Syuri

Syuri Kondo (February 8, 1989) is a Japanese professional wrestler, shoot boxer and kickboxer, better known simply as Syuri. She is known for her work in Wrestling New Classic (WNC), SMASH, where she was the final Smash Diva Champion, and Hustle, where she started her career as KG (Karate Girl). She is currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom. As a kickboxer, she is affiliated with the Krush promotion, where she represents the Vos Gym training camp and is a former Krush Women's Champion.
==Early life==
Kondo was born to a Japanese father and a Filipino mother in Ebina, Kanagawa. She started practicing karate in primary school, winning numerous titles, and also excelled in track and field sports in junior high school and tennis in high school. After graduation, she worked as a model for fashion magazines and as a movie extra, before passing an audition held by professional wrestling promotion Hustle.
==Professional wrestling career==
===Hustle (2008–2009)===
On October 26, 2008, Kondo made her professional wrestling debut for Hustle in a match, where she, working under the ring name KG (short for Karate Girl), teamed with HG and RG to defeat Big C, Onigumo and Piranha Monster. kg quickly joined Tajiri's Hustle Union Army stable, forming a tag team with stablemate Banzai Chie, and started an intergender rivalry with Rey Ohara. Kondo remained with the promotion until it ceased its operations in late 2009.
===Smash (2009–2012)===
In December 2009, former Hustle performers Akira Shoji and Tajiri held a press conference announcing the formation of a new promotion, Smash. In addition to the two, former storyline rivals Kondo and Hajime Ohara were also present at the press conference and were named as part of the new promotion's roster. While in Hustle Kondo had wrestled almost exclusively against male wrestlers as a novelty due to the lack of other female wrestlers in the promotion, in Smash she was poised to become a more serious joshi wrestler. Kondo, now working under the ring name Syuri, made her Smash debut on March 26, 2010, at the promotion's first ever event, losing to Meiko Satomura. On April 23 at Smash.2, she teamed with Hajime Ohara in another loss to the team of Lin Byron and Kushida, dropping the pinfall to Byron.[13] On May 29 at Smash.3, Syuri suffered her third straight loss in the promotion, when she, Akira Shoji and Yusuke Kodama were defeated by Kim Nan Pun, Lin Byron and Mentallo in a six-person tag team match. After the match, Syuri had a heated confrontation, leading to a backstage brawl, with Kana, who was sitting in the audience, having earlier announced her arrival to Smash. This led to the main event of Smash.4 on June 25, where Syuri defeated Kana in a fourteen-minute-long match, ending her losing streak and picking up the biggest win of her career. However, Kana came back at Smash.5 on July 24, defeating Syuri via submission in a rematch in just three minutes.
For the next several events, Syuri wrestled against female workers from other independent promotions, who were looking for regular spots on the Smash roster. On September 24 at Smash.8, Syuri was defeated in a hardcore match by freelancer Kaoru, after which Kana entered the ring, pushed Kaoru away and helped Syuri backstage. On November 22 at Smash.10, Syuri and Kana teamed together to defeat Ice Ribbon's Emi Sakura and JWP's Kaori Yoneyama in a tag team match. As a result, Syuri was granted a shot at Yoneyama's JWP Openweight Championship on December 24 in the main event of Happening Eve, but was unsuccessful in her attempt to win her first title. On January 29, 2011, at Smash.12, Syuri faced the debuting former WWE wrestler Serena in a losing effort. Syuri's streak of big matches and her growing popularity among fans, eventually led to fellow Smash Seikigun member Lin Byron growing jealous of her, turning heel and leaving the group to start a rivalry with her. This was followed by Byron picking up back-to-back tag team victories over Syuri at Smash.13 and Live in Osaka, leading to a singles match on February 25 at Smash.14, where Syuri was victorious. At Smash.15, Syuri teamed with Tajiri and Sabu to defeat Byron, Gabriel Antonick and Michael Kovac in a six-person intergender hardcore match.
On March 21, 2011, Syuri made her debut for Ice Ribbon in a losing effort against Hikaru Shida. The match eventually led to a partnership between the two and, after defeating Chii Tomiya and Makoto on April 16, Syuri and Shida went on to unsuccessfully challenge Emi Sakura and Ray for the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship on May 5. The partnership also carried over to Smash, where Syuri and Shida defeated Io and Mio Shirai in a tag team match on May 3 at Smash.17. On May 14, Syuri, along with Tajiri and Hajime Ohara, traveled to Mexico to represent Smash at Toryumon Mexico's DragonMania VI event. Syuri teamed with Lluvia and Marcela to defeat La Comandante, Dalys la Caribeña and Mima Shimoda in a six-woman tag team match, submitting Dalys for the win. Upon returning to Japan, Syuri avenged her Ice Ribbon loss by defeating Hikaru Shida on June 9 at Smash.18 in the first round of a tournament to determine the inaugural Smash Diva Champion. On August 11 at Smash.20, Syuri was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Kana, who would go on to become the inaugural champion. On October 28 at Smash.22, Syuri failed to earn a shot at the Smash Diva Championship, when she was defeated in a four-way elimination number one contender's match by Tomoka Nakagawa. Also at Smash.22, Lin Byron made her return to Smash, after a four-month break during which she worked under her masked Ray alias, reigniting her rivalry with Syuri. On November 24 at Smash.23, Syuri defeated Byron in a hardcore match, after which the two made peace with each other. During the next two events, Syuri extended her winning streak, defeating Aki Shizuku in a singles match on December 30 at Smash.24 and pinning Takuya Kito in a six-person tag team match on January 19, 2012, at We Are Smash, proceeding to then challenge Smash Diva Champion Kana to a title match, after she had regained the title from Tomoka Nakagawa. On February 10, Smash announced that the promotion would be folding after its March 14 event, after which Syuri would become a free agent. On February 19 at Smash.25, Syuri defeated Kana to win the Smash Diva Championship for the first time, after which the two longtime rivals hugged and made peace with each other. In her final Smash appearance on March 14 at Smash.Final, Syuri teamed with Mentallo in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Kana and Último Dragón. After the match, Syuri officially retired the Smash Diva Championship.
===Wrestling New Classic (2012–2016)===
On April 5, 2012, Tajiri announced the follow-up promotion to Smash, Wrestling New Classic (WNC), which would hold its first event on April 26, and named Syuri as part of the promotion's roster. At the promotion's first event, Before the Dawn, Syuri teamed with Makoto in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Kana and Mio Shirai. On May 12, Syuri returned to Mexico to take part in Toryumon Mexico's DragonMania VII event, where she was defeated by Kana.[48] On May 24 at WNC's second event, Starting Over, Syuri teamed with Kana in a tag team match, where they defeated Makoto and Riho. Three days later at Go! Go! West: Hiroshima, Syuri main evented her first WNC event, when she, Akira and Dave Finlay defeated Kana, Mikey Whipwreck and Tajiri in a six-person tag team match. From May 29 to June 24, Syuri took part in Pro Wrestling Wave's 2012 Catch the Wave tournament, where she wrestled in a round-robin block made up of members of the White Tails stable. After a victory over Mio Shirai, a loss against Kana and draws against Shuu Shibutani and Ayumi Kurihara, Syuri finished at four points and failed to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. Back in WNC, Syuri started portraying a villainous character, first announcing that she was tired of having to wrestle the same opponents all the time and then, after veteran freelancer Ayako Hamada was revealed as her next opponent, by claiming that she had never even heard of her. Syuri also began sympathizing with Akira, who had recently turned on Tajiri, feeling disgruntled by the supposed changes that had taken place since the transition from Smash. The match took place on July 15 and saw Hamada pick up the win. Following the loss, Syuri attacked Kana, who tried to help her backstage, quit the WNC Seikigun and joined a new villainous stable formed by Akira and StarBuck. The three wrestled their first match as a unit on August 2, defeating Hajime Ohara, Kana and Tajiri in a six-person tag team main event. The trio continued their winning ways during the following two days by first defeating the trio of Kana, Tajiri and Yusuke Kodama in a main event in Osaka and then the trio of Hanzo, Kana and Seiki in a semi-main event in Hiroshima. On August 30, the trio main evented another WNC event in Korakuen Hall, defeating Kana, Mikey Whipwreck and Tajiri in a Barbed Wire Board Deathmatch, during which Syuri took a bump onto one of the barbed wire boards. Syuri, Akira and StarBuck were also victorious in a rematch the following day in Osaka. The trio's win streak ended on September 1 in Toyohashi, when Kana, Whipwreck and Tajiri were victorious in the third and final Barbed Wire Board Deathmatch between the two teams. In the main event of the following WNC event on September 17, Syuri was defeated by Kana via submission in a tag team match, where she and Akira faced Kana and Tajiri. Three days later, Syuri was defeated by Tajiri in an intergender match at Korakuen Hall.
On September 25, Syuri returned to Pro Wrestling Wave, when she and Shuu Shibutan entered the 2012 Dual Shock Wave tournament, opening their round-robin block with a win over the team of Hikaru Shida and Yumi Ohka. After suffering a defeat against Kurigohan (Ayumi Kurihara and Mika Iida), Syuri and Shibutani defeated 1st Impact (Makoto and Moeka Haruhi) in their final round-robin match to finish at the top of their block, tied with Shida and Ohka, forcing a decision match between the two teams. Syuri and Shibutani ended up winning the decision match, but were defeated in the finals of the tournament by the team of Misaki Ohata and Tsukasa Fujimoto. On October 24, Syuri, Akira and StarBuck named their stable "Synapse". Two days later, Syuri entered the WNC Women's Championship tournament, defeating Lin Byron in her first round match. On November 28, Syuri defeated Jessica Love to advance to the finals of the tournament. On December 27, Syuri defeated Nagisa Nozaki to win the tournament and become the inaugural WNC Women's Champion. Two days later, Syuri announced that she was going to produce her own event, titled Stimulus, on February 8, 2013, at Shinjuku Face. Syuri's first match as the WNC Women's Champion ended in defeat, when she, Akira and Synapse's newest member, Shinya Ishikawa, were defeated by Makoto, Mitoshichi Shinose and Tajiri in a six-person tag team main event on January 25, 2013, with Makoto pinning her for the win. Two days later, Syuri avenged the loss by defeating Makoto in a non-title singles match. On February 8, Syuri and Hikaru Shida were defeated in the main event of Stimulus by the team of Meiko Satomura and Tomoka Nakagawa. On March 31, Syuri lost the WNC Women's Championship to Makoto in her first defense. On April 14, Syuri made an unadvertised debut for World Wonder Ring Stardom, taking part in a gauntlet match, where the soon-to-retire Yuzuki Aikawa faced every wrestler in the promotion. Syuri's participation in the match ended in a one-minute time limit draw with Aikawa. On April 25 at WNC's one year anniversary event, Syuri received a rematch for the WNC Women's Championship in a seven-way match, which also included Arisa Nakajima, Command Bolshoi, Kayoko Haruyama, Nikki Storm and Lin Byron, who pinned Makoto to win the title. On April 29, Syuri returned to World Wonder Ring Stardom to take part in the promotion's big Ryōgoku Cinderella event at Ryōgoku Kokugikan, teaming with Hiroyo Matsumoto and Kaori Yoneyama in a six-woman tag team match, where they were defeated by Mika Nagano, Nanae Takahashi and Tsukasa Fujimoto. On May 15, Syuri returned to Pro Wrestling Wave to take part in the 2013 Catch the Wave tournament.[103] She finished her round-robin block on June 19 with a record of three wins, two draws and one loss, winning her block and advancing to the semifinals. On July 14, Syuri returned to Ice Ribbon for the first time in over two years, losing to Hikaru Shida in a singles match. The following day, Syuri was eliminated from the 2013 Catch the Wave tournament in the semifinals by JWP representative Arisa Nakajima. On August 7, Syuri entered a three-woman round-robin tournament to determine the new WNC Women's Champion, defeating Makoto and earning a spot in the finals. In her second round-robin match on August 8, Syuri was defeated by fellow finalist, Serena. In the finals of the tournament two days later, Syuri was again defeated by Serena.
On September 18, Syuri defeated Serena in a rematch to become the first two-time WNC Women's Champion.Two days later, Syuri defeated Zeuxis in a decision match at a Reina Joshi Puroresu event to become the second Reina World Women's Champion. The following day, Syuri made her debut for the Wrestle-1 promotion, defeating Makoto in a singles match. Afterwards, Syuri was sidelined with lower back pain, but was still attacked at the September 29 WNC event by Yumiko Hotta, who had earlier laid claim to the Reina World Women's Championship. Syuri returned from her injury at a Reina event on October 4, where she, La Vaquerita and Zeuxis defeated Hotta, Keiko Aono and Yuiga via disqualification. On October 17, Syuri took part in a big generational eight-on-eight elimination match promoted by Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling, where she, Hikaru Shida, Kagetsu, Manami Katsu, Sareee, Takumi Iroha, Yoshiko and Yuhi defeated Aja Kong, Command Bolshoi, Dump Matsumoto, Dynamite Kansai, Kyoko Inoue, Manami Toyota, Meiko Satomura and Takako Inoue. Syuri was eliminated from the match after wrestling Kyoko Inoue to a ten-minute time limit draw. On October 31, Syuri defeated Yumiko Hotta for her first successful defense of both the Reina World Women's Championship and the WNC Women's Championship. On November 18, WNC and Reina held a press conference to announce that Syuri had signed a dual contract with the two promotions, making her the first female wrestler to hold such a contract. With Syuri's help Reina looked to establish a professional wrestling promotion in her mother's native country, the Philippines. On November 29, Syuri made her second successful defense of the WNC Women's Championship against previous champion Lin Byron. On December 22, Syuri won yet another title, when she defeated La Comandante in a decision match to become the new CMLL-Reina International Champion. On January 18, 2014, Syuri made a non-wrestling appearance at the New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) co-produced Fantasticamania 2014 event in Korakuen Hall, handing a bouquet of flowers to Rey Cometa and Stuka, Jr. before their match. On January 25, Syuri successfully defended the WNC Women's Championship, the CMLL-Reina International Championship and the Reina World Women's Championship against Mia Yim at a WNC-Reina event in Manila, Philippines. On February 16 at Reina's re-launch event, Syuri successfully defended her Triple Crown against Silueta. Syuri then started a storyline rivalry with Aki Shizuku, who was looking to take over her spot as the "ace" of Reina. On February 27, Akira announced that the Synapse stable had decided to disband, emancipating Syuri who had not portrayed a villain for months. On March 9, Syuri successfully defended the Reina World Women's Championship against Kyoko Kimura. On April 15, Syuri returned to Mexico to work for CMLL. In her first match of the tour, Syuri teamed with Estrellita in a tag team match, where they were defeated by La Amapola and Dalys la Caribeña with La Amapola, the number one contender to the CMLL-Reina International Championship, pinning Syuri for the win.
==Shoot boxing kickboxing==
Outside of professional wrestling Syuri competes in shoot boxing and kickboxing. She debuted in December 2009 and competes as a flyweight, fighting roughly around 112 lb (51 kg). Her styles include Karate and shoot boxing.
==In wrestling==
*Finishing moves 
*As Syuri 
**Bridging German Suplex
**Gracias
**Pedigree
**Roundhouse kick
*As KG 
**Cyclone KG (Jumping corkscrew roundhouse kick)
**KG Flash (Inverted double underhook facebuster)
**Shin Seijin Clutch
*Signature moves
**Axe kick
**Double knee backbreaker
**Fireman's carry double knee gutbuster
**Half-hatch suplex
**Hurricanrana
**Running knee strike to a kneeling or seated opponent
**Sasori-gatame
*Nicknames
**"Syuri-chan"
**"Firipin no Rikidōzan" (Japanese for "Rikidōzan of the Philippines")
**"Fil-Japanese Fighter"
**"Zettai Fudo no Ace" (Japanese for "Ace of Absolute Immovability")
**"Shin Seiki Sozoshin no Ko" (Japanese for "Child of New Century God of Creation")
*Entrance themes
**"Theme of Sakura (SFIV Arrange)" by Hideyuki Fukasawa
**"Sick" by Scam Circle
==Championships and accomplishments==
*Kickboxing and shoot boxing
Jewels 
**Rookie of the Year (2009)
*Krush 
**Krush Women's Championship (1 time)
**Krush Women's Championship Tournament (2014)
Professional wrestling
*Pro Wrestling Illustrated
**PWI ranked her #7 in the 2021 PWI Top 150 Females
**PWI ranked her #1 in the 2022 PWI Top 150 Females
**PWI ranked her #37 in the 2023 PWI Top 250 Females
*Pro Wrestling WAVE 
**Catch the Wave Best Bout Award (2012) vs. Ayumi Kurihara on June 24
*REINA 
**REINA-CMLL International Championship (1 time)
**Reina World Women's Championship (1 time)
*SMASH 
**Smash Diva Championship (1 time)
*Wrestling New Classic 
**WNC Women's Championship (2 times)
**WNC Women's Championship Tournament (2012)
*Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre 
**CMLL World Women's Championship (1 time)
*World Wonder Ring Stardom
**Artist Of Stardom Championship (1 time) with Giulia & Maika
**SWA Undisputed World Women's Championship (1 time)
==External links==
* Profile
* Profile
* Twitter page
* Profile
Category:1989 births
Category:2008 debuts
Category:Female wrestlers
Category:Japanese wrestlers
Category:Asistencia Asesoría y Administración alumni
Category:Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre alumni
Category:Dramatic Dream Team alumni
Category:HUSTLE alumni
Category:Ice Ribbon alumni
Category:Japanese Women Pro-Wrestling Project alumni
Category:Kaientai Dojo alumni
Category:NEO Ladies alumni
Category:Osaka Pro Wrestling alumni
Category:OZ Academy alumni
Category:Philippine Wrestling Revolution alumni
Category:Pro Wrestling WAVE alumni
Category:REINA X World alumni
Category:Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling alumni
Category:SMASH alumni
Category:Tenryu Project alumni
Category:Toryumon Mexico alumni
Category:World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana alumni
Category:WRESTLE-1 alumni
Category:Living people
Category:Wrestling New Classic alumni
Category:Mixed martial artists
Category:World Wonder Ring Stardom alumni
Category:Game Changer Wrestling alumni
Category:East Coast Wrestling Association alumni