Kyona Yano (矢野 享菜 Yano Kyōna, born April 4, 1991) better known by her ring name Jungle Kyona (ジャングル叫女 Janguru Kyōna), is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom. She is a former three-time Artist of Stardom Champion and Goddess of Stardom Champion.
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Early life[]
During her childhood Yano would practice Hammer throwing where she was trained by Shigenobu Murofushi but after graduating from college, Yano was would live Senegal where she worked as a Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteer for two years, and she worked locally as a physical education teacher at an elementary school. After returning to Japan in July 2015, one of her coworker at the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers would recommended professional wrestling to Yano, and in August she would be introduced to Stardom she would later made their in November 2015.
Professional wrestling career[]
World Wonder Ring Stardom (2015–present)[]
On November 15, 2015, Yano made her professional wrestling debut at World Wonder Ring Stardom under the ring name Jungle Kyona, where she defeated Momo Watanabe in her first match. In only a month after her debut, Kyona won the Rookie of Stardom Tournament. On December 23, at Stardom Year-End Climax, Kyona received her first title match where she teamed with Hiromi Mimura and Watanabe as they challenged the Hyper Destroyers (Evie, Hiroyo Matsumoto and Kellie Skater) for the Artist of Stardom Championship, but were unsuccessful.
Entering 2016, Kyona and Watanabe teamed together under the name "JKGReeeeN". On January 10, JKGReeeeN challenged Thunder Rock (Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani) for the Goddesses of Stardom Championship, but were unsuccessful. JKGReeeeN continued to wrestle through 2016 and even participated in the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League, although she did not succeed in making it to the finals. shortly after the Tag League, Watanabe turned on Kyona to join Shirai's unit "Queen's Quest".
In 2017, Kyona begined to pursue couple of championships. On January 29, Kyona unsuccessfully challenged Kay Lee Ray for the ICW Women's Championship. On February 23, Kyona challenged Kairi Hojo for the Wonder of Stardom Championship, but was unsuccessful. On March 3, Kyona won her first title in her hometown in Nagoya, where she teamed with Matsumoto to defeat Hojo and Yoko Bito to win the Goddesses of Stardom Championship. Shortly after winning the title, Kyona and Matsumoto formed a group named "Team Jungle", alongside Kaori Yoneyama and Natsuko Tora. On June 17, Kyona, along with Matsumoto and Yoneyama, defeated Queen's Quest (AZM, HZK and Shirai) to win the Artist of Stardom Championship. The trio held the title until August 13, where they lost the title to HZK, Shirai and Viper. On June 21, Kyona and Matsumoto lost the Goddesses of Stardom Championship to Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura and Kagetsu). Kyona teamed with Bito to participate in the Tag League and managed to win their way to the finals, where they lost to the team of Bea Priestley and Kelly Klein on November 5.
In 2018, Team Jungle started to lose their members, as Matsumoto left Stardom by March and Yoneyama had other commitments in multiple wrestling promotions outside of Stardom, leaving Kyona and Tora the only members of the group. After not being picked by any unit in the annual draft, Kyona, along with Leo Onozaki, Ruaka, Tora and Yoneyama formed a unit named "J.A.N.", an acronym for Jungle Assault Nation. On May 27, Kyona, along with Tora and Yoneyama, defeated Oedo Tai (Hazuki, Kagetsu and Kimura) to win the vacated Artist of Stardom Championship. On June 17, Kyona main evented Korakuen Hall where she challenged her former tag team partner Watanabe for the Wonder of Stardom Championship, but was unsuccessful. On September 30, while J.A.N. lost the Artist of Stardom Championship to STARS (Iwatani, Saki Kashima and Tam Nakano) on the afternoon show, Kyona and Tora defeated Iwatani and Kashima to win the Goddesses of Stardom Championship. On November 23, Kyona and Tora lost the Goddesses of Stardom Championship to Watanabe and Utami Hayashishita.
On January 14, 2019, Kyona received her first World of Stardom Championship match, when she challenged Kagetsu, but was unsuccessful. On April 14, at the second annual draft, all faction leaders battled in a five-way where the loser of the match must disband their own unit. Kyona lost to Iwatani, Kagetsu, Kimura and Watanabe, and therefore, J.A.N. was disbanded. Kyona was drafted afterwards to Kimura's unit "Tokyo Cyber Squad". On June 16, Kyona, along with Kimura and fellow Tokyo Cyber Squad member Konami, defeated Iwatani, Kashima and Nakano to win the Artist of Stardom Championship. On June 23, the trio lost the title back to STARS. On July 15, Konami and Kyona won the Goddesses of Stardom Championship, where they defeated Hayashishita and Watanabe.
On january 19, 2020, Konami and Kyona lost the Goddesses of Stardom Championship to Jamie Hayter and Priestley, ending their reign at 188 days with 3 successful title defenses. After Hayter and Priestley vacated the championship as they couldn't defend it due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Konami and Kyona challenged Hayashishita and Saya Kamitani on July 26 for the vacant title, but were unsuccessful. On October 3, Konami and Kyona lost to Kashima and Tora when the losing team must disband, therefore, Tokyo Cyber Squad was disbanded, as Konami turned on Kyona during the match and joined Oedo Tai. The rest of the Tokyo Cyber Squad were drafted to STARS. On October 7, Stardom announced that Kyona would be out of in-ring competition for extended period of time, due to multiple injuries.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Hammer Throw Powerbomb (Karelin Lift into a Spinning Sit Down Powerbomb)
- Jungle Buster (Muscle buster)
- Signature moves
- Powerslam
- Spinning Gutwrench Powerbomb
- Diving Body Press
- Sliding Lariat
- Swing Sleeper
- Nicknames
- "Jungle Princess"
Championships and accomplishments[]
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Ranked No. 64 of the top 100 female wrestlers in the PWI Female 100 in 2019
- Ranked No. 31 of the top 50 tag teams in the PWI Tag Team 50 in 2020 with Konami
- World Wonder Ring Stardom
- Artist of Stardom Championship (3 times) – with Hiroyo Matsumoto and Kaori Yoneyama (1), Natsuko Tora and Kaori Yoneyama (1), and Hana Kimura and Konami (1)
- Goddess of Stardom Championship (3 times) – with Hiroyo Matsumoto (1), Natsuko Tora (1) and Konami (1)
- Rookie of Stardom Tournament (2015)
- Best Tag Team Award (2019) with Konami
