Meiko Satomura (里村 明衣子, Satomura Meiko, born November 11, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler. She is currently signed to the American promotion WWE performing on the NXT brand and the Japanese promotion Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling. She was a one-time NXT UK Women's Champion.
| Meiko Satomura | |
|---|---|
Satomura in July 2019 | |
| Born | November 11, 1979[1] Niigata, Japan[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Meiko Satomura Meiko Satomura Deluxe[2] Meiko Satomura DX[3] |
| Billed height | 1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)[1] |
| Billed weight | 68 kg (150 lb)[1] |
| Trained by | Chigusa Nagayo |
| Debut | April 15, 1995[1] |
Satomura made her professional wrestling debut for all female promotion Gaea Japan on April 15, 1995, defeating Sonoko Kato.[4] On November 2, 1996, Meiko Satomura and Sonoko Kato defeated Sugar Sato and Chikayo Nagashima to become the inaugural AAAW Tag Team Champions. Satomura would go on to win that title on two more occasions, teaming with Ayako Hamada, and Chikayo Nagashima. She also won the AAAW Singles Championship twice, with her second reign ending at the hands of Aja Kong on April 3, 2005. Gaea Japan closed a week later on April 10 after staging its farewell show where Satomura defeated her trainer Chigusa Nagayo in the main event.
In 1996, Satomura started appearing for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) through Gaea Japan's working relationship with WCW which was attempting to establish a women's division. Satomura participated in an eight-woman tournament for the inaugural WCW Women's World Championship but was eliminated in the first round by eventual winner Akira Hokuto. When WCW introduced a second title for the women she entered into that tournament too, but was again knocked out in the first round by Toshie Uematsu who went on to win the tournament. Satomura continued to make appearances for WCW until the business relationship between the two promotions ended.
Following Gaea Japan's closure, Satomura formed the promotion Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling with Jinsei Shinzaki.
On September 23, 2009, Satomura participated in the Splash J and Running G tournament along with Kaoru and Tomoko Kuzumi. In the Semi Final, Satomura's team defeated the Dynamite Kansai, Makie Numao and Yasuko Kuragaki to advance to the final. In the final, they defeated the team of Hikari Fukuoka, Kanako Motoya and Sonoko Kato to win the Splash J and Running G tournament.[5]
In May 2012, Satomura made her Chikara debut during the promotion's Aniversario weekend.[6] That same year, Satomura returned to Chikara, participating in the group's premier tournament King of Trios. In 2016, Satomura along with Cassandra Miyagi and Dash Chisako won the King of Trios tournament.[7] The trio was announced for the 2017 edition of the tournament.
On July 27, 2018, WWE announced that Satomura will be competing in the second Mae Young Classic tournament.[8] She defeated Killer Kelly, Mercedes Martinez, and Lacey Lane before being defeated in the semifinals by Toni Storm.
On October 27, 2020, it was reported that Satomura had signed with WWE and would be an on-air talent and coach for NXT UK.[9] On the January 28 episode of NXT UK, a video package aired hyping up Satomura's arrival to the brand.[10][11] On the February 11, 2021 episode of NXT UK, Satomura made her ring-debut, where she defeated Isla Dawn in a opening match.[12] Soon after, Satomura began a feud with NXT UK Women's Champion Kay Lee Ray, unsuccessfully challenging for the title on the March 3 episode of NXT UK however won the title on the June 10 episode of NXT UK. Satomura became the first Japanese wrestler to hold the NXT UK Women's Championship, as well as in NXT UK overall.[13] She had her first successful title defense against Amale on the July 15 episode of NXT UK. She would retain against Stevie Turner on the August 20 episode of NXT UK. She would then retain the championship against Blair Davenport on the January 6 episode of NXT UK and Isla Dawn on the March 24 episode.
On the August 23, 2022, episode of NXT 2.0, Satomura made her first appearance on the American brand when she confronted the NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose. The two agreed to a unification match for their titles on Worlds Collide, with Blair Davenport being added to the match.[14] At the event, Rose won the match by pinning Davenport, thus ending Satomura's reign as NXTUK Women's Championship at 451 days (as recognized by WWE).[15]
Satomura appeared in the 2000 documentary Gaea Girls made for the BBC by Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams.[16]
