Riho began making appearances for AEW in 2019. She became the inaugural AEW Women's World Champion, which she held for 133 days. She also began appearing inWorld Wonder Ring Stardom, where she won theHigh Speed Championship in her first match and held it for 351 days.
In 2006, when Riho was nine years old, she and her older sister Seina began training inprofessional wrestling underEmi Sakura at herIce Ribbon dojo.[7] She made her debut in an exhibition match againstNanae Takahashi in her nativeShinagawa on May 29, 2006.[5][7] On July 25, she made her debut for Ice Ribbon at the promotion's third event, defeatingMakoto.[8] Riho's first year in professional wrestling consisted mainly of matches with her Seina, Sakura, andHikari Minami.[9][10] In March 2008, Riho and Seina faced each other in a four-match series, which Riho won 3–1.[11][12][13][14]
On October 24, 2008, Riho won her first professional wrestling championship, when she teamed withYuki Sato to defeat Chounko andMasako Takanashi for theInternational Ribbon Tag Team Championship.[15] On December 23, Riho was entered into a tournament to determine the inauguralICE×60 Champion but was eliminated in the semifinals by Seina, who would go on to become the champion.[16] After successfully defending the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship against Emi Sakura and Ribbon Takanashi, Riho and Satovacated the title, after Riho fractured her right leg on March 31, 2009.[17] For most of 2009, Riho was involved in astoryline rivalry withChii Tomiya, which eventually led to the two forming the tag team Miniature Dachs in November.[18][19][20][21] On November 28, 2009, Riho defeated Nanae Takahashi andTsukasa Fujimoto to become the inauguralTriangle Ribbon Champion.[22] After one successful title defense, Riho lost the title toMiyako Matsumoto on March 22, 2010.[23][24] However, just twelve days later, Riho came back to defeat Matsumoto for the ICE×60 Championship, the promotion's top title.[25] In the process, Riho also became Ice Ribbon's firstTriple Crown Champion.[7] During the post-match celebration, Riho nominated her trainer Emi Sakura as her first challenger for the belt.[26] On May 3 atGolden Ribbon, Riho became the youngest person to ever main event a show inKorakuen Hall,[7] when she lost the ICE×60 Championship to Sakura in her first defense, ending her title reign at just 30 days.[27]
Riho in February 2010
In January 2011, Riho came together with Ice Ribbon's younger wrestlers, including former associates Chii Tomiya and Hikari Minami, to form the Heisei YTR (Young Traditional Revolution)stable, under the leadership of Makoto.[28] On February 6, Riho and Makoto made it to the finals of the Ike! Ike! Ima, Ike! Ribbon Tag Tournament, before being defeated by Muscle Venus (Hikaru Shida and Tsukasa Fujimoto) in a match that was also contested for the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship.[29] On March 31, Riho made her debut forSmash atSmash.15, where she teamed with Hikari Minami andTsukushi to defeat Emi Sakura, Makoto and Mochi Miyagi in a six-woman tag team match, scoring the deciding pinfall over Miyagi.[30] The following month, Riho and Minami began producing their own events under the banner of "Teens", which would focus on spotlighting Ice Ribbon's younger wrestlers.[31] In August, the alliance between Riho and Makoto was broken, when Makoto announced that she would be leaving Ice Ribbon for Smash.[32][33] On August 11, Riho interrupted a Smash press conference, where the transfer was made official, by attacking Smash promoterTajiri and challenging him to a match.[34][35] The match took place on August 21, during Makoto's final night in Ice Ribbon, and saw Tajiri pick up the win.[36][37] On December 25 atRibbonMania 2011, Seina returned to Ice Ribbon, after a two-year hiatus, to wrestle her retirement match against her Riho. Riho won the match in eight minutes and afterwards refereed a three-minute match, where Seina was defeated by her longtime friendHikari Minami.[38][39]
In early 2012, Riho began teaming regularly with Hikari Minami, after the latter brought back the Teens concept, producingTeens4 on March 3.[40][41][42] On April 15 atTeens5, Riho won a tournament to earn the right to book herself a match forTeens6.[43] On May 24, Riho made her debut forWrestling New Classic (WNC), the follow-up promotion to Smash, when she replaced an injuredMio Shirai in a tag team match, where she and Makoto were defeated byKana andSyuri.[44][45] On June 16 atTeens6, Riho was defeated byWorld Wonder Ring Stardom representative Nanae Takahashi in the match she was allowed to choose herself.[46][47][48] On September 1, Riho announced that she was quitting Ice Ribbon after the September 23 Korakuen Hall event to reunite with Emi Sakura, who had left the promotion in the beginning of the year.[49][50] On September 17, Riho wrestled her final match at the Ice Ribbon Dojo inSaitama, teaming with her hand-picked partner Tsukasa Fujimoto in a tag team match, where they defeatedHiroyo Matsumoto andHamuko Hoshi, with Riho pinning Hoshi for the win.[51][52] On September 23 atRibbon no Kishitachi 2012, Riho was defeated by Aoi Kizuki in her Ice Ribbon farewell match.[53][54][55]
In June 2010, Riho began making appearances forDDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). On June 13, she teamed withKenny Omega and Mr. #6 to defeat Mr. Strawberry, Muscle Sakai and O.K. Revolution for the Sea Of Japan 6-Person Tag Team Championship.[56] On July 20, Omega left the championship team, after which the title was declared vacant, before Riho, Mr. #6 and The Great Kojika were announced as the new champions on July 24.[57] The following day, Riho, The Great Kojika and Mr. #6 defeatedHikaru Sato,Keisuke Ishii and Yoshihiko, and Antonio Honda,Kudo and Yasu Urano in athree-way match to retain theSea Of Japan 6-Person Tag Team Championship and win theJiyūgaoka 6-Person Tag Team Championship andUWA World Trios Championships, unifying the three titles in the process.[58] After defending the Trios Triple Crown Championship againstJaki Numazawa,Jun Kasai and Miyako Matsumoto at an Ice Ribbon event on September 23, Riho, The Great Kojika and Mr. #6 lost the title to Hikaru Sato,Michael Nakazawa and Tomomitsu Matsunaga back in DDT on November 3.[59][60]
In late 2010 and early 2011, Riho also made appearances forUnion Pro Wrestling, where she performed under a mask for the character of Black Cherry, a storyline nemesis of Cherry.[61] The storyline also came to include Black Cherry #2 and Black Cherry #3, portrayed by Ice Ribbon wrestlersHikari Minami andEmi Sakura, respectively.[61][62][63]
On September 23, 2012, Riho joined Emi Sakura'sBangkok-based promotionGatoh Move Pro Wrestling.[64][65] She made her in-ring debut for Gatoh Move on October 7 inShinjuku, wrestling Emi Sakura to a ten-minute time limit draw.[66] As part of her transfer to Gatoh Move, it was announced that Riho would be changing her ring name. On November 4, Riho changed her ring name fromhiragana "りほ" tokanji "里歩", another way of writing her old ring name.[5] She then went on to lose to Emi Sakura in a main event singles match.[67] In January 2013, Riho took a temporary break from Gatoh Move to concentrate on herhigh school entrance exam.[68] On May 4, Riho andAntonio Honda first defeatedChoun Shiryu and Hiroyo Matsumoto in the semifinals and then Emi Sakura and Hikaru Sato in the finals to win the Go Go! Green Curry Khob Khun Cup mixed tag team tournament.[69] From December 22 to 23, Riho and Emi Sakura worked twoWrestle-1 events, wrestling singles matches against each other; Riho won the first and Sakura the second.[70][71] On August 9, 2014, Riho defeated Sakura in the finals to win the Gatonun Climax one-day tournament.[72] On November 2, Riho defeated Sakura to win theIWA Triple Crown Championship, after which she announced she was entering theidol business.[73] Riho made her first successful title defense on December 27, defeating Sakura in a rematch.[74] Her second title defense took place on March 26, 2015, when she defeated Reina Joshi Puroresu's Makoto.[75] On August 13, Riho main evented Gatoh Move's first ever Korakuen Hall show, successfully defending the IWA Triple Crown Championship against Kotori.[76] On September 21, Riho lost the title to male wrestlerDJ Nira in her fifth defense.[77] On June 22, 2016, Gatoh Move held Riho's tenth anniversary event, which saw her defeatKaori Yoneyama in the main event to regain the IWA Triple Crown Championship.[78] She lost the title to Makoto on November 19.[79] On December 24, Riho and Kotori defeatedAoi Kizuki andSayaka Obihiro to win theAsia Dream Tag Team Championship.[80] They lost the title to Emi Sakura and Masahiro Takanashi in their second defense on March 28, 2017.[81] The following May, Riho took part inPro-Wrestling: EVE events in the United Kingdom.[82]
On September 22, 2017, Riho defeated Kotori in the finals of a tournament to become the inauguralSuper Asia Champion.[83][84] She made her first successful title defense on November 7 against Emi Sakura and afterwards announced she was going on an overseas tour.[85] On March 31, 2018, she made her second successful defense of the Super Asia Championship vs Saki. Her third defense came against Jibzy in Bangkok, Thailand on May 12. Her next defense in Japan would be against Aoi Kizuki on July 28. A few weeks later she defended against Makoto in China, there was some controversy after the end of the match when Makoto complained that she kicked out before the count of three. On July 2, 2019, Riho was defeated by Emi Sakura in which after the match was over was given a farewell from Gatoh Move.[86]
On May 25, 2019, Riho made her debut forAll Elite Wrestling (AEW), competing in the six women tag-team match atDouble or Nothing.[87] On June 29 atFyter Fest, she participated and won a three-way match.[88] On August 31 atAll Out, Riho defeatedHikaru Shida, advancing to faceNyla Rose on the October 2 episode ofDynamite to crown the inauguralAEW Women's World Champion.[89] On October 2, she defeated Rose to become the inaugural champion.[90] Riho made successful title defenses againstBritt Baker onDynamite,[91] her mentorEmi Sakura atFull Gear,[92] and in afour-way match against Baker, Shida and Rose onDynamite.[93] On the January 8, 2020, episode ofDynamite, she successfully defended the title in a match againstKris Statlander, due to interference from the Nightmare Collective (Awesome Kong,Brandi Rhodes,Dr. Luther andMel) againstKris Statlander, which caused Baker,Big Swole and Shida to fend off against the stable.[94] On the February 12 episode ofDynamite, Riho lost the AEW Women's World Championship to Rose, ending her reign at 133 days.[95]
After an 11-month hiatus due to travel restrictions resulting from theCOVID-19 pandemic, it was announced in January 2021 that Riho would be participating in theAEW Women's World Title Eliminator tournament. On the February 17 episode ofDynamite, Riho defeatedNWA World Women's ChampionSerena Deeb in the opening round in a non-title match.[96][97] At the semi-finals of the American bracket, which aired on February 28 onB/R Live Riho lost to the former NWA World Women's ChampionThunder Rosa.[98] On the November 26 episode ofRampage, Riho faced Britt Baker (with the stipulation being that if Riho won, she would earn a title opportunity), and won the match.[99]
On January 8, 2022, onAEW Battle of the Belts Riho faced Baker for the AEW Women's World Championship which Riho lost bysubmission.[100] On January 31, it was announced that Riho suffered abroken collarbone injury and returned to Japan.[101] After nearly four months of inactivity due to injury, On the May 6 episode ofRampage, Riho participated in theAEW Owen Hart Cup and defeatedYuka Sakazaki in the qualifier match,[102] and in the following episode ofRampage, she was defeated byRuby Soho in the quarterfinals.[103] In 2023, Riho unsuccessfully challenged for the AEW Women's World Championship twice, once againstJamie Hayter on the April 5 episode ofDynamite and atWorlds End on December 30 against"Timeless" Toni Storm. In July 2024, she suffered an injury while wrestling Lady Frost.[104]
After being out of action for 14 months, Riho made her return onDynamite on September 3, 2025, savingAlex Windsor from an attack byAEW TBS ChampionMercedes Moné.[105] AtAll Out on September 20, she unsuccessfully challenged Moné for the AEW TBS Championship.[106]
On July 24, 2019, Riho made a surprise appearance onWorld Wonder Ring Stardom, announcing that she will wrestle for the company starting August.[107] In her debut match on August 10, she won theHigh Speed Championship fromDeath Yama-san after pinningStarlight Kid in a three-way match.[108] She successfully defended her title against Death Yama-san on September 29.[109] From October 14 to November 4, she teamed with Starlight Kid to participate in the Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2019 as part of the Red Goddess block; they failed to advance to the finals but picked up a win over theGoddesses of Stardom ChampionsJungle Kyona andKonami.[110] On December 14, they unsuccessfully challenged the champions in a title match.[111] Riho made her first appearance since February 16, 2020, on July 11 after the company went on hiatus due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. She teamed withWorld of Stardom ChampionMayu Iwatani to defeat AZM andMomo Watanabe.[112] On July 26, Riho lost the High Speed Championship to AZM, in athree-way match which also involved Starlight Kid.[113] In late December,Dave Meltzer confirmed that Riho would no longer appear for the promotion due to AEW commitments.[114]
^"Riho joins Gatoh Move".Gatoh Move Pro Wrestling (in Japanese).YouTube. September 23, 2012.Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. RetrievedSeptember 23, 2012.
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