Taki (RLS CAS)

Kimiko Tanahashi (born 8th May 1988 in Tottori, Japan) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to UNION Wrestling under the name Taki. 
A seasoned veteran of the British alternative wrestling scene1, Taki has wrestled for BWF, BoBWrestling and UNION Wrestling, 
== Career ==
=== Training in Japan (2007-2009) ===
Tanahashi trained under one of Japan's more notorious alternative wrestlers in Kunishige Gonda2, who trained many of the Joshis who appeared for the alt. promotions in Japan around this time. She took the name Taki- which means Waterfall- directly from her trainer, who had a nickname for every one of his students3.
Gonda would later pay tribute to Tanahashi as "the best student I ever had, flawless in execution but mercurial in movement". He admitted in a 2017 interview, however, that he'd not spoken to her for many years due to his disapproval of her move abroad.4
=== BWF/BoBWrestling (2009-2014) ===
Taki would move to the UK in late 2009 to join the British Wrestling Federation, raising eyebrows at the time because of the British alternative wrestling scene's lack of Japanese wrestlers, with Taki herself being the first Joshi ever to wrestle for the promotion.5
She would have a slow start to life in BWF, being used mainly as a jobber in her first year, before embarking on a feud with Jubilee that showcased her talents and saw her win over the crowd. This would lead to several more high-profile feuds, with Taki and Lisa Egan main eventing BWF To The Grave in May 2011. Unfortunately, she'd tear several muscles in her leg during this bout, which among other complications kept her out for almost a year.
She'd return to active competition in early 2012, with much of her momentum gone, and try to pick up again as the women's division on BWF floundered. She'd have more luck in nearby promotion Best of British Wrestling, feuding once again with Jubilee and Miss Demeaner (later known as Miss Deeds), before taking more time off to heal up.
She'd take part in the first BWF Women's Cup in late 2013/early 2014, finishing as a semi-finalist after losing out narrowly to eventual winner Miss Demeaner. She would eventually win the Cup, from Demeaner, in a Loser Leaves Fed match at 2014's Rumble in Rhyl, facilitating Demeaner's exit from the promotion.
Taki was the final Women's Champion of BoBWrestling before the promotion closed it's doors in 2014.
=== UNION Wrestling (2014-present) ===
Despite signing for UNION Wrestling (known at the time as PWU) in late 2014, Taki wouldn't make a splash outside of the live tours until January 2017, in a losing effort to Elsa on an episode of Live From The UNION. She'd continue to appear infrequently on LFTU in the following months, more often than not to put over other superstars or angles, finally getting a win against Abby Morgan in June 2017. 
The following month she'd main event UNION Unleashed along with Violet, which saw Taki advance in the 1st Round of the Wrestling Classic Women's Tourney. At the Wrestling Classic 2017, she'd lose by DQ in the 2nd Round after being overly aggressive in her offence, a move meant to sell her as a more villainous, violent character overall. 
This would lead to her teaming with fellow villain Miss Deeds in a battle against Amy J and Sitara, culminating in a Hardcore Brawl Tornado Tag match at Open Challenge 2017, which the latter would win after Sitara pinned Taki. She'd then pursue a feud with Brittany Guile, trading victories with her new rival all the way up to Heavy Metal 2017, in which she'd be victorious.
The second series of UNION programming saw Taki debut on the first upload of UNION Wrestling LIVE! in October 2017, failing to win in a Three Woman match also featuring Birdy and Nancy Warren. She'd also once again lose to Elsa in her main programming debut of the season, on UNION Charged. She wouldn't appear again, due to injuries, until January 2018, where she'd lose to Koldskador, before being built up to potentially win the Outlast the Odds Battle Royal, at the planned event of the same name, which was cancelled following the walkout of Mikey Ace and the ramifications that it led to.
Taki continued to show loyalty to the promotion, however, and throughout it's decline between 2018 and 2020 would continue to perform live on almost every show. The COVID-19 pandemic, and UNION's subsequent hiatus due to it, would lead to Taki being offered a release in 2020, which she declined after long talks with Eddie Hamer.6
Taki would return to active competition at the UNION Return show in November 2021, teaming with Jackie Compton in a defeat to siSTARZ. At the Manchester show, two weeks later, she'd draw in a double count-out with Indira, before being taken out backstage (though the attending audience were only told of this happening, and didn't see any of it) by her. At Touchdown '22, Taki and Compton would fail to defeat siSTARZ in a First-to-a-Finish tag match, ending the feud.
She'd appear in the main event, accompanied by Compton, of the Aberdeen show at the end of January 2022, facing hometown debutant Kenzie Starr and shockingly losing to her, raising her hand after the bell in a show of respect. Taki would mainly work an enhancing or multi-person match role, when not teaming with Compton, for the next two years.
At UNION Open Challenge 2024, the VeteRUNNERS would answer the challenge for the WOTU Tag Team Championships, losing to champions Better That You, with Taki submitting to Gaia Cassidy while Elsa took out Compton, in what would prove to be the final match for the championships. She'd qualify for the Three Woman Ladder Match to crown the first WOTU Counties Champion at UNION Uneasy Alliance 2024, but ultimately come up short after the former Tag Team Champions double-teamed her.
== In-Wrestling ==
=== Signatures ===
Exploder Suplex 3, 8
=== Finishers ===
Nodowa Otoshi (Chokeslam 1, 2)
=== Nicknames ===
-
=== Themes ===
-
== Accomplishments ==
BWF Women's Cup (2014)
BoBWrestling Women's Championship (2013-2014)
== Trivia ==
* Despite being popular in her original adopted city of Newcastle, where BWF had a hardcore fanbase and UNION Wrestling originally based much of it's programming, Tanahashi actually lives in Boston, in Lincolnshire, with her husband and their dogs.7
* Tanahashi has long been a vocal proponent of body positivity, channelling it to "break stereotypes surrounding muscular women".8
== Behind-the-Scenes/Notes ==
# She's one of my oldest CAWs still in use, and certainly one of the oldest female wrestlers. Possibly second only to Jackie Compton.
#An old CAW of mine, who's gimmick name I forget, so I made up a real name for him instead.
#I don't actually remember exactly where the name originated. Possibly chosen at random from the call-names in the game itself...
#This is purely for the drama of her backstory, I imagined her trainer- renowned for training some of the best local talent- being bitter about her leaving him to go so far away.
#This is true, Japanese CAWs weren't something I used in abundance until a few years later, when I got better at making them look legitimate.
#I plan to fully reboot UW, with Taki still being there.
#I added this superfluous detail simply because I couldn't logistically justify having all my talent, pretty much, living in three cities.
#Just a little fluff for her backstory.
Category:CAWs