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KAIRI

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Kaori Housako (宝迫 香織, Hōsako Kaori, born September 23, 1988) is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known in Japan under her ring name Kairi Hojo (宝城 カイリ, Hōjō Kairi). She is best known for her work in World Wonder Ring Stardom (Stardom), where she also worked under the ring-name KAIRI (stylized in all capital letters), where she is a former World of Stardom Champion, a former Wonder of Stardom Champion, a former three-time Goddess of Stardom Champion and a former five-time Artist of Stardom Champion. She is also the winner of the 2015 5★Star GP and the 2016 Goddesses of Stardom Tag League. In Stardom's sister New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), she is the inaugural and a former IWGP Women's Champion.

She made her professional wrestling debut in January 2012 for the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion, where, over the next five years, embodying the "Pirate Princess" persona, she became a one-time World of Stardom Champion, three-time Goddess of Stardom Champion and a four-time Artist of Stardom Champion, while also winning the 2015 5★Star GP and 2016 Goddesses of Stardom Tag League. During this time, she became one of its franchise players and one of its public faces, became considered along with fellow wrestlers Mayu Iwatani and Io Shirai the "daughters of Stardom" and had headlined several Stardom pay-per-view events. KAIRI left Stardom in June 2017 to sign with WWE.

She is best known in the United States as Kairi Sane (カイリ・セイン, Kairi Sein), under her time with WWE, where she is a former NXT Women's Champion and a former one-half of the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions and previously served as a trainer and ambassador in Japan for the promotion until December 2021, when her contract expired. After five years, Housako returned to Stardom in the beginning of 2022 as KAIRI (stylized in capital letters) before leaving Stardom to resign with WWE at the beginning fall of 2023.

Early life[]

Kaori Hosako was born on September 23, 1988 in Hikari, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. She has a sister, who is three years older than her. She has an extensive sports background in yachting, competing in intercollegiate and national competitions, while also taking part in world championships with dreams of making it to the Olympics. After graduating from Hosei University with a bachelor's degree in Japanese literature, Housako began pursuing a career in acting. She also did some theater work and one of her performances, where she performed as a professional wrestling villain, was seen by Fuka, the general manager of the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion, who invited Housako to one of their events. She quickly fell in love with professional wrestling's aspect of combining acting with sports and decided to become a wrestler herself.

Professional wrestling career[]

World Wonder Ring Stardom (2011–2017)[]

Housako started training with Stardom in 2011. On November 14, 2011, she passed her "pro test" and graduated as part of Stardom's third class of trainees, alongside Act Yasukawa, Natsumi Showzuki and Yuuri Haruka. Housako, now working under the ring name "Kairi Hojo", made her debut for Stardom on January 7, 2012, losing to Yuzuki Aikawa. Playing off her yachting background, Hojo was dubbed "Pirate Princess". She quickly became a founding member of the Zenryoku Joshi stable, led by Aikawa. In November 2012, Hojo formed a new tag team with Natsumi Showzuki, with the two finishing second in the 2012 Goddesses of Stardom Tag League. Zenryoku Joshi disbanded in January 2013, when Hojo unsuccessfully challenged her stablemate Yuzuki Aikawa for the Wonder of Stardom Championship. Hojo won her first title on April 29, 2013, at Ryōgoku Cinderella, where she and Showzuki, billed collectively as "Ho-Show Tennyo", defeated Hailey Hatred and Kyoko Kimura for the Goddess of Stardom Championship. Their reign, however, lasted only a month, as they were stripped of the title when Showzuki was sidelined with a cervical spine injury. Showzuki never returned from her injury, instead resigning from Stardom.

On June 23, 2013, Hojo teamed with Kaori Yoneyama and Yuhi to defeat Christina Von Eerie, Hailey Hatred and Kyoko Kimura for the vacant Artist of Stardom Championship. They lost the title to Kimura, Alpha Female and The Female Predator "Amazon" on November 4. In May 2014, Hojo made her Mexican debut by representing Stardom in the DragonMania 9 and Lucha Fan Fest 8 events. In August, Stardom's roster was split in half as part of a storyline rivalry between older wrestlers born in the Shōwa period and younger wrestlers born in the Heisei period. Hojo, having been born in the Shōwa period, aligned herself with the likes of Nanae Takahashi and Miho Wakizawa. On August 10, Hojo regained the Goddess of Stardom Championship, when she and Takahashi defeated Alpha Female and Kyoko Kimura. After an eight-month reign, she was again stripped of the title, when Takahashi was sidelined with an ankle injury.

In February 2015, following an incident between Act Yasukawa and Yoshiko, Hojo was named an intermediary between the wrestlers and management in order to bring the two sides closer. Following the incident, Stardom's top title, the World of Stardom Championship, was declared vacant with a tournament scheduled to determine the new champion. On March 29, Hojo defeated first Kyoko Kimura and then Io Shirai to win the World of Stardom Championship for the first time. After a four-month reign, she lost the title to Meiko Satomura on July 26. Hojo bounced back by winning Stardom's top singles tournament, the 5★Star GP, by defeating Hudson Envy in the finals on September 23. At the end of the year, Hojo was named Stardom's MVP of 2015. In January 2016, Hojo came together with former rivals Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani to form a new stable. On February 28, 2016, the three, now billed collectively as "Threedom" (a combination of the words "Three" and "Stardom"), defeated Evie, Hiroyo Matsumoto and Kellie Skater to win the Artist of Stardom Championship. In April, Hojo, along with Iwatani and Shirai, traveled to the United States to take part in events held by Lucha Underground and Vendetta Pro Wrestling. On May 15, Hojo won another title, when she defeated Santana Garrett for the Wonder of Stardom Championship, winning the title in her fourth attempt. On August 8, Hojo debuted for the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF), defeating Jungle Kyona at an event in Shanghai. On September 3, Hojo defeated Io Shirai to take over the leadership of the Red Stars block in the 2016 5★Star GP. However, during the match, she suffered a concussion, which forced her to pull out of her remaining tournament. On October 2, Threedom lost the Artist of Stardom Championship to Hana Kimura, Kagetsu and Kyoko Kimura in their third defense.

On November 11, Hojo and Yoko Bito defeated Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani in the finals to win the 2016 Goddesses of Stardom Tag League. Following the match, Shirai turned on Iwatani and disbanded Threedom On December 22, Hojo and Bito defeated Kagetsu and Kyoko Kimura to become the new Goddess of Stardom Champions. They lost the title to Hiroyo Matsumoto and Jungle Kyona in their second defense on March 5, 2017. Also in March, it was reported that Hojo had told Stardom's office that she was leaving the promotion for WWE the following month. On March 20, Hojo unsuccessfully challenged Io Shirai for the World of Stardom Championship. On May 6, Hojo, Hiromi Mimura and Konami defeated AZM, HZK and Io Shirai to win the Artist of Stardom Championship. Following the match, Hojo confirmed her impending departure from Stardom, without specifically mentioning WWE. Hojo had contemplated retirement due to her age and injuries, but decided to go wrestle overseas after consulting Bull Nakano. The following day, Threedom reunited for one final match together, defeating Hiromi Mimura, HZK and Jungle Kyona in a six-woman tag team match. Hojo's one-year reign as the Wonder of Stardom Champion ended on May 14, when she lost the title to Mayu Iwatani in her ninth title defense, falling one defense short of tying Santana Garrett's record for most defenses. Hojo wrestled her final matches for Stardom on June 4. After Hojo, Mimura and Konami lost the Artist of Stardom Championship back to AZM, HZK and Shirai in their second defense, Hojo wrestled an unadvertised ten-match one-minute time limit series against members of the Stardom roster that ended in three wins, six draws and one loss.

Return to Stardom (2022-2023)[]

On January 18, KAIRI returned to Stardom, in a press conference along with Rossy Ogawa, announcing her return to the company after five years she left, afterwards KAIRI was interrupted by the team of Cosmic Angels consisting of Tam Nakano and Unagi Sayaka, which KAIRI have shown instrest in teaming with best friend and long-time rival, Mayu Iwatani, afterwards, both women accepted. As Kairi was leaving the press conference, KAIRI was attacked by Oedo Tai, whom refered that it was not the end of it. On March 26, at Stardom World Climax, KAIRI made her in-ring return in Stardom, teaming with Iwatani, defeating Cosmic Angels (Tam Nakano and Unagi Sakaya). The following day, KAIRI defeated Starlight Kid in her singles in-ring return. She ruptured her eardrum during the match and revealed the injury in a post-match interview. She made her return on May 28 at Stardom Flashing Champions, where she teamed with Tam Nakano as the "White Knights" to defeat Queen's Quest (Utami Hayashishita and Miyu Amasaki) in a tag team match.

In October, KAIRI took part in a tournament to become the inaugural IWGP Women's Champion, being announced as the international competitor to take part in the tournament and as such received a bye in to the next round. On October 23, KAIRI defeated Jazzy Gabert to advance to the finals. On November 20 at Historic X-Over, KAIRI defeated Mayu Iwatani in the finals to become the first IWGP Women's Champion, following the match, Tam Nakano challenged KAIRI to a title match, with new champion quickly accepting the challenge. Later in a post-match interview, Utami Hayashishita challenged KAIRI to a match on December 26 at Dream Queendom, with Hayashishita getting very physical with KAIRI. At the event, KAIRI faced Hayashishita in a time-limit draw. After the match, KAIRI offered her a blue rose as a sign of respect, only Hayashishita throw the rose and walk away from KAIRI. On January 4, 2023, at Wrestle Kingdom 17 in Tokyo Dome, KAIRI successfully defended the IWGP Women's Championship against Tam Nakano. As KAIRI was celebrating, she would be interrupted by the arrival of the debuting Mercedes Moné (formerly known as Sasha Banks in WWE). As soon as she hit the ring, both women stared at each other with KAIRI raising her belt, teasing a match between the two. However, Mercedes went for a handshake, which KAIRI accepted. The handshake was set to be a trap, with Mercedes pushing KAIRI and hitting her with the Moné Maker with Mercedes reciting her past with KAIRI and with herself regarding as "making history" and challenging KAIRI for the IWGP Women's Championship at the event with the match being made offcial on January 5. On February 18, at Battle in the Valley, KAIRI lost the IWGP Women's Championship to Mercedes Moné, ending her reign at 90 days. After the match, both women embraced, with KAIRI putting the IWGP Women's Championship belt on Mercedes' waist and raising her arm, with KAIRI leaving and letting Mercedes to celebrate the victory.

On March 24, 2023, KAIRI confirmed she became a free agent. In April 2023, the team of KAIRI, Natsupoi and Saori Anou of REStart defeated Hiragi Kurumi, Risa Sera and Suzu Suzuki of Prominence for the Artist of Stardom Championship at All Star Grand Queendom. On May 27, at Flashing Champions, REStart lost their title to the Bari Bari Bombers (Giulia, Thekla and Mai Sakurai), ending their reign at 34 days. On August 5, 2023, it was reported she has come to terms with WWE and would return to the company. KAIRI's last match in Stardom was a six-woman tag team match at 2023 Nagoya Golden Fight, where KAIRI along with Mayu Iwatani and Nanae Takahashi defeated the team of Classroom (Hazuki, Koguma and Saya Iida).

Other media[]

Kairi Hojo made her video game debut as a playable character in WWE 2K19. She is also a playable character in WWE 2K20.

Personal life[]

Kairi Hojo announced her marriage to a man with whom she was having a long-distance relationship with on February 22, 2020. Hojo's best friends are fellow pro wrestlers Io Shirai, Mayu Iwatani and Xia Li.

In wrestling[]

InsaneElbow

KAIRI hitting the Insane Elbow on Utami Hayashishita

  • Finishing moves
    • Insane Elbow (Diving elbow drop)
  • Signature moves
    • 4173 / Yoinami (Bridging Gedo clutch)
    • Alabama Slam (Double leg nelson slam)
    • Camel clutch
    • Cutlass (Spinning backfist)
    • Diving crossbody
    • Dropkick, sometimes from the top rope, or to the opponent's knee
    • Falcon arrow
    • FKE – Flying Kabuki Elbow (Diving forearm smash)
    • Ikari (Bridging cross-legged Boston crab)
    • Interceptor (Spear)
    • Jack Sparrow Knife (Bridging schoolboy)
    • Marine Spike (Diving double foot stomp to an opponent hung in the tree of woe)
    • Over-rotated Delfin clutch
    • Sliding D (Sliding forearm smash into a cornered opponent) - adopted from Masato Tanaka
    • Snap suplex
    • Tsubame gaeshi​
    • V9 Clutch (Reverse arm trap somersault cradle) – 2014; adopted from Naruki Doi
  • Nicknames
    • "Onna Kaizoku" (Japanese for "Female Pirate")
    • "People's Champ"
    • "(The) Pirate Princess"
  • Entrance themes
    • "Pirate Princess" by Kazuki Nagamachi
    • "Last Voyage" by kuritaka

Championships and accomplishments[]

KairiIWGPWomen's3

KAIRI as the IWGP Women's Champion

  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    • Ranked No. 10 of the top 100 female wrestlers in the PWI Female 100 in 2017 and 2018
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