NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling

Japanese women's professional wrestling promotion

NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling

Official logo of the promotion

Acronym| NEO
Founded| 1997[1]
Defunct| 2010[1]
Style| Joshi Puroresu
Headquarters| Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan[1]
Founder(s)| Kyoko Inoue
Split from| All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling
Successor| World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana

Neo Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling (ネオ・ジャパン・レディース・プロレスリング, Neo Japan Redīzu Puroresuringu; frequently shortened to Neo Ladies and styled as NEO) was a joshi puroresu (women's professional wrestling) promotion established in 1997 by Kyoko Inoue. The first event took place on January 9, 1998.[1]

## NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling

[edit]

NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling was founded during All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling financial struggles. The figurehead of the company was Kyoko Inoue, a former All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling wrestler. The name was meant to reference the "Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling" part of the name for All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling. The group was pegged with problems from the beginning as the group was initially supposed to be called New Japan Women's Pro Wrestling, but due to copyright concerns, NEO was chosen instead.

Their first show on January 9, 1998, featured the 9 members of the roster wrestling multiple times due to the small roster. The main event of the first show featured Las Cachorras Orientales of Etsuko Mita and Mima Shimoda teaming with Saya Endo to defeat Chaparita Asari, Kyoko Inoue and Yoshiko Tamura.[2]

During Spring 1998, Kyoko Inoue feuded with Lioness Asuka. Kyoko captured Lioness' TWF title on April 26, 1998.[3] The feud carried over to NEO where they met in a singles match on May 6, 1998, for  JDStar's TWF Title, in which Asuka won the title back. In August 1998, Nicole Bass toured with the promotion, defeating Etsuko Mita, Chaparita ASARI and Kyoko Inoue on August 16, 1998.[4]

On October 29, 1998, the promotion featured a match between Kyoko Inoue and Aja Kong for Kyoko Inoue's 10th anniversary as a wrestler.

During Summer 1999, the promotion feuded with  JWP and All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling, resulting in multiple inter-promotional matches. On July 11, 1999, Kyoko Inoue captured the WWWA World Single Championship of All Japan Women's, defeating Yumiko Hotta. The two had a rematch at a NEO event on October 22, 1999, with Hotta winning the title back.[5]

The original incarnation of the promotion only lasted until January 6, 2000, less than two years after its first show. The last show featured Kyoko Inoue wrestling in every match on the card.[6]

## NEO Women's Wrestling

[edit]

NEO renamed itself to NEO Women's Wrestling (NEO女子プロレス, Neo Joshi Puroresu) after NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling closed in 2000. The promotion's pre-debut show was on March 16, 2000, and their official debut was on May 31, 2000. The promotion regularly held events at Itabashi Green Hall in Itabashi, Tokyo, due to its smaller size, while running Korakuen Hall for bigger events.

The promotion rose to power in 2005 after the closure of All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling and Gaea Japan, with NEO being considered by many to be the top joshi puroresu promotion during this time. In 2007, founder Kyoko Inoue had complications from her pregnancy and was unable to wrestle, which hurt the promotion.

In 2009, business declined when two of their top stars, Etsuko Mita and idol wrestler Haruka Matsuo retired.[7]

The promotion announced its closure May 5, 2010.[7] Kyoko Inoue announced her resignation,[8] Yoshiko Tamura, Tanny Mouse and Yuki Miyazaki were slated to retire, young wrestlers Aoi Ishibashi and Natsumi Kawano had already left the company and the roster would have only been left with three wrestlers, due to the companies struggles with finding new talent.[7] The company held their final show on December 31, 2010. The first main event featured Ayumi Kurihara capturing her long-awaited first major singles title by defeating Yoshiko Tamura for the NWA Women's Pacific/NEO Single Championship and the second main event featured the remaining members of the NEO roster competing in 10-minute time limit trios match.

## Titles

[edit]

### NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling

[edit]

Championship | Final champion(s) | Reign | Date won | Previous champion(s)

|
|
|
|

NWA Women's Pacific/NEO Single Championship | Ayumi Kurihara | 1 | May 25, 2011 | Yoshiko Tamura
High Speed Championship | Leon | 1 | November 27, 2010 | Natsuki☆Taiyo
NEO Tag Team Championship | NEO Machine Guns
(Tanny Mouse and Yuki Miyazaki | 2 | November 28, 2010 | Aya Yuuki and Ryo Mizunami
NEO Itabashi Tag Team Championship | Chiharu and Yuka Nakamura | 1
(2, 2) | December 23, 2004 | Tanny Mouse and Yuki Miyazaki
NEO Kitazawa Tag Team Championship | Tanny Mouse and Yuki Miyazaki | 4 | October 4, 2004 | Etsuko Mita and Kyoko Inoue

### International Wrestling Association of Japan

[edit]

Championship | Final champion | Reign | Date won | Previous champion

|
|
|
|

AWF World Women's Championship | Tanny Mouse | 1 | June 26, 2004 | Misae Genki

## Alumni

[edit]

* Azumi Hyuga
* Ayako Sato
* Kyoko Inoue
* Kiyoko Ichiki
* Etsuko Mita
* Mima Shimoda
* Kazumi Shimouma
* Yoshiko Tamura
* Chaparita Asari
* Misae Genki
* Haruka Matsuo
* Saya Endo

* Tanny Mouse
* Tomoko Watanabe
* Yuki Miyazaki
* Yuka Shiina
* Nozomi Dai
* Natsumi Kawano
* Mika Iida
* Aya Yuuki
* Nagisa Nozaki
* Nicole Bass

|

## NEO Hall of Fame

[edit]

#  | Year | Ring name
(Real name)[a] | Inducted for | Notes[b]

|
|
|
|

1 | 2005  | Chaparita Asari
(Masami Watanabe) | Wrestling |
2 | 2005  | Tomiko Sai | Wrestling | Won the NEO Itabashi Tag Team Championship (1 time)
3 | 2005  | Yu Tanabe | Wrestling |
4 | 2005  | Junko Nagura |  |
5 | 2010  | Etsuko Mita | Wrestling | Won the NWA Women's Pacific/NEO Single Championship (1 time), NEO Tag Team Championship (1 time), NEO Kitazawa Tag Team Championship (1 time), and NEO Itabashi Tag Team Championship (1 time)
6 | 2010  | Yuka Shiina | Wrestling | Won the NEO Kitazawa Tag Team Championship (1 time)
7 | 2010  | Misae Genki
(Misae Watanabe) | Wrestling | Won the NWA Women's Pacific/NEO Single Championship (3 times) and NEO Tag Team Championship (2 times)
8 | 2010  | Azumi Hyuga
(Tomoko Kuzumi) | Wrestling | Won the NWA Women's Pacific/NEO Single Championship (1 time)
9 | 2010  | Yuka Nakamura | Wrestling | Won the NEO Tag Team Championship (2 times) and NEO Itabashi Tag Team Championship (1 time)
10 | 2010  | Haruka Matsuo | Wrestling | Won the NEO Tag Team Championship (2 times) and NEO Itabashi Tag Team Championship (1 time)
11 | 2010  | Megumi Asano | Refereeing |
12 | 2010  | Katsuhiro Nagata | Wrestling |
13 | 2010  | Yoshiko Tamura | Wrestling | Won the NEO Tag Team Championship (3 times)
14 | 2010  | Tanny Mouse
(Mina Taniyama) | Wrestling | Won the NEO Tag Team Championship (2 times), NEO Kitazawa Tag Team Championship (4 times), and NEO Itabashi Tag Team Championship (6 times)
15 | 2010  | Yuki Miyazaki | Wrestling | Won the NEO Tag Team Championship (2 times), NEO Kitazawa Tag Team Championship (4 times), and NEO Itabashi Tag Team Championship (6 times)

## Footnotes

[edit]

* a – Entries without a birth name indicates that the inductee did not perform under a ring name.
* b – This section mainly lists the major accomplishments of each inductee in the NEO promotion.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d "NEO". cagematch.net. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
2. ^ "NEO". cagematch.net. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
3. ^ "World Women's Title". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
4. ^ "NEO @ ???". wrestlingdata.net. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
5. ^ "Neo Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling Videos ISO". quebrada.net. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
6. ^ "NEO @ Tokyo". wrestlingdata.net. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
7. ^ a b c "ＮＥＯが記念興行で解散を発表／ＮＥＯ". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. March 24, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
8. ^ "京子は「方向性の違い」とＮＥＯ退団". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. May 5, 2010. Retrieved March 21, 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* Archived official website at the Wayback Machine (archived February 9, 2005)
* Another version of NEO's Archived official website at the Wayback Machine (archived February 4, 2009)

* v
* t
* e

NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling

Championships|

* NWA Women's Pacific/NEO Single Championship
* High Speed Championship
* NEO Tag Team Championship
* NEO Itabashi Tag Team Championship
* NEO Kitazawa Tag Team Championship
* AWF World Women's Championship

Miscellaneous|

* NEO Hall Of Fame

Partnerships|

* All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling
* Gaea Japan
* JDStar
* JWP Joshi Puroresu

* v
* t
* e

Professional wrestling in Japan

Active promotions

Major promotions|

* All Japan Pro Wrestling
* CyberFight
* DDT Pro-Wrestling
* Pro Wrestling Noah
* Dragongate
* New Japan Pro-Wrestling

Women's|

* CyberFight
* Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling
* World Wonder Ring Stardom

Independent promotions|

* Active Advance Pro Wrestling
* Big Japan Pro Wrestling
* Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling-Explosion
* Dradition
* Ganbare☆Pro-Wrestling
* Gleat
* Lidet UWF
* G Prowrestling
* Kyushu Pro-Wrestling
* Michinoku Pro Wrestling
* Osaka Pro Wrestling
* Pro-Wrestling Basara
* Pro Wrestling Freedoms
* Pro Wrestling Land's End
* Pro-Wrestling Shi-En
* Pro Wrestling Zero1
* Professional Wrestling Just Tap Out
* Strong Style Pro-Wrestling
* Tenryu Project
* Tokyo Gurentai
* Wrestling of Darkness 666

Women's|

* 2point5 Joshi Pro Wrestling
* Actwres girl'Z
* ChocoPro
* Dream Star Fighting Marigold
* Ice Ribbon
* Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling
* Marvelous That's Women Pro Wrestling
* Oz Academy
* Pro Wrestling Wave
* Pure-J
* Reina Joshi Puroresu
* Seadlinnng
* Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling
* World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana

Governing bodies and
interpromotional alliances|

| Legitimate|

* Asia-Pacific Federation of Wrestling
* United Japan Pro-Wrestling
* United Wrestling Network

|

Storyline|

* AWA
* International Wrestling Grand Prix
* Global Honored Crown
* New Wrestling Alliance
* Pacific Wrestling Federation

Defunct promotions

Major promotions|

* Fighting Network Rings
* Hustle
* Inoki Genome Federation
* International Wrestling Enterprise
* Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance
* UWF International
* Wrestle-1

Women's|

* All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling
* Gaea Japan
* Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling

Independent promotions|

* Apache Pro-Wrestling Army
* Battlarts
* Diamond Ring
* Fighting of World Japan Pro Wrestling
* IWA Japan
* Japan Pro-Wrestling
* Kingdom
* Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi
* Smash
* Super World of Sports
* Tokyo Pro Wrestling
* Toryumon Japan
* Universal Lucha Libre
* Universal Wrestling Federation
* W*ING
* WAR
* Wrestling New Classic

Women's|

* Arsion
* JDStar
* JWP Joshi Puroresu
* NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling
* WNC-Reina

Governing bodies and
interpromotional alliances|

* AWA Superstars of Wrestling
* Global Professional Wrestling Alliance

* Attendance records
* Professional wrestling at the Tokyo Dome
* Puroresu
* Rikidōzan

* v
* t
* e

Women's professional wrestling

Women's wrestling
promotions|

| Active|

* 2point5 Joshi Pro-Wrestling
* Actwres girl'Z
* Bellatrix Female Warriors
* ChocoPro
* Dream Star Fighting Marigold
* Femmes Fatales
* Ice Ribbon
* Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling
* Lucha Libre Femenil
* Marvelous That's Women Pro Wrestling
* Oz Academy
* Pro Wrestling Wave
* Pro-Wrestling: EVE
* Seadlinnng
* Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling
* Shine Wrestling
* Sukeban
* Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling
* Women Superstars United
* Women of Wrestling
* Women's Wrestling Army
* World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana
* World Wonder Ring Stardom

|

Defunct|

* All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling
* Arsion
* ChickFight
* Gaea Japan
* Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling
* JDStar
* JWP Joshi Puroresu
* Ladies Major League Wrestling
* Ladies Professional Wrestling Association
* Naked Women's Wrestling League
* NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling
* Powerful Women of Wrestling
* Pro Wrestling Women's Alliance
* Rise Wrestling
* Shimmer Women Athletes
* World Women's Wrestling
* Wrestlicious

Women within other promotions|

* Nitro Girls
* TNA Knockouts
* Women in WWE
* championships
* Women of Honor

Accomplishments|

* Women's World Championship
* Women's World Tag Team Championship
* Women's Wrestling Hall of Fame

Media|

* ...All the Marbles
* GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling
* Lipstick and Dynamite, Piss and Vinegar: The First Ladies of Wrestling
* Netflix's GLOW
* Pushed to the Limit
* Queen of the Ring
* Silver
* Sisterhood of the Squared Circle

Related|

* Fighting Cholitas
* Intergender wrestling
* Ring girl

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