Saki Akai

Akai in January 2019

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Kyoto, Japan

**Saki Akai** (赤井 沙希, *Akai Saki*) (born January 24, 1987) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler, actress and model best known for her work at DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT).

## Professional wrestling career

Akai made her professional wrestling debut on June 1, 2011, teaming with Hikaru Shida facing Makoto and Tsukasa Fujimoto which ended in time limit draw. Two years later she went to DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) dojo where she was later announced that she would made her official debut DDT's biggest event Ryogoku Peter Pan on August 18, 2013 where she made her official debut teaming with her mentors Cherry and Masa Takanashi to defeat Shida and Hiroshi Fukuda and Yoshiko.

One year later she would later assign to DDT's sub-brand Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJP) where she defeated Yuka Sazaki on April 5, 2014. After that she would wrestle in other promotions such as World Wonder Ring Stardom, OZ Academy and SEAdLINNNG. In 2017 she would later found heel unit named NEO Biishiki-gun alongside Martha and Yukio Saint Laurent where she would later add Azusa Christie and Yoshiko-sama as member. On February 3, 2018, Saki and Christie would later defeat Shoko Nakajima and Yuka Sakazaki to win Tokyo Princess Tag Team Championships. They would lose the titles to Marika Kobashi and Reika Saiki on May 3. Later in mid 2018 she would leave TJP to wrestle mainly in DDT where she won the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship eight times later formed Eruption with Yukio Sakaguchi and Kazusada Higuchi. On June 20, 2020 Akai, Sakaguchi and Higuchi defeated DAMNHEARTS (T-Hawk, El Lindaman and Tetsuya Endo) to KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championships. They lost the titles to Akito, Kazuki Hirata and Shota on November 14, 2020.

On May 24, 2023, Akai announced that she would be retiring from professional wrestling on November 12 at Ultimate Party. Afterwards, Akai asked CyberFight's President Sanshiro Takagi a match for she had the most affection the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship, alongside her Eruption stablemates Yukio Sakaguchi and Hideki Okatani, which Takagi accepted. On July 23 at Wrestle Peter Pan, Akai, Sakaguchi and Okatani defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu and Yuki Ishida to win the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship. On August 27, Akai, Sakaguchi and Okatani defeated ATM, Black Menso-re and Takao Omori to win the AJPW TV 6-Man Tag Team Championship in double title match also for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship. This made Akai the first woman to ever win a title in All Japan Pro Wrestling. On November 12 at Ultimate Party, Akai had her retirement match, teaming with Sakaguchi and Okatani in a losing effort against Kazusada Higuchi, Miyu Yamashita and Naomichi Marufuji, subsquently vacating the AJPW TV 6-Man and the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *Quetzalcoatl* (Arm trap abdominal stretch crucifix driver)
	+ *Versailles Choke* (Triangle choke)
* **Signature moves**
	+ Cross armbreaker
	+ Diving crossbody
	+ Drop toe hold transitioned into a modified figure four headscissors
	+ Facewash
	+ Flapjack
	+ Headscissors takedown
	+ Inverted hurricanrana
	+ Jumping knee drop
	+ Leg lariat
	+ Lotus lock
	+ Multiple kick variations
		- Big boot, sometimes to a cornered opponent
		- *Dynamite Middle Kicks* (Three shoot to the chest)
		- *New Face Award / Face Correction* (Jumping bicycle to the face of a kneeling opponent)
		- *Rose Thorn* (Running single leg front drop to the face of a kneeling opponent while using their knee for leverage) - sometimes used as finisher
		- Roundhouse
		- Soccer
		- Step-up shoot to opponent's chest
	+ *Paradise Lock* (Over-rotated Delfin clutch)
	+ *Platinum Lock* (Modified figure four headscissors)
	+ STO
* **Nicknames**
	+ "Saki Of Naniwa"
* **Entrance themes**
	+ "What You Waiting For?" by Gwen Stefani (used as Saki Akai)
	+ "Bara wa Utsukushiku Chiru" by Koji Makaino (used as Saki-sama)

## Championship and accomplishments

* **All Japan Pro Wrestling**
	+ AJPW TV 6-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Hideki Okatani and Yukio Sakaguchi
* **Dramatic Dream Team**
	+ Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (23 times)
	+ KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Kazusada Higuchi and Yukio Sakaguchi (1) and Hideki Okatani and Yukio Sakaguchi (1)
* **Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling**
	+ Princess Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Azusa Christie (1), Misao (1), Mei Saint-Michel (1) and Yuki Arai (1)
* ***Tokyo Sports***
	+ Newcomer Award (2011)