated Tomiya andKazuhiko Ogasawara.[34][35] After a losing streak, which included several losses against rookieMaki Narumiya,[36][37] Matsumoto was defeated on May 11 by Emi Sakura 11–0 in a twenty-minuteIron Man match, which led to Sakura telling her to start improving her game.[38][39] This led to Matsumoto challenging ICE×60 Champion Tsukasa Fujimoto to a title match, where she offered to put her Ice Ribbon career on the line.[40] On May 25, Matsumoto failed in her title match against Fujimoto and, as a result, left Ice Ribbon.[41]
Matsumoto then went on to form her own Gake no Fuchi Puroresu (崖のふちプロレス,Gake no Fuchi Puroresu; "Edge of the Cliff Pro Wrestling", GakePro) promotion. GakePro's events have featured appearances from Ice Ribbon wrestlers like Emi Sakura,[42] Makoto,[43] and Tsukasa Fujimoto,[43] as well as well known male wrestlers likeGreat Sasuke,[44]Munenori Sawa,[45] andTsuyoshi Kikuchi.[46] On December 3, Matsumoto returned to Ice Ribbon, in storyline being brought back byKen Ohka to attack his estranged tag team partnerHikari Minami.[47] The following day, Matsumoto and Ohka defeated Minami andMakoto Oishi in a tag team match.[48] On December 25 atRibbonMania, the reunited Matsumoto and Jun Kasai were defeated byDanshoku Dino andMakoto Oishi in a three-way tag team match, which also includedHikari Minami and Ken Ohka.[49][50] Matsumoto then began chasing the Triangle Ribbon Championship, held by male wrestlerRibbon Takanashi. On January 4, 2012, Takanashi defeated Matsumoto andYasu Urano to retain his title.[51] In another title match on January 25, Matsumoto was pinned byNeko Nitta, who, as a result, became the new Triangle Ribbon Champion.[52] Afterwards, Matsumoto demanded another shot at the Triangle Ribbon Championship and announced that since Nitta had used her cat-like attributes to defeat her, she was going to bring another animal, "Crazy Monkey" Jun Kasai, as the second challenger for the title match.[52] On February 5 atYokohama Ribbon, Matsumoto defeated Nitta and Kasai to win the Triangle Ribbon Championship for the second time.[53] She would go on to lose the title to Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling (LLPW-X) representative Eiger on February 29, in a three-way match, which also included Neko Nitta.[54] Through their rivalry over the Triangle Ribbon Championship, Matsumoto and Neko Nitta eventually formed a tag team and on July 15, defeated Dropkickers (Tsukasa Fujimoto andTsukushi) to become the new International Ribbon Tag Team Champions.[55] Matsumoto and Nitta lost the title to Kurumi and Tsukushi in their first defense on August 19, during an event celebrating Matsumoto's, Hikaru Shida's and Tsukasa Fujimoto's fourth anniversary in professional wrestling.[56][57]
After the ICE×60 Championship wasvacated, following Maki Narumiya being sidelined with an injury, Matsumoto entered a round-robin tournament to determine the new champion,[58] wrestlingHamuko Hoshi to a ten-minute time limit draw in her opening match on January 19, 2013.[59] On January 26, Matsumoto entered another tournament, contested for the also vacant Triangle Ribbon Championship, defeatingGabai-Ji-chan andHailey Hatred in her first round match.[60] On February 2, Matsumoto lost to Tsukasa Fujimoto in her second match in the ICE×60 Championship tournament.[61] On February 11, Matsumoto defeated Fujimoto andMio Shirai in a tournament final to win the vacant Triangle Ribbon Championship for the third time.[62][63] On February 13, Matsumoto finished the round-robin portion of the ICE×60 Championship tournament with a win over Kurumi, forcing a tiebreaker match with Hamuko Hoshi to decide who would advance to the semifinals.[64] Three days later, Matsumoto advanced to the semifinals of the tournament with a win over Hoshi.[65] On February 23, Matsumoto defeated Hikaru Shida in her semifinal match to advance to the finals of the tournament.[66] Four days later, she was defeated in the finals of the tournament by Tsukushi.[67] On March 9, Matsumoto made her first successful defense of the Triangle Ribbon Championship againstKyusei Sakura Hirota and Neko Nitta.[68] On March 31, Matsumoto took part in a big intergender match, where she was defeated byMinoru Suzuki. Afterwards, she challenged Suzuki to a rematch under Gake no Fuchi rules.[69][70][71] Suzuki was also victorious in the rematch, which took place at a GakoPro event on May 4.[72][73] Following the match, Matsumoto originally announced that in the future she would be wrestling under thering name "Miyako gdgd Matsumoto" (松本ｇｄｇｄ都,Matsumoto gudaguda Miyako),[74][75][76] but before wrestling a single match under her new name, decided not to go through with the name change.[77] On May 25, Matsumoto lost the Triangle Ribbon Championship to Neko Nitta in a three-way match, which also includedKurumi.[78][79]
On August 24, Matsumoto made an appearance for Reina Joshi Puroresu, when she and Ice Ribbon alum,Wrestling New Classic (WNC) representative Makoto, entered a tournament for the vacantReina World Tag Team Championship, losing toLeon andRydeen Hagane in their first round match.[80][81] On September 6, Matsumoto appeared at a WNC press conference, announcing that she had joined Makoto's supposed wrestling school, a stable, which also includedKaho Kobayashi.[82] Matsumoto made her WNC in-ring debut on September 18, when she, Makoto and Kobayashi defeated Takuya Kito in a three-on-one handicap match.[83][84] The new alliance also led to Matsumoto and Kobayashi teaming together in Ice Ribbon.[85][86][87] On November 2, Matsumoto received her first shot at the newly renamed ICE×∞ Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion, Tsukasa Fujimoto.[88] In early 2014, Matsumoto tried to twice capture the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship from her Muscle Venus partners Hikaru Shida and Tsukasa Fujimoto, first alongsideMio Shirai on March 9 and then with Hamuko Hoshi three days later.[89][90] At the September 15 Ice Ribbon show, Matsumoto was defeated byOz Academy representativeMayumi Ozaki, who afterwards offered her a spot in hervillainous Seikigun stable.[91] On September 23, Matsumoto made her Oz Academy debut in a segment, where Ozaki grabbed her head and nodded it, essentially accepting her own offer on Matsumoto's behalf.[92][93] On October 12, Matsumoto made her debut forWorld Wonder Ring Stardom, losing toWorld of Stardom ChampionYoshiko in a non-title match.[94] On October 19, Matsumoto made an appearance forAll Japan Pro Wrestling, losing toRisa Sera in a rare women's match, provided by Ice Ribbon.[95]
On July 3, 2016, Matsumoto "quit" Gake no Fuchi Puroresu and officially re-joined Ice Ribbon.[96]
In 2008, the cast of Muscle Venus recorded a song titledItsuka Kitto (いつかきっと; "Someday"), which was released as a single on November 5, 2008, and later used as the theme song for theThree Count film.[97][98][99] Matsumoto, along with Hikaru Shida and Tsukasa Fujimoto, was featured in Japanese pop groupangela's 2012 music video for their song "The Lights of Heroes".[97][100][101] In July 2013, Matsumoto released her firstgravure DVD, titled Crazy Honey.[102] Matsumoto is part of theidolgirl group Black DPG.[103]
(in Japanese)
